It was a new day, and the sun shone brightly, heating up the usually cool air of Iwagakure. Raishi was awoken by the sun’s bright, and brilliant rays, shining down on him through his room’s window. His eyes opened slowly can cautiously, in order to avoid the blinding effect that the rays would cause if he opened them too quickly. He could see the bright, blue sky from his bed, and it made him smile to himself happily. It was going to be a wonderful day.

Raishi got off bed abruptly, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. He was no longer about that lazy, and goalless life; he had to work, to train, to perfect himself more and more each day in order to remain useful in the world, and to not just be a waste of space. As he dressed up, he could still feel the throbbing of his sore muscles, due to his last training session, but that was no matter.No pain no gain.. he thought to himself with a smile, pushing the pain aside as he walked to his desk slowly. There, were two blank sheets of paper, ready to be written on with a pen in between both of them. He was to send a brief not to his newly assigned students, instructing them to meet him at the Fissure Training Grounds for a proper introduction. As he wrote on the two blank pieces of paper, memories of his previous teams just began popping up in his head, and he could not help but chuckle a little at his first experiences with each of his previous team. They had definitely been fun for him, but he could not say the same for the students...

With the final pen stroke, Raishi looked at the two cards, proof reading what he had written, making sure they were of identical content. The message read:




Raishi had kept the content of the message brief and straight to the point, because he saw no point in formalities; they were going to have a formal introduction later on at the training ground, so what was the use? Shortly afterwards, Raishi dashed out of his house, the addresses of his student’s homes memorised in his head. He had collected their addresses when he was assigned the team from the information office, because had wanted to hand deliver the messages himself. It was good exercise after all.

He dashed through the village, getting to his first destination. Suteki YAku... Although he knew their addresses, he did not read any other information about his two students, choosing to learn more about them through personal interaction. He dropped the card lightly at the window pane of Suteki’s house, unnoticed by anyone, before dashing away to his second location. And Ryouichi Nara, he thought to himself lightly as he placed the second message on the window pane. Despite not knowing any detailed knowledge about each student, Raishi did know that the Nara clan was famed for their Shadow Manipulation, from his hours spent in the Iwagakure libraries reading on world history. He quickly dashed to his last destination, the window pane of Yuurei Jet.

Having delivered the three notes to his students, Raishi hurried along to the Fissure Raining Grounds, his heart pounding heavily from all the running. He slowed to a stop as he arrived at the training grounds , hyperventilating a little. His muscles screamed at him, his heart rate increasing and getting harder and harder, but Raishi didn’t care, he just ignored the pain. He wiped sweat off from his forehead, the phrase ‘No pain, no gain’ echoing in his head.

---

Total words: 623
Speed: D-1 ~> D-2 (400)
Leftover: 223

Well, today was a different day than any other, but at the same time it brought back a, somewhat, unpleasant memory of the past. Another reminder of who he was, why he was here and the lack of purpose he had at the moment. A new squad had many meaning to Ryouichi, though none seemed very pleasant to the grown man, one of which seemed to be at the forefront of his mind. The thought of a grown man in a genin squad made him want to throw up. He could entirely opt to not show up, though that action would be far more childish than him actually facing the reality of the situation. If the current Tsuchikage wanted him placed on a squad, there would be a reason behind it, a reason in which he couldn’t overlook entirely, even if he had no idea what it would be. Aside from that, there would likely be some repercussion if he didn’t bother to show up, what they would entail, he had no idea whatsoever.
 
Glancing once again at the note, he let out a sigh, though not of relief. Honestly, after his numerous issues over the years, all he wanted to do was get back in action, though at this particular moment he only wanted to sit down and go back to sleep, though that was highly unlikely. While he still had time to ‘prepare’ as the note had said, one left by a Raishi Kanetsu, he doubted he truly ever would be. His ambition to become a shinobi at one point was high, but the years had dulled it down, even if he still wanted to be one, he still could, he doubted he would ever get past being a chuunin, and that wasn’t exactly something he was looking forward to. There were only three possible spots he ever wanted in life, the first being a jounin, the absolute minimum he would settle for. The next would be as an ANBU, but given his condition, that was a farfetched idea for him to serve in the elite of shinobi amongst his village. The last, and certainly the least attainable; it was impossible as far as he was concerned, was the one position only a sole person in the village could hold and it was recently anointed to someone else, though he doubted it would ever go to him even if he somehow made it to being a jounin in life. He would have to settle; something he didn’t want to do at all.  Ryouichi’s only options were to either give up entirely or strive. Though it would be a process, one he would hate the entire way up, he would strive to become something. Even if his health once more wouldn’t cooperate, he would continue on forward.
 
Shrugging on his outfit for the day, consisting of just a navy blue long-sleeve shirt, plain black pants and combat boots, his only unusual thing about his attire would he the cloth used to cover his left eye. Ryouichi didn’t bother wearing it at home, though when he went out, he wasn’t seen without it. He had enough time to make it to the ground in time, so as such he casually began to make his way to the training grounds without hurry.

---

"Ehh? Morning already... bleh..." Ashi whispered these words quietly and nearly incomprehensibly, lifting her body up in the sitting position still without even opening her eyes. If someone was to see her at that very moment, without a doubt they would split her head in two under the impression that she is actually a zombie. And so she pulled her fingers through her hair, opened her eyes, stood up and yawned loudly, stretching her arms...only to just let herself fall back on her bed and fall back in sleep pretty much the second her head met the pillow. Ashi always found it quite odd that in the mornings her bed felt about ten million times more comfortable than in the evenings, when she simply couldn't fall asleep. And so about an hour passed before she woke up the second time, but this time she was actually wide awake as soon as she opened her eyes. She could hear the birds singing close to her window, which was a bit strange when you consider how late it actually was. Driven by curiosity, Ashi skittered to her open window and looked outside. She could clearly see three little brown birds on the branches of the small lemon tree in her yard. She didn't know which kind of birds they were of course, but their singing was rather pleasant to the ear. Just as she was about to get on with her morning routine, she noticed a slip of paper laying on her window pane. Trash...? Ashi picked it up carefully, and realized that it actually contained details about her squad meeting!

"Noon?"

Ashi's eyes twitched in the direction of the cute yellow clock on the wall. It was already ten minutes past eleven. Her mouth slowly opened up as she began to realize that the Fissure training grounds were all the way on the outskirts of the other side of Iwagakure. If I don't go right now, I'll be late! Fuuuuuckkk! Ashi rushed over to her closet, grabbing the few random pieces of clothing she saw first and basically and basically just jumped into them. Black thights, a knee-long black skirt, a blue T-shirt with a grey sweatshirt on top and her standard brown sandals. Glancing at the mirror on the wall, she said this in order to encourage herself: "Yeah, I can pull this off." She pulled her fingers through her hair instead of combing it once again, and let it fall naturally. To top it all off, the headband! And my bracelets, where the hell did I put them... Ugh... She ended up finding them under her bed, and put them on, just below her knees. Each bracelet already had 5 kunai lodged in, a unique detail. She rushed down the stairs, yelled "I'm running late for the squad meeting, bye!" and set way towards the Fissure training grounds. She remembered the direction faintly from when her father took her there a couple of years ago. It was quite a trip, but she walked as fast as she could and reached her destination in about thirty minutes, arriving just about 5 minutes before noon, but Ashi herself didn't know that of course. So she sat down and rested, having actually broken a sweat underneath the warm sun.

---

Wordcount: 548

P.S. - I apologize for my late post, my brain suddenly became obsessed with non-Naruto anime and I simply couldn't force myself into the Naruto mindset. xD
P.S.S. - Bracelet is a link.

Several moments had passed since Raishi first arrived at the training grounds, sweating and hyperventilating. Now, he had calmed down a bit, his body muscles not screaming as much and his heart rate slow and stable. At that moment, he was seated on the rough, hard ground, legs folded and eyes closed, trying to let the calm breeze to fasten the cooling process of his over heating body. He felt the tingling feeling of sweat, rushing down his temples and swiftly wiped them off with his two index fingers, a habit he had developed over the years. He hated sweating.

The minutes seemed to pass by terribly slowly as Raishi waited for his students, and he was growing incredibly patient. This is why I hate coming for gatherings early, he said to himself bitterly. A few seconds passed painfully slowly, then Raishi jumped off the ground abruptly, frustrated with having to wait for the kids so long. He looked up at the sky, the sun radiating its usual warmth down to Raishi's already sweating body. It was at this very moment, that Raishi realised he had totally forgotten about his companion, Iwayama that resided on the outskirts of the village. Remembering this, Raishi whistled a distinct melody, loudly- his call for Iwayama. He knew that the rhinoceros had very good ears, and his cave was cave was close-by so he would make his entrance in no time.

More trickles of sweat poured from his temples so Raishi turned round in annoyance, hoping to shake the sweat off while letting out a huge sigh. As he did this, he noticed a small figure, sitting on the hard terrain in the distance. Wiping off some more sweat, Raishi advanced slowly towards the person, who was backing him. As he got closer, he realised that the person was young, female and seemed to be resting. He could tell this by her slowing breaths, and slight perspiration. This is probably Ashi...he deduced, smiling to himself a little. The fun was about to begin.

"Had a nice run?"

His voice was loud enough to startle anybody, but not quite loud enough to frighten anybody. He spoke in his usual friendly tone, with a slight smile on his face. First impressions were very important, and he wanted his students to be comfortable around him. It wasn't until he got closer and wiped his eyes, the sun shining down on him mercilessly that he realised that it was just a massive, irregularly shaped boulder. The heat was making him lose his mind, Raishi had to take a sit, letting his flak jacket fly. Why is it so hot? he asked himself, laughing lightly at his insanity. How could he think a boulder was a little girl? And even worse, he had spoken to a boulder!

---

Total words: 695
Strength:E-2 ~> D 525
Leftover:170

OOC:I am so sorry for the dreadfully late post x_x it seems that my previous post didn't send. By the way, Suteki will be joining this thread after this round of posts.

