~Naruto: The Hidden Curse~ {LSU's welcome}

[Outlaw JT]

Name: Shodou Kukai (last name first)
Gender: Female
Age: 13
Appearance: Slightly taller than most girls of her age in Konohagakure, with a perfectly ordinary build. Her skin is a pleasant pale colour that can best be described as strawberries-and-cream; she'd like to tan, but instead tends to turn a lobstery shade of red. She has a clever, sharp face, though the soft curves of her cheeks contrast well with the general angularity of her other features. Her hair is chestnut brown, and her bangs are long and pendulous, framing the sides of her face to below her chin; conversely, the rest of her hair is chopped off short at the nape of her neck. She wears her hitai-ate back-to-front as a bandana of sorts that goes from the bottom of the back of her head to her forehead, under her bangs. Her eyes are black. For clothes, Kukai wears the fishnet shirt common of most ninjas, under a sleeveless top the colour of which is best described as ashes-of-roses, and knee-length black shorts. A kunai pouch is bound round her right thigh over her shorts. Her sandals are the same as any other genin's - navy blue and unisex. She carries a large writing brush strapped to her back, longer that she is tall; it's made of bamboo and horsehair, and hollow, so it's relatively light.
Personality: Kukai is very vocal. Please don't get her into a verbal sparring match unless you are very certain of what you're doing. She is adept with words, and feels safer with them around to play with. She is also very preoccupied with justice; she doesn't like to see others being framed, and will speak up for the underdog, regardless of whether the underdog likes it or not. Sometimes displays a certain type of blunt word-for-word memory that catches people unawares. A resourceful thinker who adapts well, Kukai is intelligent enough, although nowhere near resident lazy genius Nara Shikamaru; she usually doesn't plan, just changes according to the situation. She's easily provoked, if you know just how to get under her skin. She likes stories, although she doesn't write her own; she doesn't like lies or liars. Deception and illusion put her on edge, and she lashes out at people who try to be something else than themselves.
History: The Shodou clan is a small but established clan who have lived in Konohagakure for generations. There was no designation between main family or branch family, probably because the numbers of the clan have dwindled to the point where there is only one nuclear family left who still retain the name and traditions of the Shodou, Kukai's. This is due mainly to the fact that although all Shodou were born debaters and wordsmiths, most of them decided to capitalize on that trait, and gradually left the traditional profession of the clan, paper milling and stationery, to become, among other things, lawyers and journalists.
Kukai's father and grandfather died in the fight to contain the Kyuubi, leaving the womenfolk to tend to the small stationery shop and bring up the two children, Kukai and her older brother Ryokan. Kukai is a firm believer in the emancipation of women, possibly due to this. Ryokan, being five years older than her, is currently a chuunin working in the Hokage's office. Kukai did okay in the academy, neither too well nor too badly, except that her teachers and other students were generally wary of raising her ire in an argument, because once she started she wouldn't stop till she won. She is one year older than most genin because she went to school a year late - the missing year was spent learning the basics of calligraphy.
The Shodou have never had a reputation for being expert in offensive combat, but they are often sent on diplomatic missions since they can talk so bloody well, and on missions where survival is tantamount because they're so bloody hard to kill.
Main Jutsu: Ninjutsu - her taijutsu is decent as well, but her second favourite jutsu next to her clan jutsus is Kawarimi no Jutsu. (She's very good at Kawarimi no Jutsu. LOL) I think that explains a lot about her fighting style - run and smack, decoy, run and smack, decoy, rinse, repeat xD Kukai has an intense dislike of genjutsu, to the point where she'd rather learn ways of resisting them than performing the actual jutsu.
Special Abilities:
Sen no Kotoba - "Thousand-Word Jutsu"; likewise, this jutsu can be applied in just as many ways. It has a lot to do with calligraphy, and kanji; the way a word is written will determine the effects on the target. It's the signature jutsu of the Shodou clan. Chakra is focused into the tips of the hairs of her brush, becoming as pliant as the strokes require it to be. The user then wields the brush as if writing the word, and even the effects of the word change with the person using it as everyone has a different style of writing. For example, if you write the kanji 'fire', the damage done would be distributed over a wide area because the strokes of this kanji stick out in every direction, but if you were writing the kanji for 'one' it would just be a simple horizontal slash. This jutsu is sometimes rendered obsolete as the effects can be replicated by other damage-inducing jutsus, even taijutsu; its only unique point is that it is completely unpredictable, even if you know what word the user is thinking of. I guess this jutsu is a.. 'style' thing.
Argh, it's hard to explain -_-
Hobbies: Arguing, reading, being a busybody. As expected, she's well-versed in the classics, and has a natural talent for exquisite calligraphy and sumi-e (ink-wash) painting.
Relations: Kind of... knows everybody, but doesn't really know them, sort of thing. On friendly-ish terms with most people. Friends with Haru, since he could, er, buy his notebooks from her family's stationery shop, and she likes stories, although she doesn't like his genjutsu? *pokes Nab* *aside* She'll terrify him. *cough*
Other: Primarily a fun/support character - I don't expect Kukai to come out of this RPG loaded for bear or immensely talented in any field. She'll turn out to be competent at what she does and that's it (like the other six of the original rookie nine...). She's best used as a speedy/evasive annoyer in a standard 3-man team. *is talking like a game guidebook* Her gigantic writing brush, besides being the main item used to facilitate her jutsu, may also double as a cudgel or staff. She's also ambidextrous.

Name: Onitoge
Gender: male
Age: 12
Appearance: Onitoge is very lean and of average height for his age. His hair is short, spiky and blood red. His eyes are also a piercing crimson color with very thin pupils. He typically wears a sleeveless black training gi and a heavily weighted long black hooded cloak. When on a mission he pulls the hood forward and wears a cloth mask that covers the lower portion of his face so that only his red eyes are visible. Unlike the other shinobi of Konoha he wears two identifying silver plates. One for the Land of Fire for where he was raised and one for the Land of Water which was the only thing found on him as an infant. He wears them on his belt on either hip; Water on his right and Fire on his left. When he gets real serious about a match he removes the weighted cloak so he can move at full speed.
Personality: He tends to be reserved and quiet and a bit of a tag-a-long. He is eager to be more open and try to make friends but is afraid of what happens when he doesn't hold back. This carries into training as well because of a few accidents in training when he was younger.
History: Onitoge was found at the edge of Konoha clutched in the arms of a dead woman with nothing but a silver shinobi plate from the Land of Water to identify him as an infant. A retired Shinobi named Urukani, Shenji claimed responsibility for him and tried to return him to the Land of Water. The old ninja returned a month later with the baby in his arms and several wounds on his person including several puncture marks. He told the village elders and the hokage that he would raise the infant and that he had named it Onitoge. So, Onitoge grew up in the care of Shenji. While he always took great care of Onitoge he always seemed saddened and worried on the inside. He took it upon himself to train the young boy as soon as he was old enough to stand and kept him fairly isolated from other people. Onitoge learned everything he could from Shenji, soaking up information related to Shinobi like a spunge. He was very eager to learn the secrets of Jutsu. His early training stopped when Shenji succumbed to age and illness when Onitoge was only 7. Since then he had been passed around the village to whomever had time to care for him but never found another true home. Shortly after he started training at the academy, just as he was starting to make friends for the first time he accidentally injured another student while training. It took a month for the other student to recover and since then everyone has always picked on him. He has also taken to holding back both in training and social situations for fear of hurting someone again. He even went so far as to take up wearing a heavily weighted cloak to keep his speed and strength in check so he wouldn't accidentally go too far in a match.
Main Jutsu: Taijutsu
Special Abilities: He has developed no known special techniques yet but has a fair knowledge of basic Genjutsu and Ninjutsu as well as the extreme speed and strength you'd expect of someone who focuses on Taijutsu. He also has the strange and unique ability to summon a seemingly endless supply of ivory colored weapons from under his cloak even though none are ever visible until he produces them for use. Onitoge claims that he doesn't even know how he summons them and because of this rarely uses the ability for fear of the unknown.
Hobbies: Onitoge doesn't have hobbies of his own but instead picks up the hobbies of those around him as a way of trying to make friends. He reads when he is around people like Kakashi, he plays chess around people like Shikamaru, he trains vigorously when around people like Heji
Relations: He spends time occasionally reading with Hatake Kakashi who treats him both kindly and with concern. He also plays chess with Shikamaru a lot even though he can never win. (open to anyone else who wants to be acquainted or friends).
Other: Although the people of Konoha aren't as disrespectful and suspicious of him as they are of Naruto he is generally looked down upon except by the Jounin who knew Urukani Shenji well.

Name: Yakusha Inakamo
Gender: Male
Age: 12
Appearance: About 4' 9". Very slim and doesn't look muscular, although he is very flexible. He covers the right-side of his face (left from a looking-on perspective) with a clay half-mask of a scary, almost evil looking clown. He also paints the area around his left eye black with a white cross. He wears a top with the left sleeve cut off and and the right sleeve long to the wrist. The left side of the top is orange and black vertical stripes, while the left side is black. He has an orange belt and wears his headband over the buckle. He wears black tight-fitting pants and the normal ninja shoes. His hair is worn both up and is black with red and orange streaks. He has a curse mark on his right eye which he keeps covered by his mask, and almost no one knows about.
Personality: He acts somewhat insane and has a habit of tricking, pranking and annoying people. He'll turn up the annoyance on people he especially doesn't like and turn it down on people he wants to be friends with. Most people would think he is a bit of a weirdo but he has a loveable aspect to him - also, people seem to think if they get on the wrong side of him, he might murder them in their sleep. As a ninja though, although he might not act it in battle, he is a serious and dedicated contender, although he tends to annoy or wind his opponent up to get the upper hand.
Up front and in person, he is a perfectly nice and kind person, especially since he enjoys being incredibly social. Very few people seem to know the real him, as he often takes the chance when there is a crowd to show off his skills.
On a side note, he loves bright lights, music, explosions and generally mayhem. He especially loves carnivals and festivals, hence why he dresses up as a clown.
History: Not much is known about Inakamo. He has not come from one of the main families and was raised by a foster family after his mother died shortly after his birth from natural causes, only saying his full name. His foster father saw he had great ninja potential and contacted one of his friends, a Jonin from the Village Hidden In The Leaves who suggested that Inakamo be enlisted into the Academy. He graduated a few years afterwards.
He has now moved out from his foster father's house in the woods to the same apartments as Naruto and Chiyoko in order to be closer to the academy and palace.
Main Jutsu: Ninjutsu
Special Abilities: Chakra Strings Jutsu - much like how this is used to control puppets, Inakamo uses Chakra strings to set traps and launch heavy objects at great speed. While he can use Chakra strings on the living, it uses up far more chakra, plus an unsuspecting opponent, or at least an opponent who has far less chakra than him.
Carnival Ball Jutsu - He can summon his favourite toy from a scroll, a large wooden colourful ball. Due to his familiarity with this toy and his practice with it, he can keep a somewhat unlimited and unbreakable control over it using his Chakra Strings, and then launch it at his opponents, usually when they least expect it. He has many variations of this toy.
Earth-Style Jutsu - He has learned he has an affinity for Earth-style techniques, although he has only mastered one so far, what he calls the 'Dead Hand Jutsu', where he digs his hand into the ground and it burrows up and snatches the foe's ankle within a short radius.
Hobbies: Practice circus tricks, mainly. Also, sneak up on other characters and surprise them.
Relations: Friends with Chiyoko, mainly because she is the only person who doesn't shun him and doesn't mind his pranks (hence he stops pranking her).
Other: Along with his Carnival Ball, he also keeps summoning scrolls for explosives, flash bangs, fireworks and even an anvil.

Name: Kazuha Mizumoto
Gender: Male
Age: 10
Appearance: Standing at a mere height of 1.56 meters and weighing no more than 55 kilos. Kazuha is probably one of your average teenager from Konoha. The only way you can distinguish him is from his really dark rings around his eyes. He doesn't sleep much due to frequent insomnia and he is always dressed messy. At times, you could even spot him wearing different colored sandals. He is usually dressed sloppy but one good thing is that he is always dressed in dark colored clothes. Although nobody really knows why.
Personality: He is your dull type and doesn't really talk much. People tend to forget about him even though if he just besides them. In another word, he is treated as the 'Invisible man'. He doesn't get along with others as well and tends not to talk much unless necessary. Although when people do test his patience or when things get serious, he sometimes let the anger goes over his head. And does things without thinking of its consequences.
History: Born from a single parent family. His mother comes from a famous bloodline clan from the Mist Village. His dad is a former jonin from Sand Village. Both parents elope from their respective hometowns after disapproval of their marriage. After years of wandering in the wilderness, they finally settled down in Konoha. Although things were a little tough in a town filled with strangers, they finally settled down. When Kazuha's mom was impregnated with him, the father, the sole breadwinner, came down with an illness and passed away before Kazuha was born. Short of money and desperate to live on, she even considered going back to her hometown in the Mist Village. But she was later stop by Konoha officials, who were interested in securing her service due to her bloodline.
She later struck a deal with the third Hokage that after her pregnancy is over, she will serve in undercover missions. In exchange, their daily living needs were financed by the Village. However a few years after Kazuho is born, his mother is struck with an illness and have to have one of her legs amputated. Unable to serve her bond fully, the officials threaten to throw her and her young child out. But it was until that they discovered that Kazuha was born inheriting his mother's bloodline strongly that they changed their mind.
Since young, he was able to manipulated water, typically freezing and melting them as he pleased. And has since been burden with the ANBU missions that was supposed to be carried out by his mom. For the past 2 or 3 years, he has spend his time training and undergoing missions, while other kids of age are going through the academy, studying and playing.
Although his mom doesn't know much of her dead husband's background truly, the Konoha officials have very much in mind that they are rearing a prized cattle. Although he is blessed with his mother's bloodline, it has been said that his father also comes from a famous clan from the Sand Village that has possessed an Earth bound bloodline. They were hoping to witness of what sort of skills the after generation will possess with those two bloodlines. But it has been rumored that to unlock this bloodline, a certain condition must be met.
Kazuha is assigned to ANBU's intelligence and stealth operation department. Most likely to appear during Orochimaru's and Sand's village invasion during the Chuunin exams.
Main Jutsu: All rounder
Taijutsu: 4/10
His forte is his agility and speed. Although it has been said many times that Lee's speed amongst the genins is unrivaled. But little did he know that amongst the ANBU ranks, Kazuha's speed has already match his. But the problem is that Kazuha's melee combat abilities are average unlike Lee's.
His personality matches his purpose in the intelligence and stealth department well. Since Kazuha's nature ability of being ignored is good, he is able to blend into the crowd easily.
Ninjutsu: 7/10
Ice Claws:
People possessing of his bloodline can create a huge rock and an ice bridge in no time. But Kazuha's ability is a little different from them. Kazuha by no means is not a Taijutsu user. So if threaten into a situation, he would dropped the surrounding temperature around his hands to create ice claws. *Thinks of Wolverine from X-men* However this ice claws are different, they can be thrown from Kazuha's hand. Once it pierced into the victim's body, the water in the affected area will freeze and expand by spiking out from within. It would tear up the victim's skin and at times could severed the victim's limbs.
Absolute Zero:
This jutsu requires body contact. With just a simple contact with Kazuha's skin, the blood running through their skin will freeze up within 3 seconds. This jutsu is fatal once triggered. So anyone in Kazuha's team has to be careful once Kazuha triggers it. The victim dies with the 3 seconds from freezing within his body's interiors.
Genjustsu: 6/10
Mist Illusions:
Kazuha is able to create illusion no longer than 2 minutes using the water vapour around the surrounding. This 2 minute period is good enough for Kazuha to escape his pursuers, given his speed. He has never used it in an attacking situation before.

Name: Iokawa, Hiro
Gender: Male
Age: 13
Appearance: His hair is messy black, dipping down to his eyes which are hidden underneath the hair. His skin is soft and a light tan. He is only five foot, two but his body is muscular for his age and hidden beneath a black one-piece jumpsuit. He has dark brown eyes that can be seen when he brushes his hair away from them. He keeps the head band placed in his messy hair to which it can some times be glimpsed. He carries a long a long yellow pocketed belt around his waist that he uses to carry any ninja related objects needed for missions. He has a small scar on his left cheek from a previous injury, he keeps it as a reminder about getting in over his head in battle.
Personality: Although it may not look like it he is extremely friendly to people, and keeps his past and hidden pains a secret. He doesn’t like to talk about his past and will usually lie about it. When asked about why he doesn’t use Chakara he will boast about how he has gotten too strong with Chakara and wanted to try something else out.
History: Originally born in the war torn Sand Village, Hiro only saw death and destruction at the hands of ninjas and chakara. Seeing this and seeing his father and friends killed at the hands of a bloody war, he shut out all connections of chakara within them, scared to even touch or use his own chakara in fear of causing the exact same harm that he had seen brought upon his home. When he was five his mother smuggled him into the Leaf village making a small and meager life inside of the village. Plagued with nightmares of his past Hiro eventually set out to become a ninja but would not use his Chakara no matter what.
Main Jutsu: Taijutsu
Special Abilities: Mighty Fist of Wind – A Taijutsu that uses the fist and arm to strengthen the air around it, compressing and firing the wind at a speed that when hit it feels the same strength as if hit straight on by the fist. This can be used for long range attacks against further away foes.
Hobbies: He builds small sand castles and clay figurines which give away a clue of where he was originally from.
Relations: Open
Other: Does not know how to use his Chakara, because of this is Chakara is very raw and if used can be extremely damaging to both him and his opponent, and can quickly be exhausted.

Name:Akimoto Akira
Gender:Male... when he feels like it
Age: 13
Appearance: Standing a little above average for his age, Akira normally looks rather lean but muscular, bearing green eyes and black hair of average length. In fact, overall, he looks almost freakishly average, nothing about him stands out in one way or another most of the time. Clothing-wise, he wears rather baggy unisex clothing, pants and a shirt, both lined with protective materials on the inside, in a green/gray combination of colors. He wears his forehead protector as a choker around his neck, feeling it's better to protect the neck than the forehead.
Personality: on the surface, he is rather amiable, you can rarely find him without a smile on his face, and he shrugs off adversity readily, but underneath, he's sneaky and often seeking out the secrets of others, something ingrained in him by his family. Those he truly considers friends, however, he will willingly fight and die for. Additionally, he has some unique viewpoints as to his own self identity, due to his bloodline.
History: Born into the Akimoto family means he was born into a family focuing on stealth and spying, centering on finding the secrets of others. He was raised with this in mind, being drilled on the family arts since he could walk, with additional training to increase control. However, unlike most of his family, he has pursued greater knowledge of Taijutsu, feeling one should be able to do more than just sneak around.
Notably, he has, throughout his time in the Academy, has kept tabs on everyone's grades and records by impersonating the teachers to gain access to them.
Main Jutsu: Taijutsu, with Genjutsu a close second.
Special Abilities: His family's unnamed bloodline is rather unique, enabling them to harness their own chakra to permanently alter their physical bodies as a form of permanent and complete, shapeshifting. Small changes like length of arm or leg are easy and require little to no concentration, but full-body changes, as well as gender changes, take a lot of focus, and can take as much as half an hour to complete.
Additionally, he has worked his shapeshifting into his taijutsu, enabling him to, for example, lengthen his arm or leg while punching or kicking, or bend his body to avoid a near hit. He has not come up with a name for this art yet.
Hobbies: He likes adding people's secrets to his 'little black book' which otherwise just looks like a ninja's bingo book.
Relations: Open
Other:

Name: Inuzuka Hige
Gender: Male
Age: 13
Appearance: Like any Inuzuka worth his name, Hige has a wild almost feral look to him. Somewhat stocky, he's larger around than most of his clan due to both a case of genetics and a love of food. Hair is light brown in color that falls just past his chin in messy locks. His eyes are a dark golden-brown though in times of stress or extreme emotion, his pupils narrow into animalistic slits. His hitai-ate headband is worn around his left bicep, but before he goes into battle, he place it around his head in a bandanna style. This leaves dark shadows around his eyes that make him seem all the more fierce. Having graduated, he's also earned the right to wear the Inuzuka Clan markings, the double red fangs, just beneath his eyes. Usually wears a red shirt beneath a black hooded-jacket that's half-way zipped up, navy blue cargo pants, and sandaru. Instead of wearing a kunai/scroll pack on his left leg like most nin, he instead had his pants modified so that both pockets on each side can serve as such. A crescent moon mixed with the Konoha Leafmark is stitched on the back of his jacket in white and green. He wears a dog collar that matches the one to his own dog, Ginmaru, though its a fang that dangles from it rather than a bone.
Personality: A wild, hot-blooded individual, Hige is often the first to a battle and the loudest. He puts a lot of energy into anything and everything he does, whether its training, cooking, or even walking Ginmaru. Despite being a bit reckless, he realizes that a ninja can't face every situation with yelling and fists. He knows that during a mission, a ninja needs to be able to rely on his teammate and will reign in his impulses. An affable and loyal person, Hige is a stalwart guy who will defend his village and his friends with a ferocity few can match.
History: Born and raised in Konohagakure, his father was heavily injured by Kyuubi during its attack. Though he recovered, he was deemed unfit to be a ninja any longer. So while he was raised by his father and mother (one of the non-ninja inhabitants of Konoha), he was trained by his Aunt Tsume. A natural, he and his partner Ginmaru have been together since he was old enough to crawl. He is one of the youngest members of the clan to take the Rite of Passage, where he and Ginmaru spent half a week within the outskirts of the Forest of Death. Upon completion he was presented with his father's dagger, carved from the fang of one of the First Inuzuka's dogs. He carries this with him wherever he goes. Nowadays he spends his days wandering Konhagakure and its outlying forests or frequent Ichiraku Ramen.
Main Jutsu: Ninjutsu/Taijutsu - Well versed in his family's techniques, Hige is also a capable fighter on his own whether armed or unarmed.
Special Abilities -Jujin no Jutsu (Man Beast Techniques) The ancestral art of the Inuzuka Clan, passed down from generation to generation. Techniques include
Shikyaku no Jutsu (Four Legged Technique) A supplementary technique, it forms the basis for the rest. By tapping into his chakra and the more primal nature of his body, Hige is given a boost in strength and speed while his nails lengthen into claws. His senses of hearing and smell are also enhanced, though this is as much a liability as an advantage. Often much more feral and wild in this state.
Jujin Bunshin no Jutsu (Man Beast Doppleganger Technique) A transformation technique, it is usually performed by or on Ginmaru. It transforms his canine companion into a physical replica of Hige in while using Shikyaku no Jutsu. The two are prety much indistinguishable from each other while the technique is in place, though if struck Ginmaru returns to his normal form. He must also be in this form in order for the two to unleash Jujin Taijutsu Ougi: Gatsuuga
Tsuuga (Piercing Fang) An offensive technique that both Hige and Ginmaru can pull off on their own. Launching themselves forward at the opponent, they begin to spin rapidly becoming literal whirlwinds of fang and claw. Jujin Taijutsu Ougi: Gatsuuga (Man Beast Ultimate Taijutsu: Double Piercing Fang) is a more powerful version of this technique as Ginmaru and Hige use Tsuuga at the same time, usually crisscrossing in mid-air. While the two have to stop between normal Tsuugas, while using Gatsuugathe two are able to attack continously though it takes a toll on both of their bodies.
Jujin Henge no Jutsu ~ Zangetsu (Man Beast Transformation Technique ~ Moon Cutter) Another transformation technique, this one is unique to Hige himself. Having once read of the ability to transformed a summoned beast into a powerful weapon, Hige immediately latched on to the idea. Using this technique, Ginmaru is transformed into a large metal claw-gauntlet that attaches itself to Hige's right arm. It substantianally increases his strength and speed, but he can only hold it for a minute at most before the two are seperate again. At the beginning he will still be developing this technique and even then he's wary of the reprecussions it might have on Ginmaru's body so is loathed to use it beyond a last resort.
Hobbies: Cooking, Playing catch, 'Walking' Ginmaru
Relations: Hige is the nephew of Tsume Inuzuka, making him Kiba and Hana's cousin. He's on good terms with all three of them, though he and Kiba are the closest having grown up together. Harbors a bit of a crush on Ayame, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen's daughter. Friendly with Chiyoko, mostly because she forages near where he and Ginmaru train. Has a conflicting relationship with Shodou Kukai - they often argue, but he respects her strength of character and shares her dislike for deceit.
Other: Hige only has one goal in life - To always have his father proud of him.
Name: Ginmaru
Gender: Male
Appearance: Somewhat of a runt in comparison to his parents, Ginmaru barely comes above Hige's knee when sitting. He gets his name from the silvery-white color of his fur. Resembles a labrador somewhat with his muscular yet lanky build and squarish features. Wears a collar similar to Hige's though his has a paw print charm.
Personality: More laid-back than Hige, Ginmaru enjoys sleeping in the noon sun or having his belly rubbed. That's not to say he isn't energetic, but it comes in strange fits and bursts. He was once nicknamed 'Cannonball' for his strength and sheer momentum would often topple others over. He is deathly loyal to his partner and would gladly lay his life down for him.

Name: Leaf (i'm not good with Japanese style names so ill have a mysterious Pseudonym lol)
Gender: Female
Age: 13
Appearance: Long red hair tied back in a ponytail with a couple of bangs hanging at the front. Brown eyes. Average build but fairly tall for her age.
Wears an outfit very similar to Sakura however it is a pale yellow/orange colour with an Orange silk Scarf that flows out behind her. A matching sash is tied around her waist with her Leaf Village 'headband'.
Wears brown taping/knuckleguards up her forearms and matching taping just up past her ankle.
Personality: Bit of a loner when not required to be with others. Doesnt mind getting involved with teamwork and will do all she can to aid her team. She does have low confidence, not in her abilities but more herself in general. Ie she trusts her abilities in combat however is very shy to talk to people in a social sense. Convincing herself that 'if someone wanted to talk to her, then they would talk to her first'.
Does have a stubborn habit of convincing herself she cant do something, giving up in that area and trying something else. Whether it be a training technique or a route somewhere.
History: Not an orphan as such, more that she was shunned by her family for reasons she wont go into. This is the reason for her name as her clan forbade her from using their name and thought it fitting that she now wanders 'as a leaf on the breeze' in the Villiage hidden within the Leaves.
Attended the Academy to better herself. Refusing to be a no good bum.
Main Jutsu: Taijutsu though is capable with Ninjutsu also.
Special Abilities:
The usual speed and agility increases that most Tai Jutsu specialists have however her special technique is the opposite of this.
Stoneskin Jutsu: Allows her to channel her Chakra in such a way that it stiffens and hardens her body. While immobile in this form nothing can break her skin including kunai, shuriken or Swords. Nor can she take injury from physical attacks. Most attackers not prepared for this Technique risk injuring themselves, expecting their momentum to take them through their target for a safe landing and suddenly finding that momentum stopped dead.
She Is very good at focusing her Chakra in her feet (Kakashi's tree climbing training and Naruto's water walking etc) and so this allows her to plant herself in place so she cannot be lifted or pushed around while immobile. She literally becomes an Immovable object however it can be very draining and at the moment can only be done with her full body.
She is trying to learn to focus this technique to turn it on and off without draining her too much or focusing it on a specific body part so she can counter attack more effectively.
Hobbies: An avid reader. She seems to read for the enjoyment of taking in the authors ideas, regardless of the subject. Shes been known to even read some of Kakashi Sensei's favorite books from time to time.
Relations: none
Other: Has absolutely no ability in Genjutsu. She cannot use them, nor does she have a good time evading them. If she realizes she is under a Genjutsu she usually closes her eyes and just tries to shut it out.
Also has absolutely no ability with throwing weapons. She hasn't once managed to make a kunai land point first. Usually clattering into its target on its side edge. Though at least it does hit target which is more than can be said for her shuriken. has occasionally experimented using a Bow however found it cumbersome when engaged in hand to hand combat.

[Asilynne]

Helping out with the new topic for your rpg guys ;D

CHIYOKO OKAMI & THE FOUR SENSEI COMBINED POST! WOOT!

“Mmmm…” Chiyoko heard a voice through her window, and turning her head for a moment she let out a yelp of surprise to see Naruto hanging by her windowsill.
“Naruto-chan! What are you doing hanging by my window!?” Chiyoko calmed herself for a moment, as she walked over to him, her cooking apron fastened around her waist. Naruto sweatdropped for a moment as he showed his cheesy grin.
“I was making breakfast when I smelled some thing delicious… and it was coming from your room. Are you cooking ramen!?” He added, his voice raising in excitement. Chiyoko’s face turned from confusion to laughter in an instant, as she grabbed his arm and helped him climb through her window. Shaking her head, she couldn’t help but chuckle a bit more as she headed back to her stove where the ramen was cooking.
“You know… you could have just knocked on my door. You live right above me.” Chiyoko added, taking out a bowl and a pair of chopsticks and setting them down on the table, across from her spot. She then walked over to check on the ramen, stirring it to see that the ingredients were almost done.
“Chiyoko-chan… why does your ramen smell so good?” Naruto asked, tilting his head to the side as Chiyoko laughed and looked at him.
“Naruto… you’re so funny. I would hope that it smells good because it tastes good! I rarely make ramen but… today, being the first day I am officially fully a Genin seemed appropriate.”
Naruto nodded to this, “And we’re assigned on teams!” Chiyoko nodded.
A knock suddenly was heard on the door however, and Chiyoko walked and opened it to see Masato Kazuma standing there, holding a carton of juice and looking rather sheepish. Chiyoko’s eyes widened in surprise- never before had she more than one person visiting her in her apartment. Especially in the morning… usually people only stopped by to deliver the mail or perhaps to drop off some supplies.
“Umm… good morning Chiyoko…” Masato said, suddenly holding out the juice in a dramatic manner. “I apologize for being here so early, but I smelled the ramen coming out from your window and was hoping to acquire some of it in return for this carton of juice!”
Chiyoko’s blinked for a moment as both her and Naruto stared at him, but then her face molded into a big smile as she graciously took the juice and beckoned him to the table.
“I accept your offer, Masato-chan.” She sat the juice on the table and soon had another place set, along with cups this time. Just as the ramen was finished, Chiyoko walked by the window holding the container of ramen and saw a fellow student known as Raizen walking by. Figuring perhaps he would like some too… (and trying to push her luck with friends), Chiyoko called out to him.
“Good morning Raizen! Would you like some ramen?” She asked, smiling cheerfully only to have the cool-faced Raizen stare at her for a long moment with a confused expression, and then shake his head and continue walking. Sweatdropping, Chiyoko shrugged and soon served Ramen to everyone at the table.
After thanking for the food, everyone dug in- especially Naruto who made exclamations about “the best ramen ever”.
After the breakfast, Chiyoko took off her apron and grabbed her headband, fastening it in her hair as she looked to the other two and smiled.
“Hey, want to head to the classroom now? We should get going anyways… so we don’t miss team assignments!”
“Yeah, I’m ready to go.” Masato said, getting up as Naruto nodded and over eagerly headed towards the door.
“I’m one step closer to being Hokage some day!” Naruto proclaimed with a fox-like grin, as Chiyoko smiled back and nodded. “Yes, yes you are.”

The three soon headed down the street towards the classroom, meeting up with several other students and talking excitedly (well, some talking excitedly as others seemed to just remain quiet.) Soon, Chiyoko and others had entered the classroom to find that some were already there. Chiyoko’s eyes scanned for a moment, as she took in many of the classmates and was happy and surprised to find that she now almost knew everyone by name and something interesting about them. (she had been trying very hard to learn something about everyone… her desire to make and maintain friends fueling it.)

She saw Raizen sitting in a corner, staring out the window as a fellow classmate, Ushi seemed to try to get his attention but was failing at it as Raizen merely seemed annoyed and further tried to pretend to be staring off outside. Inuzuka Hige seemed to be in a heated debate with Shodou Kukai, and both seemed to be equally as stubborn and not backing down. Next to them was Sasuke and Shikamaru, who both seemed to be trying their best to ignore the argument despite their best efforts. Yakusha Inakamo was near the door of the classroom, fixing it most likely for some sort of prank as he smirked to himself slightly. Kozue Haru was sitting next to Hinata, and the two of them seemed like peas in a pod when comparing the aspect that neither of them was talking but looking at everyone with a slightly nervous expression.
Hiro was sitting next to Sakura and Onitoge, and seemed to attempt to make friendly conversation. Sakura nodded to him a bit, but her eyes seemed fixed on Sasuke with Ino glaring from behind, as Onitoge merely listened but did not respond as much as Hiro probably would have liked. Shiro was sitting next to Kiba, who seemed to be either extremely tired or very anxious to get things started as Shiro looked about the room in a curious manner. Masato sat in the front row, leaning against his hand as he almost mirrored Kiba’s look. Selekis was sitting in the back row, mostly to himself with a gap between him and Shino. Chiyoko quickly took the last open seat next to Selekis, who seemed surprised- although he seemed surprised everytime Chiyoko talked or sat next to him anytime.

The class was loud and active for several minutes as they impatiently waited for someone to come in to tell them their long-awaited team assignments.
“I wonder who will be on my team…” Chiyoko wondered absently, looking about the classroom and having a hard time determining who she would like to be on her team the most. Those she knew she would enjoy being with, and those she didn’t know… well, she would like to try her very best to become their friend.
“I’m sure that the sensei will properly group us together… and that the sensei will be fun too.”

The door opened quietly, and everyone turned to see Iruka walk in, along with four other odd-looking figures behind him.
“I don’t recognize those four…” Chiyoko thought, being slightly confused. She had made a point to know most of the Jounin or at least as many as she could. Having four, together, that she did not know was odd. Sure she was new… but she had worked hard!
Iruka went to the front of the classroom and coughed to get everyone’s attention, but everyone was already staring at him- or more importantly, at the four who stood along side of him.

“Good morning everyone… as I’m sure all of you know, today is the day that we assign you to your teams. After we assign you to your teams, you will be contacted by your sensei and they will take things on from there.”
Iruka glanced to his side a bit, as a few glances from the four figures in front of the classroom were on him. Iruka quickly looked back to the classroom, seemingly a bit intimidated.
“Most of you will be assigned to a sensei that you already know and who has either taught you in the past or has done things in Konoha that has made you aware of them. However… this year, your class has shown extreme promise and talent. This has prompted the Hokage to find more Ninja qualified to train the groups that we will divide you into. Thus, we have found four highly qualified and talented Ninja who also graduated from Konoha like yourselves. You might not be familiar with them, which is why we were told to acquaint them with all of you. While you will be divided into teams, it is highly encouraged that perhaps during your spare time between missions you find a sensei who could aid you in training your abilities further…”
Iruka withdrew a deep breath after that, looking to the other four.
“Let me introduce them before I tell you your team assignments…. “

A narrow-eyed Ninja with long black hair tied back into a ponytail seemed to cough with agitation as he glared at Iruka, and pretty much everyone in the room. His jaw was secure and his lips pursed, as if he was completely unhappy at the situation he was in. His lean but obviously toned build would have made him not very intimidating, had his head not been attached.
“First… Saruwatari, Kazuki. He is an-“ Iruka began, but Kazuki coughed loudly and glared at Iruka.
“Unlike Yukiso, I think introductions are unnecessary.”
Silence filled the air, as the other three seemed to shake their heads and Iruka almost seemed frightened. Gathering his wits, he nodded and continued.
“Um, also Hara, Takumi.” This was directed to a rather wild-gazed figure, who grinned madly while staring at the students with a piercing see-all gaze. His wild hair seemed to go in almost every direction at times, as he gave a thumbs-up at the students.
“I look forward to training you to become victorious!” His wolf-like golden eyes gleamed as he said this, while the other two not being introduced seemed to shake their heads only slightly and Kazuki rolled his eyes.
“Yes… then there is Kuroda, Miharu.” Iruka continued, obviously skipping to say anything else about the sensei in fear of being yelled at again. Miharu Kuroda stepped forth lightly however, bowing as her long and vibrant hair of silk wavered with every moment. She seemed extremely young compared to the other three sensei; a soft and form-fitting kimono showing off her figure as she smiled at the students.
“Pleased to meet such promising individuals.”

The last figure to be introduced seemed to be the most familiar- or at least, someone whom the students felt they should know. If his hair hadn’t been black and his left eye uncovered, anyone could have sworn he looked exactly like Hatake Kakashi. This figure however, wasn’t looking at the students at all but seemed very immersed in a book at the moment, labeled, “Advanced Theories of Inorganic Chemistry.”
“Lastly, Kakashi Yukiso.”
With that name being said, many of the students seemed to have wide eyes and a few mumurs went through the room. Yukiso looked up from his book for a moment and then seemed to smile, although his face was halfway covered.
“It is good to be back.” He stated, his voice seeming a bit more light-hearted than his relative’s.

Iruka then turned to the four with his back to the classmates. A mumur of talk was shared by the five, and soon the four Sensei left the classroom- Kazuki going out the window in a hurry as Yukiso just seemed to vanish and Takumi seemed to explode into confetti as he disappeared. Miharu simply used the door.
Iruka sweatdropped as confetti floated about him for a while, before pulling a sheet of paper from his pocket.
“Yes… like I said, the sensei you are assigned to will be meeting with you later today. However now, I will read off the team assignments…”
Iruka called off all the teams, until he finally came to the last four teams.
“Now… Team 12, under Saruwatari Kazuki…” There seemed to a few held breaths, as if many of the students did not want that certain individual sensei to be their leader.
“Retsun, Selekis … Yagyu, Shiro … and Iokawa, Hiro.”

“Team 13, under Hara, Takumi… Onitoge… Yakusha, Inakamo… and Okami, Chiyoko.”

“Team 14, under Kuroda, Miharu… … Shodou, Kukai… Kozue, Haru… and Inuzuka, Hige.”

“Team 15, under Kakashi, Yukiso… … Hyuga, Raizen… Kazuma, Masato… and Kurama, Ushi.”
A loud distinct thud could be heard, as Raizen smashed his face into the table and Ushi squealed with delight, hugging Raizen.

Iruka sweatdropped. “Good luck with your teams… and I wish you the best.”
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Selekis - The Silent One
------------------------------------------
Selekis stared blankly, taking in what he heard. So it seemed he got stuck with what everyone else considered, the 'evil one'. This didn't seem to bother Selekis at all. Saruwatari Sensei seemed straight to the point. He seemed like a man who more focused on his studants skills than becoming their friend. Selekis was used to cold behaviour.

"I'm sorry Selekis." Selekis perked slightly and looked over to see Chiyoko looking at him. Did she feel sorry for him?

Pulling a small pad from his pocket, he scribbled the words "It's alright." and showed it to her. She nodded slightly.

Selekis looked over at his teammates, Hiro and Shiro. While Selekis didn't want to associate with anyone, at least it was people he could tolerate. At least it wasn't that psycho clown...what was his name?

He glanced over at Chiyoko again. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that he wasn't on her team. She was a sweet girl.

Wait...did he just think that?

Selekis blushed slightly and quickly turned back to the picture he was drawing. Chiyoko however caught sight of these actions.

"What are you drawing?" she asked, smiling cheerfully. Selekis silent pulled his picture out of view. Just because he tolerated her doesn't mean he had to be nice. He hoped this would give her the hint and leave him alone.

However, this was dashed when he felt a wait slump onto his back.

"Aww, come on," Chiyoko mocked whined, looking over his shoulder, "Let me see."

Selekis' blush returned. He was not used to being touched, especially like this. Normally in these situations, he'd call out the Nightmare Beast, however, it would have been pointless as she was immune to it for some unknown reason.

Chiyoko 'ooohed' at his work. It was a forest landscape, complete with the occasional form of wildlife. Selekis was a very skilled drawer, since that's what he did most of the time.

"That's great!" Chiyoko complimented, causing Selekis to blush even further. He was not used to being talked to, he was not used to being touched and he was not usde to recieving compliments, especially from a girl he might actually like.

GAH! There's that word again!
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-------------------------------Raizen's terror------------------------------
Raizen woke up to the sun shining in through his window. “Hmm, looks like its time to get up.” Raizen looked pretty much like your average Konoha ninja, except for his pupiless, lavender eyes, and long dark brown hair, characteristic of the Hyuga clan. He took a shower and got dressed in his usual green t-shirt and beige shorts, then looked down at his bedside table. “I finally get to put this on.” Raizen said, as he tied his Konoha headband on his left sleeve, and pouch of ninja gear to his right leg.

“Raizen! Hurry up; you’re going to be late!”
“Don’t worry Mom; I don’t have to leave for twenty minutes,” Raizen muttered as he walked into the kitchen, “Plenty of time for breakfast.” And he sat down for some scrambled eggs and toast.
“Oh, I can’t believe my little Raizen is already a genin, you grow up so fast.” Raizen rolled his eyes. “Now don’t forget to work hard honey, you know your brother Neji graduated first in his class, I don’t want your grades slipping any farther.” Raizens mom said as she scooped more eggs onto his plate.
“Mom, I only got an A- in genjustu, and besides, everyone knows they give that Uchiha kid pity points since his entire family was killed.” With that Raizen chugged the rest of his milk, said goodbye to his mom and left for the academy, where he was going to finally find out who his sensei and team will be.

It was a nice day, few clouds in the sky and nice breeze kept it nice and cool. It wasn’t too long after Raizen left his house before he saw a fellow classmate of his, Chiyoko, hanging out her window asking if he wanted some ramen. He thought as he gave her a raised eyebrow stare, “Is she hitting on me?” then shook his head and walked away.

About ten minutes later Raizen found himself sitting in the familiar classroom with most of his old classmates. He nodded to Masato and a few others then took a seat at the window to wait for Iruka to give out the teams. It was pretty noisy, everyone seemed pretty anxious about getting a sensei. “Well, I think I’ll just sit here and try to look cool.” Raizen thought as an odd looking kid sat down next to him. He looked a little older than the rest and was wearing pink, had white hair running past his shoulders that eventually turned… red?

“Hi!” The kid said as he sat down next to Raizen. “My name’s Ushi! What’s yours?!”
“This guy seems kinda weird.” Raizen thought. “Um, hi, I’m Raizen.”
“So do you know who your sensei will be?!” Raizen shook his head and continued to stare out the window. “Me neither. Hey!! Maybe we can be on the same team!! Wouldn’t that be cool?” Raizen continued to stare out the window. “Hey Raizen.” Ushi poked him. “Hey Raizen.” Poked again. “Hey Raizen…”

“Oh god,” Raizen thought to himself, “if this kid is on my… Wait a minute. Did Naruto just kiss the Uchiha kid? Ouch, that looks painful. Anyway, I swear, if this Ushi kid is on my team I’m gonna kill myself.”

After about five more minutes of poking and increasing annoyance, the class finally quieted down. Raizen looked up to see that four unknown adults had walked into the room. One looked uncomfortably like Kakashi Hatake, one looked just plain mean, one was really hot, and the last one looked a bit eccentric. Iruka walked to the front of the class and started introducing who turned out to be new sensei. “Okay, I don’t want Hara sensei or Saruwatari senei.” Raizen thought.

Iruka continued, “And for team 15, Hyuga Raizen… Kazuma Masato… and Kurama Ushi.” Many people looked around as they heard a loud thud that turned out to be Raizen slamming his head into the table as Ushi squealed and hugged him.

“This isn’t going to be fun,” Raizen muttered as he stood up, “At least I got the sane sens… did that one just explode into confetti? Okay I’m leaving.” He started to leave the room but…

“Wait Raizen! Let’s have lunch together!” Ushi yelled after him. Raizen just sped up and ran out of sight of Ushi.
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Yagyu Shiro - Genin
-

As the lean boy clambered out of his small bed, he gazed despondently at the time before dressing, eyes dull and lifeless as he exited his small house, trooping down the street. As he went, his eyes gradually gained more cheer, and by the time he reached the Academy, his mind was mulling over listless thoughts, though the major factor of his concerns was the placement that was to happen today. So far, he'd been performing decently in the academy, though his classmates weren't something he was fond of. Shikamaru was much too lazy for his taste, and Chouji was the opposite, rather sensitive compared to others. Ino and Sakura were mainly focused on female-esque things, and thus Shiro possessed no interest in a conversation with them. Sasuke intrigued him only slightly -- he admired his skill, though he disliked the seemingly pompous vibe he exuded. Naruto was the opposite, however. His fiery spirit was annoying, and Shiro noted that he was someone he wouldn't want on his team. Kiba was the same, excited and energetic, and much too hot-headed. He paused in his mental notations to take his seat in the Academy classroom, (which is where we are, right?) quickly tuning out Kiba's annoying rambling.

Chiyoko was another oddball, rather jolly and ditzy despite Shiro's efforts. Then there was Retsun, a kid who was constantly doodling, and had that weird demon thing...His eyes wandered, and they next fell on Raizen, a descendant of the Hyuuga clan. They were rather cold, and were scarcely amused by Shiro's efforts at conversation. Then his eyes fell on Shidou, a girl that Shiro had attempted to argue with once, ending poorly in his favor; he had willingly conceded after the girl skillfully pummeled him with a sentence in which the only words that he knew the meaning of were 'all though'. His fingers danced idly upon the dagger seated in its sheath, roughly tied to his belt in an untidy manner, then noticing a small stain on the sleeve of his black gi, frowning at the mere thought. Impatience then proceeded to grow as the time ticked by, his curiosity to discover his placement overwhelming his calm composure. Eventually his desires were fufilled as Iruka strolled in, a list in hand. The noise immediately stifled itself, and Iruka began to speak. Shiro sighed, leaning back on his chair and tuning the sensei out for a while, until he immediately snapped back in place upon hearing a cold voice that split the room.

He glanced at the owner of the remarkably cold tone, and was only slightly surprised to see it was Kazuki sensei, a man of cold demeanor that he had crossed once or twice, and did not desire to do so anytime soon. He looked over the other senseis that strolled in, though his disinterest was plain until..

"Team 12...under Saruwatari Kazuki...Retsun Selekis...Yagyu Shiro...and Iokawa Hiro."

"How fun," Shiro commented. Kiba looked over, and merely snickered at his predicament. Shiro wrinkled his nose at that, muttering something about a wet dog odor before walking over to join Retsun, who was already doodling away once more, in 'conversation' with Chiyoko, who was chatting away amiably.

She paused as Shiro walked up to the silent artist, nodding with a grin at his teammate.

"Yo, picasso."
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Ushi
~~~~
It had been an amusing morning, Ushi thought, as he watched Raizen run away fearfully. First breakfast at Chiyoko’s house, no one had actually seen him as he sat quietly at the table eating his oatmeal, but the conversation had been quite stimulating. He had gotten to know one of his teammates too, even if he had only learned which parts of his arms were squishy enough to poke without hurting his finger. Konoha, his new home, was such a wonderful place. He couldn’t imagine ever living somewhere else…though he supposed that he may have been happy back in the Village Hidden in the Stars…of course he had been to young then to remember so it really didn’t matter did it?! Raizen must be hungry. Ushi's hand brushed against the flute that hung reassuringly at his side as he took a step.

Raizen was bolting past the local Ramen shop when Ushi’s hand shot out to grab him, his soft pink sleeves rustling gently.

“Marvelous! I didn’t know you liked to eat here too! My treat!”

Raizen’s eyebrows rose alarmingly. The strange boy didn’t have any pupils but Ushi assumed that his expression would have been delighted if he did. Raizen was muttering something, Ushi strained to listen.

“B-but how? I left you…back there…ran fast…”

Ushi chuckled happily.

“Oh, I couldn’t believe that you didn’t want a free lunch…so I just chose to not believe it!”

Raizen fell silent, he must have understood the wisdom of his words and was taking the moment to contemplate them. Were the youth to actually look and see the young Hyuuga’s confused and somewhat disturbed gaze…he probably would have still thought the same thing anyway.

“So Raizen, since we are to be teammates we should learn each other’s skills backward and forwards, so we can devise marvelously devious strategies!”

Handing Raizen a bowl, and pushing his hair out of the way, Ushi dug into his with frightening enthusiasm.

[Outlaw JT]

Shodou Kukai/Team 14/F
5. "OBJECTION!!"
-------------------------------

"So you concede, then?" Kukai leant forward, glaring into the pinprick eyes of one Inuzuka Hige.

"What?! Whoever said anything about conceding, woman?" Hige returned the glare, drawing himself up to his full (considerable) height.

The look on Nara Shikamaru's face seemed to say: Some people just don't know when to give up... as the lazy boy shifted his chin from one palm to the other, rolling his eyes. Uchiha Sasuke merely turned away, refusing to acknowledge the existence of either debater, dismissing them as fools and idiots. He was very soon to find himself being harrassed by another fool and idiot, better known as Naruto, the dunce of the year's graduating class; and not too long afterwards, to become the source of certain rumours pertaining towards either boy's sexuality.

"Inuzuka Hige, a few minutes prior to this you clearly stated that you wished to conclude this discussion with a fight," Kukai paused, beaming, not breaking away from their eyelock. "I believe that shows an unwillingness to continue with our verbal duel, which would naturally lead to an assumption that you are conceding this argument to me."

Hige bared his teeth in a snarl, frustrated; Ginmaru, from somewhere down below, growled at Kukai, whom he rightly viewed as a threat to his master.

"I do so hope that you won't harbour any resentment against me because of this; you see, circumstances-"

"All right, all right, ALL RIGHT ALREADY," Hige broke into her litany, running an annoyed hand through his hair. "Your tongue must be ten feet long, the way you talk."

"I have proof that my tongue is not, in fact, ten feet long. If you would care to measure-"

Shikamaru yawned as they began yet another round of their neverending argument. His respite would come soon enough. Iruka-sensei... where are you...?

As Iruka-sensei walked into the room, followed by four unknown jounin, Kukai was compelled to break off her... she preferred to think of it as intelligent conversation. Inuzuka Hige was a worthy opponent, although he tended to break off and then jump back into the fray with unfailing regularity. On occasion, Ginmaru put his two cents in with sharp, short barks interspersing Hige's words; Kukai could only guess at what the dog was saying, but she was sure it wasn't anything pleasant. She slid into her seat next to Haru, who was quiet as usual, scribbling distractedly in a notebook.

Kukai liked stories; they were composed of words, painting gorgeous landscapes and cunning plots in a way that was impossible in the real world, where there were often no happy endings, only perhaps blood and a kunai stuck in the dust of the path. But she could never write her own - she'd tried and tried as a younger child, and nothing came out that seemed proper and storylike, nothing after the standard wording of Once upon a time-; despite the beauty of her strokes, the ink words that stained the paper were as dead as the paper itself. You couldn't have everything. What you made up for in technique, you lacked in spirit.

That was how she had met Haru, she supposed. He was always buying notebooks, a curious skinny waif, who nevertheless spun tales of an immortal and golden splendour contained within a cage of paper. It was his stories that had drawn her, and she had tried to stick up for him in all other aspects, and now no one with half a working brain would dare call him stupid within hearing range of Shodou Kukai, not if they didn't want their ears to drop off.

Taking care not to disturb Haru's story-grinding reverie, Kukai half-listened, half-stared openly at the four new sensei. One had all the likeability of an aged scorpion; another, a young female, seemed too good to be true; one with all the feral grace of the jungle; and lastly, a Kakashi clone. She hadn't known that the copy-nin had a brother...

Kukai struck lotto. Iruka-sensei reeled off the groupings, and she was fortunate enough both to be placed together with Haru; also, she was somewhat relieved that they had the gentle-looking Kuroda-sensei as their teacher. Saruwatari-sensei left a bad taste in her mouth; Hara-sensei was okay, she supposed, only too Inuzuka-like for her to appreciate properly, and Kakashi-sensei liked chemistry, going by his choice of books. She wasn't sure she could win an argument about chemistry. And she was very thankful for the absence of any psycho clowns.

Speaking of Inuzukas... her last teammate was an Inuzuka. Inuzuka Hige from the endless argument of fifteen minutes ago, no less.

Oh well. Could have been worse... could have been one of Sasuke's fangirls...

She essayed a tentative wave at the Inuzuka from across the room. Beside her, Haru finally put down his pencil.
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Onitoge - Genin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Onitoge looked at himself nervously in the mirror. He didn't look any different than he did yesterday. He didn't seem to feel any different either. And yet, he was different. At least as far as the Academy was concerned. He was Genin now and that meant being assigned to a team and it meant missions. It meant he was expected to give his all......but his all...... it frightened him.

"No. I have to grow strong and make Urukani-sensei proud of me," Onitoge said to his reflection, his voice only wavering a little.

As he turned towards the door he reached for his belt and hesitated again. He knew no one liked it that he wore the symbol for the Land of Water beside their native symbol for the Land of Fire. Today was a day for making good impressions. Maybe it was time to let go..... but he couldn't. It was all he had of the family he never knew. He had to honor them as well as Urukani-sensei. So, he fastened the belt and threw his cloak over his shoulders, drawing it about him. The weight of it slid over him like a familiar warmth, comforting him.

The walk to class was particularly uneventful for such an important day. Being rather early he didn't see any of his classmates until he arrived. One or two always managed to beat him there no matter how early he showed up. He nodded a hello with a faint, unsure smile and took his seat.

Time passed slowly as the rest of their class filed in in spurts. He found himself sitting next to Hiro and Sakura who both came in after him. Sakura was nice enough but whenever Sasuke was around she was always too preoccupied to notice him. He always felt there was something about Hiro that reminded Onitoge of himself but he could never put his finger on what.

Onitoge tried hard to listen to what Hiro was saying, occasionally vocalizing agreement or making a comment about his own morning but he was fairly distracted. It was hard to focus knowing he would be assigned to a new sensei today. He was hoping to be assigned to Kakashi-sensei's (ooc:Hatake Kakashi) squad. He was very skilled and knowledgable and was always nice to him even though he seemed worried sometimes. Onitoge knew there would be a good reason behind whatever sensei he was assigned to but he still hoped.

Shortly after the last of the students arrived Iruka opened the door and entered, followed by four shinobi. One of them was almost a dead ringer for Kakashi-sensei but Onitoge knew it wasn't. Apparently since their class was so large additional sensei had been recruited for their benefit.

And so, the moment of truth. Team and sensei! Onitoge listened intently as their names were called out. He almost slipped out of his chair when Kakashi-sensei was mentioned. He barely caught himself from falling back out of his chair when he heard the third name wasn't his. Sakura sitting next to him seemed to have the opposite effect, almost falling forward out of her chair in Sasuke's direction.

So he wasn't to be assigned to Kakashi-sensei's squad. Whomever his sensei was would no doubt be very skilled as well and there was likely some higher reason he was placed there. And then the words came out. Hara Takumi, the wild eyed and wild haired shinobi who had boldly exclaimed his training would make them victorious.

Victorious at what? Onitoge thought to himself as he struggled to sit still, holding in any reaction. He took some comfort in knowing Chiyoko was also assigned to the same squad. He didn't know her very well at all but she seemed very nice and she wasn't from here. She arrived long after the incident when he was just starting at the Academy. Chiyoko might not even know about it if no one had taken the time to tell her.

He was less enthused to hear Inakamo was also in their squad, though Onitoge respected that he possessed talents he could not replicate.

As Iruka and the new sensei left Onitoge took a moment to think. Something about his new sensei's attitude made him uncomfortable but he didn't know what just yet. Hopefully it was nothing. In any case, for now he had to think of his teammates. He knew very little about either of them. He slowly rose to his feet and walked towards Chiyoko. He would talk to Inakamo when they were decidely not alone.

"I was thinking that since we're...... team.....mates......" Onitoge's voice trailed off as Chiyoko was already engaged in conversation.

Rather than interrupt Onitoge bowed his head and exited the classroom quietly. There would be time later, he supposed. Lots of time actually, since they were teammates now. So, he would wait for now. He could try to get to know her and Inakamo better after they met with Hara-sensei. In the meantime, he would do what he always did when there was no one to hang around with. He went to the clearing in the forest where he often spent time reading with Kakashi-sensei and he trained. He trained with his cloak off, which he only ever did when he knew he was alone.
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Inakamo Yakusha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yes, perfect," Inakamo murmured to himself, adding a devlish, insane cackle to the end of his spoken thoughts.
"What are you doing you clown?" Shikamaru groaned, awoken from his daydreaming by the clown ninja. Inakamo, who was hanging upside-down from the rafters of the classroom just above the door. In one hand was a frying pan and he was positioning it above the door with the other.
"Lets just say Naruto is gonna get a surprise when he gets back from the toilet Shika," Inakamo giggled. Shika buried his head in his hands.
"Not another one of your lame pranks," he yawned, before going back to dreaming.

"Done!" he announced to himself and backflipped into his seat next to Choji. Choji was already halfway through what had to be his third breakfast this morning. Inakamo whispered to him,
"Hey Choji, betcha a bowl of ramen that Naruto will fall for this so-called lame prank."
Choji's eyes lit up, but only at the mention of the word 'ramen'. He turned to Inakamo but couldn't speak, his mouth already full. Inakamo suddenly heard Naruto's whistling, and as soon as he could see Naruto's dumb haircut, he pulled on his chakra string, releasing the frying pan into Naruto's face.

*PANG*

Naruto fell onto his backside and, looking up, saw Inakamo the only one pointing and laughing. Naruto ran up to Inakamo about to give hima piece of his mind, when Iruka walked in and Naruto eagerly sat down, wanting to learn the teams. Ino piped up to the giggling Inakamo,
"Sheesh Inakamo, I hope I don't end up on your team, you're such an immature idiot."
Inakamo didn't really care though, for in his mind every single one of his little pranks were hysterical. It was also great ninja training, at least for him.

Iruka began by introducing the new Jonin team leaders. Inakamo thought to himself,
"There's a Kakashi and some cold guy - I hope I didn't get either of them; their strict styles would probably cramp mine, plus that guy looks even more murderous than me - if I tried my pranks on him, he'd probably kill me!"
Finally, when all the introductions were done, the names were listed off.

"Yakusha, Inakamo..." Iruka finally said. He was in Team 13 with Onitoge and Chiyoko! He saw Onitoge leave the room. He decided not to follow - he and Onitoge were completely different; whilst Inakamo was loud, brash, extrovert and insane, Onitoge was quiet and reserved. he'd have to be friends with him soon, but he could wait until their team met for the first time.

He looked at Chiyoko, who was talking with the other Kunoichi. He jumped up into the rafters again and began listening in on their conversation.
"Sakura, you lucky girl, getting with Sasuke!" one kunoichi said. Another said to Chiyoko,
"And Chiyoko, you're on the team with a crazy sensei, an even more insane clown and Mr. Quiet."
He was about to hear Chiyoko's response, when one of gus scrolls fell out of his bag. It began unravelling as he grasped for it. He then prayed it wasn't the anvil scroll and quickly used his chakra strings to grab whatever came out of the scroll.

A small firework rocket shot out of the smoke of the summoning right in the middle of the girls, causing much mayhem and screaming. He quickly tried to redirect it out of the window, but he chose the wrong one and it hit a tree outside, exploding into a melody of colours. He realised the kunoichi woould probably tear him apart for this, so he quickly leapt down, picked up the scroll then backflipped out the window into the playground, finishing his escape.
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Masato
~~~~~

Masato woke up with a stir; another dream seemed to slip through his head and no matter how hard he tried to concentrate on it he just couldn’t. Turning off his alarm he began his daily routine of some light exercises to warm up for the day. After a quick shower and getting dressed, the smell of freshly cooked ramen seemed to wafer from across the building as Masato realized Chiyoko had to have been cooking again. Since he hadn’t seen pillars of black smoke he had to assume she succeeded in her attempts. He had been living in the building for a whole year and though he had occasionally passed her in the halls or in class he had never really gotten to know her, though from what he had seen of Chiyoko in class, she seemed very friendly, cheery and seemed to have a habit of being rather eccentric. Though the smell of something home cooked seemed to out weigh the cup of ramen he was preparing. Opening his fridge he looked for something to offer her for a bowel and decided a carton of freshly squeezed juice could probably get him by. After locking his door and walking down the hall, he took a couple of deep breaths and tried to work over in his head what he was going to say. Pushing away some worse case scenarios of Chiyoko round house kicking him into the next village, he proceeded to knock on her door.

Not making direct eye contact Masato tried to force out: “Umm… good morning Chiyoko…” holding out the juice in front of him, “I apologize for being here so early, but I smelled the ramen coming out from your window and was hoping to acquire some of it in return for this carton of juice!”
She blinked for a moment as he noticed that another student from his class seemed to be there as well, Naruto Uzumaki, who seemed to have a piece of a crab cake on his cheek, both staring at him. Son Chiyoko’s face turned into a big smile as she took the juice and beckoned him to the table.
“I accept your offer, Masato-chan.” She said as she sat the juice on the table and soon had another place set. With everyone digging in, Masato began to think about what was going to happen today, they were going to be assigned teams today. In the back of his mind he began to wonder…but before he could Chiyoko interrupted between sips.
“Masato-chan, aren’t you going to finish your ramen?” Little had he noticed that as he was only a quarter into his meal, Chiyoko and Naruto only had a quarter left of their own dishes. He ate quickly trying to catch up, when they finally were just about done only a small clump of noodles remained Masato went for a quick grab but was stopped by Naruto and his own chopsticks…(Lightning strikes between their two eyes)

~It’s the training!~
Naruto tried to go for a quick dash as Masato went for a counter with his chop sticks. Almost imagining they were kunai, Naruto went for a downward stabbing motion only to be blocked by a front push of his own chops sticks. Eventually each grabbed each others’ cheeks with their free hand lifting them upward. As with their other hands both caught the ramen and tried to bring it to their mouth, only to trip over each other and go tumbling to the ground sending the ramen into the air. As it hung there in an almost suspended free fall Chiyoko caught it effortlessly and in one gulp swallowed it all whole. (Sweet drops appear on both Naruto and Masato’s head)
“I’m done!” Chiyoko said cheerily, taking off her apron and put on her headband.
“Hey, want to head to the classroom now? We should get going anyways… so we don’t miss team assignments!”
“Yeah, I’m ready to go.” Masato said, getting up as Naruto nodded and over eagerly headed towards the door.
“I’m one step closer to being Hokage some day!” Naruto proclaimed with a fox-like grin, as Chiyoko smiled back and nodded. “Yes, yes you are.”

Konoha seemed in quite in uproar as the three of them walked by others in excitement about today. With the classroom almost assembled Masato decided to bid farewell to his companions and proceded to take a seat in the front row. He choose to ignore the commotion behind him and watched as the door opened and Iruka sensei walked in with four other Jounin.
“Good morning everyone… as I’m sure all of you know, today is the day that we assign you to your teams. After we assign you to your teams, you will be contacted by your sensei and they will take things on from there.”
Iruka seemed a little nervous as he continued explaining about Ninja behind him and the division into teams and tried to introduce the instructors.

“First… Saruwatari, Kazuki. He is an-“ Iruka began, but Kazuki coughed loudly and glared at Iruka.
“Unlike Yukiso, I think introductions are unnecessary.”
This rather upset Masato, but like with most other Jounin they had their own quirks and were well respected so if he was going to train under Kazuki he was going to have to respect that.
“I look forward to training you to become victorious!” Said Hara, Takumi.
“This guy is nuts,” Was Masato’s first impression of the overly excited Jounin, making a mental note to avoid him.

“Yes… then there is Kuroda, Miharu.” Iruka continued. Miharu Kuroda stepped forth lightly however, bowing as her long and vibrant hair of silk wavered with every moment. She seemed extremely young compared to the other three sensei; a soft and form-fitting kimono showing off her figure as she smiled at the students.
“Pleased to meet such promising individuals.”
“Hm…wouldn’t mind being on her team,” he said to himself in a rather low tone.
The last figure to be introduced seemed rather immersed in a book at the moment.
“Lastly, Kakashi Yukiso.”
“It is good to be back.” He stated which in a way that sent a little bit of inertest into Masato’s mind. As soon Iruka called off all the teams, finally caming to the last four teams.
“Now… Team 12, under Saruwatari Kazuki…Retsun, Selekis … Yagyu, Shiro … and Iokawa, Hiro.”

“Team 13, under Hara, Takumi… Onitoge… Yakusha, Inakamo… and Okami, Chiyoko.”

“Team 14, under Kuroda, Miharu… … Shodou, Kukai… Kozue, Haru… and Inuzuka, Hige.”

“Team 15, under Kakashi, Yukiso… … Hyuga, Raizen… Kazuma, Masato… and Kurama, Ushi.”
A loud distinct thud could be heard, in which Masato turned and saw that Raizen had smashed his face into the table and Ushi squealed with delight, hugging Raizen.

Masato didn’t know much about his teammates outside of their names, though after what he had just seen he was going to be in for a long, long, long time with some very colorful people.
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Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ Breakfest ~*~*~*~*~

No matter what herbs I took, or how much I tried to make myself comfortable. There was just no way I could fall asleep the night before the biggest day in my Ninja Career. Not to mention that the sounds of the leaf village were different and unsettling, I missed the soft sound of sand blowing against my window like back at home. Here… it was just too quiet. The morning activity though was different, sounds and smells filled the room as those around our small apartment woke up and began life.

“Hiro-ne are you ever going to wake up?” The shrill voice of an annoyed eight year old drew me back to the reality around me. “I already made breakfast and your eggs are getting cold.” She pouted, my adopted sister, Hikari.

I grudgingly got up, waving her out of the room while I changed and reappeared in the doorway a few minutes later. “I see you burnt the eggs again.” I groaned slumping into the chair, every muscle in my body exhausted from lack of sleep.

“Did not.” She retorted, puffing up her cheeks in annoyance as she swiped a spoon full of eggs into her big mouth. “So today is the big day huh?”

I nodded back in response, slumping even further into the chair. I felt as if I were being pulled by two sides, one being exhaustion, the other being enthusiasm toward today’s events. “So how do you plan to be a ninja if you can’t use any Chakara?” She asked a bit absentmindedly as I rose from the table.

“I’ll just use Magic.” I rubbed her hair, heading out the door and into my new life.

Ever have second thoughts about this? That was the question that I asked Sakura and Onitoge as we made our way to our seats. My enthusiasm rising with every step and any feelings of sleepyness were shaken away. Onitoge shrugged and Sakura’s eyes and head continued to follow the movements of Sauske.

I sat down in the chair rubbing my chin, wondering if this truly was the right thing to do as doubts began to creep into my mind. “I have a little sister, with our parents not around much she and I usually take care of ourselves, now even I won’t be around.” I explained, turning to see Sakura continued to be preoccupied and Onitoge just nodding ever so often.

A small glare crossed my face and I leaned my arm back to smack both of them on the back of the head but decided against it at the last second. I had heard rumors about the possible repercussions of making Sakura angry.

“Good morning everyone… as I’m sure all of you know, today is the day that we assign you to your teams. After we assign you to your teams, you will be contacted by your sensei and they will take things on from there.” … Here we go, I hope this is the right decision…
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=°' Kozue Haru of Genin Team 14 '°=

Clap, clop, clap went the blue sandals over the pavement. At a glance, it would seem that Haru found his shoes extremely fascinating, as he stared straight down at them. Occasionally a pale hand would reach up and adjust the hitai-ate that struggled to remain perched atop his brow. The other hand firmly gripped the edge of a spiral notebook with a red leather cover, with his name written neatly on a white paper label adorning the front.

He looked up as the shadow of the academy fell across his feet. This building, so familiar, harbored so many memories and emotions - some good and some bad. And now, his time here was virtually up. He was a Genin now. The idea washed over him slowly but powerfully. Like a wave breaking upon a rocky shore, he mused.

Once again, the troublesome head adornment took the opportunity to slip forward and onto the bridge of the boy's nose. With an irritated sigh, he reached behind his head to untie the blasted thing. Pausing for a second, running his thumb over one of the bolts at the edge in contemplation, he decided to tie it around his neck. It would be much less cumbersome that way.

After the headband was securely fastened in its new location, Haru took a deep breath. Today was, after all, the day he was assigned to his Genin squad. He didn't know which way the scale would tip - would he end up with two new potential friends, or would his new teammates shun him as so many had before? Or worse - he could end up with that clown freak (shudder to think). It was all up to fate now. Straightening his back, he strode forward and into the academy proper, hoping he looked more confident than he felt.

Upon entering his old classroom (how odd to think of it that way!), Haru found himself glancing about, more sheepishly than he would have liked. Seeing Kukai seated by herself, he scurried over and sat down in the seat next to her.

"Hello, Haru!" she greeted him with a grin. "Might you by any chance have another new masterpiece at work? If I recall, you finished your last piece yesterday, did you not?"

Haru smiled back, almost apologetically. "W-well.. I don't really have anything on paper... 'S all in here." He tapped his head to indicate that he was still sorting out the ideas in his head.

Kukai's smile broadened. "Excellent! Well, I shall eagerly await it!"

This was why Haru liked Kukai. She didn't judge him because of his small stature, or his slight speech impediment. She was patient with him, knowing that he was much more articulated when his thoughts were written out on paper. Whenever he needed someone to look over one of his stories, he could always turn to her. While he would forge the words into being and weave the sentences together, it was Kukai who would go through and correct his minor errors in grammar and spelling.

And he always thought of his writing as an art. Just as a potter at the wheel or a weaver at the loom put so much effort to produce their respective art, he took care to select each word from his vast repertoire, to shape and form the malleable sentences into something absolute, something that only his sole friend in the world acknowledged as anything good.

Haru and Kukai continued to carry on a conversation (however one-sided) as students continued to steadily file into the classroom. It wasn't long, however, before Kukai became ensconced in a heated debate with a boy he didn't really know, one of the Inuzuka clan. Haru wasn't sure what about, nor did he think it really mattered. He took the opportunity to scribe a few lines in his notebook.

Before long, the squads were announced. Haru barely glanced up from his notebook, as he had not heard his name called quite yet. However, he began to listen more intently as four new sensei were introduced, to accommodate this year's abundance of new Genin.

A blessing! He was paired in a squad with Kukai! The Inuzuka she had just finished a debate with was also in their group, ironically enough. Their teacher seemed to be the most sane of the bunch as well. He finally set down his pen.

"I.. guess we got lucky," he muttered, half to himself and half to his friend.

[Asilynne]

Chiyoko Okami

Chiyoko’s eyes widened as she watched Inakamo leap out the window in a hurry. Her eyes widened for a moment in shock, along with the other girls who decided to chat it up with her. Speaking with the girls was sometimes scary… especially when Ino and Sakura were in the same area. Their love for Sasuke seemed to always ignite some sort of conflict or yelling match.
“That Inakamo… he’s nothing but trouble.” Ino grumbled, glaring at the window as the rest of the girls sighed.
“Yeah, I’m glad he’s not on my team.” Sakura added, although soon she was poked by Ino. “But you’re with Naruto…” Ino said with a grin, to which Sakura suddenly hissed back, “AND Sasuke!”
Shaking her head, Ino looked back at Chiyoko and withdrew a deep breath.
“I feel sorry for you Chiyoko, having to be with such a clown freak.”
Chiyoko blinked for a moment and then her face transformed into a smile, as she stood up from her chair and seemed to brush herself off from a few dust marks which the firework had caused. Shaking her head, her soft hair wavered with her movement as she grinned like an innocent child.
“I think it’ll be a lot of fun. I do not know Onitoge-chan very well and I look forward to talking and getting to know him better. Then of course, I know Inakamo-chan a bit too and while he might dress a little strange, he is actually nice once you get to know him.”
The rest of the girls were silenced for a moment, as they seemed dumb-founded by her words. Chiyoko bowed lightly as she headed out the classroom. “I must be going! I hope to see you all later and good luck!” She waved to them as she dashed out of the room, running out of the academy and into the town. Looking about, she didn’t see anyone else around and shrugged slightly. However, as she began to walk down the streets suddenly a dog began barking at her. Tilting her head to the side, Chiyoko knelt down to the little brown dog and began to pat it on the head. It wasn’t until after a while that she noticed there was a white scroll-like piece of paper attached to the dog’s neck by a blue ribbon. Untying the ribbon out of curiosity, Chiyoko took the scroll and opened it. She let out a surprised gasp as she read the letter.

Okami, Chiyoko –
Meet by the second bench near the Eastern Forest. It will be well marked!!!
- Hara, Takumi


Blinking with slight confusion, Chiyoko shrugged and decided not to waste time. She soon ventured swiftly through Konoha until she came to the eastern side near the outskirts of the forest. Looking about however, she realized that there were… many benches.
“Which one…?” Chiyoko began, before suddenly her sparkling eyes of blue caught sight of one bench that seemed to stand out. It had a huge, splashing “2” painted rather crudely all over the bench. Blinking a few times and seeming confused… Chiyoko walked over to it. Onitoge was actually already there, standing silently and looking about. His eyes hit Chiyoko’s and she immediately by instinct waved at him.
“Hey Onitoge-chan!” She said, running up to him until she was next to him by the bench as well.
“I… assume you received the… same message..?” Onitoge said quietly, holding up a piece of paper as Chiyoko nodded.
“Yeah, from our sensei… sort of an odd way of telling us where to meet.” Chiyoko said thoughtfully, looking around as if expecting to see Hara-sensei anywhere. It wasn’t long until Inakamo-chan also showed up, looking as wild as ever.
“That was thoughtful…” He said with a grin, staring at the red two as if it were something to be marveled. Chiyoko imagined it must have given him an idea about something, but she didn’t press on it. She looked at her two teammates and smiled at them, instinctively bowing before both of them slightly.
“I am pleased to be on your team.” She said with a bright grin. “I’m sure we’ll do great!”
As if on cue, suddenly a loud and eager-sounding voice echoed in the air.
“Great! My students are all here!”

Appearing instantly from behind the three, Hara Takumi stood proud with his hands upon his hips with a wild grin still plastered upon his face. His striking gold eyes of a wolfish nature seemed teeming with a burning energy and an eerie excitement. His wild hair wavered in the wind slightly as he stepped forward, placing a hand on his nearest pupil- Inakamo.
He seemed to scan the three of them for a bit, as if assessing them and then he gave a nod.
“You all seem very unique by your appearance, and from what I’ve heard… you all have some talent that I can work with. That’s good! There are many Ninja that do not have the talent or what-it takes to become…” Hara-sensei seemed to look off into the sky for a pondering moment. “… GREAT!” He suddenly said, holding a fist to the air with his other hand in a dramatic motion.
Chiyoko sweatdropped lightly, looking at Onitoge who almost seemed to cringe slightly- not in fear, but perhaps from some inner thought.

Hara-sensei then brought a fist to his mouth as he coughed, as if it were some gesture to signify that he was ready to get a bit more serious. He motioned to the bench, ushering them to sit down and they did so- the paint being dry.
“Umm… so, Hara-sensei…” Chiyoko began, but he swiftly held up his hand to silence her.
“Not now Chiyoko! There will be time for questions later! FIRST I must know something very important about the three of you…”
Hara’s eyes scanned them for a bit, as he then gave a nod and sat down upon the grass in front of Inakamo, Onitoge and Chiyoko. Crossing his legs, he looked up to them and grew a serious face.
“I want to know what you think you’re best talent is. Tell me. Once you have told me, I can begin your exam.”
“Exam?!” Inakamo said loudly, his eyes widening as if confused. “B-but we graduated! We don’t need to take another exam!”
Takumi laughed heartedly, but within a second suddenly his eyes narrowed into a peer as his voice grew lower.
“You merely graduated based on the Ninja basics. Any child could do such simplistic and unimpressive things! If you wish to have a sensei and wish to be trained further, you must pass my exam.”
“What happens if we fail?” Chiyoko immediately asked, her eyes widened with confusion.
Takumi grinned like a rogue animal. “Then you will no longer be a Ninja. Failure is not an option.”

~~Saruwatari Kazuki~~

“Good, I see you had little difficulty finding this place. That is one less worry.” Saruwatari-sensei said to the three students. He had met with all three… well, if one could call a cold glance and then pointing to the Hokage cliffs and saying, “go there” was “meeting” someone. Still, the three students had managed to gather at a nice foresty opening that was at the base of the Cliffside. It was a perfect place for a sparring area, which was exactly what Kazuki had in mind and he was not in the mood for giving much detail.
“I don’t care about your likes or dislikes. I don’t care about your so-called talent.” Saruwatari looked at all three of them. First, he stared harshly at Selekis. He seemed to stare for a moment, and then he scoffed slightly.
“I don’t care about your inner problems.”
He then looked at Shiro, scanning him for a bit longer.
“I don’t care about your history.”
He then looked to Hiro, and almost instantly seemed ready for some comment.
“And I don’t care about your secrets.”

He then walked a few feet away from them, and opened up a bag he had upon his back. Opening the large rather rustic brown bag, he took out four weight-like devices. He then strapped one to each of his legs, wrapping more bands around them so to fasten them tightly. He then placed the remaining two upon his arms, wrapping them in the same fashion to equally tighten them and to make sure they stayed upon his limbs. Folding up the bag rather ceremoniously, he brought it to the edge of the clearing and sat it down under the bushes. Whirling around with a deep brown-eyed stare, Saruwatari-sai folded his arms across his chest.

“I will only remotely care about anything about you if you actually can become a Ninja.”
The group seemed confused, as Hiro opened his mouth to say something but Kazuki shot him a death glare. “You can’t officially become Ninja unless you pass MY exam.” With the “my” part in his speech, he seemed to almost growl with the intensity of a fierce tiger.
“But don’t worry… it shouldn’t be that hard.” He said with a flashy grin.
“All you have to do is touch me, and you pass.”

~~Kuroda Miharu~~

The sound of muttering could be heard near a large garden, in the backyard of a house that was on the edge of a forest. Kukai and Hige were seemingly at it again, but this time Hige had gone to a more muttering sort as Kukai seemed to try to pick any of his words perhaps as a trigger to harbor a more interesting argument that she no doubt could win. Haru had his book at his side however, and was watching the two for a moment before gazing about as cherry blossoms seemed to waver in the wind softly.
“I see I have a very… colorful combination of students.” Kuroda-sensei said, stepping forth from around the house. Her walk seemed to be extremely graceful so that she mirrored the wind as she approached the students. She seemed to smile graciously, although it was apparent that she was surveying them.
“Let me see… you are Kozue Haru…” She said, reaching him first as she looked at the book by his side and then nodded. “You are Shodou Kukai, no doubt.” She said with a grin, as if she was very identifiable. “I hear you make a great conversationalist.” Kuroda added, before looking and nodding at Hige. “ And you must be Inuzuka Hige.”

Walking away from the three, she went towards one of the gardens near the house that seemed to have no plants in it, but was simply a patch of black earth. It looked rather bleak and barren compared to the other gardens, which were filled with flowers of all sorts that were in full bloom.
“Like you know, I am Kuroda Miharu. You may call me Miharu, for I am not a huge fan of formalities.” She said with a smile, looking to the gardens around her.
“I hope that I can get to know all of you better, but that will have to be in due time. I am unsure if you are aware… but you cannot be fully allowed to be Genin until you have passed one more test.”
The three seemed to be in shock and Kukai opened her mouth as if to protest, but swiftly Miharu continued.
“It has been this way since even I was a new graduate from the Academy and it will not change.”
She then pointed towards the dirt and flowerless garden.
“The test is rather simple. Do you see the beautiful flower gardens around you?” She asked, and the three slowly nodded.
“I want you to make this patch of dirt look just like the gardens. Of course… not just look, but actually be like one of the gardens. You must do this without harming the other gardens and of course, no illusion techniques. I want actual flowers.”
The three seemed speechless, and Miharu took out a few seeds from her pocket.
“These will be a good start. I expect to see a blooming garden when I return!”
With that, Miharu gave them a bow and simply walked into the house.

~~Kakashi Yukiso~~

Yukiso dangled from a tree by his legs as he read his book upside down. The book now seemed to be different, titled, “Physics: The Forgotten Theories”. It took a while, but soon a loud voice could be heard in the forest, nearing the clearing where Yukiso’s message had told them all to meet. (Of course, his message seemed to pop up in extremely odd places.)
“Raizen-chan, isn’t this exciting? Our first meeting with our sensei!!” A loud and rather energetic voice could be heard, followed by an, “URRRGGGH!! Be quiet!!”
No sooner than later, the figures of Raizen and Ushi broke through into the clearing. Raizen seemed to have an extremely agitated look upon his face, making it looks almost as if his eyes were activated as Ushi practically hovered about him.
The two of them saw Yukiso dangling from a tree, which caused Raizen to stop for a moment with a look of confusion. Ushi however, seemed to find that this was a good idea. Within one bound, he leapt upon the branch and soon mirrored his sensei’s pose.
Yukiso looked at Ushi for a moment, and then looked back at Raizen.
“You’re quite a pair.”
Raizen audibly seemed to twitch at that comment, just as the last member arrived- Masato, running into the clearing. All three looked at Masato, Masato glancing at Raizen for a moment as if wondering why the guy looked rather peeved.
“Ah, now Masato is here. We can begin!” Yukiso said with a smile, well… a smile if anyone could tell beneath the black part of his mask-esque clothing.

Swiftly Yukiso released his leg grip on the branch he was dangling from and his body started to fall, Effortlessly he flipped and landed upon the ground, still holding the book in his right hand. Ushi tried to mirror the same thing, but ended up half-landing in a some-what comical manner. Raising a brow at Ushi for a moment, Yukiso positioned himself so that he could see all three of his students.
“Well, now that you’re here… we should get acquainted more. To start out, let’s sit down in a circle.” Yukiso said with a cheerful manner, instantly sitting on the ground cross-legged. Ushi did it too as Masato slowly joined, looking at the others as if wondering why they were sitting in a circle like elementary students. Raizen seemed to have to make a mental effort to sit down, but once he was down Yukiso shut his book and placed it upon the ground next to him. Ushi reached out to perhaps touch the book, but instantly like a blast of lightning, Yukiso’s eyes seemed to meet Ushi’s with a tremendous death-like look. Ushi slowly pulled back his hand, reassuming his position- realizing he perhaps should not do that. (Raizen slowly smacked his forehead, wondering how his death glares had not worked on Ushi… yet the Sensei seemed to have it mastered.)
“Now that we’re sitting in this lovely circle, why don’t we talk about ourselves? Say your name, just so I remember… okay Ushi, Raizen and Masato-chan? Then, tell us some of your likes and then some of your dislikes. Finally, end by complimenting everyone in the circle. That should build up some teamwork confidence! I’ll go first!”

