[IC] Naruto : The Rise of The New Generations

[Sketcher]

Swordsman in training

A collab by Sketcher and Roran Hawkins

Konoha Training field 13, 2 weeks ago.

Training Session

Katsu had gotten up quite early that day, in time to have seen the old man jogging past the street they were on each day. He repeated the designated meeting place in his head several times to make sure he'd memorized it. After having gotten ready, he looked at the piece of paper again that read "Training Field 13". He stuffed it back into his pocket, knowing he would want to look at it again in order to make sure. He left through the window, quickly moving towards the location. After a few minutes, he arrived there, seeing a rather well built shinobi sitting on a tree stump. Oh no... Am I late? Katsu rushed over and stopped a few meters away and straightened his back, standing in a respectful pose.

Turning his head towards the boy, he hid a smile behind his shoulder. It was amusing that the boy thought he was late. It reminded him so much of himself when he was 10 years younger. 10 years! Such a long time ago already. He lifted himself from the stump he was sitting on and shook his head. "Not at all, Katsu, is it Katsu, right?" He replied.

Katsu nodded, a faint yet genuine smile forming on his lips. "Yes, sir," he confirmed. With the fear of being late now gone, there was little burden on Katsu's mind. "Thank you for meeting me!" he said as he bowed slightly.

"No problem. I understand you're here for kenjutsu training?" He added, turning around again to grab a long and slender package covered in a linen bag. Undoing the cord as he awaited an answer he grabbed two practice blades made of hardwood around an iron core. It had the same weight and balance as a real decent katana to further stimulate correct the right feeling of a sword. He tossed one of them towards the genin, and gave his own a few swings. It wasn't his own katana, but the feeling was right, and that's what counted.

Katsu snatched the practice sword out of the air, holding it close to his face for a moment, inspecting it. He lowered it quickly and held it with both hands, feeling its weight and calibrating himself accordingly. After having felt comfortable with it, he relaxed his stance and kept the sword low, looking over at the man. "Yes, sir," he answered.

"Good." He said, eyeing how the boy tested his blade. "I heard you are already quite good at using a sword? ¨Please show me as soon as you are ready." He added, sinking into a combat position.

The boy gulped and nodded. He took a deep breath and concentrated on Kensuke's pose. After deciding he had prepared, he lowered the sword to his side, still held with both hands. He leapt forward, not changing his distance from the ground. As he approached the man, Katsu swung the sword upwards lightly yet swiftly.

Stepping forwards he intercepted his opponent's blade with his own before it could gather enough momentum to be a strong hit, and now his opponent's blade was stuck underneath his own, he immediately went forwards to strike Katsu down. Since he was too close to use the edge, he shoved the butt of his katana's handle towards the boy's chest while keeping his own sword over his opponent's, so he couldn't use it to parry his attack.

Katsu drew the sword towards his face as soon as he noticed the situation he had fallen into, gliding its 'blade' on Kensuke's in order to gain more mobility. He noticed the back of the hilt approaching his chest and immediately leapt back, making a rather large gesture to avoid one hit. He raised the sword in front of him again, trying to think of a better way to attack.

Kensuke stepped forwards into his combat stance again, approving of the boy's quick reaction and stance. Kiyomi hadn't exagerrated when she had told him Katsu was good already, since he knew most ANBU, who all received kenjutsu training to complement their skills in case they were low on chakra, would have had trouble defending themselves from such a quick move. He knew, because he trained ANBU in kenjutsu. Stepping forwards himself he attacked with a downwards diagonal right slash, but halfway the attack twisted his wrists and let the sword 'fal' towards an upwards diagonal attack to his opponent's left side instead to see how good the boy's reflexes were and how well he had trained the different combat poses.

Katsu had readied his sword in order to try and parry the blow, keeping it almost completely sideways. When he saw the attack change mid-way, he tilted it a bit more to the left, the tip staying right under the opponent's sword. He lowered his body, hiding it under the sword. He attempted to redirect it with a small push upwards so that he wouldn't have to suffer a second attack right after the first one.

With both swords out of the way Kensuke now charged his shoulder into his opponent in order to stun his opponent and free his sword for a horizontal follow-up attack aimed at his foe's head. He decided to keep the pressure on the Uchiha boy to see what the boy was made of, and how he would perform.

Katsu's eyes opened wide as the shoulder blew him back. He regained his foot work after a brief moment, only to see another attack come towards him. He stepped to the side, his sword up high in a stance to block but tilted once more in order to direct it to the ground. If the sword fell downwards, he would spin and try to hit the man in the back with a diagonal attack from high to low.

Once more twisting his wrists to make his blade flip around he caught his opponent's attack towards his left side on the flat of his blade where he would 'push' aside his opponent's sword towards his own right side, and let his sword fall into a diagonal upwards attack to his opponent's right side.

As his sword was directed to the side, Katsu figured stopping and redirecting his move to stop the incoming attack wouldn't be quick enough. Instead, he used the momentum from the push in a desparate attempt to block the incoming attack with sheer force, spinning around and slashing at the incoming weapon.

Finding his attack stopped dead in its tracks, he saw the opportunity to step on his foe's blade's tip to disarm him, but didn't. Instead, he stepped back and regained a combat stance, ready to renew the fighting. Katsu could defend himself well enough, but he did take quite sme risks with the turning around, but Kensuke knew that he had forced the boy into taking risks, and that the results of the chances taken had paid off. So far so good.

Katsu took a few steps back, mimicking Kensuke's foot work. He held the sword in front of him once more, his breathing now faster than before. Katsu watched the sword-master's movements as his stance was changing, observing and trying to understand the reason behind each movement of the muscle.

He smiled softly when he noticed his opponent mimicking his gesture down to the movement of his eyes. Kensuke's dojutsu however was a major asset in any fight, as it was a great help in reading one's body language and predicting the path of any projectiles. In this case, combined with his raining and talent, gave him an uncanning ability to know where his foe would attack before his enemy actually started moving, an ability others would need years to master. This boy however showed good beginnings in that skill, and he decided to test just how well he was at it.

Stepping forwards he feinted a horizontal attack to Katsu's head on his right side, but swung his blade around his back, making a shimmering silver half-moon shape when viewed from above, suddenly attacking his enemy's left temple. Should his foe parry it, he would repeat the move and unleash a flurry of attacks on his foe's head with this crescent moon-attack pattern.

Katsu was slowly getting used to the feints his opponent was using, more or less expecting them at this point. As he saw Kensuke's sword change directions, he swung his towards Kensuke's left, ignoring the incoming attack as much as he could, hoping to get a hit while Kensuke was attacking him.

Leaning to the right and letting his sword fall on his opponent's to deflect the attack, he backed off again. His opponent had taken a large risk, but one that had almost paid off. Kensuke concluded that Katsu had more than enough insight in how to predict moves, or just had a lot of luck and guts. Most likely the former, considering the consistency with which the Uchiha managed to take the right risks. Now he would wait for the boy to attack to test how well he could put pressure himself, and try to force a hit on Kensuke.

Katsu stared at Kensuke for a moment, seeing if he would make a move. Seeing how he didn't do anything, Katsu took a few long steps back. After that, he rushed towards the man at a rapid speed, which was quite consistent until he reached the point two or three meters away from Kensuke, when he gathered his chakra on the foot that would land next. He pushed off the ground with much greater speed, his hands on his side with the sword in front of him.

Stepping diagonally forwardsto the right as he noticed the change in speed, just in time, he delivered a horizontal swing aimed at Katsu's belly while avoiding the point of his sword. The speed boost right in front of Kensuke was a dirty trick he had used himself quite frequently, and it was one that he wouldn't be caught off guard by.

Unable to react in time, Katsu learned a valuable lesson. Painful, but valuable. He ran into the sword being held out by Kensuke. With his weight being thrust over the sword, he fell on the other side and rolled a couple of times, landing on his front. Grunting, he forced himself to his feet and ignored the seering pain, putting his sword in front of him once more.

Kensuke had slung his sword over his shoulder and nodded as the genin got back on his feet. All in all, Katsu was an admirable swordsman for his age. He could defend himself adequately and could read his opponent enough to perform well under pressure aswell as recognize faints and had the guts to take advantage of that. He knew some dirty tricks and wasn't afraid of taking a risk to win, which is both a good and a bad thing, considering one has to pick the right risks. Sadly, you only know wether or not the risk you took was the wrong one once you end up hanging on someone's blade.

"Not bad. This means we can skip most of the basics. How much do you know of infusing your blade with chakra? Have you mastered shape manipulation of said chakra or nature manipulation?" He then asked, using the different kinds of chakra coating on the wooden practice katana.

Katsu slightly relaxed his muscles, lowering the tip of the sword and watching the man's sword get covered in visible chakra. "Ah... I don't know how to infuse a weapon with chakra but I can use a wind release technique that uses the same logic as chakra infusion. Though I have no knowledge of shape manipulation..."

"Please show me." Kensuke said, lowering his sword again.

Katsu raised the sword over his head, correcting his stance. He slashed downwards as if cutting down an invisible target, and a concentrated arc of wind left its tip, moving forward and cutting through the air.

"Ah, the vacuum sword technique. I think it did something along the lines of using the vacuum created by your sword and turning that into a slicing wave of wind. I guess." Kensuke said after recognizing the technique. It was a potent and fast technique, but had a short range and not as much destructive power as chakra coating techniques. "There are many different chakra coating techniques that all derive from the same concept. Storing chakra in your sword. Some weapons are better suited for it than others, such as my own sword for example, but the principle remains the same." He explained, performing the technique as he spoke.

"Once the chakra coat is around the blade you can alter it to add certain qualities to the weapon, dependant on the nature of the chakra. Pure chakra adds slicing power as samurai use it, and lets you manipulate the form freely. Wind chakra enhances cutting power and can be used to fire off slicing air waves or 'blunt' gusts of air. Lightning chakra can daze, paralyze and slice more effectively. Fire chakra generally sets things on fire, but can also be used to fire waves or even larger balls of fire." He explained, giving a single example of his falcon blade technique, sending a lethal wave of wind over the field that left a long gash in the grass and dissipated after about 30 meters.

"Once you have decided what nature you will use, there's an additional choice; will you use the coating as a literal coating, or as a sort of projectile, as I just did? The first gives a constant effect, while the second is a single attack, as I just did." Once more, he showed how he could drag the wodden sword straight through a wooden treestump with the chakra coating active, and then fired a large gust of wind that made the grass dance.

Katsu listened carefully to what Kensuke was saying, nodding from time to time to show that he understood. After having listened to every word and observed Kensuke's examplary techniques, he looked down at the sword and attempted to pour some chakra into it, but instead, ended up wasting it without doing anything. He stopped after realizing that he wasn't going to get anywhere by just releasing more chakra.

"You should keep trying to infuse your weapon with chakra. Chakra coating is one of the most useful techniques that can turn your blade into virtually anything. With some clever thinking and some skill, you can come a long way with just these chakra coating techniques as a base. I use them all the time, and people even started me naming after them." He explained after seeing him struggle to store chakra in the wooden sword. It was hard to store chakra in such an inefficient chakra-holding weapon, but with enough skill ... "Once you're skilled enough at it, you can infuse nearly any object with chakra. In a pinch, being able to infuse your own hand with chakra coating as I do gives you a very potent and unexpected weapon." He continued, showcasing his hand now infused with chakra.

The boy tried to change his approach, seeing how the previous one didn't do anything. He closed his eyes, concentrating on moving his wind chakra from his body to the weapon. He reminded himself how he would channel his chakra through his sabre to use the Vacuum Sword technique and a very thin cloak of chakra appeared around the practice sword. Though it seemed rather flimsy, it was definitely there.

"There is only one way to get better at it. Practice. Lots of practice. Although, having a weapon that's better at being infused with chakra helps ofcourse. This practice sword isn't meant for that." Kensuke said, unsheathing his own blade. "Which brings us the following possibility." He said, coating his blade with chakra and dragging the sharp edge over his arm, leaving not a scratch. "I use this for training with real weapons, a chakra coating that forms a blunt edge of wind around the true edge. It'll still break bones, but at least you won't lose any limbs."

Katsu looked up from the wooden sword to Kensuke. He watched as Kensuke dragged the sword across his arm, leaving no mark. "I see... It's a form of chakra control training," He looked back down at the sword for a moment. "If it can be used to infused into anything, could it be infused into a projectile and then be thrown?"

"You could put it like that. The first form is a sort of coating as I just demonstrated, the second form is an actual attack where you 'throw' the chakra, as with the falcon blade attack I did a minute ago." He answered, sheathing his blade again.

Katsu nodded, showing that he understood Kensuke's words' meaning.

"Now, is there anything specific, aside from chakra coating, that you wanted me to learn you about?" Kensuke asked, picking up the wooden sword again. "Or did you just want some general training?"

"I would like to train more in the plain sword techniques I could use during combat, or rather get accustomed to using techniques during battle," Katsu answered, his posture now back to its previous, well preserved state. Beneath the dirt on his face, the determined look in his eyes were evident, almost as if challenging the sword master.

Nodding, he started explaining to the boy. "Look, there's one important thing you have to remember. Swordfighting is one thing, but there's a limited use for most pure kenjutsu techniques, as in pure slashes. Most, if not all of them, are all situational. Very handy if you know them by heart so good you can execute them without thought, but you won't always fight another swordsman, or you won't always have the chance to use proper techniques. Improvising and backing up your kenjutsu with taijutsu will save your life more than you know. The chaos of a fight leaves little room for orderly kenjutsu." He explained, and then proceeded to show several short ranged techniques for use against other shinobi in short range. A pummel strike, a very quick twist of the wrists to deliver a light but lightning fast strike from an unexpected angle, ...

"There's also a whole load of grapples for all purposes." He said, and suddenly stepped forwards, pushed Katsu's practice sword aside while holding his own vertically with one hand on the blade, and then levelled both swords, using his handguard and a twist of his body to disarm the boy, or throw him on the ground should he hang on,to the blade. Then, before giving the boy a chance to react, stepped forwards so his right leg was between Katsu's, and hooked his sword's handle to the boy's throat and twisted his body again, making the boy fall over his leg if he wouldn't have stopped halfway. "These are in fact very simple moves, but the idea is to execute them quickly so your opponent won't know what's coming next. Ofcourse, they're relatively easy to escape from if you're smart enough, but escaping only enables you to use the tip of your sword again." He explained, releasing Katsu and demonstrating that now the boy stepped backwards, not really willing to undergo another grappling session.

Katsu gulped after the sudden movement and nodded at the explanation Kensuke had given him. He picked up the practice sword and stood up straight, one foot now behind him with the sword in front of him, the tip dug into the dirt. "I see," he said, nodding, trying to visualize Kensuke's movements.

"Now, these close combat techniques are very well documented in books and scrolls, you will definately find some in the Konoha libraries, but they are all very situational. The trick is to practice them so much you can execute them without effort or though, and make them as known to your body as breathing itself. Then you can use them in combat to great effect." Kensuke explained, showing how several of them worked by demonstrating them on the boy once more, but a lot more slowly, and now with the intention to teach him.

Katsu nodded, thinking about how he could automotize techniques in a way that he would be able to do it without thinking. Whenever he was in a sword fight, he would always concentrate on his movements and focus on what he was supposed to do next instead of what felt right. Though that would probably change over time, he hoped. His eyes followed the movements, darting from limb to limb.

"Now, you must learn to do them yourself. I shall teach you some basic ones that have a lot of practical applications." He said, stepping back. "These are relatively simple and are applicable to non-swordsmen as well." He stepped forwards and did a slow horizontal attack, and stopped once Katsu blocked it. "Now you step forwards with your left foot into my sword, and lower your own blade to a horizontal position, keeping my blade caught in your handguard. Then you place your blade roughly over mine so the back of yours is facing the back of mine, and grab your own sword about 2/3rd of the way towards the point. Now you have my sword locked behind yours, while my edge is still pressed into your handguard so I cannot slice you. Now you step back with your left foot, and pull your arms into the movement as you turn your body, forcing my sword out of my hands, or me onto the ground." He said as he slowly let himself be disarmed. "I used a variation of this one just a moment ago. You can use it to disarm any foe with a weapon about the lenght of a human forearm, for example, a kunai."

As he followed the narrated instructions, he kept his eyes on his own movements. He listened carefully as the wooden sword clinged onto the other one. When Kensuke's sword fell, he revised what he'd done in his mind, trying to remember it. He took a step back and lowered the sword. "A kunai?" He seemed rather confused at the suggestion. "But how... Isn't a kunai's blade too small?" His thoughts drifted off to how much easier it would be to simply cut off the enemy's hand entirely.

"A kunai is longer than it looks. In the case of a kunai we, instead of hooking around the kunai itself, use the opponent's arm. Dependant on what you do, you can in that single move disarm him, deliver a nasty gash on his arm, and give him a pummel strike and plan a dentist appointment for your opponent." He said, slowly demonstrating the different possibilities. "It'd be easier to cut off his hand of course, but sometimes your opponent does not allow you to do that, so you need to lure them with a similar trick."

"I see," Katsu said, nodding, his face lighting up with the small joke. He stabbed the tip of the wooden blade into the ground and rested his palms on the back of its hilt. After a long moment of thought, he lifted it again and quickly did the same movements on an invisible opponent. "After the punch, it shouldn't be too hard to follow up with a slash or a harder hit," he thought out loud.

"Indeed, pretty much anything really." He replied. "Here, I'll show you some more." He added, sending the kid a wink.

Katsu smiled and raised the wooden sword up, holding it tightly. He kept his eyes on Kensuke's hands, carefully observing the movement.

---

Kensuke cleared his throat to catch the attention of Katsu, who seemed to be dazing off in the bright sun of the early afternoon. They had been training pretty much nonstop, and even he had felt a lethargy of boredom and exhaustion sneak in his veins, so he did feel some pity as he saw the tired boy stand up from the ground he had just thrown him on.

"Let's call it a day, shall we? You need some rest and I need to eat something. Actually, you might need that too. Anyhow, it was a pleasure training with you, Katsu Uchiha. I shall be honest and state that I find you a rare example of an Uchiha I do like."

Katsu was still determined to continue but when he heard that Kensuke proposed ending the training, he didn't object. He was at his limit physically. "Thank you, Kensuke-sensei," he said, smiling. The last comment about the Uchiha bothered him a bit. He hated being seen as 'an Uchiha' rather than 'Katsu'. "I've learned a lot today!"

