A cool summer breeze picked up from under the fur of Sanosuke's transformed state as he laid sprawled on the ground in a ball under the Durian Tree of Knowledge that was at the very top of his own administration building. No matter what the seasons were, this tree would also have cherry blossoms just blooming and being swept along the breeze of the village. Whether it be winter or as hot as summer, there would always be cherry blossoms flowing into the wind that came from this tree. It was one of the wonders of Kumogakure. Not many people would bother climbing this far up the mountains to see this tree in all of its glory due to how much they would climb. But to those that could, wouldn't regret it as it is an unforgettable experience. Growing from the trees are the demonic Durian fruits that are said to hold demonic chakra from long ago, so it was rumored. Should anyone eat one, the demonic chakra would infect your stomach to cause your body to fight back and vomit the evil presence out. Rumor has it that if your body is able to withstand the effects of the durian fruit, then you will be unnaturally strong later in the future. But so far only people, like himself and the former Raikage, Midnight are able to do so without vomiting due to the fact that at birth they were both marked with the visage of a demon.

Honestly to him, the fruits tasted not too bad. It was a wonder why he never made trips up here. In the summer, the mountain top was warm and just so peaceful. He had finally finished off all of his paperwork that was required of him to do, and was finally taking the time to relax. But that was when Navi decided to tell him he had 1 piece of business he had to attend to. Gingerly, he listened to her to find out that Kameko had returned to Kumo from Konoha. And also a new genin from the village was looking for a squad and Sanosuke had previously placed her in his own squad. So Sanosuke decided he might as well have Alpha Squad meet for the first time up the Durian Tree of Demonic knowledge. It would be an excellent warmup considering the tree itself is the highest point of the village. He wondered how the kids were going to cope with such a task. Sanosuke yawned and took another bite of his sliced durian fruit that he made before transforming. The smell was the only thing that bothered him, but slightly. To others the smell was nauseating, but to him it was only a minor inconvience. The juices swished around in his mouth as he chewed and eventually swallowed.

With his hunger temporarily sated, Sanosuke yawned once more and decided to take a nap until his squad was here. Kameko was familiar with the transformation he took on, but the other kunoichi might be alarmed. Either way, it'd be fun to gauge their reactions.

"The Durian Tree of *pant* Knowledge eh? Of course it just has to be so *pant* far..." Ameryuu stopped for a moment and gripped her knees, willing herself not to fall over. She could not start off making a bad impression on her new sensei, especially considering said new sensei was none other than the Raikage. She grimaced slightly, apprehensive over her coming meeting. She respected the Raikage greatly, looked up to him, but having him train her? It was more than slightly daunting. When she had first found out about it she had had a minor heart palpitation. Her fellow team member was not only a Chuunin already but also just so happened to be a clan member. She had been avoiding the girl like the plague (not that they had had any kind of real interaction before anyway) ever since she'd found out, purely because she didn't want to seem like she was useless. Ame felt like she was going to end up constantly feeling inadequate, and just hoped things would go well today despite her doubts. She was already red in the face and clearly not as fit as she'd hoped she was. The problem was that it was just so steep. Probably the reason she had not bothered going up there before. Of course those who had had said the trip was worth it, but she was slightly skeptical and judging by the other rumors surrounding the tree and what it did she just didn't want to take any chances.

She forced herself to keep on moving after taking a quick swig from her water bottle. She was a kunoichi, surely she wasn't about to let some mountain best her. The air was only slightly thinner as she continued upward but her breath still shortened to very quick inhales. The breeze swept by, giving her a sweet reprieve from the heat generated by her exertion but was soon gone again. She had long considered leaving her weapons at home - she was inside the village after all - but then decided against it. It was a better idea to stake her claim now rather than later. She wasn't a kenjutsu genius, but she could fight and right now that was all she really had to go on. Even at the academy she hadn't been near the top of the pile. She had been situated at a nice, comfy middle position and it had done her justice enough in her old days, but now it was a mere inconvenience. She regretted not training harder, aiming higher. It was too late now of course so she decided to stop feeling sorry for herself and get to the top of the mountain already. She had been delaying doing so for far too long already and it really couldn't be delayed any further. 

Ame crested the hill and looked up in wonder at the falling sakura petals. It really was quite a sight and if she had had any breath left in her her it would have been taken away. She scanned the area for any signs of either her sensei or other teammate and found none, except for a strange and extremely cute creature sprawled in front of the tree. "Oh, where did you come from?"

Directly after arriving in the hidden village, Kameko had sought out the Administration Building to report her return. The secretary made the necessary notes in the system, and the young woman went to collect her mail before returning home. With the travel time there and back, she had been gone for a couple weeks and various notices and ads had piled up within the box. As she walked through the familiar roads of Kumogakure, she began flipping through the papers when one caught her eye. It was an official looking letter with the markings of having come through the Raikage’s office. Tucking the other mail items under her arm, she broke the seal and read the letter which notified her of a new member to Alpha Squad. ‘Ryuzoji, Ameryuu, huh?’ she considered, trying to remember what she knew of the girl. Little came to mind: Ameryuu was a few years younger than her, and besides a vague recognition of the name and an idea of what she looked like, she didn’t really know anything else.

Soon nearing her apartment, she tucked the notice back in with the rest of the papers, to free her hands to let herself in. Tossing the papers onto her little breakfast table to sort through later, she made her way into her room where, after removing a little package from the top and setting it on her desk, her large travelling backpack was similarly dropped upon her bed. More care was given to her gear, but it was also discarded along with her clothes. Her first order of business now that she was home was to take a hot shower. Twenty minutes later, when the dirt from the road was rinsed away down the drain, she dressed in casual attire and, after eating lunch, set to unpacking. She was just finishing the task and was putting her bag away when she heard a knock at her door.

Having received a messenger in Konoha asking her to return, she was not surprised when she opened her door to find another one at her door. When she confirmed that she was, indeed, ‘Ryuzoji, Kameko’ he handed over two messages for her, one larger than the other, but both clearly from the Adminstration Building. Thanking him, she closed the door and sat down at the table to open them. Starting with the larger one, she broke the seal and read the official letter which informed her that she had been promoted to Chuunin. A bright smile lit up her face at the promotion. She was on her way! Kameko had felt that she was improving, but to have her growth publicly recognized in this way was hugely satisfying. She couldn’t wait to tell her parents of it; it wasn’t that the rank itself was so high and mighty, but it was the first rung on that all-important ladder of success. Setting the letter aside, she moved to the smaller envelope. Upon opening it and scanning the contents, she found that her first day as a Chuunin would not be spent lazing about her apartment. Instead, she was summoned to the Durian Tree of Demonic Knowledge to meet with her squad.

The clothes that she had worn for hanging out around her apartment were not suited for training, and moving efficiently, she went to change and gather her things. The outfit she chose was a heathered coral, racer-back styled tank and fitted black shorts; the clothing was all made out of movement friendly materials, well suited to most any activity, in the case that this meeting turned out to be for more than just to get to know one another. Picking up her hitai-ate from where she had discarded it before getting in the shower, she tied it on as a headband and slipped a hair tie onto her wrist, in case she decided it was necessary later in the day. Retrieving her gear, she tied on her weapons pouch, with her basic projectiles within, and strapped her katana onto her waist. Dressed and ready, she grabbed the little package off of her desk and headed out.

The Durian Tree was not hard to locate, sitting as it did above the Administration Building. It was the getting up to it that was difficult. Or, atleast, she had anticipated it being so. However, as she made the trek, now unburdened by the pack that she had carried cross-country, she noticed that she wasn’t fatiguing as quickly as she used to, and the discomfort in her legs from the steep incline was not the same fire that it had been the last time she had been here. It seemed that she was getting stronger. Though, of course, that did not mean that the hike was suddenly easy, just that it was not exhausting in the way that she had remembered. In a modest amount of time, she reached the summit where the tree grew.

She had only been here once before, for the difficulty of the climb back then had been enough to dissuade her from struggling her way up a second time, but the view… Oh, the view was like nothing else in the village. As always, the tree was in bloom, and cherry blossom petals filled the air around her as the gentle summer breeze blew them off of the long-reaching branches of the grand tree. She paused for a moment, just taking in the lovely sight. Her bright blue eyes surveyed the area before spotting a tall teen with a dark blue bob standing before the tree. She recalled that Ameryuu had such hair and made her way over to the girl, coming up beside her. At this distance, she was able to recognize the teen as her cousin and greeted her, “Heya, Ameryuu.” Her tone was a warm one. Because they were only acquaintances, she had no prior reason to dislike the girl, and because they were now teammates, she had plenty of reasons to try and get along with her; hopefully it wouldn’t be too difficult, and they might even grow to be more than just fellow squad members.

“What are you—“ she began, having approached as Ameryu was cooing to the creature, but stopped when she looked down and saw the sleeping form of her sensei’s favorite form for his Henge no Jutsu. If Ameryuu’s words did not already rouse him, she would laugh lightly and walk forwards, kneeling by the golden-ringed black cat. Lightly, she'd reach out and gently shake the cat’s shoulder to awaken him. “Wakey, wakey, Flynt-sama,” she'd call in a sing-song voice. She may have been the first student that Sanosuke had tricked in this manner, but it appeared that she certainly would not be the last one.

Sanosuke let out a small yawn that in his form currently caused his yawn to come out very tiny and from an onlooker would have sounded rather cute. The transformed Raikage was sleeping soundly on the grass trying to rest, he could distinctly hear voices but they were muffled. It wasn't as though his hearing was going bad, Sanosuke just didn't feel like concentrating right now on the voices to distinguish between them. He was too comfortable where he was right now. The summer breeze once more filed through his fur as though a woman with comfortably warm and soft hands ran her fingers through his fur. No, he was just fine where he was currently. Was his genin already here and he didn't notice? It couldn't be, he still had about 5 more minutes until they got here. Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, Sanosuke continued sleeping.

Wakey, wakey, Flynt-sama."