After walking past the gates of the village, Ryouichi slightly picked up his pace, but still was walking at a casual pace in which he took his time staring at the clouds lingering high in the sky. The Fissure Grounds were simple to locate for a native of Iwagakure no Sato. A hand ran through his hair, ruffling it slightly as he continued walking forward. A squad was the last thing he ever wanted again, but with the way the whole shinobi system worked, he doubted he could ever avoid it, so he detached himself from such thoughts and would tolerate it for the time being. He had his own motivations for trying to avoid a squad once again, but he wouldn’t let that be shown to anyone else. No, that was his reason to keep and he would keep it as such. The seconds would pass by as he would be one step closer to the training grounds in which he was supposed to go to. Perhaps, if this had been when he first started out he would’ve been excited; no it was definite, but not anymore. He knew what life had in store for him and he knew exactly what he would need to do, but there was no expediting time to get today over with.

With the fact he would likely be the oldest in this ‘squad’ and possibly older than that of the squad leader let more bitter thoughts enter his mind. It could be possible for him to have to just go today and then maybe find a way to discover someway to bypass this whole process once again. Not a simple task, but one he would look in to vigorously.  He noticed the Fissure Training Grounds and figures in the distance, but kept his pace consistent with his prior steps. He was in no rush for this entire thing again. In all likelihood, he would abhor this entire thing, perhaps not as much as his initial train of thought, but the memories of his earlier days would take heed, the constant reminder he wasn’t capable of extended fights, thus he couldn’t overly exert himself. Ryouichi was within range for the others here to see him, easily enough, though he didn’t bother at all with announcing his presence. Already, he knew what he would disclose and what he wouldn’t if it were asked. As for his capabilities, he forgot so much over the years that his memory of his techniques was vaguely present.

---

A lime green haired girl softly rocked in a hammock in her, a bit exhausted from last night. What had she been up to in the wee hours of the night? Training? No, she only does that in the morning or mid-day. Working? What kind of idiotic person would hire her? Oh right nobody. So...was she up to another one of her devious plans? For once, she was not. Actually she hasn't been up to much in the past few days, just been messing with the inhabitants of Iwagakure as usual in some odd manner but nothing serious enough to go ahead and corner her in a little toy store around midnight for no apparent reason. It was a bit annoying for her. Whenever a problem arises, even one that would've been completely unrealistic for her to commit, they would always come looking her, already condemning her in their narrow minds and seeing to it that she be punished. The said group consisted of the local authorities, and a rag tag group of nobodies; most them were victims to her whereas others found her really freaky, having come in contact with her unusual appearance (her attitude didn't help much either). She had managed to get away from them but only after five whole hours! Mind you she usually doesn't need much sleep but at least more than the current amount given to her would've been highly appreciated.

High up in the ceiling on her bright red hammock with purple and brown pillows around she slept. That is until she leaned too far onto the right and fell off, hitting the floor head first. She groaned and rubbed the sore spot on her head "Ow ow ow, Jet's head hurt" Shaking it off she yawned, doing a few little stretches afterwards to loosen her up. As she carefully maneuvered around the mess that is her house, she saw a note attached to her window pane near the front door. She rolled her eyes at this however she was very curious though she decided it wouldn't hurt to get ready first before she read the note. So off she went to her closet, grabbing a fresh pair of clothes, and into her bathroom to prepare for the day.

About an hour later did she emerged, clean and rejuvenated. She felt so much more awake than she had been when she awoke. She pulled up the hood of the jacket of her signature outfit which consisted of: a baggy redish orange jacket with hood with an orange t-shirt underneath,  a pair of brown gloves with matching brown boot style tennis shoes, black shorts with matching goggles with red lenses and mid-thigh high tights that were stripped green and black with her forehead protector securely wrapped around her upper right arm, close to her shoulder but not quite. As she walked to the window pane to get the letter, she put in her two lip rings over the right side of her bottom lip. Opening it, she skimmed it over, a grin appearing on her face once she finished. She was meeting her squad today! Excited, she made her breakfast, which consisted of buttered waffles, that she took with her and was out the door as soon as possible.

It was almost noon when she arrived at the Fissure Training Grounds, her breakfast long gone. She could've arrived sooner as she was not too far from this training ground but she had made a lot of waffles, taking her time with them as well as giving a good ole' fright to anyone roaming the streets which was quite easy to do. She skipped a little fast when she a figure in the distance, her sensei apparently being Raishi Kanetsu. She remembered trying to mess with him but before she could she had gotten into a heated argument with a group of thugs near a bar. Well they were the ones who started it and got really mad about. Long story short the local authorities came and arrested most of them together, but not her since she had left during the whole commotion when they arrived. Shaking her thoughts out of her head, she was about two or three meters from her newly appointed sensei whose aura felt aggravated, probably from the heat which didn't really bother her too much today. Feeling giddy, she opened her mouth which showed her slightly fanged teeth and yelled out "Jet is one of the first here! Yayy~ Jet wishes you a good morning sensei!" finishing it off failing her arms; the noise she made was loud enough for him to hear as well as anybody close by.

Running wc: 792

It was a tragedy to say the least, at least in her mind.  Suteki was running along the graveled pathway, stopping anytime she came to a fork in the road, trying to figure out where the hell this Fissure Valley, or Fisher Training Grounds or something along those lines was.  The sun was beating her down, breathing deeply as she raced along.  The sun stood high in the sky, projecting the large shadow of herself and the immense gourd she had on her back below her, as she she stopped to catch her breath, looking around for some form of shade, anything to protect her from this horrid ball of fire in the sky.  To her dismay though, the sun would have none of that.  Suteki grabbed a hold of the blackish blue straps that wrapped around her and pulled the gourd behind her up with a heave of her shoulders.  She grabbed the straps tightly with one hand and wiped a huge swath of sweat off her forehead and dripping wet hair.  A large dash of moisture momentarily stained her gloves, "Is that drying already!"  The stain seeming to recede before her eyes.  


Suteki had awoken quite early in the morning, just before the rising sun would creep through the windows of her newly appointed sensei, awaking him to write and deliver the summons to her.  The sun had halfway broken above the mountainside as she left her abode to do her daily rounds around the village square, to grab a bite to eat for breakfast with a girlfriend of mine and watch the comings and goings of the milling about people of Iwagakure for an hour before joining in.  I hadn't decided what my day would entail by this point, but I planed to enjoy a small shopping spree perhaps, than some window shopping, and maybe grab some cake or something with my friend around midday, avoiding the what was to be a scorcher of a day around that time.  

After breakfast, my plans were squashed by my friend as she decided she wanted to hang out with some boy later today.  She invited me along, but I didn't feel inclined to join in.  Though, this was just shortly after an hour of window shopping.  I could have continued on, but didn't feel like the experience would be so grand alone.  It was around 10 that I decided to go back home, as the sun was starting to just show its wraith.  The future endeavor could have been perfectly fine by this point, if I had found the letter when I got home.  It was about 40 or so minuets after, I had just got relaxed, when I noticed the letter barely gripping the outside part of my window.   I fetched it to read, half expecting it to be a mission for tomorrow or something.


I was now running, as I hit the final crossroad I had been searching for.  I was sure I was lost a few moments ago, but finally, a sign of intelligence had shown itself.  A wooden hand painted sign, pointing down the road, reading Fissure Training Grounds.  This was the first time I had been to this place, heck this was possibly the third, or forth time I had exited the village gates really.  Though, given her rank as a shinobi, this wasn't a rarity, but it said something about her combat experience.

I moved quickly ahead, the sun and I were having a battle, and so far, I was losing.  The sun shown down harshly, as I reached my destination.  Crags were starting to pop out from the surface, portraying the given name of this place.  Suteki continued down the most obvious path, entering into the fissure leading deeper between the mountains.  She was still running, trying to avoid being to late, passing by and looking down other fissures as they broke from the main road, leading possible paths elsewhere.  Ahead, she heard the faint echoes of a female screaming some gargled words.  The young girl slowed her pace, stopping before the next bend to try and catch her breath, again wiping the sweat from her forehead, and immediately after brushing her hair apart, and behind her ears as she calmed her breathing down.  She listened for a moment to what was to be said, gaining composure before going around the last bend, and entering the sight of those she was to be joining alongside. No, that wasn't right.  

'Those with which I was to be competing against.'




761 words

Endurance to D (300)
Speed to D-1 (325)

Remaining: 136

---

“Jet is one of the first here! Yayy ~ Jet wishes you a good morning sensei!”

Raishi turned round slowly, startled slightly by Jet’s greeting. It surprised him that he had not even been able to sense her presence, all due to his irritating habit of drifting off into his world of thoughts and memories. He needed to get rid of the habit of over-thinking before it ruined him…
Looking back at the first of his students to come, Jet, Raishi couldn’t help but notice how…unique she was. So many things about this child gave it all away; if it wasn’t the bizarre outfit choices, or the slightly fanged teeth, then it had to be the fact that she spoke in 3rd person. Raishi smiled at Jet, appreciating her enthusiasm, and seemingly natural happy nature. Although he knew nothing about this kid, Raishi couldn’t help but start to like her. He wiped his forehead with his finger lightly, as he spoke to Jet. He had to ignore the immense annoyance that the heat was giving him, because his students were arriving. He wouldn’t want to give the wrong impression.

“Hello Jet, aren’t you a happy one? Nice to see that you arrived on time. We’re going to have to wait a few minutes for the other two, so I can introduce myself properly.”

Looking over Jet’s shoulder, Raishi noticed for the first time, a figure in the distance…yes, he was sure it was a person, and not another boulder. It was a boy? No. A man. People usually were not at the Training Grounds at this time, due to the immense heat. People preferred training either early in the morning, or late at night in the Training Grounds, so the person had to be part of his team. Ryouichi?? Raishi was actually taken aback by how old Ryouichi looked – he looked older than he was! Raishi simply push that notion aside…Raishi had looked older than his age when he was younger. When he was 15, people had thought he was 20, so Raishi assumed that it was the same case for Ryouichi. Raishi made a gesture for Ryouichi to come towards him and Jet, smiling slightly at the young man. Only a few moments afterward did the last member of the team arrive, Suteki. Iwayama isn’t here yet…but I’ll have to begin.