Yukiso seemed to reposition himself slightly as he began, seemingly not as enthused to talk about himself but a little more serious.
“I am Kakashi Yukiso. I like reading books that help me learn interesting things about the world and I absolutely love kittens. Oh yes… and I like bothering my brother Hatake from time to time and … hmm… I do believe I like occasionally relaxing in the hot spring. I dislike… well, that’s not important. As for compliments… I just met you! How could I possibly compliment you? I will after your test.”
The three seemed confused, well… except Ushi, who just seemed happy.
“Test?” Raizen questioned, as Yukiso nodded.
“Oh nothing big… just, in order to officially be a Ninja you have to pass my test. It is quite simple, all you have to do is wash your Kunai. Just don’t leave the forest area… so you have a nice river to wash them! But seriously… that’ll be after our little chit chat. Raizen, why don’t you go first?”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Raizen
~~~~~~
Lunch was odd, in the time it took Raizen to calmly eat his one bowl of ramen, Ushi burned through eleven. After the first seven Raizen just stared on in awe. “Where is he putting it all?” Raizen thought to himself. It wasn’t too long after Ushi ordered his twelfth bowl that he started turning blue and holding his neck. Out of instinct Raizen dashed behind Ushi and performed the Heimlich maneuver.

Hack… Hack… on the third try Ushi spit up what looked like a scroll. “Wow, thanks!” Ushi exclaimed as he gasped for breath. Raizen looked up at the shopkeeper while pointing at Ushi, “Why is there a scroll in his ramen?”

The man just looked confused. “I didn’t put that in there. But I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“Whatever, what does it say Ushi?” Raizen asked. Ushi unrolled the scroll, coughed, and proceeded to read it out loud, trying as hard as he could to sound official.

“Raizen, and Ushi. Meet me in the forest clearing just outside the village as soon as possible. Bring your ninja equipment. –Kakashi Yukiso”

“Hmm, I guess we should get going.” Raizen got up to leave only to see Ushi roll up the scroll, look right, look left, then slowly raise it back to his mouth. “No!” Raizen grabbed the scroll from Ushi. It looked like this kid has no common sense what so ever. “Right,” Raizen mumbled, “I’m just gonna…” and he started sprinting toward the forest clearing.

“Waaaaaaaaiiiiiit! Raaaaaaaiiiiiiizen!” And Ushi ran off after Raizen. It took about five minutes of Ushi sprinting madly after Raizen, who was failing miserably at evading him, to get to Kakashi sensei’s clearing. When they finally arrived Raizen looked slightly murderous, but Ushi didn’t seem to notice. “Look Raizen! It’s our sensei! Isn’t this exciting?!!!”

All that ran though Raizen’s head while he walked over to Kakashi and raised an eyebrow was, “Why God, why?” Their sensei was hanging upside down from a tree branch reading another book, this one labeled “Physics, the forgotten theories” Immediately Ushi jumped up and mimicked Kakashi perfectly, minus the book. Raizen just stared at the two, shaking his head until Kakashi called them a pair, at which point he audibly twitched. Yes, an audible twitch. After Masato arrived and Ushi got a death glare for trying to touch Kakashi’s book, the three were finally informed of their task, to wash a kunai, by any means in the forest.

“But first we all need to get to know each other.” Sensei said. “Let’s see, why don’t you tell me your names, your likes, your dislikes… and then give everyone in the group a complement. Here I’ll go first. My name is Kakashi Yukiso, I like kittens… and I dislike… well, that’s not important. And I just met you, so how am I supposed to complement you. Ok, Raizen.”

“He didn’t tell us anything…” Raizen thought. He sat there for a moment questioning why his sensei was treating them all like five year-olds before speaking. “Ok, well I’m Hyuga Raizen, I also like kittens-“

“Oooo! Do you have one?!!” Ushi interrupted.

“Yeah, I do.” Raizen continued. “Anyway, I don’t like-”

“Oooo! Is it a boy or girl kitten?!!” Ushi interrupted again.

“He’s a boy. I don’t like-”

“Oooo! What’s his name?!!” Ushi asked as Raizen twitched again.

“His name is Mitch… and he’s black, with a white tip on his tail.” Raizen shot out before Ushi could say anything more. Anyway I don’t like… people interrupting me when I’m trying to talk.” Raizen said, as he shot Ushi a death glare very similar to Kakashi sensei’s. But Ushi seemed quite unfazed by the glare and continued to look on with curious excitement. “Right…complements, Masato, you’re very determined. Um, sensei, you’ve got to be intelligent to understand the books I’ve seen you reading. And Ushi…you’re…” Raizen twitched at the thought of complementing possibly the most annoying person he’d ever met. “You’re… the most enthusiastic person I know.”

The others then shared about themselves and Kakashi sensei disappeared to leave them to wash their kunai. Raizen stood up and pulled out his kunai. “It doesn’t even look dirty.” He thought to himself. Assuming that there had to be more to the test that sensei wasn’t telling him about, Raizen pulled out a small cloth and made to polish his kunai. But the cloth never touched the blade. Try as he might Raizen couldn’t force his cloth within a centimeter of it. He looked over at Ushi and Masato; they didn’t seem to be having any luck either…. Ushi was trying to lick his. “Ok guys, I’m going to go see if water will work on this thing.” And with that Raizen wandered off to find a stream that he knew was nearby.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Selekis
-------------------------------
the pale boy just stared at their sensei. All they had to do was touch him. One single touch and it was over. It seemed so simple. The fact that he was weighing himself down also made the task seem even easier.

However, he knew that this sensei wasn't just any ordinary ninja. He also knew this task would be much harder then expected.

He had to test the waters first.

With only the sound of rustling grass, Selekis shot towards Saruwatari, stretching his arm out at the last moment to reach him.

At first it seemed like their teached vanished. Selekis stopped in his tracks, his eyes looking around while his head remained still.

His ears twitched when he heard the sound of leather touching wood. All three of them turned their heads to see Saruwatari Sensei standing on the branch of a nearby tree.

"Woah," he heard Hiro mutter softly. He figured Shiro was nodding in agreement.

Selekis' expression remained blank as he stared at their teacher. Even with weights he was fast.

There was no way they'd complete this test with speed alone.

This required strategy.

Something Selekis considered his forte.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~

Onitoge danced about the small clearing making intricate motions with his arms and legs. Jumping from branch to branch on either side of the clearing with fantastic speed. Speed he never let anyone see since his weighted cloak slowed him greatly and he always wore his cloak when he was training around other people.

Onitoge had only gotten a quarter of the way through his usual warm-up routine when a kunai screamed out of nowhere and thudded the branch at his feet just as he was preparing to leap again. He quickly grabbed it and jumped down, scooping up his cloak and slipping it on in one swift motion. He scanned the trees, kunai at the ready, but they seemed to be empty. Onitoge took a closer look at the kunai and noticed a scroll tightly packed around the grip. Unfurling it he read that it was his new sensei's first instruction.

Being near the area mentioned, Onitoge only took seconds to get there and quickly found the vandalized bench. Hara-sensei was a strange one. Chiyoko arrived next and Onitoge eagerly returned her greeting and bow. Inakamo arrived last looking his usual self. Onitoge was still leery of him but appreciated that he brought an element to the team that Chiyoko and himself couldn't.

Their sensei appeared just as soon as they completed their greetings. It made Onitoge uneasy that he hadn't detected his presence. Not much escaped his attention. His eyes and ears were as fast as his body.

Hara sensei introduced himself and then got right to the point. One more exam for them to pass if they were to truly be Genin. That uneasiness crept over him again. What was Hara-sensei after?

"So, tell me what your best talent is so we can get on with it. We don't have all day!" Hara-sensei barked but in a cheerful manner.

"Umm..... people say I'm really good at cooking," Chiyoko was the first to speak up.

Inakamo enthusiastically blurted out his talents next. Hara-sensei then turned towards Onitoge expectantly. What should he tell his sensei. Outside his Taijutsu he couldn't think of anything he was particularly talented at. What should he say?

"Speed," he blurted out without thinking, regretting it the second he did.

Inakamo looked at him with a crazy confused glare. After all, while wearing his cloak he was no faster than anyone else in their class with a few notable exceptions like Choji and Shikamaru (really only because Shikamaru didn't care to move any faster most of the time). It no doubt seemed very odd for someone of seemingly average speed to claim it as their best talent.

"Alright then. For your exam, you're going to have to beat me at your best talent. A friend of mine owns a restaurant on the far side of the village from here. Chiyoko, Inakamo, meet us there for your exams. Onitoge, your exam is a race to get there. If I get there first, you fail! Starting now!" and Hara-sensei was off like a shot.

"See you there," Onitoge shouted over his shoulder as he jumped up into the trees after Hara-sensei.

He could hear both of them wish him luck, a skeptical tone in Inakamo's voice. He couldn't slow enough to look back though, because Hara-sensei was faster than he looked. Moving at full speed while in the cloak he was barely managing to keep up. In fact he was slowly losing ground. He had to do something to even their pace.

He closed his eyes as he jumped to the next branch and when they opened his arm slid out from underneath his cloak with three ivory colored shuriken in hand. One of these days he would have to figure out how he does that. Watching Hara-sensei's movement carefully he projected the next branch he would land on and threw the shuriken with perfect accuracy. They sliced clear through the thick base of the branch and it fell to the ground just as Hara-sensei was about to land on it. Instead of plummeting to the ground though, buying Onitoge the time he'd need to catch up and get ahead, Hara-sensei corrected instantly and his speed jumped radically as he landed on a branch quite a ways ahead.

"What the......?" Onitoge muttered under his breath, dumbfounded by the vast jump in his sensei's speed.

"You call that pace fast? You're gonna have to do a lot better if you plan on ever being Genin!! Looks like I'll only have two students on my team," Hara-sensei shouted back as he pulled away quickly.

What should he do? There was no way he could keep up with his sensei with the cloak on now. What could he do if he hoped to pass? For the first time in years he slipped the cloak off in public as he moved. It sounded a thunderous boom in the forest behind him as it created a deep crater, kicking up a billowing cloud of dust. Onitoge hoped Chiyoko and Inakamo would find it and between them be able to carry it to the restaurant.

With the cloak now off his movement became as lightning through the trees. Hara-sensei had almost gotten far enough ahead to be out of sight but Onitoge was closing ground quickly now. With the cloak off his speed was blindingly fast. Some of the Genin wouldn't even be able to track his movement with the eye.

They were almost across the village but Onitoge had managed to completely close the gap. The restaurant was coming into sight and he was about to pass Hara-sensei. He was fast enough to win! He was going to pass the exam!!

"Turnabout is fair play. Sorry Onitoge!" Hara-sensei said with a sadness.

Onitoge barely had time to react as several shuriken flew over Hara-sensei's shoulders. They were all aimed at the branches ahead of him. In an instant Onitoge blinked and several ivory colored shurikens went flying from his hands. The pairs shurikens all intercepted and canceled each other out. All except one, which sliced through the branch Onitoge was about to step on. And just like that, it was over.

His own tactic turned against him, Onitoge flailed wildly to try to grab anything to prevent himself from falling. Moving at his full speed, though, he was going too fast to correct himself. He tumbled through the air and hit the ground hard, rolling to a stop as he slammed into the trunk of a tree. He got up, clutching his side which now hurt a lot, and began running but they were too close to the restaurant now. Given another 100 yards he could've caught up and passed Hara-sensei just in time but at this distance he barely managed to cover half the gap. Nevertheless, he ran the final distance at full speed, arriving no more than a second after Hara-sensei at the entrance.

"Great effort Onitoge but you lose," Hara-sensei frowned. "I want you to wait here with me and watch the other exams, though. Maybe you will learn something so you'll be better prepared the next time you get a chance to become Genin."

So, they both took a seat inside the restaurant and waited. About ten minutes passed in silence before Chiyoko and Inakamo walked through the front doors of the restaurant. Onitoge let his head drop, ashamed that he was unable to pass his exam. Hara-sensei stood up and looked at his two remaining students.

"Your turn, Chiyoko. Let's get to the kitchen and make some lunch for the four of us!" Hara-sensei said enthusiastically as he led her to the kitchen.

"Good luck!" Onitoge managed to say meekly before burying his head in his arms.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inakamo Yakusha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inakamo had retreated into a clearing in the forest near his house where he liked to practice his tricks and acrobats. He was doing a one-handed handstand on his carnival ball and then leapt up into the air, whipping his carnival ball into action with a chakra string. using a topspin, it sped along the ground and up a tree. Inakamo yanked it towards him and ot flew towards him, and with that Inakamo made a perfect landing on his feet on the spinning surface of the ball, rocketing him into the air. He began yelling with delight,
"Woooooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooo!" as he flew over the trees on his ball. As he looked over the trees, he saw a firework being set off in the distance. He quickly descended and running on his carnival ball, he decided to roll towards where the firework had been set off from.

It was there he saw a kunai with the instruction left by his sensei. He noted it would take him a while to get there and he unsummoned his carnival ball into a scroll, then began jumping through the forest to get to the meeting point.

Upon arriving, he saw Chiyoko and Onitoge had already arrived. Chiyoko waved at him and then bowed at him. Inakamo smiled and said,
"Guess I'm late as usual guys, eh?"
Onitoge seemed indifferent to his arrival and, aside from a slight nod, didn't seem to welcome him. Inakamo understood - he and Onitoge, although both orphans, were wildly different; while Onitoge was a recluse, Inakamo loved nothing more than public scenes, noise and mayhem. He appreciated it would take time to bond with him. There was another difference more important to their team's attributes as an effect ninja squad - Onitoge had barely shown any of his own skills or any outstanding power or technique, always hiding behind his cloak and keeping any displays of unique skills to a minimum, whereas, once again, Inakamo was the complete opposite; he relished any opportunity and sometimes too excited to wait for an opportunity at all to show off his skills, tricks and acrobatics, whether as a ninja or a prankster. It was nice to have Chiyoko on the team to balance what had to be the biggest mismatch out of all the squads, except for perhaps the incompetent Naruto and the vastly-talented Sasuke. While not as outgoing, cocky or as brash as Inakamo, she was definitely not lacking in social skills or displays of her own skills as Onitoge was.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Hara-sensei appeared with a big thumbs-up and a huge grin. He put his hands on Inakamo's head and ruffled his wild hair. Inakamo enjoyed the attention but stepped back quickly, just in case he tried to remove his mask. Inakamo was enthusiastic to begin his Genin training with someone whose eyes showed him to be almost as insane as he was.

Hara-sensei announced that they had to pass an exam to continue their training, which no doubt horrified Inakamo, who viewed exams as the opposite of fun. Hara asked them all what their best talent was. Chiyoko announced her talent was cooking. Hara-sensei looked at Inakamo, who didn't take two thoughts to know what he thought he was best at.
"Pranking," he announced, unashamed of the fact that he loved being a clown. Chiyoko giggled and Onitoge sighed. Onitoge then surprisingly announced that his speed was his talent. Inakamo almost protested this, since Inakamo was in fact one of the faster pupils in the graduating class and probably one of the most agile, at least in his opinion. However, he also knew Onitoge wasn't the type to lie, and if he had speed, then he must have some skill in it. A jutsu perhaps?

Hara-sensei laughed and told them that their exam was to outdo him in their chosen talent. Onitoge was the first up, and the race began almost instantly. Onitoge bid us farewell and raised after the teacher. Inakamo almost felt like chasing after him, but Chiyoko didn't want to go full pelt.
"Why are you in a hurry?" Chiyoko asked him on their way. Inakamo smiled and replied,
"A chance to prank my sensei in a contest? It's my dream!"
As they followed the wake of the racers, Inakamo stopped.
"Chiyoko, all the leaves have been knocked from the branches in this area. Something must have hit here pretty hard."
Chiyoko and Inakamo began looking around and spotted Onitoge's cloak.
"You think he dropped it?" Inakamo asked. Chiyoko looked slightly worried.
"He never takes that off. Something must have happened," she said with concern. Inakamo sighed and went to pick it up, only to discover the cloak weighed far more than it looked.
"Sheesh! This thing must weigh a ton! I can't carry this all the way to the finish line!" he exclaimed. They both then realised something - if Onitoge wore this thing day in, day out, he must be able to move at lightning pace! Inakamo smiled.
"So our mystery man is a speed-demon? This should make things interesting."
Chiyoko nodded and smiled. However, they still needed to move the cloak.

Inakamo had a brainwave. He got out a scroll and began the summoning,
"Carnival ball summon!" he yelled and his toy popped out of the scroll onto the ground. Chiyoko seemed somewhat perplexed at the good this would do. Inakamo made a set of handsigns, the password that opened the ball and struck the centre line of the ball, opening it up, revealing a hollow center. He picked up the cloak and threw it into the ball, then closed it and sealed it together again. The ball would weigh much more now but it could take the weight. He then began making chakra strings at the base of the ball until he had about twenty chakra strings coming from his hands, and he yanked as hard as he could, then commanded the ball,
"Superspin Carnival Ball Jutsu!"
The ball span on the spot for a second, kicking up dust violently, then shot through the forest towards the finish line. Inakamo quickly followed in order to steer it with his strings.
"Come on Chiyoko! We have to get to the finish line!"

[Outlaw JT]

Shiro - Genin - Team 12
-

The first burst of speed that Shiro witnessed elicted a smirk that went across the preteen's face. He reached into the pouch seated on his belt, unearthing a shuriken before dashing into the cover of nearby foilage, glancing at his teammates who pursued other methods.

"My needs outweigh theirs for now, unfortunately." Shiro frowned. His eyes swiveled, falling upon his sensei, who was seated idly in the branch of a tree. A flash of black signalled the attack of Iokawa, who lashed out at his sensei, fingers reaching feebly for the Jounin, who faded into streaks of color and dissapeared. As the Jounin propelled backwards, Shiro burst from the foilage, tossing the shuriken forward and lunging forward, swinging wildly to place his hands upon the garments of Kazuki, who simply blended into lines again, disappearing as quick as he came.

The shuriken struck the ground, and Shiro joined his projectile moments later, grimacing at his failed attempt.

Maybe if I speed it up...

Drawing a kunai, Shiro looked about wildly to find Kazuki standing atop a high tree branch; his facial expression had failed to change since the introductions. Shiro grinned, and he called upon his chakra, welcoming the slashing hiss that signalled the arrival of a gust of wind, swirling around his outstretched kunai and encircling it in razing air. Deftly tossing it forward, Shiro somersaulted into the air to join the projectile; it whizzed forward at a wild speed, striking dull wood as Kazuki went airborne as well -- a muscled leg lashing downward and striking Shiro's exposed back, sending the Genin-to-be sprawling downward.

Brushing away the clump of dirt that he landed in, Shiro rose again, managing a grin on his face despite his past two failures. He saw Iokawa strike outward again, noticing a blast of wind erupt from his outstretched palm. Though Kazuki had to be fazed, he effortlessly evaded once more, somersaulting upward, limbs lashing against a tree trunk to propel him outward. Quickly, Shiro launched an air-coated shuriken upward at the colored zephyr before rolling aside as it was sent hurtling back downward, burying itself in the ground.

Rising to a crouch, the apprentice watched Kazuki land in a leaf-less tree, enjoying the challenge his sensei had bestowed upon them. Despite this, he felt slight frustration, but he quickly brushed it aside.

Doesn't matter what the situation is, his foster parents had said.

Just keep trying.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ushi
~~~

Ushi licked at his Kunai for what felt like days...each time amazed at the fact that his tongue seemed incapable of touching the razor sharp metal. The fact that he was trying to lick a blade meant little to him. Peering suspiciously at his tongue, Ushi turned and licked Masato's shoulder just to make sure. Satisfied, even as Masato jumped rather loudly and shot Ushi a confused and disturbed glance, Ushi pranced after Raizen. Surely a more solid form of water would work.

It was a week, or so it seemed, later that Ushi became tired of poking his Kunai at the stream. Each time he missed, each time the water seemed to receed at just the right moment. He considered trying to use Shukuchi, but doubted that even that speed would allow him to outsmart the rather wiley stream. Sitting back against a tree, a process that took hours to him, Ushi ran a hand through his fine hair. Taking out his flute, he began to play it softly, using it's sounds to soothe his rather flustered mind. The melody meandered through the trees, its soft risings and fallings mirroring the subtle breezes that fluttered through the forest. Closing his eyes, Ushi lost himself in his music, a look of uncommon serenity falling over his usually emotion filled and enthused face. He had no name for the song he played, it always was changing, modifying itself to his surroundings and finding new variations. Reality shapped his music...and it was because of that that Ushi began noticing the subtle dissonance in the harmony. Removing the flute from his lips, he didn't know if he had been playing for seconds, minutes, days, or weeks...though it really didn't matter, a soft smile appeared on his lips.

"What a marvelous trick...."

Raizen turned from whatever plan he had been putting into effect and squinted at Ushi.

"Trick? I think we're just going crazy....er in your case"

Laughing happily, Ushi pushed himself to his feet.

"That's also a possibility friend Raizen...but that doesn't change the fact that this is all one giant illusion."

Masato's eyes suddenly widened as comprehesion flooded them.

"Genjutsu!"

Raizen looked contemplative for a moment before suddenly throwing his Kunai to the ground in anger. The blade dug deep into the soft loam of the forest as Raizen spat in frustration.

"Of course it's a Genjutsu....he's a Kakashi! They're all fricken crazy like that."

A voice emerged from the forest around them, "I prefer "creative" myself."

All was silent for a moment before Ushi's luting voice could be heard again.


"Oooooooo...Raizen's in trouble!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inuzuka Hige
~A Wild Dog's Musings~


Growling quietly to myself, I slumped into my seat fuming over yet another stalemate in the war of words between myself and Kukai. Over the years my vocabulary had grown and I learned about things I normally wouldn't even care about, and still I'd never had a decisive victory against the sharp-tongued woman. My ears twitched slightly at the sound of snickering and I threw a quick glare at my cousin Kiba who only smirked back. Bickering was often a sign of affection in the Inuzuka Clan, and ever since the day I met her Kukai and I had been at each other. This fact amused Kiba to no end and he often teased me about it during our training.

Still neither one could quell the energy bubbling within. It was all I could not to be running around proclaiming to the entire village that I had become a shinobi. Sure, I may only be a Genin right now, but everyone starts somewhere. Oyaji had been so happy when he heard I'd made it that he nearly burst into tears. "I won't let you down Oyaji...I'll become a shinobi you can be proud of!"

As Iruka-sensei began introducing the four new Jounin sensei, I quietly evaluated each of them in my head. Saruwatari-sensei seemed like a scary fellow and just as much a jerk as that Uchiha kid. I liked Hara-sensei and I wondered if perhaps he had any family members in the clan judging by his appearance. Kuroda-sensei seemed to a be a sweet woman, but one of the first rules of being a shinobi is to never judge a person's power by their appearance. As for Kakashi-sensei, well I found it ironic that the famous Copy Ninja had a twin. I looked down at Ginamru who had taken a seat next to me. "Ne, Ginmaru, which do you think will be our sensei?"

My partner yipped quietly back, Hopefully the cute one! He wagged his tail happily at the thought.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head "Team Fourteen - Shoudou Kukai...Kozue Haru...and Inuzuka Kiba." Ginmaru gave a bark of victory as I blinked slowly in surprise. Glancing across the room I saw Kukai give me a small wave while Kiba tried not to laugh too loudly. Waving back weakly, I wondered to myself whether this was a good thing or not.

"Good luck with your teams and I wish you the best of luck."

"I think I'm gonna need it...."

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Deciding to start on the right foot I invited my teammates to lunch. Kukai readily agreed, as long as I was paying for it, while Haru just nodded quietly in acquiesence.

"So where are we having lunch Inuzuka Hige-san?"

"Ichiraku Ramen Bar of course. They serve the best ramen in the city and its affordable!"

And you have a crush on the owner's daughter. Ginmaru yipped.

I shot him a quick glare which earned a strange look from Kukai and Haru. Acting as if nothing strange had happened, I moved a little faster, almost running down the street towards the well-known ramen shop. There was no one seated when we arrived and Kukai once again spoke up. "Are you sure this place is reputable?"

"Of course - if you can't trust your teammate than who can you?"

"We have only be teammates for thirty minutes."

"A minor detail."

"Irrashaimasen!" Ayame-san's beautiful voice tinkled in the air like a clear bell and I felt a silly grin plaster across my face as her face came into view at the counter. "Oh! Hige-kun! It's been so long since you last came."

Her smile sent my heart fluttering and I felt the heat creep into my cheeks. "Ah-ah, go-gomen nasai Ayame-san! I've been busy with school and training." I cursed silently as my voice seemed to squeak as I spoke. "B-but I finally made Genin!"

"Oh, congratulations Hige-kun!" She gave me another smile. "How about an order of the usual on the house to celebrate? Father won't mind what with you being a favorite customer. And for your..."

"Teammates!" Kukai interjected. I looked over to her and saw a smile that filled me with dread on her face. "My name is Shoudou Kukai, its a pleasure to meet you...Ayame-san was it? And this is Kozue Haru."

Haru inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement before going back to the pad of paper in his hands. "Welcome Shoudou-san. Please order whatever you'd like."

"I'll take a Kyushu ramen and Haru will have a..." She glanced over at the boy and gently nudged him.

"...tempura ramen..."

"One All-Meat Special, a Kyushu ramen, a tempura ramen, and a bowl of scraps for Gin-chan coming right up." With that Ayame disappeared into the kitchen as we took our seats at the bar. I turned to Kukai who was still smiling scarily at me.

"Tol-"

"You have a crush on Ayame-san."

"Na-nani!? Wh-what wou-"

"The pitch of your voice rises when you speak to her, not to mention you develop a stutter, and your cheeks are flushed red with blood, all of which are synonmous with the biological reactions of a person when around another he or she is attracted to."

"Stutter? I do not-"

"So you like brunettes, ne Hiiiiige-kun?" I didn't think it was possible, but Kukai was capable of sounding like one of those Uchiha fangirls.

"I-we-it-"

"Or is it the girl next door type? Because she can cook?" She flashed me a sickly sweet smile. "C'mon Hige-kuuuuun, you can tell me can't you? We ARE teammates after all."

She giggled as Ayame returned with our ramen and laid it in front of us. "Here you go, please enjoy your food."

"A-a-arigato Ayame-san....Itadakimasu!" I immediately concentrated on my food, trying in vain to tune out Kukai's voice as she continued teasing me throughout the meal.

No sooner had we finished when a little girl came up to us. She carried a basket of flowers in her hands. "Ano...Inuzuka Hige?" Nodding an affirmative she produced a flower with a piece of paper tied to it. "This is for you."

Confused I took the flower as the little girl handed two more to both Kukai and Haru. As she skipped away we looked at each other before opening the paper. The message read:

Inuzuka, Hige
Please be at the house at the edge of the forest past the Eastern Gate as soon as possible.
Signed,
Kuroda Miharu

Glancing at the others I saw they both had the same message. "Guess it's our first official meeting as a team." I said before pocketing the message. "We'd better go."

They both nodded in agreement. Thanking Ayame again the three of us sped off on the rooftops towards the eastern gate.
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Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ Woah… ~*~*~*~*~

”Woah..” That word tripped off my tongue in shock as I watched our sensei disappear from sight. We all watched as he reappeared on one of the tree branches. I glanced over at Selekis to see him deep in thought.

I glanced over at Shiro and considered asking what they had in mind, but nixed the idea. Anything we said we ran the risk of sensei over hearing us. Any strategy right now would be useless because he could easily counter it. Meaning I had to depend on one of them to come up with a strategy while I worked on my own. Hopefully the two would work out. “I’ll be right back.” I nodded to Shiro and Selekis leaping up to one of the tree branches opposite of sensei.

The weights on his feet meant that he had to use specific branches to hold him or else they would crack and break. “What kind of lesson is this sensei?” I asked crouching on a tree branch before leaping as the words left my mouth. Moving to a tree to the left. No other strategy would work, not even frontal assaults, any other would require more than one person and we couldn’t risk that. “Think we will be facing opponents with handicaps like those weights on our missions?” I jumped to another branch, working my way behind him. He knew that.

“Why not take those weights off and show us what you can really do?” The branch he was standing on had to be cracking by now as I leapt to the branch on the tree behind him. Now he had to split his attention between Shiro, Selekis, and myself behind him. Something that would be easy for him.

The minute I attacked he would leap to another branch, but only a select few could hold his weight with those weights on. I could only hope that the other two knew that and were preparing. “Unless you don’t think we are worthy of becoming ninjas.” I reared my arm back just as the words left my mouth. I could only hope that the mind attacks would throw him off. I threw my left arm forward as hard as I could, using the wind to carry my punch to shake his tree. The only down side was my left arm was exhausted.

The second the attack hit, sensei jumped away to another tree. I could only hope that Shiro and Selekis knew which one.
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Shodou Kukai/Team 14/F
20. Little Seeds
--------------------------

If the Inuzukas thought bickering was affection, the Shodou family could not have held a more different viewpoint. Battling with tongues was much more prestigious than coarse, boorish dueling of the common, physical variety. Shodous valued worthy opponents - those who would not back down and came back for more even after repeated defeats at the tongue of the relevant Shodou. Bickering was practice. Given that, there was a certain amount of tomfoolery involved; practice partners of the opposite gender usually wound up married, since they weren't used to practicing with anyone else and it was more convenient that way anyway.

(I, the narrator, am now breaking the fourth wall to inform the general populace that this is not foreshadowing. I could be telling porky-pie lies, though.)

Shodou Kukai was ready to swear on oath that she had just been to the best ramen lunch ever, period. Not because of the food, though it had been extremely good. Oh no. There was something far better, something that superseded mere lunch...

Inuzuka Hige + Ichiraku Ramen's Ayame = OMG O RLY?/YA RLY/NO WAI!!/Free lunch/Free show.

Being a relatively normal adolescent girl, Kukai naturally possessed that very essential part of the female psyche which can best be described as a compass pointed due Gossip. She couldn't deny that she enjoyed Gossip. She was pretty sure that this was a prime piece of information and not a single opportunity to extract further information and/or argue with the Inuzuka about it should, indeed, be passed up. She didn't have many opportunities to handle such a juicy bit of Gossip as this - among the males she was close enough with to discuss such matters, her brother Ryokan was either gay or celibate, and Haru wouldn't react in quite the same way as Hige would: she rather suspected she would have had no amusingly repeated denials but either a quick agreement or silence.

With this line of action firmly embossed onto her efficient mind, Kukai restarted her haranguing of Mr Inuzuka Hige as soon as they reached the traditionally built cottage, and its extensive garden. Well, Kuroda-sensei was nowhere in sight, and Haru was staring rather fixedly at the movement of the cherry blossoms in the wind, so why the heck not.

"So what's Ayame-san like in private, huh, Inuzuka Hige?"

"P-private? What the - I don't KNOW her in private!" The explosion was almost instantaneous.

"Oho, so you've not been on a date yet!"

"Of course not! I would have thought that was obvious, to someone as perceptive as you." Good parry, and judicious use of perceptive; Kukai knew he'd picked up that one from one of their previous arguments. Nevertheless...

"You know if you want to I bet I could fix one up with her for you..."

Ginmaru barked something, which earned the dog a laserbeam type-A6 glare from Hige.

Kukai nodded as if she understood what had just been yapped. (She hadn't. But something that got Hige to give out that kind of glare had to be good.) "Excellently observed, Ginmaru. Even your dog, Hiiiiiige-kun~ -"

"Let's not bring Ginmaru into this conversation, okay? And why are you suddenly so interested in my personal affairs? It's none of your business!"

"Precisely because it is none of my business, I prefer to display a burgeoning attention to the intricacies of your romantic involvement with Ayame-san. The study of human pheromones has long been a hobby of mine, and of late I have not had the occasion to be a first-hand witness of such situations. This opportunity is truly an irrevocable pronouncement that my luck has finally turned for the better."

Hige rallied, admirably. "And now could I have that in plain, simple Japanese*."

Kukai smiled a smile that sent shivers (the negative kind) down Hige's spine. "I'm a busybody."

Leaving it at that, she walked over to Haru, who was still watching the flurry of petals, the pages of his open book turning in the slight breeze. She poked her head over Haru's shoulder, scanning his messy handwriting. "I before e except after c, Haru - receive's spelled wrongly."

Haru roused himself from whatever daydream he had been having. "You know, a-about the old man who made the cherry trees bloom..."

"He had a white dog and it died but he kept the ashes in his mortar," said Kukai. "But wasn't your latest story about a girl and the sea?"

"Y-yeah..." Haru's eyes, set in his still childish face, followed the movements of the cherry petals from the gnarled branches to the edge of the house. The fallen blooms seemed to stack themselves up into the form of their new sensei, though she could just as easily have happened to be walking round the corner of the house at the exact same moment as the breeze blew the flowers in that direction. Kuroda-sensei was a real looker. She had curves in all the right places and a lovely coloring. Not to mention that she carried none of the cross-me-and-die spirit that Kukai had felt practically emanating off Saruwatari-sensei in waves.

She really, really pitied Shiro, Hiro and Selekis.

After receiving their instructions from Kuroda-sensei, however, Kukai was prepared to mildly revise her opinion. She had never imagined that there would be another 'secret last test' before they were officially declared genin - much less a non-standard test that appeared to vary in form from sensei to sensei. Instead of getting a straight-out show-off-your-abilities session, Team 14 had apparently been granted an IQ test. As soon as Kuroda-sensei disappeared into the thatch-roofed cottage, the three of them (and Ginmaru) moved closer together in a mutually agreed huddle.

Kukai twisted her mouth into a downwards frown. "That's failure to supply those immediately concerned with prior knowledge of exact circumstances, that is."

Hige prodded the discouragingly low number of feeble-looking seeds in his palm. "D'you think we can apply Bunshin no Jutsu on seeds?"

"It would probably qualify as genjutsu - well, it would be an illusion, anyway," said Kukai doubtfully. And then, offhand, in an unexpected aside: "I don't like genjutsu."

"It wouldn't be genjutsu," Hige pointed out. "But as far as I know bunshins are just that... copies of the caster."

Haru said nothing, but turned his notebook around and around in his nervous hands. A piece of stray notepaper fell out of it, and Kukai caught it just as it drifted to the ground. She twisted the prose-covered page with a few deft movements into an artistic semblance of a camellia.

"Would paper flowers work?" she asked, for the sake of asking, because she already knew the answer. Haru replied with just the slightest shake of his head, and Hige just said "No."

The garden, though filled with exotic fragrances from a wide variety of blooms and posies, began slowly to be overtaken with a dark sort of depression as they ventured through an assortment of ideas, good, bad, and the plainly ridiculous. Just for kicks they even tried out Haru's storytelling genjutsu, to the vocal objection of Shodou Kukai. They kept directing furtive glances towards the window of the house that Kuroda-sensei had vanished into, to see whether she was coming out anytime soon to announce that they had failed and were no longer worthy of the name of ninja.

Numerous botched plans later, Hige, Kukai and Haru came to a general consensus that chakra was the answer to their problem (or rather, Hige and Kukai agreed and Haru just nodded). they had abandoned the idea of replicating the seeds for now and had instead focused on how, exactly, to get the seeds to grow. With the correct use of chakra, one could in theory create a healthy bush or tree, at the peak of its bloming capacity.

They dug long furrows in the barren patch, and each planted a seed, to begin with. Their supply was limited; the most they could fill was one furrow without finding some way of duplicating the seeds, or taking plants from elsewhere. Time was also, nominally, limited.

Kukai concentrated, and channeled her chakra into the seed from the tip of her outstretched finger. She was not very pleased to find her plant becoming a rambler consisting mostly of leaves, perfectly shaped and green as these were, and not much else.

She looked around to see how her teammates were doing.

Because she was a busybody, after all.
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=°' Kozue Haru of Genin Team 14 '°=


Haru was by no means a master of Chakra usage. Sure, his Living Story Jutsu was sort of powerful in its own right, but aside from the various medi-Jutsus he’d picked up at the hospital, he wasn’t particularly adept in anything else. Still, he managed as best he could to get his seed to sprout into a single, pale-blue flower. (Note: I couldn’t find an actual flower to use, so there. Haru probably doesn‘t know what it‘s called anyway.)

Kukai glanced over from the mass of leaves she’d produced. Haru chuckled nervously and turned his gaze on her much-larger creation.

“I…” he blinked, changing his mind on what he wanted to say, “L-Looks like you managed much better than I did…”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Haru-kun. Our ultimate goal here is to produce plants with flowers, not mere foliage.” It seemed that she had a good deal more to say, but was interrupted by a sneeze from Hige. It seemed that whatever plants he had concocted did not entirely agree with his sinuses. Haru raised his hand to his chin and tried not to allow the chuckle building within his throat to leak out.

Instead, he sighed. The meagre flora before them was most definitely not enough to constitute a garden. He stared fixedly at the frosted azure petals he had created, eyes glazed over as he entertained idea after idea.

Several healing Jutsu came to mind. He knew of one that would promote the growth of tissue, to help heal open wounds. Perhaps the same principle could be adapted to work with plantlife as well?

“Hey.. guys?” he interjected. His teammates stopped their conversation to look at him intently. “I know a Jutsu th-that might be able to make the plants grow faster… But it’s usually only used on people or animals, a-and I’m not sure.. if I can remember all of the hand signs…” He hung his head, gazing balefully back at his flower.
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Raizen
~~~~~

“Ooooooo… Raizen’s in trouble!”

It had been a long time since Raizen lost his temper like that. But he really disliked genjutsu, and it had been a long day, actually it felt like a few days, if not a week. Raizen had always held the belief, why waste the energy to lure my opponent into an illusion, when I could just use that effort to defeat him right away?

“Sorry, sensei, I guess I’m just getting a little frustrated.”

“Well this isn’t supposed to be easy Raizen,” Kakashi sensei said as he appeared out of nowhere in front of them all, “It’s meant to test you after all.”

“No offense sensei, but so far this only seems to be testing my patience.”

“I understand that this can be frustrating Raizen, so I’ll let that comment slide, but remember,” Kakashi sensei said picking up Raizen’s kunai from the ground. “Insulting your sensei is a sure fire way to get yourself sent back to the academy,” He threw the kunai to that it just grazed Raizen’s face, leaving a small cut that bled a single drop. “I suggest you don’t do it again.” With that Kakashi sensei disappeared from sight yet again, and the three students were left with the conundrum of how to wash their untouchable by cleanliness means kunai.

Raizen looked terrible, not even one day had he been a genin and he had insulted his own sensei and gotten in trouble. “Cheer up friend Raizen,” Ushi said still looking positively cheerful. “That could have gone much worse for you, he could have-”

“Killed you.” Masato chimed in.

“Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine.” Raizen said as he dislodged his kunai from the tree behind him.

“Yes, I was going to say sensei could have failed Raizen right there.” Ushi said as he twirled his flute in his fingers. “So you’re actually quite lucky.”

“How does this guy manage to find a bright side to everything?” Raizen asked himself before nodding in agreement and slumping down against the base of a tree and contemplating his kunai further. Maybe his newfound teammate wasn’t so bad after all.

Raizen started thinking to himself again. “Hmm, none of us seem to be getting anywhere with conventional cleaning methods, but only because this is a genjutsu. What if our lesson is then to think outside the box? Then maybe the genjutsu only prevents us from cleaning the kunai with certain things.” Raizen paused for a minute and watched Masato dashing right and left in the stream, trying to catch it off guard. Ushi was playing his flute again, apparently deep in thought as well. “Here’s a thought,” Raizen was thinking to himself again. “Water is purified by boiling it, that requires heat, and from what I know about medicine, medical instruments are also put through intense heat for sterilization. That’s a form of cleaning. Ok I’ll light a fire.”

Raizen stood up, gathered some dry grass, twigs, and a few small logs. “Lighting a fire Raizen?” Masato had come back from the stream after what seemed like days. “I don’t know how you’re going to do that here; all the wood is pretty damp from the stream.”

“Come now Masato,” Raizen said with a small laugh, the first anyone had seen all day/week/month, nobody really knew anymore. “We are ninja you know.” He then stood back, made a few hand signs and said, “Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu.” (Fire release: Phoenix immortal fire technique) Raizen raised his right hand to his mouth and blew four small fireballs, just larger than a softball, at the logs, which instantly went up into flame. “There we go. Now, who wants to sterilize a kunai?”

As Ushi and Masato watched, Raizen stuck the blade of his kunai into the flames. They simply danced out of the way. Praying that this was a bit of bad luck Raizen thrust the kunai into the flames again… and again. The flames danced out of reach every time. Swearing quietly to himself, Raizen put out the fire with some water from the stream. “Sure I can touch water all I want now that I’m not washing a kunai with it.”

It took probably another twenty or so minutes before Raizen’s next brainwave, but for all he knew it could have been twenty or so hours. “Ok guys,” Raizen said allowed. “Ninjutsu won’t beat his genjutsu, so what about some other types of techniques?”

“What do you mean?” Masato asked, pausing from trying to disguise his kunai from the stream using bark from a tree. “Like Taijutsu, cause-”

“No,” Ushi finally piped in, his eyes widening with possible comprehension as he stopped playing his flute. He looked at Raizen. “Your eyes have no pupils… does that make them special in any way?”

Raizen smiled slightly. “Exactly, lets see what Dojutsu (eye technique) can do.” He walked over to Masato and activated his Byakugan. Raizen’s pupils finally seemed to show up and the veins around his eyes swelled. “Try to stick your kunai in the stream again,” Raizen said. “No need to try and trick the water, just put the kunai in.”

Masato shrugged and proceeded to try to stick his kunai in the water as he had so many times before. Raizen watched closely with his Byakugan. “With these eyes I can see chakra, sensei’s genjutsu must use chakra, I should be able to see as the illusion changes the water.” And sure enough, just as Masato’s kunai was about the break the surface, Raizen saw water in the area around the kunai light up with a yellow chakra which forced the water out of the kunai’s way.

Ushi bounded over to the stream excited. “Oooo Raizen did you see anything?!!” Raizen described what he saw and Ushi’s face lit up with excitement. “The genjutsu moved the water! Genjutsu is my specialty!”

“Okay…” Raizen said, “Let’s try this again. Masato you do exactly as before, I’ll watch again and when I say, Ushi, you try to dispel or mess with the genjutsu just around the kunai. That’s where the chakra concentrates.”

“Sounds good.” Masato said.

“Okay everyone,” Raizen said, “On three, one… two… three!"
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Masato
~~~~~

Masato still seemed to be reeling from all the commotion of the day, seeing his new sensei and meeting the members of the team, he had to go get some air. On the roof of the school he could see the village a hustle and bustle with people coming and going, buying things from the market or just merely browsing. His mind slowly started to wander when something hard knocked into him. Turning around that something was now fluttering next to him, it was a book, a rather thick one, so it’s fluttering seemed weighted as it then flew higher and higher and then suddenly exploded into a flutter of torn pages leaving a message on the ground: “I rather do love a stroll on the roof, but now’s not the time to waste, meet me in the forest clearing just outside the village as soon as possible. Bring your ninja equipment.” With that Masato started to jog towards the forest clearing to meet up with his sensei.

“Ah, now Masato is here. We can begin!” Yukiso said, as Masato just came to the clearing seeing a rather upset Raizen and both Ushi and Yukiso hanging upside down on a tree branch. Yukiso released himself from the branch and landed on the ground while Ushi who tried to mimic the move in a less than graceful manor, tumbled and then landed on his backside. Raising a brow at Ushi for a moment, Yukiso positioned himself so that he could see all three of his students.

“Well, now that you’re here… we should get acquainted more. To start out, let’s sit down in a circle.” Yukiso said with a cheerful manner, Masato began to get a little bit more nervous at this moment sat on the ground cross-legged. Ushi and Raizen joined, looking at each other as if questioning the point. Yukiso shut his book and placed it upon the ground next to him. Ushi reached out to perhaps touch the book, but suddenly was frozen as if stopped in his tracks from his sensei’s death glare and quickly retracted his hand.
“Now that we’re sitting in this lovely circle, why don’t we talk about ourselves? Say your name, just so I remember… okay Ushi, Raizen and Masato-chan? Then, tell us some of your likes and then some of your dislikes. Finally, end by complimenting everyone in the circle. That should build up some teamwork confidence! I’ll go first!”

Masato tried to think about something to say about each of his teammates as Yukiso spoke first: “I am Kakashi Yukiso. I like reading books that help me learn interesting things about the world and I absolutely love kittens. Oh yes… and I like bothering my brother Hatake from time to time and … hmm… I do believe I like occasionally relaxing in the hot spring. I dislike… well, that’s not important. As for compliments… I just met you! How could I possibly compliment you? I will after your test.”

“Just great…he asks us to compliment each other and he can’t even come up with something for all of us…what am I’m going to say?” Masato thought.
“Test?” Raizen questioned, as Yukiso nodded.
“Oh nothing big… just, in order to officially be a Ninja you have to pass my test. It is quite simple; all you have to do is wash your Kunai. Just don’t leave the forest area… so you have a nice river to wash them! But seriously… that’ll be after our little chit chat. Raizen, why don’t you go first?”

“Ok, well I’m Hyuga Raizen, I also like kittens…” Raizen started but was interrupted by Ushi, Masato was starting to see a sort of connection between the two that he couldn’t really put his finger on but used the distraction to think of something. After Raizen was finished it was Masato’s turn.
“Um…I’m Masato Kazuma…I like cartoons…and I enjoy training a lot…” “Geez I sound like an idiot!” Masato said to himself as he tried to quickly say something else before Ushi said something to interject.
“Raizen, you seem very focused….Ushi you seem to have a very interesting perspective on everything and Sensei you seem…um…very intent on learning more about your students, hence why we’re in this circle...I think” “Well there goes my first impression,” Masato said as Ushi continued on.

With the pleasantries put aside Masato and the others began to head towards the nearest body of water after finding that trying to clean their kunai was not as easy as it seemed. Masato focused on putting more enthusiasm into trying to get his cloth to touch the kunai when suddenly he felt something cold and wet press against him…it was Ushi’s tongue. Flying backwards a little, Masato looked a little bit disturbed by the eccentric behavior of his teammate and was about to say something when he then saw Ushi continue after Raizen. After what felt like days on end trying vainly to clean his kunai and even tried thinking to mask his kunai as a piece of bark to perhaps trick the water into thinking otherwise, but shook that away as a silly thought. Ushi seemed to have an explanation as to what was happening “Genjutsu!” With that Raizen had a look of deep thought for a moment before suddenly throwing his Kunai to the ground in anger.
"Of course it's a Genjutsu....he's a Kakashi! They're all fricken crazy like that." Suddenly Yukiso appeared which made Masato wonder what was going to happen now when Raizen apologized: “Sorry, sensei, I guess I’m just getting a little frustrated.”

“Well this isn’t supposed to be easy Raizen,” Kakashi sensei said as he appeared out of nowhere in front of them all, “It’s meant to test you after all.”

“No offense sensei, but so far this only seems to be testing my patience.”
“I understand that this can be frustrating Raizen, so I’ll let that comment slide, but remember,” Kakashi sensei said picking up Raizen’s kunai from the ground. “Insulting your sensei is a sure fire way to get yourself sent back to the academy,” He threw the kunai to that it just grazed Raizen’s face, leaving a small cut that bled a single drop. “I suggest you don’t do it again.” With that Kakashi sensei disappeared, sending a shiver down Masato’s spine, from his first impression of the sensei, this side of him didn’t seem at all like him and now more then ever was motivated to try and succeed at his test.

Raizen looked terrible to which Ushi tried to comfort him by saying: “Cheer up friend Raizen,” “That could have gone much worse for you, he could have-”
“Killed you.” Masato chimed in sarcastically, trying again to move his kunai quickly enough to catch the water off guard.
“Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine.” Raizen said.
Trying to focuses more on agility and speed then strength the water itself seemed alive and would constantly shift.
“Counter balance the kunai, quick strike,” Masato repeated in his mind when after a few more tries saw Raizen rise up and start to gather materials for a fire.
“Lighting a fire Raizen?” Masato asked after following Raizen a little ways away from the stream. “I don’t know how you’re going to do that here; all the wood is pretty damp from the stream.”

“Come now Masato,” Raizen said with a small laugh, “We are ninja you know.” He then stood back, made a few hand signs and said, “Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu.” (Fire release: Phoenix immortal fire technique) Raizen raised his right hand to his mouth and blew four small fireballs, just larger than a softball, at the logs, which instantly went up into flame. “There we go. Now, who wants to sterilize a kunai?” Masato had to admit the idea was actually really sound sterilizing the kunai in essence was just the same a cleaning it, so he hopped this just as well would work, watching Raizen stick the blade of his kunai into the flames. Watching as they fluttered out of the way, he tried again and again the flames danced out of reach every time. Having a look a defeat Raizen put out the fire with some water from the stream. “Sure I can touch water all I want now that I’m not washing a kunai with it.”
“Ok guys,” Raizen said allowed. “Ninjutsu won’t beat his genjutsu, so what about some other types of techniques?”
“What do you mean?” Masato asked to which he tried his last thought and in a vain attempt tried disguise his kunai from the stream using bark from a tree. “Like Taijutsu, because-”

“No,” Ushi finally piped in, his eyes widening with possible comprehension as he stopped playing his flute. He looked at Raizen. “Your eyes have no pupils… does that make them special in any way?”

Raizen smiled slightly. “Exactly, lets see what Dojutsu (eye technique) can do.” He walked over to Masato and activated his Byakugan. Raizen’s pupils finally seemed to show up and the veins around his eyes swelled. “Try to stick your kunai in the stream again,” Raizen said. “No need to try and trick the water just put the kunai in.”

Masato shrugged and proceeded to try to stick his kunai in the water as he had so many times before. Raizen watched closely with his Byakugan. “With these eyes I can see chakra sensei’s genjutsu must use chakra so I should be able to see as the illusion changes the water.” So Masato did as he was told and went for a slight motion to try and dip his kunai into the water, when Ushi excitedly edged towards the stream. “Oooo Raizen did you see anything?!!” Raizen then described what he saw and watched Ushi’s face lit up with excitement. “The genjutsu moved the water! Genjutsu is my specialty!”

“Okay…” Raizen said, “Let’s try this again. Masato you do exactly as before, I’ll watch again and when I say, Ushi, you try to dispel or mess with the genjutsu just around the kunai. That’s where the chakra concentrates.”
“Sounds good.” Masato said as he prepared to thrust with his kunai again, “Okay everyone,” Raizen said, “On three, one… two… three!"

With that Masato’s muscles tensed as he trusted his kunai into the stream and watching as the water seemed to move. Looking over his shoulder Ushi seemed to be more focused now. Chakra seeming to glow brightly around him as the water around Masato seemed to rise. Ushi’s care free attitude seemed to vanish and in its place seemed to be someone drawing from a deeper sense of energy as he motioned towards Masato’s kunai and heard Raizen then call out: “Ushi!” With that the water seemed to rise higher and higher, going from past their heads to finally past the tree tops. With that Masato had a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach…
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Ushi
~~~

Ushi focused on the illusion in front of him. This promised to be trickier than normal. His power was more proficient at altering reality, not breaking or changing someone else’s illusion…but the premise was similar. As Masato trusted his kunai in the water, accompanied by Raizen’s commanding shout, Ushi focused all his attention on the smallest area around Masato’s attack as he could. Melding his chakra with the water’s, Ushi mentally formed his force into an invisible point. With all the mental power he could muster, he shoved with all his might. As he did so, he felt something well up inside of him, something that lent his attack more power, something that suddenly made him…angry.

The chakra making up the illusion visibly shattered, blue fragments raining down as Masato shouted in triumph. At that very moment however, a great rush of water erupted from the breach in the illusion. Ushi understood what happened even as the water beat down at them from above, soaking every part of them except for their kunais. The illusion went beyond the one layer they had been seeing, Kakashi-sensei was a master, of course he would bury multiple layers and traps in his illusions for just this reason. Even Ushi, who’s entire being was devoted and attuned towards illusions, was but a talented hobbyist to the Jonin. Silence reigned for a moment as the three stunned Genin stared at their perfectly dry kunai, each other, their soaked clothes, their kunai, their perfectly manicured fingernails (Ushi only), and back at each other.

Then Ushi exploded, raining tiny Ushi pieces down on his former teammates.

[Asilynne]

Saruwatari Kazuki
TEAM 12: Selekis, Retsun | Yagyu, Shiro | Iokawa, Hiro |

~**~**~**~**~**~**~
[ The 5ths Fight - Naruto Original Soundtrack III ]


Kazuki smirked as he stood on the branch, gazing down at Hiro as the boy kept yelling at his sensei. Narrowing his eyes, he swiftly made a mental note to never, ever forget half the things that Hiro said. He then silently wondered if the boy wanted to be killed… especially if this was going to be his tactic on the battle field.
“Nice try, kid” Kazuki said loudly, sensing Retsun and Shiro coming from two different directions as they tried to hit him. Smirking, Kazuki swiftly leapt up into the air and missed Retsun and Shiro’s moves to hit him, watching behind him as they knocked their attacks into the trees. Hiro threw a punch straight at Kazuki, however Hiro’s aim was quite off- Kazuki laughing mockingly as he landed on an extremely thin branch.
“H-how…” Hiro stammered, as Team 12 regrouped and stared up at their sensei. “That branch should break with those weights! Unless they’re only for show!” Hiro yelled loudly, his facing narrowing into a glare. Kazuki swiftly leapt down in front of the team, eyeing Hiro.
“Your exam is over.” Kazuki said, clapping his hands together as if to wipe away imaginary dust.
“We didn’t touch you.” Shiro said, looking about with a narrowed gaze as well. The only one not scowling was Retsun at this point, which only made Kazuki smirk.
“Exactly. The test was designed so that you would fail in that aspect.”
“What…?” Shiro said, seemingly confused. Kazuki nodded as the three seem dumbfounded, but Kazuki crossed his arms and gave a nod.
“However, despite your horrible display at tactics, speed and logic… you did pass. You showed some teamwork, which is the most important thing. Even above speed, strength and wisdom comes tactics, which goes with team work. If properly working together, even a weak team can take down an impressive opponent.”
Kazuki continued, his tone cold and strict as usual.
“You three are horrible Ninja… however, you do possess skill and some talent. I can work with that. You can become official Genin Ninja.”

Saruwatari then turned away from the three and began walking away, calling out over his shoulder.
“You have the rest of the day off, and most likely tomorrow as well. I will notify you when we have a mission.”

Saruwatari Kazuki then started to head towards the direction of the village, and it seemed as if the three would be free of their sensei for the day. However, after a few seconds suddenly Kazuki froze. (The three Genin had started talking amongst themselves.) Kazuki then slowly turned around, a fierce look of evil glinting in his eye. A grin formed upon his face as his needling gaze met Hiro’s.
“Wait a moment… I seem to remember a certain someone challenging my weights and wondering if they were for show.” Hiro seemed to pale slightly, as Kazuki grinned for a moment.
“Here… let me show you.”

Within a split of an instant, Kazuki seemed to simply disappear before their eyes. Hiro wildly looked about as his teammates seemed confused. The three were unable to see their Sensei as he took off the weights around his legs, his arms and even the hidden weights that were attached to his torso and belt. With rapid speed and precision, within an instant Saruwatari attached all of his weights to Hiro’s body. The attaching of the weights was almost instantaneous, and Kazuki was only visible after Hiro was covered in his weights. Hiro, suddenly feeling the weights upon his body, instantly fell into the earth which formed an extreme crater around him as dust billowed into the air- causing his teammates to cough and have to jump in order to avoid the crater.

“I want those weights back by the way.” Kazuki said, turning and finally walking away for the day. It was then clear to the three that Kazuki had not used his full speed even when he had the weights on.

HARU TAKUMI
TEAM 13: Onitoge | Yakusha, Inakamo | Okami Chiyoko
~***~***~***~***~***~
[ Fake – Naruto Original Soundtrack III ]

For Takumi, it had been a very pleasant day. Extremely pleasant for that matter… because not only did Takumi get to meet new pupils who he himself was going to train (he never really had considered training others, but he was grateful that he had accepted such a challenge), but he was able to perform three unique activities.
When speed was declared by Onitoge as his strength, Takumi could have almost grinned with delight. While the Sensei’s strength was not exactly speed as much as it was technique, the Sensei was still a Jounin and thus still very fast. It also didn’t help that his keen mind also was good at figuring out things a swift pace as well- allowing him to conjure up paths and jumps that would aid him in reaching the place first, so he did not purely rely on speed.
The two of them had raced like spirited rabbits- well, in Takumi’s case anyways. He was enjoying himself and he had a grin plastered upon his face, while as Onitoge dug deem and grimaced with determination. Secretly, Takumi liked seeing that in the kid- determination. He was worried that Onitoge would be too worried about trying his best, but he knew that showing off his speed shouldn’t worry the Genin much.
Ah yes… the cloak… Takumi had thought, as the Genin rapidly picked up pace and gained distance between them, believing to be narrowing the gap.
Too late… too distant… and of course… Takumi thought, bunching up his legs and giving a nice little added sprint to his speed. I have some surprises too. He grinned as he thought this, reaching the destination before Onitoge. The defeated look upon the kids face made Takumi think twice about sharing the secret of the test, but he held back.
A test was a test after all.

The next test was against Chiyoko and her cooking skill.
“Really… cooking? How is that going to help you become a great Ninja?” Takumi asked Chiyoko as they entered the restaurant.
“I-I.. don’t know. It just is something I do well. I have yet to figure out my true talent as a Ninja.” Chiyoko said, her bright voice a little unsure. Takumi only grinned, wondering if the girl was familiar with her own family line. Inakamo and Onitoge followed from behind, as they entered the massive restaurant. The inside seemed already perfectly prepared for a cook-off. One table held all the ingredients they would need, and three hungry villagers were seated at a table. Whirling about, Takumi gave a grin to Chiyoko.
“Here we go! A cook-off! We shall prepare something simplistic yet wildly delicious! CAKE! We may use any ingredients upon this table… and our lovely guests here will taste and decide! Are you ready?” Takumi said with a grin, as Chiyoko nodded. She took a band and swiftly wrapped her hair upwards into a tighter up-do to prevent her hair from getting in the way. Both of them put on aprons, as Onitgoe and Inakamo took seats next to the other three villagers.
“BEGIN!” Takumi roared over-enthusiastically.

What Takumi did with his ingredients did not matter to Chiyoko. She swiftly selected her ingredients for the cake, preparing to make a Supreme Chocolate Marbled Swirl Cake- her favorite. Mixing the ingredients diligently and precisely, Chiyoko did not cook like she normally would. Instead of being carefree and humming, she had her lips pursed and was concentrating fiercely on making the cake exactly according to the recipe in her head.
It was disheartening however, when she looked over her shoulder at Hara-sensei and saw that he was far beyond her, and was to the point of baking. Chiyoko was almost confused…. How did he do it so fast?
“I can’t give up now! Just because he’s faster doesn’t mean he’s better!” Chiyoko exclaimed to herself, biting her tongue. Time passed until she poured the batter into two cake pans and put them in the oven. More time passed… Takumi took out his cake and began working on the frosting part. Chiyoko soon followed, taking out her own cake. She had already prepared the gooey chocolate mixture to place on the inside, along with the outer frosting. Swiftly she worked, making the cake look neat and clean- and very presentable. She even decorated the rim of the cake with white flowered edging and blazing red strawberries.
“Done Chiyoko?” Takumi asked, leaning against a table to reveal a double-layered cake as well. However, compared to Chiyoko’s chocolate dominated cake, his was … blue. Chiyoko wasn’t even sure what type of cake it was, all she knew was that it had blue frosting and seemed to be crafted to look like Takumi’s face.
“That’s… strange…” Chiyoko thought, sweatdropping as she brought her cake over to his. Onitoge and Inakamo’s faces seemed distraught as well, both looking unsettled at the idea of eating their Sensei’s face cake.
“Now… for the true test!” Takumi exclaimed with a wild chuckle, taking ten plates out and placing five pieces of Chiyoko’s cake upon them and five pieces of his own cake upon them.

Chiyoko felt like it was ages before everything was over. It happened in a blur in her mind. Takumi proclaimed that Onitoge and Inakamo were not allowed to comment on test, because they were her teammates. The other three villagers soon finished, and it wasn’t long until they proclaimed that the odd but delicious winner was Takumi. His cake apparently had been made out of berries and was mouth-wateringly sweet.
Chiyoko’s head tilted downwards, a frown upon her face as she felt her eyes water with tears.
“Well… you fail as well. But don’t worry… there is next year! Why don’t you take a seat next to Onitoge as Inakamo’s test starts.” Takumi suggested, smiling widely as Inakamo got out of his seat and Chiyoko took his.
“I… I failed… I can’t be a Ninja…” Chiyoko thought, but she forced sorrow from her face as she sat down next to Onitoge. She flashed him a smile and then looked to Inakamo, making an earnest and tried effort in forcing out the sorrow.
“Good luck Inakamo!”

“Now Inakamo… time for a fun test of wits! Pranking!” Takumi said, a wild chitter in his voice as his eyes seemed to erupt into excited flames.
~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
= Insert Heald’s Post of the Test here=
^_~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Well… that was positively fun!” Takumi said loudly, standing outside of the restaurant. The three Genin on Team 13 seemed absolutely depressed, as they stood before their Sensei. Takumi sensed this gloom, and immediately placed a firm hand on Chiyoko’s shoulder this time.
“Awww…. Why the gloom? You did lose, but at least you’re still a Genin!” He said with cheer, causing the three to do a double-take.
“But… Hara-sensei… we failed our tests. You said we failed…” Onitoge commented, with Chiyoko and Inakamo nodding in agreement.
“A true, I did say that, didn’t I?”
More nodding of agreement.
“Well… the truth is, your test wasn’t to defeat me. The true test was for you three to show me that you aren’t quitters- that you won’t give up. All of you succeeded in that true test, which means…”
Takumi suddenly gave a brilliant smile and thrust his fist into the air with a dramatic motion.
“… you PASS!”

The three seemed to almost fall over anime-style with relief and other emotions. Takumi grinned wildly, feeling proud and happy to have given the three such good news.
“THANK YOU HARA-SENSEI!!” Chiyoko practically yelled, leaping into the air and immediately tackling her Sensei with a big hug. Takumi’s eyes widened as he caught her, but obviously was caught a bit off guard by the outburst. He scratched behind his head, sweatdropping again but laughing.
“Umm… no problem!”

Soon Takumi bade his team farewell, informing them that they had the rest of the day off and that they probably didn’t have anything to do the following day until their team was officially inducted into the ranks.
“I’ll contact you for your first mission when we obtain one!” Takumi informed them, smiling gleefully.

Chiyoko paused, looking at Takumi as he once again disappeared- exploding into confetti. Blinking a few times, she grinned wildly as she looked at Onitoge and Inakamo.
“We did it! We passed and we’re real Ninja now!” Then she proceeded to hug the both of them… some how at the same time. “Team 13 is amazing!” She proclaimed.

Kuroda Miharu
TEAM 14: Shodou, Kukai | Kozue, Hara | Inuzuka, Hige |

~****~****~****~****~****~
[ Afternoon of Konoha – Naruto Original Soundtrack II ]

Sipping her tea, Miharu gazed at the clock in her room to see that a great deal of time had passed. Taking her last sip, Miharu slowly stood up and sat her tea down upon the table. She had periodically not gazed out the window, but gone on top of the roof and watched them for a while. She silently wondered why she was letting so much time passed… for her team obviously was passing the true meaning of the test in flying colors. It was rather cute to watch them, reminding her back in the days when she used to be on her old Sensei’s team.
She chuckled even more when she had seen Kukai’s leafy creations, watching as they tried several ideas and then used the most efficient one- slow chakra leakage into the plants. It took a great amount of concentration and know-how to make the plants bloom exactly how you wanted them to, but for their first time they were showing good chakra control.
Walking outside, the three gazed at Kuroda-sensei as she slowly walked towards them. The three of them stood up quickly, glancing at their misshapen garden. Miharu looked at it, sweatdropping slightly as she chuckled to herself- lifting a hand to her lips to soften it.
“Well… not the best looking garden…” She trailed off, the three Genin looking at their creation and realizing it looked like a runt compared to the beautiful gardens surrounding it.
“However… it does show promise.” She said with a smile, kneeling down by Kukai’s creation. “It just needs a little help, that’s all.” Kuroda-sensei then gently outreached her palm, a soft glow of chakra pulsating from her palm. She touched one of the leaves of the plant, and after a few seconds suddenly flowers began to sprout from beneath the leaves. They instantly bloomed, showing their brilliant pink color. The plant then grew, taking over the entire garden except for Hige and Hara’s creations, which only seemed to grow with Kukai’s plant in beauty and growth.
Standing back up after this act, Kuroda-sensei looked to the three and smiled.
“You pass. Not because you created the garden I asked you to, but because you passed the real test of teamwork. Had you not worked together, you would have failed. But you passed wonderfully!” She said, clapping her hands together with cheer.
“Now we can begin missions. However, you have the rest of today and tomorrow off. I will register our team officially and when our first mission occurs… I shall let all of you know!” She said with a grin. Bowing out, she then walked back towards her house.

KAKASHI YUKISO
TEAM 15: Hyuuga, Raizen | Kurama, Ushi | Kazuma, Masato |
~*****~*****~*****~*****~*****~
[ Survival Examination – Naruto Original Soundtrack II ]

Yukiso was having a great deal of fun with his Genjutsu illusion techniques. Of course, he was only using his basic abilities… instead of any major Genjutsu illusion, which would have required more concentration than Yukiso believed he needed. Instead, he idly leaned against one of the trees in the forest, reading one of the latest books he acquired from the Konoha Library. It was labeled, “Major Surgery! How to Perform Complex Procedures and not Kill Someone.” However, Yukiso was keeping an eye on the team… performing a few Genjutsu illusions every time they made a move to wash their Kunai. The stream was the best… especially when he watched in amusement as Masato seemed to try to trick it by blending it with bark. Idly, Yukiso wondered if any one on the team realized that the stream did not have sentience. Shrugging, he continued to read while hap-hazardly performing more jutsus… like Raizen’s fire, Ushi’s tongue and other various things that they tried to do.
“*sigh* I wonder when they’re going to figure out things…” Yukiso thought to himself, but chuckling slightly as Ushi licked Masato.
Finally however, Yukiso heard them talk amongst themselves and not only figure out the technique was Genjutsu, but also it impressed him that Raizen was the one to initiate teamwork. Yukiso then watched as Masato used his rapid movement to cause the water to move and dodge, while Raizen used his Byakugan to identify the chakra within the illusion. Yukiso decided to humor them a bit, and he watched as Ushi then proceeded to concentrate his own Genjutsu at the precise time ordered – to try to override Yukiso’s illusion.
“Hmm… that reminds me, the Ushi boy is a Kurama… but he doesn’t know how to dispel illusions… mental note to self: teach wonderfully crazy Kurama-boy my dispel techniques. Probably Raizen will want to learn too. Then Masato… heck, the whole team! That would be fun some time.”
Yukiso could sense Ushi’s rising Genjutsu power, and tweeking his own illusion a bit, Yukiso caused the water to rise upwards over their heads to form into a massive wave. Masato seemed to notice first, pausing in mid-kick-jump as Raizen took a few steps back. Ushi might have noticed, but Yukiso couldn’t tell… the kid seemed to be concentrating too hard to move.
“SPLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!”
The wave crashed into the three, dousing all of them in an immense wave of water, yet keeping their Kunai quite dry. Yukiso chuckled to himself, thinking that this little trick was quite funny. However, everyone’s expression wasn’t amusing enough… they just looked rather defeated, except Ushi who seemed only a tad bit less energetic than before- but only a smidge, barely noticeable to anyone other than perhaps Yukiso, who just seemed to pick up on those types of things.
“Well… they did pass… time to announce the end of the test.” Yukiso thought.
With that, Yukiso grinned as he concentrated on Ushi and before their very eyes, Masato and Raizen watched as Ushi seemed to simply explode into pieces.

Silence filled the air… as Raizen’s eyes seemed to bulge out of their socket, as he blinked a few minutes and was simply speechless. Masato started to mumble to himself in a frantic manner… “Oh crap oh crap oh crap… not good… not good…”

“That was amazing Sensei!!” Ushi’s voice rang out, as Yukiso looked upwards as Ushi sat on his shoulders. Yukiso smiled beneath his mask, the two of them still unseen by the other two- covered in yet another mask of illusion.
“I thought it was a nice touch… it means your exam is done.”
“WEEE! I exploded!!!”
Yukiso seemed to feed off of Ushi’s enthusiasm as he leapt off the tree and dispelled the illusion, causing the Ushi pieces to disappear and for him and Ushi to be visible in front of Masato and Raizen.
“I EXPLODED!” Ushi yelled happily, causing Masato to almost faint and Raizen looked as if something died a bit inside of him.
“Sorry about that… well… not really… the look on your faces was quite memorable.” Yukiso said, his eyes closing into a classic anime style. He reopened his eyes, lifting his arms upwards so that he lifted Ushi off of his shoulders. Ushi immediately scrambled on the ground towards Raizen, who once again, audibly (yes, audibly) twitched.
“Anyways, you all failed in washing your Kunai… “
Silence ensued, as Ushi smiled brightly and Masato seemed to feel defeated. Raizen just looked angry.
“… luckily for you, that wasn’t the real test anyway. The test was to see if you could form into a team and rely on each other for your tasks. One of the most important things in being a Ninja is relying on your teammates. They come first and you have to work with them if you want to get any mission done. So you pass. Good job!” Yukiso immediately gave them a thumbs up, as his eye gleamed. Yes, his eye gleamed right at that precise moment as the sun seemed to perfectly invade the trees and hit his gaze just right.

“Oh! Compliment time!” Yukiso grinned lightly as he whipped out his book again and began reading. “Raizen, you have fine leadership skills. Masato, your hard work and out-of-the-box thinking will come in handy. Ushi… you have unrivaled energy and enthusiasm, something that will be helpful to your teammates during long missions.”
Yukiso gave them a nod, “I will notify you when our team officially has received a mission. Until then, you have the rest of the day and tomorrow off.”
Masato slowly raised his hand, “Umm… but hasn’t like… weeks passed? Or was that an illusion too?”
Yukiso gave another thumbs up. “Yep, illusion. Really only a half an hour went by.” Masato groaned something about being ‘ridiculously tired’, along with Raizen who just seemed to groan in annoyance. Ushi giggled like a school girl, as if it were something quite hilarious.

“Well, until then.” Yukiso nodded, vanishing in a poof of smoke.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inakamo Yakusha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Inakamo and Chiyoko raced towards the finish line, they wondered who had won, especially that discovering that Onitoge must be capable of superhuman speeds must have heavily stacked the odds in his favour. As they reached the finish, they saw that Onitoge looked down; you didn't have to be a genius to guess that he had lost. Inakamo pulled on his chakra strings, bringing his ball to a halt in between Haru-sensei and Onitoge. They both looked up to see Inakamo and Chiyoko leap down, Chiyoko beside Onitoge and Inakamo on top of his ball. Inakamo turned to his sensei and gave a huge grin, perfectly innocent but made all the more disturbing by the mask he wore over his face.

Haru-sensei chuckled and ruffled his hair.
"So this is the Carnival Ball I've been hearing about. An interesting and unique ninja tool; quite apt for an interesting and unique ninja!"
Inakamo backflipped off the ball and turned to Onitoge. He quickly performed the password handsign and hit the seal on the ball, opening it up and revealing Onitoge's cloak.
"We think you dropped this," Inakamo grinned. Onitoge briefly smiled, then picked up the cloak and put it on. Chiyoko asked,
"Haru-sensei, does being at this restaurant mean my challenge is next?"
Haru nodded and gave a thumbs-up.
"Yes Chiyoko, we'll head to the kitchen now. Boys," he began, turning to Onitoge and Inakamo, "Feel free to take a seat. This won't take too long."

As Haru-sensei led Chiyoko into the kitchen, Onitoge and Inakamo sat down at a table in the restaurant, near the window. Onitoge gazed out of the window. This had been pretty much the first time Onitoge and Inakamo had been alone together. Inakamo blurted out to break the silence,
"So how close was the race then? I bet you must have been superfast without that lead-weight around you!"
Onitoge turned to him and frowned; he was still sore about defeat. However, he was beginning to understand there was no possible way he could've beaten a Jonin-level ninja in a no holds barred race. Still, it was pretty close.
"Lets just say had the distance been a little longer, I'd have beaten him. However, Haru-sensei caused me to have a...setback."
Inakamo chuckled,
"Our sensei's sneaky huh? I can't wait to get a piece of him myself!"
Onitoge briefly smiled again. Being honest, he wanted to see how Inakamo would fair in his contest as well. This time Onitoge opened the conversation.
"Thanks...for returning my cloak."
Inakamo was taken aback; he was not used to being thanked.
"Well, if I dropped my Carnival Ball, you'd pick it up for me too...of course, I'd never drop it! My hold on it is virtually unbreakable!" he boasted.

After a while longer making smalltalk, the contest was over - Haru-sensei was the winner yet again. They walked outside into a small clearing with a wooded area next to it. Haru-sensei was eating a rice ball he had bought from the restaurant.
"Okay, Inakamo, you say your skill is pranking?"
Inakamo nodded excitedly. Haru-sensei continued,
"Pranks, while childish, are a good test of ninja skills, in particular, trap-setting, ambushing, espionage, infiltration, subtlety, and most important of all, timing."
Haru-sensei threw the rest of the rice ball on the ground.
"Okay Inakamo, a simple prank normally involves tripping someone up. The first one to trip the other up wins. Ready? Go!"
Inakamo quickly leapt into action, backflipping out of harm's way up a nearby tree. Haru-sensei remained perfectly still. Inakamo quickly thought up a plan, then smiled. He reached for a kunai and threw it at Haru-sensei, who stepped backward to avoid it. The kunai hit the ground at Haru-sensei's feet.
"Is that the best you have Inakamo?" he jibed. Inakamo smiled.
"I wasn't trying to hit you sensei!"
Haru-sensei looked down and noticed that in the shadow of the kunai, there was another kunai hidden with a smokebomb scroll attached to it. It was too late though, and the smokebomb exploded, enveloping Haru-sensei and the area immediately around him with smoke.

Inakamo leapt down from the tree and quickly ran behind Haru-sensei, ready to trip him up. He then pulled his Carnival Ball down from the tree with a chakra string, flying into the smoke and hitting Haru-sensei. As Inakamo thought he had victory, it turned out he had actually hit a log.
"A substitution jutsu?!" he thought to himself. He leapt out of the smoke, leaving his ball in the smoke and back up a tree. He had to find Haru-sensei, and quickly. A shuriken flew through the leaves and cut the branch Inakamo was on clean in half. He quickly pulled his ball out of the smoke and landed on it for balance, but as he fell backwards on the ball, two kunai came flying at him. He quickly acted and pulled the ball from underneath him to deflect the kunai, feeling safe that he had found a balance. However, as soon as he hit the ground, his foot landed on something soft and slippery. He felt a squish and then fell flat on his rear, losing the challenge.

Haru-sensei materialised in front of Inakamo, blowing away the smoke as he did. It was then that Inakamo saw that he had slipped on Haru-sensei's discarded rice ball. Haru-sensei chuckled.
"My, my, my, that was a fine effort, but as you can see, I am the clear winner!"
Inakamo began to feel how the other two felt - to be beaten at what you think you're best it does hurt your pride.

It soon materialised that they had all, in fact, passed the test due to their perseverance. Haru-sensei bade them farewell and then made a flashy departure. Chiyoko gave the boys a hearty embrace. They all stood together, thinking about what had just happened. Inakamo smiled and looked at his teammates.
"So guys, fancy a race back home?" he challenged.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Selekis
--------------------------
So, the test was about teamwork and determination, not speed or strength.

The white haired youth looked over at his teammate Hiro, who was struggling with the weights, and Shiro, who was laughing his ass off. He felt no more need ot be here and headed back into town.

His mind began to wander, mainly back to the bubbly little girl he couldn't get rid of. He wondered if she managed to pass her test. Despite her bubbly and overly freindly nature, she had potential.

The next thing he realised was that he was hungry. He had hardly eaten anything all day.

And the fact that there was a beautiful eroma in the air didn't help matters.

He couldn't put his finger on it, but was absolutely heavenly. If he was any less of a man, he'd be drooling. Seeing no harm in investigating the smell, Selekis began following his nose.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ Pain ~*~*~*~*~

My mind remained hazy all the way back home, full of thoughts of how weak I truly was. My left arm was dead tired, I couldn’t even make a fist, and what did it get me? I couldn’t even knock over a tree and the attack came too slow. Then to top it off he strapped the weights onto me, and all I could do was lay there until Lee came along and unhooked me. ‘Some day you will be able to do it’ He told me with a smile. ‘Everyone has to start somewhere’

With every step I took up the steps to my house, those words rang in my head. Every step only increased my anger; I wanted to wipe that stupid smile off his face. I wanted to punch it off with every ounce of strength I had. My right hand clutched one of the weights, dragging it with me to the point that my right arm felt just as dead as my left arm. “Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.” I kept replying, pushing into our home, dropping the weight on the floor of my room and collapsing on the mat.

“Hiro-nii?” Hikari poked her head into the room, waiting a second before softly pushing the door open and coming to kneel at my side. “Mom had to go out to a village for a few days.” She explained, I could only groan back a response.

She peered down at one of the weights, trying to lift it with both hands before returning to me. “Did you kill some one yet?” She asked. I lifted one arm and pointed toward the door, not even having the strength to tell her to leave. “Fine fine.” She huffed before leaving.

Okay get up… get up… I kept telling myself that, trying to will myself to get up and start working out with that one weight that I had kept from sensei. ‘Everyone has to start somewhere.’ Rock Lee’s words echoed through my head, and a new found rage bubbled up. “STUPID IDIOT!” I growled rising to my feet and grabbing the weight with both arms. “I will show him, and I will show that stupid sensei.” I roared, lifting the weight up, once, twice, three times.

“See this weight isn’t…” The weight tumbled from my arms as pain shot threw both of them. My mouth fell open into a gasp of shock in pain as my knees buckled out from underneath me. My mouth moved for a few seconds before I let out a utter inhuman scream.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~

He had been so careful for so long. Through almost his entire time at the academy. One day as a Genin, however, and his secret was out. Onitoge was constantly holding himself back and now Chiyoko and Inakamo knew it. Worse yet, their sensei knew it. Hara-sensei was bound to expect much more of him than he felt safe to use.

"Thanks..... for returning my cloak," Onitoge offered weakly.

He reached for it like a child might for their security blanket. He quickly slid it back on and as always the weight washed over him like a familiar warmth. A warmth that assured him he would do no harm.

"Well, if I dropped my Carnival Ball, you'd pick it up for me too...of course, I'd never drop it! My hold on it is virtually unbreakable!" Inakamo smiled.

So there was a real person behind that mask, afterall. A pretty good one too to have lugged Onitoge's insanely heavy cloak all the way here. Even if it was with the aid of his jutsu.

"You'd be surprised what you might let go of when faced with the threat of failure. At letting down someone you want to make proud......" Onitoge spoke without thinking, which was extremely unusual for him.

"So, why do you wear that cloak anyway? If you go around with that thing on all day every day your strength and speed must be phenominal. No wonder you don't focus much on ninjutsu or genjutsu," Inakamo quickly changed the topic, sensing it was a sore subject. "I know. I bet you're just keeping it under wraps so opponents will underestimate you in battle."

"No, it's not that. It's just..... do you remember when I first started at the academy? When that..........." and then he hesitated. Why was he being so open with Inakamo? He had trouble being open with anyone! "It's just..... it's complicated. I'm glad we were on the same team for a bit Inakamo."

It felt good to just sit and talk with someone. Inakamo was the last person Onitoge figured he'd ever make friends with but he was glad for it. Sometimes it took the strangest pairings to make the best friends and teammates.

The afternoon passed quickly. As it turned out, their fauilure was part of the test. A test they all seemed to have passed. So Team Thirteen was a go. Chiyoko, Inakamo and Onitoge would be Hara-sensei's squad. And they only had a day and a half before they might be out on assignment together. If they were going to go on a mission as a team then maybe they should learn each other's strengths and weaknesses as a team. Onitoge knew that most people would want the time off to relax but he wanted them to be ready for anything.

"So guys, fancy a race back home?" Inakamo challenged with a grin.

"I was thinking that maybe......ummm..... there's this clearing where I train and, well. Maybe now that we're a team we should....ummmm.... train together? If you guys wanted to?" Onitoge said as he leapt to a branch, ready to show them the way.
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Shodou Kukai/Team 14/F
30. Yesterday and Today
--------------------------

Shodou Kukai was a genin.

Shodou Kukai was a genin who didn't know whether to get angry at her sensei, at the ninja examination system, at herself for being so stupid not to have noticed it in the first place, or at the world in general for being a place full of deception in unlooked-for places.

Eventually, Shodou Kukai the genin decided to let the matter slide, and let out a long breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in.

She stretched. She'd been squatting for a long, long time. There were distinct pops as stiff bones slid into their proper places. Kuroda-sensei had waved goodbye a while back, but Kukai hadn't moved until now, stunned as the full realization set in that she was a real ninja now - an honest-to-goodness official ninja. Haru, beside her, didn't seem to be fully able to accept his newfound ninjahood, either.

Kukai being Kukai, she opened her mouth wide and said: "Aaaargh. After all that gardening I'm in bad need of a bath..."

Inuzuka Hige, who'd up till now been celebrating as best as he knew how (by working off his euphoria running up the trees in the garden, jumping from branch to branch to roof back to branch again, and the like), flinched. It was a very visible and audible flinch. When you flinch sprinting halfway up a treetrunk, you tend to land back onto the ground in a painful heap. Hige was good at what he did, though. He landed on his feet, and upright, too; but the sudden out-of-sync thump was enough to catch Kukai's half-drifting attention.

She remembered now. How could she have forgotten? It must have been all the stress of the day...

She said, louder this time, and deliberately: "I wonder if I should just bathe at home or use the public baths? Oh sure, the bathroom at home is old and a bit too small, but the public baths are gonna be crowded at this time of day, what with everyone going for a bath in the evening to wash off they day's sweat and grime."

She counted off the total of baths in her mind - Inuzuka Hige had twitched four times, and flinched twice more. Ginmaru, however, wagged his tail, cheerful as ever. The numbers tallied. Well of course they did. Kukai decided to push her luck.

"Hey, Inuzuka Hige, I might see Ayame-san in the bathhouse. Want me to say anything to her for you? While we're in the women's bath? Hmmm? A message from her Hiiiige-kun~"

"Oi, woman, now that's enough from you for today!" Involuntary grimacing of the face times two, duly noted...

"When was the last time you had a bath anyway, Inuzuka Hige?" Again... "I'm not going to have to bathe you myself again, am I?" ...And again...

A kind of strangled growling sound escaped the depths of the feral boy's throat. He opened his mouth to say something rude, evidently thought better of it after meeting the oil-slick black of Kukai's eyes, and closed it with a snap. He muttered something unintelligible and stomped off.

At this point Kukai started feeling sorry for him. She shouldn't have brought up the Washboard Incident. She herself had not acted too rationally on that occasion, though at the time (and even now) that insult had been too much for her. And it rankled more, that this particular person, Mr Inuzuka Hige, had been the one to say it. Because he, like her, generally meant the things he said, and she wasn't all sure if he had meant what he'd said - that day.

"Fine, I take that back!" she called to his retreating form, in a fashion uncharacteristic of her usual demeanour. He didn't turn around - he hadn't won, after all, and she hadn't lost - a stalemate was not worth celebrating over.

Kukai swallowed her anger, that had been lying there dormant and unnoticed and unwelcome, that had turned into uncalled-for cattiness earlier, and turned to Haru, apparently back to normal. "Oh, Haru-kun. D'you want me to walk you home? I've got to help out at the shop tomorrow, but I'm free for now... I'm sure you've got something new about cherry blossoms in that book of yours..."

*

The smell of sodden pulp permeates every inch of the Shodou house. The family still manufactures all their own paper. They have ceased to produce paper on a large scale, leaving that to other, more enterprising mnds with the drive to work machines; instead they ply their trade now mainly as calligraphers and engravers. Shodou clan penmanship adorns the signboards and banners of almost every building in Konohagakure; Kukai's deceased father wrote the kana on the curtains of Ichiraku Ramen, and Kukai's ancestors painted the imposing letters on the entrance gates of the village. The Shodou, the few that still refer to themselves as Shodou, are proud.

The smell of paper has been with Kukai since birth: she was born into it, and she will never leave it, she thinks. She doesn't mind if she has to manage the family business, all by herself, when her grandmother and mother are gone, and her brother who works in the Hokage's office now can keep his position and continue working in the Hokage's office. What worries her is what her grandmother, the matriarch, had told her the day she'd entered the ninja academy, drawing her into a corner and saying my dear grandchild, you are the only true heir of the Shodou family now, and you must make sure you are not the last, and many more things besides; that she forgets sometimes, but always remembers when she hears a certain word, or thinks of the shop.

The smell of paper haunts Kukai like the ghosts of all her ancestors, invisible legs round her neck hanging over her in unseen, portentous gloom.

[Outlaw JT]

Inakamo Yakusha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inakamo was excited about training together as a team - normally he'd train on his own, but he loved an audience, plus the opportunity to practice some teamwork for a battle situation seemed like the perfect plan to get a headstart before their first mission, of which he could hardly contain his excitement to perform.

"I'm in," Inakamo said, jumping up onto the same branch as Onitoge. They both looked down at Chiyoko. "How about you?"
Chiyoko smiled and leapt up at them.
"I'd never miss a chance to be with my new teammates! Count me in!"
Inakamo grinned and turned to Onitoge.
"Lead the way, superfly."
Onitoge had a small smile on his face and then turned his face into the forest with a concentrated look.
"It's through this wooded area. Follow me," and with that he leapt off the branch and into the forest. Inakamo began following and Chiyoko was right behind.

Inakamo caught up with Onitoge easily and said,
"So you're not so fast with that weight around you, huh?"
Onitoge shook his head. Inakamo laughed.
"Man, I cannot wait until you surprise an opponent with that! He'd need a winch to pick his jaw off the ground."
Inakamo looked back to Chiyoko and grinned, who smiled and giggled back. However, as he looked back, Inakamo thought he spotted something. He stopped on a branch and his teammates stopped as well.
"Anything wrong?" Onitoge asked. Inakamo peered into the woods.
"I thought I could see someone...guess my mind is playing tricks on me."
"Okay then," Onitoge said and he continued the journey to the clearing.

Upon reaching the clearing, Inakamo had a good scout around, bouncing off the trees and having a good time. Onitoge mumbled only within earshot of Chiyoko,
"I've never brought anyone here before..."
Chiyoko turned to Onitoge and smiled.
"It's nice that you've shared this clearing with us. It can be our team's training spot from now on!"
Inakamo jumped back into the middle of the clearing with his teammates and with a grin said,
"Well are we going to start training? How about you take off that cloak and show us what you're really capable of?" he gestured at Onitoge enthusiastically. Onitoge gripped the shoulders of his cloak tightly upon hearing this.
"I'd...rather not."
Inakamo was slightly puzzled but he turned to Chiyoko.
"And how about you Chiyoko? I'm sure I've seen you use some water jutsu?"
Chiyoko looked a bit startled and said,
"Well, I can do one jutsu, but it's not perfect."
Inakamo gestured her to try it on the nearest tree. He and Onitoge watched intently as she performed the hand-signs.
"Water-style : Water Blast jutsu!" she said. A ball of water formed in her hands and then jetted towards the tree. However, it went slightly left, skinning some of the bark off with it and then exploding on another tree, knocking down some of the leaves and skinning some of the bark off that too.
"Woohoo! Chiyoko that was awesome!"
Chiyoko turned around and gave a 'thank-you' bow towards them both. Onitoge turned to Inakamo and said,
"So...your ball...we know you like using that as a ninja tool...would you like to give us a demonstration?"

"Would I?" Inakamo grinned and he quickly summoned his Carnival Ball. Chiyoko seemed excited to be getting a personal experience of Inakamo's bizarre techniques up front and in person. Inakamo already had a firm control over the ball with his chakra strings. He span the ball up and aimed it towards the same tree that Chiyoko had intended her water blast to hit and powered it forward.
"Hyah!" he yelled, and the ball blasted forward far faster than the water blast and made a huge dent in the tree, knocking much of the bark off and many of the leaves down. He then pulled it back and as he did, he pulled his right arm, the sleeved one, up to his mouth and pulled on his sleeve - in fact he was pulling on some fine carbon-steel wire, invisble to the naked eye, wrapped on a spindle hidden under his sleeve, and with a subtle touch, he attached the end of the wire to the Carnival Ball. He then kicked the ball back towards the tree and as it passed it, he used his chakra strings to bring the ball around the tree and with his right hand pulled the wire taut. As the ball came back, the wire cut cleanly through the tree, cutting it down in the process. He then caught the ball with his right hand and with his left hand removed the wire. He turned to his teammates.
"How about that then?"
Chiyoko seemed amazed; Onitoge smiled and said,
"Looks like you have some tricks up your sleeves then."
Inakamo fell down at this pun and Chiyoko giggled. There was beginning to be a feeling of bonding among the team.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okami, Chiyoko

[I Said I’m Naruto – Original Soundtrack I ]


Chiyoko smiled at Inakamo, feeling a strange swelling in her chest- a great surge of happiness that she was getting along so well with her two teammates. It truly did feel great to belong on a team… to have some sort of family to rely on.
“This is great!” Chiyoko said, after the three of them had trained a little bit more after Inakamo’s fantastic showing of his chakra abilities with his ball. Onitoge had shown them a little bit of his taijutsu too, although Chiyoko and Inakamo had elaborate ideas in their mind of what he’d truly be like without his cloak. Watching her two teammates, it made Chiyoko wonder and slightly wish that she specialized in something… so far she had only gone to a few teachers and asked them for various training on many different types of Jutsus- none that she was fantastic at. She knew her water blast jutsu and her body freeze technique… and of course, she was trying her best to learn that other technique. However… that was something she had to do in private. Something she was teaching herself... yet not knowing exactly where it came from.

Shaking her head and snapping out of her thoughts, she watched as Onitoge returned to Inakamo and Chiyoko after another taijutsu move.
“I think we should be done for the day.” He commented, as the three of them looked up at the setting sun. Chiyoko nodded, as they began to walk back through the forest- occasionally leaping into the trees.
“You know… our team is like a big family!” Chiyoko said happily, offering the two of them a cheerful smile. Yeah… a family… The thought brought memories of the Hidden Cloud Village. She wondered what they were doing at this time... most likely preparing for the night. She then began to wonder if they missed her like she missed them... and their smiling faces.

The three of them reached the edge of the forest, easily allowing them to see the village. Lights were beginning to flicker on in homes… and then Chiyoko’s stomach suddenly growled.
“Ah geez… I didn’t eat lunch today.” She commented, looking at Inakamo and Onitoge.
“I know! Would you guys like to come over to my room for some dinner?! I’ll cook whatever the two of you want!” She said excitedly, but before either of them could answer she swiftly grabbed both of their hands and took off towards her house. She barely gave them anytime to respond. A grin was plastered upon her face as she ran, feeling her heart beat wildly- beating off how happy she really felt. It was good to have friends… and she couldn’t help but love making new friends. It was an addiction that she didn’t mind having.

Soon the three of them arrived at the complex she lived at, and she ushered them in. They walked up a flight of stairs and soon she had them entering her living area. Taking off her shoes in a hurry, she went into the kitchen and as if given new strength and energy she whipped out several cooking supplies.
“So, what’ll it be?” She asked with a smile, just in time to see Onitoge’s bewildered expression looking at the window, along with Inakamo who just had a silly grin on his face. Turning to look in their direction, she saw a familiar face poking through the window- like always.
“Naruto! I said you could use the stairs!” She laughed, as Naruto took that as an invitation and helped himself in.
“I heard a mentioning of food!!” Naruto said enthusiastically, ‘hehing’ a bit as he scratched the back of his head with a grin. Chiyoko nodded, looking to her two new teammates.
“Naruto lives in the same complex as me… he often stops by for food. Actually… now that I think of it…” Chiyoko put a finger to her lips as if thinking. “A lot of people have been stopping by my place at random meal times…” She trailed off, shrugging as she began to heat up the stove.
“So, yes… food, what will it be?” She asked, as Naruto yelled, “RAMEN!” Chiyoko sweatdropped, shaking her head for a moment. “No… my teammates are deciding tonight. I promise I’ll make you ramen another time.” Chiyoko said lightly, looking to Onitoge and Inakamo.
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Raizen’s time off:

Raizen stood there next to the stream, soaked to the bone save his kunai. “Well, this sure has been a weird day.” He thought to himself. “I passed a test that was actually about teamwork, and even weirder, I initiated the teamwork. I guess I’ll have to do that more often.” Masato groaned having just found out that the past three weeks had only been a half an hour, and Ushi was acting as over energetic as usual.

“Hey Raizen! Isn’t this great?! We passed! And I exploded!!” He yelled jumping forward in what looked like a motion to hug Raizen again.

“Yeah, that’s grea- ahh!” Raizen was cut off as he jumped out of the way of Ushi’s embrace. “Dude, please, no hugging. I’m tired and I’m going home.” He said before giving everyone a slight wave and starting to walk back to town. “I’ll see you guys later for our first mission.”

It took quite while to shake off Ushi who had insisted on going home with Raizen. In fact, it wasn’t until Raizen’s brother Neji closed the door in his face that Ushi decided to leave for his own home.

“Now that wasn’t very nice Neji.” Raizen’s mom said as she put a delicious smelling stew on the table. “He’s Raizen’s team mate, and we don’t want to hurt his feelings.”

“That child had no business here mother.” Neji said indifferently as he served himself a bowl of stew.

“Really, Mom, I don’t think you can hurt that kid’s feelings.” Raizen muttered now immersed in his own stew. “By the way Neji, you never told me about this test that we all have to take.”

“It’s supposed to be a secret Raizen.” Neji said, “Who’s your sensei anyway?”

“Kakashi Yukiso, and he gave us the weirdest test, we had to wash these genjutsud kunai, but it all turned out to be about teamwork anyway.”

“The other Kakashi? He should be an interesting sensei.” Neji said finishing his meal and getting up. “You have the day off tomorrow, correct?”

“Yeah, sensei said he’d contact us for our first mission.” Raizen said getting up as well. “Why?”

“Well, don’t expect any interesting missions for a while. Anyway, TenTen and I will be working on the Heavenly spin tomorrow, you should join us.”

“Nice, I do need some help with that one.” So with that Neji wandered off, most likely to train his byakugan. Raizen, however, was trapped by their mother who grilled him for details on his first day as a genin for the next couple hours.
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Ushi
~~~~
Frustrated by Neji's advanced Ninja door closing Jutsu, Ushi meandered around Konoha for the rest of the day, taking in the sights and sounds of his adopted home that he had grown to love so much. Shopkeepers, citizens, and even a few wandering Shinobi such as himself greeted him. Although every agreed that there was something truly different about that Kazuma boy, Ushi's perpetual happiness and energy won him more friends than it did enemies, even if those friends were apt to shake their head in exasperation every once and a while.

