As the morning sun filtered through whatever openings the Tsukino Estate had - presumably many - the rays would chance upon a fledgling shoot of bamboo growing in the room of one Tsukino, Utaka. The bamboo was grown as if it were carved with a blunt knife, and reading downwards on the stalk was a fairly simple message:

"I, Senju, Kyou, am your new sensei. I will arrive at your home at seven thirty precisely - be awake, or suffer punishment."

Whether or not the young genin was awake to read the message to prepare was irrelevant. From the second he had been assigned under Kyou's tutelage, he was under her rules, and his knowledge (or lack thereof) of that fact did not make it any less true.

- An Hour Later -

At the very second that the clocks hit seven thirty, Kyou's hand would impact with the Tsukino residence's front door with a swift but strong knock, easily able to be heard by whomever was in the vicinity. She expected an answer immediately, but after a few seconds of waiting she received no immediate reply. That was one strike for Kino - lateness was not something she tolerated. He ran on her schedule now, not his own. Whatever the situation with Kino, she would wait until her knock was answered - maybe another member of the family could get him up if he was still asleep, or point her to his whereabouts if he had already left. If not, his punishment would be more severe.

It was only a few brief moments, although most likely longer to the impatient kunoichi, before the steward of the Tsukino estate answered the door. He was a single servant, although he was far less of a servant and more of a family-friend and caretaker of the grounds that lived in one of the guest houses, and was expecting the visit. The door opened and he bowed to Kyo respectfully. After resuming his posture, he greeted her, "Miss Senju, I am the steward of these grounds. The master is out, so I have taken it upon myself to greet you." He then stepped aside to allow her entrance, even though she could have easily taken it. "You are after young Kino. He left hours ago before sunrise to train. He has not been home to receive your letter. He does not know of the occurences last night, either," he told her while waiting for her to step in.

The appearance of the caretaker was not one entirely unexpected - Kyou knew her initial methods were perhaps more unorthodox than most were used to, but she had faith in her new students' abilities to accept the methods as rational... That was, once she found them all.

"Thank you for the invitation, but I am on a schedule." She replied, briefly nodding in appreciation of the invitation before stepping backwards a single pace.

"Do you have any idea where he went specifically? The more time it takes for me to find him, the more I am going to have to reprimand him for being late." Kyou added, chuckling a little before her face resumed its typical ashen appearance, solemn as ever. It was fairly evident that she was not joking about the punishment or being on a tight schedule - if Kino meant much to the man, it would likely be prudent to advise her as to his location quickly, lest he suffer more punishment than was necessary.

The steward was prompt to reply to her in saying, "Kino never does tell us where he goes. Considering his success, we've never questioned him. If I may interject, what logic is there in punishing the lad? If I may be so bold, madam, you are his new sensei due to atrocities unknown to the young master. Of what purpose is there to punish him for unforseeable circumstances?" He spoke with the wisdom of the old, not exactly of the knowledgeable. He was a relatively elderly gentlemen, obviously past his prime.

"It might be an idea to keep tabs on him, eh? Success or not, knowledge is invaluable. As to whether or not you may interject, you may not." She replied, turning on her heel and beginning to walk off.

"I'll go easy on him given the events of last night. Thank you for your assistance." she called, waving her hand in thanks as she left the estate. The conversation was not without use, given that she now knew that he had no idea what had happened, but finding him was going to be a waste of her time and a waste of his - it was far from an ideal situation. If Kino was going to survive training, he would need more discipline.

The first step to finding him was to check the training grounds.

There were several sets of training grounds that a genin could easily reach and most effectively use. Most were spread out for convience, fairness to the teams and generally just because having shinobi train close together often resulted in fairly destructive results. Kino was a relatively simple fellow that simply went to the nearest, and finding him would be easy. Around seventy forty-five or so, Kino would still be firing lightning-enhanced metallic arrows and perfecting the technqiue, although not truly 'developing' a jutsu.

Kirugetsu's files were, in short, a mess - his handwriting was half-undecipherable at the best of times and his recordings of the happenings was haphazard at best. Lazy. It was as if he hadn't taken the bureaucratic aspect of being a Sensei seriously at all... Which, come to think of it, was exactly what he would have done. Kyou tossed the files aside, noting down that she would have to rewrite the files with the assistance of Kino.

