[IC] Shinobi: The Ninja Way

[Masaki Haruna]

Hasegawa Kyouka Class 4 A- Training Grounds.

The last one to arrive is none other than Hasegawa Kyouka, the famed Kunoichi known as Konoha's Flame Haired-Burning-Eyed Hunter, she entered the class with at least little enthusiasm. On behalf of the Hokage, she can't afford to fail another batch of Genin and continue that method for the rest of her life, no Genin has ever lived up to her expectations and be her subordinates. Her outfit is somewhat girly but one should not be judged by their appearance.

She entered with a book on her hand, her squad as expected seemed to be rough around the edges as seen from the crystal ball back in the Hokage's office. "Alright! Squad 3 you're with me, head out to the training grounds!." she said as she quickly disappeared by teleportation.

[Rin]

Squad One: Wakana - Leaving Ninja Academy Class 4A after Ayaka and Renka

For a moment, Wakana had wondered if a monster had suddenly entered the classroom, the sound echoing off Yama-sensei's massive frame giving her the impression of some collosus of old. She was honestly surprised the discover that there existed people even bigger than Ayaka, although any sense of threat was dispelled the moment his booming voice swept over her. Despite how directly to the point her was, he seemed the jovial sort, no-one she should really feel threatened by as long as he was on her side.

"Well, I suppose we'd better..." Wakana began, before stopping suddenly as she noticed that both her teammates had rushed off already. Shrugging to herself, she began to follow them at a more relaxed pace. It wasn't like they were any hurry or anything, after all, so she may as well just walk casually and take in the sounds on the way to the training ground.

[DaDrummer676]

Kohona: Training grounds with Touzoku

(writer's block....)

Ryuto's attention was drawn away from his squad mates to hear a confident-sounding feminine voice. He saw that the voice belonged to his sensei. He noticed two things, first off, she was not social. Her words reflected that, as she said, "Squad 2, please report outside immediately." Ryu frowned a bit, then shrugged. "Someone doesn't know how to be social. How else are we going to work together?" he muttered. Okami turned back to his friends and grinned. Rin had bowed to him, so the young boy raised an eyebrow, "why thank you," he said with a joking grin. Ryuto turned back towards the door, "Meet you guys there!" The teen exclaimed, and then he proceeded to fly out the room and a pace that made him blur until he reached his destination.

Ryuto saw Touzo and stopped around 10 feet away from her, and stood at attention. "Okami Ryuto here, Squad 2. I'm assuming you will be giving us some kind of test, and I am fully prepared for the following." He said this while trying to not laugh or break his straight face. If she didn't notice that he was completely bullshitting then he was going to have a lot of fun with her (not in a creepy way). Ryu already had his seals prepared, they were activated by his blood, a unique way of using Fuinjutsu. Ryuto thought about taking off his weights but assumed that Touzoku wouldn't be nearly as fast as him.

[Asuu]

Kurai - Konoha Academy - Class 4A

Kurai's gaze traveled over to Rin, a small glance towards Ryuto being the only acknowledgement the Nara gave the boy during his goodbye. "Peace." he muttered, hands raising into a half-wave before glancing back over to Rin. "Hm. Well, I guess that's our cue." Kurai smirked, pushing himself off of the wall and giving the classroom one more once-over. "Totally not going to miss this place." he whispered, before bringing his hands into a cross-shaped seal and giving off a small electric discharge, something that did not harm anything in the room. The new Shinobi gave RIn something of an eyesmile from over his scarf.

"Ja Ne."

He disappeared in a crackle of electricity - nothing but a clone.

---

Kurai - Squad 2 - Konoha Training Grounds w/ Touzo and Ryuto

The dark-haired teen smirked lightly once he felt a bit of chakra channel into his core. His clone had dispersed, then, and Ryuto should be in the clearing in...

3..

2...

1...

"Okami Ryuto here, Squad 2. I'm assuming you will be giving us some kind of test, and I am fully prepared for the following."

