Train the Academy!:

It was almost hard to look down at them. So many bright and smiling faces, each painted over with the perfect picture of youth. Little girls in pigtails and little boys with bruised knees all sat beside each other. All twenty-five sets of eyes were trained up towards the Chunin instructor up at the front of the classroom, although each in various states of interest. Chigetsu's eyes were trained on the one sitting in the back, a small red-headed male with their finger furiously digging up into their nose. The sight of it was enough to turn Chigetsu's tight-lipped expression into a slight grimace. He had taken this assignment in order to further his own skills while hopefully teaching something useful to these academy students, but somehow it was beginning to seem like it would be much more challenging now. Being that Chigetsu was fresh out of the academy himself it didn't originally seem like such a difficult assignment, but now that he saw he would be teaching first years... Well. It probably wouldn't make too much sense for someone who had just gotten out of the Kirigakure Academy to be teaching people about to leave. Chigetsu's eyes would be drawn away from the nose-digger and back to the Chunin instructor as his name was mentioned. He hadn't been listening to the majority of the introduction, but he had been briefed on his role here when he took the mission.

"We'll start by splitting into groups of three. To give you all a basic idea of what sort of training you might see when you leave the academy, each group will be assigned to Genin instructor who is currently doing specialized training." The Chunin Instructor would give a slight gesture over towards the group of awkward Genin that Chigetsu was standing apart of. Judging by the expressions the others had, it wasn't only Chigetsu who wasn't expecting to teach this collection of little brats.

"The first group will be assigned to Hōzuki, Chigetsu, for Assault Team training. Group two will be taught by Kotarō, Natsuki, for Covert Team training..." The rest of the teams would be read off. Assault, Covert, Scout, Diplomacy. Two sets of each squad type would be listed off, and each of the Genin would be assigned a team. It was almost akin to how Genin themselves were assigned to a Jounin master, presumably as a training exercise to get them associated at a young age with the idea. In the back of his mind, Chigetsu would wonder where the remaining student would be going. Eight teams of three made only twenty-four, which would leave one kid excluded. Chigetsu's thoughts about the extra child were quickly thrown out of his head as the three that were assigned to him would approach. Instead, Chigetsu would turn to look at the three now in his mock-squad.

Two little boys and a girl would be looking right up at him with bright eyes, instantly meeting his own. Nothing odd so far. The gender imbalance in shinobi was clear at even a young age, with females being a preciously rationed resource to keep squads from becoming entirely sausage-fests. What was somewhat unusual was how they met his eyes and kept eye contact. With Chigetsu being nearly twice there age, he expected a bit of nervousness among the academy kids. Apparently not, but after a quick glance, it was easy to see why. All three of them were clan-bred shinobi. The way they maintained eye contact and their well-defined features made it clear that they were from a more prestigious bloodline in the mist. As to which clans they came from, Chigetsu could make some educated guessed. It would probably be better not to make assumptions though. Pride was something that could be taught to even children, and to offend the potential next big shot in the village probably wouldn't do well for Chigetsu's career.

He would clear his throat, turning down in earnest to address the three now. "As you might have heard, I am Chigetsu Hōzuki. I'll be giving you training experience today to help you decide if you'd like to continue your education outside of the academy with assault training..." His voice would trail off, watching out of the corner of his eyes as students would slowly file out of the classroom for outdoor training. It was a beautiful day after all, and it would probably be rather hard to teach any assault training inside a classroom. "... Why don't we move outside, and then you can all introduce yourselves."

The three kids would seem almost relieved at this. They probably would prefer to spend some time outside too, and Chigetsu had hesitated long enough to make it seem like he would try to have assault lessons inside, like some absolute madman. As soon as Chigetsu had finished his sentence the three of them would be out the door, walking as fast as they could to get away from the classroom.

[Word Count -857]
[Part 1/???]

The relocation to the training grounds outside went quickly. The mist that usually hung over the village was lighter than usual today, enough so that the sky and clouds could be seen clearly. Having the sun shining so clearly through the mist was pleasant, and spread a slight warmth throughout the usually damp and cold village. The three children arranged themselves naturally into a tight triangle, with the two boys in the back and the girl in front of the two of them. Chigetsu would take another look down at them, his expression turning ever so slightly. Seeing children so young learning how to kill felt a bit strange to him now, even though he had been one of these children not so long ago.

"Our names, right?" The girl in the front would speak up, seemingly having gotten impatient with waiting for Chigetsu's internal monologues to end. She would stand confidently in front of the others, nearly half a foot taller than the two boys. Her bone-white pigtails matched with the red markings on her forehead to identify her as a Kayuga. "Kayuga, Akari." She would stand up on her tiptoes, giving her another inch on the two behind her. It seems like she had asserted herself pretty solidly as the leader of this little group. "The two behind me are Osada, Daiki, and Sabuku, Kosuke."

Wait. Sabuku? Chigetsu would blink. He certainly didn't expect a refugee from Sunagakure to be in the Academy. Especially not a Sabuku, of the famous Kazekage clan. That was incredibly unexpected. The two children in the back were pretty distinguishable just from their features as well. The red hair of the Sabuku was easy to distinguish now that he knew, and that would leave the other dark-haired boy as the Osada. "Right. Kayuga, Akari. Osada, Daiki. Sabuku, Kosuke." Chigetsu would say each of there names aloud, visualizing their appearance with their names to make sure he didn't forget. "...Like I said, I'm Chigetsu Hōzuki. I'll be teaching you the basics of the Assault Team formation, along with a few maneuvers-..." "Let's start now. If I have to wait any longer watching you stare off into space I'm going to go crazy." He would be cut off by the Kayuga. Chigetsu's eye would twitch as he turned his attention down to her, being met with her fierce set of crystal blue eyes. "You want to-" "Teacher never lets us have any actual fights here, so this is an opportunity that I won't miss out on."

