Things got more intriguing as the white haired female weaved series of hand seals and shot what appeared to be bolts of chakra at her shoulder and that of her companion's foot supposedly healing them immediately. So she was a shinobi afterall, another interesting piece of discovery. Still they were unmatched against a trained spy if the attacker was one.

"Proper care would be good, though, I don't think we will need medical care. Perhaps we could just talk to you at the nearest coffee-shop or something. Oh, My name is Lin and this is Satoshi. We are genin here and well, we were in over our heads on this one. Sorry for wandering off.." she said with a radiant smile as she brushed the hair on her face letting Syn see the scar on her face the more she tried to hide it.

He was curious as to how she had gotten such a scar though it was a pretty one, he'd say. "Nice to meet you Syn! No need to thank us, we were just doing our job as resident of our great village!" the black haired male spoke up with a beaming smile. He sounded sarcastic but his attitude seemed like one Syn would come to like as the genin flashed the kumogakure head band on his waist. One which he had worn exactly how Syn had worn his too.

By now, Syn knew they would not need any proper care since the female was obviously a medic and then there was no need for them to go to his home. Still, they were genin and as a higher ranked shinobi he had an obligation to protect them. Syn would not see them as younger siblings rather he would take them as fellow comrades so talking over coffee would be most helpful for both parties to get to know each other better.
"Why don't you guys lead the way, hm?" Satoshi spoke again.

Very well then, they were all set. Syn didn't do coffee too much so he obviously didn't know anywhere near and thus he would let Lin lead the way. 'After you Lin' Syn would say in his most friendly tone hoping that the night had more surprises in stock.
WC:394/1717

Lin laughed with the relief of the tension that happened when Syn said that she should lead on. She knew of a coffee place that she had been to a couple of times, and had been thinking of taking Mitsuo to, but she didn't mind taking Toshi and this... Syn? to before. Ducking in and out of the crowd, she hummed a tune. It was a nice night, and the stars twinkled in the early night atmosphere. Still, and she had just narrowly avoided certain death at the hands of a hawk. It was a good night to be alive, it was a good night to be thankful for what she had, even if her shoulder ached a bit.

The sign outside the shop that Lin weaved herself to was called "The Happy Bean" and it had a picture of what appeared to be a coffee bean that was sipping coffee with an anime-esque face on it. It seemed to be a very happy bean indeed, and was dressed in a suit, which meant that it was a place that was both for business and casual people. It sat at a table that was far too small for it, but the emphasis was on the happy bean itself. Lin pushed through the door and a bell jingled to hail her arrival.

"Hello Tsinudo-sama!" She waved exuberantly to the man behind the counter. He was a bear of a man, all muscles and had a pronounced jaw. He had a beard that came down to his jutting Adams apple his rippling muscles worked the coffee machine deftly, and his too-big fingers worked the spoon and the cream pitcher masterfully. He served a cup of coffee to a woman that was dressed in a business suit who frowned at her cup before she looked at whatever he had made with the cream and chuckled. His menacing demeanor and ki looked at Lin with a scowl, perhaps to try to see who she was or something, before he put on spectacles that seemed too small for his massive head.

"Lin-chan, is that you?" He asked, squinting some more and motioned her forward with one of the boulders he called hands, "Business has been a bit slow today, and I see you brought three friends with you. Welcome to the Happy Bean, the happiest coffee shoppe in all of Kumogakure. Can I help you all to something?" He stood there grinning, and the squinting stopped as soon as Lin hopped up to the counter. She hastily pulled her sweater-dress down to make sure she wasn't exposing herself and put a thoughtful finger to her lips and tilted her head.

"I think I'll take a Caramel-Latte please. Extra four shots if you would of espresso." She gave him a bright smile and giggled. This many shots at this hour meant that Lin wasn't going to sleep that night. She might even hit up the skybar after this again. The alcohol had all but worn off at this time as well. He returned the smile and moved to the machine with relative fluidity given his size. A woman came out of the back and said, "Did you say Lin, Tsinudo? And you didn't even call me out to say hi to her?" She Was a quarter of the man's size, but he still gave her wide berth, meaning that she must be the manager of the happy bean. She wore a smile that could melt even the iciest of hearts, The counter just barely covered her nose, and it made Lin giggle every time she tried to ring her up. "Hello Sakura-sama." She used an honorific and pointed to Toshi and Syn, "I'm going to buy these gentlemen some coffee, we've been through a lot today so something that will lift our spirits would be appreciated."

The woman who was named sakura settled her gaze on Tsinudo and he worked with even more vigor, grinding the beans in a hand-grinder rather than letting a machine do it, his muscles bulging and making his attire seem too-small for his body. "Has Tsinudo been working out?" Lin asked and smiled at the woman. "Oh you know Tsinudo, he doesn't have to work out for that body. He was just born like that. He has been lifting some more boxes lately than usual. Perhaps it's that. We just got a shipment from Konohagakure of their finest coffee beans, we're trying out some new espressos and seeing what our customers like better." She smiled and rang up Lin and the other two before Lin waltzed over to a table and situated herself, waiting for her coffee. She had chosen a booth seat, so that she could accommodate the three of them, and would have some relative privacy if they should need it.

WC: 3371

He walked carefully on his ankle, following Lin and Syn towards the coffee shop where they'd be sitting down to have a reprieve from the violence they'd just been subjected to. He couldn't help but wonder who that kid was and why he had attacked them so readily. Wouldn't it have been easier to just explain himself and who he was? ...Perhaps, but it seemed like they had the right of it. He wasn't here for noble reasons and he likely couldn't have withstood the scrutiny of the authorities.

The coffee shop Lin brought them to seemed nice enough. He'd never been to the Happy Bean before. In fact, he'd never really had coffee outside of Kozue-Obaachan's. Which, by the way, he had every morning! He placed a great deal of credit on her coffee for his daily pep!

He took his seat and waved to the large man who was serving them. "I'll take what Lin is having! But extra light! Extra sweet!" As if you were surprised. Satoshi liked a little bit of coffee with his cream and sugar.

He offered a pleasant smile to Syn then, settling into his seat. "You really saved our bacon back there Mr... Syn was it? Thanks for your hard work!"

((Sorry about the brevity of this post. I didn't want to hold you guys up any longer, but I fell asleep mid post. At 10AM. :C.))

Lin soon brought them to the coffee shop which wasn't too far away and the sign outside the shop read 'Happy bean' and the design really did match it. Syn was a lover of art and he"d appreciate it anywhere he saw one. They walked into the shop and Lin engaged in pleasantries with both the shop attendant and an elderly female who seemed to run the place. She must have been familiar with this place then judging by the way she spoke. The woman mentioned receiving shipments from konoha and upon hearing that word 'konoha', his mind wandered into the memory zone.

'.....He stood puzzled and looked at the beautiful horizon before him. From his point of view, he could see the whole of konohagakure. An average person would wonder where he would stand to see the whole of this village but for Draygglez who knew what he went through when he was climbing the great mountain, his heart was filled with joy when he got to the top. He was on top of the mountain where the faces of the great hokages were carved. He looked till his eyes could see no more. Finally, he was about making his tedious journey down the mountain when his eyes caught a rare sight at his nine o'clock. He moved closer and recognised the area to be the outskirts of konoha. Even though the sight was not perfectly clear, he peered much harder and saw a graceful river glistening through his blurry vision. Never had he been there before and because of the excitement in his heart, he had little trouble getting off the mountain. He raced down to the outskirts of the village leaving leaves and shrubs flying in the air. He got to the edge of the river he had seen earlier and followed it's path. The area he found himself in looked so familiar. After little thinking, he recognized where he was to be the home of uchihas. He only wondered if he wasn't trespassing. To his suprise, he saw one or two of the uchiha's about his age who didn't mean any harm to him or pose a threat in any manner.
Finally, he got to the main body of the river and marveled at the blue nature of the river decorated with greenish natured plants and herbs at its hems. Draygglez lay down beside the river under the shade of the tree and decided to have a bit of the peaceful atmosphere before leaving for home. After some minutes of peaceful rest, Dray stood up, moved closer to the river, put his hands in and began to drink from the water body. The water tasted so sweet that he did not want to stop drinking. Just as he was about to gulp down the water in his mouth, he sensed a strange feeling due to his affinity to the forest. Right at that moment, he knew that he was not alone and that the other person was just a few inches away from him. He was so obsessed with drinking that he did not notice how far the stranger had come. He finally stood up and faced the boy who was about his age and height......"what do you want from me and why are you acting weird and sneaking up on me?".... The fella smiled and said... "I do not mean to scare you, I was only looking for someone to practice my fire techniques with... Will you practice with me?"....

