Closing her eyes the moment after she saw Eiji close his own eyes, she waited for a second for the tag to stop working before opening her eyes and looking at what Eiji was doing. He appeared to be taking extra defensive measures against anything that might be coming at him from any side. Which meant he was clear open for her. She formed a few seals once more and touched the ground, this time make the ground beneath Eiji to lower itself until he was complete gone from sight, and then forming the seals again to make the earth on Eiji's left side come at him, intending to crush him in a manner that will simply make him unable to move, but not seriously damage him. Then she kept touching the ground and a moment later she vanished into it, holding out a kunai and heading in Eiji's direction at the case he managed to get out.

Of course the only possible action with him defending like that was for Kuni to attack from below. Eiji was very much aware of this. And he was ready for it. He could open his eyes again a bit more and as soon as the earth shifted he dove with it, hiding in the earth once more. The poi had hit the earth twice. In the ground Eiji formed a seal, before immediately moving upwards again. Before he could reach the surface however Kuni was there. He smiled slightly and then blew himself up, taking chucks of the ground with him, the real Eiji heading the other way.

Just barely managing to stay in the ground as the explosive clone blew himself, Kuni looked at her arm and saw it was slightly burned. It wasn't serious or even bleeding, but it meant to her that she needed to be more cautious. Looking around, she spotted Eiji moving up towards the surface, so she put the kunai away and started heading up as well, knowing he could see her and she couldn't waste any time, she formed a few seals, holding the last one until she was just about to pop above ground and then released the seal. While the real Kuni appeared above ground, a clone stayed beneath the ground, waiting for a signal.

Even though he was an earth user Eiji preferred to be above ground then in it. Besides explosions looked way less... explosive while underground. As he emerged he blinked against the light of the sun even though it was hidden behind some drabby rain clouds. Not far behind him Kuni popped up from the ground. He could see the burn on her arm and wondered if it should make him worried. Then he decided that would not be fair. She could handle herself and he would never kill her anyway. He had enough control for that. He stretches his arms for a moment and turned back to his student. The poi had already come loose from his wrists. They hit the earth a couple of times.

Putting her hand in her pouch, Kuni smiled for a moment before taking out three kunai and throwing them at Eiji's direction and then taking out another kunai and getting ready for whatever Eiji might send in her direction, while the clone moved to be directly below Eiji, with an explosive tag in her hand, slowly bringing her hand up behind him and then leaving the tag above ground before doing the seal to activate it and quickly moving away from the area, to avoid being caught in the explosion.

Still more kunai. Whatever was she going to acomplish with that really. Eiji didn't know, but almost lazy deflected the projectiles, his eyes still focused on her. But then something changed. As Kuni might have noticed Eiji's poi had been hitting the ground quite often now, especially in the area around him. He himself was perfectly aware where the little mines were seeing as he had created them and they were linked to his chakra. When she raised her hand however above the ground she came to close and triggered one of the make shift bombs burried in the rubble. Before Kuni could even detonate her own bomb Eiji's already went off, alerting him on time so that he could jump away, using the poi as a shield against the rubble. "Huh..." He said not sounding very intelligent. "Well that created a blast. You are going to blow up your sensei who uses explosives?"

As soon as the explosion from Eiji's mine went off and made him move, and Kuni knew her clone was most likely gone, she charged towards him, forming seals on the way, but holding the last one until she was close to him. She released the seal and an Earth hand would appear from Eiji's side, moving towards him with great speed while Kuni took out a kunai and threw it from the close range at him, figuring she could try and make it so he needs to defend from both attacks before jumping, thinking that they are no longer where the mines were planted, and trying to land a kick at him from above.

What Kuni didn't seem to get was that projectiles, especially those of a not that high technique, simply didn't work. Eiji seperated his hands, creating two shields in stead of the one that had stopped the most of the explosion. On one side he deflected the kunai, on the other side the earth hand was met with a metal resistance. Neither of the two came in contact with him. His eyes never left Kuni. Then there was Kuni above him. It was a good idea to distract his poi, but it didn't mean that he couldn't use his hands or more. Because she came from above she gave him a little moment to react. A moment he used to simply step backwards and avoid the first blow. Yet it got him close to her and he used the poi on his right hand to lash out to her, aiming to ensnare her with the weapon.

Seeing Eiji step backwards made her realise that it nearly worked, but she needed something to block any possible movements to the sides. Deciding it wasn't safe to wait and see what he might try to do, she formed 4 seals which ended with Monkey, making a defensive clone be ensnared by the poi and attempt to release herself for a moment before it crumbled into smaller rocks. Slightly breathing, Kuni realised that she needed to go easier on how she used her jutsus, as well as her vision became slightly blurry, due to the effects of the improved seal. Rubbing her eyes for a moment, she looked in the direction of Eiji. She had reappeared not far from him, but far enough to let her think about something. Then it came to her mind. Deciding that she won't even need to try and use a jutsu, she took out three more kunai, but instead of throwing it directly at Eiji, she threw them at the ground around him, wondering if he had previously hit the spot with his poi.

It didn't quite work, but Eiji knew that Kuni was burning to her chakra, which had always been his goal. It was all about outlasting your opponent when you fought a defensive war. He wondered how much chakra she had left as he observed her rubbing her eyes. He didn't say anything. This time he was not going to call it quits when he thought she was done. She would have to tell him that herself. Next his eyes went to the kunai that had appeared before him in the ground. He raised his eyesbrows slightly as nothing happened. Was she hoping that she could blow up the mines that lay scattered around the places where he had been walking and jumping? She would have to observe then and look well and then throw well. Could be a nice excersize, he thought suddenly as he slowed down his poi. "So?" He asked as the poi came to a halt and rested along side his body.

Letting out a small frustation noise, she formed a seal but then stopped. She felt somewhat dizzy and understood that it would take a bit to get over it. Sighing, Kuni sat down on the ground "I wanted to keep sparring with you, but whatever that Meisa woman did to my seal is bothering me now. I don't see too clearly." She said and rubbed her eyes once more "My next move was to try and use the fact you stopped moving the poi and get an earth hand to appear from right below you and grab you while I threw a blinding tag, to try and see if I can make you be blinded again for a moment and then... I'm not sure. I didn't plan three steps ahead." She said and then looked at where Eiji stood, still seeing him with blurry vision.

As soon as Kuni lowered her hands and called out to stop the fight Eiji flicked his wrists and let his weapons wrap around him before quickly walking over to his student. He kneeled down before her, a slight frown of worry spread over his face. This alteration of the seal was troubling him slightly. If it was making Kuni incapable of functioning as a shinobi then it was a problem. "Steady now," he said. "I'd say you did well. You understood clearly what my weakpoints were and were capable of thinking of attacks that made me split my attention, that made me loose my footing."

"Glad to hear so. My main aim was to try and make you move as much as possible. I figured that if I could do that, then your focus will already be somewhat lessened, seeing you would need to also ensure that you are not moving to anywhere dangerous. But I guess I didn't quite get to do that part too well." Kuni said and looked down at the ground. After rubbing her eyes a bit and blinking a few times her vision became clear again. Looking up again, she gave him a smile "You don't look good when you are worried. And don't worry, I'm sure I'll get over this thing eventually, or just get used to it. Hopefully get over it." She said and moved to sit on the ground in front of Eiji "Do you think there is anything else I need to think about while fighting?" She asked and wondered if just finding the weakpoints is enough or not.

"You can't tell me to stop worrying when my most energetic student ever told me to stop the fight." Eiji said, but he spoke it on a light tone. "As for your fighting..." The man decided to screw the fact that the ground was muddy and sat down next to her. He had to do the laundry anyway. "I'd say that your strategies all look very alike. At first your opponent may buy that thinking you stupid for using the same thing twice. But as the fight goes on your opponent might think twice about reacting the same when you pull out the, seemingly, same trick again. He might think something is up, as I did during the fight. Besides that I think you got the basics pretty much down and the only thing you can do then is get experience. Which is a good word." He said the last sentence with a smile.

Nodding, her smile grew bigger as she saw him smile to her "Well then, I guess I'll need to train for the next week. I might ask Mei or Naoko to help me train a bit if they are around. I think they wouldn't mind. But I still want to train with you, obviously. I just want to focus on training on my tactics a bit with you, seeing what you just said. That sounds alright with you?" Kuni asked and her smile grew slightly smaller. She hoped that he wouldn't mind her training with more than him, but she also knew that she now had 2 other teammates and that he also needed to pay attention to them.

"That sounds totally fine. Sounds like excellent plan. Training only with me will only train you in certain aspects anyway since I can not do everything." Eiji said. "Besides, you need some more friends around." He nudged her shoulder. "Now are you coming home with me to see how Sachi is prancing around the room? It is really adorable."

Jumping to her feet and accidently tossing a bit of mud at Eiji's shirt, Kuni's smile grew as big as it could "Of course I'm coming to see that!" She said and only afterwards noticed the muddy shirt "Oops... Sorry, Eiji-sensei. But it looks like now you really need to get a change of clothes." She said in a slightly teasing tone before starting to walk casually towards the gate, wondering if he will try and get her or not for that accident.

"You..." Eiji said pretending to sound threatening. It failed miserably however. "Watch it, or you won't get dinner tonight. And then Sachi will be sad because you aren't there and you don't want to make Sachi sad." Even though his words might sound not as happy Eiji too was wearing a smile on his face. The seal did still trouble him and he would inquire after it, but not now. Now they would just go home.

Stopping on the spot, Kuni looked back towards Eiji with tearing eyes and a frown "You...you....you won't let me see Sache if I hit you with mud again? But... It was an accident!" She said and appeared to start to cry a bit, tears running over her face before her left hand, which was partially hidden behind her back, came to the front with speed and more mud would be heading towards Eiji "That bit of mud, however, was on purpose. I'm gonna get a change of clothes and I'll meet you at home, Eiji-sensei!" She shouted to him before running off, quickly leaving the training field before he could say anything. She knew him too well and she was well aware that while he won't be too pleased about it, he wouldn't leave her outside of his house. Smiling about that fact, she headed towards her apartment, wondering what will Eiji make for dinner.

Koike don on the jacket as he had prepared himself for a long day. After he walked out of his home, he wouldn't go straight towards the training fields. Instead, he decided to visit some other place first. Walking down the street, Koike looked around. He noticed that most shops and stands would soon try to sell their wares and services. Continue down the street, he would take a turn towards the Cho compound. Not that he had really anything there to do, but he wanted to buy something. He had some time before the planned meeting after all.

A hour later Koike was heading towards the training fields. He had a plastic bag with him, in which he had something for lunch. Calmly, he hummed a tune as he approached the field where he would meet up with Katsu. But he didn't notice anybody on the field at all. Deciding that he should wait, Koike walked to a tree that had been either knocked down or fallen. Putting the plastic bag down, he sat on the tree as he would wait for Katsu.

A figure swung down sideways from the branch of the standing tree near Koike. The boy's face was covered in sweat and he found himself in a rather strange position. Instead of standing upside down, he seemed to have his legs wrapped around one of the branches. A mischievous grin appeared on his face as he saw that Koike had just sat down without taking notice of his presence. He lightly dropped himself to the ground, landing on both of his feet with his heels lifted. "Morning!" he yelled.

''Weirdo.'' Koike said as his right hand had went to a handle of one of his blades. He had been surprised with Katsu's rather surprise appearance, but he hadn't lashed out as he had almost done. ''Why are you even yelling... and covered in.. sweat?'' Koike asked, raising his eyebrows as he examined the Uchiha. Really, he was one... unique example of his clan. All those tales that the Uchiha were cool and natural elite shinobi were something he couldn't believe while the one he saw as a friend was like this.

Pouting, Katsu crossed his arms. "That's not important," he said in response childishly. "Well? What kind of training did you have in mind?" he asked, his eyes sparkling. The boy was excited to be able to train with Koike once again, though he hoped it would be more like training this time. He was sure it would be. Koike had changed a lot during the last few weeks...

''If you say so.'' Lowering his hand, Koike pointed to the bag. ''If you already trained or did something, eat something first.'' Waiting until Katsu would open the bag and see the smaller bag, in which there were several pastries, he would start to explain what for training he would help Katsu with. ''I noticed that you use kenjutsu and try to infuse it with wind chakra. Which is for start good, but it doesn't have... that kind of power yet.'' Koike tried to explain. He briefly paused to think about the right words. ''What I want to help you with is something that is both chakra control training as something new. You see,'' Wrapping the fingers of his right hand around the handle of one of his blade, at his right side, Katsu would see a blue aura surrounding the tanto. ''This. That is what I want to help you with.''

While he wasn't a sensor, he could smell the delicious pastries within the bag from miles away. That's.... That's...! He quickly lunged at it and opened it up, digging his hand in as he looked at Koike before pulling out a few eclairs. Watching carefully what his friend was showing, the boy looked at him with pride. "That looks different than wind chakra," he said, putting the few surviving pastries back into the bag and closing its lid. Drawing his sword, Katsu poured his wind chakra into it, making a greyish coat. Yup.

''It is because it is pure chakra.'' Koike calmly replied. ''We can do a test. See that rock over there? Lets see which blade can be thrown deeper into the rock.'' Koike suggested as he rose up from his sit. The rock wasn't that large, around half the size of one of them. Aiming for it, Koike threw the blade. It pierced quite deeply into the rock, like it had almost nothing to hold it back when the blade went into it. ''Now your turn.''

Katsu looked down at the sword in his hand and back up at Koike. After a moment, he nodded and got ready to throw the chakra coated blade. The boy flung his arm, sending the sword flying towards the rock, planting half of the short sword into the stone, though it had still penetrated much less of the stone that Koike's. ''You see, though it is said that Wind chakra enhances the sharpness of a blade, you need to have better chakra control and experience to make it better.'' He told Katsu, walking towards the rock. Placing his hands around the handles of the weapon, he seemed to pull them out with ease. Each had a blue aura as he drew them out of the stone. ''It is called chakra flow. Ever heard of it?'' Letting the flow vanish, he would walk back and offer Katsu's sword back.

The hilt of the blade found its way into Katsu's palm from Koike's hand after the boy offered it back to him. "I think I've heard it be mentioned before," he said, thinking back to his lectures about kenjutsu. After a moment, he snapped back to reality. "Where'd you learn a technique like that?" he asked, his eyes glowing like before. ''From training and a scroll. That is what happens when you keep completing missions, then you are now and then rewarded with knowledge.'' Koike shrugged lightly. Truth be told, he wasn't that excited or proud over it. ''It is actually simple in theory. All you need to do is to figure out how to mould and move your chakra as a coat over a weapon. Like I just did.''

"A-ha," Katsu said, nodding. "So it's just like elemenal manipulation, but simpler." He looked down at his sword. Concentrating, he poured his chakra into it without transforming it, creating a weak and flimsy coat around the blade, wavy and unstable. "I don't think I got it right," he mumbled as he felt the side of the coat, seeing how it was much more blunt than his wind coating.

''What did you expect then? Instantly mastering this technique?'' Koike asked in an amused fashion. ''I have trained this over a year, but am not at the point I can extend the shape of the coating or making sharp to pierce and slash through whole boulders.'' However, he didn't say it like he was disappointed in or any kind of negative way. ''What now needs to be done is to practice it and improving your chakra control. Over some time, you will notice that the coating will be much stronger and sharper.'' Pausing, Koike nodded at the rock. ''Together with wind nature chakra, that won't be much of a problem then. So, ready to start?''

"Of course not," Katsu muttered. He looked towards Koike once more. "Eh? Start what?" he asked. ''The chakra control training. There are various ways of training it. There is the water walking, tree walking and other practices that seem normal for most, but if you combine them with a task that they can improve your chakra control.'' Koike explained. He pointed at the outskirt of the forest at the side of the field. ''We are going to use a kind of tree walking technique practice, while also training your accuracy. After all, it is always good to hone skills that don't rely on chakra.''

"I guess that makes sense," Katsu said with a sigh as he slid the blade back into its sheath. He walked towards the place Koike had pointed at, planting his foot on the bark of the tree and climbing up. As he stood upside down once more, he looked at Koike, as if waiting for instructions. Climbing up as well, Koike started to explain the training as he pulled out a kunai with his right hand. ''We will jump from bark to bark, thus forced to use swift use of the Tree climbing technique, but need to throw kunai or shuriken at the last position of the other. This means that you need to coordinate where the other has been as well aware of where you are going. Else you will be slamming yourself against a tree.''

"A sharingan's not that useful they said. Why would you ever need it they said," Katsu muttered to himself quietly. He didn't move for a moment as he remembered the one time his sight had changed. Shaking the memory away, the boy looked towards Koike, spinning to the top of the branch. "Got it," he said, pulling out two shuriken in each hand, locked between his fingers, his fists clenched. "Ready when you are."

''Cause it drains chakra and with training, you can achieve sometimes better reflexes than to rely on it.'' Koike mused. He had managed to catch on what Katsu had said, but then became serious. ''Let's do this then.'' Readying himself, Koike pushed himself away from the bark, jumping towards a bark of another tree. He would use his expertise with Silent Killing to make it easier for himself, to know where Katsu would be. Already he was trying to aim towards Katsu would jump to, which wasn't really easy.

Before pushing himself off, he waited for Koike to jump. The moment he leapt off from the branch, Katsu threw the first shuriken in his left hand towards the branch that Koike was moving towards through the air, looking at the direction he was going and at the branches in that vicinity. After that, he leapt off, jumping to a branch from behind a tree, blocking their line of sight for a moment.

For a moment Koike was smiling. The kunai had left his hand and pinned the location of where Katsu had landed. He didn't try to see if the throw of Katsu had hit mark of where he had been, but was sure his friend was capable of doing a training like this one. Landing, he noticed that a tree blocked the line of sight. That was bothersome. Quickly jumping towards another tree, Koike had to push himself harder away from the tree to try to bypass some extra length to see if he could notice where Katsu would land.

Katsu pressed his foot on the tree, not reappearing to Koike from the otherside. Instead, he ran sideways on the trunk towards the side he'd come from and leapt off, seeing Koike had jumped again. He threw the second shuriken, making its path bend, only to miss its mark. Cursing under his breath, Katsu leapt off again, grabbing onto one of the branches and swinging under it without waiting and letting go, landing on another one.

Narrowing his eyes, Koike landed as he quickly had to use the chakra to latch himself against the bark of the tree. His sight was slightly hindered by the leaves, but he swore he could hear Katsu. With the kunai he had pulled, he managed to form a coat of chakra over it as he threw it towards the location of Katsu's last location. Not waiting to hear if the kunai would land home, he jumped towards another tree.

Not looking back, Katsu moved towards the side he'd last seen Koike, glancing around frantically. Locating, Koike, he spun and threw one of the shuriken in his right hand towards his foot, making a small arc and planting it into the wood in front of it. The boy rebounded from the tree, almost crashing into it, moving towards Koike once more.

Noticing something flying towards him, Koike would perform a summersault. This forced him to move a free hand to press himself against the bark of the tree. Gritting his teeth, as he had perform a throw as well moving fast at the same time, Koike would latch chakra from his hand to the tree to not fall as his free hand threw a shuriken towards Katsu's landing. Feeling that he would hang, Koike pressed his feet against the tree to bounce himself away towards another tree.

Seeing the shuriken coming towards the branch his feet were about touch he moved his feet away from the point on the branch so that he wouldn't get hit. As the shuriken was planted between his feet, he pulled it out of the wood with his left hand and leapt, throwing the shuriken in his right hand towards the branch Koike was hanging onto. Seeing how Katsu was doing, Koike smiled again. It was going very well. Pulling out another shuriken, he twisted to land better on the bark he was soaring towards. Placing his free hand against the bark to hold better control of where he hang, he would throw the next shuriken towards Katsu's new location, while he would then jump towards another tree. However, he only jumped to one where Katsu would have a tree blocking his line of sight.

Once Katsu landed once more on a branch with a shuriken planted on it, he noticed Koike disappear behind a tree. He at least knew where Koike was going, so he decided to do a rather dirty trick himself. He quickly leapt to another tree, waiting on the side opposite of where Koike had jumped from in order to disguise himself for a few seconds when his friend would look back to see where to throw his shuriken.

''You're aware that I keep watch of you?'' Koike asked as he had been standing still. Keeping track of Katsu through his silent Killing, Koike had found it weird that he hadn't hear the sound of a projectile being thrown, like a shuriken or kunai. Standing with his hands shoved into his pockets, Koike looked from his position towards the direction of Katsu. ''At any rate, let's take a break for now, shall we?'' Koike suggested, adding something. ''I think there might be a pastrie left in the bag that we could share.'' A smile started to grow on Koike's face as he actually didn't like pastries that much.

Seeing Koike appear from his position to propose taking a break, Katsu jumped out and threw a kunai towards his feet. "No breaks yet! We just started!" he yelled, landing on the side of another tree, hanging from it by his feet and hand. To which Koike simply frowned as he looked at the shuriken that was stuck in the bark of the tree, between his feet. ''And you want to exhaust yourself with training? How will you acomplish something if you're too tired to manage to try it?'' Koike asked, looking back at Katsu, still not moving.

"Are you saying you're tired?" Katsu said with a grin. "We can take a break once we're too worn out to land the weapon correctly. Until then, we don't need it!" He had an unyielding look in his eyes, challenging Koike with its stares. "Come, now! We can still keep going!"

Removing his right hand from the pocket of his pants, Koike scratched the side of his head. ''I wouldn't mind to continue, but like I said, exhausting yourself to the point where you're barely able to continue is useless. Same as taunting me.'' Letting his arm hang at his side, Koike glanced back at the shuriken that Katsu had threw earlier. ''The way I was trained was to train, rest, train and then rest. If you exhaust yourself, you will just work yourself for one session. While if you let your body rest for a bit and then work, you can gain more in such a manner. But.'' Making a clear gesture that he was being sarcastic, Koike spoke again. ''If you think that you know better, I am all game. Then I will have that pastry all for myself.''

"You're making me sound arrogant," he said, huffing. "You'll never get tired if you take rests once every few minutes. If you don't get tired, you won't be as durable when the time comes for you to endure more tiring jobs." Katsu sighed, crossing his arms. "We can work an hour or two, take a break for half an hour then get back to work. Getting tired and exhausted is a sign of progress."

''Is it? Or is it a sign that you know when your body is reaching a limit?'' Koike asked. It seemed so far his plan was working as he had thought. Not that it was hard to lure Katsu in just talking. ''Or are you saying that limits should be pushed and stretched, is that it?'' Koike asked, tilted his head a bit to the left as he kept standing still. He made a gesture to where they had came from. ''Or are you so anxious to improve your skill that fast that you want to harm your own body in order to reach it?''

"Pushing your body to it's limit trains the body," Katsu answered, pouting, spinning another shuriken in his finger. "I'm not gonna train 'till my body gets damaged for a long time but I'm gonna push it to the limit. Y'know, I'd expected you to be more anxious to continue than to split a pastry..."

Sighing, Koike smiled. ''And I expected you to be a bit more observant. You keep talking you want to continue, but I am not holding you back am I now? Cause I stop and try to not over do it, doesn't mean you don't have to. Yet, you showed that I managed to easily distract you. Is it maybe cause of the pastry?'' Koike asked, slowly laughing as he shook his head. ''Besides, I haven't eaten unlike you. Might mind it if I eat something before we continue?''

"I guess... If you're gonna go eat, I'll work on a... I guess you could call it a technique but..." He looked down. "Don't be alarmed if you hear explosions! You'll know where to find me when you're done!" he said cheerfully jumping off the branch and moving deeper into the forest. For several moments Koike looked at the back of Katsu and then sighed out loud as a hand ran through his hair. Why? He questioned in his thoughts as he would jump up and follow Katsu.

---

An hour later

''Are you done?'' Koike asked, wipping the sweat from his brow with his left arm. He looked at Katsu, holding a kunai in his right hand while balancing on a branch. Koike wasn't sure how long they had been training for now, but his stomach made it clear that it had lasted long enough. Flipping the kunai in his hand, Koike would sheat it back in a fluid movement.

Katsu was hanging upside down from a branch with a kunai stabbed it. With his sweat following gravity, he eyed his surroundings once more, noticing that there were quite a few branches like that. Though some of the branches had burnt to crisp when the training had gotten a bit rougher. "Yeah... Let's go take a break," he said, grinning widely.

''Glad you came to some sense.'' Koike joked as he also took a look at the field. But he was actually content on how things had went. And not just the training. ''The exams are close, you know.'' Koike said, dropping himself off the branch he was standing on. Landing on the ground, he started to dust his clothes off. There was some dust and splinters on his clothes and as he shook his head, even in his hair. Luckily not some warm ash or burning splinters of wood.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," the boy muttered, sighing. He let his feet drop from the branch and caught the ground with his palms, bending his knees and lowering them towards the ground like a spring, and then pushed himself off, landing on his feet upright. "I'm sure you'll ace it without a hitch," Katsu said, smiling. "Alright... A ten minute break once we get back to the field, hm?"

''I will go back to my study, Katsu.'' Koike said, in a rather serious tone. He thought about offering Katsu to join him, but he wasn't sure if his friend was interested even in genjutsu and poison. Maybe it was for the better if he would study alone. This time. ''Has been a long time since I trained with somebody good, except Aiko-sama. But you're close to her if I have to compare you two.'' Koike grinned a bit as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

"Oh, alright... I guess I'll train a bit more here," he said, sighing. Hearing the praise Koike had given him, a childish smile appeared on his lips. "Haha! Thanks," he said enthusiastically. "Good luck with your studies!"

''Thanks. Before I go however.'' Koike stopped as he briefly thought about it. But what he wanted to suggest wasn't that bad. In the time he had been with Katsu, he hadn't feel like he was much of a stranger to the Uchiha. ''What about meeting tomorrow?'' Koike asked. His plan wasn't to train, but just to spend time together with Katsu. Just as friends instead of team members.

"Sounds good to me," Katsu answered, holding out his arm. "See you tomorrow, then!" He'd forgotten about the worries he'd had when he had first met Koike. Having a sincere friendship like this one was pretty nice. Stretching out his arm, Koike's fingers wrapped around the wrist of the arm Katsu held out. ''Till tomorrow. Don't blow yourself up. I would hate to be the one to clean up the mess. Take care.'' Koike said, nodding slightly.

Sleeping was impossible. Her mother had send her to bed about two hours ago. She had sat down next to her on the bed for an hour and had then left, maybe convinced that Midori was asleep, but the little girl doubted that her mother would be fooled so easily. She probably just figured out that it was no use sitting there. Besides Chie shouldn't be up the whole night and Midori didn't mind being alone now. Her eyes were swollen and red, but there were no tears anymore. They had run out a while ago. She was just staring at the wall now, facing away from the window. She didn't want to see the world. The world sucked. The world killed... the world killed...

Midori sobbed again and pulled her knees up high against her chest. Her fingers curled up into her hair as finally her eyes closed and she started to drift off.

A loud snort would be the first sound she would hear once she would open her eyes. Laying on his stomach and resting his head on his arms, the beast would look like he was asleep. But Gyuki was far from sleeping. He didn't even feel the need to sleep and he blamed the world for that. The whole world, except one little person in it. ''Words aren't needed.'' He softly and slowly mumbled. While Midori sat on top of his head, the beast wouldn't not move nor say anything else for several moments. ''If you want, you can stay here. I can even tell you... what is it called?'' The beast took a moment to grumble. ''Bed time story? Is that it?''

At first Midori wanted to tell the beast to go away, to leave her alone, to let her be, to piss off. Her jaw was clenched. She just wanted to sleep and no know. She wanted to forget. But it seemed that that wasn't going to work. Carefully she wrapped her arms around her knees. Somehow being here in the emptyness with Gyuki made it better. She felt small, but she wanted to feel small. She also enjoyed the position. He couldn't look at her like this and she didn't want to be seen, yet she didn't want to be alone she realized. This was quite right. "I... I would like to stay." She mumbled, pressing her face against he knees.