The nearest training grounds to Kino's house was not far away at all - it would take Kyou but a few minutes to get there if she walked briskly. She always walked briskly. As she journeyed to the training grounds, she mused over which test she would give Kino. He was an archer, so the most obvious test would be to have him land a damaging blow on her. It was, of course, an almost impossible task for the young genin - but therein lay the point. Discipline was something she was going to teach him, and the first step to discipline was culling needless pride.

As she entered the training grounds, the sight of a young genin firing arrows from a bow let Kyou know that this was precisely what she was looking for. She looked to her wrist, noting something with a wry smile, before looking up towards Kino.

"You're late, Kino." she called out, not quite shouting but certainly loud enough to carry throughout the entire grounds.

As soon as he heard his name, Kino lowered his bow and dispelled his shadow clones. He looked at the new figure, actually having no idea whom the new person was. Squinting his eyes, he looked at her and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am your new sensei, Senju, Kyou. Please refer to me as such in the future - each time you don't, I'll add a new bruise to your shooting hand." She began, pointing at him with her bamboo stick.

"Do you know anything of what happened last night? To Kirugetsu and the remainder of Team Moon." She continued, beginning to walk towards him at a moderate pace. The situation would become distinctly more delicate from here on out, and she would have to treat it with a little more caution than she normally would. Still, it could be worse - Iroh could be breaking the news to him.

His new sensei? A Senju, at that? The two thoughts conflicted in his mind as the idea of being tutored under a Senju seemed pleasant, but what of his old team? On that note, Kyou Senju sounded familiared. Her threat didn't phase him; even if it wasn't true, calling her sensei didn't bother him. Then she asked her question...

The remainder of Team Moom? As in, some of it was lost? As far as he knew, nothing happened with Kirugetsu aside from being given an assignment. Kino grew a little nervous, but did not react terribly. He dispelled his bow and took a stern stance in facing Kyou.

"Kyou-sensei, the last I saw of Kirugetsu-sensei was him telling me to perfect an elemental jutsu. I had left, found my affinity and rented several books from the library to do so. I have been training since. I know not of the Inuzuka or Hyuuga I was paired with." he replied to her. His answer was simple, and picked with words as to not offend.

"Uh-huh. Kirugetsu... Snapped, last night. He refused a gift from the Hokage publicly, before killing himself, Maruki and Shisen." Kyou stated, her usual stern demeanour wavering a little. She wasn't quite sure how Kino would take the news, but she reasoned that telling him everything immediately was both kinder and more logical.

"I'm not sure exactly how attached you were to the three of them. If you were attached, you have my condolences, but it doesn't seem that you were particularly intimate with any of them."

There wasn't much else she could say. He needed to know, and she'd told him.

Kirugetsu killed Maruki and Shisen? He had just met them and they were killed? After Division B? Everyone from his class seemed to be dying somehow. Was she sure? It was far too dark to be a joke, even among shinobi. Kino allowed a blank look to travel accross his face as he processed this. He had no real reply, simply replying, "Uh..."

"Yeah. It's good that he didn't try to take you down too. Needless to say, any instructions that he gave you are now defunct... It's probably for the better if you just put it behind you and focus on the new opportunity you've been given, yeah?" She continued, not exactly sure in herself or what she was saying - he was an unknown, and Kyou did not like unknowns. She wasn't sure how he reacted to emotional crises, and so she wasn't sure how to phrase things.

Her words were too formal and unsympathetic to truly reach him. He was still questioning if it was all true. She sounded far too sure of herself to just be lying to him, but for something like that to be true would mean a war veteran - a hero - killed two genin and most likely would have killed Kino, too. "I had just met them... I barely knew any of them... but it doesn't seem real. A-Are you sure?" he asked her, the disbelief suspended mid-air in his voice.

"Nah, I'm fucking lying to you about the suicide of your sensei and murder of your former teammates." She retorted, before letting out a dry laugh and walking towards him.

"I don't know why you think that I'd be lying to you. It's not like this is the sort of situation anyone in Konohagakure jokes about - especially not a Sensei, eh?" Kyou added, still a little confused about Kino's reaction to the whole situation. She had dealt with harsher news in the past with less fuss, but she couldn't impose her standards on him just yet... Well, not her emotional standards. She was definitely going to impose her routine and sense of discipline upon him as soon as he accepted what happened.

Her crude nature snapped him out of whatever disbelief he was in. No one was such a bitch that they would make a comment like that without it being true. On that note, Kino had essentially labeled his new 'sensei' a bitch, at least mentally. She kept referring to herself as a sensei, as if it were something to be proud of. The loss of Kirugetsu - the loss of any comrade - should have been at least a little sullen.

