[IC] Naruto Gaiden: The Will Of Fire!! (AU)

[Rex]

Seth nodded and picked up Izu. He brought him over to where Rin and the others where when he overheard Hitomi was skilled in medical Ninjutsu. He placed Izu down near Hitomi who was helping Hayashi with his wounds.

“See Hitomi, Itachi and Akio chose the right people for the team. If you hadn’t been here, Izu and Hayashi would have been laid up in the hospital. Like I said: you, your brother, and Rin are our family, which makes me think I need to make you my angry crab stew as a thank you for helping us. Although, Rin would probably tell you to avoid it,” Seth said before something popped in his head. He got up and walked over to where he left the soda and took the final one out. He then walked over to Hayashi and offered him one, “Don’t think I forgot about you Hayashi. You earned this as much as Izu has. It’s vanilla, cherry mix so I don’t know if you’ll like it or not.”

[Javier]

Hayashi was in so much pain, and was thankful for Rin caring for him. He was also very relieved to hear that this new person was trained in medical ninjutsu. "Thanks... Rin, ugh, hey" he began, turning to the new shinobi after thanking Rin, "could you, like, stop his... bleeding for, argh, a moment" he finished, still battling the pain he was feeling. It wasn't easy, but he managed to stand somewhat straight, before looking over to Seth, who had offered him a soda. "Thanks, ugh, Seth, I really appreciate it" he responded while grabbing the soda with his right hand. In all honesty, the flavor didn't matter much to him, he was just happy to get a drink. He quickly began to drink away, pausing every few gulps to catch his breath, it was certainly making him feel better to not be thirsty.

[Weird Tales]

Izu was still in a state of unconsciousness and his mind thought of the painful exorcising that his sensei had made him and his team go through when he was younger. He had learned very quickly not to cry otherwise it would be a severe punishment and more pain. Many thought that mentors in the Mist Village were crazy, but it was a way of pushing genin to their limits and making them stronger. It was a hard life being a mist ninja, but Izu didn't endure so much pain to just quit, he would never give up on his quest to become a legendary shinobi that would be remembered forever.

His mind also visited memories of his brother's death during a mission and the terrible pain that he had endured that day when he was 11.

[Activated sad music]

Izu was on his knees almost in tears at the sight of his older brother's body and he felt a horrible pain deep down inside. He had trained himself so hard to keep himself from crying, but this pain and tragedy was too much for him to hold them back. His tears mixed with the rain fall that came down in a near down pour and sobbed.

"Brother Azo, I wish I had been there to save you from our enemies, but I am a weak child. I'll never let myself be weak again" he said at his brother's lifeless body. His parents and other members of his clan gathered around in a sad silence paying their respects to Azo. His father placed a gentle hand on Izu's shoulder and spoke calm words.

"My son, this is the way of a shinobi, we fight and we die. One must learn to except the possibilities of death."

"But why Azo?" he asked his father.

"He died fighting for the good of our clan and village. He will remembered as an honorable shinobi and he certainly wouldn't want you letting his death interfere with your shinobi training" his father replied and Izu wiped his tears away with his sleeve and turned to look at his father.

"You're right father, I'll honor his memories by fulfilling my dream of becoming a shinobi of legend" he declared. He got to his feet and looked up into the stormy sky.

"Do you hear me ancestors?! I'll be the best shinobi that ever lived!" he shouted. From that moment on, Izu became determined to make himself better at the arts of a ninja. His went away from the terrible moment in his life and back to the happy memories he had with his older brother before he had died.

Izu had a little smile on his face and he slowly opened his eyes. The bright sun made him shield his face from its glare and he turned his head to see his squad mates and a new person he didn't recognize. He looked at Rin and a question came into his mind.

"D..Did I win?" he asked with a weak voice, the injuries and blood loss he had suffered from the training session kept him from getting up off his back and he still needed some medical help of some kind. Now would be a good time to get help from a medical ninja he thought to himself.

