[IC] Naruto: Years of Winter - an Alternate Universe

[Masaki Haruna]

Ria Uchiha
Training Field 6

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Interactions
Nagasaki Hitori @Thecrash20
Uchiha Tenshi @BladeSS4
Senhime-sama @RyoRyoRyoken

Makeshift towards the training field with their Master's briefing, Ria smirked about the dirty fighting. She takes off her jacket once more and if Tenshi have not looked carefully, Ria is wearing a rather "battle suit" consisting of black colors, pants, combat boots, and black pants and altogether it looks skinny fitted thus showing her well endowed body.

"Sorry Sensei. I hate playing dirty. I wanna end this as fast as possible."

She got her ninja tools in her pouch, most of them being wires and wires and then more wires. She charges her chakra with a tiger hand seal and performed a quick stance with her eyes closed and then she opened her eyes revealing her red eyes. "SHARINGAN!" Two swirls in each eye. She also has her own arms wrapped in wires.

Ria propels herself in a fast paced speed, wasting no time to throw her wires all over the place more so specifically to where Tenshi and Sensei is. As she is moving fast, Ria literally platforms with her feet infused with chakra on the wires. Senhime mentioned about playing dirty, Ria couldn't think of anything dirty but just end the match as quickly as possible.

"If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick." She said her punchline.

She walks in her wires to get further up distance and jumps mid air. She performs the OX, RABBIT, AND MONKEY hand signs and her right hand becomes visibly fused with lightning chakra. Considering she has the sharingan, she knows that four of the shadow clones are fakes and the real Tenshi.

Thanks to the momentum she has gained from mid air, she goes all the way down straight towards to where her Master. "CHIDORI!!!!" The technique itself translated as a thousand birds. There are silks around the area and Ria doesn't know what it does, the main objective is the arm band. Before hand, she just throw her wires all over the place to connect. Ria thinking. "With the sharingan, I can differentiate the real and the fake as well as predict movements. I don't plan on killing Sensei with a move that is based on assassination arts but if I could land it..... this will be over in a flash."

[LokiLeo789]

Dio Hyuga

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Location:

Konoha > Towards Kumogakure Border

Interactions:

@pkken - Mu Sarutobi @Buddha - Mori Mawari @Hillan - Ira Sarutobi

---

The Hokage's words gave Dio an unusual sense of foreboding, it never meant well when a lesson was learned after a ninja mission as it usually involved a near death experience or something along those lines. Whatever deeper meaning they would somehow inherit during this mission better had not involve getting eaten or eating something else in some way shape or form.

Much to his dismay, the Hokage only succeed in drawing out the sense of uncertainty in his chest. Keeping the mission secret? Rank changes on the fly? It all seemed a but much for a Genin and two Chunin, although the Hokage stood as five Jonin in one, it still didn't ease the uncertainty that started to settle in on his shoulders with each passing moment. It wasn't fear that overcame him, it was the agitation that came with the territory; speaking upon subjects in such a manner would always bring forth emotions that hindered and pulled some down, a reality that Dio didn't believe in himself, or allowed himself to.

Upon receiving the mission schematics though, he couldn't help but feel a bit of fear. It wasn't everyday that one went looking for a tailed-beast on enemy territory; it posed all kinds of dangers, certain death possibly being one of them. Despite his many concerns, one stood out among them all, should the Hokage tread on enemy territory searching for an object of near-unlimited power? Such a thing could insight war if the situation wasn't handled with the utmost care. On another note, if the Hokage died on his watch, their Clans would be disgraced, war would come; just the repercussions were suffocating, less not mention searching for the beast itself.

While his mind wrapped itself around the ramifications of the mission itself, Dio's outward appearance was the epitome of serenity. Even as Ira voiced out his opinion, he remained silent for a moment, thinking on the rational for a moment before picking it apart.

"With all due respect, the Hokage makes a valid point. With my eyes I can see much farther then any of you can." Dio paused, his white eyes falling upon Ira. "And lets not forget what we are doing here. We are to only mark the Eight-Tails location, the farther we keep from it, the better of we will be, and with my eyes we can do that without to much trouble." Dio's gaze fell upon the Hokage before turning to Mu. "If I might add Lady Hokage, I suggest Mu takes rear guard, he actually has the experience and skill to take up the position." If one was listening closely, the slight edge in his voice could be heard upon the words 'experience' and 'skill', both bites at Ira.

In the end it didn't matter, Dio took the lead the whole way north and despite the Hogake's presence, his agitation never the less heightened.

[Thecrash20]

Hitori Nagasaki

@RyoRyoRyoKen- Senhima-Sensei
@BladeSS4 - Uchiha Tenshi
@Masaki Haruna - Uchiha Ria

Location: Training Field 6

As he arrived with the rest of them, he collected some of the weapons that she had laid out. With what he grabbed he only possessed two Kunai which he held in each hand and the backup scroll he always carried on his lower back. His original plan was to rush, and distract. Luckily his team already seemed to be helping with that. So he just waited, standing still watching the Lightning attack come down upon their Leader. He knew that it wasn't actually her or she would easily counter it. He didn't expect her to run. Just using his instincts Hitori would assume she had a whole web painted around them with whatever she was balancing her self on this very moment. He couldn't see it though. Hitori thought sticking to one spot and attacking at a range and waiting until the right time to strike would be his best bet. If she would even allow them to get close enough to take it.

Hitori just juggled the Kunai with his fingers, tossing them back and forth waiting on her next move. Whatever it would be, his plan was to ensnare her with what was concealed in his scroll and then strike with the Kunai. He was going for the intent of a kill, but knew she was too fast for any of that, but hopefully the added aggression would come as a surprise and get him close enough to take the band.

Hitori now held both of his Kunai in his left hand and he revealed the scroll in his right. Whatever she would do after Ria's attack, he was going to use the Binding Meteor technique to tangle her and deal with a barrage of Kunai, but not the two he held in his hand. Those were going to be his finishers...