The sound of that voice could only belong to one of his favorite genin at the moment, Kameko. So his students were here already. Well he supposed it was a good enough time as any to finally get up from his sleeping position. Slowly the black cat turned over on stomach so it can properly stretch by getting on all fours to stretch his back like any other animal. Another small yawn escaped Sanosuke's lips as he tried to shake the tiredness of his eyes. He had been napping for a few hours now, and already felt refreshed. "Oh, hello Kameko. It's good to see you're back in Kumo. And congrats on the promotion, you're growing up so fast you know." Sanosuke commented tiredly with a sleepy smile and raising his single paw up as a sign of a thumbs up.

Next order of business was the other genin. She looked younger than Kameko, that's for sure however she looked around Kaekio's age. What was her name again? Sanosuke was sure she was from the Ryuzoji clan just like Kameko and Kaekio. It would make training the both of them easier since they had fighting styles that Sanosuke knew very well: kenjutsu. Sanosuke padded over to the girl slowly before approaching her leg and rubbing himself on it. He was purring as well to sooth her should she be frightened. Finally he thought that she was calmed down enough. After all it's not everyday you see a talking cat being addressed like he's the Raikage. "I guess I should probably transform huh?" Sanosuke said while chuckling as he undid his transformation. He wasn't wearing his traditional Raikage robes but his shinobi gear which was his heavy armor in the disguise of regular clothing, and his gloves as well. Over his top he was wearing a black high collared jacket with the the zipper being opened up.

This was also the first time he's revealed himself to Kameko with his hair returning to its original shade of silver and his hair was cut as well. So it rested towards the back of his neck and no longer just long dreadlocks that went towards the middle of his back. It was from the training he went through with Kaekio. Ever since he deposited the excess senjutsu chakra into Kaekio, it returned his body's anatomy back to how it was originally. His eyes were blue, and his hair was silver. Just like how it should have been. Some of his villagers liked the change because he looked just like the enthusiastic, optimistic genin that he was back in the day running around the village. Others liked it because he didn't have long hair that made him resemble a female. And the ladies thought he was sexier with silver hair than black hair. Either way, he loved this look now. It made him feel more like himself.

Leaning his back on the tree so he was in the shade, Sanosuk smirked at the younger genin. "You'll be apart of Team Alpha from now on. And I'll be your sensei. How about we first go through introductions; Kameko you start." Sanosuke suggested and nodded towards Kameko; the elder of the group. She's a chuunin and pretty much the second in command of the squad should Sanosuke be away at the moment; or if they split up and Kameko and the genin were by themselves.

Ame heard footsteps behind her and turned her to see her fellow team member and relative, Kameko. She was prettier than Ame remembered from the brief glimpses she had seen of the girl from across the compound. Ame had never understood why people preferred to keep their hair long when they were in constant battle but seeing Kameko made her sort of wish she had long hair of her own. It was beautiful and it suited her well. She looked only slightly flushed and out of breath from the climb - unlike herself  -  but it was to be expected. Kameko was already a fully fledged Chuunin. She subconscious tugged on the strands of her own short locks, straightening her forehead protector and smoothing her jacket, trying to make herself more presentable.  Kameko’s words registered in Ame’s mind and she blinked, confused as to why Kameko had called the creature 'Flynt-sama'. It got up, stretched it’s back and... talked?
 
Ame was more than slightly surprised. Of course she had heard of summons being able to talk but the way it spoke with Kameko suggested that they had a close relationship. It rubbed itself against her own legs and purred for a moment before speaking again. "I guess I should probably transform huh?" Ame tilted her head. Transform? Was it a henge? She watched wide-eyed as the seemingly innocent cat transformed itself into the Raikage, but slightly different from what she remembered him looking like in the past. He now had silver hair and blue eyes and reminded her of her clan's old heir with the odd combination. Still not entirely sure what was going on, she took a step backwards, trying to figure out what to think of the situation at hand.
 
She heard Sanosuke speak to her and turned to him, smiling to try and hide her confusion. "Thank you Flynt-sama. I'm honoured to be on your team." And she was. The Raikage was a busy person at all times so him taking on a team was very admirable. She didn't quite understand why he'd bother with her, but at least she had a fighting chance now. She was excited to learn from him, and it was sure to be an enlightening experience. She hoped they would get a chance to travel as well, as she had never been outside of Kaminari no Kuni before. The thought of travel made her giddy. She loved Kumo, true, but seeing different places in the world, well she would love nothing more.
 
Sanosuke leant against a tree and chose to move ahead with the introductions, giving her time to think. He could turn into that creature, which wasn't the most surprising thing, it was more that he had acted like a cat that surprised her as much as it did. She wondered what kind of stuff he could get away with in that form. It was quite genius actually. Was it real though? Or a simple henge? She was curious as she always was, but didn't want to ask for fear of bringing up a touchy subject or annoying him. She turned to Kameko instead, waiting for her introduction. She knew of her cousin, but didn't know her. It was high time she get to know her more distant relatives, and what better time than the present. She took one last glance at Sanosuke, making sure she wasn't hallucinating and clasped her hands together to listen to Kameko.
 

These two would teach her something, of that she was sure, and she looked forward to the lessons. One day she hoped to stand beside her teammates and be their equals, as long-coming and unlikely as it may. It was a goal though, and she could only get stronger, prove herself. She would do her best.

As those red-tinted eyes of Sanosuke’s henge form opened, Kameko removed her hand from his incredibly soft fur. Slowly awakening, he offered her a drowsy smile and congratulations on her promotion. “Thanks! It’s good to be back,” she replied; the briefness of her words did not match the rush of pride that she felt at having received praise from her sensei. Being recognized was something that she lived for, the motivation behind almost all that she did, and she was practically glowing with pleasure at just the few words from the Raikage. When he climbed to his feet, she would rise back onto her own, just watching for now how her cousin and sensei interacted.

However, when he shifted back to his human form, her sensei did not look very much like her sensei. Gone were the distinctive long black dreadlocks, replaced with shorter silver hair. While his transformation from the cat form did not surprise her, this change did. Looking closer as he addressed her squad-mate, she noticed that even his eyes had changed color, from the silver she remembered to a shade of blue. She was puzzled by this change, but left the questions for a later time as he made himself comfortable and indicated that she should begin the introductions. "Before I forget, I brought you a little souvenir from Konoha," she said to her sensei, offering forth the package she had carried with her. It was a small white box, and under the protective packaging was a little glass-blown, black cat figurine, the gold markings on it a decent replication of those on the henge that he had just transformed back from.

If he chose to open it at that time, she would wait before obligingly begininng her brief introduction, addressing Ameryuu since Sanosuke already knew what she was about to share, “Ah, I suppose we’ve never been formally introduced. I’m Ryuzoji, Kameko, eighteen years old and recently made Chuunin.” She knew that what she said was probably familiar to the other girl, but she decided to voice it for good-measure, offering their clan name first, in the traditional manner. “I specialize in Kenjutsu and Ninjutsu, with an affinity towards Raiton and Suiton.” Her hand subconsciously strayed to the hilt of her katana when she mentioned her specialty in the use of it, almost like one would rub a sore spot when talking about an injury; there was no threat in the gesture. As a Ryuzoji, the skills that she had an aptitude for could easily be guessed. Traditional in their clan was the study of Kenjutsu from a young age, and with the exception of a few who found themselves unable to access the clan’s Kekkei Genkai, most also leaned strongly towards Raiton and Ninjutsu; the Current Perception that the Ryuzoji were known for required a measure of skill in both.

Kameko had observed Ameryuu’s fidgeting when she’d first approached the girl and had guessed that it was due to nerves. She couldn’t blame her cousin if that was the case. Kameko had been nervous, herself, when she had met Sanosuke, and that was without the added pressure of meeting a squad-mate at the same time. Sympathetic towards that, she projected a friendly air towards the teen, hoping to help her be more at ease. She recalled wondering at the time of her own assignment why the Raikage would take such an interest in her to have her assigned to his personal squad. ‘Kaekio before me, and now Ameryuu, too?’ she considered, recalling that in her original notice of her squad assignment that Kaekio had been listed as a member. They had never met because her cousin had quickly progressed past needing to be a part of a squad, in the role of a student at least. However, there was a good bit of Ryuzoji blood flowing through the Alpha squad, enough that it raised Kameko’s curiosity at the reason behind it.

She had enough pride in her bloodline to imagine that the three girls might be among those upcoming Genin who showed the most potential in Kumogakure, but her ego was not nearly so inflated that she could not see how there might be other, less positive reasons. There had been a terrible scandal a while back when the clan had demonstrated why its symbol was the Ouroboros, the dragon which devours itself, with the murder of their clan head. Was this the Raikage’s attempt to try to circumvent another Ryuzoji civil war, quelling the violence that they often turned on eachother by trying to foster the good-feelings and bonds, which often resulted between squad-mates, in the upcoming generation? Practically speaking, as much as she wouldn’t mind getting to know another cousin, she was concerned about how effective they would be in combat together. While clan-mates often share the same strengths, they also share the same weaknesses, and this would be the case if, when Ameryuu introduced herself, she did, indeed, share the iconic clan-traits and specialties of the Ryuzoji. Despite her inner wonderings, Kameko had faith in the leadership of the Raikage, certain that he had a strategy in place for how the squad would function together.

Now that he was in his human form, Sanosuke could look closer at the gift that he was given to buy Kameko. It was in a small box, he wondered what it could possibly be. Thanking the girl, Sanosuke opened it up right then and there. He really couldn't stand not knowing what's in the box for too long. After opening it up, Sanosuke was staring face to face with a doll like replica of his favorite transformation; the black cat with golden rings detailed on its fur. Sanosuke chose the form because it was the protagonist of his favorite childhood book his mother read to him. But that was for another time, Sanosuke didn't want to get too lost in thought right in front of his students. Placing his head on Kameko's head, Sanosuke rubbed her head affectionately . "You didn't have to get a present for me you know. But I'll be sure to keep it somewhere safe, maybe it should go in my office." Sanosuke began to think aloud while crossing his arms thinking where he would put the stuffed animal. He began to quiet down as Kameko was going through her introductions.

