"Looks like I win again, Raikage-sama"

"Was that before or after you cheated Raikage-sama? Sanosuke mused while he was in his cat henge form. His snide insult was directed at the dark skinned man in front of him that was significantly older than he was by at least 10 years. His age was shown on his face as the man's white hair was beginning to grow white more so with age than genetics. The stringiness of some strands of his hair was what gave it away. The two of them were sitting at the higher chamber of the thunder temple where the chamber itself was at the highest point of elevation from the temple itself. In front of the two men, well man and transformed cat of a man, was shougi set where the pieces were in favor to the man in front of Sanosuke. The two of them looked at one another sharing glances before bursting out of laughter. The man in front of Sanosuke was his own sensei when he was a genin, the 8th Raikage. It was rumored that the man would make routine stops to the temple and Sanosuke wanted to find out if the rumors were true. And he wasn't disappointed.

Looking at the two men from afar, Navi in her own henged shaped shook her head in disapproval. "I still don't approve of you having the genin coming up here, you know how dangerous it is for uninvited guests. You did tell the clansmen that they're coming right?" Sanosuke prickled his ears as he knew he had forgotten something. All he could do was nervously laugh while using his tail to reset the table. All Navi could do was scoff as she stormed off of the chamber in a feat of annoyance. Knowing her, she probably went to subtly guide the genin towards Sanosuke. She was right about one thing: the clansmen would attack anyone on sight of anyone that was uninvited. It's obvious none of the genin will be able to fight back at them, besides their numbers will surely be the end of them should they fight. No they would have to make their way stealthily to the top of the temple to meet him. That is if they can get to the front door without getting struck by lightning. After all it is a few miles of running through the thunder grounds before reaching the temple.

"Well at least it's good to know you're living up to the mantle of laziness I've set for you. I'm so proud." Midnight chuckled as he got himself settled once more in his seat. Sanosuke wagged his tail as he laughed while setting his own pieces into motion. The two will have to work in conjunction with one another if they wished to see him. Detection would mean their downfall, and most likely their demise should they not be too careful. Navi can run interference in case they fail, but that is it. She will most likely be within the shadows proctoring the two of them as they make their way in.

Let's see how the young shinobi fair with his test. The note that the both of them received was a summons to thunder temple with a paw print. Everyone in the village of Kumo has heard how dangerous it is to travel to the thunder grounds, let alone to the temple. The two should be prepared for anything...

Lin gathered Toshi from the side of the skybar, like they had agreed upon. They had both received summons and Lin had set up the time and place for the two of them to meet. It would be dangerous, especially for genin, but with Lin's training she had risen to almost-chuunin status. She was going to make it through the thunder temple grounds before she got stricken by lightning and she knew it.

Flipping a senbon in her hand, she added one more and then another, doing a one-handed juggle of them as she waited patiently for Toshi. When he finally arrived she waved, still tossing the senbon in the air, "Punctual as always Toshi." Lin giggled, she knew how punctual he always was. Never late, never early, just right on time. It was almost like he had an atomic watch in his head. She was dressed in her kunoichi outfit, and she had her senbon. She had no clue what she should expect from this place and she didn't want to be caught off guard by anything. She had trained for this. Her hands trembled a bit, betraying her nervousness. A summons from the Raikage himself.

She couldn't help but be a bit nervous she supposed. Shrugging she smiled at her partner, "Enjoyed the training yesterday?" She didn't know what else to talk about when she was feeling this jittery. It was almost like she had drank an entire pot of coffee.

WC: 255


Starting stats:
Strength: D-1
Speed: D-3
Endurance: D-1
Perception: C-2
Reaction time: C

Base stats and additional factors:

Satoshi woke up fresh and full of life this morning. Even more so than usual. He had received a summon from the Raikage and he couldn't help that it'd filled his mind with imagination. He wondered what exactly he could have wanted from him. What adventure lie ahead?

The last time he'd seen the Raikage was during his first spar with Lin. It had been a hard battle and he'd learned a lot about his partner. But it also had ended with him failing to execute a particularly complicated Jutsu that he was proud of developing on his own. It would have been embarrassing for a normal boy. But for Satoshi it had been an exciting opportunity. While he was in the academy he had seldom been challenged. Jutsu had been limited and his taijutsu specialization had served him well in the junior shinobi kumite.

In fact, in their second spar Satoshi had managed to defeat Lin. Granted that spar had been limited to Taijutsu only... And even then he couldn't quite overcome her raw physical prowess. But he had managed to overcome her with a feat of technique and a spot of luck. Though now that he thought back on it, he didn't feel like he ended that spar like a winner... He'd gotten pretty messed up.

He laughed a bubbly, melodic laugh as he approached the thunder grounds, that thought at the front of his mind. He lifted a hand to greet Lin who had been playing with a senbon. "Timing is everything Lin!" He offered a fist bump in greeting as his other hand came up to drag his shell headphones off of his ears.

"Of course! You're always teaching me something new. I'm looking forward to showing you something too. I've gotta catch up afterall!" He made a muscle with his left arm and gripped his bicep.

"So uh... What do you think the Raikage has planned for us." His eyes narrowed. "Do you think he'll try and spy on my super secret trump card once in a life-time jutsu again?" He half whispered as he spoke. His goofy demeanor was broken as the sky was split by a streak of pure energy. The lightning lit his face momentarily illuminating the cringe that followed as thunder rumbled soon after, shaking their reality.

"Perhaps we should get moving?"

[WC: 403]

Starting Stats:

---

"And you would have let your students travel through this temple where the guards could potentially kill them?"

"Please you know damn well that if they can't get through to the guards...they wouldn't last a minute under my training. They'd die instantly." Sanosuke wagged his tail in boredom as he telepathically moved his piece forward on the board before the two. It was their next game after the first game ended declaring(after what seemed like an eternity of bickering) that it was Midnight's move. This time around Sanosuke was determined to win. He wasn't going to let distractions like the safety of his potential students distract him from winning. Besides Navi would run interference should they get in too much trouble. Of course she would guide them out of the temple as they have failed the test of becoming his students.

"Also if you think for a single second I'm going to allow you to distract me from the task at hand, you are surely mistaken." Sanosuke mused with a scoff as he was quite proud of his recent maneuver. He had positioned his pieces in a way that would have him come out victorious in their scuffle. It didn't take long before Midnight crushed his trap with his own moves. The man only laughed at how he had crushed his former student's attack and disabled him. Sanosuke grit his fangs at the frustration he was experiencing. This wasn't going to be easy. Neither was sneaking up the 3 floors that leads to the upper chamber where they were. The floors gathered more and more members with each floor they get to. From the last time he checked, the Raikage counted about 7 members on the first floor upon entering. He wondered how they would fair.

---

OOC:

Lin would nod at Toshi and reply, "I can't wait to see you in action, especially since we're headed to the Thunder Temple. You're going to need every ounce of strength that you have to even get there, and then we're going to have to at least make it past the first or such floor. The reason being that we are supposed to get an escort somewhere in the temple. That is what the note says at least." Lin said, taking out the note from the Raikage and reading over it once more, "We should know them when we meet them." She wondered at Toshi for a second before walking toward the temple. There would be ample time for them to run when they made it to the thunder grounds.