[RyoRyoRyoken]

Osuushi, Senhime

_{Million Threads
Training Field 6
@Masaki Haruna - Uchiha Ria
@BladeSS4 - Uchiha Tenshi
@Thecrash20 - Nagasaki Hitori}

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---

The stage was set, and the three young shinobi of Team Wildcard were already mobilizing in an effort to take the armband. Senhime stood confidently atop her silken perch, taking in the info being fed back to her by the network of string that littered the training field. "Perhaps they'll surprise me?" she thought, brushing a lock of hair out of her face as she felt the vibrations of the "silk" network feeding back to her.

First up was Tenshi. The boy decided to start off the engagement with a pair of shadow clones. Fairly good for his age, but perhaps par for the course for the Uchiha. While they didn't carry as much prestige as the Hyuga or Sarutobi within the Leaf, there were none who would deny that they produced fine shinobi. Even Kaido, frustrated as he might have been by his inability to unlock the clan's dojutsu, was proof enough of that. The horned kunoichi smiled as the two clones made their approach, allowing Tenshi to formulate a plan elsewhere. However, the initial approach was critically flawed from the start. As soon as the first of the two clones came into range, Senhime swung her wooden blade with superlative speed, landing a blow with a resounding crack. For a moment, the clone Tenshi's head contorted in such a way that it was obvious that, had this not been a clone, the recipient of this blow would surely have their neck broken. On the heels of the first clone having poofed away, Senhime turned her attention on its partner in crime. With the same lack of hesitation as was evident in her first strike, she delivered a two-handed strike at the center of the clone's face, poofing it away as its face appeared to cave in.

While this may have been a practice session in which Senhime didn't intend to do any serious harm to her squad, the jounin's kindness didn't extend to their clones. Perhaps a level of subterfuge in the future would be key to exploiting said kindness? As Senhime was dispatching Tenshi's clones, she made note of the approach of yet another chakra signature approaching. "Above." Senhime's thoughts were punctuated by a shrieking noise and the crackle of electricity. Smirking as Ria descended upon her, Senhime merely leaned back and focused chakra at the soles of her feet, simultaneously dodging Ria's lightning-infused strike and spinning around the silk strand as she passed, effectively ending back on top of the silk as Ria descended towards the ground. "Ara ara~. You really don't play around, do you, Ria-chan~?" Senhime purred, the serene smile never disappearing from her face. If they hadn't noticed already, the astute among them would understand that this was going to be much harder than they initially realised. Turning slightly, Senhime laid eyes on Hitori, taking note of the fact that he was observing the situation intently. Perhaps he had a plan?

Leaping to a higher perch, Senhime smirked at the criss-crossing lattice of viscous "silk" that made itself more abundant at her altitude. The team had done well to avoid most direct contact with any silk up until this point, but soon it would become clear that this training field had been made into her domain. A spider's nest.

"Ara ara~. Now you've all gone and gotten me all fired up~." she called, cupping her cheek with her free hand. It was exciting, seeing three youths work so hard to best her, despite the odds being rather poor. It only made her want to see what heights she could possibly take the three of them to. And how they could possibly elevate each other, at that. However, as of now, it was clear they all had quite a bit to work on. And, surely, Senhime would take note of even more things as this trial continued.

[Thecrash20]

Hitori Nagasaki

@RyoRyoRyoKen- Senhime-Sensei
@BladeSS4 - Uchiha Tenshi
@Masaki Haruna - Uchiha Ria

Location: Training Field 6

Hitori Changed his mind of his next plan. She moved too far for him to effectively attack, but it opened a few doors for other things. Before his team ran out for another go, he called both Ria and Tenshi. He wanted to explain the plan to them.

It was actually simple, but just like last time it was based around assumptions. Still It was the best he could think of. First, was getting their leader off her strands. It was apparent that she had them set up all around them, but it also seemed she was dependent on them. Second, how they were to get rid of them. He assumed like any thread, they snap with enough force or can be burnt up. That is where Ria came in. He had never met her before today, but he could assume she picked up the Uchiha's favorite fire ball jutsu. She was going to focus a direct attack from under with the fire jutsu, hopefully tearing through the web with the flames and at the same time causing their Sensei move to a new thread. The second part of the plan began there, with Hitori. While he rather not waste the scroll, he was going to snap the rest of the webs in the area around Senhime. Now with the webs cleared in her vicinity she would have to dodge, regardless she would fall. Finally Tenshi would strike. Using his shadow clones, he could safely take the armband, hopefully without taking a stick to the head.

Hitori waited for the two to come and explain his plan. For this to work, they would all have to sync up properly. Especially Tenshi if he wanted to avoid getting caught in the crossfire, but still keep close enough to get the jump on her. Then again, they could go out and rush her...

[pkken]

Mū Sarutobi

Ineractions: @LokiLeo789@Hillan@buddha

Mū listened to the others answers seeing that they all had shown sumilarity, Dio's answer was short and simple while Ira's was more on the lengthy side. Dio then asked about being briefed on the mission standings. Much to their experience they were given and B rank mission with possibility of S rank as well as traveling on the outer borders. Mū folded his arms, "Despite Dio being an asshole, we should at least work together in unison since this mission can prove rather difficult, meeting the completion conditions should be first."

Despite Dio holding a knife to Ira's neck and abandoning Mū; cooperation was a must in this situation if even the hokage herself was required for the mission. Once she explains the mission Mū grew eager to complete the mission, discovering the location of the eight tails would put Konohakagure at a advantage over the other villages. Mū smiled,"I'll take back side, my jutsu have a rather large blast radius"

Mū followed after the hokage with his game face on, but soon it turned into a lethargic one. Mū was about to set out on a mission and he didn't even get a chance to eat ramen before hand, "Umm lady hokage, could we at least eat before setting out on the mission" Mū said holding up a finger in the air.

