Ooc:Ideally would like to oppose a 48hr posting rule, to keep things moving for those who might want to use this as a social for their rank up. First three to join is in. . .

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Plucking an apple from the bowl, sitting on the dining room table, Daremo took a bite of it, savoring the taste of the juicy fruit. Within the comforts of his own home, silence greeted him with the other occupants either already left, as in the case with Amaya and Mamoru, or still resting. Although he did not mind the noise that usually accompanies the morning with his family, the silence was nice for the change. It gave him the chance to allow his thoughts to wander on different subjects, and be free of any restraints. He gave him to think on heavy stuff without having his family worry about where his thoughts were.

Finishing off the apple, throwing the pit into the trash can, Daremo walked into the living room. Citrine eyes glanced over at the clock, noting the time being 5 am. Passing by the fireplace, he stopped in front of the giant bookshelf, eying the rolls and rolls of books aligning each shelf. It took him some time to find the book which he was looking for. The book was somewhat special to the male, for it gave a glimpse into the life before who he took on his real name. Getting comfortable in a chair, Daremo open the book and began reading about his time as a sensei.

Closing the book, he eyed the time, seeing how thirty minutes had gone by. How long had it been since he taught other people, asides from his children? How long has it been since he passed on the knowledge and experience to the next generation? For someone who is all about passing things on to the next generation, he hasn’t done that a lot as of late. Maybe it was time to change that?  Getting up from the chair, he placed the book back on the shelf. Running his fingers along the spine of another book, he slipped it onto his person.

With a minuscule amount of chakra, a replica of him poofed into existence. The clone wearing the same dark purple kisode with a matching belt and black hakama pants. The doppelgangers’ hair was in a low hanging ponytail with a pair of black senbons holding it up.“You know what to do.”, Daremo mentioned. The clone would be the one to explain to Zaylee where the original went and take her to him at training ground #37. Though, it might not be needed if she remembers their discussion from last night regarding him potentially taking on students.

Walking out of the house, Daremo felt a familiar weight on his shoulder. Hiretsu, for once, not biting his hand as he stroke the King Vulture’s head. Slipping on the headband, Daremo did not bother in walking through the village, instead, taking it to the rooftops, and moved towards the training ground he had reserved two days priors. Arriving at the training ground, he looked around. Roughly thirty meters in radius, a number of trees and training logs were scattered about the area. A few decent size boulders were stuck in the ground, grass covering the bottom half them.

Leaning against one of the trees, Daremo watched as Hiretsu took to the morning skies, flying around happily. He had sent out letters to the academy, and recently graduated genins to see if any were looking for a sensei from a jounin who specialized in medical ninjutsu. In the letter, he mentioned meeting up at the training ground #37, no later than 7 am. Talking out a standard senbon, he began to twirl it as he waited to see who would arrive, asides from his daughter.

---

607

The Book Daremo is Carrying:

Hiretsu:

A stretch and a yawn pierced the silence of her bedroom as Zaylee awoke from a rather interesting dream - no likely brought on by the book she had been reading the previous night. In her dream she had gone delving into an old ruin where the dead were said to slumber. She was in search of knowledge and priceless gems, of weapons that would aide her on her journey to becoming as strong as possible. Yet, in this old tomb the dead did not in fact slumber: they were awake, restless, and looking for battle. One by one they fell to her, both her jutsu and her blades. Each and every one of them were slaughtered until none were left alive. At the end of the tomb she saw a chest containing the treasure she had been seeking, yet, as she went to open it an eerie voice filled the treasure room, and a black cloaked man had appeared. The sudden appearance had been enough to startle her awake, and as she laid there for several moments she realized that while the rest of the dream could be remembered easily enough the cloaked man’s words could not: she had no way of knowing what he had said to her, and yet she knew the words had been of utmost importance. Frowning, her brows furrowed, she tried hard to force herself to remember the words that were all but lost, but failing that she simply threw off her blanket and sheet and rose from bed.