Gyuki snorted once more, before he would whisper something. ''I know.'' Clearing his throat, the booming voice was kept at a low whisper as he wouldn't need to raise his voice. Slowly opening his eyes a bit, he was trying to remember the story. Though it was actually more a memory than a story or fiction. It had all happened, but he saw no need to tell that. She would know it. ''Tsueno was a young and ignorant brat. One of those who kept trying to become a good shinobi. Back in his time, it were just clans. And the need to have strong shinobi to protect a clan was high. However, Tsueno was just... low on being talented on fighting.'' Gyuki would normally want to chuckle, talking about such a human. But now he felt rather serious and sad at the same time. One of his tails slowly curled up. ''I met him in the valley where it often storms, Thunder Folly. Tsueno was trying to convince me that I would need to train him. The thought! Me training a human. Back then, I was a bit curious but very cautious.''

Letting a pause sink in, Gyuki sighed. ''I gave him tasks. To prove his strength, his wit and creativity.'' He could see the rather frail boy again in his memories. The feeling and need to speak back with that young boy was so great that Midori could even see it if she was paying attention.

---

''But I can't lift up a whole boulder! That is monstrous!'' Tsueno shouted at the Tailed Beast. Gyuki sat and simply looked down on Tsueno. His brow furrowed at the last word of Tsueno and the beast snorted, before he would speak back. ''Don't use such a word near me! Puny one! If you can't complete even this simple task, you're not worthy. Go home!'' The booming voice didn't seem the phase the boy, who didn't look older than fourteen years old. His cheeks became slowly red as he clenched his fists. Then he lowered his head in defeat. ''I have no home to go to.'' It was nothing more but a whisper.

It became silent and Gyuki blinked a few time. The boy had troubled him for how many days? Two weeks. Not one task was completed and Gyuki had given some just for his own amusement. ''Neither have I.''

---

It became silent and the vision faded away. ''He had just lost his love, family and whole clan due an old feud. Times then were a lot more grim, you see.'' Gyuki sighed again. The curled up tail would slowly roll out, sweeping a bit around. ''He often talked too much. About the most trivial of things. But he always was genuine. Always honest.''

---

''Know what would be great?'' The boy looked a bit older, taking a bite of an apple. He sat on one of the shoulders of the monster ox. Gyuki didn't seem to pay much attention to the boy. ''If we were able to create home for people. Not just a normal home, but one where there is little difference between clans. Where people can be more or less the same, yet holding on to their own background.'' Tsueno munched on the bite of the apple as he threw a look around. Gyuki was slowly moving into a lake and snorted.

''I would even want to have you as a guest, Gyuki-san.''

---

Again a moment of silence fell. ''This village wasn't built on the foundation of that Tsueno had some talent for leadership. Not because in some distant place a village of the same idea was founded. It was found by a simple small boy who wished for a large family. A peaceful place.'' Gyuki said. He was a disappointed in his story telling skills. The whole idea was to inspire Midori, because he knew that offering a sweet story about love would do the opposite. She was his host and he was a proud Beast.

''No matter what they have told you at the Academy, there was no first great battle between me and Tsueno. I left him to seek solitude. A time for myself. And he made a promise to me.'' The whisper gained another tone. It wasn't sad or disappointed, it had a certain pride in it. ''A good one, that I first had no faith in. But Tsueno proved me wrong. Like he always did.''

---

''Just watch it. One day and you will have friends too.'' There was a considerable change. The boy looked now around sixteen years old. He wasn't frail or small anymore. No, he was able to lift up a boulder by himself. Leaning forward and squinting his eyes, Gyuki slowly grinned. ''Finally. Two years. Took you long enough.'' The giant mused, but he had a certain proud look on his face.

Tsueno carefully placed the boulder on the ground as he flexed his fingers, staring at them. Then he looked back up at Gyuki, but there was no grin or smile. Lowering his head, the young boy kneeled down and placed his head against the ground. ''Thank you, Gyuki-kun.'' The words caused a long silence and the boy only looked up, trying to figure out if the Tailed Beast had vanished somehow. But Gyuki had a worried expression on his face. ''I don't like the honorific you just used. But,'' Straighten his back, the beast snorted as he looked at the horizon. ''I must thank you. Friend.''

---

Gyuki became silent. He had little else to say and wasn't sure what he could tell her more. For a moment, he wavered if she was even interested in his own story. Regret and doubt started to replace pity and anger, to the world, as Gyuki stayed silent.

Midori was silent for a while. It was not that she dislike the story that Gyuki told her or that she wasn't interested, she didn't even know what she was thinking exactly. "Do you... How did you..." She tried then, but the words didn't want to leave her throat. "How long did you miss him?" She asked then pretty sure that Gyuki knew what she meant.

''Ever since I met somebody like him.'' Was the answer. ''I always thought he wanted to make me happy or return the favour by saying I would gain a friend too. A friend he had found in me.'' The eyes looked up, but he couldn't see the small person on top of his head. ''When we parted ways, he promised that he would find me when he would achieve his dream. That he and I would be able to become friends with everybody in his dream, his village.'' Gyuki continued, his voice a bit shaken. ''But when he found me, we fought. He had taken a large group with him, wanting to show people that I wasn't a weapon. That I had feelings and desires. But they sealed me away, cause I scared them.'' The tails slowly moved as the beast ended his sentence. Curling around, Gyuki snorted. Softly.

"You are kinda scary sometimes." Midori said in a small voice. It almost sounded like a regular joke they would make before things got rough and the world sucked. The girl took a deep breath. "Why didn't Tsueno stop them?" She asked then. it was good, she realised. This story was distracting her. Maybe that has been his goal all along. Midori smiled weakly even though she knew that Gyuki wouldn't be able to see it.

''Cause most humans are stupid and silly. They judge too quickly and then find it strange that they are judged in a hostile manner.'' Gyuki grumbled. But he didn't sound that annoyed. ''He did try his best, but it wasn't enough. After I woke up from the sealing, he apologized. For like a half year I stayed silent. I had even gave him a small gift before we parted, you know.'' Slowly raising one of his hands, Gyuki stretched only his index finger towards Midori. ''But he held true to his promise.'' The finger dwarfed the girl in size and the beast slowly smiled. Even though it was a sad one.

Midori stared to the finger. A half year of silence. She knew how that felt. Somehow Gyuki and her were much more alike than one would think. It was strange. Slowly she pressed her fist against his finger, but her hand was trembling. "Do you think that... I mean I am sure that... Ryo..." Why was it so hard to say his name? "That he... He shouldn't leave me... that is kind of a promise. He didn't.... break it, right?"

''I don't know, Midori. I wish I could give you a lie now. I wish I could lie now.'' Gyuki said back, slowly pulling his hand and finger away from her. He was really disappointed with himself. He was supposed to be one of the nine beasts that made the world cower in fear and awe. His strength could level whole area's and his voice alone made most of his enemies route, simply because they didn't want to face him. But even with his might he couldn't tell a comforting lie to her. ''Tsueno once made that promise too. That we would somehow be forever together. But he isn't here. He hasn't been with me for years.'' Slowly the nostrils of the beast widened, but he didn't snort. ''I know it is very different, but I know how it is. Or a bit like.'' Something rolled over Gyuki's cheek.

''I am sorry.''

Midori bit on her lip. Then she shook her head even though Gyuki wouldn't be able to see that. "It's okay. I had enough lies for a while now. I don't really need more. Thanks..." she paused for a second as she thought why exactly she was thanking him. "Thanks for telling me." She finally settled on. The story wasn't about the same loss, it wasn't about the same experience, but she understood the meaning behind it, or at least she thought she did.

"I am sorry too."

The body of the beast trembled a bit. A loud snort, louder than all before sounded. It made the walls and floor tremble, like they were afraid that the beast wanted to use his might to break out. To show the world how angry he was that his host had to suffer. That his current best friend was sorry. ''Please. We both know I am bad at it. Maybe we should ask Chie for a story.'' The beast said, trying to hide his true feelings, wanting to cheer her up. Not that it would work.

Despite everything Midori had to chuckle slightly. "Yeah, you suck." She said. "And no, mom is sleeping. I don't want to keep her up again. I did that enough... you know... before..." She didn't really want to talk about the days when she didn't talk anymore. Reliving those memories still wasn't such a good idea. "I don't want to make my mom worried more then she should be." After that she fell silent again and suddenly yawned. Maybe it was indeed time to sleep.

Thinking about it, Gyuki grumbled something. Then he cleared his throat before speaking up to her. ''If you want to, I can offer a hug.'' Gyuki said in an even softer whisper. After a moment he added something to it. ''Tsuneo often said that he would like me to offer a hug, as it is a sign of friendship.'' Gyuki tried to sound more confident and only realized it was useless to try to hide his feelings for her.

"You'd crush me." Was Midori's first reply, but never the less she got up and jumped of his head so that she stood before the laying beast. she had a serious look on her face. "But yes," she said, "I would like that. I also wish I could have met Tsuneo. He sounds like... a nice guy."

''It is the thought that counts.'' The beast mumbled back. Raising his head, he raised an eyebrow. Slowly he placed his head in a position that she could take place next to it. He was well aware that his weight and mass would easily crush her. Such a hug wouldn't be possible, but she could try to make it herself comfortable, laying on his arm and resting against his head or other arm. Silly humans. ''You're allowed to stay, but please don't snore.'' The tone revealed that the beast attempted to make another joke as he closed his eyes.

Without a word Midori made herself comfortable next to his head. For a moment she shifted uncomfortable, but then found a good way to lay, her head rested against his. "I don't snore..." She mumbled, her eyes already closing. "That... is.... you..."

''If you say so, Midori.'' Gyuki whispered. He would wait till she was asleep before he would attempt to try to get some sleep for himself. Tomorrow would be another day, filled with surprises. Some fun and nice, while there would be others nasty and awful. But at least he was sure that Tsueno's promise came out. That was a nice surprise. If he could call it a surprise. ''Good night, Midori.''

Sighing, Aiko rocked a bit. Kei maybe stopped crying, but she was sure that the little girl would cry again if Aiko would stop. Figuki was now taking a walk with Akimoto, so that meant that Aiko was on her free day alone with Kei. ''Sshhh, it is alright.'' The barely two year old had her head leaning against Aiko's chest, calmed down by her mothers presence and words. Though Aiko was sure that she wouldn't have to do anything today, she was expecting somebody to visit her. For that reason, Aiko had dressed nicer than she would usally do. Today, she would get somebody to visit her that she actually had little contact with. Hopefully, that would be different after today. Noticing that Kei had fallen asleep, Aiko planted a kiss on the forehead of her child before placing her on the couch. A worried expression shifted over her face. She had checked already twice if the house was properly cleaned. Not that she was genuinely worried what her visitor would think about her, she wanted to give the idea that the home wasn't messy or filthy.

Knocking on the door he awaited a response, and gave his clothes a last check. He was wearing a green shirt with a modernized version of the typical yukata-like neck opening, and his clan's symbol somewhere on his chest. He was wearing his baggy shinobi trousers and his headband apart from that, as usual. Summed up, he didn't look remarkably decent, but presentable enough for an informal meeting like this. However, this was the wife of the x-hokage, and his teacher though. Running his hand through his hair to check if it suddenly hadn't gained the urge to stand upright as it sometimes had in the morning, and with a lot of effort resisted the urge to check his fingernails for dirt. He couldn't help feeling funny about feeling more nervous for this than for an upcoming fight. He could already imagine Ryo, Tsubasa and Katsuko spying on him from a distance, laughing their guts out. Ha-ha... Funny guys. He already imagined him saying, when he heard approaching footsteps from inside.

Just when she wanted to check the living room again, Aiko heard somebody knocking on the door. Seems that the moment of truth had come after all. While heading to the door, Aiko shook her head lightly. That was quite a silly thought. The moment of truth, pfft. Opening the door, she could see a tall young man with blond hair. ''Kensuke Nimatsu? Come in.'' Stepping aside so that he could enter the house, Aiko eyed him. So this was the promising student of her husband? What was he called again? Something with a Falcon? Truth be told, she didn't see any similarities with that bird. Stretching a hand towards him, she smiled. ''Aiko, pleasure to meet you finally.''

"Nimatsu Kensuke, we've met before." He replied with a sheepish smile, and shook her hand. "Then again, it's nice to meet you too." He added, suddenly realizing that this had been the first time he had thought about his friends without turning in a depressed mood. He noted that down in his mind, that nervosity killed sadness very effectively. Next time he'd feel sad he'd just go read a book in the middle of Konoha and it'd be solved.

Instantly, Aiko felt stupid. They had met? Probably, cause he said so. ''Sorry, I forgot then. But come! No reason to keep standing in the hall all day.'' Beckoning him to follow her, Aiko hoped that he wouldn't think she was some goofhead. It wasn't a problem if he thought if her husband was one, cause he was one at times, but she had her pride of not being seen as one. ''I hope that I didn't disturb you with my invitation. I was hoping you could visit without needing to cancel any important meetings or similiar things.'' Aiko said, while leading him to the living room. Quickly, she tried to look for anything that could look messy or dirty. But nothing seemed off. Except that Kei wasn't laying on the couch anymore. Oh no. Why now.. Stay calm, Aiko. Not a goofhead, not a goofhead. She thought, turning to Kensuke. ''Want something to drink?''

Entering as he waved away her apologies, he took a look around. Cozy. "It's okay. It was during the civil war, and we were talking about complicated politics. Nothing I'd want to remember either." He replied as he tried to discover what decorations were here because of Aiko, and which were here because of Zakito. He saw a tree outside, and instantly checked to see if his old sensei was sleeping in it, already recognizing a branch where he would probably sleep if he were there. He wondered how often Zakito slept there, and if he would sleep there should Aiko send him to the couch. Taking a seat on the couch, he grinned as he imagined the situation. "Yes please. Some tea would be nice."

''Oh that time.'' Aiko looked for a moment less happy, her smile having vanished. ''But I will get some tea then.'' Turning around, her face however became a mix of being worried and disturbed. She knew how her children could be and right now she wanted to pass a good impression on the young man. Not that she was hoping to gain something out of it, but it wouldn't be any good for a person who was gaining some fame to think ill of her. Even worse, ill about her children! While Aiko was trying to quickly make some green tea, she thought where Kei could be. Hopefully in Zakito's study room. Perhaps taking a nap there? For once, Aiko wouldn't seriously mind that. After pouring the warm liquid into two mugs, she would head back to the living room. ''Hope it is any good. Oh wait!'' Putting the mug down on the coffee table, she felt stupid once more. ''Do you want any biscuits or any sort of that?'' Cracking a smile again, Aiko started to feel she was acting maybe a bit like a goofhead.

Looking around he took an interest in his environments, and saw several framed pictures on the walls of Zakito and Aiko, and their two kids. He saw a baby toy lying on the floor, and on the closet, and on the couch itself. And on the floor again. It was obvious that there lived kids here, and it made him grin involuntarily. Suddenly Aiko was there with tea and a nervous question if he wanted cookies with that. "Oh, thank you." He said, and after nipping the tea continued. "Well, I guess I could store a biscuit or two in here." He replied, trying not to be impolite and not want any cookies.

Turning around, Aiko walked already to the kitchen. But as she was turning around to walk, Aiko stopped. Her hand went to the toy that was laying on the floor. Slowly turning around, Aiko narrowed her eyes before she suddenly threw it to her left. It simply hit the wall and bounched off. ''Kei.'' Aiko started with a stern voice. ''Introduce yourself properly.'' Still staring at the place, there was some mumbling coming from behind the cupboard. A small hand would appear before a small girl came out of hiding. ''Sorry.'' Aiko told Kensuke, before she shot a glance in Kei's direction. No words were needed, as the girl pouted and then stared in Kensuke's direction. Her cheeks started to blush a bit as she placed her hands together. One as a fist and the other embracing it. With a bow, she mumbled something. ''She is a bit shy, but I hope that you're not bothered with children. One moment!'' Turning around to head to the kithcen once more, Kei had already straightened her back and kept staring with her green colored eyes towards Kensuke.

At firsts surprised by Aiko's actions, then amused, he smiled at the young child that reluctantly greeted him now with a shy and softly muttered greeting. "I don't mind, don't worry." He said, before turning towards the little girl. She had her mother's blinding red hair, and for a moment he wondered if her twin brother would have inherited Zakito's white straw hair that made him look serious and laughable at the same time. "Well hello there! You must be the famed Kei Hon, the daughter of the ex-hokage and a master of the art of hiding! If it weren't for your mother, I probably would never have found you!"

The girl suddenly seemed to pout. For a moment it seemed she wanted to say something, but she crossed her arms out front of her chest. Heading back into the living room with a small plate, on which some biscuits and cookies were placed, Aiko noticed how her daughter was looking. It caused that Aiko smiled as she would continue to head towards the coffee table. With her mother's presence, Kei quickly walked towards the back of the chair, where Aiko sat. ''I am glad. They are nice. Though she is a bit shy.'' Looking over shoulder, she could see that Kei was making use of the chair and Aiko. Peeking over Aiko's shoulder. ''Anyways, I heard that you were assigned to be a jounin-sensei. How is that going?''

Chuckling as the child went into hiding again behind her mother's proverbial skirts, he replied Aiko's question after munching away on a cookie. They were delicious. He already knew that Zakito did not take care of buying the cookies. He had a really bad taste. "Yes, I am. Well, so far it's sort of okay. We have done a few missions so far, but they keep getting themselves into trouble. Admittedly, we keep getting missions above their level, but it's a bit demoralizing to have to step in so much." He replied, growing a bit more serious as he spoke. "And then I haven't mentioned a word about their attitudes yet..."

That made Aiko giggle a bit. ''Don't worry, I have experienced some problems with my current team. Just be a bit stern and if that doesn't help, give them a common goal to work with. Even if it is actually trying to bond with another. Kind of being nice while mixing it with some sad words. Really, worked for me.'' Aiko said, though she wasn't really meaning it like her talks with Yukara and Katsu were fake. They were genuine. Only now she could joke a bit about it with another jounin-sensei. ''Though, I wouldn't mind to hear about them. Then I could start about my own students, if you wish to hear that.'' She said, smiling while raising her mug to her lips. Kei was still peeking at Kensuke, her cheeks still a bit flustered with a reddish tint.

Nodding as he accepted her advice, he began talking. "Well, first off we have Ezuri Hyuuga. Yes, they went as far as to put a Hyuuga in my team, and yes, Hideyori already tried filing an official complaint for it. He said something about me having a bad influence on their clanmembers or something vague. Anyways, Ezuri is quite capable for his age and rank, both in skill and thinking work, but that's also exactly where it ends. He is incorrigibly overconfident and painfully reckless." He said, sighing deeply as he recalled carrying the unconscious boy to the hospital, pale by blood loss and pain. "Then we have Shisen Inuzuka. A bit of a shy and introvert girl, who'se fairly skilled, but she has this cocky side, especially about things concerning Arashi, her ninken. That dog is a bit untamed, and has the tendency to grow threatened by her own team and well, bite them. The genin have a certain degree of unspoken teamwork when I force them to work together, and I sincerely hope that that'll improve over time." He continued, taking a moment to drink from the tea. "And I shall admit beforehand that I have put them on a rigid training schedule. I don't know what is expected of them, but I want to see them be as tough as Team 4 used to be back in the old days." He added with a touch of melancholy, remembering the countless occasions when he, Ryo, Tsubasa and Katsuko had found themselves in a 'hopeless situation'.

Listening to what Kensuke told her, Aiko couldn't help but to keep smiling. She kept examining on how he spoke. This was after all one of her husbands students and if she thought about it, one of that had reached a rather good and high ranked position. One with a good name already. ''Seems like you're having a handful. Reminds me a lot of the first formation of Team 8. Though I will spare you that tale.'' Though she knew it wasn't probably a good thing, she however couldn't stop herself on commenting on the Hyuuga part. As a clanleader herself, she was aware of the situation Kensuke could be in. ''And besides, about that whole Hyuuga affair, don't worry too much about it. I suppose that he can just try and complain, but that will accomplish nothing. Maybe he will lose his face, but I don't really like what I have heard from him.'' Shrugging, Aiko noticed how Kei slowly moved past her. Her stare was still focused on Kensuke as she slowly moved towards the coffee table.

''Though I had my hands full with my current team.'' Letting out a sigh, Aiko thought about it. ''We have Koike Hon, my best student at the moment. He is cold and distant and that is both to blame on how I trained him and his past. He is the sibling of the host of the Kyuubi that ended in a coma and later was kidnapped. Next to that, his past is anything but fun and laughter. He is in overall a very good asset to the team, but his teamwork isn't the best. That is the only kind of skill he should work on.'' Aiko thought about who she should pick now. Katsu or Yukara? ''Next is Yukara Cho. Like me, she has some good chakra control and is not a bad genin for a starter. While she can understand things that sometimes goes probably too far for some genin, she is however a bit... quick to judge. This caused some hostility towards Koike, cause he for example didn't greet her like she wanted him to. Even going that far that she started to really crossing a line... But, she is doing better now.'' Now there was only Katsu left on which she could start about. ''Then we have an Uchiha, but he hasn't awakened his sharingan yet. I am not sure if he will do so, cause apparently the chance for that to happen isn't that big. But he is a hard working and clever boy. Don't yet want to call him a genius, but he is doing it well. Only thing I am worried about is that he maybe overreacts or is sensitive to some situations. When Yukara started to show hostility towards Koike, on which the later didn't really react to, he started to overreact. Imagine it? I was there, hiding out of sight and hearing everything. Though the team has really improved from the first test, I was close of butting my head several times against a nearby tree.'' Smiling again, Aiko noticed how Kei's left hand went towards a cookie on the plate. Only briefly did she look at the plate to see which cookie she wanted, before she stared again at Kensuke.

Once the child had managed to grab one, she quickly turned around to head back to her mother. While Kei was trying to climb and sit on Aiko's lap, the latter took a sip of her tea. ''It just takes the right motivation and goal to make from a team that doesn't seem to work, one that does work.''

"Well, I guess every genin team is a disaster of its own kind." He replied with a laugh. "Gets me thinking. My team was probably hell for Crabby-se... I mean Ushio Natsua. We were his first ever team, and oh boy! I was so innocent and shy, and in a squad with a voluptuous Uchiha and a jealous outsider." He recollected, chuckling with his hand over his face in a sentiment that came nowhere close to guilt. Suddenly however his shinobi senses picked up a rapid movement as a tiny girl shot forwards and grabbed a cookie off the plate, only to climb back in her mother's lap again, staring at him as if he was an alien. "My my, I am honoured to have witnessed Kei the master of hiding strike twice in one day! The cookie stood absolutely no chance!" Kensuke stated with a serious face, as if he was truly overwhelmed.

''That sounds like one... interesting composition.'' Aiko managed to say as she barely could restrain herself from laughing out loud. She wasn't sure if she knew this Ushio person, but that kind of formation would likely not be Aiko's favorite kind. Helping Kei with her left hand to get easier on her lap, Aiko heard what Kensuke said. ''Hey, he is giving you a compliment. Shouldn't you say thank you, young lady?'' Aiko asked. This caused Kei to raise her head and look at her mother with her cheeks huffed. Then she simply lowered her head, staring at her cookie. ''I...I..'' She muttered. Gently rubbing Kei's back, Aiko was wondering why Kei was so shy. Was it because Akimoto wasn't around? Before Aiko could say that, Kei then spoke one sentence that caused Aiko to look surprised. ''I am a hero. Like papa.'' Taking a bite of her cookie, she threw a frown towards Kensuke. Her cheeks were really red now. ''You are, sweety. Anyways,'' Aiko turned her attention back to their guest. ''I am sorry, but there is also another troublemaker. I only had her stay, cause she had fallen and didn't want to go outside for her daily walk. Normally she isn't-'' Aiko couldn't finish her sentence. Kei huffed and puffed. ''H-Hero. Papa.'' Not sure why Kei was getting excited, Aiko softly ruffled through the hair of her daughter. ''She is just a bit shy.''

"Ofcourse you are Kei." He replied, shaking his head and raising his shoulders as if there never was any doubt. Taking a bite of the cookie in his hands he smiled at Aiko. "It's okay. I was even worse, once." Then he turned his eyes back on the little girl. "Your daddy sure is a hero. He was my teacher once you know? He told me how much of a masterful shinobi you already are, and I didn't believe it at first, but now I met you in person, phew! Am I glad we're not enemies!"

This caught Kei's attention as she had took a bite of her cookie. She wanted to say something back, but she first chewed and swallowed her bite. Aiko took a sip of her tea again, letting Kei en Kensuke talk. In her viewpoint, it was more than adorable. It had just something that she couldn't phrase in a word or sentence. Kei lifted her right hand and pointed to Kensuke. ''You worse than Aki?'' This caused Aiko to almost spit out her tea. Coughing, Kei huffed her cheeks. ''I will learn you about hero.'' Lowering her head, she started to nimble on her cookie again. ''Sorry..'' Coughing, Aiko briefly send a glance towards Kei. Not that the child caught Aiko's glance. ''She and her twin brother have some competitive sense with each other. It can get quite tense... Then again,'' Aiko smiled. ''I think they do watch over each other.'' However, seemed that Aiko's words wouldn't really have the desired effect as Kei mumbled something loud enough that Kensuke could hear. ''Aki is stupid.'' This caused Aiko to sigh and lower her head a bit. ''It aren't always genins that can be troublesome or a handful.''

Kensuke shook his head in response, noticing Aiko's flustered reaction. "Me? Worse than Aki? I'm not sure, but I do think I could beat him in a game of arm-wrestling." He replied as if he was seriously thinking about it. He ignored most of Aiko's words, nodding in a friendly way as she spoke, but cautiously awaited Kei's reaction. "Well, I should ask Aki first if he is stupid though. Do you think he agrees with you that he is stupid?" He asked in response to Kei's remark.

''Aki is the worst... like. I-I.'' Kei seemed to think about it. Frowning, it had some funny to it. Like she was expecting an answer from the cookie she was holding. ''He is half a hero.'' She mumbled before nimbling again on her cookie. Aiko shook her head lightly. ''Like I said, they have this going on for quite some time. But when they were mere babies, they couldn't go without each other.'' Aiko explained. Kei mumbled something, but it was too soft to hear what she was saying. ''I recall the first time that they walked around the backyard. They were both trying to reach for the oak tree, but when Kei fell, Aki turned around and tried to help her up. Only to fall also.'' The memory was almost a year old, but Aiko clearly cherished it. ''Sorry, you didn't come here for some baby visit or hear me ranting on about my children.'' She apologized. ''I am a bit wondering, you know. I heard that you're the current head of your clan. Yet, you are quite young for such a position, am I correct?''

Stopping himself for laughing out loud about the girl's description of Aki, he decided to remember that for later. He sipper from his own tea as Aiko tried to change the subject, obviously ashamed by her daughter's shameless description of her brother. He couldn't blame her, but it was hilarious. He turned a bit more serious again when she started talking about his clan. "Yes, I am. I inherited the position from my father when he died two years ago. I am indeed pretty young for my position, but I must admit that most of the leading is done by my sister. I am only a clan-head in name and title."

''I see.'' Aiko said. To think somebody of his age had such a burden on his shoulder. Being a jounin-sensei and a clan leader, while being so young? ''I can relate a bit, as I have since a year or so taken the duty of being the leader of the Cho clan. So I know how busy one can be when being both a clanhead and a sensei.'' Aiko said with a very friendly tone. ''If you need some help or any advice, I am always willing to give it to a friend of the family.'' Hoping the message was clear, Aiko noticed that Kei yawned. ''Come on, take your nap.'' Aiko said. This earned some muttering whining from Kei, who held her half eaten cookie up. ''Eat your cookie and then you should take a nap.'' This seemed to satisfy Kei a bit, after which she quickly and rather shyly shot a look in Kensuke's direction. ''So, like I said. I hope that you will realize that even while we aren't that close, that I want to invite you to be welcome whenever you want. I know that my husband really is fond of you, Kensuke. So please, if there is any help or if you want to drop by, please do so.''

