---

A couple of weeks had been granted as vacation to the new chunins, who had just completed their exams. The exams were notoriously tough this year, and that was in part because A, the Raikage, had created the exams this year. As known, all the exams were different and most of the time the difficulty was dependent on the curator and manager. So, it made sense that, when a kage of all people creates the exams, the exams were going to be difficult. Perhaps that was a foreshadowing of the events that were going to unfold in the progress of the career of these chunin. It was not a secret, after all, that relationships between the villages had been on edge. They had been on edge ever since the Kumo-Konohagakure Alliance crumbled to nothing more than a piece of paper in a file cabinet somewhere. It didn't help, either, that A was extremely xenophobic of other villages, and would rather not work with them. For that reason it had been over ten years since a kage summit was held - there had been little reason to hold one, and it seemed that all the other kages shared the views of A, and were not interested in working together.

It seemed also that skirmishes were beginning to get more frequent - there were numerous reports of Kumogakure shinobi clashing with Kirigakure and Iwagakure shinobi from time to time, and Sunagakure had more than once encroached on Kumogakure territory, stealing valuable resources from right under their nose. That was not to say that Kumogakure never instigated violence and conflict, but that was rather left unsaid, and treated with careful wording to make sure it was understood that Kumogakure was always justified to take these steps.

However, now the vacation for the fresh chunin was over, and that meant they'd be called into service again. The jonins that were supposed to lead the new teams of chunins had been alerted to it a long time ago, before the chunin exams even took place - and as such it came as no surprise that day that they were called into the office. What A had to tell them, however, was a different story. A was famous in Kumogakure, and not just for her prowess in battle, but also her short temper and furious talking.

---

---

Early in the morning, A's assistant had been sent out. She was a traditionally dressed woman who was hired more for her organizational skills and her relatively calm personality when compared to the Raikage, A. She left as early as 8AM, a time where the Raikage and her staff would regularly not even be in the office yet. Her first visit would be to Minaru Gazo, who was somewhat of a name within Kumogakure. His position as a youthful jonin not only made him known, it also made him a prime target for the Raikage, to show Minaru that he wasn't a big shot like he thought just because he was young. Never the less, he was strong, but in the Raikage's eyes, that's not what constituted a good jonin. And she was sure to remind him of that, every chance she got.

The assistant, named Otsumi, knocked on his door twice, waiting for a brief moment before knocking once more. “Good morning Minaru!” she said, her sharp voice surely reaching inside his house. Without waiting for him to open the door - waiting for stuff like that would surely lower her efficiency - she opened the door for him and barged inside. “Your time to shine has arrived, mister Gold.” She walked up to his living room and folded her hands over each other in front of her body, looking around with a judging look. For what it was worth, she was sure she could tidy up his house a fair share more than he did.. seemed to do.. did he do anything at all to this place? Jack shit, it looked like. “To-to-to-to..” she said to herself, a tic she had whenever she was waiting, wasting time. “Well, whatever. Minaru, you're expected at the office in thirty minutes. I'll go get the other two jonin now! Until then!” And with all that said and done she turned around and left the house again, heading for her next target. A's son, Hageshī Nakamura.

It still felt a bit strange to repeat his surname to herself, since she was used to calling the Raikage 'A' and not by her real name. Oh well. Otsumi reached the house after a little bit of travel time. Luckily he didn't live too far from the office, unlike Sutemasu. She contemplated knocking on the door, but saw an open window above the door and decided that'd be far more efficient than knocking and waiting for him to answer. And given her closeness to his mother, she thought it'd probably be okay if she just barged in like that. Not that she cared when she barged into Minaru's home. “Wake up!” she said loudly when she jumped up into the window, standing in the window-sill of his room, apparently. She nonchalantly leaned against the wooden frame of the window while she stood there, giving off the air that she totally was in control of what she did. “Your mom wants to see you, so get your ass up and dressed. Make sure to wear something nice! She's the raikage after all. To-to-to-to-to, cya!” Another target down. It felt like this was a breeze, after all! She jumped backwards and landed on the streets below, casually continuing on her way after disrespecting yet another person's privacy.

The last target on the list was Sutemasu - a woman that Otsumi didn't know much about given Sutemasu was not a very important figure, nor a big name for most of the Kumogakure shinobi. Never the less, she was a jonin and was pointed out to lead a team, so who was Otsumi to question that. Sutemasu lived further away than the other two shinobi, so it was a bit of a chore to get her. After ten minutes of walking she finally arrived at the free-standing house complete with garden and low stone walls. “Ooh. Looks nice.” she mumbled to herself when she walked up to the door, ringing the doorbell.

Within two seconds, Sutemasu already opened the door. She caught Otsumi looking around like a child, since she seemed to not be expecting Sutemasu to answer so quickly. “Aaa.. Otsumi? Can I help you?” Otsumi reacted with a quick jerk of the head, trying to hide that she was gawking at the house. “Oh! Sutemasu! I was just.. looking at the birds. Yes, the birds. Nice day today, isn't it? A wants you to come see her! It's um, about the teams. Yes, the teams. That's why I was here. I'll go see to the meeting now, I'll see you in thirty minutes!” She turned around and hurried away, leaving Sutemasu wondering what was up with this woman. “U-uh, okay Otsumi! See you there!” she said with her typical lightweight girlish voice as she waved Otsumi off. It seemed to largely go unnoticed.

---

Thirty minutes later, the three jonin had been assembled within the raikages' office. Overlooking the village, it had a nice view if anything. A, the raikage, was sitting on the rather comfy couch that A, the previous raikage, had brought in. A coffeetable was sat in front of it where three envelopes laid. The raikage simply sat there looking at the three jonin for a minute, trying to intimidate them a bit before she stared the meeting. Finally she sat up a bit more, leaning forward and exposing her rather large bosom.



“YO! Thanks for showing up!” She immediately bursted out with her rather powerful, imposing voice. Like her kekkei genkai, it seemed that if she yelled loud enough she could crack walls - and bones - with merely her voice. “Today you're getting your teams! But.. you already knew that. Yes, so, I have other news too! You'll be going on a mission immediately. Together! With all your teams. Isn't that exciting!?” She leaned forwards a bit and shoved the envelopes forwards, having marked them with the names of the jonin. “Here's your teams. Enjoy!” She prompted the jonin to grab their respective envelopes and open them, revealing a card with the names of their teams.

---

---

Once they were done reading the team lists, she'd make sure to instruct them on the mission. “YO! Now that you're done reading all that, I'll explain the mission. You'll be destructing a metal refinery in Kirigakure. It's on one of their smaller islands, and they've been using it to refine metals for their weaponry.” She coughed, and covered her mouth with a fist, closing her eyes slightly. To the left of her, the jonin would notice the assistant, Otsumi, flinch in preparation for what was about to come.

“METAL THEY STOLE FROM KUMOGAKURE!” She burst out suddenly and smashed her hand against the wooden coffeetable in front of her, breaking it in two, and then proceeding to crack the ground under the table with sheer force of a simple fist-stomp. The entire building shook momentarily before it calmed again, and A slowly retracted her arm from the table. She coughed again and then looked up at the three jonin. “Sorry about that. Just make sure the entire plant is nothing more than ashes once you're done. And don't leave any traces that can lead back to Kumogakure!”

She clapped her hands, indicating that the meeting would be over, not even giving the jonins a chance to ask questions. They were to leave the room and then do as they pleased, though they were expected to leave before 12AM. It would be wise to gather the teams and meet up later before heading out given they'd all be attending the same mission.

---

Sutemasu had awoken early, as she tended to do. She was a morning person after all, someone that could enjoy the sea of time that became available to her if she woke early. The fact that she lived in a peaceful area might have helped with becoming a morning person, perhaps. There was something about the singing of birds that seemed awfully enjoyable to Sutemasu. She spent her morning making breakfast and tea, enjoying said breakfast and tea, and then cleaning her house. It wasn't messy, it's just that sometimes you just need to relocate some items so that everything becomes slightly nicer to look at. She was interrupted, however, by her doorbell ringing, which could only mean one thing. Visitors! This early, though? Perhaps a neighbor needed help with something, she asked herself, before heading to the door. She was there within mere seconds, opening the door and being greeted by Otsumi, the assistant of the Raikage. “Aaa.. Otsumi, can I help you?” The exchange of information was rather awkward, more so for Otsumi than Sutemasu. Once it was completed, however, Sutemasu realized that today was actually the day that the new teams would be formed. An exciting day fore veryone involved, she guessed, since she didn't quite know any of the involved chunin.

As far as the jonin went, she only knew that Hageshi and Minaru were involved. Hageshi she knew decently, having worked with him once or twice on the odd mission. She wasn't sure how she ranked up against him - or anyone, for that matter. She didn't have a very high self esteem and she even had the faint idea that one of the chunins might even be able to beat her. But there was no sense beating herself up over it. What they didn't have and she did have was experience. That was worth something. Minaru on the other hand she knew by name - he was quite the character she'd heard. He was a prodigy of sorts, reaching the rank of jonin at an age where others were still busy doing genin stuff. It was impressive, but she wondered how it'd affect him personality wise.