"Good. Now remember the one golden rule about everything I taught you; practice." He added, before nodding the genin goodbye and turning around, having picked up both practice swords. He really was hungry now he thought about it.

[Fieryfly]

Eiji Emiya

Holding back the Yonbi

Commanding an army, somehow Eiji still felt weird doing it. He was the Amekage's Assistant and he had no problem excecuting the commands Ryoku gave him, but actually standing in front of an army of people that waiting on his decision was just... daunting. He wasn't afraid, no he could do this, he was just wondering if he was really the person to give the orders.

As he watched the beast being drowned by Ryoku and waited for orders, he half expected Kuni to pop up next to him. The girl always did that even though he would tell her countless of times not to come. It made him smile slightly, but as no Kuni appeared that smile faded. Of course she was not coming. She was getting ready for the sealing. The sealing that would change her life and most likely his too. He wondered if he should ask Hoshi for sealing techniques. He was the one that was most likely the closest to the new born Jinchuuriki and well... if something would go wrong it might be good for him to know some sealing stuff.

Ryoku didn't give him more time to contemplate. Orders came. It was time to bring that beast down that was letting out his killing intent on the people of the city, including Eiji. He turned to the people of the first line of defense who were waiting on his words. "Water Users!" He called. "On the signal we are moving in and around the beast and hit him with all the water we have. Follow the.words of the Amekage. We will defend our city!" He turned back to the creature as it charged again.

"Eiji! NOW!"

On their mark the line of shinobi started moving, charging towards the beast. Handseals were formed and water came crashing down on the Yonbi from all directions. Watching the damange being done Eiji could only think of one thing, if they succeeded - and they were going to succeed - he would have to find Kuni as soon as possible.

[Mr Nim]

Deidara Yuhiko

Saved!

A few moments after Renya injected the antitode and boosted its effect speed with her lightning aura, Deidara coughed and opened his eyes. Seeing his teammate above him, he forced himself into a sitting position even though he still felt weak, but he also felt like his entire body was given a bit of energy. He gave her a smile before looking around.

"Thanks Renya. You did it. Sorry I couldn't provide any more help. I was an idiot who thought he could do too much at once, and it failed big time. Now we just need to find Midori." He said and looked around some more. The last thing he remembered was the Gyuki controlled clone pulling Midori away into an alley "I think she was trying to find somewhere she considered to be safe." Deidara said before coughing a bit more. His entire body felt odd due to the lightning that went through it, along with the exaustion and the fact he fainted. He just hoped his teammate won't have a problem with finding Midori, as he placed his hand against the wall he was next to and slowly brought himself back to his feet, using the wall as support.

[ChromeHound]

Shikaroku Nara
Konoha Genin - Team 9

Looking around the field and watching his teammates go after the tags... Shikaroku could feel the migraine starting. He wanted so badly to be able to help, to be able to make some clones to search with the others, but he couldn't. He was useless... Punching the ground in frustration, Shikaroku let out a sound that was a mixture of a growl and a yell of anguish. "STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU! We can't keep going around trying to accomplish this as individuals! The whole purpose of this training was to fix the issues that we had working as a team! Look at us though! If Hiron-sensei could see us now how do you think he would react!?" Looking down at the ground, Shikaroku's voice grew a little quieter. "Look... I'm sorry. I just... I cannot do what both of you can do. I cannot help in the same way, so I have to try and help you guys in a different way. But I can't do that if we don't work together..." The pain in his head was beginning to grow again, and Shikaroku clenched both of his fists so tightly that his fingernails dug into his palms, drawing blood.

"I know that we are running on limited time here, but we also have to keep in mind that Hiron has a surprise in store for us when we get back to the village. Without knowing what we are going to be facing, we need to be careful with our chakra. I agree that shadow clones pose the smallest risk when it comes to collecting the tags due to the fact that it saves you both from taking any real damage. However, using clones also takes up a lot of chakra, and I think that there is another way that we could do this." Again that nagging pain at the back of his head. Pushing the feeling from his mind and forcing himself to focus, Shikaroku looked between his teammates. "I may not be of much use due to my inexperience and my lack of techniques, but I have an idea how I could be a little more useful. But first... First i should be apologizing to you both for my outburst. That was not how I usually deal with things and it was wrong of me. I... Once this is all over I can explain to you both a little more clearly, but for now please just hear me out."

His eyes travelled between both Mia and Masami, an apologetic look on his face but also a look of fierce determination. "Masami, you have proven that you are able to locate the traps within a certain radius. At the moment I am not quite sure what your range is, but we can use that to our advantage. Mia, from what I have seen so far you and your ninken are the fastest of us, and the most experienced. Together you are our best chance of getting in close to scout out the location of the papers. With Masami locating the traps, we can communicate through our earphone communicators and avoid the majority of them while searching for the pages. If you are comfortable with it Mia, I can cover both you and your Ninken with my shadow shield. It will protect you from any physical attack, and it does not use up too much chakra, making it more efficient than a clone technique."

Shikaroku hoped that his plan made sense so far, to be honest he wasn't even quite sure how he'd managed to come up with it, normally his migraine would have kicked in already and made clear thinking an impossibility. The pain was still there, but it wasn't as strong as previous times. Shikaroku was still worried that it would flare up any minute now, and he wanted to explain the rest of his plan before doing so. "Once we have located the pages, we can collect them one at a time... as a team. I would suggest that we first attempt to collect the pages at a further range, in order to avoid any immediate traps. If that proves to be impossible then we can move in closer, protecting each other against the traps. I know it may take a little longer than spreading out and trying to simply grab the tags as fast as possible, but this way will be much safer, and waste much less chakra. By my calculation, we still have just over an hour to collect the remaining pages before we need to head back to the village. That should be more than enough time if we start working together now. Thankfully Masami was able to collect one of the pages already, meaning we only have four left. I leave it up to you though guys, if you have any better suggestions I am all ears." Slowly standing to his feet, Shikaroku looked at his teammates, waiting to see how they would react. He knew his outburst had been a little over the line, but that was something they could deal with later, and hopefully they could focus on getting this mission finished first.

[AlterNathan]

Takeshi Fujiwara

Waiting out at the gate with Tora-sensei and Kumogatorui until Naoto arrived Takeshi studied his scroll for the ice floor, the hand seals weren't too hard and he had managed to get it off, although the ice floor he created was a bout two square inch. When Naoto arrived he noticed her seeing a bit pale but decided not to bring it up. Takeshi listened silently to Tora-sensei's briefing before they went on their way. Curious to who the other person was who would lead him and Naoto He did not fail to notice that the mission Tora-sensei explained to the three genin was surprisingly similar to the one he used to test his tactical sense with in their private session. The mention about rogue ninja was a little disturbing though, they weren't pushovers... usually, and he doubted if the three of them were qualified to take them out, luckily they had their sensei with them.

Flying through the trees he noticed Kumogatorui's glance in his direction, he smiled widely and stuck up his thumb, letting her know that he was feeling okay and was enjoying th moment. Takeshi was looking forward to this first mission, he always liked the feeling of battle, he was quite confident and loved the adrenaline that surged through his body after pulling off a nice move. He shot glanced around them every now and then to scout for any signs of nothing in particular but didn't see anything yet, he wondered if they were getting close.

[Gerontis]

The Fight in the Dark,
Divide and kill.

A collab between Little Alice, Chromehound and Gerontis.

Summary :
Hayate and Kiyomi are about to erase the lab they found, wanting to destroy it. However it seems there will be a sudden change of plans.

In the Dark

''I am more than ready.'' A voice replied with an amused tone. Standing in the opening of another entrance to the room, a man stared at Kiyomi and Hayate. There were several scars on his skin, like it had been cracked and damaged more than just a several amount of times. A grin grew on the lips of the man as he eyed them, taking a few steps into the laboratory. ''Seems that you two managed to get this far, huh? Means you killed Change? Impressive for two runts.'' The man said, clearly mocking that they looked both much younger than them. He was around two to three heads taller and much bigger in overal size than Hayate.

Turning swiftly, a kunai already in his hand, Hayate eyed the man warily. There wasn't a lot of time left until the unstable metal was going to set off and explode. Without looking, he spoke quietly to Kiyomi, "We need to leave sensei... There's not much time." Already backing towards the nearest exit, Hayate didn't take his eyes off the imposing man.

Quickly turning around, Kiyomi glared at the newcomer. Another one? At least this one wasn't inside their mind. With Hayate's warning, Kiyomi knew she had to make a quick decision. Turning their back to this enemy could be annoying. Slowly, she moved back as well, thinking of something. ''Run Hayate!'' Kiyomi mumbled as she pulled out a smokebomb, intending to smash it against the ground to give them some cover, hopefully giving them a chance to make a run for it.

''Not fun.'' The man muttered as he noticed that Hayate and Kiyomi seemed to first move back and then tried to escape. Weaving several handsignals, the man held the last one for a second. After that, he would start to walk towards the smoke cloud. ''I am not that much of a curious talker like Change, nor that much of a freak, but hiding or running away won't help now.'' The man shouted, trying to catch a hint of the two, which was kind of hard with the smoke cloud.

Stepping through the doorway, Hayate placed his hand against the wall, attempting to spread metal across the exit in order to block it. The metal spread outwards, but didn't fully cover the gap. Deciding that wasting anymore time was not a wise idea, Hayate stepped away from the wall and then continued moving quickly. He would not run and risk leaving Kiyomi behind, and he only hoped that the metal he had managed to spread across the doorway would buy them some time.

Following Hayate, Kiyomi already pulled out a kunai. Not yet infusing it with her lightning chakra or attaching a tag to it, Kiyomi started to think of how they could quickly end this. Judging by the words she had heard, this man was probably just as annoying as that Change person. Moving through the doorway, she briefly looked over her shoulder to notice what Hayate was doing. Now that they were in the smaller hallway, she got an idea. ''Lets try him here out.'' Turning around with a quick turn, Kiyomi dropped into a fighting stance, focused on the doorway.

With the smoke settling, the man could see that the two weren't in the room anymore. That and the doorway to the hallway, where Kiyomi and Hayate had came from, was changed. ''Troublesome.'' Was the word that the man muttered as he would head towards the metal that was molded in order to hold him back. Knocking with his right fist on it, the man frowned. Taking a step back, chakra was starting to gather at his right hand that was clenched into a fist. Spreading out his footwork, the man was preparing to slam his fist at the manipulated metal.

Taking his place beside Kiyomi, Hayate pulled Samehada from the sheath on his back. Here they would wait for the man to exit the room. By Hayate's calculation the unstable metal should still have about ten seconds or so be-- BOOM! His eyes widening slightly, Hayate realized he had made a slight calculation error... Looking towards the doorway, a small amount of smoke was billowing out of the holes in the metal that Hayate had used to cover the gap. Glancing up at Kiyomi he flashed her an apologetic look.

In any normal situation, Kiyomi would frown or sigh due Hayate making an error at calculating of when something would happen. But now that wasn't important. Wondering if it was done, Kiyomi wasn't planning on moving to the doorway. Pouring some lightning chakra over the kunai she was holding, Kiyomi kept her eyes at the doorway. ''We're going to do a hit and run tactic. Attack at range and then head back, on which we repeat.'' Kiyomi whispered through her communicator.

The metal that was still moulded and thus forming a make-shift barricade was suddenly smashed and splintered. With the remains being thrown in the air, towards Kiyomi and Hayate, the man stepped over the doorway. The shirt he had on was torn apart, as several burning wounds covering his skin. However, he seemed to be doing quite okay for somebody who had been standing in a room that had just exploded. There was still some blue chakra gathering at his right hand. Flexing his fingers, the man started to walk towards the two.

Cursing inwardly, Hayate pulled out a kunai with one of his free hands, charging it to explode, he threw it towards the strange man. Stepping back as the man walked forwards, Hayate pulled out another kunai, not expecting the first to do much damage. They were going to have to think of something and fast. And she thought the same as Hayate. He had smashed with ease, it seemed, through the metal. Not to forget that he had been in room that had exploded. Thinking of something, Kiyomi quickly leaped back as she would keep her kunai at the ready. They had to test how good the speed and reflexes were of the person, next to some other facts. Waiting to see how the man would react on the kunai that Hayate had thrown, Kiyomi readied herself again.

The kunai never reached the man, as something invisible deflected the projectile. ''Child's play. Now stand still.'' The man told them as he raised his hand. There was a strange look in his eyes as he started to grin. The blue chakra in his hand started to cause a hissing sound, like it was burning something. Next to that, the man was radiating some killing intent, hoping it would throw the two off.

Seeing the kunai bounce to the side, exploding as it hit the floor, Hayate narrowed his eyes. It reminded him of the technique that Kiyomi taught him. Stepping back, he glanced at Samehada, maybe... A plan already formulating in his mind, Hayate prepared himself for whatever the man was about to do. The killing intent was powerful, but Hayate held his ground, forcing himself to focus. Throwing the kunai towards the side of the wall, Kiyomi reached out her hand towards Hayate. ''I need Sharky.'' She instructed. She had a plan, but it wasn't likely going to be the same as what Hayate was thinking. That and she was getting worried that the blade was leeching Hayate's chakra to help his thirst for powerful chakra.

The explosion bought them some time as the man looked sideways. However, the explosion seemed to not reach him. Even the smoke was kept at bay by something. Turning his attention back at the two, he walked towards them. Cautiously he already raised his right hand, ready to strike once either one of them was close by. His eyes briefly examined Hayate, but he soon turned his attention towards Kiyomi. ''You first.''

[Shadowcatcher]

Chizuko Irozaki - Kumogakure ANBU - Entering the Land of Fire (Part 2)

"...so it turns out that all this time, he wasn't really dead. I had been working under him just like I had been before. And, that's the end of it for now." Chizuko said with a sigh. Heading towards the Hidden Leaf Villiage with a message from Raikge to Hokage, one would think that the ANBU assigned to do such a task would not be walking casually along with a little white haired boy named Kohaku. Chizuko did desperately want to get back on task with her mission, but having been distracted had caused her to need to do a few things she did not want to, first. One of which was tell a story about her friend/Raikage, without blowing his cover and without sounding like some sort of woman with no hope of ever getting to the man she loved.... which was also not the case!

"That story was more interesting than I thought it was going to be. Obaa-chan will be so happy to hear that one!" he said with an excited hop.

"So you paid attention? I dont want you running back here to get details after you have gone away." she said bitterly. This was the most talking Chizuko had probably done in her entire life. She didn't like wasting breath on things like this. "Now will you scram? I have work to do now."

"Of course! I'll get out of your hair now. ...Which is really pretty by the way!" Kohaku said while turning around to head back to his home. "And don't forget your promise to bring him around next time!" he said as he started to run off.

"Hey! I didn't promise such a thing!" she called but he was likely not listening to her. Frowning and scoffing as she turned and began on her way at a fast pace, she mumbled. "I only promised that I would try."

---

It took Chizuko a full day and night's trip to finally get to the gates of the Hidden Leaf Villiage. She would have gotten there sooner if her mind had been in the right place during that time. No matter how badly she wanted to focus on the mission at hand, her mind kept drifting back to the family in the forest. Why she had instantly felt so at ease around them. Why they had invited her into their home so nicely. In an odd way, the two elders reminded her of her parents, and she found herself wondering, had they not have been killed, if they would end up such a happy-go-lucky couple as well.

In the short time she spent with the three, Chizuko felt more at home than she ever had in a number of years. Perhaps that was the reason she allowed herself to stay. Though the time was not a good one, she felt that she needed the time to sit and be normal if only for a short while. After she had dwelled on those thoughts for a long time, she began to focus on her mission, only to have her last meeting with the Raikage continuously pop into her mind. She began to get frustrated with herself and the suddenly feelings she felt that had also begun to appear at a bad time. She had a job to do, and so did he. Even if she was interested in trying to spend more time with him, with his work schedule, it would likely be impossible. This thought made her sad to an extent. Chizuko at least wanted to be able to catch up with him, but knew that if things began to become sensitive between them, things might become complicated.

In any case, it was well known that Chizuko took little interest in anyone, romantically that is. While a few of her Jounin comrades were settling down and allowing themselves to relax in their free time, Chizuko was always focused on her work. Not considering the differences in rank, many of them often reminded her she was growing older and should not be always so wound up over work and things. They told her that she wasn't the only ANBU and had a right to take a break every once in a while, and while it was all true, Chizuko never found a reason to 'relax' or do such things as 'go out' or 'make friends'. Unlike many, she actually enjoyed working under Takeru and helping in little ways to keep things running smoothly as they are. When she was not on duty or sent to a mission, she often stood upon high rooftops and watched the villagers as a past time. It gave her purpose, thinking about everyone and making sure she was doing all she could to preserve the safety of everyone in the villiage.

Speaking of doing all she could, after some time her mind finally stopped thinking about other things and began to refocus on her mission. As she neared the gates of the Hidden Leaf, she slowed her pace to a walk as she approached one of the ninja that was stationed as guard there. Instead of speaking to him right away, she waited for him to address her first out of respect.

"Welcome. Kindly state your purpose for being here." he said in a nice tone that also sounded a bit bored. It was when he noticed her mask that he stood a little straighter and looked a bit more focused. Reaching into her hip pouch, Chizuko retrieved the scroll Takeru had given her and held it out for him to see who it was adressed to. "I have been sent by Lord Raikage to personally deliver a message to your Hokage." she said simply before putting it away. The Jounin nodded, turned, and made some sort of signal with his hands just before two Konoha ANBU appeared before them. "These two will escort you there and back. Please follow them." he said in a serious tone.

"Thank you." she said and looked at the two. One of them nodded and then they were off with Chizuko following closely behind. It took them little time to reach the Hokage's office, and Chizuko was thankful for the escort. She found herself looking out around the villiage as they made their way there, and she was pleasantly surprised at how pretty and lively it was. Even as they entered the building, the two ANBU stayed at her side until they approached a door to which she assumed belonged to the Hokage.

"Wait here. I will see if Lord Hokage is free to see a visitor." one said before knocking.

Turning around as she waited to be called inside, Chizuko went to a wall and leaned against it, sighing, as the thought of her friend began to creep back into her mind.

[Little Alice]

The Fight in the Dark,

Excelling teamwork!

A collab between Little Alice, Chromehound and Gerontis.

Summary :
Approached by an unknown enemy that has a rather interesting ability, Kiyomi and Hayate fight back as they are forced to find a way to counter the unknown ability of their opponent.

