Yaira

Naruto: Shinobi reborn

Keita Ryuukaze

Keita picked his way down the slope carefully. He would offer his hand to Isami but then he wouldn't want the girl to think he was coming onto her or anything. It was natural for him to extend a helping hand when he saw that it was needed but then he didn't want her to also think that she was helpless. Females could be scary sometimes when they thought they were being treated like damsels in distress, and anyway, he'd already breached their physical boundaries more than enough today. Kohaku was already an obvious enough conclusion on his own.

He sighed when he saw that the end was near. He didn't think he wanted anything more to do with this test. He was tired and he wanted to sleep. His chakra pools were pitifully depleted, that last jutsu took more juice from him than he'd like and only now he wondered if he could have used something more simple. He had forgotten that that was one of the more recent jutsus he'd been learning. Heat of the moment, can't help it, he thought and moved slowly toward the edge of the forest after very nearly slipping more than once down the steep slope. At this point, he didn't even care if his sensei followed or passed them this time.

Naruto: Shinobi reborn

Keita wouldn't stop to see if he had managed to hit Takeo. He already suspected the Jounin would dodge due to the distance. He was a little surprised, though, that his throw managed to make it so far, maybe even a little pleased; he supposed adrenaline would do to you. Keita was apprehensive that all he'd done was antagonize their sensei into attacking them, but apparently the man had no intention of doing them any harm. Which made him more confused as to the reason for this extreme test. However, he drew up short at Isami’s question.

"Um, Keita-san, what… what are you doing?"

Kohaku chuckled at Isami’s confusion over Keita’s actions. “Takeo-sensei doesn’t seem like the type to unjustly attack us. You shouldn’t be so on edge~” It was clear that Kohaku had no intention of flustering himself. He kept up with the others but his pace never seemed to alter unexpectedly or abruptly. Completely calm and rather amusedly.

Keita would throw the other male of their team an irritated look but not because of the other boy. He was mostly annoyed at Takeo since he couldn’t figure out the man’s intentions. He would grab Isami’s hand in response and would let go once he was sure she would follow. Takeo hadn't stopped. Won’t stop.

He was proven right when the man made his way over the water's surface. Being this close to the shore also made him a little jittery, too. "Don't stop, keep running. I'll explain as we run, he's gonna catch up," he would say, coolly, before attempting to run up the steep slope.

Isami squeaked as she was dragged by Keita, almost tripping over her own tiny feet. There was no time for any unnecessary breaks. Just keep running until your legs eventually crumble beneath you. Not the sort of thing Isami liked, but a plan was a plan. Unless she wanted to get squashed by her sensei’s earth jutsu, Isami wasn't going to stop for anything. Her heart was beating furiously in her ears, so loud she couldn't even get a grasp of her surroundings anymore. Damn, adrenaline rushes sure were unpredictable.

“Oi, Keita. Don’t you think you’re being a little too anxious? At this rate I don’t think Isami’s used to this kind of pace…” Kohaku’s lackadaisical approach to life might seem like nothing to appreciate but it did give him a lot of time to take in his surroundings which developed into a keen awareness and observation skills. As if to induce a little wariness into the ever relaxed genin, Takeo overtook them and reached the hill with time to spare before they made it. Kyu! Kohaku’s necklace shined momentarily. “Yeah, I see him.”

“You were saying?” The raven-haired boy would toss over his shoulder to the other, tightening his grasp on Isami’s hand as reflex. Eyes blinking rapidly in surprise, he watched as the jounin would then send what appeared to be a rockslide down the slope, if only a bastardized version of the natural occurrence. Was he trying to kill them? He would have screamed “I told you so” at the other male but that was unbecoming of a Ryuukaze; plus they didn’t have time, anyway so he darted to the side where there would be less rocks since the slide was more focused on the three of them down the center. Releasing Isami’s hand and running through a weave of hand signs, quick and efficient, instinct now driving him. Keita would build the necessary chakra in his throat, like he’d done so many times before.