"Do you want to do the same strategy if we meet any opponents in the thunder temple? You in front and me in the back lines? Also I learned a new jutsu, I can make another one of you if you would like. It's a clone, but it should help us out." She had learned to make a more substantial clone in her time as a genin, and she wanted to test it out, "I'll just need a piece of your hair if you would like for the clone to help out. It can't do jutsu, but it is very good at hand-to-hand kumite." She smiled and winked at Toshi.

This would at least be fun, if nothing else. They got to the Thunder Grounds and she tied her headband on a bit tighter, so that it wouldn't slip down and obscure her vision. Lin held her hands in front of her and started to sprint across the grounds, she had trained here with Gin once, watching her and a ninja from Kirigakure fighting. She would not be caught off-guard by the lightning.


WC: 661

He gave Lin a big stupid thumbs up with his right hand. His left hand was still wrapped in bandages from their interaction the day prior. Satoshi had made the mistake of reaching into a malevolent red aura that had manifested around Lin when she had become emotionally unstable. His attempt to comfort had disputable results, but it had left his hand full of tiny lacerations. The damage hadn't been especially savage but if contact had been maintained, who could say for sure what would have happened.

Lin had offered to heal it for him, but he had withdrawn. Chakra based healing always made him feel like he had motion sickness. He got a little dizzy and it always taxed the caster more than it should have... Besides... A part of him thought the bandages made his hand look kinda cool. "With our strength and team work I doubt there's a thing in the world that could stop us!" He spouted naively. "Besides! Soon I'll be running beside you instead of behind you. I'm trying my hardest to catch up so I don't drag you down!"

In truth Satoshi may have already caught up to Lin. He was pretty daft when it came to Jutsu and he really only had a few tricks up his sleeve. But when it came to sheer physical prowess he seemed to be a bit of a prodigy. He'd grown quickly with all of the nurturing he'd received lately and it was in no small part thanks to Lin. "It worked great against the bandits. So stick to my rhythm and I'll be sure to keep anyone who'd mean you harm at a distance with my Song of Justice! I wonder if your clone can harmonize with me..." He rubbed his chin with one hand while the other snuck it's way towards his his head. He plucked a hair out and reacted in such a way that expressed that he might not have been fully aware of what his other hand had been doing.

He forfeited the hair towards Lin with a half frown. Betrayed by his own appendage. "That sounds like an awesome technique. You never cease to amaze me! Shall we hit the road then?"

He looked towards the Thunder Grounds, the great temple looming in the horizon projecting menace as lightning flashed in front of it's archaic architecture. Satoshi took a hesitant step forward before looking over his shoulder to Lin. "I'll race you!" He then placed his headphones back over his ears, reached down towards his pocket, and clicked play. Instantly the music began to pulse in his ears and he took off laughing, not waiting for an answer. As he kicked up a bit of dust it was clear that he'd gotten faster... Much faster.

((Formatting to come later!))

Toshi had relinquished a hair and Lin tucked it into the front of her kumogakure gi. It was something that she would hold onto until they got to the tower. She was surprised at how rapidly the genin had grown, Toshi was proving to be a better and better companion with each mission that they did. She would need to ask him to do another mission after they survived this. A lightning bolt struck to her right, she twisted away from it like a cat, catching two of the rocks that exploded from the impact before they hit her and tossing them aside like they had just been minor annoyances. She should have been able to guess where the lightning would strike before it had, but she had been thinking about Toshi, "We'll get stronger together, move in a pattern. Usually the lightning strikes about fifteen feet off from where it struck previously here. It tries to strike the highest thing, so keep your body low and weave between the strikes. Keep at least fifteen feet away from the last blast. They usually strike every-" her voice was drowned out by another earth shattering lightning crack that exploded in an area to her right. She was in the storm's path and she needed to move faster. She willed her body to move faster, making a dash at her top speed out of the area of fire.

Lin had trained hard and had almost mastered the Guanyin technique that would make her all the deadlier. She was also developing Jutsu on her own that had to do with Raiton and Medical Ninjutsu tied into her senbon. She was becoming deadlier and deadlier. With her deadliness came precision and speed. She had of course trained her body to attack and deal as much damage as she could, but she just couldn't reach the level of Toshi. He had a sculpted body for a genin, one that had undergone hellish training since he met Lin. She wouldn't let up either. With each new day she would push him harder, to become stronger and faster than before. That was the way of training with Gin and that was how she would help him become stronger as well.

She didn't know what the Raikage had in store for them, but she did know that once they reached the entrance, it would be far from over. Lin tried to conserve some of her strength for the battles ahead, but couldn't contain her excitement. To be summoned by the Raikage... It would be a grand thing.

WC: 1099

Satoshi nodded along with her words in eagerness. He hadn't ever been through the Thunder Grounds and Lin's advice would prove invaluable. Being struck by lightning might not spell the end necessarily but it certainly wouldn't be a pleasure. He had heard of many ailments that had been caused by catching a stray lance of electricity. Hearing and vision loss. Permananent limb paralysis. And then there were some who never suffered anything more than some burns. He doubted that he would be on the lucky side as he seldom was.

Pushed himself hard and relied on the sense he trusted the most. His hearing. Using the information that Lin had given him and some basic observations he was able to deduce the pattern of the lightning, at least within a somewhat narrow margin. Thunder would rumble, splitting the air and a moment later a bolt of lightning would follow. These interactions occurred about every nine seconds and their position was always somewhat relative to the origin of the thunder. He could predict relatively where the eye of the next strike would be. Technically the thunder wasn't really related to the lightning, as sound did not move as fast as light and the thunder he was hearing was correlated to the lightning that had already struck. It left a bit to be desired but the pattern was still there and the lightning wasn't lashing out with random destinations. The storm, as with all things in life, had a beat.

He dodged, dipped, ducked, dived, and... dodged his way through the storm. Each bolt that bit into the earth caused him to reassert his course. The song in his headphones encouraged him to maintain his tempo and helped him to stay in rhythm. As he did, he called back to Lin. "We may want to treat the temple with respect. And by respect I mean not engage the guards... I think they're probably used to handling way bigger threats than us, right? But I bet we could sneak by them right? We're ninja after all!" He declared proudly as he tucked his hands into a ninja pose.

Lightning struck right in front of him and caused him to tumble stupidly to the right in order to dodge the surprise flash. He looked towards her from his butt with an embarrassed grin before rising once more and continuing to make his way through the storm. The temple was getting ever closer, and regardless of the course they chose, they'd need to commit to it if they were going to have any success. Odds were the men who held these hallowed grounds weren't going to be pushovers and confronting them in combat could prove deadly. Besides. If Satoshi had to fight, all hopes of stealth were off the table. He would surely bring the whole of the temples inhabitants down upon them...

As fun as that sounded... There was surely a better way. They'd neared the Thunder Temple. The storm was behind them and now but the hardest part of this journey lie ahead of them. The temple was guarded by the Tsukino. And they were numerous...

The doors to the temple were ajar. Ominous. It was as if someone had been expecting them... As if to make sure they knew which lone temple in the middle of the thunder grounds was the right one. Sure... That was it. Wishful thinking.