“Hello all, as I said in the notes you all received, I am Kanetsu, Raishi, your new appointed sensei. Now I would like to know a bit about all three of you, nothing much I don’t want to know your life story. Just the important details, or rather things you think are important to tell. I shall begin. As you may well know, I am a member of the Kanetsu clan, making me one of the few Lava users in the world. Who’s next?”

He spoke in a casual tone in order to create a relaxed, and friendly atmosphere between the individuals. Besides it was nothing really formal, just a meeting of comrades… of will-be friends. Raishi had chosen to say as little as possible about himself, hoping to surprise them along the way as he reveals more and more when their relationship progresses but he was being painfully honest- the fact that he was one of the few Lava users in the world was more or less the most important, or even special thing about him. Maybe even the only one.

I wonder when Iwayama will get here...he thought to himself absent-mindedly, worrying that his rhino companion had forgotten about the team meeting today.

---

Total Words : 1291

His thoughts still lingered on the issue of him being here; perhaps it would’ve been best for Ryouichi to just have simply skipped out, though in truth, he was still contemplating on turning around and walking away. He could care less about what would happen to him if he were to ever take such actions, but Ryouichi could already hear the whispers coming and going. Whispers about how he was still a genin while numerous individuals had already went ahead with their lives, the individuals he graduated with, had already become chuunin, special jounin, jounin, ANBU, and one had even made it to the position of Kage for a brief period of time. Others had decided to take a brief chance at the life he had once wished to live and decided the better route would be to remain civilians or perhaps even do minor work within the village, as shinobi, not having to continue going on missions for the sake of the village. Sometimes he wondered if that was the best route for him to take, the safer route, but never the ideal for him.

In the end, he was here, likely to keep more to himself than anything else. He glanced around the figures in the area, the man he assumed who was his “sensei” and one of the individuals that composed this squad. Leisurely walking at a gait, Ryouichi halted when he was at a respectable distance. Not bothering to take a look at the people whom he would share a squad with, Ryouichi just stood there, not bothering to speak out, not unless it was a life threatening matter or he chose to. When Raishi had finished speaking, mostly talking details about what he’d like to know, Ryouichi already knew the two things he would state,  thus when asked “Who’s next,” he was already prepared to speak out. Then again, the two details would likely already be known by the squad leader.

“Nara Ryouichi. As the name states, of the Nara clan.”

---

Jet giggled and beamed at her sensei Raishi. He had a funny aura...something she just wanted to mess with. If there was a priest around they would think she was the devil, imagining little horns on her head and a slick spike tipped tail swinging behind her. She was a hell raiser through and through; a true child at heart always wanting to find a new toy. How could she not? There were so many interesting things in the world. They all had a special light that attracted her to them like a moth to a flame. It would just be wrong, unnatural even for her not to want to play with them, to mess with them....to...break them and snuff out their light, dragging them into the darkness and never letting them go. She would reveled in their screams and get high on their sweet sweet agony as they struggled, her body soaked in their blood; torturing them as they beg and beg her to stop and just let them die. Jet's slapped herself and stopped zoning out shaking her head to rid herself of these horrid thoughts. Jet doesn't like broken toys. No no no. Jet takes good care of her toys.

It wasn't long for her other teammates to arrive and she was quite surprised she had sickly shadow and ghostly misty. Ah yes she knew of them just like her sensei but not as much. Jet may not look like it but she is a very intelligent well preferring to be the informer instead of the uninformed. When she gained a...decent, more or less, trust from the village, she did some research on the shinobi of the village so she could categorize them. There were three categorizes; cronies, toys, and ringleaders. Cronies were unimportant pawns that were disposable. Toy were somewhat important means of entertainment and were durable. Toys and cronies were also prankeable. Ringleaders, however, were not. Ringleaders were usually people very much stronger than her like people like her sensei or the kage. People who were not total ringleaders till proven or given special circumstances were also subjugated to be manipulated and messed with just not as often as it would not be as easy to go undetected as it would be around genin like her or chuunin.

Since Jet had only the barest, useless information on her teammates, she would have to rely on this introduction and future meetings in order to properly categorize them. Giggling once she twirled round and round in circles till she got 'dizzy' and stopped. Paling, she smiled clumsily and chirped when it was her turn to speak "We are Yuurei Jet of the yuurei clan. We are 17 years old and were not born here in Iwa but in Suna yet Iwa is our home. We love games and we are saving a special game for a certain person. Oh and we hate a certain traveling troupe"

Running wc: 1292

After a moment of hesitation, and a deep breath, the young girl turned walked passed the corner, and continued along the path. It was but a few seconds later that she could see a figure walking just ahead of her, and two others standing in the distance. She slowed her pace to a steady amble, time no longer being an issue really. If her "captain" wanted her to quicken her pace, he needed to only say so. For now, the easy stroll would help her become calmer, and help reduce some of the heat from the blaring sun.

As she got closer, she could now see that her squad was made up of older individuals. For a moment, her pace slowed almost to a stop as she hesitated. In that small instant, the flash of her last "Squad Meet and Greet" ran through her mind, mostly the ending portion. Her back tingled slightly as she remembered being burnt by whom she eventually learned to be a Special Jounin ranked officer. Though, that was a squad made up for the Kage, not some nobody. Chances are it wouldn't end up like that situation. So in that thought, her pace went back to normal and she soon met up with the gang ahead.

The first to speak was most certainly the squads captain, that nobody that crossed her mind, inspecting his physical features as he spoke. Raishi Kanetsu, an obviously older man compared to her, though not immensely older, perhaps 10 years or so. He had an a lure to him, his silvery gray hair and amazing blue eyes and a great body. She could see herself liking him if this squad was able to keep together. Though, it was a shame he wasn't a few years younger... She began to stair at him with a slight amount of intent showing, missing half of his statement. All she caught was that he was Kanatsu clan, and lava user, vaguely. His voice soothing and at ease. Perhaps a little to informal for the young girl. He certainly wasn't a nobody anymore.

As soon as her sensei stopped speaking, another spoke up quickly, breaking her concentration on aforementioned hot guy. She looked to the man that stood a few feet away to her left. Ryouichi of the Nara Clan, was older than the man before. Though he spoke so quickly, she had very little time to take in his features. As the next member was taking a great deal of her attention away. She watched as the girl spun in circles, a short amount of silence occurring as she just stared at the girl spinning. Chances are, she wasn't the only one.

After a moment that could have been described as an eternity, the girl stopped and seeming to try and regain her balance from her trip. She took the details of the girl in as she spoke in her odd mannerism. Green haired, red with hint of green eyed young lady. Not much older than herself, only 5 years separated them. The girl seeming to give off the aura of a fairly young teen. Yurrei Jet, mysterious and..fairly odd.

Suteki wanted to put more thought into this special game and certain person thing the girl spoke about, than looking at her sensei and seeming to dawn slightly at a possibility. And a hate for a traveling troupe? It easily broke her concentration as a moment of time passed before she realized it was her turn to speak. Her gaze and posture never seeming to alter the entire time as all the members of the squad spoke, except at this exact moment, when she seemed to be searching the ground as for what to do or say. The thought of what she was supposed to do or say tore through her mind. What were they doing this entire time? Lava, Nara, Yuurei Jet of the Yuurei clan. They were introducing themselves? She looked up at the sensei. This day was going so well at the start, and now it was quickly becoming shit. Her face seeming to turn red slightly, blushing at her inability to simple introduce herself. It would be short and sweet, as she spoke with an odd amount of extreme volume, almost screaming her name at them with an excessive amount of force, "Suteki Yaku!"

Perhaps the extreme volume was in my head, as I looked around at the faces of those around me. Everything was seeming to be a distraction at this time. I was ill prepared for the entire event. Echoes of her name could be heard for several seconds, bouncing off the canyon walls for quite some distance away. I had hoped it was in my head. Surely it was.


800 words

936 words total

Perception to D-1 (325)
611 words remain going towards Sand Binding Coffin (611/2400)

Raishi looked at each of his students, turn by turn, wondering who would be brave enough to speak out first. It wasn’t long until Ryouichi, the oldest looking amongst the group ,including Raishi , spoke out.

“Nara Ryouichi. As the name states, of the Nara clan.”

After Ryouichi quickly finished his brief, uninformative introduction, Raishi couldn’t help but raise his left eyebrow slightly at the individual, as if to question the Nara’s words. Of course, he had told his students that they were open to say whatever they could; whatever they thought was special or important about themselves thus giving them the freedom to choose and carefully filter what they planned on sharing. Yet, Raishi couldn’t help but feeling a tinge of disappointment when hearing the immensely short introduction of the old looking Nara. To Raishi, it’s almost as if the man-looking boy had said nothing at all.

The more Raishi thought about it, his accelerating faster and faster, he began to notice the demeanour in which Ryouichi was acting, studying his body language and facial expressions carefully as he tried to figure out what exactly was wrong with  the young man. As his mind raced faster and faster, Ryouichi’s problem became much more clearer to him.

Despite arriving at the Training Grounds already, he had distanced himself from me and Jet, not wanting to approach. If I had not called he would not have come…Raishi also took into consideration the speed at which Ryouichi had spoken, despite the fact that he had little to say. The answer was too obvious. Ryouichi did not want to be there – he did not want to be part of the team. That was why he was emanating a somewhat let’s get it over with behaviour. Raishi concluded his investigation, his mind slowing down to normal speed as he thought about his results. Why would Ryouichi not want to be in a team? Raishi took into consideration that he may be wrong about his assessment, but if he wasn’t, he needed to know what would lead Ryouichi to not want o be in a team. The fact that Ryouichi had not said anything special or important about himself, made him important and special to Raishi, and he just had to keep tabs on Ryouichi...to uncover the secrets about the young man.
Raishi continued to look at Ryouichi, smiling slightly at the young man in an effort to negate the somewhat tense ambiance that the Nara’s brisk introduction had created. It wasn’t up to a few seconds, when Jet started on her own introduction.