[Masaki Haruna]

Ria Uchiha
Training Field 6

Landing was not good, Ria put a crater down due to not acing up Senhime and right after that, she can feel her arm going numb. This proves that Chidori is a move that not only takes a toll on chakra even though her chakra is pretty decent, it also messes with physique. I wasted that shot, now I only have one more shot. Should I get her up close with Tsubamegaeshi? No.. that silk is everywhere and my sharingan can see it clearly and another Chidori would be a waste, make it thick or make it thin, I will still see it. I can see everything!

Fire and Lightning have compatible destructive properties but not capacity.

Ria stepped back and rush forth and grabbed the real Tenshi. "Sorry but I have to this, we'll have to fall back for now. If we continue to charge recklessly, we'll meet our demise. That's an Uchiha Protocol. Do not judge others based on appearance which also applies to objects and techniques. Your eyes are not yet ripe. The sharingan can see Sensei's deception." @BladeSS4 @RyoRyoRyoKen@thecrash20

Then she and him slided back to Hitori. "Got any ideas? Let's not charge in recklessly now, my strongest move is basically useless and I'm scared using my swords in this situation. I can see the silks through thick and thin, I have an idea but I'm not sure if it would work."

[Dion]

_{Interacting with:
Mu Sarutobi - @Pkken
Ira Sarutobi - @Hillan
Dio Hyuga - @LokiLeo789}
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Ira's comments as to her strategy made her raise an eyebrow. Not only was he way too low of a rank to even consider offering his opinion on anything at all unless she asked him, his suggestion was also remarkably stupid. “Excuse me for saying so,” she said with a hint of snark in her words, clearly not wishing to excuse herself at all. “But I have the nagging feeling that we won't be ambushed from behind by the eight tails himself, and I strongly doubt anyone will be stupid enough to ambush the Hokage.” She crossed her arms briefly before turning to Mu, who had an equally stupid suggestion. Was the Sarutobi clan really the clan that created this village? It seemed more like they had somehow managed to stumble upon a crater in the ground and named it 'Konohagakure.'

“Can you two shut up already?” she said loudly, ignoring his suggestion to go eat. By the Sage, these guys were really top-notch idiots. And they weren't even the kind that had brawns but no brain, no, they were without brawn or brain. “If you wanted to be a part of 'Team Daycare' that does fun day-to-day activities like drawing, making things out of clay and playing in the sandbox, you shouldn't have become a shinobi. Are we clear?”

She then turned to Dio, who was giving off snark towards Ira, and although it wasn't wholly unwarranted, what with their no-can-do attitudes, she still found herself annoyed at him. “And from now on, none of you will offer me suggestions about anything. You will do as I say, period. This is a B-rank mission that we should've labeled S-rank. Act like it. That's an order. So far, all of you three have been disgraceful to your clans. Make up for it in the mission - move.”

---

It would take some fifty minutes to an hour before they reached the area of operations. Although, this area was rather large, and so they'd have to rely on Dio to take care of the scouting for the most part. “Alright, we've reached the boundaries of the area we are to search. We're still in Konohagakure, so no need to worry just yet..” Her words were calm and collected, which was quite a difference from how she had been in the village. Despite her rather militaristic and authoritarian approach to leadership, she seemed to make a switch once she was actually in the field. That was not to say she'd tolerate their 'input' all of a sudden, but she seemed less inclined to make these three out for idiots.

“Dio, use your byakugan and begin looking around. Ira, Mu, keep your eyes open. Dio can't look everywhere at once.” They'd take a momentary break at a small clearing, allowing Dio, Ira and Mu to carefully scout the direct surroundings. It would be quite clear that there wasn't anything here, and as soon as that became clear, they'd move to the next spot that Mawari had carefully memorized. Although it seemed like she was visiting random spots throughout the forest, there seemed to be some kind of logic behind them. She avoided the Kumogakure borders for as long as she could while following the trails of the reports she had received.

After an hour of searching, they inevitably had to cross the Kumogakure border. While this was not a crime in and of itself, it was .. at the very least sensitive to do so, especially when you were the Hokage. And especially when you were looking for the Eight-tails, a tailed beast that has long been claimed by Kumogakure to be 'their beast,' in whatever capacity they could claim it as such. And while Konohagakure had some brief interactions with the nine tailed beast, they had never made any type of move to claim that beast. Mawari had a better plan - capturing the eight-tails would not only give Konohagakure access to one beast, it also took away the beast from Kumogakure, severely diminishing their military power, and perhaps scaling the balance in Konoha's favour.

Although she obviously didn't quite expect the two chunin and the genin to understand that.

---

With a sigh Mawari placed herself down on the rock, squatting down and balancing herself by placing one of her hands on the rock, while her other was placed over her eyes to shield them from the sun. They were at the final spot now - the last report had come from here, and it looked to be a dead end. The spot was a cliff side overlooking a gigantic lake, which was far bigger than any lake in Konohagakure, and on a misty day, could easily be mistaken for an ocean for how large it was. “Dio, look over the lake one more time. If it's not here, then we won't find that damn octopus today.”

Although it would seem like there was nothing on the lake at first, if Dio paid close enough attention with the Byakugan, he would soon see .. what seemed to be 'bubbles' of chakra floating upwards from the depths of the lake. It was subtle and faint at first, but then became more and more noticeable, to the point where Mawari herself began to feel the presence of the strong, potent chakra. And merely a few minutes later, even Mu and Ira might've began feeling the chakra.

It was a strange sensation to feel a chakra so strong. “It.. seems like we're too late with running away. I suggest you three get ready for... well, death.” She slowly stood up from her squatting position, stepping forwards with one foot onto the very edge of the stone, looking over the water. In the water, a dark figure began rising, the water began being displaced, before two horns rose from the water, one of which was missing a piece.

“Oh, you remember Senhime? Her family claims that they're descendants of this beasts. Seems like that story about the horn being chopped off by some crazy shinobi might be true after all.” Her words were spoken without her looking back, as the purple mass slowly rose from the water, looking around and spotting the four shinobi quite quickly. That beast was gigantic - towering over the shinobi, perhaps by a few hundred meters. It seemed to be observing the four shinobi - for now. Mawari seemed equally occupied with observing the hulking beast. Just what was it going to do? “Perhaps you three should get some distance, just in case. Try going to the woodline we came from.”