"Oh, I sure will, thanks for the offer! Thereby, how could I dare pass the opportunity to meet Kei again?" He replied on a light tone, drinking from his tea again. He couldn't speak from experience about truly governing the clan, but the fact that he was seen as the head of the clan by the higher-ups made it quite a hassle already, so he perfectly understood her position.

By hearing that Kensuke mentioned her name, she looked up with a curious look in his direction. This caused a brief smile, before she looked away again. ''Hahaha, seems she has a liking for you.'' This caused Kei to look up to her mother, with a frown. Puffing her cheeks, she wanted to say something, but then focused again on her cookie. ''But if we have talked anyways about our students, did you hear about the coming Chuunin exams already?'' Aiko asked, sounding actually curious.

Smiling as she mentioned Kei liking him, he then turned serious as she asked her next question. "Yes I have, but I am a bit indecisive about them joining. Individually they would certainly stand a chance in the fights skill-wise, but I fear their character might get in the way. Additionally, individual duels might not be the best idea now I am trying to promote their teamwork. However, they might hold this against me, especially Ezuri, and I am pretty sure that if he stays focussed he has a decent shot at it. In any case, I guess it couldn't hurt to let them try. They have been in situations serious and dangerous enough to deal with the chuunin exams, that's for sure." He replied, pondering.

She shrugged. ''They should be grateful that you take enough care to not throw them in the snake pit. If you believe they aren't ready, than you're a lot more caring than I am with my students on that topic.'' Aiko had to admit that her ways on how to threat her students with the Chuunin exam were very different, she wondered how good Kensuke's students were now. Not that she was trying to see if hers were any better, cause that would be something silly. To try to see which of them had the better ones? They weren't some jealously children with new toys. ''I often ask if they want to enter the Exams and then sign them up. Of course, training them for it. For now, I am sure that Koike will be able to do well in the coming Exam. Katsu also expressed he wanted to join, but I am not sure if he is trying his luck out or has enough confidence in himself. Both are capable genins, but then again, the exams are always full of capable genins.'' Taking a sip once more from her tea, she decided to try to give him some advice. Not that she deemed herself better cause she had more experience with leading and turtoring genins. ''But if you want some advice, I just say that you need to stick to your guts. If you think they aren't ready, then don't sign them up. In the worse case they will be a bit mad about it, but at least they won't be disappointed when they are being beaten up by some other genin.''

"Hmm, I'll think about it." He replied, rubbing his chin, before sipping from the tea once more. She was probably right. He could send them to the chuunin exams anyways, there were usually not that many casualties, and if anything they'd learn from the experience. If one of them'd die however, he knew he'd blame himself aswell. Discarding the thought for a later date, he then decided to change the subject. "What about Kei and Akimoto? Are they going to grow into shinobi aswell? Some people like to pass on their knowledge and skill, but I could imagine you wanting to save them from such a fate."

To save them from such a fate. Aiko looked at Kei, who heard her name being said by Kensuke. ''I will let them choose. If they want to become non-shinobi, I am fine with it. As long they are healthy and able to take care of themselves. That is all I want for them.'' Aiko said. Kei looked up to her mother as she smiled. ''I want to be a nin. Going to beter than Aki.'' Sighing, Aiko couldn't help to smile a bit while she looked back at Kensuke. ''Though seems that they already made up their mind. Yet, I will wait before I allow them to enter the Academy. I think that some are sent towards the Academy at a too young age. It is a bit idiotic that some are trained in the ways of the shinobi in this time and era, while they barely know how to use a jojo. Or how fun it can be to play hide and seek with friends.''

"That sounds like a good idea." He answered, actually wanting to ask something else, but less appropriate. He'd only worry Aiko too much for no good reason, and he shouldn't do that. Instead, he drowned his words in more tea and a cookie. "But what if Aki becomes better than you?" Kensuke then replied to Kei, wondering how the girl would react.

The question of Kensuke made Aiko smile as she then turned her attention to Kei. She had finally finished her cookie and had stuck her thumb in her mouth. The question seemed to annoy her, probably cause she hadn't an answer at the ready for it. Leaning back, with her head against Aiko, Kei stared at Kensuke for some moments. Then she pulled out her thumb of her mouth, to give him an answer back. ''Then I will become better than him.'' Moving her thumb back into her mouth, she looked in another direction, a little frown seen on her face. ''Children.'' Aiko mumbled, but loud enough for Kensuke to hear her. ''But time for you to head to bed. Else you won't be awake when daddy is home, will you?'' This question seemed to annoy Kei, but she said nothing in return. Pushing herself off Aiko's lap, she took a few steps away. Turning around to Kensuke, her cheeks started to turn bright red again. ''Good day, Mister Kensuke.'' Making a bow in his direction, Kei turned around on her heels, but almost fell. Walking away, Aiko smiled. ''Seems like you have made a little fan.''

He cracked open into a smile as he waved Kei goodbye, and sighed deeply before sipping from the tea again. "Maybe... I don't know why, but I am quite fond of children. They can have the most amusing ways of interpretting things." He replied a bit dreamy. His response made Aiko briefly chuckle, almost laughing. ''You can say that. Certainly when they are so canny like her and her brother.'' Aiko replied, making her think of a question back. Not really a serious one, but one she found quite amusing. ''So when are you going to start with children?''

He almost drowned himself in his tea when she suggested children. He was about to say that he wasn't nearly old enough to get children when he realized that he was 21 years old. Most shinobi parents got children starting from the age of 25. "Me? Children? I uh... Never really thought about it, not this way at least. Things are complicated enough as they are now, and..." He said, shrugging, imagining a situation where he would have children. His first idea was with Matsuri strangely, and that made him feel very uncomfortable as he was currently in a relationship with Kaori. "... That's pretty strange since I'm a clanleader, and people expect me to have heirs eventually." He finished after realizing the situation himself only moments before. It sounded hilariously funny. The heir to the Nimatsu clan, Kensuke's son, or daughter. Ryo would probably laugh his ass off, while Tsubasa would try to be supportive and stuff, while Katsuko would pretend he didn't care that much, but man... As his mood darkened a bit he wished that those three scurvy bastards would've been around to see his children. If there was anyone in the village but Zakito, Kiyomi or Matsuri to whom he'd trust his own life, his children's lives, it'd have been them.

Taking a sip of her drink again, Aiko enjoyed the first reaction. It was just like she had assumed it would be. ''If you're incapable of making a child due some complicated situations, then why not thinking about adopting one? I am not saying you should, but you probably knew Kaname. She was adopted into our family and nobody seemed to be disturbed by it.'' This made her think about the past daughter she had. Only thing she was aware off, was that Kaname had ran and died in an accident. Quite a shame as Aiko had a good bond with her adopted daughter. ''Though, there is time plenty. That and you first need to find the person for it. Which makes me want to ask.'' A smile started to creep on the thin lips of Aiko as she became clearly curious. ''Is there a lucky girl out there or somebody you already met and.. have feelings for?''

Gladly taking the subject of adoption over his darker train of thoughts his mind flashed back to the mission inside the caves near his village he had gone on with Kiyomi, where together they had killed Kaname. It was a memory filled with blood, and Aiko seemed to be oblivious of her undoing, or at least seemed to have come to terms with it, so he wisely decided not to start about it. "Ahaah. Why did I expect this." He replied with a frivolous glare. "Well, there's this one girl I met a few years ago when being drafted into assisting Kiyomi with shopping..." He suggested, still doubting about wether or not he should tell more, just for fun.

''Cause it is fun to talk about. I imagine that you may find it odd to talk with me about such things as I am not your mother. But, I do find it fun.'' She said, smiling. Listening to what he said as a start, Aiko made a gesture with her free hand while she kept on smiling. The thought that he was probably thinking she was some sort of goofhead came back, but she didn't mind it. If he had that thought, it was kind of too late to change it.

For a moment he tried sending a slightly annoyed look, but he broke into a grin anyways and gave up. "Well, I met this girl again not such a long time ago, and ... how shall I put it ... It was a pleasant meeting. We have chocolate milk." He continued, neglecting to add that they met during a party and that te chocolate milk was the next morning, a nosebleed and a night of partying later.

''Really?'' Aiko asked, sounding both interested and interested to talk about the subject. ''And how long ago did this all happen?'' She asked, but then raised her free hand and lightly shook her head. ''Sorry, I am prying maybe a bit too much into this. But it is kind of sweet to see a busy jounin still trying to spend time with a girl he likes.'' She laughed. ''Kind of reminds me of the cheesy novels I had read in the past about such stories.''

"About 10 months ago now, if I recall correctly." He replied, before shrugging and drinking from the tea again. "Cheesy novels eh? Oh dear, that sounds really bad." He then continued, barely managing to hold back a wave of uncontrollable laughter. Him and Kaori, a chiché couple doing all kindsof cheesy stuff. Yeah, that sounded about right.

''It is kind of is. But they can be fun. If you want, I can lend you some. Who knows?'' Aiko smile changed a bit as she winked in Kensuke's direction. ''You might pick up something. Just a suggestion. After all, you need to learn from books, right?'' Aiko asked with a rather innocent tone, though she giggled briefly. Almost had she been laughing out hard by her own suggestion.

He needed a moment to stop himself from chuckling too much before he could reply. "I do not believe any 'skills' as found in cheesy novels would do much to improve ... anything at all actually."

''It just depends on what you pick up, I guess.'' Aiko said, but deciding to not further go on the subject. Somehow it was getting a bit too odd. Not that she had minded it, but he probably didn't see her as some kind of person he could talk about this. Clearing her throat, Aiko decided to switch to a more mature and serious topic. ''I also wish to ask you something. If I am not getting spooking you with being open.''

He subdued the last waves of chuckling in the last bit of tea in his cup when Aiko mentionned something about a question. "Oh, don't worry about that. What did you want to ask?" Kensuke replied, waving away her concerns. She seemed to think about how she would word her question, putting down her drink. ''The thing is that you have been trained by my husband. I will be honest that I have tried to pry for some information, but even without your reputation, I think that many can and will vouch for you as a capable sensei.'' Aiko spoke in a serious, yet friendly tone. However, the smile from before was absent as she looked serious at Kensuke.

''My question is more of a request. It is maybe too early, but I have learned in the hard and unforgiven way that fate has a twisted humor. My children might or not choose to follow the path of becoming a shinobi.'' Pausing, Aiko slightly lowered her head as placing her hands on her lap. Like making a small bow towards Kensuke. ''I would like to ask if you would in the future think about mentoring my children. I ask this as a mother, cause I am a bit picky of who I would allow if I had anything to say in it.'' Raising herself from the bow, she smirked. ''Though I can probably try to influence the whole ordeal, I hope you will consider it.''

He blinked a few times when he realized the weight of her request. To be asked to mentor the children of the Third Hokage, Zakito Hon, was a great honour, not even mentioning an even greater responsability. "Ofcourse I would." He replied, a bit at loss for words. His mind raced for things to say, as for what an honour it would be and whatnor, but then Tsubasa shook her head in his mind, helping him remember that this was not an assigned position, but a request in a friendly conversation. Ryo had both his arms behind his back and gave him a large grin before the vision faded. "If you can really get such a thing arranged, then I will gladly fullfil your request."

At first it seemed that Aiko was surprised with his answer. Standing up, she looked at him with still a surprised look on her face. Then she moved. Walking around the table, she seemed to raise her arms, like she was doubting if it was the right thing to do. But slowly a smile was growing on the lips of the mother. Slowly, Aiko would embrace Kensuke as she kept smiling. ''Thanks. I am really in your debt if you would do this.''

At first a bit surprised as she hugged him, he then returned the gesture. "Eh, it's nothing." He said a bit sheepishly. She sounded so serious about it he felt a bit awkward that he wasn't. Well, he was probably even more serious than her right now, but he didn't quite feel like he was, so all he could do right now was smile and shrug.

Slowly moving away from Kensuke, Aiko shook her head a bit. Already turning around to head back to her seat, she mumbled something. Only loud enough that Kensuke could hear her. ''Nothing? I bet you really can learn something from one of those cheesy novels.'' It was however meant as a joke, which became clear with her playful smile. Sitting back, she coughed. ''I am sorry for that. It is just that I might be the typical kind of mother that tries to make sure that her children are in good care when I can't provide it for them.'' The smile faded, but was soon replaced with a laugh. ''Maybe you will understand one day when you have children your own!''

"Me, children of my own. Pfff. Let's pray that that'll be a long while in the future. I already have next to no time left for my girlfriend, nevermind hobbies." He sighed out loud. "Perhaps that's exactly why one would worry about one's children though." He continued. "Because as a jounin and a clan leader, you tend to have little time for anything aside of your duties."

Raising her chin, Aiko briefly looked at the ceiling. ''Seems you figured that one out pretty fast.'' She scoffed. ''I regret at times. That my sense of duty always makes it unable for me to spend much time with the two of them. To not be there to see them make mistakes, like burning their fingers. Or cursing.'' Closing her eyes, Aiko crossed her arms, lowering her head again. ''It is ironic, you see. I am protecting the clan and village that they are part off. But have to pay it with that I can't be spending that much time with them as I would like to.'' Opening her eyes half, Aiko stared at her glass. ''But it is worth it. Every moment of hardship, it is worth to come home and see them smile. To hear them laugh. I may be sounding a bit cliché, but that is what keeps me going. What makes me get up and do what I have to do as both a clan leader and kunoichi. For something simple as that.'' She smiled. ''To hear two children laugh.''

After a moment of silence, as all reasons why he ever killed flashed before his eyes, he nodded and could in all seriousness and honesty add with a stern face that he shared that feeling. "I disagree. It takes a lot of effort to create such a safe environment that allows children to grow up without danger, where they can take as much time as they want to be children. A child's laugh is an expensive gift." He replied, thinking of the last time he had been inside his village, still not recuperated from the Hon attack two years ago. It was hard to find happy children there, amidst the gravestones of their parents.

''It is. But is something I find very precious and rare these days.'' She softly replied. ''However, it is much more simple than wealth. Power or influence. It is something more simple, yet more valuable. I would give my life up to make sure that Kei and Akimoto keep on laughing. If that means I need to go or be put down, I would die likely with a smile. Though I have always found that odd.'' She looked up to Kensuke. The expression on Aiko didn't reveal much, as it was more or less bland. But it were her eyes that betrayed her. That gave Kensuke a clear idea how she felt about the current turn of the topic. ''Regardless of what crime I have to do, I will need to make sure those are safe. Which is ironic, don't you think? I kill in order to protect. I hurt others and create discontent and hatred among others, to make sure that love and peace is being kept in another.'' Looking back at the glass, Aiko sighed. Her left hand went through her hair. ''I think that it is true about what they say. That you need to give something in order to gain. I always thought it had a sad ring to it.''

"Such seems to be the way of life." He replied absentmindedly as the begging face of a roughly 12-year old boy flashed past his eyes, with dirt on his cheeks, tears streaming freely from his eyes, and sunburned cheeckbones. He had killed a lot of people and caused a lot of grief for the wellbeing of those he strived to protect, and it still jarred him that if he would've been born in another village, he would just as easily kill people he now deemed friends.

''But enough of this. Kind of twisted turn, don't you think? Hahaha, I am still think you should think about kids.'' Aiko said, trying to not sink in the thoughts and memories of the past. About what it truly meant to live in despair and realizing that you were out there alone. Then to only know that in order to gain something you either had to give something up or worse. To take it away from others. ''If I and Zakito have the time for it, why wouldn't you have it?''

Shaking himself out of his dark thoughts he sheepishly grinned in response. "I don't know. I just do not feel quite up to the task yet." He replied. "Perhaps I still feel like I want to enjoy this little spare time I still have." He added with a misschievous grin. Children weren't always as nice. She laughed at first. ''Are you sure? Cause I wanted to ask next if you want to babysit Aki and Kei. I would like my little spare time back.'' Looking at the left, at some pictures, she smiled. ''Not that I regret it, but I loved spending time just walking around Konohagakure with Zakito. Just not thinking about anything that resolved around killing or sneaking around. Like civilians just do.'' Shaking her head again, Aiko wondered if she was really getting odd. ''Sorry, I don't want to bring up old stories that you're not interested in.''

"Babysitting? Well, I guess I could do that..." He replied, raising his shoulders. The idea was actually quite attractive to him, despite his earlier thoughts about becoming a father himself. He was only 21 after all. "And don't worry about stories, you can't beat Zakito in telling useless stories." He replied with a grin. As reaction, she laughed. Aiko placed her hands at her stomach as she did so. ''I think we think more alike than I could ever predict. Thank you Kensuke. Or may I call you Ken? Is that okay or maybe a bit weird?'' She asked. Was this why Zakito was so fond of the young man? Aiko always had a good opinion on him, but getting more personal with him like this? Yes, she could understand why she had heard good things about him.

"Perhaps we are, and no, that's not a problem." He replied with a smile. He hadn't ever heard much of Aiko except that she knew what was right for her clan, and herself. It was a bit strange that he knew so little of the wife of a man he knew better than he had known his own father. ''Thanks. I appreciate it.'' Aiko said.

Walking through the streets of the village, Shikaroku made his way out towards the training fields. He was significantly less nervous than the last time he had gone to meet with Aiko, and this time he had made sure to prepare. Shikaroku had spent the entire week working on his chakra control and researching different forms of genjutsu. This time he felt like he would have a little more knowledge to help in his understanding, and he even had a technique in mind that he wanted to try and learn.

Entering the field, Shikaroku spotted Aiko and smiled. Waving at her briefly, he increased his pace so that he wouldn't make her wait any longer. "Good morning Aiko-sama!"

She had also just entered the field. Noticing him, she waved back as well smiled. ''Morning Shikaroku. How are you today?'' She asked as she approached him. Running a hand through her red hair, she laughed briefly. ''Do please excuse me as this is a mere shadow clone. I didn't want to disappoint you with telling you I couldn't come to train you in person, but there are some things that need to be taken care off.'' She explained to him, lowering her right arm.

Approaching the jounin, Shikaroku wasn't disappointed at all. Aiko had another team to train, and he was just happy that she had taken some time to help him as well. "It is no bother Aiko-sama. Thank you for meeting me once again." Lowering his head briefly in a sign of respect, Shikaroku realized that he hadn't answered her prior question and quickly added, "-And I am doing well thank you. How about yourself?"

''So far so good. Wish I could be here in person to help you though.'' She told him, still having a smile on her lips. Looking around the empty field, she turned her attention soon back on the Nara. ''I hope you had some time to train yourself. How has that been?'' She asked him, genuinely curious to hear if he would have had some time to try to improve his chakra control.

Nodding his head, Shikaroku responded quickly. "I have spent some time each day working on the exercises that you showed me, and I think it has helped a fair bit." Though he hadn't had time to really practice and see how much the exercises had helped, Shikaroku definitely felt like he had a better understanding of how his chakra worked now, and he could manage it more efficiently. "I have also spent some time researching a few genjutsu techniques, ones that it may be a little easier for me to start with. Unless of course there was anything specific that you had in mind?"

''I haven't yet managed to find some time to look for a technique, though I can easily think of some.'' She told him. Thinking about it, she then nodded. ''But if you have spent some time researching, lets discuss it then together. I am very curious as eager to hear what you have managed to learn about.'' Aiko smiled as she would lower herself to sit on her but. She was also thinking about some fairly basic and weak genjutsu that she could pass to him in case that he would prefer that.

"Well, as you mentioned, genjutsu is typically designed to attack the senses. For me, it would be most practical to find techniques that would disorient my opponents so that I could use my shadow techniques with more efficiency." Pausing, he wondered how to phrase what he wanted to say next. "I thought it would be more logical to focus on genjutsu that affected sight first. If I could confuse my enemy into into seeing something else, or temporarily blind them, then I could take advantage of that confusion to trap them with my shadow jutsu."

The words of Shikaroku interested Aiko. It was interesting in how he had researched on how he could try to improve the use of his shadows with genjutsu. ''That is indeed a good idea.'' She said. There were several genjutsu appearing in Aiko's mind, but so far each were either too difficult or ones she hadn't master. And to teach him the Hidden Mist technique or something like that wouldn't do any good. He wasn't trained, yet perhaps, in the art of Silent Killing. ''Have you managed to find a genjutsu which can perform something like that?''

Nodding his head excitedly, Shikaroku beamed. "I have, yes." Beginning to pace, Shikaroku clasped his hands together behind his back. "There are three techniques that I have been interested in. Two of the techniques were actually in my clan records, which surprised me at first, as I was not aware that we used genjutsu often. The third technique is actually a little more basic." Continuing to pace, Shikaroku hoped that he wasn't boring Aiko with his more drawn out explanations, and he figured that he should probably cut to the chase. "The third technique is one that you may be familiar with. The Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing technique." Glancing at Aiko, he would wait to see if she was familiar with the jutsu before continuing.

Not one, but three? Aiko had to say she was pleasantly surprised by the display of enthusiasm of Shikaroku. Next to that the Nara clan had genjutsu, which surprised Aiko as well. Curious to ask about, she waited until she could speak up. ''I am quite familiar with that one. Good work, Shikaroku.'' Flashing a warm smile, she started to ponder on what they should do. Deciding to ask a question before she would make a decision, Aiko spoke up. ''What are those Nara genjutsu? Like, can you tell me in a short version about them? I am very curious to learn about them, if you don't mind me.''

Pleased that Aiko seemed to appreciate the effort he had put into researching, Shikaroku nodded. Continuing to pace, he began speaking once again. "The first of the genjutsu that I learned of was kind of a combination jutsu of sorts. It employs the use of my shadow technique with a genjutsu that makes the victim believe that they are falling through the shadow into a bottomless pit. During that time, they remain unaware of what is going on around them, and that gives the user plenty of time to take care of them." Pausing, he let out a sad smile.

"At the moment I believe that technique is a little too advanced for me, as it requires precise control, along with having my opponent already caught in the shadow. The second technique, however, would be a little more plausible for me to learn. Basically, it simply requires the target to be standing near a shadow. Be it from a tree, a large boulder, anything would work, but there needs to be some sort of shadow already present. From there, the user makes themselves visible, and forms a handseal to get the target's attention. The handseal isn't a necessity, as the genjutsu simply requires that the target looks at the user. From there, the target will be unable to move. They will think that they are trapped in the shadow, and from there will be paralyzed. It functions much in the same way as my clan's shadow imitation technique, but for two major differences. The shadow will not actually be controlling the target, and the target will not mimic the movements of the caster." Coming to a full stop, Shikaroku turned towards Aiko. "So.. uh, what do you think?"

Aiko ran a hand through her hair as she smiled. The genjutsu he informed her about were interesting. She could see some strong and weak points in genjutsu as that. But instead of trying to analyze them, she would have to make a decision. ''Lets begin with some simple. Those two techniques of your clan piqued my interest, but they seem a bit too advanced for now. It is far better to start at a more reasonable and lower level when you try to learn about a specialized field.'' Aiko explained. The problem was however that she was now just a mere shadow clone. Which mean that she had to adapt the training to it. Not that she would have to change that much. ''Have you read the scroll about the Hell Viewing Technique by any chance?''

A little disappointed, Shikaroku understood her point. His excitement picked back up however, when she asked if he'd read the scroll about the Hell Viewing Technique. Fumbling through his pack, Shikaroku pulled out the scroll. "I have, Aiko-sama! And I brought it with me, just in case." Noticing that he was a bit disappointed, Aiko smiled more when he pulled the scroll out. ''Very good of you! This might make it easier to learn and master this technique, on which you can then proceed to learn those who you have mentioned!'' Aiko said, hoping it would both cheer as motivate the boy.

''Now, lets start to analyze the genjutsu first. Can you tell me both the advantages as disadvantages of the technique?''

Pulling from memory, Shikaroku thought for a moment before speaking. "The main advantage is that the technique pulls from the victim's own fears, meaning that the target is fooled into seeing things that will affect them deeply. They also don't have to remain stationary for the technique to work, which helps to make them believe that the genjutsu is real." Pausing, he thought back to all that he had read about the technique. "The obvious disadvantages are that someone trained against genjutsu may be able to recognize it fairly easily and then dissolve the technique. It also does not paralyze or otherwise harm the target in any way, leaving them free to move around still." Looking to Aiko, Shikaroku waited to see if she had thought of anything else.

''That is about right.'' Aiko said, wanting to say she was impressed or at least happy that he had managed to analyze the technique in such a detailed fashion. From most student she had, only a very few were able to analyze a technique like that. What made it more impressive in her opinion was that he wasn't properly trained yet in genjutsu, but had made such a nice analysis. Thinking further about it, it was said that genjutsu was one of the difficult field of ninjutsu to understand. ''Knowing this, how would you apply the genjutsu in a battle then?''

Thinking about it for a moment, Shikaroku tried to come up with a plan. "My first goal would be to distract the target. Potentially through the use of flash tag or explosive tag, or perhaps by using another technique to get them into the position that I would want them in. From there, I would employ the genjutsu. When their vision is blocked by the leaves, I would then move quickly to a place of cover. I would observe them then to see how the genjutsu affected them, that way I don't rush in if they somehow dissolve the genjutsu." Pacing again, Shikaroku could already see a few holes in his plan, but he had gone too far to make those corrections now. "If I am convinced that they are caught under the genjutsu, then I would move into a position where I could trap them with my shadow technique." Glancing over to Aiko, he wondered what she thought of his plan.

Slowly, Aiko raised her arms, crossing them out front of her chest. A small smile started to grow on her lips as she heard Shikaroku's answer. ''Good. That is how you should use the genjutsu. Genjutsu like these aren't developed and used to overwhelm or confuse an opponent to deal a blow on them. It is meant to try to make an opening for another move, but not one for a direct hack and slash.'' Aiko then thought about something. ''Why don't we try it out?''

His eyes widening briefly, Shikaroku was thrown off guard. He hadn't expected Aiko to get him to try it out this quickly. "Are... are you sure?" He asked, the excitement clear in his voice. The opportunity filled him with eagerness, but Shikaroku didn't want to get his hopes up just yet... If he failed at using the technique then he would end up looking more foolish than anything.

Making a shadow clone, who would take a bit of a distance. Around a few meters, Aiko laughed. ''Of course. Why else would I suggest it? I am maybe not that strict as your sensei, but I am neither always joking around. Go ahead. Make me proud.'' Aiko said, hoping she could motivate him a bit with her words. Even taking a step back to give a clear signal that he had the stage, Aiko took a closer watch of Shikaroku than her shadow clone.

Hesitating for a moment, Shikaroku finally nodded with a smile. "Thank you Aiko-sama." Stepping towards her shadow clone, Shikaroku focused, taking several deep breaths. Recalling how the technique worked from what he'd read of the scroll, he began focusing his chakra. Forming the handseal, Shikaroku locked eyes with the clone and released his chakra. Here goes nothing... He thought, waiting to see if the clone was affected.

At first the clone seemed to be calm and then there was a small frown. Due the clone being under the effect of the genjutsu it seemed that it was freaking out about nothing. Turning pale, the hands of the clone shot towards her mouth as it seemed that she wanted to scream her lungs out. No sound was produced however as the eyes widened and the skin became more pale. It had something morbid to it, Aiko thought to see herself in such agony and fear. The genjutsu wouldn't be a problem and not even effective against her, but she had let her Shadow clone suffer to give a good idea to Shikaroku how an inexperienced victim would react to it. Then the clone poofed away, resulting that there was a twitch underneath Aiko's right eye. ''Well done.''