It was when Ushi had climbed the Hokage mountain to stand above their carved faces and watch the sun set over the village that Takumi found him. The young Jonin seemed to have climbed the mountain for much the same reason, sitting himself next to the young Genin comfortably and in silence. The two watched the sun set together, neither feeling the need to speak and break the content, peaceful silence that had decended around them. Konoha was beautiful in the sunet, the soft orange light making the stones seem on fire and the buildings as though made of amber. The town slowly became still and peaceful until the only lights and figures were those owned by the force of Shinobi that guarded the sleeping town from whatever evil the soft darkness might hold. It wasn't until night had truly fallen, the waxing moon shedding it's silver light over the two figures that Takumi spoke.

"I heard of your little adventure from Yukiso today."

Ushi's smile grew wider, when he spoke the usual excitement was muted by the soft voice he felt was neccesary at such a late hour.

"Yes! We failed our task but passed the test, you see the task wasn't the test at all! And I exploded!"

Takumi smiled softly at the youth's exuberance. Running a hand through his disheveled hair he leaned back on his arms. His open coat falling off his torso somewhat.

"That's one of my favorite tricks too..."

Ushi mirrored Takumi's pose, letting his hair spill over his supporting hands as he looked up at the pale stars above. The light made his hair shine an even brighter silver than normal, the red tips practically glowing in the lunar glow. Faint memories stirred at the edge of his conscious, memories of looking at the same stars from somewhere far closer than the hill above Konoha, somewhere where it felt that he could reach out an grab one of them, holding its subdued yet burning power in his hands. He remembered drawing shapes in those stars with his eyes, finding meaning in the twisting figures he created. He remembered the last time he played music to those stars...and a haunting harmony floated through his mind for a moment. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he opened them to just find the tiny twinkling light above him again, nothing more than dots in the blackness of the sky. Turning to the Jonin next to him, he spoke.

"You can do it whenever you want?"

Takumi's smile became crooked, taking the meaning of the young Genin's words for what they were. Turning to look back at the youth, he shrugged slightly.

"Of course...want to learn?"

Ushi's glimmering eyes were all the answer Takumi needed.
----------------


Raizen yawned. How late was it? The day had felt like weeks, but in the excitement of actually passing his test and becoming part of a true Shinobi team he had managed to shake off the exhaustion until now. At least he could sleep in tommorow. Meandering over to his closet he opened the doors, preparing to grab a more comfortable pair of clothes to sleep in. Instead, he peered down at the smiling form of Ushi, lying on a pallet of some sort and covered in a blanket though he still seemed to be wearing the exact same clothes he had during the entire test. Ushi grinned up at Raizen.

"Guess what I learned?!"

Raizen carefully removed the clothes he had been looking for and closed the door softly, silently wondering to himself how long Ushi had been residing in his closet and if there was any possible way to make him leave.

He doubted it.
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Raizen
~~~~~~
Brotherly Training:

Raizen went to bed pondering the fact that Ushi seemed to have taken up residence in his closet. “Whatever,” He thought. “I haven’t been able to get rid of him before… why would this be any different.”

Raizen slept like a rock. After a day that actually felt like a couple weeks, sleep was very, very welcome. He woke up a little later than usual, and in his rush to get dressed and meet Neji in the training ground; Raizen didn’t even register the fact that Ushi was now snoring slightly upon his desk.

Neji and TenTen were already waiting for him when Raizen arrived, and made sure to comment on his tardiness. “Did you sleep in again, Raizen?”

“Hey, I had a long day.” Raizen responded, as he began to warm up with some light aerobics. He watched Neji spar with TenTen for a bit before joining in himself. This time TenTen took a break as Neji and Raizen exploded in to a rapid taijutsu battle. Watching two gentle fist users fight was a rare occasion, not to mention two brothers who knew each other’s abilities better than anyone else. For about two minutes they were on even footing, fists flying and bodies spinning faster than any ordinary ninja could even comprehend. It was only when Raizen went in for a blow to Neji’s chest that the battle came to an end with Neji’s kunai at Raizen's throat.

“You’re improving brother,” Neji said, straitening up and catching his breath. “But you still have a problem leaving yourself unguarded every time you see an opening for a finishing move.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Raizen said as he massaged his fingertips, which had taken quite a beating during his gentle fist sparring match. “Now, how about that heavenly spin?”

“Let’s get some lunch first guys.” TenTen said, “You’re both going to need your chakra for this, and from the looks of you,” Raizen and Neji both looked quite worn out. “You’re running low.”

So they all headed out to the local ramen shop, only to veer off course by the site of Raizen’s classmate Chiyoko cooking madly outside. There seemed to be no one else around, yet Chiyoko had already made quite a buffet. Deciding that they couldn’t let all that food go to waste; the three of them walked over to say hello.

“Hi Chiyoko!” TenTen called out.

“Oh, hey there.” Chiyoko said as she looked up from her cooking.

“Making a feast?” Raizen asked as he walked over.

“Hmm? Oh, this.” Chiyoko looked down with a surprised look on her face. Evidently she had been so caught up in her cooking that she didn’t realize just how much food she had made. “Wow… what am I going to do with all this?” She said staring at the mound of food on the table.

“Don’t worry about it.” TenTen said, “We’ve got three ninja here hungry from training.”

“Four actually!” A slightly muffled but high pitched voice called out. Raizen looked over and sighed as he saw that Ushi had already sat down and was halfway through one of the exquisitely cooked fish.

“Where did you get all these anyway?” Neji asked sitting down.

“Oh, I caught them.” Chiyoko replied nonchalantly.

It was an excellent lunch, and after some post meal conversation, Raizen, Neji, and TenTen went back to the training ground. To Raizen’s dismay, Ushi decided to tag along and tormented him all the way back with a lot of poking and a few thwarted hugging attempts.

Once they returned Raizen sat back as Neji and TenTen demonstrated the heavenly spin. Ushi could be found hanging upside down from a tree with a book, imitating Kakashi sensei and glancing up every once and a while to watch the training.

It was something of amazing beauty. TenTen leapt high into the air and using her scrolls summoned an uncountable amount of kunai and shuriken that then proceeded to attack Neji from every possible angle. But Neji was ready with his byakugan. Being able to detect every one of the weapons, he released chakra from various points on his body while spinning rapidly. A blue blur of a dome formed around Neji just as the kunai and shuriken hit, but were immediately deflected and sent flying in every direction.

Raizen was forced to block a few with his own kunai. Ushi however didn’t move, in fact he didn’t appear to notice the kunai at all and actually acquired an outline around himself.

“I suppose I should have warned you about that.” Neji said indifferently as he stepped out of the small crater his spinning had created.

Raizen wasn’t annoyed however, but looked up as he thought to himself. “Excellent, it looks like I’ll be sleeping well again tonight.”
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Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~

Family......Onitoge thought to himself as the three of them proceeded to Chiyoko's place for dinner. Urukani-sensei was the closest thing he had ever had to family and he had been gone for many years now. He had never had a family before. Was this what it was like?

They made it to Chiyoko's in good time and were quickly joined by Naruto who promptly requested ramen. Chiyoko insisted the decision was up to Inakamo and Onitoge, however. Inakamo didn't hesitate to add his opinion to the subject of dinner. He never did seem to hesitate, something else that distinguished him from Onitoge.

"Ummm....... maybe fish?" he looked at Naruto. "Or ramen would be fine."

Once again his trademark habit reared itself. For a long time he had always felt compelled to go with the flow of things. Instead of thinking about the things he enjoyed he would readily take up the things people around him enjoyed. Like reading with Kakashi-sensei, or playing shogi with Shikamaru (although he actually did enjoy that a lot once he learned how to play well), or eating ramen with Naruto as it were. With his social issues it often seemed to him the only way to make friends.

Chiyoko ended up making a little bit of everything to make everyone happy. Onitoge enjoyed a pan seared river trout with a seasoned glaze and a small side of ramen. He couldn't identify whatever it was Inakamo consumed. Naruto of course had a huge bowl of ramen. Chiyoko had a sampling of everything she prepared.

After dinner the four of them sat there talking for a while about their days and their aspirations now that they were genin. Inakamo and Naruto did most of the talking actually. Onitoge wasn't sure how much time passed but they didn't depart until well after the sun had set. It felt really good to just spend time with friends. Onitoge believed he could call all of them that now. At least he hoped so.

Onitoge was the first to excuse himself. The building he was currently staying in was clear on the other side of the academy from Chiyoko's place. He took his time getting there, walking slowly along the street. It had been a great day and he was not eager to see it end. He arrived home to see that it hadn't yet.

"So I hear you almost bested Takumi in a race," a familiar voice said happily.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Onitoge's face brightened and he began to smile as he bowed respectfully.

"That's a neat trick while wearing that cloak of yours," Hatake Kakkashi said with a knowing tone.

"I.... I had to remove it to keep up. I should have failed his exam," the smile faded. "I would have won if I had taken the cloak off sooner."

"Not really. If the race was speed alone maybe but Takumi would've pulled a few more tricks out of his sleeve to win if he needed to. Besides, his exam was about getting you to remove the obstacles you have placed on your own path. You did that by removing the cloak. You should do it more often. I am sure Takumi and your teammates would like to see what you can do when you aren't holding yourself back," Hatake said evenly with a smile behind his mask. "In any case, I am proud of your performance today and I am sure Shenji would be too. I left you a new book on your bed as a way of congratulations. Enjoy."

Hatake Kakashi disappeared right in front of his eyes. It was an impressive trick because Onitoge's eyes were very fast. He ambled inside and picked up his new book as he collapsed on the bed. It had been a long and tiring day. Tomorrow was supposed to be free but he felt compelled to do many things. He wanted to train more with his teammates but didn't want them to feel like he was pushing them. He wanted to spend time reading with Kakashi-sensei but didn't want to interfere if he was spending time with his new team. He also wanted to speak with Hara-sensei about the test. If Kakashi-sensei was speaking directly about it then Hara-sensei must know about his past. Onitoge had to know why Takumi would push him knowing what he might do. What he had done....... Onitoge would decide in the morning what he would do tomorrow. For now, he fell quickly asleep after his thoughts ran their quick course.
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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.
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Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ Relaxing ~*~*~*~*~

It was calm, almost peaceful, less than twenty four hours since my first day as a Ninja, here I was laying down on my own mat, my arms bandaged up to keep the swelling down, and nothing to do. Just a day before I would have thought that by now I would be off on some kind of awesome mission involving danger, death, and amazing action. My eyes focused in on that stupid weight, which belonged to the most annoying sensei on the face of the planet. “Hiro-nii!” Hikari called out, walking into the room with a plate full of eggs, sitting it down next to me, as she sat down. Sticking a fist full of it into my mouth. “You have to rest your arms so that you can be a great ninja tomorrow.”

I cocked an eyebrow at her, chewing down on the undercooked eggs. “Great Ninja? Lettme guess, you want to be a ninja now?” I asked, her choices of careers seemed to change as easily as the weather.

“Maybe…” She replied sheepishly as I moved a bandaged arm toward the weights. I had to do my morning warm ups to stay in shape. “No Hiro-nii, remember what the doctor said? You have to let your muscles relax and heal.” She screamed, running between my aching arm and the weights.

I could only groan, moving to a sitting up position causing the eggs to fall over. “Let me make a deal with you.” I winced, pulling myself to my feet and staggering forward, trying to work my sore arms ever so slowly. “I will teach you secret ninja techniques, and you do not bug me tonight.” I offered.

The next few hours were spent trying to teach her how to access her own Chakara, all the while I kept thinking about how much I needed to do, I needed to thank Shiro, I needed to pick up food from the store, and I needed to exercise. The worst part of it was that I couldn’t do any of those things with out teaching a eight year old how a technique or two. “Now time to teach you a basic skill, it’s called Henge no Jutsu.” I closed my eyes, concentrating on the image of my adopted sister in my head. With a quick clasp of my hands, I could feel the sickening feeling of my Chakara stir. I hated using my Chakara.

“Oh WOW! You look like me!” She exclaimed rushing forward and flicking my arm.

“Ow.. yeah I’m you.” I winced rubbing the sore shoulder. She grinned from ear to ear and then made the same motion with her hands. “Okay first concentrate on that funny feeling in your stomach, and keep pushing it out all around you while you think of a person. Think of that person from all angles, every part of that person.” I explained.

A puff of smoke quickly expanded around her before dispersing. My eyes expanded wide in shock, there I was, I as in the Hiro boy me, except wearing a short skirt and a tight little pink top. “I guess I kind of screwed up on the clothes.” She rubbed the back of her head like a little kid who had just screwed up.

“New outfit Hiro?” Kazuki Sensei stood at the window. Next to me I could hear Hikari take in a large breath in fear. I wondered for a second if he could see through the Hange no Jutsu. “Or do you have a habit of changing into little girls.” He glared stepping forward, his eyes locked right on me.

“I-I-I was teaching her how to use Henge no Jutsu.” I explained in a squeaky eight-year-old voice. He could only smirk back, bending down and picking up the weight off the floor. “I was going to return that.” I quickly spoke up.

“It’s nice to meet you Sensei, my name is Hikari, Hikari Iokawa.” She.. rather she in my body stepped forward with a bow. He took a passing glance at her before moving toward the window. “I hope to be a ninja some day like my brother.” She continued.

He glanced over at her again and then back at me. “Be ready for our first mission tomorrow, and you better be male and eleven when you get there.” He spoke, and then with one swift movement leapt out of the house and into the busy streets down below. Hikari dropped to her knees, a puff of smoke changing her back. I quickly undid the Jutsu and walked up next to her, placing a hand on her small shoulder.

“Maybe I can take you around and show you some other ninjas.” I offered.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inakamo Yakusha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[ Naruto's Daily Life – Original Soundtrack I ]

The training went down well, but so did the food. While Inakamo was not as big a food fanatic as Naruto, he did enjoy Chiyoko's cooking especially. He helped himself to a big serving of rice with fish wrapped in seaweed. Naruto didn't seem too impressed with his choice of food, but Inakamo laughed at him.
"Uncultured brat...this is simple, tasty, healthy and gives me the energy I need to perform my tricks!"
Naruto humphed at him and carried on devouring his ramen. He then turned back to Inakamo and asked,
"Do you still keep that goofy mask on while you eat? Doesn't that make it hard?"
Inakamo stopped eating and looked at Naruto. The atmosphere became cold all of a sudden. While Naruto didn't realise it, Chiyoko and Onitoge noticed that nothing really stopped Inakamo so suddenly. Inakamo frowned and said,
"I never take this mask off. No questions."
Naruto blinked and continued eating, mumbling through his food to himself,
"I still think it's goofy."
Chiyoko attempted to lighten the atmosphere and offered to cook more food, although only Naruto took up this offer.

Inakamo finished off his food and stood up.
"It is getting pretty late and I've got plans tomorrow," he said. Chiyoko however stopped him by asking,
"Oh please stay Inakamo! Have some tea!"
Onitoge looked at Inakamo and Inakamo could see in his eyes that he wanted him to stay, if only to provide a counter to Naruto. Inakamo smiled and sat down.
"I guess one tea won't hurt."

It, of course, became more than one as Naruto continued to be obnoxious and Inakamo repeatedly gave comebacks, if only to annoy Naruto. It became quite late and Inakamo then decided it was time to go. Onitoge left before him and Naruto decided to leave, having suffered Inakamo's caustic attitude long enough. Inakamo turned to Chiyoko and smiled.
"Thanks for the food - it'll be nice to have a decent chef on those long missions away from home on the team."
She giggled and bowed her head. Inakamo gave a slight bow of his own and decided to leave through the window and straight into the trees.

[ Evening – Original Soundtrack I ]

He landed outside his home. Unlike the other students, he didn't live in the main hub of Konohagakure but with his foster father in the woods outside, as his father worked as a carpenter, and thus was able to cut down his own trees for the wood. His foster father, Rachi, was outside making a fire with the wood chippings from the day's work. He saw that Inakamo still had his headband around his belt and smiled.
"Looks like you're still a ninja then!"
Inakamo smiled.
"Yep! A true Genin!"
Rachi put his hand on Inakamo's head and laughed.
"That's my boy! So who is your sensei then?"
"Hara-Sensei! He seems very...crazy!"
Rachi laughed and commented,
"Sounds like your kind of sensei! Anyway, it's late son, and you look exhausted. Up to bed."
Inakamo nodded and headed upstairs as soon as he got into the house.

He changed into his sleeping clothes, although he kept his mask on. He looked at the kanji that has been imprinted on his right arm since he was an infant - it read Yakusha, which, apart from his birth mother's dying breath, was the only link he had to any sort of recognition. Only he and Rachi have any idea this mark is on his arm, and he keeps his sleeve covering his arm to protect this. He put his head on his pillow and fell into a deep sleep.

His dreams took him seven years into the past, when a travelling circus came to Konohagakure. He remembers the carnival that took place the last night that they were staying distinctly - it was for this reason he has a fixation with carnivals, noise, bright lights and why he began training to be a ninja in the first place. Many of the perfomers were ninja who retired from military action and now used their jutsu for show. There were ninja from every village, each displaying a fabulous display of seemingly magic powers. Inakamo's bright orange eyes sparkled at these sights. They were not classed as Missing-nin and thus were not tracked down by Hunter-nin as they only used simple jutsu that looked impressive but were in fact relatively harmless, plus they usually consisted of ninja who were of no value to their villages anyway. As such, they wore clay masks to hide their identities, so no one could tell what village they were from anyway.

There was one more reason why he remembered this event. In fact, the carnival was only half the reason why he was who he is today.

The morning after, Inakamo snuck out of the house early to grab a quick swim in the river in the woods outside his house. He was enjoying himself, splashing around trying to catch fish and scaring ducks when he heard a voice.
"Rats, I was hoping if I got here early enough I'd be able to sneak a quick bath, but some kid beat me to it."
Inakamo turned around and saw a man was standing there. He was no local, that was for sure. Inakamo swam up to him and saw he had a clown mask on his belt.
"Hey mister! I saw you in the carnival yesterday!"
The man smirked.
"My, you're perceptive for a little squirt!" he commented. He turned to go when Inakamo asked,
"Oh come on mister! Show me a trick!"
The man stopped.
"Trick? I perform feats, not tricks!" and with that he turned around and launched a carnival ball at Inakamo, forcing him to dive back into the water. The man laughed and when Inakamo surfaced, he commented,
"You've got pretty good eyes to perform such a quick dodge. You a ninja?"
Inakamo got out of the water and quickly got changed to cover his arm. He shook his head.
"I guess you're training to be though, right?"
Inakamo nodded.
"My foster father just got me into the academy, although I'm not any good yet."
The man recalled his carnival ball and began spinning it around his head with his chakra strings.
"So I bet you couldn't do that, huh?"
Inakamo didn't really hear him; he was too in awe at this fabulous toy. The man was clearly enjoying showing off.
"Here, let me show you how to control the carnival ball."
Inakamo's eyes lit up as he heard this tempting offer. He was, however, skeptical, especially as he didn't have great chakra control, let alone be able to perform a jutsu.
"I don't have the chakra control Mister. It won't work."
The man nodded.
"Listen - this is more than a toy; it's a great ninja weapon, and the Chakra Strings Jutsu needed to use it properly is a great test of chakra control. Practice everyday and you'll be a fantastic ninja in no time."
Inakamo was giddy with excitement.

The man taught him the hand signs and the basics of it and then handed over the scroll for the ball.
"Keep this one as a souvenir - I got plenty more."
Inakamo was holding onto the ball like his life depending on it - it was the best gift ever! He was having a hard time holding on it, seeing as it was pretty much as big as he was. The man chuckled and then said,
"Oh yeah, that ball can be modified. Some of my other balls have booby traps and explosives in them, but that's my practice ball - all it has is a secret compartment."
The man told him the password and then as Inakamo began to inspect the ball once more, he looked up and the man had simply vanished.

[ Nine Tail Demon Fox – Original Soundtrack I ]

Inakamo completely forgot about his swim and instead began practicing the Chakra Strings Jutsu. Soon, his chakra was depleted and he had barely managed to the basics of it. Finished for the day, he went to collect the carnival ball when he decided to try out the secret compartment to put his wet towel in. As he did open it, he found that there was half a clown mask inside. He picked it up and immediately put it over the right side of his face. It was then that his right eye began to burn violently, along with the mark on his right arm. He took his hand away but the mask was stuck to his face. He took off his shirt and submerged his body into the water. As he took his head out, the burning getting worse, he looked at his reflection and saw that not only was the kanji on his arm glowing red, but a new symbol on the mask, not visible before was now glowing red too, reading 'Inashi'. Although the pain was unbearable, he could feel his chakra reserves filling up afresh.

He grabbed the mask and began forcefully pulling it from his face, eventually having to tap into his new chakra to give him the strength to rip it away. As he did, a torrent of blood shot out from the area around his eye into the river, and as it did, it evaporated as it hit the water. He sat gasping at the side of the river, and saw that the same symbol 'Inashi' had now been burned onto his face. The pain quickly subsided and he put the mask back on to see what would happen - nothing. The symbol that had appeared on the mask had also gone. He decided to keep the mask on to hide his scar from others and he made a beeline for home.

Inakamo woke up - it was only three in the morning, but dreaming about the event had made his marks start burning again, although not as bad as the first time he first acquired the mark. He went to the bathroom and grabbed a drink of water. He looked in the mirror and took off the mask, revealing the mark. It was darker and fainter than it was when it was first burned onto his face. However, the same thing that happens whenever he takes off the mask began to occur - it began to glow and burn, his chakra began to feel energised and, most disturbingly of all, he could hear whispers and the screams of a woman and the maniacal laugh of a man in his head. He quickly replaced the mask, which seems to numb this effect. He sighed and went back to bed, hoping he had had enough nightmares for one night.

[Asilynne]

Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~

Onitoge had slept well. Many nights he tossed and turned in his sleep but last night had been unusually restful. It was a new day, his body felt refreshed, and for the first time in a long time there was absolutely nothing he had to do today. It'd been a while since he could just do whatever he wanted. Which, of course, was a problem for Onitoge because he didn't know what he wanted.

He started the days by snagging some leftover ramen from the fridge. He used a minor fire jutsu to heat it up and then plopped down on the small couch before consuming his food and three swift bites. It wasn't a very large portion and after Chiyoko's cooking wasn't very tasty either.

Next he had to decide what to do today. Obviously there would be training! It was really nice training with his team so he thought he might like to do that again. Besides, it would be beneficial to further get them ready for whatever missions lay in store for them. He didn't want to pressure them or interfere with whatever plans they had for today, though. Maybe save that for midafternoon or so then.

In a flash Onitoge was showered, dressed, and out the door. First order of business was inviting Chiyoko and Inakamo to train again. It was before dawn so he was fairly certain neither of them were up yet. He first went to Chiyoko's because it was closer. He hand wrote a little note 'I was thinking maybe we could train again as a team if ya know you wanted to or something at the same spot I showed you yesterday at around 3:30 maybe so i'll be there if maybe you wanted to join me. Have a pleasant day. -Onitoge' before closing his eyes and producing one of his ivory kunai from under his cloak. He tied the note around the kunai and launched it through her open window to stick quietly out from the tabletop they had eaten at last night. He was sure she'd see it before going anywhere.

It took him a short bit to get to Inakamo's. Once there the sun was just starting to rise on the horizon. He wrote another note identical to the one he did for Chiyoko and repeated the process of tieing it to a kunai and launching it through an open window. This one hit the fridge door because he wasn't sure where else he could put it that Inakamo would see.

His invitations having been sent, he had the daunting task of figuring out what else to do today. It was many, many hours before the time of his invitation. Ultimately he narrowed it down to three options. Speak with Hara-sensei about his concerns, train with Kakashi-sensei if he wasn't busy with his new team (Naruto was certainly a handful that might require a lot of his time), or play some shogi with Shikamaru. He couldn't really decide what he wanted to do more. His solution, randomly look for all three and whomever he found first would hopefully provide the answer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okami Chiyoko
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


[Sakura Season - Naruto OST III]

Chiyoko’s eyes slowly opened and blinked a few times, as she stared up at the ceiling. A few rays of sunshine spilled into her room from the window, notifying her that it was time to get ready for the day. Almost instantly, Chiyoko sat up and rubbed her eyes while releasing a small yawn.
Getting to her feet, soon Chiyoko was dressed in her usual attire and had whipped herself up a small breakfast. Just as she knelt down about to eat, she heard a knock on the door. Confusion settled in her mind as she headed towards the door and opened it. There, standing in front of her… once again, was Naruto. Chiyoko instantly smiled and laughed openly, shaking her head at the blonde-haired Genin.
“Are you just going to eat with me every time I cook in here?” She asked, as Naruto smiled brightly.
“Well… it is handy that we live in the same complex!” He boasted, looking over and seeing Chiyoko’s food on the table.
“You certainly aren’t modest…” Chiyoko said with a giggle, motioning him in and shutting the door. “But that’s okay, modesty is good in some places but not here!” She said with a cheer, instantly grabbing a bowl and handing it to Naruto. Chopsticks soon followed, and the two of them began to eat.
“How is your team?” Naruto asked, tilting his head to the side.
“My team is wonderful. I believe we’ll all get along really well…” Chiyoko said, blushing a bit with the thought of how wonderful the day had been yesterday. Absently, she began to wonder what they were going to do upon this day-
“Hey, someone threw a kunai!” Naruto said, grabbing the kunai with the note attached. Grabbing it from Naruto, Chiyoko opened up the letter and read Onitoge’s note. She then smiled and placed it upon the table.
“That was just a note from Onitoge-chan… asking to train later today.” She said before taking a bite, as Naruto nodded.
“Do you think that maybe we could train sometime!? Sasuke and Sakura don’t… well, they aren’t as nice to train with some times.” Naruto said, his voice lowering for a minute as Chiyoko nodded. She felt bad for Naruto a bit- so many of the other students seemed to treat him as if he were an idiot or an outcast. Chiyoko really didn’t understand why at all.
“Sure! Perhaps when I have a break from a mission!”
“Okay!” Naruto enthusiastically replied and the two of them soon after finished breakfast. Waving goodbye to Naruto, Chiyoko stood outside her doorway.

“So… I have early afternoon to do whatever I’d like.” Chiyoko thought for a moment, glancing about the area. She could do several things… such as collect some cooking ingredients, try to talk with others to improve friendly relations or she could simply explore in the village. Yet, a burning sensation suddenly cracked through her mind to give Chiyoko and idea.

“I could train a bit…” Chiyoko thought, figuring some solitude time wouldn’t be a bad idea. She swiftly went into the forest near her home and found a nice clearing in the shadows. Sitting down, she sat her bag of things a ways from herself and folded her legs beneath her. Letting her hands fall down upon her legs, she closed her eyes and began to meditate. She had no idea how she came upon to realize the weird oddity within herself- some sort of power that she could draw upon. She figured she was tapping into a deeper part of her chakra- like chakra control, except she worked on releasing and harnessing the chakra. Or in her training cases, just feeling and acknowledging its existence. It took a great deal of concentration… but that was something she was good at.
“Okami, Chiyoko… eh?” The unknown Ninja had said, staring down at her with a smirk upon his face. “You seem to have a natural talent for figuring out several different types of Ninjutsu… how odd…” he trailed off. “I figured you would only have specialized in that other type…”

Those words came back to Chiyoko like a haunting message. She realized now that the familiar figure back in the Academy- Yukiso, Kakashi Yukiso was the man she had met the day before who said that to her. She wondered what he meant…that other type.

Chiyoko continued to concentrate, until she suddenly felt a rush of a wave wash over her. Opening her eyes, she felt as if her back was on fire. Her arms were covered in a green-tainted chakra, causing Chiyoko to let out a yelp of surprise. As soon as she did that, her concentration was broken and the chakra slowly vanished. She had seen that chakra once before… but never with so much intensity.

“I must be improving!” She said with glee, standing up shakily. She outstretched her hand upon a tree for support, grabbing her bag and slinging it around her shoulder. Blinking for a few moments, Chiyoko glanced about the clearance- feeling as if something had been watching her. However, she shrugged it off and soon went off to the river.

She had been meditating for quite some time, and she was quite hungry after releasing such a thing. Using her water jutsu, Chiyoko began forming small blobs of water around fish that she concentrated upon… causing them to rise upwards from the river and hold steady- just in time for Chiyoko to spear them with a small eating stick. After gathering a bunch of fish, Chiyoko dashed between her house and a nice clearing area along side one of the roads. Soon she had her grill out with several tons of ingredients… and she began to cook madly. It was a great way for her to relax- and the contest between Takumi had revived her spirits.

“I will be better than him!” She thought gleefully, as a few wondrous smells of fish and other tasty foods entered the air. In no time however, soon Neji, Raizen and Tenten showed up. They looked roughed up a bit- as if they had been training. Chiyoko then looked down at how much she cooked and realized that she had cooked way too much.

“I can’t eat all of this…” She thought sheepishly, looking to the three Genin. They happily agreed to help her finish it down, and soon most of the food was gone. The three left, leaving Chiyoko to see that there was still a lot of food left.

“Aiii! I can’t waste food!” Chiyoko said, realizing the time was drawing near to train with Inakamo and Onitoge. However, just as she said that it seemed that two Ninja appeared in a poof of smoke.

[Rock Lee's Theme - Naruto OST III]
“Ah… such youthful exuberance!” A loud, boisterous voice rang out. Blinking for a few moments, Chiyoko saw Gai and Rock Lee, standing before her in dramatic poses. Gai stood in the background as Lee and him posed in dramatic, mirroring stances. Both of them smiled brightly at Chiyoko, as Rock Lee stepped forward and very animatedly spoke.
“We have been training hard all day!” Rock Lee proclaimed, “We are extremely hungry and will gladly eat this food for you!” He continued, giving Chiyoko a thumbs up as his grin seemed to gleam perfectly in the light. Chiyoko opened her mouth to speak, but Gai interupted.
“With harsh training comes a good appetite!” Gai exclaimed, which seemed to get Rock Lee pumped up.
“Of course Gai-sensei!” Rock Lee pumped his fists into the air.
Chiyoko laughed out loud at the two in a cheerful manner, pointing at the food.
“Please help yourselves!”
“Thank you Chiyoko-chan!” Rock Lee exclaimed, as the two dug in.

I really do love it here in Konoha… there is something different about the people’s smiles here then back at home. Chiyoko thought, leaning on the table against her hand as she watched to two Taijutsu Ninja eat as if they hadn’t ever seen food before.

Everything was put back after the eating buffet in the afternoon, and Chiyoko wiped her forehead as she placed the dishes back in her sink. Looking outside, she realized it was time and she playfully leapt out her window. Swiftly running, she soon came to the spot that the three of her teammates were supposed to meet. She saw that Inakamo and Onitoge were already there.
“Gomen! I had to carry some supplies back to my room…” She explained, reaching them and giving them a bright smile. “I’m excited to train with you two again today!”
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Selekis Restun - The Silent One
---------------------------------------------
Selekis sat quietly at the table, taking small bites out of his breakfast. His 'father', sat across him, not even looking up at his adopted son. Selekis shot a small glare in his direction before continueing to eat. They barely acknowledge their presence. They try to have as little contact with him as possible.

They didn't trust him. They were afraid of him. Everyone was. To them, he was nothing but a lost demon child found wandering around outside the village.

He had grown to despise these people for it. He often wondered if he may have been better off still wandering around in the unknown.

He quietly pushed his bowl away, a gesture for "I'm done". His 'parents barely looked up, siply nodded a he rose from the table and left the room. He mentally cursed this village.

--------------~*~--------------

The white haired boy sat on an old stump just outside the village. His eyes ocused on the text in his hand. It was a standard textbook on Genjutsu, Selekis' specialty. He was never one for fighting, instead letting his illusions confuse and mentally cripple his enemies and using superior tactics instead of brute force.

His ears perked up when he heard voices coming from the bushes behind him.

"Is that him?"

"Yeah."

"He's a bit scrawnier then I expected."

"Let's not do this ok. You heard of what he can do."

"He doesn't look so tough."

"Look at his eyes! Those aren't normal!"

Selekis turned, glaring as three boys stepped out of the bushes. One looked afraid while the other two showed a bit of arrogence.

"So, you're the famous devil kid huh?" the first one said sarcastically. Selekis' eyes narrowed.

"You don't look so tough," the second said as the first two strolled up to him. The third wisely kept his distance.

"You look like a little girl to me," the first laughed. Selekis glared as he pulled his notepad out and scribbled something down. He handed it to the first boy.

Leave. Me. Alone.

The boy just laughed.

"O'h, I'm sorry," he mocked, "I can't seem to read. What did you want us to do?"

Selekis snarled. These idiots just weren't going to leave.

"Aww, look we're making him angry," the second laughed.

"Seriously guys," the third spoke up, "let's just go. What if he calls out that, that demon. The first two just laughed.

"Go ahead demon boy. Sic you're little demon on us!"

Selekis' glare harshened as the area seemed to go a bit darker. They wanted a demon, they were going to get one. The boy stopped laughing when an omnious growl filled the air. The began to back away as a large, dark form began to appear behind Selekis.

A loud, inhuman roar echoed throughout the area, followed briefly by three horrorfied shrieks of terror.

A few moments later and Selekis was sitting alone, calmly reading his book as if nothing happened.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inakamo Yakusha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[ I Said I'm Naruto - Naruto OST I ]

Inakamo slept in longer than usual due to his awakening in the middle of the night. He finally awoke around 10 in the morning. He walked downstairs and saw a note on the table. He picked it up and it read,

Son,

I've gone out to cut some more wood. This note came for you. See you later.

-Dad

He nodded and read the note, which told him about a prospective training session later in the day. He made a mental note to remember to go and he grabbed a quick bite of leftover ramen before heading out to the river to do some personal training of his own.

It was well known that Inakamo's main method in battle was his Carnival Ball plus his other tools. However, Iruka-sensei had told him something very important in the weeks preceding his graduation. His words echoed in his head,
Inakamo, you are a talented ninja, and your unique use of your ninja tools, while somewhat bizarre, have proven to be effective in your practice sessions. But bear this in mind - no ninja has ever been successful relying on just one jutsu, and in your case if your ball is rendered out of action, you're a sitting duck. Your reliance on ninja tools in battle is a huge weakness and you are no taijutsu or genjutsu specialist. Try at least improving your repertoire of ninjutsu. It could save your life one day.

He had, in fact, been experimenting with Earth-style jutsu, for which he had an unexplainable attraction to and an equally unexplainable adeptness for. It had been a few weeks but he had finally got the basics of one he had never shown anyone before.
"Earth-style! Ground Hunter Jutsu!"
He thrust his left hand into the ground and it shot down into the ground. He then looked around and saw a small stone near the river. He concentrated and his hand shot up by the stone. He smiled and grabbed the stone, then skimmed it across the river. He pulled his hand from the ground. He looked at his hand and nodded.
"This jutsu gives me a good element of surprise."
He began thinking as he let his chakra restore to him. He wasn't built for close combat, instead specialising in long range attacks, and the ability to throw one's fists across the ground indeed would become a useful ability, especially if combined with an aerial assault in the form of his Carnival Ball. In fact, that gave him an idea.

He set up a scarecrow he used for training and summoned his Carnival Ball. He plunged his left hand into the ground again and performed the Burrowing Jutsu, allowing his hand to resurface and grab the scarecrow. Now the tough part - he utilised the Chakra strings in his right hand and launched his Carnival Ball at the scarecrow at full speed.

An explosion of straw flew into the air as the Carnival Ball ripped through the scarecrow, leaving only the stick it was wrapped around held tightly in his hand. He pulled his hand down and when he brought his hand out of the hole, the stick was still in his hand. He spun the stick in his hand a few times before throwing it into the air and using his chakra strings lodging it into a tree.

He ended his practice to go join Onitoge and Chiyoko at the training clearing. He'd be sure to show them his now honed jutsu.
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Masato
~~~~~~~~

Before Masato could do anything the wall of water above them all came crashing down, drenching everything except for the kunai in their hands. Despair seemed to settle in the back of Masato’s mind as he came to the conclusion that perhaps the exercise itself was pointless. Just as he was about to see if there were any other great ideas from Raizen, Ushi suddenly exploded in front of them. At first Masato thought that this might have been an attempt at a substation jutsu but after realizing that it was now raining Ushi parts, it became frighteningly apartment that something was going terribly wrong. He just stared at Raizen who seemed to be flabbergasted at the moment, while stared at the scattered pieces of his former comrade he began to mumble a string of words un-becoming of a ninja.

After a few seconds Yukiso appeared with a very much alive Ushi on top of his shoulders. Masato felt a little weak at seeing the two together which in a few minutes was about to turn into blood filled rage but was calmed when Ushi spoke: “I EXPLODED.”
“Sorry about that…well not really…but the look on your faces….” Masato seemed to drift off as he realized that what he saw was an illusion again, Genjutsu had allowed him to be fooled again into believe a false reality. If he was ever going to hope to be a powerful enough ninja to avenge his parents he was going to have to learn to break free of such a powerful jutsu. He was brought back by hearing an audible twitch and saw Ushi move closer towards Raizen. “What is it with those two?” Masato asked as a wave of embarrassment seemed to hit him when looking at his two eccentric teammates.

“Anyways, you failed in washing your kunai, luckily for you that wasn’t the real test anyway The test was to see if you could form into a team and rely on each other for your tasks. One of the most important things in being a Ninja is relying on your teammates. They come first and you have to work with them if you want to get any mission done. So you pass.<Musical montage: Naruto OST: Victory> Good job!” Yukiso immediately gave them a thumb up, his eye seeming gleam as the sun hit it as his eye gleamed. A sigh of relief washed over Masato as Yukiso continued “…Masato your hard work and out-of-the-box thinking will come in handy…Until then, you have the rest of the day off.” With the large expanse of time during the entire mission Masato soon asked:
“Umm… but hasn’t like… weeks passed? Or was that an illusion too?” As if expecting the obvious to hit him from the sky, Yukiso gave another thumb up. “Yep, illusion. Really only a half an hour went by.” Masato groaned more out loud then he intended and as he watched Raizen groan as well, Ushi just seemed to become a giggle fest for some unknown reason, and with that their sensei disappeared into a cloud of thick smoke.

Looking around everyone seemed to be going their separate ways from the forest clearing, Ushi playfully trailing off with Raizen, giving an exhausted “Goodbye,” as they headed back into town. Masato decided to wait around in the forest for a little while, ringing out his clothes and then moving a little bit deeper into the other side of the forest, keeping as far away from the river as possible for the time being. <Musical montage: Naruto OST: Morning> There he found his usual spot for his after hour exercises. Considering that in reality his first mission had only been half an hour, he physically still had a little left in him to exercise a little bit into his program. He started out with a hundred push ups, seventy five sit ups and eighty jumping jacks. After chasing a nearby squirrel for his speed training, Masato started his agility training by leaping onto a nearby branch and then another as he tried practicing his in air catches. After a few minutes he stopped, feeling a little bit disorientated he started his last bit of training. With the silence of the woods around him Masato sat quietly, slowly trying to slow the steady rhythm of his heart. Feeling as one with the woods he could feel the sun on top of him, the wind blow through his hair and the ground stay steady beneath him. And that was when Masato’s stomach broke him from his meditation. Realizing that he had skipped lunch, he decided that training was over for now.

<Music: Afternoon of Konoha>

Walking into a nearby convince store Masato bought some Onigiri and tea and headed for the nearest rooftop and enjoyed watching the people move from building to building. He was almost scared there, afraid he might not have passed his mission, for everything about it seemed far out of his league, if it hadn’t been for Ushi and Raizen there would have been no way for Masato to find a way to break free of the Genjutsu and was glad that he was part of their team. As he took a final sip of his tea, Masato was struck on the head with a broom.

<Music: It’s the training!>

“You lousy no good ninja students and your constantly boinging from roof top to roof top! This isn’t a forest, I actually live underneath where you’ve been sitting, I was trying to take an afternoon nap when I heard something land on my roof, now stay off my roof!” and with that the old woman swung the broom at Masato again who ducked just in time as he quickly apologized and landed back onto the street below and began his walk back home.

“Well today was an interesting day, tomorrow since I have the day off I think I might want to ask Saruwatari sensei if he can help me hone my Taijutsu skills…” The moment he uttered that out loud Masato shivered…as if some unseen force was about to make him regret even thinking about that…
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shodou Kukai/Team 14/F
45. ??????*
--------------------

Like the proverbial Ominous Wind of Doom, Shodou Kukai drifted into the threshold of the family shophouse. Hakuin, an overly enthusiastic part-timer whom Kukai wished was her brother so there would be no succession issue to worry about, was minding shop; her mother and grandmother were probably at the back. He saluted Kukai vigorously as she slouched past the counter towards the narrow set of stairs crouched comfortably in the far corner of the room. She'd parted ways with Haru at the garden, since he'd declined her offer of walking home together - she didn't mind, the boy was growing a visible backbone.

Usually, Kukai liked sunny afternoons. Lunch had been free, too. She'd gotten hold of some good gossip. And official ninjahood had to count for something.

Positive thinking wasn't working.

Maybe it was PMS.

She was going to have a bath. And a good long think.

*

Shodou Ryokan, who adhered strictly to the nine-to-five office hours rule at the Hokage's office and was, indeed, one of its firmest advocates, shuffled into the doorway of the shophouse at a quarter past five. He noted that someone was in the bathroom, figured that they'd be out in at the most thirty minutes and began drawing idly on a spare scrap of rice paper.

A veritable masterpiece later (he'd managed to render the entire skyscape of Konohagakure in a most fetching scrawl of epic proportions, each window, lamppost and conceivable structure captured in breathtaking photorealism) Ryokan decided it was time enough, and rapped discreetly on the door of the bathroom with the knuckles of his right hand. "Little sister, you're going to turn into a human prune if you don't get out of the bath water within the next hour or so. If you're actually planning to get out, that is."

A muffled voice answered from behind the door. "I can't remember the last time you called me little sister."

Ryokan sighed inwardly, and tugged on a stray strand of auburn hair. "Is it PMS?"

"No. I counted."

"Okay then, boy trouble."

There was a splash, and then nothing. Ah, thought Ryokan. "...You could say that."

"Inuzuka?"

A bubbly, muted sort of thump as the soap hit the door. Ryokan shuddered involuntarily as he thought of his very favourite lily-scented soap bar, maligned in such a brutal way by his sister... he'd be lucky if it hadn't already broken in half... he could smell it, he could feel its pain, the shrieks as the cold, hard tiles battered its fragile, slippery body...

He said, very cautiously: "I take that as a yes."

"I admit that it's trouble, and it IS trouble with a boy, and the boy in question does indeed belong to the Inuzuka family, but it does not involve any kind of puerile, romantic, 'puppy love' relationship and/or crush that you may be implying in that oh-so-smug tone of yours."

"Also, little sister, I could make my point that you are being rather too defensive for it not to be." Ryokan could fight when he wanted to. And he wanted his bathroom time. And his lily-scented soap intact. It was a tough call. "However, I am now deciding to take your word for it, since you are, in general, truthful."

"In normal circumstances, I do not resort to such crude methods of procuring silence from another, but. ...Shut up, Ryokan."

"You know it's almost six?"

"So what if it's almost six?"

"I want to take a bath before Mother and Granny storm the toilet in all their paper-fiber-and-ink-covered glory, and you're in the bathroom, and you're using my best bar of floral soap that I had to save up for a month to buy."

"Oh, fine."

Kukai, wrapped in an outsize towel, was halfway to her room when her brother called out the only useful piece of advice he'd given to her for the past thirteen years.

"There's always tomorrow!" Then a slam, and the sound of running water. And the awful sound of Ryokan singing. Apparently, it was part of a song.

She muttered, "Yeah, and you'd be the best person to talk to about boy trouble," and slammed her own door in response.

*

The following dawn, Kukai woke up with a revelation.

She was going to apologize to Inuzuka Hige. Not because she wanted to start off on the right path to becoming a great ninja, or because she.. liked him (perish the thought!), or because she acknowledged that she did, in fact, possess a washboard for a chest that rendered her unfit for marriage. It would make her feel better and less like that time of the month and it would stave off awkwardness for the next time they met each other, which promised to be soon and often.

Most importantly, it was the right thing to do.

Kukai smiled to herself in the mirror, and maybe it wasn't a very nice smile. Certainly nowhere near the guileless mirth of Ayame-san's.

Well, that was okay.

Kukai didn't think she was a very nice person, anyway.
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Ushi
~~~~

Ushi silently placed his bowl of oatmeal in Chiyoko's sink, ignoring Lee and Gai who, like most people did when he was enjoying his favorite snack, totally failed to notice him. He always needed a good bowl of oatmeal after training…even if he had only been -watching- Raizen and his rather rude brother…he still got hungry. Letting himself out, Ushi strolled down the streets of Konoha, idly wondering where his feet thought they were going. Oh, Ushi thought nearly half and hour later as he gazed up at the broad, tall tree that sat in the middle of one of the ubiquous forests surrounding Konoha, that's where. The tree was ancient, dwarfing most those around it by several feet, its trunk almost three times as wide as Ushi. Its surface was marred with gouges, slices, and various other viscous looking marks. Ushi ran his hands down them, feeling their splintered edges like old friends. Laying his face against the old wood, Ushi let out a contented sigh and closed his eyes.

"It's time to say goodbye old friend."

Ushi supposed that this was a rite of passage of some sort.


Ushi gasped for air, his sword arm hanging limply by his side, barely strong enough to hold his grip around the familiar hilt. Fresh slashes adorned the tree, leaking sap like viscous blood. Stumbling forward, Ushi laid his head against the tree, closing his eyes and giggling to himself.

"You win again friend."

Where had his strength gone? His memories of those years of wandering were fuzzy to say the best, lost somewhere in the fever of his loss and uncertainty, but he remembered a strength that had flowed through him, a strength that had let him survive those years in such a dangerous world. Sometimes he dreamt of himself back then, and when he awoke he would always come to the tree and try to recapture some of his fantasies. Ushi laughed, this time bitterly.

"Keep dreaming..."


"Don't mind if I do!"

Ushi shoved away his flashback, perturbed slightly that it had distracted him such. Though he guessed it would lend some dramatic meaning to his next action. Patting the surface of the old tree fondly, he moved away from it, walking for nearly a minute until, when he turned back, the tree stood nearly a hundred feet away.

"It's time to move on, time to leave behind these uncertainties of the past."

(Cue J-E-N-O-V-A (AC version))

Ushi placed his left hand on the hilt of his katana, gripping it so tightly that even his pale skin whitened noticeably around it. Bending his knees deeply, he slid his right foot ahead of him, settling into a gently balanced stance.

"Uncertainty is why we lose; uncertainty is why we are afraid to try."

Releasing his grip, Ushi continued to hold his hand over his blade, fingers curved and locked. His icy eyes, closed, his breathing relaxed and fell into rhythm, a silence fell around him. Glimmering blue chakra began to dance around Ushi, playing through his hair and twirling through the folds of his clothing. Ever so slowly, the silver of his hair began to overcome the red, lightening the ends of his hair to match the rest.

“It is not enough to speak of your shinobi way, it is not enough to frantically try to prove it to yourself and others that you walk your own path.”

Eyes opened slowly, focusing slowly on the tree. The carefree, almost whimsical smile shifted slightly to one of supreme confidence, one of assurance so defined that it was impossible to mistake for something else. Between attacker and target, the air began to shimmer, like the roofs of Konoha in the heat of the summer sometimes would, the chakra emanating from Ushi moving between the space to float like a field of blue fireflies. Ushi’s legs tensed, his gazed narrowed.

“You have to know it! You have to deny anything that resists it! Mousetsu-tai no Jutsu! Shukuchi!”

It was like watching the youth under a strobe light. Disappearing and appearing between even beat of the heart, the chakra at whatever point he manifested exploding outwards. Between sightings the only indication of Ushi’s presence was the soft dirt and foliage of the forest erupting under unseen footsteps. What was once nearly one hundred feet suddenly was fifty, twenty, ten. Whether Ushi was truly moving that fast or whether the tree had actually moved closer was insignificant to the result. Shouting out his defiance of what was possible, of limits that bound him to an everlasting struggle, Ushi’s hand met his sword. The pure note of the draw rang in the confines of the woods, the silver gleam of the sword highlighted by the filtering light as he slid past the tree. A trail of scattering dirt and brush followed him as he slowly halted his slide, his sword arm held straight behind him, his right hand steadying the sheathe. Sweat veritably poured from his face onto the ground, his breath ragged and labored. Straightening with effort, Ushi listened with internal glee as the sounds of the toppling tree assaulted his ears. Glancing to the right with his eyes, he watched the tree slam into the ground barely five feet away, sending up its own cloud of dirt.

Ushi swung his blade, cleaning it of any debris that had clung to it, and quickly sheathed it. The youth turned to walk away, his back bowed from the fatigue that was wrapping it’s invisible hands around him already. As he made his way back to the village, his voice returned one last time, seeming to speak to the fallen tree behind him.

“I believe, and my belief can change anything. That is my shinobi way.”

Ushi walked away from his fallen foe; that was a doubt that he had no need for anymore. The future’s doubts were more important to him now. He doubted that he would return to this spot again, leaving his departing giggle the only evidence of his presence.

That…..and the big tree that was now in two pieces. Ushi pondered the symbolism for a second before shrugging, it wasn’t important. What was important was finding where Raizen had run off to, his closet was far too cramped for Ushi’s tastes…such restrictions were just not acceptable.

[Outlaw JT]

KURODA, MIHARU
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miharu walked down the streets of Konoha, smiling to people as she did so. The wind seemed to beautifully play with her hair as she closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh day. An entire day and a half of relaxation had been nice… of course, Miharu had spent most of her days tending to her garden and staying in her house. Occasionally she had walked outside in the woods, collecting various herbs and a few rare plants for her to experiment with.
In fact… usually on most nights, strange fogs and various hazes could be seen from Miharu’s house. A few of the Jounin would stop by to have conversations and usually some of her healing tea… which was also a relaxant. But still, her house could have been the ideal key spot to tell tales of spooky things. Having a dark house in the night except for one window that was illuminated in green was often quite ominous.
But, today Miharu was pleasantly surprised to see she had gathered a mission for her team. Sure it wasn’t anything big… such was the life of the Genin. But it was a start, and that was all that mattered.
“Time to notify the team!” She said pleasantly, stopping in the middle of the street. She quickly brought two fingers to her lips and gave a loud whistle, causing a few people to look at her strangely before returning to their duties. However, within a few moments a small falcon-like bird flew down from the sky, landing neatly upon a nearby post. Miharu walked towards the falcon, and from her side pocket she pulled out a scroll. Opening it, she wrote down a message upon it and then re-rolled it up. Making a sign with her hand, the scroll seemed to duplicate itself into a total of three scrolls. Smiling slightly, she gave the scrolls to the falcon.
“Delivery time!” Miharu said happily, tilting her head to the side as the small bird took the scrolls in its talons. Strangely enough… upon touching the scrolls, they seemed to shrink so that the bird could carry all three.
“Shodou Kukai, Kozue Haru and Inuzuka Hige.” Miharu said, and the bird gave a screech as it flapped its wings and took to the sky.

“Mmm… you have a mission today as well, huh?” Miharu turned her head to see a wild-eyed Takumi leaning against the wall of a building. His wolfish gaze could only remind Miharu of Hige… for strangely enough, Takumi did have the Inuzuka look. It was logical though… being he was from the Hara branch.
“Yes, I believe a lot of teams received missions today.” Kuroda said, walking away from Takumi. His eyes seemed to widen at that for a moment, as he quickly walked after her. He reached her side and continued to carry on the conversation.
“I hope my team improves quickly… I rather dislike overseeing such minor missions.” He continued, as Miharu laughed softly.
“yes… but they have to prove themselves before they can carry on such stronger missions.”
“Oh come on Kuroda… you know that this year’s Genin are stronger than a normal year.”
“Do I?... Or rather, do you? We’ve just come back from our travels.”
Takumi grinned at her remark, giving a nod.
“True… but it is what I’ve heard and they do seem impressive. You should see my team- passed the test right off the bat!”
“Same with mine.” Kuroda responded, stopping for a moment as she looked at Takumi with a more stern gaze.
“Is there a reason you are following me to my team’s gathering location?”
Takumi seemed to sweatdrop for a moment, absently scratching behind his head.
“Erm… well in truth, I was hoping that perhaps after today- this evening, we could drink some tea. I heard you have some excellent drinks… perhaps-”
“I’m busy, Hara-chan.” Kuroda said slightly, giving him a teasing gaze.
“But …” Takumi continued, transforming his voice into a more manly tone- well, what he was hoping would be a more convincing tone. “… my dearest Komoku-tenno…” He said in a lower tone, taking his hand and slowly brushing it along her shoulder. “… we used to have such great times when we would go for a nice tea break.”
That was enough to trigger the inner power of Kuroda, as she suddenly took one sweeping motion with her fist. Bringing it around and upwards, she managed to knock Takumi right square in the jaw- sending him flying into a nearby stand. The act was so dramatic and surprising, it was enough to cause the nearby villagers to stare in awe and fear.
“Maybe another time, H-a-r-a-chan!” Kuroda said teasingly, sticking her tongue out at him as she suddenly regained her composure and walked away.

Soon, Miharu was waiting outside amongst the gardens near her home for her team. It wasn’t long until Haru, Hige and Kukai all arrived however. Kuroda sensed some strange energy between Hige and Kukai- as if something had happened before their arrival. Silently Miharu hoped that it wouldn’t cause any problems… but Miharu pushed that thought away.
“Greetings my lovely Team 14. I am happy to announce that we have a mission. Now… before I tell you what it is, let me warn you that our missions are the lowest rank- since you all are new Ninja. So take these missions seriously and with pride in knowing that soon they’ll lead you up to newer and better missions.”
The three nodded, as Kuroda continued.
“So… our mission today is to rescue Ms. Taneko’s cat. She lost the cat… so we are to scout out to find the cat, retrieve it and bring it back to her before the end of today. Doesn’t that sound fun?” Kuroda smiled and clapped her hands together, as the three seemed to sweatdrop and fall down anime-style.

SARUWATARI KAZUKI
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kazuki had muttered to himself as he had walked away from the cross-dressing Hiro and his not-as-disappointing sister. It had been impressive to see that his sister had done a semi-decent transformation technique, but it was not impressive that Hiro couldn’t think of anything better to transform into rather than his sister. Despite being rather cold to his students, he was hoping to improve them far beyond what they had currently shown him. They did show promise, although he would not admit it.
Sitting upon a log, Kazuki waited for his own team to show up. He had sent them messages earlier that day… telling them that they were to have their very first mission. Of course, their mission was basic- help with a Konoha farm that was just out of the village. Nothing there to do other than basic work- but it was perfect for helping train their body. Saruwatari imagined it could help with their chakra control at least, since basic everyday motions could help with chakra control.

Yesterday had proven a bit interesting… for one of Yukiso’s students had approached him. Masato was his name… from Kazuki’s memory, and the boy actually had enough guts to approach Kazuki while he was eating lunch at the river side. Kazuki had ignored the boy for several minutes. The boy was stubborn though… and had simply sat down next to Kazuki, waiting for him to acknowledge his presence.
“What do you want?” Saruwatari had asked, eyeing the boy with a harsh glare. Masato seemed to hesitate with the glare, but he stood firm as he stood up and bowed low.
“Saruwatari-sensei… I heard that you were a Taijutsu specialist and was hoping that you could train me!” He said rather loudly and swiftly, obviously nervous. Kazuki blinked for a moment, before going back to eating- ignoring Masato again. The boy stood there uncomfortably for a few minutes, and finally seemed to sigh and turn away. However, just as the boy had taken quite a few steps… Kazuki stood up and coughed loudly.
“Fine, I’ll train you. Yukiso is talented, but as a Genjutsu master… he can’t help you greatly with Taijutsu like me.” With that, Kazuki gathered up his lunch and grabbed a piece of cloth that he had used as a rather picnic-like mat.
“Here. For your first training, I want you to take this piece of cloth and cut down that tree with it.” Kazuki pointed at a rather large tree across the stream. Masato’s jaw seemed to drop for a second, as Saruwatari smirked and leapt into the air. He landed neatly upon a large boulder and he sat cross-legged.
“What’s wrong? It isn’t that difficult.” Kazuki said with a smirk, grinning lightly.

The next few hours consisted of Masato trying vainly, to cut the tree down with the pathetic piece of cloth with out much luck. After much amusement, Kazuki finally leapt up in front of Masato as he was about to try to strike the tree again.
“Masato… Taijutsu comes from hard work, correct?”
Masato nodded.
“Well then… don’t be an idiot. If you work hard you’ll obtain great speed, strength and the basics of Taijutsu. However… a great Taijutsu ninja does not just rely on hard work… but also his talent. You do have some talent, correct?”
Masato nodded again.
“I hope so. Well then… don’t think of this cloth as a piece of cloth. Think of it as a tool- as something that has its own hidden talent and potential.”
Swiftly, Kazuki grabbed the cloth and it seemed to glow light blue for a second before Kazuki made a striking motion towards the tree. The cloth extended outwards, glowing light blue and surprisingly taking a more flat-shape, as if it was lying on the ground but in the air. As it struck the tree, the cloth sliced right through the tree , causing it to fall backwards.
“Everything around you has potential… you have to learn how to harness it with your own abilities. And you have to stop being an idiot.”
Kazuki threw the piece of cloth back to Masato.
“Once you can cut down a tree, come back to me and then you’ll truly be ready for my training. If you can’t do that, then you’re a waste of my time.”

Kazuki withdrew a breath, still waiting on the log for his team to arrive. When they finally arrived, Kazuki gave them a nod.
“Your on my team now. We have a mission now. There is a farm outside of Konoha that we have duties to perform for them. Don’t take this as an easy mission or you’ll pay for it in any way I deem proper. I want you to perform each task today while concentrating on your chakra.”
Kazuki then grabbed a bag by his feet and shuffled it over his shoulder.
“Let’s go.”

HARA TAKUMI
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hara-sensei rose slowly from the rubble that Kuroda-sensei’s wrath had sent him into. Rubbing his jaw absently, he grinned with a sparkling look in his eye.
“Ah… she hasn’t changed a bit.” He said with a laugh, turning his gaze to see one of Yukiso’s Genin, Raizen, staring at him with a “oro?” look. The one known as Ushi was following him not too far behind… but Raizen didn’t seem to notice. Takumi flashed him a grin and slowly walked away, calling back to Raizen.
“Hey Hyuuga boy, you might want to turn on your Byakugan.”

After a few seconds later, Takumi laughed as he heard a very audible “DAMMIT USHI!” from a distant Raizen. He had liked that Kurama boy, especially after their little training session not to long ago. He had tried to teach the boy one of his more flamboyant Jutsu’s… but the kid seemed unable to master it. Yet, Takumi had the idea that the boy would eventually be able to do it…. Or at least something like it. For an odd reason, Hara-sensei had an idea that Ushi would make any Jutsu a little bit different from what it was originally meant to be. And he liked that. Quirks were an something that Takumi loved in others.

Takumi finally had reached the bench where he had told all of his Team to meet. There was a washed out two on it, as if someone had tried to ruin is perfectly good bench marking. Of course, Takumi had paid Chiyoko, Onitoge and Inakamo each a personal visit to inform them of their mission that day. He had woken Inakamo up, staring over him rather strangely and then informing him of their mission. He had breakfast with Chiyoko and found it to be absolutely delicious. Then he had gone off to the forest to tell Onitoge… but Onitoge was watching wide-eyed as Hatake and Yukiso Kakashi were debating book ideas and then proceeded to have a book contest.
The result was quite amusing. Still, Takumi managed to deliver his message.

“Ah… now I’ll just take a nice nap here until my team arrives.” Takumi said lightly, sitting on the bench and closing his eyes and he took a little nap. He then would inform them of their mission – to go herb searching in the forest for the hospital and the research Nin. It was a beautiful day to do that too…

KAKASHI YUKISO
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, what advancement do you get from reading that book, Hatake?” Yukiso had said, hanging upside down from a tree so that he was dangling above his older brother. Twitching slightly, Hatake glanced up and sighed slightly. Onitoge- Hara-sensei’s student, was reading as well.
“It is very well written and inspiring.” Hatake said in retort, sticking his face back into the book. Yukiso wasn’t finished however, as he extended his arm downwards and poked Hatake in the head. The continued for quite some time… before finally Yukiso reached so far down as to push Hatake’s forehead protector over his right eye.
“Yukiso!” Hatake bellowed, looking upwards angrily as he pushed his forehead protector back up to its usual angle. Onitoge seemed to sweatdrop.
“Inspiring? For what?!” Yukiso laughed, holding his own book, “History at Its Best: The Black Warrior and the Naggas.”
Hatake glared, standing up as Yukiso let himself flip downwards and land before is own brother.
“It is… it just is!” Hatake said, rather flustered. This probably was the first time that Onitoge saw Hatake rather flustered, but Yukiso seemed to be able to draw out that side from his older brother.
Silence settled between the two for a very long and dramatic pause, as rustling leaves seemed to swirl by after a while.

“You read dirty old man books…” Yukiso said flatly, crossing his arms and gazing off to the side. This caused Hatake to glare further, twitching slightly.
“You’re reading history that you already know about.” He retorted.
“You’re reading a book that you’ve read a thousand times.”
“It is a great read!”
“It’s a dirty book! What is so great about it? Does it help you with your fantasies?”
“O-oro? No! I don’t… need help…” He said, coughing slightly though his mask.
“Really? I think you read the books because you dream that you’re the main character in the book, since you can’t seem to get a date yourself.”
“I can too get a date… for your information-”
“You have had plenty of dates… suuure. I remember them, back when I was 13. I’m talking about the past seven years…” Yukiso chimed in, as Hatake seemed to shake infuriated.
“You-you…you haven’t had a date in-”
“- a week? I know! Since I had to come here I wasn’t allowed to maintain my last relationship.”
“You could be lying!”
“I could be, but you wouldn’t know. However… lots of people talk about you around here. Some thing about copyright infringements…”
Hatake sweatdropped, as did Onitoge and Takumi- who was apparently delivering a message to Onitoge.
“Anyways, we should test our skills some time, brother. I haven’t seen you in a long time and I did miss you so much!” Yukiso said overly-cheerful, thrusting himself forward to give Hatake a hug. Hatake’s eyes seemed to bulge out for a moment in slight shock, disgruntlement and a ‘why me’ look of defeat.
Yukiso soon waved goodbye and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Not too long after that, Yukiso was standing in the village of Konoha with his team fully assembled. Masato looked rather disgruntled, an odd piece of clothing protruded from one of his pockets. Yukiso guessed that it was from Kazuki… knowing his old friend’s habits. Raizen came in with Ushi, who almost seemed to be like Raizen’s shadow. Yukiso was pleasaed that his team seemed to be getting along.
“Great, we’re all here. Sorry about the last-minute message… we just received a very important mission just for our team!”
For the first time since Yukiso had met Raizen, he saw the Hyuuga boy actually get an excited look.
“What is it sensei?” He asked, as Masato also seemed to grow eager.
“Well… I managed to fight for this mission, although it was a really difficult one to get my hands on. However… the person who requested this mission was stressing the great importance of it.
The team seemed to be very eager at this point.
“Just tell us already!” Masato said, as Yukiso nodded.
“Alright alright…” He said, holding up his hands. He then reached into his vest’s pocket and pulled out a tightly scrolled piece of paper.
“Your mission… is to get THIS!” Dramatically, Yukiso held out an advertisement of a new book- “Advanced Particle Physics: What ScienceNins Won’t Tell You.” Raizen seemed confused as he reached into his pocket and pulled out that book.
“But Kakashi-sensei… you loaned that book to me. I have it right here.” Raizen gave the book back to Yukiso, who paused for a moment as if startled.
“Oh… umm… one moment.” Yukiso turned around, and scribbled something down on the paper. He then whirled around dramatically. “Yes… umm… what I meant to say was, your mission is THIS!” The piece of paper now said, “Advanced Particle Physics: What ScienceNins Won’t Tell You- Volume 2.”
All three Genin seemed to fall down anime-style.

“Are you serious…?” Masato asked, as Ushi giggled for some apparent reason.
“Yeah… I mean, are we just doing this for you?” Raizen asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Well… you see… I sort of got tied up trying to set up Kazuki in a Genjutsu this morning… and lost track of time. So… well… there weren’t any missions left. But that’s okay! I made a mission for you and submitted one myself… for myself- or rather, my own team!”
All three Genin sweatdropped at that moment.
“So… go get this book!” Yukiso said dramatically, throwing the paper at Raizen as he gave them all a brilliant thumbs up.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inuzuka Hige
~Turnabout Jam~


On any other day, I would probably still be jumping for joy through the trees and howling my praises to the world. I mean I was a Genin (okay, a Genin again but this time permenently). Kukai's words had caught me off guard, especially in light of our recent success at working as a a team. The particular event she alluded to, or the "Washboard Incident" still burned fresh in my mind. I hadn't been able to go near a body of water for months after that.

Sighing to myself I could feel Ginmaru's puzzlement and worry. He was oblivious to what had happened, having been absent at the time due to his biannual medical exam with Hana. I gave my partner a small grin as I scratched his head, setting his tail a wagging. No need to worry him about something in the past that. As we sat together on the balcony of my room, my ears once again twitched at a very familiar sound.

"YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" From out of the trees burst Kiba and Akamaru landing perfectly on deck next to me. My cousin was grinning from ear to ear. "Heya Hige, home already?"

"Yea. I take it you passed your 'final' test?"

"Yep! With flying colors of course!" He smirked at me and Ginmaru. "You ain't home early cause you failed are ya?"

"No, it's nothin' like dat."

"Oh, I see. Got into a big fight with the Missus huh?"

I gave him a hot glare. "How many times do I have to say it? There's nothin' goin' on 'tween me and Kukai!"

"Yea yea Romeo, whatever." He and Akamaru shared a knowing look as I shook my head. "Hey how about we practice?"

"Practice?"

"Yea, ya know ta celebrate and get yer mind off your girl-"

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" As angry as I was at Kiba, I had to admit that a nice practice session would probably help me feel better. "Still, that does sound like a good idea. I'll meet you in the regular place?"

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

"Ready?"

"Ready. On three. One...two..."

I flourished the pair of drumsticks in hand before bringing them down on the cymbals, tapping out the time before moving on to the beat. They danced a top the drums in rhythmic falls and set the stage for the other instruments to build upon. Drumming was all about keeping a steady beat as the others wove the melody around it, keeping it in time and signaling a change in tone.

Next to me, Kiba strummed along the guitar's strings before breaking into a short riff. His fingers, calloused not only from use, slid along its contours with the ease of a seasoned musician. Gin and Akamaru sat nearby, their heads bobbing somewhat to the music as we passed the time playing.

Growing up together, it was inevitable for us to favor many of the same things. Among them was like for rock music and one day we'd gotten into our heads to attempt to become rockers. Years of rainy day practice sessions would follow and though our dreams of being rock stars had died, we still had a bit of passion for the music. We often held this impromptu sessions when we had nothing better to do or to get our minds off things. We might not be the best, but I like to think we were competent.

The sound of clapping as we winded down made me look up in surprise to see Oyaji. He was built just as broadly as I was, but his narrow frame made him seem lankier than he actually was his. His hair once as black as his sister's was now streaked in grey, but his slitted eyes still shone with the same wild light as the rest of the clan. Repositiong his crutch, he hobbled over to us grinning.

"You two are getting pretty good at that." He stopped next to me as he lay a hand on my shoulder. "So how was your first day as Genin?"

"Well, if you believe our Jounin sensei, we were only Genin for a few hours." I grimaced slightly as the memory of my celebration returned.

"They still administering those secret tests huh?" The old man chuckled slapping me on the back. "Don't worry about it. No Inuzuka has ever failed one of those exams!"

"Our teams were also finalized. Kiba's in Team 8 with Aburame-san and Hyuuga-chan under Kurenai-sensei. I'm in Team 14 with-"

"His wife and that quiet kid whose always scribbling in that book of his. 'tch almost as bad as that Selkis-yatsu."

"OI! How many times do I have to tell you!?"

"Calm down Hige, I'm sure your cousin didn't mean anything by it." My father placed a reasurring hand on my head.

"Yea, but I don't think we'll be getting along very well..."

"Well you have to remember Hige, your teammates are going to be the only thing you can rely on during your missions." He grinned at me. "Even if you can't stand either of them. I remember my first team, I was always butting heads with this one bastard."

"What happened?"

"Well after nearly getting each other killed because of our arguing we both agreed that it was better to put aside our differences and work together." His smiled turned slightly sad. "He became one of my best friends. If it wasn't for..."

He trailed off looking down at his leg. I did as well. It was the injury that had cost my father his career as a shinobi, leaving him a crippled man. The first year had been crushing for my father, for the entire clan. He had been one of the foremost Jounin before his injury. I had to make up for what he could no longer do. I gave him a faint smile.

"Don't worry Oyaji. I'll sort it out."

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

The next morning I stood outside of the Shodou Clan shop. Ginmaru was laid out by my feet, a bit angry at me for interupting his sleep for what he considered a petty reason. But Oyaji was right. I didn't want this hanging over my head. We were going to be a team, whether I liked it or not and that meant we had to at least be on speaking terms.

The bell above the door rang lightly and I looked up to see Kukai stepping out. She had an unusually determined look on her face and it just grew moreso as she looked at me. It was actually just a little scary. Swallowing past the lump forming in my throat, I opened my mouth to speak, "I-"

"Gomen nasai."

I blinked.

"Na-na-"

"I was out of line yesterday. I had no right to bring back such an obviously traumatic memory especially in light of our recent success as a team. I realize now that such an action may turn our relationship sour and impede any teamwork. I apologize for any 'damper' I may have placed upon your celebrations and hope that you can accept it."

I blinked again.

A bird winged its way above us and two scrolls fell from the sky. We caught them deftly and unrolled them. It was another message from Miharu-sensei, this time asking us to meet her back at her home for our first mission. Kukai rolled hers up and immediately set off down the street. She stopped after a few feet and turned to look at me. "Are you coming Inuzuka Hige-san?"

"I..Uh...Yea..." I looked down at Ginmaru, who only shrugged and yipped Girls.

Well I guess things were back to normal.

"You think Kuroda-sensei would mind if we got some breakfast first?"

"I do not believe she would hold it against us if we were to have a meal. Perhaps we could even get some free ramen from your little Ayame-san, HIiiiige-kun."

"She's not my little Ayame-san! And stop doing that..."

Yea...things were back to normal.

*Singing* Ashita ga aru sa asu ga aru. Wakai boku ni wa yume ga aru. Itsu ka kitto! Itsu ka kitto! Wakatte kureru darou!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~

Two most productive days in a row. The first of course he had become Genin, passing a test that truthfully he felt he failed but making friends with his new teammates and to a lesser extent Naruto who seemed to show up everytime Chiyoko cooked anything. Not to mention getting to train with Chiyoko and Inakamo as a team. The second, he sent invitations to his team to see if they'd like to train together again before sunrise then wandered around Konoha for an hour before he came across Shikamaru in the park. They played three quick games of Shogi (Onitoge actually made the third one very close even though he was still no match for Shikamaru in this kind of game) until lunchtime when he excused himself. He grabbed a quick bite to eat and then went to his hidden clearing two hours early. He got in some good stretching and warm-up exercises with his cloak off, putting it back on 35 minutes before the time of his invitation. He then sat quietly, eyes closed, meditating until Inakamo made a noisy fanfare of an entrance atop his carnival ball. Onitoge smiled as he opened his eyes, clapping in appreciation of the show. Chiyoko arrived within minutes of that and the three began training together again. It was great experience and great fun training together. They all got a feel for how they each moved and were starting to be able to get a sense for where each other would be without having to turn their heads. Once again training went almost till sunset and they all went to Chiyoko's for dinner. Naruto joined again which seemed to fluster Inakamo a bit. None of them stayed as long the second night, however, because they would be starting missions tomorrow. Or so they had been told.

His third day as a Genin and Onitoge was up extra early. He was showered, dressed, and out the door an hour before sunrise. He had almost forgotten to thank Kakashi-sensei for the book so it was priority one before he had to leave on his mission. It took him 30 dedicated minutes of searching but he found Hatake Kakashi sitting quietly under a tree reading.

"Kakashi-sensei, I wanted to thank you for the book you gave me. I have only finished the first three chapters but it is a most exciting read," he said as he bowed respectfully with a smile.

"You're welcome. I thought you might enjoy it," Kakashi-sensei replied without looking up.

"I was wondering if you would be willing to train me some before ....." Onitoge began eagerly.

"I'm sorry, but not today. I have much to do today once I finish this book so I couldn't offer your training the focus it deserves. Perhaps we'll have more time another day. You are welcome to sit and read with me, however," Kakashi-sensei said, waving his hand at a soft patch of dirt near him.

Onitoge nodded and took a seat, pulling out the book and starting to read. The next hour was very strange and mildly unsettling. He had never seen Kakashi-sensei so flustered as when the younger Kakashi-sensei arrived and started pestering him. Onitoge had to wonder if Yukiso Kakashi had even noticed his presence (even though he was sitting only 5 feet away) because he was so intently focused on annoying his brother. This, of course, is the moment Hara-sensei chose to hand deliver a note telling Onitoge the team was to meet at a park bench in two hours for their first mission.

Onitoge spent an hour to finish reading a few more chapters in his new book before bidding goodbye to Kakashi-sensei who also seemed to be leaving to attend to his business. At 45 minutes early he was the second to arrive, finding Hara-sensei passed out and snoring rather unceremoniously in an obnoxiously loud fashion. He thought for a moment of waking him but decided better of it. Instead, he sat on the next bench and resumed reading.

Chiyoko arrived about 6 minutes early with a bright smile. Onitoge promptly closed his book and tucked it into his gi. He bowed, smiling a bit in embarassment. He had been so caught up in the book he hadn't noticed her approach until she was two benches away.

"Good morning Chiyoko. Thank you again for dinner last night....and the night before! You're cooking is very good," Onitoge smiled nervously.

"That's alright. I really like cooking for everyone," Chiyoko smiled back.

"Goooooooood morning!" Inakamo said loudly and with flare as he rolled inbetween them on his carnival ball before hopping off and sealing it in one of his summoning scrolls. "I interrupting something?"

Inakamo said looking between them. Then his eyes caught wind of what must have been the most precious tempting thing he had ever seen. A completely dead to the world, snoring like the growl of a bear, Hara-sensei. What more perfect thing could there be in the world than a sensei completely vulnerable to prank attack?! Of course, just as Inakamo approached stealthily Takumi Hara's arm stuck straight up with a finger pointing at the sky.

"Take one more step Inakamo and I will show you the hard way how to do what Ushi did a couple of days ago!" Hara-sensei said in an amused but warning tone.

He then slowly slid to sitting up and then to standing. Takumi let out a bellowing roar of a yawn before rolling his head around to limber up his neck while cracking his nuckles. He quickly shook himself out a bit and then turned to his students smiling, wind blowing through his hair.

"SO!!!! Who's read for taking on their first mission as Genin?" Hara-sensei said in a bold, daring voice with an edge of danger and wildness.

"We're ready!" Chiyoko, Inakamo, and Onitoge said almost in perfect unison.

"Excellent! I like that attitude. Now, for your first mission as Genin the hospital needs a fresh supply of herbs from the forest and you three are going to collect it for them. Here's a list of what you're looking for," he said handing Chiyoko a small scroll with illustrations. "Also, if you find any herbs that aren't on that list you are to collect them for research. Alright! So get to it and no slacking because I'll be watching!!"

"So..... you're saying we should slack if you weren't watching?" Inakamo asked mischievously.

"Oh......I'm always watching!" a devious smile spread across Hara-sensei's face that froze the three Genin in place for a second. "Now get moving!"

The three were off quickly. As they made their way to the appropriate area of the forest they discussed their roles. It was decided that Onitoge would scout ahead for the herb locations and throw a kunai to mark the nearest tree to each grouping of herbs. Chiyoko was to carefully harvest the herbs without damaging them, handing them over to Inakamo who stored them in his carnival ball. All things told this set up ran pretty smoothly.

Onitoge caught most of the herbs on his first pass through a section of the woods but every half hour or so Chiyoko or Inakamo would spot something he missed. After the first few hours they collectively decided to switch places. Chiyoko scouted ahead for a bit while Onitoge attempted to harvest the herbs. Unfortunately, Inakamo was still relegated to storing the herbs as he was the only one with control of the carnival ball. Soon after this change of pace they reverted back to the original assignments. Chiyoko had been about as good at spotting the herbs but Onitoge was a little clumsy harvesting them. Several got a little bruise and one that had thorns and scratched him got completely shredded to ribbons in his hand somehow. Onitoge had seemed a bit shaken when that happened but felt better once he was the one scouting again.

By the end of the day they had gathered so many herbs that the carnival ball was full and their pockets and hands were brimming with various herbs. They had managed to collect an abundance of the listed herbs and identified and harvested a large sample of four unknown (to the three of them at least) new herbs for the hospital to research.

After a long day of picking herbs the three just waved goodnight once they turned over the herbs to the hospital. Chiyoko gave a half-hearted invitation for dinner again but it was obvious they were all three pretty worn out. They hadn't seen Hara-sensei all day once they had started their mission but were sure he had been around for much of it. In any case, they were sure he'd no doubt try to find them a harder mission for tomorrow. Onitoge felt he seemed like the kind of sensei that liked pushing his students to test their limits.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shodou Kukai/Team 14/F
50. DO THE KARAOKE
------------------------------------

Kukai's fingers stayed firmly rooted to their positions in her ears. It wasn't a bad song. She rather supposed she would have liked the song, if her brother hadn't been singing it in the bath, apparently in mocking disdain of her predicament yesterday. Unpleasant memories. That was it.

"Ashiiiiita ga aru, ashiiiiiiiita ga aru, ashiiiiiita ga aaaaaaru sa!"

And she'd be blowed if it wasn't just her brother, but also Mr Inuzuka Hige who liked this song...

"Aru hi totsuzen kangaeta, doushite ore wa ganbatterun darou~"

And he had to sing it as if the entire population of Konohagakure was deaf, too...

"Kazoku no tame? Jibun no tame? Kotae wa kaze no naka!"

Her temper, which she thought she'd had under check for as long as she could consciously remember, was beginning to fray at the edges. "You sound like my stupid older brother."

Hige's response was to sing even louder, if at all possible. "ASHITA GA ARU! ASHIIIIITA GA ARU! ASHIIIITA GA AAAARU SA!"

She knew it. This was payback for all the Ayame-san digs she'd dropped on him like personalized stink-bombs during breakfast. And she wasn't about to risk bringing up the Washboard Incident again, either. Well. Fine. If he wanted to turn them into Konohagakure's second mobile circus act, Yakusha Inakamo being the first, and prior to this only one, FINE.

You can't beat 'em... join 'em.

Kukai wasn't the greatest of singers, but she could at least carry a tune. "SUMMER DAYS! I CAN'T STAND THE SUMMER DAYS!"

"ASHITA GA ARU SAAAASU GA ARU!"

"FROZEN COCKTAILS AND NIGHT FIREWORKS! WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT THEM ANYWAY!"

They reached Haru's house without much event. Needless to say, Haru was rather taken aback to find his best friend and his other teammate yodelling, at the tops of their voices, to the world at large, and each to a completely different tune, as Ginmaru howled along quite happily to the choruses of both songs.

*

The singing stopped out of deference to Haru - Kukai could see the smaller boy wince as she ground out "-GODDAMN SUMMER DAYS" to Hige's "WAKAI BOKU NI WA YUME GA ARU" - and sobriety slowly returned to her senses. "Ahaha. Today seems to be my day for apologizing. Without further ado I am deeply sorry indeed for subjecting my dear Haru-kun to that embarrassing display of temporary lunacy."

Haru seemed to be thinking about something. Maybe it was just her, but Kukai got the feeling that his confidence in himself had improved, just a little. She'd have to find out. "N-no... the singing was okay..."

"So does that mean I get t' continue?" said Hige, fangs bared in a grin.

"NO," retorted Kukai, as an automatic reflex somewhere at the back of her brain kicked in. Then, quickly: "If you do you have to get Haru-kun to join in too. Because we're a team now. And - and we're going on our first mission today."

Hige gave Kukai a funny look which said Yeah I know you're just so full of crap, but I'll play along with you, just this time anyway and received a STOP THE THEATRICS AND DO WHAT I TELL YOU TO DO INUZUKA HIGE glare in return. He grimaced, and proceeded to do what she wanted him to do, because he was a considerably nicer person (and also much more sensible) than his cousin Kiba, who had an ego the size of a fully-grown male African elephant. "Hey, Haru. Know any good songs?"

"It's all right if you don't," Kukai chipped in. "Not ALL of us like to walk around Konohagakure advertising to the village that we're terminally insane."

"I'd like to remind you that you were doing that less than five minutes ago."

"Well, you started it."

"You didn't have ta join in."

"It was that, or go completely and utterly mad."

"You mean yer not already raving nuts?"

"Compared to your right honourable presence, Mr Inuzuka Hige, I consider my sanity to be less of an issue than your very dubious grasp on the facts of the world, and walking down main street in broad daylight singing 'There's always tomorrow' at the top of your admittedly large and powerful pair of respiratory organs is not something any person in their normal frame of mind would do, unless you were trying to impress your precious Ayame-san with a melodious serenade, Hiiiiige-kun -"

"U-um..." Haru started. "G-guys? ..E-excuse me?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ Late Afternoon ~*~*~*~*~

Hikari and I sat on one of the many Konoha’s benches after spending the last two hours looking for Shiro or Selekis. They truly were the only two Ninjas that I really knew that I could introduce Hikari to. Although there was one girl in our class, Chiyaka… Chiyoko, who could be a good role model for Hikari. Yet it had been a fruitless search, and I was still with out any chores done, or a proper babysitter. Although I did manage to snag a long piece of pink cloth and a piece of rectangular metal. If I needed a going away gift I should at least indulge her and make her a fake headband.

“Do you think your sensei is truly mad at us?” She asked, swinging her feet back and forth off the bench her blonde hair reflecting some of the rays of the sunlight. I could only frown a bit, sensei was tough and who knows what would happen if he found out I was unauthorized teaching my sister ninja techniques. “If he gets on to you I’ll beat him up.” She added confidently, before pulling off another piece of chocolate and sticking it in her mouth.

I cast a sideway glance at her before letting out a chuckle. “Oh? How would you beat one of the toughest ninjas of Konoha?” I asked her.

She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, standing up and off the bench. “See I would start with this.” She announced making a fist and throwing it into a right upper cut. “Then see I would kick him like this, and go in for a punch.” She spun around swinging her leg into the air before coming around and punching with her left fist.

I almost fell off my bench laughing, only to receive a strong glare from her. Calming myself I rose and walked around to her back side, pulling out one of my Kunai and placing it in her small little hands. She grasped it as I grabbed both of her arms. “Okay first you want to hold it like this.” I explained moving her arm to hold the Kunai close to her chest in a defensive manner.

“And then you want to jab out.” I jerked her arm forward swinging around the very pointy and very dangerous knife. “Okay now I want you to keep practicing doing a defensive stance, always hold it with the pointy end going away from your pinky, it makes it easier to jab.”

She nodded confidently for a second before her eyes lit up. “You mean I can keep this?”

I could only smile and nod before messing up her golden hair. “I have plenty of others, and you might need it one day.” I said as she slipped the Kunai under her sash, pretending she was an actual ninja and whipping it out several times before putting it back. “Now if we could find that Chiyoko’s place…” I mumbled.

We had only took a few steps before a orange clad ninja jumped down in front of us. “Did you say Chiyoko?” He asked in almost glee. “I’ll take you to her place, it’s almost dinner time anyway.” He spread his arms and took off running.

“I guess we follow the orange guy.” I picked Hikari up sitting her on my shoulders, her legs swung around on each side of my neck. “And off we go..”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inakamo Yakusha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[ Afternoon of Konoha - Naruto OST II ]

Inakamo was excited at the prospect of starting their first mission, even if it was something as mundane as collecting herbs. He didn't really mind that he had to hang back and collect the picked herbs in his Carnival Ball; while he wasn't as much of a slacker as Shikamaru, he did have an aversion to anything that might be considered 'work', thus if he was letting the two others rush ahead and do all the hard work, he could take ample time to enjoy himself.

He caught up with Chiyoko who had just finished harvesting a set of herbs. Inakamo smiled.
"Looks like we're about halfway there," he said. Chiyoko nodded. While Inakamo waited for Chiyoko to finish the harvesting, he saw one of Onitoge's strange kunai embedded in a tree. He walked over to it and yanked it out.
"These weapons of Onitoge's are quite strange. They're white for a start - that's unusual, and this is coming from a guy who wears half a clown mask."
Chiyoko stopped and walked over to look at it.
"Maybe they're just a family thing? He keeps collecting them after he uses them, so maybe they have some value to him."
"Maybe, but in that case, why would he be leaving them all over the forest now? It isn't like he could use ordinary kunai."
Inakamo decided to inspect it closer.
"In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say these were made out of bone."
Chiyoko looked slightly stunned by this revelation, but Inakamo didn't seem to be phased. He, of all people, understood that some people had peculiarities that they wished to keep to themselves.

He threw the kunai back into the tree.
"I think Hara-sensei is coming up on us. You'd better move onto the next patch, I'll collect this harvest here."
Chiyoko replied,
"What about Onitoge's kunai?"
Inakamo frowned.
"We're all entitled to privacy. He'd tell us if we needed to know."
She nodded and headed to the next patch. Inakamo opened his Carnival Ball and began filling it up, although this bone weaponry that Onitoge kept producing was running through his mind.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Selekis
--------------------------
Selekis silently strolled back into the village. It had been a long day, doing work for that old farmer. Althought to him, it had seemed more like a training exercise than a mission.

However, a small part of him was annoyed by all this. Not at the mission itself, but mainly because it involved him having to help others. A part of him felt he shouldn't bother helping them. All they ever did to him was avoid him like the plague and treat him like an invading insect.

In fact, the only one who didn't treat him as such as Chiyoko.

Hmm, I wonder how her first mission went?

He was knocked out of his thoughts when he saw Naruto run past, followed by his teammate Hiro, and his sister Hikari.

I wonder where they're going...

Normally, he would have ignored them and just kept on his way. However, his sense of morbrid curiosity was particularly strong today.

Silently, he leapted onto the roof of a nearby building, keeping out of sight and followed the trio.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Raizen
~~~~~~~

Raizen, Ushi, and Masato strolled through Konoha, searching in vain for a book that Masato was almost sure Yukiso had just made up on the spot. The young Taijutsu specialist idly balanced on the edge of the street as he muttered softly to himself. Combined with the lighthearted humming emanating from Ushi, Raizen was finding it quite hard to concentrate. His head was pounding from the annoyance, his purple eyes twitching in tune with the upbeat tempo of Ushi’s hums. Finally, he had enough.