[caliban22]

hitomi Nodded "Alright stay still let me take a closer look at you..."she said as she examined the wounds"Alright these wounds wont do more then hurt for a few days... tough it out or you can take a pill to dull it" she said in a serious tone as she quickly pulled out a pill bottle and places it next to herYour lacerations wont be very hard...wont even need to do jutsu...I just need to sew it up, use a bit of chakra to make sure your not taken out of action...this will numb the pain for now, as for your ribs I will check them out here as well...at best they are just brused worst you may have broken or near broken a few of them.. I have to make sure your not going puncture your lung and die." she said as she reached once again into her bag and pulled out thread needle and a lighter and quickly heats up the tip of the needle with the lighter. "I'm sure it's not that bad, but better safe than sorry...Since you know we are friends now it would kind of suck to lose one of you after only just meeting you... besides never lost a patient and I really don't want to be blamed for losing a team mate...Hiro would be kind of mad" she said in a joking light heated tone all the while during a very basic examination of Hayashi"plus side? you wont die...Let me go check the other one...Rin can you please Tend to....ummm him? she said pointing to Hayashi First day here and already two people are down..idiots she thought with a smile as she hurried over to Izu for a quick examination "Hello I'm Hitomi Goto pleasure to meet you" she said cheerfully as she examines Izu closely "Good news..you also wont die...bad news is well...your pretty messed up...Dont worry I can have you fixed up in a sec." she said as she got to work treating Izu

[NanoFreakV2]

Rin gently lowered Hayashi on the ground so Hitomi could examine him and in the meantime she went over to check on Izu.
Izu had just woken up and Rin snickered at his first question. "That's not important now Izu. What's important is to make sure your injuries aren't life threatening." she said as she kneeled next to him, "You two are bigger knuckleheads than Seth is." Rin sighed yet still keeping a smile on her face "Just had to over-do it."

Rin didn't really have a favorite during the match, but she knew Izu, being a genin against a chunin, was at a disatvantage. Still he held his own, that's for sure, Rin thought as she replayed the match in her mind. She noted how potent the sharingan was. Hayashi was able to perfectly mirror Izu's moves after seeing it just a few times.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Hitomi came over to tend to Izu. She nodded at her request to go tend to Hayashi and went to him.
She knew Hayashi was certainly not injured that badly. Still, she had to joke about it. "So, I hear you're not going to die on us. Now after you're feeling better we'll have a nice long talk about what the definition of a training match is compared to a fight to the death, alright?"

[Weird Tales]

Izu almost chuckled at Rin's response and rolled his eyes. He didn't really understand the reason why Konoha shinobi was incessant with training lightly like it was a game. Training should always prepare one for the inevitable life and death situations that came with missions.

"When will you Leaf ninja learn that dangerous training is the among the quickest routes to mastering ones techniques and discovering new ones. We need to push ourselves as much as possible in order to get stronger, and back home in Kirigakure intense training like this was commonplace. Before I was born it use to be even more harsher in terms of training compared to what it is done today" he replied to Rin. To Izu Konoha seemed so much more laid back and the shinobi didn't have a gloomy or sinister air about them like the ninja of his village, it was odd to him. His attention then turned to the new member of their squad Hitomi Goto as she introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you too, my name is Izu Korumoto, I'm a ninja from the Mist Village who's stuck here with these leaf shinobi on their squad. I've been trying to push them as hard as possible, but as you can see they're very reluctant" he said with a smile as the Sand ninja tended to his wounds. He not really encountered Sand shinobi before and heard stories about the kazekage Gaara and his connection to a tailed beast. Our squad sure is becoming an interesting one, he thought to himself.

[Javier]

Hayashi finished the soda, quite gleefully, and placed the empty bottle on the ground. He then turned to the new member and smiled "Hi, I'm Hayashi Uchiha, nice to... ARGH" he tried to introduce himself, but the pain just wouldn't let him. The boy simply sank back into his own thoughts of the fight, when he noticed that Izu was waking up.

"How about... we talk about it later" Hayashi responded to Izu's question about winning the fight. He then turned back to Rin, smiling at her comment of him not dying. "Looks like I... live to fight another day" his breaths were somewhat short and his words not all that clear, but he did his best to get his point across.

Hayashi then heard her comment on the difference between training and a fight to the death, which he tried not to laugh about. Then Izu responded exactly what Hayashi was thinking "Yeah, Rin... it's good to fight... every once in a while" he began, smiling to look better than he felt "... that was fun, wasn't it Izu?" Hayashi finished, turning to Izu with a sincere smile.

Once Rin was with him, Hayashi just looked at her, wondering what she'd do, but trying to forget the situation immediately to see if the pain would alleviate. "Hi... um, what treatment will I get?" Hayashi asked Rin, failing to forget about the medical stuff and his injury.