In the Dark

Tossing the sentient blade towards Kiyomi, Hayate did not want that man getting close to either of them. Pulling out several shuriken, he sent them hurling towards the mans legs. Hopefully he would be able to force the enemy to slow down, giving both of them enough time to prepare a defense. Looking around them, he realized that they didn't have many options of escape. Withdrawing the staff from his back, Hayate held it out in front of himself, preparing to defend against their oncoming opponent.

Catching the handle of the blade, it shivered as it was now wielded by whom he had declared his rightful owner. Or just user. Wielding the greatsword with two hands, Kiyomi adjusted her stance to a more defensive one. Narrowing her eyes, she was focusing rather on the surrounding of the man. She couldn't see anything strange. No chakra that was visible or any signals that the man was using some sort of force field that kept objectives and even explosions at bay. Though it seems he is a bit hit by the first explosion. Though that is maybe due surprise. She thought to herself. Then she adjusted her stance again, before charging at the man. ''Bring it.'' She sneered, readying her blade to swing at the man at a right sweep once she would be in range.

The shuriken were deflected as they weren't able to reach the man. He stopped as he noticed that the girl was now charging at him. Frowning, the man readied himself with the threat coming in a charge at him. Opening his fist, the blue chakra at his right hand started to expand a bit while he seemed to ready himself to dodge the strike of Kiyomi.

Watching carefully, Hayate readied himself to assist his sensei. The hallway was not incredibly wide, and he didn't wish for either of them to get caught up in a bad position, so for now he held back. It took a lot of willpower for Hayate not to charge in after Kiyomi to make sure this man didn't hurt her, but Hayate knew just how skilled she was, and he trusted that she could keep herself safe. Trying to find a weak point in their opponent, Hayate waited to see the results of Kiyomi's attack. He pulled out two more shuriken and threw them towards the opposite side of the man, hoping that these ones might get through while he was distracted by Kiyomi.

Noticing some sounds in the air currents from behind her, Kiyomi decided to ignore it. It could be likely Hayate and she had to trust him with guarding her back. Briefly her eyes eyed the fericious looking technique of their opponent. It reminded her of her own Sparkle technique. In a normal situation it would pique her interest, but not now. Like she wanted to try out, she noticed that she could enter the near surrounding of her opponent. Skidding to a halt, she turned around to bring more power at her swing, directing it at the mid section of the man in front of her. While she swung her weapon, sharp darkblue scales penetrated through the bandages, ready to rip the clothing and flesh of her opponent.

With his focused only being now on Kiyomi, the man had to act fast. Her attack wasn't one he wanted be hit by, so he had to move backwards. With a quick jump, he managed to avoid in the nick of time that the sentient greatsword would hit him. Only to be disturbed as two thuds rang. The two shuriken fell to the ground, causing no effect than that it seemed to briefly catch the man's attention.

Noticing the way the man moved back to avoid Kiyomi's attack, Hayate's brow furrowed slightly. Cursing under his breath as the shuriken were stopped once again, Hayate moved to the side. This man was clearly capable of blocking even attacks that he couldn't see coming, meaning that whatever was protecting him was acting of its own accord. Standing his staff on the ground, Hayate merged it with the metal of the floor. He pulled out two kunai and overcharged them, setting them to explode before reaching their target. At the same time, his free hand sent chakra through the staff and into the metal floor of the hallway. Concentrating on what he was trying to do, Hayate caused the metal on the floor behind the man to start doing something strange.

Cursing softly under her breath, Kiyomi readied herself for another attack. Pouring some chakra in the sentient blade, it started to shiver more. After she heard more projectiles coming from behind her, Kiyomi decided to ready herself as she would wait for Hayate's kunai to approach the man. Only when they were near the man, she came into action. Holding the greatsword more in front of her, she went in with another charge.

For a moment, the man wavered. He lowered his right arm a bit as the kunai were about to reach the field. Only to explode. The smoke and push of the gust were held by his ability, but the smoke was keeping his opponents away from his sight. Realizing that it wasn't good to be surprised, he made a few quick steps backwards as he wanted to take a more defensive stance. ''What?''

The smoke prevented Hayate from fully seeing if the man had fallen for his trap, but he hoped that it was working. The metal floor behind the man had become mostly liquid in nature, which would cause the opponent's feet to sink below the surface. Hayate couldn't make it too deep, as he was still unable to control the entirety of the metal due to whatever it was that was blocking him. But the metal would also be incredibly difficult to step out of as it was beginning to shift back into a more solid state. Hayate hoped that his plan would work, or at least buy Kiyomi enough time to launch her attack. If he could hold the man in place then maybe, just maybe then could end this soon.

Out of the smoke, a large mouth with rows of sharp teeth came directly for the man. Samehada made a eerie sound as it was excited to set his jaws around what ever he could get out of the man. However, as the sentient shark sword came from the right, Kiyomi jumped out of the some from the left. She had jumped to land her feet at the wall. With the shark sword approaching the man from the right, while being stuck, she would push herself from the wall to land a kick against the man, trying to aim for a place like the neck.

His eyes widened as he noticed what was happening. Though the man had some good reflexes, a lot of things were happening at the same time. He was trapped in some metal that was having him in a firm grip. If that wasn't annoying enough, that living blade rushed out of the smoke to approach him from the right. Staring in the approaching jaws, the man grunted. He had tried to dodge the razor sharp teeth, only to be grazed at his shoulder by the scales. Trying to lean away from the blade, he slammed his hand against the scaled blade. But this left him open for the attack from the left. Before the man could react, he felt the pain at his neck. Grunting, he could feel how the kick would have some nasty effect. Though dizzy by the kick and grave situation, he was trying to react back and attack Kiyomi.

The smoke cleared enough for Hayate to see his target as Kiyomi launched her attack. A sense of relief filled him as he realized the man was caught in his trap. So he can be touched after all, Hayate thought to himself, sending another surge of chakra through his staff and into the metal under the man's feet. Clenching his fist tightly around the staff, the metal that surrounded their opponent's ankles would suddenly become solid again. If the man did not move in time then both of his feet would be cut off at the ankles. Hayate already began preparing for his next attack, in case the first was ineffective.

Landing on her feet, Kiyomi instantly jumped a bit backwards. She was glad that they had managed to land a good succession of several attacks on the man. The scales of Samehada suddenly expanded, impaling the shoulder and arm of the man as the blade started to leech the man's chakra. ''We will take him alive.'' Kiyomi whispered the order, but sure enough that Hayate would hear it. Pulling out a kunai, she focused on what would happen next.

The man gasped for air. The sharp scales wasn't the only damage done. The team work of the two enemies was overwhelming. Though the man opened his jaw, he couldn't release a sound. The pain seemed to silence him while he turned pale. Blood started to form a puddle around his ankles. Or where his ankles had been. Losing blood and with his charkra being leeched from him, the man wasn't able to counter or react to the continues attacks of Kiyomi and Hayate. Breathing heavily, the man closed his eyes as he tried to free himself from the greatsword that had him now pinned in place.

Nodding his head, Hayate took some of the metal from the floor underneath the man and used it to cover the two stumps he now had in place of feet. It would stop the bleeding, for now, and allow Kiyomi to ask whatever she needed. Wanting to make sure that the man would not be capable of surprising them, Hayate allowed a little more of the metal to begin flowing across the man's body, slowly covering him in the substance. If the man tried to attack them, all it would take would be a simple signal from Hayate and the metal would send thousands of spikes into his body. "Understood sensei." Was all he replied.

Spinning the kunai, she eyed the man. Both Samehada as Hayate were further injuring and pinning the man down. Though she knew that the man would likely have no real answers about the place, she had something else in mind. Walking to the front of the man, she glared directly in his eyes. ''Were you made to be a weapon?'' She asked with a cold tone. She kept spinning the kunai, while having her eyes fixed on the man's.

The face of the man started to look surprised before he huffed his cheeks, only to cough up blood. The damage that was further inflicted on him made it hard for him to speak up. The incredible pain that started to spread over his body was starting to make him feel light in the head. Hearing her question, the man however managed to grin. So far one could recognize one in the pain tormented face of the unknown man. ''Aren't we all weapons?'' He asked back, before coughing up more blood. The damage that was done would mean he would bleed to death. ''I-I-Its too late..''

Staying in his position, Hayate would await any further orders from Kiyomi. Though the man's words angered him, Hayate would not react unless she gave the word. He kept a close eye on their enemy, making sure that he would not try anything. If he did... Hayate was all too tempted to simply end the man's life right now, but he held back.

Sighing, Kiyomi wondered now why she had even buggered. Until something dawned. With a quick move, she plunged the kunai in the neck of the man. Twisting the weapon to rip more tissue and hoping to heavily damage an atery. Pulling out the kunai, she noticed that the wound sprayed a bit blood out. ''We will quickly check up what is ahead. Then fall back to meet up with the other team. I get a bad feeling from this.'' Kiyomi said. Pulling out his extended scales out of the man, the handle of Samehada moved towards Kiyomi. Wrapping her hand around the handle, she lifted the greatsword and placed it in the special scabbard on her back that would keep the shark blade there. But before she moved, Kiyomi glanced at their opponent. ''Pitiful.'' Then she started to walk towards the previous room they had been in. The lab that they had founded.

Slightly confused, Hayate clenched his fist and caused the spikes to shoot into the man's body. Just in case. He didn't like taking chances, so before he removed his staff from the floor, Hayate set the metal surrounding the man to explode in a short period of time. It wouldn't be a large explosion, but it should be enough to destroy what was left of his body. Retreiving his staff, Hayate followed after Kiyomi.

Moving into the lab, the room was nothing more than rubble. Some of the more stubborn furniture had somehow survived the explosion. At least, their shape. Even the walls were showing signs of the damage. Letting out a short whistle, Kiyomi placed her left hand at her hip as she examined the room. ''Nicely done. However, now stay calm with your chakra. You have used quite some jutsu. Beter would be to stay in supportive now.'' Kiyomi advised, as she looked sideways at Hayate. She had the idea of passing some chakra off Matatabi towards Hayate, but decided against it. It felt wrong. While she had no problem off doing it by most people, it felt wrong by him and a few others. Certainly with knowing the risk that the powerful chakra had. ''So, we can either continue or try to catch our breath here.''

Nodding his head reluctantly, Hayate knew she was right. He was beginning to feel the strain of having used up so much chakra. Despite the fact that he had large reserves, Hayate had used a lot of techniques in this godforsaken place, not to mention their run on the stairs... "Sorry Kiyomi. I will work on my control from here out." He hesitated for a moment, considering her question. "I will follow whatever decision you make Kiyomi-sama, but my thought would be that we should continue. We don't know how Kensuke and the others are faring, and we also don't know how much of this place we have to search. The more time we take, the more energy we may waste."

That was true and she was afraid that the place would be big. Thus one way to cover it was to use shadow clones, but Kiyomi wasn't fond of them. Even with the use of a portion of Matatabi's chakra reserve and her good chakra control, Kiyomi didn't like it that shadow clones would cut her reserve in half. In a situation like this, it would mean that she would waste and rush out of chakra. ''I think we should try to find some supportive pillars and then rig them. If we can't scout the place fully, lets burry it. I think that those who have suffered here deserve a resting place.''

[Cuco]

Kamiria Haruhino

Both Niji and Kazuma made their own attempts at consoling her. Kamiria was sure they meant well, but she also had a feeling it was just empty words. Less an authentic appraisal that she wasn't useless and more a token attempt to placate her. But she wasn't about to get caught up on something of little importance like that. If she wasn't useless, she would express it by doing something meaningful. Then, she would be content with herself, and anything else wouldn't matter a bit.

As Niji drew her into a hug, she heard the possibility of a mission thrown around. She could hardly imagine them doing anything else with their time. Training was one thing, but field experience was entirely another. She was all too eager to get out there and test herself genuinely for the first time in a long time. Hopefully, her exercises would be reflected by her performance. "I'm all in favor of departing on a mission." She told the two of them. "Sensei, did you have something specific in mind already?" They were planning to go on a mission, but he had yet to speak of what kind of mission they were going on. Kamiria thought this would be a rather important detail, but she assumed that Kazuma had already planned it out.

[ChromeHound]

~(Double Post)~

[ChromeHound]

The New Recruits!
Kirigakure - Team 2
A collab between ChromeHound, Nytefall, Agent B52 and Fieryfly!

Summary:
Takeshi finishes up his training session with Shiro, only to have his two newest students arrive. Deciding to see how they work together, Takeshi challenges them to the infamous Bell Test, but this time there's only one bell...

The New Recruits

Stretching out his stiffened limbs, Takeshi finally stood. It was getting to the point where he should probably start trying to find the other members of his team. Turning to glance briefly at Shiro, he wondered how his team would get along. Something caught his eye however, and he turned back to see a figure heading towards them. Strange, he thought. It wasn't someone he recognized, but Takeshi didn't worry too much. He decided to wait for the figure to come closer. Leaning against a nearby tree, Takeshi yawned and watched the boy's approach.

Kichiro leisurely strolled onto the training grounds, easily a good half an hour early. First impressions were important, and this counted doubly so for teammates that would have his back for the coming months. It was for the same reason that his current attire was a bright red kimono with a very convincing fake sword. At first glance, the very picture of a wandering noble. Given the first thing that any team did was a spar, he would promptly turn their assumptions against them.

The idea that they might see through his disguise did not once enter his mind. While their jonin sensei might see through it Kichiro was quite confident his acting skills would fool fellow genin. Plus even if they did somehow pick up on the lie too soon, the Kimono cloth was intentionally weakened to tear in strategic places, with a basic dirt brown training Gi underneath. If need be he could ditch the disguise in an instant in favour of more practical clothes that suited his preference for taijutsu.

He knew his new team was to gather at this particular training ground but other than the name of 'Takeshi Shun' he knew little details. Thus when his gaze fell on a man in a black longcoat with the Mist plate strapped to his chest, he assumed that the man was his new teacher. From the corner of his eye, Kichiro spotted someone else on the field as well. A fellow student most likely. Showtime then. He made a formal bow precisely as ettiquette prescribed.

"Kakurenbo Kichiro reporting for duty, SIR." he announced himself, once again following protocol to the letter.

Cocking his head to the side, Takeshi stared at the newcomer for a long moment. A small smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Well, Kakurenbo Kichiro, it is nice to meet you. But what duty is that exactly?" He raised an eyebrow curiously, and took note of the boy's attire. Everything about him screamed excess, but Takeshi couldn't help but think that it somehow fit the kid.

"Sir, to serve Kirigakure as a member of Team 2, SIR!" Kichiro responded instantly. The textbook answer really, mostly because he had not expected this question as an opener. At least the man did not question his act or expose it in any way. His posture was still rigid at attention, so he could not see if the other student was looking at him or not. He assumed she was and did not communicate to his teacher about why he was acting the way he did yet.

Not lowering his eyebrow, Takeshi took abother long look at Kichiro. Am I getting another replacement? He thought to himself, for a single moment wondering if he was truly that poor of a sensei. Standing to his full height, Takeshi crossed his arms, a playful look growing on his face. "Do I really come across as someone who desires to be called sir?" He asked the boy, the amused look still on his face. Takeshi knew nothing about Kichiro, but so far he liked the boys enthusiasm, though he was going to have to tone down the formalities. Being called sir made him feel so... old.

"It is both protocol and a gesture of respect sir. You are my superior." Kichiro replied. A bit of his true personality shone through, he did respect the man simply on the basis that he was their jonin sensei. His previous sensei had that one message drilled into their collective skulls very well.

Shiro stretched looked at her ankle "Healed quite nicely thanks to sensei" She muttered to herself. Standing up she bounced up and down testing out her ankle a little. Satisfied that her ankle was fine she looked over at the person who had approached Takeshi. He introduced himself with a bow as Kakurenbo Kichiro. Shiro walked over to Takeshi looking at Kichiro in a shy manner. He was wearing a bright red Kimono and equipped with what looked like a sword, though shiro was not much of a weapons expert so she wasn't able to tell. Shiro bowed back Kichiro looking at his feet as she spoke. "So you're are new team member then?" blushing slightly she looked at him startled "I'm sorry I never introduced myself, My name. Ummmm. My name is Shiro Konton. And you're Kichiro. Kakurenbo Kichiro. It's very nice to meet you"

Kichiro immediately snapped off a salute at her. "At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst." he responded. Idly he wondered if he was laying it on too thick.

Nah.

The fourth one to enter the trainingsfield, if you included the sensei, was Nami. After the obnoxious boy had left the graveyard she had spend a couple more minutes staring the grave of her brother before finally getting up. She had dusted of her clothes with a certain precision and had left the gloomy place. To her astonishment however she found the same obnoxious boy that had been bugging her on the trainingsfield. For a moment she could do nothing but stare at him. Really? She would have to keep up with him? Her hands searched for the note she had received in one of the pockets of her wide pants. It really said that she had to come to this field. Well, that was just great. Nami's face got blank as she walked forwards to the older man on the field who was undoubtedly her sensei. She bowed as she arrived before him, ignoring the two other students at first though she caught both of their names.

"I was told to come to this field and hand you this note,sir." She said as she offered the paper to Takeshi. "I'm Nami Tachibana." She straightened and send a look to both of the Genin.

It was good that he was standing at attention already, for otherwise Kichiro would have noticably frozen in place. The girl from the graveyard, Nami Tachibana, was on his team and she had seen him with his mask off. More than that he had given her a clear view of his capabilities as well. No, he calmed himself, the game was not up yet. The lie would only have to last up until their first spar after all. He would have to convince her his current behaviour was his serious 'on duty' face.

"Again with the sir?" Takeshi lamented, to noone in particular. Sighing he took the note from the newest arrival and read it. His eyes opened slightly wider in mild surprise. "Well Nami, it is a pleasure to meet you. Welcome to the team... The ever growing team..." He was definitely a little confused as to why the Mizukage had decided to put more students on his team, perhaps she had forgotten he already had students... Oh well, Takeshi would bring it up with her later. Turning back to face the three in front of him he had to fight back a smile. They certainly were a mixed bunch at the very least. His eyes briefly moved past the three genin scanning around to see if Natsume would arrive soon.

"So..." He began, clasping his hands together in front of him. "How about you all introduce yourselves to each other?" Folding his arms across his chest, Takeshi leaned back and simply waited to see what the genin would do.

Shiro looked back at the ground blushing intensely at Kichiro's reply. When it was her turn to introduce her self she looked back at the ground and twideled with her thumbs saying quietly. " My name is Shiro Konton of the Konton Clan." Shiro ended her introduction with a short bow.