Kurai's form slowly melded from the shadows of a nearby tree-top, before completely appearing, not too far away from the two. He was pretty sure that the sensei noticed him immediately when he had even activated the Shadow Meld no Jutsu, but Ryuto? No dice. Performing a rat seal, and silently muttering 'Shadow Meld no Jutsu', Kurai melded back into the shadows, before circling around the clearing at an amazing speed, nothing but a small, circular shadow on the ground. The shadow stopped a feet or two behind Ryuto, before swiftly becoming taller and taller until it was a dark blob around the same height and build as Kurai himself. The darkness swiftly slithered away into the trees, leaving the ninja behind, slouched over and looking tiredly at the sensei through half-lidded, insomnia-ridden eyes.

"Nara, Kurai reporting for duty." he spoke up from behind Ryuto, his apathetic voice muffled by his chakra-enhanced scarf.

[Aeris]

Rin - Konoha Academy - Class 4A

Absolutely great, that was just a clone. It felt... terribly strange, interacting- even if slightly- with a clone. Though it was note enough to enfuriate or irritate Rin, really. She was feeling nervous enough after they sensei appeared for what seemed to be a second and gave them the order to report outside immediately. After Ryuto ran off and Kurai showed himself to be a clone, she calmly started to walk outside, as if she was the only normal person in her team. She exited the classroom and the way outside, where she found her team gathering itself, was a brief one. Soon, there was Rin, slowly approaching the two other genins.

---

Rin - Squad 2

"Yamakage, Rin." She raised her right hand to give a sight, careless wave as she spoke; her voice not as low as it usually was, but it was merely because the distance between them and their sensei, if she whispered... no one would hear now. The girl stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest, quietly observing the woman who she'd call sensei for a long while. It was hard to guess what type of shinobi she was, and Rin wasn't capable of finding out just observing her exterior.

[Innue]

Touzoku, Training Grounds - Squad 2

Touzoku said nothing for a moment. She stood straight, her left arm around her waist, and merely looked at them. They were now her chosen family, in a sense. People she would care in some manner for the rest of her days. It was an important event for all of them.

"I'm not much of a speaker," she began, almost more to herself than anything, "And I suppose there is no really good way to begin."

She sighed, "Normally I would have simply just began testing you, however, there are a few things I must now address. You are not here to impress me. You are full fledged shinobi and must act like it. Ryuto, you know it is foolish to say you are fully prepared when you know nothing about me. Few people possess the ability to truly be fully prepared for anything, you are not one of them. Let us not waste each others time. Kurai, your expenditure of chakra was unnecessary - waste can get you killed in this world."

She did not say anything to Rin, who had approached the situation practically.

"My tests are less about the skills I am here to help develop and more about understanding who each of you are. There are things out in this world that will break people who are not capable of handling them and as shinobi your chance of encountering such a situation increases. If I do not think you are capable of handling this, I will petition the Hokage to remove you from not only my roster, but as a shinobi entirely. I do this not to punish your hard work up until this point, or to be cruel. I do this to protect you from a life you are not prepared to live. We do not need more shinobi in this world who will put themselves or others at risk."

Her eyes scanned their faces, lingering over each one as she spoke. It was important for them to understand the seriousness of what they were undertaking.

"To start, I have three simple questions: Who are you? Who do you want to be? And what do you want to accomplish? I will know a dishonest answer, so ensure you do not lie to me."

[Hillan]

Cave in the North Regions Of The Land Of Fire - 16 days ago.

The cold substance that was covering the boy was melting, as the young man began coming back to consciousness. It was ironic, really, how the thing that's the reason for all life had hurt him so badly. The ice finally loosened, as the two blue eyes widened, and he fell to the cold, wet cave floor with a heavy thud. Aro pushed himself of the ground, climbing to his feet, holding his head as he felt dizzy. He stumbled a few more meters, until a sharp pain in his stomach sent him to his knees.

On his knees, he hurled only to find that he didn't vomit anything except a little blood. Aro tried to say something, but no sound came from his throat, except a wheezing sound. He crawled out of the cave, slipping on stones outside of the cave, falling of the hill the cave was one, rolling a few meters down towards road, where he crawled to his knees, shaking, as he saw a person in the distance.