She got dressed a few minutes after Otsumi left, putting on her long sleeved black shirt, and then putting her flak-vest on. Once she was finished with getting dressed she left the house, making sure to lock the house behind her. Wouldn't want anyone breaking in. The walk to the raikages office was not too long, somewhere between ten minutes and fifteen minutes. It was a relaxing walk, never the less, since nobody was around at this time except some shop owners who were getting their shops ready to open up for the day. She greeted some of them, mostly those whom she knew.

She entered the office and noticed she was the first. “Oh.. excuse me mrs. A. I didn't realize I was.. too early. I'm sorry, I'll wait outside.” The raikage waved her concern away and beckoned her towards the chairs that were stood in front of the coffeetable, so Sutemasu simply smiled in gratitude and sat down, crossing her legs over eachother and waiting patiently for Minaru and Hageshi to arrive. Once they did, she simply attended the meeting in full and then left once they were expected to.

---

When they walked outside, Sutemasu turned to the two jonin that were with her. “Hageshi-san, Minaru-kun, I am going to fetch my team now. Let's meet at the entrance to Kumogakure once we are done and ready to head out. I'll see you there!” She waved politely and then headed out, leaving the two behind them.

First on her list was Uchiha Kota. She knew where he lived, because the team lists were supplied with a short note with them that stated some basic info on the chunin, like their name, age and address. And surely at this time of the day, he'd still be home? She walked over, not rushing to get there or anything. Once there, she knocked on the door politely and waited for him to open the door. “Good morning Kota-kun. I'm Kowareta Sutemasu, and I'm your new sensei. Please follow me, while we go collect the other two chunin.” She smiled at him briefly before turning around and leaving immediately. She headed to Kasumi's house, which wasn't too far away. Barely a block or so, she estimated.

Once she arrived there she followed the same procedure. Knock on the door, wait for them to open it, and then greet them. Easy enough. “Kasumi-chan? I'm Kowareta Sutemasu. I'm going to be your new sensei starting today. Please, do follow me. We are on the way to find your third and then the final team mate, Abukara Reiji, and Amehime Oukami.” The girl reminded her of a teammate she used to have, whom had passed on to the afterlife some time ago. She could only hope the same fate would not befall this young girl. She didn't let on to her thoughts, however, and proceeded to Abukara Reiji's house. They simply walked, since Sutemasu wasn't content to waste energy right before a mission.

Knock knock. Some time had passed ever since she left and Sutemasu wondered if she'd be on time for the rest of the jonins. She'd hate to be late, and cause the mission to start later. But, well, they only had to leave at 12AM.. so there was a lot of time. Enough time for the chunins to get dressed, if they hadn't already. “Reiji-kun? I'm sorry for being so early, but I am Kowareta Sutemasu. I'm going to be your new sensei from today on. Please get ready to head out.”

Finally Amehime's turn was there. They arrived at the home, which kind of gave Sutemasu a strange feeling. When she knocked on the door, an older woman opened the door. “Excuse me, is Amehime home? I'm his new sensei. We'll be heading on a mission later today, so I am here to collect him.”

Once Amehime was ready to join them they would head out. Now that the team was together, Sutemasu led them to a bench not too far from there. “Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I'm sorry, but we're going to have to do the introductions rather quickly since the Raikage wants us to head out on a mission with some other teams. I'm Kowareta Sutemasu, I'm 28 years old and I live near the village edge. If you ever need anything, feel free to contact me!” She tilted her head slightly and smiled at the three chunin, her eyes squeezing together slightly with enjoyment. It was clear she was a cheerful, friendly sort of person. Perhaps that gave them the idea that she was weak, but they were free to think that. “Reiji-kun, Amehime-kun, Kota-kun, Kasumi-chan, please introduce yourself, tell us your age and something about yourself, and then we'll head out!”

With the introductions completed rapidly, they headed out at a more rapid tempo. Sutemasu made sure to arrive at the village gates early, to make sure they'd not be late. But it seemed that once again she was early to the party, and stood at the village gate all alone with her team. “Oh.. I guess we were a bit too fast with the introductions. Well.. It's fine. Let's just take a few minutes to relax before we go on the mission.” Now would be a good time to relax with their teammates, and have a conversation or something while they waited for the rest. Of course.. they were under no obligation to do that, as long as they stayed in the area.

The night prior, Minaru had been out for a drink at the local pub. Four shots of Sake in, a woman walked in, she had beautiful silver hair, long enough to reach half way down her back, gently brushed out of her face. She was as pretty as the moon, as graceful as a star and with the warm beauty of a summer sunset. She sat down at her own table, alone, ordering a drink from the barmaid. She drank wine. She looked around, finding the usual suspects – the people who had been working on the new wall sitting in one corner, loud as always.
Minaru's heart pounded as he got out of his stool, finishing his drink to fill himself with liquid courage before he would head towards her with a swagger in his step. He sat down, swiftly and introduced himself, she recognized him – he was a fairly well known jounin in the city, after all. They talked for a bit till the woman had finished her drink and headed out of the door.

***

The next morning, Minaru woke up to his door swining open into his bedroom. The king sized bed he slept in in the middle of the room, as the assistant of the Raikage, Otsumi “Your time to shine has arrived, mister Gold.” The woman spoke as Minaru grunted, turning in his bed. ”I'm always shining, get out of my house, freaky woman.” Minaru responded drowsily, as the assistant left – not due to his words, he was sure. As he twirled in bed, the door leading to the bathroom swung open, and the girl from the night before, with the long silver hair walked out. Now, when Minaru had sobered up – he saw she was pretty, sure. But his heart didn't pound, he wasn't feeling faint. He was just feeling tired and hungover when he looked at her. She spoke softly. “Oh, who was that?” She asked curiously. Minaru smiled dryly, sitting up at bed, the sun shining on a few of the scars he had on his chest. ”Mission stuff. It's confidential, would have to kill you if I told you, that sort of thing.” He said, his tone semi-serious and the woman shuddered. “R-Really?”

Minaru laughed. ”Of course not, that'd be crazy! I'm supposed to report to the Raikage's office in 30 minutes, so, I better get dressed.” He said as the woman pouted, laying down in bed next to him. “Sure you don't wanna stay with me?” Minaru grinned.

”You know I would if I could, love. Duty calls.” The young man spoke softly, kissing her forehead, getting dressed in a few minutes, grabbing his clothes that were scattered across the floor, grabbing the woman's clothes, too, laying them gently on the bed. ”Lock up when you leave.” Minaru spoke, not that he trusted the woman, but he had nothing of value to steal, and even if he did – he could just make enough gold to replace it.

Once getting dressed properly, he headed into the kitchen and grabbed himself a protein bar, putting it in his pocket. He turned to the exit, walking when the silver hair vixen walked in his way. “You're not leaving without giving me a kiss, loverboy.” Minaru girnned. ”Fine.” and gave her a soft kiss on the lips, before lifting her by the waist and putting her down on the side of the door. Turning to the other side, he picked up the three leather straps, hanging them around his shoulders and his waist, putting the sheaths with their swords in the straps. ”See ya, love.” Minaru spoke, as he exited, heading towards the Raikage's office.

On his way there, he murmored on the night past. Inez? No.. Aia? No don't think so.. Irene? No.. Shit, it started with a vowel.” The young man thought to himself, rubbing his chin trying to recall the name of the young woman he had left in his house, his memory failing him.

He soon made his way to the Kage Mansion and grouped up with the other two Jounin. Sutemasu looked like she had been waitning there for ever, with her long, angel-like hair. Truly, she was a specimen all in her own right. Next to her was the.. less angelic looking son of the Raikage, Hageshi. A senior Jounin Minaru tended to butt heads with quite a lot. The three listened to the talk from the Raikage and Minaru let out a sigh when he was handed his envelope with his teams inside.

He was certain he was being punished. As the three were dismissed, Minaru walked next to Hageshi, nudging his elbow into his arm. ”Your mom's hot, dude.” With a dickish-smirk, Minaru headed out, leaping over the ledge, doing a frontal flip before landing gracefully on the ground, using the body flicker technique to vanish out of sight – not because he minded being seen, he just wanted to get this done with.

First on his “to do” list was Hanare. He thought of a dirty joke and chuckled while he walked through the streets, enjoying his breakfast that he had gotten out of his pocket. He soon arrived at Hanare's adress, the Tanpopo residency. It was a nice house, for sure. He was greeted by a servant and shrugged. ”Move. Official Kumogakure business. the Jounin spoke, the servant nodded, moving out of the way while apologizing. Minaru found his way inside, in a big hallway. ”You mind getting Hanare for me?” He asked, seeing a bowl with fruit in it in the corner of his eye, grabbing a apple that he put his teeth into. Once the young girl arrived, Minaru grinned. ”Hi there, young lady. My name's Minaru of the Gazo Clan. I'm here on order of the great Raikage A to collect you for a mission today.” Minaru spoke, grinning. As the duo walked outside, Minaru looked at the young lady, she was cute. Really cute.

Could be trouble.