Just listening to Kameko's introduction made him realize the one thought of having members of the Ryuzoji clan being in his squad; especially having them working together: they both have the same fighting style. They both are skilled with a sword, raiton and also suiton. Not much diversity at all. Now that he had time to think about it, tensions from the Ryuzoji clan were beginning to simmer. They weren't as outlandish as they were before Kenji and him intervened and physically clashed with a branch of the Ryuzoji clan to take over Kumo entirely. It seems as though it was just a temper flare the clan was having and now were working things out. Putting two young girls from the Ryuzoji clan on the same squad of the Raikage himself, Sanosuke believed that he could start to reshape the outlook of the Ryuzoji clan so a civil war like that wouldn't break out once more.

Once Kameko was finished, Sanosuke let out a sigh and leaned more against the tree he was leaning on. The Raikage had his nose in the air with disapproval. "Oh come on, what kind of introduction was that?" Sanosuke grunted out. "An introduction is supposed to tell us something personal about yourself, not just something I could read off a ninja info card. Is that how you would introduce yourself to my mother if we visited? Sanosuke asked quizzically while inspecting Kameko up and down and finally staring at her dead in the eyes with a dead look in his eyes. It should have been enough to keep her off balanced due to how close he was moving his face closer and closer towards the girl's face. In fact the Raikage's face and Kameko's face were so close that the tips of their noses were touching each others. Then abruptly, Sanosuke gently chopped the top of the chuunin's head. "Baka."

Picking himself up from being this close to the girl that was most likely dumbfounded by the charm of the Raikage, Sanosuke prayed his eyes on his other student. "While you think of a new introduction, let's see if you can learn from Ameryuu. Take it away little one." Sanosuke said chuckling and signalling for the genin to introduce herself properly to the group. Anyone could tell what your fighting style is and your specialties just by reading your ninja info cards. Hell if they were good they could tell your fighting style just by looking at you, sometimes it's just written all over their face. Knowing your teammates as a person is the essentials of having a successful squad...or so the book he read this morning called "How to Be a Squad Leader For Dummies."

As Ame listened to Kameko's introduction she realised just how similar the other girl's style of fighting was to her own. She worked with both Raiton and Suiton, so at least Ame would have an idea of how they could work together. Sanosuke started to lecture Kameko on the proper way to introduce oneself to their and how she was doing it completely wrong. She watched, appalled, as her new sensei leaned closer and closer to Kameko until their noses touched, then proceeded to chop her over the head. "Baka." She was so dumbfounded at the whole exchange that she missed the Raikage's next words entirely.

Ame blinked, not quite registering that she was being asked to give an introduction next. Kameko's had been shorter than she'd expected and now it was her turn in the spotlight, however brief. She thought for a moment, wondering what she could tell them. It wasn't like her life was particularly interesting at the moment. "Well then. I'm Ameryuu, but most people call me Ame 'cause my name's a mouthful. Um, I've never worked with others on missions before, so that'll be new for me. I like rain?" It was pitifully short, and she shuddered to think about what her sensei would do to her for her less-than-fantastic introduction. It wasn't her fault that she wasn't good at thinking on the spot. She usually took time to think of anything worth saying.

In an effort to save her pride, Ame ran through whatever small tidbits she could think of in her head, searching for something to say that wouldn't make them brand her as crazy, irresponsible or blander than uncooked rice. "Okay let me try that again. I'm Ame. I love the sound of rain, hate humidity and have a penchant for daydreaming when I'm really not supposed to. Climbing this 'hill' killed me a little bit inside, and I once gave a cousin of mine a concussion so that he wouldn't remember seeing me walking through town with a boy." Well the last point did make her sound a little irresponsible in hindsight, but people did weird things when they were desperate and at that time she was certainly desperate. Had her mother found out she certainly wouldn't have heard the end of it. 

She looked to her cousin, hoping the girl wouldn't spread that little rumour around, but she was fairly confident in her already. The younger generation of her family were certainly a lot more trustworthy than the older one. She knew that herself and the other youngsters in the family were taking the clan in a better direction. She just had to keep on that path and avoid getting caught up in the long held grudges of the clan elders. Things like that had almost led to civil war in the past, and she had no desire to watch those mistakes tear her family or village apart again.

Kameko had smiled affectionately up at her sensei as he ruffled her hair, pleased that he liked the little gift. His approval did not last for long though, as he expressed his less than stellar impression of her introduction with a grunt. Her eyes widened just slightly at his criticism. “No, of course not…” she answered his query, a little uncertain of herself as she stood beneath his scrutiny. Though he had always presented himself to her as a very genial person, there was a trickle of caution that went through her as the well-built man began moving in close to her, closer than polite society would normally tread. She didn’t step back from him, but there was a little instinctive tucking of her chin as she leaned backwards slightly in a subconscious, but futile, attempt to maintain a bit of space between them. Those ‘new’ blue eyes of his had an odd look in them, abruptly seeming flat and unreadable; the effect was only amplified when their similarly colored eyes soon came to be only inches apart, the tips of their noses touching. Without consciously realizing it, the young woman held her breath, almost as though transfixed by his nearness. The moment was abruptly broken when she felt a little ‘chop’ on her head. “Baka”. Surprised, Kameko rubbed her head as Sanosuke moved away to focus on her squadmate, her expression turning sheepish.

She had assumed that the introductions were more or less a formality and had approached them as such. The young woman had grown used to being independent and setting her feet on whatever path her whims led her to. Upon her graduation from the Academy years prior, she had taken a hiatus from shinobi life, and instead of taking the typical next step of accepting her new rank as a Genin and joining a squad, she had gone off of active duty for a time to act as her father’s right hand and learn about the ins and outs of the large, and still expanding, iron import and distribution company which their family business had grown into. When she decided to come back to active duty and begin her training in earnest, she had mostly trained alone, excepting a brief mission assignment to spar with a Yamamoto Genin, before heading off to Konoha for a brief time where she was fortunate to run into a variety of people, one of which purposefully taught her about a couple of Raiton techniques while the others taught her other things by simply being who they were. Because of the circumstances which had caused her to do most things solo unless there was a specific goal in mind, she had subconsciously viewed the structure of the team to be one that was purely functional, with any familiarity being a side product, and so she had offered just what she considered necessary for them to form a formal working relationship, as though the squad was just another sort of business arrangement.

Kameko gave Ameryuu… Ame, her attention as the girl gave a shot at her own introduction. She empathized as the girl struggled to come up with something to fit Sanosuke’s expectations; Kameko wasn’t sure what would be interesting enough to warrant offering about herself either. She smiled at the girl's candidness of admitting to the strenuousness of the hike to get here for it was always a bit interesting when shinobi admitted to any sort of weakness about themselves when so many went to great lengths to hide them, but her dark eyebrows raised as Ame related how she had given a kid a concussion just because he saw her walking with a boy. “That…seems a bit extreme,” Kameko commented. ‘I mean, if they’d been fooling around, that’s one thing, but just walking around town? Either her parents are crazy or she is…’ After a moment, she’d add politely, “It’s nice to meet you, Ame.” The shorter version of her name seemed to suit the girl. “I guess I’ll try again,” she started, glancing at Sanosuke before beginning. “I’m an early riser, but I don’t really like having company first thing. In my spare time, I like to go and listen to music… I like pretty much any kind… and try new restaurants. D’you know Yoshida’s? That little family-run sushi joint? It’s one of my favorites… Hm, what else… well, I just got back from Konoha, this morning actually, and I think it’d be fun to have an opportunity to visit all of the big villages one day..” Trailing off, she glanced at her sensei in askance, wondering if her second attempt had met his standards.

As Sanosuke listened to the introduction of the genin of their rag tag squad that Sanosuke put together, he was nodding his head in approval as he was learning more and more about Ameryuu. From what she could tell, she was rather conservative for her age and most likely very structured and by the books. Also what else was there, possibly a sense of unsure in her abilities? But then again he could have gathered that from how she was just now meeting her squad for the first time; the squad led by the Raikage where his student easily won last year's chuunin exams. That amount of pressure is enough to put anyone on edge. Sanosuke wondered how the kunoichi will deal with the pressure; will she rise to the challenge or be trampled by it, that was up to her to decide. But in the meantime, Sanosuke snickered at the story Ame told regarding her outings with boys. "Ohh, I guess we have a heart breaker in our squad. Maybe we can have you be a spy for us and get information out of men with your charm." Sanosuke laughed at the joke and looked towards Kameko "Don't tell me being a heart breaker is a common trait of Ryuzoji women."

Now Kameko was more or less Ameryuu's opposite. Sanosuke remembered how the chuunin walked into his office for the first time meeting her sensei. Her eyes were filled with enthusiasm and excitement as well that she'd be training with the Raikage himself. She was never hesitant neither was she doubting her abilities. But then again that might be because she's older than Ame by a few years, and thus matured more. As Sanosuke listened, he was able to gather that she was someone that was by the book with her fighting style; possibly more aggressive than Ame, more sure of her attacks. But that is again something to do with experience. Sanosuke knew that in time, the genin will get the same mindset as her senior. And while they would be training, Kameko will be that much stronger of a ninja and Ame will follow her lead.

The talking about Yoshida's made Sanosuke's stomach rumble loud enough for both girls to hear. If they looked at him, Sanosuke would laugh it off while scratching the back of his head. "Yeah Yoshida's is really good. Just remembering how good the food was from last time we ate there Kameko made my stomach happy. I'll take you girls there sometime." Sanosuke said while giving both of the girls a peace sign. Now it was his turn to give a proper introduction. He had to make sure that it was something that revealed to them a bit of his personal life but not too much as they're students and he's the sensei; there are things that a student shouldn't learn about a sensei that happened to be Sanosuke Flynt.