[NanoFreakV2]

Rin found herself standing next to Hayashi dumbfounded. "Uh well, Hitomi told me to 'go tend' to you. She didn't give me any specifics." she let out an uneasy giggle as she said that. She then replied to what he said earlier. "It was a good fight, and on any other day I'd probably be fine with it. But it's exactly what Izu doesn't get either. It's good to fight with heart once in while..." It was clear that this no longer was joke to her, and the atmosphere turned into a serious one quite fast. "...but not days before a mission. A war is starting and you two might be crippled even before it starts."

Rin began contemplating on the days that would follow. Izu and Hayashi's injuries were her main concern. If they were going to be sent to the front lines it could get ugly. On the other hand she was also wondering how this team would hold up as it was still kind of a ragtag group after all. One full team with another person from a different team, a mist shinobi and two sand shinobi. They had never worked together before, atleast not all of them now that Hitomi and her brother were joining too. Seth did say they were all a family, but Rin knew in the end that was all sweet-talk and when it came down to it would mean nothing. She wondered if they would manage to cooperate well enough during a real fight.
While considering all those things Rin failed to realize she was staring at Hayashi this whole.

[caliban22]

As Hitomi tended to Izu she looked over at Rin to see how she was doing tending to Hayashi. Idiot you forgot to tell her how. she thought as she looked at the supplies she left next to Hayashi. Stupid idiot...you also forgot the Anti Septic bottle and something to wipe the wound..."Hey Rin use this to clean the wound." Hitomi said as she pulled a small bottle and a small Clean rag "After that use the needle and lighter I left there to stitch the worst wounds up.. don't worry about how it looks as long as the wound is closed I can deal with it later...also if you see a lot of blood pouring out of him from some of his wounds tell me... sooner would be better than later, because you know it could turn our very badly..." she said with a light tone as she looked over Izu once more "alright...you should be able to walk now...but no training or anything like that...I don't like to fix stupid." she said with a half smile

Hiro

As Hiro arrived at the training grounds he already knew he was going to be annoyed"well this is a thing." he muttered as he looked around. slowly he walked deeper into the training grounds drawn to area of where his sister was. after walking for a few minutes Hiro happened about the area where the other Shinobi were. "For once in my life can I deal with people who aren't idiots." he said as he arrived to see his sister treating several wounded shinobi"What did those idiots do?" he asked Hitomi.

[Weird Tales]

Izu nodded in response to Rin since he didn't feel like continuing to argue with her further and he turned his attention to Hitomi when she told him no more training for now.

"Damn, see I was afraid you would say that, I still would like to excorcie some more just to keep my body going" he replied hoping that the medical trained ninja would be okay with that. They were then joined by yet another sand shinobi and Izu could tell that this one was a hard case just from looking at him. He glared at Hiro when he referred to him and Hayashi as idiots, great we have one of these guys on our squad. I prey that he is not our leader, what a Sand-Ass, he though to himself.

"We just finished some hard and very tough training that's what. And you're talking to a member of the Korumoto clan, as well as an Uchiha so be careful who you call idiots buddy" he replied to Hiro with a stern voice. He wasn't going to let some Sand ninja talk to him like he was inferior, Mist ninja never backed down from a challenge especially Korumoto clan.

[Javier]

Hayashi looked at Rin, at the mention of going on a mission and about the war that was coming. While he didn't particularly agree with Rin, she had a point, and Hayashi was too in pain and tired to want to argue at all. "Sure, but none of us died so I suppose it's alright" Hayashi responded to Rin, after considering just not speaking as an option for s bit. Hayashi then noticed that Rin was staring at him while clearly thinking of something.

"Hey, as much as I like being looked at, I think I prefer to have these healed" Hayashi said, chuckling a little. All of a sudden, this other guy shows up, at first Hayashi wanted to introduce himself, but then he spoke. This guy had just called them idiots, and Hayashi could only hope that he wasn't elected leader of the squad. Then Izu responded to him, and Hayashi, being too hurt to want to speak much, only said "I second that" in response to Izu, looking at this new shinobi.

[King Kindred]

Arashi was lying down on the rocky surface at the mountain top while gazing up at the clouds as they passed him by. His breaths were heavy and his panting seemed endless. It was clear to him that he couldn't go any further than this at the moment. His hands were weak and there was barely any feeling left in them. He had made some progress, but it wasn't nearly enough. Not to him at least. He was the only one up here now except for possibly any insects that lived up here. There were no crows and he felt like his only company was that of the clouds that passed him by. Even they didn't stay long.

