Long, arcing whisps of cherry-scented smoke slowly rose from an oak pipe, drifting breezily through the small drafts of wood in the ceiling. An old weary, and aged face puffed on the stem of the simple pleasure, inhaling the harmful smoke deep into his lungs, before blowing it out gently through the stem, and out through the end of the pipe. His tired, yet resolute brown eyes were deep and conflicted as he stared at the rising smoke, leaning back slightly in his chair. "It's that time of the year." His voice, albeit weathered and lined from years of service - from years of fighting, heartache, and love - managed to stay calm, as he twisted his leather seat around to stare out the large window that showcased the entirety of Konohagakure. At this time, people were getting up, ready to start their day anew. The sun shone bright in the morning sky, and it seemed as if no one could break the haze of optimism the sun seemed to showcase...if only. The village seemed...somber, somehow. No...not somber, but tired. Experienced. Ready. The years of peace may have rotted them slightly, but they could see - no, feel the tension in the air. Soon, it would be time to evacuate and defend. The time to shut down the shops, the markets, the homes, the orphanages...and pick up their tools of war. Already, he could see the blurring, hazy forms of ANBU operatives constantly alighting the rooftops with their speed, steely gazes shining from under their masks as they searched for any suspicious figure. It was only a matter of time. Truly, a matter of time. He turned around, and gazed down at what seemed to merely be a small mirror sewn into the oaken wood of his desk - but it was not for vanity, but for practicality. As his chakra spiked momentarily, alerting the four ANBU currently standing guard within the shadowy corners of his office, the Hokage looked down into the mirror. The Academy's class was shown - more specifically, the Rookie Nine's classroom. They would lead the new generation, and show if Konoha was ready. But...for now, he would watch, wait, and plan. They would show them their potential...and develop into fine Shinobi, ready to fight the oncoming war...or they would perish, the females becoming nothing more but pleasure slaves for the enemy - the spoils, while the men worked their entire mortal life in the mines, mining coal for the enemy, until their frail, deprived bodies failed them, and they died of rot, disease, and depravity without a grave or a tear fallen in their honor. "In these times...the youth are what defines us." Hidoma murmured into the silence. Subtle shiftings of shadows showed that his trusted shinobi agreed. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Fifty." He had been up for a while. Satoshi's face dripped with sweat, as the boy concentrated dutifully on his task. He wore nothing but a pair of form-fitting, mesh underbriefs, allowing his lean, muscular, and compact body to sweat the necessary liquids so as to not overheat. The boy defied gravity, his feet sticking, chakra-enhanced, to his room's dark blue wall as he went through the necessary movements. "Sixty." His upper torso folded up, his defined abs bulging and tensing as he kept to regular the chakra in his feet, all the while performing another crunch that made his front torso feel as if it was on fire. He had to keep going - he had to, until he got to one-hundred. Only then would he allow himself a shower, before he continued his training on the way to the academy. The academy itself did nothing to train him sufficiently for the cold, bloody world out there, but the theoretical knowledge would help him in any exams. Recently, a few years ago, they had upped the training ante, but he felt as if it still wasn't enough. "Eighty." This was his third set; meaning he had done two-hundred before, accompanied by three hundred chakra-sticking pushups on the ceiling. It was taxing, yet necessary work. For him to completely master his created Shunpo, and eventually become the ANBU Captain...he would need to master his body. His body, mind, and spirit; both the spiritual and physical side. "One-hundred." With controlled movements, Satoshi slowly allowed the chakra to stop flowing towards his feet, allowing him to nimbly flip off of the wall and land lightly on his slightly reddened feet. Feeling a bit numb, but good, Satoshi sighed and rolled his neck. His lightning blue eyes caught the clock, which hung on the wall, over his desk. 'Ten minutes until I'm late.' Easy. His shower only took three minutes, and Satoshi opened his closet, picking out his state of apparel from a complete, practical wardrobe- literally no bright colors were evident. Grabbing a fishnet undershirt, he slid it on, before grabbing a form-fitting, yet compact, dark black mesh long-sleeved shirt. similarly-colored pants, with a multitude of pockets promptly followed, along with dark shinobi sandals. A leafy green vest followed - given to him by his father, whom wore it in his Jounin days. Satoshi rolled up his sleeves, before slipping on his fingerless gloves - the right one having his fore-head protector sewn into the thick black material. He hesitated on his last article of clothing - but immediately after, he grabbed a silver stud and slipped it onto his ear - it was metal, and could be useful. Finished, Satoshi strapped his necessary equipment onto his person before nodding. His parents and clansmen didn't need to be warned. They knew that he wasn't one for being late. Channeling the ram seal, he disappeared in a gust of leaves. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ If anyone noticed him enter the room, they didn't show it. Satoshi, in an effort to work on his already exemplary skills, had used a bit of acrobatics to get on the roof. He then focused, and a brief-second later, disappeared in a Kawarimi, replaced with a small thumb-tack that had been placed in his seat a day ago. There was absolutely no smoke, and he mentally applauded himself; he had made sure to brutally master the most simplest of the techniques; they were the most useful, his remedial teacher had drilled into his brain. Noting that there weren't too many people in the classroom yet, Satoshi leaned forward and stapled his fingers in front of his face, lighting-blue eyes narrowed. Now...to wait.