"Let's see....when I was a genin like you Ame, I was trained under the past Raikage Midnight. He had this odd fascination with my silver hair that there would be times where before a misison he'd command me to sit still and let him bury his nose in my hair." Sanosuke recollected his time being a genin while on the same squad as his squad mates Hirosama and Shiro. While telling his story, he pointed his head at his scalp where Midnight would sniff through like a bloodhound. "A bit of an oddball but he was the man that made me the shinobi I am today." Taking out his wallet, Sanosuke showed the girls 2 pictures of himself, the one on the right was a picture of himself as a genin. If he remembered correctly, Sanosuke had just finished his first C Rank mission of fighting off bandits while putting up lightning rods in the Thunder Grounds with his best friend Skye and other shinobi in Kumo during his time.

And the second picture was of him a bit older, probably closer to Kameko's age with his best friend Skye as they both became special jounin at the ceremony. He remembered the day well. Sanosuke and him had to take a picture while they wore their Kumogakure flak jackets. Skye was a a bit intoxicated at the time and drunkardly wrapped his arms around Sanosuke's shoulder. Sanosuke remembered that he was drinking his own bottle of sake but how forceful Skye was with his shoulder caused him to drop the bottle. So the picture was taken of Skye smiling and Sanosuke watching in horror as the bottle of sake would crash onto the floor while it hung in mid air due to the picture.

What Sano looked like as a genin/chunnin respectively:

Ame winced a little at the 'extreme' comment, but she didn't blame Kameko for thinking it. It was a bit extreme in hindsight, but had been rather unavoidable at the time. "Yeah, my mom is terrifying so I really try and avoid incurring her wrath." It was the honest truth. Her mom still had trust issues with her, so anything that Ame was involved in, however innocent, was often scrutinized for the most minor of faults. It annoyed the girl to no end, but she couldn't exactly tell the older Ryuzoji to calm down, as it would only rouse her suspicion further. She would just have to deal with it. Ame grinned uneasily, rubbing the back of her head. She listened to the rest of Kameko's new and improved introduction and was amazed that the girl had only returned from a trip to another country that morning. She wasn't sure how the girl was even standing at the moment. She wondered what Konoha was like, if it was as thickly forested and humid as all the textbooks said. Kameko's dream of someday seeing all the great villages was understandable, as she shared the sentiment. The restaurant Kameko then mentioned did sound nice, and Ame was always up for some sushi, so she made a mental note to check it out later.

She blinked at her sensei's use of the word 'heart-breaker'. Her, a heart-breaker? She wasn't sure whose hearts she was going to break. And she was certainly not cut out for seduction missions. The very thought of it made her go red. "Eh? You're just kidding right?" She sure hoped so. Otherwise she would likely keel over from shock. Once it was made clear Sanosuke was just joking Ame calmed down a bit. His offer to take herself and Kameko to Yoshida's was certainly tempting. Her sensei was quite strange in her opinion, but he seemed like a good person. He seemed to mix well with their ragtag group. Kameko was certainly confident, and Ame could imagine herself looking up to the girl as a fitting role model in the near future. It would be nice to make friends with a fellow girl. Too many of the people she knew were male. Her sensei soon began with his own introduction and Ame listened attentively, surprised at the... daring, of his own sensei. She wouldn't have known how to react had she been in the same situation. She looked on, curious as Sanosuke pulled two photos from his wallet.

Ame leaned in a little closer to see the pictures. Both pictures made her smile but the one of him in which he was older made her laugh slightly. She knew quite well what it was like having friends like that. Unpredictable but reliable. "You were cute as a genin, sensei. I'm guessing the other man in that photo is a friend of yours?" She was curious. Most of the time you looked at the a person and couldn't envision them as anyone but the person you saw in front of you, doubly so with adults. It was nice to see that her sensei kept a little piece of his social life with him. Ame liked to think that keeping mementos of those you cared about made sure you didn't forget them, and in turn they wouldn't forget you. It was a silly philosophy, but she stuck to it. She was sure she recognized the other person's face from somewhere, but she wasn't quite able to place it. If they were a fellow-nin she might have seen him lingering around the missions office, but she couldn't be sure.

Kameko made a mental note to be careful, should she ever happen to cross paths with Ameryuu’s mother. If her displeasure was so frightening that Ame would give a kid a concussion over the idea that he would tell on her, then Kameko certainly had no intention of becoming a target for that rage or causing it to fall on the girl through some fault of her own. Sanosuke commented to her, "Don't tell me being a heart breaker is a common trait of Ryuzoji women." “Well, y’know… sometimes it can’t be helped.” The young woman had held her hands, palms up, at chest level, the gesture demonstrating her lack of control over the situations, but there was a mischievous curve to her lips which contradicted the suggestion of her lack of culpability. Humorously, her response was almost an opposite to Ameryuu’s as the girl blushed bright red at the idea of charming someone for intelligence. It occurred to Kameko that perhaps Ameryuu had grown up in a much more conservative environment, or perhaps it was simply their difference in age that accounted for it. Kameko had no qualms about using her youth and attractiveness to her benefit; it was not a matter of being egotistical, but rather seeing her appearance as being another tool in her arsenal, when need be.

After continuing with her introduction, she heard Sanosuke’s stomach rumble at the mention of the restaurant that they had gone to for lunch on her first day on Alpha Squad and grinned at him in acknowledgement as he laughed it off. Sanosuke’s introduction left much to be desired in terms of learning about him as a person; it wasn’t so much of a quick, statistical, intro as hers had been, but it had informed them more of his past than his present. She didn’t point it out, however, because truth be told, she was interested in what the Raikage was like as a student; besides, she believed that more would be learned about someone in just day to day than an introductory spiel would ever really tell. She leaned in with Ameryuu when Sanosuke pulled out the pictures. Her face let up with a grin at the bright-eyed little Sano. “D’aww, such a cutie!” she echoed Ameryuu’s sentiment. The picture of him when he was about her age was comical, being shot just before a bottle of sake hit the ground, the perfect candid shot. It was interesting to see how people had looked at different times, and she found that she was really glad that she had not commented on the change in the Raikage’s features when he had first shifted back to his human form; apparently, the dreadlocks and silver eyes were the aberration, and the silver hair and blue that he possessed now were his natural features. Kameko didn’t know the young man in the photo with him, but her teammate had already questioned Sanosuke about him, so she didn’t need to.

Opening their little circle back up after getting a good look at the photographs, she would wait for the Raikage to answer Ameryuu's query and to steer the direction of their meeting towards whatever he had planned for the day. She had heard of some squad leaders starting off with a training exercise while others preferred 'get to know you' games. She would definitely vote for the latter, given the choice. The quick shower she'd had time for earlier kept her from looking it, but she wouldn't mind taking it easy, having just gotten back from her trip. However, in the nature of being prepared for anything, she had her gear with her, should the former be his plan. Either way, she gave the Raikage her attention.

[Sorry for the late post!]

A blush was flourishing Sanosuke's cheeks as the girls were talking about how cute he looked as a genin. He didn't think that's what they would say when talking about him as a genin. Back then he was rather short for a male genin so some genin his age would call him the runt even though his scores in the ninja academy were in the top percentile. It's actually a mystery how he got so tall so quickly between the time he was a genin and to when he was a special jounin. But to be called cute by his own students was something that he didn't take for account. "Hey, hey knock if off you two." Sanosuke chuckled while scratching his head in embarassment from the girls' compliments about him as a genin. He had to be glad though that neither of the girls made a comment how cute/attractive he was as special jounin or they would be in quite the awkward situation since that was only taken a few years ago. When the girls asked about Skye it made him chuckle. There was numerous times when the two of them would get roped into hijinks because of Sanosuke, but this time in the picture Skye was the one looking for trouble. Sanosuke chuckled at the memory and returned his pictures into his wallet when the girls broke up the circle.

"That man is Skye Nekito, a jounin from our village and my best friend since I became a ninja. If you want to know more about the past you should talk to him, he has tons of stories of the times we got ourselves in trouble." Sanosuke answered the question smiling at the two of them. Good they got introductions out of the way and Sanosuke has a better understanding of his squad as people now than he did from just reading up on their individual profiles. He guess it was time for training since they were all here for the time being and had their shinobi gear. Now that he thought about it, it would be the first time in a while since he trained Kameko personally. How much has the girl grown while away in Konoha he wondered. Getting up from the tree, Sanosuke stretched his back out and popped it a little bit from the way he was stretching. Popping the last cuts of the durian fruit into his mouth, Sanosuke dusted his hands off while chewing the last of the fruit. "Well with introductions out of the way, time for your training exercise." Sanosuke announced to the girls.

The Raikage made one hand seal and transformed back to his previous state of the black cat he was previously. His eyes were more devilish, and mischevious than before. "Your first part of training is simple: catch me. The first person to catch me gets to come with me to Yoshida's, while the loser doesn't come with us." Sanosuke stuck his tongue at the girls as he made his way towards the ledge of the mountain and looked down. There was a view hiding spots he was going, including Ms. Yoshita's place. He could smell her fried dumplings from here. If he was quick enough, he could get there in about 10 minutes with like 7 minutes to spare before the girls locate him "Oh by the way, you both have until sundown to catch me. And if that happens, you both get a 'San-chop.' Good luck!" Sanosuke added with a small paw chop to imitate what would happen. And just like that the transformed Raikage leaped from the mountain and dived to the ground. He pounced on rock upon rock quickly and elegantly until he reach the ground. Something very simple that anyone could do with enough practice and skill. After he landed on the ground pathway, Sanosuke made his way into the village quickly. Dumplings here I come!

---

Jutsu Used. Chakra at 380:

Ameryuu smiled at how Kameko's reaction was similar to her own. Sanosuke how ever seemed confused as to why the two of them thought he looked cute in his genin photo, but Ame just grinned as he told them to stop it. She nodded as Sanosuke explained who the man was. She still didn't recognise the name, but as he was a jounin she could understand why. Ranks didn't mix very often, besides senseis with their students, so it made sense that they hadn't met before. The way he intoduced the man made her think they were very close friends, the kind of friends where you couldn't get rid of the other person if you tried. It seemed to her that her Raikage had been a bit of a troublemaker in his youth, but she didn't think any differently of him for it. Everyone had some embarassing stories from their childhood - some just had more than others. She herself had her own treasure trove of embarassing incidents she almost always declined to share. 