Minaru chewed on the apple again. ”You happen to know where one Aria Aria lives? She's one of your teammates. It'll go faster if we split up to gather the remaining two. And then group up on the training field near the main gate.” Minaru said, handing the other ninja the address of her would be comrade. He himself would go collect the last one.

Kuroba Dango. He lived in an apartment above one of the local sweet stores. His father knew Minaru pretty well – if only because he used to bring dates to the store back when he was too young to drink. That, and he used to hit on Sakura Dango quite a lot.

Minaru appeared and talked to his father for a bit, buying a bag of sweets, before asking them about their grandson. ”You mind if I borrow Kuroba for a bit?” He asked and they shouted down the chunnin from where he was resting. Minaru grinned when the boy came out of the door. ”Hiya. Come with me.” Minaru spoke, taking his bag of sweets, handing Kuroba's father the money he had in his hand.

Once he did, the two headed towards the training field where he had told Hanare to meet them. He and the other boy emerged at about the same time as the girls. He nodded for the chunnins to gather in front of him, as he sat down on a rock, shaking the bag in his hands, trying to find some candy he wanted. He rolled up the top of the bag and tossed it gently into the arms of Hanare.

”Eat, if you want.” Minaru spoke, a piece of chocolate in his teeth.
He shrugged. ”I figured you guys have some clue who I am, and you know each other by name, at least. But, in case you haven't heard – not that you could have – I'm kind of a big deal. My name is Minaru Gazo, I am from the once large Gazo clan from the land of Iron. I'm a Jounin of Kumogakure, I like long walks on the beach, chocolate dipped strawberries and pretty girls.”He said, looking out over the three sitting in front of him. Grinning slightly at the two girls.
”Now, I was designated to be your.. Leader. I am used to work alone, and I do my best work when I am alone. Therefor, the senseis you had when you were genin, the ones that looked out for you – the ones who'd compromise their lives or even the mission for your lives? Well, that isn't me. We're soldiers, and I will expect you to act that way.” Minaru spoke, his face emotionless till he cracked into a smile.

”Doesn't mean we can't try to have a little fun.” He chuckled, pointed at Hanare. ”You, Fairydust, tell us something about yourself, then you two.”

---

Hageshī would find it difficult to get out of bed, as it usual always was. Ever since the attakc on Kumogakure, his training had become something critical to him. Every day there was some kind of work out or exercise he was doing, trying to tone his muscles more. It was a pretty known thing that Hageshī was someone who took almost every situation seriously, going as far as to remain silent to jokes. The Jonin was a dreaded teacher to have in the eyes of most Chūnin, especially those who preferred a more laid back approach to things. They knew exactly what he would do the minute they were under his tutelage; training, training, and would you look at that, more training. That's not to say that the man didn't believe in rest and breaks. Anyways, his muscles were sore from the the training he had done yesterday, evident by the groans he had when he picked himself up from his bed.

Hageshī always hated the voice of Otsumi, particularly because she seemed to think she was the boss just because she was his mothers lap dog. Gritting his teeth, he slipped on his usual gear; a standard issue Kumogakure flak jacket over some minor armor, with a bit of a touch up for his own preference. The armor wasn't much for a regular attack, but it did help with minor things like shuriken or kunai, even softening some blows from Taijutsu users. Still, it was kind of useless, but it did bring out his skin color, so at least there was that. The upper part of the armor actually made a large collar, covering the lower part of his face slightly. Tying the village headband onto his waist, Hageshī left the house, grumbling to himself.

It was almost always the same routine for Hageshī. Get up, head out to the Kage's office, get adored by villagers, get an assignment, complete the assignment, train harder, eat, go to sleep. It wasn't so much mundane as it was boring, but it suited Hageshī just fine. As long as he did some kind of work that benefited the village, he was contempt with it. As the rest of the Jonin arrived, he examined them closely. Minaru and Sutemasu, two other very well-known Jonin. Sutemasu was a bit of a friendly rival to Hageshī, albeit he was stronger than her physically. He enjoyed her company at times, even if she did get on his nerves every now and again. His real issue was with Minaru, the womanizer. He always seemed to find a way to royally piss Hageshī off. At the comment of his mother, Hageshī grabbed his arm and prepared to punch the cocky bastard. "You little! Agh! I swear to whatever deity that listens that I will beat your ass one day!" He roared at the Jonin as he ran off.

Hageshī grunted a bit as he read his note, approaching the places he was meant to go to in a rather slow pace. Knocking on the door of one of his students. He looked down and noticed a cat-like runt. "Senkensha Toraburu, otherwise known as the trouble maker of Kumogakure. Great that I got you...just try and keep your mouth clean and I won't have to spray you with water." With that, he dragged the smaller figure with him outside the door...albeit with some scratch marks on his forearm. The next student was a young lady by the name of Nekoyama Midori. Why did he get all the cat-people? Was his mom just laughing at him in her office all day for the ridiculous students she gave him? Well, it didn't matter, he was already there at Midori's, so he might as well just not complain. With a single loud knock, he waited for her to answer. As she opened the door, he smiled down at her, crossing his arms as a small cat-like figure stood at his legs, obviously aggravated with the turn of events. "Nekoyama Midori. I've heard of your Medical skills and strength. I'll be your sensei starting today. We start now, come along." Without any notice, he dragged Toraburu with him as Midori followed close behind.

The next students intrigued Hageshī greatly; a sojutsu expert and boy who used a seal rather than hand signs for his attacks. Knocking on the door of yet again another student, he found an older gentleman. "Excuse me, sir, I'm here to take Hizo Saborama as my student." The older figure in the wheelchair smiled and called out to his son. The boy was quite fast, strangely enough, and Hageshī raised a brow at him. "Hm...you don't look like much, but it's not always brawn that wins the fight. I'm your new sensei, Saborama. Let's go." After finally approaching the final house, Hageshī was already getting bored of just walking around constantly. After knocking on the door of Yayoi Ikaruga's house, he didn't even introduce himself aside from the words "I'm your teacher. We're going." Without another word, he dragged the young man. Finally, he had assembled his team, and began to move out to the gate of the village where Sutemasu told the trio to meet up at with their new team.

He scratched his head as they approached, thinking to himself about his students. Two crazy cat people, one boy who uses seals, and a sojutsu user. The potential for a good team was there, but he found it somewhat difficult to believe, especially with a certain someones attitude that could cause tension within the group. Nonetheless, he was ready to take this students under his tutelage, no matter how frustrating it would get. Approaching the group, he waved slightly to Sutemasu and Minaru. "Yo." With that, he placed his hands in his pockets and inspected his students as they waited.

---

Kota was quite surprised by the sudden appearance of Sutemasu. He knew that he'd be getting an assignment, but he didn't except it to come so soon. Still, he was quite happy to finally get out of the house. "Reina-chan, I'm heading out now with my sensei! You have fun while I'm gone and try not to get into any trouble!" He called out, completing the look the of his outfit as they walked and conversed. With his ponytail done, his bandanna tied, and his sword slung over his back, he was ready for the day. Everything was quite well, until he approached Kasumi's house. They were neighbors a long time ago...and friends. Very, very 'close friends'. To see her again was quite an awkward situation for Kota, even if he was always happy to greet a friend. As they walked to the next students house, he kept his eyes on her every now and again, keeping a slight distance from her.

The problem wasn't that they were no longer friends or anything of the such, but that they had not seen each other for years. It was strange to see her again, especially because it was best described as seeing a 'stranger' that you knew for years. As they picked up their final team member, they had made their way to the gate, where they introduced themselves. "I'm Kota. Uchiha Kota. I'm seventeen, but my birthday is in about a month now. I use Kenjutsu and my Releases are Fire and Lightning. I'm actually pretty bad at Taijutsu, but I hope I can improve on that." He laughed a little uneasily at the end of his sentence, since it was pretty embarrassing that he wasn't very skilled at it, but it was his fault that he was bad to begin with, training with just his sword for such a long time.

With the introductions over and the groups coming together once more, Kota decided to get closer to Kasumi, crossing his arms as he slightly turned away from her. With a cough, he sparked a small conversation. "Hey, Kasumi-chan. You've...changed." Always an awkward situation today, isn't it?

Kasumi thanked the Gods for the knock on the door. It was time for her daily practice. Not that she needed it. Her strict parents seemed to get even more strict by the moment. "I'll get it!" Kasumi called to her parents so they wouldn't have to get up, hurrying to the door and opening it to see Sutemasu. She seemed surprised, but she didn't have the time to look shocked for long. They had an assignment. It was time to get up and get moving. Oh, lucky day! No boring music-only practice today!

Thankfully she was already dressed, needing only to throw her light blue flak jacket and grab her harp. Her mother mentioned something about being careful, but she waved it off. It only took her a few moments to be ready to step outside and follow Sutemasu, but her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of the chunin already with her. "Sorry about that! I wasn't expecting you so..." She trailed off when she looked at Kota, a bright red blush springing onto her cheeks as she followed her new sensei to retrieve the rest of their teammates.