Stepping backwards in shock, Shikaroku hadn't quite expected it to work. The reaction of Aiko's clone was enough to make him want to know what she was seeing, whatever it was, it was clearly horrifying. Throwing a glance towards Aiko, he slowly smiled. "It... it worked?!" Relief spilled onto his face and Shikaroku didn't reallally know how to react.

''It most certainly did.'' Aiko answered. It was a bit adorable to see him react like that, but she decided to not voice that. ''Now you have seen how an inexperienced victim would react to it, how would you use that in a battle?'' Aiko decided to ask. Due the shadow clone she had briefly seen the fear that the genjutsu had produced. A very vile image that she managed to shove away, but it was still troublesome.

"Do you mean a battle in which I am a part of a team, or a solo fight Aiko-sama?" The question was an important one as it would vary his plan greatly. He had already thought of several different ways he could use it, but would wait for Aiko's answer before choosing which response he would go with. ''Lets first go with solo and then with your team.'' Aiko decided to answer. Though she was more interested to hear how he would do in a solo fight, Aiko figured that Shikaroku was more of a team fighter. Considering how the Nara techniques worked, though Aiko wasn't that experienced with them.

Nodding his head, Shikaroku decided on a plan. "Well... now that I have seen what it looks like against an affected target, I would adjust my plan slightly." Taking a breath, he clasped his hands together. "The distraction would remain the same. I would make sure to draw their attention and focus, but instead of showing myself to the target, I would make sure to keep myself hidden from view before hitting them with the genjutsu. Once they were under its effects, I would move in with my shadow release and trap them in position." Taking some time to think about which plan he would go with if it came to a team fight situation, Shikaroku began pacing again.

"In a situation where I would have my team with me, that would require a little more coordination. I am going to work under the assumption that this is a straight fight, and neither team had time to prepare an ambush or such, if... that is okay?" He hesitated momentarily, but continued without waiting for permission. "The overall goal would be to divide and conquer, splitting the enemy team up, and taking them out one by one. I am lucky enough to have two sensory types on my team, which would help in locating our opponents. Using Masami-san's Byakuugan, I would have her locate the enemy team. From there, Mia would draw them out using her speed and her ninken to avoid being overtaken. Once the three opponents are within range, I would make sure to remain hidden, and approach from behind them. I would have Masami-san move in to support Mia, and to push the enemies apart from each other. Once they are separated, I would use that genjutsu to distract the one nearest to me. Once the target was under the spell, I would use my shadow release to draw that person away from the fight where I could finish them off. Then, provided we all still have enough chakra, we would repeat the same steps, with some minor variations, in order to split up the remaining two enemies and finish them off with relative ease."

Aiko paid great attention to both his answers. When he asked his question, she had been thinking about it but seeing he continued, she would wait and see what he would give her as an answer. Though she was happy that he gave her that many details, she had little to almost no idea about his team members. Only their surnames gave an idea on what their fighting styles would be. ''Your first answer is a very nice one. Ambushes and such is what I specialize in and must say out of experience that they give a certain. Edge.'' A smile crept on her lips as she thought about it. Realizing it could sound maybe a bit too arrogant, she wiped the smile from her face. The second answer was now what she would need to critize. ''But lets discuss and question your second approach. I hear and notice that you're quite good with devising strategies, no?'' Aiko asked first, making the assumption from the quick thinking he had done and the plan itself. Yes, there were some flaws, but he had no information about his enemies. It would be rather cruel to then critize his whole plan because he had no information about the opposition. Besides, what plan was perfect in any sense?

''What will you do if it turns out that one of the opponents manage to by pass your plan? Like a sensory shinobi. How would that affect your plan?'' Aiko asked, trying to sound more curious as she didn't had the intention to sound like she was doubting his plan or ability to create an answer to it.

Shikaroku shrugged when she mentioned that he was good with devising strategies. It wasn't something he'd ever thought much about, and when he was stressed, or tried to focus too hard... That's when the pain came back. Thinking about her question, Shikaroku looked back up. "Then we quickly adjust the plan to fit with the new requirements. Locate the sensory nin first so that they are no longer able to provide aid to their teammates. There's no point trying to sneak up on one, so instead we would employ a larger distraction. Forcing the sensory nin into a position where we have the advantage would be the first step, and once that is complete then we can move in and continue the original plan with the remaining enemies." Pausing for a moment, he decided to add something else. "Ideally I would love to have time to actually survey the enemy force first, so that I could get an idea of what we were facing before trying to plan anything. But with limited knowledge, that would be the plan I would go with."

That was it. Aiko had hoped he would add something like that. Placing her right hand on her hip, she made a short gesture with her left hand. ''Then why not survey the enemy? You have two scouts at your disposal. Knowing their limits and using what you know about the general type of sensor, I am sure you could figure out a grand plan.'' Aiko said. Then she decided to throw out a compliment, cause she figured he had deserved one in her opinion. ''I would love to have you aiding my team, considering how well you make plans.''

Letting out a short laugh, Shikaroku scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He didn't do too well with comments. Blushing and turning around, he was happy he had come to train with Aiko. "I don't know how much help I would be Aiko-sama, but... thanks. Judging by your skills as a sensei, your team must be quite a force to be reckoned with already." Lowering his head slightly, he didn't turn back before adding, "I just wish I knew how to help my team a little more so that we could work together more efficiently. I know it takes time... Sorry. You aren't here to hear me complain. I just want you to know how much I appreciate you taking the time to help me Aiko-sama." Turning back to her, Shikaroku managed to flash her a smile, along with a quick bow.

Her a good sensei? The first team training of the current formation of Team 8 had been a complete disaster. But Aiko would accept the words with a smile, while she mentally heavily disagreed. Yet, it was nice to be complimented. ''It is no bother, Shikaroku. If you wouldn't complain then another wouldn't know what would be wrong if you wouldn't voice it.'' Aiko reacted, shortly letting out a laugh. Maybe she should use that reason from now when she wanted to complain? ''And maybe I should request you to join my team on a mission. With somebody like you making a plan, I could just sit back and enjoy some free time.'' Winking, it was clear that it was a mere joke.

Laughing a little more warmly this time, Shikaroku realized that he hadn't actually joked around with anyone in quite some time. It felt strange, but nice in the sense that he was actually able to relax. "It would be an honour, Aiko-sama." He said, chuckling again. "You'd just have to get past stubborn Hiron. He wasn't too happy with our last team performance..." Thinking back to Hiron's words after the mission he had given them, Shikaroku felt a little embarrassed. He had wanted to do better... wanted the team to do better, and now they weren't able to train together as a team for some time.

Laughing, Aiko found his reply quite funny. But it was no surprise from the reputation that Hiron held. ''Don't worry. I get along with Hiron.'' Though she was interested why he wasn't happy about the last performance of Team 9. Knowing how stern Hiron could be, Aiko had several ideas. It was tempting to ask it, but it wasn't any of her concern. ''If you need any advise or help, you can always try to reach me. I might have it busy, but I won't mind to help out.''

"That means a lot, Aiko-sama. Thank you." Bowing his head politely once again, Shikaroku remembered something he wanted to ask. "Are... are you going to the exams Aiko-sama?"

Waving his thanks away, like it was a worry, Aiko didn't see it as a thing he would need to bow his head for. But the question was one she hadn't expected. ''Yes. Two of my students are signed up to participate in it. Why you ask, if I may do so.'' Aiko politely asked back. It made her wonder if Shikaroku had any connections to either Katsu or Koike. Though the latter would be a huge surprise if that was so.

Shuffling awkwardly, he hadn't realized that she had two students participating. Hopefully he didn't have to face them... Looking back to Aiko, Shikaroku scratched the back of his head again. "Um... well, I was kinda wondering if you'd maybe want to watch my match? Sorry... I just thought... You've been a huge help, Aiko-sama, I know you'll probably be really busy watching your students... Just, if you had time, and... and if you wanted to... it would mean a lot seeing you there." Looking away again, Shikaroku blushed.
Aiko blinked twice. There were several matches she would need to attend. Raising her right hand to run it through her hair, Aiko smiled. ''I think I am now the one who is honored, Shikaroku.'' Lowering her hand, Aiko made a slow and short bow in his direction. ''I would be honored and am very happy that you invited me to watch your match. You can count on me cheering for you.'' Aiko told him. For a moment Aiko wasn't sure what else she could say. It was cute.

Looking up, Shikaroku beamed. "Thank you Aiko-sama. Hopefully now I can convince Hiron to come cheer for me as well... I'll probably need all the help I can get." Chuckling slightly to let her know he wasn't entirely serious about needing that much help, Shikaroku tilted his head to the side. "Hopefully I don't end up against any of your students though... But if I do, please cheer for them, I wouldn't want to make anything awkward..." He found himself standing a little taller now that she had agreed to come see his match however, and it made him feel happy.

Truth be told, Aiko thought about it and she would find it interesting. The genjutsu skill of Koike was much more advanced than Shikaroku. His new trained genjutsu skills would pale in comparison, but she hadn't forgotten about Shikaroku's shadow techniques. It would be certainly interesting to see how that would turn out. She considered he would be capable of going at Katsu. If his confidence would only be a bit higher. ''Don't worry about it. I have gotten to know Hiron pretty good and if he is willing to train and invest time in you, he will watch. He is all tough on the outside, but can be very soft on the inside.'' Then she decided something. ''But I think that concludes our training today. Which means I have to release this clone. What about if we will drink some tea later together? Maybe with some cake?''

At the mention of tea, his eyes lit up. "That would be delicious! I mean... uh... That sounds good, thank you Aiko-sama." She was right about Hiron, and Shikaroku knew it, he just didn't want to put all his hope on it and have it dashed. "Thank you again for this training Aiko-sama. I will continue to practice the technique, and hopefully someday I will be ready to try some more advanced stuff."

Nodding, Aiko's hands were brought together to form the dispel handsignal. ''Be careful and don't over do it.'' Aiko said, quite happy that he was eager to continue his practice with the technique. ''I think you will be ready before you even know it. Take care and if there is something,'' Aiko chuckled very briefly. ''Just let me know. Good day, Shikaroku. I will later let you know when I have some free time.'' With that the the shadow clone that had been present and helped Shikaroku all this time poofed away.

Katsu walked through the streets of the village, glancing down at the note he'd received from Hayate, getting distracted and looking forward before finishing re-reading it. He crumpled and pocketed it. With his usual cheerful state, he looked towards the destination he was closing in on, the forge at the Azumi. Walking in, the boy looked around to locate his friend inside.

Wiping another large bead of sweat from his brow, Hayate looked down at the slab of metal he had just finished hammering. It was still going to take a lot of work to get it finished the way he wanted, but he felt a small hint of pride that he had been able to use what Tsubasa had taught him to form a proper weapon. Hearing a noise, Hayate turned around. "Ah, Katsu-san! I see you got my note. Thanks for coming." He smiled beckoning the boy to come further into the room.

Katsu smiled, shutting the door. "Good morning Hayate-san," he greeted him. After taking a moment to see what Hayate was working on, Katsu went on. "I didn't know you worked at a blacksmith," he said, his tone revealing his pleasant surprise. He shook himself and focused, once again speaking in a friendly manner, "What can I do for you?"

His brow furrowed slightly as he thought back to Tsubasa, the old smith for the guardians. She had been an incredible smith, and a talented teacher. He was saddened now that she was gone, but had taken over the role of blacksmith for the guardians as it seemed to be the most logical thing to do. "I tend to split my duties between tending to the garden and working up here. Gives me a taste of both worlds." Chuckling slightly, Hayate set down his heavy gloves and turned back to Katsu. "I asked you to come here for two reasons really. Sorry the message was so vague." Pausing, Hayate wondered how best to start. "I... I wanted to apologize for my behaviour from before. When Kiyomi-sama and I came by your stall. I wasn't really me that day... and I, I want to apologize for that." Looking down for a moment, Hayate felt embarrassed.

Katsu gave him a strange and confused look. "I don't understand," he said with a null and void tone. "You didn't do anything wrong back then. You don't need to apologize for... well, nothing, I guess." The smile reformed itself and the cheerful tone returned. "What was the second reason, Hayate-san?" he asked, curious.

A brief feeling of relief filled him as Hayate realized that Katsu didn't hold a grudge. "Look uh, I'm not the greatest around people, I can be quiet at times and I don't always interact very well. So I guess I just want to apologize if I was at all rude or anything." Rubbing his hands off on the large apron he wore, Hayate forgot what they were talking about for a second and then suddenly remembered with a smile. "Ah, yes, the second thing. Well, I wanted to do something as a thank you for the work that you have done for Kiyomi-sama and myself. I know you are a very talented swordsman, so I thought I might be able to help out with that." The smile still on his face, Hayate folded his arms across his chest and waited to see if Katsu would understand what he was saying.

Katsu's eyes shone as he had a small epiphany but didn't word his primary thoughts. "That's not really necessary, Hayate-san," he said nervously. "I mean, you treated me to a meal too. Plus, all I did was move around the pencil a bit. I don't want to be a burden for you." He peeked past Hayate, recognizing the refined craftsmanship of the weapons in the shop like a boy looking at the candy shop across the street.

His smile widening, Hayate cocked his head to the side. "If I remember correctly, I ended up eating most of that lunch anyway!" Chuckling, he uncrossed his arms and stared at Katsu for a moment. "You couldn't be a burden if you tried Katsu-san. And besides, drawing is your passion is it not?"

Katsu curled up his lips and lightly nodded. "It is, I guess, but I just like doing it," he said. "So is this your passion?" The sparkle in his eyes returned. While he knew little about the process of the smithing of a weapon, he had a great interest in the sharp things surrounding him at the moment.

Nodding his head, Hayate picked up the piece that he had been working on. The metal had cooled enough for him to touch it with his bare hands, and he held the piece in front of him for a moment, staring at it with affection. He could think of something else that he could technically call his passion as well, but the only sign that he was thinking of something else was the small glint that came to his eyes. "This is, yes. Metal for me is like a sketchpad and pencil for you. It is my playground. Growing up I had a gift, the ability to shape metal with my hands." Holding up the metal so that Katsu could see what he was doing, Hayate began moulding his chakra into it. It didn't take long for the metal to form into a simple looking sword. Smiling, Hayate continued, "Then, I met someone who taught me another way to manipulate metal. It took much more work, and a lot more time, but there is just something about it that draws me in." Pausing again, he looked back to the other boy, hoping that his story wasn't boring him.

"I have since found a kind of merging point. A way of mixing the best of both worlds. But, I am blabbering now. Sorry, but now for the big question... How would you like me to craft you a sword Katsu-san?"

Listening with open ears and sparkling eyes, Katsu kept his gaze on Hayate's mouth. He wanted to speak up and answer the question but hesitated. "That's really amazing," he uttered in wonder. He paused for a moment trying to think of the best way to answer the question. "Hayate-san... I..." Sighing, the boy walked over and smiled, pulling out his sabre. He let it rest in both of his hands as he showed it to Hayate. "Maybe something like this..."

Placing down the piece of metal in his hands, Hayate reached out towards where Katsu was holding his own sabre. "May I?" He asked, hoping that the other boy would allow him to feel the weapon. Katsu nodded, locked the tip of the blade between his thumb and index finger, holding out the hilt for Hayate to take. "Of course."

Bowing his head politely in thanks, Hayate gingerly took the blade from Katsu's hands. Flipping the weapon over, he took a long moment to observe it. Sending small probes of chakra into the metal, Hayate 'tasted' the elements that made up the blade. "Interesting... interesting..." He muttered, more to himself than anything. Finally, Hayate smiled and handed the weapon back to Katsu. "It is a fine blade Katsu-san." Wiping his hands on his apron again, Hayate began thinking for a moment. "I think I can do something like that, as long as you don't mind me adding in a few personal touches?"

"Thanks," Katsu said, smiling, his mind drifting off for a moment as he sheathed the weapon once more. "It was a gift..." He shook himself and looked at Hayate. "Of course not! I'd appreciate it greatly," he responded once more. He was doing a pretty good job at suppressing his glee, although it still looked like he was quite happy with Hayate's proposal.

Grinning, Hayate folded his arms across his chest. It was clear that Katsu was excited, and that made Hayate happy. "While my method of forging is a little faster than the traditional version, it will still take me some time to finish the weapon. I hope that is alright?"

"Can I watch?" Katsu asked. "I don't really know how the forging process is so I'm a bit curious." That was an understatement on the boy's part. The smile on Hayate's face grew even wider. "Absolutely, though I would like to warn you the process can occasionally be quite boring." Moving over to the far wall in which Hayate kept all of the different metals, he turned to look at Katsu over his shoulder. "If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a few questions while I work, I think your answers will help me craft the right weapon for you."

Katsu pondered on what kinds of questions Hayate could ask. After the moment passed, he snapped back to reality and nodded. "Sure, shoot," he said cheerfully, following Hayate and looking over at the different types of metals in front of him. Turning back towards the metal, Hayate nodded. "What do you feel is more important in a fight, to you at least. Speed or strength?" As he spoke, Hayate was scanning the wall of different metals with his eyes.

"Speed," Katsu answered plainly and without a second thought. Ah... He eyed Hayate. Katsu figured he was going to choose its weight accordingly to the response. He looked around, trying to get a glance at the tools used for forging curiously. Making a mental note, Hayate already cut out a couple of options. "Next question. What do you think is a more effective way of attacking, fast shallow strikes or fewer, more accurate cuts?"

"More accurate cuts," Katsu answered. "Fast shallow strikes shot in random areas can push the opponent but it'll just wear me out quicker." This was something he'd learned the hard way. Though that was always to reduce inexperience.

"Hmm..." Hayate mused, taking off another of the metals he had in mind. "Alright, well, what do you value more? Stealth, or aggression?" This question didn't really affect the type of metal he would use, it would correlate more to the finished style then anything.

Katsu thought for a moment. "I'd say stealth but I don't have any training in that area," he said. "Aggression." he gave his final answer to the question. Nodding again, Hayate turned and flashed a smile. "What is your favourite animal and why?" The question may have seemed a little out of place, but everything that he was asking had a reason.

Katsu raised an eyebrow at the question but quickly lowered it and thought on an answer. "Ah... Tigers, I guess. If we're talking about domestic animals, however, dogs. Man's best friend, you know?" "Favourite colour?" Hayate fired back quickly.

He hesitantly answered this question. "Black, although it's not really a colour but rather a shade." Thinking for a moment, Hayate raised one eyebrow inquisitively. "Can you dual wield blades Katsu-san? And is it a style you enjoy?"

"I can and I do enjoy it, although I've only used that kind of a style during training," he said.

"Which would you rather fight and why. A bear, or a wolf?"

"Ah..." His eyes floated upwards as he thought, mumbling indistinctively. "Bears... thick... wolves.... swift..." were some of the words that could be made out. "A bear because with swift movements and a sharp, chakra induced blade, you can deal more damage quickly while wolves can avoid your attacks while rushing towards you."

Turning back to the wall of metals, Hayate had narrowed his selection significantly. "What is your favourite element Katsu, and why?"

"Wind," he answered without thinking. "While lightning's probably a close second on my list, the wind element suits me more."

Nodding his head, it was a good answer. Hayate almost had everything he needed. "Last question Katsu-san. What do you think is more important? The pen, or the sword?"

"The pen. With words, you can sway the mind of the wielder of the sword or even start and end wars," he said quite seriously. "Though you can't block a sword with a plain pen," he added as a joke.

That was all that Hayate needed to know to make his selection. Calmly grabbing several different metals, he brought them over to the table by the forge. Laying them out in front of him, Hayate observed them for a moment, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "How do you like the current weight of your weapon Katsu-san? Is it balanced properly for you?"

Katsu nodded once more. "Yeah. I got used to it over time," he responded with the everlasting smile still on his face. "It's not too heavy that I wouldn't be able to wield it quickly nor too light that it wouldn't pack enough of a punch to deal damage. It's the perfect weight for me."

"Do you mind if I watch you use it briefly?" Hayate asked, another thought popping into his head. Katsu hesitated for a moment before pulling out the sword. He made a basic gesture, swinging it from his left shoulder to his right hip to show its speed. "Like this?"

Nodding his head, Hayate pondered for a moment. "I was thinking more of whether or not I could see you use it in a real fight? For example we could step outside for a short time and spar, simply to observe your style. If that is okay with you?"

The boy smiled and nodded. "Of course," he responded. He quickly spun the back of the hilt on his palm and reversed the blade, walking towards the door. Taking off his apron, Hayate followed behind Katsu.

They made their way to the training fields and Hayate stood facing Katsu. "Okay, I will summon a shadow clone for you to fight. I want you to go all out as you normally would in a fight, while I watch from the sidelines. This is going to be the best way for me to see your style. Does that sound good?" Stepping back, Hayate made the necessary seals and summoned a single shadow clone.

Katsu nodded to the proposal and took his battle stance, pulling the sword behind him. "Here I come," he announced but didn't wait for any approval, leaping off the ground and towards Hayate's clone. He swung his sword downwards with a weak yet swift attack.

Waiting until the last moment, Hayate's clone whipped out his staff and blocked the downwards strike. Shifting his staff so that it was angled to the left, causing Katsu's blade to slide down it a ways, Hayate's clone pivoted around to the right. He brought the staff around so that it would hit Katsu in the back, unless the boy parried it or moved in time.

Raising the blade quickly to parry the next blow, he pushed the staff upwards and ducked, kicking at the clone's feet to throw him off balance as his body lowered.

The real Hayate stood aside, keeping very close track of how Katsu moved and used his weapon. Meanwhile, his shadow clone curled the staff around, shifting his body to avoid Katsu's kick. He continued his movement and turned it into a spin, bringing the staff around in a vicious arc.

Katsu poured his wind chakra into the blade, creating a sharp coat around it as he kicked himself up to meet the staff with his sword, quickly dragging the blade ahead of him.

His eyes narrowing, the real Hayate smiled as he watched. Things were getting interesting. Hayate's clone sent a small amount of chakra flowing into his staff, causing it to become slightly longer. The increased cutting power of Katsu's wind-aided attack caused the blade to carve a slight nick into Hayate's staff. Quickly shifting his weight again, Hayate's clone threw the blade off of his staff. Spinning the staff around his body, he launched the end towards Katsu, jabbing at the other boy's midsection.

The moment it made contact, Katsu had his free hand ready with his palm open next to its landing point. He thrusted it towards the staff, holding in the pain and standing his ground, pushing it to the side and pushing himself forward, gliding across its side with his sworded hand pointing forward, moving to Hayate's clone's general direction.

Clever. Hayate thought, enjoying the action. His clone used the momentum of Katsu's push to flip the staff back around his body. He had to be quick in order to avoid Katsu's incoming blade. Bending his body, Hayate's clone spun underneath the attack, adding extra momentum to his own strike.

Katsu's eyes followed Hayate as he dodged and spun on his heel the opposite direction quickly and giving the coated weapon more of a momentum as he met the attack with the blade, using the staff's momentum to deal more damage to the staff itself.

As the weapons collided, Hayate noticed the deep cut that was left in his staff. Grinning, the clone kicked off from the ground, pushing himself back and away from Katsu. Flipping, more for effect than anything, Hayate landed with a flourish. In each hand he held an equal portion of the now-separated staff. "Very nice Katsu-san. Now what would you say about trying some dual wielding?"

The coat around the blade slowly faded. "Sure," he said, smiling. He looked over at the original Hayate. "Did you bring a second sword?" Oh, wait. He looked over to the clone once more, noticing the split up staff.

Smiling, the real Hayate withdrew a fair amount of his clan's alloy from his pouch. Moulding his chakra into the metal, he slowly formed a rudimentary clone of Katsu's current blade. "Here." He said, tossing the weapon towards Katsu. "I want you to use this for now. It conducts chakra perfectly and the weight should be almost identical to your current weapon."

Katsu stared at Hayate in awe. "That was awesome," he cried out, his eyes glowing as he caught the weapon. He inspected it for a bit, clutching it reverse with his other hand. "Then here I come." The boy leapt forward, slashing at Hayate with the original sword in his right hand from his left hip to the right side.

His eyes gaining an excited glint, Hayate's clone prepared himself to face Katsu's attack. Using one of the halves of his staff, he parried the other boy's first strike. Bringing his other half around, Hayate attempted to strike Katsu's left shoulder.

Katsu made a quick decision and right after the parry, he swung his other arm towards Hayate's clone's head. He completely ignored the blow coming from the side. Realizing that Katsu wasn't attempting to block the strike, the real Hayate frowned. The point of this exercise was not to actually harm each other, it was meant to observe how Katsu used his weapons. The boy had taken a strange risk in order to attempt to land a blow against Hayate's clone. The clone had to practice a huge amount of restraint to stop his attack from hitting Katsu's shoulder. He did not want to actually injure the boy, and his attack likely would have broken Katsu's collarbone. Ducking to avoid the other boy's counter attack, Hayate threw himself backwards into a roll. Springing himself up, Hayate landed on his feet, his two halves of the staff held out defensively. "Why would you take a risk like that Katsu-san?" He asked, his brows furrowed. "Had my weapon not been blunted, that attack would likely have killed you. As it is I am lucky that I was able to stop before I hit you."

Katsu lowered the swords and thought for a moment. "Ah... It was more of a reflex," he said, sighing. "Sorry..." The boy gave Hayate an apologetic look. "I can be a bit reckless from time to time, huh," he said with a hint of a joking manner.

Nodding his head slightly, Hayate smiled. "Look, it's not my job to judge you on your technique, and I apologize if I sounded a little stern there. I just don't want to see you get hurt Katsu-san. I know risks are a necessary part of combat, but you also need to try and keep your opponent's capabilities in mind before taking a chance like that. You are a very capable swordsman though, Katsu-san. Shall we try this one more time? This time however, my clone will focus only on defense, so I want you to come at him with the intent to destroy."

"Alright," Katsu said, blushing slightly upon hearing what he could consider as praise. He raised the swords again, coating them with his wind chakra. He put on a serious face as he got ready to attack again. "Here I come!" He ran forward quickly and started with a flurry of slashes, swinging the sword in his left hand first upwards and quickly following it up with the one in his right, aiming for the same point.

Hayate's clone had manipulated the metal in his two weapons to make them more blades, rather than simple, blunt staves. Observing Katsu's movement carefully, the clone readied himself. Shifting his body slightly, Hayate's clone whipped his blades around to parry Katsu's attacks. Adding a little bit of force to the parry, he pushed Katsu's blades away from his own and prepared for the next attack.

Katsu's arms flung slightly back with the parries and he tapped on the ground with his chakra gathered at his feet, launching himself just to be able to be in reach of sword clashing distance as he slashed the two swords consequtively, once with each sword at the first moment, at Hayate's clone as he moved through the air.

Pushing himself to the side to negate the extra force of Katsu's charge through the air, Hayate's clone brought both of his swords up and blocked the attack. Using a bit of his strength, he deflected the attack to the side so that Katsu's charge would put him slightly off balance.

Katsu spun the swords in his palm, pointing the sharp sides towards Hayate's swords and resisted the push as much as he could to do as much damage as he could. Falling a bit off balance, he didn't waste any time before making a small lunge and rolling away.

Hayate's clone simply stood his ground against Katsu's attack. He continued flowing metal through his own blades, preventing Katsu's wind enhanced strikes to cut through them. He faced the boy, waiting for him to attack again.

Katsu jumped up to his feet by pushing himself with his hand, lunging towards Hayate's clone once more. He tapped the ground once more, only to lift himself just a little bit off the ground to gain intense spinning speed and thus putting more strength into the two lowering quick consequtive blows.