"Alright, Kyou-sensei. Everyone had heard the stories of Kirugetsu. He who pierced a heart of Sai, he who lived through both Great Wars. He was a legend. Who is his replacement?" he asked, attempting to appeal to the sense of pride she had made evident earlier by her repeated self-references.

"I was known as the Bamboo Sage in the war, Kino. Myself and Iroh are the Twin Sages - I'm sure you've heard of us in one dusty textbook or boring class." Kyou laughed, obviously taking some morbid pleasure in the test that Kino was attempting to subject her to. It was another strike, but for now, she would allow him to ask his questions.

"You don't need to grill me. I'm here to teach you, and that is all. Speaking of which, it's about time we got on with that. Are you ready for your first test, Kino?" She began, obviously preparing herself for the test that she was going to subject him to - whether he was willing or not.

The Sages? Iroh and Kyou, those who shook mountains and made forests only to tear them apart. Those were names he knew of. Much akin to anyone who made a name for themselves in the war, it was heralded throughout all of Konoha, as most of the shinobi in the academy looked up to such shinobi. Kino, however, never looked up to anyone; he never even wanted to be in this position.

"As ready as I can be, Kyou-sensei."

"First, hold out your bow hand. You are due two punishments - first for being late, and second for showing disrespect. I'll not let you suffer any permanent or debilitating damage, but you will learn to think twice about your actions and the effects they have."

Kino raised his brow. Right off the bat, she spoke of punishments. For being late and disrespect? Oh no. This would not due. "I know who you are, Kyou-sensei. The youngest cousin of the Hokage. You want to punish me? Why don't you tell me how that would sound to the village after what Kirugetsu did?" Kino glared at her. He wasn't going to just let her beat him - for any reason. He never did like authority, and he felt that would take it too far.

Kyou raised the Ōku no Ne as if to strike Kino, but as it seemed like she was about to hit him, four bamboo sticks identical to the one she was holding dropped to the ground between them, hitting the floor with a soft thud that indicated their weight and their strength. With a stomp of her right foot and the weaving of a few simple handseals, a veritable forest of bamboo shoots identical to the Ōku no Ne sprouted up around them, encasing the two of them before falling to the ground in what could only be called a makeshift haystack. Kyou then dropped the Ōku no Ne, and with another handseal created more bamboo sticks to cover up its location.

"There are one thousand bamboo sticks surrounding us. I want you to find the one I usually hold." She spoke, clearly serious about the test. It seemed that her change of heart was brought on by his threat, but that was only a half-truth. It was not his mentioning of the fact that had scared her, but the knowledge of her cousin's nature. She had faith in his ability to restore the negative reputation that had falled over the village, and she did not want to complicate matters further out of both love and respect for him and the village as a whole. Whether or not Kino realised this was irrelevant - if he held on to any notion that he had any form of power over Kyou, he would be sorely disappointed.

Kino knew of the Mokuton. He was almost sure these pieces of bamboo were nothing but an extension of it. He was no "master", but it didn't take a genius to piece together that jutsu made of Earth and Water should still be weak to lightning. Kino held up his finger and pointed it at a few of the bamboo shafts before channeling his lightning chakra through it. However, before he could fire a blast from his finger tip, he adjusted his hand to an open palm and showered electricity onto the bamboo shafts, melting their waxy exterior and setting them ablaze. Even the chakra of a genin could overcome that of a Jounin if split a thousand times among a weaker medium.

"They'll all burn - but the original. Do I pass?" he asked, his confidence in his solution echoing through his voice. Regardless of the prior events, Kino enjoyed nothing more than proving himself.

Kyou watched the bamboo burn, the fire seeming to reflect from her eyes as she looked down at it. Her expression was no different from what it had been prior to Kino's... Creative solution. She laughed a little, before looking back up at him with the same expressionless look.

"No. You have destroyed the materials that I provided for the test - which is not inherently bad - but this test was not about finding the bamboo. Your desire to prove yourself as great is good, and I urge you to never let that fire burn out, but you will get nowhere while you are clouded with needless pride. Finding the stick is not the goal, but the destination. The goal is understanding your limits and learning to surpass them. Did you get any satisfaction from burning the bamboo?" She asked, her lips curving upwards into a smile - this time genuine.

Kino grinned as he nodded. "Sort've. Yeah."