It wasn't that they hated each other, in fact the opposite was true. They were close friends - or had been, years ago. In fact, Kasumi's boisterous holier-than-thou attitude was what had gotten her into Academy in the first place. She never would have even dreamed of it otherwise. It was competition with her childhood friend that had done her in. So here she was. The possibility of them being on the same team hadn't occurred to Kasumi - until now, of course. She was glad and terrified all in the same moment - how on Earth do you rekindle a friendship that had long since fallen apart?

The group picked up the rest of their teammates and at that point, their sensei took the time to tell them to introduce themselves. Kota went first, but Kasumi wasn't far behind once he had gotten finished speaking. The last person she wanted to be one-upped by was Kota. "I'm Mizuno Kasumi. I'm nineteen. My birthday was just a few days ago. I use sound jutsus with my harp to support my team." She didn't mention the fact that she was bad at almost everything else. She left her introduction at that, letting someone else go next until they were all introduced.

Despite the introductions, when they arrived at the gate, they were still early. This gave the team an opportunity to talk amongst themselves - if they desired - until everyone else arrived. She turned to Kota to speak, but once again, he had taken the opportunity first. "H-Hey...Kota-kun." She was able to keep the nervousness out of her voice. For now. He told her that she had changed and she managed a small laugh, keeping eye contact with him for the first time since they had been reintroduced. "Have I? You've changed too, Kota. I'm not such a 'huge loser' anymore." She offered him a smile, before turning back to Sutemasu to ask where everyone else was. Before she could, however, the other teams were arriving.

---

---

Reiji made it a point to always be up before the sun was. Most people his age weren't morning people and neither was he, but he didn't see waking up as a big deal. It never really mattered to him what he did at the time he just liked to do something, anything. There was something peaceful about training or going for a walk when no one else was around. Dressed in black joggers, a black tank top, and a Kumo flak jacket, Reiji set out of the Abukara compound. He had walked by his parents' office, they were awake doing paperwork, but Rei didn't bother speaking to them. They we're too "occupied" for small talk. You'd think they would've invested more time into the freaking heir of their clan that they put so much effort into, but they didn't.

This morning walk had a particularly calming effect. Maybe it was the sun peeking over the horizon or the light fog by his shins. (Killing myself for being so stereotypical) Either way, Reiji was throughly enjoying himself on his little hike. When he reached his destination, he sat down down and watched the sun come up. He was perched on top of one of the largest rock formations in Kumo. The clouds added a chill to the air while the sun did its best to warm him. Watching the sun come up always reminded him how small he really was. It was humbling and powerful, to say the least.

---

The second Reiji walked through the door and was beginning to settle down before heading out to do his duties of the day, there was a knock on the door. "Can't relax for a second can I?" He mumbled to himself as he opened the door of his house.

“Reiji-kun? I'm sorry for being so early, but I am Kowareta Sutemasu. I'm going to be your new sensei from today on. Please get ready to head out.”

Reiji looked down at his clothes, "I'm ready I guess, where are we going?" He asked warily, eyeing the two other chuunin that were behind her. They all walked in silence until they reached the last chuunin's house. It was another guy, he remembered them all faintly from the Academy and from seeing them around the village but he wasn't friends with any of them. Once they reached the rendezvous point, their new sensei spoke up.

“Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I'm sorry, but we're going to have to do the introductions rather quickly since the Raikage wants us to head out on a mission with some other teams. I'm Kowareta Sutemasu, I'm 28 years old and I live near the village edge. If you ever need anything, feel free to contact me!” She tilted her head slightly and smiled at the three chunin, her eyes squeezing together slightly with enjoyment. It was clear she was a cheerful person. “Reiji-kun, Amehime-kun, Kota-kun, Kasumi-chan, please introduce yourself, tell us your age and something about yourself, and then we'll head out!”

The one who introduced himself as Kota went first, then Kazumi, it seemed like he was up next. "Yo, I'm Abukara Reiji. I'm a long-ranged fighter and I use techniques that can effect large areas of the battlefield. Nice to meet you guys."

After introductions were done, Reiji sat down on the ground, deciding to take a moment to relax. He almost chuckled at the awkward small talk between two of his teammates. It seemed they had a lot to catch up on. He chose not to join the conversation for two reasons. He figured there would be plenty of time to get to know them so what was the rush? Second, their conversation seemed weird enough as it was, he didn't need to add to it.

Ikaruga wiped the sweat from his brow as he observed the six sheets of metal he’d placed next to each other. Each sheet had foot wide hole punched through it, surrounded by a wreath of twisted metal. The young spear master had spent the morning training as usual, primarily testing out his piercing power. Placing his hat back onto his head, Ikaruga began cleaning up all of the training equipment that littered the Yayoi estate’s training area. Once Ikaruga finished up, he returned his trademark spear to its casing and made his way through the compound, greeting the various members of his clan as they passed by. While he wasn’t considered a disappointment by any means, Ikaruga sometimes got the feeling that some of the older members of the clan still had some misgivings about his decision to become a shinobi. Most of the open criticism stopped once he’d completed the chunin exams, but that certainly didn’t stop some of them from whispering amongst themselves.

Many of the more “traditional” Yayoi possessed a certain level of prejudice towards shinobi for “skulking about in the shadows like rats”. Though, Ikaruga chalked that up to the clan’s typical position as defenders of the Daimyos and other such high-ranking political figures of the lands as putting them in opposition to opposing shinobi more often than not. Still, even the most disdainful of the Yayoi wasn’t exactly opposed to things which may offer a level of positive publicity for the clan. Namely, the potential for versatile employment.

“Ikkun!” a soft voice called, followed shortly afterwards by a little girl with white hair tied up into a bun on top of her head. “A scary looking man is out in front looking for you.” she explained, words interspersed with panting as she attempted to catch her breath after her mad dash to fetch him. Ikaruga simply nodded and pat the girl on the head, smiling down at her.
“Thanks, Hiromi. I’ll go see what he wants.”

It didn’t take long for Ikaruga to come out and greet the man, who he clocked as one of the village’s Jonin, only to be abruptly dragged off once the man that he declared he’d be Ikaruga’s teacher. The guy certainly had a strong grip. The jonin also had three others with him, who Ikaruga would come to find would be his squadmates. Ikaruga took the time to observe his fellow Chunin, taking a mental note of any distinctive features. The one that stood out most was the short boy with cat-like ears. Upon further thought, Ikaruga had heard a lot about some sort of “Catboy” throughout Kumogakure, for the boy had quite the reputation as a troublemaker of sorts. Second off was the skinny blonde guy with the goggles. ”A Naruto cosplayer?” Ikaruga thought, scratching his cheek with an index finger. In his studies on shinobi history, Ikaruga had come across a few stories about the legendary figure of Naruto Uzumaki, so it didn’t seem to unusual that there would be fanboys trying to emulate the former Jinchuriki that held the Kyuubi. The goggles were an odd choice, but there probably capable of serving a practical function as well. And rounding out the pack was the one girl of the group. While she didn’t seem too remarkable in comparison to the other two, Ikaruga managed to notice the tiny scratches along her arms.

Eventually Ikaruga recognized the Jounin leading their group as Hageshi Nakamura. He’d seen the man around the village many times before, but never really got a close look at him. It was pretty apparent that the man had spent considerable effort building up his physique just from looking at his defined musculature. Fitting when one took into account the man’s reputation as one of Kumogakure’s foremost taijutsu users.

Ikaruga decided to break the silence of their trek by starting off with a greeting. “Yo, I’m Ikaruga. Yayoi, Ikaruga. Pleasure to be working with you guys.” he chimed, breaking out his signature smile and piece sign as he readjusted the strap of the Rasen no Yari’s case on his shoulder.

-

---

---

The morning had started out normally enough for Ame-- he was in a dark room, not knowing what time it was. He spent a good amount of time taking shallow breaths of the thick air, his sight blurring before him, the noise of his blood pumping ringing in his ears. He didn't know how long he'd been in the room, or what air he was breathing, but boy it didn't fit right in his lungs. He was sweating just sitting there, his calloused hands uncomfortably scratching at his face as he tried to wipe at it. And just as he commented another, "I don't know," to a question he could barely hear over the ringing in his ears, the door opened.

.

"Ame! Your sensei's here for you!"

After a quick breakfast and shower, his aunt's call from the entryway disrupted Ame in the middle of strapping on his flak jacket. "Coming," he called back quietly as he hastily did his arm guards, slipping on his light jacket over his shoulders. Sure, he didn't expect his new teacher to pick him up today of all days, and sure his eyes were still kinda seeing spots, but it's nothing he hadn't had to put up with before. Slipping his shoes on as he made his way to the door, he hugged his aunt and traded kisses on the forehead and cheek before leaving with his new team.

Three other chuunin besides him, it seemed as though Ame had been the last stop. There was a thick and awkward air around two of them, but overall Sutemasu seemed nice and everyone else-- awkwardness aside-- seemed decent. When introductions came, there was a short inner debate within the boy as to whether to speak second or third-- two of the least memorable parts, only to debate too hard and Reiji speaking up before he could. If there was also another thing that made Ame itch it was the fact that he seemed to be the youngest. And here he'd thought he was behind, given he missed the last exam. Nonetheless, Ame offered his usual smile, and added--

"Oukami Ame. I specialize in wires and traps and I'm a bit bad when it comes to close encounters."