"Well with introductions out of the way, time for your training exercise."  Ame's smile fell a little bit. Of course she had expected there to be some sort of training exercise involved with the team meeting. From what she had heard about 'team bonding exercises' they usually involved some sort of impossible task that seemed incompletable from the outset and ended up only being achievable through teamwork and sheer dumb luck (something of which she was usually at a derth of). She glanced at her fellow teammate Kameko out of the corner of her eye, wondering if the same thing was going through her head, or if the girl was ready to throw herself into the exercise. Ame herself was sufficiently rested from the strenuous climb to just get to the meeting place, but the thought of having to do something crazy wasn't the most inviting idea at the moment, regardless. She watched as Sanosuke transformed himself into his cat-like form once again, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Your first part of training is simple: catch me. The first person to catch me gets to come with me to Yoshida's, while the loser doesn't come with us."

Ame drooped a little further. The moment he was finished with his instructions he stuck out his tongue, headed to the edge of the mountain and started hopping down it, giving himself a head start he really didn't need. Ame was well aware that with her current speed it was very unlikely that she was going to catch up to him, and that Kameko was quite a bit faster than her so overall more likely to win the little 'game', but she wasn't about to give up already. She wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a teamwork exercise or not, but Ame knew that she would need help if she was going to get close to their now awol sensei, so pride be damned, she was going to ask. "Hey Kameko, I know you're probably going to win this in any case, and I'll likely just be dead weight right now, but if you're willing to work together then I certainly am. If we both catch him you can go to Yoshida's, I can pay for myself and I doubt he would stop me from being in the restaurant. So whaddaya say, can we work together?" She held out her hand to the girl, hoping for a positive answer. If her request was denied (she couldn't help but hope it wasn't) she would just have to rely on her own skills. Somewhere in the back of her mind she asked herself the question 'but isn't that what a team is for?', but kept herself firmly in the present.

Kameko laughed along with Sanosuke as he became flustered by their flattery. He’d never struck her as a shy type, but it must be a novel experience for the mighty Raikage to be called a ‘cutie’. She made a note to track down this Skye Nekito next time she had a free day; it’d be interesting what stories about her sensei could be teased out of his best friend. But then, her next free day might be a while from now. Apparently her trip had been seen as enough leisure time, although she had picked up some new jutsu and had experienced enough to convince the administrators that she was ready for the promotion to Chuunin, for with that tidbit of information, Sanosuke decided that they were done with the pleasantries.

When he shifted back to his cat form, she knew that whatever he had planned wouldn’t be easy, and when he continued to explain their task, she was proven right. ‘Catch the Raikage? You’ve got to be kidding me,’ she thought, with a little audible sigh as the cat-kage leapt over the side of the mountain; she’d really been hoping that they’d play some silly little game and that she wouldn’t have to go run around when she’d just gotten home, but no such luck. Before he could get too far, she activated the Tracking Range of her Current Perception, catching hold of his electrical signature. She walked over to the edge, looking over at the rock formations that he used as little stepping stones to rapidly descend down the mountain. His weight in his Henge no Jutsu was lighter than her’s, but they looked sturdy enough, and she remembered him jumping on rock spires to get them across Kumogakure quickly last time, most likely this was the same route that he used as a man and would support her weight. About to follow him, she hesitated when Ameryuu called out to her.

Turning to face the girl, she was surprised again to hear her lay voice to the truth that they both knew which was that, as a Chuunin, Kameko had an advantage and was likely faster than the girl and therefore was more likely, on paper at least, to be able to catch him. More likely was not saying much, when their individual chances at being successful in capturing a Kage were almost nonexistent if he tried his hardest to avoid them; if the Raikage was easy enough for a Genin, or even a Chuunin, to capture on her own, than it did not reflect very well on the strength of the hidden village. Her dark brows had quirked upwards as the girl had begun, but by the end when Ameryuu suggested they team up, she was grinning. “Let’s do it!” she enthused. Her right hand lifted as she curled her fingers in a clear ‘come over here’ gesture.

Kameko thought quickly for a moment, feeling as though she was expected by both Ameryuu and Sanosuke, or would be when he noticed their alliance, to kind of take charge. “Have you learned to use the Denkanryū?” she asked, using the formal name of their clan’s Current Perception Kekkei Genkai, which any Ryuzoji should know it by as well as by its common name. She would hope so, as most clan members unlocked the ability to sense the electrical currents around them before or very soon after graduating from the Academy. However, it was a learned skill, and some learned it later than others; she figured that she was about this girl’s age or a little younger when she had accessed it herself. There would be a brief pause, allowing for the girl to confirm or deny it before she would continue, if the girl answered that she had learned the skill, “Activate the tracking range, now, before he gets too far.” She would give the girl a moment to do so before going on, “There’s no point in sprinting after him; we can’t hope to match a kage’s speed, and it’ll just wear us out. Atleast now we won’t lose him in a crowd. It’ll be harder to find a cat than a man, but the Denkanryū will give us a hand in that.” The nature of the tracking range was that it kept track of an individual’s electronic signature, so they wouldn’t mix him up for another cat in the village and wouldn’t lose him if he decided to change forms again; a Henge no Jutsu did not alter one’s signature in that way.

“We’ve got to keep him in range though, so let’s get going. These rocks look sturdy enough, but I’ll go first, just in case.” They weren’t taking the nice, maintained trail that they had taken up here but would be jumping down the side of the mountain, and there was a slight risk that one of the rocks they’d be using as stepping stones could come loose; she wouldn’t put Ameryuu at risk because she had misjudged the weight that one of those rocks could hold. Assuming that the girl would follow, Kameko began making her way down the mountain in the same jumping fashion that her sensei had demonstrated. She did not make the trip as quickly as Sanosuke because she had neither his speed nor experience with hopping from spire to spire, but they would still make it down significantly faster than the girls had made it up. She raised her voice to call back to Ameryuu, who she assumed would be behind her, “I learned a new jutsu in Konoha that can catch him, but we’ll have to get close to him first. Do you have anything that can trap him or trip him up? A jutsu or some wire, maybe? Or something that we can use as a distraction so I can get close? A smoke bomb?” Upon reaching the bottom, she would wait for Ameryuu to catch up before continuing.

Chakra: 180/200 (-20 for activating Tracking Range at B-Rank):

As he sprinted, Sanosuke thought about his true escape plan from the girls. The pace he was running was rather fast, however he was assuming that he was still well within the range of the girls' Denkanryū technique that the Ryuzoji clan was famous for. With that technique, no matter where Sanosuke would run if the girls were within range they could activate the technique and track him down. He needed to find a more lasting solution to his tracking advantage they have over him. That's when he thought of an answer. Sanosuke smirked and began darting through alleyways and other alleyways looking at cats while he zipped through them to find a suitable cat that would be his substitute. When he found one, Sanosuke darted backwards and transformed back into his human form and caught the cat before it had the chance to get away from him. "Oh no you don't!" Sanosuke exclaimed as he held the cat. Taking a whiff in the air, Sanosuke couldn't smell Kameko's perfume from where he was. He'd have time for his plan to go into action. Making several one handed hand seals as he held the black cat by its scruff, Sanosuke placed his index finger on the cat's forehead and traced its chakra on its fur to give the cat the exact same markings as Sanosuke himself. Looking at the cat from this point of view, it looked exactly like Sanosuke at first glance. It'd be enough to trip the girls up at first glance.

But that wouldn't be enough to stop the girls as they still had the Denkanryū that would separate the two cats despite how similar they looked. Now was the second phase of his plane. Focusing raiton chakra in his fingertips, Sanosuke snapped them to cause an emp blast that was large enough in a 10 meter radius that shut down all electrical appliances in the area for a split second before they would be used again. To the villagers it was more like a power surge, but for the girls it would seem as though in that area all the electric signatures vanished and reappeated again in that instant. During that time period, Sanosuke poked the cat and shocked it slightly with leftover static electrcity. It yelped and leaped off Sanosuke taking off towards one end of the street. Sanosuke had just injected the cat with some raiton chakra that would temporarily give the feline the same electrical current signature as himself. To the girls it would feel as though there were now two copies of their sensei running off in different directions. It would definitely confuse them and make them unsure who to chase.

Smirking at his handiwork, Sanosuke transformed back into a cat and dashed towards the other end of the street heading towards his original destination: the location where the fried dumplings were coming from. The aroma hit his nose hard as he sped towards the source of the enticing fragrance that made his stomach growl. He hoped Yoshita-san had made her famous oolong tea along with the dumplings as well. Just thinking about the food made the man/cat's mouth water as he ran. It would be long now, he was about 5 minutes away from his destination now.

Ame nodded at Kameko's words and acquiesced with a quick 'hai', concentrating her chakra and following after Kameko as she hopped down the mountain side. It seemed a bit precarious, but Ame made sure to step only where the older girl did. As they descended, Ame listened to Kameko's plan. "Yeah, I've got 50 feet of wire on me right now. We'd have to get ahead of him first though, or figure out where exacty he's heading towards." Ame jumped one last time and stood next to Kameko, all the while think of where her sensei could have possibly run off to. Kameko knew him better than she did, so any guess the Chunin made would probably be more correct that anything Ame came up with. She still gave it some thought. He probably wouldn't go anywhere wildly obvious, such as the Raikage's Tower, but even with the less obvious places ruled out, there was still a lot of village left to cover. 