Satoshi looked behind Lin and offered her a thumbs up with grin. He then poked his head inside the temple. Aesthetically it was a simple place. The interior was constructed of plain white marble. The stone was illuminated by a scarce number of candles. Shadows danced along with the flickering of the small flames. The temple would be nearly dark if not for the frequent flashes of lightning which illuminated the whole of the temple as if it was receiving complete stage lighting. Perhaps they would be able to use that to their advantage.

Further, with his pursuit of sound field he'd be able to see the guards in the near darkness if they got too close... He was a pretty efficient scout... Maybe they could do this afterall?

With that thought in mind, Satoshi slid through the doors, not pushing them any further apart or drawing them any nearer. He immediately moved to a column, his eyes scanning the room fort he first sign of guards...

Lin ran behind Toshi, just missing a lightning blast from the sky that hit in front of her, stopping her momentum and the shockwave sending her reeling back. It deafened her momentarily and she shook her head, stunned for a second. It seemed that the storm really didn't want them to get to the temple. She blinked her eyes and shook her head before feeling the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Rolling to her left another bolt struck where she had been laying. Lin forced herself to get up and run towards where she hoped the temple was. Everything had a surreal glow to it that she knew was temporary blindness caused by the lighnting. It was like staring at sand or snow for too long and she couldn't shake the feeling that she had forgotten something of Gin's training.

Gripping her side, she found a bit of stone shrapnel in her. Pulling it out it wasn't too deep, but enough to hurt. Lin placed a hand over her side and tried to stop the bleeding that way. There was no sense in using chakra wastefully at the beginning of their venture. As the temple came into sight she saw the yawning doors opened up for the both of them like a chasm. It was going to be tricky to get into the temple unnoticed, but it seemed like Toshi had the right idea. Lin crept behind him, her eyes adjusting to the artificial light of the room inside. It was a temple, and therefore was mostly undecorated, except the pillars that boasted art that would inspire those of devotion to greater works.

The guards, or what could be called guards, but were really probably genin that helped around the temple, were walking around. Some of them were on watch-duty but others were just seemingly aimlessly walking around. Though, after a few seconds of studying the stones beneath their feet, it seemed that they had a pattern. She tapped Toshi on the shoulder, put a finger to her lips, and then pointed to the floor. There were areas that were waxed and had no dirt on them whatsoever, and then there were trails where the floor was scuffed. She imagined that these were trails of where the ninja would move on this level, at least, in their normal fashion. She looked at him and raised her eyebrow, asking, Do you understand silently.

WC: 1513

Satoshi pursed his lips as Lin gestured to what she'd found on the ground. He looked it over. Then looked back to Lin... Then looked it over once more. Yep. Definitely looked like there was a road less traveled here. Unlike Lin it seemed to take him a minute to process what exactly she was thinking about. He was pure of heart. Reliable. Kind. And for sure courageous. But one thing he was not, was subtle. While he was capable of stealth, the mindset of skulk was something that often eluded him. He had never been a thief. He had never wanted for anything really. And as such, his stealth training started and ended at what they had taught him at the academy. It was a little useful... But he may or may not have been listening to one of his favorite bands during the entirety of the lesson.

As he pondered what to do with this minuscule amount of information, a guard happened by. Satoshi tucked himself behind the pillar quickly as he felt him step into his resonance field. Blessed are small miracles like his birthright, without it he surely would have been caught with his mind out and his pants down... Metaphorically speaking. He breathed out a subtle sigh of relief and offered Lin a helpless shrug before he looked back to the scuffed and unstuffed tiles on the floor.

They had a route. They'd become complacent in their duties and in order to help mitigate some of the doldrums of guarding this already rather secure temple, they stuck to a simple path. They moved almost as if they were on autopilot. It was an act of vigilance, in a way. That they forced their bodies through such monotonous tasks day in day out. Satoshi couldn't understand how none of them were sleeping or were otherwise slacking off. No, these guards appeared rather... dutiful. And in a way, it was their weakness. Predictability was always a flaw in security.

He pursed his lips together momentarily... Watching the guards as they addled through their patrol routes. He couldn't help but notice that as the lightning flashed, some of the guards gave off a faint spark of electricity themselves... It wasn't strange, that the guardians of the thunder temple were Raiton users. But it seemed like the pair wouldn't want to touch them, even if they did have to pick a fight. With that thought in mind, Satoshi started to move. He picked a guard who seemed to represent the tail of the monotonous security oroboros, and followed him out of eye sight.

When the guard turned to double back, Satoshi circled around a pillar and then moved to the next "tail". It didn't take long for him to reach the base of the stairs to the second floor. Especially using the predictable cover of darkness created by the lightning and Lin's aid in figuring out the path the guards would take to patrol. He counted to three in his head, and right on signal lightning struck again, illuminating the floor, and then was swallowed by darkness once more. As soon as the inky blackness had seeped into the cracks in the rooms, Satoshi hurried up the stairs. What he saw on the next floor though, was even more curious.

There were more guards. Many more. And... They all looked... Exactly the same.

Lin made a couple of hasty hand-signals and walked up the pillar and onto the ceiling. Usually guards didn't look up, and she had an idea. Lin crept along the ceiling, making sure to keep right above one of the guards' heads at all times, when it came to switching the guard, she would dash and keep up with that next guard. The stairs were on the other side of the room. Toshi had his own way of going about it, and if she wasn't aware of him in the first place, it was almost as if he weren't there at all. She smiled and continued on in this manner. It didn't make sense that they had a pattern unless they had been guarding this temple for a while and were on a route that was pre-established to make sure that intruders couldn't make it in.

Lin would have to tell the Raikage about how he could bolster the defenses of the temple if she got up to see him. When the lightning flashed she saw for an instant that they had raiton over their bodies. Great... something that would keep them from using jutsu up to a certain point. No doubt it was a defensive jutsu of some kind. She had seen Dameon do something similar in a spar once, but she couldn't think of the technique's name right now. Oh well, it didn't matter too much. Fifty paces, spin, turn, go back the way you came, fifty paces, spin... they had a definite rhythm, and watching Toshi tail them was like watching an intricate dance.

Lin's tactic was more feline in its delicacy, her body moved inbetween the shadows, ducking in and out of the artificial light of the temple, when she noticed a pattern. All of the guards were watching the self-same doors that they had come in before. The only time that they ever let their gaze off was when they would turn, and there was only one in twelve turns that actually left a blind spot for only a second and a half. That second and a half must have been when Toshi and her had slinked in. It was a miracle!

Lin stopped in the stairwell to gather thirty stones and put them in her pouch just in case she needed them.

When Lin came to the stairs, she dashed down the wall and continued on the ceiling. Peering out as Toshi did as well, she noticed that the guards were all similar in stature, dress and... wait. They were clones! This many clones though, who could have made this many clones!?

Searching she found the man that must have made the clones in the corner playing cards with the other guard. The other guard had a polearm and was leaning against it heavily. he seemed to be about six foot seven and was a wall of muscle. She hoped that he wasn't near as fast as he was strong or they would be in trouble. With these clones, that person must have a tremendous amount of chakra built up. Lin counted eight clones.