"I... I feel so weak right now... I've never used up this much chakra before." He tried to lift his hands to get a better look at them. They were shaking slowly as they struggled to keep themselves up. He stared at the dried up blood from his training and dropped his hands back to the ground. He knew that he'd have to stay up here for a while. At this rate he'd die if he tried to climb down the mountain. He'd die even faster if he used his weights on the way down. Now was just his time to think and relax. He couldn't overexert himself like this or else he'd end up killing himself before getting better. He'd have to rest a lot the next day before the others started training again. He was sure that Hayashi would stop by his house to see if he wanted to go train.

Speaking of Hayashi... "I wonder how the others are doing now... I bet they're working just as hard if not harder." Yeah, they definitely were. They may have all been young, but they understood how important this training before the war was. Anyone could die out there. He didn't want anyone to die really, but he especially didn't want anyone that he cared about to die out there. This was the main reason for his training. Yes, he wanted to get stronger, but he also wanted to get stronger so that he could protect those around him. His care for others was instilled in him by his father and godfather.

Thinking about all that they taught him caused a small smile to creep across his face before he closed his eyes. He could feel the wind brushing his hair across his face as he drifted off to sleep. Maybe he was already stronger than he realized. He had to be right? He wouldn't be a genin in this special task force if Itachi hadn't believed in him. He could have been like the rest of the Konoha Genin and been left in the village to hold things down.

[Rex]

Seth kind of felt left out as Izu and Hayashi where being helped, but he knew Rin and Hitomi were fluent in medicine and medical issues. While they were helping the others, Seth decided to help out as well. He had left and went to the general store and purchased a few bottles of water and two six packs of soda. He figured a few energy bars might help as well so he got two boxes of them.

When he returned with all his items he noticed another ninja had appeared and was about to offer him a soda, but when the ninja called Izu and Hayashi idiots he walked past him and sighed, “They were training and got a few scraps and bruises, but I guess a ninja such as yourself can’t comprehend that since your mind is only filled with dirt, sand, and your ego, which is probably the same size as your village.” With that Seth walked back to the others and set the soda, water and energy bars on the ground next to the others.

“Figured you guys might need to replenish your energy and rehydrate yourselves,” Seth explained before he took out two bottles of water and handed each one to Izu and Hayashi. He then took out a soda and popped it open before drinking down half the bottle.

[NanoFreakV2]

Rin jogged over Hitomi and took the anti-septic bringing it back to Hayashi. She sat down next to him. "Now hold still." she said she began cleaning his cuts with the rag after applying some anti-septic on it.

In the meantime another person showed up on the training grounds. Rin wasn't really pleased at her and the other's being called idiots but she couldn't blame him either. If she had just arrived with the same situation unfolding she'd have probably reacted the same way she thought. Seth was just arriving too and she couldn't help but be impressed at how fast he had made the trip to the store and back.
Seth on the other hand didn't take the sand shinobi's comment lightly. Rin couldn't help but break out in laughter at his rebuke, while trying really hard to hide it.
By now she had realized that the other sand shinobi must be Hitomi's brother she had mentioned and she didn't want to get on bad terms with Hitomi.

Not such a big happy family now, Seth? she said mentally while thinking back on when Seth said they were all part of the family.

[caliban22]

Hitomi

Hitomi sighed "Hello Hiro" she said softly "It took you longer than normal to arrive...is everything alright?" she asked as she tended to Izu "No push ups or hard training... you can do light jogging and maybe some light chakra training at best." she said knowing her comment about Hiro being late would probably not upset him to much

Hiro

"the Korumoto clan huh impressive but sadly I don't care regardless of if it were lord kazekage an idiot is still an idiot." Hiro said plainly "two of you are barely able to stand at a time when we could be deployed at the slightest moment,what the hell else do you call this?" he said annoyed "were this peace time perhaps this would have been acceptable...Hitomi What are their conditions?" he ask as Hitmoi without missing a beat tells him "so one of you can't even train for a least a few days and one of you may have cracked ribs.. impressive...counter productive but if nothing else shows dedication...they will need to rest for a few days at best.." he said in a bored voice as he examined the teamWell it not like I'm your father or anythingyou all are old enough to do things on your own...just make sure not to break any bones. we need useful Shinobi not ones taking up space in the hospital for those who have earned those beds." Hiro said with a sigh They don't seem like bad people...but the Leaf does breed weakness and complacency...the only here of any worth so far is the mist and that Uchiha kid...I wonder though... a few are Genin, so they are either very skilled or their village hates them and wants them dead...I hope they are skilled, I don't want nay more Genin killed under my command he thought bitterly "As of right now I am your team leader...As I can assume you are familiar with my sister" he said looking at his sister. With a fake smile to hid his grim thoughts Hiro looked on his team "Well I could have been given worse."

