[IC] Naruto: Birth of a Better Generation

[Mirth]

“You are going to be late.”

Kirin Haranai flew out the front door of the book shop and banged into the grocer’s stall across the street. After a moment, she popped back up and started slapping dust out of her shirt. "Love you too, Grandma," Kirin called, briefly considering flipping the bird but deciding life was more important. She rolled her shoulders and shook back her choppy red hair, casting one last quick look at the shop before she started walking. It was already almost noon, and according to the message with the gold seal the group assignments would be getting underway. More than likely she would see her grandmother at the training grounds anyway, since Akane's idea of fun was trying to murder her to test her strength.

So that wasn't strictly true-- Akane Haranai had for many years been one of the most feared and respected shinobi in the Land of Fire, possibly in the whole world. And she'd done it deaf.

Kirin had been raised on stories about Akane's missions, although Akane had been careful to leave out all mention of 'shinobi', 'ninja', or anything of that nature. Sai's minions had been thorough in their eradication, but they had missed Akane-- mainly because she had retired two years prior to Sai's coup. Even so, Kirin had to have been braindead not to have noticed her grandmother's prowess.

Even at a sturdy fifty-seven, Akane Haranai was a sturdy, fierce woman with streaming red hair streaked with white and orange eyes that seemed to glow. She could also pick up and throw people three times her size. Kirin liked to think she took after her.

With a brief peek over her shoulder, Kirin finally released the breath she was holding. She had been worried Akane would walk her to the training grounds, and, while she looked up to her, wanted to make an impression on her own merits. Two women with flaming red hair, one a lauded war hero, would probably cause a scene.

The only scene Kirin wanted to make was her own. A good entrance could set up her relationship with her team for the rest of her life. And, from what she knew about her classmates, would be the only interesting thing happening at ground twenty-two.

Everyone she could think of as possibly attending was either a top student or an older shinobi, neither of which would be entertaining. Kirin tucked a chunk of hair behind her ear. She knew at least two Chunin would be there-- a quiet one in full armor who would obviously not make a big entrance, and a really spacey kid with white hair that was easily transfixed by liquid.

The genin were a little harder to place. There were the obvious ones, the high-achievers that would get into the best squads. They were the gifted ones, the prodigies who were shinobi practically out of the cradle. Then there were the eager kids, the ones who worked so hard they had to get into good squads.

Then there were the rejects, weirdos, sociopaths, and just downright losers. It was just like normal school, except with bladed weapons. Kirin belonged to this final group.

In spite of being gifted in taijutsu, she had nearly failed the academy exam. Her Transformation had gone badly-- she had barely been able to hold it the required ten seconds, and it had looked more like an amorphous blob than their teacher. It had been embarrassing, but at the last second Kirin had exerted all of her chakra to fix the illusion. Granted she had puked in the bathroom afterwards, but she had passed.

Stepping off the main road, Kirin read the signs directing her to the training area. The letter had mentioned number 22, one she was very familiar with, considering her specialty. The space chosen had a number of battle-scarred training dummies arrayed in formation, most of whom she had used at one time or another. While her grades weren't stellar, she worked hard on her own and was dilligent in her study of hand-to-hand combat. One day she was going to be the most powerful warrior to ever live. Until then, she just had to tough it out.

In the distance she could make out the edge of the clearing. Kirin cracked her knuckles and shook out her fingers. Showtime.

Bounding up the trunk of a nearby tree, Kirin swung into the canopy and leapt through the branches, her hair flying. Time to make an impression, time to be the star, she thought, and she burst out of the trees with as much height as she could muster. "SURPRISE, MUTHAFUCKAS!"

[StarInaBox]

Myth lowered his kunai and took an exasperated breath. Shin Uzimaki, that was all it was. He had received his picture in the letter, as well as everyone else a part of Division A. He was the only one he bothered to remember. Shin was the second in command of Konohagakure after all. Also, with his appearance, Myth finally began to take the whole thing seriously. Division A wasn't a joke. He was actually part of a squad.

A sudden rush of excitement rose in Myth's throat. He was something now. Officially a ninja of Konoha. Possibilities leaped around in his head. What could be next but to become a Chunin, and after that, a Jounin. Myth felt as if he could fly through the ranks faster than anyone else. The sky, it felt, was the limit.

Then, his excitement was crushed as he felt the eyes of his comrades. Myth didn't like to be noticed, especially when he was the weakest of the group. This was usually the case, anyways. After a few seconds, he heard his name being called. He looked up to see who looked like his commander waving him over. Shin had given the teams and listed the team leaders, so that must have been his: Goro Sroda. He looked tough, to say the least. Certainly he was going to be a tough leader. Myth stood up and used his Body Flicker Technique to rush in front of Goro in the blink of an eye. He didn't speak. Myth simply waited for some kind of order from his new team leader.

[Salroka]

(spoilered/hidden in case of TL ; DR)

Team Moon Collab

The first of the Genin that would be under Kirugetsu's wing seemed to be an Inuzuka girl, by the look of her dog and the fang markings on her face. And while he had been informed of who was who by the Hokage, Kirugetsu wasn't really paying attention when he was told. As such, he really had no inkling who to expect. And then the dog let out a growl, barely on the cusp of hearing. "Keep it up, pup." thought the Jounin as he returned fire with a stare that would likely cause young children to wet themselves.

Before he could really turn up the heat and send a rush of killing intent at the upstart canine, another kid popped out of the woodwork. This one was as silent as a man with no voicebox, and seemed as awkward as he was quiet. "You lost, kid?" asked Kirugetsu, unsure as to why such a seemingly unfit Genin was even at the field for assignment. And then a THIRD came out of the works... this one a Hyuga. "And of course, the Hokage sees fit to stick me with one of you. Figures." He didn't have anything against the kid, but the kid might have something against HIM.

Lastly, making a flashy and over the top entrance, was a second young lady... who seemed to think that bursting from hiding and screaming obscenities was a great way to make a first impression. To take the wind out of her sails, Kirugetsu pointed a single finger toward her, concentrated for a split second, and then fired a small burst of super-dense water at her. The attack, known as the "Water Gun Jutsu", would miss by several inches. After all, killing a student isn't the best way to make an impression.

"Now that there are four Genin here... we have to figure out who belongs here and who doesn't. After all, I can only take three of you on as Team Moon. So now, who is who here? I need names."

Shisen, who was still trying to cope with being put on a team, was shell shocked to say the least. Why would they do this to her? She took a deep breath... or more like several deep breaths to be exact; she didn't understand. Arashi who was no less pleased by this was growling, her ears pinned back and as she caught the stare of the Jounin, she snarled to show she was not afraid of a man. Human interaction... Why? Shisen asked herself with a frown. She didn't like this, it was frustrating her to no end because she was the least social person in the Academy, besides the quiet kid that always showed up with bruises.

Then the kid with the unnerving white eyes showed and came way to close for comfort, asking about her Niken. Arashi just the growled at him, but calmed when Shisen gently touched her back. She openned her mouth to say something but nothing came out except incoherent sounds that had no logical meaning behind them. Finally, after realizing that she probably sounded dumb after making such strange sounds but no words, she closed her mouth. After a moment, she decided to speak. "Umm... Hi?" Shisen asked. She had meant for it to be normal greeting but in her ignorance of normal human interaction it had ended up a question. "Arashi..." she said barely above a whisper.

Shisen then stiffened up as a girl who looked around her own age came flying out of a tree shouting something awful. She had nice hair though; nothing like Shisen's own thick and nearly unmanagable hair. As was expected, Arashi snarled at the outburst and began to pace. Shisen herself was too busy trying not to hyperventilate, didn't attempt to stop her Niken. In addition, she was shocked and having a hard time figuring everything out. How do I react to this? Shisen asked herself. Upon hearing what the Jounin asked of them, she just stared at him as it would seem that someone else expected her to interact with them, with a sigh she said "Shisen... Inuzuka..."