As the sun rose, blessing the land of fire with it's warmth and causing the wake of many - shinobi and commonfolk alike. Tsumei was no different, though she had been awaken far before the sun made itself present in the sky. Dressed in a tight dark bluee dress with flowers patterns all over it, a black waistband with konohakure's hitai-ate attached into the center of her belt. Under the dress, long yet tight black sleeves covered her arms, she also wore black sockings with dark red knee protectors and wooden sandals. She had make-up as usual, with two red dots under the sides of her eyes; their purpose, unknown, but she wasn't seen without them. Tsumei wasn't training nor practicing, she was simply sitting atop a random roof, her legs dangling freely as she rested both hands over her hips. Today, she would be assigned to one of the many teams, together with two other genin and a jounin. Had it been anyone other than Tsumei, they would've likely have feelings of ansiety and nervousness; both emotions were completely unknown to the young girl, however. Her face was completely void of any emotion, a straight face, slightly narrowed eyes and lips forming a thin line, without the slightest hint of a smile or frown. Nothing, except the feeling of accomplishment. Finally, she would be capable of showing her true valor, to hone her skills as a kunoichi to a different level. Her only hope? That her teammates wouldn't slow down her development, nor cause her any sort of trouble. She had absolutely no idea of who they could be, after all, through the whole academy, she literally didn't interact with a single soul. She had no need to. Tsumei threw her arms up, stretching herself. After mere moments, she disappeared without a single trace. ... Only to enter through the academy's main door, making herself comfortable in one of the desks. Just a matter of time.

Hyugā Residence, Early Morning: A loud gong could be heard inside the Main Family residence. This signified the time to wake up for morning practice. It was currently 5:00 in the morning. Branch jumped out of his bed. He knew that today, he was going to be assigned to a squad. He had just recently become a Genin after graduating from the academy. For him it didn't feel like much of a challenge. He walked to His dresser and took out his regular clothes. He also put on a red bandana to cover the cursed seal on his forehead. This was ordered by the head of the main family. He didn't want to let the Homage or the rest of the village know that they had commited an experiment on a mere child of three years of age. Branch picked up his scythe which, layed on the opposite side of his bed, as he walked out of his room. Branch walked to the training hall, there he saw a new sparring partner. He had almost killed the one before. He was too weak. 'A replacement huh? Guess the main family is getting desperate in an attempt to control me.' Branch later his scythe down next to one of the elders as he stepped onto the mat. He took the Gentle Fist stance. Once the sparring commenced, in a matter of seconds, his partner was already on the ground. He bowed and walked out of the training hall, not before retrieving his trusty scythe. Branch looked at the time. 'Oh no..I'm going to be late..not.' Branch put his hands together as if he was making a hand symbol. 'Shunshin No Jutsu!' Branch dispersed into a cloud of smoke. Academy: Branch reappeared at the academy. He walked in waving at some of his sense is. Branch stood in front of the classroom and walked in not knowing that his bandana fell off during sparring so his cursed seal was pretty much seeable.

Radiant beams of light parted the scarce clouds in the sky on the great day of Graduation. Although the Land of Fire seemed quieter than usually, as if expectation weighed down the shoulders of all the people. Today would be the day where the youth would begin to rise up. Nine academy students would receive masters today, and begin their journey as Genin. It was assured the the academy students were filled with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Tadashi Matsumoto felt no anxiety. The teenager had a glint of determination in his bright young eyes. The boy was alone at the training grounds, getting in a morning warm-up before graduation. Tadashi's training was slightly different, to say the least. The soon-to-be-Shinobi was doing a one-handed hand stand on the top of a tree, using his pinpoint chakra to stay balanced. In his free hand he held a piece of parchment. It was observations on all of the people graduating that day. He had been gathering information on each of their fighting styles and jutsu since he joined. There was a lot written but his memory was near perfect. To say the least, Tadashi was prepared for whatever happened today. He was putting him money on the fact that there would be some kind of test of skill for graduation. Realizing it was time to go, Tadashi flipped out if his position and landed gracefully on the ground, the paper flapping in the wind. The second he hit the ground it seemed he defied physics by taking off in the blink of an eye in the direction of the academy. As he sped up he became a blur. Even with his weighted clothing (yes I am pulling a Rock Lee), he was moving impressively fast. The soon-to-be-Genin burst through the doors of the academy, full of exuberance. He said hi to everyone he could, cracking a couple jokes like he normally did. The guy was a God at being social. Some jokingly said he was Kahona's Brightest, so full of life. Tadashi finally took his seat, sprawling himself out in his chair with a charming smile on his lips. If the boy was feeling anything but happiness, he didn't show it. He would do everything he could to brighten up the worn and torn village he lived in, no matter what.