Nami assessed her other teammate as she replied to her sensei. "Thank you, si-" She bit her tongue. She had heard his words. Obviously he didn't like it when she called him sir, so she should refrain from doing that which was weird to her. Father always wanted her to call him sir, but she would have to remember that this guy was different. Spinning on her heels she faced her teammembers. Kichiro she had obviously already met and the other girl looked shy. Polite as ever Nami bowed back to her. "As I told sensei just now my name is Nami Tachibana. No clan, or at least none I know of. It is very nice to meet you Shiro and... Kichiro." With the last words she raised her head to look at the boy. Whatever he was trying to achieve with this ridiculous get up, she didn't buy it. He had seemed way more genuine on the graveyard, singing with his friends, being annoying and talkative. He still got that last part down it seemed along with being ridiculous. But as long as he was a fine ninja than she wouldn't mind him around.

Kichiro himself ignored Nami's stare for the moment. Shiro blushed. Why had she blushed? Sheer presence? Curses! His manly aura struck again. Not that this mattered into his current plan much, the persona he wore for the occasion was not the type to notice such things immediately. Time for his own proper introduction. Duty bound, honourable, and spoiled. With the possible exception of the first, around the opposite of his actual personality.

"A pleasure, miladies. As you have already heard, Kichiro Kakurenbo," at this point he bowed, " at your service." he introduced himself once again. His tone held an ever so slight simmer of arrogance that would be typical for someone raised a noble.

"Blood type oh-negative by the way." he told Shiro with a pointed look, or in other words: I am aware of your bloodline, and can donate blood if needed. His gaze shifted over to Nami.

"Nami-san, once again apologies for my earlier behaviour, such an act is normally beneath me."

Shiro's shy facade quickly dispated when Kichiro mentioned his blood type. Her Shy face and body language changed to one full of aggression. "What did you just say Kimono boy?! What makes you think I'll EVER. Need any of your blood?!" Shiro's wounds from the spar with Takeshi opened up blood boiling from the open wound illustrating her current rage.

"You think that I need you to tell me to becareful as well?! I can look after myself!" As she began to raise her fist towards Kichiro she stopped. Come on Shiro, he doesn't know anything about you. He meant nothing by it. Shrio's fist droped down to her side as she took a deep breath.

"Sorry about that, I'm quite hot blooded. Get it?" Shiro Chuckled nervously. "Let's try this again, without the shy girl act. My name is Shiro Konton. Please to meet ya."[b] Shiro bowed to Kichiro.

[b]"I'm very sorry for the outburst"

Kichiro raised his eyebrow slightly. When the girl moved to attack he had switched to a stance to either block or dodge whatever was about to come his way, but the sudden apology caught him off guard.

"Apology accepted. I merely thought it would be... prudent given your clan's reputation." he replied slowly. Inside he cried. Puns! So many puns! They could have had a PUN OFF! Alas that would be out of his current character. Decidedly something they should try later though. On another note he was amused to note he was not the only one who decided to wear a mask today.

What was with the outburst of emotion, Nami thought annoyed. Ninja's should be collected. They should never show what they truely feel or what they truely think. Apparantly Shiro didn't have this down as her temper flared when Kichiro offered his blood. It was a weird thing to say, that was true, but no need to get all jumpy about it. In the end Shiro perhaps was not so shy and Kichiro was still lying. She didn't believe it when he said singing and laughing with his friends was below him. So everyone was basically not telling the truth here. That was a good start. Nami decided just not to reply, but instead looked over to her new sensei. Maybe he would finally let them do something besides talking?

Watching the scene before him with mild amusement, Takeshi rolled his eyes. At least they're a spirited bunch, he thought to himself, absently scratching the back of his head. Takeshi took a thoughtful look at each of the genin, wondering how well they would ever get along. For a moment he pondered what Mika would do in this situation, but he quickly pushed that thought aside as he'd rather not have a bunch of dead students on his hands.

Takeshi cocked his head to the side as he surveyed his newest teammembers. The Kichiro fellow was trying a little too hard to keep up his act. Takeshi wasn't quite sure what the boy was trying to hide, but he had dealt with enough deceit in his time to know an act when he saw one. Shiro was... fiesty as ever, but she had managed to bring herself under control which was a good sign. Turning his attention to Nami, Takeshi realized that she was looking at him as well. This one seems quiet, he mused to himself. Nami appeared to be the straightest out of the bunch so far, but Takeshi felt like there was something more to the girl...

Letting out a loud sigh, Takeshi realized that they were probably waiting on him to give them all something to do. It was a realitvely strange situation that he found himself in, he had come to the training fields to help Shiro learn, and in the process had discovered that he apparently had two new students. Takeshi certainly hadn't planned a group training session yet... Thinking on his feet, he came up with a plan.

"Well... that was lovely. Now that you all know each other I suppose we can move on." Leaning forwards again, Takeshi stood to his full height and clasped his hands in front of him. "So, how about a team exercise to get us all warmed up?" He posed the question to the group, a bemused expression on his face.

"A team excercise sensei?" Shiro said her mind thinking back to the morning training she had already done "What kind of excercise. I've been training with my Grandmother since Dawn. But, I guess I'm up for some more training then. What did you have in mind?"

Kichiro perked up at the mention of an exercise. That was something he was ALWAYS up for. He snapped back to stand at attention again.

"Ready." he said simply, eyes shining.

Nami wondered what her sensei was thinking when he caught her glance. Whatever it was it was forgotten when sensei mentioned a team exercise. Everyone got excited. Nami quietly fixed her hair, using a long pin to tie it up into a knot. "Sounds good." She said. She was excited though. Even though she had already gotten training before it had been private. This was the start of her career as a shinobi here. That was quite something.

A grin growing on his face, Takeshi looked at the three genin in front of him and clapped his hands together. "Excellent! Well, seeing as you all seem to get along so well, you are going to have to work together to achieve the goal. And that goal is..." Takeshi paused for dramatic effect, reaching one hand into his pouch.

He grabbed the item he had brought along to train with Shiro, had she not chosen to spar instead, and withdrew it from the pouch. Holding it clenched in his fist, Takeshi wondered how well this exercise would function with only one of the required elements. ”… to get this bell from me before the end of the day!” Staring around at the three genin in front of him, Takeshi revealed the bell to them, hoping that they would enjoy the exercise. Had he been aware that he would be receiving two new students today, he would have planned a better one. As it was, he was stuck with the bell exercise, albeit a simpler version seeing as he only had one bell with him.

”If you fail to get the bell from me by sundown, then you will all be punished. But if one of you manages to get the bell, that person will receive a special reward.”

Kichiro placed his hands within his sleeves.

"Question, we start right now?" he asked.

Glancing at Kichiro, Takeshi paused for a moment. "Did I say go?" Takeshi asked, sounding mildly hurt. "You haven't even asked what the reward is..."

Inside his sleeves, Kichiro's hands came to a halt on the monkey seal.

"I do like surprises. Example: MITSUO!" he said as the technique activated. Hidden from view beneath his sleeves he had run through the handseals already, so all that was needed was for him to activate the illusion. A blinding flash of light emanated from his body. Kichiro knew his sensei was fast, all jonin were. Faster than the speed of light though, he doubted that. He burst forward to capitalise on the brief moments the man was blinded to make a grab for the bell. Should that fail, he'd have to pull back so he could make up a plan with his teammates.

It was this famous test. Nami had heard about it. You were supposed to pass it by using all of the team members thus learning that teamwork is better than solo attacks or something like that. Kichiro didn't seem to care, but Nami decided to help him anyway. She wasn't going to fail this if some guy was ego tripping. As soon as Takeshi said go, Nami was moving. It was probably not completely fair since he hadn't technically said that the test had started, but ninja's didn't play fair. Keeping her eyes on Takeshi, Nami started to run around him. Her sensing focussed as she pulled out several shuriken and formed at seal, infusing the things with Wind Chakra. With that she threw them to her sensei. Now she would be able to manipulate them and hopefully assault the bell with it. She had no intention to really attack Takeshi, because the attacks would probably not work anyway.

Shiro shook her head, She already had a general idea of Takeshi,'s fighting style and as a Jōnin he would definatly be a challenge to fight. She did know first hand how strong he was. "Guys becareful how you approach him!" Even though Takeshi hadn't even said go that didn't stop Kichiro who was already running head on into the fight. Shiro had already tried that but Kichiro's approach was to blind their sensei and land a hit. Shiro smiled. Clever boy She thought to herself. Shiro was thankful that the wound on her shoulder were still open from when she had raged at Kichiro. Making the necessary hand signs the blood from her open shoulder wounds formed spiked shoulder pads. The blood traveled down her shoulders to her fists forming spiked knuckle dusters. Shiro was not going head staright into the fight with Crimson lightning. She would proably hit a team mate. Instead she just watched the two charge in and waited for the moment Takeshi tried to dodge.

Interesting. Takeshi thought to himself the moment that Kichiro’s mouth opened. The brilliant flash of light indeed blinded him, but Takeshi was swift to react. Clutching the bell in his fist, he briefly wondered if he was happy or disappointed with the sudden attack. On one hand Kichiro had not waited for him to say go, and as a result Takeshi had not even had a chance to move the bell from his hand. But… at the same time a shinobi used every advantage they could in order to achieve their goals. A slight smile touching his face, despite the temporary blindness, and Takeshi whipped himself into motion. He had begun spinning his body the instant that the light had blinded him, suspecting a follow-up attack. Releasing chakra from his tenketsu, Takeshi performed the great whirlwind defense technique, forming a revolving barrier that would push back anything that got within several feet of him. Though he was blinded, Takeshi could still hear perfectly fine, and so he focused on that, listening to hear his students moving around him. It was quite evident that none of them were practitioners of silent killing, not that he had expected them to be, but it made it relatively easy to make out where the genin were. He held the technique for several seconds, building up chakra for his next defense.

The instant he lowered the barrier and stopped spinning, Takeshi unleashed a wave of chidori current around his body. The lightning would lash out sporadically hitting anything within several meters of him. The current wasn’t strong enough to wound any of the genin, but it was strong enough to cause numbness as well as a sharp pain wherever it struck. And if any of the students were caught within the lightning field they would most likely be paralyzed for several seconds.

Slowly, his eyes began working properly again. Takeshi still didn’t have his full vision back but he could at least make out fuzzy shapes. Let’s see how well they can react, Takeshi mused as he kept up the chidori current.

As Kichiro's face met the spinning barrier, he thought to himself that he really should have seen something like this coming. Reeling back he barely kept to his feet, instinctively clinging to the basic stance. The try was still worth it though, if only because it revealed not one but two of Takeshi's techniques. The spinning barrier was something he had no answer to at the moment. As for the lightning defense though, he ba rely needed to think. Two kunai were up in the air headed for his teacher's torso the moment he saw the first spark.

While the knives flew Kichiro briefly turned his attention to his teammates.

I distract you flank? he hand-signalled to them. His illusion only impaired vision after all, so it was best not to shout out loud what they were up to.

Shiro watched Kichiro's attack bouncing of their sensei's barrier, she smiled inwardly. Head on attacks were only going to work if they could catch him of guard. Watching Kichiro she saw him signal to herself and Nami. So he wanted to be the distraction? Fine by me. She thought to herself. However she was at a disadvantage, she was a close comabtant but from what she could tell Takeshi had several defences to taijutsu and was fairly proficent in it himself. Well then she would just have to improvise. She waited to see how Nami reacted before she made her move.

Who appointed him leader? Nami thought looking to Kichiro as her shuriken flew back in several directions. Did he think he was the most experienced one of the bunch? Or the most clever? So far all he had done was set off some barrier and that surely didn't help. Not that it had damanged her or anything but they should have been planning carefully and then launch one grand scale attack to get the bell in one try. That would have been the most effective. With her hands still in the seals she had formed before she steered the shuriken back to Takeshi as she caught Kichiro's signal. He was the distraction? That was good, that meant that he could get hurt while she and Shiro could go unharmed. She sent two shuriken to launch themselves through the storm to Takeshi's hand that was holding the bell, while the other two would fly to meet her sensei's legs. Hopefully the natural avantage wind held over lightning would help the projectiles to meet their target.

Seeing Nami firing the shuriken she moved in. Activating Ligtning Crimson she speed towards their sensei aiming for his legs, should she grab them she would bring her sensei crashing into the ground with a bone breaking dump tackle following his grounding with an amplified punch to the chest with enough strength to shatter bone. The moment she entered the range of Takeshi's Chirdori she felt the paralyisis taking over. She pushed through the numbing effect, however if she did miss or even if she did hit Takeshi. Shiro would take some time to recover from the paralyisis. Shiro hoped that her speed would allow her to get the hit in and move out of the way or, failing that she would use her speed to move away from Takeshi. Hopefully her team mates would cover her after her attack.

Making out the blurry shapes of his students, Takeshi could see them moving. His vision was not yet good enough to make out the two kunai that Kichiro had thrown towards him however, and so he made no move to dodge them. The kunai travelled straight towards their target until they hit the chidori current. Once the metal kunai impacted with the current of lightning, they vibrated violently before being repelled. Takeshi’s vision was still clearing, and he caught just a glimpse of movement from the corner of his eye as Nami threw her shuriken towards him. Takeshi didn’t bother attempting to dodge them, as he knew the chidori current would be able to stop incoming projectiles. He didn’t realize however, that they were coated in wind chakra.

One of the shuriken’s chakra coating was too weak to break through the chidori current, and as a result it was repelled, the other three managed to pass through and continued towards their target. The wind coating protected the shuriken against the majority of the lightning, but they couldn’t fully negate the current’s force. As a result, two of the shuriken were pushed off course by quite some degree, while the third was shifted only slightly. It struck Takeshi across his arm, slicing through the skin. Gritting his teeth, Takeshi glanced over at Nami… Interesting… His vision was now at about 80% and he had to turn back as he noticed Shiro charging towards him.

Despite the paralyzing nature of the chidori current, Shiro was still coming towards Takeshi with quite some speed. Waiting until the last moment, he shifted to the side and sent a vicious side kick towards the charging girl. Takeshi had coated his foot with chakra, not to add strength to the attack, but to protect himself from the hardened blood 'spikes' that protruded from Shiro's body. He had come close to getting caught by them the first time he had sparred with the girl, and he had no intention of getting caught by them this time.

Kichiro practically stood still opposite of his teacher. Almost casually he snatched one of his own kunai on the rebound out of the air. The damage to the blade showed him that punching the field would be exactly as painful as it looked. Then Nami did something that allowed her shuriken to pierce the cloak, while Shiro demonstrated that enough force would also break through. Even as he considered a dozen different tactics at once his body moved on instinct to catch Shiro as she was launched away. Deftly he grabbed her hand and with a spin straight out of a tango set her down next to him.

A plan had formed in his mind. He paid no heed to Shiro next to him, she was out of it for the moment due to the paralysis and he had nothing that could help with that. Instead he flapped his sleeves up and down before he initiated another set of handseals that ended with him making the monkey seal behind his head. Arms wide, one foot in front of the other and hips thrust forward, Kichiro posed.

"MITSUO!"

Immediately he pulled out two extra kunai as well as one of his fishing wires. In the blink of an eye the kunai were tied together at the o-ring on their end with a good 4 meters of wire between them. Then with one foot on the wire to ensure ground contact, Kichiro started on a series of rapid jabs into the electrical field. This particular wire conducted electricity, and thus functioned similar to a lightning rod. In theory the only thing Kichiro would feel would be the physical force of the field trying to repel him, and hopefully this would ensure that Takeshi paid attention to him and him alone.

He prayed Nami would take advantage quickly because Kichiro had no illusions about how long he would last once the jonin started to make an active countermove.

Shiro had expected Takeshi's counter attack to work but thanks to the numbing effect of his chidori she didn't feel his foot connect with her stomach. As she was knocked away from Takeshi she saw, out of the corner of her eye Kichiro grabbed her hand and laid her down on the ground next to him. She looked at him angrily. "I didn't need you to grab me, I would've come to graceful landing by myself." Getting to her feet she stood staring at Kichiro defiantly. But this lasted for about 2 seconds before she collapsed back to the ground. Her body was still numb, she waited for a bit regaining her stregnth before standing. "Well I would've been fine any way" She pouted. Shiro looked around, she was not much of a ranged girl but she could make use of the land around her. Close by she spotted a few rocks lying about. Picking it up she weighed it in her hand. [b]"This will do nicely"[\b] As blood spread to the rocks in her hand she turned these harmless rocks into spikey crimson balls. Activating Lightning Crimson she began throwing them at Takeshi. She only had three but she followed these up with ten shuriken thrown so that each shuriken came at him from each side.

What the hell was Kichiro trying to do, Nami thought. Was he stabbing the lighting strikes? What was that going to accomplish? Besides him getting hurt. She was now standing to the side of Takeshi, seeing as he had partly turned to face Shiro. What she had been able to see from her abilities was pretty interesting. At least the girl had the same idea as she had. Getting close to her sensei wouldn't work. They would only get hit. If they could get enough ranged attacks in they could maybe get Takeshi to change his tactics, dropping those lightning strikes. Following Shiro's example Nami also pulled out some more shuriken, again infusing them with wind chakra. But she wouldn't do the same thing twice, that was unwise and unlikely to work. She threw them in the same fashion, but as they left her hand, she made one seal and blew out a stream of wind. The shuriken picked up in speed and raced towards Takeshi twice as fast then before.

His attention had turned back to Nami immediately after Kichiro caught Shiro. At the moment, Nami's wind release was the biggest threat, and Takeshi wasn't about to make this easy for them. He heard Kichiro shout something from the side, but Takeshi wasn't about to turn and get caught by that blinding flash technique again. Looking past Nami, he noticed the forest off in the distance. Hmm... He thought to himself, before making a very slight movement, and then... he took off running. The chidori current remained in place for a second or two longer as Takeshi moved with so much speed that the current only disappated when he was about 18 meters away. The current remained just long enough to block Shiro's shuriken, but her rocks were able to punch through the lightning field as there was no metal in them for the current to block. Takeshi had moved out of range however, moving with close to his full speed in order to reach the forest without delay. After all, the purpose of this training was not to fight the students, it was to stop them from getting the bell. Let's see how they cope with this, he thought to himself with a grin as he entered the forest.

[Shadowcatcher]

A Plan Set In Motion - Kirigakure Docks
A collaboration between Little Alice, J8cob, Shadowcatcher, and Mr. Nim

Plot: An excited Haruhi and a worried Mika meet the Mizukage and her ANBU at the docks. Rika and Haruhi excange a few words and get to know eachother while they wait for the others to arrive.