The stream of water that shot out of the jonin's finger passed a surprised Kirin by a scant few inches. Midair she couldn't have done much to dodge, but she still flipped sideways and almost landed on one of the other genin. "Might wanna move," she snapped as she came down. She landed in a crouch beside the taller of the two boys. The impact hadn't been much; it was nothing compared to the landings she'd pulled during school. She was lucky her femurs hadn't punched through her skull.

Pushing to her feet, Kirin smirked at the other ninja. "I'm Kirin Haranai, assbaskets." She let that sink in and prepared to dive for the bushes if anyone took offense. "Kidding. Mostly. Soooo..." She folded her arms across her chest and glanced at the only other girl in the clearing-- shorter than she was, with big blue eyes and wild brown hair. There was a large dog with her. Definitely an Inuzuka.

Then there was a dark-haired boy, covered in bruises, with vacant eyes. Definitely not creepy. He seemed spacey, like he didn't really know what was going on, or maybe just didn't care. Pursing her lips, Kirin turned her attention to the kid she'd almost squashed.

This one had strange eyes too, although they were strange eyes she recognized-- Hyuga. If she remembered right, he was the only Hyuga in the class, and he had immediately begun talking to the Inuzuka girl's dog. Friendly enough. Not the sharpest kunai in the pouch, but friendly. Then again, who was she to talk? Kirin had barely passed. The Hyuga kid had done much better.

And then there was the bastard who had shot water at her. She narrowed her eyes at him for a second.

Wait.

White hair. Giant-ass sword. Pointy teeth.

"You're that old Hozuki guy."

Having watched and waited for the other three to speak, Taiho right away realized that he was in the wrong place. There wasn't any reason for his sticking around anymore. It wasn't that he was fickle or disrespectful, yet just as if he was; the boy walked off without explaining who he was, as the older ninja had requested.

He didn't take anymore interest in the dog or the very talkative girl that came flying in. No. He had already been very late and he was certain that he was not supposed to be here where others actually knew where they were supposed to be.

Thus Taiho left, without even a greeting or salutation, and walked off towards the center of the training field.

Maruki was just about to start a friendly conversation with the girl who barely audible introduced herself as Shisen form the Inuzuka clan and her wolf-dog thing as Arashi, he could not really determine the breed, When he almost got squashed by a red-headed girl who was screaming something that would not be apreciated if he repeated it. Seems like he didnt was dead last to ariving here after all... Out of pure reflex he took on a fighting stance and almost punched the girl in the face, his palm only stopping an inch before her face. 'Might wanna move!' she snapped. Maruki drew his hands back but did not react to the smirking face of the girl, nor to her hissing.

Then the bruised kid turned around and began to walk away. for a split second Maruki felt the urge to go after him and ask him where he was going when he suddenly realized he must be the fifth wheel to the carriage. So that left him the only male Genin in company of the two girls and the in comparison old Jounin. could have been worse...

Living in solitary for most of his life might not seem to be the best social training you can get as a person but despite that Maruki was quite capable as it came to making friends and was always friendly, as long as you didnt act as an complete asshole by yourself. considering that. He was stuck with the red-head who was talkative enough but not in the right way and the semmingly very silent Inuzuka girl. He just hoped she would loosen up a bit as they got to know eachother.

Not being able to decide whom to speak to Maruki turned to the Joinin who was referred to as 'That old Hozuki guy' he had heard that name before although he could not remeber in which context. Anyhow he was supposed to be their team leader. and he asked their names "Hyūga Maruki, nice to meet all of you'"

Maruki had learned that after graduation from the academy there was another passing exam. he believed that was about to happen next.

So there was the Hyuga, an Inuzuka girl who had poor control over her dog, and a foul-mouthed and disrespectful girl from a relatively unknown family. Well, unknown to Kirugetsu at least. The fourth kid walked away without so much as a word. For the best, figured the Hozuki Jounin... as he seemed to be antisocial anyway. So. Maruki, Shisen, and Kirin. Those were the names of the village's next Chunin and Jounin, or at least that's what Kirugetsu was determined to make them in the coming days.

"Nice to meet you all, I suppose... his eyes traced over each of the kids as he spoke. "... I should tell you MY name. I'm Kirugetsu Hozuki." beginning to pace back and forth before the Genin, he gave off an air of discipline and order... much like a military officer or general. "Mister Hyuga. If that is a problem with you, speak now. As for the rest of you, welcome to Team Moon." Upon finishing the sentence, Kirugetsu reached into his robe for something...

What he retrieved... was nothing more than his wallet. "Anyways, what does everyone say to grabbing some lunch? My buy." With the kids likely surprised by this unusual action, Kirugetsu figured he'd explain. "See, I thought about doing the typical crap like a contest of skill or whatever... but that's so boring. We're rebuilding, not preparing for another war. So why not relax a bit?" Now they probably thought of him as a shitty teacher. Little did they know that this was all part of HIS test for them.

So the mute was gone. He just turned on his heel and walked away, disappearing into the treeline. Apparently he wasn't on their team. He hadn't seem very talkative anyway. Kirin wondered briefly why, but the jonin drew her attention.

She narrowed her eyes at their teacher. That was waaaaay too suspicious. Granted, Kirin's grades and attitude sucked, but she wasn't actually stupid. From what she knew, Kirugetsu was a veteran fighter with a grasp of esoteric jutsu and it was unlikely that he would just let them off without testing their abilities. Given the dangerous nature of shinobi work, knowing who had your back was vital. Kirugetsu, who had survived more missions than anyone, would probably have that rule tattooed on his eyeballs.

Shisen eventually got her breathing under control, the only emotion that crossed her face was a hybrid between complete terror and utter shock. Arashi even calmed a bit, she seemed to have given up the pacing and just stood stock still next to Shisen. Kirugetsu Hozuki, that was his name, their sensei who was to be their teacher. And he apparently wanted to take them out to eat, he went on to explain that he didn't want to do any of the usual first day activities. Arashi... Doesn't like strangers, she thought to herself with a frown.

She said nothing, not a word and not a sound escaped her lips. Arashi on the other hand was quite voice full with her displeasure at the idea of going to eat anywhere or she was just reading her emotions. "Arashi, don't bite anyone ok?" Shisen asked her niken, although there was an obvious amusement in her tone and clearly Arashi picked up on it because she turned to look at Shisen.

Finally with a snort, she sat sat down and waited for them to go. Most genin weren't paired with an older Niken but the female half wolf half domesticated niken wouldn't tolerate another Inuzuka. Shisen didn't even know why Arashi tolerated her to begin with, but she did and she couldn't have asked for a better niken. She let her hands run down the back of Arashi's back before looking over at Kirugetsu as if she was saying that she was waiting.

Kirugetsu started walking up and back in front of them. after his introduction he suddenly stopped in front of Maruki and addressed him; "Mister Hyūga, if that is a problem with you, speak now". Maruki was flabbergasted "Me? I don't know why? Should it be a problem?" Kitugetsu did not really react to that and welcomed the Genin to Team Moon.

then he did something completely unexpected, he took out his wallet. Maruki was just as surprised as when the older man addressed him. he looked at the girl, seeing their faces he saw they were also quite surprised. Wait,what? no test? thought Maruki. Well, it would be a good idea to get to know eachother better first right?