Nen was making a ruckus in the classroom. He turned to people here and there to get people's attention. His home didn't matter to him much, though he missed his parents dearly, there was adventure waiting just around the corner. Excited to see the new faces, Nen poked around. He saw a girl coming into the classroom with two red dots under her eyes. As she passed him, he got the chills. Then he saw, tryhard Satoshi sneaking into the room like he was some jounin ninja, and another guy with determination in his eyes. Nen decided to ignore them. Afterwards he saw a Hyuga pop into his seat. Must have been a Shushin no jutsu. Nen thought to himself. Nen gave a loud yawn and stretched his hands. He passed the Hyuga, tapping on his desk along the way. Then he turned to face the Hyuga and pointed at his plate which he so tightly wrapped around his arm. Then he gave him a wink, and went into the front of the class to start devising a ninja prank for the teachers that will come in. It was a different morning for Kiri however. Leaving her forest just outside of Konoha, Kiri woke up to the gentle morning sunlight. She smiled covering her face with one arm, she looked up "Good morning, Mr. Sun~ Nice to see you too~" she said waving at the dazzing sunlight. A couple of ladybugs flew out of her as she waved. Indeed it was a beautiful day, too beautiful in fact to be inside! Kiri loved nature. She wondered about in her light blouse, spinning and twirling as she made her way to the school. It was a drag, but she had do go or mommy and daddy would not be proud of her. She much rather play with the flowers though. Finally she got to class, with a cheerful gaze she opened the classroom door, only to be greeted by a bucket of water followed by chalky board eraser. "HYAHAHAHAA" came a loud laugh from Nen, who quickly retracted it, when seeing it was not a teacher but rather one of the students and a girl on top of that. Nen blushed and rushed over there to quickly help her up. "I'm sorry" he started to say, when he saw the girl still smiling. Her dress was wet but she looked at him with a smile. Nen was utterly confused. "You thought I was a flower? But I'm not~ Haha~" She replied, smiling gleefully. There was a long pause between them. Then Nen just had the face of annoyace. "No, not at all." He said as he walked away from her to work on another trap near the board. Kiri blinked and then put one finger on her lips, wondering what the boy meant, and walked with legs straight near the window, and sat herself down.

Oukami Anei

"You should be just in time to reach your class." That was the first greeting Anei recieved after opening the door from the basement, a smile on his face. It had been a hard night of training, and his back stung, his spine tingled, and god he was so happy his adoptive mother had already set out his shoes and jacket, her hands already wrapping bandages around the opening wounds around his arms. "I'm glad you seem to be training hard," the Mother commended, a flush of pride fluttering somewhere in Anei as she tugged the bandage tight, "But remember, don't overwork yourself." The light haired genin smiled the trademark Oukami smile, assuring her that she was worth overworking for before planting a kiss on her forehead and slipping on his jacket, the sleeves hiding the bandages on his arm. He slipped on his shoes and headed outside, wincing at first as his legs wobbled- it'd been a while since he used them- gradually working them up until he was able to work up a run towards the Academy. Thankfully, he noted as he passed the hall bustling with exciteable students, he was neither first nor last, the perfect average. Light brown hair bouncing slightly with each step, he opened the door to his class with care, noting that the floor was a bit wet. He questioned it, but in all honestly didn't care too much, making his way instead to his designated seat, smiling at a few others as he went. Adjusting the earrings on his left ear, his eyes surveyed the class before stopping in front of him. Fuu... only a few more minutes.