The Start of a Super Secret Mission!

Haruhi listened to Mika as she spoke about the previous night. In truth, she didn't really feel the need to talk about it since all morning she had been trying to push it out of her mind. Nodding in understanding anyway, Haru gestured for Mika to exit first and that she would follow after her. She kept her thoughts occupied by pondering over what kind of 'important mission' they were embarking upon. It sounded very exciting, and before she knew it, Haruhi's attention was completely diverted to trying to figure out what it was.

"Hayashi sensei...? Is this a super top secret mission that's like... life or death? Because I am totally not nervous or anything but... maybe I'm not ready for something too serious. I don't want to mess things up like usual." she said in a worried tone.

Thinking about the question, Mika wasn't sure how to answer it. Personally she wanted to give Haruhi some words of comfort. But she wasn't good in in that, so she decided to take another way. She simply shrugged. ''Every mission is important for the village. From D to S rank.'' Mika first answered, but decided that it wouldn't work. But giving details to the coming missions wasn't allowed. If there was only a choice of running. ''But it is best to keep it secret for now. Though don't worry. We wouldn't be assigned on this mission if we wouldn't be deemed capable.'' The answer made Mika feel sick. The ironic twist of words was enough to make her hate what she was telling her student.

"Oooh a secret mission! This is so exciting!" Haruhi said with a skip in her step. As she continued to follow Mika on their way to the docks, Haru kept her curiosity suppressed by counting her steps, then taking her steps in time with Mika's, then doing some other silly things that kept her busy. She focused on the sway of her sensei's ponytail for a long moment before asking "Are we almost there?"

At first Mika almost frowned and had shaken her head at the sudden shift of Haruhi's behavior. But she decided to not react with being too negative. Maybe it would fall out of line and she certainly didn't want to do that now. But if it would give Haruhi a better time now? Mika wouldn't care much about any big problem. It made her think briefly of her past. How things could have been if she had made other decisions. Would the person next to her then be a young boy, eager to become a splendid shinobi? Haruhi's question broke Mika's thoughts. ''Almost. Patience, Haruhi.''

Haru groaned and mumbled an 'OK' as she went back to occupying herself with weird things to do. Though in the back of her mind, she wondered about the mission ahead of her and who else was going to be there. She wondered if there were going to be genin her age there... if maybe she could make a friend on the mission. "Ooh maybe there will be cute boys." she accidently said out loud. She sent a worried glance towards Mika in fear she had been heard. Come on Haruhi, there's no reason to be thinking about cute boys. This is a top secret mission! Get your head out of the- "Oooh I see the water!" Haru stated excitedly. Seems like they had arrived in no time at all.

From her spot on the dock, the Mizukage could see Mika and Haruhi approaching through the fog. She put her hands together and smiled, before glacing around the ANBU that were waiting with her. She still had last night's encounter with Mika fresh in her mind, but today's business took priority over that. And judging by looks alone, nobody would know that anything even happened the night before. "About time you got here ♪," Rika chimed as they approached, bringing her hands apart and putting them on her hips. She was used to other adults being taller than her, but she couldn't help but note that the newly arrived genin also had a height advantage. Still, her smile never faltered. "You aren't exactly late, but I expected more from you... Uh..." Rika began to look around, even leaning to the side to look past Mika and Haruhi. "Where are the others?"

The brief mention of cute boys did made Mika frown in Haruhi's direction. It was however kind of different now. She didn't send a glare afterwards. How could she? Mika felt the burden of her guilt starting to get heavier with every step she took. When Haruhi stated she saw water, Mika gave up. She couldn't frown today at her student and protege. Not today. With arriving on the scene, Mika heard the voice of Rika. Clenching her right hand into a fist, Mika knew better. Not due the conflict of last time, but it was high unlikely that the Mizukage wasn't without her lackeys- guards or ANBU- and alone with Haruhi made Mika wary. ''Not present yet. I have made sure that they got the message, Lady Mizukage.'' Mika said with a calm tone.

As Haru stepped closer to the small girl who was apparently waiting for them, she wondered why she was surrounded by shinobi wearing ANBU masks. It was odd... but once Mika spoke, things suddenly made sense. This lady was the.... Mizukage? "Wooooaaaaaah! Hold on a second. YOUR the Mizukage!? That is so cool! No wonder this mission was super top secret." Haru stared at the woman for a long moment before scratching her head in confusion. "I thought you'd be.... well you... are smaller than I imagined." she said bluntly but with no intention of disrespect. She noticed that the shinobi that accompanied her stayed quiet. Hopefully that was not taken the wrong way... she thought with a bite of her lip. "Oh um... my name is Haruhi Suzumori. Genin in training but soon to be a totally awesome kunoichi." She paused and looked around nervouly. It was time to stop talking.

Resisting to whack Haruhi's head, Mika briefly glanced around them. ''Haruhi, manners.'' Mika mumbled, a bit annoyed. The woman didn't like this at all. She had anticipated that Rika would start a conversation by what the woman had told her before. But she didn't want Rika to get close to Haruhi. Not cause she was jealous or any of that sort. More worried about the health of Haruhi. Being near a Mizukage wasn't that healthy at all. Certainly not one that was in Mika's eyes a big hypocrite. ''I suspect that the others will be soon here.'' Mika said, hoping to change the course of the subject.

The young girl's reaction to meeting the Mizukage amused Rika. She even giggled a bit to herself, before reaching out and patting Haruhi on the head. Despite the fact she was shorter than the girl, this still achieved the desired effect. "We only grow until we are perfect ♪," Rika responded with a smile on her face, in regards to her shortness, before taking a step back and looking over at Mika. "It's fine. Let the girl be a girl." She closed her eyes and shrugged her shoulders, before turning her head to glance over at Kimi. Not so much a threatening glare, but more so as to get the message that the boat needs to be prepared to cast off. With that, she looked back at Haruhi. "This mission is secret, so when it's over, you tell no one ♪." Rika even raised a finger, to help get Haruhi's attention.

Haru was slightly disappointed to hear that after the mission was over, it was still going to be a secret. Now she couldn't tell anyone about meeting the Mizukage... Don't worry, it's not like you have friends to tell. she reminded herself. With a small sigh of defeat, she nodded her head in understanding and looked at Mika. Haru got the feeling that she was uncomfortable for some reason. Looking back at the Mizukage, she debated wether to ask a question that was nagging her a bit. Kicking a bit of dirt, she decided brave it and ask.

"Um... Mizukage-sama... why is it that people are so afraid of..." she trailed off, wondering if there was a better word than 'you.' "Kages? I mean... I'm sure your super tough but... are you secretly mean or something?" Haru looked the woman in the eyes for a moment before lowering them to the ground. She felt weird for asking such a question.

First Mika shot almost a glare in the direction of Haruhi. To think the girl would ask such a question. Not that she was bothered with that it could be considered rude, but it was an opening that Rika could use to win Haruhi's trust. Like hell if Mika wanted that to happen. But should she say something? It was evident that Rika needed her in order to make Haruhi a jinchuriki. Somebody that had a bond with the girl, thus able to keep her stable. But still, the thought of what this question could do. ''Kages decide over the life of their followers. Even when it places the said follower in a direction they won't like, they say that it is in the best interest of the village. That is why people are sometimes so afraid of leaders. Cause they sometimes make decisions that have an impact on people's life... that shouldn't be disturbed.'' Mika turned her eyes towards Rika. Knowing her position, she was sure she could talk back to Rika. But with those damned ANBU close by, nothing else. Probably one or two had a kunai at the ready with the slight undertone of Mika, that would reveal what she really thinking. Not that Mika cared for that. As long Haruhi would become the jinchuriki, it would give Mika some protection.

Before Rika could answer, a question that she found to be a simple one to answer, Mika intercepted it. The young woman shot an annoyed glare at Mika for a moment, before bringing a fist to her mouth and clearing her throat. "Fear is only natural, sweetie," Rika began to explain. "People that feel they don't have control will either fear or resent whatever they think controls them. It's something I've been trying to remedy here but it isn't as easy as I hoped." She shrugged her shoulders again. "Sooner or later the fear will pass when people learn what I'm like." A smile formed on her face again, before she extended her hand and pinched Haruhi's left cheek. "But you need to learn to be a bit more tactful ♪." With that, she stopped bothering the girl and put her hands on her waist again. "It's rude to call people mean or such names."

Haru had glanced between the Mizukage and Mika as they spoke separately. Now, Haru was maybe not the smartest girl in the world, but it was apparent that the two women were not the best of friends. When the shorter woman pinched her cheek, Haru felt really happy for a moment. Oh.... I guess maybe she's different. Maybe she's nice. Rubbing her cheek, she decided to stay quiet.

Only... that decision was quickly overrid by a final question.

"I have one more question... how strong do you have to be to become a Kage? I mean... I don't think I ever want to be one but... how do you do it? Become so strong that no one dares to hurt anyone you love? Do you think... every ninja has the ability to become that strong?"

Is she... Mika thought. She had a feeling why Haruhi had asked the question, but why to Rika? Why not to another strong leveled person? How could Mika intercept this? ''Haruhi, manners. The Lady Mizukage isn't here to be pestered by countless of questions.'' Hoping that Haruhi would understood the tone, that seemed to be cold, Mika kept her gaze on Rika. ''I believe that we aren't here for some iddle chatter after all.'' Mika said, placing more emphasis on what she wanted to make clear to Haruhi. It was already troublesome enough to see her being close to Rika. It was getting even more to Mika's nerves that the short woman dared to act nice, while she would condemn Haruhi's life forever to become a mere weapon.

The Mizukage was surprised by the question. Enough so that she had to take a moment to think about why Haruhi wanted to know. But, in a more predictable manner, Mika once again spoke up. It was very clear to Rika that the jounin-sensei was bitter about their discussion and wanted to do what she could to keep Haruhi away from her. With her reaction, Rika let out a sigh. "Being Kage has nothing to do with being strong, sweetie," Rika answered simply, before taking a moment to glance at Mika. After the pause, she looked back at Haruhi. "But your sensei is right. I suppose I can start explaining what your job is." She brought her hands together again, before taking a moment to adjust her Mizukage robes. "Your team's mission is to observe and scout out one of our islands. We recently lost contact with the shinobi over there. Me and my entourage are here to... observe how you all do." Rika flashed the two a smile.

Though the adults knew this was a blatant lie, they would have to admit it is a clever one. And there were no signs of deceit on her friendly face. "I guess you can say this is a tough mission ♪." With that final appeal to what seems to be a fighting spirit in Haruhi, the Mizukage stood upright to her full height and stretched a bit. "I have... a question for you ♪," she let out while stretching. Once her back felt better, Rika brought her green eyes back on the young genin. "What do you think of Kirigakure?"

Haruhi was a little bit surprised by the simplicity of the question. For some reason, it seemed like a life or death kind of question. "What do I think of Kirigakure...? I think this village is full of a bunch of people who should laugh more often. I mean, very gloomy some times. But I also think that the people here are nice. The village is pretty. The shinobi are the best in the world and im proud to be one. Hmmm... oh the food is sooo gooood. Like I love all kinds of food. But not noodles. Hmmm what else? ..." she trailed off as she thought about it, but after a while she gave it up. "That's all I got. I don't think I'd want to be in any other village." she smiled, proud of her answer. Being sheltered because of her weak heart made it difficult to get too deep with her answer anyways.

Waiting till Haruhi was done, Mika was considering to really shut up her student and protege. It became painfully clear that she had to get a wedge between her and Rika. But right now it seemed that Haruhi bought the lie of Rika. A shame as Mika's opinion was vasty different on it. Who wouldn't be very suspicious when hearing a kage leveled shinobi was coming with them? And if the mission was so dangerous, why send a team of genin? Questions that could have been asked by Haruhi, but not by Mika. If she would ask it, it would became too clear that she was trying to clear something about what would happen. And that would bring Haruhi's life in danger. Mika's frustration kept growing with every second she realized that she wasn't able to do anything now. Deciding to place her hands at her back, Mika would for now watch for any openings she could make use to try to keep Rika distant from Haruhi.

"Gloomy..." Rika repeated, somewhat absentmindedly. She brought a hand to her chin as she thought about it. One of her primary concerns when she became Mizukage was to improve the village's image. After the years of oppression, Kirigakure greatly needed a change. But if Haruhi had the majority opinion, it would seem that she was failing on that account. But how to improve? The young Mizukage seemed distracted by this train of thought for a moment, before she suddenly remembered she was conversing with the girl. "Oh," she exclaimed, before giggling to herself. "I seemed to have spaced out a bit there. But I'm glad you're happy with your home." She brought her hands down to her sides again. "Once your friends get here, we'll be heading out. You two can get on the boat if you want, but I'll be waiting on the dock until everyone has arrived." She gave Haruhi a wink, before looking past the girl back toward the village. She had no watch, but knew already that the others were close to being late.

Quickly arriving at the right dock, after she realised that the dock she had been at was the wrong dock. Spotting the Mizukage, her sensei and teammate along with several ANBU on the spot, she decided to activate her Kekkei Genkai, and kept running forward until she 'accidently' bumped into the Mizukage's back. She fell backwards, and her eye became normal looking again "Oof." She made a small sound before looking up and seeing who she bumped into. Pretending to realize it only then, she quickly got up and made a bow to the Mizukage, before getting back up and moving to a spot where she could clearly see her sensei and teammate, but did not achknowledge either of them.

Haruhi nodded to the Mizukage and looked to Mika and had a feeling her sensei was upset about something unknown to Haru. For a brief moment, Haruhi wondered if something hd happened that she should ask about, but that was when Minori-san showed up out of nowhere. Excited to see her teammate from being apart with training for a bit, Haruhi ran over to her excitedly. "Minori-san! Heyy! Can you believe we got chosen to do a super top secret mission?" she said while throwing an arm around the other girls shoulders. "Someone must have noticed how awesome we were doing and suggest us for it. I um... I swear I wont mess things up this time." she said with a happy grin.

[Red Fox]

Masami Hyuuga
Konohagakrue Genin, Team Hiron

Masami was a bit shocked at the outburst from Shikaroku, but thinking about it now, it was completely justified. Looking at her bloody palms, she realized the mistake she made - rushing in without her teammates was not a wise idea, especially after Hiron-Sensei made it clear after their first mission that he was not satisfied with their teamwork. She was worried a bit about Shikaroku but as he calmed down, so could she - and as she listened to his ideas - and listening to them, Masami saw the genius behind his speech. He learned all their capabilities and included them in a strategy, an approach that could allow them to succesfully complete this mission in the given time. She wanted to ask how he was capable to work with such a wast amount of information in such a short time, but they had more pressing matters to do. She remained silent for a few seconds one he told them his master plan and with a deep breath, she spoke up.

" I guess you .. you are right, Shikaroku. I acted without thinking or consulting it with you and ... well, I paid the price for it. And I may pay it once, depending on Hiron-Sensei´s mood. Your plan is a sound one, Shikaroku." Masami looked around, back to the trap that just injured her." I think I can spot those traps from a medium range - I was standing about thirty meters from that tree and I spotted them. I think I would be able to do better, but for that, I would need to be stationary - and not moving in a mission when we have to hurry is ... not good. Masami cursed herself for not training her eyes enoguh in the past - her mind flashed back to her training with Kiyomi during the events at the Hon Estate." But I think I can do it even while moving, Shikaroku. We can´t move forward without rising up to a few challenges. So ... Mia. Masami turned to her teammate." I say we give this plan a try. What do you think?"

[Red Fox]

Hiroshi Hon
Konohagakure Jonin-Sensei, Team Six

Hiroshi was once again sitting in his special dojo, the one with the animals painted on the ground. He was preparing it for one of his future trainings with his team, but it was still not ready. He was willing to take the time it needed to be prepared, for he believed it would give his team a great lesson. For now, he was leaning above three scrolls of paper, finishing the messages for each members of his team - their next mission was already prepared, and they will head out for it soon. It was not a mission that he was very fond off, but even this kind of missions had to be carried out. He looked once again at the scroll that contained the mission details - only to turn away from it with a sight. He finished the last letter and quickly wrapped all three of them with red thread. He stood up up and walked to the door and slid it open - just in time as a Wolf Guard member arrived." You asked for me, Captain Hiroshi?"

" Yes, thank you for coming on such a short notice. Make sure that Akira Kurasawa, Hinatsu Hon and Sayuri Cho receive these letters - I would like you to depart now. Time is off the essence." The Wolf Guard member did so without saying a word, disappearing in a puff of some with the Body Flicker technique. Hiroshi slid the door closed and walked back to the middle of the room. Biting his thumb a bit and forming the necessary seals, he summoned Hirudora by slamming his palm on the ground. The tiger appeared with a puff of smoke, curiously eying Hiroshi." Hiroshi. How can I help you this time?" Hiroshi bowed his head in respect before replying." I am sorry for calling on you without an advance warning, but this situation calls for quick actions. I am in need of your tracking skills." Hirudora returned the bow of the head, before looking deep into his eyes." Very well. I will help you, old friend. When do we leave?"

" Very soon, Hirudora. And I would like you to meet my team on this mission."

Hiroshi´s Letter

Dear students of Team Six,
We have just received the details of our next mission. Since time is off the essence, I am sending these letters via a Wolf Guard member. As soon as you receive these letters, grab your gear and come to the Hon Compound, to the dojo not yet in use. Pack your gear lightly - we need mobility this time. Also, there is somebody I would like you to meet.
Hiroshi Hon

[Fieryfly]

Midori Sato

Panic, it had settled down in her bones along with the feeling of indecision. What was she supposed to do right now? What was the right thing? What was the safe thing? There were too many questions and too many that she was incapable of answering. She didn't like it.

The girl was currently standing in one of the many alleyways of Kumogakure just after leaving Asami's house. Her hands were still shaking and her thoughts were still jumbled. She had to force herself to keep her breathing calm as she assessed what she would have to do. There were two options. Find her team. Deidara had been poisoned too and she would have to help her. But she had to go home too. She really had to go. Only one thing was possible however and she knew she had already decided. She had to go home and see her mom. Asami wouldn't kill her, not now when Midori had co-opperated, but Midori still desperately needed to make sure. The thread hadn't fallen on deaf ears. Raspberry-sensei would be fine. With all her heart she believed that he could take what Asami would throw at him, but her mom.... Her mom was not a ninja. It wasn't fair at all!