[Alan Hawke]

One Week Later...

Kumogakure, Intelligence Division HQ.

A kunoichi approched Akio from behind, her long pink hair tied up behind her in a ponytail. "Sir, we've located the location of the caster of the Reanimation Jutsu!" The young lady shouted, her loud voice booming from her small body and gaining the attention of Akio. The Senju spun around at a speed many would compare to a dog turning to it's name being called, Akio could barely muster out the one word that was rushing through his head. "Where?" The young lady's voice cracked nervously before she answered, "Ry- Ryūchi Cave, sir! Which means the summoner is--" Akio cut her off with the first--and only--name that entered his head, "Orochimaru..." He said flatly, his glare shifting to the ground as his fists slowly clenched. The kunoichi nodded to confirm Akio's estimated guess, "I'm afraid so, sir." The third-in-command of the Intelligence Division folded his arms and re-established eye contact with the young woman in front of him, "Thank you for the information, I'll contact Shis-"

The door to Akio's office slammed open, the person who had done so rushed into the room--clearly out of breath, a sign that he had run across the HQ all the way to his office. "Sir! I- there's! I-" Akio stuck his hands out at the shinobi, "Woah, slow down. What's going on?" The shinobi gulped before finally getting the words out--and what he said... sent shivers down Akio's spine.

Lightning Desert

The thousands of shinobi stared at the two men who stood in front of them--every single shinobi looking at the brother duo were in shock. Nobody expected this, how could they have? What the thousands of shinobi from all of the five great nations were looking at were the Senju brothers: Hashirama and Tobirama. The bombshell wasn't that they both were standing in front of the entire army, but the bombshell was that if Hashirama was standing right here... then there was no way that the masked man was really Hashirama. Which means, the identity of the masked man is still a mystery. They had been revived by the Edo Tensei jutsu, they were not being controlled--which means they were not going to show any restraint. What they were about to do was about to be purely of pure will; nothing more, nothing less. Dread, sadness, fear... this all overcame the army--and the brothers could see it as they stared into the abyss of shinobi that stood in front of them. "Try to keep up, Tobirama." The elder of the two spoke, his eyes not leaving the crowd of shinobi in front of him. "Just don't get in my way, Hashirama." The white haired brother retorted, not rising to his brother's bait.

The brothers, as if they shared the same mind, sprinted towards the front lines; not hesitating even for a moment. Being under the Edo Tensei state meant they had unlimited chakra and they were immortal which mean one thing for the army--this was going to be brutal. The entire army began to sprint towards the duo--but in all honesty, they all knew they didn't have a chance. Hashirama and Tobirama didn't stop running towards the shinobi, and they unloaded powerful taijutsu on any ninja that was in their way. The elder brother leapt across the battlefield, using his chakra enhanced strength to cause a crater in the landscape. The dust from the powerful meteorite of a slam was sent into the air, blinding some of the shinobi near him. Hashirama proceeded to use a mix of both speed and strength in order to create a major dent in the front lines. Tobirama, on the other hand, was using a blade to make quick, clean kills. Between the both of them, they were killing at least 49 shinobi a minute. This wasn't a battle, this wasn't even a fight, this was a slaughter.

...and it showed no sign of stopping anytime soon.