She looked around the room and found another two guards that were looking outside of a window, completely unperturbed by the two genin, watching the thunder grounds and talking in voices almost loud enough to hear. Lin dropped a pebble onto Toshi's head and pointed at her own feet, then the ceiling on which she stood. She then beckoned him to come up and join her. There was not a pattern that was discernable with these clones and four people, even if only one of them could generate this many clones, was too much for them to handle. The lightning flashed, but it wasn't nearly as dimly lit this time, but there were lamps that hung down about four feet down from the ceiling. Lin was able to monitor the clones and the four real guards to make sure that she ducked in and out from underneath these hanging lamps. When she was underneath them, they provided a natural cover that no other place on the ground was able to.

She hoped that Toshi had gotten the message. When Lin reached the next set of stairs up, all the way across the room, she looked back to see if they were still playing cards. Taking out four of the stones, she attached chakra strings to them just like a puppet master would and then hurled two to her left and two to her right, and yanking on the strings one at a time. Their parabolic arc made it so that each of the stones hit a different clone from a different trajectory, and all of them were in a direction that was facing away from the stairs. She just had to buy enough time to-

"OW!" Said the clones in unison, while they rubbed their heads. The guards all looked towards the clones and the stones that had hit them. The throws weren't hard enough to cause much damage but the distraction was enough for Lin to dart into the stairwell without being noticed. She felt someone else clamber in after, hoping that it was toshi. She heard the guards of the room all scramble towards where the stones had hit the clones to investigate, but it was too late, they had made it up another floor. Peering out she was shocked at what she found next.

The entire next floor was made into a labyrinthe that stretched from ceiling to floor. Perhaps there were no guards, but Lin couldn't take that chance. Perhaps Toshi could help with this part, she was never good at mazes. The only way she knew it was a maze was because there was a hallway that split off into three directions, each twisting and turning in different ways.

What a mess this building must be to get to the top floor.

WC: 2522

Satoshi looked over the floor before him. It was packed with adversaries and they were curiously similar in appearance. Clones perhaps? Lin had used a clone technique on him once, creating a number of after images in order to distract him. The technique would have worked magically for her except that Bunshin clones don't carry any mass or cast shadows... The clones though, if that's what they truly were, cast silhouettes behind them when illuminated by the flickering candlelight of the room. Uh oh.

It was when he was fretting about what exactly he was going to do about all of these shaven gorilla guards that he felt something small break his field. He looked up as a pebble bounced harmlessly off his forehead and skittered into an extended hand. Lin had dropped it from the ceiling using the super natural walking technique... Oh! Clever! Toshi nearly clapped his hands in approval. His brain cells fired as his hands were mere centimeters from coming together in celebration. He grinned stupidly and rubbed the back of his head then in acknowledgement of his mistake.

He wove a hand seal, eyed the guards, and hurriedly skittered up the wall next to the staircase they'd entered from. Unlike the last room, these guards didn't seem to have a pattern. They hadn't been worn down by repeated hours of monotonous vigilance. Perhaps it was because they were clones after all. Perhaps that had given them a sort of tolerance to base tasks that normal people just didn't have. Either way, their routes were unpredictable, and Satoshi's rhythm based brain was having difficulty sussing out a solution.

Lin on the other hand had already started to progress! He felt her move and his body instinctively followed her. While he was in a stupor for the second time in as long as two minutes she had taken it upon herself to act. Unfortunately, in a room such as this, his attention deficiency was pretty debilitating.

In fact, Satoshi had to close his eyes and follow Lin's beat to keep himself from getting overwhelmed. He could feel, vaguely everything Lin was doing. From her movement from lamp to lamp, which was pretty clever! To her decision to distract the guards with rocks so they could sneak past.

It wasn't until they had skittered up the stairs to the third floor and worked their way around a wall that he opened his eyes and breathed out a long sigh of relief. He offered Lin an apologetic smile, as he was all but useless on that floor.

The world that met them now was a great, claustrophobic maze. Walls towered over them, from floor to ceiling and extended in many directions. There was no telling how long it would take to reach the great hall at the end of the floor. In fact, the room almost looked larger than those below him by many many factors... How strange.

Satoshi nodded to Lin but kept his mouth closed. He wasn't sure if there were any more guards on this floor... He started to wander into the depths of the maze, sticking to the left with his hand on the wall... The basics of maze solving is to pick a wall, stick to it, and -eventually- you'll reach it's other side. This was going to be a long walk...

They turned down many halls, none of them seemed to be really leading anywhere. In fact... After another ten minutes of walking they wound up right back at the stairs that led back to the second floor. Satoshi offered Lin another helpless smile and a shrug... And out of the corner of his eye he spotted a soft blue silhouette... Like the train of skirts... How curious.

Lin followed Toshi, knowing that his Persuit of sound would help them through the maze more than she would be able to. She was not exactly spacially aware, and he seemed to have a better time with these sorts of things, after a while though, she found that his pattern was "keep your left hand on the wall and eventually you'll find a way out." She knew the trick and sighed, "Well, let's just contin-" She started before she was cut off by the flicker of a shadow in her vision as well, the person or thing moved behind the wall and Lin took off after whatever it was. It seemed to be able to keep just ahead of her, and she chased it. It was a reaction that Lin had that Gin said that she should get rid of sometime, but right now, she was in full-instinct mode. Running along, she came to a fork again, and looked left and right, to her left she saw something  that was shadowy dart down the hallway.

Running that way, and another left, right, and left brought her to the stairs up and a woman that looked like she was in some sort of maid outfit. It was a miracle that they hadn't encountered anyone that was in the tower, seeing as they were all above the level of a genin, even two genin, to handle. It was a sort of godsend that they had found the shadow that led them to the woman waiting at the end of the third level.

"Erm, I am Lin." She introduced herself and took a defensive stance, not knowing if it was a guard or someone else, "I'm here to see Sanosuke-Raikage-sama." She would have to get past this woman, one way or another to see Sanosuke, and she had already made it up three levels, She wouldn't be stopped here, not when she ant Toshi were so close.

WC: 2864

---

The current partner of the Raikage stood at the end of the hallway of the third floor of the temple, laying in wait to see a couple of genin had manage to traverse their way through the prison. The wasp had previously transformed into a human form to not alarm the genin that were approaching this floor. It's easier for them to meet with a woman with blue hair rather than a large flying wasp. Navi had been waiting for quite some time now, fanning out her chakra network every so often to scan for life of the gnein. She did this while curing Sanosuke for being so foolish and carefree about the life of his genin that are looking to be trained by him. Those guards could seriously harm them, and yet Sanosuke was making this a requirement to be trained by him?

Another curse came from her lips as she was now to wait for the genin to see if they would arrive, all because Sanosuke really wanted to beat his former teacher in a foolish game that Navi had figured out in a matter of minutes of watching the two play. The human brain can only see so much, she deducted. From the corner of her eye, Navi could make out what looked to be a girl and a boy walking side by side down the hallway. They were approaching her. So these were the genin that had gotten Sanosuke's attention? They didn't look like much to the wasp, but at least they did save her the trouble of looking for their bodies beaten to a pulp by the guards for trespassing.

The girl spoke first, unsure of how to refer to the woman as she carried some sort of resolve to see the Raikage. Navi eyed her wondering what the girl would do should she simply say no. After all to the two of them, Navi could be a guard as well. But still the kunoichi was still unshaken with the potential obstacle in her path. The boy however looked rather reserve, and was simply taking things in. They were polar opposites to one another as their resolve to get through were prevalent to the wasp.