Midori pressed herself against the wall as if the stone could swallow her and take the problems away with it. How had it come to this? Was this what she had signed up for when she had become a Jinchuuriki? Did the same happen with Kiyomi? She closed her eyes and swallowed some rising bile. She had to go, but her mind refused to work and her body refused to move. How was she going to do two things at once? Then suddenly the obvious solution dawned at her. She was not alone! Fumbling she formed the handseals. It took her two tries to create a proper ink clone and let Gyuki take it over.

"I... Could you... Deidara and Reyna need help." She said to him. She didn't need to explain much to him anyway. He knew her thoughts or at least most of them. She explained her thoughts anyway as if speaking them out loud made her decisions better and more set in stone. "You need to help them. Please? Please, Gyuki I need your help. Please." Her voice sounded desperate, but then her eyes set. She pushed herself away from the wall. "I need to go home. My mom... I need to see if she is okay. Please don't punch Deidara again." And with that the girl turned around and sprinted away. Gyuki would do what she asked. He always ended up doing that even if she didnt know it.

It didn't take her long to reach home. It looked exactly like when she had left. Which was obvious but for some reason that made Midori glad. Somehow she had expected Asami to have blown it up or someting. She sprinted to the door, fearing that it might disappear if she stood before it for too long. However, before she could place her hand on the doorknob her eye caught the letter perched on the doorstep. For the first time since everything had gone wrong a smile reached Midori's face. There was only one person who send her letters like this. She bended over and picked up the envelope.

"Ryo." She breathed, pressing the letter against her chest. Then she stormed into her house.

It was quiet inside. But not the quietness that came with dead. Midori halted, removed her shoes and then bit her lip, standing silent in the hallway. She couldn't let her mother worry about her. She had done that enough when she had lost her voice, Midori knew that even though her mother never spoke of it. No, she had to pretend everything was fine and she had just come home early from training. Feverishly she tried to remember what she normally did. She opened her mouth twice and closed it again, swallowed and then called out. "Mom! I'm home!" Did her voice sound shaky now? Midori didn't know, but she was scared it did. Never the less she moved to the kitchen. Normally she would make tea. From upstairs a sound came that made Midori know that her mother was awake. That brought another smile to her face. She reached for the kettle and put water on the stove. As she leaned back against the cupboard she flipped it around to open it only to find a marking on the back. Ryo had send her something? Midori almost felt excited again. He hardly send things. What could be so important that he had to send it now? Without thinking twice she bit her thumb and placed it against the seal. There was a poof of smoke and then something heavy lay in her hand. Patiently Midori waited for the smoke to settle to see what her boyfriend had send her.

It was a sword.

Confused Midori stared to it. Why... would Ryo send her a sword? She wasn't at all good with kenjutsu, only once gotten some training with it before. He knew that. She shook her head slightly. Silly Ryo. What was he trying to accomplish here? It was a nice sword though, she thought as she flipped it over and looked at it from different angles. Still not sure what to think of it though she placed it next to her on the cupboard and opened the letter. At the same time the water started boiling and the whisteling sound filled the air. Half interested in the tea Midori turned around, her eyes on the letter while her hand reached for the kettle.

Letter~

Dear Midori,

You have been written this cause something went wrong. This is a letter that I am not longer active as a shinobi, due something has happened in a mission or an event. I have written in my last will that this should be sent towards you. It are my last words. I am sorry for it. Know that I had it great with you, more than any other person. I am really sorry and know that this won't ever help you to overcome the sadness or make me really be near you, but I hope this will help.

It was not that I didn't love you,

I still do, wherever I may end up.

With a bang the kettle landed on the floor, broken into a thousand pieces, water gushing over the wood. Midori stood frozen into place, not caring that boiling water was clinging to her shoes. Not caring that the favorite kettle of her mother had been shattering. She didn't even register it. She could only stare at the letter. Wh-what did that mean? Something went wrong? No. That could not be possible. He must be joking. He was an ANBU. He was strong. He didn't do stuff wrong. Ryo didn't do stuff wrong! She took a step back as if that would distance herself from the letter, but the paper of course moved along, the words staring her in the face. No. It was not true. This was not his last will. His last wish. It was not true. Suddenly her eyes shot to the sword. Sure, it had looked familiar, but she didn't know stuff about swords. For all part they could all have looked the same. But now she could remember. It was his. Why would her send her his sword unless-

Unless he didn't need it anymore.

Unless he was ....

Dead.

Midori shook her head. This couldn't be happening! It shouldn't be happening! "Ryo..." She let out a sob, her fist closing around the letter so fast that it hurt. Ryo was dead. Why would he do that? How could he? How did it happen? How could anyone let that happen? The questions raced through her head and she sobbed again when a voice came from the living room.

"Midori, what is going on? I heard a crash and-" Chie entered the kitchen and her voice stopped as she saw her girl standing in the broken pieces of her kettle, water on the floor, a sword on the counter and tears on the face of her daughter who was holding a letter. Carefully Chie made her way forward, wrapping her arms around the girl. At first Midori didn't move, but then she dug her hands in the fabric of her mother's kimono and pressed her head against her chest. "Shhhh, what is going on? Did something happen on the mission?" Chie asked as she dragged her fingers through Midori's orange hair. The girl sobbed again and slowly the sobs started to turn into wails where her whole body was shaking.

"Mom," she said through her tears. "Please... Pl-please don't die. You have to promise me. Promise me. You will not die. Not now, not ever. You can't... can't leave me. Please don't leave me."

"I won't Midori. Tell me what happened." Chie said almost demanding. In response Midori only raised the hand with the letter and with a quick look Chie understood and she knew, that there was nothing she could do right now but just wait until the sobs would die. If they ever would.

[Lesli]

Team 8 on the move again!
Part III

The first official mission,

Towards the Hotspring country!
Summary :
After their start of the mission, Team 8 continues to head towards the capital of the Hotspring country to deliver their package.

A good first mission

"I would not mind the extra hands," Yukara said, with a small smile. Shoving her hand that had the sore finger in her pocket, hopefully he would think that it was nothing and not that she had horrible accuracy. "I just have two more nails to do," she added, motioning with her hand that was not shoved into her pocket over where she had them laid out. Hearing what Katsu said, she was about to make some joke but decided not to once Aiko-Sensei said something about sticks and something smelled like fish.
Simply nodding, Koike would do the last two nails, though having heared what Aiko asked, maybe Katsu or Yukara could do that. Koike wanted to be sure that the tents were really stable. Having set up the last two nails and worked them into their position, he would check the other tents. ''The tents are set up and done.'' He reported, deciding to clean up what they hadn't used. Once that was done, he would head to the camp fire.

Katsu looked over to where the voice came for and nodded. He walked back into the forest, trying to find straight sticks that he could carve the outer shell completely from. Picking up three half-arm long sticks, he returned to the campfire. The boy set two of the sticks down and pulled out a kunai, pouring some wind chakra into it, making a thin coat to make it sharper. He started driving it on the surface of the wood, surfacing the area that hadn't touched the air outside of the bark.

Letting out a sigh, Aiko decided to sit down. The fire radiated some warmth and she got the feeling that she could relax a bit with how the team was operating. It had been surprising to see how the three were still reacting. Like how Koike gave a high five, Yukara not sneering once, Katsu not overreacting or anything else that had happened last time. Staring into the flames, she started to think who she would assign to keep the first watch.

After a moment, Yukara joined the camp fire and sat next to Aiko-Sensei, waiting for her other team mates to join them. So far, everything had not blown up on them or rather that Koike had actually offered to help her. "Where is your happy place, Koike?" Yukara asked him, not bothering to hide her curiosity. "And what about you, Katsu?" Yukara asked him.

Joining, Koike shrugged as he sat down. ''I don't have one.'' He simply replied. Koike wasn't sure why she had asked it, but he wasn't really bothered to consider asking why she wished to know. With Katsu preparing the sticks, Koike undid the sheath of the scabbard on his back. Placing the scabbard on his lap, he would stare for a few moments into the fire. A happy place? He almost scoffed at the mere thought of it. Pulling out a rag, he would also pull out the blade to start to clean it.

"Happy place?" Katsu thought for a moment. "I don't think I have one. If you mean something I would use to escape reality, I guess a library could be my happy place," he said jokingly. "Why do you ask?" He didn't raise his head or stop gliding the blade across the first piece of wood, making it sharp enough to pierce human skin with ease. He blew on its edge and some splinters flew off.

A bit surprised by the question of Yukara, Aiko decided to let it be. Though curious as well, Aiko would gesture to Katsu to hand over the first piece of wood. Already she had unwrapped the first fish, a salmon, from it protective paper package. Enjoying the warmth of the campfire, Aiko was hoping that the conversation would go in a nice direction. If the first day would go like this, she could be sure of it. Then her team was on the way of progressing, together. Soon they would be eating their dinner. Afterwards?

They would enjoy the peaceful evening. Eating marshmallows and sharing stories.
A good first and simple mission.

---

[center]Several days later, back in Konohagakure[/i]

Everything had went well. The team had managed to work more often together and without much of a trouble. Aiko had not even encountered one time that they started to bicker or trying to annoy one another. With a proud feeling, she wasn't just happy about that she had managed it. No, it were her students. They really were showing that they improved as a team, not just as individuals. ''Good work everybody. That is it. From now on I know will know what I am going to teach each of you. I shall contact each of you very soon, but remember,'' She fully turned around to the group as she raised her right index finger and wiggled it. Like she was warning them for something. ''Keep practicing your skills and trying to improve as expanding your knowledge. Now, time to go head home.''

[Lesli]

Aiko's sign of respect.

A personal regret.
One that hasn't been forgotten,
Or been healed yet due time.



The team had performed well. With an eager and happy feeling, she was looking forward to their training. Walking to a more quiet and tranquil place of the Leaf, Aiko had gone home. She couldn't visit the place she had in mind with being dressed in her jounin garb. It felt wrong. Very wrong, if she would do that. No, not wrong. Disrespectful. That was the right word to describe it, she thought. Dressed in a simple black kimono, she held a little basket at her left arm. One filled with various kind of flowers. And some fresh made cookies.

All the time that she was walking alone to the place, she had her head lowered, with a frown present on her brow. It seemed that she was lost in thoughts, but she wasn't. She wasn't lost at all. The thoughts and memories were actually old, but they felt fresh. Like it was just yesterday. Aiko wished that it could be yesterday. Then she would be more happy. Less regretful about how the events had turned out. But wishing wouldn't help what had been done. What had happened.

Arriving at the graveyard, she looked slowly up. There were so many of them. It always made her feel kind of alone. And that feeling pained her more. It wasn't because she was scared that she was alone. Zakito, her children, her family, her clan and her students were there. A considerable amount of people that she loved and knew that love and respected her. Yet, she had ashamed one person's trust. It was how she felt, which made her wonder.

Did he felt like that? Was he angry? Sorry or indifferent? Slowly a warm, salty tear moved over her cheek. Followed by others. She looked around, but she knew where his grave was. She had been there before. And it was just like this visit, she couldn't feel any better or positive about it. Slowly taking the steps towards that one grave that kept her sometimes awake at nights. That sometimes troubled her mind.

Miharu Hon,
Born on the 9th of February in the year of 455.
Son of Sahoru and Yuri Hon.

May he rest in peace.

Slowly Aiko sat in front of the gravestone. More tears and pain came. It was like the tears themselves caused her to feel miserable. About herself. She was his sensei, his aunt. She had promised to teach and protect him on his way to become a great shinobi. To make sure that he would one day have many friends and people caring for him. A day that he would be able to forget about his sad past. At times Aiko had wondered where his strength had came from. How it was possible that such a past didn't made Miharu unable to smile. But he had smiled, a lot. Laughed too. It was like he was finding joy in every kind of moment of the day. Like he knew secrets that caused him to be happy.

Trying to not sob, Aiko slowly placed the basket down. In front of her was a vase and a picture frame. Taking out the old flowers, she placed the fresh on in the vase. Not trying to look at the picture, she kept continue what you could call her ritual. Placing the old flowers in the basket, she then placed the fresh baked cookies on the plate that was in front of the vase and picture frame.

''He is improving.'' Aiko's voice was soft and a bit shaking. With the fresh flowers in place and the fresh baked cookies on the plate, she raised her right arm to whip the tears away on her face. Swallowing, she tried to smile. But no matter how often she tried it or wanted it, it was a sad one. ''Of course he is being stubborn, but I guess he is going the right way. Finally. Maybe he will make friends.'' Aiko continued, but it was a mere whisper. Placing her hands on her lap, she looked at the cookies. Looking at the picture or grave was just something she couldn't.

''Of course he is a bit stubborn and probably still shy. Like how he was when you were around. I think he still misses you dearly.'' Aiko kept on whispering. But not an answer came back. Not even the typical soft breeze or drips that would announce the incoming rain. Just a silence. Sighing, Aiko managed to stop crying. ''I know that it gets annoying, but I wish I was there for you. More often.'' The thought of what it would be if she had a chance. To prevent him from going alone with Koike on a training journey. Something only Miharu could device, even while he had been branded as the Kyuubi's host. Even while there was a lot of things going on. If she had more time back then. With all her duties, she had forgotten about her students. They had managed to slip away from her radar and even convinced Zakito that they could take care of themselves. If she had just one chance to make things right.

Slowly looking at the picture, she saw the people. Miharu at the right, giving a thumbs up with a big smile and at the left Koike who had a more simple smile. In the middle, but a step back was Aiko. She also smiled. And held both a hand on top of the heads of the boys. She looked she was proud of them. And Aiko remembered why. It was the very first mission that had went without a problem.

''I am sorry. I promise you,

That I will make it up to you.''

[Lesli]

Chuunin Exam training,
Katsu's bootcamp!

A collab between Sketcher and Lesli

Summary :
After the team mission, Aiko had asked in private if Katsu was interested in the Chuunin Exam. After he told her he had, Aiko decided to put her genin through some small bootcamp of her own design.

The Bootcamp!

The sun was barely shining or there was somebody on the training fields. Dressed in her jounin atire, Aiko was waiting for her student to come. Her hair was in a ponytail and the usual soft and friendly expression was now replaced by a more stern one. Her right foot was tapping against the ground, while she had both her hands on her back. On the grassfield, there were some dummies and other tools set up that they would use today for their training. It brought some memories back to how she had trained the first formation of Team 8. At least, it was in the similiar manner.

Katsu had woken up quite early, having gotten ready quickly after stepping out of bed. He quickly leapt out of the window, a rashly prepared breakfast in his hand, some tomato wrapped up in cheese. He quickly downed it as he ran past the jogging old man in front of his house. In just a few minutes, he found himself at the training fields, hoping to get there before the training would start, but alas, once more, he found that his teacher was there waiting. He stopped in front of her and straightened his back. "Good morning, Aiko-sensei!"

''Good morning Katsu. I want twenty laps, on the double.'' Aiko said. She looked less stern, but sounded quite serious as she then quickly glanced at the set up on the field. She had studied Katsu's profile once more and had an idea what she could do to train him and make him grow a bit. But the lion's part was up to him. Humming something, Aiko walked towards a dummy.

Katsu stood there for a moment, processing the command. After the moment passed, he nodded and jogged to the side of the field, starting to run around it at a steady yet quick pace. He regulated his breathing, looking forward as he ran; not at anything in particular, just ahead. He glanced at Aiko a few times but kept his concentration on his footing and the ground in front of him.

Waiting for Katsu to finish, Aiko checked the dummies and other equipment on the field. She had stop with the humming as she thought about what she would order her student to do next. Either practising his taijutsu on the dummies or train his stamina further. Rubbing her temple, Aiko tried also to focus on the present. Lately the past had been bothering her and she wasn't really sure why. Only one vague idea why she was so bothered with it.

After several minutes, Katsu was nearing the end of the last lap. Wanting to get over with it quickly, he sprinted at the last moment, finishing the 20th lap. He took deep breaths as he looked over at Aiko for the next command. He glanced at the dummies and equipment around her, trying to figure out what kind of training she had in store for him.

''Fourty push ups.'' Aiko said, not even turning around to look at her student. She had heard that he had stopped jogging, so that meant he was done with his laps. Turning around, she would watch over how he would do the push ups, but would say nothing. Not if he was doing it alright or bad. Or that he could do something to improve it. It was part of the training she was giving him now. Just like the first team training. He should think.

He dropped forward, barely yet easily keeping himself from colliding with the ground with his palms pressed onto the ground. He would keep his eyes locked on the ground between the two hands separated just as much as his shoulders. Thankfully, the previous exercise hadn't tired his arms. He lowered his body to the point where it looked like it would touch the ground and then raised it again. He repeated this action several times, the grass below him slowly getting soaked by the sweat. His visage never changed, ignoring the building up sore on his arms.

''After that, ten push ups with one arm. First left and then right.'' Aiko said, walking away from Katsu to further inspect the set up on the field. She was so far content with the performance of Katsu. But they were barely at the start of it. Already the next excersise was forming itself in the head of Aiko as she was needed to chose between either testing Katsu's knowledge or further pushing his limits with another excersise.

Once Katsu was done with the first set, he allowed himself a few seconds of rest to stop the shivering of his arms. He then put his right arm behind him, leaning his weight slightly to the left. He slowly lowered his upper body and raised it up again with caution. He shut his eyes tight and bit his lips, continuing with a slightly greater speed. At least once the left hand is done, my other arm'll be rested...

''Don't slow down. I am still watching over you. Pick up the pace, Katsu.'' Aiko said with a serious tone as she looked sideways at her student. Turning around to face his direction she thought about what was formed in her head. It wouldn't sound nice and maybe he wouldn't like it, but he should know that she couldn't be nice now. That would only make it seem easier and if there was something not true about the Exams, then it was that it was easy to get through them. ''If you want to be a possible candidate for becoming chuunin, you need to push your limits. Keep pushing them or else you can just sit down and give up. And with giving up, I mean back to the Academy. It is now do or die.''

Katsu gulped and nodded, pushing himself up once more. Now motivated by a mixture of fear and determination, he flicked his hand up and switched to his right arm in mid air, continuing with the same quick pace he'd left off with. He continued at the same pace, his eyes now open, air coming in through his nose and being thrown out of his mouth.

With Katsu now picking up the pace, Aiko waited till he was done. ''I want you to do eighty sit ups. While also naming each name of the past Hokages we had. With each name, I also want to hear a detail about them that you know. You have two minutes to finish this.'' Aiko instructed. Sitting down, she would sit down in a meditation sit, while watching over her student.