Whenever Kameko gave the command to continue the chase, Ameryuu would follow. Her range was probably not as wide as Kameko's but she had still felt the pulse of Sanosuke's electrical signature just after she'd activated the range. Even though Kameko wasn't sprinting, Ame found it a bit of a struggle to keep up with her, but she did as well as she could. She moved quickly, following Kameko's route. She felt a sudden prickle on the edge of her range that almost made her stop. Instead, all she did was falter slightly, as there was a sort of ripple through her senses and a temporary 'blind spot' appeared at the edge of her sensing range. She had a feeling that their job of tracking down their sensei had just gotten a bit harder. The blind spot dissappeared after about a second but what Ame felt after that confused her even more.

"There are... two of them?" She looked to Kameko for some idea of what to do next. The two 'senseis' (one had to be a decoy) moved off in opposite directions. and both were heading right out of her range rather quickly. If she and Kameko were going to split up, it had to be soon, or Ame would loose the trail too quickly. "Kameko, maybe we should split up? We can't pick one, just in case the other is the real one. I can take the slower one, since I might be able to catch up with it fast enough. What do you say?"

While Ameryuu finished her descent, Kameko’s brain was working through ideas of how the two of them could pool their resources and skills to catch their elusive sensei, and once the younger girl reached her, she set off at a steady pace in the direction that the Denkanryū informed her that Sanosuke was in, trying to conserve energy and make sure that Ameryuu could keep up without letting too much distance build between them and their quarry. She had pieced together a vague plan and was weighing the pros and cons, trying to figure out what the Raikage might be anticipating, if he’d expect them to be working together or competing with one another and various other assumptions, hoping to come up with a way to catch him off guard, for it wasn’t as though they could out-run the man, when, suddenly, it was though a flash bomb went off right where Sanosuke’s electrical signature was coming from. This flash bomb took the form of an emp, and instead of blinding her eyes, it temporarily blinded her Current Perception of a ten meter area.

She hesitated for half a moment as Ameryuu voiced what she was also sensing, “There are… two of them?” Her expression darkened as she nodded briskly, “Looks that way.” Doggedly, she picked up the trail again to where the two “Sanosukes” parted ways. Her ire was not directed at Ameryuu; it was more of frustration with the difficulty level of this game increasing because of Sanosuke’s familiarity with their clan’s Kekkei Genkai, probably due to the number of Ryuzoji students that he had taken on recently. How the Raikage had managed to give another creature his electronic signature, she wasn’t quite sure, but it did not bode well that he’d found such a handy way to undermine their tracking ability. While they traveled, Ameryuu piped up again, suggesting that they split up. Kameko’s instinct suggested that the faster one must be the Kage, for few things could outpace a Kage, and from her experiences, Sanosuke didn’t like to go anywhere slowly; when he’d decided to take her to lunch, he’d pulled her onto her back and took off rather than slow himself down by waiting on his Genin’s slower pace. However, there was a whisper of doubt that, perhaps, that was just what Sanosuke would expect her to think. 'Ame’s right, we can’t just neglect one over the other in case we get it wrong.’

They had reached the area where the emp went off and the two “Sanosukes” paths’ had diverged; after a second, she nodded, “Good idea. If you find the real one... Do something flashy, and I’ll try to keep an eye out for it. If it’s the fake, you can catch back up with me later.” Since Ameryuu was bound to catch up to the slow one before Kameko caught up with the fast one, she wouldn’t worry about signaling Ameryuu if the fast one was the real Sanosuke; Ameryuu would already know by then and would have signaled her or already be on her way to catch up to Kameko. Would Ameryuu be able to pick up either her or Sanosuke’s electrical signatures to find them if her target turned out to be the fake or would they be too far away by then? Kameko wasn’t sure, but there wasn’t much to do about it; without radios or something to coordinate their locations, the girls would have to rely on the Denkanryū  and work with whatever ranges they had.

Unless Ameryuu called out to her to wait, Kameko would not stay any longer than necessary and, after offering Ameryuu an encouraging smile and, “Good luck!”, she would turn and take off at that same quick but steady pace after the faster signal. She kept enough awareness in the back of her mind to watch for a signal from the other girl, but otherwise she focused on her own task. While it would be a lot easier to have Ameryuu’s assistance, she had to assume that she might now be tasked with catching Sanosuke by herself. While the signal was still moving and was reasonably far enough away that she could assume that he wasn’t watching her, she decided to take a leaf out of her sensei’s book and, forming handseals, she activated the Henge no Jutsu. After the smoke cleared, a young man stood where Kameko had just been. He had black, casually styled, hair, and dark eyes, all of his features were average enough to keep him from drawing an undue amount of attention to himself. His clothing was similarly unrememberable, a gray shirt and dark pants, and she even added a few inches to the height of her disguise to make him blend in in that regard as well. She did not know what kind of sensory abilities, if any, her sensei had, but she hoped that the simple illusion would allow her to get a little bit closer than she would have otherwise, especially if she used the other pedestrians traveling the same street that the signal directed her down as cover. Then, at least, she wouldn’t be identified by a casual glance, while she continued tracking the signal that she hoped was the real Sanosuke.

The disguise:

Chakra: 165/200 (-5 for activating Henge no Jutsu, -10 for maintaining Tracking Range):

[Sorry, again!]

The transformed Raikage ran quickly through the crowds, slipping past them with ease as he continued his traveling. When he smelled that the girls had indeed split up due to his plan being a success, the man couldn't help but want to pat himself on the back for the accomplishment. It was a simple test to see if his hypothesis regarding raiton and electric signatures was true. Fortunate for the young kage that he was correct in his assumption as Kameko and Ameryuu did split up from the decoy he made. Having enough Ryuzoji students, it was only a matter of time before he would know how the clan would operate against their unique kekkei genkai. To the girls this must be frustrating that one of their prized techniques was exposed by an outsider, because now the task was harder than it should have been. No doubt this would cause them to split up, unless they decided to go big or go home and still work together as a team. Either way the girls were going to learn sooner or later that relying on electrical signatures was definitely a strength in their kit, but relying so heavily on it would lead them to disaster.

Taking a whiff in the air, the smell of Kameko's perfume filled his nose. So it would seem that they've split up since Sanosuke couldn't get a whiff out of Ameryuu's scent any longer. He may not be part of the Inuzuka clan, but his senses were still very much sharp. Ah the older of the Ryuzoji girls, he'd have to play a bit smarter to fool her. Kameko was smarter than his past students, certainly smarter than Kaekio as she would actually take the time to process the facts before her, and only smarter than Ameryuu from more experience on the field. Leaping up on a rooftop, the Raikage scanned the part of the village he was in for his silver haired student. From where he was, she'd be able to sense him but probably not see him while Sanosuke could very much see her. His electrical signature will be standing still as Sanosuke tried to find Kameko before she got the chance to lock eyes with her. It took a while but eventually he did find the girl. Sanosuke couldn't help but laugh. So she was pulling a page out of his own book and used the henge jutsu. A brilliant plan if Sanosuke could say himself, but she forgot one thing. Her scent still clung to the air, so it was easy to distinguish her disguise.

Short black hair with dark eyes, that was something he could definitely do. Leaping off from the rooftop he currently was on before Kameko had the chance to lock eyes with him, Sanosuke landed gracefully in a dark alley. He transformed into a henge that would match Kameko's henge and walked out of the clearing. He would need a different flashbang to cover his escape, but instead of it being raiton related it would be more people related. As Sanosuke walked through the crowd transformed, he noticed a couple talking as they walked through the village taking in the sights. A mischevious smile crossed his lips as he made his move towards. Them. Walking up to them, Sanosuke groped the woman from behind before her boyfriend had the chance to react. The woman froze at the touch of the man, he boyfriend watched enraged as Sanosuke moved to kiss her on the neck.

"P-PERVERT!!!" The woman screamed as she finally used her strength to pull herself off Sanosuke and into the arms of her boyfriend. That was mostly from Sanosuke shoving the girl towards her charging boyfriend that meant to charge him like an enraged bull. From her scream, everyone in the immediate area would have heard the scream. Some of them were eyewitnesses. Perfect, Sanosuke thought as he moved quickly before the masses turned into an angry mob that would rip him limb from limb. As he moved, Sanosuke smacked the ass of every girl he met on the street to objectify them. He was sure that his face was seen by the girls he would harass before moving onto his next target.

After the 12th girl, Sanosuke dashed into an alley and transformed back into his cat like appearance. With his form back to what he wanted, Sanosuke jumped on the rooftop to check out his handiwork. The villagers in this part of the village were looking for the sexual deviant, unfortunate for Kameko that would be her should she continue to pursue him for another 30 meters. Even if Kameko transformed back, it wouldn't save her. In fact they would think of it more sickening that a kunoichi would be that perverted to use her ninja skills to do such a thing. He was sure from this position a struggling Kameko would be seen from his vantage point, and Sanosuke was sure she could see him. An evil and mischievous sneer rolled on the transformed kage's lips as he observed his student struggling to get out of this sticky situation. It was a good thing that Sanosuke, while on his travels before becoming a Raikage, he mastered the art of throwing his voice; ventriliquism. He tossed his voice from where he was towards Kameko with the help of chakra of course.

"Better luck next time, Kame-chan~ " Sanosuke teased as he leaped off the rooftop he was on and leisurely strolled towards his destination. By now, Ameryuu must have realized she was chasing the wrong cat. But she'd be ways off by now to meet up with Kameko, that is if the villagers hadn't pelted her with tomatoes and rotten fruit yet. The sun was going down soon, those girls were running out of time. Sanosuke's stomach was getting hungrier, and the smell of the dumplings were getting stronger.

---

The smell was beginning to mesmerize him as he felt himself float towards them. He finally reached the house of the elderly woman he was going to visit. When the woman opened the door, she looked at the black cat before her on her porch and stared at it for a few seconds before letting out a chuckle. Sanosuke let out a mocking mew and jumped in the arms of the old lady. She petted the transformed cat lovingly as she laughed more. "My, my San-chan. What kind of mischief have you gotten yourself into this time?" the old lady smiled.

"Nothing, I'm innocent. Honestly Yoshita-san." Sanosuke pipped up. "Now about those dumplings..."