Using the same technique that Katsu was to push himself off the earth, Hayate's clone did the same, but pushed himself to the side instead of the air with speed. Narrowly avoiding the spinning attack of Katsu, Hayate's clone brought his swords up once again. The speed of Katsu's attack would likely have caused severe damage to Hayate's weapons, even with him constantly repairing them. The boy had talent, that much was certain.

Katsu landed gently, quickly crouching and lunging towards Hayate. Once again, he tapped the ground once more before continuing, however this time, there was a frozen image where he was touching the ground.

His eyes narrowing slightly, Hayate's clone noticed the image and immediately assumed that Katsu was going to use that technique. The last time the boy had used the technique, he had still been in need of some practice. Had he improved so quickly? His eyes glancing around quickly, Hayate's clone did his best to prepare for an attack that could come from any side.

The moment Hayate's clone's eyes slipped away from Katsu, a smile of relief curled up on the boy's lips as he lunged forward again, spinning both swords from right to left, aimed for Hayate's clone's head.

The real Hayate noticed the trick with a smirk. Keeping his arms folded across his chest, he watched to see if his clone would be able to react quickly enough.

Crap! Hayate's clone thought, as he caught the movement from the corner of his eye. Silently blessing peripheral vision, the clone realized that it was going to be too late to block the attack, so instead he ducked backwards, the swords passing less than an inch from his nose. Pushing himself away, Hayate's clone gained some distance before standing up straight with a smile.

Dispersing the clone in a cloud of smoke, Hayate grinned towards Katsu. "I think I have seen enough to begin my work. Would you still like to watch?"

Katsu nodded with a smile, turning to Hayate and tossing the makeshift sword back at him. "Yes, please," he said joyfully. After finishing his sentence, he slid his sword back into its sheath. "I have a question though," he started as he took the first steps towards the forge. "How did you make that sword so quickly?"

Waiting until they had entered the building to respond, Hayate thought about his answer. "To be honest, it took me a long, long time to be able to craft something, even as rudimentary as that, in a short period of time. Basically it requires me to mold my chakra into the material, and use it to shape the metal into a new form. When I am forming a shape that I am familiar with, it is easier to do, but something that is larger, or unfamiliar, takes more concentration and more time. Does that make sense? He sometimes found it difficult to explain how his ability worked, and he only hoped that he was doing a good enough job.

"I guess so," he said, sighing. "Though I've never seen anyone use a technique like that. I haven't heard of anyone who can craft a weapon in seconds either." He didn't ask more about the issue afterwards, not wanting to bother Hayate and ask for explanations.

Smiling, Hayate was happy that Katsu seemed to be impressed. It wasn't that he felt a lot of pride, he was just happy that somebody seemed to appreciate his ability for more than its use in killing people.

They walked in silence the rest of the way to the forge, which wasn't actually that far. Entering the room, Hayate turned and smiled at the other boy. "So I do have to warn you, some of this can be boring to watch as it does take a fair amount of time."

"Haha! I used to sit and watch my old man drink tea for hours," he said, laughing. He meant something different by "old man" than its common use but specifying it would just ruin the mood... Right? "Plus, I'm really interested in how you do this! It seems quite fascinating, to tell you the truth." His eyes were almost glowing. "Of course, if you mind me being here, I could go," he added, not sounding too enthusiastic with his last offer.

Nodding, Hayate turned back around and made his way towards the metal he had left on the table. Gathering it up in his hands, he deposited it near the forge. Pulling out the large gloves he used, Hayate slid them on and grabbed a large metal container that looked a lot like a bucket. Putting two of the metals he had grabbed into the bucket, Hayate used a pair of large tongs to pick up the remaining slabs and place them in the forge.

It took a fair amount of time for the metal to become hot enough to be malleable, and Hayate spent that time going over designs in his head. Finally, he grabbed the tongs once again and used them to pull out the glowing hot metal. Placing the slabs on his workbench, Hayate grabbed his hammer and began working them into the shapes that he wanted. Once they became too cool to manipulate, Hayate took off his gloves. Placing his hands against the two slabs, Hayate began flowing his chakra into them. Furrowing his brow in concentration, it was difficult to see at first what he was doing, as nothing was visible, but slowly... The two metals began to converge with each other. It took a great amount of concentration, as Hayate had to manipulate the metal in such a way that they would blend without becoming unstable. The result was worth the wait however, and after several minutes of intense focus, Hayate stood back, smiling. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he once again donned the gloves and placed the now-conjoined pieces of metal within the forge.

Katsu watched Hayate with great interest, his eyes following every gesture. He'd never seen a weapon being forged before so this was quite the experience for him. Recalling what Hayate had explained earlier about his methods, he watched the cold metals slowly attach to one another. Incredible...

Turning back to face Katsu, he noticed the boy's expression and smiled. "Sorry that you have to wait awhile to actually see any results, Katsu-san. It's slow work." Letting out a brief chuckle, Hayate hoped the other boy wasn't becoming bored. "As I said, I'm interested in your methods," Katsu said with a wide smile. "It's not boring at all! If it was, I'd probably just look around." He hoped it sounded as respectful as he'd intended it to be but realized how it could've been understood.

Happy that Katsu was enjoying himself, Hayate nodded and turned back to the forge. Using the tongs to pull out the conjoined metals, Hayate set them on the workbench once again. Grabbing his hammer, he smashed away at the metal, slowly forming it into the desired shape. It took a fair amount of work to mold the metal into the form that Hayate wanted it, but he continued hammering away, oblivious to the small puddle of sweat that was forming below him.

When the metal cooled again, Hayate was pleased at how much progress he had made. Pulling off his gloves, he placed his hands against the chilled metal. Running them along the surface, Hayate allowed his chakra to flow inside, seeking out any imperfections that could cause the blade to become weakened. Making any necessary adjustments, he straightened himself out for a moment, stretching out his stiffened muscles. Reaching back down, Hayate picked up the other pieces of metal that were still left. One of them he placed in a large bucket, which he set inside the forge. The other piece he placed on the table beside the blade he was working on.

Staring at the two pieces for a moment, Hayate placed his hands on the conjoined metal first. Flowing his chakra through the metal, he flattened it out, making sure it retained the shape he wanted it in. Moving his hands to the second piece of metal, Hayate picked it up and laid it on top of the first. Concentrating, he moulded the metal so that it began surrounding the conjoined piece, forming a thin shell around it. Once the metal had joined together like before, Hayate set it back in the forge.

After several more times of taking the metal in and out of the forge, Hayate finally achieved the true form that he wanted. Setting the nearly finished blade onto a different workbench, one with a strange groove in it, Hayate secured it with some leather straps. Walking back over to the forge, Hayate pulled out the bucket he had left in from before. The metal he had placed inside was completely liquified, and Hayate nodded to himself, pleased. Bringing the bucket over to the almost finished blade, he glanced up to Katsu. "You can come closer to watch this part if you'd like? I would advise putting on an apron though in case I spill." Chuckling slightly, Hayate prepared to pour the liquid metal.

He had formed a groove on both sides of the blade, and that was where he was about to pour the liquified metal. Hayate raised the bucket and, very carefully, began to tilt it so that the liquid spilled out into the groove. When the first groove was filled, Hayate set the bucket back in the forge and waited for the poured metal to harden.

Once the task was complete, Hayate repeated the process, turning the blade over so that he could fill the groove in the second side. There. He thought with a smile. Putting the bucket away, Hayate waited for the metal to cool and then brought the blade over to yet another workbench. "And now for the final touches..." He muttered to himself, completely absorbed in his work.

---

A short time later...

Stepping back from his work, Hayate smiled, proud of the result. He wiped the sweat from his brow before pulling off his gloves and setting them aside. "So Katsu... uh... what do you think?"

The entire weapon was a deep, matte black colouring, with the exception of the hilt, which was wrapped in thin slivers of a lighter silver. The blade had a strip of lighter silver metal in the grooves that Hayate had forged, as well as the actual tip of the blade. The blade also had a slight curve in it, similar to the one that Katsu already had, but on the backside of the blade, the metal tapered out slightly near the tip, causing it to be slightly wider than the base.

Katsu grabbed the sword, feeling its balance and handle. A grin curled up on his lips as he swung it through the air, though not to slash at an invisible target. "The weight feels great," he said happily. After a moment's thought, he poured his chakra into it to coat it, and to his surprise, it was extremely easy. He could feel that he was wasting some chakra by pouring more than what would be needed.

Suddenly, the strips of silver metal on the weapon lit up and turned an intense white. Hayate grinned as Katsu had done just what he'd hoped. "The blade has a very unique metal in it. One that takes and enhances the chakra of the user in a different way than most chakra conducting materials. Because wind is your chakra nature, the metal within the blade will glow white, and cause any attacks to become sharper, as well as further reaching than a typical blade. If your nature was fire, for example, then the metal within would glow red, and the blade would burn upon impact, even with a glancing blow it would become stronger and more dangerous. I think you kind of understand the general idea though. But if you need me to explain more, please don't hesitate to ask." Hayate was happy that Katsu seemed to like the blade so far. He had made sure to take note of all of the boy's answers to his previous questions, and used it to make a weapon that was, hopefully, a perfect match.

"This..." Katsu inspected the weapon further, bringing it closer to his face. There was no smile or anything revealing emotion. As he lowered the blade, he turned to Hayate. His eyes started glowing as he looked at his friend. "This is amazing..." A smile crept up on his lips, growing without any stop in sight. "The balance, the craftsmanship, the design and the originality... You're really amazing, Hayate-san!"

Blushing, Hayate raised a hand to scratch the back of his head. Compliments made him feel awkward, and he had to look away. "Th--thanks Katsu-san. I am glad that you like it." He didn't know what else to say, but it did fill him with a sense of pride knowing that his friend found the blade to be a good match. "If... if there's anything wrong with it, please don't hesitate to let me know. I want to make sure that the weapon will actually work for you."

The smile faded slowly as he realized something. "Er... Hayate-san... I don't think I can..." He placed the sword on a table and reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. He dug his eyes into it and saw the void between the pockets of the item. Keeping his head lowered, he pocketed the wallet, sighing.

Staring at the boy in confusion for a second, Hayate wondered what he was doing. Seeing the wallet, a brief frown came to his face. Stepping forwards, he sighed. "Did I ever ask you for money, Katsu-san?" Hayate asked quietly. Slowly, a smile formed and he shook his head, chuckling slightly. "It's a gift Katsu. And besides, being the smith here now, it's kinda my job to make sure you guys have the proper equipment."

"I know you didn't," Katsu said, sighing. "But... This is quite a bit. It doesn't feel right." After a moment, he continued. "I mean, exactly. It's your job and unpaid labour is illegal, y'know," he said, jokingly. "Alright then. I owe you, Hayate-san. Your craftsmanship is amazing."

Bowing his head slightly in thanks, Hayate looked up, still smiling. "Think of it more like volunteer work than actual labour." He joked, before finally nodding. "Thank you for your kind words Katsu-san. My skills aren't quite up to par with the old smith that used to be here but..." Hi thoughts briefly travelled to Tsubasa. She had been high spirited, and an incredibly talented weaponsmith. Hayate missed working with her, and he only hoped that she would be okay with him taking over now that she was... "...I still try to do my best. So I hope that the weapon serves you well Katsu-san."

"Thank you, again," he said, bowing. "I'll treat it with great care." Rising again, he grabbed the blade and slit it behind the sheath of his other sword, stuffed between his hip and belt. "Ah. I've been meaning to ask. How's your training for the exam going?"

Pondering the question for a moment, Hayate realized that he had only trained a little bit. His time spent with Kiyomi and Hiron had certainly helped, but he hadn't done a lot of training on his own yet. "So far I suppose it's coming along decently. How about yours?" Hayate still had hopes that he wouldn't end up fighting Katsu. He did not like fighting friends, especially because he didn't consider the exams to be a simple fun, sparring match.

"It's going pretty well," he said, grinning. "I probably won't be ready by the time the exams begin since there'll be so many people more experienced than me but... I guess it'll help me get strong over time, huh?"

Smiling, Hayate placed a hand on Katsu's shoulder. "You're a talented shinobi Katsu-san. I am certain that you will do well, regardless of who you face." Speaking with an encouraging tone, Hayate realized that he was trying to reassure himself as well. He was looking forward to the exams for many reasons, and he needed to succeed. If he could become a Chuunin... then maybe he and Kiyomi wouldn't have to hide anymore... With that goal in mind, Hayate knew he could find the strength to succeed.

A lightning bolt separated the sky and illuminated everything on the training area Ryoku was waiting at. A few seconds later, the thunder arrived - low, dreadfull, with the promise of rain. Exactly the conditions Ryoku hoped for for his training session with one of his students, Sho Deshuga. Since the Chuunin Exams were approaching at a rapid pace and Ryoku was occupied, he wanted to make it up to Sho as much as he could. He registered the boy into the exams as he had confidence in his abilities, but he still wanted to train him. It was better to be saffe than sorry, and Ryoku was sure that Sho can handle the rigorous training they will undergo in the days to come. And then, he will have the basis he needs to pass the exams and become a Chuunin.

Another lightning bolt crossed the horizon, this one too far for the thunder to be heard. The boy should be here any minute. Ryoku smiled a bit - knowing Sho, he will complain a lot about the selected training method, but he will appreciate it in the end. After all, he had gone a long way since their first meeting. Still smiling as he looked up to observe the dark grey clouds, he looked forward to train with him again.

Stupid lightning, Sho thought as he made his way over to the trainingsfield. Apparantly his sensei, the so called Amekage, had decided that oh, maybe he should train him after all. How nice of him. Sho kicked a can away. He trained better by himself, that was for sure, but there was one thing that was hard to do on your own: beat someone up. And he had to admit that Ryoku probably knew more new techniques and tricks that possibly might be rather useful for the upcoming exam. He did appreciate that he had been entered, but it was only natural. He had been a Genin for way too long now. It was time he moved up.

Finally the boy arrived at the field, the lightning flashed again and he could see Ryoku standing in the middle. With a scoff he walked over to the man and halted before him. "I am here. Let's do stuff."

Ryoku chuckled at his greeting - it is just as he expected it. He remained silent for a few seconds before speaking up." Stuff is a very wide term, Sho. It can mean that we can sit here and watch the sky for the entire day, as it is also stuff. I had some very special training routines in my mind, but for that, I need you to take a seat next to me. Then, we can start. So ... if you would be so kind."

"Sure... whatever." Sho replied walking up next to the man and sitting down. This didn't sound very promising really. Ryoku was going to train him in sitting down? What kind of fighting style used a sitting position? He couldn't think of one. So possibly this was all going to be a serious waste of time, which sucked and which he disliked.

Ryoku observed the sky for a couple of seconds, spotting another lightning bolt struck, this time closer to the village." I know you dislike doing this, but before we can train, we have to be prepared for training. I am sure that you are aware that we are just sitting here and doing, nothing. That maybe true, depending on the point of view. From mine, it is not doing nothing - it is about mastering one of the most important virtues for us shinobi - patience. Great things do not happen overnight, just because we want them. They happen because we work for them, we wait for them. That is why patience is an important virtue. And patience might bring us the ideal conditions for our training - the real training for you, Sho." He stayed quiet for another couple of seconds." I did not call you here so that we can sit in the rain, you can be sure. But while we wait for the rain, we will talk - you know that the Chuunin Exams are approaching for you, and I ... well, I failed to train you adequatly in the past, for which I apologize. But I would like to make up as much of it in the days to come. I have prepared a rigorous training regime that will help you to prepare for the exams - if you are willing to participate in it, Sho. I am not waiting for the rain just so that we can get soaked in it - we will practice Water Release in a bit different way, Sho. But for that, we need to be patient and wait for the rain. If there is anything you would like to train in specifically, say it now - I will adjust my plans for that."

One could say that receiving an apology from the Amekage was quite... cool. And quite an amazing feat to achieve. Sho was just annoyed. They were going to sit here and talk while waiting for rain? That sounded awful and totally pointless. He had to learn patience? Sho figured he had been patient enough with this guy. He had waited for him to do stuff and he hadn't delivered so the young boy had set out for himself. But no, patience was the thing here. Stupid training. But Sho resisted the urge to just get up and leave just on the basis of that last few sentences. Rigorous training and Water Release in a different way. Now that did sound like something he could actually use. The boy shot a look up to the sky as well. If only that rain would fall faster. Normally Amegakure was always coated in a shroud of water, but, of course, today the weather said: "Let's give Sho time to learn patience." Stupid weather. "I want to up my Water Release." He replied never the less. "I have the combo's but not enough techniques. Taijutsu could so with some more work." His tone was almost lazy. "Can't you just... like... make rain? Didn't you do that before? That way we could start now instead of wasting time."

" That would make me waste my time, and precious chakra I want to spend on your training. No, Sho. Patience is a virtue you must master. Patience is the key to many things. I know you are working hard on your training, but just working hard is not enough. You must work towards the right goal, using the right way. Patience can one day lead you to become the Amekage." He remained quiet for a few seconds, not sure if the words will have the desired effect. Just as he speak, another thunder was heard in the distance." I am not sure if that is what you desire, but patience can lead you to that. In our case, patience will bring us rain. I can help to expand your arsenal of Water Release techniques, as that elemental manipulation happens to be my specialty. That, combined with your drive to train will yield us impressive results." Ryoku thinked for a while, then looked at Sho." And while taijutsu is not my specialty, I think I will be able to help with that as well. Now then ... " Ryoku stopped mid-sentence as he spotted a rain drop fall into the puddle before them.

Why the hell would he want to become Amekage? Sho couldn't think of one reason that made him want to chose that job. It sounded boring, stupid and irritating. So many people who would demand stuff from you and wanted you to do things. If patience was a virtue of the leaders of the world, then Sho would never need to learn that bit. He didn't think Ryoku would appreciate that answer though, so he kept his mouth shut. Especially since the man agreed to train him in the things he wanted to learn. He had to profit from this, not shove the guy away.

There it was! A rain drop. Sho almost jumped of his chair, but contained himself. Rain ment the start of the training right? So more patience talk? "Thát'd be great." He said. "Can we start then?"

More and more drops of rain started to fall from the sky, and Ryoku stood up." Looks like even a little patience paid off, Sho. Yes, we will start. As we all know, Water Release is most effective when we manipulate Water that has been touched by our chakra. But it can also be done with an other, pre-existing water source. For that, I will teach you a basic sealing technique that will allow you to store water into the scroll - you can release the scroll on the battlefield and gain an advantage. What I want to talk about is creating water outside of your body. It is a bit tricky, but I am confident you can handle it. I wanted it to rain so it will help us to grasp the basics faster."

Ryoku formed the Ram seal and started to infuse his chakra." Just as with Earth Release, you can send your chakra into your surroundings to manipulate earth. In a very similar way, we can use the water around us to help us. If you let out a bit of water through your feet, you can touch the water with it. Even if you touch the tiniest drop of water, you can continue to add your chakra to it and create more and more water. Even outside of your body. Ready to give it a try?"

Now this was useful. Sho had struggled before with the fact that if there was no rain he couldn't proform most of his jutsu. This was a severe problem when you were beating up people. He still thought that Ryoku could have just made rain right of the bat, but whatever there was rain now so it was fine. In Ryoku's example Sho made the Ram seal and concentrated. Chakra control was something he was quite decent at, especially when done with water. "Yes, ready." He said. His tone was no longer annoyed or irritated. For now he just sounded focused and ready to get this down.

" Very good. Now, I want you to focus on a point near you. Not too far - that will make your chakra to be less effective. But if you do it too close, you might get nto the way of your own technique and that is not good. It happened to me several times when I was younger. Build your chakra and start releasing it into that point. As you start to release it, start to work on the nature transformation. Your chakra will start to turn into water around the point of your choice. You will need to concetrate at the beginning, but it will get easier as you practice it. You will notice that water will be forming around that point - form only as much as you can handle. The more water, the stronger the technique can be - but the chakra cost will also increase. Do that now - if you are satisfied, you can try and use a technique from the water you created."

That didn't sound overly complicated, Sho thought. Focus chakra on a specific point and make water. He nodded once and then turned his full attention to the seal he held before him. Chakra molding: check. With that he turned his attention to a spot right before him, not too far away as Ryoku had said. Now the issue was getting his chakra there A frown appeared on his face as he started pushing chakra forwards. Somehow this was slightly harder then expected. Maybe he had been lacking in this part of training. It wasn't very exciting to train control after all. Yet after all while indeed water started to gather before the boy. It wasn't overly much, but it was certainly the beginning. He dropped the seal to form some others for a technique, but immediately he started to loose grip on the water before him. So he resumed the Ram seal once more and again concentrated until he was satisfied with what he had made. Then he formed the seals for the Water Whip technique and surely the water responded to his bidding and lashed out to splash him in the face, much to Sho's dismay.

Ryoku watched Sho trying to perform the technique, and even though it backfired on him, he considered it a success." Very good. Even though you hit yourself, think about it as a success. The water could fall apart or not even form, yet you managed to perform a technique on your first attempt. As I expected from you, Sho. The phase when you create the water is good. But remember - in order for the water to maintan its shape at the point, it is spinning. You might have done that without realizing it, but the water was spinning - otherwise, it would just splash away at every direction, making you waste your chakra. Try and take that into consideration. So far, you are doing just great."

Sho wiped some water out his eyes before looking back to Ryoku as the man explained. Water should be spinning? Well... it was nice to have good instincts then. "I will." He said, not wasting his breath on a "thanks." It was nice to be complimenten, but he didn't really need the mental support. He formed the seal again as focused on the water before him. Yet now with the knowledge that it should be spinning it suddenly became harder. While he had been acting on instict the knowledge made him think too much. Water started to splash around and Sho had much more trouble to keep the water in one place.

Finally after a while he got the thing stable again. He almost rolled his eyes. That was just stupid. How hard could it really be? But now with the water formed Sho preformed the same Water Whip technique again. This time with more success as he was able to get a firm grip on the whip and hold it. Slightly triumphant he looked to Ryoku.

Ryoku let a wide smile appear on his lips." Splendid. It took me days to master this part, and you done it on your second try. However, I want you to practice and practice it until you can do it perfectly. You can continuously increase the volume of water. If you manage to master the control of large amounts of water, smaller amounts of water will seem like child´s play for you. Now then, are you ready to try something ... much bigger?"

Ha, he bested the Amekage. Somehow that felt really good, but of course Sho's pride didn't let him say that to the man's face. He just grinned slightly, pleased with himself. Now he only needed to get hold of some scrolls and he would be all set in the future when people thought that they would have the advantage over him because there was no water around. Suckers. He dropped the technique, he was wet already so it didn't matter anyway and nodded. "Much bigger sounds good." The boy couldn't completely hide his excitement how much he wanted it.

" Good. I will skip all formalties and be blunt - I will teach you a technique of my creation, the one I used to immobilize a Tailed Beast. Even if briefly, but it succeeded. The Water Arms technique. Now, I do not expect you to create the arms of the size I used to stop the beast - we will start with the size of your own arms. This technique is like the extension of your body, so you will be using your chakra in the same manner. You already got the basics on how to create water outside of your body. For this technique, that is only the first half of the technique. You will need to increase the volume of the water and also add shape manipulation. Just like when you created your whip, this time focus on creating entire arms, not just whips. Imagine them as if they are your own arms. The seals are the Ram, Tiger and Serpent. Create water, increase the volume, apply shape manipulation." Ryoku did just so as he told Sho. He created some water in the same manner he just taught Sho, then by using his shape manipulation skills, he formed two arms. This time, smaller ones - to show Sho the results.

Sho nodded slowly. It looked pretty useful and really kind of badass. A technique that had stopped a Tailed Beast? Now that was something. Carefully he formed the seals a couple of times to get the hang of it. Now there were quite a few steps to this and he wasn't so stupid as to think he would get it in one try. He formed the seals once more and focused. He had to create water first which did take some time. This should get easier, Ryoku said, but so far Sho had to concentrate an awful lot for it. But finally he had some water shaped. Now it was to increase volume. Sho bit his lip. This took way too long. He dreaded asking for help but... "Any tips as how to make this less of a concentrating job and faster?" He asked Ryoku.

" I did not except you to succeed on your first try, as neither did I. Not even I am perfect with that technique, despite inventing it. That is why I brought here this." Ryoku took out a scroll, and rolled it out. It had a formula written on it, with the kanji for "seal" in the middle." This is a generic sealing scroll, suitable for storing water. When preparing for missions, you can store water into them - the seal can be easily released and release water - water created by your chakra. Since you will not have to focus on creating water, you can put more focus on shape manipulation. Here, take this. The seals for the technique are the Ram, Serpent - you finish it by slamming your fist on the scroll. But for now, just take it." Right now, we can divide the task. First, create as much water as you can, no matter if it will all splash away. It is still your water, from your chakra - you can manipulate it much easier after you create it. Then, infuse your chakra once again and create the arms."[/b]

Sho, of course, couldn't say he was grateful. He didn't do grateful. But he had to admit that those scrolls would be pretty damn useful. He accepted them and stored them away in his belt. There was no way he was not going to use that. Would be great for the upcoming Chuunin Fights too seeing as he had no clue in what kind of terrain he would be fighting. With that done he nodded to the man and gave it another try. His hands flashed the seals and he started to create more water. He let it splash freely, not disturbed that some might hit himself and some might hit Ryoku. No one ever died of a bit of water. Next up was the shaping. He figured that it would be akin to creating the Water Whip, after all the whip was just the arms without the hands. So he focussed on that. Problem was he had to make two at the same time. The result was... meager. Two small shapes stood before him, but they didn't look very much like arms and they didn't look very strong either. Sho tsk'ed and looked annoyed. What could those things ever do?

Ryoku observed the results with curiosity - the general shape of the hand was there, but it lacked the fine tuned details. Despite all of it, he was satisfied with how Sho progressed. Spotting the annoyed look on his face, he intervened." Do not let small failures like this discourage you, Sho. To be honest, this is not even a failure. It took me several years to develop this technique - and you achieved the basic shape of the arms on your second try. What is there to be disappointed about? You are doing just great, Sho. Just what I expected of my student." Ryoku increased the volume of the water and enlarged the arms." Take a look at the arms I am creating Sho - they look pretty much like me own arms. That is why I want you to stay patient - with training and determination to succeed, your arms can look just like this. At first, focus at the general shape of the arms - leave out the fine tuned details. Remember ... if you hit somebody with a shape of water in his head, you might still knock him out could. Give it one more try, Sho."

"Well yeah, but it already took me a year to get the Water Whip down properly. On my own." The little sneer was obvious in his words. "I'd say that at least that has to pay off for control and creating the basic form. Otherwise I'd really suck." He watched Ryoku form the arms once more and contemplated hiw own actions and Ryoku's words. The man was trying to be so... nice. Somehow that annoyed him. Not because he hated niceness in general, he just... wasn't so used to it. It had been the same when Ryoku had first take him in during the Shoji oppression. He had been so nice too then and it had thrown Sho off by a great length. He still didn't quite get what being nice got you, but he had to admit it was slightly better then being yelled at for doing it wrong as his father would have done. Sho's eyebrow twitched at the thought of that man and he pushed it away.

He nodded slowly and tried again. Everytime he would do it water creating indeed got easier. Still took him quite a while, but that was okay. He formed the seals again and tried to create the shapes again. They still didn't look like much, without fingers or any shape of hand for that matter, nor very strong, but this time Sho kept them in place and tried to gently sway them back and forth. It felt strange and after the second move they fell apart again. In reaction Sho immediately formed the seals again to use the water that was still connected to his chakra to regroup and form the arms again.