“Stop it! Just. Stop. It! We’ve been wandering around this place for almost the entire day and the only books we’ve even caught a glimpse of are those hentai books that the other Kakashi-sensei reads all the time!”

Masato crossed his arms in anger, gazing sullenly at a nearby slug that was inching its way fruitlessly down the street.

“How is this even helping us grow stronger as ninja? There’s nothing to fight, nothing to hide from, nothing important to find…we’re full fledged Genin! Shouldn’t we be doing something more….I don’t know…important?!”

Ushi chuckled happily to himself, his arms crossed in imitation of Masato.

“Yukiso-sensei’s book –must- be important for him to be so concerned about getting it though!”

Raizen stared at Ushi with his empty eyes, blinking every few seconds.

“You really believe yourself don’t you?”

Masato joined in Raizen’s staring, his eyes a bit more expressive of his disbelief.

“Aren’t you older than us too? Shouldn’t you be more…mature?”

Ushi sprang onto a nearby telephone pole, calling out joyously as he landed. Turning to look down at his teammates he winked at them both.

“Probably! But I like to think that things can be solved in a much more…immature way.”

Raizen turned to Masato and gave him a characteristic, “what the hell is he talking about?” look. For his part, Masato just stared at Ushi. It was a good thing he did too as the thick, heavy book falling from overhead would have likely crushed his skull had not his trained reflexes allowed him to grab it from the air. The two young Genin stared at the tome in Masato’s hands.

Advanced Particle Physics: What ScienceNins Won’t Tell You- Volume 2

Raizen sputtered, quite audibly as was his way of expressing himself.

“Where…how…when….kerspla?!”

Ushi landed softly in front of his younger teammates, balancing delicately on his crossed feet.

“Hatake-sensei has been following us since we left, putting disguise jutsus on all the books we’ve found. I think he is trying to annoy Yukiso-sensei….”

Ushi turned and began walking back towards the forest. Raizen and Masato glanced around quickly, suddenly spotting Hatake standing atop the building behind them. Waving happily to the young Genin, the Copy Ninja disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a rather large log that rolled of the building, crushing the slug Masato had been so interested in before. Ushi continued walking, once again humming his inane tune to himself. He halted however when Raizen’s voice called out from behind.

“Ushi stop! How long have you had this?!”

The grinning youth didn’t turn around but instead halted and held his hands out wide to either side, his brightly colored sleeves dangling loosely.

“The bookseller stall we found coming back into the village had it. Disguise jutsus are the simplest of all Genjutsus…your Byakugan would have been able to see through, though why waste it on such an “unimportant” mission?”

Ushi’s chuckle was the only response to Raizen’s sullen glare. After a moment the young Hyuga made to follow his teammate, muttering a muted curse against some primary branch or main twig or something of the sort. Sweatdropping, Masato followed, holding the book close to his chest as though afraid it too would turn into a random piece of forest.

[Asilynne]

Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ Nightcap ~*~*~*~*~

I shut the door slowly, sliding it shut with only a whisper as I exited Hikari’s room. The whole dinner with Chiyoko along with getting help on her transformation technique from both Naruto and Chiyoko afterwards had exhausted her and I had to carry her back in my arms. Moving back into the kitchen I brought out the small sliver of metal and fished around for the cloth that would create the fake headband. I searched my first pocket, and then my other. “Oh don’t tell me.” I groaned, mentally slapping myself. I had placed the cloth under a pillow to hide it from Hikari while at Chiyoko’s.

“I hope she is still up.” I whispered, rushing around the house and locking the doors before opening one of the windows and letting the night air in. I rushed to the sink and made a glass of water just incase Hikari woke up, and leapt out the window and onto the roof top of the near by building. “Maybe I can just sneak in and grab it…” I prayed, leaping from house to house, retracing my steps back to Chiyoko’s. Finally leaping into the open window to which I had left just a few hours before.

“Hello?” I whispered, the lights of the room already on.

“Hiro?” Chiyoko gulped, a glass of water in her hands as she wore a silk royal blue robe with a tank top and shorts peeking out underneath. “Did you leave something?” She asked, blinking a few times as my face warmed.

It took me a few seconds to find my voice again before I finally opened my mouth. “I left a piece of cloth here, I wanted to make Hikari a headband before I left.” I explained and then gestured toward the pillow. She nodded and walked around, looking at the pillow curiously as I picked it up and picked up the pink cloth. “I’m sorry for any trouble.” I grinned walking toward the window as quickly as possible.

She smiled back and turned, stopping for a second. “How do you plan to etch in the symbol?” She asked as I froze at the windowsill. I hadn’t really gotten that far except for thinking about using a Kunai and a bit of strength. “Here come in here, besides you will need a way to connect it to the cloth.”

I slowly made my way back in as she brought out a pad of paper and quickly traced the Konoha symbol. “We need a base to work with so that it doesn’t look too crappy.” She explained, overlaying the paper with the metal.

It took several times, but we finally got the symbol looking somewhat right, etching it in with a hot piece of metal that we heated over her stove. Once the symbol was drawn, and the metal had cooled we moved on to melding the metal into the cloth which took some time with her actually doing much of the crafting as I held it in place. “Ta-Da!” She held it up happily, the new dawn light reflecting off the metal as I turned around in shock.

“It’s been all night.” My eyes going wide in shock.

She turned looking at a clock on the wall and shrugged. “It was fun.”. I could only nod, taking the headband in my hand and thanking her for all the help. As I ran home I began to think if it was a blessing that I had accidentally left the cloth there. With out her help I would never had been able to make the headband in time.

I leapt from roof top to roof top all the way home, the morning sun on my back, and a present for Hikari clutched in my hands.
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Raizen’s minor mission
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wow,” Raizen thought to himself. “Not only was this a relatively pointless mission, but Ushi had the book with him the whole time…”

It didn’t take them long to track down Kakashi sensei, who was quite excited to receive the new book. In fact upon receiving it he rushed them out of his place so fast Raizen wasn’t sure what had happened. Masato had managed to sputter out. “But sensei, don’t we get paid?”

To which Yukiso responded by shoving three rice coupons into his hands while pushing them out the door. “Wow,” Raizen said out loud this time. “He didn’t even thank us for running his errands.”

“Oh well, it was still a successful mission wasn’t it?” Ushi said in his ever positive and over energetic voice.

“Eh, I guess. I’ll see you guys tomorrow for our next ‘mission’.” And Raizen set off to his home, hoping for a nice home cooked meal from mom.

After a glorious dinner and some reading up on how to see through genjutsu, Raizen went to his room to get some sleep. Of course he found Ushi sitting on his bed. “Hi Raizen!”

“Why are you here Ushi?”

“Why shouldn’t I be?”

“’Cause this is my room.”

“So?”

“At least get in the closet again…”

“But Raizen I-” Ushi was cut off by Raizen picking him up and literally throwing him in the closet, then locking it. Raizen woke up however to find Ushi sleeping in his windowsill.

“How did he do that?” Raizen asked himself. “And how does he keep getting in here for that matter. Oh well.” After some morning exercise and a shower Raizen went to breakfast, only to find Ushi already sitting at his table with some toast.

“Look Raizen,” his mom said. “Your teammate Ushi stopped by to have breakfast with you.”

“Hmm, yes, great.” Raizen said looking around for Neji, who he knew would kick Ushi out of the house for him. “Hey Mom, where’s Neji? I haven’t seen him today.”

“Oh he left for a mission.”

“Damn…” Just then there was a knock on the door. Raizen’s mom came back a moment later followed by Kakashi sensei. “Oh, um, good morning sensei.” Raizen said having just finished his eggs.

“Hello Raizen, I’m here to collect you for our next mission. Oh, and Ushi is here too, that’s excellent.” He said closing his latest book. (Immunology: The other way to melt one’s mind.) Both Ushi and Raizen then had a flashback to their academy days.

“Okay everyone.” Iruka sensei said. “Today is our first test on immunology jutsu’s.

Raizen and Ushi- “AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

Back to the present. “Is it a real mission this time?” Raizen asked, wincing slightly at the immunology memory.

“It’s always a real mission Raizen.” Yukiso responded. “Now why don’t you two go get your gear and we’ll be off to find Masato.

“Oh, won’t you have some breakfast before you go sensei?” Raizen’s mom asked as they boys left the room.

“Hmm, sensei is eating breakfast in my house, that was unexpected.” Raizen mumbled to himself.

“I wonder if he has to take of his mask to eat.” Ushi said as Raizen froze solid while rummaging around in his room. They both looked at each other in an understanding silence.

Seconds later both genin burst into the kitchen. “Kakashi sensei!!” But the only one there was Raizen’s mom, with little hearts floating above her head. “Mom! Did he take of his mask to eat?!”

“Yeeeeaaaahh.” She said with a dreamy look in her eyes.

“Mom… Mom… Right… Where did he go?”

“Oh, he’s waiting for you out…side…” And Raizen’s mom trailed off, staring at the wall.

Not too long afterward they acquired Masato and headed off to farm where they would be-

“Picking oranges?” Masato asked as they arrived. “When are we going to get to real missions?”

“Now Masato, you guys are just genin,” Kakashi sensei said looking up from his book. “You have to prove yourselves and work your way up before we give you a C mission. Anyway, I like oranges. So, everyone let’s get to work.” Everyone, including Yukiso was handed a large basket and told to collect as many oranges as they could by sunset.

A few hours into the day Masato was still grumbling about the mission while picking oranges atop his ladder. Though he was almost knocked of as something went whooshing by. After recovering, Masato looked up to see Yukiso dashing from tree to tree at a rapid rate collecting oranges with one hand and reading his book with the other. Another whoosh and Raizen dashed by. He could be heard yelling “Eight Trigrams!!” before speeding out of earshot. Ushi then ran by on the ground with a large basket catching all the oranges Raizen had knocked off.

“So that’s how it’s going to be.” Masato muttered before giving up on the ladder and proceeding to boing from tree to tree kicking the falling oranges into Ushi’s basket with his taijutsu skills.

At the end of the day Raizen, Ushi, and Masato had collected a serious mound of oranges, to which the farmer simply looked at with wide eyes. “Heh,” Raizen said, still breathing heavy. “I decided that if proving myself here is the path to good missions, I’ll just have to kick ass at the grunt work. Then Ushi came up with our idea.”

“Well done you three.” Kakashi sensei said, standing next to his mountain of oranges. No one was quite sure how, but Yukiso had collected more oranges by himself than the other three combined. “Well, another successful mission!” He said opening up a new book and walking off, having finished the other one during the day. This one was entitled Citrus Fruits: Everything from picking to puréeing.

“Wait sensei!” Masato called out. “You!... forgot to pay us again…” But Yukiso was already gone.
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Chiyoko
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[ Swaying Necklace - Naruto OST III ]

Team 13 had finished its mission of collecting herbs, and the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. The three of them had returned the herbs to the hospital, and it was there that they met Takumi.
“Great job you three! You gathered more herbs that I expected! Meet at the same spot tomorrow, because I’ll have another mission for you. Also that is when I will give you pay for today’s mission.”
Chiyoko blinked for a moment… she had forgotten that Ninja were paid for each mission they did. Silently she thought of all the wonderful cooking supplies she could get… and she did really want to buy a new table for her apartment. Many glamorous things went through Chiyoko’s mind before she was snapped back into reality as Takumi waved them off and the three of them were left alone.
“Well, that was a fun mission today!” Inakamo said brightly, looking to Chiyoko and Onitoge. Chiyoko gave a smile as well, but one glance at Onitoge made her think about the odd looking kunai. She opened her mouth as he turned to head off, but shut it when she thought better. She didn’t really understand about people having secrets in their past, but she figured he knew what he was talking about.
I wonder what secrets those two hold then… She thought, bringing a finger to her lips in wonder as she watched the two of them exchange a few words. Even though they had only been a team for a few days, she couldn’t help but feel a good connection with them. She had known Inakamo fairly well enough… but now she felt as if she knew them even better- especially Onitoge.
Chiyoko smiled to herself, her crystalloid blue eyes glittering with an inner joy as she felt herself watch them. Onitoge… Inakamo… Chiyoko… Team 13… They had been students, but now they were good friends. Chiyoko couldn’t help but love that feeling… she had always wanted to make friends- ever since she had arrived in the village of Konoha.
“Chiyoko?” A voice snapped Chiyoko out of her thoughts, as she gazed upwards and saw Inakamo and Onitoge looking at her oddly. She immediately smiled brightly and ran up to them, the sun setting ahead of them.
“So, meeting tomorrow for the mission at the bench!” She said as she caught up to them, and the two nodded.
“Yep. Great work today.” Onitoge said a bit confidently, making Inakamo smile brightly and nod as well.
“Yeah! I think we’re doing great!”
“With each mission, we’ll be even better with our teamwork!” Chiyoko added.

After a bit more walking, the three parted ways and headed to their own homes. It wasn’t long until Chiyoko reached her house, feeling slightly exhausted. Undoing her hair from her headband, she hung it on a hook near her door and let her hair flow downwards. Her stomach instantly seemed to growl for a moment, and she realized how hungry she actually was. After going to her kitchen and preparing some supplies, Chiyoko heard a knock on the door.

[ Naruto's Daily Life - Naruto OST II ]

“Come in Na-ru-to!” Chiyoko called, instantly feeling she knew who the culprit was.

To her surprise, Naruto burst through the door with two others behind him. One she recognized instantly as Iokawa, Hiro, but she did not know who the younger girl was with him. After a short pondering moment however, she made an educated guess that they were related.
“Well… I didn’t expect to see you, Hiro.” Chiyoko said with a light tone, looking to the girl. “And is this your sister?”
“I’m Hikari!” She said to Chiyoko, giving a light bow. Chiyoko smiled and nodded back to her. “Greetings Hikari, I’m Chiyoko.”

After a few word exchanges, it was determined by Hikari that Chiyoko was going to make hamburgers. It wasn’t a dish that Chiyoko made often, but after a half an hour the four of them were eating delicious hamburgers with a few garnishes upon them. Naruto dug in, gobbling them up swiftly as Hiro and Hikari stared in awe at times. After they were finished eating, Chiyoko went to do the dishes. Hikari- surprisingly- offered to help.
“But Hikari… I thought you wanted to learn a ninja technique before the end of tonight?” Hiro asked, as Hikari seemed to make a face at him.
“It’s rude not to help after such a good meal!” She said brightly, as Chiyoko smiled bigger than ever at being complimented by a younger person.
“I have an idea… how about we all teach her something? You and Naruto discuss what, and then when we’re done we can try to teach her some.”
The three agreed it was a good idea, and soon Chiyoko and Hikari were washing dishes together as Naruto and Hiro discussed/argued over the technique.

By the time dish washing was done, Hikari was prepared to perfect the transformation technique that Saruwatari-sensei had seen Hiro try to teach her earlier. Hikari jumped up and down with excitement, as Hiro had her transform again- but she continued to keep her clothes. Naruto stated that he had helped the Hokage’s grandson with a transformation technique before, and he began to give Hikari some tips. Chiyoko chimed in from time to time… until finally Hikari managed to transform not only into Hiro, but into Naruto as well. She tried to do Chiyoko… but she was tired after an already long night.
“We’ll… we better be off.” Hiro said, as Hikari yawned and was picked up by her brother to head off.
“It was a great dinner. Thanks for everything.” Hiro said, as Chiyoko nodded at the two exited. Naruto then decided to go to bed as well, but he turned around before heading out the door.

[ Alone - Naruto OST II ]

“Ano… Chiyoko-chan… thank you…”
Chiyoko didn’t hesitate to smile and nod. “It wasn’t a problem Naruto!”
“I mean… I realized today that I’ve eaten here a lot… and … well…” Naruto seemed to gaze off some where before abruptly continuing. “I think it is helping with my training a great deal! I hope you don’t mind if-”
“You’re welcome here anytime.” Chiyoko said, as Naruto smiled brightly and nodded.
“Night Chiyoko-chan!” He waved, as Chiyoko nodded and shut the door. That small exchange had been confusing for her- she hadn’t heard Naruto use the tone before, let alone seem… quiet or awkward. In any case, she could feel fatigue settle in on her body. Slipping off her regular attire, she casually slipped into a pair of small white shorts and a black tank top, and then slide on a silky blue robe over that and tied it about her waist. She went out towards her porch and opened the doors for a moment, resting upon the rail and letting her face feel the cool breeze of the night air brush past her face.

Her mind wandered to the events of today… and how it felt good to have close friends like her teammates, Naruto-chan, Selekis-chan and now perhaps Hiro and his sister.
“I hope I continue to make good friends with everyone in this village…” Chiyoko said, withdrawing a deep sigh. Thoughts of her own village… back in Hidden Cloud, seemed to play with her memory for a bit. She had friends there… but none of them had been close. They always had seemed a bit… distant, and while they would say hi and smile… it was different. Chiyoko hadn’t noticed back then because she hadn’t known any outside of her village. However now… she couldn’t help but notice that there was some thing different between the two villages. It felt warmer here… friendlier…
“But… why…?” Chiyoko thought to herself, frowning for a moment before suddenly looking upwards towards her roof. She had a strange feeling, and with grace she leapt on top of the roof. Startled by her appearance, was Selekis.

“Selekis! Why are you here?” She asked suddenly, to which Selekis quickly grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down that he was just wandering. Chiyoko nodded, feeling the wind blow against her robe and her skin- the cool summer breeze feeling like a great rush of relief. For some reason, even though there was no tone with his written words… Chiyoko sensed a bit of loneliness from Selekis. It was hard to place, but she silently wondered if perhaps she could do some thing to-
“Hey! It is a bit late now… but how about tomorrow evening you join me by the bridge that crosses the small stream?” She said brightly, tilting her head to the side. “I think there are some good herbs growing there… and I was thinking that I could get some and then try to experiment to make some new tea! You could join me and have tea with me tomorrow evening!”
Selekis nodded lightly, his mood seeming to be better as Chiyoko grinned- feeling happy about this decision.
“Alright then! You should get going… I need to sleep tomorrow.” Chiyoko said, to which Selekis once again nodded and the two departed.

However, it seemed that sleep was not on Chiyoko’s side. No sooner had she gone inside and grabbed a glass of water that a knock was upon her window. It was Hiro… and he had left a band to make a mock headband for his sister. Naturally being good-intentioned and wanting to help others, Chiyoko invited him in and soon the two of them were working on the headband together.
Hikari had seemed like such a sweet girl… it had reminded Chiyoko of her when she was little- or at least, it reminded Chiyoko what she thought her younger self would have been like- had she remembered. But she got the idea that Hikari was a bit older than what she had appeared.
“There!” Chiyoko had said happily, as the two admired the new headband they had spent the entire night on. She had barely noticed the time that had flown by… but she was happy at their accomplishment.
Hiro soon had thanked her and dashed off, leaving Chiyoko watching him leave before shutting the apartment doors.
Sleep was soon to weigh upon her eyelids… and Chiyoko crashed into her bed, falling asleep in her robe.

Chiyoko opened her eyes to her alarm clock, and she sat up quickly and turned it off. Getting up and stretching, she could feel fatigue all over her body. The lack of sleep had its negativity to it, and Chiyoko knew that she had to do something so as not to disappoint her teammates on their next mission. She also did not want to look bad in front of her sensei.
“Uber energy and fatigue remover drink, coming up!” Chiyoko said to herself as she quickly heated up some water on the stove and within a blink of an eye had opened up her cupboard and thrown many herbs and various liquids into the mixture. She then leapt onto her counter, reaching high up in the highest part of the cupboard to get a small glass jar filled with a strange purple herb- something she had very little of compared to the rest of her ingredients. She carefully grabbed on leaf and threw it into the mixture.
Leaving it for a moment she swiftly got dressed, taking her headband and wrapping it into her hair. She then returned to the boiling mixture and stirred it, and then soon took it off the stove and poured it into a bowl. She then cooled it off after a series of minutes and chugged it down quickly.
“Eek! Time to go!” She said, looking at the time and dashing out the door.

Energy seemed to bubble over Chiyoko as she reached the bench, just as Takumi arrived as well. Onitoge and Inakamo were there, and Chiyoko was flushed in the face.
“Today… we have an EXCELLENT mission!” Takumi said happily, clapping his hands together. The three of them instantly seemed eager… but then were informed that they were to go to a farm, in which they were planting rice plants in a field.

The four of them in no time, had journeyed to the field and soon had been informed by the farmer that he needed them planted, but that they had to be wary of the leeches that were in the water. They didn’t latch onto your feet, but rather flew up and tried to latch onto your upper body.
“Well… my foot hurts.” Takumi stated, reaching down and rubbing it absently. “I think I’ll watch to see how you progress.”

[Fake - Naruto OST III ]

With that, soon Onitoge, Chiyoko and Inakamo had three baskets of plants ready to be planted into the watery fields. Onitoge looked to Inakamo and all three of them nodded their heads.
“A plan.” Chiyoko affirmed, and they began to discuss their course of action. They had tested the water, as Inakamo went out and found that soon flying leeches were everywhere- him giving a surprise yelp and making a very heated effort to dodge until he was back in the safety of land.
“Definitely going to be a problem…” He huffed, as Chiyoko’s eyes seemed to widen at the sight.

The group finally decided it would be the best if Chiyoko planted the rice plants- she seemed to have a natural ability in handling plants from her experience picking herbs. Plus, Onitoge’s speed would be an asset to react to the jumping leeches to protect Chiyoko. Inakamo would mirror Onitoge upon the other side of Chiyoko, using his own skills and his ball to combat the leeches as well.
So the three journeyed out into the dreadful water… and Chiyoko marveled at her teammates as they swiftly defended her as she began to concentrate upon planting. Onitoge’s oddly colored kunai worked well in stabbing the leeches away occasionally, while sometimes he simply used a swift kick or punch to bat them away. (His cloak humorously also seemed to aid him, for they often leapt into it and Onitoge simply ignored them there.) Inakamo used his amazing chakra-string abilities to manipulate his ball, bashing it through the air with great speed to knock chunks of the flying leeches away. He then soon gained an idea that if he trapped them in his ball… they would run into less trouble.
So soon, Onitoge and him worked on getting the leeches into his ball. Onitoge would bat them towards Inakamo, and he would seal them within his ball as swiftly as possible. Chiyoko in the meantime, worked swiftly in planting the rice plants quickly.

Finishing before early evening, the group had worked up quite the sweat but had finished successfully. Not only that, but they had managed to rid the entire field of leeches… which the farmer was greatly appreciative of and added that he would pay extra for it.
“Excellent job once again!” Takumi had roared, a twinkle in his eye. Little known to them… he had watched them a great deal- instead of sleeping, which they thought he had been doing (his mock snoring techniques were quite excellent). He had been impressed with their teamwork and strategy, and was hoping that with his report his Genin would soon be tackling more difficult matters.

“Tomorrow we’ll be working on another mission…” Takumi said to them as they began to head back to the inner parts of Konoha. “I want you to stay prompt and energized!” he said, looking to Chiyoko with a smirk.
“That means sleep… you can’t live off remedies forever.” Chiyoko’s eyes widened and she severely blushed, pondering how her sensei had noticed such an almost undetectable thing.
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Selekis Retsun - The Silent One
-------------------------------------
It had been another long day for the white haired boy. During last night, a couple of punks thought it funny if they put grafitti all over the cliffs overlooking the village. Thankfully, the boys had enough respect to avoid the Four Hokage, but it was still an eyesore.

As a result, Team 12's mission was to clean it all off. However, Sensei Saruwatari thought it would be interesting to make them perform the mission without the use of harnesses or scafolding. In other words, they had to climb up the cliff face and wash the grafitti off. Not an easy task. It took them the whole day to get it done.

On the plus side, Selekis discovered that the Mist Servant Technique had uses outside of battle, a fact that Selekis would want to remember.

After they were done, Selekis had quickly retrieved his pay and left without a word. He never really felt like hanging around, he never did.

Besides, he had more important matters to attend to, mainly his meeting with Chiyoko.

He didn't really understand why he was looking forward to this. Normally he'd dread having to be around people. He normally wanted to be alone.

Yet Chiyoko was a different story. He felt comfortable around her. He actually felt happy when she invited him to pick herbs and have tea with her. Mainly it was because she treated him like a human and not as a demon to be avoided unless you had no choice.

Selekis narrowed his eyes at the thought. They were all the same, his 'family', the villagers, the Hokage, and even his own teammates. He knew they only spoke to him now was because he wa on their team. If that wasn't the case, they'd ignore him like everyone else.

His mood perked up when he saw the bridge ahead of him. He couldn't See Chiyoko, but maybe she hadn't arrived yet.

He sat down, legs hanging over the side. His eyes watched the stream flowing underneath him. He remembered retreating to places like this when he wanted to be alone.

He found quite ironic now that he'd be here waiting for someone.
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Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ Morning ~*~*~*~*~

I ran threw the list of items, making a run to the fridge to make sure that the food for the rest of the day was prepared. I turned and rushed back to double check the windows and the door. “You know not to let in any intruders, do not turn on the oven.” I explained as Hikari leaned against the doorway to her room nodding. “I have asked Chiyoko to come over for a few hours tonight to check on you.” I added.

Hikari’s eyes lit up as I took in a deep breath dropping the check list of everything I had to do into her hands. “Is Naruto coming too?” She asked in almost child like glee which had me worrying for a second if she had grown a friendship with the annoying guy in just the hours they were together last night.

“Not this time.” I smiled, placing my hands on her shoulders and dropping down on a knee to look her into the eyes. “I do have a present for you.” I reached behind my back and brought out the head band that I had spent most of the night working on with Chiyoko. I brought it out and fashioned it around her head.

“Is this?” She asked in shock running her fingers over the metal.

“Its up to you to protect the house now that I am gone. I thought you could be a official Iokawa Ninja.” I grinned as she blushed before finally nodding. I moved over to the window and stopped, running back and embracing her tightly. “Just be careful.” I sighed, moving to the window one, and taking one last look at her before leaping away.

It didn’t take long till I reached the front gate, finding Sensei and the rest already there by the time that I had came running up. My legs already exhausted from lack of sleep the night before. Sensei began to explain our mission, giving us a rundown of everything we had to do when a small noise in the bushes drew our attention. Sensei was the first to act, drawing a Kunai which was more to show than actual action as he only pointed it at the bushes. "Your luggage is here."

Hikari stumbled out of the bushes, leaves clinging to her hair and clothes. "Uh oh..." She mumbled looking around at the rest of us, her cheeks turning several colors of red. As my eyes remained full of shock.

Sensei peered forward much to Hikari's shock and ran a finger over her headband. "What is this..?" He asked as I quickly ran infront of him to distract his attention.

"I will take her home, just give me a few seconds." I pleeded grabbing Hikari by the hand.

"You will take her home and stay there, you are off this mission." He spun around on his heel and began to walk away from the Village leaving us standing there.

The walk back home was one of a very somber tone, Hikari mumbling apologies every few steps. By the time I got back, all she could do was sob, I tried my best to tell her that everything was okay. Eventually I left the room, shutting the door slowly and collapsed on the couch. The sun already weighing low in the sky.

It could have been minutes later, maybe hours when a knock came to the door. I remained on the couch, my head in my hands. A few minutes later the door opened and Chiyoko walked in, she moved to the couch silently, sitting down and placing a hand on my back. “What happened?” She asked softly.

I remained quiet for a second and began to shake my head. “I can’t do this.. I can’t be a brother and a ninja at the same time.” I sighed closing my eyes and relaxing my head against the cushion. “She tried to tag along, and I lost the mission.” I turned to her tears, glistening in my eyes.

“She’s the only thing I have, the only thing I care about… if I have to choose between her or being a ninja, I will have to give up my dream..”

[Outlaw JT]

The Sensei: Special Collaboration Posty

[ Afternoon of Konoha – Naruto OST I ]

“That is in my domain…” Yukiso said, using a rare disgruntled tone as he sat upon the windowsill of the Hokage’s office. For once he was not reading a book, but instead had one knee raised upon the sill and his elbow rested upon it gently.

“Yeah! And I would far be better suited for helping with the festival!” Takumi said loudly, crossing his arms as he gave a glance to Kazuki. “Besides… if some thing were to go wrong, I doubt Kakashi-san could handle it enough to protect poor Komoku-chan…”

“HAR-A-SAN!” Miharu roared, demonic eyes rising forth from within as she swiftly rose her arm to take a massive swing at his head. She nailed him dead on, causing his large body to fly towards the wall. However, damage to the poor wall was prevented as Kazuki appeared, holding up a simple open palm to Hara-sensei’s torso. Such a gesture almost seemed to symbolize a wall, since Takumi’s body stopped instantly once he connected with Kazuki’s palm- instantly falling to the floor.

“I don’t think the Hokage would appreciate remodeling.” Saruwatari said, flashing an annoyed glance at both Takumi and Miharu. Miharu seemed to be unphased however, as she marched over to Takumi and placed a firm foot on his head.

“Hara-san… do NOT call me by that name again! I am Kur-o-da Mi-har-u! Besides, the missions are similar but they are not the same!”

A cough was enough to get the four Sensei’s attention once again, to which they glanced up at the 3rd Hokage, who seemed to sweatdrop slightly.
“As much as you like festivals Takumi… I have assigned that to Saruwatari and Kuroda’s teams. And for you Yukiso…” He looked at the slightly agitated Kakashi. “Your domain did consist of that Northern part, however this is a new site we just discovered… and this is just a basic C-ranked mission.” He sweatdropped, “It is geared more towards your students than yourselves. If I were to assign missions to each individual team based on preference all the time… I’d be doing it forever.”

The four sensei remained silent, but Yukiso and Takumi seemed to begrudgingly understand.
“I’ll have to pay a visit myself some time…” Yukiso murmured, as Takumi withdrew a similar sigh.
“Festival… Miharu-san…”
Kuroda flashed a mighty glare at Takumi, who instantly got back up off the floor and brushed himself off.

“Well… to the mission!” He proclaimed, swiftly exploding into a blast of confetti as he disappeared. Kazuki simply sighed and shook his head, calmly walking out with his hands in his pockets. Yukiso seemed to fall out the window, for all he did was lean back and disappear. Kuroda started to walk out as well, before turning about and looking at the Hokage.

“I heard a rumor… that many of the others were thinking of entering their teams into the Chuunin exams. Even the new teams… is that true?”
The Hokage withdrew a sigh, giving a slow nod. “Mm… yes, it seems that many of them believe that their teams are advancing far beyond expectations.”
Kuroda smiles, giving a nod. “Add me to that list as well.”
She then walked out.

Kakashi, Yukiso
[ Team 15 ]

[ Kakashi’s Theme – Naruto OST I ]

Yukiso leaned against a pole, reading a book, “Latin: The Forgotten Language.” Around him two large wagon-looking devices, ready to be pulled by horses. A group of men were loading stuff into the wagons but it looked as if they were about done. Having sent the details of the mission to his students, Yukiso waited for their arrival. It would be about a day’s journey to the docking point which led to the Hidden Village of the Mist. Then they would help them unload the stuff onto the boat… bring it to the festival, and then stay for the remainder of the festival to help make sure things ran smoothly.

In other words, a very boring c-ranked mission in Yukiso’s eyes… when he thought about the enticing and marvelous things he could discover from Takumi & Kazuki-chan’s mission. The idea that he did not obtain it was very gloomy for him.

“Kakashi-sensei!” A happy voice cried out, causing him to turn to see a very smile-faced Ushi running towards him, with Raizen in tow. Raizen seemed a bit agitated, but Yukiso noted that it seemed the Hyuuga boy was getting used to the idea that he was stuck with Ushi. Soon after, Masato appeared as well and the three waited for the wagons to finish their packing.

“We’re going on an adventure Raizen!” Ushi said gleefully, as he seemed to bounce up and down with excitement. Yukiso withdrew a sigh, seeing that all three had brought a backpack for extra clothes and supplies.

“This is a C-ranked mission… so remember to do your best.” Yukiso commented, snapping his book shut as the wagons finally finished their loading. Only two men were staying with the wagons besides them- each one driving a different wagon by directing the horses.

“Well… let’s go.” Yukiso said, as the wagons began to move. Masato asked if they were walking the whole way there, and Kakashi-sai nodded.
“Of course… there isn’t enough room in the wagons for us. So I encourage that as we walk, you make use of your surroundings and practice concentrating on your chakra. Try to either take away the chakra from your legs to make it harder to walk… or try to slowly add more chakra to your legs to make it easier. You’ll either benefit by gaining more chakra control or by growing stronger.”

Yukiso pulled out his book and placed one hand in his pocket as he continued to walk, some how managing to walk perfectly fine without ever glancing up from his book.

Kuroda, Miharu
[ Team 14 ]


[ Tea Country – Naruto OST III ]

Miharu placed her tea set neatly in her bag, checking to make sure that she had packed everything correctly. She even had packed a different kimono in her bag as well… just in case they’d have some time to enjoy the festival. Checking the time, she realized that it was nearly time to leave and this was also announced by a knock on the door. Grabbing her small pack, she opened the door to see all three of them ready to go. It seemed as if they had all arrived together… which was a very good thing in her eyes. Kuroda was confident in the three of them and their teamwork abilities.

Their past few missions… although small and low-ranked, still showed great improvement and promise. The three had their differences but yet they seemed able to put them aside (for the most part) and had a good deal of strategy. This had pleased her greatly, for she deemed it to be the most important aspect of being a Ninja. She only hoped that the strange chemistry between Hige and Kukai would not form a rift between either them eventually, or Haru.

“So… we’re all ready to go?” Miharu asked, to which the three Genin nodded their heads.
She had informed them yesterday of their mission, explaining that it was a C-ranked mission and that they were to head to the Hidden Mist Village. While their job was still basic, it was more important than their past missions and allowed them to work with other villages as well. They were hired to help set up for their annual festival and then were allowed to participate, as long as they helped settle the peace in case anything should happen.

“Then let us travel… we might run into Team 15, but while their mission is similar it is slightly different.” Miharu said absently, as she began to walk down the path that exited the village. The three followed as Kuroda started to hum to herself, believing that the mission they were to encounter would be a pleasant one.

Hara, Takumi
[ Team 13 ]

[ It’s My Job – Naruto the Movie OST ]

“Arrrgh…!” Takumi said gruffly, standing on top of the bench with a big bright “two” painted upon it. Onitoge, Inakamo and Chiyoko were both standing and staring up at their sensei who seemed to be bothered at the moment.
“To think… THIS mission! Of all missions!” He continued, a sense of a rainy cloud appearing above his head.
“Umm… but Hara-sensei, this mission seems like it’ll be fun!” Chiyoko commented, to which Inakamo nodded.
“It is a higher rank! That means we’re getting better!”
Takumi looked at the two and narrowed his eyes for a moment, before his expression loosened and he smiled for a moment with a sigh. “Yes… you’re right. This will be your first C-ranked mission and that is some thing important. Even if we are teaming up with Saruwatari’s team…” He stated. “… and no festival or Miharu… ahhh… my little Komoku-chan..”
“… excuse me Sensei.” Onitoge said, “But did you say we’re teaming up with Saruwatari’s team?”
Takumi nodded, “In order to get more accomplish and increase our chance of finding artifacts and things of that nature… the employer wanted two teams.”
The three Genin sweatdropped, all three imagining Saruwatari-sensei and his first impression back at the academy.

“He-he… can’t be that bad, right?” Chiyoko said, smiling weakly.
“He sure scared me.” Inakamo said, narrowing his eyes as Onitoge remained silent. Team 13 waited however, until Saruwatari appeared walking down the path, his three Genin following behind him.

Saruwatari, Kazuki
[ Team 12 ]

[ Sasuke’s Theme – Naruto OST II ]

“So, it appears we begin.” Saruwatari said plainly, as he reached Hara-sensei and his three Genin. Hiro seemed to cross his arms, slightly disgruntled as Selekis’s face brightened at seeing Chiyoko. Shiro just seemed confident, standing with a cool manner.
“You never said we were joining with them…” Hiro stated, seeing Team 13 before them.
“One detail not worth mentioning, since you’d find out soon enough.” Kazuki replied calmly.
“Saruwatari… shall we go?” Hara-sai said with a grin, looking to his three Genin. He pondered if the true challenge was to tolerate Saruwatari and his team, rather than to find artifacts. He silently told himself that if they did survive Kazuki’s wrath… that his team truly was one to marvel at. He already respected the Genin of Kazuki already.
Kazuki simply gave a nod to this, and the two Sensei and their team headed out of the village towards the North.

At first it seemed as if the two teams would be divided some what- Team 13 following behind Hara as team 12 followed being Kazuki. Chiyoko was the first to break this trend however, as she went over to Hiro.
“So, did it work?” She asked cheerfully, as Hiro gave a nod and smiled.
“yeah… Shikumaru came by this morning.”

Hiro had been distraught a few days ago when he was denied his first mission by his sensei. Chiyoko had felt bad for him- knowing it had to be tough raising a sister and trying to be a Ninja. However, she had come up with an idea that Hiro find a babysitter by making it a mission. Since it was rather basic, it wouldn’t cost too much… and with her last pay, Chiyoko even managed to chip in to help Hiro out. Ironically enough and through Hara-sensei, Chiyoko found out that it was Shikumaru’s team that received the mission.

Giggling, Chiyoko nodded. “I bet he’ll make a wonderful babysitter.” Hiro grinned and laughed at the idea of it too.

Noticing Selekis however, Chiyoko swiftly opened up her bag and held out a neatly decorated box before him. It was tied to make a slight basket with a piece of blue cloth, looking like a perfect lunch. “I’m sorry I didn’t leave it out on the porch today…” Chiyoko added, tilting her head to the side. “But I did bring you lunch like I promised!” She added, to which Hiro gave Selekis an odd look but Selekis seemed to ignore it and he took the lunch.

That day they had met on the bridge- it was a few days ago, Chiyoko had found out that Selekis hardly ate. While gathering herbs it was easy to see that he was too thin to be healthy… to which she informed him that he couldn’t be a great Ninja without a proper diet. Selekis had refused to really eat anything, but Chiyoko had insisted.
“I’m going to make lunch for you every day and leave it on the porch for you to pick up! If you don’t eat it or pick it up… then it’ll just go to waste! You wouldn’t want that, would you?” Chiyoko had said, grinning. “Besides… I promise it’ll taste great!”


The two teams continued to walk, however Chiyoko and rejoined with Inakamo and Onitoge a bit- feeling Saruwatari’s invisible eyes behind his head upon her. However, all the while they walked… it seemed Hara-sai continued to make idle chat with Kazuki, mostly to annoy the Taijutsu master than anything.
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Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~

Investigating ruins wasn't exactly high profile or exciting but it suited Onitoge just fine. It was good to sharpen the senses, searching through ruins to find something of value. Not to mention it was something that could be done well without having to fully exert one's potential. It seemed like a perfect fourth mission to Onitoge.

Inakamo was less enthused about the mission but he put on a remarkably convincing front for Hara-sensei. Their sensei seemed to be taking the assignment roughly. Why they couldn't be fully sure but from his mumblings team 13 put it together that it had something to do with a woman by the name of Komoku whom they were not familiar. Or it could just be they were assigned along with Hara-sensei's polar opposite in Saruwatari-sensei. Kazuki seemed completely indifferent to the stiuation, though, so there was no way to be sure.

For a great while both teams walked on in silence with the exception of Takumi's occasional attempts at goading Kazuki into an emotional response. The man was like a block of granite, however. Cold and impenetrable. It wasn't until Chiyoko stepped over to Hiro that the two teams of Genin interacted at all. Something to do with Hiro's sister and a babysitter assignment. Onitoge pictured Shikamaru in his head having to babysit and let out an uncharacteristic giggle. Everyone except the sensei froze in their tracks and looked at him. Chiyoko with a smile, Inakamo with stifled amusement, the other three as if he were some alien creature. None of them had ever heard Onitoge laugh before.

"Ummm..... I just...... it was funny. Thinking of Shikamaru babysitting," they all continued staring. "Just, cause it'd be really weird for him.....u..unless she's an accomplished shogi player, I mean. But....I'm sure Chouji and Ino will be great with your sister."

Onitoge tried to put in a bit of encouragement for Hiro, to not sound insensitive because he wasn't. He just never had anything like a sister before. Never had someone to protect. Feeling everyone's eyes still piercing into him he quietly slid to the other side of Inakamo from team 12, drawing his hood and cloak tightly about himself and drawing up the cloth mask he had fashioned after Kakashi-sensei. He drew back into himself so completely the only visible of his entire person was his eyes and they were shrouded in the shadow of his hood.

Up ahead Kazuki let out a low sigh, so low that the Genin behind Takumi and him couldn't hear. He then stepped a bit closer and whispered so that the Genin would not be able to hear them.

"You still haven't gotten him to remove that ridiculous encumbarance?" Kazuki chimed harshly.

"He's not ready Kazuki!" Takumi replied being equally careful that the Genin didn't hear them.

"If you and Hatake don't stop babying him and letting his 'skill' go untrained he's going to suffer through the same thing that happened when he started at the academy the second he's put in real danger. You're not doing him any favor by letting him hold everything back," Kazuki spoke in an agitated whisper.

"Yeah, and if we push him too fast he'll fall into the same trap as his clan!!" Takumi chirped back angrily, almost letting his voice raise.

"Something wrong sensei?" Inakamo spoke up from behind, having just realized that both Genin teams had fallen a ways behind their sensei while they were talking.

"Noooo problem. Kazuki and I were just arguing over whose team was faster. How bout we settle this with a little race. Team 13 against team 12?" Takumi gave his wild-eyed grin and Kazuki gave him an accusatory glance before a barely noticeable knowing grimace appeared at the corner of his lips.

"Alright. The ruins should only be 4 kilometers ahead. To judge which team is faster overall each place shall recieve points. 6 points for first place, 1 point for last. The team with the most points will be declared the winner. Takumi and I will carry all of your gear the rest of the way. Remove all unnecessary clothing and equipment and hand them to us," Kazuki spoke flatly.

The six genin spent the next few minutes handing everything they were carrying over to their sensei and limbering up. They all started to line up but Kazuki grabbed Onitoge by the shoulder.

"You're forgetting something. Hand me the cloak. Everyone is removing all unnecessary clothing," Kazuki looked fierce and resolute on the matter.

Onitoge looked to his sensei but Takumi just gave a look that said he was sorry and a nod to do as he was being asked. He let out a mildly audible gulp and slid the cloak off his shoulders. He hugged it tight to his chest for a moment and then let it got. Kazuki quickly reached down to grab it before it could hit the ground. Almost completely imperceptible, a bead of sweat appeared on his brow as he caught the cloak just before it hit the ground.

"There is only one rule. You may use your jutsu to aid you in the race but you may NOT use your jutsu against your opponents. This is a race to see who's fastest, not who's the most clever. Now line up!" Kazuki barked. "If I sense for a moment that any of you aren't doing your best to win this race I will personally request that you be stripped of your rank as Genin and sent back to the academy! Now, GO!"

Onitoge took those words to heart. He couldn't go back to the academy now. He was just starting to make friends. He had to give everything to winning the race! So, the other Genin barely caught a glimpse of his back disappearing into the woods 100 feet ahead as they were lifting their heads from their starting positions.

"Damn! Our mystery man really is a speed-demon!" Inakamo panted as he ran.

None of them saw Onitoge again until they reached the ruins. One by one they arrived to find him sitting with his back to a rock, arms wrapped around his knees with his face buried. It was much harder to hide himself without the cloak but he was obviously trying. He had to hide his face from them. A strange expression that was equal parts joy, exhiliration, concern, and fear was shifting across it. He had never moved all out like that before and it woke something in him a little bit. A thirst he didn't know he had. A thirst for more; more challenge, more exhiliration, more......something. He kinda liked it but at the same time felt it might somehow be what he had been afraid of all along. When the sensei finally arrived about 5 minutes behind the last Genin they both took a quick look at Onitoge before asking to determine the winning team. Takumi with uncharacteristic concern and Kazuki with an uncharacteristic satisfied grin.
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Selekis
------------------------
Selekis was one of the last ones to reach the ruins. Running had never been his strong point. Afterall, speed and strength were never his forte, tactics and illusions were.

After the sensei arrived and determined the winner, Sensei Takuma had declared a ten minute break for them. Although Sensei Saruwatari insisted they move on with the mission, he had been outvoted seven to one.

Selekis got his jacket back from his Sensei, along with the lunch Chiyoko had given him. He figured now would be a good time to eat it, before it spoiled or he dropped it. He unwrapped the bloth and opened the box to find chicken teriyaki with rice inside. The girl had cooked chicken teriyaki for him!

Selekis had grown to like Chiyoko more and more ever since they met at the bridge. And it was pretty clear she liked him. She made lunch for him for crying out loud! However, Selekis still felt a bit uneasy around her. Shyness maybe?

He took a few bites before looking over at the girl in question. She was talking with Hiro and Inakamo not far from where he was sitting. Carefully wrapping up his lunch, he walked over to them. Chiyoko smilde when she noticed him.

"Hey Selekis," she said, "how's the lunch?"

Selekis scribbled down on his pan "It's very nice. Thank you very much."

Chiyoko beamed as Selekis wrote something else. "You want some?" Chiyoko shook her head.

"It's all for you," she said, smiling.

"Can I have some?" Inakamo asked, reaching for the lunch, only to have it swatted away by Chiyoko.

"It's for Selekis only."

Selekis chuckled softly before turning to head back where he was sitting. Well, he would if Chiyoko didn't grab his arm.

"You're staying here so I can make sure you eat every bite of it," she said, grinning.

Selekis blushed slightly. She had been mohterly on the night she sarted making lunch for him. When they had gotten back and were having tea, she made him sit down while she cooked something for him. He told her he didn't want to be a problem, but she insisted.

Selekis resigned to his fate. He sat down along with the other three and continued on with his lunch.
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Shodou Kukai/Team 14/F
63. Endless Clouds
in which I wax lyrical about the excellent and clearly superior qualities of demon children
----------------------------------

By the end of the week Kukai was about eighty-five percent absolutely convinced that Miharu-sensei was inhuman. Or, more precisely, inhumanly demure, gentle and relentlessly cheerful in all circumstances up to and including gratuitous torture of the three members of her Genin team.

All right, so she was exaggerating. But how else could Miharu-sensei just sit sipping tea calmly in a convenient pavilion in the garden of the mansion, occasionally waving encouragement while Team 14 struggled valiantly to control the diabolical endeavours of seven misbegotten demon children to murder one Shodou Kukai, one Inuzuka Hige and one Kozue Haru - oops, she meant the seven angelic sons and daughters of the Land of Fire's daimyo, who were just the teensiest bit troublesome, and not in any way getting on her nerves. Oh no. Not at all.

One of the brats in question, deep in disagreement with Hige about the quantities of ice cream it was allowed to reasonably eat in one afternoon, had kicked the Inuzuka in the floppy bits and then proceeded to wail about how the "scary evil ninja with the triangles on his face" had subjected it to severe sexual abuse by arguing in such a way that it - Kukai was pretty certain she should stop referring mentally to all these perfect examples of oni changelings as it, but it pained her to acknowledge any one of them as real boys or girls, which would mean that they had souls - had been forced to reply in the purely defensive action of a swift kick to the crotch of the offender, and thus, its previously unsullied foot had now been stained with the touch of so vile an appendage. Kukai twitched, fascinated by the twisted logic. Crude as the demon-child's language was ("HE MADE ME DO IT HE DID OOOOO HE DID I'M GONNA TELL MOOOOOOOM!!"), its rationale was crookedly adequate. It even made a rather sick bit of sense. Generations of Shodou applauded the sheer ingenious brilliancy of the daimyo's buck-toothed, ice-cream-craving demon-child.

Back to events happening in realtime, three of the demon children were tormenting Haru; one was dangling his pencil just out of his reach, another was curled in a headlock trying to smother the poor Genin to death, and yet another was attempting to yank his beloved notebook out of his hands. Haru managed to disengage the demon-child clutching at the book, Kawarimi-no-Jutsu'd away from the one giving him a headlock, and resumed chasing the one with the pencil with relative ease. He was handling himself quite well, considering. Subtly laced about the boy's being was a newfound feeling of competence.

Not so Hige, but Kukai had to deal with her own personal demon children first, and did so by deftly stuffing a lollipop each into the mouths of the twins that were plaguing her at the moment. Kukai had no moral inhibitions on the amount of sugar that should or should not be ingested by young children; her reasoning was something along the lines of whatever the hell it takes to keep myself sane and bugger all if they ALL get diabetes. The last demon-child, a babe barely six months old, was squalling its head off in its crib. Mere noise: that she could live with.

Ignoring the Satan spawn that was now cleaning out a two-litre tub of orange sherbet, Kukai advanced on Hige, who was glowering vengefully in the direction of the child. Ginmaru was barking angrily - if this hadn't been a mission the dog would likely have bitten the little devil already. "Hey, Mr Inuzuka Hige. Look here."

"What. Is the matter." He looked anyway, eyebrows still knotted in a frown.

"Going to perform a small and easily managed trick that is nevertheless guaranteed to satisfy. Sit still, thank you very much." She focused, and wrote a word with the tip of her index finger in swift sure strokes on his forehead. Senkotoba no Jutsu didn't require hand seals to execute, being solely dependent on the user's own proficiency and understanding of the Words. It also needed a certain amount of chakra control, the user having to be adept enough that his or her chakra could seep into the other's with little trouble, although naturally such minor uses as the one she had just employed could be done without much hassle.

"Thought ya needed a brush to do that," grumbled Hige, getting up from his crouching position and stretching, as a dog would. He seemed less tense than a moment ago.

"Well, if you want me to try that some time with my very large, very effective brush that has the hog-bristle tip..." The threat hung in the air, nebulous. There was an unvoiced understanding between them that it could be a very real option should Hige desire to bring something up on par with The Washboard Incident again.

Hige changed the subject. "What did ya write on my head, anyway?"

"Patience - I may know next to nothing about medical jutsu, but I think I could sideline as a shrink."

"Yeah, ya'd like that, ya'd talk for hours at a time and people'd listen and pay ya money to talk."

Kukai decided to ignore the slight jab (since it was true, and accurately observed, after all).

In the end they were all saved by Haru's storytelling jutsu, Iki ta Monogatari, which rendered the seven demonic tots frozen in mesmerized amazement, gaping at the images that appeared to come right out of the walls. Haru spun a bewitching tale about seven gods of disease and war, wreaking havoc and unrest in an unnamed land, overturning all efforts to contain them and eventually triumphing in a thrilling crescendo of blood and gore. Despite her penchant for disliking genjutsu in any form, Kukai appreciated the dreariness of the imagery, the bleakness of the prose, and the over-the-top grand guignol scenes that resembled some of the stock pieces acted in the local theatre, generally marked 'STRICTLY FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY'.

Hige was heard to mutter something that sounded suspiciously like "Kids these days" while standing watch in a far corner, Ginmaru at his feet.

Under the beautifully glazed tile roof of the garden pavilion, Miharu-sensei took another sip of her seemingly everlasting rosebud tea, and smiled.

*

Later that evening, as they exited the outer courtyard of the mansion to enthusiastic praise from the daimyo that he had never seen his children enjoy themselves so much with any other babysitters, and doubtlessly he would of course engage only the miracle-working Genin Team 14 to watch his children should the need arise again, Miharu-sensei clapped her lovely hands together and called the three to attention.

Kukai stopped massaging her temples, Haru switched his attention from sharpening his much-used pencil to his teacher, and Hige ceased examining Ginmaru for any signs of damage caused by stray demon children. Miharu-sensei beamed.

"My dear Team 14, it is with the greatest pleasure that I inform you now that we have finally progressed up along the ranks to be assigned a C-rank mission!"

All three Genin's ears (and Ginmaru's) pricked up visibly at the mention of 'C-rank mission'.

"Not babysitting for some nob higher up'n the daimyo, Miharu-sensei, I hope?" Hige asked.

"Or Tora-chan," added Kukai. "I heard from Team 7's Naruto that locating Tora-chan was actually an A-rank mission purposefully downgraded to D-rank so that, I quote, 'experts like ME could teach Sasuke-asshole how to handle the really big ones in front of Sakura-chan!', though the truth of that statement is highly debatable."

Haru fiddled with the cover of his notebook, eyes not leaving Miharu-sensei even for the slightest moment.

"No, no," said Miharu-sensei, still smiling, though now with more amusement than had previously been the case. "This mission will take us to Kirigakure in the Land of Water, where we will be helping with their annual festivities by ascertaining that there is no roughhousing in the crowd, and to help with set up of the festival lanterns, streamers and such. The client, the Kirigakure City Council, also adds in a postscript that we are free to enjoy the sights of the Mist-clearing Festival as long as we accomplish the set task."

"So it's like a holiday? YEEEEEEAH! HOOOLIIIIIIIIDAAAAAY!!" Hige.

"S-sounds fun..." Haru.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to experience in first-hand the cultures and customs of a society foreign to the Fire Country." ...And Kukai.

"However, since it is still an official mission, remember to pack only the essentials, and behave professionally in all cases," reminded Miharu-sensei - and then, taking on a completely different expression, green eyes disappearing into happy, upward curves: "Hmm, I believe it's prudent and insightful to bring a summer yukata along for the festival, don't you think?"

*

The scene: Shodou Clan Shophouse. Kukai's room. A late-night family roundtable discussion.

The players:

Shodou Kukai, member of Genin Team 14. "Can all you people cease and desist from rummaging through my backpack! This is a breach of privacy!"
Shodou Nanami, formerly of the Haruno merchant clan before she married into the Shodou, mother of two. "Ah, Kukai, I noticed you forgot to put in the dainty yukata with the delicate murasaki print, along with the matching obi, so I'm going to add it to your luggage now so you don't leave without it!"
Shodou Ryokan, rank Chuunin, salaryman and freelance artist. "You're NOT taking ANY of my soap hostage to Kirigakure."
Shodou Basho, clan matriarch. "Remember what I've told you about having foreign boyfriends..."

*

Next morning dawned bright and clear, the sky moderately filled with clouds. A Shikamaru day, as Chouji and Ino would have put it. They didn't run into Team 15.

And the morning after that was overcast, with a bit of sun peeking through cloud. They ran into Team 15.

The port was bustling with activity, and they were booked for passage to the island that was the Land of Water on a passenger ferry that was right next to the ship that was carrying the load of supplies guarded by the worthy Genin of Team 15, and their Jounin sensei Kakashi Yukiso. Miharu-sensei, recognizing the mop-like black hair and the studious book ('Esoteric Rites of the Bashi-Bazouk') almost instantly, waved to them, smiling pleasantly. Kakashi-sensei waved somewhat less energetically back.

Kurama Ushi, with his distinctive red-tipped white hair and multicoloured clothing, bounced up and down defying gravity on the deck of the neighbouring ship waving madly. "HEEEEEEEEEEEY THEEEEEEEEERE! HEEEEELLOOOOOO! Here Raizen say hello too!!!! It's Team 14!!!"

Hyuuga Raizen, somewhat put out, rolled his eyes and waved, if only to shut his teammate up for a few seconds. The last of the Genin trio, Kazuma Masato, waved politely as well.

"Ah, so your ship won't be leaving until later in the afternoon, then? Ours is sailing in perhaps twenty minutes." Miharu-sensei struck up a mostly one-sided conversation with Kakashi-sensei.
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Ushi
~~~

Ushi leaned against the cart, sweating profusely. For the last half day or so he had been trying to take Kakashi-sensei’s advice, in between bouts of joyous skipping and wondrous gazing at the luscious forests and rich fields they had been passing through since they had left. The scattered lakes and almost ubiquous fog of the Land of Water wouldn’t be seen until tomorrow. For now however, Ushi let the slowly moving cart support him as he waited for the burning in his legs to disappear. He didn’t understand, Raizen and Masato had been adding weight to their legs through the removal of their chakra since they had left and, at worse, looked like they were getting a wonderful workout. In comparison, Ushi had been forced to release his chakra at least half a dozen times since then. It wasn’t the weight he was inspiring in his legs that was tiring him, it was simply the fact that he could not mentally hold his chakra as he wished for as long as he needed to. Sighing, Ushi straightened only to find Kakashi-sensei, now walking backwards, bending over and, peering at the youth over his book, Molecular Crystalline Sub-Orbital Physics For Dummies. The sensei spoke kindly, “Having trouble Ushi?”

Ushi struggled to remain standing, he didn’t want to look bad in front of his Sensei, or his teammates for that matter, “A bit sensei…I just can’t seem to hold the chakra back without draining myself too much!”

Yukiso’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the young Kurama, reverse stepping over a pothole in the road as he did so, “Well, if I had to guess I would have to say that you’re trying to use your Mousetsu-tai no Jutsu to move your chakra, am I right?”

Ushi nodded, his steps a bit surer now as he regained his breath. A light breeze added to his relief as he looked up at his sensei, “Yes sensei, is that not correct?”

Yukiso might have smiled, it was hard to tell with the mask, but his eyes certainly narrowed a bit, amusement present within them, “The Mousetsu-tai no Jutsu is a powerful technique Ushi, it lets you do remarkable things already and you will only grow better at it as you grow…but using it to manipulate your chakra in such a simple way would be like my brother using his Lightning Blade to cut hair…”

Ushi heard Masato’s chuckle and couldn’t resist smiling himself. Not because his sensei’s joke had been funny, just because he was Ushi and he hadn’t smiled for the last three minutes or so.

Yukiso stood straight, still looking down at his student and still idly reading his book, “You can’t always force things Ushi, sometimes you have to be subtle in order to get what you want. Direct the chakra, don’t shove it along and you’ll get the results you’re looking for. Precise chakra control is important for Genjutsu users like us, so practice hard at it alright?”

Ushi’s eyes narrowed as his smile widened, “Yes sensei! Takumi-sensei told me the same thing the other day!”

Yukiso seemed mildly interested, “Did he now? And why did he say that?”

Ushi seemed to concentrate for a moment, looking deep within his past to that time a few days ago. The details were murky, such ancient events tended to be, but he managed to drag out the reason, “Oh yes, he was teaching me one of his favorite techniques and was telling me that in order to get the proper dispersion of paper that I had to precisely control the directions in which my chakra went during the explosion.”

The book snapped shut with a muted noise, even as Masato and Raizen turned at the sound of the word explosion. Seeing Ushi and connecting the word to him, they both took several steps away from the young Genin. Yukiso for his part sighed, “He taught you that did he?”

Beaming, Ushi brought his hands in front of him, pressing his palms together and bending back his splayed out fingers in a seal reminiscent of a blooming flower. Yukiso took a quick hop backwards as Ushi’s voice rang out, “Ushi-bakuha no Jutsu!”

There was an ear-deafening crack and a plume of smoke that erupted from Ushi’s position. Coughing, Yukiso took another step back even as Raizen and Masato did their best to ignore the situation. Their attention was grabbed however as a gaggle of giggling voices emerged from the cloud. As the dust settled, the dozens of tiny figures began to be revealed. Each barely a fraction of the height of the original, the multitude of tiny Ushis seemed incredibly pleased with themselves. His eyes devoid of color, and rather circular, Yukiso stared at the army of miniscule Ushis. Masato tripped over a nearby pothole in his distraction, falling heavily on the road and crushing an innocently crossing beetle. Raizen stopped dead in his tracks and began squeaking incoherently, his face a mask of pure terror.

“It’s not exactly what Takumi-sensei was trying to teach me, but I think I improved on the method!”

His eyes shifting to stare at the tiny Ushi clone sitting on his shoulder, Yukiso’s voice was monotone, “You see changing a simple teleportation Jutsu that created a bunch of confetti into splitting yourself into an army of tiny replicas as an improvement?”

The tiny Ushi rocked back and forth joyously, “Yep!”

Yukiso lazily flicked the Ushi clone off of his shoulder, sending it flying into the forest with a final gleeful yelp. Taking one last shuddering glance at the tiny Ushis who were now begin to pile up on each other, the Jonin turned and buried his face back into his book. With a, much smaller, puff of smoke the mini-Ushi pile transformed back into the full sized version, a final Ushi running in from the forest and leaping onto the youth’s face to reform a missing ear. Ignoring his stunned friends, Ushi began to walk again, his expression one of concentration as he began to gently manipulate his chakra from his legs, guiding its way as best and as gently as he could.

[Asilynne]

Raizen
~~~~~~~~

“So we finally have an actual mission.” Raizen thought to himself as he walked next to the wagon. “I hope something happens though. This may be a C-mission but walking isn’t very interesting. Although Sensei said that we should mess around with our chakra. That’s right, channel the chakra into my legs to increase control, and remove chakra to increase leg strength.”

Raizen looked around at Ushi and Masato. Ushi seemed to be having a seriously hard time removing his chakra. Raizen thought it odd that a genjutsu specialist would have minor chakra control. “Then again, I don’t really practice genjutsu myself, so who am I to say anything about it.” Masato looked to be having an easier time of chakra removal. “Makes sense,” Raizen thought. “He’s probably done this before, being a taijutsu specialist. Well let’s see what I can do.”

Raizen took a moment to concentrate and began to channel his chakra out of his legs. Immediately they began to feel heavy, as though invisible weights had been attached. He took a step. “Wow, this is tough.” Raizen said out loud this time as he caught up to the rest of them.

“Yup, feel the burn Raizen.” Masato said in an overly macho voice.

“Yeah,” Raizen thought. “He’s definitely done this before.” After about twenty minutes of this Raizen began to get used to the chakra reduced walking, and thusly began to get bored again. He didn’t even have Ushi’s craziness to avoid as the marginally insane genin was concentrating on his own chakra. It was then that Raizen got an idea. He smiled to himself, ran ahead of the party and sat down in the middle of the road.

“Raizen.” Yukiso said. “What are you doing?”

“I have an idea to increase my leg training past normal chakra reduction.” Raizen then looked down at his legs. “Byakugan!” The veins around his eyes swelled and his pupils finally appeared. “Hmm, I can see the chakra in my legs.” He tried to remove it and watched as the blue colored chakra swirled and began to concentrate in his abdomen instead of his legs. “Excellent.” He said as he watched the chakra flow back. “Now…” Raizen squinted at his legs and began striking them at specific points. He finished just as the others caught up to him. “There.” He said wobbling severely as he got help from Kakashi sensei to stand up. “I’ve blocked the chakra points in my legs.” Yukiso raised an eyebrow and Masato’s eyed widened, Ushi was too far back to hear. “Heh, I haven’t just decreased the chakra in my legs. Actually for the next couple hours I won’t have any chakra in my legs at all.” Raizen said taking a step and almost falling over. He could tell instantly that this may have been a bit too much. He put on a slightly convincing “this isn’t so bad” face and started walking. It was going to take everything he had just to move at the group’s pace.
“Very clever Raizen.” Yukiso said glancing up from his book. “With absolutely no chakra in your legs you’ve got nothing but pure muscle to rely on. Training like that will actually be more effective that weight training. You’re going to be fast, but you may want to back of a bit next time.” He said with what was probably a smile under the mask. “After a few hours of this, you won’t even be able to stand.” And with that Yukiso went back to his book. The title this time being in a language that Raizen couldn’t understand.
***

“Yeah, Sensei was right.” Raizen thought to himself about three hours later as Yukiso stopped to have a chat with Ushi. He looked down at his legs, they were shaking violently. “Byakugan!” It looked like some of the chakra was starting to trickle back in. “I’m going to be useless at this rate.” Raizen thought. “I better call it a day.” He collapsed by a tree and began striking points on his legs again. In mere seconds he saw, and felt, the chakra rush back into his legs. “There we go.” He stood up again and walked over to the others. It wasn’t nearly as hard as before, but his legs still burned from the chakraless training.

It was then that he saw Ushi explode into dozens of tiny versions of himself. “Gah! What the… So… many… Ushi’s.” He watched on in awe as they ran around in all directions for a while. About five or so actually climbed up Raizen who was too tired to resist and started pulling his face into odd contortions before clambering back into the mass that eventually turned back into the full-sized Ushi. “That… was just wrong.” Raizen thought to himself as everyone began walking again. “Ugh, I really hope something interesting happens tomorrow."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~

After the race leading to their arrival the afternoon was largely uneventful. There was a break for lunch. There was lots of randomly picking through rubble. There was finding a whole heaping lot of nothing. At least, nothing of notable interest. Inakamo, Hiro, and Shiro all found some ancient eating utensils and kitchen ware. Onitoge found some sort of archaic compass. The others found various mundane items which Onitoge didn't readily recognize from a distance as he wasn't close enough to get a proper look before they were 'tagged and bagged' as Hara-sensei had put it. Hara-sensei had at least been much cheerier since arriving, likely due to the fact that his team had won the race. All in all the afternoon had been completely uneventful.

The light began to fade slowly as the afternoon wore on. Most of the genin had resigned to the conclusion that they were not going to find anything extraordinary or valuable. They would be mostly right as none of the genin found anything of great significance on this day. Kazuki, on the other hand, found a strange ornate box a little larger than a shoebox. He handled it with unusual care and he and Takumi both grew very silent and pale when they peaked inside. They immediately closed it before any of the genin could risk a peek and called everyone over.

"Something has arisen that requires our immediate attention. Takumi and I have to return immediately," Kazuki said sharply.

"We'll be back soon, however so just keep looking for artifacts while you have the light," Takumi chimed in.

"When the sun has set, continue looking for artifacts by trying to use your chakra to feel them out. Our absence is no excuse to slack off on your duties or your training," Kazuki said even more sharply as if in rebuttle to Takumi.

"Set up camp and make sure to get sufficient rest for tomorrow. We went you fully charged for the rest of the mission. We'll return as soon as we can," Takumi said as his eyes shot sparks at Kazuki.

The pair of sensei stared at each other for a moment before nodding. First a quick nod of acknowledgement to each other and then a reassuring nod of temporary farewell to the genin. The two then promptly disappeared into the trees.

"I wonder what that was all about," Inakamo was the first to speak up, his voice dripping with suspicion.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Chiyoko replied, obviously trying to infuse cheer into her voice.

"Right..... I'm sure if it were really important they would've had us come with them instead of leaving and coming right back," Hiro offered, trying to give some reassurance.

"Yeah. I'm sure we're perfectly safe otherwise they wouldn't have left us alone," Shiro added in.

"So, we keep working then?!" Onitoge quietly asked although he sounded as if he was answering his own question.

Three of the genin continued searching for more artifacts. The other three began setting up camp. It was probably going to be a long night with the genin out here without supervision so it was important they set up camp early. If someone didn't start now they'd likely never set up camp. Most of these genin were liable to keep searching till they dropped.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inuzuka Hige
~Matsuri Medley~


The boat ride to the village was relatively uneventful, except for perhaps for a small bout of seasickness on Hige's part. He had never gotten use to boats or maybe it was because he feared being near large bodies of water around Kukai. Though perhaps a bit paranoid, everytime he neared the railing he swore he saw an evil smirk light up the debate-loving kunoichi's face.

The Genin had heard stories of Kirigakure, of its deadly nin and bloody practices within its borders. The ever present mists that gave the village its name gave the area a strong sense of foreboding and dannger - as if the mists themselves would drag them into their dark depths. So to say they were shocked to find Kirigakure lit up like a Christmas tree and filled with a cheerful atmosphere was a bit of an understatement. Their guide soon explained that this year's Tanabata festival also coincided with one one of the few times of the year that the skies were clear, marking it as a doubly joyous occasion.

Team 14 was soon put to work. Hige and Ginmaru wove through the rooftops, stringing up lanterns and decorations. Kukai put her familial skills to work creating signs and charms for the villagers. She and her sensei made for frighteningly effective motivators - those who found themselves laying about were subjected to the bittersweet guilt of Miharu-sensei or the razor sharp tongue of the Shoudou Clan woman. As for Haru, the quiet nin helped in designing and placement, his signature Genjutsu aiding decorators in bringing their visions to life.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Hige gritted his teeth as he labored to hold up one end of a rather large wooden sign that proclaimed a 'special all you can eat buffet' for the festival. Ginmaru was at the other end, having been Jujin Bunshined into an exact copy of his master, and just as strained as he held up his half of the burden. The two were at the mercy of Kukai as she directed where the sign was to go. The Inuzuka boy wondered idly if she was intentionally torturing him as this was their last job before the wild boy and his partner got a break.

"To the left Inuzuka Hige-san! The left! Is it really so difficult to move a piece of wood in the right direction?"

"WHY DON'T YOU UP COME HERE AND DO IT THEN!?"

"I'm shocked Inuzuka Hige-san." The Shodou girl smirked up at the struggling Genin. "Was it not you this very morning who said to 'leave the heavy lifting to us men'? Are you so weak-willed as to go back on your word? Honestly Inuzuka Hige-san I thought you had more pr-"

Her words had the desired effect, igniting a fire within Hige. "That's not what I meant and you know that!" His gripped tightened on the sign as he moved it, all the while growling back at his teammate. "How's that!"

"Just a little to the right no-"

"OH YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME!"

As the two continued to banter back and forth, Haru was helping some of the younger villagers write wishes on sheets of paper to be hung on the bamboo. One of child, fingers stained with ink, tugged on his shirt lightly. "Ne, ne, Haru-ni? Why are Inu-nii and Shodou-nee always fightin'?"

The Genin writer thought about it for a moment before answering. "Kukai-san and Hige-san...disagree with each other...a lot."

"Do they hate each other?"

"Not at all...in fact," Haru said holding up his left hand and sticking out his pinky finger.* "You could say they're like this."

"OI HARU-TEME!" Hige's roar of anger surprised Haru so that he leapt a foot in the air. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN!?"

From his vantage point on the roof, Hige had seen Haru hold up his pinky while his keen ears caught the last bit of his conversation. Unfortunately, Shodou Kukai did not. "INUZUKA HIGE-SAN! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOT TO BULLY HARU-KUN!"

"Bu-bu-but he's talking behind our backs!"

"Haru-kun would never do something like that! It's just not in his nature!"

"THAT'S WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO THINK!"

"Now Inuzuka Hige-san, just because your angry at me does not mean you should take it out on poor Haru-kun! If you are feeling frustrated over your inability to finish your task in a manner that would satisfy me, then please vent them on me rather than an innocent bystander. "

As Hige worked up for an angry retort, Haru quickly returned his attention to his charges just smiling at the thought of his teammates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Saruwatari & Hara-sensei
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[ An Old Dance - Naruto Movie OST ]


Takumi had been having a greater time of fun than he had originally planned. Of course, nothing would beat spending a fantastic time with his lovely Miharu-kun at a festival… but annoying Saruwatari-chan was second on his list. He never was able to annoy the younger Kakashi… which aggravated Takumi slightly.
“So… Saruwatari…” Takumi began as he rummaged through the dirt like the rest of the Genin absently. Kazuki seemed to grit his teeth together as he snapped a look at Takumi.
“If you have something worthwhile on your breath… say it. Otherwise stay to the task at hand!” He snapped like an angry turtle, only filling Takumi with greater satisfaction. Most would say Kazuki was acting out of hand, if this hadn’t been the tenth time Takumi had spoken about nothing of much importance.
“… hmm… well I think it is of great importance.”
“Then what is it?” Kazuki absently punched the ground out of slight agitation, causing it to form a miniature crater- exposing more artifacts, but now half-broken. Kazuki grew more angry at this, as Takumi chuckled.
“Effective… but I believe our artifacts were supposed to be whole!”
Kazuki was about to open his mouth and probably scream, however suddenly Takumi seemed to spot something on the ground and he bent over to pick it up. His cheerful face suddenly transformed into that of deep contemplation, and he quickly beckoned Kazuki over. The two sensei conversed about the artifact.
“This is exactly what we were hoping wasn’t here…” Takumi confirmed, as Kazuki nodded. “It is just as I said when I was scouting the southern regions.”
“Well… then I’ll report this to the Hokage immediately.” Kazuki said, taking the object from Takumi’s hands, but Takumi frowned and shook his head.
“Oh no… you, ahem… have a tendency of wording things in a rather… well…” Takumi tried to find the words for it, finding himself staring into the glare of Kazuki.
“And I suppose your carefree attitude would best serve the information to Hokage? You cannot make light of this situation…”
“And you’d make it seem as if we were going to war.” Takumi huffed back, as the two crossed their arms. They both knew how important and pivotal this information was going to be… and neither wanted it to end how the other viewed it to be ‘badly’.

Whirling around, Takumi looked at the six Genin. The area wasn’t dangerous… this was just a basic mission to begin with. He was sure that six capable Genin could handle it by themselves until they quickly delivered such news of their findings together. Takumi gave them all orders, explaining how Kazuki and himself had to deliver an artifact and would be back shortly. They seemed to understand but he could see the confusion in their faces. He noticed that Onitoge and Chiyoko seemed a bit more keen on sensing some wavering notes in his face, but he added a smile to seal the deal.
“Let us go Kazuki-chan…” Takumi said gruffly, Kazuki giving a solemn nod as the two darted off and seemed to vanish before the Genin’s eyes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[ Evil - Naruto OST II ]

The two teams of Kazuki and Takumi had been working for several hours, doing the laborious work that their sensei had told them continue. The two had not been back for quite some time however… and there was something unsettling in the air. The group had decided to take a short break, all six genin sweating heavily from the heat. Things had gotten a bit hotter… and for some reason, the air became unsettling.
Onitoge seemed to be the first to noticed, as he looked up at the canyon-like walls that surrounded them on one side and the forest that was upon the other side. Chiyoko took notice to Onitoge’s uneasiness and asked him about it. However… it was Selekis who suddenly made dramatic gestures at the forest- for he was sitting closest to it. Hiro gave out a shout, as a kunai landed right before the large group.

Before their eyes, swiftly five dark figures appeared. All five were clad in black, one of the ninja seeming to be wearing a more feminine black garb. Four of them seemed a bit younger as they surrounded the fifth one, who stood proudly and his exposed face showed his ripe age. A grin was upon his face, as he pointed at the six Genin.
“You’re all tresspasssss’n on some ssserious groundsss… You ssee, thesse are our ruinnssss! Ssso get lossst!!” His voice hissed as he spoke, his eyes narrowing as the other four figures around him seemed to get ready for battle.
“Yeah, get off our turf.” One of the black-clothed Genin said, narrowing his eyes.
“I’m sorry… we can’t do that.” Shiro stated, his confidence spitting through is words as Onitoge and Inakamo swiftly backed him up.
“Yeah… last time I checked, your name wasn’t on here.” Inakamo crossed his arms, as all six seemed to ready themselves for battle too.
“Onitoge…” Chiyoko whispered nervously to her teammate. “They don’t have headbands… we don’t even know where they’re from.”
“I know…” Onitoge responded, “Which is why this could be very dangerous.”

“Who are you?” Chiyoko called out, but the leader shook his head.
“You will know nothing. You don’t dessserve to know. But sssince you won’t leave… we’ll make you!”
With that, he motioned forward and the four other ninja leapt into action.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kakashi (Yukiso) & Kuroda Sensei
*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

[ Daylight of Konoha - Naruto OST II ]

Yukiso and his team were preparing to leave- having waited for their boat to arrive for nearly an hour. Miharu’s team by that time no doubt was already there and working on their mission… which for some reason, was irking Raizen.
“I like this relaxing time!” Ushi proclaimed, pulling on Raizen’s ear who just seemed to twitch more.
“I like to be DOING something instead of waiting… we’re useless right now.” Raizen comments, as Masato lifted the boxes they were to deliver from one side of the port to the other continuously.
“Umm… Masato-chan… is there a reason you’re doing that?” Ushi asked, suddenly appearing cross-legged on the box Masato at that moment was trying to lift. He looked absolutely puzzled.
“Ermm… well, I WAS training my muscles.” Masato said, sweatdropping as he now carried a large box AND Ushi.
“Yay! I can help!” Ushi said, suddenly standing on the box and jumping as Masato grunted with each jump Ushi made. This was enough to make Raizen smirk.

Yukiso simply leaned against one of the towers of boxes, reading his book until suddenly he raised an eyebrow as a sobbing woman came running in their direction. Slightly confused, Yukiso snapped his book shut and approached the woman as the three Genin watched him.