He winced a little at the jostling since the chakra was expanding and knocked against the soft insides, but then released the wind-style jutsu with a shout of “Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!” It didn’t much matter if he was heard since he was not hiding and anyway Takeo had them in their sights. Even if the man’s intentions were not to harm or kill them (which was unlikely since they were genin and the Hokage wouldn’t much like that his jounin were killing his students off on the first day), there was something obviously misleading about this test since the man was outright attacking them. Or seem to anyway. He didn’t think the sliding down on the rock thing was intentional if the man’s startled cry was anything to go by.

The blast of wind would knock what rocks may be coming down the hill out of his way, throwing them carelessly to the sides and away from the smaller sized genin; Takeo would also slide past them harmlessly since they had moved, making the path clear for them to once again take. Soe debris would still fall on them but nothing that could potentially injure them. Keita felt slightly winded, at the deep gouge of chakra reserves being used and from the nature of the chakra itself. Having that being the only one in his arsenal of his natural chakra affinity, he was actually quite proud of the result.

Isami looked towards Keita, eyes wide. Who knew that a mere Genin could muster up enough chakra to perform a jutsu like that? At this point, Isami looked even more shocked than their own teacher. Well, if the teacher was in shock at the sight of this jutsu, that is.

The little girl had to be properly careful this time. She wasn't too keen on letting someone else drag her along the ground because she wasn't exactly on guard at the time. Her chakra flowed throughout her frail body at a steady pace, ready to make any last second attacks.

“That was an impressive jutsu, Keita-san. Maybe you scared Takeo-sensei away~”

Keita blushed a little, cheeks stained a little pink, not at all expecting to be praised for something that came naturally. He had just moved on instinct, is all. “Er, somehow I doubt that.”

Kohaku was unfazed by his teammates critique of his thoughts on the situation. It was startling to see the gap between genin and jounin being demonstrated just through a simple foot race but as far he could tell the situation hadn’t changed. The objective laid out for them was to run this obstacle course. Takeo-sensei had simply added another obstacle with the clear intention of seeing how they dealt with it. Watching for any more obstacles that he might throw their way, the genin was surprised to see the following scene. Takeo-sensei came sliding towards them but not in the cool way he seemed to initially have planned. Kohaku seemed to have found a little joy and motivation as their jounin harbouring ill intent went tumbling past them. He moved a little quicker up the slope unhindered thanks to Keita clearing a path. “Still think he’s got some grand master plan~? Nice job, though.”

Keita snorted, silently agreeing. Still, he didn’t let down his guard. There had to be a reason why the man was allowed to be a jounin, right? “Let’s just get this over with,” he muttered, already fed up with the test and wanting it over and done with. He ran up the slope, following behind the other male.

Naruto: Shinobi reborn

Keita Ryuukaze

Keita didn’t know what to do, or what was going on.

What was their sensei expecting from them? What was this test really for? Was it to test their endurance? Was it to test their obedience? Was it to test their limits?

Was it to question the man like he was doing now?

Keita was confused and a little frustrated. He knew sooner or later the man would overcome the distance traveled and closed the gap that was made by the ten second start. In fact, why hasn't he yet? The man was more than likely faster than them. He could overcome the distance in a heartbeat. When he caught up with them would he pass by or attack? Was that mud wall a foreshadowing of a future assault? Would he keep pace with them? Encourage them to do their best? Impart some life long lessons? To look beneath the underneath (a proverb passed down from some ninja some generation ago; he didn’t remember the name, though)?

Keita tended to over think but couldn’t help it. It was one of those ‘bad habits’ he had. He would over analyze his opponent and before he knew it, he lost. Granted, his father was more experienced than he was so he was able to beat the habit from him when it came to combat. Literally. But left with his thoughts like this, while running wasn’t a problem, he became distracted and unaware of his surroundings.

The lake was coming up. Keita felt a brief apprehension at seeing the reflective surface but was soon relieved upon seeing that the falling trees had luckily thrown one across, providing an impromptu bridge to the other side. It cut diagonnally across the water, leaving a few meters of the shore from the tip of the tree to dry ground. Leaping over the shore shouldn't be much of a problem.