The clock clicked down. Satoshi's focused, lightning blue eyes slowly wandered through the nondescript faces of the other Genin in the room. This class was certainly...interesting, and most people would agree. They had quite a few varied faces, and some were even quite talented in their choices/fields. He, however, didn't really socialize all that much with those around him. Of course, he spoke respectfully back if they spoke to him, but his responses were always distant, sharp, and brisk, as if he didn't want to talk to them in the first place. Most of the time, he didn't, honestly. While socializing was all fun and games, he saw no reason for relationships, or anything of that sort with his line of work. His one dream - His true dream, was to become the ANBU Captain - a title that has eluded him since he had been inside of the academy. He knew he could do it. Just had to train...grow...prosper. "HYAHAHAHAA" A splash of water, and the girl was drenched. Satoshi had to - he had to, really hard, hold back a remark at the obscene obnoxiousness that had just transpired. What sort of dim-witted douche-bag would pull a prank on such an important day...and not to mention that hyena-esque laughter. Kami, it pissed him off. But...he stayed his hand, only his eyes narrowing slightly showing his discontent. The water inspired an idea within him. His hands blurred through three seals, and Satoshi leaned back, making sure that he was completely subtle. 'Suiton: Mizu Bakudan.' The words were only thought, not spoken; people only screamed the names for concentration, after all. It was a simple, yet important jutsu he had learned a few years ago. Even the simplest techniques were useful. Swiftly, from the small puddle, at least a dozen or so small, pellet-sized spheres of water suddenly rose, stealthily blasting towards Satoshi himself, whom dropped his hand-sign when the 'water-bombs' landed on his desks. This would help his control over Suiton techniques. 'Suiton: Mizu Bakudan.' The pellet-sized water bombs slowly pulled away from each other, becoming incredibly small - almost unseeable...but there. Satoshi focused, and watched as all twenty four bombs blasted forward silently, each one dropping gently into the bucket - and each pellet exploding silently into a mass of water once landed inside of the bucket. Eyes narrowed, and with a smirk, Satoshi blurred through the seals once again. 'Suiton: Mizu Bakudan.' And people said that you couldn't train efficiently in class.

It had been a beautiful sunrise, one that Megumi would cherish and remember her entire life. The first sunrise since the Hokage had finally acknowledged her, if only slightly! Here Megumi sat on simple branch on one of many training grounds. She had spent the entire night swimming or just celebrating with herself, she had even found some nice fruit to have for her celebration meal! It was almost time for her to finally leave, but she still hadn't figured it out. Where on earth should she put this stupid headband. Megumi had no desire to have the thing on her forehead, so then where? She'd been thinking about it throughout the entire night! She didn't really wear ninja garbs. She'd worked her whole life to be a ninja, despite what Lord Hokage had ordered. She never really thought of wearing the proper attire and at this point it didn't really appeal to her, heck she didn't even wear shoes half the time! She had no sleeves to slap it onto, her belt was not an option since she liked the one she had on too much. Eventually Megumi jumped down from her tree and began walking to the academy. What time was it? She hadn't had any way of telling the time other than the sun and had never really needed to be anywhere at any specific time before today. She giggled lightly as she walked and tied the head protector around her neck and just wore it like a necklace. Sure the thing would probably just fly off in battle but whatever, it was in the way for her anyway. Maybe she could just get the leaf symbol sewn into her hair ribbon? That would be nice and so much easier to deal with! After finally resolving that issue Megumi took out the last apple she had brought for her little feast last night and began eating it on the way to class. This had been one of the times she didn't have her shoes again but that shouldn't be any problem, who cares if she doesn't have shoes? Besides it's not like she wasn't use to being judged by now. Everyone in the village seemed to hate her, but that didn't bother her too much, well not all the time anyway. It definitely didn't cause her to waver in her determination to make some friends finally! As Megumi took a few more steps after walking accross most of the village she'd finally done it. Set foot on the academy grounds. What was once forbidden was now allowed, and on top of that she was invited! Well sort of. More like the Hokage had seriously glared at her for the longest time and put her down again before finally saying she had become a genin. The best part was she didn't even have to take a test! Of course when you leave too much evidence of your secret training and it gets reported this is apparently what happens. Was it because he was finally acknowledging her as an individual? Or simply because he might as well make use of her if she's going to break his rules? At this point in time Megumi didn't really care. She finally walked through the door and then it dawned on her. Which room was she even supposed to go to...? She peaked into a room and quickly closed the door when she noticed that the room was full of smaller kids definitely not there to be graduating yet. This happened a couple times till she finally got caught. One of the instructors was kind enough to help her out, though they had glared at her for basically any time they were forced to look at her. Finally Megumi opened the door and walked in and looked around. There was actually a decent amount of people. She knew she was going to be placed on a squad with two othres underneath some Jonin, but which two? There were a lot to be chosen from! This was so exciting and Megumi couldn't help but giggle uncontrollably from the joy she was feeling! She quickly walked, jogged, or skipped. No one could probably tell what it was. She was just too excited to walk calmly though! Eventually reaching the front row of desks which she leaned on and looked up at all of the others just observing wondering if she should talk to them now or possibly introduce herself to the whole class? Or perhaps she should wait till after? Some faces she recognized from just walking around the village a lot or watching them out training, but she didn't really know anyone in particular. That was part of what made this so exciting though!