[ Confrontment - Naruto OST II ]

“Oh… oh…! It’s horrible!” She wailed, as she covered her face and sobbed upon reaching Yukiso.
“Kind sir… you’re from Konoha, correct?” She sobbed, rubbing her eyes as tears flowed freely from them. Yukiso nodded, as she continued to cry. She then explained (rather loudly, so that the other three could hear) that a few ninja had attacked her village not too far from the port. There had been a team of Ninja helping the village out, and the team was captured by the other ninja.
“Do you know anything else?” Yukiso questioned, but the female shook her head.
“Only that I think the ninja were from the mist village! Please help!” The lady cried, and Yukiso withdrew a breath.
“how many Ninja were there?”
“Maybe two?”

Yukiso looked at Ushi, Masato and Raizen hard before swiftly approaching them.
“This is a serious situation. If those Ninja are from the Hidden Mist village… then Kuroda-chan’s team could be in danger. While Konoha hasn’t been hostile with the Mist village last time I checked… still…” Yukiso seemed to think hard for a moment, as if purposefully withholding some information about the Mist village.
“Who knows water jutsu?”
The team was dead silent. Yukiso withdrew a sigh… as if he were making a very hard decision.
“Alright… it looks like I’ll have to go check on Kuroda-san’s team. You three follow the lady to her village… and be stealthy as soon as you see the village. I want you to observe and gather information- do NOT engage. Even if there are only two Ninja, they must have some talent to capture another Ninja team. I will return with Kuroda’s team.”
With that, Yukiso seemed to disappear- leaving only a ripple of water past the shore where his foot once had tapped it.



Meanwhile…

[ Konomaharu's Theme - Naruto OST I ]

“Oh darn!” Miharu said absently, wearing her kimono already in preparation for the festival as she inspected some tea ingredients. “It seems you are short!” She declared in front of the seller, shaking her head.
“I swear… I ordered more supplies! They should be coming in any moment now!” The man said, sweatdropping. Miharu shook her head, looking to her right to see Hige fall from a ledge- perhaps because he was trying to hang something to heavy?
“Oh my Hige dear… you have to be more careful. Here, I have something for all of you to do that is less… strenuous.”
She clapped her hands politely and soon found Haru, Hige and Kukai standing around her. She grinned delightfully at them, seeming to just beam with a strange inner joy at helping the festivities.
“The shipment that Team 15 was supposed to bring in about… oh, twenty minutes ago has not yet arrived. I worry that something happened… perhaps they dropped it in the water and are fishing for it? In any case, there is a boat here… so please, go back and help them with the remaining supplies. That way things will get here quicker and the festival may begin sooner!” She said cheerfully, and soon her young Genin were sent out on a boat.
(It might be noted that if one were to look back, most importantly Hige- he would see Miharu seemingly effortlessly putting the sign into place in a comical manner.)

It was a long boat ride back, but about three-forths of the way there, it could be noted that the team seemed to sense someone pass them on the water. Foot-like circles of rippling water, until suddenly Yukiso appeared before them, standing outside of the boat on the water.
“Oye! Where is Kuroda-san?” Yukiso questioned, to which Kukai informed him precisely on where they last left Kuroda and then informed him why they were on the boat heading back in the first place without her. Yukiso nodded… and then quickly informed them of the latest predicament.
“My team might need help… and I must speak with your sensei. So go to the neighboring village, intersect with my team and look at the situation and aid them. Whatever you do though… do not engage the enemy Ninja.”
With that, Yukiso vanished.

[Outlaw JT]

Shodou Kukai/Team 14/F
69. Cicada Rain
-------------------------------

boat journey I

Kukai paced the length of the boat the entire journey, citing natural busybodiness.

Inuzuka Hige appeared not to like boats. Or maybe it was a fear of the open sea. Staying resolutely in the middle of the boat, he made infrequent forays to the sides only at the beginning and end of the trip, and even then darted back to the middle every time Kukai made an offhand remark about the sky, the water, random dolphins, anything.

Haru sat with Miharu-sensei in the bow of the boat, and wrote a story about the sea and little fishes.

Miharu-sensei made a very pretty picture, stirring tea leaves in a bowl on her portable lacquer table. When questioned she said that oolong was at its best when prepared under such conditions. The boatmen accepted the pink muslin teabags she gave them with much blushing and shuffling of feet. Miharu-sensei paid the heavily discounted fare they gave her with a genteel smile.

the killing fields

There is a slight drizzle as their boat pulls into the sizeable harbour. The harbour and surrounding bay is the only official entrance to the island called the Land of Water. All around are treacherous cliffs, clinging fog, hidden reefs that tear the bottom out of a ship as easily as wolves rip the shrieking life out of a rabbit's throat.

Kukai doesn't feel her skin prickle the way it does when it is monsoon season in Konohagakure. There it is moisture everywhere, hidden in the pores of paper, curling the corners; evaporated water lurking in the beams of houses, wood warping through constant contact. And it was hot. Humid. Sweat dripping off the ends of her hair, plastered to the back of her neck, an unbearable weight. Monsoon season is when she takes several baths a day. Strange that in the heart of water country the air is so much drier than what she is used to at home. The water here knows its place.

Obediently the drizzle clears up. They walk into the village, where countless massacres have happened, where doubtless more will happen, and written all over the tired faces of the villagers of the Mist is a united determined resolve: to enjoy these days of their year that are labeled festival.

matsuri

Colourful streamers hung from the roofs of every building in Kirigakure. To Kukai they looked rather like some odd species of jellyfish: she had helped to make a goodly amount of them, those outrageously shimmering jellyfish. She had also succeeded in haranguing a number of craftsmen into completing their work in the space of a few hours instead of two days, the original estimated time. She did not understand how Miharu-sensei managed, with only the mildest arching of eyebrows and quizzical pursing of mouth, to achieve a similar effect.

There was no mist today, and according to a villager, there would be no mist for a week. At night people would gather to look at the stars, it being the only time of the year when the sky was clearly visible from Kirigakure. Wishes would be written on papers tied onto bamboos, and dedicated to their respective stars.

Also, the villager said, it was a festival for lovers, for when the skies cleared the heavenly weaver (a star) and the cowherd (another star) would reunite with each other on a bridge of magpies, and the Milky Way itself shone brighter in celebration of their union.

Kukai noted that it was an interesting story, yet devoid of logic, as all such stories invariably were.

yubikiri, or the first recorded appearance of Haru's sense of humour

Kukai had her back to Haru, and her attention elsewhere, and that was why she did not notice the quiet boy's reference to yubikiri.

She hadn't expected such a problem to occur with Inuzuka Hige. She'd thought she'd known him well enough not to expect anything of the sort from his like. In a way it was a betrayal.

Through much of her acquaintance with Haru, Kukai had spoken up for him for more times than was humanly possible to keep track of - and so it was second nature for her to snap a reprimand back at the Inuzuka boy when he shouted, for (it seemed at the time) no reason at all, in the direction of her friend.

The ensuing argument resulted in a slip of footing, a crash, Ginmaru losing human shape and falling off the roof to land, with perfect comic timing, on top of his master.

After the dust cleared Kukai told Hige to look at her again, and wrote Patience, in a somewhat sheepish hand, on his forehead.

boat journey II

"...So now we're messengers. Boooring."

"Well you must look on the bright side, at least it's not going to be possible for you to drop any more signs all over the place this way -"

"- how d'ya manage to squeeze all those words into a single breath? -"

"- Mr Manly Man Inuzuka Hige."

"WHAT?! YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL I OFFERED TO DO ALL THE HEAVY LIFTING!"

"Of course, I respect your stand that men should do all the heavy lifting. As such, thank you."

"...You're welcome."

"But did you see Miharu-sensei...?"

"YES I DID NOW SHUT UP."

"Save your breath for paddling, Mr Inuzuka Hige."

"It's not ME who's cramming an average of thirty-four words into one sentence."

"Oh, you counted? With proper chakra management keeping my end up in paddling is but an elementary matter."

(Here there was an untranscribable growling sound.)

"L-look, there's Kakashi-sensei."

"Yes, and he's walking on water."

"Ya know, I just realized none of us know any water jutsu."

"Genius, Mr Inuzuka Hige, pure genius - a truly excellent observation, given that you and I are both currently holding a wooden oar each, we three are currently sitting in a boat, and that it is currently our principal mode of advancement."

"SHUT UP."

"Um, that could potentially be a b-bad thing..."

"Arf!"

"YOU TOO, GINMARU."

Kakashi-sensei neared the dinghy, a slightly worried look clouding what little could be seen of his face. “Oye! Where is Kuroda-san?”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chishio Soen
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emi….

Daku…

Why?

When our team was formed, I knew neither Emi or Kaito. Daku was mentioned in our clan a couple of times as a strong shinobi. Emi was that kind of girl that just couldn’t see a bad side. She always wore her brown hair in a knot and had a smile that went up to her eyes.

Daku was strict but fair. He was just as interested in us as in our abilities and after we graduated from our genin test he declared that his goal was to make us strong shinobi and strong people. Daku had a dark skin tone and short black hair. He clad himself in a white-striped uniform under his flak jacket.

On that unfaithful day, two shinobi attacked us. They never declared their intentions or motivation. It seemed they just wanted to pick a fight. Daku-sensei fought off the jounin while the three of us, me, Kaito and Emi, focused on his genin student. We managed to force their retreat, but less then an hour later, while we were resting and attending to our wounds, the two shinobi struck again. This time they had back-up. Another jounin and 2 genin had joined them. While Daku fended off the two jounins, we had our hands full with the genins. Daku split off with us so we wouldn’t get caught up in his fight and we made way for a clearing

After a tiring fight, Emi used the Bushin no Jutsu to distract our genin enemies so me and Kaito could knock them out. That glowing smile appeared on Emi’s face again. A smile that would forever be on her face as two needles flow through her heart, killing her instantly.

It seemed that the two jounin managed to overpower our sensei and me and Kaito feared the worst. We couldn’t match the two stronger ninja and we were caught before Emi’s body even hit the ground.

Afterwards, what remained of Team 2 was dragged into a nearby cave and held there.

I moved my hand, but it wouldn’t budge a lot. The itch on my nose was annoying but in the situation where I was in, I couldn’t really scratch it. My hands were cuffed in an iron chain. A nail had hammered it in the rocky surface behind me, forcing me to keep my arms up all of the time. I scanned through the room again. It was just an ordinary cave with a door. I did see my companion, Yoshikuni Kaito.

“So how long do you think we are in here?” I asked him.

“I have no idea, their GenJutsu makes it hard to focus on little things such as time.”

“You know what bothers me the most?”, Kaito suddenly said , “The fact that we can’t see the sky.”
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Yoshikuni Kaito
~~~~~~~~~~
Life

Was it really fair at all?

I remember back when our group was formed. Emi was a nice girl. She couldn't find a bad fault in anyone which was not such a bad thing. She did have a nice personality. Chishio was a strong character with interesting techniques. At first he was a loner but I got to know him a little better.

Then there was our Sensei, Daku. He was tough at first, but I understood why. He wanted to see the best in all of us. I guess that's what any sensei would do. We were an incredible group. But why did they have to die? What did life every do to them. As I looked at my team member all battered and bruised, I look up and sigh. This was a depressing place. I wish I could see the sky. I wish I could at least feel a bit of wind blowing through the cave. I first remember when we first met as a team.

It was a peaceful day unlike this situation. We ordered to meet somewhere near the forest to meet our new sensei. Emi was being quite cheerful and Chishio was being quiet. We arrived the place and waited. Hopefully, these new sensei wasn’t going to be late. I heard rumors about senseis arriving late just to mess with their pupil’s minds … but that was only just a rumor. Then he showed up. I heard all about he was a strong shinobi and just looking at him I could feel how strong he was. Daku had a dark skin tone and short black hair. He clad himself in a white-striped uniform under his flak jacket.

We shared about our hobbies. I learned much about my new team including Chishio. Of course, I rambled on about how I was on a search for the legendary wind Jutsu ... but I kept it at that. I didn't want them to make fun of me if I told them it was a wind jutsu that allowed one to really fly. Maybe they would understand. Maybe they wouldn't. True, Daku's test to see if we were worthy was tricky but like I said before, but all senseis have to see what their pupils are capable of.

Now they were dead. I didn't even understand why. One minute we were on a mission and these two shinobi attacked us. It was all a flash. Daku fought to save us and Emi helped but looked where that ended them ... dead. And we couldn't do a thing since we chained, battered and bruised. I started to cry. Why is life so fair?
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Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ Battle ~*~*~*~*~

My ears picked up, the sound of objects traveling at high speeds through the air whistled in my ears. The objects moving this way, at a direction that would carry them close to Chiyoko and the others. “Look out!” I shouted, jumping to the side, narrowly missing several Kunai that dug deep into the Earth as they hit it right where I had been standing. I glanced at the others, noticing that none of them were hurt as our attackers made themselves known. We had been ambushed which meant that we were already at a disadvantage.

My mind ran through the three pillars of ninjitsu, Stealth, Speed, Strength. We had lost the Stealth advantage, but the other two were still viable. The rest of the group began to talk back and forth with our attackers, something that was wasting valuable time as they analyzed us. That is if they were true ninjas. I made a move to the forest only to see a white haired female glance in my direction… well that was out. I shot a grin back at her, matching her black eyes with my own eyes.

It only took a second and I knew, she blinked, and that was when I knew the attack came. She disappeared in the blink of a eye, her movements almost as fast as Sensei’s. Yet I hadn’t spent my time off from the previous mission doing nothing. Wind was my element, and her feet were creating just that. Wind tickled the hairs on the back of my neck, and I leapt away, grabbing a Kunai as a fist traveled past my shoulder.

I swung my kunai and fist around expecting to connect with flesh, only for her to be gone. I fulfilled the spin, coming right around in a three sixty circle to find her fist connecting with my jaw. The power sent me sprawling backwards, I dropped into a roll coming up in a crouch. She opened her mouth and a earsplitting scream traveled forth, uprooting ground and rocks as it traveled in a ever widening path. I had enough time to bring my arms up in a block, my arms moving back and forth creating a field of wind between them, creating a windshield of sorts.

The voice wave hit, I dug my heals into the ground trying my best not to be taken by it. It quickly dissipated as fast as it had came and, she had disappeared again. I relaxed the shield and took note that I was getting further and further away from the main fight. I only had one friend I could truly count on to help me in this fight. “Chiyoko” I screamed out breaking into a all out run toward her.

Chiyoko’s head whipped around, our eyes matched only for a second before a black flash appeared between us. I didn’t even have a chance to stop running. She opened her mouth in a ear piercing scream and I felt myself being lifted off the ground, thrown to and fro like a rag doll until the wave began to dissipate, sending me rolling onto the ground. I coughed up a bit of blood and rose to my feet.

I had lost the Speed Advantage, I had lose the Strength Advantage, I had lost the Stealth Advantage. Yet there was one thing that Konoha ninja excelled at, and that was Willpower. I grabbed a Kunai and closed my eyes, letting myself feel the wind. I was never going to reach Chiyoko with this woman’s Speed Advantage. So it looks as if I were all alone. This was going to be tougher than I thought.
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Yagyu Shiro – Team 12
-

I don’t like these ninja.

Shiro brushed away his thick bangs, scowling at their opposition as a bony hand reached the kunai tucked inside his belt. He noticed other members of the team preparing for other actions, among them a small discussion of strategies…

Selekis’ writing implement was heard, scratching against a coarse piece of parchment, and he could see out of the corner of his eye that it was now held up for the other members of the teams to view. He glanced at it briefly, didn’t bother assimilating the eloquent words or its meaning, instead his fingers curled around the ring-shaped loop of his kunai, hooking a finger inside it and whipping it forward, quickly strafing to the side as he did so.

A scruffy haired member of the assailants quickly stepped forward, deft fingers whipping forward and lashing out at the kunai, his own fingers finding the loop and returning it from whence it came.

A member of Shiro’s party deflected this with an ivory shuriken – who, Shiro did not bother to look. He scowled at the opposition who had so skillfully intercepted his projectile.

Oh damn, I’ll show you Scruffy.

Shiro grinned with slight malice as he unearthed two more kunai, now concealed by a decent amount of shrubbery and foliage. He saw his colleagues finally buzzing into motion, ignoring their actions, instead hurling both kunai forward, each tinged with the hissing of wind; Shiro grimaced at the extraordinary chakra loss that came from such techniques, though he was rather impressed by the speed of the projectiles. However, this time a fishnet-clad individual stepped forward, an odd instrument in his hand. He grinned, and skilled fingers wove throughout the strings, sound waves buzzing out and deflecting the projectiles with ease, sending them thudding into trees. The rocker’s teammate – labeled Scruffy, nodded in acknowledgement, before finally returning Shiro’s attacks with a trio of gleaming daggers.

What the hell? He found me? Must have…

The daggers hissed barely past him, and Shiro quickly tumbled out of his indecent hiding place, his gi rumpled, with one of the sleeves slightly torn from a kunai barely scraping him, the other sleeve held intact by the forehead protector casually wrapped around it, though the durable metal now bore a scratch. Yagyu Shiro now glanced at the said blemish, and he frowned.

“Hey,” he roared at the attacker. “I just polished this you—”

Another flurry sped forward, and a curse flew as the Genin tumbled away to avoid the blow, hair whipping into his eyes as he did so. Scruffy was smirking now, and Shiro rose to his feet, drawing the dagger he had brought along for his mission.

“Keep laughing, Scruffy,” Shiro muttered to himself. His legs were suddenly a flurry of motion, and he drew back a muscled arm, the blade of his dagger gleaming in the sunlight as he thrust it forward. Scruffy sidestepped the blow, drawing a kunai – notably less durable then Shiro’s own utensil – and slashing back in retort. Parrying the blow, the Konoha Genin slammed a fist into Scruffy’s stomach with his free arm before somersaulting backward. The assailant fell to the ground, but quickly rose, bearing only small signs that such a blow had ever occurred. He tossed his kunai aside and beckoned Shiro forward with a cocky motion of his fingers; at this, Shiro angrily sheathed his own weapon and replied, “Bring it on.”

Unfortunately for the Genin, the assailant complied, racing forward and performing two lightning quick blows in rapid succession, fists slamming like thunder into Shiro’s chest. Shiro stumbled, bearing the pain as he kicked downward with his feet, flipping away to avoid another strike from his opponent. Unfazed, Scruffy tore forward in pursuit, this time performing a half-handstand, one arm carrying his weight as he lashed outward with his feet. His arms bearing the brunt of the blows, Shiro returned the attack by seizing one of the furiously striking legs, twisting it (which incited a cry of pain from Scruffy) before tossing his opponent aside, retreating with several steps, pausing only to let his assailant rise once more.

“You’re pretty good,” Shiro remarked as he raced forward. Scruffy parried all three strikes from Shiro, deftly catching the blows before returning them with several quick jabs followed by an uppercut. A hand on his jaw as Shiro fell to the earth, he grimaced at the pain, tasting blood in his mouth.

“I wouldn’t say the same about you,” Scruffy remarked.

“What’s with the face mask anyway?” Shiro remarked as he rose to his feet, backing up several steps. “You’re no Kakashi or…”

A hammer like blow connected with Shiro’s stomach, and he flew back, managing to plant a hand on the earth, several feet later, flipping forward to land once more on his feet.

“That was rude, you know.” The Konoha Genin snapped, wiping blood from his mouth. If Scruffy cared, he showed no signs of said emotion, instead launching several more Kunai forward as Shiro recovered. They were repelled with Shiro’s own throwing knives, and he leapt into the air, several more jet black daggers raining down on Scruffy, thudding into the earth in rapid succession. Two had sunken into the Shinobi’s left arm, and he plucked them out with only a slight twitch of pain, tossing them aside and ignoring the blood trickling from the wounds.

“Oh you’re tough,” Shiro taunted with a grin. He landed beside his distracted opponent, who was still looking up, thrusting a palm into a bony side, two swift kicks rapidly following the blow. Skidding back only slightly, Scruffy retaliated with several jabs; these Shiro easily dodged.

“Gotta do better than that, Scruffy.” Shiro grinned.

Slight annoyance permeated Scruffy’s features, and he smashed a fist into Shiro’s shoulder blade, who tumbled back in turn, but quickly regained his footing.

“My name’s Den,” the assailant finally snapped.

“Well that only took ten minutes to say.” Shiro sneered.
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Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~

These four Genin were a tough looking bunch. There was no doubt in that. Still, the reall threat was their sensei. How could they hope to take on a jounin level shinobi by themselves? For the moment Onitoge put it to the back of his mind as only the strange Genin were on the move.

Hiro drew the girl off immediately as Shiro was the first of their group to go on the offensive throwing a kunai at the scruffy haired Genin. It was caught with unbelievable grace and fired back unexpectedly. Onitoge responded instantly and an ivory shuriken flew to knock it off target. Shiro's response of sending several projectiles was countered by the bandaged Genin with the guitar. The sound waves alone from it deflected all of the kunai at once. He would be trouble for all of them if he was left alone in back to support their assailants. Onitoge shot a sideways glance at Inakamo and his teammate nodded agreement.

"I gotcha. Right, you and Chiyoko take musical mummy and Selekis and I will wrap up his twin.....wrap up....hehehe I KILL ME!!!!!" Inakamo cackled insanely as he launched into action, his carnival ball appearing out of nowhere swinging wildly through the air.

Onitoge and Chiyoko ceased hesitating and charged forward towards the Genin with the guitar. Chiyoko made a quick sign and a ball of water launched from her palms at him. Onitoge sent several ivory shuriken as well from a different angle as they moved to flank him. They were still both from a frontal angle so the musical mummy strummed the strings of his instrument a wave of sound whipped through the air, wide but short to knock both their assaults down. As he did it he drew back swiftly to keep them at range. He seemed to specialize in range.

They circled and came in from opposing angles. Onitoge was greeted by a wave of sound that snatched him mid jump and slammed him backwards so hard he barely managed to plant his feet before it could push him into a large tree. Chiyoko managed to get a short round of her water blasts off but the clever Genin was fast enough to get out of the way as he focused the sound of his instrument the other way. He was proving to be most skillfull.

"Ssstop playing with them Ryuga. Thissss is ssserious!" the jounin shouted impatiently.

"Yes sensei," the bandaged Genin answered promptly before turning back to them, a mean sour look in his eye.

With speed and grace he hadn't shown before he leapt up onto a high tree branch while rapidly strumming out several chords with his instrument. Still wearing his cloak he wasn't fast enough to get out of the way so Onitoge held his arms up to block the assault. He was most surprised that all he felt was a rapid gust of wind all around him blowing downward. He looked to his feet to see that a rune had been carved on the ground by the blasts of sound. He tried to move but found himself unable, sealed in place with a strange humming rising in his ears.

"hmph. Melodic Seal Jutsu! It traps an opponent in a cage constructed of pure vibration where the slightest sound reverberates and continues bounces off every sound until it cancels out all vibration within the seal, effectively paralyzing the target. One down! Your turn girlie!" Ryuga chuckled to himself until he turned to find Chiyoko nowhere in sight. "Where'd you go?"

"Right here!" Chiyoko shouted as three of her suddenly appeared directly above him, all firing a sphere of clear blue water at him.

He managed to strike one chord but it wasn't wide enough. The wound wave intercepted one Chiyoko and water blast but the water dispersed and the Chiyoko clone poofed out of existance. It caught a second one which turned into a log via a substitution jutsu. The third disappeared just in time for the logs momentum to smack Ryuga in the face. Chiyoko suddenly appeared right behind him, swinging with her kunai only to hit air as he leapt away with sudden speed again.

She quickly jumped back and tried striking the air around Onitoge to try and shatter the seal of sound he was trapped in but it her kunai just bounced off. She thought furiously for a second before she had an idea. She fired a sphere of water at the ground where the seal had been carved. The hard packed dirt smeared into mud from the blast and the seal was broken.

"Chiyoko!!" Hiro's voice suddenly grabbed her attention.

Chiyoko looked in his direction and caught his eyes for a moment before the female assailant blocked her view. At the same time the bandaged Genin reappeared and he looked serious. Onitoge looked in Hiro's direction and then at Chiyoko. He could see the concern in her eyes and he let out a sigh of resignation.

"Go help him. I'll handle this!" he said in a quiet but firm voice.

Chiyoko hesitated for a moment but something in his voice told her Onitoge would be alright for now. She smiled to say thank you as she took off in Hiro's direction. Onitoge turned towards Ryuga and they fixed eyes on each other.

"You'll handle this? Is that supposed to scare me? You're not fast enough to avoid my jutsu!" Ryuga barked with a sly cocky voice.

"That wasn't supposed to scare you," Onitoge's voice was low and even as he replied, unfastening his cloak.

He carefully slid the cloak off his shoulders and let it drop. It hit the ground with a thunderous boom that caught everyone's attention for a moment. The impact kicked up a cloud of dust that completely shrouded Onitoge for a few seconds. When the dust cleared Ryuga saw Onitoge standing there boldly, his cloak on the ground behind him in a crater a foot deep.

"That was!" Onitoge said sharply in a low voice.

Faster than he could blink Ryuga saw Onitoge right in front of him. He barely had time to pluck a single string on his instrument as he leapt back and the resulting blast slashed wide from his frantic evasion. Suddenly, Onitoge didn't seem too slow to him at all!

Ryuga began playing his instrument feverishly as he leapt from branch to ground to branch again. Waves of sound flew randomly in all directions as Onitoge dodged around him with blazing speed. No matter how fast his playing the sound waves never reached their target before Onitoge had moved on. Onitoge wove in closer and closer with each wave of sound until he finally appeared right next to Ryuga, kunai in hand. With one swift motion, faster than Ryuga could play one last chord, Onitoge sliced every string on Ryuga's guitar. A lightning fast series of taijutsu strikes later and Ryuga was slammed backwards into a tree. Ryuga tried to struggle to his feet but collapsed to the ground.

One of the enemy Genin down and Onitoge took a second to scan the battlefield. Everyone seemed to be holding their own. Shiro was matching the scruffy looking Genin move for move and blow for blow. Hiro and Chiyoko were quickly turning the tides against the female Genin working together. Likewise Inakamo and Selekis were starting to put the other bandaged Genin on their heals. That left, of course, the real threat. Their sensei.

Onitoge fixed his eyes on the intimidating snake tongued man just in time to see him uncross his arms and spring into motion. He was moving towards one of his Genin to aid them. There was no way any of them could handle one of these Genin and a sensei at the same time. He had to get there first. Fortunately he was really fast.

"You have to go through me first!" Onitoge's voice almost trembled as he said it, jumping directly into the path of the advancing Jounin.

He prayed someone else would break free from their battle soon because there was no telling how long he could hold out against a Jounin level ninja by himself. Onitoge silently gulped as the Jounin simply smirked and kept charging. Onitoge had the feeling it he couldn't last very long.
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Raizen
~~~~~
It had been quite some time since Raizen’s leg training and he was feeling nice and rested. The entire team was now sitting in their boat, waiting to cast of. “And still nothing interesting has happened.” Raizen muttered to himself. It was then that a hysterical woman ran up to Kakashi sensei and explained about her town being attacked by two ninja.

“Go investigate.” Yukiso said before dashing off across the water to find Mahiro. “And do not, I repeat do not, engage the enemy.” He looked at Ushi who was still poking Raizen. “… Use stealth.” And he was gone in a flash.

A grin full of confidence slid on to Raizen’s face. “Finally. Guys,” He said looking around. “Let’s go.” And all three genin, having assured the woman that they could handle anything, dashed of down the road.

“You know this could get dangerous.” Masato said as they ran toward the village. “These guys sound violent.”

“We didn’t go through all that training for nothing Masato.” Raizen said with his small grin still in place. “We are ninja. Right Ushi?”

Ushi, who was smiling and humming idly to himself, glanced over. “Hmm? Oh sorry Raizen, I wasn’t paying attention. What are we talking about?”

“Ugh. How we’re ninja and even if we are discovered, which we won’t be, we can handle this.” Raizen said with a sigh. “Look, there’s the village in the distance, let’s slow down and get off the road.”

It took about ten minutes of army crawling, dashing between trees, and silence before the genin notice two ninja, both of them boys looking a few years older than themselves exiting the village. They were both dressed all in black and carrying windpipe instruments. “Ok, we found them. Now what?” Ushi whispered.

“Well,” Raizen whispered. “I think we just- wait… Why is that one smiling… Oh shit they’re looking right at us.”

A twig snaps.

“Guys,” Masato said as the two ninja smiled even broader. “I think we’re surrounded.”

“But the lady said there were only two ninja.” Ushi whispered.

“Byakugan!” Raizen whispered as his veins swelled. “No, Masato’s right. In addition to the two you can see we’ve got three more ninja at three, five, and nine o’clock. And they’re all chuckling.”

A small barrage of kunai forced Team 15 out of the trees and into the main street where all five of the enemy ninja confronted them. Two looked much older than the rest, probably their sensei. The female called out in a mocking none. “You Konoha kiddies shouldn’t have come here. Now you have to die.”

“Oh but let’s have some fun with them.” The male jounin said. “Why don’t we watch as Rin, Soren, and Ganju destroy them?”

At this all three of the younger enemies launched into an attack, one ninja for each member of team 15. Raizen immediately dashed to his left so as not to get his fight mixed with the others. He drew two kunai and threw them with deadly accuracy at the boy who had attacked him. But the boy whose head perked at the name Ganju deflected the kunai with ease having drawn what looked to be an ordinary piccolo.

“So, Ganju is it? Do you really think that a musical instrument will help you in a figh-” But the boy began to play and Raizen had to clap his hand to his ears. The sound coming from that thing was at such a high pitch Raizen was surprised to find his ears weren’t bleeding. “What so you’re going to play bad music to defeat me?” Raizen muttered as he looked to where Ganju used to be. “Crap, where did he go?”

“No!” Ganju called out. “That was meant to keep your hands…”

“Byakugan! He’s behind!” Raizen went to crouch down but the attack had already started.

“On your ears!” Ganju yelled just as he struck Raizen in the back of the head with his foot, sending the Konohanin sprawling into a tree.

“Okay,” Raizen thought to himself as he stood up and felt blood trickle down his neck. “No more underestimating. It’s going to be tough fighting under the handicap from his piccolo. I’ll have to get rid of it!”

It didn't seem that the enemy genin had any specific talent other than his terrible sound jutsu. The two of them began a taijutsu battle. Both genin seemed to be at a disadvantage, Raizen because of the sound, and Ganju because he needed at least one hand on his piccolo. It was then that Ganju made a big mistake.

He tried to catch Raizen off guard by stopping the sound momentarily and attacking using the piccolo as a blunt object. Though this was excactly what Raizen was looking for. The lapse in screeching allowed him to fight to his full potential. Dodging the piccolo swipe Raizen put everything he had into a two handed empty palm strike, hitting Ganju directly in the lungs before jumping backward.

"Ha! I've damaged the chakra network around your lungs." Raizen said with a grin. "You won't be able to play your little piccolo continuously anymore!"

"That may be true," Ganju sputtered as he gasped for breath. "But I still have this." He said more to himself than anyone else. With what looked like intense pain he took a deep breath and played a new note that was far more extreme than any previously.

Raizen clapped his hands to his ears again. But it wasn't enough, after Ganju stopped playing he took his hands away only to see blood in his palms. Then his balance started to go and he crouched to one knee. "This is bad Raizen thought, this hearing damage probably isn't permanent... but I'm having a hard time standing. It will be very interesting to fight without much balance." Ganju then coughed up a little blood. "Hmm, at least he injured himself a little more in the process."

"Well here we go." He said standing up and wobbling a little.
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Selekis
---------------------------
Selekis had to admit, while Inakamo looked like a deranged lunatic, he had some interesting abilities.

His ball shot out towards the genin at high speed. Unfortunately, the enemy saw it coming, leaping over it with ease, causing the ball to slam harmlessly into a wall, kicking up a lot of dust.

Of course, Selekis was going to use this to his advantage. He stepped back into the shadows as the sky grew darker, his eyes almost as if they were glowing.

The genin was almost about to launch an attack when an omnious growling came from behind him.

As the dust cleared, it launched itself at him.

It's body was long, like a serpants, as you couldn't even see the other ends of it. It's head was covered in a horifying, demonic mask, and had some small bits of rather maccabre-ish armour on it's elbows and large, sharp claws. Part of it's body was covered with bloody bandages, but everything else gave the impression that the beast was skinless.

It howled with an inhuman shriek as it swung a claw at him.

The Genin managed to dodge it, but the fear was apparent in his eyes. He was not going to fight this thing!

He jumped up to higher ground, trying to avoid it, but the beast pursued. He threw explosive seals at it, hoping to destroy it, but with an almost insane speed the beast avoided them, coming ever closer.

He ran as fast as he can to get away of it. He knew however that he'd have to stay and fight.

He spun around, firing a sonic blast at it, only to find it hit nothing but air.

The beast was gone.

"What the...?" The genin muttered to himself, before noticing the kunai being thrown at him from behind.

He dove to the side, just managing to avoid them, although getting a scratch on one arm from one of them.

He breathed a small sigh of relief, just as Inakamo's carnival ball struck the wall just to the right of him. Although the ball missed him, it w enough to set him off balance.

Out of sight, Selekis smirked. How he missed sing his nightmare beast to terrify others. He melted back into the shadows, moving to a new vantage point and to prepare.

[Asilynne]

Chiyoko
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chiyoko gave Onitoge a nod, appreciating that he let her go aid Hiro. It wasn’t that she wasn’t loyal to her own teammate… in truth, it was more at the fact that she wasn’t sure if Hiro could last against the girl by himself. As Onitoge threw off his cloak, Chiyoko was sure that her teammate could handle the opponent by himself- especially now that his sealing technique was revealed. Onitoge wouldn’t fall for the same trap twice, and now with his cloak gone Chiyoko knew that his speed would be too much for the mysterious ninja to handle.
But this girl that was fighting Hiro… she seemed dangerous.

Chiyoko started running towards Hiro, but within an instant the girl had placed herself between Hiro and Chiyoko and let loose another scream into the air, causing him to go flying backwards.
“She sure has some lungs…” Chiyoko thought, as the girl turned around to look at Chiyoko. Within a blink of an eye, the girl seemed to reappear next to Chiyoko and she let loose another scream- sending Chiyoko flying. Luckily for Chiyoko, she fell into the ground… having really nothing to keep her from flying backwards. The female nin soon forgot about Chiyoko however, and was going back at Hiro, Hiro threw a kunai at her helplessly… but the girl simply moved out of the way.
“I gotta help Hiro!” Chiyoko thought, getting to her feet and swiftly running towards her. Her hands came in front of her as she quickly formed a few hand motions. Chiyoko continued to run as she formed them, until the girl turned her head to look at Chiyoko with a big smirk on her face. Chiyoko narrowed her eyes, figuring her opponent though she was going to try to aim a strike. The girl was cocky- all the nins they were fighting seemed to be, and she stood there- as if taunting Chiyoko to try to get a hit.
Hiro gave out a shout as if to warn Chiyoko not to get too close, but Chiyoko turned her determined expression around as she suddenly smirked. The black-clothed female nin’s expression turned to confusion, as Chiyoko suddenly stopped running several feet away from the girl.
“Ganjigarame no Jutsu!” Chiyoko yelled, finishing her final hand motion. The girl figured it was better to move at this point, and she seemed to make a notion to move. However, the girl’s body was completely paralyzed… and panic leaked into her facial expressions. Hiro rose to his feet, as Chiyoko called out to him.
“Quickly! She can’t move!”

Hiro nodded, running straight towards the girl as he pulled back his fist and wind seemed to start swirling around his fist. The girl’s eyes couldn’t even widen with fright as Hiro ran at her and then managed to punch her straight in the gut. The girl let out a scream as the jutsu of Chiyoko was removed and the girl flew backwards, crashing into a nearby rock. A few audible cracks from the attack were heard… causing Chiyoko to wince for the girl. The female nin didn’t rise for a bit, giving Chiyoko time to join up with Hiro.

“That was handy…” He said with a weak smile, breathing heavily from the beating he took. Chiyoko smiled lightly, giving a nod. He grasped his hand, and Chiyoko noticed heavy bruising beginning to appear.
“Is your hand okay?” She asked, and he looked at it and winced.
“I think it is broken…”
Chiyoko gave a nod, as the screaming girl rose shakily to her feet- clutching her abdomen. Taking out her kunai, blood trickled down her lips as she struggled to breath.
“I think her breath has been taken away… so screaming will be painful for her.” Chiyoko whispered as Hiro nodded, both taking attacking stances. The girl threw kunai at the two of them, and Chiyoko quickly dodged some as did Hiro. Frustrated, the sound nin suddenly took a strong stance and took in a forceful and obviously painful looking breath. She then let out a tremendous scream, causing Chiyoko to wince as sound waves tore up the ground in front of them. Chiyoko looked to Hiro and could tell he wasn’t going to be able to dodge it. Swiftly Chiyoko formed another jutsu, and soon five clothes and gathered in front of Hiro in a straight line directly in front of him.
The sound wave hit, causing the clones to explode one by one until finally it came to the sixth figure of Chiyoko, which was in fact Chiyoko herself. She held up her arms in a cris-cross pattern, biting her lip absently as cuts formed upon her arms and tore at her torso, causing her to bleed. As the sound wave passed, the cut up Chiyoko looked at Hiro and saw that he was unharmed. He had braced himself and closed his eyes, and seemed surprised to see Chiyoko in front of him. Chiyoko could feel the sting within her arms and upon her abdomen, blood trickling from the open wounds.

“Chiyoko are you…” Hiro began, but Chiyoko smiled and shook her head.
“Look!”
The female nin was clutching her abdomen and coughing greatly, obviously extremely weakened by the attack. Chiyoko put her hands together and began another jutsu- feeling herself drained.
“Let’s finish this.” She whispered, as Hiro stood up by her side and began to form a jutsu as well.
Chiyoko unleashed a blast of water straight at the girl, just as Hiro released several ball-shaped blasts of wind. One of them missed the girl as she barely avoided it, but the water blast and the remaining wind blasts hit her dead on. A cry of pain escaped her lips, but soon she fell and Chiyoko felt that she wouldn’t be getting up any time soon.

Breathing heavily, Hiro opened his mouth to speak again but a large cry was heard. It seemed everyone had finished their battles with the four nins… but their leader had suddenly joined in with rage. Onitoge had been trying to battle him, but he was sent sprawling with a swift punch to the gut.
“Onitoge!” Chiyoko cried, rushing to him but the Jounin swiftly eyed her and narrowed his eyes. Within a blink of an eye, he had throw kunai at Chiyoko. Seeing them, her eyes widened and she leapt out of the way- only to find the leader greeting her as she landed. He rose his leg and gave her a swift punch to the abdomen, and Chiyoko felt a roaring pain swim over her body- adding to her old injuries. Chiyoko lost her voice as she was sent flying into a tree, hitting it hard. Before Chiyoko could grasp the severity of the situation… she felt herself lose consciousness.
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Ushi
~~~~

Ushi faced down his opponent, Rin he believed, giggling softly to himself. The older ninja had pulled out what appeared to be a rather nasty looking flute and was placing it against his lips. Seeing this, Ushi beamed.

“You play the flute too?! So do I!”

Reaching into his belt, Ushi produced his own flute, its warm brown surface marred only by soft green symbols in the language of the Land of Fire. Rin eyed the flute warily, knowing himself the trouble that such a normal instrument could produce. Quickly, the darkly clothed Genin began playing. Ushi cringed at the first notes; the music had no harmony at all, no recognizable melody. It was just sound, sound with no purpose other than to cause pain in the hearer. Ushi couldn’t stand it. He needed to show this upstart what music was.

Ushi began to play, feeling the gentle flows of the world around him guiding him as always, only the screeching of Rin’s musical blasphemy disrupting the graceful harmony Ushi produced. As the music built, Ushi began sending out his chakra with it, wrapping it around Rin as it flowed along the song, pushing into the other youth’s mind. The music sent only one message: sleep.

Rin’s eyes began to droop, even as Ushi’s twitched in pain. The two began walking towards one another, their music increasing in power and effect as they did. By the time they were within arms distance of each other both were reeling. Ushi's music was still soft, though the urgency of its power had reached a fevered pitch. Rin's sound was a screech if impossible frequency and noise. Rin’s eyes closed only to snap open moments later as he fought the effects of Ushi’s genjutsu. Blood dripped from Ushi’s ears, the pain causing his hands to shiver as he attempted to keep playing. It was a test of endurance, one that Ushi lost as, with a muffled cry, his song cut off with a sharp squawk and his head bent in intense pain.

Rin shook his head, banishing the hypnotic effects of Ushi’s music from his mind and grinned with satisfaction down at his foe.

“No one can match our ability with Sound little Leaf Ninja, you were foolish to try.”

Ushi’s returning voice was strained, both of the hands gripping his flute white knuckled.

“Oh I wasn’t trying to match your Sound. I just wanted to show everyone that your strength in sound doesn’t make your Music any less horrible.”

Rin’s eyes narrowed in anger, immediately before widening in shock. The flute beneath Ushi’s hand was…glowing?

No…it wasn’t the flute, it was the writing on the flute. Rin knew that writing, he had seen it before in his training…he’d even used it once or twice.

“Weapon…summoning? Oh shi…!”

With a sibilant ring, a shining blade erupted from the end of Ushi’s flute. At the same time Ushi straightened, driving his arms forward in a straight thrust. Rin jerked his face back, driving his head away from the blade. He cried out however as the blade cut a deep rift through his cheek, blood dripping rapidly from the wound, even through the hand that the enemy shinobi placed over it. Leaping backwards, Rin glared at Ushi through his pain. Ushi straightened, wiping away the blood that had pooled in his ears with his free hand. His eyes were still full of humor, though now that humor had an edge, and edge matched by the sardonic grin on the young Genin’s face.

“Direct force isn’t always the best option. Sometimes you have to be subtle to get what you want.”

Rin sneered at Ushi, despite the pain it caused him. He removed his hand from his cheek, ignoring the blood that began to drip anew from the wound.

“Get that from a fortune cookie or something?”

Ushi’s grin widened.

“No, from someone who probably would already be picking his teeth with what little spine you have by now.”

Rin’s sneer turned from mocking to angry, one hand reaching to his belt to remove a kunai. The enemy shinobi fell into a fighting stance, one hand holding the flute at his side, the other also at the side with a kunai in a reverse grip.

“You annoy me.”

Ignoring the cry of “get used to it!” from Raizen, Ushi too fell into a fighting stance. Turning to stand perpendicular to Rin, Ushi held his flute in his right hand, the blade parallel to the ground and in front of his face. His left hand reached down to hold the hilt of his sheathed katana in a loose grip, the First Form of Mugentou. His smile remained constant, supremely confident despite his inner realization of Rin’s ability. This shinobi was powerful, stronger than Ushi in almost every possible way. All Ushi could do was hope...and believe that -some- opportunity would arise.
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Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ Post Battle for Hiro ~*~*~*~*~

My left arm was cradled by my right, my head rang over and over again with the pain left by the woman who Chiyoko helped me defeat. My body screamed out from every bone to rest, for medical attention. I knelt down next to Chiyoko, watching the battle with ‘sensei’ as the enemy ninjas called him began to take apart our group one by one. His fists firing sound waves from his gloves. I withdrew a Kunai and began to think of what was happening. We were going up against a ninja that had to be Jounin rank. Our only chance would be for most of our group to run, and for one or two of us to stay behind and sacrifice ourselves for the group.

I flexed my right hand, testing to see if I could even make it into a fist. I wouldn’t last ten minutes in a fight against him. Yet ten minutes could be enough for the others to get away. I rose and took a few steps toward the battle, only to stop cold in my tracks. I couldn’t stop thinking of Hikari, how she would find out about my death if I went into battle, how she would be alone most of the time from now on. How she would lose a brother.

I stepped back and sank to my knees, crouching right next to the unconscious Chiyoko. “You are going to hate me for this.” I whispered to her, keeping my eyes on the battle. “Hikari may even hate me for this, but I’m scared, I’m exhausted, and I don’t think I can defeat him, so I am going to stay next to you, and if I do get killed here, I want you to take care of Hikari.” I whispered to her not knowing if she could hear me or not.

The battle began to turn even worse and even I had to look away. “Just pretend like you are dead Chiyoko, what ever you do don’t wake up, please.” I placed my good hand on her cheek, stroking a lock of hair away before looking back at the battle. If they thought Chiyoko was dead, then maybe one of us would survive.
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Raizen
~~~~~~~

Raizen stood up, wobbled a bit, and looked around at his teammates. They seemed to be alright, they were still alive at least. But he wasn’t sure how long that might last. He needed to do something; he needed to find an opportunity.

Ganju played another quick note, it didn’t last long because of his damaged lungs, but the shrill sound still caused Raizen to cringe. He felt some more blood run from his ears and had to steady himself as his knees shook from lack of balance. Raizen stumbled backward and found a tree to lean against to keep himself upright. “This really isn’t good.” He thought to himself. “I can barely stand.”

Raizen tried to stand upright again but just then Ganju, who didn’t seem able to take a breath deep enough to play his flute at the moment, charged.

Ganju was fast, faster than he looked. “I can’t evade this.” Raizen muttered as a thought occurred to him. Deciding to go with his lack of balance, at the instance one would normally dodge a straight thrust, he just dropped. In one fluid motion Raizen fell hard to the ground and Ganju stabbed his piccolo into the tree. Taking this opportunity, Raizen took out a kunai and tried to stab Ganju’s other hand into the tree, temporarily immobilizing him. But Ganju saw this and moved enough so that only his sleeve was fastened to the trunk. “Excellent.” Raizen muttered as he got up and stumbled away.

“Hey!” Ganju yelled out. “Get back here!”

Raizen looked to where his friends were as he stumbled along. “Ushi’s closer, I’ll go that way.” Raizen tried to dash over to his teammate, only to find his balance was still terrible. He tripped, caught himself, and spun around. Now Masato’s battle crossed Raizen’s path. He tripped again, dodging a swinging fist, got upright, spun to the left, and missed a kick. With Raizen’s poor balance it actually looked like drunken fist.

Masato’s fight moved on. Raizen stumbled into Ushi’s. A swing, a trip, and punch a spin, Raizen missed both attacks. Ushi took a step back and that’s when Raizen noticed an opening in Rin. Raizen tripped again, but as he did he struck Rin in the chest with a double handed empty palm strike. Rin flew back into the air in an arc. It was then that Raizen noticed two things with his Byakugan. Ushi was gone, and Ganju was back. Ganju kicked Raizen in the face as he fell to the ground, causing him to fall on his back and breaking his nose at the same time.

“Gah!” Raizen held his face as blood flowed from his nose. “This just went from not good to even worse.” He thought as he tried to get up but simply fell back to the ground.
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Masato
~~~~~~~~

Masato’s dreams were restless as visions of Ushi exploding filled his head. Soon it was no longer the water held by Genjutsu that had washed over him but it was in fact Ushi’s blood that did and felt his head landing into Masato’s arms. The severed head suddenly became alert, speaking in a cheery sing song voice: “Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Masato! I’ve been waiting for you.”
Letting out a scream he dropped the head and watched as it landed on the ground and rolled away, “Goodbye Masatooooooooo, see you again real sooooooooonnnnnnnnnn,” as it faded away Masato was no longer in the forest but was now in a valley.

It was nearly impossible to see anything since a thick fog seemed to surround every which way, the only things visible for some reason were thick, black tendrils of thrones growing in every other direction. Off in the distance Masato thought that he saw movement and began to chase after it. Following the being through the encompassing fog for a few minutes, Masato came to a stop at the appearance of a recently arisen house. A familiar scent seemed to fill Masato’s nostrils as he realized that it was the scent of his mother’s cooking. As he opened the door, Masato felt a nibbling at his leg and found that it was Patches, staring up at him. As he kept walking he saw his father at the kitchen table reading a newspaper and his mother behind him chopping vegetables. It seemed like it always had been, when suddenly Masato’s mother turned around stabbed his father in the base of the neck. He fell on top of the table the blood from his wound spilling onto the newspaper underneath him as the blade his mother had used to kill him was now a kunai. His mother fell on top of him with a similar kunai through this one through her neck, as a ninja clad in haze like shadow appeared where she once stood. Masato couldn’t move, he seemed frozen as he looked down at Patches and saw him there lifeless. Masato wanted to scream but nothing came out of his mouth as he looked at his hands and realized that he was now holding the bloody kunai, as he realized this he knew he was standing over his parent’s remains. With that he let out a scream and woke in a cold sweat.

After heading to the bathroom and splashing some cold water on his face, Masato tried to fall back to sleep, to no avail he decided to catch up on his comics and pulled down the recent manga he had bought.

As the sun rose over the village of Konoha, Masato slept soundly with the manga book draped over his head with an anime style sleep bubble expanding and contracting from his nose. As the sun light began to seep into the room, a fly flew through the open window and began its routine of landing and flying all over the room. Soon it began to near the slumbering Masato first landing at his foot, causing him to twitch (not audibly because then that would just be silly), then his hand and then finally on his lip which caused him to take a deep breath in sucking in the fly. He soon awoke to find that he was choking on something and began to gasp wildly as he then coughed sending the fly flying out the window. Looking at the clock, Masato realized now was the time to start work on his training.

Knocking on Chiyoko’s door, Masato was confronted with the cheerful face of Chiyoko and in the background saw Naruto consuming a huge amount of ramen. He asked if she knew the whereabouts of Kazuki sensei. At first she gave him and as if sensing Naruto creeping towards Chiyoko’s defenseless bowel, Chiyoko sent a chopstick towards Naruto’s hand, causing him to stop.
“Um…I’m not sure, why don’t you try the forest.”
“Ok, thanks Chiyoko!” Masato said as he turned around.
“Oh, wait a second Masato!” Chiyoko called as she handed him some homemade Onigiri. “I thought I’d give you something to eat, since I know you only buy the stuff at the store and if you’re looking for Sensei there’s nothing really that quick to eat in the forest.”
“Well, thank you a lot, and I’ll see you later!” Masato yelled as he ran towards the forest.

It was almost near lunch time and Masato was about to call it quits and just have some of the onigiri that Chiyoko had given him when suddenly he saw Kazuki sensei by himself eating by the river side. After taking a deep breath and reminding himself of what he needed to do he walked straight to Kazuki sensei, then tripped on a root and fell flat on his face. Luckily Kazuki hadn’t noticed him yet and proceeded to walk straight up to him.
“Yukiso Sensei, good afternoon,” Masato said as Yukiso ignored his presence “I’m sorry to disturb you during your lunch, I was searching for you this morning and finally found you here and I was wondering…” He dropped to his knees and bowed low to the ground: “Would you please instruct me in the ways of Taijutsu!” Yukiso seemed to open his mouth as if to say something, but instead yawned and continued to eat his meal.

“What do you want?” Saruwatari had asked, giving Masato a glare that brought a shiver down his spine.
“Saruwatari-sensei… I heard that you were a Taijutsu specialist and was hoping that you could train me!” He said nervously.
This caused Kazuki sensei to blink for a moment before again returning to his lunch and ignoring Masato. “Now’s not the time, might as well go practice…” Masato thought as he gave a sigh and began to turn away. After a few steps away he suddenly heard a cough behind him. Just as he was about to turn, he felt as if someone was right behind him and turned quickly only to find nothing, and as he faced Kazuki he saw that the sensei had reached into the back of his back and removed the onigiri that Chiyoko had given him.
“You come to bother me and offer me only this?” He took a quick sniff and replied back with, “Hm, Chiyoko made this…well then this will have to do.” With that he took the onigiri and swallowed the whole thing in font of Masato.
“Fine, I’ll train you. Yukiso is talented, but as a Genjutsu master… he can’t help you greatly with Taijutsu like me.” With that, Kazuki gathered up his lunch and grabbed the piece of cloth that he had been resting on.

With that Kazuki presented Masato with the inconceivable feat of cutting down a tree down with the cloth Kazuki had been using, and after several attempts of trying to conceive how cloth could cut such a substance as wood, he merely used the cloth as a whip and watched as it fluttered slowly towards the tree. After what felt like hours Kazuki appeared in front of Masato giving him some insight into how exactly someone as clueless as Masato could use the object in his hand as a tool with it’s own potential to complete the task at hand. With that said Kazuki took the cloth from Masato and as if turning the cloth into a sword of blue aura, cut the three in half and watched as it fell backwards. With renewed confidence, Masato tried to mimic the sensei’s technique by focusing on the scarf itself, no longer seeing it as mere fabric but the object necessary. Focusing his chakra and he thought he could feel the cloth become a little more stiff as he tried to strike the tree, but watched as it effortlessly make a flapping noise against it. Again and again he tried, even after Kazuki left and continued to focus on the piece of cloth and finally as the sun began to sink into dusk…watched as a tiny piece of bark fell off the tree. “Probably got caught on the cloth…” Masato thought as he let out a sigh and resolved to try again later and returned home to get some dinner.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Leaving for the mission

After Masato’s training with Kazuki he felt a little more worn out then usual the next day. Though after a few light work outs and a few D-rank missions he felt more prepared for the task at hand. Finally a C-rank mission, with that Masato packed what he needed and met his teammates at the described location. After a few minutes of Raizen and Ushi banter, Yukiso explained the extent of the mission. Transporting goods to the village hidden in the mist. With that they were underway, though taking the advice of Yukiso, Masato practiced focusing his chakra all the way down into his feet, much like he would if he were wearing weights, yet not having the cumbersome task of lugging them and accidentally giving himself a hernia.

The mood finally lightened up when Ushi decided to show everyone one of his new techniques and exploded into a thousand little Ushi’s. “Raizen’s worst nightmare…” Masato chuckled to himself, as two of them somehow got on top of his shoulders and started to pull at his cheeks, making a mock smile appear on his face. This seemed to cause the two Ushi to smile as well and cheer as they the decided to pull themselves back together into their original form.

“Well I would certainly call that an interesting technique…” Masato said to everyone as they took a rest for the night. Finding whatever time he could from his duties he would practice with the cloth Kazuki Sensei had given him…occasionally chanting in his head… “Be the cloth…be the cloth…now cut…” as it again fluttered fruitlessly against the tree.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
C-Rank mission

Despite Raizen’s confidence about following tracking the two enemy ninja, Raizen did have a point they were going through a lot of training and hard work to help those in need. As he thought back to the cloth he had left back at the camp.

After several minutes of moving silently they came upon two ninja who were exiting the village, possibly the ones described by the woman. For some odd reason they were carrying windpipe instruments. They couldn’t have been watching the suspicious ninja for a few minutes before suddenly Masato heard a twig snap from behind.

“Guys,” Masato said as the two ninja smiled even broader. “I think we’re surrounded.”

With that Raizen activated his Byakugan and confirmed Masato’s worries, they had reinforcements. They were then bombarded with kunai and were forced onto the main street were each ninja was paired with another in battle.

As Raizen charged to his left taking on the one called Ganju and Ushi stayed his ground against the ninja called Rin on the right, Masato took the center one, who didn’t really declare himself. This was mostly because with one punch he sent Masato flying ten feet away, sending him sprawling to the ground. Both of his comrades called out to see if he was still alive, which Masato was able to cough up, along with some blood, an “I’m still alive.” On shaky knees he slowly rose up and charged back at the center ninja, trying to deliver a round house kick, which he blocked with his one arm, sending Masato to the ground again. With that the ninja chuckled, looking at Masato on the ground.

“I’m Akira and I will be your opponent.” With that opportunity, Masato went for an uppercut, which Akira caught with his right hand, effortlessly lifting him off the ground and with his left attempted to punch Masato. Though with a quick movement Masato kicked off of Akira’s chest and skidded a few feet away from Akira. Brushing himself off, Akira charged this time. Masato blocked the first punch and watched as Akira then went for a left hook, which Masato tried to mimic, both fists crashing together, except Masto felt like he was punching steel and after a few seconds was pushed back by the forceful punch. “I can’t get any ground with this guy…” Masato thought.

[Outlaw JT]

Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~

This older shinobi was fast. He was upon Onitoge before he could even blink. Onitoge barely had time to slide to the side and jump back, let alone evaluate his technique or try to counter. This older ninja was much faster than anyone Onitoge had ever fought.

A series of blows came at him so quickly. Onitoge slid fluidly in motion, strictly on the defensive trying not to get hit. A leg sweeping over him as he ducked, a series of rabbit jabs to either side as he shifted his weight repeatedly, an uppercut he flipped backwards to avoid....... What had he been thinking to step in this man's path alone? This shinobi was a jounin level ninja. Onitoge knew he had no chance alone, possibly even with help should the others defeat the remaining three sound genin.

And then, as his mind raced through this with his body struggling with every ounce of speed to dodge, the first blow landed. It felt softer than he thought it would as an open palm connected with his shoulder. It took him a second to realize this was only a strike to throw him off balance so he would be unable to dodge the barrage of blows that now came flying at him. A flat handed jab to the other shoulder, backwards twisting sweep with the leg, and then it came. A full fisted full force punch straight to his gut. Onitoge looked down in shock to see the blow didn't even connect. It didn't need to. The jounin's fist stopped inches from his stomach and an almost visible surge of sound shot from the fist. It made a silent but awful cracking noise like thunder and the force of it sent Onitoge flying backwards until his back bounced off of a tree, depositing him in the dirt. It took him a moment to realize that the shreak of pain he had heard while he was airborn had come from himself.

Onitoge clutched his stomach, doubled over in pain. He couldn't restrain a cough and a few drops of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. That punch, the sound wave this jounin could generate with his gloves.... it was deadly. That was this shinobi's signature and Onitoge looked up just in time to see it in use again as the jounin sent Chiyoko flying. He winced as she collided with a tree and slumped unconscious on the ground. He had been down for only a few seconds and already this jounin had dropped another one of them. He had to get up. Had to fight.... none of them would be able to last long unless they were all fighting!

Onitoge struggled to his feet. The pain in his gut screamed and bellowed but he managed to suppress it just enough to find balance. He leapt back into the fight as Shiro, Inakamo, and Selekis all struggled to hold back this shinobi who seemed too powerful for all six of them.

The four of them dodged and feinted, kunai and shuriken flying in all directions as they tried to direct this superior ninja. He effortlessly dodged and countered every move they made, however. Selekis attempted using his demon genjutsu but barely had the beast summoned when the jutsu was disrupted by a kunai in his leg. Inakamo's carnival ball wildly and seemingly unpredictably circled around the Jounin but the man weaved and dodged with a grin until he struck it with his fist of sound and it flew back almost crushing Inakamo save for a last minute redirection with Inakamo's chakra strings. This shinobi was a monster and it seemed he wasn't even fighting them at full strength. To a small measure, he was toying with them.

One by one in rapid succession he struck them down. Selekis was caught by a sudden flying kick while he tried again to summon his beast. Inakamo was caught by an uppercut while almost grazing the shinobi with his carnival ball, almost. Onitoge and Shiro were struck down at the same time. They both moved in to attack and Shiro was caught by a sideways kick while the shinobi grabbed Onitoge's wrist. A swift twisting motion and Onitoge howled in pain to the reverberating cracking noise that came with his elbow being snapped backwards, broken, before being kneed in the chest and sent flying again.

"Thisss isss truly pathetic. Iss thissss all the Leaf Village hasss to offer for it'sss Genin?!" the Jounin laughed horribly as he looked to each of them in turn till his eyes caught on Hiro and Chiyoko. "Do not think I have forgotten about you!"

Onitoge's vision blurred and he struggled to lift his head up to see. His body was wracked with pain but he could barely make out the Jounin rushing towards Hiro and Chiyoko. Hiro hesitated for only a second before bravely stepping between their assailant and Chiyoko just as she seemed to be coming to. The resulting fight was quick and painful but Hiro had managed as much of an effort as Onitoge had before the others joined in. Still, Hiro was sent flying too which left Chiyoko alone as she struggled to her feet.

Onitoge's head pounded, his heart throbbed. He could feel something pulsing through him. What was this? He had never fought anyone like this. His blood burned at the thought of it as he watched the shinobi lift Chiyoko up by the hair. There was fear in him, yes, but there was something else too. He had never been pushed this far before and it exhilirated him. His mind and heart thought only of saving Chiyoko as he rose back to his feet but his body was chanting something else. His body wanted more!!

"NOO!!!!" Onitoge shouted at the top of his lungs as the shinobi drew back his fist.

Onitoge's heart began racing faster. His blood seemed to boil in his veins. His broken arm swung up and snapped back into place as he rotated it to test it. Chakra seemed to pour off of him sizzling the air around him. The shinobi looked upon him with confusion. As Onitoge stepped forward slowly horns grew out from above his eyes to eight inches in height. The back of his gi tore as thin sharp needles grew out from his spine. Three razor sharp claws protruded from between all of Onitoge's nuckles to over a foot in length. His teeth seemed sharp and his eyes burned a crimson red that could send a chill down most men's spines. This was Onitoge and yet it was not the Onitoge they all knew.

"what the hell.......?" one of his fellow Genin muttered but he did not know who.

"Let her go and fight ME" his voice seemed shrill and violent, like he was eager to battle.

"Now thissss iss sssssomething more interessting," The jounin said as he threw Chiyoko aside.

They were at each other before she hit the ground and everything else seemed to fade away to Onitoge. There was only this, only battle. It coursed through his veins and the more he tasted of true battle the more his body craved it.

This battle was not unlike the first one between this Jounin and Onitoge except that it was Onitoge on the offensive. The Jounin dodged and weaved inbetween his strikes, barely able to keep ahead of them. This was not the same Genin he had fought alone minutes before. Onitoge's assault was relentless as he struck at the enemy. His blows were swift and precise and getting closer and closer to their mark. The other Genin stared in awe and confusion at the monster they saw before them fighting their enemy. It was a specitcal that lasted only minutes, however, as Onitoge burnt through chakra at an alarming rate in this monstrous form.

Onitoge's strikes got closer and closer as chakra faded. He seemed oblivious to the drain on his energy as he furiously pursued his opponent. He could taste the Jounin's blood in the air as his bone formed claws scratched at the Jounin's arms and legs and it fueled him on even further until at last his chakra gave out and his body seemed to shut down all together. Almost in an instant all of the bone protrusions receded back into him and he collapsed to his knees before passing out. He managed a brief glimpse of the mildly sliced legs of the Jounin before his world went black.

As he passed out his heart prayed the others were safe now but he did not know as he had lost track of all else while he was fighting. His body, however, eerily chanted at the back of his mind 'more more more MORE' before he lost all sense of time.
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Soen

~~~***~~~***~~~


A scream filled the cave. Soen let out a loud cry as copper nails were hammered into his body. Again and again the process repeated. A nail drove into Soens skin until a drop of blood was formed. When that happened a hammer with incredible force slammed the nail completely in his body. Again and again painful shots were delivered in Soens body until the nails were everywhere in his body.

“Don’t think you are out of it yet, boy.” The torturer said. “The fun is just starting.”

With a laugh, the maniacal person drove a steel bar, glowing red from the heat, onto every single nail. The heat was transmitted through the nails and burned Soen from the inside.

Another scream echoed through the cave, the loudest one so far.

“I can easily stop this you know, just tell us what we need to know.” the assaulter whispered as he withdrew the steel momentarily

“I …ah… don’t have a …ah… clue what …ah… you are talking about. I don’t …ah… know anything about it.”

“To bad then.”

Again the steel was pressed against the nails and the heat blazed inside Soens body.

“Hey Futago”, a female voice echoed through the door, “our students have picked up something interesting, come out of their for a moment.”

“Alright Tsuin I’ll come out. Guess you are lucky boy.”

The male broke the genjutsu but the pain still seemed to flow around in Soen. Kaito looked concerned at Soen who was hanging on to consciousness by sheer will.

“You should have just pretended to be knocked out.” Kaito commented.

“If I did that, they would have just preformed the genjutsu on you. It’s something I don’t wish upon any person if I have the chance for it.”

Strength seemed to return slowly as Soens chakra began to flow through his body normally again.

“Besides, it isn’t our clans style to play possum. We fight till our last breath and through pure will power we can overcome foes. Of course a lot of technique is needed too.” Soen slightly smiled.

“We aren’t really in a fighting situation at this moment.”

“You couldn’t be more wrong.”

Soen moved his foot over the dirt and revealed a metal object. One of the forks that went missing from his dinner plate a while ago. Although they were captured, Kaito and Soen received food, although just the minimum to keep them alive..

“Oh, how I suffered for this.”

Soen placed his foot on the fork and gathered chakra. The fork stuck to the bottom of his foot and with a kick he shot it in the air. The fork landed nicely in the palm off one of his hands. Soen looked up and focused. He scratched the back of the fork against the wall, sharpening it.

“What are you planning?” Kaito hopefully asked.