He regained consciousness only to see that both Lin and Satoshi had ordered for coffee and also taken there seats. Trying to appear not so lost, he ordered for the best coffee from konoha and a lot of cream and sugar in it before he took his seat close to his companions.
It's fine. The better thing is that both of you guys are alright. So Lin, how did you meet Satoshi? Syn would ask.

WC:669

Lin, while Syn was regaining consciousness, would smile and nudge Toshi, 'Good thing that he found us, or we would probably be as good as dead. I couldn't even contend with his bird, let alone him. There are some scary people out there in the world of ninjas, eh?" Giggling, she looked to the muscle-bound barista and waved. It was a good night for coffee indeed.

The man moved like wind through the willows, barely brushing things out of his way if he was too big to move through them, and not spilling a drop of coffee. His touch was light, which was weird given his physique. It was almost like a rhino was serving their tea, but was doing ballet at the same time. He certainly looked grizzly enough to be a rhino, but his movements were fluid, and when he set down their coffee, steaming, in front of them and smiled, the resemblance stuck. it was disconcerting to see the style in which he did his coffee, with such finesse, Lin couldn't help but giggle once more. It was like those sausages were meant for more then coffee, perhaps for playing an instrument, one that trilled and twirled, rather than one that played the bass notes of the symphony.

"Thank you Tsunido." Lin would offer him a tip and look into her coffee cup. He had drawn a kitty winking at her with its paw up in the air and its tongue sticking out. It was cute and she wondered what he had drawn on the other's coffee. Shrugging, she took a sip of it and wiped her upper lip before answering Syn. She didn't want to answer with a cream mustache.

"We met in a Dango shop that I like to get a dango from every once in a while, and Toshi frequents often, or so it seems from the relationship he has with the woman who owns the shop. It is a nice little shop that has its unique flavor to it.

I asked after his graduation and we got to talking. It was then that we decided that we would spar and see who won, but after we would be a part of each other's team. We went on a couple of missions so far, and have saved a town from bandits, though there's not much for us to go on for now. It doesn't really matter though we'll find them. Then we met this ninja and well... Here we are!" She giggled and smiled. She hadn't told him about the meeting with the Raikage they had before, nor about her training with Gin. It didn't seem pertinent to what she was talking about anyhow. He was a ninja from her own village, but she could sense that he was quite a bit above their skill level. It was almost as if his presence was what had driven off that konoha ninja.

WC: 3878

Satoshi watched as the burly barista made his way to their table to present them with their coffee. He couldn't help but grin in appreciation of the way he moved. There was more to it than grace or skill. There was more to his beat than simple ability. Rather, there was passion. There was appreciation. This man enjoyed his job and took pride in his craft; service. It was refreshing. He didn't see it much. In fact, the only other person who seemed to appreciate tending her shop as much as this fella was Dango-Obaachan.

Satoshi's eyes perked up from his coffee and towards the conversation as Lin began speaking about the Dango shop. Serendipity! "Yep. Best dango in the world!" Not that he'd really seen much... Anything outside of the village. "I'd recommend trying some if you haven't already!" He nodded twice, making sure to affirm his statement before he brought his coffee cup up to his lips and began blowing on it gently, trying to coax it into a cooler state so he could hurry up and get to drinking it. He wanted to see how it measured up to Kozue-Obaachan's coffee.

"The bandits were hardly a challenge! We could have fought three... no four times as many as we did that day!" He pronounced proudly. It's true that they'd hardly sustained a scratch in the encounter. Though White Sash himself could have proven formidable. Especially if there had been another four of his skill level.

"What about you, mr. Syn was it? Quite an ominous name. Tell us about yourself. You're already way cooler than the last shinobi we met." He pursed his lips frowning and thinking about the kid who had attacked both of them. Whoever he was... He'd make up for his weakness next time. Satoshi hadn't been able to stick to his plan of protecting Lin and she'd gotten hurt... He was too weak to protect his teammate... If it had happened in a more dire situation they could have been killed. Satoshi was foolish and not always aware of his flaws, but he was pretty observant of his immediate surroundings. He knew in his heart that he needed to get stronger. The world was much larger than his little village. If he wanted to live to all of his lofty declarations, then he had a lot more work to do.

"We met in a Dango shop that I like to get a dango from every once in a while, and Toshi frequents often, or so it seems from the relationship he has with the woman who owns the shop. It is a nice little shop that has its unique flavor to it.
I asked after his graduation and we got to talking. It was then that we decided that we would spar and see who won, but after we would be a part of each other's team. We went on a couple of missions so far, and have saved a town from bandits, though there's not much for us to go on for now. It doesn't really matter though we'll find them. Then we met this ninja and well... Here we are!" Syn would nod at what Lin had said. It was pretty summarizing and Syn understood it well. It was a nice way to meet and they seemed to be close with each other ever since. That was an interesting relationship and a bond of friendship had been created.
"Yep. Best dango in the world! I'd recommend trying some if you haven't already!" Satoshi would go on to support Lin though Syn did not have much time on his hands to be taking coffees and dangos but he would not say this out. He was one of the high ranking shinobis that the village had and he always had his hands full.

"What about you, mr. Syn was it? Quite an ominous name. Tell us about yourself. You're already way cooler than the last shinobi we met." Ominous name he said. This name was the code name given to him when the Raikage had accepted him into the ranks of kumo shinobis. It had been an intriguing meeting but if Syn had been some other person, it would have been a terrifying one. Those eyes of the Raikage's black cat form that shot like laser beams and melted through the soul of individual but he was able to withstand it, not wavering for once. He knew that he was a stronghold for the raikage, someone possessing the senju bloodline, a rare vessel out of konoha, it was an opportunity and the Raikage had seized it.

'There's not much about me. I'm a jounin of the cloud village but you probably won't know me because I was away on a mission at the time you became genins. I live alone and i like and dislike a lot of things' Syn would say trying to keep it short.
WC:438

'There's not much about me. I'm a jounin of the cloud village but you probably won't know me because I was away on a mission at the time you became genins. I live alone and i like and dislike a lot of things' It was true that she didn't know him and that there weren't a lot of ninja in Kumogakure that liked being a part of what was going on.

Lin shook her head at Syn, she didn't know him because he had been away. She had seen his name on the registry for ninja that belonged to Kumogakure, but she couldn't place a face to the name. It was a good thing that he was on their side, seeing as he could probably squash them like bugs. She drank her coffee and smiled, it would be a good night after all. Looking over to Toshi she nudged him to try to wake him up to bring more to the conversation, she was out of material. "I don't know very much about you, but I think I speak for the both of us in that we want to thank you, and hope to see you around more often." She was trying to be polite, but didn't really know what to talk about anymore, perhaps his dreams or aspirations? But he was so far ahead of them his dreams probably weren't even in the same league as her own.

She opted for enjoying the ambiance and drinking her coffee.

WC: 4140

Satoshi listened politely to Syn as he talked. This man was somewhat interesting in that he wasn't interesting at all! How curious! He claimed that there wasn't much about him but there was quite a story hidden within the small amount of information he'd let slip. For starters he was a Jounin of their village. That was mighty impressive. That meant he was amongst the strongest amongst their number. It meant he was capable of great feats of prowess, be it with chakra molding or feats of physical strength. Or both! As Lin bumped him he took it as permission to go wild!

"Oh Mr. Syn, you're too modest. It sounds like you're incredibly strong! Besides, if you've been on so many missions that we haven't heard of you, then you must have seen some pretty amazing stuff! I look forward to getting out into that great big world and seeing some amazing stuff myself! I'm sure you must have felt the same if you have spent so long outside the safety of our great village, right!?" He spoke with the enthusiasm of one clear of heart and empty of head. He was a rather single minded child. He sought freedom and stimuli! The sort of thing you expect from any hyperactive child.

"Hey! Hey! If you're so strong! I bet you could teach Lin and I a thing or two right!? Maybe some sort of-" He threw a hook across the table, shaking it and nearly knocking his coffee! "Thing like this! Boom! Or maybe something more like-" He raised a gun finger and pointed it across the table at a nearby patron before popping off an imaginary projectile at them. The madam took audible opposition to it. "This! Like Bang!"