With the kids seeming to be in agreeance, or at the very least deferring to his judgment, Kirugetsu decided it was time to go get food. Team Moon's destination was the "Golden Cat" restaurant. It was a fairly high-priced establishment, but Kirugetsu had more than enough funds to cover the expenses. "Wait here. I'm going to pop in and see if they have a table for us." said the Hozuki as he motioned to his new students. Moments later, he came back out and motioned to them once more. "Come on in. I managed to get us a spot."

The waitress showed the four shinobi to a table on the east wall, overlooking a portion of the village. "Order whatever sounds good, but don't get so much that you can't eat it." This apporach was strange indeed for someone with as much reputation and prestige as Kirugetsu, but he as also not famous for his adherance to normal protocol or standards. Still, there was a rhyme to the reason and an order to the unorthodox. "So then. Tell me about yourselves."

Kirin followed the rest of the squad, falling to the back of the impromptu pack with the other girl. She nudged her with her hip. "Soooo... How much you wanna bet he's gonna pull something?" She cast the Inuzuka girl a sideways look. "The Hyuga kid's definitely gonna be the one who gets it the worst when it happens... waaaaay too trusting."

When they neared the restaurant, Kirin's eyebrows shot up. It was a nice place-- the kind of place that signalled an occasion of some kind. While her brain was still convinced it was a trap, her stomach burbled happily. Kirin had always had a voracious appetite; she could run through a couple of thousand calories in a single training exercise, so she was looking forward to eating again. Lunch could only go so far, and breakfast was already a faded memory. Food. Food was good.

Shisen followed soundlessly behind everyone, only stopping to stare at Kirin who bumped her with her hip and actually spoke to her. "Umm... Well... I don't know.. It's nice?" Shisen asked. She flinched when she heard the question in her voice, they probably thought she was a freak from not knowing how to properly respond to such a casual question. When she saw the fancy restaurant, she could only stare at it. Could their sensei really afford this? Dismissing the thought completely as there was a more prominent issue to be dealt with, her Niken had issues with others being so close to her and there the potential that someone could dare to touch her, getting bit for their effort.

"Arashi, do not bite anyone, please" Shisen said firmly to the Niken. Realizing that Arashi was not allowed to go inside, she came to a halt. Why did Kirugetsu have to choose this restaurant of all places? Or better yet, why didn't he choose to sit outside where she could sit with her Niken? "Umm...." she said, of course it was barely above a whisper so no one heard her muttered word. Arashi made a high pitch whine as she figured out the dilemma, neither liked to be separated very much. "Stay out here, I'll get you something to eat, you'll be ok, I hope..." she told the anxious niken before entering the resturant. She should have guessed that eating outside wasnt enough as she was followed by a stubborn Arashi who had the gall to look innocent.

Shisen closed her eyes as she didn't want to send her back outside, taking a deep breath she looked down to Arashi with a firm but sad expression as she said "Go outside, I'll get you something to eat." The Niken whined again and stared at Shisen before turning to go outside leaving Shisen whre she stood and feeling alone despite the crowd in the restaurant. She went to sit with her team and couldn't help but keep glancing out the door to check on Arashi.

'The Golden Cat' was quite the restaurant. It was known througout the Land of Fire ecause of its prestigeous design and exquisite menus. Maruki sat next to Kirugetsu and across Shisen at the outside of the bench. His eyes scouted the menu thst contained various exotic menu's with names he never have seen before. Waiters came and went, serving other tables. The young Hyūga who spent most of his lifetime in the woods had never seen such a thing before. He thought the waiters and the food in the Hyūga mansion was something special but even that didnt compare to what was happening here. He bend over the table to his teammates "have any of you ever eating here before? I have no idea what to order..." He read through the menu once more and looked at kiugetsu who already closed his menu. I'll think I just take the same as he is getting thought Maruki to himself.

Well... that was a surprise. The dog actually listened to the Inuzuka girl, despite it appearing to be unruly and agressive. The foul-mouthed and impolite girl seemed distrustful of him, but Kirugetsu expected as much. Lastly, the Hyuga boy, seemed oddly the opposite. One would think the history between the kid's clan and the Hozuki Jounin would make the Genin hate him. All the better, really. Making a single handsign from behind his menu, Kirugetsu changed his initial plan and got rid of the water clone he had created when he 'checked for an open table'.

"You want what I want, kid? You sure?" asked Kirugetsu as the waitress approached. "I'll take the steamed crab. But don't steam it. Just bring it to me when you bring everyone else's orders." He handed her the menu and looked around at the kids. "So far you passed part one of the test, Shisen. Now, for part one of YOUR test, Maruki." After waiting for the Genin to order, Kirugetsu looked right at the Hyuga and took a deep breath. He wasn't sure how the boy would react to what he was about to hear.

"Seeing as you don't seem to have any problem with me, you either don't know... or were simply too scared to do anything about it." A weakened wave of Kirugetsu's 'Killing Intent' was sent toward the young man. "Twenty years ago... I killed the head of your clan. I killed Hirotaka Hyuga. I am your grandfather's murderer. I am the man resposible for the weakened state of your clan that allowed Sai to claim one of your hearts as his own. And then I killed THAT." The kid's reaction would determine if he passed or failed this test.

As for Kirin, her test was still in progress. Her passing or failing would be determined soon enough.

[KiltmanBagz]

Shin Uzumaki. He had a...unique effect on Amaya. Commander of the Jounin, there were practically none who outranked him. The man related, in part at least, to the one responsible for so many deaths...including her fathers. For whatever reason listening to him speak made her wonder, had her father ever fought by his side or treated his mounds before dying. She still wish she knew the details of her father's death. All she knew for sure was that he died long before the final confrontation with the Tyrant known as Sai. It was weird to hear him speak of Sai as one no different from her, or any of her classmates. It gave her a strange feeling to think of Sai as something other than one responsible for countless deaths, one she could not give a name to but it was ugly and reminded her of hate and pain. And just as soon as he had arrived he was gone.

Amaya wasn't exactly sure how to feel about her team. She knew there was little chance that she would have been overly fond of anyone she had been paired up with, given the fact that she wasn't exactly overly fond of anyone as it was. Myth....well, honestly Myth was probable the only person she didn't have any real negative feelings toward in her class. The boy was quite, shy, and jumpy as a cat in a dog kennel. That meant he often kept to himself, or at least avoided interacting with someone as anti social as Amaya tended to be. As far as she was concerned he was the closest thing to someone that wouldn't be an annoying team mate, someone that didn't interact with you as just as good as being alone after all.

Seiga on the other hand...An older girl, she had always felt out of place to Amaya in the class who's ages more reflected the traditional starting age range for novice shinobi. She was one of those types that Amaya referred to as 'always being on'. Always pushing harder and being louder than others, always doing whatever it took to get what she wanted. Thanks to that initial impression Amaya had made a special effort to stay away from her, and knew precious little else about her. She was one of the two types that she worked the least well with, in her opinion. Those two types were; The straight forward, trying to hard types, Like Seiga, and those she'd simple refer to as dumb. Well at least she wasn't paired with anyone of the later types...at least Seiga wasn't likely to get them killed.

The prospect of a teacher had been an interesting one. While almost all people her age rubbed her the wrong way she'd say she was good with 60 to 70 percent of adults she had encountered since gaining the freedom to interact with people outside of her close family. Perhaps this was because she had been kept from any of the other family children and been exclusively about the adult members of her family. She was certainly far more familiar with adults than children or people close to her in age. Goro...Goro-sensei she supposed, was a hard looking man. Hard than those he ran the academy, and they two, in some sense, had been vets of the revolution. She was interested in what kind of many he would turn out to be, and what she would learn from him. She wrinkled her nose a bit as he placed a bit of chewing tobacco in his mouth, a habit she thought was...kind of icky to be honest, but quickly smoothed her features as he called them and waved them forward. She approached the Jounin, bowing her head slightly in respect and replying simply with "Goro-Sensei."