“I’m sharpening this fork, perhaps I can pick this lock with it. And from what I heard, it seems we have a bit off time till they return.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ushi
~~~~

Ushi hissed in pain as Rin’s slash found its way over his guard, tracing a gash across his arm. Both shinobi were wounded by this point, blood dripping from several light and a few deep wounds, most of the latter on Ushi. Rin was just plain faster than Ushi, the benefit of experience and hard training. Even though Ushi could see many of his attacks in time for him to formulate a defense, his body simply couldn’t react fast enough to keep up. He was reacting purely on instinct, not able to use any aspect of his sword style beyond blocking and evading, his strikes thus far had just been lucky gambles on his part.

Raising his right blade up in a vertical block, Ushi caught Rin’s kunai. Ducking immediately, the young Genin barely escaped a jabbing flute aimed for his eyes. Shifting his weight as he approached the ground, Ushi turned himself into a spinning leg sweep, catching one of Rin’s legs only to have him push off with the second and land lightly past his attack. Crossing his sword, Ushi raised them up and caught Rin’s double armed slash from above. A swift kick to Rin’s shin made the older ninja back off a step, letting Ushi regain his feet and step back as well. The youth shook a lock of blood matter hair from his eyes just in time to leap away from Rin’s incoming foot. Ushi flipped in the air, spotting a tree rapidly heading his way. Twisting, he landed horizontally against the tree, using his chakra to briefly stabilize him as he prepared to leap off of the trunk back at Rin. Rin wasn’t where he left him however, Rin was flying into the air. Spotting Raizen with his outsretched arms, the hands still glimmering softly with released chakra, Ushi understood what had transpired. Cringing at Raizen’s subsequent pummeling by his opponent, Ushi turned his attention back to his. He only had another moment before his hold on the tree would give way, he needed to figure out what to do.

If I try it…I’ll be done for this fight

Grinning to himself, Ushi murmered as he rapidly sheathed his white blade and held his hand closely over it.

“Yeah, but if I don’t I already know how this is going to end.”

[J-E-N-O-V-A AC Version]

Ushi’s eyes locked onto Rin, narrowing in concentration and focus. In an instant, Ushi built up all the chakra he could find in himself and released it as he had trained so many times to do. Suddenly, like tiny fires bursting into life in midair, the scattered chakra field appeared between him and Rin. With a powerful push, Ushi launched himself form the tree, a flare of chakra erupting from where his feet left, blasting away a small circle of bark.

At the same moment as his leap, Ushi saw Rin’s eyes find him. The experienced shinobi began raising his arms, kunai and flute still in his hands. He coughed up some blood to clear his throat, seething at the emptiness inside of him where Raizen’s Empty Palm strike had blown away much of the chakra in his chest. The flow would restore itself quickly enough, but right now Rin had a different problem. Seeing Ushi launch himself from the tree, Rin twisted in midair to face him. He would have liked to blast the fool with his sound, but he couldn’t summon the chakra to do that for a few more seconds at least. Instead, he brought his arm back, preparing to chuck his Kunai into Ushi’s face. With the way Ushi was positioned, he wouldn’t be able to execute a block before he had a half foot of steel lodged in him. That’d wipe the stupid smile of his face. Rin allowed himself to imagine the look on the other two Leaf Ninja’s faces when their friend fell dead from the sky. Rin stopped his thought however as Ushi’s outline suddenly blurred, his edges flickering in and out of existence. Then the world distorted, a queasy chill running through Rin’s body. His eyes widened as the chakra field separating him and Ushi, something he had disregarded as unimportant due to Ushi’s impending demise, suddenly bloomed. The individual motes of chakra erupting as…something passed through them. Rin frantically searched for Ushi as the chakra cleared, but the young Leaf ninja was nowhere to be seen. Feeling a sudden coldness in his gut, Rin turned.


Ushi held still in the air, his drawn blade extending from his straight left hand, his eyes closed. Blood dripped slowly from Ushi's body, tiny droplets strung out behind him like rubies. Rin wondered how the Genin had moved quickly enough to take his back, and pondered why he wasn’t attacking. It was then that the cold feeling in Rin’s gut ignited, blood seeping from a horrific gash that was opening itself up. Rin gasped in pain, unbelieving. Ushi's sword trailed a streamer of blood that glimmered duly in the sun.

His eyes suddenly opening, Ushi turned and, with the blade from his flute still in his hand, sliced his right arm across Rin’s front. Kicking out, Ushi launched himself from the wounded shinobi and executed a smooth flip. The ground rushed up quickly and Ushi, with all the grace he possessed, slammed into it like a rock, his legs collapsing like twigs. Raising his head weakly, Ushi’s eyes found Rin’s just as the light left them. Ushi was watched Rin's face go limp, somewhat happy to see that even his angry enemy looked peaceful in death. Smiling happily, Ushi closed his eyes once again. His body wouldn't even move if he wanted it to, blood loss and the exertion it too him to drive all the chakra in him in one direction so fast left him with nothing.

“Sorry I can’t repay the favor Raizen…far too sleepy…”

Within moments a soft snore emerged from Ushi’s huddled figure, his bloodied and battered face as peaceful as Rin's except for the large snot bubble rising from his nose.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KAZUKI & TAKUMI


[ Ripple - Naruto OST III]

“I can sense it… not too far now.” Kazuki said gruffly as he and Takumi dashed through the trees.
“Yes… but I hope we’re not too late.” Takumi said nervously, as a bead of sweat dripped down the side of his face. He could sense a high amount of chakra being released from the area that the two had left their Genin Teams. Secretly Takumi feared for the life of the other Genin- worried that perhaps he had been pushed too far. Takumi was well aware of the ability, but he wasn’t too keen on the level that the boy had. At least… not with that.

“They’re fighting... I think that should be proof enough to the Hokage.” Kazuki continued bitterly, as Takumi sighed.
“The Hokage is wise, we should trust his judgement.”
“Hmph.” Kazuki retorted, just as the two broke the clearing…


“But the discovery of these two artifacts PROVE that he is on the move!” Kazuki bellowed, his eyes seeming to house a miniature flame as he looked to Takumi and the Hokage.
“What do you think Hara-san?” The Hokage asked, as Takumi crossed his arms and withdrew a deep breath.
“Saruwatari-san is right. It does prove that he is on the move… because the artifacts show that the type of destruction was intentional. However… this does not prove that he is planning anything against us.”
“WHAT?!” Kazuki bellowed, as the Hokage held up his hand.
“Saruwatari-san… please calm youself. I agree with Hara and believe it is too early to be on the alert. However, I will send others to investigate further. If you are afraid of the meaning of this discovery… then I suggest you go collect your Genin Team and return. Your mission is completed.”
The two nodded and vanished within a poof of smoke… and in Hara-sensei’s case, confetti.


The two sensei broke through the clearing, and their eyes both widened at the scene. A large Jounin clad in black stood in the center, with collapsed bodies around him. Other claded black nin were collapsed about him… but it was their Teams that both Kazuki and Takumi were concerned with. By position, it was obvious to Takumi that Onitoge had passed out due to his power- although it appeared the Jounin had taken some damage. However, Inakamo, Shiro, Hiro and Selekis were breathing heavily and were battle worn. Chiyoko’s body was the furthest and she looked like she could have been dead. However, Takumi could still sense chakra flowing through her body… even from his distance.

The Jounin was going straight at Hiro this time, laughing as the boy seemed to cringe. He withdrew his fist and aimed a punch straight at his head- a deadly accurate punch that was sure to knock the boy unconscious or with intent, crack his skull open.

[ Heavy Violence - Naruto OST III ]

His eyes widened in shock however as he found his fist meeting not a skull, but another fist. They collided on impact as Kazuki braced himself, glaring heatedly as the two Ninjas leapt back.
“Good… looks like I’ll have something to take my anger out on after all.” Kazuki spat, as the Jounin’s eyes widened in surprise. Takumi soon appeared next to Kazuki, arms crossed as his wild gold eyes changed from their usual carefree demeanor, to a chilling glare of menace.
“We don’t have time to play around Kazuki.” Takumi said, looking at Onitoge, Chiyoko and the state of the rest of the team. Kazuki sighed inwardly, but nodded. They had to end this quickly…
“Easy.” He said with a grin, as the black clothed Jounin grew angry.
“How dare you mock me! I’ll take care of you too!” With that, he charged straight at the two sensei. Takumi merely smirked, taking a wider stance as Kazuki seemed to disappear.
A sphere of sound seemed to ripple around the Jounin’s fist, as he brought it forth and aimed it at Takumi’s face. Takumi swiftly brought his hands together and formed a few seals, and then called out.
“Doton: Doryūheki!”
With that, Takumi opened his mouth and enhaled, and then exhaled a huge blast of mud in front of himself. The mud swiftly formed into a large wall, and in rage the mysterious Jounin smashed his fist into it. The ringing of sound exploded into the air as the wall began to crack slowly. At the stop of his momentum, suddenly Takumi appeared behind him and instantly seized his shoulders and turned him around. Swiftly the Jounin swung a fist at Takumi, but before he could lay a hit Takumi smirked.
“Boom.” He said plainly, just as the darkly clothed Jounin smashed his fist into “Takumi’s” jaw. However, instantly the clone of Takumi exploded upon impact- knocking the Jounin backwards back into the thick mud wall, causing it to collapse and the ninja to fall with the rubble.

Upon getting up, Saruwatari was already in action. He had released his leg weights, and swiftly had looked to Onitoge for a moment while Takumi had been distracting the Jounin- well, and doing some damage as well.
“I will be borrowing this…” He stated, picking up the cloak. It was indeed heavy, but now with the face of battle Kazuki was in his element. He began channeling his chakra into the useful heavy cloth, and went into action as the Jounin rose up from his round with Takumi.
“Don’t take a rest yet!” He roared, seemingly disappearing from his previous spot and reappearing a bit closer to the Jounin. He then swiftly flung the cloak straight at him with such force and speed that it was enough to even surprise Hara-sensei. The cloak glowed with blue chakra, spinning about rapidly so that it seemed to almost form a fuzzy disk. The Jounin went to leap out of the way, but it was too fast and he was too slow for Kazuki’s movements. Instinctively he brought up his fists to block, but it was a foolish move. The cloak-disc destroyed the gloves he wore on impact, shredding through them like paper as it tore into his right shoulder, cleanly through. The Jounin screamed in pain, completely losing not only half of his hands but his right arm now threatened to come off.

“Geez… he could have been a little less… bloody…” Hara-sensei thought, wincing for a second at the sight. Saruwatari in one sense was merciful however, for he instantly appeared behind the man once again. Withdrawing a punch before he could even turn around to see what was coming, Kazuki nailed him directly in the head. It was a fatal strike that killed him instantly, silencing his cries of pain.

Standing firmer up, Kazuki looked at the Genin Team and then to Hara-sensei who nodded.
“Mission is complete. We’re to return to Konoha now.” With that, Kazuki went to Onitoge’s body and picked him up, along with his cloak. Takumi went and picked up Chiyoko, looking to the other remaining Genin.
“Can you walk?” They nodded, and the Team soon headed out.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ Something Dark is Coming… ~*~*~*~*~

[Something Dark is Coming ~ Lay Down Your Burdens Part 1]

Ever since I got back from the mission I have had this dream, I see it every time I close my eyes, every time I nap, which I have been doing a lot in the past day. Every time I fall asleep it is the same dream. I am jumping from roof top to roof top in Konoha, the streets are empty, behind me rises the smoke of a battle, far ahead even more smoke billows up. Several times I have to stop, worried about being spotted from some one, something.

A few blocks from home I have to move down to the street level as the rooftops are becoming too dangerous, too out in the open. I drop down to the streets and shed into a straight out run, putting everything I have in it, sweat dripping down my face as I run. I turn the corner onto my street and that is when I wake up, the same sweat dripping down my face now that I am awake, my limbs exhausted. After it happened this time I went out, standing out and letting the cool night air of Konoha wash over my body, Hikari asleep peacefully in the other room.

I keep thinking back to the dream, it begins to haunt my thoughts sometimes, such as tonight as I left the house to go running to try and think. My chest aches as I run, still bandaged from all the wounds. I stop at Chiyoko’s apartment, knowing she isn’t there; down below the normal night traffic of Konoha goes back and forth. In the dream, it was barren, not a single soul even during the daytime.

I take off once again, going deeper into Konoha, this time stopping in front of the hospital, gazing up into one of the windows that should be Chiyoko’s room. I should have been up there, not her. Yet right now all I wanted to do was talk to her about my dream, was it just a dream? An omen? Something more?

I turned, finding Sensei Kazuki standing at the gates, his arms crossed. Before our first battle, before the nightmares, this would have stunned me, maybe even shocked me, not now. “I’ve been having nightmares ever since I got back from that mission.” I said, completely deadpan, devoid of emotion as I stepped past him.

“Am I supposed to feel bad for you?” He replied.

I stopped for only a brief second and then took another step. “Something bad is coming, I can feel it, something horrible.” I replied. He didn’t turn, keeping his back to me as I kept mine to him while taking another step away from him.

“What do you plan to do about it?” He asked.

This time I didn’t stop, I just kept walking. “Hikari has a birthday in a few hours, I am going to celebrate it with her, and pretend that everything is fine and okay. With that I took off, leaping away in great jumps. Letting my words linger in the air..
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Selekis
--------------------------
He sat out there in the halls of the hospital. Whenever he didn't have aything to do (and there was very little for him in the village), he spent them here. Afterall, the only friend he ever had was now hospitalised.

He felt terrible. He couldn't do anything to protect her. He wa helpless to do anything, and now he was helpless to help in her recovery.

The doctors had reassured everyone that she and Onitoge would be fine, but Selekis couldn't help but worry for her health.

He took a small bite of the crackers he had. It wasn't anything compared to her cooking, but he felt he should eat anyway, if not for her sake. She did want him to put on some weight afterall.

He looked over at the door to the room she was staying in. He wanted to see if she was ok, but was simply afraid of bothering her.

He looked at the pad in his hands. He had drawn a picture for her, sort of like a get well card for her. He had wanted to give it to her, but now he wasn't so sure.

I'm sure she'll appreciate it. She has complimented my work before.

He took a deep breath and reached for the door handle. If she was awake, he could give it to her. If she wasn't, he could just leave it there for her to find when she wakes up.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yoshikuni Kaito
----------------------

I watched as my teammate suffer. If he only pretended to be knocked out, I couldn't stand watching him suffer. These investigations were pointless. We didn't know anything. We were just sent a standard mission when these jounins jumped us. But I doubt they would believe us. They probably thought that we were ordered never to reveal the truth. Soon the two jounin left. I turned towards my teammate who was recovering from the blows.

“You should have just pretended to be knocked out.” I commented.

“If I did that, they would have just preformed the genjutsu on you. It’s something I don’t wish upon any person if I have the chance for it.” Soen replied back.

That was true. I guess Soen rather sacrifice himself to spare me from the pain. But did he really think I was that weak? It did look painful but I would do anything to spare my teammate from this pain just like he would do the same for me. He pulled out a fork and explained that if he could sharpen it enough, he could free us.

"If there is anything you need me to do, just ask. I am here to help as best as I can." I said to Soen.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke~*~*~*~*~

[All Along the Watchtower]

The afternoon soon pounded down upon the three of us as we made our way through the streets. Hikari at my side, whirling around in her new ninja outfit, something simple that was put together by a combination of Naruto and Chiyoko’s old outfits. Hikari didn’t mind though, especially since it smelled and felt like her two favorite ninjas. Not only that but I was able to find an old warn out pouch that could work as a weapon pouch for Hikari’s kunai.

Now the three of us were heading to the hospital. Three of us being myself, Hikari, and Naruto, my mom had left once again, not even spending the time for her adopted daughter’s birthday. Then again what else was new. “How much longer.” Hikari moaned walking down the street and eyeing the cake in my hands.

I frowned and continued to walk, dark circles under my eyes from such little sleep. “We are almost there, Chiyoko really wanted to see you today.” I explained thinking back to this morning. In reality we had spent most of the time talking about my dreams and how I couldn’t sleep.

“Could we just get a taste?” Naruto begged as I moved the cake as far away from him as my arms would allow. “With out Chiyoko I wasn’t able to eat breakfast.” He sighed as we reached the hospital entrance.

‘You’ve been through a lot, you almost died, that is going to effect you a bit.’ I could hear Chiyoko’s voice in the back of my head. The voice was so clear I could have sworn that she was right behind me. I turned, only to find the sliding glass door of the hospital behind me. ‘It could be a omen of the future…’ She added a few seconds later.

“I’ll race you to her room!” Hikari grinned, her and Naruto taking off, racing neck and neck up the stairs and disappearing around a corner.

‘If it is a omen, a sign that I am supposed to watch out for, I do not want it.’ I had replied. I shook my head, trying to shake the memories away. If this dream, this vision that I got every time I closed my eyes, this vision that seemed to only play half way through. If it was a vision of my future, my death, I didn’t want it, I didn’t want to know what was going to happen.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~

Onitoge clawed madly at the Jounin that had assaulted the two teams. One strike hit, then another, then another. The claws tore into the older shinobi mercilessly. They shredded his flesh repeatedly as a fine red mist sprayed Onitoge and the area around them. All the while sharp spiked protrusions began appearing all over Onitoge's body.

"Onitoge! Stop! It's over! You killed him!!" Chiyoko screamed in horror from somewhere behind him.

But it wasn't enough. His blood boiled with fury and hunger. His heart pounded so furiously the sound thumped through the entire area of the ruins. Onitoge turned to face his fellow Genin. The look in his eyes was not human and all of them drew back at the sight.

"MORE" his voice dripped with a feral savagery.

Before they could react Onitoge was upon them. His blood lust was beyond control and it could not be satiated. Selekis was sliced to pieces instantly. Shiro sprung to action to try and prevent it but was greeted with claws that pierced clear through his heart and out the back of his chest. Onitoge ripped his claws sideways spilling blood and organs everywhere as the corpse was sent flying at the others.

"Onitoge stop this!!" Chiyoko and Inakamo pleaded as they fell back with Hiro.

He could not hear their pleas, though. Onitoge heard only the call in his blood. The call for battle and slaughter! Inakamo tried to stand between the others and Onitoge, using his carnival ball as a shield. Onitoge sliced clean through it and Inakamo had no time to react to the demonic figure emerging from the middle of it. Two halves of him went flying in separate directions.

By now Hiro and Chiyoko were running but it made no difference. Everything was nothing more than prey now. And nothing he had met was faster than he was now. Hiro slumped and skidded forward as Onitoge's claws slammed into the back of his head. Chiyoko stumbled and fell, crawling backwards away from him.

"Onitoge..... no!" she cried.

His visage covered in blood portrayed no sign of anything human. He looked like a crimson demon covered from head to toe in spikes. His eyes were like a crazed beast focused on destruction. There was nothing left of Onitoge to hear her cries echo into the late afternoon sky.

Onitoge screamed as he sat bolt up in bed, covered in sweat and breathing like he had just run a marathon. His face was as pale as a ghost as the images of his nightmare flashed through his mind. What was that? How could he...... such horrible things.......

"Inakamo, I need to have a word alone with Onitoge. Why don't you go check on Chiyoko," Takumi suggested as he saw the look of horror on Onitoge's face.

The clown ninja hesitated for a moment, obviously concerned for his teammate but nodded agreement. He walked to the door and stepped into the hallway, hesitating again.

"I'm glad you're finally up Onitoge. Get better, ok?" Inakamo said before leaving and closing the door behind him.

"Now that we're alone, we need to talk Onitoge. How much of the attack do you remember?" Takumi's voice was uncharacteristically quiet and concerned.

[Asilynne]

Yagyu Shiro - Team 12 - Genin
-

Dear Shiro,

We have been doing fine since your departure. Itai is ecstatic that you have become Genin! And in such a short time! Please tell us if you ever are sent to the Land of the Waves; we know as a ninja it is important to focus on the mission at hand, but we would love to see you again...

You must have grown since you have left. While Itai never wanted to steer you upon the shinobi path, even he admits that it is one that suits your worn feet. To have no knowledge of your origin or history...it must be such a terrifying concept. Yet you have turned out so well!

While I am not your true mother, I would like to think that I am among the ones you hold dear to your heart. Oh dear, now I'm getting tears in my eyes...

Before I burst out in full fledged water works, Itai has enclosed a gift to you in this letter. I hope you like it very much.

With love,
Kitan

Shiro folded the parchment in two with a despondent sigh, rolling uneasily in his small, weathered bed. In his hands was a charm carved from abalone -- a common shellfish in the coastal area which Itai, his foster father, often was employed in as an architect. The irridescent bone was shaped in a leaf, similar to the symbol that Konoha shinobi proudly wore. A black strand of string was looped through a small hole.

Shiro smiled, donning the charm.

He unearthed a pen and weathered paper from his unkempt belongings, and began to write.

Dear Kitan...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inuzuka Hige
~Reinforcement Rondo~


Team 14 flitted through the fog shrouded trees like birds from branch to branch. Hige and Ginmaru were in the lead, having picked up Team 15's trail a mile or two back. Now as they neared Gyra village, the sounds of battle reached their ears. An almost feral smile lit up Hige's features at the thought of finally seeing his first piece of action. There was a tiny voice somewhere in his head that was somewhat nervous, but was quickly quashed and replaced by an overwhelming excitement.

Arriving at the tree line the team quickly took stock of Team Fifteen's situation. Ushi lay unconscious on the ground, but wasn't in as bad a shape as his opponent who sported a large gash upon his chest. Both Masato and Raizen sported their fair share of injuries and were able to keep even with their opponents. Standing out in the open on the rooftops of some nearby buildings, three other nin bided their time as the two Konoha genin grew more and more tired.

"Yosh!" Hige veritably barked as he pulled off his hitai-ate from his shoulder and wrapped it about his brow. "Let's go Ginmaru!"

"ARF!"

The duo's leap into battle was stopped mid-leap as Kukai grabbed them by their respective collars. With a yelp and a thump they crashed to the ground kicking up a small cloud of dust. "As much zeal as you apparently have for a fight, Inuzuka Hige-san, you would do well not to leap so recklessly into battle. It is obvious that the opposition our comrades face is more than capable of defeating them, especially if we consider that those who have yet to join battle are of a higher level than any of us."

"So what do you suggest we do, just wait to let them get slaughtered?"

"Of course not, but rushing in headlong will not help anyone. Our priority is to render aid to Ushi and make a tactical retreat. Kakashi-sensei specifically told us NOT to engage the enemy remember?"

Pouting slightly, Hige nodded sourly as Kukai turned to her other teammate. "Haru-kun, do you think you can create a genjustu that will fool them long enough to retrieve Team 15?"

Nodding quietly the boy immediately flipped open his ever present journal and quietly murmured to himself as his pen danced along the page. Around the battlefield, the mists seemed to churn as it grew in size and thickness. Soon it obscured fighters entirely from the sight of the enemy nin. Nodding to Hige and Ginmaru, Kukai mouthed for them to contact Raizen and Masato while she retrieved Ushi. The pair nodded as the trio disappeared into the air.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Laying on the ground in pain, Raizen groaned to himself as Ganju stalked forward to finish him off. Suddenly, a silver blur flashed past Raizen to slam right into his opponent's gut. The blow sent the nin staggering backwards and the Hyuuga fighter quickly took advantage of it. Getting to his feet shakily, he rushed forward and slammed a pair of chakra-infused palms into Ganju's chest sending him crashing to the floor.

After assuring himself that his opponent was down for the count, Raizen looked quizzically at his unexpected helper. "Thanks for the help....ummm...well you look familiar."

Ginmaru wagged his tail happily, barking at him No problem. Now come on!

Scratching his head in confusion, Raizen said sheepishly. "Sorry, but I don't speak dog."

Rolling his eyes, the silver dog grabbed one of the genin's shorts leg and pulled him in the direction of the tree line. Finally getting the idea, Raizen followed after Ginmaru to rendezvous with Team 14.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Masato was fairing just as well as either of his comrades, so far having only barely been able to put a dent in his opponent's defense while his own body burned with pain and fatigue. Akira smirked confidently as swung a powerful left hook aimed at his head. Rolling beneath the blow and to his back, the Konoha genin delivered a punch to his opponent's back which was something akin to punching a solid rock. He retaliated with a rather painful kick to Masato's ribs that sent him skidding away a few feet.

"I'm impressed you've lasted so long, certainly longer than those other puny Leaves." He strode forward purposely. "But it ends now."

Masato braced for attack when suddenly a hand emerged from the ground. It immediately grabbed Akira by the ankle as a muffled voice rang out. "DOTON: SHINJU ZANSHU NO JUTSU!" (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Technique)

"Wha-MMMPH!"

Masato blinked in surprise as Akira seemed to disappear into the very earth. The only part of him still visible was the upper half of his face as he struggled to free himself from the earth's embrace. Squatting in front of him was a grinning Inuzuka Hige. "He he, works every time."

"Thanks-"

"Your welcome, but we've gotta move before his teammates figure out how to break Haru's genjutsu."

A shrill piercing note cut through the air as the fog around them dispersed. What appeared to be a large bubble floated down from the sky to float quietly between the two Leaf ninjas. Eyeing it warily, Hige slowly circled around it towards the trees and Masato followed suit. Suddenly, a shuriken came skimming through the air and struck the bubble. It popped with an explosive force sending both of them flying back. Recovering quickly, Hige growled in his throat as the enemy came into view.

It was the younger female nin, standing balanced atop another bubble. Her fair features were marred by an evil sneer as she raised a hand to her lips and laughed haughtily. Brushing a lock of blue hair from her face she gave us a cold look. "Since those three idiots couldn't take care of a few genin, it looks like you will have the honor of being defeated by me, Shala the Piper." She twirled a blue glass pipe in her hand and brought it to her lips. "Now let me play for you a requiem!"

She played a shrill melody and smaller bubbles emitted themselves from the end of her pipe. They floated around her like a small cloud as she raised her pipe. "First Verse ~ Ripple Burst!" The bubbles began to swirl around her arm before pointing it at Masato and Hige unleashing them in a torrential blast. Throwing themselves out of the way, the attack left a large furrow in the earth upon impact. Hige immediately went on the offensive, leaping into the air and unleashing a volley of shuriken upon Shala. They hit only the bubble she was standing on as she leaps off of it. Playing her pipe once again, the Sound Nin encased herself within another chakra bubble just as Masato went on the offensive.

His blows landed ineffectually on her soapy barrier, the bubble seemingly absorbing every attack that he threw at it. Shala laughed again as she played another note on her pipe causing the bubble to explode outwards. Hige caught Masato as he was sent flying through the air for the third time that day. Holding him up as he landed, the Taijutsu user caught his breath. "I'm reallly starting to get sick of this you know that?"

Hige only gave him a grin in return as the two dodged another torrent of explosive chakra bubbles. "Hold st-ARGH!" A kunai flew through the air, slicing a thin line of blood along Shala's face. As she raised a hand to her face, Ginmaru came rushing along the ground towards her. With a quick leap he snagged her pipe and wrested it form her hands. "Return that to me at once!"

Kukai, appearing at Hige and Masato's side, smiled at Ginmaru as he trotted up to her depositing Shala's pipe into her hands. "Well done Ginmaru, remind me to treat you to some dango later." The argumentative genin placed the pipe in her pouch as she took Masato from Hige. "I believe it is time to showcase those fighting skills you pride yourself on Inuzuka Hige-san."

"With pleasure. Shikyaku no jutsu!" Putting his hands together, Hige called forth the chakra within his body. It flowed through his body and his mind, awakening the primal instincts within him. Falling to all fours as his nails lengthened to claws, he growled deep in his throat. "Let's go, Ginmaru!"

With an affirmative bark, the two rushed towards Shala who had already pulled a kunai from her pouch. A volley of shuriken from the retreating Kukai and Masato forced her attention away as Ginmaru leapt forth clamping down on to her arm with his sharp teeth. As her arm went wide, Hige curled himself into a spinning ball as he leapt forward. Kicking out with both legs he slammed them into her chest sending her flying as Ginmaru released her arm. Shala went crashing to the ground grasping at her bleeding and broken arm.

Before the two could move into finish her, a pair of kunai land in the dirt forcing them back. The twin Jounin appeared in a small whirlwind of mist in identical poses, fresh kunai in hand. Despite knowing he was outclassed by his foes, Hige knew that he had to buy some more time for his teammates. And there was a desire somewhere in his mind, to prove how strong he was. "Ginmaru!" His canine companion came immediately to his side as he concentrated his chakra. "JUJIN BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

As the smoke cleared from the transformation, the duo leapt forth toward their hopeless battle.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shodou Kukai/Team 14/F
93. "In an interstellar burst I am back to save the universe"
-----------------------------

This is how you tell you are in a deep, inescapable pit of excrement that is actually growing deeper and inescapable-r by the second; this is how you keep from falling into the middle...

This is how you don't die; this is how you stay alive...

Kukai was halfway certain that this wasn't how her first 'real' mission was supposed to go. There wouldn't be Jounin on her tail. Not Sound Jounin. Never mind that the Jounin (there were two, identical twins it seemed) weren't slitting Team 14's throats, not yet. And they had Team 15 with them, though at the moment Ushi, down for the count, was being attended to by Haru, as best as he could. Raizen was winded, and likewise being healed by Haru; Masato, his fight with the Genin Akira having been resolved with the emergence of her team and the subsequent help given, was still capable of holding his own, though visibly tired.

She had been Kawarimi'ing on a constant basis, so much so that her hands were now automatically performing the jutsu while her legs did the running and her brain did some extensive rewriting of plans - what scant plans she'd made in the first place. Evidently Inuzuka Hige's plans consisted of 'pummel them ALL into the ground, where possible', and nothing beyond that. The last time she'd had seconds to spare to look, he'd been as healthy as ever, making the bubble-pipe Genin significantly less healthy along the way. Oh the bugger was good at what he did, ie. attack and decimate the enemy. For them, it had been a good start.

Unfortunately for them, incapacitating the single female Genin so quickly had not been a good idea. (Ganging up three on one was possibly unfair, but she had it on good authority that it wasn't illegal.) Having two Jounin play policemen and thieves with them (okay, so maybe cats playing with mice was a better metaphor) was decidedly also not a good idea. The male twin took a much more physical approach than his sister, who had, in her hand, a sort of chakra blowpipe masquerading as an extremely long reed flute.

Okay... where did THAT come from?!

Perhaps (and with this thought her fledgling ego fluttered its miniscule wings) the male twin was being forced to take a more physical approach. Her confuse kanji had hit right on target; one of the better points about having a calligraphy-based jutsu was that anyone that hadn't seen it before wouldn't know what the hell you were doing, waving some kind of overgrown broom in the air. Ridiculously incongruous. It had muddled up the Jounin's chakra flow, at the expense of sacrificing a good part of her own. No pesky jutsu from one Sound Jounin now, at least...

The male Jounin had not been pleased. He had communicated his displeasure by lunging at Kukai before she had time to recover from her jutsu, and pinning her to a convenient tree trunk with his left hand, the right one toying with a kunai. The hand came hard and close about her throat, and the circle the fingers made contracted -

"Shall it be strangulation, or shall you bleed to death?"

- and Kukai felt her windpipe collapsing inside of itself, and for some reason all she could think was (walls closing in) -

"Strangulation, I think."

A whorling mess of dog and doglike human crashed point-blank into the blonde male, stopping him a few seconds short of cutting off Kukai's breathing processes. Reflexively her hand went to her throat; the next instant, she'd checked herself and picked up her brush from under the bush where it had rolled.

She caught the words "Masato" and "take this fella on for a bit, gotta help elsewhere" before the canine tornado was off again and she had to concentrate - on running.

So here she was, running, and Kawarimi'ing, for her life. Her neck throbbed with a dull ache; the breaths came in short, ragged gasps. No blood it was true but. The bruises were going to be there for weeks. Elsewhere, there were scratches. Painful ones. And at the rate she was going she wouldn't be able to walk after this, not without lots of wincing and a crutch.

Right now, Kukai wanted a good long bath and a lie-down. Neither option being available at the moment, she just had to settle with staying mobile and, importantly, not dying.

"You slippery brat, you and your blatant overuse of Kawarimi no Jutsu...!"

Oh. Complaining already? You have no idea just how much I can blatantly overuse Kawarimi no Jutsu...

Oh well. As long as he was on her track, Haru, Raizen and Ushi (hidden by one of Haru's illusions, of course, but the important fact was that while Haru was healing they had to remain stationary and that made them technically sitting ducks) were fifty-percent safe.

She didn't really want to know what the female Jounin was doing. Wait, she did. As long as it didn't involve incapacitation of teammates.

She didn't like taijutsu experts... as a whole, she didn't like anything experts, period.

A stray bolt of chakra nearly split her stomach open; she dodged just in time, and a tree branch splintered. So that was what the female Jounin was doing... sniping random Genin while keeping Masato, rather effortlessly, at arm's length. Bloody Jounin... they really were playing cat and mouse.

In her head, she could picture Hige, post-mission, whinging about her endless bout of running, running and running, and little to no help with attacking. (That was, provided they came back alive from this mission.)

She gritted her teeth. A vein twitched, somewhere.

She turned, to launch one of her word taijutsu combos, and the male Jounin twin that had been pursuing her did not strike in retaliation; instead, his eye fell upon a very odd rock, one that shifted shape so that no one ran into it, or ricocheted off against it, a rock that Kukai knew through long years of association was a product of Iki ta Monogatari no Jutsu.

Huh- Oh shi- oh excrement!

Brushing off her ichi-ni-san strokes, the blonde shinobi sneered (though, with sadistic pleasure, Kukai noted that his left arm was hanging stiffly at his side; she'd hit his bicep quite cleanly): "Thought you could fool me with such a worthless genjutsu, did you? Tsuin. Cover me while I finish this."

And then, as Kukai leapt forward, spare kunai in mouth, every conceivable muscle in her body aching with the effort but oh Haru-! and Hige spiraled into view from where he'd been clashing with the female twin (Tsuin?), surprisingly still able to maintain his Tsuuga despite the presence of much blood, Masato in the near distance having his hands quite full, the male Jounin both dispelled the illusion and made to strike -

He hit nothing, only thin air. And on his back, there was suddenly a weight that revealed itself to be Kakashi Yukiso. From the shrubbery to her side, Haru waved timidly to signify that everything was okay.

Kukai's kunai clattered to the floor as her jaw dropped open, registering the appearance of Kakashi-sensei, and their very own Miharu-sensei, who'd just opened up a massive groove in the ground leading all the way to the female Jounin twin, stopping her from slugging a very tired Masato into hurty, fainty oblivion.

"Sorry we're so late, my dears!" said Miharu-sensei, beaming at her stunned students. Her expression soon solidified into one of pure steel. "Now, those of you who can still walk, get the others back to the docks and wait for us there. We'll deal with these."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kuroda Miharu Sensei & Kakashi Yukiso Sensei
~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Kuroda-chan!” Yukiso called, standing before a rather high building. He glanced upwards, seeing Miharu doing a delicate tight-rope dance as she hung various paper lamps and banners from the small string-like rope that she balanced on.

“Oh! Yukiso-kun!” She chimed, giving a bright smile upon her face as she finished hooking the last paper lamp on. She then leapt down gracefully and seemingly effortlessly, the height of her fall having no effect.

“You and your team have finally arrived! Did my pupils find you well?” She responded, clasping her hands together as she looked about- as if expecting to see them pop out of decorating crates.

“No… Kuroda-chan, we have a serious case on our hands.” Yukiso began, motioning to her with his hand. “Follow me. I’ll explain it on the way there!” With that, Yukiso almost seemed to vanish in a poof of smoke as instantly Miharu followed suit.

The two sensei dashed across the water as Yukiso explained the situation to Miharu. Her usual cheerful demeanor changed into a look of grave seriousness as she nodded to everything he said. The two continued to travel with utmost haste, darting into a forest and moving swiftly amongst the branches. It wasn’t long but it to them it seemed like ages before finally they were at the village. Stopping short, Kakashi motioned towards the western part of the village where they could hear the noises of battle taking place. Without hesitation the two leapt off into that direction, appearing before their two teams just in time to save them from what surely would have been a devastating strike.

“Go! Get out of here!” Miharu yelled, her demeanor changing as she leapt back to join Yukiso by his side. The two sensei could tell that it would take a while before the young Genin would get out of the area… and they knew they couldn’t afford a slip up.
“We should finish this as quickly as possible, Kuroda-chan.” Yukiso spoke, as Miharu nodded.
“What are you talking about?!” The male Jounin spat, glaring at the two as he joined up with his twin sister.
“yeah! You think you can finish us as you please? Give me a break!” She barked, as Yukiso and Miharu looked at each other. Yukiso gave a nod and stepped forward.
“Yes, as a matter of face I think that without hesitation.” With that, Yukiso swiftly stuck a hand in his pocket and simply placed the other hand nonchalantly upon his hip. He then stared at the two Sound Jounin, causing the both of them to be greatly agitated.
“What? Are you going to stare us to death?!” The woman roared, but Yukiso remained silent.

After just a mere few seconds, suddenly the two twins seemed to stagger back for a moment. Their eyes glazed over, and the two started talking not to each other but seemingly to someone who wasn’t there. Yukiso turned away, looking to Miharu as he walked to her.
“Set.” The two Ninjas still seemed to be talking to someone wasn’t there, occasionally making hand motions as if to touch or grab the person who was near them. However, for the most part they stayed where they were.
“Ready?” Yukiso then asked, turning around to face the two Ninja back at Miharu’s side.
“Go!” Miharu yelled, suddenly reaching into the pouch slung against her waist and pulling out two Kunai. She ran straight towards the two Jounin, as Yukiso once again shoved his hand into his pocket and narrowed his eyes at the two Sound-like Ninja. The two Ninja seemed to yelp in fright, as the Genjutsu about them released. The glaze over their eyes faded away, but by the time they realized where they were again it was too late. Miharu-sensei was between the two, her eyes having already scrutinized their entire body as she had charged at them. Now she knew the precise build and strengths of their individual bodies, and she did not need a second guess to know where to land her blows.
It was almost as if Miharu were partaking in a beautiful dance as she twirled about- her kimono billowing down by her legs as she moved.
Her arm twirled around her figure towards the female twin and with one elegant and delicate motion, she plunged the kunai into the ninja’s temple. It seemed so precise and so accurate that Kuroda showed little force in the movement, and the female twin dropped in an instant. Then with a spiraling second movement, Kuroda-sensei used her other hand and with another motion of deadly accuracy she implanted the kunai straight into the chest of the male twin. She had embedded the kunai into his heart, but had done it at such an angle that she had gone between the ribs in a diagonal motion so she had no need to break the sternum. He too gave out a gurgling cry, clutching his chest. Staggering for a moment, he then fell to the ground.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Are you okay?” Yukiso asked, he and Miharu-chan returning to their teams. They had vanished before their eyes for several minutes, before returning. This time however, they had two other Genin by their side. They seemed bloodied, beat-up and worn… obviously the two Genin left from the brutal assault.
“I’m so sorry my dearies that you had to go through this.” Miharu added, a look of worry and pain upon her face. “We sent word to Konoha as we headed this way, so they should be arriving any moment.”
Haru was still looking over Raizen and Ushi, but everyone looked rather worn. Miharu swiftly knelt down by Raizen and Ushi, placing her hands on both of their chests. After a few seconds, her hands both began to glow and the light blue color that spurred from them channeled into their bodies. After a half a minute, she closed her hands and the color faded away. This was repeated upon the two new Genin, Kukai, Hige and Masato (the only one not needing some healing being Haru) were all partially healed enough for travel.
“They should all be alright now.” Miharu said, looking to Ushi. “He’ll wake up sooner or later… his unconscious state was because of the strain of chakra. He’ll recuperate soon enough.” She said smiling. The two Genin soon introduced themselves to the rest of the group, however they for the most part remained silent.
“Don’t speak too much. You’ve endured a great deal and do not need to explain anything.” Yukiso said to them, a look of concern upon his face.

Soon a few ANBU members showed up, their masked faces looking at the group before they spoke briefly with Kuroda and Kakashi-sensei.
“Alright, we’re going to be heading back.” Yukiso said, grabbing Ushi’s body in his arms and nodding to the others. “We will arrive in Konoha before nightfall.” The group headed off, only stopping a few minutes for Miharu to do some more healing in increments upon the group so that none of them had to go to the hospital upon their Konoha arrival.
“It was so lucky that none of them sustained wounds other than flesh ones.” Miharu commented to Yukiso. “Other than Raizen, if they had sustained any bone or abnormal damages… I think they’d have to go to the hospital instead of happily heading home.” Miharu smiled, as Yukiso nodded with Ushi still unconscious in his arms.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~



Chiyoko had been in the hospital for two days. She had been told by the medical nin from the beginning that she would only have to stay for a few days. However, upon their recent medical exam, they assessed that two more days would be needed. It appeared that her chakra flow was abnormal… which again, caused for more tests and the ending result of her knowing she would have to stay a few more days.
Still, it hadn’t been that bad. Chiyoko had visitors every so often, which cheered her up to no end. Inakamo had visited her and Onitoge, filling her in on anything they had missed as well as offering her a small bouncy ball as a gift. Chiyoko had giggled, thanking Inakamo and she had played with it until it had bounced so severely that it broke the vase with a flower that Takumi had given her and Inakamo had to retrieve it. Selekis had also visited, showing her a picture.
“It is beautiful!” Chiyoko had declared, brimming with a smile unlike any other. It was the first time anyone had drawn her a picture before and she had immediately asked Selekis to hang it on the wall. He had done so and his face seemed flush with pride at her response to his picture. He had then written down that he had been eating too, which Chiyoko happily praised him further. A few other visits had occurred a day earlier, but she had been unconscious all day. The second day was when all the interacting visits had occurred… ending with Hikari’s birthday.

Upon Hiro had come into her room with his little sister and Naruto to celebrate her birthday.
“Hiya Chiyoko!” Hikari had said happily, rushing to the side of her bed and giving her a slightly awkward hug.
“Greetings! Oh, and a very happy birthday to you Hikari.” Chiyoko responded with a smile, “You look so grown up for you age.” She added, causing Hikari to brim with a proud smile.
“I visited you yesterday… but man, it is great to see you awake!” Naruto said. “I really miss your cooking too!” He added, to which Chiyoko smiled again.
Soon Hiro opened the birthday cake and presents were given to Hikari. Naruto had given her a redeemable Ramen card while Hiro had given her more Ninja things. Chiyoko had followed suit with that, giving her a blue pouch to tie about her leg to carry various things in. Hiro seemed shocked at the surprise gift.
“how did you get that?” He asked, to which Chiyoko simply gave a proud grin.
“I asked Inakamo earlier today to get that for me.”
Hikari practically beamed with delight as all four of them ate cake and conversed. However, the party ended when Chiyoko brought her hand up to her forehead and lied back down.
“Are you okay?” Hiro asked, concerned. Chiyoko gave a nod but a medic nin stopped by and soon asked everyone to leave. Chiyoko soon fell asleep, the exertion of talking and being awake all day having a toll on her bandaged body.

[Outlaw JT]

Ushi
~~~~

Ushi could feel himself moving in his dreams. The fluttering realm of his unconscious where the black was almost always striped with fluttering whisps of colors. In the distance he could feel the constant bounce of someone walking while they carried him, could feel a soft wind cooling his somewhat fevered body. Someone was carrying him somewhere, but Ushi didn’t have the strength to wake up and figure out who and where.

“What could have caused the seal to break?”

The voices were hushed yet clearly audible to Ushi who was so near to them. The first, a woman’s voice, was full of worry while the male voice that followed was more somber, though Ushi could still hear a tenseness in it.

“It could be anything…the seal could have just been performed wrong the first time.”

Ushi felt the bouncing change, they were walking uphill now. Smells filled Ushi’s unconscious, the smells of lilacs and air with a crispness not commonly found in the world. The first voice was speaking again, piercing Ushi’s enclosed world.

“It’s never failed before…the price of failure is too much for them to be careless…no one’s ever had to fight it so young either. There’s something different about…”

Ushi’s hearing faded before he could hear the last part of the woman’s thoughts, the blackness driving off the impeding conversation and filling him with blessed silence. When his dream faded enough for the soothing bouncing sensation of being carried to return, the voices were there too. The man was talking this time, still as tense though with a more nostalgic tone then before.

“Did you see what he made? It was incredible…he’ll be a marvelous shinobi when he get older.”

The woman’s voice was similarly nostalgic, with a hint of pride mixed in with the suddenly jumbled emotions.

“I can’t believe he is already so powerful…he would have made me proud no matter what but this…it’s almost overwhelming.”

“Once we sort this problem out…things should be alright from here on.”

Darkness claimed Ushi again, though this time he was suddenly saddened by the loss of the voice. When the finally came back, Ushi could feel a chill to his dream. The smell of lilacs had become ashy, the crisp air deadened. The voices were the same, but quiet, and reduced.

“D-don’t cry…you don’t need to cry…it’s alright.”

“You couldn’t help yourself Ushi…it wasn’t your fault.”

“You can control it…it is not stronger…it doesn’t even…exist.”

Ushi realized that he wasn’t being carried anymore, that the soft bounce that had lulled him before had been replaced by rough ground and scratchy growth. A wetness creeped under his body, and the smell of blood filled his nostrils. Ushi breathed deeply, the smell was soothing, and with arms suddenly full of strength he pushed himself to a seated position, a smile spreading across his face.

“Hey hey hey, not so fast. You’ve been out a long time.”

Looking up into Yukiso’s half-closed eyes, Ushi’s grin widened.

“I was? Well then it was a marvelous rest! I feel great!”

Yukiso’s eyes creased slightly, something Ushi had come to realize was an indication of a smile.

“Yes…Miharu is certainly talented when it comes to healing.”

Looking around, Ushi spotted the rest of Team 15 milling about, seemingly as unhurt as he was. Wondering vaguely to himself if Raizen was going to meander close enough for him to attempt a grab at his leg, Ushi answered.

“Then we won?”

Yukiso nodded, ruffling a hand through his perpetual spike of hair.

“Yeah, we were lucky to get there when we did…I wasn’t expecting to find you in that situation…there wasn’t supposed to be any danger at all much less a bunch of talented shinobi showing up. Someone’s going to have to answer for this but for now…you all did amazingly well…you’ve impressed me.”

Ushi nodded as he pushed himself to his feet, happily coming to realize that they were resting directly outside of Konoha. Home at last…Ushi wondered if the oatmeal he had left in Chiyoko’s house had gone bad yet, he was certainly hungry. Brushing the dirt of the back of his bright clothing, Ushi beamed back at Yukiso.

“Then we succeeded in our first mission! That’s stupendous! Raizen! We did it!”

As Ushi chased Raizen back into Kenoha, the young Hyuga making a beeline for his house, Heavenly Spinning an unfortunate elderly couple that got in his way, Yukiso stared after them. As a bird flew over head, softly chirping in the bright sun, Yukiso glanced up at it and spoke aloud to himself.


“What does this mean? Is he remembering or are they just scattered parts of his dream that can’t escape? He hasn’t shown any signs…I guess I have to trust the boy for now.”
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Soen

~~~***~~~***~~~


CLACK!

The shackles that restrained Soen opened and his hands were freed. He rubbed his wrists so that the blood could flow through it easier again. Soen walked over to his partners side and gave him the sharpened fork. Soen was sure he could release himself in the same manner as he himself had done.

“I’m just going to rest a bit” Soen declared.

Kaito started picking his own shackles while Soen sat down next to him. While Kaito had studied Soen he was released far sooner then his companion.

Kaito looked at the tired Soen and walked to the door. He started picking the lock that separated them from their freedom. But before he could finish footsteps were heard. And when listening carefully, both boys could hear that there were two people outside.

Kaito hurried back to Soens side and with a nod both konoha genin prepared to fight. It might be futile but they would give it all.

The door opened slowly and two figures walked in. The light that shone through the now opened door revealed them to be fellow konoha ninja and not the abductors.

The first to walk in was the fabled Kakashi, or so the boys thought. When looking at him closer they saw his black hair and the two regular eyes.

Behind him was a girl dressed in a kimono. She wore her head protector around her neck.

“Here they are” the Kakashi look-alike said. “They look pretty injured so…”

At this the female shinobi stepped forward. Before she started to heal the two young boys, both jounin introduced themselves.

“Did you really think that no one would come for you boys?” Miharu comforted the two boys.

After a small healing the two sensei thought of the hurt boys as travel ready.

“Let’s get going, we should return to our own teams as soon as possible.” Yukiso said

“Please wait a moment, we have some things to pick up first.” Soen said

The sensei nodded in agreement and Kaito and Soen stepped out of their jail. They looked around under the watchful eye of the two older shinobi. They finally found what they were looking for. Their own belongings and those of their two deceased teammates.

Soen quickly tucked his Shikon Daggers under his jacket, where they belonged. He strapped both his head protector and pouch back on his belt. Kaito also fixed up his belongings. Afterwards, both boys held what was owned by Emi and Daku.

Their headbands, their clothes, their tools… The attackers must have held on to them and perhaps sell them.

“Do you have what you were looking for?” Yukiso asked

Kaito and Soen nodded.

“Let’s go then.”

Mihura and Yukiso supported the hurt genin and with amazing speed rushed back to their own teams.

*~*~*~*~*


Soen and Kaito came to a sight that shocked them. Apparently a heavy struggle had happened as the two genin teams seemed to be very hurt. The three enemy genin lay there, defeated as well as their two sensei.

Mihura-sensei made sure everyone was healed up. Soen and Kaito introduced themselves to the rest of the group. And the ones that were conscious introduced themselves to.

Soen had a slight twitch when Raizen introduced himself as part of the Hyuga clan. But he knew it wasn’t a lie. He saw the lavender eyes and the mark on his forehead.

Soon a couple of ANBU appeared and Yukiso declared that they would be in Konoha before nightfall. With that, the two teams, the two battered genin and the handful of ANBU traveled back. With a small stop in between they did make it to Konoha without much of delay. The night was coming and the genin scattered to their own living areas, but Yukiso and Miharu halted Soen and Kaito. The unconscious genin was left at the hospital, just to be sure.

Yukiso and Miharu accompanied what remained of last years team 2 to the Hokages office. They needed to report what happened.

When they finished their mission report, everyone looked down in respect for their lost allies. Yukiso signaled that the two genin could leave and should probably visit the hospital aswell. The GenJutsu torture might have had some effect on their bodies

Before Soen closed the door he could clearly hear Mihura-sensei say “Could it be…” . But he didn’t pay attention to this.

As instructed by Yukiso, the boys stopped at the hospital. They were offered a room to spend the night. In the morning they would have their check-up.

As soon as Soen lay down in bed his eyes closed and he finally could rest up.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yoshikuni Kaito
-----------------------

Thanks to Soen's ingenuity and thanks to the teams that rescued us, we are free. We still had to recuperate from the blows that the enemies gave us but we would manage. After being introduced to our saviors, we gathered up our stuff and was escorted back to the Konoha. It was painfull to still not see our companions. It still begged the question why did this have to happen?

I looked at my companion. I didn't know if the same thoughts were going through his head or not but hopefully it wasn't that painful. I kept silent throughout the whole trip. I was too depressed to even talk to anybody. I couldn't be cheerful for a long time. I didn't know what to do. Hopefully, I would find a way to release my depression.

We arrived at Kohona and we were sent to the mission center. We explained everything to the Hokage even it was painful for me to speak of. The images of Emi and Daku being killed kept on flashing in my mind over and over. At one point, I broke down and couldn't stop crying. Soen comforted me and I looked at him. Soen was a true friend and companion. I knew that nothing would harm me if he was by my side. After being sent to hospital for rest, I thought I heard a conversation but with the awful images in my head, I didn't pay attention much. We were going to get a check-up in the morning but a check-up wasn't going to help the pain I was feeling. Hopefully, a good's nights rest would uncloud my mind.
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Raizen
~~~~~~~

Having escaped Ushi, for the time being, Raizen decided to go home and relax for a while. He definitely needed it after that mission. “Oh Raizen, you’re back!” Raizen’s mother said as she walked past his room to find him lying on his bed quite zoned out.

“Hmm, oh, hi Mom.”

“So,” She said propping Raizen up and sitting next to him on the bed. “How did your first C-rank mission go? Did everything go ok? Was it exciting?”

“Well, there was definitely some excitement…” Raizen said, thinking back to his opponent kicking him in the face. Looking at the worried expression on his mom’s face he added, “Don’t worry, it wasn’t anything big, we handled it.”

It was then that Neji walked by and stopped in the room. He looked at Raizen and squinted his eyes while saying nothing for a minute. “Byakugan!”

“What are you doing Neji?” His mom asked.

“Raizen,” He responded, “How did you break your nose?”

“… How could you tell?”

“Nothing can escape my eyes, you should know that Raizen.”

Raizen’s mom hit Raizen on the shoulder. “You said it was nothing serious!”

“Ok, so it got a little out of hand.” Raizen said before explaining everything that had happened during the mission, with his mother and wincing to every other sentence.

“I’m disappointed in you Raizen.” Neji said.

“Oh come on, how could I have known that he would damage my hearing? After that I could barely use any of my techniques.”

“You should never have found yourself in that situation.” Neji said as he got up to leave. “You need to train your byakugan further.”

“Fine then.” Raizen muttered. “Mom, I’m going out.”

“Where?”

“Training.” And with that Raizen got up and wandered off to one of the various training grounds around Konoha. “It wasn’t my byakugan that got me into the situation, it was misinformation.” He sat down of a stump and looked at his legs. “Byakugan!” Raizen then began to strike chakra points on his legs again, though not as many as before, so still allow some chakra to flow through. “I can’t believe you never thought of this Neji” Raizen said to himself as he stood up and smiled. “I’m going to be so fast, and you’ll never see it coming.” He then started a light jog around Konoha.

This light jog however turned first into a tough jog, then a strenuous jog, then Raizen dragging himself home earlier than expected and flopping down on his bead. So tired he was from the “light jog” that Raizen didn’t even notice the snores that announced Ushi had taken up residence in Raizen’s closet again.
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Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ There has to be a way out of here…~*~*~*~*~

[The Shape of Things to Come]

It was the same tonight as it had been for the last two nights, leaping from roof top to roof top, smoke billowing up behind me, sweat trickling down my brow as I ran. I always felt as if I was being watched, those eyes always there as I ran, as I hid, and as the dream ended, waking up breathing hard, my body covered in sweat. The clock on the wall read that I only had half an hour of sleep. Almost three full nights with out any sleep. Three nights of horrible dreams that shook me awake with less than an hour of sleep. Three nights of being shaken from my slumber, my body even more tired than it had been when I laid down.

A gentle wind blew across my face, betraying the man that sat at my window behind me. “I see you were not lying about having insomnia.” Sensei spoke up, sitting on my window ceil, his arms crossed in annoyance. “How long has it been? Two days? Three?” He asked.

“Three” I informed him, rising to my feet on shaky legs, every muscle in my body aching for sleep.

“Every muscle in your body must be aching by now?” He asked, I nodded in response as he rose, striding over to me. “Your mind is exhausted, tired, barely able to think?” He asked, poking my side, sending me to my knees. He walked around, facing me with his arms crossed.

“You are a one note Ninja, you have one technique, your mid range control of wind through your fist.” He remarked.

I rose up to my feet, trying to stand for as long as possible. “If you are such a teacher then teach me how to be better than that.” I exclaimed, and then quieted my voice, remembering that Hikari was asleep in the next room.

Sensei’s eyes narrowed, walking around, thinking for a moment. “You’re tired, exhausted, beaten… I can work with that, but only during the night, during the day you have your duties.” He leapt to the window, and then to the next building, not even looking behind him to see if I had followed him.

Summoning my strength I ran to the window, leaping from it. I was not going to be a one note ninja.
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Shodou Kukai/Team 14/F
101.
--------------------------------

"So you see I didn't have to bring the yukata and the really long obi," said Kukai smugly. "I didn't have time to wear it, and anyway Miharu-sensei already mentioned that this mission was to be done professionally."

She tended to use less words at home. It was wiser to. Shodou family arguments could drag on for months.

Ryokan, who was sulking because his sister hadn't bought him the particular variant of Water Country shower gel that he'd asked for, remarked rather nastily: "I bet the Inuzuka was disappointed."

Later that night there was a horrible scream from Shodou Ryokan's bedroom. He had just found his entire collection of Sunagakure soaps speared to his door with shuriken, with crumbled-off bits left to languish on the floor, even the very valuable, very rare bars of Desert Rose that he'd had to beg off a colleague who had gone to Suna on a business trip.

*

The Interesting Courtship Rituals and Extremely Painful Retaliation of Kuroda Miharu, Prologue
Presented by: Hara Takumi
Produced & directed by: Genin Team 14


It was one of their rare days off, but in an entirely natural and unplanned way Kukai had run into Hige on her way to pay a courtesy visit to Team 13's Chiyoko and they'd started arguing and Haru was just done helping his parents in Konohagakure Hospital. And so, after leaving a basket of intricately folded paper cranes and a rubber bone (from Ginmaru, since Hige was giftless, not having intended to pay any courtesy visits but had instead been heading to the ramen bar before getting distracted) on Chiyoko's bed...

...Team 14 walked down the street.

Presently, they were ambushed by a certain Hara Takumi, who literally appeared in front of them in a hail of confetti.

Haru spoke first, while his teammates wound up their prolonged round of bickering: "H-Hara-sensei? W-what's the matter?"

Takumi rubbed his hands together, smiling nervously. The corners of his mouth twitched, as if he wasn't quite used to being nervous. "Ah, well. I've got a propositio- a mission for you three. An important one."

All three stares were focused on him now, like miniature searchlights. Takumi involuntarily took a step backward. If this had been some other occasion...

He thought: My Komoku-tennou, she's trained her little ones well...

Out loud, he said: "It's about A-rank, I'd say. Maybe even... yes, I'd definitely say S-rank."

Hige said, dangerously suspicious: "How come Miharu-sensei isn't the one who's giving it to us this time?"

Kukai, right on the tail of the last remark, added: "In any case S-rank missions aren't given to us Genin, they're allotted to Jounins who have years of experience under their belts."

Haru, gripping his book: "Y-you m-mentioned proposition...?"

Even Ginmaru barked something, Takumi noted sourly. He sighed inwardly. This was going to be an uphill climb all the way, and no mistake...

He beckoned them into the nearest alley. "Come on, let's go someplace more, eh, private, and I'll tell you the details..."
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The Sensei: Special Collaboration Posty 2

[ Kakashi’s Theme – Naruto OST I ]

“So, the official exam begins in three days.” Yukiso mused, reading his latest, The Movement of the Earth and You. Takumi wasn’t paying much attention, but rather was scarfing down a rather large order of sushi that sat stacked upon a large plate. Miharu leaned her head into the palm of her hand, staring at Takumi with one of her more demeaning and ‘baka’ stares. All the while Kazuki quietly sipped tea, pretending to stare at a particularly interesting leaf upon the ground.

All four sensei’s were sitting at a table, eating. A rather odd sight indeed for most people to see- but if some knew their history, it wouldn’t have been odd at all. It would have been a blast from the past… back in the days when they used to have lunch together quite often. But those were back during the times of war, when lunches were not so often but more of a welcomed grace. Even back during the Kyuubi disaster…

“Well, I for one know that my team is ready!” Takumi boasted, pieces of rice upon his face as he grinned brightly. “They’ll shine to the top, no doubt!”
“Ano…” Yukiso began, raising a brow. “Did you even tell your team they’ve been entered? Last time I checked, they seem to think they’re going to some new mission.”
“Annoooo…” Takumi began, before Miharu spoke up.
“Tsk, Takumi… so irresponsible as always. Your team doesn’t even know what is about to hit them. As for my team… they’ll out think your team before they can lift a finger.”
“WHAT?!” Takumi roared, glaring at Miharu-chan only to receive an equally if not stronger glare from Miharu. “M-my t-team is m-made of rising stars!”
“Pffft…” Miharu scoffed, before suddenly a large cough interrupted their feud. Looking up, Yukiso included, Kazuki stood up and set down his cup of tea.
“If you excuse me, I am going to tell my team about the upcoming Chuunin exams. Last time I checked, none of us had informed our teams.”
Everyone sweatdropped.
“I of course, did this on purpose to prevent the information from exciting them.”
With that, Kazuki vanished. This in turn, left Takumi to stare back at Miharu and Yukiso who quickly made their exit as well.
“Why do they always pick on me!?” Takumi thought angrily, frowning quite severely before taking another piece of sushi.

Kakashi, Yukiso
[ Team 15 ]

[ Kakashi’s Theme – Naruto OST I ]

There were days that Kakashi-sensei looked at his three Genin and thought that they were ready for the Chuunin exams, and he did not regret entering them into it.

“Raiiiizeeeennn!! Try this delicious oatmeal with me!”
“No… leave me alone!”
“But Raiiizen!”
“GAH! You two stepped on my sandwich!”
“Ooh… sorry Masato-chaaan!”
“STOP IT USHI!”

But today, Kakashi-sensei looked at his team and questioned his team’s ability quite greatly. Ushi was now holding a large bowl of oatmeal in Raizen’s face, as Raizen desperately tried to pull Ushi away from him. Meanwhile, a very torn Masato looked down at his now squished sandwich that had its remains all over the bottoms of both Raizen and Ushi’s feet.

Coughing loudly to announce his presence, Yukiso stepped forward into the forest clearing where he had told his team to gather. They had been eating lunch when he arrived, and from the looks of it- getting along rather well.
“Ah, Kakashi-sensei!” Ushi said smiling, suddenly thrusting the bowl of oatmeal in his face, much to the dismay of Yukiso. “Won’t you try some of this delicious oatmeal I have made?!”
“No.” Yukiso said flatly, which caused Ushi to slink back and Raizen to slap his forehead in wonderment at how his sensei could disarm Ushi so easily.

“I have an announcement to make, so if you would all sit.” Yukiso continued, as his three Genin instantly sat down and stared at their sensei, who still held his book.
“How many of you are familiar with the Chuunin Exams, which are upcoming?”
Raizen instantly raised his hand, “My brother Neji’s team has been selected.” He commented, on which Masato also nodded. Ushi looked bewildered and Yukiso sighed.
“Raizen, I will leave it up to you to explain the full details of the purpose of the Chuunin exam to Ushi. However, I want to inform you that I have entered all three of you into the Chuunin exams as well.”
“WHAT!?” Raizen practically spat, looking startled but not in an unpleasant way. Yukiso nodded.
“In fact, the Chuunin exam itself will begin in three days. The first part of the exam is not for me to disclose to you, but the exam itself consists of three different tests. Teamwork is essential if you wish to pass, along with your own personal skills. So, in three days you are to meet in the exam building in room 205. Do not be late and be early, if at all possible.”
“But Kakashi sensei…” Masato began, but he shook his head.
“I’ve been training you these past few months in preparation for the exams so you would be ready. I believe you are qualified enough to participate. If you have further questions… I suggest you save them for the beginning of the exam itself.”

Kuroda, Miharu
[ Team 14 ]


[ Sakura’s Theme – Naruto OST I ]

“So… as you see, you will all be participating in the Chuunin Exams.” Kuroda-sensei finished, taking in a long sip of tea as she knelt upon a very soft blanket. She had invited her team out for a tea party in her backyard, where the flowers were blooming beautifully. There, after Hige and Kukai had finished their little discord about the flowers, she had officially given them the details of the Chuunin Exams and their entrance into them.
“But, Kuroda-sensei is that wise?” Kukai asked, raising a brow as she stole a glance at Hige who gave her a rather dirty look in return.
“Oh my…” Miharu thought, bringing a delicate hand to her lips. “Well, I guess it depends on one’s version of wise. But I do believe that it is a proper step for all three of you… and that you are able enough to be in the exams and goodness, who knows! Perhaps you all shall become lovely Chuunin! Imagine!” Her eyes almost seemed to look up in the sky with enchantment, before she shook herself of her self-created illusion.
“The exam is in three days, so please be in room 205 in the exam building upon the third day. There you will be given details about your first test! And my words of wisdom to you- team work!” She smiled and laughed lightly, taking in yet another calming sip of tea.

Hara, Takumi
[ Team 13 ]

[ Naruto’s Daily Life – Naruto OST I ]

Hara-sensei had wasted no time in appearing before his three students. He had taken it upon himself to invite Onitoge and Inakamo to Chiyoko’s house for a ‘secret meeting of utter importance.’ Indeed two months had passed and it had been a good two months. He had spoken to Onitoge, and while it had been a bit of a shock at first… he was pleased about how his special training sessions had allowed him to grasp a further understanding of his unique abilities. Surprisingly enough, Inakamo and Chiyoko had also improved greatly. Inakamo’s antics matched Takumi’s style so well that the two of them seemed to get along like siblings at times. Chiyoko had perhaps been the most surprising, for after she had finally been released at the hospital she had asked to train exclusively with Naruto for a while. Surprisingly enough, it seemed to toughen up Chiyoko immensely and she had a great deal of resolve to train harder.

But now… they were to meet at her house, under his own little surprise orders. Predicting Chiyoko, he couldn’t help but smile as he approached her apartment door and smelled the delicious flavors coming from within. Without knocking, he merely bashed down the door with his foot, sending it thudding the floor as he yelled with a great merry laugh, “SURPRISE!”
It was enough to cause Chiyoko to squeal, dropping her chopsticks to the floor as Onitoge turned around with utter shock. Inakamo however, merely clapped and laughed- applauding his sensei’s antics. (They had made a habit of encouraging each other in such things…)
“M-my door…” Chiyoko’s voice faded, but Hara-sensei didn’t seem to take in this bit of information.
“Greetings my students… what are we having today?” He looked upon the table to see melon bread, soup and a few other assortments of food. Despite having already eaten, Takumi knelt down and soon began helping himself to the food. All three looked at him in silence, before finally he began speaking.
“Mmm… well, you see… the reason I called this meeting…” He continued to eat as he spoke.
“It is because of the upcoming Chuunin Exams. You all know about them… I’m sure. Big rumors going about- lots of new teams from other places coming in and the like. Well, you see… I’ve entered you three in the Chuunin Exams. You’ll be going to room 205 in three days, in the morning and it is best not to be late and such… they’re sorta nasty about that particular thing.”
After it had settled in, all three practically yelped, “CHUUNIN EXAMS?”
“Well.. yes of course…” Takumi raised a brow, taking a large gulp of drink. “You three are more than qualified to enter…”
“Why did we not know this sooner?” Onitoge asked, as Hara-sensei shrugged.
“I had forgotten?” He questioned, not giving a real answer as he soon dug into his food again.

Saruwatari, Kazuki
[ Team 12 ]

[ Gai’s Theme – Naruto OST III ]

“What, are we tired already?” Saruwatari-sensei asked, crossing his arms as he looked at his three collapsed students. They had been running and climbing along the mountainside for hours and now the sun had begun to set. Saruwatari had also not let them eat lunch, and they had a few weights strapped to their backs as well.
“Hmm… I suppose that is enough for today.” He commented, sitting down upon a rock as he gazed at all three. “So, I shall tell you the news. The Chuunin exams begin in three days. I have entered all three of you in it, against my better judgement. So in the morning, upon the third day, go to room 205 of the exam room. There you will be entered in the Chuunin exams and they will begin. Keep in mind you will be going up against teams from all over the country… so you best keep your cool and not embarrass this village, and of course myself.”
The three stared dumbfoundedly at their sensei, as he sighed.
“Did I stutter? Did your little brains not comprehend what I said?”
“B-but… why would you enter us… you always say how you…”
“Think you’re not ready for anything? Well, I don’t like to give hope to people. It makes them end up like Hara-san.”
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Raizen
~~~~~~~
It had been months since the disaster of a first c-mission, and since then Raizen had completed another (real) c-mission with his team, trained with his brother Neji, and been tormented endlessly by Ushi. “Ok mom, I’m going out to-” It was at this moment that Raizen was tackled through the door by Ushi. “Gah! Why?!”

“Raaaaiiiiizeeen! Guess what!”

“What?” Raizen groaned as he kicked Ushi off of him.

“ Kakashi sensei told us to meet in the woods for lunch and a special announcement!” Ushi squealed hopping up and down.

***

They joined Masato on the way and acquired food for lunch. They had learned by now that when Yukiso invited them for lunch, he did not provide the food.

“He’s late again.” Masato muttered as he mourned the remnants of his sandwich.

“Actually, he’s been here for about 10 seconds.” Raizen sputtered through Ushi’s attempts to force feed him oatmeal.

"More like 10 minutes." Yukiso said calmly as Ushi instantly turned to offer his sensei oatmeal, only to be shut down by Yukiso’s uncanny ability to stop him. Raizen had been studying this for as long as he’d known the two, and still failed to understand it. Maybe the secret rested in Kakashi sensei's newest book, entitled "Wormhole Theory, and it's aplications to your everyday Ninja life."

“The chuunin exams?!” Raizen asked, his face lighting up. He looked around to see Masato looking apprehensive, and Ushi looking, well… blissfully ignorant.

“Raizen, I’ll leave it up to you to explain what this means to Ushi.” Kakashi sensei said before disappearing. “And remember, in three days, be in room 205.” With that he left the three genin to their thoughts.

***

Having explained the chunnin exams to Ushi, Raizen bid Masato farewell and headed home. “See you in three days then, and remember we’re going to try and get there about 20 minutes early.”

“So, your team has been chosen for the exams as well.” Neji said quietly at the dinner table. “Good, this will strengthen your resolve during our final two days of training.”

And so Raizen’s next two days were wrought with ridiculously intense training led by Neji. ( Insert montage full of blood, sweat, and tears ^_^ )

***
“Good we’re all here, and on time.” Masato said as Raizen walked up to the building’s entrance with Ushi bouncing around him. “Let’s get to this room 205.”

They entered to find what looked like dozens of other teams waiting, warming up, and giving intimidating glares to other teams. “Wow! Look at everyone!” Ushi exclaimed. “I wonder what we’ll have to do!”

“I don’t know, but why don’t we try to keep it down Ushi.” Raizen muttered as a few teams stood up glaring at them. “Let’s just find the room.”

They wandered around for a few minutes, climbed a few stairs, and eventually found a room labeled 205 with a few other teams waiting around it. Some people they recognized from their academy class. “Look, it’s the Uchiha. Ah, I see he’s met my brother’s team. That should be interesting. Anyway let’s keep looking.”

“What’s that?” Said a rough looking pair of ninja. “Can’t you read, this is 205.”

“I myself am quite literate.” Raizen said as he glanced at his teammates.

“You two on the other hand,” Masato said, “I’m not so sure about.” He glanced at Raizen who looked over to Ushi.

“Would you take care of this for us?”

“Hmm?” Ushi responded, “Oh you mean this feeble genjutsu? After training with Kakashi sensei I didn’t even notice it.” He twirled his flute once in his fingers and everyone else saw the sign saying 205 change to 305. “Right, let us find the real room friend Raizen.”

So with that team fifteen walked of in search of the real room 205, looking seriously badass, and the two ninja at the door re-genjutsued the sign to try to trick other teams.

[Asilynne]

Selekis
-----------------------
Selekis quietly contimplated the situation. The Chuunin Exams? The chance to advance from simple Genin? To test his skills of illusion against others from all around the country?

Conflicting emotions ran through him. An excitement he had never felt before. It almost seemed like a rare oppertunity for him.

Another was a feeling of dread. Such expectations were put on him. Kazuki sensei expected them to do well. He wasn't trully used to this.

As he slowly removed the weights and climbed ot his feet, another thought ran through his head.

Were any of the other teams entered? Was Chiyoko entering?

A small feeling of dread appeared in his stomach. He didn't want to have to fight her. He didn't want to hurt her.

He looked over towards the town.

There would be ninja from all over the country. And they will all be here.

It would be wise to study the competition, learn who his up against and devise and strategies

Taking his drawing pad with him, the white haired Genin slowly started towards the town.

It was time to get to know the enemy...
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Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ Preparation for the Future~*~*~*~*~

I had to hand it to her, she picked the one outfit that blended into the forest, then again she also picked the transformation form of the one boy that I despised more than anything. Rock Lee. But as much as I hated the sight of that man, she had gotten better in the last month; her ability to mimic transformations had grown by leaps and bounds.

“There!” I shouted, throwing a kunai at the tree across from me.

A quick rustle in the bushes signaled that she had leapt away, just as I had taught her. This was the first night in my three-night preparation for the exams. I had taken Hikari up to the forest outside of the town and set up camp to prepare myself.

“Okay you can come out now..” I yelled out, my voice vibrating from the trees.

“You told me not too.” Rock Lee responded, or at least it sounded like Rock Lee, only with a slightly feminine touch.

I grasped a Kunai in between my second and third finger as I made a fist, pulling my arm back and aiming just below the tree her voice came from. “Mighty Spear of the Wind.” I exclaimed, punching my fist forward and sending the wind and chakara through it and into the Kunai, which funneled down to a curved point which leapt forward, striking the tree. The entire ability acted like a spear that could strike a wide length of the battlefield.

Rock Lee went flying in the air as he or should I say she was thrown from the branch, letting out a terrified scream as she fell. I dropped the Kunai and rushed forward catching him in my arms as he transformed back into my sister in a puff of smoke.

“I also told you not to give away your position.” I rubbed her head, allowing her to jump out of my arms.

“I wish I could win once, so that Na..” She shut her mouth immediately as we headed back to camp.

“So that Naruto will what?” I asked, raising a eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Naruto said that if I was able to make you give up in finding me in a exercise, that he would tell me what a Sexy no Jitsu was.” My hands balled into a fist in anger as the words left my sister’s mouth.

“He is not going to tell you that.” I gritted my teeth in frustration. Before she could answer why, I cut her off. “It’s a ninja move.”

“I am a ninja.” She protested, pointing to the headband that I had given to her on her birthday.

I knew I couldn’t tell her that it was an Adult Ninja thing, that would just drive her further away. All I could do is top Naruto’s deal, and then kill the blonde hair brat. “When you master Animal Transformations I will tell you what it is.”

“Okay!” She grinned, rushing off happily back to camp.

“I am going to kill you Naruto.” I muttered under my breath.

Three days later I arrived at the room, the one that would decide my future for the next few years. Of course Hikari was trailing behind me, having promised to stay in the back of the room as I took the test. Now it all came down to this, this one test.
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~~Ushi~~


Ushi happily played his flute as Team 15 finally discovered the real Room 205, though at a nudge from Masato he stopped as he realized a few of the nearby genin were slowly falling asleep. Tapping them lightly on the head with his flute to wake them up, he followed his teammates into the room. The place was full of noisily chatting genin, some of whom Ushi had never even met. Raizen chose a seat next to one of the windows lining one side of the room and, hearing a pleased (he thought) sigh from his friend, Ushi plopped down next to him, “Raizen! Look at everyone…why are they all here?”

Raizen blinked a few times before responding, “Um…they’re here for the exam too Ushi, it’s not just us.”

Bouncing excitedly, Ushi’s eyes widened in awe as he scanned the room, “That’s splendid! Look, all our friends are here too!”

Ushi waved at several of the teams, though only Shikamaru, who occasionally sat with Ushi as he looked at the stars at night (he was a great listener, even if he did snore sometimes) spotted the excitable genin and gave him a nod back. Everyone else, it seemed, was busy talking with their own teams. Suddenly though, Ushi face fell, “Raizen? Some of our friends are missing! Where’s Chiyoko? Or Hiro?”

Glancing around himself, Raizen shrugged, “We’re still early, maybe they’re just not here yet…I’d expect at least some of them to have qualified.”

Blessed quiet descended upon Raizen for three blissful seconds before Ushi’s voice rang in his ears again, “Oh! There’s Hiro! Oh look, Hikari is with him! Did she qualify too?! I didn’t know she was even in school yet!”

Raizen’s eyes widened as he snapped his head around to fixate on the young girl. He was silent for a moment before responding, “If she did then I don’t feel so honored anymore…”

Feeling a shifting to his right, Ushi turned to Masato who spoke in a low tone to his team, his face as serious as always, “I dunno, I think we could take her if we had to.”

Ushi and Raizen blinked incredulously at their teammate, sweatdrops forming prominently on their foreheads. Masato suddenly smiled and shook his head at his two friends, “Of course she wasn’t picked, she always follows around Hiro…you actually think I’d beat up a little girl?”

After a moment, Ushi and Raizen smiled too, soft laughs easing the tension of the oncoming examination. As the laughter died down and Raizen turned to look back out the window, Ushi turned back to look at Hiro and his sister, seeing the gleeful look on the little girl’s face at the experience of being around so many skilled shinobi who smiled and acknowledged her. The memory of dozens of older shinobi facing up at him, their headbands showing a simple design of three crosses, suddenly summoned the same remembered feeling of childish happiness in him. Their eyes weren’t on him however…they weren’t really looking at anything. Ushi smiled brightly as the little girl looked his way.

Masato was wrong; it would take all three of them if it came down to it.
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Soen

~~~***~~~***~~~

Soen was standing on top of his house as the wind blew past him.

Another year, another wasted chance. He thought to himself.

With his second year as a genin, he would be unable to compete in the Chuunin exams, again.

His goal seemed to be moving more slowly and slowly.

With his mind a bit wandering, he retreated into the forest. He made a visit to the memorial of Konoha shinobis who died while on a mission. Daku’s and Emi’s names were the latest additions to that.

“Hey guys,” Soen started mumble “seems me and Kaito won’t be able to compete in the next Chuunin exams because of you…”

“Why did you say it Daku? You promised that we would enter, promised that all three of us would become chuunin.”

A tear went down the right side of Soens face as his voice got louder.

“Fine, you and Emi can be that way. But I will not let it end here. I’m going to live out my dreams. And nothing will hold me down. You two just watch me.”

With that Soen rushed of. He had finally said goodbye to his former sensei and teammate.

* * * * *
With his run, Soen ended up in town, close to the administrative building. He entered without much thought and headed to the Hokages office. He banged on the door and entered before a response was given. Luck was with Soen as no one was currently with the Hokage. This would seem an awful lot like a stupid assassination mission…

“I want to compete.” Soen barely brought out.

“Compete? Compete in what?” The old man asked.

“The chuunin exams, I want to compete.”

With his message delivered, Soen turned around and closed the door a bit harder then he intended to.

“It seems we have some interesting shinobi in our village again.” The Hokage spoke to someone outside.

“I hope you can work with this kind of person?”

“So that was one of my new students? You are right, they do seem interesting.”
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Shodou Kukai/Team 14/F *
108. "You and I, Watson, we have done our part. Shall the world, then, be overrun by oysters? No, no; horrible!"
-----------------------------------------

The hallway was crowded, and our presence made but a ripple in the teeming masses of humanity that swamped the environs of prestigious Leaf Academy, one of the foremost institutions in the known world. By some strange concert, the three of us had come to join in this venture; with both clarity of mind and physical prowess at our disposal, there should have been no doubt that we should accomplish our object in the swiftest manner possible.

I say that there should have been no doubt, when indeed there was, and the following is a faithful facsimile of what contrived to place such a conundrum before us, with some slight changes pertaining to name and description, and mild paraphrasing of conversation, the former being to ensure that my windpipe remains unsevered that I may continue to pen my little anecdotes, and the latter so that I might preserve the legibility of this tale.

In previous installments, I have often taken the liberty to describe the members of our party in minute detail. Therefore, I may presume that readers are familiar with the names of both Miss Eliza Clarke and Mr Samuel Whiskers, alumni of Leaf both, and distinguished individuals in their own right. We were called upon this errand, along with a number of our acquaintances, all skilled in their respective occupations; and we were to meet in a room, numbered 205, to receive further instructions there. This concerned a test or examination of some sort, although I confess my ignorance of what events we were to be tested upon.

Upon reaching a portico, above which was displayed a placard proclaiming the numbers 2, 0, and 5, in that order, Miss Clarke immediately pronounced it an illusion, provoking the ire of Mr Whiskers, who, just as immediately, stated that it was not, and that it was as plain as the nose on his face that it was room 205 that they now fronted. The two guards lounging about the door first raised their eyebrows in mild surprise at Miss Clarke discovering their game; following this, their eyebrows stayed raised in apparent amusement at the argument that entailed.

Miss Clarke, the infamous soap-killer, stood her ground, remarking, "Your nose must be a poor one, for it evidently fails to detect such an overt thing as a simple illusion."

"Illusions smell of nothing, woman, this has nothing to do with the ability of my nose in the least!" Samuel responded heatedly. He is a man of utmost honour, hampered only by a choleric temper and the contrary habit of being deliberately obtuse when faced by the scintillating intellect of Eliza Clarke.

"Come now, sir, persons with more sense in the head, your dog for one, and friend Harold for another, would agree with me that this is not Room 205. Witness, even now, the actions of your Silversphere as he attempts to prevent you from continuing your foolish spiel." The argent-furred hound was indeed tugging at his master's sleeve, pulling him away from the room.

"Ah, Silver! What is this folly you speak of? Has that woman enchanted you, that you are not my ally in this matter, as you are in all others?"

"Pft. How could you doubt me, when you know that I make it my business to rid the world of disgusting, misling illusions, and that it is the one branch of mastery which I truly abhor."

"I also know that you make it your business to confuse and confound me at every opportunity that you get."

"Your suspicions are mislaid, sir. In this case I have every intention of leading you upon the right path."

They went on in this vein for a while, their debate punctuated by occasional whines from the good Silversphere

"Wow, kid," grinned the spike-haired half of the duo flanking Room 205, as he peered over Haru's shoulder, "that's some story you have there."

Haru took no apparent notice of the comment till he finished the sentence he was writing, then looked up tentatively at the older genin and nodded. "...Thank you."

"Plan on telling them to cut it out any time soon? It's entertaining, sure, but they're telling the world about our little genjutsu trick on the sign, or at least she is, and we don't want that."

At that moment Kukai, exasperated at last, mouthed "Kai", clapping her hands once, and the sign reverted to its original label of 305. It quickly resumed the guise of 205, as the other Genin guard reapplied the genjutsu, but there had been enough time for Hige to see the numbers change, and Kukai's finger to prod her point home on his chest. "Are you satisfied, Mr Inuzuka Hige?"

"Perfectly," grumbled Hige, scowling.

"Perfectly," replied Mr Samuel with bad grace, turning from the lady, and looking rather as if he had been made to take some very bitter and unpleasant medicine. wrote Haru, scribbling the last furiously as he trailed after the other two, now engaged in browbeating (Kukai) and being browbeaten (Hige) as they headed up the stairs on their way to the correct room.

*

The day had promised to be a hard one, judging from her brother's expression when he'd heard her announcement that she had been picked to try for Chuunin rank. He had not put her abilities down, as she had expected, but rather assumed a comical grimace, accompanied by some twitching of the eye. When questioned further Shodou Ryokan at first insisted that he was suffering from Tourette's syndrome. After seeing the look in his sister's eye he condescended to say that the Chuunin exam was something he would very much rather not go through again.

Genin Team 14 had initially been early for their appointment. As it was, by the time they reached genjutsu-free Room 205, moderately full of Chuunin-rank-seeking Genin, they were merely punctual. There were many oddballs among the people in the room, not least those from their own village but others as well: thoroughly disreputable Sound Genin with brutal kanji scattered liberally over their clothing; a small, deadly-looking boy with a gourd on his back and his retinue, a bunraku devotee and a blonde girl with a fan; surprisingly, as the room filled, Kukai saw that the entire class of recently-graduated Konoha Genin were candidates for the exam.

Notably, Iokawa Hiro was reprimanded by a fearsome-looking Jounin for bringing his sister in when she had not been nominated to take the test; the little girl refused to budge and, indeed, stuck her obstinate tongue out most impudently at Morino Ibiki, who visibly stiffened. Kukai's attention was distracted at the last moment, as she had been compelled to chastise one Inuzuka Kiba for an offhand remark he had made about her marital status.

Personally, Kukai had nothing against Team 8 as a unit. In Kukai's opinion Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata were blameless human beings who had their own lot in life, who did what they could, although in the case of Hinata the girl had had an extreme lapse of judgment in choosing Naruto as an object of affections. (They said love was blind, and the euphemism conceivably applied even to Hyuuga with their white eyes and three-hundred-and-sixty degree vision.)

Inuzuka Kiba was the problem. Kukai had often wondered whether she had grievously wronged the Inuzuka family in one of her past lives, or at least the Inuzuka males. It had been a long time coming to an uneasy understanding with the specimen named Inuzuka Hige, and that was only because the boy had sufficient brains and/or natural defensive instincts to learn when not to go too far. Sadly for him, Kiba, a year younger and several significant clumps of grey fluff lesser, had no such inhibitions, and though usually civil, began their encounter today with an enthusiastic cry of "Yo, Hige! Yer wife and ya and Kozue got picked too, huh?"

There was a predictable "SHUT UP KIBA" from the afflicted cousin. Kukai merely smiled her most potent double-edged smile at Kiba, a smile that showed the barest hint of teeth and carried dangerous overtones of washboards, and said, "Should you not refrain from implying that there exists any relationship beyond that which is platonic between myself and your worthy cousin, I assure you, Kiba-san, there will be repercussions."

Kiba flinched involuntarily. He didn't get everything, but he got the drift.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shiro - Genin
-

Chuunin Exam?

Shiro sighed as he paced along the length of his cramped room, his eyes downcast, gazing at the worn floorboards, thoughts swirling about his mind. He was dressed shabbily, his gi still lined with sweat from previous training. Even throughout his normal workouts his mind was occupied with the thought of the chuunin exam, and the fact that Kazuki thought they could even work together enough...

I've hardly talked to my teammates, actually...despite the missions. How the hell are we going to be able to get through this?

Shiro exited his small, worn down house, not bothering to reprimand his shabby appearance. His eyes roved the length of the village from his tall vantage point, seeking out specifically....

He saw many people milling about the streets, passing over them all without a second glance, only pausing once or twice as he noticed a shinobi among them, sporting a forest green vest that usually signified a higher rank than genin, the thoughts of the Chuunin exam returning to him at such a time.

Eventually he scowled and leapt from his balcony, bounding across several roofs before he reached the denser parts of Konoha, the forest. He eyed his knuckles, noticing the skin near the point of cracking, but simply brushed the notion off, descending deeper and deeper. Finally he stopped at the stump of a large tree, the bark lined with many gashes. A cracked, wooden target board was nailed to it, aged from use, lined with cuts from where kunai and shuriken had punctured the form.

Three days...

A kunai thudded into the target, only a slight mark off the small, crimson bullseye.

Well dammit. Looks like these three days will go to use, eh?

-

Three days later...

"So this is the chuunin exam." Shiro said lightly as he entered the cramped room of 205, accompanied by his allies. He glanced at Selekis, who seemed occupied in staring at something in his pad, while Hiro seemed to have things on his mind, with a determined look displayed in his features.
"Well then," the genin muttered more to himself than anything, disappointed by his teammate's lack of enthusiasm. "Go team."

[Outlaw JT]

The Misadventures of Saruwatari and Saruwatari
“A Meddlesome Kid and A Battle of Epic Proportions”

~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~

Almost everyone had filed into the classroom of 205 and were nervously awaiting what sinister test was about to begin for them. However, within the blink of an eye there was a very disgruntled cough followed by a murderous scream. Turning around, many saw the broad-shouldered and often mistakingly ‘bishie’ appearance of Saruwatari Kazuki. He had grabbed the small little girl by the shirt of her collar, pulling her back away from her brother Hiro, who was sending murderous glares at his sensei. There were yells of protest by him, angry calls from the girl… while Kazuki remained silent until the two settled down. (Quite a ruckus, causing many to give their own versions of death glares at the ‘baka’ who brought his little sister into a Chuunin Exam test.)
“This is simply the most idiotic thing I have ever seen in a Chuunin exam and it has even yet to barely start.” Kazuki stated, sending his trump card of a gaze down upon Hiro who fell silent.
“Did you honestly think it was alright to bring your little sister into an exam test? Did you really think that your peers would deem it fair or that the test takers would take the responsibility that ensured her safety? Did you even think of her safety, Hiro, when you brought her in here? What if the exam were to have traps and deadly unforeseen events? What then Hiro-kun?” Kazuki spat the last part of Hiro’s name additive, but he gave Hiro no time to answer as he turned away with his sister.
“After the Chunnin phase, you will see your sister.” He commented, slamming the door behind him.
Oh…how embarrassing.



“You’re a big meanie!” The girl known as Hikari proclaimed as she begrudgingly walked along Kazuki’s side. Kazuki rolled his eyes with a sigh, looking down at the young girl reminded him of his younger days with a certain ‘someone’.
“I am not mean.” He retorted.
“Yes you are! You always yell and pick on my brother!”
“If it were not for me, your brother would not be half the Ninja he is now.”
To this, Hikari stuck out her tongue to which Kazuki returned a glare. The typical conversation continued, until Kazuki had walked out of the exam building and stopped at a ramen shop. Normally he would not be caught dead upon such a place, but his mind told him that many kids liked these sort of places, and thus Hikari would eat here.
“Here…” Kazuki said, taking a hot bowl of Chicken Teriyaki Ramen and placing it in front of Hikari. “Eat.”
Hikari’s eyes widened as she saw the massive bowl in front of her – indeed, she had never been treated to such a massive bowl since she was young and Hiro considered that she shouldn’t eat that much food for her age. Kazuki however, was not familiar with things such as ‘age’ and ‘lack of eating’ and thus he ordered the same size for her that he did for himself. Perhaps this temporarily won over Hikari, who actually in return, said thank you. Kazuki merely nodded and the two sat in silence, slurping and eating their Ramen.

Time passed as they ate and Kazuki ordered tea and sipped it while Hikari continued to eat her Ramen. It wasn’t until she was done that Kazuki cringed when she opened her mouth and started to ask questions.
“Do you have a family here?”
“No.”
“Did you like your ramen? I loved mine!”
“No.”
“What kind of tea is that?”
“White.”
“Are we going to do something fun next?”
“no.”
“Are you grumpy?”
“No.”

“Well… making friends, are we Old Kiki?” A new, stronger, bolder voice rose into the air causing the hairs upon Kazuki’s neck to rise as he stiffly turned around to see what could have been mistaken as a ghost, if one were to look at his normally ‘expressionless’ face.
There before him, stood Saruwatari Sai. Her short stature did not seem to impede the strong, vibrant air that seemed to circle about her as she smiled her usual bright grin. Her raven black hair matched her chipper demeanor in its pigtailed updo and her trademark large blue scroll still hung by her belt along with other various things that seemed to be effortlessly kept around her waist.
“S-sai..” Kazuki stuttered, as Sai winked and snapped her fingers.
“You remember me! I’m so flattered….” She laughed, swiftly introducing herself as Kazuki’s niece to Hikari.
“So, new job?” She asked, pointing at Hikari.
“No. My baka student took her with him to the Chuunin exam.”
“Oh poor thing…” Sai said, looking at Hikari. “he’s really a big kitten, you just have to rub him the right way behind the ears and-”
“I will hear no more of this!” Kazuki said, standing up as he firmly took a large gulp of his tea. “I heard you were coming here but I did not get wind as to why.”
“heh… figures they wouldn’t tell you. They knew just as I that you’d fly off your bamboo seat if you heard it and nothing would have been done.”
“What are you talking about?” Kazuki peered, feeling a sense of dread was about to find him.
“The new sensei- the one to take over for a new Team 17. They hired me!” She practically sang, posing for an added effect.
It was ineffective against Kazuki.


An hour later…


“No!” Absolutely no!” Kazuki roared, and it would have been a surprise if those below in room 205 did not hear it. He was standing before the Hokage and several other sensei- Gai, Kakashi Hatake and Kakashi Yukiso being some of them. (Both Kakashi’s were sitting on window sills, reading their respective books with one eye peering.)
“We understand your concern, Saruwatari, but Sai has proven herself to be-“
“Be what?! A criminal!?” He roared, to which then Sai then took a step forward from Gai’s side.
“A criminal?! Is that the reason? Oh I see… so you hold grudges now? The family still got their conservative hold on you?” She growled.
“I just think it is too soon to give you such a position. Besides, you’re only 16 and completely unqualified! You need more missions! More training!”
“HEY hey hey! She sparred with me and matched me blow for blow!” Gai commented, giving a thumbs up. “No worries on her-“
“Silence Gai!” Kazuki roared, causing the green-suited man to frown.
“I have redeemed myself many times because of my past. I no longer am associated with them and never will be. You know I haven’t killed anyone either… not against our village! Besides, I have already spoken to the Genin of the team! MY team!”
“You’re too young!” Kazuki retorted.
“Ah, such youth!” Gai commented.
“SILENCE GAI” Both Saruwataris yelled.

“That is enough.” The Hokage finally spoke, sighing. “If this is such a problem… I think that I will allow Kazuki to demonstrate how Sai is not capable of being the Sensei for Team 17. The two of you will not be needed until the third part of the exam and neither will several Sensei. So a spar is in order between you two. If Sai can prove herself against her Uncle, then she will become the Sensei. Agreed?”
The two hesitated, glaring at each other but slowly nodded.
“I will gladly prove Old Kiki wrong.”
“I am pleased to be able to knock sense into my brat of a niece.”
More glares ensued.

“Then let us find a suitable spot.” The Hokage announced.

Sound Nin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They walked into the Hidden Leaf Village with little sound or ruckus. However, even the townspeople sensed the foreboding aura that surrounded the three Sound Ninjas. They were like demons calmly walking through the land of angels and they stood out like a sore thumb.


None of them talked… at least, not until they ran into a very familiar group of three.
“Ah, so it seems the lovely Temari is walking with her siblings again.” Taio said smoothly, smiling to her ever so pleasantly as both groups ran into each other while walking to the exams. They had stayed in the leaf village for a few days, but mostly had kept to themselves and remained unnoticed.
“Be quiet Taio. I don’t think we should be acting like we know each other.” She spat. Kankuro made a pained expression as he stood uncomfortably close to Daiko, who decided that sniffing him was a good idea.
“Get away idiot.” Kankuro practically hissed, as Daiko then decided to growl and show his nice ivory canines.
“Kill. I want to kill him.” Daiko said, looking at Taio. Taio flashed a look at Daiko, who immediately responded by taking a few steps away from Kankuro. The message was clear.
“No need to be so worried, dearest Temari-chan. The elders don’t pay much attention to us Genin- we’re just merely Genin, correct?”
Silence.
It is notable to state during this conversation, both of Gaara’s eyes were staring intently and quite fixatedly upon Nain, who stared back with her expressionless left eye. The two had not turned their gazes or flinched in reaction to each other. Gaara sensed the power there and felt the need to destroy it. Nain perhaps simply stared because there was nothing else to do. She gave no return glare.
“Ignore them.” Gaara commented finally as both groups entered the exam building.


The exam was given, the rules were laid out and many young Genin were stressing over their tests that lay before them. Ibiki seemed to be having a grand time staring them down as they were being watched and heavily tested.
The three Sound Nins seemed to have no troubles. Nain was writing down the answers effortlessly, unflinching as she sat next to Neji and the one known as Ushi. Meanwhile, Daiko seemed to have his gaze set on Nain who was before him- but most importantly he was simply staring at the flexing movement of her arm and the intricate position of her fingers. Taking his own hand, he did not even glance at his paper as he mimicked her easily and quickly.
The examiners also did not notice the small four hairs that seemed to slide across the floor, down several rows and up to Nain’s hand. There they wrapped about her fingers, being so fine and so fair that they were virtually indetectable. Taio too, began writing down his answers.
And many, many Genin teams began to worry about this new Sound Ninja. Even Dosu, a fellow Sound Nin, seemed quite disgruntled.

Chiyoko
~~~~~~~~~~~

Chiyoko, Onitoge and Inakamo had shown up to the exam on time. Sitting down in their assigned seats, Chiyoko recalled the strange Genjutsu that they were tested upon first. It was Inakamo who noticed something was strange first, before both Onitoge and Chiyoko confirmed that it couldn’t possibly be the room. Upon entering the real 205 and then going into the exam room, Chiyoko met up with a few friends and nodded to them. Selekis, Ushi, Hiro, Naruto and the like. No conversations this time however- this was the Chuunin Exam and she had to be dedicated to only two other people – Onitoge and Inakamo.
But now they were being tested… and Chiyoko found the answers were extremely difficult. Slowly she began working through the problems… but the time limit was too stressing- there was no way she’d finish it in time even if she could work every single one out.
Time continued to dwindle… until Chiyoko realized that the room had a specific air to it. This wasn’t a simple testing room… and Chiyoko’s keen eye realized that there was something up. If this were a simple test to become a Chuunin, the test wouldn’t be set up the way it was. The problems were too difficult and such a test wouldn’t be modeled in the way it was if it truly were testing for a Chuunin.
Also, many of the Genin seemed distracted or as if they were semi-concentrating or thinking of other things. Their mind was off some where… and it wasn’t until Chiyoko noticed the lines that formed upon Neji Hyuuga’s face that she realized that everyone was cheating. There were some Genin in the room that were answering pretty swiftly, and it was then that Chiyoko finally fell to the epiphany – this was designed for everyone to cheat!
“I hope the others will do alright…” Chiyoko thought to herself, realizing that she had very little ability to cheat. Based off the calculations however, Chiyoko felt as if she could answer enough questions to pass the test without cheating. And with that in mind, she continued plugging away… hoping Onitoge and Inakamo would fair well.
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Inakamo Yakusha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The questions on the exam that lay before Inakamo were ridiculous - he was a ninja, not some kind of geometrist. Questions that needed the exact trajectory of kunai if throwing at a team of Jonin-level ninja were not exactly the questions he had in mind to become a Chuunin - Inakamo doubted that even Hara-sensei could have even passed this exam; although he did continue to astound Inakamo when it came to surprise skills. Inakamo had always been the more practical ninja, never really paying attention in class, instead using his ninjutsu to prank his classmates. He looked around and saw his teammates were equally bamboozled by the problems that lay before them. In fact, now that he paid close attention, most of the other Genin were stumped for answers too. Only a handful of Genin were scribbling anything down. Surely this exam was not meant to weed out all but a few?

However, as the exam wore on, Inakamo's keen eyes began to notice that other examinees were displaying signs of using ninjutsu, although to what end he could not tell, only that they were using it. Sometimes the scratch of the invigilating Chuunins' pens would signal someone had been caught, but he noticed several occasions that a Genin would use a jutsu and then scribble down an answer, and no Chuunin had caught him. His masked eye surbeyed the flanks of the room to see if any Chuunin was watching him, and he carefully moved his hand under the desk. He had noticed an examinee in front of him had written answers for the first three, and as soon as he noticed that the examinee in front was about to write, he quickly cast a Chakra strings jutsu onto the arm of the examinee. He then mimicked the motions of the Genin's arm and copied down the answer, all the while checking to see if any of the invigilators had noticed. As luck would have it, it would seem that he had gotten away with it!

Inakamo had written answers for questions 3 to 6, and they seemed to make sense. He carefully scanned the room again and noticed that Chiyoko had answered the first question, but could not see Onitoge's paper. However, he had to ensure that both had a pass; Onitoge was a taijutsu specialist and had never particularly excelled in class, so Inakamo figured that he wouldn't be able to cheat as effectively as himself. Inakamo wrote down a couple of the answers he had on the back of his hand and then performed his Burrowing Hand jutsu, transferring it to the ground underneath Onitoge's desk. He tapped his ankle and Onitoge looked down, smiled and began scribbling the answers down. He did likewise to Chiyoko, who nearly turned around to beam at Inakamo, but at the last second turned back, realising that signalling at him would have probably given the game away.

As the time wore on, the examiner stood up and let out a little cough. It would appear that the time to answer the tenth question had come.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~

"Do you understand now, Onitoge?" Hara-sensei spoke in a truly uncharacteristically calm and sensitive voice.

It all seemed so impossible but somehow it rang true. It explained so much. As he thought back on everything it seemed obvious. He had been deceiving even himself for so long but he no longer had such a luxury. What he was no longer remained secret. He understood at last why most of the villagers received him so poorly. He was an orphan of the Village Hidden in the Myst and heir to a frightening heritage.

"Yes sensei," Onitoge replied quietly.

He had been wrong to hold himself back all that time but his reasoning was eerily correct. Half of the Genin who had gone on the mission with him couldn't even look him in the eye for days. Only Chiyoko and Inakamo had been fully accepting of him after seeing what he kept locked inside. Rather than grow the strength not to rely on his 'gift' he had tried to avoid conflict entirely. Now Onitoge knew that to keep the monster at bay he had to be strong enough to control it.

"Good! Then we'll start training you tomorrow. Hatake, Kazuki, and myself will all take time to work with you. I believe by controlling your kekkei genkai you can avoid losing control. If you're strong enough you won't have to fall victim to your birth clan's curse. I'll see you in the morning Onitoge," Takumi said as he ruffled Onitoge's hair.

********two month's later********

It had been a long two month's since their first fateful mission. Somehow Hara-sensei had kept his word that the few Jounin he was familiar with would train him how to use his gift. Despite having several C-rank missions Onitoge managed to have time almost every day with one of the three sensei.His training had been diverse and intense but he was starting to learn how to use his gift. Onitoge found himself constantly working on new ways to apply it.

Of course, he had yet to come up with an application of his kekkei genkai that would help him with his current dilemma. How could he use it to cheat on a written test, after all?

Onitoge scanned the room carefully. After he determined he would only be able to answer two questions himself he quickly figured out the point of the test was to cheat. He had spotted three people who seemed to have no trouble with the questions but had no idea how to copy their answers. He was just about to decide that it was hopeless for him when he felt a tap at his ankle.

He glance down carefully and noticed Inakamo's hand waving at him from the floor with three answers sprawled delicately across it. Onitoge scanned the room again to make sure no one had observed Inakamo's jutsu before copying the answers to questions 3 through 6.

A few minutes passed and Inakamo's hand appeared again with two more answers sprawled on it. Question's 1 and 9 seemed to fit neatly and Onitoge felt a little embarassed he hadn't gotten 9 on his own. Then the thought occurred to him that he had answered 2 and 8 on his own and the others didn't have them yet so far as he knew.

In a flash Onitoge finally thought of how to use his gift to cheat on the exam without getting caught, much thanks to Inakamo's Burrowing Hand jutsu. He had been working on producing exploding kunai with his gift by scribing the rune for it on them in blood as he produced them. It just suddenly struck him that he could scribe the answers on one in the same way.

So, before Inakamo's hand disappeared again it felt a poke. Inakamo seemed to get the gesture as his hand grabbed the small flat piece of bone that had two answers scribbled messily across it. It wasn't perfect but it should be enough.

A few more minutes passed and then the hand returned one final time. It returned the bone shard which swiftly absorbed back into Onitoge's ankle. Onitoge glanced down briefly when he was certain it was safe and quickly let out a cough to cover up the laugh that almost escaped his mouth.

'Chiyoko - 2, Onitoge - 2, Inakamo - 4: Proving once again that I rock harder than all. Hail the mighty genius clown!'

The writing on the back of Inakamo's hand was fanciful with little artistic scribblies all over the place. It took every ounce of concentration not to laugh. Looking over he could see Chiyoko was recovering from no doubt the same message. Onitoge beamed at how they were doing. Somehow they had all provided some answers so with their teamwork now all had 8 out of 9 answers. It seemed they were all going to pass the first exam. Onitoge could barely contain his excitement but he was quickly brought back to reality as the proctor stood and cleared his throat.
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Selekis
----------------------
From everyone elses point of view, one would assume Selekis had not looked up from his paper at all, quietly writing down the answers with no problem at all, only pausing occassionally to think about them.

One would never suspect he was looking over almost everyone's shoulders.

One the ceiling above, one of his clones melted through, only enough so his face was through nothing more. Silently, the clone's eyes scanned the papers of the others.

The beautiful thing about being able to create copies of yourself, you can look through their eyes. It was how you basically controlled them. They didn't really have thoughts of their own, you have to control them like puppets. Needless to say, it's not easy.

Occassionally he would cast a glance over at Chiyoko. He was curious as to what she would do, considering some of the juitsus at her disposal. He was at first surprised that she was attempting this without cheating, and made him a little ashamed that he had to do this. But then he was becoming worried for her. These tests were made to be cheated. He feared that Chiyoko might fail if she did otherwise.

Silently praying that Chiyoko would pass, he wrote down the answer to question 6.
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Raizen
~~~~~~~~~~

Team 15 split up as everyone sat down and received their copies of the test. After the signal to begin was given Raizen looked down at his test and felt a small weight drop in his stomach as he thought “Damn, I might be able to answer two of these, but just that alone would put me past the time limit, and that’s not nearly enough to pass.”

While keeping his head down, Raizen scanned the room with his byakugan. It was then that the noticed almost everyone was staring blankly at their own tests. Except for a few genin that seemed to be answering all the questions with ease. “I guess that makes sense,” He thought, “These questions are ridiculous. The only way we’d be able to answer all of them is to cheat.”

“I wonder how I can communicate my answers to Masato and Ushi.” Raizen thought as he began copying one of the “genin” who seemed to have all the answers. Raizen had gotten five answers down on his paper, when he felt something on his finger, and noticed that he now had a stack of three papers. “What the…?” He immediately byakuganed over to see Masato and Ushi. Masato was bent over his paper with one hand in his hair, apparently in deep concentration; and Ushi looked like he was doodling on his paper, and only because of his byakugan, Raizen noticed that Ushi had his flute twirling rapidly underneath his desk.

Raizen had finished his own test now and started on the other two copies, making sure to change his handwriting slightly for each one. “Clever guys,” He thought, “Masato must have transported our tests with strands of that scarf he’s been training with so much. They’re hidden in his hair. And judging by the hidden, twirling flute, Ushi is casting a powerful illusion to make it seem as though he and Masato still have their papers. Heh, talk about teamwork. And we didn’t even need to communicate w/ each other.”