Oh boy. It looked like that coffee was kicking in. He quickly rose to his feet with a stupid grin before grabbing at Syn's sleeve and tugging. "Hey! What do you say senpai! I bet you have a lot you could show us, huh?! I bet you have a really unique beat!"

He looked over to Lin then, of course expecting eagerness and approval. The thought that he was making a bit of a scene within the otherwise serene coffee shop was eclipsed by the excitement of a new experience from a new person! The potential for a brand new lesson!

OOC:

Lin thanked him once again on behalf of herself and Toshi. The fact that she was this grateful that he had come along when he did only meant that the male they had been fighting against was far stronger than they both were combined together and he could have done much worse if help had not come when it did. Perhaps the cloud village might have lost another two of their own, who could have known.
The female seemed to be fine with his simple story and did not pursue it further rather she drank her coffee and sat back to enjoy the coversation. Satoshi on his side was not satisfied with the jounin's story and he almost saw through Syn's furtiveness. All of a sudden, he became enthusiastic and Syn could not help but wonder what was put in the boy's coffee.

"Oh Mr. Syn, you're too modest. It sounds like you're incredibly strong! Besides, if you've been on so many missions that we haven't heard of you, then you must have seen some pretty amazing stuff! I look forward to getting out into that great big world and seeing some amazing stuff myself! I'm sure you must have felt the same if you have spent so long outside the safety of our great village, right!?"
Amazing stuff.. He wondered. Maybe fighting against someone who had an aura that could fend off chakra attacks at will could count or bringing down this person despite the fact that he could steal one's life force for another, maybe that was amazing. The fight with Zen was incredible in it's own way due to the fact that Syn was allowed minimal use of his chakra based attacks. He had to rely on his ability to think, his tools and the basic taijutsu that he knew. He was able to overcome this adversary by studying the way the aura worked and noticing that it had a duration. Figuring this out, he took the opportunity and dealt the tide changing blow which earned him victory. That might be classified as amazing.

The boy did not stop gesticulating as he asked Syn to teach them a thing or two due to the fact that he had been away in the outside world for a while. True, he had been to konoha kiri and iwa, suna being the only exception but teaching stuffs to two other shinobis, right here, right now? Nix, that wasn't his thing but the boy was so eager that a solemn disagreement from Syn might make him feel gloomy. The senju was still contemplating when suddenly, the young boy grabbed his sleeves and tugged at it happily like a dog- tongue out and wagging it's tail at it's owner. (No offense :))

"Hey! What do you say senpai! I bet you have a lot you could show us, huh?! I bet you have a really unique beat!"
Senpai? Hell no. He wasn't fit for this. He hardly teamed up with anyone though he was learning to. He remembered trying to take his cousin, Asura under his wings while the konoha genin was in kumo but things happened and Syn had to leave on a mission. He wouldn't want to leave these two hanging like he had done to Asura. No but the tugging did not stop and the fabrics at his sleeve felt like they would give away under so much pressure. Without saying a word, he would look at both Lin and Satoshi and move his head towards the door clearing telling them to follow him outside.

If they did follow him, the trio would step out of the coffee shop and walk a good twenty metres away without Syn saying a word. His actions would appear mysterious but out of curiousity, they would follow him. The serenity of the cool night breeze would waft the sweet warmth of the mountain tops. The full moon overhead bathing them gently in its glamour as the few trees tossed rhythmically to the lullaby of the wind.

He would stop and jump five meters away from them before coming to a complete halt. Truth be told, he did not know what precisely to teach them yet or even where to start from but he could help them improve on what they already have. Like a certain teacher, Daraku of the sand village had done to him, so he would do to these two.
"I'm pretty sure you both have fine skills but I have to see what you know so as to decide if you are worth teaching. Lin, Satoshi, try to hit me with your best shots and I won't raise a finger against you.

As soon as he would finish saying this, he would give another five meter distance so there was a total of ten meters between them. Then he would remove two scrolls and unseal from them Temp and Wrath, two identical puppets that he had made in his own image. The semblance between himself and the puppets would almost confuse Lin and Satoshi except for the difference in their clothing. If neither of the genins had come in contact with puppet users before, they would not understand what was happening because Syn's puppets had been fully covered with skin- like rubber to hide their wooden joints and other parts that would immediately give them away as puppets so the best thinking would be that they were clones.

He would then expel chakra into the ground and activate the wooden strings to be able to control his puppets without the use of his hands. The puppets would come to life instantly and raise their arms to their chest as if ready to guard.
Smirking slowly, he would speak while pointing at his puppets.. "I said I wouldn't raise a finger against you. I never said they won't. So come Lin, Satoshi. Let's dance. He would fold his arms and wait for the genins to come. A little entertainment could be useful.

WC: 1020/3844

Spoiler:

Lin watched as Toshi laughed and carried on with Syn, it was good to have him in such a good mood. "Oh Mr. Syn, you're too modest. It sounds like you're incredibly strong! Besides, if you've been on so many missions that we haven't heard of you, then you must have seen some pretty amazing stuff! I look forward to getting out into that great big world and seeing some amazing stuff myself! I'm sure you must have felt the same if you have spent so long outside the safety of our great village, right!?"

She felt the same, she wanted to travel the world, wanted to make sure that she could protect those that she was indebted to, like Dameon, Toshi, Gin, Mifune... But she knew that she needed to travel to do this. She wondered if she would travel with Gin to Konohagakure, the land of the hidden leaf. It was said that the will of fire in the land of fire burned hotter than it did here in Kumogakure, or perhaps she would go to Iwagakure, where everyone was as solemn as stone. She wondered whether Gin would take her to see her other students or whether she would continue to be a solitary one. She had met Nozomi and had even seen Gin fight with her, but she didn't know where the rest of her pupils were. She could go to Kirigakure, but she would probably be killed on the spot for being a kumogakure student and she didn't want to be killed for being a part of kumogakure. She actually wanted to make friends in other parts of the world, but she didn't know where to make friends at.

All of this crossed her mind in a flash before Toshi said, "Hey! What do you say senpai! I bet you have a lot you could show us, huh?! I bet you have a really unique beat!" Oh crud, she thought, here we go again. No Toshi, don't! But the words didn't get out before Syn had a chance to speak. It was only grudgingly that she followed Toshi out of the coffee shop, leaving a tip of 40 ryo for her friends in the coffee shop. She hoped that the store would be able to run as long as she was alive, as it was one of her favorite haunts. From the servers, to the service, to the coffee, it was her favorite coffee shoppe to be sure. Perhaps she could bring Gin here sometime.

The night was getting old, and she had the feeling that the sun would be coming up soon, but perhaps they had time to follow this Syn guy around for a bit longer. When he started to get out puppets and make them go into a defensive stance, she sighed and took out her senbon, waiting for Toshi to make the first move.

She whispered in his ear, "Alright, if you can, please block them for long enough for me to get off a couple of jutsu. If you're hurt, just hold up one finger to me. let's see if we can't do this without talking. If we can, then we're better off than we thought. If we can't then we need to work on some things. Now, what I am going to do is I am going to hang back and heal you and also try to disable them as best as I can. As you know, I can't take a hit worth anything, so if these hit me I'm probably done for. So you have to keep them distracted. If we can take them one by one then we will probably win. If not, we're in trouble." Lin looked over to Syn as he made the puppets, which looked a lot like clones, take defensive stances. She sighed. She had been in a fight with a clone of A rank, and had lost, terribly. Like, it wasn't even a fight. There were two of them, and from what she could see, these were going to be much above their level of expertise. Well, he did say that it was going to be fun. And he wouldn't murder the two of them. or she hoped that he wouldn't.

WC: 4879

It was only moments after Satoshi's nagging that Syn rose up out of his seat and began to a wordless march towards the door. Satoshi looked back at Lin helplessly for a moment. Perhaps he had scared the man off with his forwardness? Perhaps he didn't think they were capable of learning from him? He frowned at the thoughts. As Syn passed the threshold out of the coffee shop quickly turned to pick up his coffee and finish it. He tipped the hot beverage back and let it pour down his throat in a manner unbefitting the delicate beverage. He placed the mug down with an uncharacteristic gentleness, it wouldn't due to damage someone else's property. He then set off after Syn.

He hurried to catch up with the man and began to circle about him. The man was doing his best to remain vigilant, but Satoshi was persistent, if anything. He floated about him as he walked. "Ne, ne, Syn-Senpai. We're strong! You don't have to worry! Ne! Ne!" He did his best to win the man's attention and appreciate the hot blood that ran through him.