With a sigh, Navi nodded and stood up properly so she was no longer slouching. "Yes I have been waiting for you. Please follow me to the chamber where your task will come at an end." Navi's word buzzed softly with each syllable that came from her lips. She indicated them to follow her as she would guide them to Sanosuke while exchanging as little words as possible. The sooner she can dump these kids off to Sanosuke, where he can actually do what is expected from a sensei, the better.

Satoshi was caught in a bout of confusion as Lin took the initiative. Perhaps she'd seen the skirts as well. Satoshi had thought perhaps his eyes were playing tricks on him. It was a personal flaw he had as a young sensory ninja. He relied very heavily on his supernatural abilities to interact with the world around him. Because of this he often missed things that others could see with the naked eye. He found it hard to trust things that didn't have a beat he could feel!

Satoshi took off after Lin wordlessly. As she had trusted his guidance implicitly so too did he trust hers. She took them through a number of sudden, sharp turns that completely defied the idea of keeping a hand on a wall and following the exterior of the labyrinthine floor. Satoshi never had room in his head to doubt her though. He became lost in the moment, the excitement of the chase... Even though he didn't quite know -what- they were chasing.

Finally, the pursuit came to an end. He slowed to a stop next to Lin and before another. Satoshi was hardly able to stop himself from barreling into the maid who stood patiently in front of them. Was she their final test? A guard perhaps. She looked humble enough, but he wouldn't let that fool him! He put his fists up and prepared for conflict.

"And I'm Satoshi Kazuhiko! We don't want to fight you, but we will if we have to! We're here to see Nekokage-sama and we won't let anyone stop us!" He declared with a brazen stupidity. He knew little about the potential opponent who stood before them. Of how unlikely it was that he'd be anything more than a brief inconvenience to her. But it didn't matter to him. In his mind he knew the forces of justice always prevailed. That was them by the way. The forces of justice. Ehem.

When she spoke his hands slowly dropped and his stern, guarded, and ready expression converted to an eager grin of instant companionship. "Oh! Wonderful!" He declared as he punched a fist up in to the air in celebration. They'd done it. They'd made it through this surprise nightmare. They'd somehow managed to skip past a number of skilled guards in a strange temple they'd knew little about. With that thought in mind Satoshi eagerly followed the maid.

"What's your name? Where are you from? Do you like music?" This sort of thing continued until they arrived at Sano's chamber. It appeared that Navi would have to battle through a trial of her own... Satoshi.

Lin walked along behind Navi, after putting her hands down. The woman was not going to attack the two it seemed, and she was relieved. Lin did not think that she could fight the woman if she tried. The people that they had met here in the tower had not been kind to say the least, not to mention their ferocity towards wanting to keep the Raikage safe. Lin sighed audibly and walked behind Toshi. She knew that if they met anyone along the way that gave them trouble, she would need to protect him from the back, and so she walked along the corridors.

Lin walked along silently as Toshi asked question after question of Navi until they arrived. She watched as they approached the two figures that were playing some sort of game. She wondered if they were in the right place, but didn't speak up. She instead waited to be introduced to Sanosuke. After all, she had never formally met with the man, nor has she been introduced by anyone else, and to announce oneself was considered rude. She waited, keeping her hands at her sides. She knew that if she gave off any sort of offensive or defensive aura now, that she would most likely die. She had felt this way many times now, with Tsuyo, Dameon, Gin. It was almost a routine feeling. This feeling of 'well, I am not going to make a ding even if I try, so why bother?' It may or may not have shown on her face as she approached the Kage.

WC: 3127

"Ha! And that's game you bastard!" Sanosuke triumphantly placed his piece on the baord thus forcing his mentor Midnight into submission. The previous Raikage looked at his transform predecessor with complexion as he himself was trying to figure out how Sanosuke had done such a thing. It was simple really, all the black cat had to do was bait him to take his previous piece to unknowingly spring a trap. Midnight's own greed was what did him in. The aged man looked at Sanosuke this time with a glint of skepticism that was more than apparent to Sanosuke.

"You cheated didn't you!" Midnight moved quickly and began pinching the cheeks of his student while transformed. Sanosuke tried to scratch and push off the man off his face. "Admit it you damn brat, I know you moved a piece while I wasn't looking! Confess!" Midnight growled while putting more pressure on the man's cheeks. Sanosuke growled as he was sinking his transformed claws into the man's own cheeks. "Get off me you damn sore loser Just accept that I beat you, dman it!" Sanosuke growled back this time fighitng off Midnight's own struggling. The two skirmished like this as they argued about who actually won for a few minutes until Sanosuke was mentally reminded by Navi that she was here and the children will be here rather soon.

Midnight must have sensed the children too as he stopped his offensive pursuit. Sanosuke was looking up at him as Midnight was looking towards the door to see that Navi had already arrived with the kids seeing the display of their eighth Raikage fighting with the transformed cat version of their tenth Raikage. Quite the perplexed situation indeed, but this was what Sanosuke needed. A demonic glance came from Sanosuke as he had the mischievous thought of getting one last shot in before the fight was over. His claws were stretched and ready to deliver one more strike before Midnight would expect it.

He had barely left the ground before the man delivered a quick blow to the top of the black cat's head that left him dazed from the strike. Sanosuke flopped on the ground quite dizzy from the blow as his henge technique was undone. Sanosuke had been wearing dark pants along with a thermal and a scarf around his neck. His gloves were still on his hands as they normally would. Midnight sighed at his former student before looking at the genin that arrived. "He's all yours kiddies. Sorry for taking your time. Chiao~" Midnight would say before making a hand seal to dismiss himself from the room. Thus leaving the genin with their Raikage getting up from the ground while recovering from the strike of his own teacher.

"Damn him.." Sanosuke cursed under his breath as he sat himself properly on the raised flooring of the platform that the men were previously playing a game of shogi on. He was rubbing the back of his head to calm down the swelling from the blow while motioning for the two to come forth and sit before him. Navi took the time to transform herself back into her wasp form and fly to Sanosuke's side. Bells could be heard as she was laughing at him being disciplined by his very own teacher in front of the genin. Once the kids were seated, he would begin to speak to them. And the reasoning of why he had brought them here in the first place.

Satoshi followed Navi as she led them to their intended destination. He continued to bombard the strange maid with question after question. It didn't seem like there was much in the way of stopping him. Even ignoring him didn't seem to work particularly well.

"What's your favorite movie? Do you like kung-fu flicks? They're probably my favorite! Who's your favorite action star? We all have those right?"

He rubbed his chin trying to consider who his favorite was. There were so many. Then, just as suddenly as his questions came on, his topic shifted. "Do you work for Nekokage-sama? What's he like hm? The only time I've ever seen him was when he was spying on me." He closed on eye and made a gun finger as if aiming down the hall. "He was trying to steal my secret technique no doubt. Who can blame him? It's pretty great!"