[Dion]

_{Interacting with:
Chimamire Shirayuri - @Asura
Uchiha Kaido - @Hillan
Nō Iemochi - @Queentze}

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Sakana shot Shirayuri a quick glance when she spoke to him. Honestly, he didn't even care that she called him fish. That was his name after all. “Yeah,” he answered her, before looking away and into the distance, trying to figure out just who the hell was pulling this irresponsible and unfunny prank. “Seems that way.” His question as to who it had been had been answered not even a minute later, when Kaido appeared, and applauded them. As if it had even been a real challenge. “Tsk,” he sissed at his words when Kaido has disappeared. “What a cunt.” Never the less, he followed the order, and left before Shirayuri could say anything more annoying than what she already had.

Sakana appeared at the hero monument as Kaido had asked, but didn't sit down when he nodded at the stone. Instead, he just stood next to a stone and crossed his arm. He'd be damned if Kaido was gonna tell him exactly what to do and what not to do. He wasn't a dog. He didn't get made chunin because he was so good at not making choices on his own. When the folder was thrown at him, he caught it without too much trouble, quickly reading through it and making sure he got the details right. Well, most of them anyway. “Ehh, some lame scroll mission, blabla, Kirigakure. Easy enough,” he noted, still glancing at some of the mission details while he put a finger to his mouth, biting on nails to help himself focus.

When Kaido indicated that it was time to move out, Sakana looked at his two teammates briefly. Shirayuri was going to be a pain, but he knew what to expect from her. This other girl, he wasn't so sure. She was also the only one that got nicked by the clones. “Oy.. you okay? Seems like you got hurt,” he said, not particularly polite about it. But then again, Kaido had already fucked off so there was no reason to pretend they were best friends.

“Eh, whatever. Small wounds won't matter. I'm gonna go there - don't really have anything I need to collect. See you guys there - don't be late, Shirayuri..”

And with that said, he casually walked off, putting the mission folder in his pocket, all nice and rolled up. He didn't seem particularly concerned with the mission - perhaps something about his casual attitude seemed off to Shirayuri and Nō, but whatever. He didn't really care about that either. He just wanted to earn that fat reward for the mission. A whole 5000 Ryo. That was a lot of ramen.

[LokiLeo789]

Dio Hyuga

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Location:

Kumoagakure Border

Interactions:

@pkken - Mu Sarutobi @Buddha - Mori Mawari @Hillan - Ira Sarutobi

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Soon Dio found himself gazing over the edge of a cliff, outstretched before him sat a lake, a fine mist playing in the air. Ironically, just as he stood on an egde, he felt on edge. No longer did he stand on common ground, no, he was trespassing on foreign ground with the strongest ninja in Konoha by his side, searching for a creature of immense power. No doubt it was not only a humbling experience, but a stressful one if his mind couldn't relieve itself of the reality. Behind him milled around the rest of his team including the Hokage who lounged on a stone. In order to take his mind off the missions' potential mishaps, his mind fell on the days past events.

Only two hours in and Dio already began to deform and reformulate his opinions on the Hokage. Heeding the her order, Dio opted to remain silent for the remainder of the mission, only observing and obeying unless told otherwise. It proved to be quiet a learning experience.

With each break they took in a clearing to scout, he noted the path they took, intrigued to find that they had yet to cross the border. It was a testament to the Hokage's obvious knowledge on national boundaries, but also her understanding of foreign affairs. Because of this, any worries or doubts he once had on such a matter where dispelled, and thus gained the Hokage another level of respect. Unfortunately the anxiety remained.

Despite the unease that solidified and rumbled in his chest, his outward countenance told another story. Byakugan activated, Dio gave off the appearance of a no-nonsense shinobi; as was such, orders where followed to the letter. Eyes alight with power, he watched over the group, assuring them of thier protection, and showing off one of the many capabilities the Hyuga possessed. Much to his content, nothing penetrated his 360 degree vision radius, which was a good and a bad thing, it could have been seen either way.

In the end this is where they stood, exasperated and Eight-Tailless on foreign soil, not an ideal end to his first mission. Before he could back up from the edge though, the Hokage suggested another look. Without delay he stepped forward once again activating his Byakugan and peered into the lake. For a few moments, Dio saw nothing. Ignoring the apathy gnawing at him, he took a closer look, this time noticing bubbles of chakra, an unnatural phenomenon he was sure.

Immediately he reported it to the Hokage without turning back. "Lady Hokage-" Before Dio could finish she herself had risen to scrutinize the lake. It took seconds for Dio to feel the powerful chakra that settled over area, no less to see its full mass begin to rise from the lake. Taking precaution, Dio began to step away from the ledge as the shadowy figure loomed overhead, its chakra unlike that he had never seen before.

Heeding the Hokage's warning, Dio slowly made his way back, his eyes on the beast the whole way, leaving the Hokage alone on the ledge; which begged the question: What did she intend to do?

[BladeSS4]

Tenshi Uchiha

Interactions
Nagasaki Hitori @Thecrash20
Uchiha Ria @Masaki Haruna
Osuushi, Senhime @RyoRyoRyoken
Location: Training Field 6

Tenshi's clones were destroyed rather quickly. Tenshi was going to go for a sneak attack when he heard the sound of screaming birds as Ria tried to use some sort of lighting jutsu on their Sensei. Tenshi thought it was an awesome attack, but their sensei was able to avoid it easily.

He was trying to formulate a plan of attack when Ria grabbed him and dragged him away. He listed to what she had to say, he agreed with her. If they kept going at their Sensei then they weren't going to make any ground in grabbing that armband. Tenshi is starting to notice the silk covering the area more. Going back towards Hitori, "We might need to think fast, we might be heading for a sticky situation if we don't do something."