Katsu nodded hesitantly and started doing the sit ups quickly. "The first Hokage... Gakura Senju," he said after a moment's thought. "He started the modern Hidden Village system." As he continued, he took a breath to start talking once more. "The second Hokage was Daisuke Uchiha, who played a great part in the First Shinobi World War." He huffed as he continued doing the sit-ups. "The third Hokage was Zakito Hon. He gave the title up himself, instead of having died with it, unlike the other two Hokage that came before him," he stated. "And finally, the fourth Hokage is Hisoka Uchiha, nephew of the second. He was once the captain of Hokage's guard before being appointed as Zakito Hon's successor."

''Good. Now take a break to get yourself ready. We're going for a spar.'' Aiko said as she would get up. She would move her arms a bit as later stretch her limbs. ''During the spar, I want you to say every thought. Everything you are planning and are doing. Failing to do so, will result that you will need to do five push ups. With first only your left and then with only your right hand.'' Aiko calmly instructed.

Katsu leaned forward where he sat and thought on what she had said. "I... see," he said. "So if I were to swing my sword, I would announce this?" He thought of how he would have to speak quickly or move slowly so that he'd be able to speak fast enough to explain everything he would do.

''Everything. You just don't have to mention you're breathing, feeling pain or being tired. I want to hear you call up every action. I will explain only later why that is needed. You have ten seconds left of rest.'' Aiko said as she did some stretching exercise with her right arm, while looking with a neutral look towards Katsu. Maybe one he would recognize from somebody else. That look that didn't look or seem to care about how Katsu felt, but merely at how he was standing and moving around. One that revealed none thoughts or emotions.

Katsu quickly got up and pulled out his sword, pouring some of his converted wind chakra into it and creating a sharper coat, yet not very stable. He stared at her, waiting for the time to be over, correcting his footwork and raising the sword in front of him, ready to leap off the ground.

Without any warning, Aiko pulled out several kunai as she threw them towards Katsu. In a split second after it, the woman quickly leaped backwards to create more distance between her and Katsu as her hands were brought together. She didn't yet started to weave any handsignals. Just in order to be ready in defending herself in case Katsu would be able to react to the fast surprise attack.

Katsu's eyes opened wide as he clasped his hands together just as the kunai got close. As violent winds slowed and stopped the kunais. "Blocking with wind," he announced loudly, hoping that was enough. He raised his sword once more. He leapt forward, running towards Aiko. "Closing in to get into close combat," he announced once more.

She made a note to herself. Now she started to weave handsignals, on which she then raised her right hand into the air. A mist bank would roll into the field, covering the area with a thick mist. While Katsu could see Aiko, the woman still was standing on her spot, but if he paid attention, he would notice that she grabbed two kunai. Aiko wasn't planning to go full out on Katsu, as it would be a bit overdoing it on a mere genin, but she had her plan ready on what she wanted to teach Katsu with the tiring exercises and the sudden spar where he was needed to state his thoughts and actions.

A grin formed on Katsu's mouth. He hoped to use the mist to his advantage as much as he could. "Creating a clone for diversion," he yelled and a clone appeared in a puff of smoke in the mist. The clone clasped its palms together and yelled, "Clearing the mist," as the original threw two shuriken where the figure was. "Using the winds to speed up the shuriken."

Vanishing into the mist, the technique of Katsu worked. Only very briefly as the mist seemed to thicken. Aiko had her eyes closed as she silently moved towards another spot. She had already seen it coming he would try his wind nature to disable the mist advantage. A tactic she was well experienced with. Using her mastery and control, the mist was quite thick. Waiting with her next action, Aiko would wait and see if Katsu would try the same action again.

Katsu saw that the shuriken had missed. As the mist thickened, both he and the clone ran into it. One of the two made the seal again, trying to repel the mist around him. "Clearing the mist once more to get out into the open where I'd be visible," he announced. The other figure was nearby. The voice came from behind the figure using the technique. "Hiding for a surprise assault and ready to move." He quickly leapt away and hid near the slightly cleared area, hiding in the thick mist with his sword at the ready.

Again? Aiko wondered if he would do that. It would be a waste of chakra on his side. Forming a handsignal, she would keep the thick mist around. It had covered the whole trainingsfield by now. Moving around without making a sound, she managed to keep track of where Katsu and his clone were. It was only a bit annoying she couldn't be sure which was the real one, but for her next move it wouldn't matter that much. Throwing her kunai, Aiko aimed the weapon to hit a bark of a tree nearby Katsu's clone position. He could either pick that up as a warning or maybe that she wasn't completely able to aim accurate at him.

The winds stopped once Katsu realized that the technique wasn't working too well. He heard the thud of the kunai hitting the tree. With a quick glance, he saw where its back was pointing. He quickly swung his sword towards where its back was pointing, estimating that that was where Aiko would be. A vacuumed wave of air left the tip of the sword as he yelled. "Launching an attack."

She kept moving, but heard something moving through the air. Keeping away from it, Aiko silently moved towards the position of both Katsu and his clone. Weaving several handsignals, she would then softly blow out some mist. Something that was covered within the thick mistbank she had created earlier. Keeping herself hidden, Aiko would wait and see what Katsu would do now. It surprised only now that she had an Uchiha student that had an affinity for Wind instead of Fire. Not that it was important, but it was something that could be considered rare.

Katsu felt the air thickening. He gathered his chakra on his feet and pushed himself back, trying to find a less dense area. "Retreating," he announced as he continued moving. He kept his sword up, staying wary of his surroundings as much as he could as he moved around the field. But where he kept going, the mist was there. Aiko would move with him as she could keep up. Her only thoughts were about to keep up with the genin and his clone. Forming several handsignals, she would make it even harder for her student to move around. The genjutsu that she casted would make Katsu feel and see, so far he could, that he had entered a very dense forest.

Katsu suddenly found himself in a different environment. He tried to understand how he'd gotten there, unable to see the field nearby. This is... He cautiously looked around, his sword held up in front of him. He looked up to see if there was an opening he would be able to leap through to see the nearby area.

That moment was all she would need. The dangerous and concealed mist would catch up with Katsu and his clone as Aiko made sure it would spread more out. Katsu had shown some wit and Aiko wanted to be sure he wouldn't be able to escape the next illusion. Or rather, the next train of illusions. The real training was about to start. One to test out how willing Katsu was to push his limits. The mist slowly would fade away in front of Katsu's eyes as Aiko would come out of hiding. Holding only a kunai, she would say one word. ''Think.''

Katsu wasn't very familiar with genjutsu, other than the one time he'd attempted to use it, though that wasn't really an event possible to repeat at the moment. Although he hadn't encountered genjutsu users much, it wasn't hard to understand how improbable this was. The field was nowhere to be found and there was no way he could be transported to a place like this so quickly. He started to think quickly, trying to remember his teachings. He quickly made a handseal and waited for a moment, closing his eyes. He started converting his stamina into chakra in an effort to dispel the genjutsu.

Only to feel a kunai graze his right shoulder. Aiko already had picked out several shuriken as she aimed them now direct towards Katsu, throwing them all at the same time. The seven shuriken were traveling towards the chest of the genin while his sensei was slowly approaching him, while staying cautious of what he would do. Meanwhile, Aiko kept making notes to herself. For starters, Katsu had stopped to follow up the condition he had been given.

Katsu grited his teeth and clasped his hands together, expelling violent winds and repelling the shuriken. "Stopping the attack," he said, keeping his eyes locked on Aiko. He pulled out two explosive tags and leapt back, pushing them onto two different trees. "Preparing trap."

The shuriken were successfully repelled and when Katsu leaped back, Aiko seemed to run towards his left into cover. Only when he would land, he would be unable to move. The ground underneath him was different than the solid gras where he had stood on. It was quicksand that was trying to pull him down. Next to that, the explosive tags he had pulled out somehow were ignited, slowly starting to burn.

He quickly thought to himself, trying to find a way out of the situation. The quick sand would work like water pulling him underneath, dragging the more dense object under itself. He poured his chakra into his feet in an attempt to stay on the surface without sinking, just like he had been taught to do on water. Something started to move. While Katsu's manoeuvre would save him, the sand started to crawl up. It was forming around his feet, trying to grab him and pulling him down. More, it looked like it were hands that were trying to pull him down. ''I don't want to be dead...'' The whisper that seemed to come from nowhere was soon followed up more similar whispers, like a crowd that was trying to complain or say to Katsu how miserable they felt. If he would look down, there would be faces in the quicksand that stared towards the young genin. ''Why am I dead? Help me!'' The whispers started to become rather chaotic at this point.

Katsu could feel his heart pace getting faster, trying to break out of his chest. He quickly turned to the explosive tags and swung his sword, aiming his Vacuum Sword technique at the tip of the moving fire on it to stop it from igniting. After that, he didn't wait to see the result and clasped his hands together in an effort to blow the hands away with the wind. He ignored the voices and the faces quite easily, perhaps disturbingly so.

While it seemed that the boy finally gained some success, the scene would only turn more morbid by each second. The tags were stopped, but seemed to form into shapes. Arms, legs and more started to show. The two tags would turn into two people Katsu knew. Yukara and Koike. Both with a grave wound at their stomach as they looked with surprise towards Katsu. Then Koike fell on his stomach as Yukara started to shed tears while looking angry at Katsu. ''Murderer! Betrayer!'' The girl started to scream, but at some moments she had to recover as the pain seemed to take its toll on her.

The quicksand was blown away at first, but then it would just become worse. The faces and hands would just multiply as they would only move faster, trying to drag Katsu as the whispers would become now screams of agony. Screams that started to blame him for their agony.

Katsu's eyes opened wide when he saw the two figures appear. His resistance disappeared for a moment, letting himself get dragged until he realized he couldn't see the two anymore. His eyes opened wide and he reached up, his mouth open without any words flying out. Devoured by darkness, the voices were gone. Everything was gone as everything was now devoured by darkness. At least, for him. ''Interesting, isn't it?'' He would hear Aiko's voice behind him. Sitting on her rear as she looked at him. With the same neutral look she had stared at him at the begin of the spar. ''I always had a talent for this. To make things appear, that weren't there. I noticed that you soon picked up that you're now in a genjutsu. But, what have you done this whole time?'' Aiko asked, which would seem an odd question.

He didn't turn around to the voice at first, simply staying where he was and listening. "What I've done, sensei?" he repeated. He turned to her, rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache he was trying to wish away. "I don't understand the question..."

''Then you have yet to learn the lesson. The very first lesson I gave you and the team. A lesson that you and Yukara seem to miss.''' Aiko calmly stated. Dropping the neutral look, she sighed and lowered her head. ''Not that it is your fault. It is okay. Just sit down and do what I always say to each of you.'' Aiko instructed him as she would then flash a warm smile towards Katsu.

He sat and looked up at her. "Think?" he asked. Without waiting for confirmation, he lowered his head and started doing exactly that. Thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to figure out what his teacher was demanding of him by asking that question. "All I've been doing was trying to follow the instructions I was given and during the moment of panic, to survive, sensei."

''To follow instructions and try to survive. Hhmmmm? Now, shall we put two and two together?'' Aiko asked. She raised herself from the pit darkness that seemed to be ground. It was actually strange he could see her, but nothing else. ''I keep telling you all to think. That means to use your head and smart, that is right, no?'' She said, raising her right hand to lift up her index finger. ''That means you need to think for yourself, trying to act and do what seems wise to you. Though,'' Lifting her middle finger up now as well, a smile crept on Aiko's lips. ''You also need to follow orders and instructions of your higher ups. This all together is conflicting and can create a chaos in what you should do or have to do. Like saying what you think and are about to do. Something you had forsaken several times to ''survive''. '' Aiko explained, hoping that he would catch a bit on what she was trying to tell him.

He looked down and nodded. "I understand," he said. He was tempted to say that he didn't speak because he was under extreme stress at the time but making up excuses wasn't really his favorite thing to do. He looked back up at her once more, this time a more serious look on his face. "I won't mix up my priorities again, sensei."

Aiko seemed not that content with the answer. She placed a hand on his head as she smiled, but it was a rather sad one. ''It is not only that. There is nothing wrong with something casting aside what you're supposed to do in order to survive. Everybody wants to live. And those who say they don't care... Are liars. Believe me on that.'' Removing her hand, she paused for a brief moment. ''The lesson that is behind this all is what you want to do. Thinking is the first step. Think about what you want to achieve. Then think on how you can achieve it. Also, think about how you can achieve it without needing to cast aside your duties. Thinking is the fundamental process that every true strong person needs to do. In order to become strong, you need to know what is strong. And sometimes, you just need to think about it.'' Aiko explained. She would wait and see how Katsu would react on that. In her opinion, she was maybe going a bit too far with how much thinking could change things, but in her experience, thinking was what matters. Thinking either about a decision or an action could tip the balance in the favour of the thinker.

Katsu simply nodded in response, showing that he understood what Aiko was trying to say, but he kept the visage unchanged. He watched her as she spoke and absorbed every word she said, thinking carefully about their meanings in order to better understand. Taking a step away, Aiko looked away. ''Lets try it one more time.'' She said. Slowly vanishing into the darkness, Katsu could probably see how there were cracks appearing into the darkness. Out of these cracks, there was some white light. Like somebody was trying to peel the darkness away so he could get out. The ground shook as more cracks would appear. Another time the ground trembled. Then it vanished. ''Move aside, worm.'' A man pushed Katsu away as he grumbled something. The scene around him wasn't no longer the trainingsfield nor that of a forest. But what seemed to be a military camp. Shinobi, dressed in the manners of Konohagakure nin, walked around. ''I can't think of something that is more scary than this.'' Aiko said as she would appear next to Katsu. ''What is your opinion on war, Katsu?'' Aiko asked as she gestured he should walk around a bit.

Katsu kept looking around. Even after the push he felt, he didn't spare the man a glance. He turned to Aiko as she appeared next to him. "I haven't been in one, of course, sensei, so my opinion would be quite worthless," he said calmly. "But if I were to state that opinion, I would simply say that war is filled with nothing but meaningless violence quelled by the rage of the rather weak-minded who think trying to destroy someone will somehow make them glorious and honourable."

''You think wrong. You say that your opinion is worthless?'' Aiko asked, as she gently patted his back to make him walk. The sounds of hammers ranging as they pounded on steel, horses and other activities made the place quite alive. ''But if it is worthless, why would I bother to ask it? Think, remember?'' She said the last sentence in a more playful manner as she looked around. ''And though I agree in a less detailed fashion that war isn't right, what would you do then? I have been in one and to be honest, I have killed a lot of people. Not that many I became infamous for it. But, what would you do then as a shinobi? Try to stop the enemy without killing them?''

"My opinion would tell quite a lot about me, wouldn't it?" he asked with a faint smile. "Of course I'm not talking about the people who are trying to stop a destructive force coming their way, rather than the force itself. But usually, that isn't the case, is it? There's never a bad side or a good side. In the end, whoever wins decides whether or not the attacker is a barbarian or a victorious warrior, or whether or not the defender is a justified faction protecting itself from aggressors or is a small rebellion or potential threat that needed to be crushed before they hurt innocents. I haven't read about a single war where either side is innocent."

''Hmmmhmm. Your opinion would indeed do that.'' Aiko calmly replied as she would walk next to Katsu. A patrol of Leaf shinobi passed them as they seemed to heading out. Aiko looked at them as she then would look back on where they were heading. ''A conflict always needs two. Like a fight does. But it is often the opinion that can change the whole look on it. If you would ask me about the latest war against Sunagakure, I would say that the alliance of the Leaf and Cloud were right in pushing the Sand's forces that far back. If you would however ask one of the Sand, you would most likely hear a reason why they conducted an attack on us and declared war. Though that wasn't what I was aiming at, though interesting on how you think on that.'' Aiko said, smiling a bit. It seemed like they were the only ones who were walking in a calm pace. Everybody seemed to have a goal or a purpose in the camp. Whether it was a chuunin that was ordered to do something or a jounin that was discussing the next operation with his team. ''What I was aiming at, was your thoughts on duties. You and Yukara were almost attacked by Koike. Did you never think why that was? Why a team member would consider even the thought of drawing his weapon against you?''

Katsu froze for a moment but shook himself and caught up. "If it was because he thought it was his duty, then I personally think that he didn't need to treat us like enemies," Katsu said. "I don't think one could ever excuse such an action but he doesn't seem to understand why his teammates would be frustrated after he did such a thing. Though I think we've already talked about that, sensei, haven't we?"

''So one couldn't excuse such an action, but yet what did you to do improve it? From what I know, neither you or Yukara seemed to want to understand Koike. That is something you should think about.'' Aiko said. She wasn't really planning on tutoring the boy like this, but it seemed there was no other way. Maybe she could teach once and for the lesson that would make Katsu look different instead of just what he just saw. ''And though we have talked about it, now you walk in the same footsteps as he did. Of course, I show different things as you both are vastly different. But even so, I can't easily let that first event go. As long as neither you nor Yukara have seen it that it wasn't Koike's fault, but mine, you will keep getting this lesson. It is the same with these soldiers. Would you claim that they act and willingly wage this war by themselves for themselves? Or would you see that they are led by how they were taught to fight? To survive? To obey the orders of those who are their superiors?'' Aiko calmly asked. But then she thought of something else. ''If that doesn't sound reasonable or something you could use to understand it, lets see it like this.''

Aiko paused as she would then ask the question in a more serious manner to Katsu. ''I asked you something what seemed quite simple, but yet you ignored it because of the pressure and wanting to keep fighting. Why would that be any different than what Koike did?'' She was really hoping that Katsu could understand the message she was trying to give. Else she would give up for now and wait until another time. But she wasn't sure if Katsu would be able to progress if he wouldn't understand how some people were motivated or why they would commit acts that would be looked on by others.

"Of course not," Katsu answered. "The soldiers have to follow their superiors' commands. Soldiers are just caught up in others' fight." The boy paused before continuing. "I'm not blaming anyone for what happened with Koike, Aiko-sensei. There's no reason to point fingers. That doesn't get anyone anywhere."

''It certainly will not, but there is no reason to kill another person cause one other say so, don't we agree? Yet people do and commit things that seem to have no reason, but if you ask them then they will have a reason for it.'' Aiko said as she kept casually walking with Katsu. ''Good, now that we have talked in a setting where we had talked about this setting, I will now also reveal why this had a reason.'' Aiko said. Slowly the image and surroundings seemed to mix with each other. They slowly replaced the day with night, the camp with shinobi for a forest. ''You need to understand what it means to be a shinobi. It isn't a profession where everything will go as planned, where you will live to see another day or sunrise. It isn't as poetic as some might tell you and certainly not glorious at all. Once you've both grown in skill and in knowledge, but also understand the knowledge, you have a chance at the Chuunin exams.'' Aiko paused as she would point to a place east of them. There was some smoke and light coming from there. Beckoning him to follow her, she would be silent to hear if he had anything to say about it.