***

Konoha Shinobi Hospital - 14 Days Ago

Aro woke up for the first time in what felt like just about a week. He felt better now, with the IV in his veins, and his wounds being cleaned. As he woke up, he tried to sit up, looking around him, he reflected on the look of the room, it looked.. Different, than he remembers the rooms in the hospitals to look. Was this a newly made room? He shrugged, as the doctor came in. It was a young male medic, and Aro scoffed, with a soft chuckle. “So.. Where's Nurse Changsho?” Aro asked, his vocal chords now allowing him to speak. “Who?” The doctor asked, Aro shook his head.

“Quit screwing around. Where's Saishu?” Aro asked, the doctor being a friend of Aro, whom he had a slight crush on. The doctor shook his head “ There hasn't been any Saishu Chansho working here for the past 9 years. Mrs. Chansho perished in battle.” The doctor said, and just as he finished his sentence, Aro flew out of the bed, and onto the doctor, punching him in the face, sending him to the floor. “YOU'RE LYING YOU SON OF A BITCH” Aro shouted, veins popping in his face, as two shinobi in flack-jackets pulled him away from the Doctor.

Aro tried to break free from their grip, but he was soon sedated again, and fell back to sleep.

He woke up a few hours later, now strapped to the bed and two Jounin watching him. “What's going on here?!”

The jounin ignored his question, looked at each other and then looked at him. “Who the hell are you, kid?” The older one, a man, with shoulder-long jet black hair asked him. “I'm Aro Sarutobi, Chunnin of Squad 9. You better let me go or I'm gonna kick your ass!” Aro shouted, pulling on the bindings that held him to the bed.

“The jounin looked in his papers, and then scratched his head..” Drawing his Kunai, he pressed it against Aro's throat, holding the younger shinobi in place. “According to the documents, Arozuko Sarutobi was killed in action... 19 years ago.. He would be 35 years old right now..” He looked at Aro, and determined that the boy wasn't 35 years old.

Aro stopped fighting the bindings, as he felt his entire world crashing down, he was speechless.

“So, Kid. Stop fucking around, we know you're a spy. What village are you from?”

“Nine... Nineteen years ago?.. What?..”

“I... I was on the mission, I fought The Killer Frost just a couple days ago.. He used a cheap technique to freeze me to kill me.. But.. It didn't work..” Aro stuttered, all the anger he felt was gone, washed away. He was now utterly confused. The jounin felt like the kid wasn't lying, and let him go. “We'll send the Hokage to deal with you.” The jounin said, loosening Aro's bindings.

Aro got out of the bed, and walked towards the balcony. Putting his hands on the railing, he looked out over the village. The village he knew, the village he would fight for, the village he'd die for.

The village he loved.

And now, it was nothing alike what it used to be. He clenched his fists on the railing. “It's gotta be a horrible Nightmare.. Come on Aro. Wake up..” He thought to himself, the confusion turning into anger again. He walked into the room again, and grabbed his dirty pants, his shirt and his shoes, as he would jump out of the window, he had to go find his parents.

Aro sprinted to the Sarutobi Compound. Jumping over the fence, and went into the main building, he had seen people wearing black clothes around the Sarutobi house, but didn't think much of it. He slammed the door open to the main hall, and let out a shout. “Dad?!” He shouted, a gasp was heard from the people inside, whom were all sitting on benches, watching a funeral. “Who are you?! And How dare you trespass on Sarutobi Territory?! Especially during the service of our beloved Masato?!”

Aro looked around the room. People he did not even recognize, that were supposed to be his relatives. But then he came to the guy they were having the funeral for. He saw the picture, and it all clicked for him. Aro felt tears stream down his face as it all dawned on his face. The confusion and the anger had now become nothing but grief, he had walked in on his own fathers funeral...

***

Close to the Training Grounds – Present Day.

Aro had trouble dealing with all of this. He felt mad about it all, and he still couldn't quite understand it. The ice attack that hit him had somehow frozen him, keeping him in stasis for the past two decades. He had missed so much. The entire world had changed, a lot of things he still hadn't grasped. He had spent the past two weeks being debriefed and tested, the hokage deeming him not back to a 100% yet, and that as such, he should be put into the field for testing, but at a lower rank than previously. So Aro had to turn in his flack-jacket and take the academy class again, which Aro burst through in a day and a half, since he already still knew everything.