'Would a fire jutsu cut through this silk?' Tenshi thinking to himself the idea seemed sound in his head. They could burn their way through, but he couldn't use an real fire jutsu. He had only one other jutsu he can use. Getting the chakra he used on the two clones, he was trying to decide if he should use his other shadow like jutsu.

Tenshi turns and faces his group and stards speaking quietly, "There are three of us and one of her. I can increase our numbers, but I really don't want to use any more shadow clones. We need to get rid of this silk, I don't want to know what will happen if we get stuck in it. Maybe fire can rid us of this silk, one of us can distract her while the another sneaks around behind and takes her by surprise. " Pitching some sort of idea of a plan, while it wasn't much at least it was something.

[Taka]

Haitani Sarutobi
Training Field 5
Interactions: @Jay Kalton @Weird Tales @gowi

Haitani gave a sly smile as the rest of the teammates had arrived. It was a heartwarming scene in his mind despite the fact Inori was yelling at Kohaku and Izo was also helping in scolding the young girl. They were right but Haitani would say a word. He was just glad to have them around as Madarame's passing had affected the chunin, if even a little. The Senju had taught them how to be a team and had just begun to teach Haitani on the aspects of leading; a factor that Haitani was heavily leaning on for this mission. Suddenly his ears picked up on movement from the far edges of the training field, his eyes centered on the visage of a shinobi walking toward the small group, and he tensed up. The appearance of the shinobi caused him to relax, the shinobi being a messenger for the hokage.

"Strike Team 1, here are the mission details." The shinobi handed Haitani a scroll, "You are to go to palace of Daimyo Hidematsu to the west of Konoha. Show them this scroll when you reach the palace. You are to escort his daughter to a village in the south. The Hokage would like you to start on the mission as soon as possible."

Moments after finishing the explanation the shinobi left without a trace. Haitani turned to his team, who more than likely heard all of that, with a slightly flustered look. "Welp you heard the man. We can leave now or meet me in one hour at the front gate. Your choice." Haitani walked closer to the group, putting his hands in his pockets, and leaning forward in the middle of them. "Look I believe in you guys. I know Madarame isn't here but I'm going to give it my all. We're a team so, let's watch each other's backs."

Haitani couldn't lie to himself as much as he lied to the team. He was absolutely scared of the prospect of leading; a fear that would paralyze any man not ready for the responsibility. He could only re-assure himself that he could do this. His team would lean on him like they leaned on Madarame and like Haitani once leaned on his father. This was his moment to shine.

[Gowi]

---

---

“Welp you heard the man. We can leave now or meet me in one hour at the front gate. Your choice.”

Sarutobi Haitani

Inori raised a brow, confused by the prospect of waiting an hour to deal with a mission that the higher ranked members of the vilalge wanted done as soon as possible. By Inori’s ears that meant they should’ve been getting their equipment and inventory ready immediately and then setting off for their objective— there would be no excuse to wait around even in consideration of the fact that Inori was still recovering what little chakra she used in the training session between her and Haitani.

“Why would we wait on this?— outside of preparing our tools and supplies, I don’t think we should wait. I don’t even need an hour. Give me fifteen minutes.”

@Kal-El@Jay Kalton@Weird Tales

[Matsuri]

---

---

“I guess it would be easy for you to forget that this is the day of our assignment while they figure out what to do with us following the loss of sensei. If you ask me it’s just busy work— but it’s still important enough to remember it!”

"Well, I, uh-"

"In Kirigakure Kohaku, we get badly punished for slacking off and being late normally means a lot more exhausting training done. Next time try to understand the importance of being able to remember."

"Eh..."

She wasn't even going to make an excuse. Especially after being scolded by both of her teammates, Kohaku probably didn't deserve to. Inori wasn't looking too happy in the first place, Izo's face expression wasn't the brightest; but nevertheless, Kohaku would have to put up with it. It would only stir up more trouble if Kohaku were to make a comeback with some sassy, uncalled for complaint. Their former sensei had worked hard to get this team to at least function well, so she wasn't going to let everything fall apart for some silly mistake. Besides, it wasn't her style at all.

"Look... I'm sorry guys. Trust me though, it's happened once, so I'm not gonna let it happen a second time, I guarantee ya!"

As if on cue, another ninja - most likely a messenger - came walking towards the group, scroll in hand. It seemed the team's next mission would be focused on escorting someone to some place. In more accurate terms, they were to escort the daughter of Daimyo Hidematsu himself to an area down south in the Land of Fire. At first, it sounded like a simple task to Kohaku. But considering this was the Daimyo's daughter they were meant to guard, certain... scenes began to play out in Kohaku's head. If she were to mess up somewhere along the line, then a small 'sorry' certainly wouldn't be enough if as much of a finger was laid on the girl. Now Kohaku was nervous; but the fact that something so important was laying in her hands brought a weird sense of joy and responsibility to her.

"Welp you heard the man. We can leave now or meet me in one hour at the front gate. Your choice," Haitani said.

“Why would we wait on this?— outside of preparing our tools and supplies, I don’t think we should wait. I don’t even need an hour. Give me fifteen minutes," was Inori's quick response. Fifteen minutes? It would take Kohaku ten just to walk back to her house and another ten to prepare everything she needed. It wasn't like she carried around a pouch of shurkien everywhere she went, or a holster of kunai when she went grocery shopping.

"I... I know I shouldn't be one to say this right now, but c'mon, at least half an hour should be good enough. I don't think the Daimyou would appreciate a sweaty girl at his doorstep, let alone one that's been soaked head to toe in water. Still, I'm kinda excited for this! Ya better lead us to victory, Haitani!"

@Gowi @Kal-El @Weird Tales

[Weird Tales]

Izo

Izo

---

Izo wasn't too surprised by Kohaku response to both of their criticisms of her tardiness and he simply rolled his eyes again. It felt like she was giving them an empty promise, but at least she didn't try to deflect their criticisms with useless excuses. At least it seemed that they wouldn't be getting into any needless arguments for now and that would not be the most productive course of action.