Finally, Nen was done with his trap! This would get the Jounnin's that will come in. After tampering with the seat in which the teacher sits in so that it would launch the teacher upwards, Nen stretched out his hands into the air. Another job well done. He thought to himself. As he was stretching a boy with brown hair just slipped past him. He turned to look, but the boy was no longer there. Nen shrug it off. He looked toward the entrance where the puddle of water was. To his surprise the water particles were moving. He eyed to see where it was going to, and not to his surprise, it was going to Satoshi. Of course, it would go to tryhard Satoshi. Nen wondered if Satoshi was sitting on the thumb tacks he laid in the desk. Knowing, satoshi, he probably just Kawarimi'd it. Looking back at his work, Nen carefully got up from the front, and started marching his way to the back of the room. He spotted another girl, who seemed to be very gleeful. He has never seen this girl before, because he was not from Konoha. However as the girl stepped in a couple of students starting whispering to each other "Why is it here?" "Let's keep our distance from it" Nen looked a bit confused. She looked like a female to him. He wanted to talk to her, but as he looked at the clock, he realized class should have started minutes ago. He turned around, and went back to the front "You're late, you know." He said giving her a skeptical look, and then a slight smile. Then a tap on the shoulder. Afterwards, Nen turned again and went all the way to the back of the room to sit himself down. He put his legs on his desk, and was preparing for a nap. Kiri was oblivious to her surroundings, she just stared outside the window. All she wanted to do was be with the flowers, and trees, and bugs, and oh Mr. Sun of course, and the sky, and the moon, and on and on she went lost in her own thoughts. She swung her legs back and fourth, as water dripped from her blouse to the ground. Kiri seemed to not mind it. She let out an occasional sneeze, but it didn't bother her.

Branch sighed. He observed his surroundings. He laughed a bit, when his face suddenly got serious. He sensed a peculiar chakra enter the academy. Another girl entered the room and Branch raised an eyebrow. He took out a kunai and began to form some hand seals. Byakugan!' Branch's eyes began to change. These words were thought of course, it gave him more concentration, and what use would it be if he shouted something like that outloud. He looked straight at the girl and was astonished at he discovered. She had a huge chakra pool, more extraordinary than his. Most times this could only mean one thing... A Jinchuriki. Branch got up with his kunai in front of him. He wasn't sure if she was one, but better safe than sorry.

Tic... tac... tic... tac... The sole sound of a fairly old watch ticking, in a room so full of silence. In a room so dead, if not for a single presence; Yuudai Sarutobi, a jounin shinobi from konohagakure. Training genin in times hard as these wouldn't be an easy task, even for an extremely skilled shinobi such as Yuudai, even with the knowledge of nine years serving the ANBU. He would need to be hard and strict with his team; those youngsters likely didn't know how dangerous the world around them, outside the comforting walls of their dear village could be. And this was why Yuudai made a choice; he'd give them a taste. He was known for being strict, that was a fact - however, being strict wouldn't suffice. What these three genin needed was a taste of reality before their cruel preparation; they could not have emotions, nor feelings towards one another. The only thing they needed is trust to work with one another as shinobi and nothing more. The man stood up when the watches' sound stopped. The watch was attached to a chain, around his neck; it was fairly small and delicate, especially if you take in consideration the man wearing it. His brown, somewhat spiky hair was unkempt, his expression tired and worn, yet he still managed to express certain confidence and charisma. The dark brown jacket he usually work was being held in his hand, his chest only covered by a dark blue vest, while both hands were covered by black gloves that only covered his pinky and ring fingers. Yuudai didn't need an epic or showy entrance, like he had seen most students produce. Instead, he just walked for about thirteen minutes until reaching the academy, entering through the front door - making his way through the halls and finally, the door was slowly pushed open, revealing chaos and destruction inside. What an horrible sight, to say the least. Disobedience, needless display of ninjutsu - noise, loudness and reckless idiocy. Had there not been other students there, some unfortunate young genin would receive a taste of discipline. But instead, Yuudai exhaled a soft sigh, parting his lips slowly as the crystaline blue eyes darted from side to side. "Yamada, Satoshi." The first name was pronunced with utter disgust; or so it sounded. "And..." The man produced a small paper from his pocket, tired eyes glancing down towards it, briefly. A purse of his lips, a roll of his shoulders - a sigh. "Sugimoto, Megumi. The two of you stand up and follow me." He had no authority in his voice, at all; just a tired, bothered tone. After calling the three members of his squad, the man made his way towards the door - and began walking off the academy. Strangely, he made no mention about the fact that he was going to lead a squad with only two genin; in fact, even he himself was slightly threw off when he was informed about that.