It agitated him. Most of the shinobi who were Jounin now were people Aro had taught in the academy.
And he had heard rumors being spread about the shinobi who had been gone for 20 years and now come back He shook his head, as if to try and shake off these thoughts.

Aro would do his best, regardless of what rank he was at. He'd show the Hokage that he was just as good as he used to be, that he was still a skilled shinobi. He would be put in Team 3, replacing another young student whom was just transferred back to his home village, a transferring that should've happened a few weeks ago, but was delayed due to clerical errors.

But that didn't change that all of this sucked. He didn't want to start over, but he would still do this best, regardless.

He would soon arrive to the training grounds, a few moments before the rest of his team would arrive, the ninja with the dog would've been taken aside and informed of the situation just after they had left the classroom.

Aro greeted the Jounin and the two genin with a soft smile, he sat down in the grass, enjoying the fact that the sun and the soft green grass hadn't changed.

[Yog Sothoth]

Aki couldn't believe what had happened, Teru had been called back to his village and was in fact not meant to be on their squad. This sucked to Aki since he had hopes that the two of them could benefit from their similar fighting style. Now their team's skill was not certain and thus may make teamwork harder. It was not going to be an easy time training with the squad and this annoyed Aki.

Training Ground

Aki didn't know anything about Aro and he looked to be older than he was and Aki was curious to figure what was the genin's angle.

"Hello, my name is Aki Moruma, i am curious to know what type of ninjutsu do you practice?" Aki asked the newcomer. Since it would soon time to train, Aki had his halberd gripped in his hands and used it as a brace so he didn't have to put weight on his legs. Even though the day hadn't gone the exact way he wanted it to, Aki was glad to be training soon and showing his teammates that he was no push over.

[DaDrummer676]

Ryuto felt a presence behind him, Kurai, using his Kekkei Genkai. He always shivered, the guy was like a freaking ninja. Rin also walked up to meet them. He observed his sensei and waited for her to speak. When she did, he obviously knew that they were going to have their differences. Ryuto was wild, unpredictable, which he considered a strength. He wasn't going to be a perfect ninja, he was just going to be him. Ōkami was already the underdog, and his sensei didn't seem to care about anything besides being strict. She spoke to him in a condescending tone that sparked a tinge of annoyance in him. "I meant I was ready metaphorically. As in, I was prepared to try my best," he replied, explaining his words. He realized that she was the type of woman who was completely serious, all the time.

Ryuto was surprised when Touzoku informed them that if she felt like they weren't prepared then she would expel them from their ninja practice. Like hell he would let that happen. He has spent his whole life, and time into being a ninja. He wasn't going to let his excruciatingly hard training be for nothing. Then, she asked them three questions.

Now, Ryuto was a simple guy, he had no complex way to explain himself. He went with the basics. He was a taijutsu specialist. He had no skill in ninjutsu or genjutsu. He was smarter than he looked. And someday, he wanted to find out who murdered his father and brother. He wanted to become a great ninja like his sister. Ōkami realized that he probably had already read about them, she was in fact their sensei. So why ask answers she already knew? Ryu didn't care, he spoke anyways.

"I'm a taijutsu specialist. I also practice Fūinjutsu, a known skill of the Ōkami clan. I have a Kekkei Genkai, and I have no skill with ninjutsu or genjutsu. I want to be a great ninja like my sister. My father and brother were killed when I was little. I want to find who killed them. I hope that one day people will consider me a ninja. They think that in order to be a ninja, one must utilize ninjutsu and genjutsu. I am here to prove them wrong. And I promise you I won't give up."

Ryuto made sure to keep his skill set vague, he wasn't sure if she was going to attack them or not. She might have traps set up or something. He'd watch Kurai, Ryu admitted that his friend's intelligence greatly surpassed his. Who knew, maybe his friend was even more analytical that their sensei. If there were traps or a surprise attack, Kurai would be the first to know about it. Ryuto would have to be ready at all times.

[Gokiburi7]

Nettaiya - Training Grounds

Nettaiya narrowed his eyes at Aro, his suspicions overtaking any hint of better judgement. What was going on? First their mongrel-teammate was 'called back to his village' and now a swift replacement was reclining on the grass of the training-ground. It was all a little too convenient...