As Syn leapt away he didn't follow, at least not with his feet. He watched as he landed and turned back to face them. As soon as he recognized that he'd need to weigh their abilities Satoshi leapt into the air. He drove a fist at the moonlight night and yelled "Yosh!" In glorious triumph.

"Just watch senpai! Maybe you'll learn a thing or two from use, yeah?" He extended a fist towards Lin for a bump.

As he did Syn summoned forth two entities. Clones perhaps? It was hard to tell from so far away but he hated clones, that much was for sure. He had been working on something to take care of clones if they were to trouble he and Lin again... Unfortunately he couldn't quite figure it out just yet... He was sure the theory was right but at his current level he could hardly roll the pencil that rested on his desk with it...

She then leaned in to whisper in his ear. Okay... She wanted him to protect her... As he'd tried to do moments ago against the bird-brat. This time, he'd be better. His bandage wrapped ankle ached with the memory of his failure despite being mostly healed. "I'll protect you with all of my heart." He nodded. "You won't feel his beat unless you want to."

With his assurances given Satoshi stepped forward. He put ten meters between he and Lin. He took a deep breath, spread his arms, and then brought them together in front of him. His legs began to move then, pumping like pistons, bouncing him from foot to foot. The high energy he'd shown in demanding the opportunity was now put into the locomotion of his legs. His upper body hunched slightly as both of his arms came forward. His elbows were cocked, leaving his arms bent at about half of their reach. His fists floated just below the tip of his nose. Despite the movement and closed posture his body was loose. Free of tension. This stance was different from the one Lin had seen. While it was the same aesthetically, something seemed different from what she'd seen before. There was more confidence in his stance. This was something more than a simple Peekaboo boxing stance.

He'd finished it, his Chowa: Kyoshinken. And he'd show her and his senpai what sort of song lay within his fists now.

And so it began. One step after the other, the boy began to dance first. His was hopping in some sort of stance with his arms in a very weird position. He was ahead of the female probably trying to protect her. There was no point in protecting someone else when you could not yet protect yourself but Syn admired the boy's resolve and he would help him get better. But of course, no one would get better without suffering first.
Both puppets levitated in the air and charged forth. Wrath broke off to the right and Temp to the left. The puppets would corrupt the silence of the atmosphere with a clicking sound from their jaws as they would attack both Lin and Satoshi simultaneously. Syn's plan was to cause both of them to fight independently and then work together at the same time. They both had to learn to protect themselves incase they ever found themselves in situations where there would be no ally. The puppets would burst forward at a speed of eleven meter per second, the speed of a newly graduated chunin. They would both reach their targets from left and right and then engage them. The first puppet would flip forward and attempt to bring down it's right leg on Satoshi's head. If he did block this or not, the puppet would land and jab Satoshi upward in the jaw with it's left knee. The other puppet on Lin's side would attempt to sweep her off her feet with a low spin of it's left leg. If she attempted to jump or flip backwards, the puppet would pursue and thrust forth it's right arm to pack a punch in her torso. If both puppets attack did hit or not, they would retreat three meters and wait on standby.

He hoped Satoshi's enthusiasm would be put into good use here. The ninja had been extremely eager early so he must have had enough adrenaline to pack a punch in the faces of Syn's puppets. Lin on the other hand seemed to be the one with the ideas and that was impressive. He would stay back and watch how well these two would fare. The were the future of the cloud village and every knowledge that they could gain from him, he would spare... For the greater good of the village.

WC:404/4248
-10 chakra for strings upkeep
260chakra remaining
PUPPET STATS
STR: D2 due to wooden strings
SPD: C
REA: A (due to wooden strings)
END: B rank item
PER: -

Immediately the conflict began. And this time Toshi was prepared for it. This was his second attempt at flanking him in as many hours. He had vowed that he'd protect her with his fists and he intended to make good on his promise. After all, this principle was the core of their formation. Satoshi would serve as her frontline defender. His job was to provide threat to attackers. To be a relevant Melee threat that would make enemies think twice about simply trying to ignore him and rush forward. It was his job to tie-up the opposition using his prowess in taijutsu and unique sensory capabilities. He was her vanguard. Her stalwart defender. He'd failed once already, he'd not fail twice, at least not without giving it his all.

The doppelgängers moved quickly. They rushed in a split formation at a respectably rapid pace. This sort of speed was considerable but as they entered his pursuit of sound, it was known to him. They were as fast as he was. Neither would win in a foot race, but in this instance they were attempting to get past him. The fact that his speed matched theirs would make it incredibly difficult for them. As the right most attacker, Wrath, charged Satoshi, it's head chattering strangely, he took off. He waited until the puppet was about four meters away, close enough to bait it into chasing, but far enough away that it could be ignored with relative safety.

He moved to engage the assailant on the left, Temp. Satoshi's step in was impressive! There was a common misconception that the strongest feature of a boxer was their arms. It was true, that there was an imperitive raw strength and technique involved in the art of pugilism. But the true power of the sweet science revolved around the practitioner's legs. Their movement. His speed and maneuverability was what allowed a boxer to get in range of their desired target. It was what allowed them to hit, without being hit. It was what allowed them to control the battlefield. The loud and obvious fighting style that seemed to match Satoshi's personality was anything but. It was as subtle as any other. As complete as all of the rest. In some ways, that made it even more appropriate for the seemingly simple child.

Satoshi's body would slide in front of Temp. The feedback from his pursuit of sound registering unconsciously in the boy's mind. Perhaps, if he was more skilled in the use of his techniques he would have been able to discern their true nature at this very moment. Unfortunately, he was still a self-taught student of the mysterious resonance that imbued his talents. Further, the identity of the attacker mattered little in regards to his current intention, protect his ally.

He would drive his left shoulder and body into Temp to push it off balance. In the same movement his hips would turn and press an attack. Satoshi's upper body would rotate, bringing his right shoulder forward now. His right arm would lash out at the body of Lin's would be assassin with a ripping right hook. The boy's unremarkable fists lashed out with impressive technique. It was the technique that had allowed him to best his partner when she had been so physically ahead of him not long ago. His technique was sound and the best in his class. And he was confident in it. Further, if the blow landed, it would hit with force that didn't seem appropriate for this unwizened journeyman. There was a hidden strength to his fists. A secret that run through the veins and spirit of his clan, a secret even he didn't fully comprehend yet.

An invisible field surrounded his fists and worked in tandem with the greater field which provided his sensory. The field resonated with anything it came in contact with. This field created a greater malleability in hard objects or an unusual brittleness to those more malleable. It made the object he struck somehow... Weaker... Rather than increasing his own strength. The effect was subtle in it's action but profound in it's results. To the uninitiated it would simply appear as though he struck with supernatural strength. And in a way, that assessment was not wrong. This style was of his own crafting. His personal secret Nintaijutsu style and a strange sister to the others in the world such as the much touted Jyuuken. This was his Chowa: Kyoshinken, or Harmony Style, Resonating Fist.

The strike would serve as a warning, hopefully pushing the attacker backwards. His fists were a message. They read "You can't ignore me!". If only he'd received that same message from Wrath.

The other puppet which had gone ignored despite the fact that he could feel it's presence pressed it's attack. For all his impressive sensory ability, Satoshi had difficulty focusing on more than one enemy at at time*. That didn't mean he couldn't, but having to manage so many subtle changes to his immediate environment as well as process the constant information being provided by all -6- of his senses was a burden on his ability to react to the data.

Wrath's heel hit home, striking the top of Satoshi's head and driving his face forward. His body lurched from the weight of the attack, which consequently set him up nicely for the follow-up. A knee came from below, the momentum of the previous strike carrying Satoshi's face into the oncoming attack and driving it back upwards. The lack of sound from the appendage striking his face was almost more haunting than the slap of a kick or thud of a punch. The knee had sunk into the meet of his cheek and would leave a rather unflattering bruise.

Satoshi closed one-eye in a wince as he spoke. "Is that all you've got? I can barely hear you!" He taunted brazenly as he resumed his full posture and reassumed his stance almost mechanically. "This is my dance floor. I'm afraid you can't have another partner until our song is over!"