Though all introductions had been speedy enough, the group still managed to be early in meeting at the gate, something that Ame assumed would be happening more often. Readjusting the tightness of his guards, he busied himself while his ears listened in on the awkward conversation between Kota and Kasumi, not really wanting to participate in the small talk but nonetheless keeping an ear out for anything interesting. He glanced at Reiji who'd taken a seat, smiling a smile the moment he caught his eyes-- the sort of smile that paired a quick pointing glance to the two beside them as though saying: 'Is this weird or what.'

---

Toraburu had been enjoying a rather lazy morning, laying on his bed with a long crossed over his other, dangling his foot around while he laid back casually. His hands were folded behind his head as he laid back his head onto the pillow. Through a window the sun shone through, that typical Kumogakure sun that he had come to enjoy so much. Every day he would lay in the sun during his free moments - much like a real cat would - and enjoy the heat that came from the sun. Unlike other people in Kumogakure, he wasn't really a morning person, so he just laid back and waited for something to happen. He'd completely forgotten that today was the last day of his vacation, and he was beginning to expect that he was done with the shinobi life now that he hadn't done anything in so long.

Of course, some random jonin came to disprove that theory.

“Su-su-su... what fool would be up at this time.. and then come bother me?” he sighed as he got up from his bed, rubbing his eyes with his two fists as he approached the door and opened it. Living alone was a blessing, he found, since nobody else had gotten up to open the door and do some annoying small talk with this jonin. “Su-su-su.. who's that.. who are you, some nameless nobody? Hey, what are you- why are you dragging me along?! Let go of me you fuckface!” He gripped onto Hageshi's arm, digging his nails into the mans arm while he was rudely dragged along. He didn't even get time to close his door behind him.

The entire way Toraburu would be insulting Hageshi, as he made it unclear as to why precisely Toraburu was being dragged along. It wasn't until they arrived at this girl called Midori's house that he introduced himself as their sensei. “Su-su-su... you couldn't have said something earlier, you ignorant asshole?” Toraburu hissed as he rubbed his arm, which was sore from Hageshi holding onto him there.

Toraburu's cat-ears on his head tweaked around, seemingly scanning for sound, though he was just moving them around out of interest to see if anything was being said nearby that sounded cool. Cooler than this Hageshi-sensei figure. “Oi, dipshit, your mom is the raikage right?” His voice was high-pitched, but without sounding like a girl. It was strange - like a cat's meow in pitch, but with a human undertone. And, well, his choice of words was not as graceful as one would come to expect from a creature as 'graceful' as a cat. “If she's your mom, just ask for a fucking transfer, because I'm not working with a retard like you. Su-su-su..” Toraburu crossed his arms as he looked at Hageshi, completely ignoring Midori's presence.

It seemed a pointless affair to protest to this sensei, as he was dragged along once more. “SU-SU-HEY! Stop doing that you asshole!!” he protested, being dragged off towards Saborama's house, and then Ikaruga's house. When the entire troubling affair was done, Toraburu was finally released by Hageshi. “Su-su-su-su.. you dipshit..” Toraburu sighed while he peeked at Saborama and then Ikaruga. They looked like assholes, just like Hageshi. And Midori.. she looked weird. And useless. What a fucking shit team he had this time around.

“TAKE THIS!” Toraburu suddenly yelled, forming handseals with a cat-like agility that made him perform them faster than most chunins. He held on to the rat-seal, before leaning in forwards towards Hageshi. He opened his mouth and spewed forwards a large stream of water towards Hageshi, enough to throw him off balance and fling him back a few meters if he hit.

Once he had shown his fury at the mistreatment of the jonin, Toraburu crossed his arms and looked at his three teammates. “And stop being useless! Kami, kami, why do you torment me! You!” he yelled in the middle of Ikaruga's introduction, rudely interrupting him without a care being given to it by Toraburu. He pointed at Ikaruga, too, also not seeming to give too much of a shit towards how the boy might feel about being pointed at. “Please tell me that you know what the hell is going on, because nobody told me I would be in a team with..” He glanced at Hageshi shortly, his ears tweaking around and adjusting their location slightly, before continuing. “.. you losers!”

Well, it was already clear that Toraburu didn't give too much of a shit, but he also seemed oblivious to the fact that Sutemasu's team was nearby and could likely overhear the entire conversation.

Saborama had woken up early that morning, he had been informed that his new Captain would come and pick him up for their first mission together. What the mission was? He didn't have the foggiest clue. He had an early morning workout, a shower and then spent some time polishing his kunais and shurikens before getting dressed. Walking downstairs wearing his shorts with black bandages going up above his knees as well as his black T-shirt, his Flack Jacket hanging on the inner side of the door. He cooked himself Bacon and Eggs, as well as ate four sandwiches - all a growing boy would need. He heard the knocking on the door, and a Jounin - Hageshi - a Famous one, at that had arrived. Sabo grinned, he was to learn from the son of the leader of the village? Great!

His father had greeted the Jounin, and Sabo shrugged. Handing his father his crutch. "Come on now Old Man, no time to be sitting down, you got a shop to run!" Sabo exclaimed with a scoff. His dad grinning "I'm goin, I'm goin!" The senior Hizo exclaimed with a laugh, crawling out of his chair and onto his crutch. "You'll have to excuse my son, he's kind of excite- What the fuck is that?" The old man said, changing topic mid sentence when he saw the boy with the cat ears attached to Hageshi's arm. Sabo shot him a look and he then laughed. "I've seen it all now, Cathybrid's being ninjas. All right, just don't do freaky stuff to my son. Do what you do." He said to the Jounin, before turning to his son. "And Sabo. Here." He said, tossing his son a leather bracelet, the same one he had worn back in his adventuring days. It looked more advanced than the one Sabo already had.

Sabo caught it and grinned. "Thanks, dad." He said, putting on his flack jacket and his goggles on his forehead. Walking with his teammates to the gates, they had all gathered, having their introductions - when the dude who had been on Hageshi's arm was tossed onto the ground, he started making a fuss, talking all that good shit.

Once it was Saborama's turn to introduce himself, he shrugged. "Hi, my name's Sabo." He wasn't apathetic or shy, he just didn't really have anything to add.

---

"Ari-chan, wake up."

The pink-haired girl first opened only one eye, looking up from her bed to see one of the maids standing at her bedroom door. After tilting her head toward the window and opening her other eye she was able to conclude that it was late morning. She had slept in. Again. "You should've been awake hours ago, dear. Now I have to wait for you to get ready before I can clean your room." Ari sat upright in her bed, removing her covers and bringing a hand up to tug on the collar of her white nightdress. A quick scan of the room proved that it was already quite tidy, which made her briefly wonder what the maids even did in the room. It wasn't like she ever made any messes. How can they clean something that is in the same condition it was the last time they supposedly cleaned it?

That was a question she'd never ask them, though. The last time she bothered the servants resulted in her grandfather lecturing her about respect and being polite. It wasn't worth bringing up when all she had to do was just pretend the maids were doing something. With a sigh she rolled out of bed and onto her feet. "Okay," she said, not even waiting for the older woman to close the door before beginning to undress. The bedroom had an attached bathroom that allowed Ari a personal shower. Normally the Oshiro clan had one shared bathroom but when Ari had moved in there was a few accommodations made for her. She didn't consider herself close enough to the Oshiro for any skinship and thus outright refused to bathe until she got a personal bathroom. It was bratty behavior but it achieved desirable results. Mornings were far more pleasant for Ari the less she had to interact with her family.

Ari had just barely stepped out of the shower when the same maid entered her room without knocking, again. "Ari, there's someone at the door for you. You're probably late." The girl simply gave the older woman a dismissive wave before getting changed. Despite her late start she didn't feel particularly late. She only felt hungry. Instead of heading directly to the entrance of the Oshiro compound she instead made her way to the kitchen. Oddly enough nobody was there once she stepped inside, but there was food leftover from the breakfast. It was always strange to Ari that almost the entire clan would eat breakfast together but it was endearing in a way. Too bad she preferred to eat alone. She was perfectly fine swiping an untouched muffin and eating as she walked. Just before Ari reached the door to answer to whomever was calling her, someone who would've been waiting for at least two minutes by this point, she was stopped when a hand fell on her right shoulder.

"Good luck today." A dark-skinned man who appeared as if he was about to start his mid-life crisis had stopped Ari. His hair was black and he sported a thin and well-groomed beard, though his hairline was starting to recede. It was her father, the soon-to-be clan leader, Kenichi Oshiro. After making a brief moment of eye-contact with him she looked away towards the door and took another bite of her muffin. His grip on her shoulder was light and she broke away without any effort, striding away from him without any response. The cold response to simple and well-meaning encouragement wasn't new so Kenichi showed no outward signs of pain just as Ari showed no outward signs of anger. But all the same the two harbored both of those feelings inside. Her father let out a sigh and turned away as Ari opened the door and stepped outside.