The presence of a sharp-looking bone extending from the little girl's palm wasn't lost on Chigetsu. He could only raise an eyebrow at her intentions. Did she seriously intend to just attack- His thoughts would be cut off as she rushed at him with the sharp end of the bone, leaving the two others behind her. A kunai would be palmed in Chigetsu's hands and slid up to catch the sharp point of the bone that had been thrust down at his chest. Even if she had been groomed early by her clan, Akari was still only eight years old. A straightforward rush like that would never work against a Genin. The fact that she had been stopped dead in place seemed to surprise the little girl a bit, and she would turn up to look at Chigetsu with wide eyes. Who knows what she had been expecting to happen. His expression down towards her would be nothing short of a glare though, red eyes narrowed tightly into something fiercely annoyed. -

"Children these days are brought up with no manners, I swear. Just attacking their superiors out of nowhere without so much as a warning. They'd be given fifty lashes for insubordination if I had my way." The kunai in his hand would begin rattling off its indignation, seemingly encouraged to speak now that it was held firmly in Chigetsu's hand. He would have agreed with it had Akari not been so close. If he whispered it would be incredibly obvious given how close they were. "Hold her down and give her a lashing, if you don't you'll be encouraging this sort of behavior in the future with this generation of youth..." He would quickly tune the blabbering out, lashing back with the Kunai against the protruding bone to send the girl stumbling backwards. Akari would end up being pushed back into the other two boys, who all would end up falling backward.

"If it's a combat experience you want..." The tip of the Kunai would be tilted towards the children, which elicited a few sounds of joy from the Kunai. "We'll do it while you practice the Assault Team positioning. In an Assault Team, there is a sword, a shield, and a net. The sword behaves as a striker, trying to target the enemy and deal as much damage as possible. The shield absorbs damage and distracts the enemy in close range order to keep the other members of the team safe. The net operates to reduce the movement of the enemy and force them into an advantageous position where the sword and shield can operate best. Each of you can figure out which position to take." He would leave them with that small lecture before rushing at them, Kunai in hand. If they wanted an on-hands combat experience, then they would be sure to get one.

[Word Count - 922]
[Total Words - 1779]
[Part 2/???]

...

The fight really was not anything worth watching. Even with Chigetsu being essentially a fresh, green behind the ears Genin, he was still essentially a master of ninja arts in comparison to these three eight-year-olds. Even Akari's limited control over her Shikotsumyaku was not something that could even the playing field. Chigetsu was simply too fast for any the bone protrusions to reach him. He wouldn't even bother using any jutsu. It would be pointless, and just rubbing salt into the wounds given that they had no ability to cast any for themselves. These eight-year-olds were fresh recruits to the academy after all. Instead of it being a real spar it resembled more Chigetsu just smacking this group of children around. The kunai would even be put away after a little while, to not accidentally injure one of them. Just from Chigetsu's quick explanation, they didn't really have much of a grasp over the correct formation in an Assault Position either. Akari was somewhat skilled in at least attempting to fit into the shield position, but at the same time, she would get in the way of her allies' actions. Perhaps she only made a good shield because Chigetsu was focusing to such an extent on her, but with her tougher disposition, she would be sure to be able to handle it.

Akari would be left on her arms and knees, sucking in air hard in quick gasps after the latest blow from Chigetsu struck her in the throat. Her limbs would wobble as she tried to hold her body, barely able to keep herself from tumbling face first into the dirt. Her teammates would be watching her from behind, each watching for if she would get up. Their earlier awkward disposition had changed rather quickly after getting punched a few times, and it seemed they were beginning to at least attempt to learn how to protect themselves. Neither of them had been injured nearly to the extent that Akari had, each only having light bruising and perhaps a few scrapes. Chigetsu would stare between them and the girl currently struggling to breathe. Given how badly that Chigetsu had roughed her up, it was probably likely that they wouldn't want to attempt to fight him without her at the front.

Chigetsu would sigh. "Alright... It looks like we're about done for today. We finished a bit earlier than the other groups, so you three can have some free time." The three of them would freeze in place, all slowly looking up at Chigetsu.  "Hopefully that has given you some appreciation for what an assault team does. If not, you can try for one of the other teams in the next few days." He would shrug. Normally he would have just left at that point, leaving them to do whatever they wanted, but the sight of Akari especially just struggling to move made him feel a bit bad "Actually..." Again, Chigetsu would sigh. Walking forward, he would scoop up one of Akari's hands off the ground to help her to her feet again. The white-haired girl would still be a bit wobbly, and seemingly too beat-up to have much to say "Why don't I get you all some ice cream as a reward for doing so well? That sounds nice, doesn't it?" He would be met with a moment of three blank faces before they would all shift to quick nodding.

"Great. There's this place down near the third district we can go to. It's not that far of a walk..."

[Word Count - 607]
[Total Words - 2386]
[Part 3/3]

Mission [2386/750] = 1636 remaining

Training

Strength E-0 -> E-1 [1636/75] = 1561 remaining
Strength E-1 -> E-2 [1561/150] = 1411 remaining
Strength E-2 -> E-3 [1411/225] = 1186 remaining
Strength E-3 -> D-0 [1186/300] = 886 remaining

Speed E-0 -> E-1 [886/75] = 811 remaining
Speed E-1 -> E-2 [811/150] = 661 remaining
Speed E-2 -> E-3 [661/225] = 436 remaining
Speed E-3 -> D-0 [436/300] = 136 remaining

Reaction Time E-0 -> E-1 [136/75] = 61 remaining

61 words wasted.