“Hey, look!” he would point out to the others what he saw. He noticed that Tsukarei-san had managed to make it safely from the falling mud wall and was pleased. At least their sensei wasn’t trying to intentionally kill them anyway. He would run across the fallen tree as soon as he reached. Then another thought occurred to him. Was this some pursuit and destroy kind of test? Was that why they were given so many laps? Were they supposed to take out their sensei, in a sense, so that they wouldn’t have to run so many laps? Was he their pursuer? Hmmm, the idea did have some merit. It was impossible to do all these laps. Especially as genin. So maybe...

Foolhardy though it was, there was no other way to find out. Once he reached the other side, he would whirl around to face the incoming jounin, allowing his teammates to bypass him to safety before expertly throwing two of his shuriken in the direction of the following man. Once that was done, he would follow after his teammates, ready for any protests that may come his way.

He doubt the two blades would hit their mark. He wasn’t aiming to maim, after all, but hopefully since the man was right behind them all he wouldn’t be expecting one of his genin to attack him out of the blue. That, or he was and had been expecting all along, thus proving Keita’s theory. If not, wellll…..

He’d just sealed their coffin-shaped fates with rusty nails.

Naruto: Shinobi reborn

Keita Ryuukaze

"It's not just that we should be stressing about. We should be worrying about how we're going to get through this entire course alive rather than pondering on how to chop a tree to be able to cross a lake. We have to think of the bigger picture here. Could there be traps? Land mines? Hidden holes perhaps? And on top of all that we have to figure out how we're able to complete this test without depleting so much of our stamina."

--

“It’s not simply a matter of cutting down a tree, Isami-chan, but rather that it would help make the course a bit easier for us. I know it’s practically impossible to do forty laps in one afternoon. Especially with a field of this magnitude. That’s more a jounin’s specialty than ours.” Of which was the case for their sensei. He agreed with the girl, but he was not just focusing on the matter of comfortability but more of making sure that they did not over-exert themselves by doing unnecessary things. Getting wet so that they carried around extra weight and chancing the risk of getting a cold or worse, a flu, was at least two of the things that could be avoided.

Another question he had in mind was: were they expected to do them all in one afternoon or were they to be completed over the course of their training? The man was not so clear on when they should be. Surely the man couldn’t expect them to have so much stamina. “Sensei’s a bit insane, I have to say, but I see what you’re saying. I am obsessing over the water a bit, heh.” For reasons he was unwilling to share. Scratching his cheek with a finger sheepishly, he would grin, knowing that the girl was just offering her own observations and not purposely calling him out for having a one-track mind. “And don’t worry so much, I’m sure there’s something we could do!”

That’s when the deep male voice would break them all from their circle. "We're burning daylight. We should probably get ready to start soon."

Adrenaline rushed through the raven’s veins at the man’s words. They weren’t ready, his mind screamed in protest but their sensei was right. Daylight was wasting, they couldn’t stand around dallying all day.

Keita couldn’t stop the kernel of dread in his stomach as he watched as the man backed away. Why was he doing that? "I've been doing some thinking also...I think eighty is a better number for the test. Forget forty."

For the second time that afternoon in under one hour, his mouth would drop open in shock. His heart didn’t quite stop at hearing the words, but it was something close. Had he heard right? Did the man say 80? If he had had any doubts that the man was crazy before, he was more than convinced now. This was ridiculous. Genin shouldn’t be expected to complete so much in one afternoon, never mind that some of them might not have the constitution it would take to complete all 80!

Protests died horrible deaths on his lips as they were quickly shoo’ed to be on their way. Feeling lifeless, he would grumble on his breath but he had no choice. Genin were supposed to do as their sensei said, absolute obedience, something taught relentlessly at the academy.