To make matters worse, Nettaiya had never even seen the replacement before; he didn't recognise the boy at all. Where did this kid come from, what was his deal?

Nettaiya responded to Aro's smile with a scowl, turning his head away from the new team-member. He'd leave the greetings to Aki this time...

[Masaki Haruna]

Kyouka-Training grounds.

The batch of Genin are all boys who have yet to ripe up as a men, Kyouka doesn't like how things are going with the boys earlier but all she could do is observed. "My name is Hasegawa Kyouka, from this day forth I will be your Sensei, that's if you are able to fulfill my requirements. So you're Aro, Nettaiya and Aki, it's a pleasure to meet you. Before we go briefly on training, I would like to know more about yourselves, what are your goals and dreams." She said with a calm and kind tone, she crosses her legs despite wearing a skirt.

These boys need to learn acceptance and Kyouka just know what to do, getting to know them will be her first approach.

[Hillan]

Aro looked up at the two boys. One of the smiling back at him, the other... Well, not so much. The boy who introduced himself as "Aki Moruma" asked Aro a question. The older boy let out a soft scoff. "Fire. I practice mostly fire ninjutsu." Before he turned his attention to the sensei. Aro stood up from the grass grabbing his sword and holding it in his hand like he usually did. He dusted himself off, as he looked at the two boys, realizing he stood more than a foot taller than the other boys. Which wasn't odd considering he had a few years on the other students. The sensei asked them all a question ,and Aro figured he might as well start.

He cleared his throat. "My name's Arozuko Sarutobi, but call me Aro.. I'm not from here, so to speak. Something happened to me, something horrible and you wouldn't believe me if I told you." Aro began, with a soft sigh, his eyes darting to the ground, before he rose his head, and let out a smile. " I want to become a great warrior, in fact, I want to become the strongest user of the fire-elemental jutsu in the whole world. And with that power, I would protect this village and the people in it."

Aro put his sheated katana on the grass as he sat back down. Putting his hand through his black hair, taking in the sunlight.

[Gokiburi7]

Nettaiya - Training Ground

"Strongest 'element of fire user'?" Nettaiya scoffed to himself, "good luck with that.."

Nettaiya stood quickly, determined to be the next to speak, to force his persona upon the group. He thought for a moment, dwelling lazily on his Sensei's question, before deciding on a series of answers.

"The name's Nettaiya, and right now I might be the strongest component in this rag-tag group. I'm certainly no master of the shuriken however, nor of Taijutsu or Genjutsu. I put all my faith into Ninjutsu - and that's a strategy that I'm gonna stick by until the end.

My dream, is to ascend - to force myself into the history books as an individual of the utmost power. I don't care how I achieve this - it could mean becoming the Hokage, or some maniacal villain. All that I know, is that a hundred years from now, I want kids to repeat my name and strive to match my legacy."

With that, and a smug smile, Nettaiya plonked abruptly to the ground, turning his attention to the final group-member; Aki.

"Well then Aki," he grinned, "you'd best hurry with your lame little intro - I wanna get straight into action!"

[Yog Sothoth]

Aki, training grounds.

Aki laughed when his two teammates introduced themselves in such an arrogant fashion, man how ridiculous could his teammates get. He unstrapped his halberd from his back and held it firmly in his right hand.

"My grandmother has more skill and talent than you do Nettaiya, introductions are just words, action is what really counts" he said to his teammate in a taunting voice. He was going to show Nettaiya that his arrogance would get his butt kicked if he kept up the way he did.

"Anyway my name is Aki Moruma. I am from the Moruma clan and I am a specialist in the Beast Release Bloodline Technique of my clan. My specialty is in Taijutsu and Summonings, and I am protege in the Beast-Fist style martial art. My dream is to become the greatest shinobi that the world has ever seen, in honor of my deceased parents. When I fight, I attack my opponents with vicious animal-like fury until he goes down or I do" Aki said to his sensei.

He too could hardly wait until training, he was going to push himself as much as possible and try to learn new Beast Release techniques since he only had two at the moment. He would be sure to bring great honor and respect to his clan by showing the world how great of a Bloodline Technique they had.