The girl waiting for her must've been pretty bored or frustrated by this point, but Ari hardly paid any mind to her emotional state. Rather she took a brief moment to size up Hanare. While the girl, who seemed older and was notably bigger than Ari was, seemed like nothing special it felt as if Ari had seen her somewhere. She couldn't shake the feeling that she had met Hanare before. Were they classmates back in the Academy? Had she worked with her in a mission before? Ari couldn't recall the memories and after an awkward moment of silence between the two girls did Ari raise her free hand to politely wave in greeting. "Morning," was all she had to say in greeting before taking another bite of her blueberry muffin. She wasn't much up for conversation but followed along with Hanare as the two made their way to the meeting point.

Despite the delay in arriving the two girls didn't hold up the others very much. It turned out the Oshiro compound wasn't far away from the training field the team was to gather at. When they arrived it took Ari a brief moment to realize that it was one of the teenagers that was their jonin. A boy that had to be their same age was the one in charge and he let it be known. He gave a typical tough-guy talk, albeit with a bit of unique awkwardness thrown in, and because of his boring introduction Ari wasn't able to listen to even half of his small speech. He was saying nothing valuable so there was no point in retaining any of it. Instead of spacing out like a weirdo she instead decided to examine what kind of teammates she would have today. So instead of being awkward by zoning out she became awkward by staring silently at each of her teammates one at a time, trying to get a bead on what they could do before they even said a word. If today was going to see combat then surely she would have to keep them alive. The less surprises she had about their skills, the smoother the experience would be.

Of course, it didn't even occur to Ari to introduce herself at all.

---

Ikaruga raised an eyebrow as he watched the cat-like chunin unleashed a stream of water at their squad’s Jounin. Sure, he’d heard that the boy was a troublemaker, but he figured it was more exaggeration than anything. ”Huh, he really is pretty intense.” he thought, perking up when the ill-tempered boy turned his attention back on the rest of the team.

He certainly was a feisty one, that was for sure. So far, every sentence that came out of the boy’s mouth had included an insult, and it didn’t seem like it was going to stop anytime soon. “I mean…. To be fair, we’ve just assembled, so it’s not like we’ve had a chance to show our worth yet. By that same token, you’re just as useless, right?” the spearman retorted, attempting to parry Toraburu’s accusation of his team’s inadequacy. After all, wasn’t it a bit too early to be calling people out? They hadn’t even set off on whatever task they’d been assembled for yet!

At the sight of Toraburu’s cat-like ears twitching about, Ikaruga let out a slight chuckle. They also weren’t kidding about the whole “catboy” thing either. All this time, Ikaruga had figured that Toraburu wore a pair of clip-on ears like some other kid he’d seen around town. Now that he got the chance to see them in real life, they were actually kind of impressive. Impressively amusing, that is. The catboy did pose a good question, though. Ikaruga had actually forgotten the news about the teams being assigned until Hageshi came to the Yayoi estate, so even he was still in the dark. Ikaruga decided to let that last jab slide, already sort of used to Toraburu’s verbal abuse. “From what I can gather, this looks like a squad meetup. But from the fact that it isn’t just our group gathered here, I’m gonna assume it’s a lot more serious than it was when we were genin.” he remarked, taking in the rest of the groups’ make-ups.

---

Hageshī waited for the little meet up to begin officially before he started his task of teaching his students. He wasn't really much for training students. In fact, this was his first time ever that he took on a group of kids as their team leader. It didn't seem all that bad to him, however. That is, until a certain cat decided to yell out before trying to hit him with a spray of water. If it wasn't for the little cocky bastard's words, he might have no seen it coming in the first place. With a few quick hand signs, he used his Rock Release technique to block the jet of water, before a small hole popped out on the side of it. "Listen up. Here's our first lesson of the day; Don't try to call out stuff before you strike, especially if your enemy knows you're their."

With another barrage of handsigns, Hageshī used his Godly Wind from the Mountains technique, blasting it towards Toraburu. It was a strong, quick blast of wind that was sent flying towards him. If it struck him, it would be likely that the blast would pick him up off his feet due to a combination of the wind strength and his small size. Hageshī somewhat enjoyed the feisty attitude, knowing very well that this young man won't hesitate to get himself into a fight, should the call to arms arrive. He just hoped that his other students were paying attention to his lessons.

---

Smiled sheepishly at her response, but noticing the other teams arriving. He raised a brow at the strange gathering. "What is this, a joint training or something? Why not just make one huge team?" He directed this towards Sutemasu, since she was his sensei. Interestingly, he met her on only one occasion; a visit to the Academy. She was giving a sort of demonstration and explanation of the life of a shinobi, sparking Kota's desires to become a shinobi even further. In a way, Kota was glad that she was his sensei, since he at least knew her, albeit just a little.

As the other teams arrived, a took observations of each one. Kota was quite curious about each ones strengths and desires, wondering why they all chose to become shinobi. He was hoping that he'd make acquaintances out of them all at some point in time. However, it didn't help that whenever each one might have caught him staring at them, he'd look away quickly at another. It began to make him feel a little awkward, but he just couldn't help it. It was at that moment that his attention was grabbed by a quick jet of water aimed at a Jonin. Before a word could come out of his mouth, it was quickly blocked by a slab of rock, and the Jonin fired a blast of wind right back at the small little cat-like figure. "What a weirdo'..." He thought in his head, noticing the cat-like features more than anything else about the boy.

-

---

Sutemasu glanced over her team, smiling over the companionship that had rapidly formed between Kota and Kasumi -- or at least, the companionship had probably always been there, but Sutemasu didn't know that -- while she glanced at Amehime and Reiji. When she saw Hageshi and his team approach, she quickly raised a hand at all her team members, calling them to order. “Guys, get ready, Hageshi-sensei is here too. Let's pretend we're actually excited to work with him!” She said it loud enough for Hageshi to hear, though that was intentional. She was far too nice to actually mean those kind of jokes, and she made sure to make it at least somewhat obvious that she was merely sarcastically being like that.

“Hageshi-sensei, you've got an.. interesting team. Is that.. Toraburu? And Midori-chan? Ooh, and that's Yoyai and Saborama. I recognize them now! They've grown so much.” She tried to push away the biting idea that they were going to enter a real combat mission, fearful of what might overcome these kids. “Well, I'm sure we'll make this mission a success, isn't that so Hageshi-kun?” The last one to arrive would be Minaru, for which he'd receive a scolding glance from Sutemasu, though it was nothing serious and she wasn't actually angry with him.

“Minaru-chan,” she said teasingly, referring to him as a girl, “please be on time next time. A sensei needs to give the right impression, you know that!”

Now that everyone was there they could brief them shortly before moving out. “Listen up!” Sutemasu said loudly, making herself heard over the talking of the chunin. “We're tasked to take down a metal refinery. It is possible that we'll engage with enemy combatants, since we're taking down a refinery belonging to Kirigakure. It shouldn't be anything too serious, however, so don't worry!” She looked left and right, to both the senseis that were also present alongside her, before turning around. “Let's go.”

---

The traveling time would be quite limited, as the refinery was located on an island off the coast of Kumogakure -- precisely, it was a small island that was barely noteworthy at all if it weren't for the refinery. Likely the place was constructed there due to the high amount of minerals present in Kumogakure -- allowing the Kirigakure shinobi to thief and steal their way into Kumogakure supplies and refine it without too much of a hassle. There'd be an end to that, now, however.

When the teams came to a standstill, the only thing they could see that separated them from themselves and their objective was a thick, heavy layer of mist. It laid over a deep ocean, but there was no way you could see that, and the only way to know it was there was, well, knowing it ahead of time. Sutemasu glanced back at her team as they stood atop a cliffside. Left of them, approximately 20 meters further, was team Minaru, and then behind that was team Hageshi. They had traveled in a rather loose formation for some time to avoid detection, but now that they reached the destination they had stopped for a moment. “Reiji, Kota, Kasumi, Amehime, once we're in there we'll probably be on our own. I think that the Raikage didn't foresee the mist being this thick.”

She glanced forwards towards the buildings, which was a large compound with thick high metal walls. There was some movement in there, but it was uncertain whether they were shinobi or just workers. Maybe they were both. It wouldn't be past Kirigakure to have people with lava-release or something working there.. thinking about that caused a shiver to run down Sutemasu's spine. She pushed her finger up to her ear, pressing on a machine that was lodged inside her ear. “Hageshi, Minaru, I just realized that the visibility will be low inside the compound. Just.. keep that in mind when you are slinging jutsu's at everything. I don't want my chunin to get hurt by friendly fire.” With that message sent she lowered her arm again and stepped forwards, into the nothingness that was below.

The free fall off the cliff was doable, approximately 50 meters if even that, which would be an easy drop for any shinobi that had practiced some chakra control to cushion their fall. The splashes of her landing on the water would've betrayed their location, but the many sounds coming from the refinery made sure to hide their position quite well. When the other chunin had landed next to her they proceeded forwards, expecting team Minaru and Hageshi to do the same. How they got into the compound was up to them, and the destruction of the refinery would come when they were done clearing the refinery. Civilian casualties were allowed, but to be kept to a minimum. If it was up to Sutemasu, they wouldn't be allowed, but it seemed impossible to forgo all civilian deaths.