Valder was having fun. The screams of the Iwa nin rang throughout the Torture halls, causing the shinobi and ANBU on duty to nearly cringe in disgust and fear. Valder merely kept his eyes shadowed, a demented grin slowly forming on his pale, shadowy face as yet another scream ripped throughout the dungeons. Lying a bloody pair of scissors down, the blonde-haired Jounin slowly looked up, eyes wide and grin nearly breaking skin as he murmured the question. "Why were you in Hokage-sama's tower?" War was on the horizon, and the large, military-strong Iwagakure was one of the top-dogs, as far as pure, crushing invasion power was concerned. A shinobi infiltrating Konoha...it was something that required deep torture. Too bad Iwagakure possessed strong shinobi...and this bloodied, beaten man was one of them. "Fuck off, Leaf prick." The man garbled, spitting a wad of blood at the Jounin. It practically turned into poison on the way, where it was absorbed into Valder's flesh. "I see. Hey...how about finger number three?" The bloody scissors were picked up once again, and Valder's laughter, along with the ninja's screams, began anew. ______________________________________________ "First impressions...you will be fun! Team 2; Come, Anei, Branch, and Kiri. To Training Ground Two we go~!" His voice was deep, foreboding, and extremely childish, clashing yet melding with his own mysterious appearance. Valder looked up, one sickly green eye flashing before he grinned and disappeared with a puff of smoke, signifying that he was a Bunshin.

Oukami Anei

Anei had minded himself throughout whatever ordeals had transpired, careful to giggle if there was a ripple of it nearby, or shut up and watch closely when the others did. The first jounin had come and went quickly enough, looking much more morose than Anei would've liked. Thankfully, his name hadn't been one of the two called out. It was then that he thought it was strange- a two man team? Anei's light eyes wandered to whom the names belonged to- the new girl, a jinchuuriki of which the others made no mystery, and the other was a teen his age looking quite able. The Oukami furrowed his brows slightly in thought as he tried to recall where he saw similar chiseled features from- he was quizzed on this at home, he remembered- his attention detracted instead by the appearance of several more jounin. And then him. Light green eyes looked at his new sensei from top to bottom, but the mysterious man was gone as quickly as he'd appeared, his jovial attitude causing dysphoria in Anei's senses. There was something off and sinister about the man, and as he pushed himself off his seat, he could almost feel last night's wounds start to reopen, his back tingling at the memory. Deciding to push the thoughts away, Anei settled for this: if he really couldn't trust this new teacher, he'd fake it for the sake of rising in the ranks. "I guess that's me," he said, which just enough air in his voice to fake nerves as he followed with a tense sigh. He smiled at his seatmates before glancing around for his future partners, waving a hand instead in greeting before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, transporting himself to the designated area. Perhaps introductions should've been made prior to transporting, he thought to himself with a smile, concluding with a shrug that there was time for hellos later.

Maasaki Sanada

Deep black hair billowed in the wind as grey eyes surveyed the tranquil village. A man of decent build was sitting amongst one of the very many large trees- fitting for a village of it's name. A quick flicker of movement happened beside him, and all he could manage was a quick grunt. It was a kunoichi, mask over her mouth as she relayed: "Sanada-san, we understand you just got back, so if-" the beginning of her memorized letter was paused by the raise of a bronze hand, Maasaki cutting her off. In a slightly tired voice, he replied, "It's alright- I'll be fine. How bad can one day be?" And after a bit more discussion about family and life in general, the woman flickered away, leaving the black haired man in his wind and silence once more. A small whispery groan escaped his lips as he finally pulled himself up, his attire lightly sprayed with caked blood, the rest of it lightly scorched. Stretching sore arms over his head, Maasaki mumbled something about never getting a day off before flash-stepping to the entrance of the Academy. Whistling as he entered through the halls, he easily found the class he was to take care off, pulling out a browning piece of paper and called out the following names- "Yuki Tsumei, Tsuchigomo Nen, Matsumoto Tadashi." Then, he repeated them because he thought he didn't speak loudly enough, glancing up for movement amongst the ranks. "Alright group, time for a field trip," he called, ushering them with a wave of a bandaged arm before starting out the door, pocketing the paper with him. Still a bit weary from his earlier mission, Maasaki hummed to himself as he cracked his knuckles- he wanted to do something easy. Perhaps a good heart to heart would stave them off... or maybe have them duke it out. Nice.