"We are Yuurei Jet of the yuurei clan. We are 17 years old and were not born here in Iwa but in Suna yet Iwa is our home. We love games and we are saving a special game for a certain person. Oh and we hate a certain traveling troupe"

Raishi couldn’t help but smile at the young girl as she finished her introduction, due to her infectious perkiness. He just loved her natural happiness, shining and radiating warmth to everyone around her from within, like the sun. Likewise, he couldn’t ignore the fact that this time, she referred to herself as more than one person, saying ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. Raishi had never encountered such an oddly unique individual such as Jet, and he had no idea how her being on his team would play off. Just to wait and see….

Jet’s introduction was definitely better than that of Ryouichi, giving a friendly atmosphere, as well as being informative. Atleast, Raishi learned that she was originally from Sunagakure, the Hidden Sand village, but curiousity still took over him as he kept wondering why and how she had come to Iwagakure. He put it aside, knocking the question off for another day. She mentioned her love for games, and the fact she was saving a special game for a certain person. This statement slightly puzzled  Raishi , because he curiosity drove him to wonder not only what exactly the game would be, but who the certain person was. Jet also mentioned hating a certain travelling troupe and this puzzled Raishi as much as the prior statement. By the time Jet had finished talking, Raishi had so manmy unanswered questions in his head concerning Jet, he felt like his head was going to explode. There were just so many question marks concerning the young girl. It seems like I have the most interesting set of students…he thought to himself excitedly, looking forward to his time with this team.

It seemed like an eternity after Jet’s question raising introduction, that Suteki began hers.

"Suteki Yaku!"

She was brisk and loud, probably louder that she thought it would be, and Raishi shyed as he understood completely what was going on with her. Raishi deduced quickly that the young girl was dreadfully shy and he could tell this easily not by studying her body language, or replaying her movements in his head, but he could by the bright red blush to her cheeks, a universal sign of embarrassment. Raishi merely smiled encouragingly  at the girl, for he had once been very shy, when he was younger. He didn’t expect anything more from her.
Raishi looked at his three students calmly, a slight smile on his face as he unknowingly wiped a droplets of sweat from his forehead, a habit he had developed. He was satisfied with the introductions to an extent, and he knew that it was time to get to second part of the meeting; his favourite part. The test.

“Okay then, now you know each other, and a few things about yourselves. Now what we are going to do now, is our first team exercise…a sort of test if you will, so I can assess your abilities first hand.”

He spoke in a calm tone, hoping to not cause too much anxiety or fear to overwhelm his students on their first day, despite his own fast beating heart beat. Raishi looked at each one of them, paying close attention as he spoke, possibly already trying to guess the exercise they were going to do. They have no idea…he thought to himself excitedly.

“What I want you to do is simple, yet it may prove to be difficult to achieve. You three are to work together to try and get me to lose my balance, and fall to the floor....to strike me down.”

Raishi knew that this task was significantly easier than the task he had given his old team on their first meeting, but he really just wanted to see his students’ abilities in battle, not give them something nearly impossible to do with an ultimatum. It was just the first team exercise after all. He looked at his students, waiting to see their various reactions, before he continued giving instructions about what was to happen. It wasn't long before he continued speaking slowly, and clearly in order for his students to get every instruction he was giving to them.

"You are a team now, which means that you would have to work together in order to achieve this simple task. It would work as a simulation, illustrating a battle situation where you would all have to face a significantly stronger opponent. Although this is just an exercise, I urge you to not hold back at all, as your opponent will not."

Saying this, Raishi jumped back swiftly from his students, making a space of about 3 or so meters between them. Of course he would give them the first move, hoping to see where that would lead to. Either way, it was going to be a fun day. He looked up at the sky before saying his last words, the sun hotter than ever in its radiant throne.

"The exercise ends if just one of you is struck down by me. Begin"

---

Total Words: 2598

When the introductions occurred, his own being exactly ten words, though it could have easily just been two. The first one to follow his introduction was what Ryouichi would consider… odd. It mainly revolved around her usage of the word ‘we’, along with the giggling and spinning that joined. The stereotypical girlish behaviour he could easily deal with, accept even, but not how she had been using the pronoun ‘we’. But, he’d tolerate it for the time being. If, and only if, things went to how he wished to plan out everything, he would not have to deal with either of his squad mates or a squad leader in the future, though it all solely depended on Ryouichi himself. The other person to introduce themselves had made their introduction far shorter than Ryouichi’s own, though the pitch that her voice took had him raising an eyebrow internally. He registered both of their names, though didn’t plan on actually being one to learn about them. Names would suffice him. Perhaps their skills, but he didn’t want to know much else about any of them.

As Raishi began speaking once more, likely speaking of the things he recalled from his first sensei, Ryouichi focused his attention on the sky above, avoiding looking in the general direction of the sun. He had registered bare amounts of the information that had been given by the squad leader, and could already assume what was going to happen, even if he did not want to participate.

"The exercise ends if just one of you is struck down by me. Begin"

Likely, this was the last thing the Nara had wanted to hear today, but he knew it would happen after the Kanetsu had spoken prior to the exercise beginning promptly. It was not only the fact that he was placed on another squad, an entirely different one than the one he had when his life took its first round, but he knew that this wouldn’t get him anywhere. He hadn’t been paying much attention to the other two squad members, though he likely wouldn’t have if they had given him their life stories. His bitterness over the years just continually developed, never once going backwards, only gathering even more.

Mentally, Ryouichi sighed. Raishi had already moved backwards, three meters away from them. It had been so long since he had done anything of the sort. He never had the opportunity to spar with others due to there being no one that he would want to spar with. Though, with the way things were set up, Ryouichi would have a simple time achieving his wish at the moment. To be done here. After all, the rules Raishi had provided were far too simple. Only one of them needed to be struck down, and he honestly would just stand there and be struck down. Though there were two ways such a thing could pan out. Either Raishi would use low ranking techniques, making it easy to take the brunt of an attack, or he’d go all out, similar to how he stated, and use more deadly techniques. Either way, Ryouichi knew it wouldn’t be best to exert himself today, considering how often he had been told by his doctors to keep his physical activity to a minimum for the first few weeks after he was cleared. Sure he was cleared, but there was still the matter of the ‘first few weeks’ passing. Either way, he’d make his decision like he always had done so before. Thus, taking a few steps back, placing him likely another three meters away from the squad leader, totaling a six meter distance, roughly, Ryouchi stood in place, his shadow stirring beneath him, prepared for the decision he would go on and make.

---

The echoes continued for a moment, and she looked up to see the group, seeing their reaction to her starling example of introduction.  She expected something more though from everyone.  Though they seemed quite for the most part oddly.  Raishi Kanetsu just smiled at her.  Ryouichi Nara seeming startled oddly.  And Yuurei Jet, her reaction was seemingly expected, she would certainly react in some manner.   If it were herself seeing such, she would have said something rude or on the snide side to break the tension of her ally, though both Raishi and Ryouichi didn't present that luxery to her.  Something she was sure of that Yuurei Jet would have done given her personality.  If she wasn't embarrassed before for thinking the thoughts she had about Yuurei Jet compared to the two males before, this certainly increased it several times over.  But, before she could wander down that path, Raishi Kanetsu started speaking about the rules of the fight.


“we are going to do now, is our first team exercise…a sort of test if you will, so I can assess your abilities first hand.”

Her heart sank slightly as he spoke.  She had no time to go through the steps of being embarrassed of her response, as the news hit her hard.  Her expression changed instantly.  His words rang harsh memories to come.  Her hands raised as she reached for the corks on her barrels, taking them off.  She was going to have to fight these two people just like she thought.  Just like when she was trying out for the Kage's Squad a few months ago.  Fortune smiled that she didn't reveal much about herself to these people now, the less they knew the better.  Perhaps the real reason of why she was startled for an answer to give to her enemies.  She knew she would have to wait a moment before attacking, their were rules to follow after all.

Her enemies were older than her, just like before, and just like before, there personalities were similar.  The man, stoic like, the girl rather obvious and open.  One to hide their abilities and skills, the other open because they are skilled. This was how she read it, and currently unknown to what they could do, she was already forming a plan how to fight both of them.  Though, her squad leaders next words were of some surprise.  

“You three are to work together to try and get me to lose my balance, and fall to the floor....to strike me down.”

Her arms slunk down to her side, it was a 180 from what she had expected.  She was ready to rip the heads off of her allies, and now she was to work with them.  She needed a moment to get a grip of herself.  Now they were to fight their squad leader.  This gorgeous and fairly friendly man.  And to make it worse, follow in the coming days.  She was going to have to viciously attack him, something she didn't look forward to at all.  As he continued to speak, she regained her composure, and was back on her game.

Their job was to knock him to the ground.  Working together was the wanted outcome.  Certainly to be given a squad he was of a higher rank they they were.  Were they all Genin then?  Three against 1 with a 2 chunnin or a single Special Jounin on their side should have made this a pushover.  Though he wanted us to not hold back at all.  He was either very strong, or very cocky, or they were all weak and on the lowest rung.  

Raishi Kanetsu jumped back away from them preparing for an attack.  Lowest rung it was then.  They were all genin, taking on a Special Jonin, or Jonin.  She had already gone through a test like this, and though it was ended early by the Kage, she felt she had a shot at winning still.  Certainly working with two others, of hopefully similar skill, this should be a simple matter.  The first moves were where this would count most in this situation.  Quick strikes were needed.  All she was waiting for were for him to begin the match.

Another rule was pressed on to them by surprise.  If Any of them were struck down by him, the game was over.  She would have to maul that one over later, as when he finished his statement, the match began.