He'd hold his ground then against the two puppets. If they leapt backwards he would step back to, to buy him more time to react to them. If they pressed the attack, he would focus on defending Lin, always following the one who proved the greatest threat to her. He didn't seem to be focusing much effort on attacking. He wasn't worried about leading their dance. He was their partner and he would follow their movements until they could dance no longer. Or he couldn't. He was her vanguard. Her vigilant defender.

Stats:

Pursuit of Sound:

Chowa:

*Attention Deficiency:

Lin watched as the puppets advanced and backed away as fast as she could, which was not nearly as fast as the puppets, but made sure to keep Toshi within 20 meters. She knew that if she got further away, her hands were a blur of signs as she created a clone of her own. The clone shot toward the puppet that was called Wrath. It was going for a tackle of the waist, which would either make the clone dodge backward, still getting caught, or upward, getting its feet or legs caught. The reaction time might be great for these clones of Syn, but she hoped that the speed would only be bursting at the same speed that they launched the attack.

Lin took out her senbon while her clone darted at Wrath and threw three of them at the face of Temp.  Wrath and Temp were indistinguishable from clones, and she knew that sometimes clones were made of different chakras than shadow. She created clones from her own cells, which she knew how to do only because of studying in the medical ward. She knew that it would come in handy some day, but perhaps if she made enough of the clones, she could overwhelm her enemy. She didn't know if she could, but that would be a great thing to be able to do. Lin's total strength with Satoshi's would be nowhere near that of the clones' but she knew that she would at least be able to give them a run for their money. Looking at Syn she tried to gauge his reaction to their two pronged attack. Perhaps she could get his attention on her for a split second. Taking out a couple more senbon, she tossed them over Toshi's shoulder at the real Syn, or what she assumed to be the real Syn. He said that he wouldn't hurt them, but she had never made that promise.

It was a trick of Gin's. She remembered the training as if it happened yesterday.

"You won't always be caught prepared for a fight. Sometimes you'll be able to warm up or stretch, sometimes you won't. It's not a constant factor, though it does help to prepare when you know something is coming. You have to always take advantage of whatever information you have," The thoughts pounded in her head, It wasn't really a fight against two clones, it was against two clones and their eyes. What Syn saw, they saw, what he didn't they might miss as well. Best to create all the blind spots that she could with the resources that she had available to her.

Making a couple of hand signals she started to have her palms radiate with green chakra, then she yelled "Lin's Reverse Healing Needles!" Since she hadn't been taught by anyone of her clan, not even her mother, she didn't know the proper name for it, but she had learned the technique while training with Gin. After her clone rushed Wrath, she rushed after it as well, holding the blood-red needles in her hand, they dripped with necrotic chakra. Her eyes were cold, a plate of ice. She would strike the clone and make it disperse. She would become the strongest medical ninja. She would pass this test..

OOC: There are about... 5 different openings to interrupt what Lin's doing... Also Toshi double posted because I wanted him to attack first in the battle, can we do it in this order: Toshi, Lin, Syn?

WC: 5445

Jutsu Used:

Game player.. A perfect title that would befit Syn. He knew his board and all of the pieces that were on it. He controlled this club and it's music so it would take Lin and Satoshi more than a shove to turn the tables. He had known long ago that this world was just a board and everyone on it were game pieces though some just happened to be higher in rank than the others. He would play a game of strategy with this two be they willing or not for that exactly is what puppetry is about. He watched his puppets charge at their master's speechless command. Syn mused at Satoshi's actions and he could almost call it stupid but he knew the genin did it to protect his partner. He ignored the fire burning his own roof and went on to put out the fire on another person's roof. That was remarkable. Seeing Wrath on it's way, the young boy charged for Temp who was heading for Lin. With speed he shove his left shoulder and body into Temp slightly pushing it off balance as he twisted and landed a blow at the puppet's torso. Under the control of Syn, the puppet had all the time in the world to react and evade this attack but Syn let it hit, no need to kill the fun when it hadn't started yet. He wanted to give them some hope that together they could overcome this task and maybe.. Just maybe.. They might.

The blow struck Temp but it felt nothing, flesh against wood. The puppet could not feel.. Not even the slightest bit of pain. It would retreat just three meters backwards, waiting for it's master's command. The result for ignoring Wrath would soon be known as the puppet's heel would land on Satoshi's head, pushing him down and forward as another knee would jab his face upward, blood spurting from his nose and a black eye forming immediately. Beaten, he would still taunt the puppet that had retreated three meters away.. Such balls for such a young kid, Syn would wonder. He tried to determine if his loud mouth was just a cover up for his weakness or if he truly had the strength to back up his words. Bruised but still standing.. Impressive..

Lin on the other hand would fling into action right after the first round of the dance. Backing away as another copy of herself was summoned to the dance floor. The clone came at Wrath with speed equal to it's own as it attempted to tackle it from the waist.. Not very advisable.. Rather than run, the puppet would raise it's right arm and shoot out ten senbons at the approaching clone. At such a close range, without sharp reflexes the clone would be caught by this barrage of senbons. Lin would go on to throw three senbons at Temp as the puppet would simply raise an arm to block it. Was this some sort of distraction or she really wanted to waise her projectiles? Syn would not deny the fact that these little projectiles had helped him on more than one missions. Noticing the four senbons launched at him, he had to admit the attack was brilliant. Lin tried to make him focus on the senbons she shot at Temp while she had thrown some more at him. Good but not enough as he simply side stepped the projectiles and let them fly past him.

Things were getting interesting as Lin manifested some red colored needles in her hand. That was a jutsu perhaps but he doubted if she knew that Temp and Wrath were puppets and any jutsu that was intended for internal damage especially medical jutsu was useless against them. He wasn't sure her jutsu was medical based, he was only guessing since he had seen her do medical stuff before. Now.. Let's get this party rocking. Moving the pieces on his board, Syn would take the game up one level and see if these two are still worthy to play. As Lin appraoched, Temp's mouth would creak loudly and open to reveal a cylindrical head as cones of fire about two meters wide in diameter would launch at their target at a speed of seven meters per second and if they hit, they would cause first major degree burns. Temp on the other hand would shoot out the chain yanker modification from it's palm at Satoshi. The weapon which looks like a mechanical human arm with a long chain attached would launch for Satoshi and reaching two meters before the target, the chain would circle once around him and then go straight for his neck. The main objective is to wrap him first before locking him.

Syn was about to not hold back. These kids would begin to see in just a few minutes what it takes to be a real shinobi and for them to realize this, life threatening situations is what they would undergo.. At the hands of the puppet master.
860/5108

Spoiler:

Satoshi's prepared himself for the next exchange. His attack had hit home. It had been powerful enough to damage the target. And from that he knew it wasn't what it claimed to be. Satoshi never felt he knew someone till he heard them in combat. That wasn't to say that he was some sort of strange combat addict... But there were things he could deign from people with his sixth sense that a normal boy couldn't with the base five. He yelled out to Lin what he'd learned about these... Things.

"Lin, they're made of wood! No need to be careful!" Despite their clever disguise, he'd heard the distinctive sound of his fist biting into the hollowed out construct. It was surely a complicated machine that he couldn't truly understand, but it was still just a machine.

Perhaps if he knew more about puppets he would have looked for some sort of strings. Perhaps if he knew more about engineering he'd have looked for some flaw in their design. Unfortunately, Satoshi knew very little about most things. What he lacked in head though, he made up in heart. He had a never say die attitude and a single-mindedness that was awe inspiring, if not just for how absolutely uninformed it seemed.

Unlike himself, Lin was a fighter who used her head to make her decisions. She was far more of a strategist than Satoshi who relied on his fighting spirit. Even now she stayed within his pursuit of sound, knowing that he could keep track of her as long as she was within it. More importantly he could keep track of his opponents.

A hand came up to wipe a bit of blood that had run down his nose. He wasn't sure if it was broken as he could still breathe through it, but it was far from fine. His cheek was a bit raw as well but the adrenaline kept him from feeling it. He'd need to be more careful. Which was rather unlucky for him. Careful was as known to him as common sense and alcohol. Two other things he'd never truly tasted.

He felt Wrath, the puppet that battled Lin stop. It creaked eerily, inhumanly. Another example of it's superficial nature. It's mouth dropped open and from it emerged a barrel. Satoshi wasn't sure if Lin had a way of protecting herself from what was going to come out of it, but Satoshi, a Fuuton user knew that he did.

"Lin, let's mix our tracks!" He called out to her. They weren't performing two separate solos. They were part of the same song. And while these puppets were certainly formidable, they were of one mind. One mind was limited in the scope of it's perception. Theoretically.