His sensei was...definitely someone that he was expecting, yet not expecting, at the same time. Satoshi understand that there was a rudimentary basis of three types of people; The loud, attention-grabbers, the lazy, background slackers, and the cold, morose brooders. This man...he had the feeling of depression and moroseness, but he didn't seem like a brooder; there was no authority in his tone, and he generally possessed the tired spirit of a broken, yet unbroken man. Satoshi didn't know how he felt about that. But, the man appeared young and able, and he had the form of an experienced Shinobi, so hopefully he would be able to flourish underneath the man's control. Yet...that was another thing. A two-manned squad...it was practically unheard of. As his sensei left calmly through the door, Satoshi stood slowly and deliberately, lightning-blue eyes catching the appearance of his teammate...one Megumi Sugimoto. He knew nothing about her; where had she come from, anyways? Whatever...as long as she wasn't a fangirly-type, or Kami forbid a slacker, they would get along. Leaping down to the front-row, and landing silently and gracefully, Satoshi gave Megumi one nod before heading after their sensei. The man had apparently just been walking off of the Academy grounds, and Satoshi followed. His sensei was still a bit ahead of him, but Satoshi didn't mind. He continued to follow quietly and diligently, hands slightly clenched and eyes determined. The life of a Shinobi would be hard and arduous...but he had no other option. The man was sitting in the middle of the grassy clearing, eyes closed and legs in the classic meditative position. A long, thin blade of grass was clenched between his teeth, and other than his oddly-formed blonde hair that left his face in shadows, he appeared as just another normal ninja. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he glanced up, the blade of grass being sliced in half as his face suddenly shifted into a shit-eating grin. It was at that specific time that Anei appeared in the clearing as well - apparently the boy had former knowledge of the training grounds. Interesting."Greetings~" He pronunciated, his voice taking on a throaty purr as he flipped up and rested his hands in his pockets. His normal posture was naturally slouched, as one green eye was suddenly unshadowed. Valder gazed intently at Anei, seemingly taking in his physique, hair color, the amount of facial hair, his eye color, the number of particles in his iris, the estimation of his skin tone...everything. "Let's wait until the other get here, yes?"

'Guess I'm up huh...I'll find out more about that Jinchuriki later. But now, let me head towards the training grounds.' Branch thought as he walked out of the classroom. This time he decided against using Shushin, since it was too easy. He began to make his way to the Training Grounds, stopping for a quick meal in Ichiraku's. "Did you hear there are words that a war is spewing in the horizon..Must be a bad age for the ninja.'' the Manager said. Branch shook his head. 'A war huh...that would make things even more interesting than now.' Branch thought as he paid for his breakfast and walked away, thinking over strategies for his jutsus. Training Ground 2: A secluded place where most ninja came at times to train. Branch arrived at the Training Ground, looking up at the sky. 'No clouds today either huh? Well, that's a good sign' Branch thought as he began to sense two other chakras. 'That must be my Jounin and the other student.' Branch walked up to where Valder and Anei were with an emotionless face. "Sorry for being late, I had to stop to eat since I did not eat anything this morning." Branch said as he sat down on the grass. Seeing as how there was someone else left, Branch waited for her to arrive.

Excitedly Megumi giggled again. Her sensei had finally gotten here! Though his enthusiasm was lacking he didn't seem to dislike her, though he didn't really sound like he liked her either, though it sounded like he only liked a pillow and sitting down or something that wasn't too efforting. Oh well! This was too exciting to let some guy with little excitement in his voice to ruin her day! On top of that her squad mate also gave her a friendly-ish nod so that was a good start too! From what little she observed, since she was too carefree to really observe anything in her life, he seemed to be sort of a serious guy, but that doesn't mean he'd be boring so it was still fun! Megumi flipped onto her hands giggling with excitement before twirling a little with her hand stand and then launching herself up and back onto her feet before she walked and skipped out the door clearly overjoyed compared to everyone else in the room. Quickly catching up and following her squad mate and sensei she continued skipping delightedly wondering what the heck they would be doing. Maybe grabbing lunch to get to know each other? While that would be amazing for her since she didn't really have a lot of money to eat all the time that would be a real treat! Though Megumi realized that her tiny fantasy of food was highly unlikely, but it doesn't hurt to hope right? Maybe they'd just talk? Okay yeah that's funny. The Hokage wouldn't let her off that easy. He wasn't going to put her with someone that would be that easy on her, so much for that idea! Probably some kind of training exercise to get to know each of the abilities? Highly likely but that didn't seem like as much fun...'Screw it!' Megumi finally decided that she should leave it to be a surprise! Because what's life without surprises?

