**** [b]Kariru Tsuyo[/b]****
Kariru followed along with the rest of the guard behind Sebaru who lead them into his quarters. When they got there he was wearing his headband and diamond already. It seemed business would go back to usual after all. The entirety of the Granite Guard piled into the room, and watched as Sebaru pulled out dossiers, each one with information regarding their soon to be recruits. This wasn’t much new for Kariru, she was a bit infamous in the village as she had some of the youngest and most powerful students the village had seen, including one of her now teammates, Kami. She gave him a smile, grabbed her dossiers and bowed respectfully, before leaving the room.

She went out to a small bar that was towards the edge of the town and ordered a drink before looking over the files. The first one was of a boy named Hayashi Juunimaru. She recognized the surname as a smaller clan that was filled to the brim with powerful Shinobi, steel release. She could definitely teach him a thing or two that would make him a force to be reckoned with. Secondly, there was Kanajiro Hanamoto. Kariru paused at the name before realizing that this was the boy that was the leader of the Hanamoto name. She found herself feeling poorly for the boy, that was a lot of responsibility for someone his age, she would never tell him that though. 

It seemed both boys had Taijutsu listed as a strength, Kariru felt good about this notion as this was definitely one of her many strong suits. She downed the sake quickly feeling it work its way through her body as she picked up the dossiers left an I.O.U. at the bar and walked back home. She was a little excited about getting students again, but at the same time Kariru couldn’t really tell if this was excitement, or just the interest in forgetting about the pain of losing two of her closest allies. By the time she got home it didn’t matter for tomorrow; she had work to do. 

****[b]Kyoko Akiyama[/b]****

Kyoko spent a little longer outside than the rest of the Granite Guard, consoling those who had suffered from the loss of Rei and Hiromara shutting her own emotions down and leaving them aside. She had no time for emotions in war, which was why she was so focused on raising the village’s morale. Upon realizing that the Granite Guard had all retreated to inside Sebaru’s office, she decided it was her time to depart as well. Sweetly wishing everyone well and feeling the rain wash over her face for the hundredth time she left the crowd and moved towards the doorway, pausing for a moment before entering and letting the rain wash away the kind, caring Kyoko. 

“Apologies” Kyoko stated arriving late and picking up the remaining two dossiers on the table for her. She quickly glanced at them before placing them behind her back with her arms while she listened intently to what the Tsuchikage had to say. As per usual, it seemed, except for the fact that they would be receiving two Genin that would grow under their wings for a short while train them to be full-fledged members of the Granite Guard. Kyoko bowed respectfully at the request and walked out of the office with the dossiers in hand and the intent to teach in heart.

Kyoko wasn’t too sure in her teaching abilities; in fact her father had once likened her teaching abilities to the walking abilities of fish. But Kyoko was sure she would be able to teach her students something about exactly how to be the best Granite Guard members they could be. 

Her first dossier read Hiroto Narumi he seemed to be the type of boy they warn girls about in school. Rash, violent, the full nine yards. Kyoko would have to teach him about the necessity of patience and how that can help even his Taijutsu skills. The next dossier read Reiji Higashi. It seemed her was another Ninjutsu Taijutsu specialist. Kyoko sighed at her luck; she could never find a student who was interested learning about anything regarding Genjutsu. But she moved past it realizing that his weakness’ were somewhat similar to her previous students making them a good for each other personality-wise, at least there was that.

****[b]Ayumi Hozuki[/b]****

Ayumi left the funeral and returned home with her father, she immediately went outside to the yard and met with her good friends: Training dummies #1 and 2. She proceeded with beating them up and letting her fists speak her mind. She very quickly began drawing blood from her knuckles but she dared not stop, working on her ability to feint behind an opponent and sweep their legs. She continued this training until she was forced to take a break and change her clothes, realizing that she had sweat through the funeral wear that she was still wearing. 

She returned to her room and grabbed her jug of water she usually kept with her and took a gigantic swig, returning the sweat to her body. She changed out of the funeral garb and put on a pair of shorts and regular shirt, offering a lot more maneuverability. She returned to her training almost immediately striking the dummies hard and fast. Her dedication to the Granite Guard grew stronger every day and she wasn’t even a part of it yet. But he was. She noticed a man standing in her door way and stopped her training as he spoke. He introduced himself as Kami, her new sensei. 

Ayumi’s heartbeat didn’t pick up as much as it seemed to calm down with knowledge that she was now in a position for her to make a difference. She was then given a coupon for some food and told to go on a date with her new teammate.

“What?” Ayumi would ask, but by the time she even had asked, Kami was already on his way out the door. It seemed she now had to meet Kyou at some diner in just thirty minutes. Apparently under the guise of a date as well. Ayumi sighed and went to go get changed into something at least slightly nicer before preparing to leave the house.

“Is it a boy?” Her father asked as Ayumi opened the door to leave.

“I don’t think so” Ayumi responded as her father spat out the drink that was currently in his mouth as Ayumi took off down the street towards the restaurant. 
She took a booth near a window and sat down, not knowing what was coming next.