It was only a moment after their talk with tardiness that other shinobi not part of their team suddenly appeared and Izo almost jumped into a combat stance with his hands gripping his bo staff tightly. He still had his staff ready, but he didn't take any stances and instead chose to look at the newly arrived leaf shinobi with a suspicious gaze. Izo still wasn't use to seeing non Mist ninja appearing suddenly and not being enemies. It was his natural extincts and he didn't want to dull them with kindness.

The shinobi was there to give them their mission and explained the details. They were to go to the palace of Daimyo Hidematsu and escort his daughter to a village in the south.

"An escort mission, great I love them" he said with his voice full of sarcasm. These were not the missions he looked for, he preferred the ones where he got to battle stronger opponents to test his abilities. No matter he would still take this mission and do his best to complete as best as he could. Izo almost laughed when Haitani gave them the choice of either leaving now or in one hour. Really? You want to spend time before going on the mission? Man these Konoha shinobi have weird ideas of what's acceptable attitudes for a mission, he thought to himself.

"Why is that even a question? We should leave immediately! We are shinobi, not children!" Izo said in a very serious and commanding voice. He may be just a genin, but that would not stop him from trying to keep the group on task and push them in the right direction.

"This mission is what is most important, not how much rest we got. I am at full strength so I have no need for any resting and Kirigakure shinobi never get rest when they are given a mission, we start the mission instantly" he said with pride in his tone. Izo gave a twirl of his bo staff and waited for Haitani's decision.

@Kal-El @Gowi @Jay Kalton

[Hillan]

Sarutobi Ira

How the Hokage had shut him, and the rest of his team down no longer mattered. Nor did how both of his teammates had pissed him off before they had even left the village. It didn't matter that none of them had heeded his suggestion regarding the travel arrangement. It had not mattered how they got to the lake, or the orders the Third had given once they got there. Not even the nick on his throat from Dio's kunai mattered to him. All Ira could hear was the ringing in his ear, how a shiver ran up his spine and he got goosebumps all over his skin. His naturally pale skin got even paler as he felt the shock waves from the water beginning to rise under the ledge where the four of them stood. Then, there right before him, the eight tailed beast - The Octopus Bull stood before of them, and even the Hokage seemed to have given up immediately.

The chakra coming from this being was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He had been excited when he had seen his father gone all out, felt intrigued while seeing great warriors go toe to toe with one another. He had felt his heart rise and his mind clear when he fought shinobi from other nations a couple of months ago during a mission, where there was certain risk he wouldn't make it out.

Yet, this Pressence in front of him made him weak in the knees, his hands shook, his breath got heavy and he felt as if he had an iron ball in his stomach. He wanted to cry. He thought about running away, he could body flicker out of there, leaving all of this behind him, forgetting this entire mission had ever happened and continue with his life.

No. He would never become strong if he did that. Instead, he swallowed the terror he felt gnawing in his throat, clutched his fist that was now coated with the black metal made out of his chakra, and took a step forward, widening his posture as much as he could to put himself between his teammates and the Eight Tails. With a blank look on his face - completely void of emotion, he looked at the eight tails.

It wasn't how he ever imagined he'd die, and if he was gonna die in battle, he would've rather done it with people he actually liked. Not with the idiot heir and the slave Hyuuga. But at least for once, he wasn't all talk.

That was, till the Hokage told them to step back, and he quietly took a step back, moving as slowly as he could. Still keeping his fist covered in the black metal, in a desperate, yet if it came to it futile effort to counter an attack from the eight tails. Instead, he'd entrust his life in the hands of the woman who brought them here.

[pkken]

Mū Sarutobi

Interactions:@Hillan@LokiLeo789@Buddha

Mū put his hand down as the hokage gunned him down, he should have gotten food to eat earlier, but it seemed like they weren't going to eat until they came back. Mū sucked it up and followed the hokage changing his whole vibe, trying to take his attention off his hunger. Mū got into the arranged formation and followed orders from here on out since this a pretty important mission.

As they looked at each location Mū kept on his guard, hands on his waist ready and attentive. Though they were still in friendly territory you never know what can happen. The vibe that the others were giving off were calm and Dilligent making it a lot easier to work, though words were barely spoken really.

Soon they reached the last destination, a cliff overseeing a lake in enemy territory. It seemed rather peaceful , Mū and Ira were keeping guard as Dio and the hokage looked around. Soon enough they had found something suspicious as the hokage told Dio to do a double take. Soon everybody started feeling a enormous chakra force coming from the ocean as something pink began coming out, Mū turned around and look. "Oh shit" He then turned and looked at each of his teammates, Ira and Dio were in shock while the hokage was calm and collected. Mū gulped, it's not like they would have to engage the beast, I mean would the hokage really engage with 2 chunin and a genin.

Mū took the hokages warning and stationed himself all the way in the back near the forest, "Will we engage Or retreat" Mū said not as frightened as the others, though it was scary as hell, panicking would not do anything but make the situation work. Also the beast seemed to be only observing the others but it's not called a beast for nothing, Mū stood ready, If it was wether to engage or retreat he would be the first to execute either. Soon Dio and Ira understood the situation and they got into a stance ready for directions as well. The team seemed to have truley realize situation.

[Taytay]

_{Responding to:
@McFazzer
@Hillan
@j8cob}

The trip to the training field was quiet and filled with many familiar sights. Right before they stepped onto the field Dewa herd a series of explosions. He arrived at Field 4 with Kei right behind him and saw the 2nd and a girl sitting on the other side. He called them over and Dewa followed suit with Kei and sat down for some tea. Dewa sat down for the picnic and picked up his cup of tea. He tasted and was okay with the taste, not really being a tea kind guy himself. "This is good, I guess."

He had never met Chikage before so to find out that she used bombs was kinda funny considering that his kekkei genkai was lava. Another interesting thing was that she had been a genin longer that him and Kei. Dewa had been one for 3 years now so to hear he had been out done in that aspect was surprising, and caused him to raise his eyebrow when she said this. "Hey Chikage, its nice to meet you." He said this after chuckling at Kei's remark about the second blowing up.