With her room cast in darkness, and the sun having not yet rose, she made her way around her room through familiarity alone, finding the clothing she had laid out for herself the evening before - a red knee length kimono, and black knee length tabi socks. Stepping out into the hallway her bare feet made not a single sound as she went into the bathroom, closing the door and showering, before getting herself dressed. After brushing silverish white hair she secured it up into a bun with two lacquered black chopsticks, ensuring that it stayed in place. To many they would have considered her a Geisha, or perhaps a Maiko, but the ten year old was anything but. Like her parents and her grandparents she was a shinobi - one who still needed quite a bit of training. She just had a bit of the same tastes as those mentioned prior, likely something to do with her father’s ability to take cloth, thread, and needle and make masterful works of art in the form of expensive kimono. Her attire for today was one of the many handcrafted pieces her father had made her, and she wore it with pride: their training thus far had prepared her to be able to fight in anything, so she felt no need for training attire even though she knew the plan was to meet her father and perhaps a few other potential students at training ground #37 before seven o’clock that morning.

Satisfied with her appearance Zaylee turned and made her way back into her bedroom where scrolls filled with weapons and items were stored within hidden pockets up her sleeves and various other portions of her attire. Her Kumogakure hitai-ate was the last addition to her outfit besides her identification, tied loosely around her neck where the polished headband would be visible for all to see. Glancing at the clock, finding it to be only nearing six o’clock, she went over to her bed where her companion, Riku, was perched. Reaching over to the Harpy Eagle she stroked the feathers on the birds chest with a gentle touch of her back hand, coaxing Riku awake who began making soft piping noises at her. ”Come on, now. We’ve got to meet dad and who knows who else. We don’t want to be late, yeah?” Giving a chirp in her direction Zaylee stood tall and watched as Riku spread her wings and flew around her spacious bedroom before landing carefully and lightly upon her shoulder. Smiling softly Zaylee made her way out of the house, munching on an apple grabbed from the kitchen’s fruit bowl on her way out.

With time to spare she didn’t bother rushing as she made her way through the village and to the location her father had specified, bite after bite of the apple bringing her to her destination. Half finished with the large red fruit in hand she would arrive, slipping past the training grounds gate with ease and heading over to her father. ”Good morning!”, she would speak happily after chewing and swallowing another bite of the delicious fruit. Her mind flashed back to the dream she had, something she wished to share with her father, and yet she withheld for now: it wasn’t something she wished for others to overhear, even though it was a dream there was something private or personal to her after all. No, it was something best shared once they returned home. Taking up a position near her father, seated on one of the training logs, she kicked her legs forward and back as she waited, her feet not touching the ground due to her even four foot height, while finishing off the rest of her apple as her mind wandered to questions of if her father would be giving any other potential students the same kind of training he had indicated he had in mind for her.

---

915

Riku (Harpy Eagle):

Ts barley opened Eyes skimmed the message written on the simple white note. his brown eyes peering though the matted long hair that hung in his face only blinked a few times in the duration of his reading of the letter T  had only been home for a day after his short lived Training exile in the land of lighting he honestly wanted to rest a little longer after all he had just pushed himself to what he considered his absolute limit. but something in his subconscious told him not to skip out on this Opportunity, this was further supplemented by the fact he always wanted a sensei someone to look up too, to aspire to be. he didn't know how much of that urge was due to his goal of becoming a powerful shinobi and learning from a sensei was a time proven method of achieving that or cause he never knew his father growing up and a sensei like figure could fill that void. he held the letter in his hand as he pounded going to the Training ground or jumping back in bed. he let in a long draw of breath into his rather dry lungs accumulating in what would seem to the human ear as a normal sigh. This was a sigh of acceptance a acceptance that he would take the path less traveled at least for today

he crumpled up the note throwing it over his shoulder as he turnt to walk back to his house. Even though he wished he was retuning to the warm soft embrace of his bed he was really returning to get dressed for training as of the moment he was dressed in shorts and only shorts showing off his thin yet slightly muscular body. This especially showed off  the stylized characters for water (水) and lightning (雷) tattooed on his right and left shoulders respectively, denoting his chakra's nature affinities, Water Release and Lightning Release, as well as the fact that he has a kekkei genkai, the Storm Release.This was a pride thing for him the only thing he was more proud of then being a Raiu was being a Kumo nin. steeping into the house he made his way up stairs to his room being sure to soften his steps as not to wake his sleeping mother. He slowly slipped back into room grabbing all his average clothing and equipment he tended to wear out on missions and while training. Holding his white forhead protector in between his teeth by the cloth he snuck out the 2nd hallway window to get dressed outside the house as he tended to make noise as he slipped on equipment.