Kumogakure, Intelligence Division HQ

"Connect me to the task force! Now!" Akio shouted, his voice slightly cracking knowing that time was of the essence. Inoichi proceeded to open up a brief mental long-range connection with Hiro, Hitomi, Arashi, Seth, Hayashi, Izu, and Rin. You guys hear me? Good. The time for resting is over. You have an objective. Even though Akio was mentally speaking to them, he was certain they would be able to hear the fear in his voice. We weren't originally going to send you seven on this mission, but we need you all to take care of this quickly. We were originally sending Shisui Uchiha to deal with this alone, but you all are the closest ones there right now... He sighed aloud for a moment before continuing his thoughts, Your mission is to eliminate Orochimaru, who is currently hiding out in Ryūchi Cave. Don't worry kiddos, Shisui is still on his way. However, he won't be there for a few more hours. Based on you all's campsite location, you could make it within two hours. I know this is a lot more than you all signed up for but... trust me when I say that the entire Shinobi Alliance is riding on this operation.

He took a deep breath before saying his goodbye, Just... be careful guys. Shisui will be there soon. Akio out.

The mental connection was terminated quickly, as Akio then rushed to tell the Raikage and Itachi about the insane news. Once they were told, the two Kage told the Raikage's assistant Mabui to transport them to the battlefield via her Heavenly Transfer Technique. The Kazekage and Tsuchikage were already at the battlefield, attempting to stop the brutal assault that was taking place. Shortly, the Mizukage would also arrive to the battlefield. The five Kage would unite in an attempt to stall the Senju Siblings, whether or not it would be successful ultimately depended on the success of the Task Force.

Akio bit his thumb nervously as he thought about this.

This isn't good. This isn't good at all.

[King Kindred]

This was Arashi's first time experiencing the technique and he was stunned when he suddenly heard his sensei's voice in his head. It was strange and something he sure he would never get used to. He could immediately tell something was wrong by his voice alone. He was worried for them, but he was also worried about the others in action. Whatever their mission was it was definitely going to be a big one. One that they may not even be able to handle themselves. It was revealed to them that they weren't originally going to be sent on this specific mission, but it now rested on their shoulders.

Arashi's eyes widened when Akio mentioned that his father was going to be the one to do this mission alone, but they happened to be closer. The mission had to be big if they couldn't just wait for Shisui of the Body Flicker to get there and handle it. There was a moment's pause before they were given their target and Arashi now understood why his father was being sent in. If there was anyone who could defeat Orochimaru it was Shisui with that technique. He shook his head and stood up before stretching. His training with the others and his training alone led up to this moment. The others may not have noticed much of a difference in Arashi, but Seth and Hayashi would likely be able to tell that something about him changed. He figured that at the least they had an hour from the time they got there to when Shisui could join them. They had to either defeat or survive against him during that time. He wasn't going to underestimate him. He couldn't risk doing that.

He reached over his shoulder and touched his new tanto. It was a replica left to him by his father before he left for the war. He dropped his arm to his side and started visibly shaking. At first it looked like he was shaking out of fear, but it was something else. "I've never felt this way before... I know it's wrong, but for some reason I'm excited..."

[NanoFreakV2]

Rin was just near the camp when Akio connected to them. She was standing guard. With her byakugan’s ability to see as far as a few miles it would make sense for her to spend the most time on watch. She was lying on a branch of a nearby tree staring at the sky through the leaves as light peered through leaving intricate shadow patters on her face. To others it would seem like she’s just taking a break. But this was the perfect position to keep watch as her blind spot would be facing the ground, which was a less likely point of attack.

For this mission she was also equipped better. She had her Katana-like sword with her and both her arms were covered in bandages which were most likely not just for show. Besides the typical amount of shuriken and kunai carried by a shinobi she also had 2 scrolls with her, no doubt for her Self-Summoning Technique, and wire strings of considerable length.

Her focus waivered as she was interrupted from her concentration by Akio. The Mind Body Transmission technique was in effect. Rin listened carefully to what Akio had to say and was rather excited to hear Shisui would be joining as she to some extent admired him, or rather his incredible speed. It was one of the reasons she used the body flicker technique so often. She was also well aware of Orochimaru’s reputation which of course worried her.

As soon as the Mind Body Transmission Technique was no longer in effect she unshackled her mind. It took some concentration to not think the words she would have liked to think at the time when Akio was talking to them. But had she done so, the words would not have gone unheard. And she preferred the opposite to remain true.

We’re going after Orochimaru, she thought while chuckling mentally despite not being happy to hear that. This is gonna be the death of us. A rag tag group like us? Against Orochimaru? Shisui is strong, but not even Hiruzen Sarutobi was able to defeat him. I doubt our chances.
She also wondered if Hiro would be able to coordinate the group properly since he did not know them and their techniques well.