[LillyDove]

Shisen picked up the menu in front of her and skimmed it, she had a craving for meat just like her Niken and so when she found the section with the steaks she couldn't help but to smile behind the menu. She loved all meat, steak, pork chops, chicken, beef it was all good to her. Searching the steak section, she licked her lips a little as she spotted a nice juicy sirloin that would taste even better in her mouth. She would order a smaller size for Arashi to eat, with that she folded up her menu and handed it to waitress. "I'll have a 9 ounce sirloin and a 6 ounce sirloin for my Niken outside" Shisen stated.

She picked up on what Maruki asked them about eating here before, giving a simple shake of her head as she was raised near the woods and her supposed guardians didn't have the money to come eat here. The memory of her parents had her eyes drifting down as she stared at her lap like it held all the answers to her questions that had yet to be asked. Finally looking back up but not exactly at anyone, she let her eyes wander.

After she had ordered, she had time to observe her teammates and her sensei. Starting with Kirugetsu-Sensei, who at first he seemed like the reckless type as he clearly didn't care what happened if he hurt someone. But if that was the case then why did he purposely miss hitting Kirin with his attack? Unless his reason for trying to attack her was to scare her. Shisen froze, her eyes landed on their sensei as she stared at him wide eyed. Did he really kill the Clan Head for the Hyuga? He went on to confirm it and it seemed like maybe they were placed with someone who they couldn't trust. He had said before that she had passed her test, but why test did she pass? She only recalled him bringing them here to eat, that couldn't be a test. So what test did she pass?

Her thoughts moved on from their troublesome sensei and to the Hyuga kid, who still had those unnerving white eyes. At the moment, he seemed way too trusting to be able to decide anything of importance, always so friendly. At the Academy, he seemed to be the eager to learn type and it wasn't a bad thing but he could always be eager to rush into a suicide situation, that was a bad thing. Then how he handled the situation where Kirin came flying at them, nearly punching her somewhere on her person. It would seem that he hadn't taken the time to figure out if she was on their team, jumping to a rash conclusion could get them killed.

Then there was Kirin. The girl had came flying at them screaming some absurd comments and the like. But she did have the right way of going about this, thinking that this was a test and noticing how Maruki was too trusting. That was a pro to an already longer con list, it made since to ask such questions. Then again, the way she introduced herself was not so pleasant either, another absurd word that was taken to be disrespectful. It was hard to place Kirin, there was almost no telling how this unpredictable girl would act in a situation. In battle, she could get them killed if she acted without thinking.

At the moment, she decided that she disliked Maruki the most out of his eagerness, followed by their Sensei and the she liked Kirin the most out of the three of them. Although she didn't no why she liked the unpredictable girl the most, it just seemed familiar to her. It was almost five long minutes before she realized that she had to talk about herself.

What was she to say? That she was born in a small house on the outside of the the town and she had nearly been killed when she was five? Or the fact that when she was almost six she watched her mother and father get killed right in front of her? Maybe she was suppose to say that she owed Arashi her life, that she would be dead right now if it weren't for her Niken.

[Marrow]

Maruki reacted strangely to his Sensei ordering raw crab. Why would someone eat raw food anyway, it was harder to chew and swallow. Also it was often times dangerous to eat uncooked food. "I'll also take the steamed crab, steamed not raw." Then, when the others ordered their food, Kirugetsu turned to him and told him it was time for the first part of his test. The young Hyūga turned from an eager young boy to a serieus young man sitting straight up and looking at his Sensei, ready to take in everything he said to him.

"Seeing as you don't seem to have any problem with me, you either don't know... or were simply too scared to do anything about it." Maruki shivered as the air between them suddenly tensioned, what was this uneasy feeling? "Twenty years ago... I killed the head of your clan. I killed Hirotaka Hyuga. I am your grandfather's murderer. I am the man responsible for the weakened state of your clan that allowed Sai to claim one of your hearts as his own. And then I killed THAT."

Maruki was dumbstruck, his eyes wide open, his mouth slightly open of surprise, he wasn't even able to move, let alone speak. He blinked, then he closed his eyes tight. His neck muscles loosed and his head hang down. "Dammit" whispered Maruki and clenched his fist. Now he knew again. Now all the puzzle pieces suddenly came together. Kirugetsu Hozuki, how could he ever have forgotten?

The first time he heard of the man was from his father. He told him that a man called Kirugetsu Hozuki killed his father, Maruki's grandfather, the head of the Hyūga clan, shortly before he left for the woods. The second time was from his Uncle. He somehow received intel that Kirugetsu was one of the Jounin to take a squad of Genin under his wing. He warned Maruki not to get to close to the man because there was no telling what he could do.

Despite this, Maruki could not fit the context to the name when the man told him his. But now he knew, now there was no way back. This was the man responsible for the death of his grandfather, for the weakened state his clan was in. Maruki drew back his tears, raised his head and looked his Sensei straight in the eyes. He cleared his throat before he spoke "I never knew the man, I never even met my grandfather. Yet killing the head of the Hyūga clan is something I cannot easily forgive. Killing any Hyūga was something that could not easily be forgiven. You left my father head of the clan at a young age, not ready to take the reasonability yet, he left for the woods. When I was born he taught me all about you. He also taught me about the Hyūga clan, his position, mine and that of all my relatives. He taught me many techniques, many of them Main Family specifics. When he left for the war he told me I was now head of the clan. When I returned to Konoha my Uncle who was clan head in the absence of my father was ready to name me clan head when I told him his brother died in the war, but i refused. I am now learning under my Uncle to be his successor as clan head. You killed my grandfather what feels like a personal attack on me, despite me not even knowing him, I am his direct decedent."

Maruki took a deep breath before continuing. "My grandfather and Father were greatly respected among the Hyūga for their skill and their diplomatic way of dealing with several different situations. In the memory of my father and grandfather there are two things I can do. I have chosen for the following solution: Killing my grandfather proves you are a capable and strong man. As long as you will not hurt me or any of my relatives, I will forgive you and will see it as an honor to be the student of such a capable Sensei."

He kept looking his Sensei straight in the eyes, awaiting his reaction.

[gothpuppy95]

Kyo didn't sleep the night before the ceremony. He bound his hair back in a tail to keep it out of the fire. He spent the hours tempering the weapon, before he began working the blade over a stone. Kyo maintained this process until the edge of the blade was hidden from sight by just how thin it was. He had decided last week to forge a kunai for every member of his squad just a small thing for each to carry the kind of weight that they carry with them not just their own life but the life of their teammates. The problem was it takes Kyo 2 days to make one kunai. So he had to get the last kunai finished. He decided last minute that he needed to do something to make them more than Yoru kunai. He redid their bindings in a red and wrote in black. "Guardian"

While he was all prepped to do forge work he went ahead and began working on his own weapons. First he got out Akuma no Kiba and began working the stone over the edges just feeling the layers of metal falling away to create the new edge. Kiba never got much real use, therefore it was finished quickly. He resealed the scythe in its scroll and set it to the side. He brought out the sword his uncle had given him as a graduation gift. It was a weapon that had seen its share and then some of battle in the resistance. And this was the first time he had taken the time to work the blade into the proper condition. The sword was heated and fused with some new iron and the process of hammering, tempering, and sharpening this went on until he lost himself in the work the metal speaking to him. He maintained the work until one of the forgemasters stopped him reminding him he had a ceremony to be at. After being startled awake he looked and saw the blade was back in the proper conditioned it could use another round of tempering and sharpening just to perfect it.