falling from the 2nd floor window he rolled as he impacted the ground traversing the energy from the impact across a wide area of his back to prevent damage in a singular spot. rising to his feet he got dressed. he slipped on his black pants and sleeveless low collar black shirt whos sleeves looked as if they were violently ripped off leaving not such a clean hole for his arms to poke though. he slipped on his shinobi sandals and began the process of wrapping his ankles with a red bandage. These wraps were tapped around his ankle them to stop them from stretching too much. The wrappings also stopped minor injuries like small bumps T knew from experience when someone goes bone on bone with the shins It hurts  like hell. Standing up he added the last and most important touch, he tied his white forehead protector around his head in the average way. Jumping over his fence he tied his lack matted locks of hair back in a messy ponytail just as he continued his way to the Training ground


Upon reaching the ground he gritted his new sensei and what he thought was his new teammate." Yo" even offering his closed fist to be bumped.


WC-658

A light, steady chopping sound could be heard against the the counter of Atsushi's kitchen. A small lantern that'd only recently flickered to life was lightly illuminating the few meters that made up his kitchen. with just a few more chops Atsushi would finish quartering the rabbit he had caught last night. Its pale flesh glistened on the counter top as Atsushi sighed slightly after completing his task. He looked over his shoulder to read the recipe once more that he'd been given by an older couple as compensation for a mission just a few days ago. He'd rifle through the brown, paper bag on the counter next to the cutting board. He'd grab the tiny glass jar that the couple had given him, applying the strange powder, plants to the meat with an obvious look of skepticism. He'd never cooked like this before. Once he finished he'd put it all in a plastic box and put a note on it saying. "Do not eat." He'd mostly prepared for the day ahead of him, much to his chagrin he did more or less the same thing everyday. He had on his almost tight black training outfit , just thick enough that his body heat wouldn't escape, but permeable enough that sweat could still evaporate if he needed to do intensive labor. His rat tail in the back was bound by an iron bond so that it would all neatly flow down to his mid back, and he his cherished necklace, a wolf clutching a crescent moon, dangling on a thin, tough chain hanging from his neck.

As the young ninja moved over to the sink and began washing his hands, his eyes trailed up and along the wall. Though the old tile was more or less boring when his eyes caught the reflective surface of the clock in front of him, his heart completely dropped. The clock said 5:47, and there was a little sticky note on it that said, "Mandatory Attendance: TG #37 - Be there before 7:00 a.m. 8P". The room went still, water slowly pouring out of the faucet and the slowly moving second hand, punctuating the building anxiety of the genin. He really relied on Hotaru for these things, which was incredibly apparent at times like this when she couldn't be bothered with him. He could imagine her smug face now, she probably expected this, and thought it was hilarious. Atsushi sighed turning off the water and bolting out his front door past his spear and leaving the door slightly ajar.

For just under an hour Atsushi ran the road East to Kumo faster than he'd ever managed to before. He'd arrive at training ground #37 at around 6:40, and he'd be panting heavily each breath escaping his body like a a great machine relieving pressure from its system. The genin's body was covered in sweat and the short, dark blue hair on the top of his head was matted to glistening forehead protector he wore so proudly. It was all he could to support the weight of his folded over upper body by bracing his hands against his knees. After that run, by all accounts, he should have been miserable, but he would lift his head up with a glistening smile as pure joy ran through his body. The ninja here would hopefully become people he'd be able to call his team one day. Two of them had faces he recognized, though he couldn't quite put his finger on where. The girl in red, just at a glance, seemed elegant, poised, and composed. The man twirling the senbon looked similar to the girl, meaning they might be clan members. The third person here he was sure he'd never met, he'd remember someone who was as cool and relaxed as him. He would wait for someone to take the lead, though he suspected that the older man was the one who called the group together, he knew that Kumo's greatest came in all kinds of packages.