Ryoku silently observed Sho struggling with the Water Arms. His determination was admirable, and so was how hard he was working. Immediately as his arms falling apart, he was trying to form another ones. His determination was admirable. His drive to succeed was working in his favor right now - it was a trait Ryoku wanted to presist in the young boy. He did not realize it, but by not giving up on mastering the technique, he was already patiently - or not so patiently training and not giving up. But just maybe if he did a little thing to try and motivate Sho even more, he would be driven even more to succeed. Using his hands, he created a Water Clone that stood in front of Ryoku." Try to form just the basic shape, Sho. Once you are done with it, you might try and strike my clone with them."

A grin tugged on the corners of Sho's lips. He could beat something up, that made everything better. That was what he knew how to do. Eager he formed the arms a third time (they fell apart if he didn't concentrate very well) and looked at the clone. The arms still looked stupid, She thought, but Ryoku was right, he could possibly whack someone with them regardless of shape. As long as it got the job done it was fine after all. He tested his control for a bit. It wasn't great. It wasn't even good, but he figured he would try it anyway. With some difficulty he "raised" the right arm and attempted to strike the clone with it.

The clone made no attempt to defend himself, as Ryoku wanted Sho to really be able to test out the arms. The strike hit the clone from the side into the chest area. The clone did not feel over but it was pushed back a bit. Curious to find out, the man looked at his clone, who after waddling backwards a bit, tapped his chest and looked at Sho." Medium concussion. Knocked out breath and a blunt feeling of pain on the area of impact. Not deadly, but it might interfere with fighting at full capacity. The consistency of the arm was on a good level, so was the volume of water. The advantage here, Sho, is that you are working with water. The sudden trauma of a body of water hitting a body is the real danger in this technique. But you have done great, Sho."

Sho himself was actually surprised by the effect of that hit. Sure, after it the water arm had fallen apart, leaving him only with one other, but he had actually hit that clone pretty damn well. That was strong. That was... pretty cool! He grinned and almost looked excited to Ryoku only to remember that he didn't like the man and that the man shouldn't see him so excited anyway. Instead he stared to the remaining arm and moved it back and forth a bit. So the force of the water made it strong. He thought he understood that. It did hurt pretty bad if you jumped into a pool and landed flat on that water. Sho stretched his control on the leftover arm a bit more and suddenly tried to punch the clone once more.

This time, the blow hit the clone to the area of his head - and it was sufficient to knock the clone down from his feet and made him dispel, creating a large puddle of water. Ryoku observed the events with unhidden curiosity - since he was not using Shadow Clones, he could not gain the experience of the clone." Medium to severe head trauma, possible brain concussion. As you increase the volume and density of water, those injuries might leap up to a cracked skull to severe concussions to death by one blow to the head. But as with every water release technique, stay aware of Lightning - they will turn your weapon against you. And in the early stages of the technique, a large scale Fire technique can make you sweat as well. At the later stages, Earthen defenses have a hard time withstanding the sudden impact of the force. But be careful against wind - a strong wind attack might still cut the hands in half."

It felt pretty good to see the clone crumble and fall apart. Sho stared to the puddle of water as he listened how Ryoku listed the strengths and weaknesses of the technique. Nothing he couldn't have figured out himself though. As a general rule of thumb Lightning was his bane and wind could through his whip with ease, he was aware of that. But the fact that earth users might have a more difficult time with this pleased him. He nodded twice to signal that he had understood Ryoku's words. He wondered if the man now wanted to hear a "thank you" from him. The boy shuffled with his feet. He didn't feel like saying thank you at all. When had he ever said thank you to anyone? Yet the man had thought him so useful stuff. In the end Sho settled for: "I understand." and left it at that.

Ryoku smiled at the statement of Sho. The boy was a fast learner thanks to the sheer amount of work and determination he placed into doing things. That was great - if he persisted, Ryoku was sure that the boy had a pretty solid chance at making it to the rank of a Chuunin during the exams." Very well, Sho. That covers all I wanted to teach you today. You did very, very well - and I am proud of you. You grasp things very, very quickly - and get to use them in the correct way just as quickly. During our next meeting, we will work a bit on your Taijutsu and mainly your footwork. Take a rest for today, or practice - it is up to you. But know this - keep this up, and I am confidend that your chances in the upcoming exams are pretty solid. Now, if you will excuse me, my duties await me. I will also figure out a training method for our next meeting."

Sho knew for sure that he wouldn't rest yet. The day was still long and he had time to spare anyway. It was not like he was going to hang out with his teammembers or something. He almost rolled his eyes when he thought of Rini. At least Kira was strong. Rini was just... stupid. But he didn't speak his thoughts to Ryoku. Instead he just nodded again. "I..." For a moment he wasn't sure what to say. The praise made him uncomfortable. His dad had never been proud of him. His mother had never showed it either. Why was this man proud of him? It felt strange. "I'll see you at the next meeting.... sir." He mumbled the last word.

Very well. Now that things were wrapped up here, Ryoku started to walk towards Sho. A large puddle of water was left where he dispelled his arms, but no rain drops were falling into it. Just as he stood next to Sho, the rays of sun broke through the clouds, showering the training fields in light. Ryoku placed his head on the shoulders of the boy in a confronting way." Looks like the sun decided to celebrate your accomplishments as well. Keep up the good work, Sho." With that being said, Ryoku took off his hand and left the fields with a leap, heading back to his office. He was smiling the entire time.

It was around 11 o clock and Aiko walked up the training field where she would meet up with Katsu. Dressed in her jounin garb, Aiko had don her hair in a ponytail with a few strands in front of her forehead. Carrying a small bag, she looked around but it seemed she was the first to arrive. A couple of genin and a what seemed their sensei just left the field. Wishing them a good day, Aiko would head to the middle of the training field. It was a grass plain with several big boulders on it. Perfect for the training she had in mind.

Katsu appeared in a poof of smoke as soon as the other team had disappeared from sight. "Good morning sensei," he announced his presence, smiling. The boy had a straight posture, his hands on top of one another behind him. There were some small rips on his shirt and a little dirt scattered on it.

''Good morning to you as well, Katsu.'' Aiko said, noticing he had used the Body Flicker technique. Not that important, but she somehow found it amusing that her student used that one. ''How are you today?'' Aiko asked, wanting to already apologize for not training or gathering the team for another mission, but she decided at the last moment to wait with that.

"I'm well," he responded with a sincerely cheerful tone. Lately, he was always like this. It would be rarer to see him either pouting or putting on a fake smile just to humour people like he usually would. "And yourself, sensei?" While Katsu answered her question, Aiko dropped the bag on the ground. There was some metalic sound as it landed on the ground. ''I am faring well today.'' For a moment she had almost start to throw out a sigh as she wouldn't have any important clan meeting today or such work. It was just now spending some time and train Katsu and then the rest of the day was her and hers alone. Ignoring her duties as a mother and wife, of course.

''May I ask what you have been up to lately? I am sorry that I wasn't able to spend that much time with you or any member of the team.'' Aiko asked and apologized, hoping Katsu had been able to amuse himself the last couple of days.

"Koike and I've been hanging out more lately," he said. "Though sometimes our meetings resulted in incindeary activity and collateral damage..." The boy chuckled, scratching the top of his head. "It was quite fun and we both got to get some much needed exercise."

That was something unexpected, yet something Aiko had hoped for. After the rather mission on her request, she had noticed that the two had grown closer together. For some odd reason, she couldn't yet imagine Koike and Katsu being really close together, but that was probably due the first team training of Team 8. That and how distant Koike could be. Though it was great to hear such a thing. ''I am very happy. But it is evident that I hope you both haven't caused any trouble. Right, Katsu?'' Faking a serious look, the smile gave it away. She was very happy about the progress.

Taken aback by the question, though the smile didn't fade from his face, a bemused look appeared on it. "Er... I don't think we have, sensei," he said, not sure if they had or hadn't. It wasn't like if they had, they were aware of it. "I mean... We didn't. I'm sure of it," he said, gulping. They hadn't. Right? Yeah...

''Good. Now then. Let's focus on today's training. If I have anything else to say, please remember that if you two train. Don't over do it and stay out of trouble.'' Aiko shook her lightly, but the smile was still present. She meant however her last words. If she would hear her students would cause troubles, she was the appointed one that would either have to pay or solve it. Such was one of the duties of a caring sensei. At least in her opinion and viewpoint. ''Today I want to teach you several small things as one new technique. With our last chakra control training, I wanted to teach you something with it.'' She explained. ''But first, let's do a warming up. You must decide what the warming up will be.''

Something with it...? The boy nodded. "I'll run a couple of laps around the field," he said. Without waiting, the enthusiastic boy started running towards the borders of the field, then continuin his route along the edges. He kept a jogging pace, aiming for a long run rather than a short and tiring one.

Nodding, Aiko would look for several moments before she turned her attention to the bag. Opening it, she pulled out several tools. A chain with a end that composed of a heavy ball. Then several folded big shuriken, which name she could never remember. Placing the items next to the bag, Aiko started to hum a tune while further unpacking the bag. A bag filled what seemed weapons and tools.

After having run several laps, at the point where he'd reached the border of the field to start running, he slowed down and turned himself towards Aiko. After a few slow steps, he picked up his jogging pace, running up to her quickly. "I'm all warmed up, sensei," he said, his little fatigue inaudible from his announcement. He was excited about something most people would just see as bothersome. His self-confidence was ameliorating rapidly.

''Good. The first thing I want to show you is how you can use tools in a rather unorthodox manner.'' Aiko said, deciding to pull out a kunai. The trick she had seen was used by a kunoichi who was admired by many, including Aiko. Lifting the kunai up, Aiko pointed to the loophole of the weapon. ''Can you please tell me for what reasons you can use this loophole for?''

"Er... Attaching tags or bombs, mostly," he said. "Though one could also pull the kunai from its place using the hole. I usually use it for the first reason." That hole had helped him out quite a bit in several fights and spars. He depended on tactics that didn't require chakra more than on his own jutsu, lacking an actual arsenal of offensive techniques.

''Think outside the box. Lets try this out. You must use a kunai and only use the loophole. I will go for a jab with this kunai.'' Aiko said, grabbing the weapon by the handle as she would wait for Katsu to pull out a kunai and ready to defend himself. Though she was pondering on giving some hint, Aiko decided it would be fun to see how he would react. Defending yourself with just the loophole of a kunai against a jab? Aiko remembered the first time she had seen it happen.

His hand went to his pouch, pulling a kunai out by the loophole and raising it with speed to a slightly higher level than his head. Normally, he would use the momentum the kunai gained to quickly grasp its handle, but this time, he used it to make it spin even more on his finger, his other fingers flowing under it each time the blade spun over his knuckles. He kept it spinning as he took a defensive stance.

Waiting till he was ready, Aiko wouldn't step and move forward at her max speed. She wanted to show him something and not to hurt him in any kind of way. ''Remember, think out of the box.'' Aiko repeated as she aimed for Katsu's chest with the kunai. The sharp point went towards the boy's chest and for a moment Aiko was worried that she was going too fast for him to react like she hoped he would.

Finally, he grasped the outside of the hole with his index finger grasping from within it. As the blade's spin stopped, his hand lowered swiftly to meet the top of the blade with speed and strength, giving it a tough push downwards. Feeling that he was pushing downwards, Aiko was forced to let go of the kunai or else she would risk that it would give her an opening. ''Good work.'' Aiko said, taking a step back. ''Now, the next question. For what can you use the tip of the kunai?'' Aiko asked, hoping it was clear that she was hoping for an answer, that wouldn't be any orthodox manner. Like a stab or a jab.

The kunai in Katsu's hand was tossed upwards. He grabbed it by the edge, pouring very little of his wind chakra to make it blunt and pressing his thumb to its flat side. He grasped it with the rest of his hand after feeling a smooth turn around the edge. "Intercept, lock and retrieve an incoming kunai," he said, gesturing to the hole. "Most effective with direct jabs. Easier than parrying small weapons too."

Thinking about his answer, Aiko wanted to sum up another tactic she had in mind. ''What about using the tip of the blade to scuff a surface? In battle it is better to deal damage that quickly take out an enemy, but when on a mission where you need to capture a person, you need to be careful. Besides, if you would use the weapon to make some noise, like make it graze a hard material to create a thud, you can use it as a distraction.'' Thinking about what she would ask next, she decided to switch to another weapon. Turning around, her foot would kick up one of the folded shuriken. ''Forgive me, but I can't remember the name of this weapon. Not that it is important, but can you think of a tactic you can use with this one?''

"Using it as a spinning sword while it's folded and once the enemy tries to retreat, unfolding it and throwing it at them, possibly with some tags hidden in the blades between the two visible ones," he suggested it. "With its increased weight due to the multiple blades in it, it would deal quite heavy blows if it even lands on the enemy's sword, making an opening. At that moment, one could slash at them and flick the blades to move ahead of the visible one so that the enemy is taken by surprise."

Aiko smiled as she nodded. She had to give it to him, he was certainly a clever boy. ''Very good.'' It did leave her a bit thinking about the next. She had assumed that he wasn't that known with using all kind of weaponry. Other than swords, but she had avoided those weapons. Though she had used tanto's in the past, Aiko wasn't that skilled with such weaponry. ''Time for the next then.'' Placing the fuma shuriken down, Aiko picked up the metal chain with the heavy ball at the end. ''And what about this one?''

"Er... I've never used something like that," he said, holding out his hand. "Can I feel its weight, sensei?" He didn't want to give a wrong assessment of the use of a weapon without knowing its limits. Giving the chain to him, Aiko would take a step back and wait what he would give as answer. She wasn't also one that used a tool like the chain in combat, but she had considered it. It would be useful in some situations.

Lifting the ball from the ground, he slowly swung it, though he couldn't make it go a full turn over him. "Hm... For a strong user, it could be very useful but I still think it would be better to make the ball much lighter and perhaps add a blade attached sideways to the free end of this could make it much more useful. The way it is no, it could be used either disarm and opponent with the weight of the ball and wrapping the chain around it with a thrust or perhaps break the arm like that."

Finding his answer rather interesting, Aiko waited a moment. ''But that wasn't the question. Sometimes you need to use a weapon you managed to retrieve from a corpse or enemy. Certainly in missions where you're forced to go in a disguise without any hidden tool or weapon, you can find yourself relying on what you can find.'' Aiko explained. But she hoped he would never find himself in such a dire situations. They weren't that fun in her opinion.

Katsu thought for a few moments. "I'd use it to sweep someone off their feet by throwing the ball or as I said earlier, use the empty side of the chain as a weapon to disarm the opponent and perhaps steal their weapon which could be easier to wield. I'm just not strong enough yet to use something as heavy as this."

After Katsu's answer, Aiko was certain the boy was capable of thinking outside the box with weapons. Though she had several other weapons to question him about, Aiko decided to switch the next part. ''Then let's now use the surroundings as a weapon against our enemies. You see that there are several boulders. The question now is that you need to plan an approach on how to use this surrounding to ambush a potential enemy group.''

"Depends on where they're coming from, of course," he said. "If they're coming through the plains, it could be useful to disguise oneself as a commoner or an old man or woman passing through the area. In that case, as we near, the lone attacker could, to capture, drop a smoke bomb or to kill, a poison bomb or explosive tag. If they're coming from between the rocks, it's best to prepare some explosive tags hidden under leaves or such, something that won't muffle the explosion too much."

His plan was good, but Aiko thought about it. ''But wouldn't it be a bit strange to notice a sudden commoner or old person? Nothing wrong with it, but it is a very old trick.'' Aiko responded, glancing at the field. The idea to hide tags under leaves was most certainly a good plan. But it would require some time to set it up and time wasn't never on anybody's side. At least it was never in her advantage, Aiko thought almost sighing out loud. ''But how will you coordinate such a plan in case something goes wrong?''

"It'd depend on what happens to disturb the plan," he said. "If I were attacked while still disguised, I'd try to retreat and subtly drop explosives for when they come after me. In any case, if someone can see through a disguise, they could probably sense someone hiding behind a boulder so hiding instead of that wouldn't really work. I usually carry a bunch of strung tags in a separate pocket that can just be dropped. The back is a rather darkish colour that doesn't stand out too much so they wouldn't notice it while going after me."

Crossing her arms, her left hand went her mouth. It was easy to formulate questions that could undermine a plan. To bring in factors that could bring ruin to his whole strategy, but he had been able to keep giving answers that weren't bad. Aiko had to admit that he was brighter than he had shown before. Covering her mouth with her left hand, she looked around the field. ''Good.'' She mumbled. Slowly she lowered her hand a bit and pointed out front of them. ''Let's give it a different approach. I will come from that direction. My goal will be to cross over the field. You have ten minutes to prepare for my arrival. And your objective is simple.'' Aiko glanced at Katsu. ''You need to stall me from reaching the place for five minutes. The scenario is that you're fighting against an enemy of a higher rank and need to wait for reinforcements that will arive around five minutes.''

"Ah... Alright," he said, looking towards the direction she was pointing at. He scratched his chin, glancing around at the field. This would be much better if I could use genjutsu but... I can't just do this with explosives. Katsu quickly rushed towards one edge of the field and planted a kunai by the blade where only dirt was, concealing the dark coloured hole which was on the surface. He quickly tied a piece of string to the hole with several tags attached to it, some only flash tags and some explosive. He ran towards the other corner and did the same, attaching the other tip of the string onto the kunai's hole. Once he had done the same with the other two corners, he had created an X on the field, though it looked like there was nothing, since the string and tags were hidden under the dirt. Most of the area was concealed by rocks anyway. A-ha! Towards the center, if one made an imaginary line between the rocks, a circle would appear. Noticing this, Katsu ran to the center of said imaginary circle and pulled out the bell he always carried that Koike had given him during their training with Aiko and shook it a bit to make sure its sound was heard, then glancing back at Aiko. Pocketing it once more, he dropped a smoke bomb onto the ground which had the same shape and size, even a small string attached to it, in the middle of the circle. With one last fail-safe plan, he ran to the backs of each rock and placed one explosive tag on the ground just beneath them, concealed well in their shadows.

Aiko had walked into the direction she would approach the field from. Of course the temptation to peek and see what Katsu would do to prepare was big, but she managed to ressist. Taking a considerable walking distance between them, Aiko would wait patiently until ten minutes had passed. But she wouldn't just go and walk back in her current form. No, she would pull a little twist to it.

Slowly walking, a young man, that was wearing the typical garb of a Konoha shinobi, was heading to the field. He was whistling a cheerful tune as he carried a shoulderbag. He came from the direction that Aiko had said she would come from. But he had nothing alike with her. Trying to head to the center of the field, the man stopped as he almost arrived at the border of the training field. His eyes squinted and soon, a moment later, he sneezed. Mumbling something, he would then enter the field.

Katsu had the string that passed through the first two kunai the string of which would pass under the other. He took a peek at the person entering the field from the reflection of the headband he'd taken off. Seeing it, he put it back on and readied himself, a kunai with a tag in one hand and the string in the other.

Entering the field, the man kept whistling a rather cheerful tune. Then somebody else ran to the field. It was a young looking girl. Her headband made it clear she was probably a genin. Turning around, the man smiled as he waved at the girl. Waving back, the girl would head towards the man. Considering the distance they were at with Katsu, it wasn't possible for him to hear them. But from the looks they were discussing something about the field. The man pointed to the rocks to which the girl nodded. She had a serious expression on her face. Then another young person came running towards the two.

This is rather uncanny... The clock is ticking, I guess, he said, some sweat sweat forming on his face. He kept an eye on them as well as on the border Aiko had said she would come from. He formed the rat handsignal and disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing behind a rock near them. Without wasting any time, he performed three more hand seals and where the young shinobi stood was now a sizable rock.

''Always pay attention to your surrounding.'' It was a faint whisper. Aiko sat just behind Katsu, her arms resting on her knees as she had lowered herself. A smile was present as she would wait for his reaction. The three people would walk towards the middle of the field as the man would search his bag for something. Slowly, Aiko's right hand went to her pouch as she wanted to be cautious to what Katsu would do with her sudden surprise.

Upon hearing the voice, there was a puff of smoke where the stone was, Katsu returning to his form. Without wasting any time, he used the cover of the smoke to quickly swipe his feet, spinning with his wrists. His hands were both clutching the dirt tightly when he made a quick flick of the hand and spun his body, his legs spinning rapidly one after another towards Aiko's. He knew he probably wouldn't hit but that wasn't much of an issue in his case.

Smiling as Katsu poofed back in his normal form, the left hand went out of her pouch as she grabbed a shuriken. With Katsu using the cover of the smoke, Aiko wanted to compliment him but she would need the time to react back. Narrowing her eyes, the woman quickly moved backwards to avoid getting hit by the legs of Katsu. Using the three gathered people at the center of the field was out of question. Her idea was to use them to keep Katsu from doing anything bold or big. Skidding to a halt, she would aim the shuriken, but not yet throw it.

A small chuckle left Katsu's lips as he noticed Aiko move away. With one hand still gripping the dirt tight, he pushed himself up from the ground. Along with his grasping hand came something, pushing up a small amount of earth in a line that would go past Aiko. Along with them were the tags. At the end of the line, one could see the kunai, now more noticable as some more of it was pulled out of the ground with the tug. Katsu had his eyes closed after one of the tags ignited, sending a pillar of light from the markings on it rather than an explosion.

The eyes of Aiko widened. The shuriken hadn't left her hand or she was caught by surprise. She had noticed the line with the tags and out of reflex, she bent through her legs to jump away as crossing her arms in front of her body to try to shield it from any possible explosion that she was expecting. Clever kid. She thought to herself, wondering if she would be fast enough to not get caught by any explosive.

As he landed on his side, Katsu kept his eyes shut tight. The light intensified, diminishing any shadow in its line of sight. To the naked eye, it would be quite a sore for some time as well as give the person almost pure white sight for several seconds before they could regain their full sight. Upon the impact with the ground, Katsu jumped to his feet and pulled out a shuriken.

A flash tag? No, a whole lot of them! Though she attempted, her eyes were blinded by the light. Landing on the ground, Aiko was close of losing her balance by the blinding light. Raising her free hand to rub her eyes, she remembered why she didn't like it when somebody used those against her. Her left hand lashed out, throwing the shuriken towards Katsu, using her silent killing to attempt to buy some time as she was troubled by the effects of his surprise.

Just as Katsu was about to throw the shuriken, with his other hand going to his pouch to get another one, the one Aiko had thrown flew towards his hand that had the shuriken. Though it only grazed the hand, it still made a wound and knocked out the throwing star from his hand. He recoiled in pain and after a second, he thrust the other shuriken with his left hand aimed at Aiko's Achilles' Heel, giving it a strong curve.

Frowning, Aiko gave up on using her eyes for now. It was still aching with pain, but she could do without sight. Relying on sound and scent, she would try to hold out until she could use her eyes again. Hearing something approaching her, Aiko pulled out a kunai and waited for the right moment. Throwing the weapon, it would pin down the shuriken that was suppose to approach her heel, while she ducked which made it clear she was about to do something.

Katsu gave another tug at the string. Though the tags on that side were all used, he still seemed to be using it. The kunai at the edge was lifted from the ground. With a strong pull the kunai would follow the string in a straight line, moving towards Aiko with speed, though only with the back pointing towards her.

Seemed that he was full of surprises today, Aiko thought to herself. She opened her eyes, but her vision was still blurry. Though she had noticed the incoming kunai, Aiko didn't do anything to catch or protect herself from it. The object would hit her straight against the head, causing her to stumble back and then disperse in water. There would be a loud whistle from the other side of the field, as Aiko would stand there, waiting for Katsu. The three people from before weren't sighted anywhere as one of them was Aiko and the others were simple disguised Academy clones.

Katsu looked at the water, confused and surprised at the phenomenon. He turned around upon hearing the whistle, seeing only Aiko. B...But... He looked back at where the water had fallen, sighing. With his head lowered, he walk towards his sensei. Even when he reached the other side of the field, he still had his head lowered, expecting a weak blow to the top of his head for not attacking the genin.

Instead, her hand would ruffle his hair. ''Don't look like that. I bet you don't want me to feel bad for managing to occupy you with my tactic?'' Aiko asked, half laughing. Her plan had been to use Academy clones, disguised. With a water clone in wait, she had let two clones enter the field and looking like they were just some regular people. The third, the young girl, was Aiko in disguise. As long Katsu wouldn't approach or attack the three, her water clone could try to track Katsu with silent killing. Then it was simply to keep him occupied as she would run to the end she had to reach before her time was up. ''You managed to beat a water clone of me. That was very cool.''

The boy raised his head, his hair now messier than ever (not like it was tidy before). A childish smile lit up his face. "Hehe... Thank you, sensei," he said with a voice that matched his expression. ''Now, I suggest we remove the traps from the field. Don't want to accidently harm some really innocent people.'' Aiko said, removing her hand as she looked at the field. ''But there is also a lesson to this, Katsu. Always be wary of what might happen around you. But don't worry.'' Aiko pointed to herself as she smiled. ''I am going to train you into Silent Killing. That way you will become able to be more wary of what happens around you.''

"Right away," he said firmly, straightening his back. Turning around, the boy quickly rushed to the first corner to start dismantling the second string as well as the kunai. Once he was done taking the tags from the stones and the smoke bomb from the center, he walked up to Aiko once more, waiting for instructions. ''Now that is done, what would you do next time when I would attempt to use such a tactic like before?'' Aiko asked in a polite fashion.

"There would still be the risk of them being passerbys so I would most likely attack non vital points by surprise. Clones disperse after taking direct hits and gauging by the reaction, I would try to see if it was you, sensei," he answered. "I thought of doing it but I decided to listen in first, ignoring the fact that you were most likely already in the field by then."

''That would be a good approach. But why not try to keep a position more at the center? I could try to sneak past with ease, but that isn't the point. The idea was to see how a plan works in the field. It is very easy to discuss a plan like we are doing now. Only fact remains that a lot of things can go like we don't expect. If you were able to set up some traps that would trigger an alert, then you would have forced me to adjust. Which could have caused me to make a mistake.'' Aiko answered. She was still very proud of how Katsu had performed and reacted today. He had shown to her that he wasn't maybe able to keep up with her in the field, but his intellect and knowledge was above what she had read in his profile. ''I am still very proud of you Katsu. Really.'' Patting his shoulder, Aiko smiled.

Katsu's cheeks were coloured a light tint of red as he grinned widely. Though he would always put himself down, it was pleasant hearing praise from his sensei. It prepared him mentally for what would come in the following days. Though there were some obvious flaws in his preparation, seeing how it was for someone like Aiko, he was glad he could perform at least at the level he was expected to.

''Now, shall we get some lunch? I don't know about you, but I would love some strawberry tea. Maybe with a nice bowl of noodles.'' Aiko suggested. ''I did hear something yesterday, you know. About that it is a sign of respect that somebody treats his or her superior.'' She would say, already turning around to start walking. After her second sentence she would however smile and wink at Katsu.

"O...Oh... Yes, sensei," he said, following her quickly. After having caught up he bit his lower lip. Money... He had some of the money from the mission in his wallet for emergencies but that was about it. "Er... Sensei, are we going to a specific place...?"

''Hey, you're buying. You may pick.'' Aiko laughed out loud as she felt a little bit bad about it. But it was fun and she really meant her words from before. Glancing at the field they were leaving, Aiko had a good feeling of what would come. While walking with Katsu, she was convinced that the boy was going to become a capable shinobi. With the coming exams, she hoped that he would keep improving as he was doing now.

"Ah... Haha..." The boy's head lowered after he'd fallen a little behind. Sighing he caught up again. "Uh... I think I know a good place..."

He had sent the new member a note to visit him on the base of the stairs leading towards the top of the Hokage-faced cliff. Right infront of the stairs was a small courtyard behind the Hokage's palace, or office, or headquarters, or ... you get the point. It was a relatively tranquil place that bathed in the comfortable spring sunshine during this period of the year, and you could often find shinobi and administrative people working near or in the Hokage's office taking a break here, enjoying being outside. Sitting on the stairs, eating a sandwich, he awaited the new member. In fact, 'new' was probably not the correct word. Saki Yamanaka was a sensor nin with whom he had already been on a mission together about a year, or was it two years already, ago. They encountered the Dragon Lotus for the first time back then, and withnessed the 'death of Zakito Hon'.