Ryouichi Nara started to back up, and Suteki waited for this to grab Raishi Kanetsu attention for a brief moment.  Just a brief moment of his gaze going towards him and she would begin her attack.  When the moment of time had passed, she would release her first jutsu to began the action.  She had already started to breath in deeply and slowly to hide the action, just as Ryouichi Nara started to move away from the target.  Any showing of hesitation or disturbance in his pose and a huge stream of wind would be blown from her mouth as she released a gust of wind towards her enemy.  Though even if the gaze hadn't changed, she couldn't hold it for to long, hoping he or someone else would cause him to stir.  Either that, or he needed someone to start a head on attack against him to change his posture in any "positive" way.

A rather simple jutsu to say the least, but given his distance from her, he would feel some form of an affect.  She would jump backwards after releasing the technique, her sand being drawn out of her gourd for a defensive measure.  The sand would drop to the ground for the most part, though slightly slow, swirling slightly around her if she needed an instant defense.  She was already blowing some wind nature chakra into her palms as she had jumped in the air, getting ready to release her second jutsu while in still in motion of her jump.  If Raishi Kanetsu didn't use Supernatural Walking Practice to keep his ground, this next attack would certainly gain her some momentum.  She blew him a kiss, as a orb of wind would rush down towards him from slightly above, hopefully for her sake while he was still in the effects of her last jutsu, or another from someone else in her squad.  The attack would have been swift, given her distance from him.  

As she was coming in for a landing from her jump, Suteki was already blowing a second sphere of Wind Release: Spiralling Wind Ball into her palm.  She hadn't time to discern any movement affects from after she landed made by Raishi Kanetsu.  She would have to launch the ball based one what she remembered from before her landing  and than launched it from ground level straight towards him.  She didn't think about her allies this time, if one of them was in front of her, or made Raishi Kanetsu move, they would possibly be hit from behind or the attack would miss altogether.  She wasn't skilled enough to allow time to think the second attack out to much beyond where Raishi Kanetsu had been when she landed.  As she was already preparing a defense for herself in case she invoked the wraith of Raishi Kanetsu.  The sand was still being drawn out of her Gourd, and was starting for swirl in front of her in case she needed to apply a defensive dome for protection.  

Chakra:

1259 words

Sand Binding Coffin (1870/2400)

Raishi looked at his students calmly as he let out his last words, signaling them to begin. He knew that this this task he had issued them would prove to take them by surprise, because it seemed to be the norm to tell students to spar with one another; the main stream idea of what a test is supposed to be. Raishi didn’t think this way, this was how he was…different. He looked on at his students, now roughly 3 meters away from him after he had given them space. He did this to let them make the first move, not because he was overly confident in himself, or he saw them as weaker than he was, but he just wanted to see how they would react - their first impulses. Although, he hoped he wouldn’t regret this choice, because he knew it himself, deep in his heart that he was not prepared for this. It had been ages since Raishi had actually sparred with anybody, the last time being in Kirigakure during the conflict involving the odd named tyrant, Seven Bells. Raishi knew that he was well out of practice; even though he seemed to have the upper hand in terms of strength, their strength were in numbers, so he didn’t know what to expect. He tensed his body, preparing himself to make any swift movements if the need arised. He put all his second-guessing and contemplation aside, his mind quickening up from its slowed down state. Time began to move normally now, as he stared hard at the students, still with that same smile on, ready for anything. Then there was movement.

Ryouichi was the first to move but his the direction in which he moved, utterly confused Raishi, raising yet again, many question marks concerning the young man. The Nara had moved back, away from Raishi, somewhat doubling the gap between them and just stood there. His mind slowed down significantly as he tried to deduce this movement…Perhaps he is calculating, trying to predict my moves…Over the years, Raishi had taken it upon himself to educate himself about the shinobi world and its history. Looking at Ryouichi now, Raishi remembered what he read once about the Nara Clan, one of the shinobi world’s earlier clans. He had read that the Nara clan were home to spectacular tacticians, able to beat significantly stronger opponents, with their immense tactical skill. Perhaps he is one of those gifted tacticians…Raishi thought to himself, beginning to understand what exactly he was going up against. His mind sped up once more, remembering that he still had two other opponents he was battling against. Suteki had already began her attack, choosing to go up front than making space like Ryouichi. Shit..he said to himself, seeing her release a gust of wind from her mouth. The first attack. He needed to stop zoning out, to stop thinking too much and just act, or he would lose easily before the exercise even really started. Pay attention..

Raishi’s reaction to this attack was simple. He swiftly used his arms to protect his chest in an X like manner, then relaxed his legs. The logic was simple. If his legs were tensed, rooted to the ground, the gust of wind would easily cause him to stumble due to its force. So why not embrace it, instead of trying to counter it? It was with this logic, that Raishi decided to jump back as well, using the gust of wind as a means of pushing himself further away from the kids.  As he slid to a stop, now 8 meters away from them,  he made sure to have a visual on each of his students, so he would be able to know if any of them were going to surprise him as Suteki did. In fact, Suteki was already in the air, the others, just watching her go. As he began weaving two quick handseals, Raishi couldn’t help but be amused by the fact that Suteki, the shy one, the one who could barely introduce herself, was the one who was making such bold moves. His initial plan was for her to be the one he took down, because she seemed like the weakest; so shy and unsure of herself. She would have been the perfect target. He smiled to himself as he watched her just about to blow the wind chakra she had channeled in her hand, towards him, then activated his jutsu. He began to drop into the ground, and had fully submerged just as the wind jutsu landed on the rough terrain above him.

Now underground, he had time to think. When he was above ground, he had memorised the positions of the two other students who were just standing in the background, calculating the exact distance between himself and the other two, Ryouichi being 11 meters, and Jet being 8 meters. He moved quickly as he advanced towards Ryouichi’s position. His plan still remained the same; to take down the one person who seemed to be the weakest, but the subject of whom the weakest link was had changed. His new target was Ryouichi. Of course Raishi may be wrong, like he was about Suteki, being as Ryouichi was member of the Nara clan, so he may be a talented tactician but he wouldn’t know unless he reached. Besides, Ryouichi had emanated weakness so far, pushing back away from battle. Or perhaps this was his battle strategy? Raishi couldn’t tell.

Now directly under the boy, Raishi decided to move roughly a meter or so away from him, just in case the boy had some surprise attack up his sleeve. He had to be careful. Now reaching his destination, Raishi rose up from the ground, taking out two kunai from his pouch and threw it instantly Suteki and Ryouichi. He was facing their backs so the chances of them being able to know he was behind them were small. Because of this, Raishi aimed his kunai at the two youngling’s arms; he wouldn’t want them to sustain any serious injury just because of a training exercise. So if either of them were hit by the kunai, they would only sustain a cuts that weren’t too deep, but would draw blood. Ryouichi on his right arm, and Suteki on her left. Raishi hadn’t attacked Jet because he believed she was still prepping in her mind, considering her evident…problems. He just chose to ignore her until she decided to attack.

As he threw the kunai, Raishi wove a handseal, and the expelled volcanic ash around him. This cloud of ash spread out 20 meters around him instantly, hopefully engulfing his students as well. If his students were in the cloud, Raishi would be able to tell, but they would be blinded, heightening Raishi’s advantage over them. He jumped away from Ryouichi, his eyes locked on him, a 2 meter distance between them. I hope I'm right about him..

---

Reflexes SC: Reaction Time +1
Ace Eye SC: Perception +1

275/315:

Total words: 3759

Jet was proud of herself. She has already gotten on her sensei’s good side with her upbeat childish attitude. It wouldn’t do to be on his bad side. Mischievously smiling inwardly, she plotted about messing with him. What? Were you expecting for her to be like a good little girl and not to anything? Ha if only but this menace was on a mission for fun. The entire world is a stage, our playground on our game board. Every must, will, and is playing whether they know it or not. Hm…he is a lava user so he is good at destructing. We wonder if we can get him to chase us and accidently get him to destroy the women’s’ changing room at the hot springs, incurring their as well as their boyfriends’ wrath. Jet enjoys the thought of her little prank.

Kawaii…Jet looked at her female teammate with an unnervingly intense stare not that she could help it. The girl was young, shorter than her (something she was indeed glad about), and had such an adorable voice. She was nervous, confused even; seemly unaware that everyone else in this cell was introducing themselves…more or less. Jet wonders what those bandage like straps are about. We don’t know if it is a fashion statement though it’s likely. Thinking out it, she nodded accepting the theory. Besides if the girl was injured she may or may not control herself. The sight of blood sends chills down her spine; it sings to her and asks for a proper conductor of chaos, a symphony if you must. Jet subtly licked her lips with hunger. Hehehe…

Sickly shadow’s introduction was to the point and cold like a blizzard. At plain sight it looked to be very uninformative but that wasn’t the case to a keen eye. From his stature and tone of voice, Ryouichi was most definitely stubborn so there was a chance he wasn’t going to do well with a group. Since he was a Nara, he could already be plotting how to get kicked out due to reckless behavior or his illness acting up. Ah yes his illness, Jet was aware he didn’t possess the healthiest body but what kind of illness was knowledge of which she did not possess.  How did she know about it? Well it was a coincidence really. She stealing ahem burrowing some drugs from the very same hospital he frequently visited. He just happened to pass by her the moment she was checking out some needles, leaving the hospital to do what kami knows what. Not that she cared really. Heck she wasn’t even sure he was an important matter at all. We need to watch him, he is definitely not just any old toy……not sure about Suteki though…

Our young Jet felt better now that time has passed, no longer feeling the effects of her twirls, shaking her head to make sure; as she had done so a few clouds caught her wandering eyes. She giggles as she watches them steadily pass by, taking on the oddest of shapes. That one is a bunbun pirate and that is a crazy dizzy monkey sailor….Oh! Over there is a bunch of marshmallows being chased by a gypsy snake witch and these two behind it are bear summons facing off. Bear summons…doesn’t Iwa have a bear clan she wondered. Jet wants to play with their bears. Maybe we could find teddy…oh teddy we miss you. We miss mommy and daddy too even if mom was a liar and daddy was a meanie. The world seemed to dull around her; it has been quite some time since she has last thought about her parents. She hasn’t spoken to them at all since she left the group and joined up with Iwa’s military ranks. We should….try to find them again…one day.