He cocked his wrist as if firing a shot before turning back to the maid. "Does he steal a lot of secret techniques? If so he must be pretty strong right? Ne? Ne? What's he like? I bet he's pretty stoic and noble right? Noble and proud?" He put his fists on his hips and stuck his chest out, doing his best to look like a prestigious general preparing to command a vast army.He held the pose until they entered the room which held the main event. The man, or cat rather, they had been summoned by.

What he saw was -not- noble -or- proud. As he looked over the room with immediate curiosity he spotted a man battling with a black cat. His instincts told him that he should rush to help, but it was over before the thought could even fully process. Let's be honest, his thoughts sometimes process a little slow.

The older man struck the cat on the head. The blow was strong enough to force it's victim to drop it's sustained henge technique and dump their illustrious Raikage onto his belly in front of them. Satoshi's pose dropped and his lips pursed in disappointment. He looked to Navi pleadingly, as if, for the moment, begging her to insist that this wasn't who he really was. That Nekokage wasn't really as buffoonish as he seemed.

He motioned them to sit and the boy -actually- hesitated for a moment. He then pensively approached after looking towards Lin. He bowed to Sanosuke before he sat, manners manners!

"Good afternoon Nekokage-Sama. I am Satoshi Kazuhiko. It's an honor to meet you!"

He'd then take a seat, his hesitation replaced with a friendly and eager smile. Perhaps the Raikage was a little goofy. It wasn't like Satoshi was particularly composed. Besides, he was charged with protecting all of the village hidden in the clouds. That was a responsibility that would always garner the young beat freak's respect.

All thoughts of the Raikage as a poised individual, strong, capable, mysterious, were crushed with a single blow to the head. There, at their feet was the Raikage, dazed by his master. Lin looked shocked, then worried, and then when the Sanosuke finally got up and "Damn him" she openly laughed. Well It wasn't like she could do anything else. She had been intimate with Dameon, was trained by Gin, was looked at as a fellow student by an ANBU captain, and had training with Tsuyo and would be meeting with a man called the Sword Saint tomorrow. They were all much above her pay grade, but they were people all the same, and it was quite funny to say the least. She could imagine Gin doing much the same thing, laughing at Sanosuke, and their resemblance was uncanny, if it weren't for the scar on Lin's left side of her body.

After a couple of seconds of laughing, she finally wiped a tear from her eye and sat down, stifling giggling by biting her lower lip. She had completely blown any seriousness that Toshi had tried to garner by introducing himself to Sanosuke.

"I am sure that you have heard that Gin's taken me as a disciple, but it is a pleasure to come to train with you Raikage sama." Every couple of words was interrupted with shaky giggles, her cheeks glowing a radiant pink. She hadn't had a laugh like this in a while, and she quite missed the sensation. It seemed that the ninja world was more often than not a serious place. Why shouldn't she enjoy a laugh once in a while, even if it was at the expense of the most powerful ninja in the village hidden in the clouds, Kumogakure.

"If you wouldn't mind, could Toshi and I try a mission that is B ranked? We have completed two C ranked ones successfully and we think that we are up for the challenge." Lin carefully unrolled a "help needed" scroll and set it in front of her, in bold letters it said "Mission, For My Beloved" on it.
((Link Here: http://www.narutosaga.com/t2816-for-my-belovedkumo-b))

She was not being disrespectful, or she didn't think so, she thought that she was actually showing him quite a bit of respect as a person. She had been in a similar situation with Gin, caught off guard, made to look the fool, but only in front of his guards. As her giggling fell into less frequent spasms of silent chuckles, her breathing relaxed as did her body. She was a vessel, ready to absorb the lesson.



WC: 3583

(OOC: Sorry for the long wait guys!)

This was irritating. Now because of his damn sensei, his students got to see their leader and master in a light that was quite embarrassing. Knowing that man, he probably did it on purpose. It wasn't every day people got to see the eighth Raikage in person. After all very few people knew of his existence besides Sanosuke as he kept behind close doors. Only rumors of his power and influence were known by a select few. But it seemed the younger generation had no idea that they were at the presence of their former leader. Midnight wasn't seen in the village so often, giving his former student a gift of embarrassment before leaving. Rubbing his head to shake off his anger and the large bump on his head, Sanosuke sat there and listened to the two speak. First of all the boy's attitude was too much for him. His voice was so loud, he didn't take into account that it would be this annoying. And that nickname he gave him caused his left eye to twitch ever so slightly as the appearance of a tick mark appeared on his forehead. The girl...just who the hell did she think she was? An even larger tick mark formed as it began to swell with repent anger.

Taking a deep breath in, Sanosuke did it so hard that it would cause the two of the genin to stop talking. With a flick of his rest, the gloves on his hands turned into his signature gauntlets. Twin shadows of his hands loomed over the younger shinobi before being brought down on the two. A chop with a metallic gauntlet clubbed the two of them on the head. It would do so with enough force that a bump would appear on both of their heads. "Fools! Just who the hell do you think you are?!!" Sanosuke barked out at the two of them. Navi fluttered around Sanosuke's shoulder in her wasp form as she let out a sigh. It was only a matter of time before Sanosuke would lose his temper and lash out on the younger shinobi for showing such familiarity as though they have known each other for years. Just who did he think they were? That was the real question. After all, they have never formally met. So where did they get the nerve.

Angry blue eyes first darted to the boy, as a presence of a large hornet colony was angrily buzzing before this boy called Satoshi. "Boy I am your Raikage. You will learn to respect that name, both of you will. You will both come before me as such. Do YOU understand me?" His voiced echoed as the scuttle feet of the nearby guards left to not be near the chamber where the genin were being laid into by their leader. Sanosuke next turned his attention to the girl by the name of Lin. "And YOU. Who the hell do YOU think you are?! You girl, who think you are special enough to not introduce yourself like classmate? You, who you dare even with that gull to ask for a mission you're not even qualified for?! At this rate you might as well pack up your bags and retire early from a shinobi if you're that much of an amateur!"

Letting a bolt of lightning escape his index finger like a gunshot, it would turn the scroll into flames. If the girl didn't wish to get burn from the burning scroll she would do well to drop it and stomp the fire out. Sanosuke blew his finger out like his right finger was a revolver that had fired a shot from the chamber. "Now introduce yourself again, and this time give me one good reason why I shouldn't kick you both out of the ninja program at this moment?" Sanosuke sat back down. His anger now soothing down into a critical level of coolness to inspect the two as they would sit over what they were being told. Sanosuke didn't care who those two were, what they've done, or who they know. If they don't have what it takes to be a ninja then there was little time he would have with these wannabe shinobi. He had no time for amateurs that showed no promise.

((Sorry, for some reason it didn't email me that you had responded!))

Satoshi watched with curiosity as the Raikage absorbed their names and requests. His attention was intense, to say the least. The longer he seemed focused on them though, the more strange his rhythm. In a flash he had conjured a pair of metal armaments. In another he was upon them!

Satoshi was barely capable of feeling him at all. The fact that his field was broken was lost on him until a hand crashed onto his skull with a hearty dong. The sound of two hollow objects colliding. His vision swam momentarily, dotted with little black specs from the concussive force of the blow.

As his senses returned to him the man was standing over them, chiding them both. He was wrathful and cruel. His chiding of him was not unreasonable and his anger understandable. Perhaps he had been too formal as to not address him by his appropriate title.