He took the kunai he had made for himself and cut his hair free of the binding. He left that moment his arms covered in soot from the forge, he wasn't wearing his normal clothes that most of his fellow academy graduates saw him in. Now he was wearing a formerly white Tee-shirt and grey pants. He wasn't wearing his jacket. His sword hung at his side. He arrived at the location in time to see the hokage vanish. So he was standing there with no idea who his team was and so he stood there lost among the people.

[Prince]

Retcon of Interaction between Kino and Jhino.

The first observation Kino made as he saw Jhino react was that he reacted defensively to his name simply being called out. It made him wonder if all shinobi seasoned by war would react like this. He recalled that the instructors in his classes often only knew the basics themselves, so thought that these shinobi would be an entirely different breed. It was quite a bit to consider and made him wonder how he should address people in the future. Afterwards, Jhino made a note to quickly reply to him, stating he had no idea he was on a team. Albeit, Jihno quickly affirmed that he was using both of their papers. The thought that he hadn't even fully read the letter wasn't precisely encouraging, but Kino kept in mind that Jhino most likely didn't know that the purpose of this meeting was to assign them their teams.

Upon being asked for the location of the third teammate, Kino could only sigh. "I know who Ria is. Pretty 'lil Uchiha from my class. I don't know where she is, though." is what Kino answered with, for, in fact, he had no idea where Ria was, nor did he know her very well. She was part of his graduating class, but she was one of the Uchiha that graduated under him and she may have been 'pretty' but not enough to distract Kino. So, she was just another name in the crowd, aside from her obvious lineage. Kino had no real idea how Jhino would react to that, either; Kino had just finished talking rather big game only to fall short in finding out where their teammate was. All-in-all, he it was still a new experience for him, and he was essentially looking to Jhino for guidance.

---

Shin Uzumaki was a name Kino had heard of, but never truly knew much about. No one did. Shin defected to the resistance near the end of the war and essentially gave every piece of information about strongholds and Sai's positions that he could. It was rumored that all of Amegakure was a giant deathtrap of a city and Shin had the blueprints for it. Aside from that, Shin bore the Samehada, which was one of the swords that gained quite a bit of fame during the resistance. Originally, they had all been from Kirigakure, but during the war, they were spread out after Sai himself destroyed one of them in his attempt to abolish all shinobi. Shin also had a constantly active Sharingan and a monstrous arm, making his intimidating presence even greater in person. Kino felt that having him as a Division Leader was both a blessing and a curse. Shin seemed so powerful, but it was all incredibly daunting.

Jhino, a Chuunin, was his leader? Kino realized this after piecing a few things together. He wanted a jounin. Someone powerful: a war veteran. In reality, he was quite jealous of Team Moon, as they had Kirugetsu Hozuki, a living legend within Konohagakure. He was a founding member of the resistance, a choice for the Fourth Hokage and one of the most well-known shinobi in all of the village, on par with men like Shin and Hosuka Uzumaki. Having him as a leader, a trainer, would be fantastic, but the village was also still in its rebuilding phase. Kino, having the intuition of a businessman, realized that Shin could only work with so many Jounin and Genin, so he trusted the stronger Genin to the Chuunin while the nobodies of his class were assigned the higher levels of protection. Regardless, it didn't make Kino feel any less cheated.

[Dystopia]

Kami moved her hands down the body, watching as cuts slowly mended themselves back together. This was nothing bad; an unfortunate incident of a child being a child. Kami had climbed her number of trees when she was younger, and not every excursion had ended well. She'd been yelled at by his mother on multiple occasions for being a reckless child. So, no matter how ridiculous the eight year old she was healing was or how stupid his ideas had been, Kami really couldn't fault him. Children always learned best by making their own mistakes. However, despite how she couldn't wholeheartedly fault the kid, she was definitely telling him how stupid he was. The last ten minutes had been Kami lecturing and call the child names he probably hadn't been called by a doctor or medical ninja before. "You're a freaking idiot, you know that?" That was the calmest, most PG words she'd referred to him as in the last few minutes.

Kami had seen children died; she had attempted to save dying children during the Resistance. A child shouldn't risk their life for such a stupid reason! A tree, a freaking tree. It was such a normal, easy mistake. Everyone was trying to make life seem normal, but... Kami wasn't sure she could ever get used to this. She couldn't ever get used to children getting injured trying to be monkeys. Just as Kami was about to grab the child and start shaking sense into him, her mother walked into the room. She was scowling but that was fine because her mother wasn't really a happy person. And it was way too early. If Kami hadn't drowned three cup of coffee, her face would probably look the same. "Kami, you do know I'll have you escorted out if you keep harassing the patients, right?"

Kami sighed, holding her hands away from the child in surrender. "Yeah, yeah." She stood up, wiping her hands off on her pants. "I have to a genin to find anyway." Kami slipped her hand into her pocket, pulling out a piece of paper she'd written the name on: Shira Hataga. Kami wasn't the best person with children, but... she could definitely try. She ruffled the kid's hair and, without saying goodbye to her mother, left the hospital. "Shira Hataga. Hataga Shira." Originally, Shira was supposed to have a nice six hours before reporting to Kami, but Kami was pretty excited to meet up with her team. And, there as also the fact, that if she had to deal with one more idiot at the hospital someone was going to be thrown out of the window. Kami glanced back down at the note, trying to mesmerize the name. She probably should have asked for a picture or something. Oh well, Shira was supposed to meet her at Amaguriama. Kami could happily spend her time munching on sweets until Shira appeared~

[Mirth]

To a chorus of clinking glasses and pleasantly muted conversation, Team Moon sat down to eat. A friendly, buxom waitress laid out empty plates for appetizers and complimentary glasses of water to combat the heat. She shot Kirugetsu Hozuki a brief, possibly flirtatious smile before plopping a quartet of menus in front of him. Kirin leaned across the table to distribute them. After tossing the last one at Shisen Inuzuka, she glanced out the front door at the girl’s dog.

Arashi obviously couldn’t come into the restaurant, so she was forced to wait outside in the heavy midafternoon sun. Kirin pursed her lips at this, since the dog had thick fur and was already panting. Not a good sign. From what she knew about dogs (which was a lot, considering she’d never had one), they got dehydrated quickly in hot weather and needed a constant supply of fresh water. Taking the plate from her place setting, Kirin collected her glass of water and carried them both out. Then she poured the water into the plate and set it in front of Arashi.

When she got back to the table, she slid nonchalantly into her seat and snapped her menu open to the lunch specials. Kirin had a distinctly unrefined palette, and she couldn’t pronounce most of what was on offer, but she skimmed until she spotted a winner. Shrimp tempura udon was a rare delicacy in the Haranai household, since shrimp was imported out of the Land of Waves. When they did have it, Kirin’s father lightly battered the shrimp in a crispy breading that fried up gold and made the house smell fantastic. And the udon…! Kirin swallowed the mouthful of anticipatory drool that had collected and shut the menu.

She looked up when Kirugetsu started speaking. “…I killed the head of your clan,” he said, and Kirin’s eyes darted to Maruki. That would not go over well with him—he had seemed to like Kirugetsu, and now he’d gotten a serious bombshell dropped on his head. She briefly wondered if he’d get angry, maybe even declare vengeance.

Her own grandfather was still alive, more than likely asleep behind the counter in the bookstore. He nodded off and spent most days that way, so a lot of customers had just gotten into the habit of picking out books and leaving money by the snoring white head. Kirin couldn’t really imagine being without him. To be truthful, she couldn’t imagine being without any of her family. She loved them all dearly, even though she was irked by her mother’s complete lack of domestic skill and her father’s inability to raise his voice above a soft remonstrance and her grandmother’s constant pushing to become a kunoichi.