Heading to the meeting place, Saki had a bit of a mixed feeling to this meeting. Sure, she had nothing against Kensuke but it had been such a long time. Not something of weeks or months, but if she remembered it alright, two years. A lot of time had passed and she wasn't sure if he had changed. What she could remember was that she had no trouble of getting along with Kensuke during the missions they had been together on. In her right hand, she had a small plastic bag that held a certain present. Kensuke had been a jounin and she hadn't been able to give him anything considering that she had been abroad, member of a Team Zero. ''Kensuke?'' Saki called out, not sure if it was him that was sitting on the stairs.

"Yes, that's me. You must be Saki?" He replied, shielding his eyes from the sun to see her approach. "You've changed quite a bit since we last met." He added, patting on the tiles besides him as he grabbed a second sandwich, handing it to her. "I hope you're not a vegetarian."

She smiled as she shook her head. Thinking what he could have meant, it was probably her hair style. It was shorter than it was in the past. ''I wish I could say the same about you, Kensuke.'' She decided to say, meaning it as a joke back. ''I did brought you something. Wasn't sure if you have developed a taste for it, but it is the thought that counts. Unless you follow a religion that won't allow it.'' Saki told him, stretching the plastic bag with the present in it. Hopefully he liked sake.

Sending her a skeptical look as she said he hadn't changed at all, and accepted the gift anyways. "Sake?" He said in surprise. "You are bribing your new sensei into liking you with alcohol?" He asked. "Not bad." He then added with a smirk.

''I know. Though it was a lucky guess, I have to admit.'' Saki said. For the first time she also would add a joke she wouldn't normally like at all. ''Besides, it goes very well with my name. Thought you would love that too.'' Placing her hands on her back, she tried to see if there was much change from the past. He looked in a certain way different. More confident. ''I do hope that I am not supposed to do an introduction as a new genin. Or am I?''

Staring at her incomprehensively for a few seconds untill he realized what she meant, he then burst into laughter. "Oh my, yes it does." Waiting patiently as she let her eyes thoroughly scan him, deciding not to make a suggestive remark about that and instead took a bite out of the sandwich. "I was actually just about to ask that in fact. Please, tell me about yourself. I cannot remember you as a girl who looked like she would use sake to bribe her opponents."

Sighing, Saki lowered her head a bit. ''I see that you have managed to gain some humor.'' She muttered quietly. Straighten her back, she would salute in all of a sudden. ''Very well, Kensuke, sir. Saki Yamanaka. I wish to become a valuable kunoichi in the service of the Leaf, sir.'' She said, looking quite serious about her act. ''My abilities are to scout and spy on targets, sir. I hope this answer does suffice enough, Kensuke Nimatsu. Sir.''

Barely managing to contain his laughter, he poked her with his sandwich as she sat down again. "Thank you, Recruit." Shaking his head and sighing, he then continued. "What I actually hoped to learn is what you did these past two years, what important skills you learned since then, et cetera."

Sitting down, Saki hid her emotions and thoughts. One of the skills she had picked up on her time as a member of a Team Zero, a spy. Instead she flashed a warm smile. ''Just doing missions with other people. I was asked to join another team, which meant I left Team 6. From that time, I was just assigned to all kind of formations where my stealth and long ranged skills would be of use. I am not sure what you remember, but I have managed to learn how to use the bow and some nifty techniques.'' Meanwhile, Saki wanted to ask where most other people were. When she had came back to Konohagakure, Saki hadn't heard anything about Kaname or Lilia. Though she had heard what had happened with Lilia, making Saki actually happy that the girl was growing that fast.

Rubbing his chin he waited until she was done speaking. Her story sounded foolproof, and even he had to admit that Konoha drilled its secret agents very well. He had caught vague information about her being employed in Konoha's spying corps from her dossier, which meant she was pretty much a jounin-level spy. There was also a chance he was looking too far for invented theories, but his guts told him he was right. That she had learned how to fight with a bow however was very interesting. "With a bow even. That's very interesting acually." For a short moment his mind flashed back to the fight they had fought together two years ago, against Katar and Nibo? It was the day he learned that Matsuri had turned rogue and that Zakito had 'died'. It was the day that his teammates had carried him on when he thought of giving up most. Dismissing the painful memory he instead explained what he had done the past two years. "Well, I have for the past two years done some missions, gotten myself incredibly injured, spent about 6 to 7 months in the hospital, did some more missions, became a jounin, and started Team 7!" It was a heavily summarized explanation that hid many important details he did not want to burden her with or remind himself of, and instead awaited some sort of an answer.

''I noticed. Am quite happy to hear that you managed to progress that well.'' Saki told him, meaning what she said. There was a brief pause before she would speak again. ''I have heard some rumors and read some stuff that Lilia managed to become a jounin as well? If you don't mind or have anything planned, I wanted to pay her a visit soon. I kind of regret that I wasn't able to keep any contact with her. Or Kaname.'' Saki looked a bit guilty as she felt like that. In her opinion she kind of had dropped the two for the sake of duty. ''Have you heard anything about her?''

His smile froze on his face as she mentioned the name of Kaname and for a moment one could see the bottomless pit of sadness in his eyes, a burden that he always carried, hidden deep under in his skin. His voice grew less enthousiastic as he spoke. "Ah... Yes, Lilia has changed her name, but she has done really fine. You should call het Kiyomi now. You can ask herself why. And about Kaname..." He started, before shrugging and conintuing on a soft tone. "Well, let us say that she is not amongst us anymore." He wanted to spare her the details, the gruesome details of her death. In fact, it had been Kensuke and Kiyomi who had followed the rogue shinobi named Kaname towards a cave system not far from the Village of Talons, and ultimately killed her in a horrendous fight.

The fact that Kensuke confirmed that Kiyomi was doing really fine made Saki feel a bit better. Not completely erasing the guilt however, But as he told that Kaname wasn't longer among them, she looked surprised. Blinking several times it took her some moments before she realized the ugly truth. Kaname was dead? Lowering her head, Saki didn't keep up the false mask. Sadness and regret flowed over her face as she thought about it. Her best friend had perished? When and how? ''Who killed her?'' Saki asked, trying to regain her composure.

Gritting his teeth he felt the need to lie to her for her, and his own sake. But then he shook his head. It was better to tell her the truth. "About a year ago now, Kaname left the village on a routine visit to the Village of Talons, my hometown, but did not return. When inquiries were sent to my village, they reported that she had never arrived. Shortly after reports of persons going missing and the rising of a rabid shinobi arose, and Kiyomi and me were sent to investigate the matter. Kiyomi brought along some of the 'Konoha Guardians', her apprentices, and I was sent for my knowledge of the terrain and perhaps this rogue's fighting style, who was suspected to be the reason behind Kaname's disappearance." He told her on a sad and soft tone, staring at the sunny courtyard infront of him as the scene came to life before his eyes. "We were pointed to a cave system, where we searched for this rogue shinobi, and eventually found her. Kaname nearly gutted me and Kiyomi in her ambush, and in the ensuing fight we were forced to end her life." He finished on the same sad yet dutiful tone. He hated this. He had done it so many times before, visiting people, parents, wives, friends, ... reporting someone's death. It never became easier, especially when he was responsible, and he had never been as responsible as now.

The story made Saki only feel more guilty and wary. She remembered that she had requested to join a regular team again. The first time that she heard that she would be transfered to Team 7 from Team 10, Saki hadn't suspected anything. Now she became a bit wary. If Kensuke had ended Kaname's life, was it then that she was assigned underneath his leadership in fear that she would go rogue if he wasn't there to stop her? Or maybe he was tasked to watch over her and if he suspected she would go rogue, to end her life as well. Though a normal person would see this as a sign of paronia, Saki knew better. A spy should always thread carefully around. ''That is sad.'' Saki mumbled, looking up to the clouds. ''But things like that happen. I won't blame you or Kiyomi. I just wish I could have meant something. Lets.. talk about the other students of your team.''

He was surprised and at the same time worried she was taking it so well. It was obvious the two had been good friends, and he knew she was very good at hiding information. Feelings undoubtedly were a part of that. "Thank you." He said, still touched somewhere by how she forgave Kiyomi and him so fast. He had always had trouble about placing tough events and his responsability in their outcome, and the effect of her words was as if someone pulled out a splinter from his hand he didn't even know that was there. "To start off we have Ezuri Hyuuga. He is not a typical Hyuuga in that he is quite energetic and reckless to a fault, but he is fairly skilled at what he does. He lacks insight and teamwork, but he means well with what he does. He also uses the water release. Next up is Shisen Inuzuka. A silent and seemingly introvert girl with two ninken who has a sharp assertive side. She too could use a some more teamwork, but again, individual skill and teamwork with her ninken is rather good." He had not intended to give a dry and factual summary of the genin, and felt a tad guilty that he had, but considering the direction this conversation had taken he felt little need to divulge further.
Her lips curled down by hearing what her team members were like. True, most members of the spy corps weren't the best people. But they were drilled in coordination with each other. A spy that worked alone was often doomed to die or being captured. A team that worked together had a much higher risk of succeeding in gaining information or sabotaging the enemy. ''No offense, but that sounds like a bummer.'' Saki said, sighing again. ''Maybe I have been a bit spoiled by the discipline and teamwork of Team 6, but I don't like the sound of such team members. I guess that they are both genins?'' She asked, hoping that he would confirm that.

"Yyyyyyyep." He replied. He completely understood her reaction, and hoped that his rather negative summary would leave her positively impressed with both genin. "They're both genin indeed. Taking part in the chuunin exams in a few weeks, the both of them, so maybe," He continued, putting emphasis on the last word, "there'll be two chuunin in Team 7 soon." He sighed and looked at his sandwich. He wasn't that hungry anymore. The bottle of sake she gifted him looked a whole lot more attractive now. "In any case, they're both still very young. They still need to learn a lot. Give them some time, show them how a true chuunin acts, and they'll be set on the right path in no time." He said, and could not help notice the irony in his words. 'Very young'? He was barely 6 and 7 years older than Ezuri and Shisen respectively. Then again, it was undeniably a new generation of shinobi that was different from the previous one.

Saki thought about his words. Sure, she would give them a solid chance. But only one. Maybe it was a bit mean for her to do so, but she looked with a more serious attitude towards being a kunoichi. If they wanted to fool and mess around, then not in around her. ''I guess I can try to give an example, but I rather leave that to you. You're the jounin of us two.'' Saki said, smiling. ''Though I hope you won't request me to babysit them. I fear that my time being away from genins have kind of made me less tolerant towards inexperienced members.''

"Heh, fair points." He replied. "I believe that they can become fine shinobi. I can train them well enough and my strict training program will most certainly take care of the practical and theoretical parts, but both of their mindsets are still those of exactly what they are, young teenagers. Part of me wishes them to mature as fast as possible, but part of me, ..." He paused, thinking of Kiyomi, just a year older than his two genin, yet already a jounin, and then thought of why she had matured at such a young age so much already. "... part of me wishes that they'll be allowed to grow into fine shinobi without the world around them forcing them to do so."

''I can understand that. Maybe I have grown a bit too harsh, but it is just that I hope that they won't expect others to bend to their will if they won't show any effort as well. I remember that I had to deal with such a sensei and team members in the very first teams I was part off.'' Remembering a particular jounin sensei that used bees and was just one big joke, Saki could sum up more types that weren't luckily shinobi anymore. Though the system had became more harsh and discplined, Saki was grateful that such people were rooted out. ''Though if I may be honest, I never figured you would become a jounin. Li-Kiyomi, granted. But she was always a big striver.'' Saki said, giggling. Though she meant no harm with her comment. ''I always had thought you were a bit too... shy.''

"Me? Too shy? Excuse me?!" He said in return, finally regaining his cheerful attitude that carried him through most days eversince the deaths of his teammembers. "I mean, with my skills and obvious talent it was crystal clear that I would become a jounin. Ahem." He then continued, before pondering on the subject a bit longer. "You know what, to be honest, I never thought I would either."

Saki smiled at him, looking sideways before returning her gaze back to the their surroundings. The thought that it wouldn't be comfortable or relaxing around Kensuke was pushed away. Though there was still that theory that made her wary, Saki suspected that being in his team wouldn't be that bad. ''Yes, Kensuke Nimatsu, sir.'' Saki said, before she laughed a bit. ''I do hope that you won't enforce that I have to treat you from now. I don't share that belief that a subordinate has to show respect to treat her or his superior. Sir.''

"Then I fear I shall have to let you run additional laps around the trainingfield, recruit!" He laughed in response, picking up his stuff again. He had to get started on his own daily training by now, and this meeting was just, well, a meeting. "Anyways Saki, I'll send you a note when the next mission or team-training begins. In the meantime, you can always ask for a private training session with respectable sir jounin Kensuke." He told her as he got up, and offered her a hand to do the same. "Because respectable sir jounin has to go right now and make sure he does not get out of shape himself. I'll see you later, recruit?"

Taking his hand, Saki nodded twice. ''Understood.'' Once back on her feet, Saki thought about something. Being a chuunin meant that he wouldn't need to spend much time on her training as with the other two. Meaning she had more freedom than she had actually assumed. ''I'll be waiting eagerly then for when you will need my presence.'' She said, adding a small and graceful bow to it. ''Till later, sir. Have a nice day.'' Saluting again, Saki was sure of it. This team wouldn't be too bad with Kensuke leading it.

Again, it was very early. Aiko yawned, wondering how many times she was going to do this. From what she had heard and know was that many sensei's started to train their students at ungodly hours like before sunrise and such cliché times. Closing her mouth, Aiko wondered what had gotten into her to notify Yukara that she would get some training at this kind of hour. Rubbing her eyes, Aiko decided that this would surely be the last time she would get up so super early to then train a student. How could she perform and help if she was falling asleep? Waiting on the training field, which was a typical flat grassfield, with some trees and vegetation at the side, Aiko hoped that Yukara would be more of a morning person than that she was.

Awaking to feeling of water being thown onto her, she jumped up and grabbed the kunai from under her pillow, then saw her father with his hands up like he was surrendering. "Morning kid, shouldnt you be heading to training now and not snoozing away?" her father asked with a chuckle. Yukaras eyes widened considerably, this caused her father to laugh and shake his head before he left the room. "OH MY GOD!" Yukara exclaimed loudly, quickly throwing her clothes on quickly and pulling her hair back into a messy pony tail. After that, she tossed her gear into her back and ran out of her room, nearly running into her mother. "Sorry Ma!" she called over her shoulder as she bolted out the door at full speed.

Wondering where Yukara was, Aiko decided to check again if she had everything with her. It had been a hassle for her to get what she needed for today's training, but Aiko thought it would be worth it. Next to the scrolls she had managed to borrow for today, she checked if she had the other required equipment with her. Next to that, some food and drink for later.

She flew down the paths that led to the village, soon she was in the leaf village and flying down the roads at a dangerous pace. Coming to a screeching halt as she saw Aiko-Sensei in one of the training fields and ran over there. Again, she came to a sudden halt and nearly ran into her sensei, her hair was a mess and to her utter horror, her shirt was on backwards. "IM HERE! IM HERE!" Yukara said, panting a bit and trying to fix herself up. Although, her cheeks were red from embaressment.

Turning around, Aiko had heard Yukara. Smiling, Aiko made a gesture that Yukara should calm down. ''Relax, no need to yell the city awake. That and sweety, your shirt.'' Pointing at the shirt that Yukara was wearing, Aiko kept her smile up. ''Lets not rush. I have made sure that I have time plenty to help you today and train you as well. There is likely nobody that will call or request for me, so please calm down.''

"Right, right, right," Yukara said, quickly fixing her shirt so that it was not on backwards. After that, she looked to Aiko-Sensei and waited for more instructions. "So how many jutsu are you going to teach me, today?" she asked, bouncing on her feet like she normally did when she was excited and ready to begin something.

Raising her hand, Aiko held up two fingers. ''Two. One that is an elemental ninjutsu and one that you can use with your brain. It is called logical reasoning. Not anything offensive, but I am going to explain you on how a kunoichi should be.'' Lowering her hand, Aiko thought if her words were of any help. ''Not that I think you misunderstood it, but I believe that you should know more background information. That is actually why I want to keep teaching you and the others about things like the Leaf, the Fire Union and its history. It is important to know such things in order to grow.''

Yukara listened quietly as Aiko-Sensei explained what they were going to be doing today, making even more excited to learn and eager to get started. Wondering what sort of elemental ninjutsu and just how she was going to be going to use logical reasoning, she was also curious to know some more about the Fire Union and of course its history as well. "Ok, ready when you are," Yukara said, beaming at Aiko-Sensei.

''First, lets do a small warming up. I am not going to instruct you to run some laps as you have rushed your way here, but lets start with some sit ups?'' Aiko suggested, or at least seemed to do so. ''Lets start with fourty sit ups, followed by twenty push ups.'' Smiling, Aiko would place her hands at her hips, waiting for Yukara to start doing the sit and push ups.

Not having a problem with what Aiko-Sensei suggested, she got in the sit up position and began doing some sit ups, counting silently to herself. Once she was half way through them, she began feeling the strain on her abdomen and it was putting a strain on her, but she did not stop. She wanted to impress Aiko-Sensei and so she managed to do all fourty sit ups. Moving to the push ups, she gave herself a minute to rest before working on the twenty some push ups.

Watching over Yukara, Aiko showed no emotion, staring with a bland look at her student. She knew it could be a bit too much, but like Katsu, she wanted that Yukara's stamina would be improved. It would only be for the better for her if she could improve her stamina. When Yukara took a minute to rest, Aiko said nothing about it as she would let Yukara take a moment to catch her breath.

Her arms were beginning to shake around the fifteenth push up, she y did not have the upper body strenght that most had and so it was a bit more difficult for her to do, but she did it. All twenty some push ups, she did everything that Aiko-Sensei had requested her to do and felt a little accomplished. Getting to her feet, she dusted herself off and looked to her sesnei. "Whats next?" Yukara asked.

''Three minutes break and then ten laps around the field.'' Aiko said instantly, like she had prepared the line before. Looking around the field, she thought about adding something to it. ''And every two laps you have finished, you need to sprint the next one. That means you have to sprint the third, fifth, seventh and ninth lap.'' Summing it up, Aiko nodded. ''That is what is next.''

Feeling relieved when she heard that she had three minutes to rest before what came next, then her eyes must have gotten real wide because she could not believe what Aiko-Sensei said next. Ten laps, sprinting after every two laps she ran. Taking a deep breath, she nodded slowly and kept her mouth shut as she did not want to complain. After the three minutes, she reluctantly started to jog the first lap, not wanting to rush to finish it and start the second. Eventually, she was on the second and was not looking forwards to sprinting the next. Once at the third, she picked up her pace by twice as much and as she was told, sprinted the third lap.

Seeing that Yukara was following up the instruction nicely, Aiko was already thinking on how she would explain the elemental ninjutsu she would teach her. Or should she start with the teaching about what it meant to be a kunoichi? With Yukara starting to sprint by the third lap, Aiko decided she would first start with the teaching of the meaning of a kunoichi. At least then Yukara wouldn't be pushed into becoming exhausted by then also trying to learn and control the basics of a new technique, while just trying to recover from her laps.

Jogging the fourth lap, she was glad that the third was over and that only the fifth, seventh and ninth remained to be sprinted. The end of the fourth came much too soon for Yukaras liking, just like the last one, it was time to sprint again. Sprinting it quickly, she was beginning to feel a bit winded at this time, taking in huge breaths of air so she could get more oxygen to her muscles like she once heard in the hospital she hoped it would help. Luckily, the fifth lap was over with quickly as she jogged the sixth lap and then began sprinting the seventh.

''Keep on going, Yukara.'' Aiko called out, glad she wasn't the one who was running laps. Not that she would have much of a problem with it, but that wasn't about it. Aiko would have likely complained about it if she was Yukara, due the ungodly hour. Thinking about why her student wasn't uttering something about it, Aiko decided to not start about it. Rubbing her eyes again, Aiko tried to not look tired or wanting to go to sleep.

"Easy for you to say!" Yukara huffed, her eyes narrowed and her body tired from all the work. But, she was determined to keep going and make it to last one, even if she was going to be sore in the morning the next day. She began to chant something under breath that sounded like "I can do this, I can make it." Finally, she reached the ninth lap and let out a battle cry almost as she sprinted it as best she could before jogging at a very slow pace the last one. Once done with all ten laps, she plopped onto the ground in front of her sensei as she caught her breath. "Next time, I want you to do that" she said.

Letting out a soft chuckle by hearing Yukara's response, Aiko would stay and wait. Once Yukara seemed to be done, Aiko started to head towards the genin. Hearing clearly what she said, Aiko lightly shrugged. ''Sure thing. Quite easy of what I had to do when I was being trained.'' Aiko came to a halt as she eyed Yukara. Yes, the girl could use a break. ''Now time for some theory. Take some time to rest out, at least now you don't have to run laps or any physical effort.'' Pausing, Aiko was thinking on how she should get started. Then she thought of something. ''What does it mean to be kunoichi?''

Choosing to not say anything back after what Aiko-Sensei said, she sighed and looked up to her. So, her plan was to exhaust Yukara physically and then make her brain hurt with theory? That was nice of her. "A kunoichi is a female who works along side another shinobi in a mission, right?" Yukara asked. Or was it something different? She just knew that it was a female ninja, wasnt that it?

Smiling, Aiko placed a finger against the tip of her nose. Maybe she should be more specific with her question? Probably yes, judging on Yukara's answer. ''Yes, but what does it mean? Does it mean you have to be a soldier of the kage or does it have any real meaning to it? Are you a soldier, a peace keeper or what some like to believe, a person that is just practicing ninjutsu?''

"A kunoichi is both a soldier and a peace keeper, we have to be able to fight and keep up with the males but be able to be the reason in the team if the other two are unable to do so on their own. Those who think we just practice ninjutsu do not understand what we do," Yukara said. She believed that a kunoichi was equal to her male peers and that without either one, it is unbalanced.

''Hhmm.'' Aiko thought about Yukara's answer. ''Yes, but what is the deeper meaning? Is it really that a kunoichi or a shinobi are just soldiers and peace keepers? Or is there more to it?'' Aiko asked, hoping to keep Yukara think about it. The message that Aiko was trying to get across was the meaning about being a nin to a village, which was in general that ninja were just soldiers and peace keepers. But was it all that there was to them?

"I dont know, I mean everyone is different so it could be different to everyone," Yukara said. Looking to Aiko, she waited to see if she would anything. "What is a kunoichi to you?" she asked, looking imploringly at Aiko-Sensei.

The question made Aiko nodd. ''Now you're catching on.'' She said. Though Aiko took a moment to think how she would phrase her answer. ''I think that kunoichi is a female nin that is a peace keeper, but instead of an ordinary soldier or mecenary one that is being educated like all nin, in order to listen and trust their kage. If we can't trust the kage into making the right decision, we can't do what is probably right for the state. In this kind of manner it justify that ninja are tools, though I disagree with that we should forsake all our emotions.'' Hoping that her answer would now trigger Yukara's opinion about it, Aiko would wait for it.

"Well, ninja are not tools. They are people who put themselves on the line in order to protect loved ones and the people in the village. They are people who put everyone else first and them last, selfless warriors of their village who know that they could at any moment. Kunoichi even more so, females are equal to males, we are capable of everything they can do and more, they are young girls and women who have to be able to be the constant so that the ninja dont forget how to feel anything. They have to be strong when the males cannot be," Yukara said.

''Wait, wait!'' Gesturing with her hands, Aiko got the idea that she might had explained it a bit too wrong. ''You have a right view on what it means to be a kunoichi, but there isn't a real difference between a shinobi and a kunoichi, Yukara. In most cases, when somebody talks about shinobi in general, they also mean kunoichi. There isn't a difference between the two.'' Though Aiko found it a bit funny, she was afraid that Yukara misunderstood it. ''But you're right about that a nin should be somebody that thinks about the village first and then about themselves. Even when it seems cruel and in some ways evil. For example, if the Hokage would order you to kill a civilian, would you do so?''

"Well, if the kage ordered me to then I would have to. I feel bad later but if it makes everyone else safe then it has to be done," Yukara said. She would indeed feel bad later, taking a life was said to be a difficult thing to come to terms with mentally. Even if it was a missing nin, taking a life was never easy on anyone, but it had to be done.

''To start, it is most of the time never an easy thing to take a life. Most jounin and higher ups seem to be pretty okay with it. Truth be told, I am not really thinking about anybody who I kill these days.'' Aiko said, looking away to the right. ''Though I suspect that has to do with stopping to care. At first I threw up after every killing. I felt disgusted and horrible for the part I played into ending somebody's life. I was certain that at one point I would just stop functioning.'' Sighing, Aiko looked back at her student. ''However, I am losing track. Sorry. The point I was trying to make is that while most would agree that forsaking our feelings would be a bad thing, it sometimes can save us. If somebody would try to kill you cause you're part of the Leaf, then I would not even think twice of jumping into action. Even if it means I have to kill the other person, no matter how much I could or would agree with them. I would forsake my emotions not just to save you or anybody else, but because that is what it means to be selfish. To be a ninja. Village first and then yourself.''

"I would not forsake my emotions, emotions make us human and not just tools for the kage to use as he pleases. Right, everyone else first and yourself last," Yukara said, nodding her head. It was easy to say, but how hard would it be in the field? Anyone can talk but not everyone can follow through, there were times where she, herself, did not think she could follow through. "So whats next?" Yukara asked.

Aiko wanted to comment back, but decided it would be better to not further indulge on the matter. It was already good that Yukara understood that duty came before personal ambition and gain. ''I think I will need to teach you the basics of a technique. From what I have seen is that you lack in the offensive capabilities. So today we will learn you a new skill and a technique.'' Aiko explained. ''The skill will be what some call the skill of Shinobi Killers. Silent Killing. Ever heard of it?'' Aiko asked friendly.

Yukara blinked once, then twice. Silent Killing? She stared at Aiko-Sensei blankly for a moment, trying to wrap her mind around the technique that
Aiko mentioned. "You kill someone quietly?" Yukara asked, it was a stupid question. But that was the only thing she could think of, the ability to keep your mouth shut while you kill someone. "Soooo, yeah."

She smiled. ''That is putting it really simple, but it is a skill that has more to it.'' Aiko said. She thought on how to explain it. ''It is the most favourable skill of any assassin. To kill somebody without a sound means that you after all make no sound at all. But there is more to it.'' She said, making a gesture with her right hand. She pointed it up, raising only her index finger. ''So it means to move without any sound to alert or alarm most foes.'' Then she raised her middle finger. ''It is to know how to kill somebody without raising an alarm, thus not making them able to scream one last time.'' Then she raised her ring finger. ''But also to know what happens around you. You can see it as a sensory skill that doesn't require chakra, but focus and experience.''

"Alright, so it is kind of complex. Are you good at it?" Yukara asked. She thought about what was said, no sound, no alerting the enemy and a sort of sesnory skill. How hard could it be? "You should demonstrate it, just not on me" she added after a minute. She took a kunai and began flipping it in the air, like she was waiting. If she was going to master this skill then Aiko would need to do a stellar demonstration.

''I think I am average.'' Aiko said, smiling a bit as Yukara asked it. When her student suggested that she should demonstrate it, Aiko thought about it. Not her though. Placing a hand on her hip, she saw nobody around on the training field. And it was still early, so it would be a small chance if somebody would appear on the field where they were. ''I can demonstrate it. If there is somebody on the other field, next to this one, maybe I can show it you.'' Aiko said, beckoning her student to follow her. ''While we are on our way, does the Hidden Mist Technique says anything to you?'' Was her question.