A loud explosion of power wretched her away from her daydream; her eyes widened as she gaped at what she missed. Looking around her she saw they were fighting? But just who? Was it student vs student? Perhaps an attack- oh wait never mind. She watched was going on around her. It was students vs. teacher. Huh, so we are already doing a team building exercise. Analyzing her surroundings she more or less summed up the objective. Defeat sensei as he is learning about our fighting capabilities so see who’s who. Sickly shadow was off one his own, having distanced himself from her, ghostly misty, and lava-sensei. So he was going to watch from a distance, studying his opponent then calculates his first move depending on the first attack. Seems like we have our strategist who is quick thinking.

Now Suteki…well she seems to move quick, ready to fight. She attacked with a wind jutsu when sensei appeared distracted to knock him off his feet however it appeared she knew it wouldn’t be enough, how could it be? He wasn’t some spec jounin for no reason. As expected he was able to use this as a way to distance himself further though Suteki was already on his tail. Damn, we seem to be the slowest. Jet pouted, she was in for some personal physical training now. And we are missing out on the fun! No fair no fair we want to play! Jet was about to use one of her raiton jutsu on her sensei to add onto Suteki’s attack however he submerged himself underground.  Once more she pouted; she was no good at tracking, much less possessing a jutsu of any sort to track him underground. Gah that move looks cool. We want to swim with the wormies too…

Jet was quickly made herself seem like she was still in a daze, just watching the clouds with a somber expression. This proved useful as her sensei arose from the depths of the earth and sent two kunai to her teammate's way. Following this he formed a hand seal and….volcanic ash was expelled from him? She was engulfed in the smoke and probably the others as well but she wasn’t sure. Quickly she put her goggles over her eyes to protect them and squat down onto the ground so it would be easier to breath. Presuming that he would be able to detect her with the shifts in smoke she went silent as this worked well for her too. Being apart from her clan unless she verbally made a sound, all would be silent; no shadow could be seen nor would any of her footsteps be heard. She would have to rely on her sleath skills to get herself and her teammates out of this mess. Speaking of them, she wondered how Ryouichi was faring in this smoke screen. He could be fine he could be not. Jet wasn’t too concerned as she had a feeling he would be able to handle himself well.

Oh! Jet remembered that Suteki was a wind user so there was a chance that she could blow this smoke away. We could help Su….but sensei is so close…it would be so quick to just attack him… probably sense it but it would be so much more fun. However she remembered another piece of useful information, lava sensei seemed to focus a bit more on Ryouichi then on Suteki so probably he put himself close to him. Deciding what course she would take, she ran to his general location as fast as she could, cutting it close she avoided getting to close to the Nara since it was hard to see but enough to have her sensei in her line of sight more or less. She went with her gut and threw a shuriken towards his chest, not doubting he would dodge though depending on how he did she may attack him again or grab Suteki. Giggling softly she as threw the sharp projectile she spoke “Aw sensei forgot about us~ We want to play too”

Running wc:2668
Training Raiton: C to B (2000/2000)
668 wc remaining

OOC: Terribly sorry for my time away and I hope this post is long enough

Her first strike was a success, as sensei Raishi was swept back by her strike.  Though, the attack needed to continue and she has jumped back before seeing what would become of her strike.  She jumped high up and back, away from her combatant, and drew upon another wind release jutsu to aid her.  The wind ensnared within her palm built up quickly, growing in ferocity.  It was about ready when she reached the peak of her jump and she blew it towards the man, who was now a few meters further back from where he had just stood.  Though, to her dismay he was still standing strong, she didn't let that stop her onslaught.  She blew the spiraling ball towards him, crashing into the earth with a decent crash.  Dirt was kicked up, large enough to hide the man within.  

Though, she wasn't paying enough attention, and was to detracted with trying to get her next attack off at him.  Suteki was already getting the second ball of wind ready as she landed, and released it into the dust cloud hoping for a strike.  The ball just wiped passed the cloud, pulling a portion of it along with the ball forming a vortex behind.  The dust settled through it and the ball continued on, fading away after reaching it's max distance.  Nothing had happened, even though she couldn't see the vortex behind, nothing happened really to the dust cloud.  Sensei Raishi vanished?  She must have missed him with her first attack, otherwise the second would have surely hit.  

Suteki search for him, the sand around her piling up, and shuddering below her, creating small wakes within the pile.  Her male ally, Ryouichi, wasn't aiding her at the moment to show their "Masters" location.  She looked towards the female, Jet, hoping for an answer.  She was still staring up into the sky, blankly.  Both of her teammates, both, terribly useless to her at the moment.  Though, she was the one that lost focus on her opponent, it was her problem to deal with.  The consequences were her own doing, something she would have to think upon in the future.

She focused closely on her surroundings.  Mountains on two sides, openings in front and behind, but a large enough area for moving.  She looked up the sides of the jagged cliffs, no where to hide.  The ground provided very little tree or plant life, so their was no where for him to hide really?  'Where in the hell could he be at?'  All she could do was listen and look for any signs.  That was when she heard the crumbling of something from way behind her.  She turned to look to see a Kunai flying towards her.  She moved just enough to have the kunai just barely scratch her arm and continue on passed her.  

She yelped a little from the pain, some blood started to pool up around the scratch quickly.  Suteki grabbed her arm, trying to stop the tiny amount of bleeding quickly.  Her enemy was behind her.  She needed time to recoop and come up with some plan.  Some way to stop him.  She looked at sensei Raishi and she watched as he quickly started to expel black smoke around him.

It seemed that the two of them thought exactly alike.  She had every intention of using a mist jutsu to hide her presence as well.  Though, to her benefit, sensei Raishi, her enemy, was the one that expended chakra for the desired effects.  Suteki quickly headed towards the edges of the playing field, and using Supernatural Walking Practice, headed up the sides of the field above the smoke line.  Behind her, sand spilled along the ground from her gourd.  Hopefully her teammates could manage somehow within the black cloud below her.  She was something like 25 or so meters up, and about the same distance from her prior position.  She continued to nurse the wound on her arm, watching below for any signs of life.  

90/130:

673 Words

Perception to D-3 (400)
Sand Binding Coffin (2143/2400)

I do wonder what this boy has up his sleeve…Raishi thought to himself slyly, as he began sneaking slowly towards Ryouichi, stalking him like a frog would an unmoving insect. Fresh prey. There was only a small distance between him and Ryouichi, and Raishi was prepared to take him down hard. A simple grab on the neck, foot behind the legs, and a pull then the exercise would be over. Not as tactical as I thought you would be, eh Ryouichi? Raishi said to himself quietly, his words drowned in disappointment. From what he had read, most or even all Nara clan members were seemingly born tactical geniuses. It was almost as if it was more of a clan trait, than their well known Shadow release. Almost. Yet here before him was a member of the prestigious Nara clan, unmoving and bleeding slightly in a blinding ash cloud, while being full aware of an opponent more experienced than him in combat, lurking in the cloud. A sheep in the lion’s den. Raishi believed that no Nara of right mind would want to have limited options. It’s what made them so iconic; the ability to make available options when there seems to be none. This predicament Ryouichi was in however, offered him no options at all. Disappointing…Raishi said to himself again, poised to strike.

It was in that very moment, when Raishi was just about to attack Ryouichi , that he heard the voice of Yuurei Jet. So she finally decided to attack huhn? Not bad timing at all..he thought to himself, his attention quickly shifting from Ryouichi to the young woman. What made his Lava Plume jutsu so useful, was its ability to blind people, yet Raishi himself being able to see clearly through the cloud, so he was quite impressed at the fact that Jet was able to predict his position accurately, even going further to throw a shuriken aimed almost perfectly at his chest. Raishi’s mind slowed down as he began wondering about Jet - how she had stood still from the beginning of the fight, seemingly clueless as to what had been going. So in fact, she had been studying my movements…planning, calculating… he thought to himself with a smile. She had taken advantage of the fact that I hadn’t attacked her, and had avoided Suteki, using that to easily predict my target, Ryouichi. His mind sped up, the world around him returning to normal. Raishi acted swiftly, sidestepping the shuriken easily, his heart jumping as he heard the clang of the shuriken droppig to the ground behind him. Perhaps Jet is the true tactician of this team…he thought to himself, impressed by her performance. Not only was she sly and calculating, but she also exercised the one thing that was supposed to be the whole purpose of the task – team work. By protecting Ryouichi, unbeknownst to her or not, she had evaded the possibility of failing the whole team failing the task. She had bought her team mates some time, unlike Suteki who just seemed to attack without strategising, as a means of expressing boldness of some sort. Nonetheless, the team looked promising.

Raishi took out two kunai out of his pouch, then launched into the air before throwing them at Jet. The kunai were aimed accurately at both her shoulders, and would shoot towards her from above. Being in her current position, Raishi presumed that the two kunai would prove to be very difficult to avoid for Jet; not only because of her limited vision, but also because she would not expect an attack from above. Just to be safe, Raishi threw the kunai in such a way that if Jet didn’t manage to dodge them, they would only manage to slice the sides of her shoulders, deep enough to let out a little blood, just as he had done for Ryouichi and Suteki. Raishi looked around in his cloud, noticing the tiny cookie crisp sized specks of lava beginning to increase in number, going towards the two of his students, Jet and Ryouichi. They needed to know that it was only a few moments before they started feeling the toxic effects of the cloud. They would start coughing and would feel a heavy dizziness that would further out them at a big disadvantage. If in the cloud long enough, they could even start suffocating, leading to possible death, but Raishi wouldn’t let the jutsu last that long. He wouldn’t want anybody under his supervision to die, just because of a training exercise. That would be too extreme. Time was of the essence, and they were more or less in the center of the cloud, so they still had to run roughly 20m in any direction to get out of the cloud, and even though they managed to do this, it would still take some time before the coughing and the dizziness wore off. Besides, Suteki is a Futon user, so she could blow away the cloud with a few jutsu of her own…Raishi thought to himself calmly, before suddenly realising that he had lost sight of the young sand user.