[WC=691]

Time ebbed by ever so slowly for Daremo, citrine eyes, reptilian in nature, glanced up towards the morning skies, watching Hiretsu fly about. The senbon, withheld in his right hand, became a blur as it was twirled faster and faster. As he waited for anyone to answer the invitation, his thoughts drifted on what he would teach those who might answer the call. Would he teach them the same way as his own sensei did to him, not pulling any punches and leaving them in a bloody mess on day in and day out until they are capable of withstanding the onslaught? Would he allow them to see the horrifying truth of the world they live in, making them fully understand this occupation was not for the weak of heart? Would he become their worse nightmare, if it meant that they have a chance to survive? Such questions bothered the silver-haired male as he waited for the first to appear.

“Zaylee. . .”, Like a whisper, his daughter name was spoken as he spotted her slipping through the training gates with Riku setting on her shoulder. Of course, she would be the first one to arrive, not only did she knew about the invitation, but, he made sure a clone was left behind to make sure she knew were to meet up at. He did it not because she was forgetful, but, in case of other complications arosed with him being absent from the house. The change was sudden, and only the sharpest eyes would catch it as Daremo slipped into an old persona of his, “Good morning, Genin.”, the words were spoken in a neutral tone that dripped with professionalism and lacked any familiarity to it. Words were spoken without actually speaking, telling Zaylee that, for here on out, Daremo would be acting like a teacher more than a father. He hoped she would catch this hidden message, if not? Well . . .

As if summoned by the first genin’s presence, Hiretsu, who had just been devouring a field rat, flew towards the pair and rested on Daremo’s shoulders. The King Vulture’s talons digging into her companion’s flesh as she looked at Zaylee and Riku with scrutiny. Reaching out with his free hand, Daremo stroke Hiretsu’s feathers, she, surprisingly, allowing him to do such as they waited to see who else would appear. While he could have given Zaylee’s orders to stretch and limber up for what was to come, he did not, yet. He wanted to wait to see who else might come to this little meeting.

Luckily, he did not have to wait long before another person to show up. Reptilian-esque eyes looked at the male as they jumped over the fence and made their way over. The kanji on the male’s clothes made Daremo wonder if they were from the Raiu clan. To his knowledge, that was the only clan in Kumo that used both of the element for their advance release. If the male was from the aforementioned clan, it would certainly be interesting to train someone from the same clan as Raiu Mizuki. Briefly, he wondered what the proper woman would say to him training one of her clansmen, if he was indeed was apart of the clan. For all Daremo could know, the male was just proud of his affinity. Only time would tell about the male. “Good morning, Genin. Take it easy for now. Let’s see if this will be a full team or not.” Much like with Zaylee, Hiretsu looked at the other genin with scrutiny and a hint of curiosity, before dismissing them and going back to preening her feathers.

The time for anyone else to come was closing rapidly as a third person made their way to the training grounds. If the boy’s running could be taken into account, he must have just seen, or remember, the letter sent to all genins who were looking for a sensei. Daremo remained locked onto the boy, allowing him to catch his breath. Pushing off the tree, that he was leaning on, with his left foot, Daremo stood up straight, “Good, you all here on time. As the academy teach you, being punctual is paramount when it comes to dealing with clients, and certain situations. A life can either be saved or lost due to tardiness, remember that.” He spoke, as the senbon in his hand came to a stop, “Now stand beside your teammate in line.” The statement was not a request but an order.

Once they did what was asked, Daremo stood in front of them, “Before we start anything, let’s introduce ourselves to one another. What I am looking for from you is basic information about yourself. It is up to you how much you want to share with your teammates, but, at least, you should mention your specialty and what you wish to garner from being on a team.”, although the answer he gave might be vague, he did it on purpose, he wanted to see what all these genins would be willing to share with strangers. “For example, I’m Koyabashi Daremo, and this is my companion Hiretsu.” he pointed to the bird on his shoulders, “I am a Jounin. I specialize in medical ninjutsu though know Ninjutsu. My elements are Raiton, Suiton, and Doton. As for what I am looking forward to making this team? Passing on my knowledge accumulated over the years in hopes that it would be useful for you all, and maybe keep one of you from dying.”

Looking at the group, he spoke once more, “Now it is your turn. Speak one at a time. . .” now he waited to see what all would be revealed to him about the team that he decided on taking.