Katsu simply nodded in response, showing he'd understood. He didn't have much to say this time. He could definitely agree with what Aiko had said without any objections worth wording. He looked over at where she pointed, seeing the smoke and light. He continued following her, his fingers intertwined behind him. He looked back once more, walking backwards as he did so, taking one last glance at the area before turning ahead one last time.

With Katsu not saying anything back in return, Aiko decided to be silent as well. She was curious if he had nodded to show that he understood it or because he wasn't sure what to say in return. Both were options she could understand and respect. If somebody would talk to her like this at her age, she would have been confused and kept asking questions. Somewhere, Aiko wished she had the chance instead of learning how the world worked as she had learned. Walking up the hill with Katsu, the smoke was closer than expected. ''When one would forsake their village and start to act on their own, not caring what happens to those that once dependent on them, this is one of the things that may follow.'' Aiko told him as they would reach the top. Below the hill, there was a village that was set on fire. People were running around, trying to stop the flames. ''Conflicts are born due to a lot of reasons. Some that make no sense at all. If you want to keep improving yourself as a shinobi, understand that sometimes, you can't evade conflicts. Even if they are your ''allies''.'' Aiko explained. She stared at the scene in front of them. The villagers were desperate in trying to fight the flames, but without any success. Catching sight of a child that was burning, Aiko wondered what Katsu would think of this. Maybe it was cruel to show him this, but he had wanted to become a chuunin. Meaning if there would be a conflict, this would be normal for him to see. And experience.

Upon seeing the disturbing scene, Katsu debated to shut his eyes but forced them to stay open as he watched the flames envelop the village. He watched like a boy seeing a man drown, paralyzed and unable to do anything. After a few moments, he snapped out of it and looked up at Aiko once more, glancing back at the burning village and restoring the horrified look on his face each time, becoming less and less affected. "I understand," he said rather quietly after a moment's hesitation. He turned his eyes back to the village, watching it with a plain visage, suppressing the horror by reminding himself repeatedly that it wasn't real.

''You think it is not real cause it is genjutsu, right?'' Aiko asked as she kept staring at the scene. ''Luckily it is, but I hope you also learn that if this ever happens in front of you, that you won't think that. Never give in to that thought.'' Aiko raised her right hand and snapped with her fingers. The scene would slowly vanish as they were standing in the trainingsfields again. ''I doubt you will understand everything I have shown you, but remember that it is important to know what you're going to become if you wish to further improve yourself as a shinobi. What you can expect and see in time to come.'' After saying that Aiko decided to wait until Katsu would recover from the genjutsu. She remembered those who were relieved one way or another from her special genjutsu mist. Most were often dizzy or very confused.

Katsu let himself fall, landing on his back, sitting upright. He put one hand to his face, his fingertips touching his forehead and cheeks and his palm blocking his view. He took a deep breath and exhaled, lowering his hand. He looked around to see where they were, only to notice that they were where they had started. The training fields. He squinted his eyes to make out the small details, trying to make sure he still wasn't under the effect of the genjutsu. After a moment of thinking, he looked up at Aiko and scurried to his feet, stumbling as he did so.

''Calm down. I have shown you more than I first planned to. Take it easy.'' Aiko told Katsu after seeing the boy trying to get fast up. She calmly sat down as she stared at the sky. There were a few clouds up in the blue skies and Aiko seemed to be pondering about something. ''I think you might have a shot at the Chuunin exam. If you will keep up training to keep your stamina and skills honed, next to preparing to accept some things, I think you have a shot.'' Looking back at Katsu, the warm smile on her lips would show that her words were genuine. ''For now, you need to learn that taking a rest after a training is important. If you don't rest, you won't have any energy left to improve yourself the next day. Right?''

A wide yet weak smile curled up on Katsu's lips. He sat back down in order to re-calibrate his balance and rest his mind a bit. He crossed his legs and straightened his back as he sat. "Right," he confirmed, nodding with the same wide smile on his face, slowly growing warmer and more lively. After a few moments, he looked up at her and spoke hesitantly. "If I may be so bold to ask... What's next, sensei?"

A question she had expected. ''Repeating. First training your body and then your mind. Your body to become stronger and your mind to endure more situations. A lot of people forget that a strong body could use a strong mind. That and it helps against some genjutsu.'' Aiko giggled briefly of the slight joke that was hidden in her sentence. But she actually did mean it. ''I have set this field in a way that you can use it tomorrow and will try to keep it like this for some time. That having said, I want you to train your stamina in order to improve your taijutsu. The longer your stamina goes, the longer you fight. And in some cases it is wise to be in a better condition than your opponent.''

"Strengthen my mind?" He hoped this wasn't another quiz. Not that he had much of a problem with the questions but they weren't going to actually help him dispel genjutsu under any circumstances. He could understand how he would be able to strengthen his body, even alone. Simply by pushing it to its limits by training hard, he could do that. He got up once more, now balanced perfectly. "I'm all rested up, sensei!"

''Yes, like knowing how to make decisions and how to figure out several things without instantly deciding something. Something I keep repeating to all of you, to think.'' Aiko explained in a calm manner. With Katsu saying he was all rested up, there grew a frown on Aiko's forehead. ''Are you? I highly doubt it. Just take it easy. Rushing things often lead that you end up hurt, failling or worse. When you rest, take it easy. Just stay at ease.'' She couldn't however help it to smile a bit at the attitude of her student. It really reminded her of one of her past students. Or maybe she just liked students who were full of ambition of wanting to become stronger. ''Katsu, may I ask you what your real life goal is?''

The boy had a determined look that said he wasn't going to sit back down. The next question, however, caught him off guard. "My life goal?" He stroked his chin and thought about it. Well that's... He opened his mouth as if to speak but words didn't come to his mind. After the moment of silence, he spoke. "W-well, I don't have one just yet," he said. "A life goal would have to be something nearly impossible to achieve for it to have any meaning and I can't think of anything like that."

''Something impossible, huh?'' Aiko mumbled. Her smile vanished for a second before it came back. ''So my life goal to become part of a happy family and be happy is impossible to achieve?'' The woman asked back, wanting to make Katsu think again about his previous words. ''A life goal can also be simple, you know.'' She said, looking at the grass as she would pull a single blade of grass and keeping it in her hand.

"Huh?" Katsu looked at her dumbfounded. "No! What I meant was, if you achieve your 'life goal', then what's left? Something like that doesn't have to be your life goal. People lose a sense of purpose when they achieve what they have determined as their 'life goal'. I want to build a family when I grow up as well but if that's all I aim to do, I wouldn't know what to do once I had succeeded." He sighed looked at the blade of grass she'd picked up. "What I'm trying to say, sensei, that to me, a life goal is something that would challenge me and push me to the edge for a long time. For several, several years while I try to achieve it. The definition might be different for everyone."

Aiko thought about how she would answer that. She knew a good answer, but the difficulty was on to formulate the answer so that it would be clear what she meant and that it wouldn't be too hard for Katsu to understand it. ''It is true that people need a sense of purpose to keep on going. But people often seem to see it the wrong way. What is wrong with a simple purpose? Like protecting your family? Or just doing what is best for your village?'' Aiko asked. She would open the palm of her hand, as a light breeze would be blown over the field. Watching the grass be blown away from her hand, Aiko continued. ''And it might sound childish, but if you truly plan on building up a family, then have patience. I think you will know what to do once you have achieved your goal. Not that there is a problem with having no goal. You're young after all.'' After this, Aiko leaned a bit back as she would lean on her elbows. A laugh escaped her lips as she thought about it. ''Fun thing that you actually say that you want to build up a family later. When I was your age, I thought boys were stupid, dumb and smelly.''

"N-Nothing! Nothing's wrong with having a simple purpose like that," Katsu answered. "My point is, sensei, everyone wants to protect people they love. If that becomes everyone's ultimate goal, then there wouldn't be much variation, would there? I'm not saying people shouldn't give themselves the job to protect their loved ones but that doesn't necessarily have to become the one thing the person does." When he heard that she used to think that "boys were smelly", he couldn't help but stifle a laugh. He quickly suppressed it and recomposed himself. "S-Sorry..."

The words just made Aiko keep on smiling as she shook her head lightly. Certainly after he said sorry. ''Sorry for what? It is not like it was that much of a pain. It was just a phase, I think.'' Deciding to not indulge further into her young years as she kind of considered herself not that old yet, Aiko would respond on what he had said before he made his apologies to her. ''And do we need variation then? I think it would make the world a better place if we would take more care of those we love. There are more people that don't even have a person they can consider like that. Or lost them.'' Pausing for a moment, she continued. ''But you're entitled to what think is right. Just remember that it also counts for other people.'' Finding that they had talked enough about such wisdom, Aiko started to think about how they could conclude today's training.

Katsu nodded in agreement. His mind drifted off for a moment, imagining Aiko as a child, running from the boys in her class at the academy. He shuddered and snapped back to reality, looking up at her, observing her to see what was next for his training. He took a glance at the preparations she'd made earlier, guessing some things she might have in mind for the rest of the day.

''I think I know a good way how to concludes today training. We have tried a bit out how your stamina is, fighting abilities and also explained more about the past, how the general shinobi in Konoha thinks and also about future goals. At least, that is about it. Now what we can do is one more little thing.'' Aiko told Katsu. The last thing that would conclude their today's training would be something that she would pass on Katsu. ''Just take the meditation sit, like this.'' Taking a meditation sit, Aiko would also form a handsignal. That of the Bird. ''This is a kind of chakra control training. It is also good to clear your mind a bit, so that you can focus better on what you're going to do next. Well, that is at least for me. I am not sure if you find it calming.'' She told him. Waiting for him to take the meditation sit and also hold the Bird handsignal, she would wait before explaining what he would need to do next.

Meditation...? Even if he had skeptical thoughts about it, he copied her movements and formed the Bird handsign. He listened to her carefully and calmed himself, relaxing his body and mind. He found it hard to resist the temptation of opening his eyes but the temptation disappeared over a few seconds as he focused on doing what he was instructed to do.

''Good. Now relax and slowly mould your chakra. Keep moulding it like you're about to use it, but not yet. It will make it make your chakra system in motion in a faster way than before. Though stay calm and focused, cause if you make a mistake.'' Pausing, Aiko wanted to add some more dramatic effect as she would adjust her tone to emphasis it. ''Or you're going to feel quite some pain.'' Briefly she laughed, finding her joke quite amusing. Though knowing it was quite serious as this kind of training wasn't really for those who chakra control was bad, had low willpower or not the patience for it. But she thought it was something Katsu could probably handle. She would also keep a close eye in case that he would mess up and suffer the pain that would come if one would make a mistake in this training.

Katsu decided knowing just how much pain it would cause wouldn't help him at all. Even though he found it disturbing, he thought it would be better for his health if he never got to find out. Katsu's rather insufficient stamina had gotten him to practice chakra control quite a bit. He stayed in the same pose, molding the chakra required for the training and distributing it around his body. He could feel his stamina dropping but he continued to keep his posture.

Aiko was simply waiting. Keeping an eye on her student, she slowly formed the same handsignal to perform the same. But instead of closing her eyes, she kept them half open to keep watch of Katsu. Maybe she should wait five minutes until a break? The point was to give Katsu an idea on how he could train his control better and the theory of how to perform this particular kind of chakra control training was easy. It was the practice that made it however hard to grasp.

Katsu kept the chakra flowing, thinking everything was going well until his peace was interrupted by seering pain radiating from inside his body. He let out a brief shriek as his eyelids flew open. He found himself unable to concentrate on anything, limping forward, still seated. He clutched his stomach, digging his head into the grass, muffling his brief cries of agony.

Though she had been watching him, Aiko was still surprised. Calming down her own chakra, knowing that rushing would be a bad plan, Aiko couldn't react instantly. Once she was done, she quickly placed both hands on Katsu. Pouring chakra into the body, trying to calm down the chakra that had turn rampant, Aiko focused as good as she could. Within a few moments, the pain would fade away as she had managed to calm it down. Though it wasn't that hard, Aiko raised her right arm to whip some sweat drops on her forehead. ''Seems like it is something that we will work on. Keep breathing in a slow pace.'' She instructed Katsu, trying to get him lay on his side in order to make it easier for him to recover from the pain.

As the pain faded away, his mind raced, only remembering what had just happened without any concept at all. When he heard Aiko's voice, his memories returned to him quickly and he calmed his breathing. Slowly sitting up once more, he wiped the sweat from his brows. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it once again, simply nodding. He hesitantly formed the Bird seal and closed his eyes once more, concentrating on his training.

Sighing, Aiko wondered what he hadn't understood from either the pain or her words. Taking her position again, she left her hands on her lap as she would pay watch over Katsu again. It made her wonder why the boy was striving so much of becoming stronger, but not wanting to bring him out of his focus, Aiko kept silently waiting and watching.

For the next few minutes, Katsu continued to circulate his chakra, calm and composed. Learning from his mistakes, especially when the mistake has consequences like this one, was one of Katsu's virtues.

[LillyDove]

Chinatsu Hon
Konoha, Team 6

She had just taken a bite of her apple when the guard showed up with the scroll in hand, she frowned and then took another bite of her apple before loftily taking the scroll from him. He didn't wait to be dismissed, he left in a hurry and was out of sight before she knew it. Shrugging it off, she opened the scroll and read it, blinked, read it again and then took a bite of her apple again. They had a mission, one that appeared urgent. "Mother! I'm going now," Chinatsu said, then she was out the door.

Wait... I am forgetting something.

Rushing back in, she hurried over to the where she kept her supply of apples and grabbed four. Gently placing them in the pouch she always had on her and then grabbed her extra bow along with her wooden arrows. Or was this not light packing? She frowned, what if she needed the other bow but didn't have it on her? She decided to put the other bow in its case and close the sheath of arrows that went with it but still bring them with her.

I should practice shooting on the mission, targets are a good idea.

After that thought, she rushed over to where she kept her paper targets and packed them as well. Looking she saw her mother watching her with a strange look. "Something off about me?" Chinatsu asked. Her mother came over and snatched the scroll from her and shook her head.

"This said light packing, how is bringing two bows and sets of arrows light packing? Why do you need targets? And why are you bringing four apples?" her mother asked, raising her eye brows. Chinatsu frowned, she was packing for the mission and really believed that she would need them. Standing up, she felt a bit weighed down by her gear.

I am as light as a feather and so is my gear...

"I am going now," Chinatsu said, nodding as if she was trying to convince herself. But her mother stopped her, taking the long bow and it's arrows from her. She had to admit, she felt not so weighted down now but didn't want to say it out loud. After that, her mother stepped aside and she was able to head to the dojo. She frowned, she missed the long bow and what if something happened that it was better suited for? Then what?

[Gerontis]

Gyuki,
Hachibi on a mission!

The beast had decided to go back to a slumber as Midori had walked out of Asami's house. He did keep an eye out if he would pick more distress from the girl, but right now it was't skyrocketing as much as he had feared. Laying down on his stomach, the beast placed his head on his arms as closing his eyes. But his peace was soon disturbed when he noticed that Midori had another plan that required his help. At first Gyuki wanted to make it clear that she wasn't really pulling the strings, that he wasn't some pet or summoning that would always jump up at every danger. But instead of sneering or lecturing her, the beast remained quiet and simply took over control of the ink clone Midori made. Without any expression on the face of the clone, Gyuki sighed inside Midori's mind. Not that she seemed to pick up the signal. She had other things on her mind. Rather trivial things in his opinion.

As the ink clone went on its way, Gyuki kept an eye on Midori. While he could extend and maintain control over the clone over a long distance, he was a bit worried. He didn't view her anymore was a weakling, but at times he was worried she would fall back to that weak and pathetic state of silence. Where she had been nothing more than a shallow and pitiful person. Maybe harsh, but the beast thought like that and wouldn't just change his opinion cause their bond was growing stronger. Reaching a rooftop, the ink clone looked around. After searching for another ten minutes, it had found that Reyna person. A typical young human. Optimistic and naive. Possibly ignorant too. From top of the rooftop, the ink clone watched patiently how Reyna and Deidara were interacting. Though not able to hear them, Gyuki decided that it wouldn't help to check upon them in person. It would probably make them think that he was interested in them. It made the ink clone snort. The sheer amount of arrogance of that thought! Like he was interested in any human like that.

Turning around, the ink clone was close of dismissing itself. But then quickly made a dodge roll to the left. ''Humans.'' The ink clone muttered, sitting in a crouched stance. Several kunai had landed on the spot the clone had been standing on. Then just a moment after, several ANBU landed on the rooftop. The masked men and woman held a weapon at the ready. The ink clone half closed its eyes, examining them. ANBU eh? This ought to be interesting.

''Eight Tails. On order of the Fifth Raikage, you're ordered to stop wandering around and report to the Raikage.'' One of the ANBU said. The man spoke with a firm tone, holding his right hand at the handle of his ninjato. The ink clone sighed as it rose up, dusting off the clothes. ''The Raikage wishes an audience with me? How thoughtful of him to send several ANBU to send that message. I will pass this on to my current master. Tell yours that I have received his... 'invitation'.'' Gyuki responded through the ink clone with a mocking voice. Before any of the ANBU could respond, the ink clone made a bow before dispersing into a puddle of ink.

---

Those pesky hu- Gyuki thought annoyed as he wanted to focus back on Midori. She had summoned a sword, so that didn't seem interesting. It was about that Ryo. None of his concern or business. Then he was surprised, again. Feeling that Midori wasn't feeling well, Gyuki wondered at first what happened. Then he managed to find out. It wasn't that hard. Half closing his eyes, the beast listened to the wailing of his host. It was all too clear what had happened or what the letter was. Though at first Gyuki wanted to try to comfort Midori, he noticed that somebody was near her. Closing his eyes, the lips of the beast curled down at their end. While he seemed calm and peaceful, the tails started to sweep around.

I will wait. Chie-san...

The beast thought briefly. Then slowly a low grumbling sound was produced out of the Beasts's throat. He wasn't angry at either Chie or anybody in particular. He was growing upset due the link with Midori. Knowing that getting worked up wouldn't help either of them, he had to remain calm so that he wouldn't start to affect Midori. For the first in long time Gyuki wished that he could provide more aid. But for now,

he would wait until he could provide comfort.