Kirin watched Maruki’s face cycle through a series of expressions as he processed Kirugetsu’s revelation. Their teacher had murdered his grandfather. Even Kirin felt an odd pang when she put herself in his place—if anybody hurt her grandfather… the flare of rage and sorrow was as strong as it was brief, and she was surprised by its intensity. “Did you have to just drop it on him like that?” Kirin asked.

She knew that he was testing them, that he was trying to pick them apart because it was his job and because it was important. In the missions ahead their lives would be in danger and they would need to work as a team, to know each other and rely on one another, and all that underdog-in-a-sports-movie stuff. Kirin tucked a chunk of red hair behind her ear. She was curious what her sensei had to say about her speaking up.

[Salroka]

Kirugetsu stared blankly at Maruki Hyuga as the kid went on a tangent about the Clan, his grandfather, his uncle, and all the other crap that the Hozuki Jounin had already expected. But then the kid said not only that he forgave Kirugetsu, but was honored to be his student?! Bullshit. And then, Kirin decided to pipe up about things. First, Kirugetsu's gaze moved to the young man. "Kid. Your grandfather wasn't so much a diplomat as he was a master swordsman and an even more focused killer than I was back then." The restaurant staff seemed reluctant to take the orders of anyone near the newly-formed squad of ninja, as tensions were rising among them.

Then he turned his attention to Kirin. "And when would you prefer he find out? On a mission where an enemy knows who I am, sees a Hyuga, and casually drops the fact that I killed a few of them in the past?" He stared at the girl and shook his head. "I didn't think so, either." ... a few minutes went by without Kirugetsu saying a word to any of his students, and when he finally spoke up, he chose to address all of the Genin under his wing. "Shisen. Kirin. You both pass part one of your test. Maruki, you fail." Surely they would all wonder what their tests were... and Kirugetsu was not one to keep them in the dark.

"Maruki. Someone of your heritage and potential should be outraged that one born of an outside clan and country would so brazenly gloat about slaying your kin. It would have been foolish to attack, of course. However, anger is a powerful weapon for the ninja who knows when and how to use it." A few moments of silence occurred before the older man continued speaking to the child. "Don't worry too much. You only failed part one of your test. But if you fail one of the following two parts, you will fail the test as a whole." Unfortunate, of course, but there was such a thing as extra credit... and Kirugetsu wasn't about to let his first squad in nearly twenty years fail out on him.

"We're all going to finish our meal, and then the three of you will go home. That is when part two of your test will begin. This afternoon, evening, and night... you will prepare for an attack. You won't know when exactly it will come, but it will come in the near future. He smiled a bit, exposing his shark-toothed grin to the Genin. "Part Three will also begin after you get home. I am in posession of something that I know each of you will enjoy having for yourselves. Your objective it to get it from me. I won't have it on my person, so a direct theft attempt won't work. This will likely seem like the most difficult of the tests... but I assure you it is the most simple."

A few more minutes passed, and the meals arrived at the table. "Oh, and you all forgot to tell me about yourselves. Please do so now." Said the Hozuki as he crushed the main body carapace of the crab with his powerful grip

[Tuujaimaa]

Kami Rinha.

That one name kept buzzing around Shira's mind as she went about her tasks for the day - first it had been moving the apples, and then someone had asked her to help find their cat, and then she'd been asked to escort an elderly woman to the store and back. It was almost impossible for Shira to say no to anybody with more authority than her, and even though she'd always been asked pleasantly and as politely as possible, there was still an unmistakeable aura of authority for one who was trained to look for it. Most people obeyed out of respect for social decorum, or, more accurately, out of fear of committing a faux pas - it was a minor fear, something easily rationalised and shaken off, but the world was designed to make people care about what others thought. Sai's regime and the surrounding war had seen to varying cultures' destruction, and to the remodelling of those that had managed to remain, and after such a short period of time it was completely unreasonable to expect that any of them had really begun to truly recover. That was simply the way things went with the art of War - and it was the main reason that Shira had been brought up to act independently of cultures. It may not have mattered so much in the current era, where war was more of a rarity than the antiquity from which the Hataga originated, but it was still bred into them as if it still had meaning. Times may have changed, but war did not - and just as war remains constant, so too do the Hataga.

After helping those three people out, Shira had opted to get breakfast - she could not simply return to Bujin and ask him to make her the Okonomiyaki that she normally ate in a morning, so she elected to travel to Ramen Ichikaru in order to eat. For the first time since the war, Shira would not eat Okonomiyaki in a morning - Ramen was the most popular dish, and Shira would find out why for herself, with her own initiative. Setting Unmei no Chikara aside as she sat down to order, she called over the bartender and asked for the most popular Ramen dish that the shop served, paid, and waited for it to arrive. By the time it had done so, Shira had already prepared a mental checklist for the tasks that she was to prepare for during the course of the day - her Sensei and her compatriots, if any, would probably ask several things of her as soon as they learned of her obedient nature. That was something to be prepared for. She would likely be called upon by others while she wasn't with any of her fellows, as Konohagakure was still rebuilding, and she was to prepare herself for that happening. Initially, Shira struggled to think of other possibilities, but just as she was beginning to wrack her brain for more information, her food arrived. With a nod, a bow, and a proclamation of thanks, Shira set upon the task of eating her Ramen in such a fashion that she could use as much excess time as possible and savour the relatively new experience simultaneously - fortunately, both tasks seemed to lend themselves well to copious amounts of time being spent, so Shira took it upon herself to eat as slowly and thoughtfully as possible. A few strange looks were shot at her, given that most of the customers at Ramen Ichikaru were seen slurping noodles down as quickly as they could, but it was not in Shira's nature to care what others thought of her.

After finishing her noodles, Shira stretched out, thanked the proprietor again for the meal, hefted Unmei no Chikara onto her back, and left the establishment to head to Amaguriama, a local sweet shop that specialised in Chestnut-based delicacies. The reason for choosing Amaguriama had reasons twofold - as so many things do - it was where Shira's sensei had asked to meet her, and it was also another new experience. Becoming a Genin proper seemed to warrant the trial of as many new experiences as possible, as it was a new experience in of itself, and Shira secretly enjoyed the freedom of her tasks - just a little. It was daring, to stray from an organised routine, and though Shira loved the comfort that routine provided, the metaphorical return to her roots was exciting in its own way, too. It gave her a taste of the freedom she had once loved, and while she could not appreciate it nearly as much as she could in the past, she could still savour the smallest taste as if it were a great delicacy - but the taste was brief, as all too many things were, and it was quickly back to the default for Shira. It didn't take Shira long to pick out her new Sensei, given that she'd received a picture, and upon seeing Kami Shira rushed up to her in a... Less than elegant fashion, and bowed immediately.

"Sensei! Hataga, Shira, reporting for duty, Kami-san!"

Meeting Shira for the first time when she considered you to be an authority figure was often a bit much - and Shira was sure that Kami would be no exception to this rule. Still, time would tell if Kami and Shira would get along well.

[Durnehviir]

Fortunately, Kyo wasn't the only one that was lost. Taiho too was a lost Genin without any sense of purpose or direction, however Taiho was lost because of a different reason. His specification letter, which detailed all the information related to his future team assignment, had been stolen. Luckly, Kyo had at least seen such a letter. So, as Taiho started to walk by, Kyo offered a gesture that attracted the young Genin's attention. It was a fortunate coincidence that Taiho walked clean by Kyo, whom would be able to recognize Taiho, even with all the injuries. They were both in the same place, had the same assignment, and at least Kyo knew exactly what Taiho looked like. That made the both of them a little less lost, despite equally being without direction.