Kei introduced himself next and most of the things he said sounded about right especially during winter time. Dewa knew about his shurikenjutsu but did not know about his umbrella, but I guess since they are gonna be on the same team it was good to know about their strengths and weaknesses.

"Hey everyone my name is Dewa Shimura, my dad is Lava Mouth. Its funny you say not blow you up because my kekkei genkai is lava release, I can make rubber too, mostly just walls though. I mostly use my kunai that I coat with lava to help long range...that's all I can think of." He said while he took another sip of the tea.

"So what is our mission?"

---

_{Responding to:
@Hillan
@Buddha
@Asura}

After Nō had finished messing with her partner she was about to sit down but someone started to clap behind her and this caused her to jump into a fighting stance. "At east, Nō." after he said this and she recognized him as Uchiha Kaido, the man who ran against the villages current Hokage. "Well done, you've passed my little test. I will see you at the Hero Monument in twenty minutes." She shook her head and smiled. So he was the one who sent the clone after her, but what was she being tested for?

She was the last one at the monument and was sort of touched by what he said about the monument. He handed them their dossiers and she read through it. The situation sounded important and if they did fail it could lead to war with the Kirigakure. Of course it looked like they wanted to capitalized on the situation but at the cost of war? "Hmmmmm....This is interesting, this should be fun." Kaido said his next few statements about combat with a cold tone and then sent them on their way.

“Oy.. you okay? Seems like you got hurt,” her fished eyed teammate said. She was going to tend to her cuts earlier but got called here, and they were not bothering her most of explosive wounds hurt more than this so they could wait. "Oh these, this is nothing just me being carless." She said with a kind smile to his harsh tone. “Eh, whatever. Small wounds won't matter. I'm gonna go there - don't really have anything I need to collect. See you guys there - don't be late, Shirayuri..” She assumed that was the other girls name. He did seem a little calm about the situation, you know impending war and all, but a calm mind is always welcome in Nō's book.

She left all her supplies at her post at the main gate so she was headed their as well but she took a different route to get their, she still had a letter to deliver the letter to her sister. She went to her house and the older Iemochi patched up her wounds and Nō left for the gate. When she got their she grabbed her bag and waited at her former post for the others, with her new team and mission on mind.

[RyoRyoRyoken]

Osuushi, Senhime

_{Million Threads
Training Field 6
@Masaki Haruna - Uchiha Ria
@BladeSS4 - Uchiha Tenshi
@Thecrash20 - Nagasaki Hitori}

---

---

From upon her perch, Senhime casually observed the three young shinobi as they began to pull together and formulate a plan. Resting the wooden sword on her shoulder, she began to whistle, almost whimsical as the three attempted to plot how best to defeat her. 'Perhaps this would be time for another lesson,, hm?" she thought, grin widening as she began to move along her silk strands, increasing her speed by using a few of the cable-like strands as a sort of makeshift slingshot. Eventually, she'd find herself above the three, hanging upside down from a length of silk in a manner somewhat reminiscent of a spider. Forming a ram seal, Senhime giggled softly as she prepared a payload of silk. Without further hesitation, Senhime fired off a volley of three silk bullets, one for each of the conspiring shinobi. On impact, the silk would splatter around them before hardening, effectively capturing and ending any chance they would have had at successfully finishing the exercise. Before bothering to see if they'd dodge or be hit by the projectiles, Senhime fired a line of silk into the distance, swinging away before landing once again on a silken perch. "It might be better not to formulate plans in full view of the enemy~. On the battlefield, you won't have the luxury of your enemy taking it easy on you." she chided, slipping her wooden blade back out from her belt loop as she made her way though the matrix of silk that she laid throughout the training grounds.

She couldn't really blame them for being a little unsure of themselves in this situation. It wasn't necessarily like they'd been started off with the "easy" course. While Senhime herself was a softie when it came to younger shinobi, her style of fighting was a bit difficult for most to wrap their head around. And even this was her toying with the young ones. Crossing her arms, Senhime once again stood upside down on her string, peering at the three shinobi. [color=Lavender]"Maybe I should come down and make it a little easier for you three? At the very least, it might bring an end to this a little sooner. After all, we do have things to attend to later~." she chimed, not meaning to mock the three despite how much any of them might have thought she was. Bringing herself upright once again, Senhime twirled her bokuto. As much fun as this training session was for her, it wasn't as if they had all day. It was unfortunate timing that they had a mission already lined up, or the horned kunoichi would've been content with having the three bang their heads against the wall as long as they were willing to continue. But they still needed to conserve their strength. And, considering the move Ria had pulled earlier, the young Uchiha kunoichi would likely have need for a bit of a breather. At the very least, however, Senhime had gotten a small sample of the abilities of at least two of the squad members. But there was still Hitori, who had been hanging back for the entirety of the exercise, presumably awaiting his moment to strike….

[Dion]

Easy fighting

_{Interacting with:
Mu Sarutobi - @Pkken
Ira Sarutobi - @Hillan
Dio Hyuga - @LokiLeo789
Hotsuma Senju - @RyoryoryoKen}
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

A the three students backed off, that left the Hokage standing perched on the edge of the cliff, looking over the giant hulking beast that called itself Hachibi. Slowly the eight-tailed beast made its way towards her, the water sloshing up in seemingly giant whirlpools as it moved, the water splashing up over the cliff, causing a rain of water to rain down over both the hokage and her students far behind her.

It didn't quite phase her, but it was annoying. Damn beast, if you could just sit still, then we could talk.. The beast approached, lowering it's head to look at Mawari directly, coming level with the cliff. It's voice roared when it spoke, shaking the ground heavily. That'd alert anyone in the area, if the giant beast itself didn't do so already. “Who dares enter my lake?” he said, looking Mawari in the eyes, but not recognizing her. It made sense - a creature of this level of power did not have to waste it's time keeping up with politics. As far as 'it' was aware, there was nobody in the world that could seal it away, not since the death of Hagoromo, Asura or Indra.