From he right he could feel a projectile coming towards him. His senses weren't refined enough to fully grasp what it was yet. As it got closer and he had more time to -feel- it, it would reveal itself. Unfortunately he didn't have time to move out of the way, not if he was going to intercept for Lin.

But he trusted Lin to be as mindful of him as he was of her. They were a team after all. And they'd worked together a number of times. Each time they did, he felt as though they grew more in sync with each other.

"Fuuton: Backdraft" he said quietly as he swelled chakra in his lungs. He took a deep breath as the barrel of the opposing puppet heated up. If Lin trusted him she was taking a big chance. But having worked with Satoshi, that was always the case. He was a bit of a blockhead, but he had an uncanny knack for sensory. He also had a knack for experimentation. This technique was a new experiment. Hopefully it wouldn't end up like the first time he'd used his Zofuku Ju technique.

He exhaled all of the air from his lungs, firing a blast of compressed oxygen at Wrath. The attack from Temp drew ever closer as he did so. The oxygen would hit the fire as it was expelled and unless the fire was of such absurd strength (A-Rank) then it would consume the vast amount of oxygen as it overtook the puppet. This technique used the elemental weakness of Fuuton as a tool. Fire, which consumed oxygen to fuel itself, would ignite in the direction of the attack. In this instance, the fire would backdraft into the puppet where the blast of oxygen was directed.

If the attack had been faster moving, it was possible that Satoshi couldn't have responded. Speaking of not being able to respond. The clawed arm that shot like a bullet towards him had made it's first circuit, assuming it went unimpeded. Satoshi could only get his arm up in front of his face as the "yanker" bit into his left shoulder to wrap around him and restrict his movement. That was, of course, if Lin couldn't prevent it.

If that was the case, than he had once again moved to protect his partner, as was his promise, before protecting himself. He chided himself as he felt a bit of blood run down the front of his mouth. One of his arms was bound, preventing him from being choked. He wasn't strong enough yet to protect both of them at the same time... But one day. For now, this would have to do.

With any luck, the fire that Wrath spewed out so haphazardly would have consumed it and Lin would be able to handle Temp while Satoshi tried to find his way out of his current jam. They weren't known for their luck though...

Jutsu Used:

Lin watched as the fire spewed from the puppet and tried to avoid it, her speed at the time was not enough to get out of all of the blast and ended up with burns on her left thigh. She had avoided most of it and Toshi had deflected even more, but she was too slow to get out unscathed.

Growling, she looked to see if the needles were affecting the wood, and sure enough, they were rotting the wood to about 1 and 1/2 inches deep and then disappearing. So it wasn't truly effective, but the arm that had blocked the senbon should be more ineffective now than it used to be. Making the signs for a jutsu of her own, and only standing 10 meters away, she knew that she would have the advantage on speed here. It would be like dodging a bullet from close range.

"Katon! Gokakyu no jutsu!" She declared as she inhaled and then let loose a projectile that traveled at 20 m/s at the clone. It was unimpressive compared to other Katon jutsus and she knew it, but she needed to buy herself time and setting a puppet on fire was the only thing that she could think of.

If the hit was successful and the puppet gave her enough time, she would make the hand-signs for another jutsu, another katon jutsu, to finish the job on the puppet. It would probably mean the end of the puppet, if it didn't rush at her in a fiery rage. If it did, she would probably be too stunned to move.

Lin, while she was a strategist, was moving to surprise the puppet master, but she didn't know how much experience he had fighting two people, even if they were genins, and she didn't know how much experience he had with his puppets. Since the speed of the two was not anything comparable to a jonin, she thought that it wasn't much time that he had to work with his puppets, and if she was also right, he would want to keep them from relatively most harm. They were battle tools and this was a spar, better to use them and lose them in an actual battle rather than use them and lose them before you truly needed them.

She had little care for the tender leg, it made her limp a bit when she thought about it, but the adrenaline was enough to keep her head in the game, and off of her leg's burns. They were red, and looked like a sunburn, but it wasn't like they were terrible. In the fight, all sense of decency had been lost, and she cared not what anyone could see. The sweater dress was most probably askew, but she treated this like a fight for her life. She always treated fights like that. The one tactic that she didn't employ in a fight was killing her opponent, but short of that, she was ruthless.

WC: 5957

Chakra: 60/120:

The cards had been played and the outcome was greatly awaited. Two young shinobis faced against a much greater adversary. For Syn, this was absolutely fun because he was not even fighting at his best, he had only moved from his spot once and he was eager to get something better from these two. Honestly, he knew that he was better than they were and this was a terrible match up and it couldn't be considered a real fight and of course it wasn't. It wasn't even a spar. It was a challenge that he had undergone under more than one person in the aim to learn something from them. Back then in Takigakure when he was still a lowly chunin, he had fought Genko Binsu- a higher ranked shinobi who would have obiliterated him from existence with a lightening jutsu if he had not body flickered away. He crossed paths with the man another day and the unfinished fight continued. He didn't look at the fact that the man was better than him, he gave in his best and that led to lots of broken bones and bruises but in the end the man acknowledged him.
The same went with Daraku Ishido of the sand village whom he met during the chunin exams in kumogakure. He had found this man meditating atop mount Ikkyu and wanting to learn something from him, he was faced with a challenge. To hit him with all that he had. Even in fighting, enlightment comes. One should not only fight blindly but should learn to observe and predict. To use the knowledge gained to plan the next attack. Syn hoped that soon, these two would find out something that would give them an edge because apparently, none of them even seemed to know yet that Temp and Wrath are puppets.

Satoshi was the first to realize, right after his attack hit Temp's center. He called out to Lin telling her that the puppets were made out of wood and that she needed to be careful. This discovery amused Syn because the puppets were covered with a skin like rubber and mere contact with them shouldn't have given away their real nature. Even if one were to rub his palm against them, all they would feel is a smooth skin. Did Satoshi have an ability in play here? Perhaps this was the excitement that Syn had been waiting for. Seeing the younglings evolve. He almost wished these two to be his student but he wasn't much of the teacher type. The Raikage had assigned him to be a squad leader once but he bailed and he knew it wouldn't take the Raikage too long to do that again since he had returned to the village.

The cones of fire left Wrath's mouth and headed straight for Lin but Satoshi was once again unrelenting. The lad was definetly keeping to his word to protect his companion and Syn was really waiting to see how long he could do this for. Lin couldn't move on time and the fire had caused her few burns but countering with a fuuton jutsu, Satoshi gathered air in his lungs and sent it into the flames charging forward. He was brilliant, that much Syn now knew. He knew the elements, their alignments and their weakness. Like doton was weak against raiton, fuuton strengthens katon. The wind hit the fire, enraged it and sent it blowing back in Wrath's direction. There was enough time for it to react but it's speed would not permit so instead, it expelled water from the same barrell in it's mouth to quench the raging flames. The water hit the flames as it gave off steam into the surrounding. Out of the steam came another ball of fire from Lin that hit Wrath in the center of it's face. The puppet being made of mokuton would catch fire immediately as they had great weakness to katon. One puppet damaged but Syn only smirked as Temp's chain yanker wrapped around Satoshi and clawed into his left shoulder. His puppets were meant to be used carelessly in something that wasn't even a real battle but then if he did not use them now, he wouldn't know where and how to improve on them for better fights to come.

The fight had gone on for long and it was time to bring these two to their knees. It had all been part of his strategy, to make them both exhaust their chakra and stamina and cause them to surrender. That would happen real soon according to his calculations tho it seemed Lin would be first to succumb. How bout a more exciting music for the two of them to dance to.. Temp would yank out it's claw from Satoshi's left shoulder, expanding the cut and causing the genin more pain though it wouldn't be beyond medical repair as Wrath would shoot forth ten shurikens at Lin to keep her busy. Both puppets would retreat swiftly to Syn's location and go into a crouching position. Syn would then throw three more scrolls in the air and call forth Chi, the sister and the brother puppets from the scrolls. Chi, the dwarf would heed it's master's call and levitate in the air above with wooden strings attached to it as the brother and sister puppets looking inhuman would take their position to the left and right of Temp as Wrath would be taken out of play for it was already damaged. Four puppets against one injured genin and one injured chunin. The main motive was not to attack them rather it was to make them lose hope and for them to believe that they had lost this one. If they did believe this, then they had failed the test. The only way to win is to persevere.