His assault on Lin on the other hand seemed... Unnecessary. Perhaps she lacked the precise social graces the situation demanded. But to be fair, the situation began with a rather disarming view of the man they would call leader.

As Sanosuke began to return to his seat Satoshi stepped up, no longer seated. His mirth was gone, replaced now by stoicism. He wasn't angry, necessarily. But he was serious. His etiquette and demeanor was perhaps more suitable to the situation now, but it was conjured out of vigilance and desire to protect his companion.

Satoshi instinctively stepped in front of Lin, as if he would somehow shield her from the verbal volley that she had already been the recipient of. He spread his arms out, an open, accepting gesture that accepted responsibility. Though, because of his position in front of Lin, it implied shielding his senpai.

He began again. "I am Satoshi Kazuhiko." His voice carried with it a strange sort of sing songy harmony. It wasn't as though there were two voices, but rather, the pitch was perfect to the ears. A natural affinity for the resonance of others.

"My mother is Kozue Kazuhiko." A famous songstress and Kumogakure no Sato native. She'd once been a ninja of little repute, but a well known entertainer. She was now whithered and old.

"My father is the Village Hidden in the Clouds." He took another protective step forward, now bringing his feet together. He didn't approach the seat of the Raikage any further.

"I'm not clever, or strong." He looked back over his shoulder to Lin momentarily. "But I intend to protect those dear to me with all of my heart." He looked back to Sanosuke then. "I hate bullies and I would rather die than stand idly by while my allies are hurt." He closed his eyes and lowered his head.

His head raised then, his eyes focusing on the Raikage with a steely determination. Humility and acknowledgement intermingling with a headstrong determination.

"So I've come here today to find the strength I need to repay my debts to the people that raised me and defend those who can't protect themselves." He placed a fist over his heart, a gesture pledging his strength to those he loved.

"Rai.Kage.Sama." He made sure to annunciate each syllable. To ensure that Sanosuke knew that he was sincere. Not just in his statement, but in meeting the Kage's demands.

Lin watched as the Raikage of Kumogakure flicked his wrists and summoned gauntlets. She had seen this sort of thing before, with Gin. Annnd, CLANG! It hit her head, she suspected that it would hurt, but not that much. She had a bit of tolerance for pain, but her endurance was low compared to those of her colleagues, even Toshi. The scroll in her hand was dropped almost before he shot it with the lightning as her vision swam with colors. She didn't comprehend most of what the Raikage said, since she had lower than usual endurance, but she could tell that it was bad.

She blinked her eyes a couple of times slowly, and once she got her senses back a bit, she heard Toshi say, "I need to repay my debts... Rai.Kage.Sama." It was a bit confusing as to what he was saying, but he was standing in front of her for some reason. Shaking her head she looked around Toshi at the Raikage. She didn't think that he would resort to that sort of a display of power in the face of Genin, but she was wrong. Gin trained her by throwing Kunai at her, Gin took her to a dangerous fight between her and Nozomi, an anbu captain of the village hidden in the mist, it shouldn't surprise her, but it did. She sighed and rubbed the top of her head where she knew that a new bruise was forming and resisted the urge to use medical ninjutsu to heal it at that moment.

She placed her Knees together and sat in Sieza. She cleared her throat and placed her hands in her lap, "I am Katonrai Lin, Daughter of Jin and Tam Katonrai. Tam Katonrai is a guard at Athos Keep and Jin is a Guanyin that passed the academy and never achieved Chuunin status." She placed her head down in Saikeirei, or the reverent bow. She didn't know why Toshi was still standing in front of her, but she kept the position.

"I graduated three years ago from the academy and have found Toshi to be a friend, a companion, and a partner for missions in Kumogakure. Forgive him please." She held the position. She was in a fogged state. She knew that Toshi was just as helpless as her in the presence of the Raikage. Gin had told Lin that he had a soft spot, that he was a kind individual. She had seen that in the moments where he was playing with the man that caught him off guard and when he had been a tidbit grumpy with the situation. All of that had bled away with the blow to the head on the two genin. She knew her place, he was the head of the country and demanded respect. She would show it to him with cool deference. She had thought that the introduction that she had made was fine albeit informal, but she could see that he needed to hear it formally. She wouldn't speak out of turn again and prayed that Toshi would sit down before he got himself hurt.

Really, she couldn't do anything to save Toshi, he had made his choice to stand inbetween her and the man that could kill them both without breaking a sweat. She wished that she could, and it tasted bitter in her mouth how weak she was that she wouldn't be able to save Toshi from himself. They were partners, however, equal partners and she couldn't give him direct orders, only advice. Now wasn't the time for advice though.

She was more afraid of the man that Toshi was trying to protect her from than reverent at this moment, and didn't know how he would respond, given that they had introduced themselves in what Lin thought was a perfectly fine way. That, not being the case, made her wary of the Raikage's actions from then on out. In her periphery she could see the smoldering scroll that she had come to ask the mission for. Her hopes of achieving chuunin burned with it. Gin had said that Lin was ready to be a chuunin, but perhaps she was wrong.

Lin had made friends in the village at this point in time, as had Toshi, they had completed the amount of missions necessary to graduate, and graduate with flying colors. They had also taught each other through sparring and jutsu training. She had made sure that he was as strong, if not stronger than her, and she knew that he was able to take blows better than her, especially given that he was standing, and she was having a hard time even lifting her head from the position she was in.

WC: 4391

At Sanosuke's, rather harsh words, the Raikage was rather impressed...no impressed wasn't the right word to describe his feelings. The man was rather curious with what was presented before him. Standing protectively in front of the kunoichi who was taken back by Sanosuke's words, was the genin and the runt of the duo. It was obvious that the two were partners in regards to how they coordinated their movements to get to the top of the temple without being spotted. But in all regards, Lin was the stronger of the two, and that was proven in the spar that Sanosuke witnessed between Lin and Satoshi. However here this boy was, foolish enough to stand against the leader of the village while he chastise his shinobi thus wanting to test their mantle. 

It wasn't the action that caught Sanosuke's attention that stopped him from bringing the wrath towards the boy. Any fool could get in harms way as the aura he was giving out from just his presence being in front of the two. But what caught Sanosuke's interest was the look in the boy's eyes. His body was still shaking in anticipation with his words as he was frightful of what could happen as. But his eyes told another story. His irises were steady and not shaky at all in its resolve. It was as though the boy's eyes had reach a calamity in the storm that Sanosuke was brewing. For a while, Sanosuke would peer his azure blue eyes into the boy's eyes as he would test to see if this look was just a fluke. But alas, the stare was true. And oddily familiar.

Another test? The exhausted thought weighed heavily on Satoshi's mind for a moment. Fine. So be it then. Satoshi would face every test the Nekokage had to offer! He'd engage them until his arms fell off if he had to.

Though he was worried about Lin. He knew she was capable. He knew she was stronger than he was, and if anyone was going to succeed to the heights that he -claimed- he could, it was her. It was because of this that a seed of doubt was planted in his mind.

The Raikage, as he loomed thunderously above them, seemed to have shown favoritism towards him over Lin. While it made his heart swell with pride to be acknowledged, he couldn't help but be shaken by the discord of the statement. That he would be put above her didn't make sense in his world view. While he internally sought to throw his fist in the air in triumph, his overwhelming desire for harmony kept him somber and focused on task.

