+- Naruto: The Hidden Curse -+ ---[Starts!]

[Shadow Djinn]

Shiro - Team 12 Genin
--

A scream pierced Shiro's ears as he trooped down the pathway to home. He paused in his merry stride, frowning as the scream died down. A thorough inspection of the street provided no results, though he noticed traces of light in a two story house.

Ears picking up ragged panting from the room, he easily clambered up to the window, propping it open and tumbling inside. A grin formed when he realized he was staring at Iokawa Hiro, sprawled on the ground, a weight in one of his distraught hands.

"Need a hand there?" The cheerful Genin queried.

Hiro growled, but weakly said, "Please."

Shiro attempted to lift the weight, only managing to slightly before letting it drop again, luckily away from Hiro's hands. His teammate rose, muttering a weak, "Thanks."

But when he looked up, Shiro was already gone.

-

Sunrise

"Training time," Shiro muttered aloud as he clambered out of his dismal lodgings. His sheathed dagger was strapped to his belt this time, and he intended to use it today.

He gazed about him, and he noted various Genin from the Ninja Academy that he had trained with. A desire to socialize rose, but he frowned and stifled it, one of his hands resting on the pommel of his dagger.

-

A jet black kunai thudded into the target, just sheer centimeters from the crimson bulls-eye.

"Ah, damn." Yagyu Shiro frowned. Several other kunai were already in the wooden target, none in the bullseye. He unsheathed his dagger -- a jagged, bladed tool that the Genin preferred to throw instead of melee fights. His eyes closed shut, and he felt the calm hissing of the wind...

And his eyes opened, with renewed confidence, the blade of his dagger now hissing with a coat of razor air. He hurtled it forward with a ha!, grinning as it neared the bullseye...

Then an ash black throwing knife slammed into the projectile, sending it twirling away and embedding itself in the ground. A figure emerged from the bushes -- someone Shiro wasn't too happy about seeing.

"You'll have to do better then that," he growled.

"Ah, Asuma-sensei..." Shiro greeted, attempting to banish his frown. "What a surprise, preacher of hard work."

This elicted a chuckle. "It seems my lecture did you good. A genin now, eh?"

Shiro glanced at his hitai-ate headband, strapped careless to a muscled arm.

"Indeed," he responded.

"But it seems you still have a ways to go," the black-haired sensei noted, indicating the bullseye board.

"That dagger would've hit the center if you hadn't interfered," Shiro complained.

"You sure about that?" Asuma raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," the Genin protested.

And suddenly Asuma was beside him, one of his own throwing knives in his hand. He shoved Shiro aside nonchalantly, imitating the position the Genin had adapted, and sent it hurtling forward.

It whistled through the air, and collided with the board, a thud reverberating throughout the air.

"So I was wrong," Shiro twitched.

"Keep practicing," Asuma chuckled.

And then he was gone.

-
Hope I got Hiro's personality right, he was said to be friendly, so...