Team Sutemasu would approach the walls and then come to a standstill. Inside Sutemasu's brain the gears were spinning, trying to come up with a way to get inside. “Hmm. We could blast ourselves in.. but.. maybe that's too loud. It'd be very surprising if we did, though. Hm. No, let's just jump over. Follow me, Kota, Kasumi, Amehime, Reiji!”

She bent through her knees and in one rapid movement disappeared from their -- due to the mist, already lousy -- vision. She landed on the other side with a soft thud, finding vision slightly more bearable. The figures moving around that she could see now were primarily workers, which eased her fear. However it was certain there were shinobi present. The voices that were shouting out the jutsu they were using echoed through the compound, some people using fire release jutsu, and some breaking the monotonous voices with lava release jutsu. “Okay, follow me.” Sutemasu said, whispering to her team. She was unsure how and when the other two teams would breach the compound, so she hoped that they'd opt for a.. similarily stealthy approach. With Hageshi, and especially Minaru, that wouldn't be so sure however.

They headed for a large warehouse building, and entered through a large door. Inside, there was a large pile of unrefined metal -- iron ore, silver ores, even some gold. Next to that was a larger pile of charcoal, which was used to fuel the furnaces. As far as Sutemasu could see there were only six people inside, all shinobi. But they all had their backs turned on the shinobi that were entering. Sutemasu gestured towards the shinobi, indicating that they were going to take them down. She then raised a finger to her mouth, indicating that they should try and be quiet.

She would take the furthest away shinobi, who was using his lava release to melt iron ores into a liquid state. It was chakra intensive, but really efficient, given there wasn't much fuel required to do it this way. It was also a lot quicker, Sutemasu imagined. She approached him with rapid steps, sprinting towards him. It wasn't quiet, but it was quiet enough to mask her presence to anyone that wasn't inside the compound. This left the other 5 targets for the four chunin -- who would likely be able to take them down on their own, or at least busy long enough to let Sutemasu interfere if she needed to. Her task as a jonin was to more or less keep an eye on them at all times, though, so even while she sprinted towards them, she made sure to keep an eye on her four chunin.

When the lava release user noticed the footsteps approaching him and turned around, it was already too late. Sutemasu heaved her arm back and swung her fist forwards following that, punching the man in the face with a large amount of momentum, sending him staggering back, barely holding himself upright against the metal encasing of the machine he was working with.

“I-INTRUDE- BWAGH!” Before he could finish his sentence he received another hook in the face, knocking him to the right into the wall with his face. This gave Sutemasu enough time to glance backwards over her shoulder to look at her team, before looking back. She readied herself for the attack that the man would no doubt send her way, but her mind was uneasy knowing that the chunin that were in her team were outnumbered.

---

Kuroba woke up early that day, drenched in a cold sweat. This had become a daily occurrence for the past few days, his stress piling up as his vacation crawled to an end. He was worried about what team he'd be placed into, whether they’d be nice or not, and whether he'd be as skilled as them. “Wait, I need to get ready. Can't be late on my first day!” Kuroba pumped himself up, doing light morning stretches. In reality, all he had to do was wash off and change, since he’d prepared all his stuff the day before. Nonetheless, as he walked to the bathroom, Kuroba still thought, “Mmm, but it couldn't hurt to check a third time, right? Maybe four would be better…” He ignored the crunching sound of the masses of black insects beneath his feet and the eyes that were glaring from dark corners. He was used to them.

When all was said and done, Kuroba checked through his equipment about 9 more times before packing it away completely. “Alright,” he said, sitting down on his bed with his flak jacket on. All that was left was to wait for his Jonin to show up. Or would it be better to go on ahead to the training field beforehand? There was time to go for one more look-through. “... I woke up too early.” he sighed, simply getting more and more nervous as time passed. After agonizing for what seemed to be hours, his father called him down. Bolting down the stairs, Kuroba finally saw the face of his group’s leader. “Oh, hi Minaru!” He was relieved that it was a familiar face. “Minaru compliments Sakura a lot, so they must be good friends,” Kuroba thought to himself as he followed along.

When they got to the training field, Kuroba immediately recognized his teammates. Although he was a bit tense from the glittering “famous-person aura”, Kuroba relaxed after Hanare introduced herself. “Ha ha, I was worried that my teammates were going to be scary, but you're actually really nice!” he grinned in relief. “My name’s Kuroba, let's all be friends!”

---

---

The Chunin Exams had come and gone for Midori, and with its passing came a much needed vacation for most of the graduating Shinobi. A busy body by nature, Midori didn't feel right doing nothing. Even her sisters, who were usually assholes, stressed the idea of taking a break for once. "You're such a try hard, Midori. All you do is train and read. Stop and smell the roses sometime, in fact -- try doing nothing for once in your life." Certainly wasn't the nicest bit of advice she had been given, but she knew it was the truth. While it had been a struggle, Midori had eventually gave in and tried doing nothing. She slept in, stayed up late, slacked on her daily training, and even took a break from her usual medical studies. It was a nice change to say the least, but as the days went by Midori found herself more and more eager to get back in the field. On the final week of vacation, she had immediately fallen back into her usual routine. Rising before dawn, training till' the afternoon, and going over her medical books for a majority of the evening. This overzealous approach had earned Midori ridicule from her sisters, but unfortunately for them, the chastising did little to her now that she had learned how to tune them out during her break.

With the weekend coming to an end, Midori had awoken that Monday morning with a pep in her step, and her head held high. While the promotion of rank didn't necessarily feel different, Midori knew her Shinobi career would drastically change. Walking among the hallways of the Nekoyama Estate, Midori passed numerous family members as she searched for her own feline companion. Every other step came with a small hop as she stepped over and avoided skittering felines and small cousins. "Raiden, where are you?" She called out, voice echoing through the hallways as she passed her parents room. "Hah! Little guy gave you the slip again, huh?" The familiar rumbling voice caused Midori to stop in her tracks as she backed up to her parents bedroom door. Her father sat crosslegged on the floor, head low and hands brought together in prayer as he sat before a simple shrine made for his own parents. Leaning against the door and waiting until until her father was finished, the middle-aged man finally turned to face his daughter with his usual wide, toothy grin.

Long, unruly black hair hung down the clan leaders back, while an iron cat-eared plate sat at the top of his head with his headband. Thick whiskers decorated his face from prolonged use of the Nekoyama kekkei genkai, while his golden eyes held the same sharpness and wit they possessed when he was young. Still young at heart, age was finally catching up to her father as Midori noticed wrinkles stretch across his face as he grinned.

Her fathers infectious personality was too hard to ignore as the irritated look that had pulled across Midori's face had softened into a smile, "Yeah, he ran off earlier this morning. I thought I'd find him by now, but I haven't seen him anywhere." Another chuckle rumbled from her fathers chest, whiskers bouncing as his body shook with laughter, "Wiley beast! If you can't find him soon I'll send Sora out to find him. Today's the day you meet your new Sensei, right?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure when, though."

---

Unlike his two legged companion, Raiden was without a care in the world as he sat on the fence of the Nekoyama Estate. His slick black fur reflected against the sun as he cleaned his paws, purring ever so softly as he began to daze off. Enjoying his vacation far too much, the feline was attempting to cash in a few more hours of relaxation before he and Midori were put back out on the field. He was aware of the importance of today, but a cat needed his beauty sleep. Lowering his body and laying on his chest right as he tucked his paws beneath him, the feline gave a yawn before closing his eyes. An afternoon nap sounded good right about now, but unfortunately for Raiden, his nap would have to wait.

"Su-su-su-"

The distant stuttering had forced the feline to crack an eye, as a frustrated grunt slipped from his thin lips. Catching sight of two familiar figures, one trudging down the neighborhood with the other in tow by the wrist, Raiden shot up from his post as he watched the two Shinobi enter the Nekoyama Estate. Hopping from the fence and running around the back of the Estate in a hurry, the black cat sped through the hallways as he traced and followed his companions scent. Almost drifting on the hardwood floor, the loud knock from the front door indicated the arrival of their new Sensei. Heavy shuffling echoed down the hallways as Raiden suddenly crashed into the wall. Finally finding Midori standing at the door of her parents room, the feline stared up at her with wide golden eyes as he finally panted out, "Midori! It's time!"

Running to the front door and pulling her hair up into her usual ponytail, Raiden ran beside Midori as the two came to a sudden halt at the door. Grasping the knob and turning, her gaze was met none other than the Raikage's son. "Nekoyama Midori. I've heard of your Medical skills and strength. I'll be your sensei starting today. We start now, come along."