She definitely wasn’t in the ash cloud, so Raishi presumed that she had managed to evade it, as he was expelling it from his mouth. Raishi looked around; she wasn’t on the ground, so there was only one other place she could be. Smart girl..Raishi thought to himself as he surveyed the area, looking upwards. There Suteki was, high up in the air, tending to the kunai wound Raishi had inflicted on her. She had managed to climb higher than the cloud so she was definitely more than 20 meters from the ground. There was no way Raishi was going to allow her to stay out of the playground while the rest of the team were suffering down below. No way at all. So Raishi simply jumped backwards, landing about 2 meters from his previous position. He knelt down, spotting the shuriken Jet had thrown at him earlier, then threw it at Suteki, aiming at the same spot where she had the bleeding cut. The second the kunai left his hand, Raishi began weaving a few hand seals, letting out a massive fireball towards Suteki. He shot the fireball in such a way that the fireball was slightly above her, so she couldn’t jump to avoid the shuriken- she had to drop back into the ash cloud. After doing this, Raishi watched his students, unseen by them, hoping to be impressed by their different reactions. He would pass his own comments soon, hoping to get them to perform better and ultimately, defeat him. Of course he needed them to defeat him. That was the point. He wasn’t meant to win. The exercise was designed to lead the team to victory, if and only if they worked together, and achieving this victory meant that they learned certain skills along the line, tantamount to their ninja development. Raishi was to guide them to his own defeat only if he saw that they lacked team skills as a whole, but so far, he had seen qualities that may lead them to victory without his aid. Until then…he said to himself, watching his students attentively. He would enjoy the show.

---

Word count :4971

255/315:

OOC: Ryouichi has informed me that he plans to go inactive, saying he had lost interest in rping. So he won't be posting anymore. Nonetheless, rp as though Ryouichi is still here, just umoving. I shall knock him out in my next post.

Jet was not surprised when she heard the clang of her shuriken against the barren ground. Jet knew she was the slowest in the group and had the poorest reaction. Her Lava-sensei on the other hand was the best, having trained his body further than his students. Yet that was to be expected. He was older than them (well she wasn't sure about Ryouichi though it was a possibility nonetheless) and far more experienced. Besides that he was not given his rank for no reason. Though she was a bit disappointed in herself. Jet may not have been an official shinobi until she had joined Iwagakure's ranks but she had good knowledge of it since she herself for about nine years traveled with some incredibly bloodthirsty and ruthless people at which one point she became like them. She lost herself at one point to the extent she earned her nickname, one she would care not to remember. Those years were something she wanted no needed to forget if she was going to move forward in life.

Thinking back, when she had come to Ryouichi's 'rescue', he remained aloof, just watching them (particularly lava-sensei) within this unnerving stare. He has yet to have moved at all since well...she wasn't quite sure since she did zoned out a bit earlier. The possibility he was going to simply stand there more helpless than a newborn kid crossed her mind, however her attention quickly diverted when she felt a slight pain on her shoulders. Her eyes widen when she realized she was attacked from above, something she was not expecting. Jet frowned as she lost what little sight of her sensei she had as the smoke shifted around them, making it even harder to see. The cuts on her shoulders were not very painful to her, being similar to paper cuts, since over the years she has become used to pain. She had to if she didn't want to seem weak but since she was frail they still bleed for awhile which will hinder her in the long run. However the smoke was beginning its toll on her since she had been spending time in it for awhile. Standing up right now was not helping the matter at all. Jet knew she had to get out soon but where to go she didn't know. Ryouichi was behind her however he proved useless to her as he did not move. Perhaps he will move soon. Nara are one of those clans whose heads we can wrap ourselves around of. Jet felt her cuts sting and her throat begin to hurt. Coughing softly she grinned at her sensei "Hehe lava-sensei's trick is fun fun fun"

The temperature of the air got higher as if....processing the information she had a feeling in her gut that her sensei was the cause. He must've used a katon technique but we don't see any fire around us and Ryouichi so he must be after Suteki. Her suspicions were confirmed when a giant ball of fire was launched into the air though she couldn't see towards what. Speaking of the young sand user, Jet saw more shifts in the smoke when she ran toward Ryouichi and sensei. She caused a bunch on her own but presumably so did she. It was now Jet figured that she got out of the ash cloud and from where the fireball was heading, Suteki had used chakra to climb the side of the field and take shelter. Jet wondered if Suteki could see them from where she was but now she was focused on more important matters. Now that her sensei's attention was diverted to Suteki, she would now try to buy them more time since Suteki would probably rejoin the group in the ash cloud by giving lava-sensei a taste of his own medicine. Forming the tiger seal and breathing deeply, Jet launched her own fireball at where sensei could be by calculating where the fireball originated. Taking a gamble, Jet believed he would either dodge by moving away or submerging himself once more underground. Regardless of either she had a plan for both actions.

Running wc: 1378

95/110:

The young girl looked down at the creeping, churning smoke screen below, now seeing little red dots float around and within.  She really expected for one of her squad mates to jump out of the smoke, joining her.  At least then she could form some plan along with them to counter sensei Raishi.  Though time seemed to pass and no one else joined along side her.  She just gazed down onto the battlefield, now having to form a plan of her own.  The sand continued to poor out, easily within vision of her sight, influencing her decision making inadvertently.  The best course of action would be to overwhelm, and capture sensei Raishi within her sand.  Though she had been practicing the skill to use her sand on larger targets, she was still a little unsure of the possibilities behind it.  She could very well squeeze his guts out by mistake.  Though, worst case, she could release him just shy of that happening.

Though, in order to grab him, she would have to remove this annoying smoke screen.  She continued to look downwards, hoping for some form of identification of where anyone was.  All that smoke hid any form of movement below.  This wasn't going to well for her, or her group she imagined.  All Suteki could do was assume that her allies were scared stiff within the smoke, fighting or restrained by sensei Raishi.  For all she knew, the match could have very well already been over and done with.  Though life, soon enough, bared it's teeth at the young girl, coming with some aggression straight towards her like a bear, barreling through the smoke.

Her sensei and apparent threat, Raishi was on the attack, his target was her straight out.  She saw the glow from the smoke, and she started to gather the sand that was falling, drawing more out quickly.  The ball warped the smoke below at a distance, and she felt something big was coming.  The sand gathered as it fell and quickly hardened into a small shell around the top of her. Suteki was expecting some form of a fire jutsu after all.  It only made sense given her masters affinity for lava, so she was wary of it's power.  The same element type of attack that had ended her battle before when trying out for the last squad she was on.  

This time though, she would be ready for it.  The sand started to harden around her.  The sand at the top of her was the first to form into a rock hard shell, soon following in a wave like pattern to her surroundings.  More sand poured out of the gourd, and from below prior, reinforcing the sand barrier in both directions, hardening as the wave continued around quickly.  

A shuriken popped out of the smoke and made a b-line straight for her followed by the fireball.  Suteki's arms were thrown up instinctual for extra defense for both of the attacks barreling towards her as the vision in front of her was blocked by the sand barrier. Suteki hadn't even seen the shuriken, not expecting a secondary attack.  The shuriken was just caught by the sand, less than a foot from hitting her.  

The fireball smashed a few meters above her, crumbling the rock face at that location where it had made contact.  The sand above her was becoming hot, releasing some of it into the chamber that she was encapsulated in.  She could hear the tapping sound of the gravel from the fireblast hitting the top portion of her shield.  She released the barrier to her front, letting light and fresh air within.  She looked around as dust fell around her, and could see the shuriken now stuck within the barrier.  She was surprised by its presence.  She hadn't expected to defend two attacks.  Though looking closely at where it hit, it seemed like it was aimed for the same spot she was hit before, with some rather impressive accuracy.  

'He...is able to see me?' The smoke screen seemed to have quite a number of benefits towards it's user.  She figured his sight was also blocked by the smoke, similar to how her vision would be blocked within the hidden mist.  She miscalculated his capabilities.  She would need to remove the smoke if they were to have any chance at all at beating him.  Though, something else was revealed by her masters attack once again, reaffirming what she had thought.  The fireball was a greater threat, but shuriken was the only thing aimed at her.  He wasn't willing to badly injure her with his attack.  He wasn't trying to injure any of his students it seemed.  She would keep this to mind later on in the fight, it might just be extremely useful later on.  But for now, she needed to remove this smoke to have any chance.  She reached her hand forward, grabbing the shuriken and the sand barrier started to melt away from that spot.  She had revealed her capabilities to her enemy already, so it would be pointless to continue with the ruse.  Sand started to gather more and more around her now than it had before, no longer falling to the ground below.  She placed the shuriken into her arm guard and was ready to go on the attack this time.  

She made quite the daring leap straight off the rock face, towards the center of the battle grounds.  The winds started to gather around her while in mid air, something was stirring.  Just before she entered the cloud, a glow grew off about 5 meters ahead, heading to her left and away from her.  She was once again in the fray of things, though she needed to remove this nuance at once.  The wind blew from above her upon entering the smoke, trying to keep up with her free fall, building stronger and stronger behind her.  As she was about to land, the wind whipped around her and below, before heading outwards in all directions.  The jutsu slammed her sand against the ground. The wind of the jutsu slowed her fall slightly as she hit the ground, creating a small updraft, though that was quickly removed as it was that was soon overwhelmed, now trying to push her along with it.  She was having trouble keeping her ground as the wind spun around her and away.  The wind was fierce, though pushing downwards and away, she had very little room to be tossed along with.  Her clothing was whipping around her, on the verge of tearing. Some of the sand she had gathered was being tossed away from her along with the wind, creating a sort of sand storm.  She tried hard hardheartedly to keep the sand on the ground within 10 meters of her.  Very little of it spilling further outwards, though the sand was still well spread out away from her as more came out and fell.  