Now keeping his byakugan concentrated on the shinobi trying to catch cheaters, Raizen finished the other two tests and began to wonder what this mysterious 10th question would be.
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Ushi
~~~~~

Ushi doodled absently, a stick figure Raizen with large empty circles for eyes throwing himself into the arms of a squiggly haired Ushi. His other hand twirled his flute under the desk, keeping the instrument as close to the underside of the surface as he could to avoid notice. The air flowing through the flute was just enough to make a soft, muted note he needed to weave his Genjutsu, though not being able to manipulate the tune forced him to devote more chakra to the task than normal. Looking up from his fake paper, Ushi scanned to room. He could see many groups who seemed lost or confused, but he also saw just as many who were working furiously on their test. Ushi wondered how many of them were cheating like they were. It was so exciting! He had never cheated before, but the instant he had seen the test he knew he couldn’t have done it on his own…even his wonderfully gorgeous Raizen would have had trouble.

He been pondering on how he could use his own skills to find the answers, something about mini-Ushis and covert black ops when, glancing at Raizen, he had seen the telltale veins that he knew as a teammate signaled Raizen's use of the Byakugan. He had carefully removed his flute from his waistband and began twirling it, summoning up the illusion that he was still maintaining. The large arrow he caused to appear on Masato’s now fake test had been enough to make the focused youth catch Raizen’s activities too and the skilled Taijutsu user had figured out how to get the tests to their teammate quite effectively. Manipulating Raizen and Masato's tests briefly to show a happily smiling Ushi giving them a thumbs up, Ushi returned the illusion to normal and had started doodling to contain his excitement. The entire experience was just exhilarating, even more so when the Chuunin stationed around the room began pouncing on those who were lax in their concealment. Some of failing groups had been leaking chakra so badly as they worked that Ushi had been able to see them but many of them had seemed perfectly normal to the genin. The proctors were skilled then, and weren't showing any mercy in their judgements. Ushi couldn’t see any flaws in his illusion, but obviously he wouldn't, he just hoped those trained to see them wouldn't either.

The young Genin looked over to Masato to see if he was as thrilled by the entire experience as he was. He tried to look bored…or frustrated…or something so he wouldn’t be suspicious but only ended up with an odd mixture of giddy eyes and a horribly scowling mouth. Masato was focused on his fake test however, he seemed to be actually trying to answer it. Ushi wondered if anyone was actually capable of finishing the whole test on their own, he certainly didn't think it was possib…

His eyes moved off Masato as he heard a pencil drop noisily to the desk next to him. The Sound Ninja girl who sat there was facing forward, her eyes as bored and as dreamy as when she had sat down. Her one hand sat loosely on the table next to the dropped writing utensil, her other hung at her side still gripping the stuffed kitten she had walked in with. The kitten seemed to be staring at Ushi so he gave it a smile before continuing his investigation. Had she given up? It made sense, Ushi thought, the test was extremely hard. He waited for a moment, the loud sound had drawn nearly every eye to their area of the room and he needed all the concentration he could muster to keep his illusion strong under such scrutiny. Eventually however the stares ended, people had more to worry about than a strange noise, and his eyes glanced downwards at her paper for an instant. He wondered how far she had gotten before she had finally given u...

The writing on the paper was so thick that with the brief glance he risked at the test Ushi couldn’t even find the questions in between the answers. Barely half the time allowed for the test had passed, and the mysterious Sound Ninja had already written more than Raizen would end up writing for all three of their tests combined…and he had not stopped writing since the moment the test had begun! Behind her, her partner was massaging his hand with a look of pain on his face, throwing disgruntled looks at the girl. Ushi almost stopped twirling his flute in suprise, he had been next to her the whole time and he hadn’t even felt the vaguest stirring of chakra around her, save that which had been constantly flowing through the lock of hair covering her eye. Had she done the entire test all by herself? Was that even possible? Or was she so good that whatever she had done had been totally undetectable, even this close? Ushi use all of his willpower to restrain himself from throwing himself off his seat and over to her ask her. That might make a few people suspicous he wisely concluded. Blinking a few more times, Ushi turned back to his fake paper, seeing Raizen working Masato’s test, the last of the three. If they finished early maybe they would be able to socialize and he could ask her. Stealing a look at the rather scary looking head proctor at the front of the room, Ushi doubted it. Then again, you never knew, people always thought he was a little crazy when they first met him, silly as that seemed.

The rest of the time passed uneventfully, though Ushi had managed to sketch much of the rest of his and Raizen's future happy lives together on his returned paper. Finally however, the head proctor stood and cleared his throat. Ushi suddenly remembered the tenth question and slumped a little, no social time for him. Glancing sideways at the still disspassionate Sound Ninja Ushi consoled himself thinking that maybe he would get a chance to ask her his question during the next part of the Test if they happened to meet up again.

[Asilynne]

Shiro - Genin
-

It didn't take long for the messy-haired genin to catch on -- everyone was cheating. He could catch wandering eyes, watch as objects crept along the floor, obscured by the many feet of the seated. It was then that anxiety kicked in -- despite his physical capabilities he lacked any jutsu that could serve as a good cheating tool, no Byakugan or Sharingan or the like, unless being able to use wind, and even then, only very slightly, could pass a test for him. His gaze, though masked to prevent suspicion, eventually wandered to Selekis, and felt a twinge of annoyance as the youth scribbled away. He couldn't recall a single instance in which the mute boy showed a desire for teamwork, and was almost certain he'd do nothing to aid his teammates as well. The moment such thoughts flitted into his mind, he felt ashamed, knowing he had no capabilities to pass this test at all.

His eyes finally wandered back to the dull parchment, his mind dully probing the problems for a breakthrough.

...And it came as he eyed the third question, a grin breaking across his face. He could answer this one, thank god for the few days he'd actually paid attention.

Rapidly dashing out the answer (which actually took a while -- it was a difficult problem), he attempted to apply the momentary thrill to the remaining questions, only to frown as he found himself dumbfounded once more. He found himself gazing at Selekis again, Hiro escaping his mind for the moment. Mentally appealing to the mute, he could only hope, by some twisted luck, that his team would pull him through.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Soen



~~~***~~~***~~~


It was the day before the chuunin exams. There still hadn’t been an answer from higher instances to Soens recent outburst.

Soen crawled up from his bed and walked out of his room. As he closed the door again, he noticed a kunai with a note.

Eying it strangely he unhooked the note.

Meet me at Training ground #12.

Don’t be late ;D

PS: Be there at 9:30 AM

Soen went downstairs and checked the watch. 7:12 AM. He still had a little time and decided to do some shuriken training after breakfast. The entire time, he was wondering who would write such a note.


~~~***~~~***~~~



It was almost half past ten when Soen arrived at the training ground. Just a low density forest where every year, jounin-sensei would test their new genin. Kaito had already arrived.

“I’m guessing the note didn’t come from you.” Soen said

Kaito shook his head, he still seemed a little troubled by their last mission. Sadly, that is the shinobi way. Not that it didn’t effect Soen, but it clearly had a bigger impact on the older genin.

“Any clue on who might have?” Kaito asked.

“Not one.”

“I send you guys those notes.” A feminine voice announced.

A rustle in a nearby tree gave away her position. Not that it mattered cause the girl jumped down immediately.

“My name is Saruwatari Sai and I shall be your new Jounin-sensei!” she joyfully announced.

Soen took a good look at her. Standing at around 5’3, having ponytails, a light skin tone and brown eyes, this person didn’t look quite intimidating. Her tight, black shirt was a bit in contrast with her baggy crimson pants. A brown belt was around her waist, supporting a blue scroll, several kunai and a white pouch.

“Are you serious? You don’t look much older then me. You sure you didn’t have to wait for our sensei here?” Kaito commented.

Soen agreed, it seemed more likely that Sai was a new team member then a sensei.

“Nah, I already met up with our third member. I just wanted to get to know you guys before I introduced you.”

“Let’s go, this is a waste of time.” Soen said

“Oh, I recognize that voice. You’re that Chishio kid right? Tell you what. If you can get a punch in against me, then I’ll guarantee I’ll get you guys into the chuunin exams.”

This caused a spark to rush through Soen. A chance to get into the chuunin exams?

“You better not be joking.”

“Of course I’m not, silly. I can’t lie to my students now, can I? But we do have a time limit, in about twenty minutes our last member will be here so fifteen minutes should be good enough.” Sai explained

“Ready? Go!”

At the moment she signalled the start, Soen rushed in. He didn’t know what type of fighter his opponent was, but if she specialized in Nin- or GenJutsu, he was a sitting duck at his range.

Soen threw a punch that was easily caught. Sai tossed him back. Soen tried a low kick but was blocked again. This time he wouldn’t let up and jumped forward, while thrusting his left fist forward. Sai ducked under this as Soen quickly made a summersault to secure his landing.

Now at her back, Soen continued his assault. Without even turning her head around, Sai blocked every attempt.

“Is this the best you got?” She asked as she grabbed Soens arm and threw him over her back.

“And that after all the good things I heard about you.”

Alright then Soen though to himself as he took out his Shikon daggers.

Sai almost squealed at the sight of them.

“Oh, the Shikon daggers, mind if I take a look at them afterwards?” Sai asked.

“Yes, I do mind. They are my clans secret, no way I’m letting you toy around with them. I will however, let you get a taste of how the feel.”

Armed with his favourite fighting tool, Soen started attacking again. But every strike he made with his daggers was dodged, while his kicks got blocked.

This isn’t working, but let’s see how she feels about this.

“Shikon Jutsu: Soukou Kiba!” Soen yelled out.

He made a small jump backwards and his arms were stretched behind his body. He launched his arms forward again and sliced the air in front of him. This caused a slicing wave to fly towards Sai.

The jounin simply jumped backwards and the wave cut a bit into the earth at her feet.

“Oh, so you are capable of something interesting?” Sai laughed

Soen sheeted his daggers, there was no point in continuing.

“What? Giving up?”

“This fight is over, I have no chance of winning.” Soen said disappointed

“During my entire assault, you didn’t move an inch from your starting position. The only time you moved was to dodge my Soukou Kiba.”

“Oh, nice insight. Anyway, I believe I have proven my point. So let’s all wait for our last team member.” Sai cheered.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leaf
----

The forest was peacefull in the morning.
Leaf walked slowly along the path that would bring her to the training grounds as her new Sensei had instructed looking around and taking in her surroundings. Everything seemed more real if that was possible. The colours seemed more vivid, the smells were pleasant, but more noticeable. As if the peace of the morning made her senses focus themselves. The exact opposite sensation as someone who could walk around lost in thought and not notice anything going on around them she thought to herself.
She sighed and continued on, wondering what it would be like to live in such ignorance. as she noticed the sunlight that was filtering through the trees growing brighter up ahead, signalling a clearning and most likely her destination.
As she approached she could make out the sounds of battle. The slapping of skin on skin as attacks were made and blocks were executed against them along with the grunts and groans of exertion.
She rounded a corner and noticed a number of people roughly her age though one seemed slightly older. She had met Saruwatari-sensei days before and had been instructed to come here at this time.
She was surprised that the girl infront of her could be a Jounin. It wasnt uncommon for Jounin to be young. Some had graduated as young as 13 which made Leaf frown that she had already reached that age and was only a Genin. Knowing that fact was very different to seeing it in the flesh though and it seemed impossible that such a girl was a highly trained and highly skilled shinobi.
Leaf didnt realise she had been staring untill she noticed the group looking back at her. The Jounin was smiling while the other Genin looked over curiously. Leaf took a few steps forward. That familiar nervousness that she may have got it wrong and this wasnt even her group.

"Excuse me?" she said softly as if trying to get someones attention without interupting some important conversation, despite the fact that she already had everyones attention.
"..is this team 17?"

Saruwatari cocked her head curiously. She had met Leaf already, the girl knew that she would be her new Sensei yet she still asked as if she might be wrong. Her confidence could become an issue that would need resolving.

"Indeed it is." beamed the older girl. "though you already know that dont you" she said softly trying not to sound patronising.
Leaf nodded slowly, and flashed a slightly embarrassed smile, letting out a breath she hadnt realised she'd been holding.

"My name is Leaf," she said to the Genin "I was told i would be joining this team." she said though the second part of the statement sounded more like a question and all 3 Genin looked towards Saruwatari. Leaf for assurance and the two boys had expressions that she would convince herself meant 'youve got to be joking right?'
Saruwatari sighed and stared at Leaf for a moment before stepping back.

"Right you are!" said Saruwatari. The smile back on her face.
"This is Kaito and Soen, your new team mates" she pointed at the two Genin behind her. "You can get to know each other later, for now we have things to discuss...." she stared at each of the Genin in turn "...namely the Chuunin exams"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chiyoko
~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Chiyoko couldn’t help but smile when she had felt the tap at her ankle and had gazed down to see Inakamo’s hand. She had been working away at the test for quite some time, but his answers helped greatly. She could compare two of her answers and begin skipping ahead. Working away… she withdrew a sigh of relief. Their test, for the most part, was filled up with answers. There was one other question they needed… the 10th and final question.

Although she was prepared for a harsh question- something downright scary, she was still jarred to sit up straight as Morino’s voice boomed, telling everyone they had to stop writing. He then spoke of the 10th question… saying that everyone had to get the 10th question correct.

We have to get it correct? That would mean… surely it has to be easier than the majority of the questions we have been answering. But if it isn’t…

There was a bigger risk than just failing the Chuunin exams however. Morino continued to state that if one were to stay and fail the 10th question, they would never be able to participate in the Chuunin exams again. Everyone gasped and Chiyoko’s eyes widened. Never? Wasn’t that sort of harsh?

“However… if you feel that you are simply unwilling to risk the question…” Morino continued. “or that you are not ready. You may choose to leave now. Of course, your entire team will have to leave… but you at least will be able to retake the Chuunin Exam.” He added, staring down the entire room with his cold, icy glare.

Chiyoko swallowed back her fear… she had to be ready to be a Chuunin, didn’t she? If she wasn’t now then…

Chiyoko turned her head to gaze at her teammates. Onitoge’s eyes were narrowed but his jaw was strained- he seemed determined or as if he had made up his mind. Inakamo’s face was similar as he purged the worry from his mind and also swallowed back his fears with determination. Chiyoko felt a soft smile creep upon her lips- her teammates’ own determination had calmed her down. She knew she couldn’t give up now… they were counting on her.

I have to learn to be as strong and resolute as them… Chiyoko said to herself, breathing in a deep calming breath.

A few chose to leave however. Their strength was not as sure as others. More teams might have left, however a sudden outburst from Naruto caused Chiyoko to jump from the silence. He spoke loudly and boisterously, declaring how he wouldn’t give up- not now that he’d come this far. Chiyoko slight smile grew into a grin, as she nodded to herself.

That’s right Naruto… how are we supposed to accomplish anything without faith in ourselves?

A few seconds that ticked away felt like dramatic minutes to Chiyoko as Morino waited a little bit more and then a smile spread across his face.
“Alright… you all pass.”

More shock rippled through out the exam room, until it was clarified that there really was no “tenth” question in the written sense. Instead, the last part of this first exam was a ‘test’ of character.

There perhaps would have been time for a firm self-analzying thought from Chiyoko, but any such time was canceled as the window erupted and shards of glass clattered onto the floor. Morino Ibiki did not seemed surprised however, as a strong, wild-eyed female Ninja landed in the classroom with a wicked grin upon her face.


“Greetings Maggots!” She said loudly, scanning everyone with intense vigor. “Enough of this sitting and wasting time… the true test of character is about to begin!” With that she leapt out of the window, beckoning everyone to “follow her.”



~*~ Skipping time, wavering signings and the like ~*~



“Wow… Forest of Death, THAT doesn’t sound ominous.” Inakamo sighed as he, Onitoge and Chiyoko stood right upon the outside of the forest. The task didn’t sound incredibly difficult, but as Onitoge pointed out- stealing a scroll from another team would be troublesome if they ran into the wrong team.

“I sense a lot of power… a lot of bad power…” Onitoge commented, as Chiyoko felt a little bit of fear claim her again before Inakamo laughed and placed a hand upon her shoulder, seeming to sense this.

“Bah, if anything happens… we’ll bash our way through!”

“…” Onitoge didn’t respond, but a small crack of a smile formed on his lips. Chiyoko matched it with a smile, giving a fist pump and nodding. “Teammates and friends!” She said cornily, laughing afterwards as she realized it.

“Still… three days seems like an awfully short time.” Onitoge commented, as the other two agreed.

“maybe the forest isn’t as… death-y as it sounds?” Inakamo offered.


Time was of the utmost importance however, and soon Anko had rushed the team of Chiyoko, Inakamo and Onitoge into the Forest of Death along with their scroll.

“I’ll take that!” Inakamo said, hiding the scroll within his ball. They had received the Heaven Scroll.

“Time to go kick some butt, take a scroll and head to that tower in the center…” Inakamo continued, as the three of them took off into the forest.

“We should be careful, there will be a lot of teams in the beginning and we’ll be more apt to run into them and they might attack us. I think we want the element of surprise to ourselves.” Chiyoko commented with an assuring smile.


The Misadventures of Saruwatari and Saruwatari
“The Battle of Epic Proportions: Part II”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Sai glared at her Uncle Kazuki as the two of them faced off within the grassy clearing that was the Exam’s Stadium.

“Excuse me… but shouldn’t this be avoided since the Chuunin Exams will be taking place here very soon?” Hatake Kakashi asked, raising a brow at the Hokage who shrugged.

“BAH… those kids won’t be using it for a month anyway!” Hara quickly said loudly, as Yukiso chimed in.

“They’re merely testing it out. That’s all.”

This caused Hatake to sweatdrop along with a few more… less enthusiastic watchers. Gai, however, was not one of them.

“LET THE THRALL OF YOUTH LEAD YOU ONWARDS SAI!” He bellowed, causing Kazuki to twitch slightly.
Sai smirked.

“Come now uncle, show me how unqualified I am.” She taunted.
Kazuki remained unspoken, and the signal was given for them to begin.


Within a blink of an eye, the two vanished.

[A Crisis After Another - Naruto OST ]

Kazuki quickly went into a furry of basic Taijutsu moves – throwing daunting punches and a series of sweeping kicks that were meant to throw the tiny Sai off of her feet. However, Sai managed to avoid the attacks, dodging every single one without the need of blocking them. Kazuki smirked.

“So you have already realized your number one weakness.” He thought to himself before coming at her again. This time he lightened his assault- not giving so much power behind them but concentrating more on his speed. As seconds ticked by, his speed continued to increase until Sai was forced to block his moves- she was unable to evade them when she was so close. With each block however, her body shook slightly as the furry of Kazuki’s attacks caused her body to slide across the rocky ground beneath her feet. She winced as a wild pummeling of fists smashed into her forearms, and Sai quickly realized she could not match her Uncle’s raw power with her own basic defense. However…

“You’re… not the only one… with power!” She yelled, blocking his kick and using his own momentum to push herself backwards with a leap. Glaring, she concentrated upon her clenched fist and grimaced. Blue chakra began to form around her fist and with a blink of an eye she slammed it into the ground. The earth beneath Kazuki’s feet began to rumble and he quickly leapt out of the way as the earth gave way beneath him- causing jagged rocks and boulders to burst upwards from the ground. Sai watched as Kazuki landed to the right of the rubble, no surprise showing upon his face. He knew she had that capability… he had been waiting to see the extent of her power.

He knew now, though, that he had to use his specialty moves in order to have the upper hand- and with that, he wasted no time. Swiftly he leapt to the edge of the rubble and picked up one of the large stones. Placing it upon his fist, he began spinning it wildly about until chakra began to gather around the rock and spun with it- creating a wild, chakra-spinning sphere. He then charged at Sai, giving a large cry as he prepared to hurl the rock into her torso. Sai quickly leapt out of the way, causing the rock and Kazuki’s rock-armed fist to smash straight into the ground, causing a large cloud of explosion that shook the stadium. Sai’s eyes widened in shock however, as she caught a glimpse of a smile spread across Kazuki’s face. It was too late- the cloth of Kazuki’s belt had also been taken out. Sai barely had time to register what had happened as the cloth sliced into the side of her torso and the sting of chakra sent her spinning sideways and crashing to the ground.

Quickly Sai got to her feet however and leapt away as yet another spinning rock smashed below her feet, and this time she brought a glowing kunai upwards to block the cloth. Sai had channeled her chakra into the kunai…knowing full well Kazuki’s chakra-fused belt could slice through most metals. There was no time for words know. Sai knew Kazuki thought he had the upper hand with the painful blow to her side, and she did not want him to have time to think otherwise. The element of surprise still was her forte, not his.

Another rock, another cloth… but this time as his belt met her kunai, she took out a tag and slapped it onto his belt. Breaking away from their explosive close-ranged battle, Kazuki immediately leapt back and threw is belt away as it exploded.

[Ultimate Secrets - Naruto OST]

Time to show him what I can really do… Sai thought, touching her scroll and ripping it open, instantly unleashing a wide-ranged attack of kunai to spray out. Kazuki swiftly freed himself of his leg weights, allowing him to leap high into the air to avoid the painfully sharp kunai. With lightning fast reflexes however, Sai pushed her scroll’s paper another way and threw out more Kunai. Kazuki twisted into the air, avoiding the spray again and threw back his own kunai. Sai easily rolled to the side, and just as she was about to reopen her scroll, Kazuki appeared in front of her. Shock filled Sai’s face as Kazuki punched her in the gut, causing her to groan as she was sent flying backwards into a wall. In one fluid motion along with the punch, Kazuki ripped her own scroll away from her grasp.

Kazuki smirked as the dust cleared as Sai stood standing, in front of the large rocky indent she had made into the wall. Kazuki immediately was alarmed however, seeing the smile upon Sai’s sarcastic face. Her scroll was at her side.

Looking down, he saw the scroll glow beside him and immediately he leapt away just as the scroll exploded. Kunai, throwing stars and several more sharp objects were sent flying in every direction. The explosion was enough to put Kazuki off balance and while he managed to dodge most of the objects in his direction, his leg was sliced cleanly along with a gash across the side of his face.

Landing down upon the ground, Kazuki looked at Sai with a glare. What new trick was this?

“Now for my real speciality!” Sai said as she grabbed the corner of her scroll again but in a blink of an eye two Ninja appeared. Hara and Hatake.

“This is quite enough.” Hatake said, facing Kazuki.

“You did it Sai!” Hara said with a laugh, pointing at the Hokage who nodded and then walked away. “Man… I haven’t seen Kazuki work that hard in years!” Hara added, some how not feeling the laser-beam glare that was aimed at the back of his head. “This calls for lunch, my treat!” Hara added, smiling as he slapped Sai on the back.

“Umm… Hara-san, shouldn’t you be watching your team?”

“Naaah, they’re only in the Forest of Death. They’ll be fiiine..…” He trailed off with a laugh as Sai sweatdropped.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hyuuga Raizen and the Deathly Forest:


“We have to get it correct or we can never be chuunin?” Raizen asked himself as the terms for the 10th question were given. Everyone was looking around now, some people were leaving, and their teammates with them, but it seemed that everyone from Raizen’s academy class was staying. “Well if they’re all staying… But, what if Masato or Ushi get the question wrong…” Raizen glanced around again. “Okay, Neji’s staying, there’s no way in hell I’ll let my brother beat me here.”

And so Raizen stayed put until the proctor announced that the final question was all a test of character, and they had all passed. “Cool.” Raizen said with a slight sigh as a female ninja burst into the room and Ushi tackled him to the floor in the excitement of passing. “Gah! Get off Ushi!” Raizen eventually pulled himself out of Ushi’s death grip of a hug and they all followed Anko to the second part of the exams.

***

Raizen stood in front of the large gates leading to where the second part of the exams was to take place. “The forest of- “

“Death?” Masato finished. “This isn’t going to be all rainbows and kittens is it?”

“Oh but I like rainbows and kittens.” Ushi said looking a little disappointed as he was handed a Heaven scroll.

“Okay,” Said Raizen, “We’ve got the heaven scroll, and all we have to do is obtain an Earth scroll and make it to the tower in three days. At least it’s not complicated; we just have to worry about the other ninja.”

Just then the signal was given and everyone rushed in through their respective gates. “Raizen,” Masato said quite some time later, as team 15 leapt from tree branch to tree branch, “hold on to the scroll, nobody’s going to sneak up on you.” They stopped high above the forest floor so Ushi could hand over the scroll.

“Oh, I have an idea” He said, and with a quick note on his flute two more scrolls appeared, each identical to the original. “We might as well fool anyone trying to attack us.” Ushi said as he passed them out. “Now nobody will know which the real one is.”

“Hey, as long as we’re stopped I’ve been thinking.” Masato chimed in. “Why blunder around in a forest when Raizen can search it for us.”

“I was just about so suggest that myself.” Raizen said w/ a smirk. “Byakugan!” His vision now extremely enhanced Raizen scanned the forest. He jumped to other trees every once and a while, and after a few minutes smirked again. “I’ve found the perfect target.” He said. “They are approximately 50 yards southeast of us on the forest floor. It looks like they are planning an attack or something.”

“What scroll?” Masato asked immediately.

“Earth. And they have no idea we’re here.” This time all three teammates smiled.

***
Three shinobi sat in a small clearing amidst thick trees as they spoke quietly amongst themselves. One with long black hair and wearing his Grass headband around his neck seemed to command the other two. “And finally, if we place explosive tags at these four locations-”

“But…” Said a more timid looking ninja with sunken green eyes and a full arsenal of summoning scrolls. “If we do that we might hurt someone…”

“That’s not the point.” said the third shinobi. This one female with a wild look about her and holding a gigantic scythe.

“Yes,” said the leader. “The point is to obtain a Heaven scroll. And to do that-”

The long haired ninja was cut off as a two kunai sunk themselves deep into both his shoulders. Everyone looked up to see three Leaf ninja standing on a branch 20 feet above them.

“Nice shot Masato.” Raizen said as they hopped down to land a few feet from the Grass team. “Now,” He called out to the wounded leader. “If you three would hand over your Earth scroll, we’ll be on our way.”

“You think that we’ll just-”

“With your arms like that, you are in no condition to fight.” Masato cut in. “In fact, if I hit you exactly where my friend suggested,” He nodded at Raizen, “you shouldn’t even be able to wiggle your fingers.” Sure enough the leader of the grass team could not move his arms an inch.

“If you wanted to disable us you should have done it all at once!” The wild looking girl with the scythe yelled as she started to charge team 15, only to stop as she heard her other teammate give a blood curdling scream. She whirled around to see the sunken eyed ninja writhing on the ground, trying desperately to get away from something. “What are you doing Shinji?!” But it was too late; he had passed out, apparently from shear terror. It was then that Raizen and Masato appeared on either side of the scythed warrior. She took a swipe at Raizen who dodged in time to receive no more that a shallow cut on his cheek as Masato proceeded to disarm her.

“Eight trigrams!” Was the last thing she heard before loosing consciousness. The three of them then walked over to where the long haired leader lay.

“We’ll take your Earth scroll now!” Ushi said happily. Not having an option either way, the Grass shinobi was forced to watch helpless as Raizen dug through the sunken eyed ones arsenal of scrolls. “There we go!” Ushi almost squealed as he multiplied this scroll as well and handed a copy to Masato and Raizen in turn.

“Now you stay out of trouble.” Masato said as they got up to leave. “We don’t want you kids winding up lost in here.”


***
“Wow, we got lucky, that went way better than I’d hoped.” Raizen said as they hopped from tree to tree again. “I kinda wonder if they should have been in the chuunin exams.”

“Yeah, but did we have to be so cocky?” Masato asked. “Some of it just felt like too much.”

“Eh, maybe.” Raizen responded. “But we had to act overconfident to keep them un-nerved. And of course now we have a bit of a reputation.” He added with a smile. “By the way Ushi, what did you have that one with the summoning scrolls see anyway?”

They were carefully trying to avoid what looked like one of the ominous sound teams now.

“Oh, nothing special,” Ushi whispered with a smile that betrayed his words. “Just rainbows and kittens.”

[Outlaw JT]

Soen

~~~***~~~***~~~

Everything seemed to move fast lately. In just two days, Soen and Kaito met up with their new sensei, Saruwatori Sai, as well as their new teammate, Leaf, and now they were already partaking in the second part of the chuunin exam.

At first this opportunity seemed so far away, but Saruwatori-sensei seemed to have it arranged that the genin could compete. Maybe Soens outburst helped, he wasn’t to sure about it. After the meeting, the newly formed team 17 spent the entire time before the chuunin exam to get to know each other. Soen and Leaf were mostly focussed on TaiJutsu, while Kaito focussed a little more on Ninjutsu, leaving the team with a handicap when it would come to ranged fighting. But that just meant that they would need to draw any enemy in close.

Nothing really hard happened during the first test, besides the mental pressure that the Instructor seemed to emit. A written exam that Soen had difficulties with, but with some insight he managed to copy the test of the person in front of him. Neither Kaito nor Leaf seemed to be bother.

After passing that test, all the remaining genin were instructed to follow a new Instructor to training area 44, the Forest of Death. The test would consist of an all out scroll battle. The goal was to steal a scroll from another team, whilst guarding your own. Two different type of scrolls were handed out and it wasn’t revealed which team would have which scroll.

Leaf, Kaito and Soen were given the Earth scroll which meant they would need to hunt down a Heaven scroll. As they were juming through the trees, Kaito spoke up.

“There seem to be several ways to deal with this test.”

“Do explain.” Soen added

Kaito looked at him with the message ‘I was going to’ clearly on his face.

“First, we could attack each team we encounter and hope they have the Heaven scroll. If they don’t it would be a worthless fight which could leave either side injured.”

“But,” Leaf spoke up, “if we take their earth scroll anyway, we could use it as a bargaining chip. Maybe we could even trade it for a Heaven scroll.”

“Yes, but we’d have to be extremely lucky to run into a team that would like to trade.” Soen added

“Secondly,” Kaito continued, “we could try to spy on another team, check out their scroll and measure their strength before we attack. Downside is, we could waste some needed time when chasing the wrong team and the danger of getting caught is always present.”

When there were no complaints Kaito moved on.

“We could also trap another team. Stay in a certain area and draw attention to ourselves as incapable genin but keeping some nice traps around to catch any attackers off guard. Our looks shouldn’t bother this plan to much, especially not Soens.”

“Haha… Still not over the fact that I graduated four years younger then you?”

The team stopped in a larger tree.

“I say we decide on what we do right now. We could probably use the full three days.” Leaf announced.

“It’s all good to me.” Soen said.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ushi
~~~~

“Crap…”, Raizen muttered as Team 15 sat quietly atop one of the almost ubiquitous branches that criss-crossed almost every inch of this forest. The young Hyuuga’s head hadn’t moved but it obviously didn’t have to for him to notice something amis. Masato whispered softly, “Are they coming?”

The Taijutsu user was talking about the Sound Ninja who had stationed themselves directly in front of Team 15’s route to the central tower. They could go around them but there were even more groups prowling around those areas according to Raizen, hiding and waiting for the Sound Ninja to move would be far simpler…if they didn’t spot them first. It had taken at nearly ten minutes for Masato to convince Ushi that running forward so he could finally ask his questions to the Sound girl from the first test was not the most intelligent of ideas. Raizen though did not seem too concerned about them for the moment, “No, we’ve got another group.”

Masato’s eyes widened as he shifted uncomfortably on the branch, “Should we get out of here? We could try to get through the other ways.”

Raizen hesitated a moment before responding, “No…if they meet up with anyone it’ll be those Sound Ninja.”

Picking random bits of foliage and dirt from his hair as they sat, Ushi suddenly looked up, “Maybe they will fight each other and clear the way for us!”

Raizen nodded, “And if they don’t finish each other off whoever’s left will be weakened for sure. Either way it'll be easier then trying to break through another way. ”

Masato stood up, his teammates giving him a curious look as he did. He gestured into the forest before them, “If we’re going to take advantage of the winners’ weakness we’re going to have to be closer.”

Pausing, Raizen gave a questioning glance to Ushi who nodded and produced his flute. Team 15 moved in.

-----

By the time they had made their way close enough to see the Sound Ninja, the other group Raizen had noticed was already there. The apparent leader, a lanky genin with a cocky grin and chains wrapped around his arms, stood ahead of his compatriots confronting the three Sound Ninjas, “Give it up you freaks! We can take it or you can give it to us, either way that scroll’s ours you goofy looking idiots!”

To the leader’s right the other male genin of the group, his watery eyes looking nervously at Daiko who had bared his teeth in a very animalistic snarl, shook his head as he raised his katal, “C’mon Katsuo, drop the insults and let’s just get the scoll."

A laugh from the final member of the group, a female with a mocking sneer, interrupted her compatriot, “Oh please Ichiro, look at them! That one looks like he hasn’t taken a bath in a year!”

Masato, looking for all the world like a patch of moss against a tree, winced as Daiko began flexing his fingers and taking deep, ragged breaths, his eyes darting back to the long haired one who was leaning comfortably against a tree, his sleeve wrapped around his body to avoid dragging it over the ground, “Can I kill them Taio? Please?”

Taio shook his head, a smile spreading across his face. The angry genin scowled, fury obvious on his features, and began pacing back and forth, glaring at the other group. The chained one laughed at his teammate’s remark, “Look at the girl too! Is she even awake?! What’re you gonna do with that kitty, snuggle us to death?”

As the genin laughed, despite Nein's complete lack of reaction, Raizen’s whisper emerged from a simple looking log lying on the forest’s floor, “They’re totally underestimating them. The Sound Ninja already have their two scrolls and they don’t even look like they’ve been walking hard to get here…maybe this wasn't such a good idea.”

Ushi, a boulder snuggling comfortably against the Raizen-log shivered as a chill ran down his spine, the girl’s kitten seemed to be looking at him again and his friend’s comment was making him severely uncomfortable, a feeling he wasn’t used to experiencing.

Daikowas shaking now, his eyes growing bloodshot as he shot glances back at Taio every few seconds. Taio just continued smiling. The girl’s mocking voice rang out again, “And what’s up with that one’s clothes? Did your mommy forget to dress you or something?!”

One of Taio’s eyes slowly opened at the girl’s comment, scanning the three in front of him as if noticing them for the first time. The three grew suddenly silent, their comments petering off pathetically. There was an quality in Taio's gaze that made them realize how little he really cared about their insults or their lives. The pacing genin stopped and stared at Taio, a hungry look on his face. Taio smirked slightly and closed his eye again, giving a tiny nod.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leaf
----

"Wait! called out a voice. "Look what i found!"
3 Genin came to a stop in a small clearing. On the ground infront of them lay 3 other Genin. 2 guys and a girl. They looked a mess.
"Man someone really did a number on these 3" one of the Genin announced. The 3 new arrivals, who each wore the headband of the Hidden Mist villiage, stopped and made a quick observation of the surrounding area.
"Do you think whoever did this is still in the area?" asked one of them as he Approached the group.
"No way!" he exclaimed. "The girl, shes holding a scroll!"
"They killed them and didnt take the scroll?" asked the third.
"Looks that way, oh well their loss".
He approached the girl being carefull to look out for any traps. She was wearing a pale orange outfit. Typical Kunoichi style though an Orange Scarf trailed around her. He bent down to take the scroll from the girls hands but it was held tight. Her fingers not budging an inch. He stamped his foot down on the wrist and pulled hard but it wasnt budging.

"Whats taking so long?" one asked, getting nervous about staying in one place too long.
"It wont move! Its like shes got a death grip on the damn thing!" came the reply.
The first genin sighed. "Well they do say that happens just after death...what type of scroll is it?"
"Um....Earth i think" he said still pulling hard.
Another sigh from the same Genin "Then were wasting time. We already have the Earth Scroll, if it wont move then leave it"

The now panting genin grumbled as he failed to pry it from the girls fingers and kicked at her stomach in anger. Yelping as he almost broke hsi foot.
"Shes hard as a freakin statue!" he howled as his team moved off and he followed.

****
90 Minutes earlier

"I like the trap idea" Leaf announced "But it has to be something really good. Trip wires and pitfalls wont work, at least not this early. Theres been no time for fatigue to set in or even boredom in the case of the more easily distracted. Everyone is too on guard"
"So what do you suggest?" asked Soen

She smiled, the confidence returning to her now they were making a plan of action. "how good are you two with the Clone Jutsu?" she asked.
"Why?" asked Soen suspiciously "what are you thinking?"

"To use the Scroll as Bait. If i use my Jutsu, then hold the scroll in such a way that it cant be removed from my hand by force then it puts it on show to tempt other teams in" she beamed as if this was the entirety of her plan.
Soen looked skeptical "Ok...then what? Wheres the trap?"

"Well if i make it look like ive been beaten up, or maybe even killed and then to make sure noones suspicious there were 'bodies' of my two team mates near me.." she hinted as she made the rabbit ears symbol to stress the word 'bodies'.
Kaito smiled as he caught on. "They think theyve found a dead team and try to scavenge the scroll but cant, at which point...."
"...at which point" Soen interrupted "we find out that we've done all that and risked the scroll to end up with another Earth Scroll!"

"Well thats the point of putting our Scroll on display" Leaf countered. "If its taking too long to get, and they know theyre wasting alot of time for something they dont need then they will give up and move on. If they still keep trying they really want the Earth scroll which means they have a Heaven scroll for us!"

"What if noone comes along?" questioned Soen once more. "We could be stood still all day"
"Well yeah there is that" Leaf conceded "but at least it will give us time to think of something better and we wont waste energy chasing other teams around" she added enthusiastically.

Soen still didnt look convinced but in the absence of a better idea felt they may aswell try it, at least for now.

****

It was roughly an hour after the Mist Ninja left. There was another team in the clearing now along with team 17. They wore the Leaf villiage headband but Leaf didnt recognise them.
One was now prying hard at the scroll in her hand as his team mate came over and looked over his shoulder.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked the kneeling Genin
"This team had an Earth scroll, this Kunoichi has it in her hands, if i can pry it out we have our set and can head for the tow..."

He never finished his sentence as Shuriken burst from the bushes to either side of them. The 'bodies' of the two male Genin on the ground exploded into smoke and the real Genin leapt from the bushes.

The startled Ninja tried to fight back but were overwhelmed by the surprise attack. The Genin that had been crouched over Leaf found himself on the receiving end of a powerfull kick under the jaw from what he had assumed was a dead body.

"That worked great!" cheered Kaito as he fished through the packs of the fallen Leaf Genin and found their heaven scroll.
"Better than i expected" added Soen and Leaf smiled sheepsihly. Glad that her plan had worked and not made her look like a fool lying on the ground for hours.

"Now we can head to the tower" said Soen as he stared at the unfortunate team at thier feet.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Deathly Not-So Musical Encounter
~*~*~*~*~*~

[Heavy Violence - Naruto OST]

As Taio gave his nod and relaxed his back against the tree, Daiko did not waste a single second to jump into action. He quickly hurled himself at the leader, not even bothering to make a plan or even collect himself for any form of Ninjutsu. The leap itself was so surprisingly fast that the leader didn’t have time to react. He was simply overwhelmed as Daiko’s fingertips instantly sprouted wickedly curved raptor-like claws. A cry of pain then soon followed as he grasped his hands about the shoulder of the Grass Ninja, tearing the flesh and severing a few tendons.

“GET OFF OF HIM YOU FREAK!” The girl shouted, charging at Daiko but she tripped by a seemingly invisible hair as Taio smiled a little too pleasantly.

“Oh come now, you’ll get your turn. See? Daiko’s almost done.”
Indeed, the leader couldn’t collect himself at all to form an attack of any sort. Daiko had dragged his claws and used brute strength to sever all of the tendons near his shoulders, preventing him from even raising a finger. That wasn’t good enough for Daiko though. He laughed madly- rather cackling and growling in the same manor to form some horrible sound that barely resembled laughter as blood flew around him.

“Kill… f*#$*#$ kill you! KILL!” Daiko roared, lifting himself upwards as he paused in the action, allowing the leader to open his mouth to plead for his life. Daiko only laughed a little bit more, grinning as he suddenly placed his foot upon the lower part of his sternum. Still crouched, Daiko then used that foot as a pressure point as he suddenly channeled glowing chakra into his claws.

“BYE BYE” Daiko chanted, as violently with one fluid motion he plunged his left clawed hand into the skin above the Grass Ninja’s collarbone. He then grabbed the collarbone and top part of the sternum all together, curling his fingers around it as blood spewed from the wound. As if that wasn’t enough to fill Daiko’s thirst for killing, he then used his planted foot to give him leverage as he simply pulled up and with a shocking show of strength and chakra, broke a few of his bones and ripped the sternum upwards in a bloody display of gore.

“Enough Daiko… he’s dead…” Taio commented, yawning as he glanced up at the trees for a moment. “Finish the other two.” Taio added, the girl’s eyes widening as she started to run away. Daiko laughed and didn’t take a second to get her before she made it into the thicker part of the forest. She shrieked in foreknowing her own outcome.


The other Ninja male- the one who thought they should move on- was trembling terribly. Seeing Daiko go into a frenzy upon his other teammate however seemed to jar him from his frozen position. Quickly he started to run away… but his route was instantly blocked off surprisingly by Nain. Her expressionless face stared him down, causing him to suddenly outburst.

“G-get… out of my way!! Or else I’ll-” But his voice was cut off as Nain reached up gently and pulled away the long strands of hair that covered her right eye. Instantly the remaining Grass Ninja’s eyes seemed to glaze over for a second, before an instant later his face contorted and he let out a blood-curdling scream of sheer terror. His body collapsed upon the ground as he began convulsing in sheer terror- a stream of blood trailing down his lips as he continued to scream. Nain calmly walked forward, letting her hair fall back over her eye as she unsheathed a kunai in her right hand (her left hand was still holding her stuffed kitten). As the boy wreathed on the ground, she merely bent over, slit his throat, and he was silenced.

Daiko came back, his upper body spattered with blood as he licked his lips and smiled his fanged-toothy grin, still hunched in his normal fashion. Nain calmly walked over to Taio as well, sheathing the kunai.

“Well Daiko, are you satisfied?” Taio asked, as Daiko smiled and nodded.

“Let’s take their scroll!!” Daiko echoed, scanning but Taio shook his head.

“I don’t want to bother. We already have what we need.”

“We’re gonna go straight to the tower… right… right? We got that scroll two days ago and I don’t want to waste another day looking at clouds like yesterday.”

“Clouds are interesting… but no, you’re right. We shouldn’t waste time and go to the tower already.”

The group moved on, Taio taking the lead as Daiko followed closely after. Nain hesitated for a second, turning her head so that her left eye gazed eerily at the rock, log and moss upon the tree. There was a pause, and then she simply turned and followed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~

"Greeeeeeeen Acres is the place for me," Inakamo sang cheerily as the three Genin leaped from tree to tree.

"Inakamo, you know we appreciate your singing," Chiyoko chimed in suddenly in a less than convincing voice, "but, do you think.....ummm....."

"Perhaps now in the middle of a deadly forest surrounded by ninja teams trying to stalk us is not the best time for a lively chorus," Onitoge finished the thought in a completely flat tone that caught Inakamo off guard.

The clown ninja missed his footing and plummeted to the forest floor below, laughing heartily the whole way down. Chiyoko landed her footing but almost joined her teammate as she doubled over trying to fight back a laugh. Onitoge stopped, looked back at both of them and held his arms up like he had no idea what they were doing.

"Aaaw man Onitoge," Inakamo finally managed as he sat up. "You are the best straight man a comedian could ask for. Alright, silence it is."

Inakamo quickly rejoined his squad hidden high in the canopy and they proceeded forward with great speed. They had been traveling through the forest for hours uneventfully. This was in small part a relief but at the same time put them ever more on edge. For a place called the 'Forest of Death' everything had been eerily calm their first several hours.

"I don't know where we're going but we're making great time!" Inakamo whispered as the three flew smoothly through the trees with the breeze.

Suddenly Chiyoko stopped and held her arms out for her squad to halt. She turned her gaze carefully from side to side as if she'd heard something. A few moments passed, the three of them tensely frozen in place.

"There are two squads up ahead," she said quietly, motioning in the their directions.

"ooooooo What say we scope out the competition. Maybe we'll get lucky in pluck up our Earth scroll in the chaos," Inakamo chimed happily but with uncharacteristic quietness.

Chiyoko and Onitoge both looked at each other nervously but followed after their enthusiastic teammate. It took them only a few minutes to approach the two unknown squads. They discreetly circled for a clear vantage point without being noticed. Before them they saw a Rain ninja squad confronting the young Sand ninja squad with the fellow who slightly resembled Onitoge who had a huge gourd on his back.

The tension in the air was almost visible as the two squads spoke. Both seemed rather arrogant and at first glance both seemed to have right to be. This was quickly put to rest when the redheaded sand ninja stepped forward. Sand seemed to pour forward like a river in midair and in moments the cocky umbrella ninja was simply gone in a myst of suddenly red sand. His compatriots followed mercilessly afterwards.

The three Genin sat there in silence, stunned by what they had seen. Chiyoko's jaw hung open in horrific shock. Inakamo clutched his mouth to make sure he wouldn't let the slightest sound slip. Onitoge's eyes fixed firmly upon the ninja with the gourd, his face an angry abhorred expression displayed firmly across it.

His heart beat faster and faster as he gazed at the redheaded monster. How could a ninja do something like that? His blood began to feel heated as it sped through him. How could a ninja of this supposed level do something that powerful?

Onitoge's heart pounded in his chest till it was loud enough for his teammates next to him to hear it. His blood seemed to boil as he stared down the gourd ninja from their place in hiding. Slowly he could hear a voice calling from deep inside. 'battle Battle Battle BATTLE' the voice crept into his head, beckoning him forward.

Without thinking Onitoge took a step forward. A pair of sharp, smoothly curved horns slid out from his forehead like snakes preparing to strike. Another step and his teammates realized what he was doing. A third step was halted by the quick snaring of Inakamo's chakra strings. A fourth step pulls Inakamo off balance as razor claws slowly slide out from between Onitoge's knuckles.

"Onitoge, don't!" Chiyoko whispered fiercely as she threw her arms around him.

A fifth step as Onitoge lifted his leg forward but hesitated. The voice chanted through him loudly, in every heartbeat, echoing in every drop of blood. It called for him to charge forward. To challenge the strength of the ninja they now knew was called Gaara!

"Are you guys crazy?" a new voice whispered from behind.

"Not all of us," Inakamo said under his breath, struggling against Onitoge.

"Didn't you see what that guy just did?" Kiba whispered harshly as he came into view behind them.

The chanting continued to reverberate through Onitoge's being till he could hear only the voice of Gaara in the clearing ahead. His teammates and their fellow new squad talked hurriedly and hushed behind him but Onitoge could not hear them. He could feel the need for more, for true battle coursing through his veins. He prepared to take another step, the last one he could take in concealment when another voice broke in.

"Please Onitoge... get a hold of yourself! This isn't like you... this isn't the Onitoge we know, the Onitoge I know!" Chiyoko's voice suddenly broke through, pleading.

"That's....ummm.. that's not you Onitoge," a shy voice joined hers in unison with quiet determination.

Suddenly there were three faces before him. The face of his opponent, the cruel sand ninja Gaara. The face of his teammate, the kind and cheerful Chiyoko. The face of a former classmate, the shy and reserved Hinata. She had always seemed so kind but she spoke even less than he did.

Slowly he realized that several chakra strings were trying to hold him in place. His former classmates Kiba and Shino had latched onto either arm trying to pull him back. And before him, Onitoge saw that Chiyoko had gripped him firmly in a deep hug while Hinata gingerly held his right hand, looking unsure of herself.

Suddenly Onitoge's senses returned to him. He looked down to see the razor sharp claws of bone protruded halfway out. He felt his face and collapsed as he found the demonic horns upon his forehead.

"What was I......." Onitoge said in shock, tears streaming slowly down his face. "I'm.....I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He paused there, collapsed to his knees on the forest floor. He returned Chiyoko's warm hug and gripped Hinata's hand, trying to draw reassurance from both. He was shaken terribly by what he had almost done. Nevermind that he had put them all in danger from the sand ninja. He had almost risked becoming the very monster that maimed his closest friends in all of his nightmares since that first mission. He could have.......

"Thank you," Onitoge said after what seemed like forever as he got to his feet.

"That's great and all Onitoge, but if you're done with your little cry maybe we can continue this somewhere a little safer?" Kiba said sharply but quietly, eying the clearing behind them.

Onitoge nodded and the six Genin all began to move stealthily along the forest floor. They kept going for quite a ways before they all finally decided to rest. They had to make sure they were well clear of the sand ninja. There was no telling what the monster known as Gaara would do to any other ninja he happened to come across in this dark place.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inakamo Yakusha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Nervous - Naruto OST]

When the Genin thought they were a safe distance away from the Sand team, they let out a sigh of relief and stood up in a small covered clearing, hiding behind a couple of large trees.
"Man, those guys I definitely do not want to mess with," Kiba piped up. Akumaru was still in shock and trembling on Kiba's chest. Chiyoko and Hinata nodded in agreement, but were silent. This had obviously taken its effect on the kunoichi. Shino was as cool as ever, but his furrowed brow gave away his concern. Inakamo was still thinking about what had happened, not about the fate of the Rain ninja, but what Onitoge had nearly done. He stood there watching Onitoge as he tried to compose himself.

[Survival Examination - Naruto OST II]

Kiba made an attempt to change the subject.
"Have you got any scrolls yet?" he asked. Inakamo turned to Kiba and smiled.
"Nope! But the next ninja we find, we're taking theirs!"
Kiba grinned and held up both the Heaven and Earth scrolls. Inakamo stood open-jawed in amazement, and even Chiyoko briefly smiled. Shino growled.
"Kiba! Do you mind not advertising those to our enemies!"
Kiba laughed.
"What! You think this clown dweeb is going to take them from me? Ha!"
Inakamo snarled.
"Dweeb! I'll show you dweeb!"
He and Kiba bared their teeth at each other, forehead to forehead, in a fight that seemed more comedic than physical. Chiyoko let out a small giggle but Shino intervened, splitting up the clown and the dog trainer.
"If you haven't noticed, a large group of six Genin, two of which are loud-mouthed idiots, might give us away to a stronger, hidden opponent!"
Onitoge finally joined in.
"He's right guys. You three better get to the tower."
Inakamo grinned.
"Yeah! Before we change our minds and take your scroll!"
Kiba smiled and turned to Hinata and Shino.
"Come on guys. We don't need to slow these guys down anymore than we have!"
Kiba and Shino leapt into the canopy. Hinate turned to Team 13, gave a small bow and then followed her team-mates. Inakamo felt the other team leave and the eerie calmness of the forest returned. He was now worried, not about passing the test but whether Onitoge could calm himself so they could take the next scroll without too much trouble. Unfortunately, he had a bloodlust and I doubt the next team they found were just going to give the scroll to them. A direct fight would be unideal; sure, they could win, but what if Onitoge lost it...

"Another team is coming," Chiyoko said. Onitoge and Inakamo both looked up in the same direction and nodded.
"Do you think they know we're here?" Inakamo said. Chiyoko shook her head.
"They're not being very stealthy."
Onitoge frowned and added, "They're being cocky."
Inakamo gave a devilish grin.
"Let's set a trap; that is one of my trademarks, after all."
Chiyoko nodded in agreement and Onitoge stood still, but then turned to Inakamo.
"What do you have in mind?"
Inakamo told them his plan, and they all seemed in agreement.

One Grass ninja leapt into the clearing, scouted around, and then beckoned to his hidden teammates. Two more Grass ninja appeared. They all looked about twenty and were all male. Their leader was distinctly larger and better-built than the other two. They turned to each other and sighed.
"Looks like we just missed them," the scout whispered. The larger one frowned.
"Damn, we wasted too much time on those other dweebs, and all they had was an Earth scroll!"
The one that hadn't spoken yet had a rat-like face and twitched his face about.
"They covered their tracks. Think they knew we were following them?"
The leader nodded.
"I think they know we're here, since they didn't bother covering up their trail to this place, unless, of course,"
And with a huge grin he threw two kunai into the canopy.

[Bad Situation - Naruto OST]

The body of Inakamo fell out of the tree, clutching his stomach, and dropped against the ground with a thud. The leader smiled, saying,
"They never left in the first place!"
He reached towards Inakamo's belt to grab the Heaven scroll. As he picked it up, the guy with the rat-like face, who was trying to find the other two Genin, then turned to see the scroll and saw it spark.
"Boss! Drop it!" he yelled, leaping towards him and batted it out of his hand, however, it exploded quite close to them, knocking them back in a display of fire and smoke.

When the two of them got up, the smoke was clearing and when they could see, they saw that the scout had captured Inakamo, with a kunai held against his throat. The leader snarled and was about to punch him, before yelling,
"Where's the scroll? I see that your fake body didn't have it!"
Inakamo smiled.
"Who says this is my real body?"

[The Raising Fighting Spirit - Naruto OST]

Inakamo's body then turned into the carnival ball and smashed the leader in the face. As he stumbled backwards, the Scout then rushed forward with demon-like speed and kneed the dazed leader in the chin, before following it up with a punch to the face, delivered with bone shurikens in hand. The rat-faced ninja, completely confused, tried to run but found he was being held to the ground by a hand coming from the earth, leaving him to Onitoge, who had used a transformation jutsu to look like the scout, to hit him in the stomach and then in the face. Onitoge transformed back into his normal self and searched their bodies for the Earth scroll, finding it on the leader. Inakamo emerged from a nearby bush and Chiyoko appeared from the canopy, with the Scout knocked out and tied up.
"Good work guys! Especially you Chiyoko! I planned to give you a larger time window to take out the scout and get Onitoge in position, but they saw my deception a little too early."
Onitoge gave a brief smile, clutching the scroll.
"That was a good plan, but I wanted to do more than knock these guys out. I could feel it."
Inakamo frowned, then saw the bloody stains on Onitoge's fist and on the leader's face. It had been shredded by his punch and blood was pouring from it. Onitoge stared at the bloody face and his breathing got heavier. Inakamo couldn't help but stare at the blood either. His hidden eye began to throb and burn with desire.

He pulled away and grabbed Onitoge.
"So you got the Earth scroll, huh? Let's get to the tower."
Inakamo leapt into the canopy with the Earth scroll and put it in his carnival ball, before putting it back into its scroll. He yelled down to his teammates,
"Come on!"
Chiyoko put her hand on Onitoge's shoulder and whispered,
"Onitoge..."
He snapped out of it, turned to her and bowed his head.
"Sorry...I...lets just go, before they wake up."
The two of them joined Inakamo in the canopy and they headed off.

Inakamo couldn't help but think about Onitoge's mental condition, and then thought about his own. What if the whispers he heard at night, what if the burning sensation he gets when he feels the urge to destroy and maim, what if he lost control one day and became like him? And what if Chiyoko got caught in the crossfire? He owed it to both his teammates to keep his mark in check and make sure he never unleashed it.

[Asilynne]

Soen

~~~***~~~***~~~

As Team 17 was jumping from tree to tree again, night started to set in. It didn’t seem that they would make the tower before it got to dark and in this darkness, the danger would increase. Soen halted the team.

“I think it’s best that we set up a camp now. If it gets to dark, we might run into a trap more easily. And we are a prime target now that we hold the two scrolls. No team would back off.”

“Agreed, we should use the remaining light to set up traps for our own protection.” Kaito expressed

Leaf nodded to.

The konoha genin team spend an hour or so to secure their position, they always had some one on look out. Just to be sure they wouldn’t get attacked while they were setting everything up.

After everything was done, the team set themselves down in a dense part of their area. Most of the traps would just notify them of intruders, just some would actually attack.

As the moon was rising into the sky, Team 17 got alerted. Several traps activated. This was clearly some one that wouldn’t be bothered if he or she was found out. As stealthy as possible, the team moved in on the intruder.

Standing high in a tree was their instructor. She had suddenly stopped in her tracks.

“That is my job, right Orochimaru?” Anko spoke up.

Kaito, Leaf and Soen couldn’t see who she was talking to, but Soen recognized the name.

“Orochimaru? The defector of the three Sannin?” He whispered.

“What? A Sannin? Here?” Kaito responded.

“What’s going on?” Leaf asked, the same question went through all of their minds.

But even before they could figure it out, Anko had drawn several kunai and launched an attack at a tree. The assault was blocked by something that resembled a gigantic tongue. With all her strength, Anko pulled and dragged a body out of the tree. She pinned her own hand and the one of Orochimaru onto a tree. The Instructor started to perform seals together with her captives hand.

It seemed that Anko would take down one of the biggest criminals right in front of Soens eyes, but before the jutsu was completed, Orochimaru disappeared into a cloud. A shadow clone. The two high level shinobi had a little conversation but Anko seemed to get exhausted just in the presence of a former Sannin. Soen couldn’t believe the difference in level. He could almost feel Orochimarus presence, even from the distance between them.

Orochimaru just left after the conversation, while Anko was in terrible pain. With Orochimaru gone, Team 17 slowly stepped out of their cover and slowly approached Anko, terrified by the thought of the possible return of Orochimaru.

“Are you alright, Anko-sama?” Leaf asked when they were close enough.

The instructor was startled, but relaxed after seeing the genin team.

“Don’t worry, I’ve instructed some ANBU to come assist me. They shouldn’t take to long anymore.”

As on cue, a four man squad appeared. All their faces were hidden behind masks. They jumped down and supported the injured Anko.

“You kids should probably take cover again, a strong team is coming this way.” Anko said before she and the team disappeared.

“She tells us this after she destroys so many of our traps.” Soen sighed

“Guess we’ll have to alternate between guard duty now.”
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Shiro - 12 - Genin
-

"Sounds real fun, doesn't it? Forest of Death?" Shiro said in a cheery tone as they entered the forest. The Heaven Scroll was in Hiro's possession at his waist, and while it was plainly in view to possible enemies, this fact could also be used to the team's own advantage.
"To be honest? Not really." Hiro replied as they leaped along the branches. To Shiro's surprise, Selekis was managing to keep up with Shiro and Hiro despite the pace; he had assumed the boy was somewhat unworthy of physical combat, preferring to lurk behind with tactical battles instead. Hiro was, he had surmised, somewhat like him -- he had seen his manipulation of wind, but noticed the chakra was unrefined, but he too was also mainly a physical fighter.
"Oh sure it does." Shiro said amicably. "And with our great team, it's not like we'll die or anything."
"Do you sense any nearby groups?" Hiro questioned, ignoring Shiro's comment. The unkempt genin only then realized the entire conversation had been carried out in whispers, and he could hear the scuffle of footsteps up ahead. He dug his feet in as he landed on the next branch, indicating with a bony hand that there were shinobi up ahead. Brief alarm seemed to flash along Hiro's eyes, but he nodded. Selekis scribbled something along his piece of paper in rapid, frantic strokes, before passing it to Shiro, who read it in a single, hasty glance.
Should we hide?
Easy question. Shiro immediately shook his head.
...Then he noticed Hiro nodding, and they eyed each other with mixed expressions, unsure of who to follow. Silently, they then both turned to Selekis for the final decision. The pale boy seemed conflicted, and amongst their wordless argument, they had failed to notice the sudden absence of footsteps. Selekis was the first to look up, and his face seemed to get even paler. Despite the fear coursing through Shiro, he turned to glance ahead as well, and managed a thin smile as his eyes fell on three lanky shinobi.

Their eyes seemed to be cold and calculating, while the lead shinobi, his black hair cut short, had a feral grin, as if he possessed a lust for bloodshed. Strapped to his back was a greatsword, glinting in the meager sunlight that pierced the forest canopy. A hand, wrapped in cloth, gripped the worn hilt in preparation. He was the tallest of the three, and, Shiro assumed, the strongest. Behind him was a raven-haired pony-tailed girl, who surveyed the three Leaf Genin emotionlessly. She was garbed in a nondescript blue robe, with a variety of pouches lining her waist. A small glint in the light gave away that she held needles in her left hand. The smallest of the trio, Shiro could hardly analyze, as a black strip of cloth obscured his mouth. His jet black locks were spiky, and he possessed the same stare as the girl, emotionless and calculating. A black cloak guised his person, leaving only his arms visible. His left arm was, to Shiro's slight shock, encased in metal from the elbow downward. At his hands, the metallic fingers were extended into jagged claws. All three of the genin, however, bared a headband at their forehead, decorated only by four lines, with two adjacent to each other, and the remaining ones right below them.

Well, damn.

The gaze of the two teams met, and slight fear brushed across the faces of the genin on both sides. Hastily masking their own, the Leaf Genin glanced at each other again, unsure of what to do.

"Leaf ninja, eh?" The girl said quietly.
"That's interesting." The boy bearing the clawed hand commented. "What should we do, Daizuro?"
"They look weak." The sword wielder, assumed to be Daizuro, replied. The shinobi seemed to be uncaring or oblivious to the fact that the Leaf ninja could hear the entire conversation.
"They do." The girl interjected again. "And look -- they have a heaven scroll."
"Ah, we need that." Daizuro's grin widened. His gaze finally focused entirely on the three Leaf ninja, who seemed paralyzed by nerves and fear. Shiro urged his body to move, but he seemed to be unable to bring his hands forward, to clench them into fists, to leap into the air and pummel these shinobi with so many blows that they would regret even the notion of attacking them...
"Okay, you lot." Daizuro said loudly. "We'll be taking that Heaven Scroll."
"What makes you so sure of that?" Hiro retorted. There was a slight tremor in his voice, but it was hardly noticed.
"What makes us so sure?" The clawed boy snickered. "We're freakin' Mist Nin, you brat. You know what they call our village? The Village Hidden in Bloody Mist. Any clue what that means?"
Shiro could even feel his own face paling as he took in these words, but managed to put a hand to his waist, fumbling for a kunai...
"That boy's going for a kunai!" The girl said sharply, her cold eyes catching his movement.
"Trying to be sneaky?" Daizuro laughed. "Not with us, you brat." A kick of his powerful legs sent the lead Mist Ninja into the air, unsheathing his greatsword in a fluid movement. As the shinobi raced forward, Shiro hastily glanced at his allies, with the question in his gaze evident.

Should we run or fight?
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Masato
~~~~~~~~

All things considered Masato was not looking for a fight, though the forest of death seemed appropriate name for where they were now, as he watched the Sound Ninja confront the Grass Ninja. There was something about the genin with the yellow hair and the slight hunch that un-nerved Masato. He had the appearance of a wild beast that at any moment might attack if provoked, his eyes fierce held back. Yet it was at that very moment the ninja became a blur as he charged head first at the ninja in front of him. A chunk of flesh flew in the opposite direction of the falling Grass Ninja as the wild Sound Ninja seemed to have sprouted claws. The hairs on the back of Masato’s neck stood up as he continued to focus on keeping himself concealed hiding the sheer horror of the animosity he had just seen.

It wasn’t enough that he had disabled his victim the sound ninja seemed more obliged to tear apart every shred of flesh from the Grass Ninja’s body, howling at the blood that splattered across his face; his eyes no longer the showing restraint but pure and utter joy of the kill as he plunged his hand into the fallen Ninja. Masato couldn’t close his eyes as the sight of blood seemed to fill him with a feeling he couldn’t quite describe. It was like every nerve in his body had become electrified as a slight shiver ran through him. Deep in his own thoughts Masato wanted to fight this…Daiko, he had herd one of the Sound Ninja call him. He wanted to fight this beast and show the amount of pain it had just displayed ten fold, showing the creatures black heart before it died, twisting its fallen body until the blood rained down upon Masato. That sudden thought frighten Masato as he realized the other two Grass Ninja were now dead.

Tests, Class D missions, all of that didn’t seem to mean much right now, as he watched the ninja fall so easily; staring back down he could see the obvious difference between them. From what he had just seen, even the best of his training didn’t seem to compare to them. Nothing seemed to matter to the Sound Ninja bellow them, except raw and uncontrollable power. The Sound Nina began to continue on one hesitating seeming to watch the rock Ushi was hiding against, yet like the others took off following behind. Like the end of a hurricane the Ninja had come and gone and all that was left were the bodies of the fallen Grass Ninja.

After a few minutes Raizen emerged from a log giving a nod to where Ushi and Masato where hiding. Descending quickly he could see that both of this teammates seemed to have the same look of shock and horror.
“This was a slaughter, those weren’t ninja those were monsters…” Masato seemed to say, his hands shaking as he clenched them into fists.
“Perhaps we should, take care of the bodies?” suggested Ushi, his face calm now and focused.
There was silence for a few minutes as Raizen spoke up: “No,” he said, “We don’t have time we have to make it to the central tower, those Sound Ninja could return at any moment.”
Ushi and Masato nodded as they all collected themselves and continued onwards towards the tower, springing from tree to tree making sure as to not draw any attention to them.
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Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ We’ll fight the powers that be just don’t pick our destiny~*~*~*~*~

”Trying to be sneaky?” The sword boy asked. “Not with us, you brat.” He launched off with inhuman speed, unsheathing his sword in one beautiful almost majestic motion. That was when the entire world seemed to explode; my once frozen legs seemed to move on their own as I got into the way of the shinobi’s attack.

Shiro glanced in my direction, the unspoken question traveling between us with just a glance. Should we fight or should we run? I shook my head as I grabbed a Kunai. If we ran we would just be hunted and placed in the unfavorable position of retreating with three very fast Shinobi on our tails. Shinobi’s that if they had the speed of the lead one, would quickly over take us.

“Mighty Spear of the Wind.” I channeled chakara into the attack, sending it out in one long wind spear angled at the charging Shinobi,

“Don’t humor me.” He laughed, swinging his mighty sword as the spear raced toward him. In one clean sweep he split the wind spear in two with out breaking a stride. In a mere blink of an eye he was upon me, swinging the sword around to cut me in two.

His attack would have struck if I hadn’t back flipped just a moment sooner, as I spun in the air I grasped two more kunai and flung them in his direction. There was no way those would actually strike, but I had to try, if for anything, it would provide me a extra millisecond to distance myself.

“Running would be suicide.” I called out toward Shiro, pivoting to the right and rolling along the ground as the Shinobi slammed his sword into where I had once stood just a second earlier.

“Staying here is suicide.” The Shinobi laughed, sweeping his sword low to try and cut me in two as I rolled.

I moved into a forward roll, my legs coming up and pushing me into the air as I leapt over the sword strike. As I landed I turned my attention to the sword, balling my fists and sending several quick wind punches at the sword, to my dismay they didn’t even dent the steel.

“Crap.” I mumbled, doing several flips backwards to avoid the swings, I had to thank whatever God or Gods were watching over us that he was just using his sword at the moment and saving his chakara attacks. I flipped one last time; my head ramming into something hard that caused my ears to ring as my body slumped against it.

I glanced back and found myself against a tree; I had to curse myself for not even watching my surroundings. I pushed the strength up into my legs and leapt into the air to try and reach a tree branch.

It was then I heard an ear splitting rip of cloth, skin, muscle being ripped and torn, blood being splashed into the air, and for a moment I thought that one of the others had been hit. It was then pain rushed up my leg, stars filled my vision and suddenly I became very very dizzy. I glanced down to find the large sword stuck inside of my leg, so deep it looked as if it had cut through at least a few tendons, but not enough to reach the bone.

He withdrew his sword and I fell to the ground, my left leg going numb. The Shinobi picked up his sword, wiping the blood off with a cloth. He angled it at my head and pulled it up in a chopping motion.

‘Hikari.’ I whispered, images of her playing in my head as I closed my eyes.

I could hear the wind splitting as he swung the sword down to cut me in two. “Hikari.” My arms shot out with out even looking, catching the sword between my two hands as wind rushed through my finger tips, the amount of force catching the sword and suspending it just inches from my face.

“Some one kill him now.” I screamed out, a mixture of urgency and pain in my voice as the chakra and wind flying from my fingers were beginning to blister and crack my fingers, skin chipping away and blood flying out as I tried to keep his blade from ripping me in two. Some one help me now… please.
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Yagyu Shiro - Genin
-

What kind of genin are these people?

As the swordsman leaped forward, swinging his blade downward, Shiro leapt away from his teammates, watching a beam of sunlight reveal a barrage of needles whisking toward him, hastily adjusting his location once more to avoid the deadly tips. The smallest of the Mist Nin snickered, blending into black before appearing before him, his claw racing towards Shiro's chest. Hastily ducking under the blow, the genin caught Selekis racing toward the female Mist Nin from the corner of his eye, and the wariness of dealing with two Mist Nin now departed from his worries. Extending a bony arm, he grasped his opponent's armored limb before unsheathing a gleaming kunai, swiftly plunging it into his assailant's side, only for the weapon to plummet through the forest canopy. The spurt of blood stained the wood beneath them, unnerving Shiro, and the dark shinobi hastily retreated, placing his free hand on the wound. Though the blood sickened the Konoha genin, Shiro continued his assault, lashing outward with a sweeping kick, immediately retracting the limb as his blow was parried, his left arm shooting forward and colliding with the Mist Nin's stomach. Expecting the shinobi to stumble away, Shiro automatically reached into his pouch for another kunai, only to realize the Mist Nin was still standing as claws ripped through his gi and raked along his chest.

The stinging pain was indescribable, and Shiro felt tears come to his eyes from the burning feeling that ebbed at the wound. The dark shinobi raced forward to catch the retreating Konoha genin with another glancing blow, but Shiro managed to bring one of his bony arms upward to grasp the armored claw again, yanking the Mist Nin forward, and taking advantage of the momentum that stunned his assailant, Shiro unearthed another kunai in a fluid movement, slashing in a wide arc along his adversary's chest.

The Mist Nin's eyes widened as more blood spurted out, and he fell to his hands and knees, panting for breath.

Finish him.

Shiro panted heavily, the kunai loose in his hand from his moist, sweaty palms.

Just one stroke and you can end this.

I'd be a killer.

The genin could hear the rasping breaths of his enemy, the one who had tried to kill him...

If you were in the same position, he would kill you.

And despite this truthful fact, why couldn't he kill this shinobi?

DO IT!

The Mist Nin began to ran, and torn apart by the mental debate, Shiro relented, raising the bloody kunai to deal the final blow...

"SOMEONE KILL HIM NOW!"

The kunai fell from Shiro's hands as the shinobi whirled around, and immediately claws bit into his exposed back, inciting another surge of searing pain. Eyes widening as he realized his adversary had recovered, Shiro lashed out with his arms, hoping to catch the assailant with a paralyzing blow. A grunt confirmed that Shiro's blow had connected, and the genin leaped away from his opponent, focused on the scene before him...

Daizuro, struggling with the resistance from his fellow Konoha genin, Hiro, who grasped the sword with only his brute strength and the hissing wind, fighting with the overwhelming pain that was tearing away at him...

"Hiro!" Shiro roared.

Immediately the Konoha genin was a streamlined zephyr, blending into ebon streaks, appearing before the Mist Swordsman before, overwhelmed by sheer rage, knocking the shinobi away with a sweeping kick, hastily pulling Hiro to his feet, only to notice the grotesque wound that impeded his ally's movement.

"You're dead, you bloody Leaf Ninja." Daizuro whispered as he rose to his feet.

Shiro retreated several steps, only to hear the almost silent footsteps of the clawed Mist Nin behind him, sweat drenching his frame as his assailants approached.

You should've finished him when you had the chance.

Becuase now you're dead.
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Onitoge
~~~~~~~

The sound of crickets stirred Onitoge from his brief and disturbing slumber. He was still a little shaken from their near miss encounter with the sand village genin. Thanks to Chiyoko and Hinata he had come to his senses but he had almost put them all in such danger!

"Morning sunshine!" Inakamo's beaming smile suddenly appeared before him. "Welcome back to the land of the living. Fish?"

Inakamo thrust a nicely toasted fish on a stick into Onitoge's face. He smiled back thankfully and took it. He felt bad he hadn't contributed to breakfast but Inakamo didn't seem to mind.

"Thank you both for breakfast," Onitoge said between bites as he surveyed their makeshift camp.

"Who said Chiyoko did anything?" Inakamo feigned being insulted.

"I've had your cooking before Inakamo and this is most thankfully not it," Onitoge smiled jokingly.

Both Inakamo and Chiyoko burst out laughing. They both also quickly stopped, realizing they were still in the middle of a dangerous forest filled with genin who might be stalking them to steal their pair of scrolls. Chiyoko smiled warmly as she got up, having just finished her own fish.

"It's good to see you in good spirits, Onitoge," she said happily.

"Thank you," he replied before finishing the last bite of his own fish.

"Well, if we're all done I suggest we pack up and hit the road again," Inakamo finished his sentence in song.

"Right. We only have two days to reach the tower now and we still have to avoid all the other genin squads," Onitoge said quietly.

Without another word the three young shinobi quickly broke down their makeshift camp. It took them only a few minutes before they were on the move again. Yesterday had been both harrowing and rewarding as they had managed to secure their second scroll. They still had potentially two more days in this dark place, however, so they moved on quickly and in silence.

[Outlaw JT]

Exam 2 - Complete
Semifinals are go

Many young shinobi look forward eagerly, observing the three proctors, their sensei, even the Hokage! Many youths who just survived and completed a task designed to test and break the strongest and most clever among them. After several grueling days in the wild they've all arrived by one means or another to compete for the esteemed promotion to Chuunin.

"First off, for the second test, congratulations on passing," Anko started off with her cocky confident smile at the young shinobi. "Hehe. Among the 99 participants, 39 of you remain. I said I'd cut them in half but I was expecting single digits. The third Hokage will now explain the third test so listen carefully. Now, Lord Hokage, please?"

"Yes," the third Hokage answered, taking a pronounced step forward. "For the coming third test.....but before I explain that, there is something I'd like you to know. It concerns the true reason for this exam. Why do we have all of the allianced countries taking the exams together? 'To promote friendship among the countries.' 'To raise the level of shinobi.' I don't want you to be confused about the true meaning. This exam is.... a replacement for war among the allied countries."

"What does that mean?" a shy young voice suddenly escaped the assemblage of young ninja.

"If you go back in time, the current allies were enemies," the Hokage continued as if no one had spoken. "Enemies who fought each other over who would rule. In order to prevent wasteful fighting, the stage that these countries chose for battle......That is the origins for these Chuunin selection exam."

"Why the hell do we have to do this crap?" Naruto suddenly burst forward shouting. "Isn't this thing for deciding who's a Chuunin?"

"It is a fact that this exam decides; which shinobi's have what it takes to become a chuunin," the third Hikage replied in stride through his pipe. "But on the other hand, this exam has another side.....Where each country's shinobis risk their own life to protect their land's prestige. Watching this third exam will be leaders and influential individuals from many countries who make up the clients of the shinobi. And the leaders of the countries will also be there to watch each of your battles. If the strength of a country is clear, that country will receive more clients. And conversely, if seen as weak, they will lose clients. And this will signal to potential enemy countries that 'Our village has this much power.' So it will send a political message to the outsiders."

'Yeah, but why? Why do we have to risk our lives in battle?!" a sharp mischievous voice chimed from among the young shinobi.

"The strength of the country is the strength of the village. The strength of the village is the strength of the shinobi. And a shinobi's true strength is born only through life-risking battle," the Hokage answered resolutely. "This exam is a place to see each countries strength and to show off your own strength. It only has meaning because lives are at risk. And thats why those that have come before you have fought in the chuunin exam for this dream that is meaningful."

"But then why .... why do you say stuff about it being for 'friendship'?" another youthful voice chimes in.

"I said it in the beginning, I don't want you to confuse the purpose of this," the Hokage's voice grows deep and serious. "By losing life and establishing balance. This is the shape of friendship in the world of shinobi. Before we begin the third test I will tell you one more thing. This is not just a test. This is a life-risking battle. With your dreams and your country's prestige on the line. I'd like to now explain the third test but....."

"Actually *cough*" a new voice speaks into the momentary pause. "I apologize Lord Hokage. From here on, as the referee, will you allow me?"

The new shinobi knelt before the Hokage and the sensei, coughing to break the silence. His face pale, his body slender and sickly, he waits patiently until the Hokage nods approval.

"Hello everyone. I'm Hayate," Hayate began, turning to face the gathered hopefuls. "Umm....before the third test there's something I'd like you to do. Umm...it's a preliminary for the third test....to decide who gets to participate in the main event."

"Preliminaries?!" another sharp voice from the hopeful young ninja. "What do you mean?"

"Sensei," a softer voice, "I don't understand these preliminaries, but.....why aren't all the people here allowed to participate in the next test?"

"Umm....Because the first and second test might have been too easy this year," Hayate resumes, his eyes sharpening. "We have a bit too many people remaining. According to chuunin exam rules we must have a preliminary and reduce the number of participants for the third test. As Lord Hokage indicated earlier, there will be many guests at the third test. So the fights could take too long, we are limited in time. Umm.....Besides, even with a preliminary there will be too many participants in the third test this year. Umm....so anyway.....Those who are not feeling well. Those who feel like quitting after the explanations. Please come forward now. Since we will be starting the preliminaries immediately and now is the only time to back out before the matches begin."

Silence greets the young chuunin hopefuls as they absorb everything put before them. Hard days put in with no chance for rest and already another grueling obstacle is placed in their path. This time, however, the obstacle is unavoidably each other! A few are too tired or wounded to proceed but 34 remain to face the challenge. And the challenge begins as their names are randomly pulled to test their skills against each other with no preparation. And the first match: Tenten versus Leaf!
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Leaf
-----

'This is cruel' thought Leaf as she absorbed the information given to her. Fortunately her team had recovered their scrolls relatively quickly and spent alot of their time simply travelling and avoiding other teams though she still felt weary and couldnt help but noticed a number of the other Genin looked in even worse shape.
She was still looking around as she heard Hayate call her name and it took a moment to realise what he was calling her for.

"Im first?" she gasped. Looking around as the rest of the Genin and their Jounin headed for the spectators balconies. She smiled weakly as she was given encouraging waves and calls from her own team. Her expression turned serious when she noticed her opponent.

Leaf took up her position across from Tenten. Each of them staring at each other, attempting to gauge each other simply from their stances. Leaf already knew that Tenten was an excellent marksman with weaponry and slowly moved to draw a kunai from her belt. Her opponent smiled slightly and Leaf wondered whether Tenten knew that this action was simply as a guard and that Leaf herself was so bad she'd have trouble hitting the ground if she was standing on it.

Quick as a flash Tenten moved to the left though not before releasing a handfull of Shuriken which Leaf just managed to block with her Kunai, only to be forced to dodge a further 2 volleys from new directions as Tenten moved.
"Your pretty quick" said Tenten as she leapt into the air to launch yet another projectile attack, this time a handfull of Kunai.

It was true, thought Leaf. She was pretty quick thanks to her Taijutsu specialisation but she was having touble working out how she was going to get through Tentens attacks to press an attack of her own. Every move met a new assault of seemingly endless projectile weapons. It felt like trying to run through the rain without getting wet.

In the background she could hear the increasingly loud support Tenten was getting from her Sensei and one of her team mates, though from this distance which was which was hard to tell. She cursed under her breath as she felt something slice into her arm. Reprimanding herself for letting her concentration slip for that second and focused her attention back to her opponent.

She looked up in time to see a double sided attack heading her way. Quite how Tenten had managed to launch both attacks from seemingly different deirections she didnt know but she did know she wouldnt be able to avoid them all. Thinkiing fast she reached into her bag and dropped a smoke pellet, surrounding herself instantly with thick smoke.

Multiple loud clangs could be heard within the smokescreen and Tenten paused for a moment, waiting to see what emerged as the smoke dissipated. Leaf stood in a crouched position with 6 Shurken lying scattered around her.

Tenten briefly wore a look of confusion though Leaf noted knowing smiles on the faces of her team.
"How did you do that?" asked Tenten slightly panting. "You didnt dodge them I could here the impact, and theres no way you could have blocked them all"
Leaf had a sly smile on her face, pleased that she finally had Tenten slightly confused.
"That was my special technique, i just didnt want you to see it just yet" she said softly.

"Well lets see how good it is" announced Tenten who leapt high into the air after launching a pair of Kunai which were too fast for Leaf to dodge. They were aimed low and pinned the loose parts of her outfit to the stone floor.

Leaf looked up, half in panic at being trapped as Tenten began to unfurl a scroll around her. This was Tentens ninja technique, a mini armoury of throwing weapons began appearing from the marks on the scroll and each was then launched with deadly precision at Leaf.
Unable to pull free Leaf realised she had no other way to defend herself and focused her Chakra. Her body flashed a stone grey for a split second and then she was still. She could still see the approaching projectiles and hear the gasps and concern from the spectators but as the deadly rain began to hit and bounce harmlessly off her hardened skin the gasps of worry torned to amazement and confusion.

Tenten landed looking more confused than anyone though Leaf remained in her crouched position, remaining in her defensive Jutsu. As predicted Tenten produced another scroll and launched yet another hail of sharp and pointed death which again had no effect.
Leaf knew that Tenten was a very skilled fighter though it seemed she relied almost exclusively on her projectile attacks and these scroll techniques were eating up her Chakra. Stoneskin would soon do the same to Leaf however and she had to do something fast.

As soon as the lethal rain ended leaf broke from her defence, pulled out the Kunai that had her pinned and sprinted hard at the wall, jumping high and planting her feet, using her Chakra to find purchase and sprint up the wall before once again leaping, this time getting some height and moving towards Tenten from above, landing a number of fast kicks that Tenten found herself slow to react to.
Both Kunoichi were falling back to the arena floor while trading close combat blows which suited Leaf much more and as Tenten lunged with a punch Leaf caught hold of it and pulled Tenten into a hugging grip.

"Let go" she screamed as she tried to wriggle free but her oponent had a grip like stone and the realisation of what was happening struck her with fear. She looked at Leaf and realised she wasnt moving an inch, she had used her Stone defence Jutsu in midair and both were falling to the floor. Leaf would be fine and Tenten realised that she wouldnt be.
Not many people were after falling to a stone floor in the arms of a Statue.

The impact was huge and Leaf regretted having to resort to such a drastic measure to win but she was here to prove herself just as much as any of the other Genin.
She released the Jutsu and stood long enough for Hayate to declare herself the winner before moving over to the unconcious Tenten and making sure she was ok.
She could already hear her team mates cheering though the rest of the arena seemed eerily quiet and Leaf began hoping she hadnt gone too far as she made her way over to the balcony stairs.
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Inuzuka Hige
String and Fang Duet

Even as he watched the first match of the preliminaries, Hige's couldn't help glancing over at Team 7, notably the ever-popular Uchiha Sasuke. Team 14 had stumbled across the group and seen the confrontation of the Sound Nin and Leaf Nin. They had even been about to contribute their end as well when the Uchiha dispatched the team dispassionately with a strength that was frightening to watch. But what unsettled both him and Ginmaru the most was the smell that had emanated from him. A shiver went up his spine. "He smelled...wrong...tainted, as if something was twisting within him...Something that was trying to get out." Those were the words that he had used to explain to his teammates.

Though Sasuke had returned to normal and seemed as if nothing was amiss, Hige was certain that had not been a one time deal. The thought of having to face him in that form left the normally arrogant Inuzuka shaken. If Haru or Kukai has to face that, they might not come out alive...hell I don't even know if I would survive something like that...

*GONG*

Hige snapped to attention as the scoreboard displayed the names of the next combatants.

Inuzuka Hige Vs Kankuro

All thoughts of tainted power and demonic ninjas fled from Hige's thoughts as he bared his fangs in a feral grin. "YOSHA! Ready partner?" He looked down at Ginmaru who only barked an affirmative.

"Ganbatte, Hige-san." That was Haru, quiet as ever.

"Be careful and do your best Inuzuka-kun." Miharu-sensei's smile was all serene beauty as she clasped her hands together.

Kukai merely told Hige to 'hold still' before poking him in the forehead. With a few deft strokes of her finger she made the kanji for 'luck' on his forehead. "You always seem as if you could use a little more of it." She said at his questioning look before doing the same to Ginmaru. "In any case, try not to get yourself beat up too badly. What would Ayame-san think if you came back covered in bruises?"

"'tch, at least she'll be a lot nicer 'bout it." With that he and Ginmaru leapt over the railing. Landing in a crouch he removed his hitai-ate and wrapped it around his brow.

"A kid and his dog?" Kankuro's painted face was contorted in an arrogant smirk. "This won't even take me a minute."

"Don't underestimate us." Hige growled as he curled his fingers, chakra already flowing through his body and awakening his bestial side. "You might just live to regret it."

Ignoring Hige's heated glare, Kankuro just moved the bandaged bundle on his back to his side. "What's that? All I heard was a little pup yapping." He pantomimed a dog with his hands. "Arf arf yip yip!"

A bass growl rumbled in Hige's throat, echoed by his partner, barely contained rage seethed in his eyes. As he opened his mouth to respond, a quiet cough interuppted him. The Jounin proctor, Hayate, gave both a level look with his shadowed eyes. "I can see both combatants are ready." Coughing again, he raised a hand. "Round two of the Preliminaries....begin!"