Having moved forward earlier during the course of the fight, Syn and his puppets were not five meters away from Lin and Satoshi. Opening his mouth, a thick mist would flow forth from it to envelope ten meters from where he stood. Seeing through this mist would be very difficult for them unless they had special abilities that would enable them to do so. With them already encased in the mist, Syn had no use for the puppets anymore, they were just meant to intimidate so he would detatch his wooden strings and stop the jutsu.
Time to go for a little swim. Syn would bury himself three meters under the earth and travel towards Satoshi first at maximum speed. The genin even if he had some way to sense Syn underground would not have enough time to react or speed to evade, that much was certain. With no way to see within the mist, Syn would reach the genin in fractions of a second and shoot out his hands to grab his legs. Syn would then pull him underground with only his head above the ground as he would move to do the same to Lin. If the attacks were successful, he would re-emerge from the earth but if Satoshi or Lin had a way to prevent themselves from being trapped underground, Syn would react accordingly with utmost speed and reaction.
WC:1231/6339

Spoiler:

Satoshi watched as his backdraft technique worked. Wonderful! It hadn't been in time to fully prevent the damage to his partner but it had spared her the lion's share of the potential damage. Further, their opponent had needed to use a Suiton technique to defend themselves. The emergent cloud of steam was opening enough for Lin to fire back with her own Katon technique. Her fireball pierced through the steamcloud, briefly lighting it a brilliant orange, before colliding with her dance partner. Nice. He thought with a nod.

Unfortunately for Satoshi, she hadn't had the ability to deflect the attack that was heading his way. Perhaps she hadn't seen it or hadn't an ability to detect the claw. Either way, it wrapped about his body and a clawed hand dug into his shoulder. It ripped his jacket and a line of crimson followed in the wake of each of the slashing digits. He winced, a reaction to the cold steel lacerating his flesh and clothes. He couldn't feel the sting of the cuts yet, as his adrenaline was still pumping, but they were already soaking the snow white of his jacket.

And just like that, the puppets withdrew. The claw that had been embedded in his arm and had trapped his arms at his side was yanked free with a spray of vitae. As the claw retracted back to the puppets resting place it left a steady trail of the warm liquid behind it. Moments later, the puppets were accompanied by a number of their kin. More puppets were added to the fray. Satoshi gritted his teeth. Perhaps he shouldn't have taunted so much. His right hand uncounsciously gripped his left shoulder as he looked out at the growing number of foes.

In a more even battle what occurred next might have served as an advantage for Satoshi. Syn opened his mouth and released a suiton technique famous in the village hidden in the mist. A namesake. None of this information was privy to Satoshi. As the mist overtook them Satoshi called out to Lin and retook his fighting stance, his left arm hanging at his side as to not aggravate the wound.

"Stand by me Lin. I can still hear their beat. We'll get through this yet, yeah?" He called to her enthusiastically as he closed his eyes. He'd not be needing them anymore. The thick soupy fog that had overtaken them made sure that visibility was at an all time low. Of course, Syn and his puppet companions were within his Pursuit of Sound. Unbeknownst to them, he could feel each and every one of them. Using his field he sense what they were doing or where they were going, much like a bat does with Sonar. And what he sensed was confusing.

"Four of them aren't moving...?" He called to Lin, though it sounded more like a question than a statement. Syn on the other hand had disappeared. He'd traveled under ground, which Satoshi's field could not feel. He had all but disappeared as far as Satoshi was concerned. And considering the speed at which everything happened Satoshi had a difficult time truly sorting the situation out. After all, his KKG was still young. He could feel the bodies through the mist. He knew they were there. But he couldn't tell what body was what. For all he knew the puppet that had been lit on fire had become unsummoned.

His optimism was punished as he felt, at the last moment, a disruption beside his ankles. "Eh?" Was all he could manage to get out before hands firmly gripped his ankles. His body fused with the earth, pulled below it up to his chin. He cried out in surprise as it occurred and did his best to look for Lin. He struggled against the earth but there was no way he'd be able to shake free in time to protect her.

"Lin! Lookout!" He offered unhelpfully.

Lin would cough as she inhaled some of the fog. She didn't particularly like foggy atmospheres. She limped to where she heard Satoshi's voice call out, "Stand by me Lin. I can still hear their beat. We'll get through this yet, yeah?" She couldn't see a thing. It wasn't like the fog that Kumo got in the mornings, more like a pea-soup fog. She tried wiping her eyes, and shook her head. No good, still limping towards where she thought she heard Toshi, she found his voice was actually behind her. Grumbling, she limped back just as he shouted, "Watch out!" It wasn't much of a warning, and what could she see? Not really anything, not even the hand in front of her-.

The thought was interrupted as she too was grabbed by the ankles and yanked unceremoniously into the ground. She ended up facing Toshi, not even a foot from his face. Huffing at her current situation, she grumbled over to Toshi, "There you are. I should have just burned the mist away, but I didn't want to burn you. I can't see anything but you now." She tried to turn her head, but having her neck stuck underground with only her chin above ground it was hard. She felt like she was in a coffin. Wiggling, she looked as far left as her eyes would  allow her to, straining to see if she could see Syn or not. "Alright, you made your point, we're weak." She yelled out, grumbling to herself... something about it being especially her that was weak. Sighing, she wondered how Gin would have fared in the fight, and not only this, but what she would say about training the girl further.

It was nice that she had been able to lob a fireball at the puppet, and it was great that it hit home, but she didn't know how to counter puppets, and if she ever met another puppet master, she would have been done for. Speaking of, where did her clone go? She looked around for it, and gave up, she should have been able to feel it if it was still around, she had no idea where it was or what it was doing, but apparently it had dissipated. Waste of chakra. She wouldn't be using THAT jutsu in her next fight. She wondered what lasting damage she had done to the puppet and if she would be asked to pay for it.

Sighing, she looked straight at Toshi and sneezed. It was quite involuntary and snuck up on her much like Syn had with his headhunter technique, but she laughed all the same. "You know, we've been beaten all kinds of different ways today." She would giggle again and then tilt her head, "When did you get red eyes?" She would ask, "I always thought they were brown?" she blinked and giggled once more at how ridiculous he looked and the face he had made.

They had lost, utterly, but they had lost to a special jonin, so it was fair that they had lost to him. It wasn't like they had lost to a genin, or even a chuunin, but a special jonin. There was no shame in that, and even if it were his clones or his puppets that they had fought, she had utilized a clone jutsu that made her abilities FAR exceed her own capabilities with Tsuneo at the helm. It wasn't that much beyond her capability to comprehend that these puppets were probably on par with Syn, if not just one step lower than him in some regards. It wasn't like he held back or anything either, well, that was until he pulled them under the earth.

WC: 6315

In no time, both Lin and Satoshi were burried under the earth with only their heads above ground. He had met no resistance to his plan and it was pretty easy. The jutsu would have been least effective against better opponents but he had already gauged Lin and Toshi's strength levels and he was confident that using the mist combined with the sneaky advantage of the doton jutsu would guarantee victory. There was no reason to be excited. He could not consider this a win because he knew that he was better than them both combined together. He was a jounin and Toshi- a genin, Lin- a chunin. This was only a challenge and they had passed it. This he was glad for.

Masashi had been right indeed. Letting go of all hinderances and gaining control of the mind mattered a lot.
'The mastery of your mind is the mastery of your life, Syn. Empty the lake of your mind into the sea of void. You should not be carried away by the dictation of the mind, but the mind should be carried by your dictation. As gold purified in a furnace loses its impurities and achieves its own true nature, the mind gets rid of the impurities of the attributes of delusion, attachment and purity through meditation and attains Reality.' The man had said while trying to get Syn to free himself.
'While meditating we are simply seeing what the mind has been doing all along. Life is a mystery- mystery of beauty, bliss and divinity. Meditation is the art of unfolding that mystery. Self-observation is the first step of inner unfolding. Suffering is due to our disconnection with the inner soul. Meditation is establishing that connection and you need that connection to grow Syn. Connect with your inner self.'
The session hadn't been an easy one because Syn had been holding back a lot. He had passed through enough and letting go was hardly an option.
'Silence is not an absence but a presence. Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own thoughts, unguarded. What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow. Our life is the creation of our mind. Letting go of this terrible memory does not mean letting go of revenge. You just need not make it burden you, thats all so Syn Itami..Let go of all your burdens : KAI!' And in the end, Syn released all of it, the anger, pain, suffering and darkness that blinded his actions.