[Masaki Haruna]

Kyouka
Training Grounds
Sadism knows no bounds

Wow, these kids are really interesting, one is a kid who shows respect yet his goal is in between attainable and impossible, the other lacks humility and as wild as a firework and the last one shows passion to his goal and talk. The truth is seen, these boys all have ambitions yet they aren't there yet, they need guidance and they are prone to arrogance as shown that they might as well lack value and humility. Kyouka winks at them, "While I bluntly put that your goals are childish and somewhat half baked and unrealistic to reality lengths, let me enlighten you." A clone, no. Three clones appear behind the boys and grab hold of them. Each of them receive a message from Kyouka's shadow clones, she performed them without handseals.

"Nettaiya, you will only achieve your dream if you are considerate and respectful to others." Kyouka starts off with Nettaiya because his goal irks her a lot.

"You have pride yet you do not know the true meaning of honor. She said it in a cold tone to Aki.

The last comes down to Aro, "You have my respect however there is no such thing as being the strongest, we are all chained into one thread and that is time. As time passes by, there will be people who desires to surpass their predecessors thus the younger generation surpassing the older generation." She said in motherly manner.

In a moment of silence, "In other words, a dog only barks when it's stubborn as a donkey, the clutches of pride that corrupts ones well being but once dog barks, it is a different story. Hence, you all have the strength of a Lion, alike in quality of desire... HOWEVER... You all do not possess the heart of a Lion!." Kyouka being blatantly honest on what she thinks about the boys based on her observation, her mean and cruel nature shows no bounds, it may demoralize the boys but time will tell if they can find their answers.

"Now then, Nettaiya. It seems that you consider yourself stronger than the two... your so called action begins now. Will you lead them or will you fight for yourself?. Little CUBS! PREPARE YOURSELVES!." Kyouka's clones tightened her grip and the real her dashes backward and throws a smoke bomb, making their environment unclear.

[Hillan]

Aro

Aro shook his head at the disbelief of his one teammate, before listening closely to what his teammates both said. First one, Nettaiya, was skilled in Ninjutsu, he seemed to be something of a narcissist, and had a big ego. Aro'd have to make sure to keep an eye on him because he was the kind of kid who would surely either get himself, or someone else hurt.

Then there were Aki. Aki was a hot-head with a strong spirit, something Aro liked. Headstrong people were easy to handle, you had them on the front-lines and they did their very best. They were loyal and strong. Aro smiled as Aki said “he goes down or I do”. Then, the Sensei made her appearance. A quite impressive show of skill, making three clones without letting the students even notice. She then whispered sweet nothings into each of their ears. Aro fully agreed with the words that were said to him, if he did achieve his goals, there would definitely come someone one day that would surpass him, but that didn't bother him, at all, in fact. He was in fact counting on it.

Aro rubbed his head. He swore he remembered the woman that was his sensei, he just couldn't put his finger on it. “Now, call me old-fashioned. But isn't it common courtesy for the teacher to present herself to the students before asking the students to make a role-call?” Aro said, blowing his white hair out of the way of his eyes. “So, Kyouka-sensei, what do you do beside make fancy clones?” Aro asked her, quite the blunt statement to come from a mere genin, but Aro had already seen what the world like a ninja was like, he had already faced the horrors of war, both a strength, and a weakness that none of the other students had had to yet attain. And it made him bolder than you'd normally expect of a Genin.

Aro looked up to the sky, basking in the rays of the sun while waiting for a response from his sensei.

[Raineh Daze]

Ayaka, Now at the Training Ground

Having set off first, and at full sprint at that, the Hyuuga found herself arriving to empty scenery; evidently her rash pace had overtaken their teacher and their paths hadn't converged. Or had she? Maybe this was the first test--find a hiding jounin, with full knowledge he was there. If that was the case, then this would be an utterly trivial test: hiding from the Byakugan whilst still trying to stay visible enough that fresh genin could find you was flat out impossible.

This made it quite clear that their teacher was not, in fact, in the training ground at all. She could see a teammate running after her--sure to be here any second now--and that meant Wakana had chosen to walk... but a distinct lack of teacher. Satisfied she was, in fact, the first one here, Ayaka did what she always wanted to do in such good weather: lie down and enjoy the sunshine.