"Mkay." Hidden Mist Technique? She heard of it, it was supposedly a stealth technique and made it hard to detect the other. A lot of good Shinobi had that technique, a Shinobi like Aiko-Sensei. "You call mist to you and surrounds the field, making it hard to track the other, do know that technique? I bet you do, your cool like that. Are you going to teach that to me too?" Yukara asked, eying her sensei eagerly. A cool skill and a cool technique in one day?

Cool? Aiko wondered about that. ''Yes, though there is more to it. Most think that making a mist is just the technique. That is why everybody sees it as a D ranked technique. Cause a mist can be simply blown away by the wind or a strong gust of an explosive as example.'' Aiko said, as she started to smirk a bit. ''But there are some users who have put a great amount of training it. Those who have mastered good enough chakra control and experience can create such thick mist that it will become chakra exhausting for victims to cast the mist away while they can barely see anything. Then with a skill like Silent Killing...'' Aiko didn't finish her sentence. It was evident what she meant with that.

Nodding her head, she listened intently to the words of Aiko-Sensei and made sure to take everything she said to heart. "It is only a D rank?! What? How come I was never told this!?" Yukara exclaimed, rather loudly too. She listened some more, oh so it could be hard and exhausting to get rid of, so it was an improving D rank technique. Maybe she should have paid equal attention to some other things and not just the Healing Technique that she had a good grasp on. "So you could kill someone without actually seeing them and them not seeing you? Wow, that sounds dangerous."

''That is why the skill is regarded as a shinobi killing one. There are people who have skills or sensory techniques which can counter it, but the majority are often defenseless against a master of the art.'' Aiko explained. She wasn't sure if she was really making sense. At times when she was trying to explain things like these, she had the idea that she was giving the wrong image. But the idea to show Yukara how Silent Killing kind of worked would maybe help her explanation? As they came at the side of another training field, they would see another team. It was a male shinobi that was talking to his genin. At least, the three younglings didn't look like chuunin. From their range, she could catch parts that the man was explaining them that hiding and sneaking around was what a ninja would do to surprise their adversaries. ''Okay, stay here. I will use my mastery of Silent Killing to move out in the open and at a running speed, while he won't see it coming.'' Aiko told her student.

Watching for several seconds, she took the seconds to take in the details. The man was either a specialized Jounin or a full fledged jounin, which meant he could have some sensory or tracking ability. Lowering herself a bit, Aiko then noticed that the wind was in her favour. It would blow towards her, thus blowing away her scent from the man, or in this case her practice prey. Moving suddenly in a fast dash towards the man, she would make almost no sound as she did so. ''That means that-'' The eyes of the genin widened as Aiko seemed to appear almost in a blur next to the man. ''That sneaking behind is a very important tactic. Sorry, had to do it to show my pupil that mastery over Silent Killing can be quite useful.'' The man, who seemed to be around his starting thirties, looked over his shoulder. Surprised, he noticed who it was. ''I am at least honored to be surprised by you.'' He said, in a cautious way. Aiko smiled as she made a little bow towards the man. ''I apologize if I have interupted your lessons. I will go now.'' Turning around on her heels, she would walk back towards Yukara. Once she was close enough, Aiko pointed with her left thumb over her shoulder. ''And this how a charge with some Silent Killing mastery works.'' Lowering her hand, she smiled. ''Any questions?''

Yukara watched in surprise as Aiko-Sensei demonstrated, noting that it quite nice to have on your side against a foe. Nodding, she smiled at her sensei and then giggled as the man spoke about being honored to be surprised, it was a funny thing to say. "That was so cool! Now how do I get that good at it?" Yukara asked. Thinking about the question, Aiko beckoned Yukara to follow her. ''It isn't a skill that is just be learned in a day. It is something that should be practiced in some time.'' Aiko explained, trying to think how she could explain it in the best possible way to her student.

Using Koike as example wouldn't be good. But then herself as an example? ''I taught the basics cause I needed them to survive. I didn't want to get caught by enemies. It was during the war when I was in Konohagakure, but the threat of an attack was still very real. Back then I used more stealth than any combat skill to keep up with others, as I tried to be more clever than stronger than others.'' Aiko threw a short glance towards Yukara, wondering if her example would do any good.

That made sense, she thought, not everything can be mastered in a day. "Ok, practice makes perfect. How do I start with the practice? What steps need to be taken? What do I need to do?" Yukara asked. She was eager to learn this technique and eager to put to use in the field, the sooner they got to it the better. Understanding that because she lacked some physical strength that it would be helpful in a tight situation.

Laughing a bit due the lot of questions, Aiko was actually happy that she was so curious and eager. ''To start, you need to learn on how to be silent. To try to keep yourself moving without a sound and of course thus knowing how most sounds are produced. This will also help you to discover sounds and able to place and analyze what they are.'' Aiko thought about the next part. ''The steps and what you need to do is to first examine the surroundings and the factors. A wet field can have mud pools and other factors that can make a sound to those who pay attention. Or a strong wind can blow your scent to your opponent, giving away your position. An user of this skill needs to quickly analyze and use these factors to then use the skill to move with a minimum sound around, to surprise the enemy.''

"Ok, ok" Yukara said. Taking a step back, she looked around at the surroundings and focused on where everything was. The slight breeze, the shadows of trees and the drifting loose leaves that fell to the ground. The shadows would somewhat hide her in their darkness, while the breeze could send her scent in the direction of an enemy. "Whats next? Got the surroundings" Yukara said, she sounded somewhat distant as she was still trying to focus on the surroundings.

''Knowing how to move without a sound. Try to move slow at first. Then over time build it up. Regulate your breathing as you move.'' Aiko advised, curiously watching Yukara. After saying the tips, she would take a step back to see how her student would do. Aiko wasn't expecting that Yukara would have instant success, but she was very curious on fast she would pick up on with the given tips.

Nodding, she began to sihft her weight onto another leg and naturally took a step, slowly shifting her weight back onto the leg she moved. She was now having to focus on multiple things, while regulating her breathing as well. Breathing in, slowly, through her nose and easily out of her mouth as she took another slow step, trying to match her breathing to the cadence of her steps. One step, one breath, one step, one breath. More often than she liked, her breathing was a bit loud.

Watching how Yukara tried to move without a sound, Aiko could spot some mistakes, but she figured it would be better to let Yukara try it more out before she would have to hear Aiko saying what she did wrong and right. She was still curious on how Yukara would pick it up and for a moment, Aiko was considering to put up a test next to help her out. But for now she kept herself with just watching and examining how her student was doing.

One step, one breath, one step. A faint crinkling sound was heard, she looked down and saw that she had stepped on one of the freshly fallen leaves mentally kicking herself at the stupid mistake. Moving away from it easily, she tried to regain her concentration and to find that quiet step rhythm that she was aiming for. Trying to match her breathing to the cadence of her steps once again.

When Aiko had heard the sound of Yukara stepping on the leaves, she was almost going to start to say what she did wrong or right. Or giving tips right away. But still convinced it was better to let Yukara try it more, Aiko would keep herself quiet. After a couple of minutes, Aiko decided that she should suggest what she had in mind. ''What about we make it a bit more challenging?'' Standing still on her spot, she would pull out a kunai, wrapping her right index finger around the loophole as she would spin the weapon. ''Just a little test to help you figure out the steps by adding a challenge to it.''

"What do you have in mind?" Yukara asked, curious to find out what the challenge would be. She now stood still, eying Aiko-Sensei with interest and watched as she spun the kunai around. ''I will use the Hidden mist technique as summon somebody to aid you. With the mist, you and the summoned one can't use your eyesight. This means you need to be relying on your hearing and other senses. That way you will need to figure out how to move silently as the other steps while trying to catch the summoning of mine.'' Grabbing the kunai by the handle, Aiko would wait and see what Yukara would think of the suggestion.

"That sounds fun! What kind of summoning?" Yukara asked, now very interested in the challenge. Having to catch a summoning would certainly prove challenging but she never backed down from something that would prove difficult, especially if was fun. ''A dog. A grumpy one though.'' Aiko answered as she would use the kunai to prick her thumb. After doing so, she would store the weapon away, on which she would perform the required handsignals to use the Summoning technique. Placing her hand at the ground, in front of the woman, a small cloud of smoke would appear. ''Please, don't tell me you have a dull thing for me.'' The grumpy complaiment was the first sound that would be heard before a small Akita dog would be spotted. He was throwing a rather bothersome glare in Aiko's direction. ''Yukara, Pipi. Pipi, Yukara. After I have made the mist, you will need to catch him, Yukara. No jutsu. Only using your instincts and what I told you.''

The words of Aiko made the dog raise his lips, barring his fangs. Not that he would think it would be wise to bite or attack Aiko, but he didn't like the sound of what he heard. Turning his head to look at Yukara, the dog looked annoyed. ''This again...'' He muttered, already starting to walk a bit of a distance away from the girl. ''Ready?'' Aiko asked.

"Alright, this will be fun," Yukara said, grinning while watching the dog. "Bring the mist, Aiko-Sensei. I will get your summon and bring him back to you," she said, taking a step in the direction of the dog. Although, she thought that the dog would be friendly and talkative, to make it more fun but it just annoyed and grumpy.

While Aiko would perform and use the mist technique, the dog glared at the young Cho. It wasn't impressed or happy at all. ''Bold words. But nothing but words!'' Growling the words, the thick mist would soon rob everybody's eyes of seeing clearly around them. Curious, Aiko would move silently away from her position to a higher location, a branch in a nearby tree. The thick mist wouldn't allow her to see anything, but she didn't want to be in the way. Pipi pressed his body low to the ground as he would attempt to move away from his previous position. The nostrils of the dog widened a bit, cautious to what Aiko's student would do.

Yukara watched in aww as the mist came from all directions to envelop them and cut them off from using their sight. It was impressive and somewhat disturbing that she could barely see a foot in front of her. She knew better than to comment on the situation, knowing it would alert the dog, known as Pipi to her location. Taking a slow and measured breath, she looked around the best she could and tried to gather as much information as she could and remembered that she had already done so before. Allowing her to take that information and use it to her advantage, she tried to focus on the sounds and any possible audible foot steps from the dog as she moved around avoiding any areas where fallen leaves would be.

Aiko smiled. She could drop a senbon and probably hear it due the silence. Of course, she was able to hear both Pipi and Yukara. But both were trying to be very silent while figuring out where the other was. In other words, it was like she was witnessing a battle between two users of Silent Killing. One mistake, one sound that was too loud and the one that had made such a mistake would have give a location away. Vital information. There. Something cracked and Aiko was sure that it was Pipi. It sounded like something dropped. A small stone perhaps? Considering the place, it was more likely a distraction as it was to the left of Yukara.

Turning around in a slow circle, Yukara tried to zone in on the crack, squinting a bit as if it would help even though it would not help at all. She bit her lip, deciding to go right she began to move again and kept focusing on sounds, although she did faintly smell a hint of dog but it was not strong enough to make any choice on what to do about it. She thought that she heard a scrape, although it was faint she continued to move in the direction she was going.

Suddenly the animal barked. It came from her right. There were two sharp and fast barks before the animal ran passed her. ''Missed!'' It said with a confident voice as it kept running. Aiko had half expected such a bold move from the dog. The distraction was merely to see how good the girl was paying attention or try to lure her out. Wondering if Yukara would give chase to the dog, Aiko found the situation quite amusing.

Clenching her fist as she heard the dogs words, she kept from chasing after it and waited till he stopped moving. Giving her a chance to calm herself before doing anything stupid and reckless, listening in on the souns of his foot steps. His breathing until it came to a stop, she tried to strain to hear his breathing better but it was really hard to do so while focusing on the scents too. With the dogs musk stronger now, she followed it half way and walked as silently as she could to the left of it, not wanting her path to be so obvious.

As it became quiet again, Aiko's smile grew. Good. Yukara showed patience and her action couldn't convince Aiko any better that she wasn't going to do anything rash or attempting to prove her worth too fast. The attempt to make Yukara chase him would force Pipi to try something else, while he had given away some information. The dog gritted his teeth as he realized that he couldn't provoke the girl like that. Sniffing, he managed to track her from some distafrom some distance from him, forcing him to move away.

The faint sound of foot steps could barely be heard again, staying put like before she waited till it would stop before moving again. Deciding that she could move after a moment, she began to move the right then forwards then turned in a slow circle, trying to catch the dogs scent again. There! She had to keep herself from getting too excited because it was still faint but just strong enough to give away some clues. Moving in the direction of the scent, she would occassionally move off the path of the scent either to the right or left then forwards then back to the path. Getting a little closer each time, she would catch him soon enough.

Ah, good. Aiko thought to herself. Getting from the branch, she would jump to a new branch. Not that she would jump in, but she wanted to be sure to keep a close watch of what was happening. While Yukara was closing on Pipi, the mood of the dog lowered. He was aware that Yukara was closing in on him and that irked him. He kept moving and had almost bumped against a tree. Realizing something, the dog would walk around the tree, trying to keep the tree between them. Like if Yukara would move left, he would go right.

It was harder to hear Pipis steps now, considering that whenever she moved, he moved. Maybe, if she pretended to move and get him to move without knowing what she was doing. She took three quick and silent steps then lifted her foot once then put it down in the rhythm that she was doing before and repeated the process five times. She moved right then back to the left then forwards and pretended to move again. While keeping her ears alert on what he did.

The dog lowered his ears as he narrowed his eyes. The girl was now really annoying him and he was reconsidering his plan. Meanwhile, Aiko struggled to keep herself from laughing. It was very funny to her as she was seeing Yukara walking in an odd manner to confuse the dogg. But she managed to discover that she could use the superior senses of the dog against him in such a situation.

Repeating the same motions once, then twice then she stopped all together as the scent certainly stronger now and she reached a hand out, touching a rough surface. Recalling what she knew of the surroundings, she realized that it was one of the trees and then took a step back, right then went forwards. Going around the tree, she pretended to move again then took a short step forwards, pretended to move and took another short step.

He ran and would try to bite the girl. Growling the dog had enough of her tricks. The few short barks were the only warning he would give her. But as he approached the girl that had annoyed him, he was lifted up. ''Very well done, Yukara.'' Aiko said, giggling a bit as she held Pipi underneath her right arm. The dog would be seen glaring at Yukara as the mist slowly faded away. ''Thank you, Pipi.~'' Aiko said. Growling the dog poofed away.

"Thanks, Sensei," Yukara said, happily. Eying the dog, she was tempted to reach out and pet the dog but decided that it was too risky with the dogs current mood. The temptation was removed when the dog vanished in poof of smoke leaving the two kunoichi standing there alone. "Why is Pipi alwasys so grumpy?" she asked with a frown.

The question made Aiko laugh. ''He is mostly just faking it. He goes very well along with the twins at home. And he just tries to act tough. With other people, I am never completely sure if it an act or not.'' After the answer, Aiko realized she had never thought about it. But it had never seem to be something of importance. ''But I noticed that you were able to figure out how to use the superior insticts of your opponent against them. That was very clever of you.'' Aiko said, genuinely meaning her compliment.

"Well I suppose that maybe he just does not like new people?" Yukara asked, actually concerned about the dogs attitude. She beamed up at Aiko-Sensei at the compliment, she was relieved that she had done at least one thing right in her eyes. "What are we doing next?" she asked, looking around at the now easily seen training feild.

''Homework.'' The dreaded word was the simple answer of Aiko. ''For now I think we covered the basics of it, but you will need to train a lot of times before it will take a proper shape of a skill. For that, I will learn you the Hidden Mist Technique so that you can however adjust more easily to it.'' Aiko said. She thought about how she would teach Yukara the particular technique. ''Best would be to begin with a water source. One second.'' Aiko weaves several handsignals before she would let an amount of water fall in front of them. ''There we go! Not very natural, but it is water.'' She said, smiling a bit. ''Now, you need to focus on the water and form the Tiger handseal. Best would be to make contact with the water and try to form the mist with it. Start slowly building it up.'

Nodding, she felt some water fall onto her and focused on what Aiko said to her. Homework was boring but needed. "Awesome! I really am going to be the new you!" Yukara said, clapping her hands together in delight. She calmed down as Aiko explained what to do with the jutsu, she took a deep breath and focused on the water. Forming the tiger hand seal, she looked at the water quite intensely and watched as it struggled to form into mist.

''Don't force it. Simply try to guide it. Mould the chakra as in a way that you're trying to spread it out.'' Aiko advised Yukara. The technique wasn't that hard or was that maybe just Aiko? Thinking about it, the technique was the first one she had ever learned. Also one of the techniques that had aided her greatly in the battles she had fought in her career as a kunoichi.

Yukara relaxed a bit, while trying to stay focused on the water. It seemed to be form a little easier but was still very thin compared to Aikos mist. She relaxed a bit more, the mist was now rising up easily and actually looked natural which was a relief to her. ''Very nice. That is it.'' Aiko said. The mist was still thin and not really something that would take away the sight of anybody. But never the less a start and that was what she wanted to achieve. ''The best way to train this technique is to keep trying to work on your chakra control. Use simple chakra control training like at the academy and over time you will notice that it will be thicker and easier to use the technique.''

"Alright, I will remember that. Hey Aiko-Sensei, will you train me as harshly as you train Katsu and Koike? I dont want to be useless to them, they are already so far ahead of me and I cant let them down. I need to be at their level," Yukara said truthfully. Thinking about how much she wanted to impress them, she wanted them to be glad that she was on their time and not hold them back.

''I only ever trained Koike harshly.'' Aiko said, looking away. That was a mistake she had made once and not one she would repeat ever again. Of course back then it had a different purpose, but Aiko wasn't sure if she should ever train somebody like that again. It made her feel awful. ''But I am going to train you as well. You have my word on that, Yukara.'' Aiko said, flashing a smile to the girl. ''But lets call it a day. I am already proud that you made some good progress today.''

"Thank you, Sensei. I wont let you down, I promise," Yukara said, smiling at Aiko-Sensei and bouncing on her feet. Nodding as she said to call it a day and beaming at her when she that she was proud of her, she was so pleased with it. "I will not stop making you proud, I promise that too," Yukara said. ''I believe you, Yukara.'' Aiko said with a cheerful tone. Placing her hands on her hip, she looked at the sky. There were some clouds and for some reason it made Aiko smile.

Walking through the halls, Kiyomi had barely taken a rest. After that Team 2 and 7 had returned back, she had said she would report back to Zakito on how the mission had went. Needless to say, at first both Leo and Hayate had followed her. But then she had given Leo a simple assignment to prepare something for her. The boy had absent mindly nodded and went away. Now with only Hayate walking towards the office of the Jounin commander, Kiyomi was a bit worried over what would might happen. Knocking on the door, she would wait politely for a response.

Shuffling awkwardly, Hayate glanced up at Kiyomi. He was nervous about meeting the jounin commander. The man had a reputation for being an incredibly powerful shinobi, and Hayate did not wish to make a bad first impression on him. Adjusting his jacket, he clasped his hands behind his back and took a deep breath. May as well get this over with...

''Come in.'' Zakito responded. He had been reading several reports and documents ever since the start of the day. After the last meeting of the higher ups, he had made sure that there would be some preparations to further increase the discipline of the forces of the Fire Union. This wasn't a small task that would be done in several days. With a force as large as that the Fire Union had under their control and command, Zakito was worried it would take months, if not years for him to acomplish the task. Putting the papers swiftly aside, he would see who would give him the honor of visiting him.

Opening the door, Kiyomi would wait until Hayate had entered the room as well before closing the door. Making sure that it was really closed. ''Hai Uncle Z. We have completed the mission.'' Kiyomi cheerfuly began. Taking a few steps, she made a small bow towards the man. ''There were some.. complications.'' From there Kiyomi started to simply summarize how the mission had been. Of course not revealing everything yet. She had several long pauses during her report, where she would kept staring towards Zakito. ''And that was about it.''

Standing beside Kiyomi as she delivered her report, Hayate remained silent. He was even more intimidated of the man now that Kiyomi had referred to him as her uncle. Hayate had made sure to bow politely upon entering, but he made no further move, not wishing to act out of turn. And his behavior hadn't gone unnoticed. While Zakito paid great attention to the report. the visible eye of the man occasionaly went to look at Hayate. ''Ah. Thus Kenta is missing? That is something suspicious indeed. I am however glad to hear that the mission has gone without further...'' Zakito pondered for a brief second. ''Suspicious element.'' With that having said, he eyed Hayate. ''It has come to my ears that he also has heard several details he wasn't supposed to hear, the previous mission some time ago? Am I right?'' The friendly tone had been replaced by a more serious one.

Kiyomi briefly glanced at Hayate. Clenching her right hand into a fist, she nodded. ''He has, yes.'' She told Zakito. Wondering what the man was thinking, she knew it would be dangerous now for Hayate. If Zakito would deem Hayate as a threat for the Dragon Lotus or him, he would likely be killed right away. And being somebody who had seen Zakito being serious several times, she knew better than to think she could prevent him from doing Hayate harm if he would want it.

Hesitating, Hayate glanced back to Kiyomi, before settling his gaze on Zakito. Instincts told him to be careful, and Hayate thought about his words for a long moment. The only thing he could think of was the mission in which he and Kiyomi went on to the Sea Country. Hearing Kiyomi confirm it, Hayate nodded his head. "I am sorry Zakito-sama. Which mission are you referring to?"

''Good.'' Zakito chuckled as Hayate asked him what mission he was reffering to. ''That particular patrol that lasted several days, my good boy. I remember that managed to make sure that the mission became a good success.'' Zakito told him, sounding amused as he leaned back in his chair. Raising his right hand to his chin, the man thought about something. ''I have made sure that there were people who kept an eye on you. I am sure that you have been warned that I dislike those who spill something I might not like or accept.'' The tone changed into a much colder one. One that would give a clear message. ''Regardless, I am going to formally offer you a position within this group. There is no way back however, so you may think wisely. Else I will have to arrange that your memory will be altered and some parts erased.''

Staying silent, Kiyomi would just look with a face that stayed neutral. She wanted to say things to strengthen Hayate's case. The problem however was her relationship with Hayate, which was known to Zakito. Knowing that it could backfire, she kept her lips sealed as she would keep on staying silent and watching.

Relieved that he had apparently given the proper answer, Hayate sighed inwardly. Listening as Zakito continued speaking, his mind travelled back to the mission to the Sea Country. Some of his actions were questionable at best, and Hayate realized that the jounin commander now held his fate in his hands. He was definitely surprised to find out that Zakito was a member of the secret organization, and Hayate wondered just how high up the members got.

Once the jounin commander had finished speaking, Hayate didn't even hesitate. Stepping forwards, he bent down on one knee. Lowering his head, Hayate spoke. "If you have truly been watching me Zakito-sama, then you should already know my answer." His voice was steady and confident, a fact that surprised Hayate. "If you feel me unfit then my life is in your hands to do with as you see necessary." Hayate was terrified by the prospect of losing the memories of Kiyomi and him, and he was tempted to ask Zakito if he would be at least willing to spare those, but thought better of it.

Simply keeping his eye set on the boy, Zakito seemed to wager the words of the young boy. Rubbing his chin, Zakito made his decision as he placed his hands at his desk as he got up from his seat. ''Then I have made my decision. Or rather, you have made yours.'' Walking around his desk, Zakito placed his hands at his back as he chuckled. ''Though it was a nice gesture, you don't have to lower your head for me. My days of being a Hokage are over, Hayate. Please, stand up.'' Truth be told, Zakito was glad to have the young man join the ranks of the Dragon Lotus. Other than the bindings he had within the order, that would anchor him to the organization, it was also the traits and abilities of the boy that made Zakito see a capable recruit in Hayate. ''I take it that I am not required to give a long speech or explain that you shouldn't ever consider to tell anybody about the Dragon Lotus. In the past, it was normal that a high ranked member would take up one apprentice and train them. But,'' Zakito threw a glance towards Kiyomi. ''I am too busy and you're being the official student of a capable other apprentice, I think I shall not separate you from Team 2 or any other way to make it happen. Now, where to place the seal?''

Glancing at Hayate, Kiyomi took slowly a step back as she kept listening. Relieved that Zakito would place the Dragon Seal and mark Hayate as a recruit into the organization, she gained a glint in her eyes. Knowing that she wasn't capable of using the Dragon Seal to an effective way yet, she had her own personal goal with now that Hayate was part of it. Unlike Keiko, she saw it as a way to keep close contact with Hayate. Finding only that Zakito kind of placed a pressure on her, making Hayate as her Dragon Lotus Apprentice, while she saw herself as a recruit too. Not saying anything as she believed that it would be better to keep her lips tight, Kiyomi kept looking interested to how the situation would develop.

Reluctantly standing to his feet, Hayate nodded his head. The fact that he would not be separated from Kiyomi filled him with warmth and he had to fight the urge to turn and smile to her. "Thank you Zakito-sama. I will speak of this to no one." Shifting his eyes towards Kiyomi, Hayate felt a bried twinge of nervousness about receiving the seal. Blushing slightly, he turned towards Zakito. "Does... does it hurt to get the seal Zakito-sama?" His thoughts flashed back to the antique shop where he had first heard mention of the Dragon Lotus. The place where that man had caused Kiyomi great pain... Wondering if he was going to feel that same pain while receiving the seal, Hayate balled his hands up into fists, preparing himself for the worst.

The question made Zakito shake his head lightly. ''No. It depends on who plants the Dragon Seal. In the past I often gave a clear message when applying the seal to a person, but it doesn't hurt at all. It might sting a bit for a moment but that is all.'' Zakito explained. He was a bit amused and tempted to ask if Hayate would think about refusing it if it would hurt a lot, but he had already caught sight of how the boy had shifted his vision to Kiyomi. The anchor with the boy is Kiyomi, who has a few more anchors. Thinking about that, he was sure that Hayate's loyalty would be one they could rely and build on. ''Lets place the seal on your... left shoulder. If you would please show your shoulder and not tremble or shake too much, then I could apply the seal without a problem.''

The pain didn't scare Hayate, it was the prospect of showing weakness in front of Kiyomi that made him hesitate. Once he realized that there wasn't a real risk of that happening, Hayate breathed an inner sigh of relief. Glancing quickly between Zakito and Kiyomi, he hesitated very briefly before taking off his jacket and setting it aside. Reaching down, Hayate peeled off his shirt and placed it beside his jacket. He stood there, shirtless and awkward for a long moment. Shooting a quick glance towards Kiyomi, Hayate tried to hide his blush before turning back to Zakito. "I am ready, Zakito-sama."

Still keeping herself at the background, Kiyomi saw the look on Hayate's face. Yet she kept her expression steeled. Right now she was just a person that observed the situation. It was strangely interesting as scary. From this moment, she knew that Hayate's path would be different. He was now one of the members of an organization that walked a different path than most shinobi.

Weaving some handsignals, but not at his high speed as in combat. Weaving them slowly, Zakito flexed the fingers of his right hand. There was a sudden chill in the room as he approached Hayate. ''Then I consider you now a member of the Dragon Lotus.'' The tone of Zakito was serious and almost sounded like it was some sort of very serious ceremony. Which in a sense, it actually was. Placing the hand against left shoulder, Hayate would only feel a very brief sting. Not really anything exciting or painful. Pulling his hand back, Zakito saw a dark mark taking shape on the shoulder of the boy. Taking two steps back, it was forming the traditional Dragon Seal. ''For now take a rest. You too, Kiyomi. I need to inform you that you will be soon going to Kumogakure with Hisoka. You have two days to prepare yourselves.''

Walking back to his seat, Zakito sat down as he would continue his paperwork. ''Your both dismissed.'' Though it was a friendly tone, the message was clear.