"Good. I enjoy people who have that spark that drives them to succeed. Do you understand why needless pride is the worst thing you can do to yourself?"

After the rest of the sticks caught on fire, it took little time to quickly pick out the one with chakra strong enough to resist the fire. Kino knelt down to pick it up, then raised it with his hand as if to make a gesture. "I've beat beaten down time after time by those stronger than me just to train. I know I'm not the strongest, but I set the bar a little higher than most of my class. I was fifth in the class for a reason."

"Then no, you do not understand. Your training will be focused around learning what holds you back and what we can do to remove it. Raw talent like yours is rare, Kino-kun. Do not squander it-" Kino was quick to interject even his Jounin superior by stating, "I have worked just as hard as those below me, and I work ten times harder than those above. I don't have a clan, or Hiden, What I have is a brother, paralyzed from the waist down and an uncle who would've let us die on the street if I wasn't the show horse of his trade. I am not just 'raw talent'; I am the will to survive for someone that on his own couldn't."

"I don't care about your sob story. Your past is irrelevant to this training. You will learn what I have to teach. You cannot advance while you hold on to this pride - it is like a poison that you are holding close to your heart. If you learn to let go, you will improve... But that begs the question - do you even want to improve? Is this a path that you want to be on?" Her voice softened towards the end of the sentence - it was going to be difficult for her to learn how to get through to Kino, or even how to get through to any of her Genin. Perhaps this experience was as much a learning experience for her as it was for her students?

Kino was just as quick to reply, although he didn't have to interupt. "I never wanted to be a shinobi. I never wanted to pick up this bow. I didn't have a whole lot of choice in the matter."

"Do you want to continue down the path?" The question was simple, but it carried a lot of weight, and Kino's answer to it - or lack thereof - would begin to tell Kyou plenty about what he was like as a person and as a shinobi.

"I said it once, and I'll say it again: I don't have a whole lot of choice in the matter," Kino replied her to with a distinct tone in his voice, as if he had the defeat of a prisoner that still waged wars within himself on a battlefield held behind bars of obligation.

"I didn't ask about choice. I asked about desire." she retorted, looking at him intently, almost expectantly. There was a real answer behind the defensive facade he had trained himself to use, and she was going to find it.

"I want what I can't have. My parents did not die due to Sai, or any war. They were killed by people. Stupid fucking people. We had wealth, they did not. My brother had his back broken, and for a long time we were all we had. I stood on street corners, begging to feed us because no one in our family would take us in - they just took our business. My uncle only agreed to take in my brother if I became a shinobi, so that I could showcase his new arms. If you, Kyou-sensei, really want to know what I desire, it's to live one moment where I could see my brother walk, my dad see what I have become, and my mother to tell me she's worried. I'm not here for revenge or to prove myself. You call it a sob story, but face facts: we didn't all become shinobi to be killers or war vets."

"It's a sob story for as long as you use it as an excuse. I'd give you all that bullshit about 'i'm sorry for your loss,' and 'My condolences', but you've heard that a hundred times before, I'm sure. You don't want or need my sympathy." She replied, shrugging her shoulders as she did so. Condolences were nothing he hadn't heard before, and her being sorry for his losses wouldn't help him improve.

"I became a Shinobi because there is good in the world that needs to be protected."

Kino shook his head at the woman. For all her years, she seemed like an idiot. "I don't care why you became a shinobi. You obviously don't care why I did. You wanted an answer, and I gave it to you-"

"I'm talking. Interrupting your Se-

"You're no sensei-"

"Hosuka-kun says differently, pal."

"Then let's go talk to him," he said, glaring at her. Kino had no fear in the world of storming into the Kage's office in a fit of rage over this woman.

"Do you think he'll listen? By all means, go and talk to him - but -

"I'm sure there's a reason he's the Hokage, and you're not."

"Plenty-"

"Then let's go ask if one of his infinite reasons will get me a better sensei. Maybe Iroh."

"Hah! Iroh. You're a funny guy-

"And, you're a terrible sensei.Asking questions, then ignoring answers-"

"I'm a lot wiser than you, kiddo. If I were you, I'd listen to me."

"If I were you, I would've-

"Died in that war."

"You don't know that. You can't possibly. All you know is that you-

"I know that you'd die. I've fought in a war, remember?"

"All your talk of needless pride. Look at yourself."

"I don't have to improve. I've reached a point where I'm confi-

"I refuse to be taught by anywone who doesn't think they have to improve."

"Then go bitch to Hosuka-kun."