Taiho was still as beaten and battered as a boy that was pummeled would be and, which Taiho immediately noticed, Kyo looked a little sweaty and smelled of iron and firewood. Taiho was highly observant, contrary to how he outwardly appeared, and saw all the minor tell-tale signs that gave away Kyo's occupation. The ridged knuckles from holding a hammer for long periods, the tan around the face, from looking down at searing hot metals, and the broad shoulders from the arduous work of smithing were all obvious for Taiho, but would have been missed by anyone else that offered a quick glance. That was all coupled with the smell. Especially the boy's hair, which really smelled like iron and wood fire. He was a smith, clearly. Taiho knew nothing about the boy's family, particularly, but his high height and his stature told Taiho that this boy was from the Yoru clan, a clan of smiths. Taiho never associated with one before, but he saw them moving about the town from his window sometimes and, when he did actually go outside, he saw a few of them lugging large, heavy bands of materials on their stocky shoulders. The impression Taiho always had was that they held some natural strength about them.

Taiho didn't introduce himself outright, instead he looked around.
From their short meeting, Taiho found out that there would be a total of three of them. It would be Kyo, himself, and a female Chuunin named Shio Nara. Taiho knew nothing about the girl and an equally less about the Nara clan, other than they commonly had dark hair, were slim, and could manipulate shadows to a degree. He'd never heard her name before or seen her in the academy, even in his younger years starting out. Even with a picture, Taiho couldn't match the picture to anything, which was unusual for a boy that spent hours upon hours looking out a window throughout his life.

Taiho had been late and, clearly, Kyo had been late. However, as Taiho scanned this training field, he didn't even see this Shio Nara around. Was she late or had she simply grew tired of waiting? Should they go and find this person or was it more opportune to just wait here, displaying some semblance of temperance and patience? This could be a test, though Taiho didn't honestly care about passing or failing it. He hadn't been told to pass any additional tests thus there wasn't any reason to put the extra effort to do such. If he wasn't told to do something he wasn't going to do it. Simple, however that also left him without the ability to decide what to do next. As groups were made and those groups started to deviate from the training field it was becoming pretty obvious that the two of them were going to, eventually, be the only ones left standing.

Taiho wouldn't complain. He wasn't a whiner or a gossiper. He wouldn't talk bad about himself, others, or his future instructor, nor did he have the capacity. He didn't judge others and he was a servant of complacency, as he didn't try harder than he needed and didn't find any reason or purpose in trying to be proactive without direction. Thus, he'd wait. He'd wait unless Kyo suggested something different. He wouldn't offer any conversation either, unless Kyo started to speak with him first and he wouldn't follow after Kyo either, unless Kyo asked him to follow along.

[Champion]

Jhino listened as Kino spoke, informing him that he knew of their third teammate but didn't know her. They were from the same class thus he at least knew what she looked like. This was good enough for Jhino, in the mean time a few new faces had made their way to the training grounds. This was nothing short of the gathering of the best. Legends considered to be powerhouses of the village had came. Ninja barring the title of Jonin. This was not the first time he had came into contact with powerful people however this was the first time he seen faces to match the names some people whispered about. Goro Sroda, the same age as Jhino but already ranked Jonin. And Kirugetsu Hozuki, a war hero. Jhino had acquired a new found interest in this meeting. Jhino looked towards Kino momentarily. "I have a feeling things will be starting soon." It seemed like just when he said that a gust of wind kicked up and seemed to gather to the stage like area of the pavilion.

It was there that their commander stood, Shin Uzumaki. Every ninja in the village knew the name but his presence could not be explained. Power seemed to ooze from the mans skin. Enough to cripple a weaker man. Jhino starred in awe wondering how exactly the man did it, He came to the conclusion it was a heightened form of body flicker. Jhino noticed the the large weapon on his back. Samaheda, Sharks Skin. A weapon that Jhino had read about. It was legendary and is said to choose its wielder. That just showed how accomplished Shin was. After Shin spoke he disappeared in a flash just like he appeared. He left no room for questions or objection though Jhino had none. He had been entrusted with overlooking 2 Genin. Wasn't bad considering the first already showed great potential but this would have to be tested. The second was one of his kin, or so he had been told.

He had been living in the shadow of being an Uchiha for a few months now. He had only just discovered this fact but it seemed like everyone knew. He still didn't know how to take it and thus kept it in the back of his mind. Jhino thought about Shin's words. He wasn't one for much talking he preferred to use his hands, things were easier that way growing up. He rose and turned towards his new comrade. "Just how good are you with that bow? And what was your registration number?" Jhino waited for a response while at the same time waited for Ria to make her appearance. The chunin was patient and although he didn't show it he was excited by the opportunity he was given. He felt special being hand picked by the Hokage himself.

[Dystopia]

Kami turned around as her name was called, roasted chestnut falling right out of her mouth. "Wha..?" She asked while quickly down at the bag of roasted chestnuts in her hands. Her free bag of roasted chestnuts. The good thing about getting a cute, little genin to look after was the excuses it provided. Say like she could totally tell the owner of Amaguriama that she required free bags of roasted chestnuts for super important ninja stuff. She had went on a very long rant about how she needed them to have energy to train a genin and genin were the future of Konoha. After that, she had basically harassed the owner with paranoia until she was given the okay to eat all the roasted chestnuts her heart desired. She had made sure to thank the owner though.

Except, free chestnuts weren't the current concern. No, what was important was the fact that someone older than Kami was acting like- No! Where was her cute, little genin? Where were the baby cheeks she could pinch? No one would ever believe the whole 'you-need-to-give-this-to-me-I'm-training-Konoha's future' speech if Kami insisted that the young woman standing in front of her was her student. Kami could feel all the color draining from her face. She couldn't this. There was no way she could critic someone older than her! How could she..? She shifted her weight from foot-to-foot. Kami was going to have to yell at this young woman, possibly make her cry, and injure her for the sake of learning. Kami couldn't harm an adult... Gosh, her mother would have her head for that!

So, after gawking at Shira for a pregnant three minutes, Kami forced herself to say something. Anything. She could say anything to Shira right now and be okay with it. What if being too silent scared the genin off? Kami probably would never get another student again. "You smell like ramen," Kami blurted. She let out a sigh of relief as her hand covered her racing heart. Now that the situation was under control, she allowed herself to probably analyze her student. The sword was the first object that caught her attention. "You're strong then?" She asked nonchalantly, returning to stuffing her mouth with the roasted chestnuts. The sword was massive. Kami doubted even she, herself, would be able to lift it. If she could, she'd be able to preform wicked surgeries. Actually... it'd probably be good training and bonding to tell Shira exactly where to cut. Except, that whole idea was probably illegal or something.

[Innue]

Shiō

There was a light knock on Shiō's procedure room door.

"Miss Shiō," Yui's dampened voice speaking through the closed wooden door, "You were supposed to meet your squad assignments over twenty minutes ago. Should I tell them you'll be delayed?"

Shiō sighed inwardly, a large string of profanity echoing through her mind, "No need. I am just finishing up." With that, she closed the leg wound on the young man, having successfully removed the clot. Despite the simplicity of the procedure, it had been complicated by the clot moving twice during it, forcing her to create three incisions in his leg rather than her usual one. There was substantially more blood than she had planned for, her hands coated; the boy had a strong heart and her first incision had erupted in a small geyser of blood, splattering her front. Pulling the elastic back on her gloves, she snapped them off, tossing them in a bin before swiftly departing the procedure room, leaving Yui to handle the patient's discharge.

Given her tardiness, she didn't bother to change and immediately (and swiftly) headed to the training grounds. A number of people looked at her oddly, noticing the blood on her lower arms and chest. It didn't bother her in the least. She'd been in this kind of situation more than once. Most of the strange looks she got were probably from people who had some naive notion of death - those that were less experienced with the subject, even considering the times they were in.