“I'm Mawari Mōri, Sandaime Hokage. I'm here to have a chat with you,” she answered, looking the beast square back in it's eyes. Whatever the beast had expected her to say, she wouldn't lie to it. Well, aside from the fact that she wasn't here to chat with it. The Hachibi reacted accordingly, moving it's face slightly away from the hokage, and looking at her three students. Before he could ask, she answered his question. “Those are my 'students'. Dio Hyuga, Ira Sarutobi, Mu Sarutobi. They're not important enough to be here while I address you.”

“Address me? HAHAHA.” When the creature laughed, it seemed like the entire world shook with it's powerful roar. Bits and pieces of rock would fall off of the cliff that Mawari was standing on, but she did not falter. “I met someone from the village hidden in the leaves before. A pitiful man, a shell of a greater shinobi. He held himself back - he's dead now. Why do you think you have the right to speak to me?”

“Because I follow the teachings of Asura and Indra, and you will hear my words. Besides.. I'm here, am I not? Leaving now would mean your emergence from the water was useless.”

“Indra? Asura? It's been a long time since I heard anyone speak of them. Hm..... fine. I'll play. But first, you'll show me - Hokage or not, everyone has to show me that they are not weak.”

Without much of a warning, one of it's massive tentacles lifted from the water and made headway for Mawari. Not long after the first one was sent out to do the Hachibi's bidding, the second one raised too, except this one was headed straight for the Hokage's students.

Mawari did not miss a beat, fully expecting this. The tailed beasts were notorious for either demanding that only the strong were allowed to speak to them, to exchange wisdoms, where as other tailed beasts simply never spoke to humans at all, avoiding them or killing them outright. They were not the murderous beasts that that made them sound like - rather hermits that would seal themselves off hermetically if they could.

She formed several handseals, considering to immediately open with her strongest techniques, the Asura and Indra style. But she did not wish to expose her trump card to the Hachibi - and her students - so soon. “Fūton: Kaze no Yaiba!” She held up both her hands, extending her index finger and middle finger on both sides, where the gushing of wind would soon be visible. As soon as she was ready, she extended her hands towards the Hachibi's tentacles, shooting out the gusts of wind that were comparable with extremely capable, sharp gusts of wind.

The techniques collided with both the tentacles, slicing into them leaving deep cuts in the two of them. The Hachibi reared back, pulling the tentacles away from both Mawari and the students. He roared loudly, shaking the ground once more. Despite the deep cuts, he did not seem to be in any kind of pain, but rather seemed to rear back for another reason. It would be explained quite soon, however. “Bagh, I'd entertain this fight in full power, if it weren't for those approaching. I'll let you show your power in another way.”

The look on Mawari's face was one of confusion, and when she turned around she was met with what she assumed to be the 'challenge' the Hachibi was talking about. From the forest, several Kumogakure shinobi were approaching, a wholesome six of them landing around Dio, Ira and Mu. They were clearly jonin or chunin level, as they didn't look like children anymore. Another three landed nearby the Hokage - they were no match, but then again, Ira, Dio and Mu could be cleaned up rapidly in their eyes, and then they could fight the hokage 9-to-1.

“By decree of Kimura Shozen, Yondaime Raikage, you will cease your activities at once and return to the border of Konohagakure!”

“Tsk, if the Raikage wishes to stop us, he could come here by himself to let me know.”

Whatever her plan was, it seemed that 'angering Kumogakure' and 'inciting another war' was among the options she had presented herself - and she had taken them with both hands, it seemed like. The Kumogakure shinobi gritted his teeth at her rather annoying answer, looking at the Hachibi behind her, who was slowly retreating while keeping an eye on the shinobi.

“If you do not leave right now, we will be forced to attack.”

“Dio, Ira, Mu. Please prepare yourselves accordingly. I will send for backup.”

Similar to before, when facing off the Hachibi, Mawari did not miss a beat. She immediately started forming handseals and before the Kumogakure shinobi had responded, she had formed a clone, who immediately took off towards Konohagakure. Presumably, this was the clone that was going to alert another team to come help. When she had finished those seals she immediately continued with the next set. “Fūton: Jūha Shō!”

She extended her arm forwards and with a wide motion swiped forwards, unleashing the Beast Tearing Palm technique upon her enemies. The 'palm' arced forwards, in a wide arc, forcing the Kumogakure shinobi in front of her to retreat momentarily. The arc of sharp slicing wind continued forwards towards her own students - this caused the six Kumogakure shinobi around them to retreat momentarily as well, giving these three students a small opening to escape. Of course.. they had to dodge the Hokage's technique too.

“Dio, Ira, Mu, we will give the Hachibi a small showing of our force, and then we will retreat as soon as the next team arrives to help us. Don't make me question my decision to bring you here - if any of you get hurt, I will ensure that you will never work as a shinobi again. GO!”

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Meanwhile, the regular 'clone' was moving through the forest, at a very rapid pace. It moved faster than team Konoha had moved originally when they were heading to the border, as it seemed like this was a situation that required.. speed.

It arrived in Konoha some thirty minutes later, and immediately went to seek out Hotsuma Senju. He was one of the few jonin that wouldn't have a mission today, but it seemed like that was about to change. With a thud, the Hokage's clone landed in front of him, breaching his privacy within his own house. “Hotsuma Senju, despite your deserting of the army, I have need of you right now! We are under attack by Kumogakure shinobi for trespassing on their territory near 'Point Eight Lake', and require assistance to relieve us. There is no haste for the Hokage herself, but she has three students with her, one of which is a genin. If you wish to save their lives, I suggest you move right now. Collect your team and assist. If you arrive too late, Ira Sarutobi, Dio Hyuga, and Mu Sarutobi might die. And their families will be told it was your fault. So, move out!”

As soon as she had delivered the message, she formed the tiger seal, and poofed out of existence.