Don’t get him wrong, Keita has went through arduous training in order to prove he was worthy of being head of the clan. Having no choice in the matter, his father had always trained him to within his limits. But even he had known when things got right into the ridiculous and if not, his mother was always there to remind her husband that he was not a machine.

But guess what?

She wasn’t there anymore.

There was no longer going to be anyone to hold his hand or to offer him anything to drink when he was tired. So though he found the course utterly extreme, he did what was told. He ran, a little reluctantly but glad that at least they had been given a headstar--

Wait. A head start for what? Takeo-sensei couldn’t be planning on joining them... could he? he got his answer when a great shadow covered the area in front of him. His look of shock would turn to one of horror as he looked behind him to see a wall the size of a monolith rising above them. He had already reached the trees by the time the tower reached its zenith but knew that if he didn’t move out of the way soon, he would be a part of the forest floor. He threw himself to the side as it came crashing down, throwing others trees down in a domino effect that might have possibly reached the lake. Even as he was slightly spooked he was confused at the turn of events. Had sensei just made it easier for them?

Not wanting to dwell on the issue, Keita would take the cleared path, sensing their sensei behind them and wondering what the man could possibly be up to. Was this a race? Well, one thing’s for sure. If they were lucky, they wouldn’t have to abuse the trees to make it across the lake.

Hopefully, they could get him to do something about that hill as well.

Naruto: Shinobi reborn

"Please continue, Keita-san. I'm all ears."

Keita would smile at the other girl, grateful for her support, and nodded. “Thank you, Isami-chan.” At least Isami didn’t seem opposed to hearing him out. That gave him courage to offer his thoughts.

Before he could he heard Takeo-sensei call Momo over to where he was still by the stump. The girl had been strangely quiet throughout since their arrival on the training grounds and he had wondered if she was worried about the test. Takeo had given them their space so that they could come up with a plan but his voice rang clear and the other girl went to him at his request. He watched them exchange words and then became perplexed upon the other girl’s departure, blinking at her back as she got farther away. Where was she going? Had there been a mix-up?

That would dent his plans a bit, seeing as he was hoping that Momo would use her weapon skills for part of it to work but he supposed that he could just find another way around this unforeseen event. He took a look over the trees once more, noting the width between the hill and the forest, the rocks jutting out from the steep incline, the height of each tree and wondering if his ninja wire would be enough. He fingered his pouch, thoughtfully.

“Okay,” he said, faintly then would turn back to his leftover teammate. He briefly wondered if the spot would be filled. It would be strange having only two in their squad as usually genin teams consisted of three. “So here’s the plan--”

"Sorry I'm late. I got a little sidetracked on the way~"

Once more interrupted but by the arrival of another male. This one a genin and an overly dressed one for that matter. The arrival of this boy confused Keita until he realized that he was their last team member. Well, that was saddening. He had been wondering what Rima would say upon him getting two girls on his team. The again, just as well since the boy had a tendency to embarrass him. Keita would look the other up and down as he approached, nothing obvious but a quick appraisal of his outfit and the genin’s relaxed state. He wondered if he would be so relaxed once he realized the test that they were to complete. He himself still dreaded the outcome of their results but his semblance of a plan helped to alleviate some of the stress.

“Hello,” he would greet the boy and then would quickly explain the requirements for the test, assuming their sensei would want them to. “I’m not sure if we are to complete all 40 laps,” he would say once he finished. “But sensei seems serious about it, so we can only do our best. I have a plan, though, and it might work. But... that’s just hoping. I’m not sure if he will attack us or if there are traps in the forest or even on the hills. I do, however, have a plan for avoiding the lake altogether. Er...” He stopped and wondered if he should introduce himself to his teammates and in turn learn from them? Might be a good idea.