It was easy for her to pick out her charges; she just found the two most confused looking of the bunch and strode up behind them. Clearing her throat, she waited for them to turn their attention onto her, her arms crossed behind her back, leaving her blood soaked chest to lead the first impressions.

[LillyDove]

Shisen, promptly took the plate that contained the smaller sirloin and walked outside to give it to Arashi who was on her feet in the next second, eying the meat hungrily. But knowing that she wouldn't be able to eat it without permission, she sat down and waited expectantly for the plate to be put down. "Eat up, then we head home to prepare for an attack" Shisen said as she put the plate down. Watching as her Niken darted over to the plate and started chewing on it with her sharp teeth. A slight nod was given to Arashi before Shisen turned back to the entrance of the restaurant ans went to sit down to eat her own.

As she took a bite of the nice steak, her mouth watered at its flavor and she found herself taking a bigger sized bite the next time than the last. Although she was a little worried about the next two parts of the test, so as she chewed her food rather speculatingly and mulled over the different possibilities as to how he could choose to attack her. She wasn't the strongest of the three at any rate, she was though the most swift and fastest, having of mastered the Four Legs Technique before entering in the Academy. The other Jutsu's she had barely any mastery of, she could get lucky and something work out but the next minute everything could go down hill.

Of course, there was her ability to track scents like most Inuzuka could do, she would be able to detect if he was coming or not based on how strong his scent was. Unless he knew how to disguise his scent then she wouldn't be able to. It seemed like the list of things that could happen could go on with no end in sight.

As she sent her fork onto the plate and it made a clink sound before she realized that her steak was gone, she must have been eating it up while she was thinking. With a sigh, she set her fork down and stated at it. This left her with having to talk about herself and it was not something that she wanted to do. She was a rather private girl, keeping to herself and not going out of her way to talk to others. "Umm... I live near the woods... I lost my parents at five years... Umm..." Shisen said as she looked down.

[Tatsua Aiisen]

The instant the heavy presence of Shin Uzumaki falls upon Training Ground 22, Seiga Tomoe becomes entranced by the sight of him. He was handsome, but that wasn't what stood out to her, she found herself drawn to the pressure emanating from every movement of his lips. Before she knew it, she was standing at full attention and staring up at him with eyes filled to the brim with expressionless adoration.

Such...strength...

It may have been her perception skewed by puberty, or perhaps just admiration for a great ninja, but she instantly felt a sort of affection for the man that couldn't be described. She listened to every word he spoke with rapt attention and, when he was done, had to take a moment to catch her breath in his wake. Her heart was beating unnaturally fast, and she could feel the heat rising to her face at his merest memory. She didn't let her transient emotions distract her for long, she quickly recalled those he had named as her squad mates and was approached by their teacher along with the others. Seiga stands respectfully with the rest of Team Sun, allowing herself to quickly analyze their appearances and bring up vivid details on her experiences with them.

Unfortunately, she didn't know much about them besides that they existed. Myth wasn't anything worth talking about, he was a weakling who excelled in no areas and had a personality unfit for a shinobi. Still, he would be part of her team, so she would do her best to protect him starting today, hopefully with the help of this Fuwa Amaya girl. Seiga was completely unfamiliar with this white-haired girl, and as such couldn't really judge her character with only this brief meeting. Their teacher and squad leader, Goro Sroda, wasn't completely unknown to Seiga, although they were hardly familiar. She knew a handful of the older Shinobi, if only through her parents and their many stories. He seemed to have a disgusting habit, but there was nothing to be done about it, and he seemed strong enough that she was forced to respect him. She makes all of these observations while staring directly at their team leader, standing in silent attention, preparing herself mentally for the training to come.

[Krieg]

"First thing's first." Goro's voice was low but clear. "My name is Goro Sroda. And even though you're to think of me as your sensei I do not own you." His stone-like eyes moved over the group of youths before him. "You are all more than capable of making your own decisions and choices, we do not live in a time of coddling, nor a time of unquestioning obedience. Both are what caused someone like Sai to rise to power." The jonin's sleeved left arm pointed out towards the forest. "Less than a kilometer in that direction is a gnarled oak from before even Sai was born. Somewhere hidden among its highest branches is a coupon for three free bowls of Ichiraku." Goro paused to observe the reaction of the three Genin.

"However there are also multiple traps placed in and around the tree, set by myself. I am confident in their potency but none of them would render any fatal wounds." Goro swallowed a thick layer of tobacco juice coating his tongue. "If you so choose, you may pursue said coupon, and use it as you see fit. Whether that means sharing it with your other two squad mates, or keeping all three for yourself is up to you. Or, if you would so choose, you can come with me and I will be more than willing to buy each of you a bowl. Right now."

The proposal wasn't the standard for most shinobi, but Goro had been raised by a family of gruff, unforgiving men who valued logic as much as strength. He didn't know if any of the three fledgling shinobi before him would be willing to take the risk and show the tremendous effort that would be required to claim the coupons. What they chose to do with said coupons would also tell Goro a fair amount about them. At the same time, he hoped they would also show enough sense to graciously except a free meal without needing to put themselves in danger, even if it meant appearing cowardly or weak. There was love hidden in the challenge, but also a large opportunity for failure.

With his last words, Goro turned walking back towards the village and away from the training ground at a steady pace anyone could keep up with. Though unorthodox in his training methods, Goro knew what he was doing. He and his brothers had been offered the same deal more than once. And even though he regretted it, Goro had more than enough scars to betray which option he had chosen.

[Mirth]

“I would have suggested breaking it slowly,” Kirin finished, sipping from the new glass of water provided by the waitress. Apparently the woman had sensed the gravity of their discussion, since she had plunked the glass down and promptly disappeared without taking any orders. Kirin wasn’t particularly upset, but she did hope she would return. Shrimp tempura udon was not to be missed, under any circumstances.

She raised her eyebrows when Kirugetsu explained that she and Shisen had passed the first of their three trials. While she had been on high-alert since they had met, she hadn’t sensed anything going on that would have indicated a threat. There was nothing to test them on. Shisen had been forced to leave Arashi outside—had that been her test? If she would actually leave her dog? That didn’t make sense. Shisen had passed, indicating that leaving Arashi outside was the correct choice, but why?

Then there was her own test. What had she done? She had kept a bit of distance between herself and Kirugetsu on the way to the restaurant and had generally been on-guard. Was that the test? To see if she was blindly trusting?

Maruki’s test was fairly obvious and his failure easy to figure out. He had failed to react in any meaningful way to Kirugetsu’s revelation about his grandfather. Instead of getting angry or showing shock, Maruki had immediately forgiven him and even expressed satisfaction that their teacher was powerful. Earlier in the day, he had seemed overly polite; now he just seemed puerile. He didn’t care that Kirugetsu had killed his grandfather. He only saw it as an opportunity to display his misplaced magnanimity.

Kirin narrowed her gaze and listened in silence as Kirugetsu explained the next two of the three tests. She wasn’t particularly worried about the second—whenever an attack came, she would have to deal with it. Until then, she would remain on her guard and look for whatever it was that Kirugetsu wanted them to find for the third test. Her first thought: wherever Kirugetsu lived, he likely had some interesting knickknacks, gathered from a life spent in battle. There had to be something there—an artifact, a weapon, maybe even a scroll—that would fit the parameters of the test.

Then he asked them to tell him about themselves. Kirin cracked an unwilling smile. “So we’ve reached the ‘Getting to Know You’ segment of our first class. Awesome. Well, I’m pretty sure I already told everyone, but I’m Kirin Haranai, I’m thirteen years old, and my specialty is taijutsu. My grandmother’s Akane Haranai, and my parents own the bookstore. My hobbies are reading and training with Gran.”