"Already prepared for you little one." With that the two of them went into the house to enjoy the food that had the Raikage so dedicated on hunting down. Sanosuke knew he'd probably eat his fill, take a short cat nap, then find the girls if they were still looking for him. But for now, he'd finally enjoy this break he had.

Yoshita-san's FC:

---

WC: 5124(Perception Training. A-1---->S) (-300 WC to get Endurance to S-3). 500 WC remaining.

Ame followed Kameko's orders, moving to follow the slower 'Sanosuke'. She followed it threw some strange areas, until she reached an alleyway that was tiny, the cat-like creature stopped just out of her reach. Before she could try and think of a way to get to the creature it's electrical signature changed, becoming something completely different to what she had been tracking. Ame muttered darkly under her breath and jumped to the rooftops, heading off in the general direction that Kameko had been heading. Ame had gotten the decoy, and Kameko had gotten the real one. Ame just hoped that the older girl had been able to catch up to their wayward sensei. As she neared the area where Kameko presumably was, her tracking range locked on to the girl, and Ame sped up to reach her quicker. Their sensei's signature was nowhere to be found, but there was a general air of agitated-ness in the area where she could feel Kameko. Ame hopped down to street level and winced when she saw exactly what was happening.

There was a large crowd of civilians and they seemed to be in a complete frenzy over something or the other. Towards the middle of the crowd Ame could feel Kameko's signature, but she couldn't see what was happening to the older girl. Had Kameko knocked over a cart in her chase? Ame tapped one of the enraged civilians on the shoulder in an effort to find out what was happening. "Excuse me, but what's going on?"  The old woman turned around surprised, and harrumphed, before pointing in the direction of the thickest part of the crowd. "There was a young man, a pervert might I say, and he was busy touching and taking chances with all the girls in the crowd. Man deserves what he gets for being so disgusting." The woman then stomped off to join the fray, leaving a bewildered Ame standing there with a confused look on her face. A young man? That didn't give her any clue as to what was happening to her cousin.

Ame slipped away from the crowd and back up to the rooftops, to try and see if she could discern anything further from a higher vantage point. Her eyes widened as she realised that the 'young man' who had incurred the people's wrath was in fact Kameko. Ame had no doubt that this was her sensei's doing in some way. Ame wondered if Kameko would try and get away from the crowd or not. Meanwhile, their sensei was probably busy enjoying himself and gorging on sushi all by himself. Ame let out a resigned sigh and got down from her perch, determined to try and help Kameko out. How did she end up stuck with such an odd person for a sensei she would never know. And he was supposed to be the esteemed and honorable Raikage as well. Ame snorted. "Honorable my ass." She grumbled internally. 

Well, at least he wasn't boring.

---

Words: 3930

Training:

Speed: C ~> C-3
Reaction Time: C ~> C-3

Words Used: 3750
Unused: 180

Before long, Kameko sensed the Raikage’s electrical signature stop, not too far from where she was. The girl was excited to finally end this little cat and mouse game and have a shot at catching hold of Sanosuke, but she was cautious too. Her sensei would undoubtedly be keeping an eye out for Ameryuu and her, and while the henge granted her some level of anonymity, it wouldn’t fool him for long if he noticed a young man scouring the streets; the transformation technique was a basic academy skill, and having just used it himself, he’d probably have an eye out for anyone displaying suspicious behaviors. So, she took care to put on a rather convincing act of a young man strolling down the street, hands in his pockets, whose only concern was sneaking a peak at the pretty girls as they turned his head; the movement provided an excuse for him to look back and forth along the street, his dark eyes flicking upwards to check the rooftops without appearing to change his line of sight.

She was almost upon where his signal was coming from, her target only hidden from her by a curve in the road when he began moving away from her again. Unlike his initial dash through Kumogakure, this time his pace was a bit slower and he seemed to pause intermittently along his weaving path, coming close to other signatures each time. It was odd and raised suspicions in her mind, but there were few options for Kameko but to keep on with her plan. Perhaps he thought that he could confuse the signal somehow like he did previously; atleast this time there were not multiple Raikages popping up like there was previously. She had no way of knowing if she had been found out, but breaking cover now would not aid her and there was no reason to abandon her henge until she knew for sure that the disguise was a bust. Should he have somehow identified her before she spied him, she would just have to come up with a new strategy for, as before, she had no hope of outrunning him in a flat out chase.

Oblivious to the mischief that Sanosuke was causing, the young ‘man’ continued following the path. As Kameko rounded the corner, she noticed a disturbance in the typically genial nature of an afternoon crowd. Instead of generally smiling faces with a few malcontents around, it was just the opposite, and it didn’t take long before someone made eye contact with her. “That’s him! That’s the one, right there, in the grey shirt!!” The voice came from a busty young woman, who pointed an accusing finger right in her direction. Kameko hesitated, uncertain of what was going on. “Um… No, I think you have me confused with someone else.” Mimicking the mannerisms that she had seen in boys her age, she raised one hand to scratch at her hair, ruffling the dark strands which were so much shorter than her normal hair, and gave a little embarrassed chuckle to try and diffuse the situation… Instead, things quickly escalated.

Her nonchalant manner further infuriated the crowd which had already gathered to aggrieve the behavior of the pervert who had run about groping a dozen young ladies. She only had enough time to assess that the situation was all Sanosuke’s doing before she found herself penned in the center of what had quickly turned into an angry mob. She tried repeatedly to explain herself, that no, she hadn’t touched this one’s little sister, Riku, or groped that one’s friend, Yuri, but they had no interest in excuses, having already tried and convicted ‘him’ in the eyes of the public. With a hunch that revealing her true face would only spread the blame onto the true Kameko, she maintained the disguise.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice call out over the noise of the crowd, "Better luck next time, Kame-chan~" Her head swiveled sharply to her right, dark eyes spotting a black cat with golden rings jumping off of a rooftop. ‘Bastard,’ she cursed Sanosuke as he left her to the less than gentle care of the angry crowd. In her distraction, a man grabbed one of her arms, limiting her movement, just as another wound back and aimed a punch straight at her little nose. The protection of her henge did not extend to her physical well-being, and unable to properly dodge, she turned her face, taking a glancing blow on her right cheekbone instead of the direct hit which would have undoubtedly broken her nose.

“I’m so done with this shit,” she ill-temperedly muttered under her breath. Though tempted to strike back at the brutes who had attacked her, hurting a crowd of civilians was basically the opposite of a kunoichi’s mandate, so she attempted to escape through – mostly – non-violent techniques. Before another man could decide to turn her into a punching bag, she stomped down hard on the instep of the man who had a hold of her arm. It was not enough force to break any of the delicate bones in the foot, but enough to bruise and serve as a distraction which caused him to loosen his grip as he cried out. Twisting away from him and out of reach, she quickly formed the handseals for the Hidden Mist Technique, a cloud of fog rising to obscure her and everyone else in the area. Using the sudden confusion that followed, she slipped by the little lights of the civilians’ electrical signatures, weaving her way out of the crowd.

At the edge of the crowd, she noticed that one of those signatures was familiar, and she grabbed at the girl's outline through the mist, trying to get a hold of some part of her arm. “Ame, c’mon, let’s get out of here.” If she missed or the girl was anything but cooperative, she would release her and escape on her own, if not, she would lead the girl with her into a nearby alley. Releasing the transformation technique, Kameko would appear as she did previously, albeit with the addition of a blossoming bruise on her right cheekbone which promised to display some lovely colors if she let it heal on its own. Kameko had no intention of that, however, and would stop by the local hospital once she dealt with him. After looking like herself again, Kameko would continue running, with or without Ameryuu, along the path that Sanosuke’s signature still led, only stopping when they were a few streets away from the scene before plopping down on a bench to catch her breath and regroup, having no intention of just laying down and giving up. Her fingers gingerly feeling the bruise on her face, she’d say, speaking either to herself or to her teammate, “Well, I certainly never thought it’d be easy… Now what?”

Chakra: 145/200 (-10 for activating Hidden Mist, -10 for maintaining Tracking Range):

(skip me this go around, too busy stuffing my face).

Just as Ame was preparing to go and try free Kameko from the rabid crowd, the girl in question stomped on an offender's foot, effectively stopping him from beating her. The next moment the street was filled with thick mist, reducing visibility to near zero. The civilians seemed to look arond confused, unhappy murmurs of 'damn he's a shinobi', and 'can't believe he got away' rose from the shifting mass of people. Ame kept track of Kameko's whereabouts as the girl wove her way out of the crowd, ducking and weaving expertly as she went. Kameko seemed to notice Ame's electrical signature and moved towards her. Ame soon heard Kameko's voice hurrying her along as a hand gripped her arm. Ame allowed herself to be pulled, following her cousin down into an alleyway where the older girl dropped her henge. The first thing Ame noticed was the large bruise blossoming across her cheek. Before Ame could even ask, Kameko picked up running again and Ame followed dutifully until they reached somewhere where even she could feel their sensei's electrical signature. They stopped abruptly, dopping down onto a bench to catch their breath. Kameko held up a hand to feel the bruise on her face, which Ame thought looked rather uncomfortable. Not hindering certainly, but something of an annoyance. Ame sighed as crossed her arms at her cousin's words.

"Well he obviously planned all of this out quite well, which means he could have another 'trap' set out ahead of us still." Ame's expectations of her sensei had pretty much been shattered from the start so she wasn't up to making assumptions on his part. Kameko seemed to be thoroughly pissed with the man at the moment. Ame pondered the situation for a while. It was obvious that Sanosuke deserved some sort of payback, but Ame had a feeling that he was so conniving he'd find a way to wriggle out of it in any case. He didn't seem to be moving from his current position any time soon, so they could still technically finish the task and 'catch' him now. Maybe that would be the better choice in the end. She was already tired from running around after his decoy, (who knew cats could be smug) and she knew Kameko was recently back from a trip to Konoha and was probably tired as well. She didn't want to just give up though, especially after the mess he'd gotten Kameko into. 