"He won't need to," replied the ever-present voice of Hosuka. Stepping out of one of the millions of trees that encompass Konohagakure, Hosuka made his appearance. Only a few meters off from the trees that Kino was devasting with his jutsu, Hosuka shook his head at Kyou - his universal sign of disapproval.

"He is a genin. Not just that. He's twelve years old, Kyou. We were raised in a clan of warriors, him from a clan of merchants. His ignorance is excusable. Yours is not."

"Ehhh, Hosuka-kun. This is just bonding, you know? -

"Kyou, enough. I am not some genin you can convince otherwise. I knew this would happen, so I've tailed you - and Iroh - since I assigned you. I'm in every tree of Konoha, remember? Always watching. I've heard everything. You cannot expect to be a sensei - or ever become one of the Sannin - if you cannot set down YOUR pride to talk to your students. It is no wonder you were declined a summoning contract."

"That fuckin' Panda always ate my bamboo --

"HE'S A FUCKING PANDA, KYOU!!! WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?" Hosuka literally yelled at her as if she had repeated that same line a million times - which she did.

"HIM TO NOT GET HUNGRY IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAINING LIKE THE LARDASS HE IS! But you're right, Hosuka-kun. You always are, that's why you're Hokage and I'm not!"

"Don't try to suck up now. You have a genin, and you don't need to look worse than you do."

"Hey, come to think of it - my house is made of bamboo, and if you're in every tree... Have you, uh, seen things-

"Shut up, Kyou. Just shut up."

"Lighten up, Hosuka-kun. I get the message."

"It's quite hard to lighten up when you have some of the last genin from this class. Only a little over 25% of them are left. These are not combat veterans. These aren't the chuunin and jounin you led into battle, and they sure as Hell aren't the rebels that fought alongside you at the Battle of the Sages."

"Nah, it's not so difficult. But I guess I can say that, not having the weight of the village on my shoulders, eh? Go back to whatever paperwork you've got lying around! I'll make sure the Genin don't die."

Kino finally spoke up, growing tired of being overshadowed. He was still frustrated by Kyou to no end, and hearing Hosuka - or even seeing the Hokage in general - wasn't exactly dulling that rage. "Why does she have to be my sensei?" he asked as if in literal disgust at the idea.

Hosuka then sighed. He couldn't side with a disobedient genin; Hayato literally was just given pardon for his actions against one. Difference being, Hosuka intervened before this became gruesome. "She will be your sensei, whether either of you like it. I have far worse troubles than the contentedness of one Genin, even if using clones. Let me assure you that she will stay in line. I will not have another 'Allure of Ame' incident, especially not with my own cousin. Isn't that right, Kyou-chan? he ultimately asked Kyou, somewhat enforcing his discipline onto her.

"Don't you worry about a thing, Hosuka-kun. I'm not nearly stupid enough to attempt to kill one of the Genin-

"I sometimes question if you even could," Hosuka quickly interjected with a sly grin.

"I never was good at killing people. More at staying alive, yanno?"

Hosuka sighed before replying, "Unfortunately. Just keep in mind that this generation of shinobi cannot be treated like the others. They come from a completely different world than ours, and treating them like we were has proven... counter productive." Hosuka then allowed his body to turn into wood before flaking into chips. As he did, the trees destroyed by Kino earlier began to regrow, rebloom and flourish with new life.

"See, bitching doesn't get either of us anywhere and it just makes-

Kino quickly interjected - yet again - telling her, "You're to train me to be a shinobi. Apparently, you can at least do that right. I really don't care about much else from you, especially of the Hokage spoke down to you like that."

"Hah! You're judging me now, Kino?"

"You're damn right I am."

"You'll learn."

"I'll never learn if you don't first."

"You're right. Let's set things off on a better foot than, shall we?"

"You came here to tell me a legend and my former sensei killed my former team, then tried to punish me, then tried to lecture me only for the Hokage to show up saying he expected you to start off so poorly. . . we might want to just go get the rest of the team and try not to derail ourselves further."

"What can I say? My reputation for being stubborn and immovable precedes me! I'm sure you knew that already, though."

"Your reputation was that you broke down and slept with Iroh, too."

"He's the reason I hate men. Fuckin' Iroh."

And, with that, Kino and Kyou set off to find the rest of their squad. Kino apparently had been the first of the few, and hoped that Hosuka was still watching. He had no faith in his new sensei, and she apparently had even less in her new team.