When both Megumi and Satoshi began following, Yuudai paused and turned himself to face the two of them. "Training Field One." He informed them giving a slight hint of a smirk before leaping in the air; there was no handseal, no shunshin technique to travel faster. The man merely leaped into the air, over a roof - and in mere seconds, disappeared (likely) from the genin's sight with his sheer speed. Once arriving there, Yuudai walked to the center of the training field and crossed his arms, glancing around. With a kunai, he made a fairly large circle around himself by cutting the grass, just so it was visible; making sure that there was at least some trees and a large rock inside the circle. By this time, the genin would've hopefully arrived. "Ah, so you two arrived, at last." Another hint of a smirk; strange, given how emotionless he had just been at the classroom. "Unlikely the majority of your class-mates, you two... have something different. That's admirable." There was a fairly dramatic pause at this point. His eyes staring deep at their own for a brief moment. "Theres only two of you, instead of three. Don't ask me why. Don't ask yourself why. Now, before we start our training, I must test both of your strength and to know your level." Clasping his hands together, the man murmured some unknown words before dividing into three. The one in the center, leaped behind and landed over a large rock, while the two remaining jounin assumed a combat stance. "Your objetive is to kill me, as I'm the leader of... hmm, hm.. A kirigakure assassination squad. These two," He pointed at his own kage bunshin; "They're my subordinates who'll protect me with their life. Good luck. Oh and, if you step outside the circle, you'll fall into lava. So don't." The man who had just called her name wasn't particularly impressive. In fact, not a single jounin to enter the door was considered impressive by the cold kunoichi. Merely... mysterious; the three of them shared this trait. The one who dressed in Iwagakure colors and had quite nice eyes, depressive. The blonde, psychotic and this one who called her name... Unpredictable. Regardless of her thoughts, Tsumei stood up and walked towards the door, following quietly - without a single word - the jounin. Her hands clasped behind her back, eyes staring intently at the man's back. She didn't even look at whoever had been with her; she didn't care about them, really.

Tadashi took the time in the classroom to observe everything he could. He noted Satoshi's Jutsu, and made sure to scribble something down in his notes. The Genin also noted Nen's mischief, and prayed he wouldn't be stuck with that block head. Excitement builded up, it was finally time! The first two squads were announced, and the surprise of a two man sways was unexpected. They had never done that before. Tadashi guessed that in this time of war they just wanted to get then trained and ready for war. Then finally, after waiting through the first two introductions, their sensei showed himself. There wasn't really anything special or weird about him, at least from a physical perspective. Tadashi was more concerned about his teammates. Nen Tsuchigumo and Tsumei Yuki. One was an annoying immature boy, and the other was a cold hearted girl. Tadashi just hoped that they would all be able to work together and not be at each other's throats twenty-four-seven. The boy sighed, and followed the older mentor out of the classroom. He attempted to at least nod at Tsumei but she kept a straight face and never looked back. Kami help him.

What a bummer this was for Nen. First all the senseis did not even stop to take a seat. Second his teammates were people he didn't know very well. Well Tadashi dude seemed a bit like Satoshi, but did not know much about him, and then there was that ice girl who just doesn't say anything. Worst of all, that tryhard Satoshi got placed with a girl, all by himself! Damn him! At least the sensei looked decent for his team. He's going to test just how strong he is. Nen got off his desk, and followed his sensei who had bandages around his hands. Scars from training? Nen guessed. "Oi, sensei, where are we going?" Nen grumbled with his hand on his head, eyeing slowly the two, who were in his squad. Kiri was just daydreaming when her name was called. She stopped moving her legs when she heard "Training Ground Two." Kiri had no idea where that was. Her sensei just poofed an vanished in the smoke, along with the rest of her team. She just sat in her seat blinking for a bit. After a while everyone seemed to be moving out of the room in some form or the other. "I guess it's time for me to go." She said. Then she got up eyes wide open, mouth pursed, leg's straight, and started walking outside. As she reached the outdoors, she began to lose form and wanted just to relax in nature, but then she shook her head. Not today, she tought. Though it is troublesome since she did not know where training ground two was. She reached near her bare feet, at a caterpillar crawling by. Kiri allowed it to crawl on her finger. She examined up close with her red eyes. "Do you know where training ground two is?" She asked. The caterpillar started to squirm as if to respond to her question. After a moment, Kiri's eyes widened again. "Thank You, Mr. Caterpillar!" Kiri put the bug back on a leaf, where it started munching right away. Afterall it has to grow into a beautiful butterfly eventually. She skipped her way according to the directions of the caterpillar, after all it was an Aburame special to communicate with insects. Kiri was the last of her squad to come. She came out of the forest all scarped, the bottom side of her blouse a bit torn, but she did not mind this at all. Kiri enjoyed nature. Once she arrived at Training ground two, Kiri saw her teammantes. She gave them a childish grin, and then walked towards them as if nothing was wrong. She would much rather be playing with nature, but she needed to learn how to protect it as well. Kiri furrowed her eyebrowes the best she can, and gave the meanest look she can. "I am ready!" She said in a lower voice "Doers of evil, better watch out." And she pointed her unmeaningful finger at the teacher.

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