"Okay, your call. You're the one he screwed over, after all." Ame didn't know if the older girl would go for revenge of just the sort of 'walk up to calmly' thing. Ame was prepared for either option. A small part of Ame wondered at what exactly their sensei was busy doing with himself, wherever he was at the moment. Was he gloating over his success over his students? Or had he forgotten about them completely?

Kameko nodded in response to her cousin’s words. It was quite likely that Sanosuke had another trick up his sleeves, but Ameryuu didn’t have any suggestions for preempting another trap; the fact was that they didn’t have a whole lot of choice in the matter. Unless they decided on just giving up and going home, they had to follow wherever he led, and with his far superior speed, he had time to set up all sorts of lovely surprises for them, like the one that had landed her with the bruise. When Ameryuu turned it over to her to decide their course of action, she expressed those thoughts, shaking her head at the idea of trying to get revenge on top of catching him, “I’ll get him back sometime, but for now, we might as well see this through. At least he seems to have settled in one spot for now.”

As she stood to take up the trail again, she noticed that the sun was starting to sink lower in the sky. It was definitely about time for this exercise to end. They were not far from where Sanosuke’s signal was coming from, and within no time, she arrived at a little house with a tidy porch, complete with a ‘welcome home’ mat. She had no doubt that their sensei was in this house, but she wasn’t about to go barging in. Cautiously, she made her way around the house, glancing through the windows into the home. Everything seemed pretty quiet, and the smell of tasty dumplings floated through the air. 'No wonder he chose this house,' she thought. Those blue eyes glimpsed a kind-looking old lady bustling about with her back to the window, but no sign of her sensei; Sanosuke being a big guy, if she didn’t spy him than he probably was still in his much smaller cat henge. She hadn’t explained her purpose in scoping out the house first, assuming that the precaution would be well-understood considering the previous traps, and she assumed that Ameryuu would understand and would either continue to accompany her or go about checking things out independently.

If Ameryuu did not decide to already approach the door on her own, Kameko would, after regrouping in front of the house if they had split up, approach the house with her cousin at her side, whispering to her, “Look sad, Ame.” Knocking firmly on the door, she stepped back and waited for the old lady to answer. When the door opened, Kameko would have already donned her own sad expression, allowing the ache of the blooming bruise on her face to help bring tears to her big blue eyes. The pitiable expression made the young woman look younger and more vulnerable, hopefully reminding the woman of a grandchild about Kameko's age. “Ma’am, have you seen our little kitty-kat? He’s black with gold markings…” Looking at Ameryuu, Kameko gave a little sniffle. “He’s the sweetest little cat you’ll ever meet, but some of the neighborhood boys were being mean, talking about how black cats are bad luck and started throwing rocks at him.” Her hand went to her bruised cheek, drawing the old lady’s eye to it, if she hadn’t noticed the colorful swath right away. She hoped to steer the grannie's assumptions to where she would think that the bruise was from a boy throwing rocks at an innocent girl and her cat. “We tried to catch him and get him back home and safe inside, but he got scared and ran off…” She wrapped one arm around Ameryuu’s shoulders. “My cousin Ame, she got him for her birthday… Please tell me you’ve seen him?” Her tone of voice was just the right mix of sadness and pleading with just a touch of hope at the end.

Chakra: 135/200 (-10 for maintaining Tracking Range):

A knock on the door could be heard as the older woman had just finished clearing up the kitchen and came in to put a blanket over the transformed kage. Even though he was the leader of their village, the elderly woman couldn't help but smile at how innocent he looked with the blanket around his torso and sleeping with his chin under his paws. For someone merely donning the visual appearance of a cat, Sanosuke sure had a talent of acting like one as well. Yoshita walked over to the transformed man and kissed him on his forehead; that caused the man to purr and paw at his own forehead before returning back to his slumber. That just made it one job for the woman to go answer the door. She wondered who it could be since the only person that tends to visit her nowadays was the milk man that comes in the morning, Ayakaze-san her poker buddy only comes on Sundays and Wednesdays, and finally Sanosuke who was here just sleeping. So another guest made the woman curious. At her age she wasn't afraid of many things, but more so just curious of what it can lead to.

Upon opening the door however, the older lady was in the presence of 2 young girls. One with short blue hair that was significantly taller than the other girl, and the other girl had long, silver beautiful hair. What both of these two had on together were headbands from the village hidden in the clouds. The silver haired girl had what looked to be the vest of the shinobi, meaning she was a chuunin most likely. Yoshita smiled at herself as she smiled fondly of the memories of the neighborhood boys running off to be shinobi and seeing them all grow to be excellent shinobi in their own rights. So she was very familiar with how the shinobi system worked, despite herself not ever being one. "My, my. What two beautiful girls you are. What brings you to the house of an old fossil like mine?" She asked while smiling at the both of them. Then they explained why they were here. Yoshita pursed her lips as she was following their story. At the end of it she noticed the bruise on the silver hair girl's cheek. With a gasp, the older lady approached the chuunin and placed her hand gently on her cheek. "We can talk about this while we're inside. But first we have to do something about that bruise of yours. How could those boys do something like that to a beautiful girl like you. I should march over there myself and give the boys a peace of my mind."

With that Yoshita ushered the both of them into her house and closing the door behind the three of them. Her frail old hands held onto the two kunoichi's as she guided them slowly into her home. It still had the fragrance of freshly made dumplings and cinnamon from her tea. Should the two of them look confused, the older lady would smile at the two of them and guide them towards the living room where she had a special ointment for the chuunin to put on her skin to help with the healing. Upon reaching the living room, the three of them would happen on the form of the sleeping Raikage. His snoring mixed in with feline purring as his body gently rose and fell from his slumber. Upon looking onto Sanosuke, the older lady was able to piece two and two together. "So that's what brings the both of you here. You must be San-chan's new students. What a surprise! My name is Yoshita, and I've known this little troublemaker since he was a little boy." Yoshita exclaimed quietly. Her voice was put to an excited whisper to not wake up Sanosuke as she was so excited to finally meet Sanosuke's students. "You don't have to worry, he's not going anywhere. He won't be up for a while, but in the meantime I bet you girls are starving from chasing this little rascal over the village." She pet Sanosuke behind his ears while he was sleeping. It made him mumble something but wasn't audible to anyone in particular.

Guiding them next into the kitchen, Yoshita went into the drawer to pull out what was a container of ointment. She opened up the lid and walked over to Kameko. She was quite short for an old lady so Kameko would have to bend over so the older lady could apply the ointment. It would be cool to the touch and finally warm up to a very comfortable temperature on the girl's face. "There you are sweetie. That bruise of yours should be gone first thing in the morning. I used to work as a doctor back when I was young, so I still know a thing a two." She laughed at that while giving Kameko a peace sign before she went off to go prepare plates for the both of them. The girls if they looked towards the fridge, they would see what looked like pictures drawn by a small child all over the fridge. Yoshita turned around to see what they would be looking at. "San-chan was such a sweet boy growing up. After my husband died, I would spend my days not doing anything but cry my eyes out. But then came San-chan one day after the academy when it was raining outside. His home was still ways off so I let him stay with me for the night." Yoshita smiled fondly at the memory as she put the plates in front of the girl along with utensils and a cup of tea for the both of them to drink.

"He was quiet at first. He had on an aura around him, like he's been hurt far worse than I was. But then overtime he grew out of his own shell and became the sweetest thing an old lady like me could ever be blessed with." Yoshita looked over to the sleeping kage as she spoke. When she was done, she walked over to the fridge and picked out one drawing in particular and sat down with the girls. The drawing itself was a child's drawing of what looked like a drawing of Sanosuke as a child holding hands with a younger version of Yoshita, but instead of silver hair there were strands of purple still very much alive in her. They were smiling and on top of the largest mountain of Kumo with sunshine and rainbows. "This was the first drawing he gave me. I still remember him running from the academy shouting 'Yoshita-san! Look what I made! Look! Look!' He was beaming with the largest smile I've ever seen. Ever since then he would always run to show me what he drew in class today. Then when he graduated, he showed me his headband. Then his chuunin vest, and nowadays he would visit me to keep me company."

Yoshita handed the drawing over to the girls so they themselves can look at it and see what the small hands of their sensei made when he was just a little boy. Yoshita smiled and held the hands of both girls in her own as she looked onto the both of them. "I can't tell you how lucky the both of you are to have a sensei like him. Just try and keep him out of trouble as best as you girls can, as a favor for an old lady like myself." While the girls were here, Yoshita would tell the girls about the times their sensei came by to visit as a boy, including the adventure where a dog ate the necklace her late husband gave her, which Sanosuke when he was 9 chased the dog down for an entire weekend straight before returning with the necklace. She also told the girls some stories when she was younger working as a doctor at the Kumo hospital. It was there that she told the girls how she met her husband, a shinobi that was injured from a mission to track down Hao. He had lost the ability to use both of his legs, and was rendered unable to continue his services as a shinobi. While Yoshita was helping the man go through physical therapy and therapy, the two slowly fell in love with one another.

About an hour passed since the girls arrived at Yoshita's home and they were being entertained by the older woman's stories of the past. Padding could be heard as Sanosuke finally awoken from his nap. His senses still muddied from just being waken up and the smell of fresh dumplings was blocking his sense of smell as he tiredly padded over to the kitchen. "Hey Yoshita-san. What time is i-" Sanosuke was beginning to ask as he looked to find both of his students sitting at the kitchen table for sometime now. A sweat drop formed from the back of his head as he didn't expect them to be here. Damn, he must have overslept. Sanosuke began laughing nervously as he realized that it was over. "Well you girls caught me. Yoshita-san, I thought I told you to wake me up before it got too dark outside" Sanosuke complained but was cut off by the sudden apperance of a dark shadow looming over. He looked up and before he knew it, he was in a headlock supplied by Yoshita herself. It caused him to be knocked out of his henge from the strain.

"You're the reason why this lovely girl has a bruise on her cheek aren't you?! I thought you knew better than that San-chan."