The word had barely left his mouth before Ginmaru sprang forward like a silver rocket, slamming his head into Kankuro's belly. Winded, the Sand shinobi staggered backwards as Hige appeared, claws bared, having swapped places with Ginmaru. "TSUUGA!" Howling he began to spin, catching Kankuro in a tornado of claws, fists, and feet. Both fighters airborne, Hige used the momentum from his spin to deliver a powerful kick to Kankuro's sternum sending him bouncing across the floor in a heap.

Breathing slightly harder than usual, Hige grew tense as he warily eyed the limp form of his opponent. He was surprised at how furiously he had attacked the Sand ninja. He'd let his emotions get the better of him while in his primal state, perhaps killing Kankuro if not severely injuring him. A shinobi should be in control of himself... He mentally berated. Padding up next to him, Ginmaru gave him a sympathetic 'arf' and a paw to his leg.

With a jerk, Kankuro rose. Strangely, he remained limp as ever and as he got up, his whole body seem to float as if held up by invisible strings. Something drifted off his face (pieces of flesh? Blood?), but he kept his head down, chin tucked down on his chest. A rattling sound filled the air as his head suddenly jerked upright and Hige gasped. Cracks traced lines against part of his face, like some sort of spider's web, but that was not what had elicited his surprised response. Paint and clay seem to have shattered the other half of his face, revealing a lifeless unblinking black eye and the carved features of a puppet.

"What the..."

"Heh heh, not bad dog brat, but Karasu here is a lot more durable than that." Kankuro's disembodied voice did not echo, but seemed to come from everywhere at once. The rattling sound filled the air again and with a sudden jerk Karasu surged forward arms spread. Cloth ripped away as as another pair of arms burst out from where its ribs should be. Blades sprang out from their hidden compartments as it neared Hige, ready to give him a deadly embrace.

The duo threw themselves sideways as the puppet came jerked to a halt where they had last stood. "Pretty fast." Karasu spread its lower arms to either side, wrists bending back as a pair of blades popped out of them. "But how about this!"

The puppet's arms lashed out like a pair of striking vipers. Leaping back, Hige barely dodged it, the blade cutting through his pants and leaving a long gash along his thigh before embedding itself in the floor. Grimacing, Hige probed the wound with one hand. It's not too deep, it shoul-. He stumbled back as Karasu turned towards him with its whirling blades flashing in the light. Only Hige's well honed reflexes allowed him to dodge the brunt of the puppet's assault, though two more gashes appeared on his his arm and stomach. I can't keep this up all day, and we'll get nowhere fighting the puppet. We've gotta get the puppeteer!

Throwing himself back in a roll, Hige dipped a hand into his pocket and barked. As Karasu lunged forward, his hand came up the kunai flicking through the air. It thunked into the wood of Karasu's body as the explosive tag tied to the end of it came to its end. The resulting explosion enveloped the area around them in smoke. Karasu burst through the cloud first, flitting through the air around it ready to skewer Hige as he came through. A low pitched howl presided the Inuzuka's attack as he spiraled outwards in a Tsuuga that took the puppet in the chest. Another form burst from the smoke, rushing low against the ground towards Kankuro's abandoned bundle.

Bandages swirled through the air as they came undone forming a flimsy barrier. With quick slashes of his dagger, the barrier was gone revealing a grinning Kankuro. "So you knew where I was, eh dog brat? Looks like you know how to be in two places at once as well."

Hige grinned slightly as he pressed his attack. Kankuro backed away slightly, his fingers wriggling as he continued to control Karasu even as Hige pushed him back. Soon enough though, the Inuzuka fighter's furious assault abated and hsi movements became somewaht sluggish. The hell....my body....it feels so strange. His vision blurred as Kankuro's smirking face seemed to gain a twin. Wha....what? Wai...it can't be...

"Oh, I see you finally realized it." Kankuro's smirk grew all the wider. "Karasu's poison is beginning to take effect, slowly paralyzing your body until your unable to move."

"You che-"

"All's fair in battle dog brat!"

Kankuro leapt away as he tugged his hands down. As Hige tried to clear his blurring vision something impacted against his back sending him sprawling to the floor. Ginmaru toppled over next to him as he reverted back to his canine form with a puff of smoke. Gathering his feet as best he could, Hige shakily got to his feet with a grimace. "You okay, Ginmaru?" His partner gave a weak affirmative as he got his paws under him.

"Heh, look at you! You can barely stand up dog brat!" Kankuro stood a few feet away, Karasu before him its blades retracted. "Just give it up, you can't win."

Hige bared his teeth in defiance even as his vision began to swim and his muscle lock up. "Never." He began growling slightly and Ginmaru's ear twitched ever so slightly.

"Then its time we brought an end to this play." Karasu jerked slighlty before revealing its blades again. "Say g-ARGH!"

Ginmaru, with a rush of chakra, had leapt up and clamped on to Kankuro's head. As the puppeteer raised his hands to rip him away, the silver furred dog released a burst of urine into his face before leaping off and back to Hige's side. Kankuro clutched at his face in agony as Hige forced his hands to make a series of hand seals. I can't keep this up much longer. Gotta finish this in one shot.

"JUJIN BUSOU!" (Man Beast Armament) Ginmaru leaped up onto Hige's shoulder as chakra swirled around them both. The swirls of chakra swirled mainly around Ginmaru and Hige's right arm.

Rubbing away at his eyes, Kankuro could make out the blurry form of Hige and could faintly see the flows of chakra manifest around him. "I was going to go easy on you dog brat, but now you've made me mad! KARASU! KILL HIM!" Rattling like a nest of cobras, Karasu jerked forward all four blades presented.

Smoke enveloped the pair and Karasu disappeared into it. A few moments later, the puppet came crashing out, arms shattered and torso broken. Kankuro's eyes widened even as the smoke cleared revealing the kneeling form of Hige. His whole right arm was sheathed in a silvery metal that shined dully in the lights of the arena. His right hand was three times its normal size and all five of his fingers terminated in sharp claws. "Sorry I had to break your friend, but you were right about one thing."

Kankuro's eyes widened as Hige blurred away only to appear in front of him. "This play is over! GETSUUGA!" (Moon Fang)
The large claw ripped its way into Kankuro's chest and thrust him backwards to crash on his back.

Breathing heavily Hige, collapsed to one knee as he cradled his right arm to his chest. In a burst, Ginmaru reappeared as his arm returned to normal. Cradling the exahusted pup in the crook of his arm was all Hige could do, the poison having taken its toll on his body. "Kuso..." Closing his eyes he could feel himself start to fade into unconciousness. "No...not yet..."

Faintly as his concious mind drifted away he could hear the proctor. "Winner...Inuzuka Hige!"

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Blinking as regained conciousness, Hige sat up gasping. "Nani..." Something bopped sharply on the head. "Ite....Oi, I'm injured!"

"That was for pulling a fool move Inuzuka Hige-san. If Miharu-sensei and the medinin's had not gotten to you, who knows what kind of trouble you'd get yourself into." Kukai admonished, fists on her hips. "Honestly, are all the males of Inuzuka clan as hard headed as you and your cousin?"

"'tch..." His eyes widened. "Oi, what about Ginm-"

"He's alright as well." Kukai stepped to the side showing Haru holding the ninja dog in his arms, bandages already wrapped around him.

"Yokatta..." Hige gingerly got to his feet. He felt as weak and drained as a baby. "So, did I win? And how come I'm not in the infirmary? And where's Miharu-sensei?"

Kukai rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. "Yes you won. Miharu-sensei was able to convince the medinins that you would be fine under her care and then left to examine the poison that puppet guy used on you to make sure there were no lasting effects. She thought you would like to see the rest of the matches."

"'ow long was I out?"

"Ten, maybe fifteen minutes. The next match was just about to begin." She eyed Hige as he clutched the railing. "Maybe you should go to the infirmary..."

"No, I want to see this through." He smirked slighlty. "A good shinobi should always take time to study his opponents before battle right?"

"And where was this insight during your fight?"

"...."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ushi
~~~~

Hiro studied Ushi in the moments before Hayate officially began their match, shifting his weight idly from foot to foot on the stone tile floor. The strange genin was a genjutsu user and he must use that katana at his side in combat, but beyond that he really didn’t know anything about him.. Hiro was wary of genjutsu; even though Saruwatari-sensei had trained him and the others to dispel illusion techniques he worried at what he might get pulled into. Saruwatari-sensei’s words echoed through his head, ”Do not give them an inch, genjutsu takes focus and concentration, give them neither.”

Ushi flashed Hiro a bright smile and a wink, but the genin did not let what he assumed to be an attempt at distraction to unnerve him. For his part, Ushi was slightly offended by Hiro’s lack of manners. The Hokage gave a slight nod to Hayake. The examiner coughed slightly before raising and lowering his hand with a muted, “begin...”

Immediately Ushi began raising his flute to his lips, his eyes fluttering shut as he prepared to weave his genjutsu. He should have enough time before Hiro got close enough to do anything, and by the time he di…

“MIGHTY FIST OF THE WIND!”

Ushi’s eyes snapped open in shock as Hiro drove his fist forward, weaving his chakra into the motion and blasting the force of his punch through the air at Ushi. Turning frantically, Ushi still took the force of the attack on his shoulder, spinning him all the way around and leaving teetering off balance. Pain shot through his arm as he moved it, but at least it was still working after that blow…

Seeing Ushi raising his flute again, Hiro allowed himself a smile as he threw out his fist again, forcing the genin to dive to the side, barely dodging the oncoming blast of wind. It was working! Gritting his teeth, Hiro began a true attack, driving his fists out again and again, sending blast after blast of wind at the frantically dodging Ushi. Where Ushi managed to get out of the way, the wind slammed into the walls of the arena, cracking the stone. Where Ushi did not manage to move fast enough, wind was knocked from his lungs and painful sounding crunches emerged from his slight frame.

Ushi coughed painfully, twisting aside from yet another attack and falling heavily to the ground due to the awkward motion. The attacks were driving up massive amounts of dust, stinging Ushi’s eyes as he struggled to find his feet again. Rolling quickly to the side, he managed to spring back up and turned to Hiro, his hand on the hilt of his katana, braced for the next blast. Hiro was looking elsewhere though, and suddenly Ushi realized that with the dust and debris and his own fall, Hiro had lost sight of him. He had to use this advantage to get closer, the pure ferocity of Hiro’s attacks at this range were just too much…and all this dust was simply ruining his nails!

Ushi took a running step forward, locking eyes with Hiro as he did. It wasn’t until Hiro turned and fired out yet another powerful wind blast that Ushi realized that locking eyes meant that Hiro could see him too. He half-drew his katana before the blast hit him, literally lifting him from the ground and slamming him into the arena wall even as the impact rang his blade like a bell.

This is it!, Hiro thought as he stepped towards Ushi, pounding the frail genin again and again with his Mighty Fist of Wind jutsu. The genjutsu user was pinned against the wall, unable to recover long enough to make any more desperate attempts at escape. Hiro slammed blast after blast into him, cracking the wall all around Ushi’s body and finally letting him slump lifelessly to the ground like a broken doll, blood streaming from his mouth. He had done it! Without even a scratch he had…

Up in the viewing area, Saruwatari-sensei sighed disgustedly, “Idiot…never assume with a genjutsu user.”

Somehow, maybe he had heard the soft fluttering of Ushi’s clothes, or maybe the sibilant noise his blade made as it left the sheathe, Hiro turned in time to just avoid Ushi’s thrust. A kunai appeared in his hands as he backpedaled frantically, batting away Ushi’s slashes with barely inches to spare. Selekis started slightly next to Saruwatari-sensei, “H-how did he? Hiro wasn’t letting him get anywhere near that flute of his…”

Saruwatari-sensei shook his head, his scowl ugly enough to intimidate a rock “He knew that Ushi uses music to weave his genjutsu, but he never thought twice about playing the kid’s katana like a damn xylophone!”

Hiro didn’t have time to ponder his mistake however, Ushi had managed to close the gap and now it was suddenly Hiro who was at a range disadvantage against Ushi’s katana. He was still off-balance, backing off and sidestepping just to stay away from the slashing edge of Ushi’s blade. He had won…and now any second he was going to lose…that quickly. Sensei was right, Hiro mourned, he was a one note shinobi and robbed of that note Hikari probably would be doing better than him right now…

Hikari

Hiro’s backstepping foot planted itself, and his kunai lashed out with enough force to stop Ushi’s swing dead, stopping the gleeful genin’s flurry of attacks cold.

How can I go to Hikari and tell her that I couldn’t even make it past the second test?

Ushi withdrew his blade and aimed a second attack at Hiro’s head. Shifting his torso, Hiro caught the katana on his kunai yet again, sliding it down the blade in order to take a step in towards Ushi. His other hand lashed out in a punch which forced Ushi to leap back before straightening his katana and coming in for a double-handed thrust.

I can’t let Hikari down! No matter what it costs me!

Hiro twisted Ushi’s blade aside with his kunai and began to shift his weight for his own attack. Ushi released his right hand from the hilt of his katana however and, using the momentum of Hiro’s parry, let his sword arm swing back and twist around behind him where his free right hand was now waiting. Taking the blade in a backhanded grip, Ushi continued whipping the katana around his body toward Hiro’s side. Hiro didn’t have time to shift his weight back to defense, not now that he had already started his attack. He had to follow through, and he had to make this strike count…or else he was finished…

Hikari…this is for you.

“MIGHTY SPEAR OF THE WIND!”

Chakra and air whirled around Hiro’s kunai as he thrust for Ushi’s shoulder. The genin’s katana came within an inch of Hiro’s side when, with a crack like thunder, the wind spear exploded from the kunai and into Ushi. Both shinobi were thrown back by the sheer force of the blast released at such close range. Even those safely in the stands had to shield themselves from the blast of wind or risk being struck by flying debris. Hiro cried out as he felt the backlash of his attack rip up his arm, tearing muscles and shaking bones. Such was the price of using such an attack at close range. Ushi fared far worse however, driving into the wall with enough force to crack the stone, a hole punched in his shoulder from which blood poured freely. A harsh clanging rang through the arena as Ushi’s sword, thrown from his grasp at the moment of impact, landed a few feet from Hiro. Hiro scrambled to his feet painfully as Ushi took a few wobbling steps away from the wall, dazed. Beginning to stride towards Ushi, Hiro felt a lurch in his stomach as he saw Ushi reaching for his flute with his working arm. Not this again!

Hiro’s hand found the hilt of Ushi’s dropped sword. Pulling the blade up, Hiro streaked at Ushi who had only just managed to pull the flute from his waistband. A rising cry rose from Hiro as he charged, bringing the katana up in a thrusting position. Ushi looked confusedly at the charging Hiro, the hand holding the flute rose as if he believed pointing the instrument at Hiro might stop him dead in his tracks.

Up in the stands, Neji glanced over to Raizen, “He’s barely conscious…this isn’t going to last much longer.”

Raizen though seemed less than worried, a small smile forming on his face, “No it’s not…poor Hiro.”

It was at the moment of his thrust, the blade aimed for Ushi’s midsection, when Hiro suddenly noticed the odd markings on the genin’s flute come alight. Still, he might have continued with his attack if behind that glittering instrument he hadn’t suddenly seen the flashing amusement ignite in Ushi’s formerly dull eyes. The blade shot from the end of the flute, stopping a fraction of an inch before Hiro’s wide eyes. His own blade hovered some distance further from its target of Ushi’s stomach. Held at the very end as it was, Ushi’s flute-blade had just that much more reach than his other sword. Pain was evident, even behind the amusement in Ushi’s eyes, and his shoulder wound continued to bleed steadily even as he smiled at Hiro, “Oh do be careful with that sword…it means a lot to me.”

Hiro gritted his teeth as he took a cautious step away from the waving blade in front of his face, “A shinobi shouldn’t have such attachments, they’re just weaknesses in battle…”

Ushi seemed surprised at Hiro’s statement, so surprised that even the pain of moving his injured arm was not evident at all as he lifted Hikari by her hair and shifted his flute-blade to lie against her throat, “Oh my…then I suppose this little gambit of mine is not going to work as well as I had hoped…”

Hiro gagged at the sight. Hikari!? How had he…no…it had to be an illusion especially considering his opponent. Hikari couldn’t be here…she was safe back in the village. Even so, even knowing that it was an illusion, Hiro could feel his stomach churning, “That’s not going to work Ushi…you’re just trying to get me off guard…”

Blinking a few times, Ushi nodded empathetically, “Yes, yes I was. But apparently you’re far too smart for me! Oh well, no need for this anymore…”

With that, Ushi dragged his blade across Hikari’s throat, a fountain of blood spraying into the air to rain down morbidly on both Ushi and Hiro. Hiro felt a chill run down his spine as he felt the droplets hit his face…he shouldn’t be able to feel anything, shouldn’t be able to taste the faint metallic tinge of the blood, especially if he was aware of the illusion…what was going on here?

Yukiso covered his eyes with one hand, “This is going to get ugly…”

With a quick shove, Ushi pushed Hikari at Hiro, “I do believe this is yours…seeing as how I have no use for her anymore.”

The sudden and unexpected weight of Hikari forced Hiro to drop Ushi’s katana and stumble back a few more steps. Warm blood spilled on to him as Hikari’s slashed throat continued to bleed profusely. Weight? Warmth?…Hiro’s mind was racing in confusion as he looked down into the rapidly clouding eyes of his sister. A small hand reached up weakly and brushed lightly against Hiro’s face.

“Nii….san?”

The hand fell away and Hikari’s body went limp.

It was real…she was real. The body in his hands, the blood sprinkled all over him…even the fading feel of her touch…it was all real. Hiro’s mouth opened but no sound came out. The body dropped as he jerked his hands away from it, not wanting to believe it. Was this even possible? Fevered eyes darted to and fro, suddenly landing on the smiling Ushi who looked on with apparent curiosity at Hiro’s state.

He…killed Hikari…he joked about it…he smiled as he killed her. She was everything, she was why I tried my hardest…for her. Now she’s gone and…and…

“I’LL KILL YOU!”

Hiro lashed out with his kunai, the spear of wind jagged and unfocused as he lost his tenuous control of his chakra under the stress. The spinning chakra cut into his own arm even as the spear shot out. Ushi leapt over the incoming projectile, seemingly splitting in two as he did so that an Ushi landed on either side of Hiro and dashed in with slicing blades. Screaming incoherently, Hiro grabbed a second kunai with his free hand and stabbed his arms out to either side. One spear caught an Ushi who vanished in a puff of smoke, the other missing by a hair as Ushi leapt aside. Chakra began spinning around Hiro as he continued to rage at Ushi, tearing uncontrollably at his body even as he shot wild spears of wind over and over at his sister’s killer. Blood dripped from dozens of tiny cuts caused by his lack of control but the pain was as nothing to him as his anger and hatred for Ushi drove him.

Neji looked confused, even as he activated his Byakugan, “That body…it’s not real but it’s definitely more than an illusion…what is that?”

Raizen stepped up next to his brother, his own Byakugan activated as well, “It’s Ushi’s Mousetsu-tai no Jutsu…he uses his chakra to make his genjutsu real enough to touch. But now that Hiro kid’s just gone ballistic, what’re you going to do now?”

Ushi, perched on the railing of the stands played one last lilting melody with his flute and then lowered it and gave a pained chuckle, “Well he certainly cannot tell illusion from reality anymore! Which means he probably will not notice this either.”

Small, floating embers of chakra began to spring into life between Ushi and the arena below, like tiny blue torches hanging in the air. Masato spoke up with sudden understanding, “Shukuchi…”

Ushi turned to Raizen as he prepared to leap back to the arena floor, almost losing his balance as one of Hiro’s attacks struck beneath them, “Make sure to watch me Raizen dear!”

Neji glanced askance at Raizen as Ushi leapt, “Dear?”

Raizen closed his eyes, relaxing his Byakugan as he did so, “Don’t ask…”

Neji sighed heavily, “He’s that obsessed with you?”

Opening his eyes again, Raizen watched as Ushi landed lightly on the arena floor, “He lives in my closet Neji…”

Neji was quiet for a moment before he responded, “…do we need to talk?”

Ushi braced himself, standing upright and taking a few deep breaths before he made his next move. Through the fluttering balls of charka he could see Hiro, surrounded by his own out of control chakra, practically foaming at the mouth as he tried his best to slaughter the illusionary Ushi. He was in line, it was time. Ushi put his hands together, forming them into a shape much like that of a blooming flower. Then he let the illusion drop.

Hiro seemed confused for a moment as Ushi suddenly vanished, but a quick turn brought the murdering bastard back into his view. His vision was so bloodshot and misty from his tears that even if he had been in control he may not have seen the floating field that lay between him and Ushi. His breath was ragged as he spoke between teeth so tightly gritted it was a wonder they did not break.

“I’ll…KILL…YOU!”

Hiro moved both arms together, letting lose a Mighty Spear of the Wind from both at once, the wild chakra slicing deeply into both arms and lancing back to strike at Hiro’s chest as well. The wildly spinning spears of wind rushed at Ushi whose voice was almost lost in the screaming of wind.

“Ushi-bakuha no Jutsu!”

With a loud popping noise, Ushi exploded into half a dozen smaller versions of himself, the spears rushing through the space he had once been in doing little more than throwing about the mini-Ushis’ hair and digging another hole into the arena wall. The stereo voice of the mini-Ushis rang out again.

“Mousetsu-tai no Jutsu! Shukuchi!”

The field of hovering chakra exploded, the individual lights blooming like tiny flowers before vanishing as the mini-Ushis blurred and flew through the field, appearing once again behind Hiro. Before the genin could move, the two Ushis on the ground turned and slashed into Hiro’s calves, slicing muscle and tendon with their small blades. Though they didn’t cut all the way though, it was enough to cause Hiro’s legs to give out, sprawling him backwards. Lights flashed in his eyes for a moment as his head struck the ground, only to fade and reveal two things: Hikari’s body lying in a puddle of blood some distance away, and a small yet extremely pointy katana hovering in front of his eye. The blade grew as did Ushi as the small clones gathered together once again. As for Hikari’s body, it wavered for a moment like smoke before dissipating all together. Hiro looked up at Ushi, tears and blood gathering together under his head.

“It…it was…”

Ushi smiled at the fallen shinobi, though the amusement was gone from his eyes, before finishing Hiro’s stammered statement.

“…just a dream.”

The blood loss from the dozen upon dozens of self inflicted wounds began to overwhelm Hiro. It really didn’t matter now though, he had lost the match as much as he had lost control of himself. He was almost happy to slip into unconsciousness, even as Hayate’s soft voice reached his ears.

“Winner: Ushi.”

[Asilynne]

Chiyoko VS Ino
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chiyoko's heart was pounding when the monitor flashed her name along with Ino's.
"Don't worry Chiyoko... you can do it!" Inakamo said, patting her on the back as she began to head down. Onitoge nodded to her as well, both of her teammates boasting confidence.
Chiyoko gave them a weak smile, but in truth her demeanor had been shaken from the fights that had taken place before.
Flashes... bits of memory for their last mission still echoed in her mind. How she had tried to help- tried desperately to help them. Then how she was flung into a tree, the blackness enveloping her. Could she really do this? Could she really get anywhere with the tournament... let alone as a ninja?

"Ready?" Hayate asked, as Ino smirked at Chiyoko, assuming a battling stance.
"You're going down, little Rain nin. Don't think I've forgotten about where you really come from. I don't trust you one bit... " She sneered, causing Chiyoko's confidence to further sink within herself.
"Begin!"

Ino didn't hesitate to charge at Chiyoko with a kunai, and by sheer instinct Chiyoko took a kunai and met Ino. Ino's face was filled with sheer determination however, as she put all of her force and weight behind the kunai. The feroicity within her was unsettling to Chiyoko, who was still doubting herself even in the midst of battle.

"Her head isn't in the fight..." Onitoge commented from the stands, as Inakamo nodded.
"What's gotten into her?"

Ino could have laughed as she took one of her hands off of the kunai and suddenly aimed a keen punch at Chiyoko's chin. Chiyoko's eyes widened for a split second before the impact of the punch caused her to stagger backwards, her hand slipping off the kunai. A slash rippled through the air as Ino slashed Chiyoko in the gut, causing Chiyoko to stagger backwards again.
"This all you got, Rain girl? Man... you're just as pathetic as your obnoxiously cheerful face presents." Ino laughed, this time taking out another kunai and charging Chiyoko again.
"Come on Chiyoko! You're better than this!" Naruto roared.
"Chiyoko!" Onitoge called, as Inakamo insulted Ino from afar.

Stop doubting yourself... it is really unbecoming of an Okami.

A voice within her echoed, causing her to freeze for a moment. The voice... deep from within her it resided, but although it startled her it somehow filled her with confidence.
She had helped them through the forest... her team HAD done exceptionally well. Their Sensei, Takumi, had said that they all were special. They all were worthwhile.
"That... includes me..." Chiyoko whispered, realization suddenly filling her eyes.
Two kunai met Ino's, as Chiyoko suddenly gritted her teeth and put her own weight into countering Ino's weight.
"Oooh, so you're actually gonna try? Little Rain gonna give it her best?"
"I'M NOT A RAIN NINJA!" Suddenly Chiyoko roared, pushing Ino back with all her might as Chiyoko leapt into the air, backwards.

Chiyoko's wits and mind suddenly came to her as she licked her lips. She was not useless- she was just as capable as any of the other Genin. She had to be- if she wanted to aspire to her dream to be a Jounin, to return to the Village of the Cloud, she had to advance. She had to stand out and prove she was worthy!
Chiyoko brought her palm backwards as the air around her condensed a little, forming a small bead of water within her palm. Ino seemed taken aback for a moment, unknowing what to say. Unseeing of Chiyoko's palm, she snarled as she charged at Chiyoko once again.
The water within her palm began to swirl about, rapidly growing in size until it had reached the size of a thick, watery volleyball. Waiting patiently for Ino to come within range, Chiyoko waited.

Ino's steps seemed to be in slow motion as she stepped within range of Chiyoko's arm thrust, and she had no time to react to something she did not suspect.

Chiyoko hurled her arm forward and smashed the ball of water into Ino's chest. The water had condensed and smashed into Ino's chest with the force someone would have if they bellyflopped into a pool. Ino coughed as she dropped her kunai and was sent hurtling into the ground several yards away.

"You bitch!" Ino caughed, slowing getting to her feet as she narrowed her eyes. Chiyoko breathed heavily as she stood, adrenaline surging through her veins. "I'll get you!" Ino said, suddenly bringing her hands in front of her.
"Ino! No!" Choji yelled, but Ino was dead set on trapping Chiyoko in her jutsu. Chiyoko had not encountered Ino's jutsu before, but she did not care. Bringing her hands together, Chiyoko focused upon Ino.

"What is she doing?" Onitoge questioned, standing next to Takumi-sensei. Takumi explained to those around him that Ino had the capability to throwing herself into another ninja's mind. However, it was quite difficult and left her own body helpless in the process. If she missed, it would leave her completely vulnerable.
"Chiyoko, move!" Inakamo yelled, but it was too late. Chiyoko's own prepared jutsu caused her to not move, and Ino had done hers first, fueled on pure anger.

Silence echoed through the stadium... until suddenly Chiyoko's face contorted into the same sneering smile as Ino.
"It's over, Rain Girl." Chiyoko's voice said in an unnaturally cool tone. A few gasps escaped the stadium, for it seemed apparent that Chiyoko had lost. Hayate was ready to signal the winner to Ino for leaving Chiyoko vulnerable, but he hesitated as Chiyoko/Ino suddenly gasped and coughed.

Get out before I devour your soul and then eat your body for principle.

Chiyoko/Ino's eyes widened as her face paled- as if she had seen something horrific. A curdling scream echoed the arena, transferring to Chiyoko and suddenly spreading to Ino as she was returned to her normal body. Chiyoko's eyes blinked for a moment, as her concious was restored and Ino's knees began to shake with fear.
"You... you... monster!" She screamed, and Chiyoko's face filled with confusion. "No one... no one has forced me out before and you... you didn't do it! You... you ..." Ino continued to stammer.
Chiyoko was filled with confusion, but her quick mind was swift to piece together what had happened. She knew that Ino had taken over her concious, but somehow... Ino was forced out. This left her vulnerable, especially since she seemed to shaken up about it.
"I have no idea..." Chiyoko said with true innocence, bringing her hands together swiftly as she formed a few seals. "... what you're talking about."
"Like hell you do-" Ino began to say, but suddenly Ino's body went stiff. Her body was stuck in position. Onitoge and Inakamo clapped happily, as Takumi grinned.
"What's that... the same as Ino's...?" Shikamaru thought, but he knew it couldn't be that. It was some type of paralyzing jutsu...
"Way to go Chiyoko!" Naruto crooned.

Chiyoko knew her paralyzing jutsu was far from perfect, so quickly she began to gather up another ball of water.
"I have to finish this battle..." Chiyoko thought, concentrating hard upon the churning ball of water. "Condense... condense... condense..." her mind chanted.
This is more the Okami way. A voice viberated in her head, but Chiyoko only nodded as she suddenly threw the ball of water straight at Ino. It flew through the air with considerable force, for Chiyoko, and it hit Ino straight in the chest...

"No... no way..." Chiyoko stammered, as silence once again seemed to spread through the stadium. The ball of... water, had hit Ino but the end result was far different from before. Its force had caused Into to fall into the ground... but it was not water that remained. Ice, not water, had hit Ino... and in doing so, it seemed to explode about her- freezing her to the ground in a wrap of ice, spread neatly upon the ground.
"Ice...?" Onitoge questioned, as Takumi looked a bit surprised.
"When did she learn THAT move?" Inakamo questioned, "I've never seen ice used before..." Inakamo questioned.
"It's a clan trait... " Takumi said quietly, "But I've never heard of an Okami clan... "
Takumi's eyes narrowed slightly, although he held his composure. "I thought she was just a girl from a regular family... but apparently her last name implies a lot more than I thought..."

"The winner of the match is... Chiyoko!" Hayate announced, and a small roar of applause followed. Chiyoko was still in a bit of shock, but the realization that she had won seized her and she blushed with embarrassment at the attention that victory caused.

******
"Chiyoko... shouldn't you get that wound healed?" Inakamo asked after he and Onitoge had congratulated her. Chiyoko beamed, shaking her head.
"I'll be fine. Besides... I wouldn't want to miss my teammates' matches!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hinata vs Raizen:


“Neji, that was a great fight!” Raizen called out to his brother as he walked back from the arena. “I knew you couldn’t lose, but to actually disarm her? Awesome.”

At his brother’s words Neji cracked a small smile. “Yes, she was a formidable adversary, but without her fan she is nothing.” Neji then walked on to stand a few steps away from his own team and to stand next to Raizen. “I’ve proceeded to the finals brother,” He almost whispered. “Now see that you do the same.”

“No way am I going to lose to you here,” Raizen almost whispered back, smiling a little as well. “Not after all that training.” It was then that the next match was announced: Ushi vs Hiro. “Alright, you’re up, give him hell Ushi.”

***
“You know Ushi,” Raizen said as his teammate came back to the upper level. “When I said give him hell, I didn’t mean it literally.” Ushi merely smiled and sat down next to Raizen. “Though it sure worked well.”

***
Raizen’s pupil-less Hyuuga eyes failed to hide the shock from seeing what the sand ninja Gaara was capable of. “Well,” he thought to himself. “Glad I didn’t fight him. Let’s see who’s ne-”

Raizen stopped short for a moment as the screen showed the next two opponents: Hyuuga Hinata vs Hyuuga Raizen. He cracked a slightly wicked looking smile, quite uncharacteristic of himself, as he turned to face Neji.

“Fate has smiled upon you brother.” Neji said, showing if anything, slight anger on his face as he looked over to where Hinata was standing.

Raizen could hear Rock Lee explaining the Hyuuga family tree and its controversies to Naruto as he made his way to the fighting level. Hinata was already there, having just returned from checking on her teammate Shino.

“Hello… Raizen.” She stood in the middle of the floor looking more timid than ever. And it wasn’t without cause; Raizen’s smile had disappeared and had been replaced by a glare unmatchable by any other than a Hyuuga.

“I want to let you know right now Hinata.” Raizen said. “I will not be holding back. You should give up.” Hinata’s eyes widened a bit, and she opened her mouth to respond, but Raizen continued. “You were never meant to be a shinobi. You are far too feeble and timid for combat, and always avoid trouble. You didn’t even want to take the chuunin exams did you?” Hinata stood in silence, so Raizen went on. “You were perfectly okay with being a genin, accepting missions that would avoid controversy. You would never have to fight for real; never have to… kill, if necessary. But Kiba and Shino wanted to be chuunin, and you just went along with them, you just couldn’t let your teammates down.”

“No, that’s…” Hinata began. “I wanted to, change myself, and that’s… that’s why I… I…”

“You really are spoiled… Hinata.” Raizen shot at her. “People cannot change their natural tendencies. Personality, relative strength, these things cannot be overcome. A failure will always be a failure.”

There was a short pause during which Hinata gulped and many in the crowd began to dislike Raizen. “You cannot change that,” Raizen said, pointing at his forehead, “Just as I cannot change the fact that I am a branch family member; destined from birth to be a servant!”

At this point Raizen got visibly angry. “Byakugan! You cannot hide anything from my eyes.” Raizen said, quoting his brother Neji. The veins around his eyes swelling, Raizen gave Hinata a piercing stare, not just seeing her, but seeing through her. “Your body language gives your true feelings away. I can tell from your hands in front of you that you do not wish to fight me. And I can see in your eyes that it is because you see yourself loosing… badly.”

Hinata gulped again. Throughout Raizen’s massive speech Hinata was growing more and more visibly afraid, to the point where her breathing was becoming quite labored. She wasn’t the only one growing steadily unstable though; by now Naruto was gritting his teeth and looking murderous. He opened his mouth to curse out Raizen, but was beat to the punch.

“Hinata!” It was Onitoge. “Are you just going to stand there and listen to him like that!?” A few people looked around, Onitoge was usually quite reserved, and no one seemed to be expecting that from him.

“Yeah, say something back!” Naruto called out.

“Naruto… Onitoge…” Hinata thought to herself as everyone stood in silence for a minute. “Thank you.”

“Her eyes have changed.” Raizen thought. “They now have the will to fight.” Then he looked around in mild confusion as someone had started playing cool music in the background.

“What?” Ushi asked as he paused on his flute. “It seemed appropriate.”

“So then, does that look in your eye mean you’re not going to give up?” Raizen asked. “Alright then, but remember, I will not hold back.”

“Byakugan!” Hinata exclaimed as the veins around her own eyes swelled. “Naruto… Onitoge… I’m not going to run away anymore!” She thought as she took the stance of the Hyuuga’s gentle fist style. “Come Raizen, let us fight.”

***
It was a blur of strikes coming from both Hinata and Raizen. Each blow sending blue waves of chakra from the palms of their hands. It was amazing, not only was Hinata fighting on Raizen’s level, but she seemed to have put him on the defensive.

Raizen was striking very little, being quite limited to blocking, dodging, and counter attacks that never seemed to make in past Hinata’s forearms. Many people looked surprised by Hinata’s offensive, and Raizen’s defensive. But three shinobi watching varied from the rest: Masato and Neji wore expressionless faces, while Ushi had simply changed to and energizing battle theme on his flute.

“Way to go! Hinata!” Onitoge and Naruto glanced at each other, having both spoken at the same time. They looked back quickly however, as a loud crash announced Hinata slamming into a wall.

“If that’s all the main branch has to offer,” Raizen said, “I repeat my advice to give up, just stay there.”

“…n, no.” Hinata sputtered as she staggered back to the center, a trickle of blood running from her mouth. “I’m going to… to prove myself… that I won’t go back on my word.” She glanced up at those watching, and charged Raizen again.

His counter was swift and brutal this time though. Raizen grabbed Hinata’s hand, outstretched for an attack, and pulled her in. With one fluid motion he struck her forearm with his fingertips, twisted, and flipped her over his shoulder, and onto her back. Raizen stood over Hinata as she coughed up a little blood. “I told you I would not hold back. You really have no chance of winning.” He reached out and grabbed Hinata’s hand, pulling her gently to her feet.

Raizen held her hand as she smiled up at him, only to then pull back Hinata’s sleeve and show multiple red bruises all along her forearm. “Do you see?” he asked, as Hinata gasped a little. “You cannot even use your juuken attacks anymore.”

“Amazing,” A few of the Jounin thought, “He blocked the chakra points in her arms. None of us imagined that the younger brother would have such a mastery of the Byakugan as well; it’s almost frightening.”

“You don’t have to continue in your suffering Hinata; cursing your own weakness even though you are from a ‘superior’ line of the family. Just accept your loss.” Raizen said before turning away from her. “Proctor, this match is over, she can barely stand.”

“No…” Hinata sputtered looking at the others again. “It’s not over yet. And you’re wrong cousin… I can tell you and Neji are suffering far more than I.” This last comment turned Raizen around, and he looked angry.

Onitoge pumped the air with his fist, and Naruto gave a yell of encouragement as Hinata came in for one final attack. “Oh no!” Hayate, the proctor said, “He’ll kill her with another one of those counter attacks.

“We’ve got to stop the match!” The leaf Jounin thought as one.

But before Hinata took another step in her attack, Raizen crouched slightly and disappeared from sight, only to reappear seconds later holding Hinata’s arm painfully behind her back. “Enough!” Hayate called out as Hinata coughed. “The match goes to Raizen.”

Raizen let go of her and began to walk back to his team, but found both Naruto and Onitoge in his way. Onitoge was giving Raizen quite an accomplished death glare, and was surrounded by a chakra that Raizen didn't quite understand, but it felt... pointy. Naruto had dipped his fingers in some of Hinata’s coughed up blood, and appeared to be making a vow. Raizen de-byakuganed, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself down.

“You know that can’t be sanitary Naruto.” But Raizen’s words did not reach the two furious genin. They both opened their mouths but were cut off by the medical team examining Hinata.

“She’s in really rough shape.” The first one said.

“Yeah, but it could have been a lot worse.” His partner responded

“Huh?”

“Weren’t you watching?” The second one said as they put Hinata on a stretcher. “I bet that kid could have killed her if he wanted to.” Ignoring their anger for the time being, both Onitoge and Naruto, rushed past Raizen to see Hinata.

“You’re faster than I remember, but you held back.” Neji said as Raizen returned to the upper level.

“Shut up.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shodou Kukai vs Haruno Sakura



???????



The announcement, impassive on the flickering screen, did not overly worry anyone in Genin Team 14, least of all Kukai. Compared to the some of the things they'd seen today (cousins nearly killing cousins, nigh incurable poisons, murderous intent to the point of insanity, among others) Haruno Sakura was... normal. She had been normal enough to begin with, and she seemed even more so now.

Kukai could not exactly say that she was relieved. A strange feeling welled up inside her; it was part resignation, for she respected Sakura's intellect and would have much preferred an all-out debate with her rather than the fist fight that was to follow; part anticipation, although only a very little, because everyone knew though Sakura had talent with her chakra, her teacher had been too otherwise occupied with her fellow teammates to bother much about her; and part - guilt? Guilt for what? Guilt for what she was about to do to Sakura's chances of advancing in the chuunin exams...?

Damn. Inuzuka Hige's confidence is contagious. Disinfectant! I need disinfectant!!

"Oh well," said Hige, "at least you don't need luck for this."

"In other circumstances I would have questioned your will to live, Mr Inuzuka Hige," she replied with a huff, "however, I will return to the topic at hand when time permits."

Haru gave her a nod, Miharu-sensei a smile. Then she shouldered her brush and straightened her shoulders, and headed to the pit.

There was a little moment before Sakura met her at the centre. The audience seemed to have settled back with a sigh, as if not expecting much of the outcome of the fight. It was only two girls, after all; granted, two girls who were competent and did their missions well enough, but neither had mind-blowing special powers, or stood out enough on their own to attract attention. One was going to inherit her family's paper mill, and the other stood to inherit a textile business, if she so chose. Girls of good background.

Hayate gave them the signal to start. They both began the match conventionally, circling each other with kunai till one of them broke the rhythm by darting forward faster than the eye could follow - this was Sakura, and she had evidently trained on her own, to be able to perform chakra-enforced stepping that well. Kukai was ready for her, using her oversized brush as a parrying weapon.

They went through all the motions. The older girl had her own reasons for doing so; she wanted to see what Sakura was really capable of when making her own strategies for a fight, as well as the range of her abilities, and did not launch any offensives beyond what was really necessary. She did not think it was fair of her, and wondered how long it would take Sakura to notice. Oh, she should really beat the other girl down, it should be the way, show no mercy; if not to advance to the next level, why was she here at all?

But Kukai liked to think that nothing mattered except justice and the truth. She was idealistic still. Perhaps it was better that she had not been matched with any of the more violent genin.

It was two or three minutes later that the other kunoichi said, during one of their innumerable, textbook thrust-and-parries:

"You're not going all out, Kukai-san.”

Kukai brought her brush down on Sakura’s shoulders in a one-two-three stroke combo. Sakura responded with a quick substitution jutsu, and only the first blow managed to connect. “No, I’m not. Are you?”

“I… don’t know. But if we keep on like this, we’ll eventually wear ourselves out. And there’ll be no winner.” The pink-haired girl flung a trio of kunais at her, which she fended off with the handle of her brush.

“If I go all out, will you?” Kukai was not about to waste her breath on stretching her sentences out, as she usually did. In fights, brevity in remarks was essential. “Have you thought about why we’re here?”

“I…” Kukai suddenly pushed forward in a brutal movement, rushing against Sakura and pinning her against the wall by her neck with her brush. The other kunoichi struggled, but Kukai was at the moment putting almost all her chakra into the deathgrip.

“Sakura-san, I’m here because I want to see justice done in this world, and I want it done my way. Why are you here?” Her eyes, black and intense and flaring with an inscrutable gravity, bored into Sakura’s own. “I don’t want this to be an unfair fight. That’s why I’m asking you this. You must have some kind of motivation to have come this far. Where is it now?”

“I- I wanted to be with – Sasuke-kun-“ The words came choking out, as Sakura tried, even then, to see what her teammate was doing. At the revelation, she appeared to somehow lose hope, and stopped flailing against Kukai’s brush. “He’s been – different lately. Different from the Sasuke-kun I knew…”

“Oh?” Kukai’s features melted into a smirk, almost a grin, and she loosened her hold on the brush abruptly; Sakura fell to the floor, taking a moment to clutch at her throat, but in that moment Kukai had already written a seal in the air, and rammed it seemingly onto her head. “I do believe I’d almost lost my hold before you yielded as you did, Sakura-san, but you caved just in time. Thank you for showing me your inner feelings. Shodou Sealing Jutsu Level 1: Reverse!”

The kanji for reverse shimmered in the air a moment before embedding itself on the back of Sakura’s head. When the other kunoichi stood up, there was an alien glint in her eyes.

It was Sakura, but ultimately a fiercer, more determined Sakura. A very angry Sakura, with her brows so furrowed that the wrinkle produced threatened to be permanent. Her hair seemed to be on edge, along with the rest of her person. Small flames of chakra convulsed up and down her arms.

”You’re pissing me off, calligraphy bitch.”

Kukai bowed. “Pleased to be of service.”


From the sidelines, Hige yelled: “The hell ya doin’, woman?!”

“I am merely leveling the playing field, Mr Inuzuka Hige. Shall we begin again, Sakura-san?”

”You bet, you bitch. You made me confess in front of the whole arena. Shannaro!” This last ejaculation was uttered just as the new Sakura laid a punch at Kukai, the latter dodging it just in time, to have the tiles shattered where it fell.

“Now we’re cooking with charcoal,” said Kukai, with a smile that looked like a snarl. “Always show your true face, Sakura-san – oooh, close one there, you are really quick on your feet, aren’t you - OUCH!”

She was knocked to the opposing wall as one of Sakura’s punches connected with her stomach. She got up again, and parried a kunai thrust, much more violent and uncontrolled than any previous, retaliating with a vicious kick to the jaw that at least got the irate kunoichi off her back for more than five seconds.

Sakura looked up, wiping the blood off her chin, grinning. ”Not talking so much now, are you? Ran out of breath?”

“No, Sakura-san,” muttered Kukai, performing hand seals, for she knew very well what was coming directly the other girl got up. The blow came, only this time Sakura was returning what she got and what would have been a very painful drop kick was averted by her preparatory hand seals. Sakura’s sandal came down hard on nothing but floor. “Just… preparing.”

…To Kawarimi no Jutsu. Till your chakra runs out. And it will run out, Sakura-san, at the rate you’re using it. And I don't think you're calculating any more; your calculative, always proper outer self is gone for now.

Hige, who had leaned forward to watch ever since Sakura had started showing her true colours, settled back in his seat, grinning, and then wincing a little as the hard plastic chair hit him in a soft spot. “She’s gonna run like crazy after this. It’s settled.”

Haru, who had guessed it from the moment Kukai stopped talking, for he knew the thought processes of his friend almost as well as she did herself, tapped his ever present pencil to his nose in an expectant manner.

To be sure, Kukai didn’t always manage to get away. At the very end of the tournament, when she was still standing and Sakura was doubled over in a corner, gasping for breath as the last reserves of her chakra winked away with the remnants of her inner self, the girl’s hands and feet bleeding freely because dirt is hard and hurts when you punch it without properly controlled chakra, and concrete is even harder, Kukai was thinking she would definitely need a bandage around her head, as Sakura had caught her with a totally unexpected headbutt; and it felt like one of her arms wasn’t doing so well. Her ankles were decidedly wobbly. Her brush, some parts of its length broken in, dangled loosely from her hand.

“Winner: Shodou Kukai.” Hayate let go of Kukai’s arm, and she nearly fell. She hadn’t noticed she’d been relying on his grip to stay upright.

Sakura slumped to the floor, exhausted. She smiled up at the ceiling. “Thank you for the lesson… I think.”

Then she remembered where she was, and what her purpose was, and the weight of it set in on her and she had to bite her lip to keep the sobs from coming. Naruto railed at Kukai, and shouted ineffectual curses. And up in his seat: Sasuke, straight-faced, not smiling, not frowning, not seeming to care for anything but himself.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inakamo Yakusha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*BONG*

The scoreboard lit up with two names, one of which caught the attention of all of Team 13.

Yakusha, Inakamo

versus

Nara, Shikamaru

Inakamo immediately leapt up onto the railing in glee, ready to pounce into the arena.
"Finally, some action at last!" he exclaimed as he cracked his knuckles and neck satisfyingly. Before he could leap onto the battlefield, Onitoge spoke up.
"Don't be too hasty Inakamo; have you even seen who you're fighting yet?"
Inakamo craned his neck up to the board, having not even noticed the other ninja's name.
"Shikamaru huh? No problem! I'll beat that shirker, no problems!" he yelled, putting a thumbs-up to his team-mates and grinning at them. Onitoge remained less enthused.
"Just...watch it. Shikamaru might be lazy, but he is a genius, although you probably never noticed. This match will be tougher than you imagine."
Inakamo was visibly confused and squinted at his team-mate. His sensei, Takumi, spoke up.
"Basically, Inakamo, Onitoge is saying that your opponent is more likely to guess your every move and able to counter it. However, if anything, this is a perfect match for you!" he grinned.
Chiyoko turned around with an inquisitive look on her face.
"But Takumi-sensei, if Shikamaru can predict what Inakamo is going to do, how is that good for him?"
Takumi folded his arms and chuckled.
"It's because Inakamo...", pausing for dramatic effect, then opening his eyes as wide as possible, "is one of the most unpredictable ninja I've ever met!"
Onitoge briefly smirked, which Inakamo noticed as it was quite uncharacteristic and this reassured him somewhat.
"So Inakamo, if you're going to win this, you're going to invent a whole new bag of tricks," Takumi smiled, and then closed his eyes. "I'm sure you'll have no problem with that."
Inakamo grinned even more widely and assuredly said,
"Gotcha sensei! Get ready for the one-of-a-kind battle of your lifetime!" and with that he leapt down onto the floor below, making a perfect landing. He looked up to the stairs opposite where Shikamaru was lazily walking down the stairs, his hands in his pockets, and he let out a big yawn.

The two Leaf genin faced each other with the proctor in the middle.
"Looks like I get the clown. Oh man, this is such a drag," Shikamaru whined. Inakamo grinned and said,
"Hey Shikamaru, whoever wins, no hard feelings, eh?"
Shikamaru was somewhat surprised by this remark, and then smiled and prepared himself in a ready position.
"Well, if anything, this is going to be interesting," Shikamaru smirked. Inakamo gave a devilish smile. Shikamaru had no idea just how interesting this fight was going to be.
The proctor looked each way and then gave a small cough.
"Well since we're done with the talking, combatants ready...and begin!"
Shikamaru immediately drew a kunai and prepared to defend himself from an onslaught of ranged attacks, as he knew those were Inakamo's speciality. Inakamo, however, didn't move. Not a muscle. He just looked blankly at Shikamaru. Shikamaru frowned and drew two shuriken, throwing them at Inakamo. Inakamo dodged each one at the last second and proceeded to utilise the chakra strings technique to catch them and returned them to Shikamaru with full force. Shikamaru was somewhat surprised at this as he was already throwing his shadow at Inakamo, and had to dispel his jutsu in order to draw his kunai again. Shikamaru deflected each one with his kunai and then saw that Inakamo had leapt into the air. Shikamaru braced himself for Inakamo's retaliatory kunai or perhaps his trademark carnival ball. Inakamo did indeed reach into his bag and pick out a scroll and released the seal on it, the summoning producing a cloud of smoke. When Inakamo emerged through the smoke, the entire arena was amazed by the sight before them.

"What the heck?!" Shikamaru exclaimed. Inakamo was heading at Shikamaru at full pelt into hand-to-hand combat, both hands above his head holding not any kind of weapon, but a fifty-pound largemouth bass fish!
"One fillet-o-fish coming riiiiight up!" laughed Inakamo and he swung down on Shikamaru's aloft arms with the huge fish. As he made contact with the fish, it exploded in a cloud of organs, blood and guts. Inakamo kicked himself off the astonished Shikamaru and leapt up towards the ceiling. Shikamaru was still reeling from the fact he was now covered in fish giblets.
"Wha...wha...are you insane you idiot!?" Shikamaru yelled up towards Inakamo. Inakamo was still laughing and he proceeded to pull another scroll out from his bag.
"What is it going to be this time? Trout? Salmon?" Shikamaru pondered aloud, and Inakamo completed the summoning. This time, it was an anvil weighing half-a-tonne, which proceeded to plummet towards the young ninja. He gulped and rolled out of the way, the anvil missing him but hitting the floor with earth-shattering momentum, knocking him onto his rear in the process. Shikamaru sat up and shook his head.
"Man, this is such a drag, how the hell am I-woah!"
Inakamo had now launched his carnival ball into play and Shikamaru rolled out of the way again as the carnival ball hit the ground next to him, barely missing him. Shikamaru backflipped onto his feet and realised it was now a game of cat and mouse; Inakamo kept his distance and kept Shikamaru on his toes and thus unable to throw his shadow by chasing him with the carnival ball. Shikamaru knew he was in trouble and would have to figure out how to turn the tables.

Asuma was leaning over the barrier, both hands clenching the bar and biting down hard on his cigarette.
"How did Shikamaru let himself get into this situation? He has an I.Q. of over 200! Surely this clown can't be outwitting him!"
Takumi began chuckling and spoke up.
"Your genin may be a tactical genius, but tactics are meaningless when you can't predict what your opponent is going to do next!"
Asuma nodded. Choji began cheering from the gallery,
"Come on Shikamaru! Don't let this clown take you for a ride! Take him down, I know you can!"

Shikamaru ducked once more as the carnival ball whizzed past him once more and he made a hand sign, summoning two clones of himself. Inakamo smiled and recalled the carnival ball, then jumping up on top of it, maintaining perfect balance. Shikamaru smirked and said,
"I guessed that'd throw you off...if you attacked one of my clones, the real me would attack you undefended! But you were smart enough to figure that out, huh?"
Inakamo ignored him and stepped off his carnival ball, and opened it up, pulling out a scroll.
"New game," Inakamo said blankly. Shikamaru was puzzled by this remark.
"New game? What do you-" but before he could finish his sentence, Inakamo summoned another carnival ball, much to Shikamaru's surprise.
"You keep two of those things?" he asked with an astonished look on his face. Inakamo laughed.
"Not just two. It's worth having a few spares. Plus this one is special," Inakamo explained and he used his chakra strings to activate its mechanisms, which forced several tiny blades through slits cut into the surface of the ball. This development did not sit well with Shikamaru. Furthermore, Inakamo used the transformation jutsu to turn his balls into clones of himself.

"Now the fun begins!" Inakamo grinned and he launched both balls and himself in the air, and then each one dived at a different Shikamaru. Two of them phased straight through, destroying the clones and one connected hard. Shikamaru tried to hold it back, and the Inakamo exploded, revealing itself as the original carnival ball, rapidly spinning against Shikamaru's arms. The tension was too much and Shikamaru was knocked back against the wall. He quickly recovered and noticed that both carnival balls had revealed themselves, so he threw his shadow at the one remaining Inakamo while his guard was down. Inakamo noticed the shadow coming, however, and leapt up to safety. Shikamaru smiled and recalled his shadow, and then prepared to throw it as Inakamo landed again. However, this did not happen, as Inakamo touched the ceiling with his feet and used his chakra to stick to it.
"Sorry Shikamaru, but I'm afraid it is time to end this game!" he laughed and began manipulating his hands. Both carnival balls on the ground began spinning with great velocity and began encircling the kneeling Shikamaru.
"Ninja art! Carnival Ball Duet!" Inakamo yelled and both balls were moving too fast for Shikamaru to escape, and were now encircling. Shikamaru realised the only way out was up, so he drew two kunai and leapt up out of the circle. He had anticipated that Inakamo would launch both balls towards him, but now that they had turned so quickly, they had lost their momentum and thus Shikamaru could deflect each one easily with his kunai. However, as he turned around to face Inakamo, he was horrified to see that Inakamo had already stopped controlling the balls and had detached himself from the ceiling, wielding nothing other than his trademark frying pan. Shikamaru could not move his arms quickly enough to stop the attack and the clown ninja swung the pan at full force around Shikamaru's face.

*PANG*

"Urghnt..." Shikamaru grunted before being sent crashing back down to the floor, and Inakamo landing on top of one of his carnival balls. Inakamo began to pant heavily; it had taken almost every bit of his chakra to remain mobile enough to avoid Shikamaru's shadows and having to resort to close combat more than once, not his preferred style, had taken its strain also. The proctor briefly examined the fallen Shikamaru and then shook his head.
"The winner of this round is Yakusha, Inakamo."
The arena was somewhat quiet, but then some of the Leaf genin began cheering and some of the Jounin began to clap as well.
"Yay! Well done Inakamo!" Chiyoko cheered from the balcony. Kiba chimed in,
"What a match! That has gotta be one of the craziest things I've ever seen!"
The Sound and Sand teams were visibly unimpressed with the performance, but Inakamo was lapping up the praise from his fellow Leaf ninja. As he turned towards the stairs, the proctor coughed and grabbed Inakamo by the shoulder.
"Kid...before you go...do you mind cleaning up this mess?"
Inakamo turned around and noticed that his anvil and carnival balls were still out, plus there was a puddle of fish giblets to consider. He grumbled as he began to seal each item back into their scrolls. Once he had finished, he leapt up onto the balcony in front of his team, greeted with the familiar smile of his sensei.
"Great work Inakamo, that match was one-in-a-million! Heck, you even took me by surprise at moments during that match! Now just you to go Onitoge!"
Inakamo, Takumi and Chiyoko all turned to Onitoge, who looked back at each in turn, stopping last at Inakamo.
"Was that fish the one you caught on day one in the Forest of Death and we never ate, so you decided to seal it for later?"
Inakamo grinned and began scratching his head.
"Yeah, I was hoping to eat it, but it's been dead for a few days, so I figured it would be starting to smell. Anyway, I remembered what Takumi said about being unpredictable and when looking for a weapon scroll, I remember I had the fish one stashed away, so...well you know the rest!"
"Speaking of smell..." Onitoge began. Chiyoko began to sniff and then giggled.
"Eww! Inakamo, you're covered in fish guts!"
Takumi laughed and grabbed Inakamo around the arm.
"Okay soldier, enough chatting, you're not watching any more matches until you have a shower!"
Inakamo's eyes widened in panic.
"What, sensei, no! I wanna see the next match! What if I miss Onitoge, or I need to watch my next opponent! Come on, this is..."
Chiyoko was giggling and even Onitoge briefly smiled as Takumi dragged Inakamo by his hair towards the back.
"The quicker you get clean, the quicker you get to watch more matches! Now stop fussing and get to the washroom!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Soen


~~~***~~~***~~~

First and second round to easy? Soen thought to himself. Not likely, it seems we have a nice crop of ninjas this year

Soen couldn’t stop having a small smirk across his face. The excitement to fight these ninjas just couldn’t be held back.

After the speech, all the genin up for the challenge made their way to the upper levels except the girl on the older Hyuuga’s team and Leaf. While Soen was walking up, he felt slightly worried. Leaf had used up the most of chakra of the squad. Hopefully she had recovered well enough.

But as the battle advanced, Soen’s worries seemed unnecessary. Tenten was just a bad match for Leaf’s Stoneskin jutsu. With a loud bang, the fight ended. Soen gave a small applause for his team mate, while Kaito and their sensei where rooting louder then Soen thought necessary. But Soen couldn’t help think about how many people had discovered the secret of Leaf’s techniques now.

-----

Battle after battle took place in front of their eyes. Soen and Kaito awaited their turn nervously while Leaf, who was rather relaxed after her bout, focused on recovering herself. Finally Kaito’s match was decided, it was against one of the Sand-nin. His other teammates were already beaten but something felt different about this one. And there was another thing bothering Soen. During the previous fight, Soen felt a familiar chakra but he couldn’t place his finger on it.

While lost in his thoughts, Soen was quickly forced to put his attention on the match again. Kaito was already breathing hard just a couple of seconds in the fight, while the Sand-nin hadn’t moved an inch.

Each of Kaito’s assaults got blocked by a wall of sand and if he tried to get close, the sand became part of a fierce attack. Kaito’s chakra was depleting rapidly from just dodging the attacks. This was impossible. Kaito, who was of pretty high level, was being toyed with?

Wave after wave of sand based attacks tore through Kaito, who refused to stay down. Until finally, he was caught in it. Pressure seemed to build up around Kaito and he let out a terrifying scream. Just before he would have been killed several sensei stopped the sand and the opponent from delivering the final blow.

Declared the winner, the Sand-nin made his way to the stands as medical ninjas rushed to Kaito’s side. One thought crossed everyone’s mind. This guy is a monster.

-----

Soens mind was rambled during the next three fights, of which he was grateful they dragged on a bit. Around the middle of the Rock Lee–Shiro battle, Soen had recollected himself and it was just in time as his own battle was about to start.

He started to make his way down but was stopped when he passed by a Sound-nin.

“Sorry, but I’d like to forfeit this fight.” He declared. “I was hoping my chakras would have been replenished during the fights but that doesn’t seem the case.”

Soen knew it was just an excuse but at the moment he didn’t really care.

As the referee accepted the forfeit, Soen made his way back to his team mate and sensei. He sat down and absentmindedly followed the rest of the match ups. For some reason he thought about the time when his team was formed and a clear image was formed of him, Kaito, Emi and Daku…

What would they have done if they knew what would happen to them? Soen thought as a small tear ran across his face.

[Outlaw JT]

Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~~~

Onitoge watched the preliminary matches unfold. A few of them held mildly surprising results but the biggest surprise was the sudden withdrawal of a couple of the foreign shinobi when their round was announced. With few genin left Onitoge just sighed when his turn finally came.

"Inuzuka Kiba vs Onitoge!" Hatake called out.

Onitoge's expression remained blank as he made his way down to the arena floor. Kiba seemed to have a grin plastered across his face. Numerous people could be heard cheering for them. Most of it seemed directed towards Kiba but a few select people called out support for him.

"Be easier on both of us if you just gave up now cry baby," Kiba prodded, obviously an attempt to unbalance Onitoge.

"Are you both ready?" Hayate called as they stared at each other.

"I'm not going to surrender," Onitoge said quietly as he stared down his opponent.

"GO!!" Hayate shouted as he disappeared from the arena floor.

Kiba and Akamaru were off like a shot. Onitoge easily jumped back out of the way but still under the warmth of his cloak he didn't open enough distance to mount a counter-attack. Kiba stayed on the offensive, swiping at Onitoge while Akamaru continually moved around to try catching him between them. It was clear the two were more than adept at working together. They didn't seem to need to communicate together at all to coordinate their efforts.

It became clear quickly that he'd never be able to attack as long as he wore the cloak. To make a turnabout truly effective, though, he had to time his actions carefully. Slowly he let their attacks edge closer and closer as if he was unable to stay ahead of them. Truthfully he was for a prolonged period of time under the weight of the cloak. He had to let them get a little closer without rousing their suspicions, however.

"You honestly think you can beat me like this?" Kiba chided, almost a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"No," Onitoge replied suddenly as a smile crossed his face. "I think I can like this, though."

As Akamaru lunged at him from behind Onitoge suddenly flourished to the side. In one swift motion he twisted out of his cloak and let it fall. Unfortunately for the ninja pup Onitoge's timing was nearly flawless and collapsed on top of him, pinning the little dog to the ground with only his head exposed.

"Akamaru!!" Kiba shouted as Onitoge effortlessly vanished from in front of him.

Before he could even turn his eyes Onitoge was behind him. A single sidekick slammed into Kiba's back and sent him flying. He rolled across the floor from the force of it, coming to an unceremonious stop. He coughed once as he got to his feet. Surprisingly he had a broad grin on his face.

"Guess Akamaru and I don't have to hold back then," Kiba said cockily as he fetched a handful of stuff from his pouch.

He threw something and it quickly got snatched up in Akamaru's jaw. He popped something else into his mouth and his smile deepened. Akamaru's fur rapidly changed color to red and somehow the cloak began moving as the little pup shifted it off of him. Whatever they'd taken seemed to have made them much stronger.

"Here we come, Onitoge," Kiba said enthusiastically.

Akamaru jumped across the arena and landed on Kiba's back. As Kiba threw the last thing he had in his hand Akamaru suddenly changed in a puff of smoke to look exactly like Kiba. As the projectile landed at Onitoge's feet it burst into a massive cloud of smoke. He couldn't see anything but he could hear and he prepared himself for whatever their attack was going to be.

"Fang over fang!" Kiba shouted.

Suddenly Kiba and Akamaru began spinning in a blaze of speed like a pair of horizontal tornadoes. They drilled their way through the air across the arena into the cloud of smoke. The pair dove in and out of the smoke cloud repeatedly slashing at Onitoge. Whatever happened in the smoke the onlookers couldn't see, though.

Without warning the crowd could hear Akamaru let out a yelp. No more movement could be seen and everyone waited patiently as the smoke cleared. When it did everyone could see Onitoge standing there with Kiba and Akamaru at his feet. Even though they had been the ones seen slashing violently away into the smoke it looked like they had been on the receiving end of a thousand slashes. They were both still breathing easily but lay otherwise still and silent.

"Winner, Onitoge!" Hayate exclaimed as the medical nin swarmed in to help Kiba and Akamaru away.

Onitoge walked over and picked up his cloak out of it's small crater. He slid it back on and sighed relief as it's warmth pressed down on him again. He had wanted to win but hoped he would do it through his normal skill or techniques. He was relieved he had been able to control this new technique of his but distressed he had to use it. It still made him nervous, that which he could do and no one else could. At least he had learned to exercise some control over it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prelimnaries Complete
Chunin Exam Part 3 Is Go
Commence Training

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With two matches left the remaining genin watched on anxiously. First was the match between Selekis and Haru. It was fast and intense and ultimately for their comrades unsatisfying. In a blinding final strike by both competitors the smoke cleared to two unconscious forms in the arena and a mutual elimination. Last was a match between Shiro and Rock Lee. Early on it seemed that Shiro held a noticeable advantage but a couple of minutes in when it seemed hopeless for the energetic Lee he removed his leg warmers which seemed to be weights that hit the ground with almost as much force as Onitoge's cloak. From then it wasn't long before Rock Lee's speed and strength overwhelmed the unprepared Shiro. When they cleared the arena floor the Hokage and Hayate stepped forward.

"With this, the preliminary trials for the round three test have been completed," Hayate announced loudly, hiding a slight cough with his words.

The winners, whether by victory or default to withdrawals, were signaled down to the arena floor. A couple of them were absent as their wounds had excused them for medical care but most of the sixteen gathered together in two rows before the Hokage and Hayate. Their eyes scanned the winners one by one, taking in the full measure of each before proceeding.

"To all of you who won the rights to compete in the third round test in the chunin exam," Hayate quickly covered his mouth as another cough escaped, "a couple of you are missing, but, congratulations to you all. Sixteen is an unprecedented number of candidates at this stage of the exams. Ah, well, Hokage-sama, if you would please?"

Hayate took a step back as he waved for the Hokage to step forward and proceed. The chunin prospects all looked on eagerly as they waited to see what would be asked of them next in their pursuit of advancement. The Hokage took that step and cleared his throat as he once again examined the young shinobi before them.

"Yes. Well, now I'd like to explain the main test," he began somberly with a proud smile on his face. "As we mentioned before, in the main event, your matches will be watched by everybody. Each of you will fight to represent the strengths of your countries. I'd like you to show off all your powers with no reserves. Which is why the finals will be held one month from now."

"We're not going to do it here? Right now?" Naruto suddenly shouted.

"Yes! I seek to prove myself a worthy shinobi now!" Rock Lee added quickly.

"This break, you can say, will be for preparations," the Hokage's smile broadened. "In other words, in addition to informing all the country Lords and shinobi leaders, this is the time needed to arrange for the gathering of the event. And this is also the preparation time for you examination students. Basically, it's the preparation to get to know yourself and your enemy. It's the time period where you will calculate your chances of winning by analyzing the data you accumulated during the trial competition. The battles up till now had you fight as if you were in an actual combat situation with the assumption of fighting an unknown opponent. However, the final trial will not be like this. There are those who showed all they can do already to their rivals. There were those who competed and were badly injured against a strong opponent. To make everything fair, the one month should be used by all of you to advance and improve yourselves. Of course, it'll be fine to rest your bodies as well. Well, I'd like to dismiss you now but there's something that has to be done for the finals before I can do that."

"what the hell is it? I've got to train now!" Naruto again suddenly shouted out of turn.

"Well now, don't get so excited," the Hokage chided as he motioned Anko forward with a small box. "There are pieces of paper inside the box Anko is holding so each of you take one piece."

"I'll come around so wait your turn," Anko said forcefully to calm the anxious genin.

One by one the genin all took their slip of paper from the box. As they each unfolded them the small sheets were blank except for one thing. Each had a number printed on it in a large plain font. When the last piece was handed out Anko stepped back to let the Hokage continue.

"All right. You all took a piece. Now I'd like you to tell the number on that paper in order, starting from the left," he said calmly.

One by one the genin announced the number on their slip of paper. They each exchanged looks as they took their guesses at the significance of the numbers. Some would be surprised but it was simple enough for others to figure out before the Hokage spoke.

"All right. Now I will reveal to you the final tournament," a few of the genin shouted out in exasperation and surprise, others remained silent and nodded. "Now Ibiki, show them the match arrangements."

Ibiki the first exam proctor walked down the line showing them a tournament bracket with all their names scrolled on it. Each looked and saw who they would be fighting and in what order. With sixteen names it was not a small bracket, which the proctors seemed slightly miffed by. Perhaps they felt they hadn't properly done their job for so many to make it this far.

Rock Lee versus Gaara
Uchiha Sasuke versus Hyuuga Raizen
Uzumaki Naruto versus Leaf
Onitoge versus Chishio Soen
Okami Chiyoko versus Inuzuka Hige
Shodou Kukai versus Kurama Ushi
Yakusha Inakamo versus Kazuma Masato
Hyuuga Neji versus Nain

That was to be the order of the tournament bracket. The order and array of when and who the sixteen would fight. They all looked at each other again, taking in their future opponents carefully.

"Well then, you're free to start strategizing or resting as you like. With this I dismiss you all. I wish all of you luck in your preparations," the Hokage nodded proudly at them before the sensei and proctors dispersed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inakamo Yakusha
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inakamo was none too happy to be taken away from the action, especially since he could be missing Onitoge's fight. However, he knew it was useless to try and struggle against his sensei, although that doesn't mean he wasn't trying. They finally reached the wash-rooms that looked like they hadn't been used in a while, considering this was a tower in the middle of nowhere. Inakamo just hoped the water was hot.

Takumi threw him in and dusted his hands off.
"There, get clean! I don't want you coming back to the arena until you get all that fish off your clothes!" he laughed and he walked off.
Inakamo grumbled as he disrobed and turned on the shower. Thankfully, the water was piping hot, just the temperature he prefered it. As the steam began to accumulate, he looked around, knowing no one was around, but he always checked, before removing his mask and leaving it on his folded clothes.

He stepped into the showers and faced up towards the jet of water blasting onto his face, closing his eyes. He began to relax his muscles and felt his energy slowly restoring; that last match had definitely taken its toll. Shikamaru was a tough opponent, and Inakamo had to use everything he had just to stay one step ahead of him. He sighed and turned around, putting his back against the wall and running his fingers through his hair. He slowly began to slump against the wall and fall onto the ground in a sitting position, head looking down. He was pretty exhausted.

He began to hear whispers. He looked up and slowly opened his eyes. At first all he could see was steam and droplets of water, but slowly a shadow began forming in the vapour. As the shadow began to take a more opaque form, the whispers became louder and faster. He could not make out any of the whispers, but knew they were all in his head. He began to slowly stretch out his hand, reaching to touch the shadow, when his eye began to burn. The suddeness of this flare in pain caused him to reflex and grab his face and close his eyes for a split-second. The pain disappeared and the whispers stopped. When he reopened his eyes, the shadow had gone. He sighed and looked down, only to be incredibly surprised.

Between his legs laid the mask, facing back at him. This wasn't the first time the mask had seemingly moved by itself, but it was nonetheless disturbing whenever it happened. He picked up the mask and stared at it intently.

He had no idea how long he sat in that shower staring at the mask, but he finally snapped out of it and realised he might be missing Onitoge's match. He leapt up and shut off the shower, quickly drying off and dressing. He put his mask back on the returned to the arena, running all the way.

Inakamo arrived back at the arena and noticed Onitoge wasn't standing with Chiyoko or Takumi.
"I haven't missed it already?" he asked downheartedly. Chiyoko turned to him and smiled.
"No, he's fighting right now Ina-oh my! Your hair!"
Inakamo could see Chikoyo was giggling. He forgot to dry his hair thoroughly in his rush to return to the arena, and given its length, it was hanging down to his shoulders. Chiyoko found this quite amusing, and Inakamo quite embarrassing. He bit his lip and have a sheepish grin.
"Yeah...well...wait! Ontige's fighting?"
Inakamo quickly leapt on top of the barrier to watch the fight in anticipation.

---

As the tournament concluded, Takumi gathered his students in front of him.
"You three have done superbly! I knew you three would all get through, but I see your time in the forest has really caused improvement!"
Chiyoko and Inakamo were both grinning from the praise, and even Onitoge managed to crack a smile. Takumi then put on a more serious face.
"Now, in order to prepare yourselves for your upcoming matches, you're going to need some serious training and preparation. This won't be like normal team-training; teamwork won't matter, only honing your own skills. Therefore, I have decided I will only train one of you."
They all waited in anticipation for his answer.
"Chiyoko, I will be dedicating myself to your training."
Chiyoko have a brief celabratory leap, whereas Inakamo was far more down-hearted. Takumi turned to Onitoge.
"I have asked Saruwatari to train you Onitoge. He accepted, and frankly, I think he is the best Jonin to train you."
Inakamo was growing impatient.
"What about me sensei? Who is going to train me?"
Takumi gave a sheepish grin and Inakamo suspected the news was not good.
"Well Inakamo, I'm afraid I haven't found anyone who could deal with your...unique ninjutsu I'm afraid, but as soon as I find an available sensei, I'll send him your way."
Inakamo folded his arms angrily.
"On the other hand...this could be a good opportunity for you to meet some of the Jonin in the village. After all, I know there are plenty of decent teachers out there, and I'm sure you can find one before I do."
Inakamo gave a devilish smile.
"Fine Sensei, I guess I'll find my own trainer!"
"Good lad!" Takumi replied, ruffling up Inakamo's hair. Takumi then spoke up again.
"Now, I've got to head off to meet with the other Jonin. Important meeting, but you three just concentrate on getting a good night's sleep: tomorrow, the road to the final round begins."
And with that he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The three Genin looked at each other and nodded; they knew what road lay before them, and they had to be prepared for anything.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iokawa, Hiro

It was unusually hot today, even for this time of year it was hotter than I imagined. Or maybe it was just my imagination. Either way I was on the roof of the hospital, having abandoned my room the moment I was able to figure out how to get my self out of the various things hooked up to me. The nurse had told me that Hikari had been waiting for me in the lobby. I just told her to send her away, that I would be home by nightfall.

In my mind’s eye I played back the battle over and over in my head, every move, every jump, every dodge, every painful hit. The end result was always the same; I would lose and end up waking up in the hospital and wrapped in bandages. “Maybe there are some battles I just can’t win…” I closed my eyes feeling a stray breeze wash past my body, stirring the loose bandages.

The sound of tiny footsteps reached my ears, some how Hikari had found my room and decided to check the roof once she couldn’t find me. For a minute I considered to get up and hide, as bandaged as I was, I didn’t want her to see me in this condition. It only took a sharp blinding pulse of pain down my stomach as I tried to rise, to kill off that idea.

“You can come out…” I called out after a few minutes when the footsteps stopped just a few more steps from reaching the roof. Out of the corner of my right eye I could see the top of her head, and two small eyes peeking out from the edge of the roof. “If you want to be a ninja you are going to have to be stealthy.” I fought back pain, even gulping down the urge to cry out as I moved to a upright position.

“The doctor said you almost died Hiro-ne.” Her voice was faint, and a bit scratchy as if she had been crying for hours and now was just too worn out for tears.

I balanced my arm against the wall as I rose to my feet, using the wall to support my weight. “I won’t die, and besides ninjas get hurt all the time, its part of being a ninja.” I explained.

This didn’t seem to calm her; instead it did the opposite effect, her little fists balled in anger, her eyes filled with rage. “But you almost died! And if you died! I would be all alone! You didn’t think of that you idiot!”

I shook my broken arm free of the sling, making a fist with it. “I didn’t die!” I slammed the fist into the wall, only to be rewarded with a fresh shot of pain, and the sickly crack of breaking bones.

Moments seemed to pass as I took in deep breaths of warm air to try and calm the pain that was coursing through my arm. “If something had happened to me, Chiyoko would have made sure you were okay.” Instead of answering me she just rushed forward, throwing her arms around my waist and embracing me in a deep hug.

I hated when she did that, because it reminded me that arguing with her, was another battle that I just could not win.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Akimoto, Akira
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akira frowned to 'himself' as she walked along the Konoha streets, having been practicing with the family bloodline the previous night and not wanting to burn the chakra necessary to return to male, having settled with shifting just the face and throat to that of her normal male self, trusting her baggy clothes to cover up the difference. She'd heard that some of her fellow Genin had gotten pretty banged up in the Chuunin Exam, and felt it would be a good, charitable thing to pop in and offer some encouragement. Stopping by a couple shops, she bought some flowers and sweets and things, knowing full well how terminally boring hospitals could be.

As she strode into the lobby of the hospital, she mulled over who to visit first, looking over the list before settling on Hiro. Heading to the appropriate room, she knocked on the open door, calling out in her usually masculine voice, "Hello, visitor here to see you!"

Hiro looked at her for a moment a bit, clearly trying to identify her, before asking, "Do I know you? Or did Sensei send you to check up on me?"

Chuckling a bit, she replied, "Name's Akira, I believe we may have met a couple times at the Academy, just saw that some of my fellow Genin had gotten banged up and thought they might need cheering up."

He shook his head, replying, "Thanks, but... I don't need cheering up."

Akira waved that off, stating, "Nonsense, you're trapped here in this hospital, and everyone knows they're terminally dull. Here, something to help out a bit." She then walked over, placing some chocolates on the bedside table.

He smiled at that, which pleased Akira as he replied, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, anything else I can help with?" She inquired.

"If you could come back with some food this evening for my little sister and myself that would be great" He answered.

She nodded at that, it was reasonable enough, "Sure, that'd be fine, what would you like?"

A little banter back and forth later, she left the room, waving bye as she headed to the next person.

[Roy Karrde]

Sorry for the wait guys, two weeks ago my computer was infected with a shit load of viruses from a Virus Scan program which downloaded itself onto my comp from some sight. With it was a 3 page post that I had worked out with Kalad. I was able to piece together some of it again from memory, but it isn't as large as the original, but I figured it's this or nuttin.


Iokawa, Hiro

As the sun sunk lower in the sky I already began to regret telling the girl to bring food. It wasn’t that I didn’t want the extra company. It was just that Hikari was very picky over what she would eat, and usually if it was bought or made by some one that she didn’t like or didn’t know, she would become very picky and annoying about eating her food. So when the girl named Akira showed up with meat balls, and Hikari’s face turned from being bright and cheery to one of a grimace, I knew I was in for a long night.

“I didn’t notice you at the exams” I struggled with the chopsticks, manipulating them with a broken hand while looking at Hikari’s food and then up at her, gesturing for her to eat her so far un touched food. She sunk lower into her chair with a frown, her arms crossed defiantly.

"Yeah, we didn't decide to go in." She replied from across the table. I had to admit she was pretty; one of the prettier girls that I had seen that was close to my age. Then again having to look after Hikari all the time, I never really had the chance to look at many girls my own age. Well other than Chiyoko.

I eventually gave up on using the chop sticks and resorted to just stabbing the meatballs. “Probably lucked out on that…” My voice trailed off as I caught myself from finishing the sentence. I was going to say ‘It was painful’ but with Hikari having a dream of following in her brother’s footsteps the last thing I needed was to give her added nightmares of what I went through. “Can we take a walk? I need some fresh air.”

Akira nodded as I slowly rose, making sure to avoid any painful movements. “The food is cold..” Hikari grumbled, poking a meatball with one of her chopsticks. For a second I wondered how she knew it was cold when she hadn’t even taken a bite of it.

“I’m sorry.” Akira tried to sound sincere in her apology but I knew this was usual for Hikari.

“Eat it..” I moved around behind her, placing my broken hand on her forehead. “When I get back I want half of the food on your plate to be gone.” Before she could reply I gave her head a soft but forceful pat on the head and moved out into the hallway with Akira.

The moment we were out of sight of her, I dropped the façade and limped to the wall, placing my side against it to hold up my strength, all the energy and life draining from my body. “Sorry about how she’s acting..” I drew in air through my teeth, trying to calm the pain.

Akira just continued to look at me, as if she didn’t know what to do. I gave her a weak smile in return and limped toward the roof access. “C’mon it looks like a nice night outside.”

[Dominus]

Akimoto, Akira still currently female
____________________________

As they reached the roof access door and left, catching the smell of fresh air, Hiro and, oddly enough Akira both seemed to let off a certain amount of tension. Hiro glanced at her as he went to lean on the fence surrounding the roof balcony.

"I never liked the smell of hospitals." he commented, taking a deep breath of the fresh air.

Akira nodded, thinking back to a few past events, "Neither have I, their poking and prodding don't help." She unconsciously shivered a bit at the thought.

Hiro looked up at the stars for a bit, clearly admiring the night sky as the wind shifted his hair about. After a short bit of that, he glanced at her, commenting with a bit of a blush, "It would be fun if our teams went on a mission together..."

Akira noticed the blush, and after some careful thought, nodded, replying with a bit of a blush herself, "Indeed, Hopefully nothing TOO perilous though."

He chuckled a bit, "Not a thrill seeker?" He paused before adding on, "Heh, I bet that sounds pretty funny from a bandaged up guy."

She giggle a bit at that, before shrugging, "Stealth and infiltration are the family specialties, though I'm better at fighting than most."

He gave an intrigued look at that, asking, "Oh? What can you do?"

She considered for a moment before playfully stating, "Close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you to."

After he obliged her, she paused for a moment, taking a breath, and began to focus, spreading her chakra through her body, reshaping it to the form in her mind's eye. The familiar sensations of twisting and warping accompanied the changes.

Finally, about ten minutes later, she opened her eyes, and told Hiro, in the voice of Hikari, who she appeared to be a twin of, "Okay, open your eyes!"

He opened them, and stepped back for a moment, clearly surprised. He then found his voice, asking, "So you know Transformation Jutsu?"

She grinned a 'cat got the canary' grin, stating playfully, "Try and dispel it."

He reached out first, feeling the hair on her head in a gesture that was, for a moment, caring in some manner, protective and brotherly before pulling the hand away, "It's more real than any other transformation jutsu I've seen... Hmmm... to dispel it..."

He then unwrapped his bandage, whipping it out to catch on her arm, before sending his chakra through in an attempt to disrupt the careful balance of chakra most such jutsu relied on. It, naturally, failed.

"You done?" She asked with a smile, before frowning a bit on seeing that he'd ripped some stitches.

"How?" he asked, bearing an expression of confusion.

"Family Bloodline, fully physical and complete transformation." She answered him, waiting for his reply.

"That's amazing!" He answered with some enthusiasm, holding his bleeding side where the stitches had popped loose.

She walked over to help him in, using her chakra to more slowly return herself to her former appearance, "Most find it freaky or disturbing actually. Now let's get you to a doctor and stitched up before your sister finds out, I doubt she'll be happy with us."

As she guided him in, she was inwardly pleased at finding someone who didn't think she was freaky, it didn't hurt that he was cute and a nice guy to boot...

[Outlaw JT]

OOC: sincerest apologies for my delayed post. We've been dealing with an explosion of feral kittens in our backyard. Three freaking stray cat litters in our backyard all born practically at once (within days of each other). We're talking 11 kittens in need of personal nursing and attention until they're old enough to be fixed. Exhausting little buggers. For reference, this post occurs 11 days after Hiro got out of the hospital.

Onitoge
~~~~~~~

Onitoge collapsed to all fours panting heavily. He had trained himself this hard a few times but day in day out training under Kazuki Sensei was unlike anything he'd been through before. He was certain the matter was amplified by the fact that he was the only pupil. Not to mention the fact that Kazuki didn't have any of his team to train because they didn't get through to this last round of the Chuunin exam. A morbid part of him was certain Kazuki Sensei was taking out frustration of that through this training.

"You call that trying harder?" Kazuki snapped sharply. "Children push themselves harder than that. Get up and try it again. We're not resting until you work these two techniques together!"

Under normal circumstances Onitoge was certain that such a statement was just a motivational tool. A way to encourage a student to try their best and work hard. Sadly, Onitoge believed Kazuki Sensei meant every word of it. They would be here and not stop until Onitoge had mastered this combination of their techniques into a new one, one only he would be capable of doing.

With a panting sigh of resignation Onitoge got back to his feet slowly. He spread them apart evenly, taking his stance for the thousandth time since they'd started training two weeks ago. He closed his eyes as he began to focus and for the thousandth time he began to sculpt his chakra through his body and bones. He'd get this right if it killed him. He wouldn't fail his team or his sensei, either of them!

The 3rd Hokage
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The old man sat at his desk patiently for the three young genin he had sent for. He rifled through the papers strewn across his desk, reassuring himself that he had chosen correctly. With the preparations for the upcoming Chuunin finale there were few shinobi that could be spared for C rank missions. These three had shown promise to their sensei, however, so they should be fine on their own. Especially in the company of a more experienced team from the Sand.

Finally the three youths entered and lined up in front of his desk. He smiled and folded his hands in front of his mouth as he often did. He waited a moment for the three to get a chance to observe each other. It was always fun to observe first impression being formed.

"I'm glad the three of you arrived so punctually," he began softly. "Iokawa Hiro, Mizumoto Kazuha, and Akimoto Akira. With preparations for the Chuunin exam and of course our normal slate of B and A rank missions we find ourselves a little short handed. Therefor, I will be sending the three of you on a C-rank mission together with no sensei. You will head to the Land of Rivers to support a fellow genin team from the Hidden Sand in capturing a small band of thieves in the area. You will rendezvous with your sand counterparts in the fishing village of Calika. Until you do: Hiro, you will be in command as you are the oldest. When you join with them, however, you will be under the command of Katsuya Ikaru until the mission is complete. He'll have further details on the mission upon your arrival. It's a three day journey to Calika so I suggest you make your preparations and set out immediately. As long as things don't get to out of hand you should be back in plenty of time for the Chuunin finale so don't worry about missing out on the tournament. I know some of you are looking forward to cheering for your friends. Well, good luck."

With that he dismissed them. He didn't much care for sending genin out unsupervised but they really were short handed. That and he had heard good things about the genin they were to be paired with. Since there weren't supposed to be any shinobi among the thieves they should all be fine.

OOC: I'll post for the genin you will be meeting when you get close. Feel free to post about your preparations and journey there, though. For everyone else, post about your training or something.