Rin finally sighed and pushed those negative thoughts to the side. Moments later she was standing in the middle of the camp with the rest of the team, having body flickered there as she usually does. She then looked at Hiro expectantly as she waited for him to give the order to move out. Despite trying hard not show it, her expression could easily give away her concerns about their current.

[Weird Tales]

A week had gone by and Izu was trying to improve his ninja skills as quickly as possible. He kept himself from getting too hurt and focused on increases his chakra reserves and developing his jutsu more. He also took mental notes of his spar with Hayashi and tried to figure what would be better for his offensive strategies. Keeping his distance worked out pretty well when he fought the Uchiha, but close range combat would cost less chakra in the long run depending on how used his Earth Spear technique. Speed was the key to outdoing an Uchiha at close ranged combat and he would have to work on that. They were still not the well oiled machine that they were suppose to be, but as long as nothing too difficult went up against them then they would be fine.

It was then that Izu heard Akio voice in his head and he realized that the leaf shinobi was using a mind body technique to speak with them telepathically. He listened to his words and he cursed to himself, they were going after Orochimaru. He may have been a mist ninja, but he knew the tales of the rogue leaf shinobi and his horrible crimes. The man was monster, but Izu wasn't afraid him, it was his teammates that he was worried about. In terms of teamwork they were not ready for such an enemy, together they had possibly had the power to take down, but if they didn't work together properly then it would be much harder of a battle.

"I've never felt this way before... I know it's wrong, but for some reason I'm excited..." Izu heard Arashi say out loud and turned to look at him an 'are you serious?' look on his face.

"I think you're in the minority Uchiha, this is not the kind of first mission that I would want with a new team like this. We'll be lucky if any of us make it out of this alive" he replied to Arashi with a slightly annoyed tone to his voice. He was irritated because while he wasn't afraid to die, his new teammates weren't trained the same way he was and probably wouldn't be as willing to accept death as he did and that would be a big factor in whether they would live or all die.

[Javier]

A week went by and Hayashi trained as hard as his hurt body allowed him to. He never strained himself, never going too far or getting hurt. Most of his training went into making more efficient use of chakra, genjutsu, and Water Style techniques since his Fire Style was already strong. The Sharingan had also gotten stronger due to Hayashi's match with Izu and the training that followed, and Hayashi felt that he was now somewhere where he needed to be in his training. It didn't hurt that Hayashi had learned swordsmanship from his match with Izu with the copy wheel eye. A week had passed and Hayashi was wondering how Izu and Arashi were since he hadn't seen them in a while and since Izu had gotten hurt badly just like Hayashi and the Uchiha wanted to know how his injuries were.

That's when it happened, Hayashi heard Akio, he didn't have time to talk to Izu and Arashi at all. They were all told that their first mission was happening right then, since Shisui couldn't make it in time, but he'd catch up with them soon. The mission was to go and attack Orochimaru and put a stop to him. It was very dangerous, out of all the ninja that Hayashi had heard about Orochimaru was the most brutal and wouldn't hesitate to kill them all. However, this didn't seem to affect Hayashi since he was aching from not battling in a week and he needed the rush again.

That's when Arashi mentioned being excited for this mission, and Hayashi turned to him, noticing something different about his fellow clan member, but he couldn't quite tell what it was, but he smiled anyway.

Then Izu responded by getting mad at Arashi since he apparently didn't like the team they were. "Oh, come on Izu, we'll be fine, I've been aching to battle since last week" Hayashi began, with excitement noticeable in his voice, "and I don't think you should talk about worrying for us when it wasn't you who won a week ago" he finished, mocking Izu. Hayashi could tell that this will most likely anger the mist ninja beyond belief, but he thought it'd be good motivation so that he goes all out on this mission. Hayashi then turned to Arashi and smiled at him, "Looking at you I can tell your training went well, keep it up and don't worry about us, we'll be ok!" Hayashi said in a friendly tone. Hayashi then noticed Rin's expression and could tell she was worried, so he decided to try and calm her a little bit. "Don't worry Rin, like I said we'll be fine, and if we mess up or something I'll take responsibility and, if necessary, take the bullet as well" he said, looking calm and unsure of whether he was making the right choice or not, but he believed that he should lay his life down should it be necessary since it felt like his team was his responsibility even though he wasn't leader. That went for everyone, even Izu and Hiro, however much he may dislike Hiro and Izu may dislike him.