Before she could give a formal introduction of herself, Midori's wrist was grabbed as she was tugged along behind her new Sensei. "Hey -- I can keep up by myself!" Her words fell on deaf ears as her Sensei continued to pull her along, only noticing Toraburu once he began to pick at their new Sensei nerves as they continued down the street. Her golden eyes widened only slightly as she glanced at her cat-like teammate. She had gone to school with Toraburu, and while he didn't notice her all that much, Midori had grown a fascination for the other boy that seemed to grow into a slight obsession -- not that she'd ever admit it, of course. Her sisters would often tease her that she had a crush on him, but in all honestly, Midori just wanted to pet him. He reminded her of the more temperamental cats within the Nekoyama estate. Antisocial, hissing and scratching at anyone or anything coming near them. Just like them, Midori had built it up in her head that all Toraburu needed was a little tenderness and guidance. However, she was very aware of his personality. Getting close to him would be like touching hot iron, and in the end Midori knew she would only get burned. It was a strange situation to be in now that they were teammates, but she kept her mouth shut and turned her gaze away from the cat-boy as she focused on keeping up with her new Sensei as they stopped at two more houses and picked up two more teammates.

---

Upon arrival at the village gates, Midori took the other teams into account, eyes narrowing in suspicion as she shot her Sensei an uncertain look. What was going on? The easy going gathering had quickly turned into a spectacle as Toraburu went on his familiar ranting, even going as far as attacking their sensei. As introductions were quickly coming to an end and further discussions were being brought up, Midori gave a small wave once everyone quieted down and all eyes fell on her.

"Ah -- My name is Nekoyama Midori," She started off, stumbling over her words at first before she continued, "And this is my Ninneko companion, Raiden. Together we specialize in cooperative ninjutsu, while I specialize in medical ninjutsu."

"Brag about it."

Fighting back the urge to roll her eyes, Midori couldn't stop a hard scowl from pulling across her face as she shot a glare down at her companion. "Really? You're going to do this now?" Raiden ignored his companion, even going as far as raising his leg and beginning to clean himself. If all eyes weren't on her, Midori had contemplated punting the black cat clear across the village, but she held in this urge and instead continued her introduction. "Anyway, I hope our skills can be beneficial. We look forward to working with you all." Stepping back as to emphasize she was done, Midori turned her gaze to Sutemasu as the jonin began to brief them on their first task as Chunin.

Kirigakure, huh? She shifted eagerly in her spot, glancing down at Raiden as the feline gave her a similar interested look. It had been a while since they had travelled so far from Kumo, so the change of scenery would certainly be nice. Once the briefing was over and Sutemasu officially began the mission, Midori adjusted her headband at the top of her head and followed Hageshi Sensei and the rest of her team out of the village.

Kasumi was silent as the other teams arrived, taking the time to figure out what she could from just listening and watching the other chunin and jonin. She knew right away that the cat-boy was going to annoy her with that kind of whining. She hated unpleasant sounds to a fault and his mouth was certainly unpleasant. She kept her peace about it for now. There was no point in getting anything started with any of other teams. They were here to work together.

Sutemasu spoke up and Kasumi devoted her attention to her sensei, smiling somewhat at her reference to Minaru as a girl. She listened closely to the explanation of the mission and didn't waste time when Sutemasu took off, calling for them to go. They didn't take long to arrive at their destination, but the mist made her worry. Even Sutemasu had to say something about being careful with visibility. The last thing that needed to happen was the teams accidentally killing each other. Even still, she followed her sensei off the cliff, focusing her chakra at her feet to cushion the fall.

Once she and the rest of her team were successfully on the water is when they proceeded. She jumped after Sutemasu - even though it was hard to see - but thankfully, the vision on the other side was more bearable. She didn't particulary need perfect vision for what she could do, but it certainly helped if she wanted to direct her chakra specifically to allies. The worst thing that could happen would be to give the enemy a boost and her team a handicap.

The team of five crept quietly further into the warehouse, until six shinobi were visible. They all had their backs turned, thankfully, and it seemed that hadn't been alerted to their presence yet. All of that changed very quickly when Sutemasu went for the shinobi utilizing his lava release to melt the ore. All six were alerted to the presence of the team, but one was currently being handled by Sutemasu to a point where he probably wouldn't remember anything after this was done.

Swallowing her fear, she glanced at her team members. "Get ready." She stated clearly, before seemingly going on a suicide mission, grabbing her harp off of her back and rushing towards the shinobi that were headed in their direction. It seemed that each shinobi had chosen a team member while the extra had gone back to try to assist his brethren with Sutemasu. Kasumi narrowly dodged kunai and senbon that were thrown her way, undoubtedly tipped with poison. She only needed to get into a certain position for just a moment and...

She landed close to Sutemasu, near the middle of the room where he jutsu would, hopefully, affect every enemy shinobi. It wouldn't be the greatest thing to ever happen, but it might just give her team members the step up they needed, considering they were outnumbered. She knew very well she would have to move and play - something she wasn't familiar with - but she would have to make do. While she could, she focused chakra to her hands and plucked at the strings, which were just barely loud enough to be heard by everyone in the room.

Decelerando

The manipulation of her chakra ensured any nearby teammates would not be affected by the slow down effect the music had. Some shinobi were closer to her, some were not, and those closer would be more affected. The fact that Kasumi was moving around helped - but she could not keep it up for long. She knew she was out in the open and, very soon, all attention would be focused directly on her. With that in mind, she made her way back towards her team. She was not meant for the front lines. She could only hope that her jutsu had done enough for the time being.

Once she was closer to her teammates, she switched tones on her harp, playing short bursts of higher pitched sound that would enhance her team's chakra. She couldn't do any of it for long or very much, lest she exhaust herself too quickly, but she did what she could within her limits. After all, it was how she had made it to chunin.

Once his three students had gathered and introduced themselves – albeit briefly. He got up, time was up, they would probably be late. Not that it bothered Minaru, they could catch up with the other two teams if they had to. They arrived at the gate a few minutes after Hageshi's team did, Sutemasu noticing him. “Minaru-chan,” she said teasingly, referring to him as a girl, “please be on time next time. A sensei needs to give the right impression, you know that!”

Minaru shrugged, she had this in-joke about trying to emasculae him, he wasn't sure why and she had kept it up ever since he was a genin and she was a chunnin. She knew just as well as he did that they were equals. Minaru chalked it all up to some sort of joke, and he responded with a grin. ”I sure know we should give the right impression!” Nodding towards Hageshi who tossed jutsu at his water-spouting student.

The three teams would move out in tight formation, Sutemasu explained the mission to the chunnins and then they were off. Minaru pointed for his team to follow him, to not break formation and not lag behind. This was a chacne to prove themselves as chunnin and as soldiers of Kumogakure.

Minaru himself wasn't looking forward to messing with the Hidden Mist. He was wanted dead or alive by every single Mist ninja worth their salt since he was one of the key members in stopping the Great Tide Coup a few years back, back when he was a chunnin. The Hidden Mist didn't take too kindly to him infiltrating their ranks.

- Not that he minded being wanted, it was quite intriguing, a sense of fame came with it. But it was an uncesseray danger, one he wasn't sure his soldiers would be capable of handling. If they were to face shinobi resistance it would be other Chunnins, maybe even a few jounin, it would be very dangerous.

Once they arrived at the refinery, Minaru signaled at his units to stop. They would infiltrate from the other side of the refinery, they had to make their way around the entire island, taking down the ships transporting the metals to the mainland of Kiri before making their way into the refinery to provide backup for Sutemasu.

They moved in single file to avoid detection, sneaking along the wall, arriving at the port. Minaru motioned for his team to guard the entrance to the port from the refinery. ”Tell me if enemy shinobi arrive. I'll take down the ship.” Minaru told the three chunnin, as he vanished from their vision, using the body flicked technique to get onto the pier. Sneaking up behind a kiri shinobi wearing a flack jacket, Minaru put his forearm around his neck from behind, holding the kiri nin's right hand with his own left hand, jerking the shinobi backwards to make him lose his footing, as well as preventing him from casting jutsu. ”Shh now.” he kept his hold around the man's throat ill he was knocked out.

Minaru let go of the limp kiri ninja and headed on towards the boat, his hand on one of the tantos on his back, the mist bothering him.

Meanwhile, the last shipment of metal to go onto the boat got pushed on carts through the entrance to the port, where the other three members of Team Minaru were, there were five chunnin escorting the shipment. His squad let him know via the commlink in his ear, and Minaru cursed under his breath, sneaking across the pier towards the entrace of the ship, making his way inside – no guards in his line of sight. There was very little fog in the ship, so he could see clearly.

Tapping his ear. ”Engage. Keep them busy, I need a minute or two to take down the ship.” Minaru ordered, making his way down the sihp to the bottom of the cargobay, his hand gracing against the inside of the metal hull. Weaving five handseals, he put his hand against the hull ”Gold Release: Midas Touch”

As the shining gold color spread over the area around his hand, spreading from his fingers till two meters of the hull of the ship was turned into gold. Minaru removed his hand from the hull and took a few steps backwards, placing an explosive tag on the spot of gold he had made, he would head up towards the exit before triggering the seal, making the boat take in water at a faster rate than it could get fixed – yet not fast enough to drown any civilians on board.

Now, he would go assist his team.