Momo’s was easily enough known because he had seen her enough times during academy training how well she worked with weapons. But Isami was quiet and this kid he knew practically nothing about. In the end, he decided to introduce himself. Holding out his hand to the other male, he would say, “My name’s Ryuukaze Keita, by the way. I specialize in ninjutsu, but I also know a bit of taijutsu and have been trained to use weapons as well.” He would wait for the introductions of the other two before indicating the trees ahead as per Takeo-sensei’s instructions. “My plan’s to cut one of the trees down in order to cross the lake. If we don’t, then it’d be more than hard to get up that hill while we’re wet, not to mention uncomfortable. ...or we could blow up the base of the tree near the ground to make it simpler,” he would then say in thought, just having come up with it. He had explosive tags in his pack, so maybe...

“Only thing we’ll need to worry about is where it falls, so we’ll have to control the trajectory of its descent so we don’t get squashed. Unless either one of you have a better idea?” He would add politely, not wanting to take up the spotlight in case either one of the two had something better in mind.

Naruto: Shinobi reborn

Keita Ryuukaze

“Hello. Are you Takeo-sensei?”

Keita would quickly lean back as the man came to a sudden awareness. Had he been asleep? he wondered and would offer an almost polite smile as the man seem to assess the group gathered before him in silence. He didn’t find it strange. It was the look his father would give him when trying to decide what else he could learn. Finally, seemingly satisfied with whatever conclusions had come to him in the time passed, he stood and introduced himself, answering Keita’s question from a little earlier.

"Yup! My names Takeo." He would say with a warm smile. "but it'd be cool if you could call me Takeo-senseo. Rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?"

‘Strange’ would be his immediate thought. “I suppose…” he responded instead, a bit confused as he awkwardly raised his fist to bump against the other man’s. In which he would receive a beaming response.

"Don't worry about introductions either. I already know who you cool cats are," the Jounin would say before pointing at the genin as he snapped to some sort of inner beat. "Momo, Keito, and Isamo."

Even weirder. Mouth slightly open, Keita would look back and share a look with his teammates, wondering if they were just as bewildered as he was with the man’s antics. Either way, he didn’t dissuade the jounin from calling him by that name. He had a feeling he would be ignored, and Keita thought it would simply be best to give up when he knew an argument was moot. So he simply took initiative and cautiously followed at the man’s beckoning, closer towards the field.

He would listen further as the man spoke about another test - another test! - and become more and more horrified as he described the obstacle set before them. His assurances that the assessment would not include pen and paper was like water evaporating in the sun. They would have to do 40 laps around the giant area. 40! Color drained from his face, making him even paler than he normally was. Silver eyes once more surveyed the training grounds with whole new insight, already feeling like his legs were giving out beneath him. He no longer thought of the training ground as beautiful and more a deathtrap than anything else.

“This is practically worse than my father’s training,” he would say quietly, eyes going up the craggy hill before resting on the trees in quiet disbelief. The lake more than anything would prove to be difficult. He could not walk on water and he damned well didn’t think that the others could as well, having been genin fresh out of the academy. Aside from the leaf training exercise to practice chakra control, he was unfamiliar with the more advanced versions required of older shinobi. Swimming wouldn’t be ideal, either, as running uphill waterlogged did not appeal to him one bit and that would just tire them out faster as their clothes would be too heavy to simply carry on themselves unless they stripped naked. But somehow he knew that just wouldn’t be happening with the two other girls in his team. If they had been all males, then maybe but that was neither here nor there. How was he to traverse that then? Judging by the size of it, he wouldn’t be allowed to walk around it seeing as it would be considered ‘cutting corners.’

And there was still the possibility that Takeo-sensei wouldn’t not take the chance to attack them while they were trying to complete the course. That worried him more than anything else as he knew they were not up to par to trade blows with a jounin. As much as the strange man portrayed honesty, there were lots of holes in his instructions. And what about traps? Keita began to wonder if maybe their sensei really was just testing them or if he was as sadistic as he was turning out to be.

Once more his eyes would rove over the field, a sense of determination making his gaze steel, his back to straighten, and the gears in his head began to churn as he thought up a solution to their most current predicament. He knew better than to question the man. More than likely this was just to work out their strategizing skills and their teamwork. The jounin may have read about their skills on paper but he would want to see it firsthand and come up with a teaching strategy for the three. As he thought about it, he became more convinced. There was no other way to complete this course. He just hope his teammates would be willing to lend an ear to what he had to say. He would be willing to do the same. After all, his plan might not be the most solid and other solutions would be a God-send about now.