If luck was on her side, Wind Release: Great Breakthrough would open up a huge hole in the center of this smoke screen cloud, at least a few meters if not more so, perhaps even raising the smoke upwards in its' stead.  Though, the attack was already being released by her as she fell through the sky, if that fire ball that she just saw as she entered the cloud was aimed at her allies, she could have inadvertently caused them a greater amount of suffering.  Her wind jutsu would add to the ferocity of a Katon based release jutsu, and to itself.  Anything in the direction of the fireball as the wind caught up and passed would be set ablaze.  The wind itself would burst into a torrent of flames, and burn anything along it's immediate path.  

55/130:

1310 words

Endurance training E-3 to D-2 (1025)

257 words towards jutsu
Sand Binding Coffin (2428/3600)

Raishi had resolved to watching all three of his students and their different reactions, but it was only a matter of time before all his attention was fully drawn to that of the unmoving Nara, Ryouichi whom Raishi deemed to be either frightened, or calculating. If he indeed was frightened over such a small exercise, then he was in no way fit for the arduous life of a shinobi he may have had ahead of him…Raishi thought to himself sadly, still drowned in disappointment. He had never had such a student…no, met such a person as Ryouichi, who was supposed to be a training ninja, staying in a cloud of toxic gas. Even before the gas had been released, the Nara had jumped away from Raishi, almost as if he didn't even want to fight. Wait a minute, the lava user said to himself, an epic realisation, suddenly dawning over him. Time seemed to slow to a stop, as he began his usual process of replaying past instances, and critically analysing them. He rewinded to his students’ very first reactions as he gave them the command to begin the exercise. Ryouichi’s reaction had been to jump back, away from Raishi, regardless of the fact that Raishi himself had jumped away a significant distance away from his students. Initially, Raishi had taken this movement to mean that Ryouichi increased the distance between them, as a means of being able to create more time for him to plan and calculate. But judging now from the boy’s current action, Raishi finally understood that he had did exactly what he wanted to do. He had jumped back as a means of getting away from the fighting. Of course, Raishi could not comprehend why the Nara boy wouldn’t want to be challenged by his sensei or wasn’t expecting one, after all it was the norm when joining a new team. So why would he put no effort in at all? Is he not aware that this exercise would determine his position on my team?..Raishi thought to himself, trying to understand what Ryouichi’s deal was.Unless…he said to himself, looking up at the old looking boy. From his very first arrival, he had put no effort whatsoever in whatever Raishi had asked him to do, whether it was the exercise now, or even the earlier introduction. It was clear to Raishi now; all question marks about the mysterious Nara had been answered. Ryouichi did not want to be a part of the team.

The world sped up around him, everything moving faster and faster. Raishi looked at Jet quickly, watching as the kunai he had thrown at her had penetrated successfully. She was even coughing a bit, and Raishi couldn’t help but notice a slight smirk on her face, presuming that she was ready beginning to understand the consequence of staying too long in the cloud of volcanic ash. Raishi looked up swiftly, hoping to see how his attack on Suteki had gone. She had managed to successfully block both the shrunken and the fireball her had sent her way. Raishi smiled to himself, glad that at least, his other students showed true potential and determination. He stood up quickly, preparing for his next attack casually, before he took a quick glance at Ryouichi. The boy was coughing hardly, louder and much harder than any other normal person would. It seemed that Ryouichi had some sort of allergy, or weakness towards smoke, meaning that it would take less time in the cloud for him to die than any other person.

I have to get rid of the cloud…Raishi thought to himself cautiously, as he wouldn’t want the young man to die under his watch, no way. Raishi kept looking at Ryouichi, and just when he was about to release the jutsu, he heard what had to be the most painful cough in the world escape Ryouichi’s lips, before seeing the Nara member fall to his knees. Almost immediately after this, Raishi saw Jet shooting the fireball jutsu at him. Shit, he said to himself. He needed to dispel the ash cloud, but he wouldn’t be able to do it now because of the fireball launched towards him. Despite the small amount of time he had,he acted swiftly, weaving a hand seal before slamming his hand on the ground. As the slab of rock rose out of the ground, Raishi jumped back a meter, weaving a hand sign in order to dispel the ash cloud. Then he felt Suteki land.

He hadn’t seen the jump, but he had felt the gust of wind she had created as she landed. Oh no…he thought to himself with a smile on his face. Both girls were very smart. Not only had Jet accurately calculated his position, regardless of the fact that he had thrown his kunai in mid-air, but Suteki aided Jet’s fireball, increasing it’s size and intensity. Smart girls indeed. Raishi jumped to the side, starting a set of one handed cartwheels to the right, as the massive fireball smashed easily through his minor earth wall. Unfortunately, he had not moved quick enough, and most of his left arm was covered in 2nd degree burns. Raishi slid to a stop meters away from his previous position, smiling at his students in front of him.

“Enough”

He spoke loudly, so all could here him, a big smile on his face. Although they hadn't exactly achieved the objective of the task which was to get him on the ground, they had managed to get him burnt, which was an achievement. Raishi looked down at his left arm, smoke coming off it. He hadn’t moved his arm much since it got burned, using his right hand for the cartwheels, because he knew that moving the arm would cause intense pain to resonate throughout his body. But how would he be able to carry Ryouichi to the medical center with only one good arm?

“I see they got you good”

Raishi turned round to the source of the gruff voice, about 5 meters behind him, and there was Iwayama, his rhinoceros. He simply smiled at the rhino, and looked back at his students. His ash cloud was finally clear, so they would be able to see him, the rhino and Ryouichi on the floor.

“We would have to stop this exercise, as Ryouichi has passed out. Since he showed no effort what so ever during this exercise, he is no longer apart of this team. And although neither of you could achieve the aim of this exercise, I must say that I am very impressed with both of you. You’ve both shown skill and dedication. Great potential”

As he spoke, Raishi walked towards Ryouichi’s body, picking him up with his good arm, and walked back to his previous position. He gestured towards Iwayama, who understood immediately and walked to Raishi. He then placed the rather heavy Ryouichi on Iwayama’s back, in order to transport him to the hospital. After positioning Ryouichi perfectly so he wouldn’t fall, Raishi faced the two girls once more, proud of them.

“Nonetheless, I noticed a lacking in team relations. It was only at thievery end that you worked together, and look at what you were able to achieve. Team work is key, and we need to work on that.”

When he spoke about what they were able to achieve, Raishi pointed at his burnt arm, smiling despite the intense pain he felt.

“I shall inform you on our next meeting, and hopefully, Iwayama will not be late next time. Great job girls.”

With that Raishi disappeared in a puff of smoke, using the body flicker technique to go to the hospital. His arm was killing him. Iwayama however, stuck his tongue playfully out at the students, before charging away with Ryouichi on his back.

---

OOC: Deeply apologise for the late post.
Jutsu Used: Earth Shore Return and Body Flicker Technique

Total WordCount: 6282
Strength D to C 1700
Speed D2 to C 975
Endurance B to B2 1500
Perception C to C1 575
Reaction time D2 to C 975
Unused : 557

A large gust of wind blew the ash cloud away at least a good bit allowing there to be sight. Jet knew this was the work of Suteki which was confirmed when she landed. However she couldn't focus much because her fireball had apparently grew in both size as well as intensity destroying an earth wall her sensei created to block her attack which was not in her plans so she would have to go with an improvised version of both. She crouched down in a pose that would best suit her hand to hand combat style needs. Left foot forward and her right foot back. Her legs spread out a bit and her knees bent. Her left arm bent horizontally to guard her face and her right hand to her back holding a kunai, prepared to launch it or stab at a moments noticed. She was prepared to throw it and head to Suteki so they can group up but she was interrupted when he called out to them.

“Enough”

Jet watched him and Suteki, nodding perplexed. She wondered why the exercise was over until she looked closely. The fireball broke through the earth wall which no doubt surprised him and when he dodged he did one handed cartwheels which was definitely not the norm. He would need to do that unless... connecting the dots she saw the he was injured or at least his left arm was. It was covered in burns whose pain intensity and severity she did not doubt nor question.

“I see they got you good”

The hell? a rhinoceros had appeared. What the freaking hell was a rhinoceros doing here? And it spoke? Oh by his mannerism and the way lava sensei recognized him he must no doubt be a pet or partner Jet did not see this beast as an enemy since the exercise was over apparently so she turned back to her idiotic ways. A dopy smile on her face as she hid the kunai away in her clothing and jumped up and down happily, excited to see such a splendor. "Wow wow wow! That's a rhino! So cool! We wanna ride it we wanna ride it!" she squealed at a bit of a high pitched voice that made her sound like she was eight years old. She turned her attention to Suteki, a large grin on her face "Sandy Sand Sandy don't you wanna ride it? It'll be fun!" and just as she spoke any remains of the ash cloud vanished from sight.

“We would have to stop this exercise, as Ryouichi has passed out. Since he showed no effort what so ever during this exercise, he is no longer apart of this team. And although neither of you could achieve the aim of this exercise, I must say that I am very impressed with both of you. You’ve both shown skill and dedication. Great potential”

Jet was so engrossed on her sensei and the fight that she was unaware of how ill Ryouichi was even though he was just right by her. He hacked and he coughed as if the life was being taken out of him which it very well could've been. His health deteriorating and his body was taking on quite the toll due to the effects of the volcanic ash cloud. Snapping her head back so fast one could almost her a crack she looked over him with fake concern. Her eyes big and watery as she yelled "Oh no Shadow-chan! Speak to us! You must live, live we say!" She would've continued her blubbering but lava sensei took the ill Nara with his one good arm and positioned on top of the rhinoceros whose name was apparently Iwayama at which she chuckled at. "Hehe his name is Iwayama. Hehehehe it has Iwa in it" her face was red from the heat whose effects she was now feeling. A few beads up sweat dripped down her neck and her spin. She stretched as she waved to sensei who disappeared in a puff of smoke. She will not see Ryouichi again since he was no longer apart of the team; no doubt someone else will replace him. His sickness was definitely an issue so Jet had no doubt his shinobi career was over at least for awhile. "Baibai Sandy-chan. We should play again some other time ne?" and with that she body flickered away to her hammock for a nice long nap.


WC: 2066 unused

[Exit]