Now what he had learnt from Masashi was proving useful to him.
"Alright, you made your point, we're weak." Lin's voice would call out to him. It seemed they both had accepted defeat. They had done well, that much he would say and it was time to set them free. Jumping out of the ten meter range of the thick mist, Syn would stretch forth his right hand and green vines would grow forth from the earth around Lin and Satoshi, bringing them forth out of the mist to his front. No matter how much he tried to cover it, he was still a member of the Senju clan. The vines would retract back into the earth and set the two ninjas free leaving them to gasp for fresh air.

'You both have done well. Sorry about the injuries.. You did damage my puppet though..' Syn would say with a smirk. He was impresssed by the synchronization of their attacks and if they trained to get better, they would form a formidable team. 'Looking out for each other is good but relying on each other?.. I would only say that there are times when you both won't always be together so getting better individually is necessary. You both have passed the challenge and as a reward... Syn would pause thinking of what to say. He had not fire techniques or medical techniques to teach Lin and Satoshi seemed to be a close ranged fighter who utilized taijutsu... 'Lin, I might not have something big for you now but here, have this.... And Satoshi you look like one who would benefit from one of my techniques.. How bout you choose to learn the earth missle technique, the rising spears or the mud wolves jutsu.. These three are long ranged techniques that might come in handy sometime.. Syn wasn't sure yet if Satoshi would be able to perform the techniques. He just said so as a reward for him passing the challenge and he hoped that Lin would appreciate the medical scapel that he had given her. At least she was a medic and the item could come in handy.
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Item:

Satoshi looked to Lin helplessly from their earthen prison. He offered her an apologetic smile as she rested buried as he did. "Hm? Oh. I got them from my father... I think?" He grinned a bit stupidly. Satoshi had never known his father. Nor had he known his mother. He had been told about them by Kozue-Obaasan but they were mostly a mystery to her as well. Satoshi had always considered Kozue to be his mother and the village of Kumogakure no Sato to be his father.

Vines wrapped about his body and he watched as Lin rose from the earth as he did. Satoshi had a growing mastery for the Doton element but he knew this was different. Satoshi could shift and shape raw earth with some effort. He could create and bend it to his will with a great expenditure of energy. But he couldn't effect plant life... Natural life. It was an impressive feat that he'd never seen.

He rubbed the back of his head as Syn apologized for the injuries. His words brought attention back to Satoshi's left shoulder and it began to sting now that he was aware of it, funny that. "That's okay Mr. Syn. If you didn't try to hurt us I wouldn't have been able to feel your beat. I bet you felt the same, hm?" He took a step forward then, eagerly as Syn continued to talk.

He nodded to Syn's advice. "I think you're right Mr. Syn. Though I don't intend to fight unless there's someone worth protecting. I don't like to hurt people, so I'd avoid it unless it's necessary. But a day may come where I have to protect someone who isn't in front of me." He nodded a second time, reaffirming Syn's statement. He didn't much like dealing with things that weren't in front of his face. Satoshi had a tendency to disregard things he couldn't see or feel in favor of those that he could. Attention was an art that was somewhat lost on him.

He then watched excitedly, like a kid on christmas as he approached Lin. He was going to teach them now... or at least he was going to teach Satoshi. For Lin he had a present. Some exceptional item from a far off land? A personal relic? An ancient tool? ...Or... Maybe just a knife. Satoshi pursed his lips a bit... Surely it was a special knife though... Lin surely had regular scalpels of her own, she was, after all a trained medical ninja. The gift was for Lin and not Satoshi, so it was none of his business what secret legendary properties the item had.

He turned to Syn then as he addressed him with an offer of training. He listened eagerly as he listed a number of Jutsu. He imagined each of them, grandiose and powerful. Skewering an army with the spears or chasing down a bear with the wolves... But then he realized... He was already working on these when he'd decided that they weren't his style. And these too were somewhat mundane abilities.

He gave Syn an unconsciously skeptical look as he rubbed his chin in thought. Was it possible that he didn't trust them with anything too cool? Or... Perhaps he didn't have anything cool after all? That would explain the puppets. They had used weapons rather than abilities. He didn't truly understand what a puppet was or how they were different from the regular clones he'd seen, but perhaps he used them because he couldn't do much on his own?

Satoshi thought hard for a moment. And then nodded. "That's okay Mr. Syn! This lesson was training enough. I got to see some pretty interesting things. And I learned that my Backdraft technique works! I'll be able to use that to protect lots of people!"

He looked to Lin encouragingly. It was possible that Syn was poor and that Scalpel was very precious to him. One man's trash, right? It was nice of him to offer anything at all, especially when he seemed to be struggling. So Satoshi did the polite thing. Manners were important. But his refusal would allow his older villagemate to save face in light of his struggles. At least the simple boy assumed he was struggling.

Lin smiled and accepted the scalpel. While she had used them while at the hospital in Kumogakure she never had a scalpel of her own. She had been meaning to buy one, but had forgotten to every time that she went to the market. It also wasn't something that people usually just carried around on their person. She remembered training with Tsuyo, he seemed like the person to keep a scalpel on his person, but she didn't know anyone else that would.

She took it out and gave it a few test twirls in her fingers, making it dance and flash in the moonlight. It was nice to feel its cold steel between her fingers. Now she had a weapon that she could attack with precision with in close quarters, or.... could open people up and take out foreign bodies! The smile widened as she thought about the possibilities. It didn't matter that it was a run of the mill scalpel, it was now her scalpel. As for Toshi, he was being offered something that most ninja were never offered, a look into a ninja's personal repertoire of jutsu. She could only dream of getting to taste someone else's power as she learned one of their jutsus.

Gin had offered her training in jutsu, but she hadn't seen Gin in a while. Perhaps she could bug Gin whenever she was less busy. Things had been hectic in Kumogakure, and she knew it."Thank you very much, Syn senpai." She bowed, the box in one hand and the scalpel in the other, "I have been needing one of these for a while now." She looked up and gave him a smile once more and looked to Toshi.

"Now that we are done..." She shrugged, "What do you want to do?" She giggled, knowing that she looked a bit beaten up like Toshi did. "I can heal you if you would like Toshi, I don't have much chakra left, but I have enough for that!" She offered.

WC: 6672

Just as he had expected, the female appreciated the gift and cherished it dearly. To any unknowledgeable individual the scapel would look just like a normal small piece of knife but as Lin would advance in the medical field, she would then realize if she didn't already know that this little piece of equipment could end lives as well as save many others depending on how she chooses to use it.
"Thank you very much, Syn senpai. I have been needing one of these for a while now."
Lin replied with enthusiasm as she received the gift from him. He was glad that she would have something to remember him of and it wouldn't be the little burns that his puppet had inflicted on her.

Satoshi on the other hand claimed that the training alone was enough lesson and Syn would almost agree to this but he didn't feel well not being able to give the young man anything more like he had given to Lin. Perhaps the fact that he had used puppets had made Satoshi think that he was no good on his own? True, puppet masters relied on the use of their puppets in battle for both offense and defense but he was different from these other puppeteers and with his puppets out of place he could stand his own ground. He was really tempted to show Satoshi what he could really do as a jounin but then he remembered that this was just their first meeting and if he showed the boy all what he is now, there wouldn't be surprises for later.
'I refuse to accept that I have rewarded you Satoshi like I have to Lin so I would say that if you ever want to become a master in the arts of sealing, a specialization known as Fuinjutsu ...then you can find me so that I can show you the ropes so I can be certified as one of youe teachers. Syn would end his statement knowing fully well that this was a much better offer and the young man would have to think it through well.

Lin then asked what they could do now that this was over. As for Syn, he could go on to have more fun but he knew that these two couldn't take it any longer. He had only come out to have a drink and he had found something more better than a drink in the sky bar, he had found friends.
'How bout you two point the direction of your homes and we'll ride the clouds until we get there..good?
If Lin and Satoshi agreed to this, Syn would seal into scrolls all of his puppets on the field with a simple hand gesture as he would the form hand seals at a speed that would seem blurry to them. This action would cause the earth three meters behind him to shake and large timbers would erupt to form the head of a dragon first and then the full body. The dragon would rise and take off into the cloud, circling and zig zagging before Syn would gesture with his finger and the dragon would come down and coil around him.
He would mount it and then wait for Lin and Satoshi. Another fun adventure was waiting.
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