He would see to it that they succeeded together. Because of course he would. Satoshi was a single-minded simpleton in a lot of ways. He could be creative and he was certainly driven, but he refused to conform to the views of the world around him. His stubborn nature was determined to force the world to conform to him, even if it seemed impossible.

It was entirely likely that the true nature of the world would swallow him up one day... But it was this perseverance of defiance. This stoicism in the face of improbability and reason that set him apart from more world-wizened flock. They say that all genius's were just as crazy as they were clever... Perhaps he too was a genius in his own way.

As Sanosuke set the rules for their conflict Satoshi did his best to focus. If there was a hidden purpose to the contest it would escape Satoshi for sure. He had difficulty paying attention to standard rules, rules that required reading between the lines were far beyond his comprehension.

He brought his hands to cup either of the shells of his headphones and pulled them apart briefly. He stretched them above either ear and then released them eagerly in a snap so that they enclosed his ears. He reached down and hovered his thumb over the play button of his cassette player.

He looked over his shoulder then towards Lin. "Looks like he's demanding an encore Lin-Senpai." He extended his left fist to her. "I'll play the bass line, you perform the vocals, yeah? Let's drop our new single."

After she met his fist, asssumng she did, he'd turn back towards the wasp-maid as Sanosuke finished fastening the bells to her. His right thumb finally depressed the play button that he'd been hovering over and the spindles within the player began to produce music. The telltale heavy bass line and syncopated drums of hip-hop began to fill his ears.

He thrust a hand forward towards the wasp, his pinky and thumb distended as if he was extending an invisible microphone towards her. he rolled his head left and right. "Oh yeah! I can feel your rhythm! Are you ready to dance?" He asked bringing his other hand up near his chin in a similar pose.

He didn't wait for an answer before he withdrew both hands back in a boxing stance. His fingers remained out as if he was DJing turntables attached to his chest.

His head bobbed from side to side, swaying defensively to the beat of the song that was playing. This stance was different from what Lin was used to seeing... It looked like his fighting style was still steadily evolving. It was now moving away from it's traditional boxing roots and becoming something more uniquely strange. It fit the beat-freak like a tailored suit.

He waited for the call to start and immediately dashed forward on the next beat! His step-in was fast! Impressively so. It was something he'd worked on tirelessly. It was a common misconception that a boxers greatest tools were his fists. If an opponent neglects the strength of a boxer's legs, they often find themselves cornered.

He'd do his best to close in tight with the wasp maid. Satoshi performed best in a phone-booth fight. His exceptional sensory abilities allowed him to consume more information than those without it. Close the field of view for a less gifted opponent gave Satoshi a huge advantage. It allowed him to surprise an opponent by countering blows thrown outside of the standard sight of someone so close.

There was an ulterior motive to the range as well. Satoshi began to fire jabs at the Hornet-Servant. A pair of One-two combination jabs. The blows aiming for her head. The first set accompanied by an "Ow!" And the second by a "Yeah!"

From this range the jabs might connect, they had enough snap. But the range was off. They'd be too close for them to be as effective as they should be. They'd serve as neither a jarring blow nor a range finding tool. They might force the opponent backwards, cutting off the amount of space she had access to within the room perhaps...

Hidden behind the aggression was the hopes that the wasp would intentionally roll her head to dodge the blows.

Satoshi would attempt to grab the bells off her hair if this was the case. Physics would carry her hair in the direction of her now exposed shoulder. The same shoulder that any of the dodged jabs would be over by virtue of being dodged with good head-movement. With the range so close, the full extension of his arm should be long enough for his hand to snatch the bells!

Lin would rise when hearing that she had a challenge and nod to the Raikage, listening to his words. It seemed like a task that would take all of their tricks. She had used some of her chakra getting up here, but she would use as much as she needed to use to get the bells. She would come at Navi like she was in a real battle. She wouldn't show mercy until she had the bells in hand. She knew that Navi could hold her own even before The Raikage said it, and so Lin was ready to do what was necessary to gain those bells. Not just her own, but one for Satoshi as well.

Her mind was invaded in the next instant, and the Raikage spoke. A test just for her? She was game. She listened to it, and a look of betrayal flashed across her face. Betray Toshi? She had gone on two missions with him! She had been alone before he had come along. She relied on him for the bandits, and had lost to him in a taijutsu only battle. It wasn't fair of the Raikage to ask her to knock him out from behind. She would be the most powerful medical ninja in the ninja world, and there was no way that the Raikage would keep her from that goal. She took a determined stance and looked at the back of Toshi's neck. She could do it so easily, just plant a senbon between the two nerves that led down to the rest of his body, knocking him out cleanly and without any permanent damage.

She knew that she would never do it, but the temptation was there, with the devil whispering in her ear that she could just do it and that she could find another way to help him be worthy of the training.

NO! Toshi was the reason she was here, he snapped the earmuffs around his ears and hit the play button. He was her partner, he was her friend, and he didn't deserve any underhanded play. She knew that he would learn sooner or later to not trust those around him, but she wanted him to trust her at least, if the whole world went to hell, she wanted Toshi's trust. She owed him that. He was her partner, they had made that bargain, and even if she was his senior in age, she felt like going back to the academy would be the least of her worries if she failed. She would have to tell Gin. Gin would probably be disappointed at best, and furious at worst. She didn't want to accept the challenge, but Toshi was already bouncing on his toes, and had changed his fighting style?

Well, she was there to play harmony to his melody. She was there as a partner and a support to his song. She was there to help him achieve greatness. She didn't know if Sanosuke was able to teach her anything that Gin wouldn't be able to, but she wanted to make sure that Toshi got that chance. The first bell would be his. She had made up her mind and the demon in her mind was expunged. She didn't think about it from that point on. Knocking Toshi out was out of the question.

As soon as Toshi started, Lin leaped forward, her hands a blur of hand signs before taking a hair of her own and throwing it out in front of her. Her hair elongated and grew arms and legs, becoming Lin's counterpart in the blink of an eye. "Get the bells." They both said at once as Lin passed her senbon to the clone. She knew that the clone would need them almost as much as she did, except that Lin could use her jutsu to help her fighting.

She came at Navi with a bit slower speed than Toshi, and if he was successful in pusing her into a corner would start another jutsu, if not, then she would send the clone to Toshi's left and she would press the attack on the right. She wouldn't let the wasp turned girl away. She had two senbons and the Clone had four. She would be using the Healing bolt jutsu with her guanyin technique next. It would pack a bit of a punch, making 1 and 1'2 inch lacerations wherever it struck. That is, if Navi did not attack Lin directly. The clone was getting in and using the senbon like punching-aids. Her eyes showing the same ferocity that the real Lin was showing. It was called the reflection clone jutsu for a reason, and it reflected Lin's determination and her tenacity. She wouldn't be beaten by the Raikage, and if she was sent back to the academy, she would go there with her head held defiantly high.

She was proud of the decision she made, to play harmony to Toshi's story. He would be great, despite the Raikage's tricks. It wasn't fair that he said that she was going to go back to the academy if they failed and that he wouldn't, but she would risk it for Toshi. He was a true friend, and she didn't turn on her true friends.

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