Making up his mind, he would turn to the others, standing from the crouch he didn’t realize he had gotten into, as deep as he was into his thoughts.

“I have a plan.”

Naruto: Shinobi reborn

Keita Ryuukaze

“Uhhh...Team Takeo: Momo Sakurai, Keita Ryuukaze, and Isami Suzuki! You all are to meet at Training grounds 17!”

Hearing his name, Keita, sitting back on all four legs of his chair, looked up and across at Momo who had been called as one of his team members, along with Isami.

Isami he has spoken with before.

In fact, he almost missed the little girl sitting over in her corner where she watched everyone with her critical gaze. He would spare her a smile as he did Momo before getting up and heading toward the classroom’s exit.

As he passed by Mizushima, he would spare a glance at the page of the book she was reading, thinking in his poor innocence that she would be reviewing academy basics before being called for her team. He had been sitting in the upper levels of the classroom and had been unable to see what it was she had, so curiosity took over as he drew near.

Imagine his surprise and embarrassment that not only was it not academy basics but something much more titillating than mere genin should be reading. Curse his quick perusing skills. All he saw was XXX (not necessarily XXX but the word was too embarrassing to say) but it was enough to have his face flaming and his legs scurrying toward the classroom’s exit. Despite having been raised and told that he would someday be expected to find a wife and therefore produce an heir, it still unsettled Keita to hear of sex or even be reading of it when their life expectancy was considered little to nonexistent.

He stopped and waited at the door, however. He was courteous. As excited as he was, he wouldn’t leave the other two behind in his haste. It didn’t even cross his mind at all that he was sharing a team with two girls. Keita had long ago learned from his sister that even women can be scary at times, no matter how delicate they may seem. He was a little disappointed that he would not be sharing his team experiences with Rima, the big giant of their year and also his friend, but he suppose getting to know other people would prove to be beneficial as well. Besides, they could always meet up later and chat about their senseis as well as teammates.

He managed to force the blood out of his cheeks long before the two girls reached the door where he held it open. Once everyone walked through, he would wave once at his large friend and follow them to the training grounds where their sensei was waiting. He wondered what they would be like. He had never heard of this Takeo before but more than likely he had to be strong if he was a jounin. Hopefully, he could learn more under the tutelage of this person and persevere as a genin onwards to a promotion.

---

“This place is… big..” He would say, upon arriving at the training grounds. He’d never seen this place before. Then again, growing up, there’s only been so many places he’s been to whenever he would leave the compound. His sister would on occasion take him out to dinner upon his birthday or whenever he would pass his tests; the clan had their own training grounds that his father would take him to whenever he had a new chakra manipulation jutsu to learn; and the academy didn’t go out on many field trips.

He heard Isami murmur from beside him that the place had a wonderful sound and had to agree. Though he couldn’t hear whatever it was she was hearing, the gurgling water and the sound of rustling leaves was soothing to the ear. He looked around then, wondering if they had reached before their teacher, and spotted a man sitting on one of the stumps. He would approach the man, assuming that this was the teacher that was to be there jounin-sensei.

“Hello. Are you Takeo-sensei?”

Naruto: Shinobi reborn

omfg, ogo, i love yer post. i love cats and i just wanna pet and roll around with yer fat kitty now. xD and we gots another kakashi on our hands, gais!

and yeh, i gots skype. name's ms.djmiso so add me up wherever. c: already gots kaz on my list so.

Naruto: Shinobi reborn

aaaayyyyy. that was great. :D

Naruto: Shinobi reborn

<Snipped quote by Yaira>

[ h1 ]Word[ / h1 ]

It will look like this without the asterisk

Word

I assume that's what you mean xD

@SayZun

that's exactly what i meant! thanks, man! xD