---

971[1578]

While Zaylee was the first to arrive she rather hoped she wouldn’t be the last. While training one on one with her father would certainly be interesting, the ability to train with others, to learn how to interact with others, was equally as important. Sure, her father could teach her loads about medical ninjutsu and medical-based combat, but learning how to work with those who were entirely different would certainly serve her well also. She wouldn’t always be able to work with her father, side by side, after all, so having the experience now rather than later would serve her better in the future.

After seating herself on one of the training logs, finishing off the last of her apple with her harpy eagle still perched on her shoulder, she couldn’t help but to suppress the grin that wanted to spread across her face at her father’s greeting. She had been expecting as much, though it still amused her: he would be playing this as her sensei, not her father, as if they were two different entities entirely. She also couldn’t help but to think that it made him come across as a bit of a hardass, which made her wonder what exactly he had in store for them all. Zaylee was sure this would be amusing and interesting if nothing else. The last conversation the pair had had about training had been when her father had mentioned that he wouldn’t be pulling his punches, that the proverbial gloves were now off: he had then handed her a book with an ominous comment made of how she would do well to study how well bones would mend both on their own and with medical ninjutsu. She had a feeling that he would end up being hardest on her out of anyone who happened to show up. She didn’t have time to dwell on it though as the first beyond herself and her father arrived: a male with matted strands of hair that were held up in a ponytail. Her first impression by their mannerism - Zaylee returning the fist bump with a friendly smile - being that this was fairly laid back and relaxed individual; though she could have been entirely wrong too, time would likely tell.

Following the third to arrive came the forth and likely last, an individual covered in sweat and looking like he was trying to catch his breath after what she could only assume was a hurried arrival so that he wouldn’t be late. This individual looked oddly familiar, though she couldn’t quite place his face. Her attention wouldn’t remain upon him for long though as it shifted to her father as the eldest male began to speak, her attention focused on him as it always was. As he gave them their first order Zaylee slipped her four foot tall self free from the training log she’d been seated upon, careful not to jostle the bird upon her shoulder as she went and stood with what would likely be her fellow teammates. Hearing what Daremo wished from them, an introduction of sorts, was expected but also raised her curiosity: she was eager to hear what her teammates would have to say about themselves, as well as what all her father would end up divulging to them. There was also something else she found herself curious about: what they would think about her being related to their potential sensei. Of course, Zaylee was under no illusion that this would garner her favor and ease: if nothing else she expected her father to go harder on her than the rest of them simply because he knew her limits, what she could take, and what would break her. Did they know that, though?

With her usual rapt attention she listened as her father spoke, introducing himself as well as Hiretsu, and explaining about what he specialized in, as well as what elements he had an affinity for, before concluding by saying his purpose for making this team. While she knew some might laugh at his comment about hoping that what he could pass on would keep at least one of them alive, Zaylee knew he didn’t mean it as a joke: it had been drilled into her for the longest time that being a shinobi was a life threatening job each and every day, regardless of rank. If neither of her teammates spoke up first she would start, breaking the ice in a manner of speaking, ”My name is Kobayashi, Zaylee, I’m a Guanyin, and I’m ten, and this here…”, she would pause, gesturing to the bird upon her shoulder who made a soft piping noise, ”... is Riku, she’s a Harpy Eagle. I specialize in medical ninjutsu and fuinjutsu, and I have an affinity for suiton and raiton. I’ve wanted to be a shinobi since I was four for the sole purpose of becoming strong as possible to protect my family and friends - and I will allow nothing and no one to stand in the way of that goal. I hope that by being on this team I will gain the knowledge and experience to help further my goal.” Her words were simple and straightforward, the words said not with arrogance or boasting, but rather determination: she had meant what she said, she would overcome whatever challenge thrown her way if it meant being able to protect her family and friends well. She cared nothing for fame or fortune, little for positions of power, her purpose in life lay elsewhere.

---

930 | 1,845

T was simple, it didn’t take much for him to get a read on the kind of person you were and the kunoichi Kobayashia acceptance of his out stretched fist gave him a good feeling about the girl before he even knew her name, she seemed to be a truly complacent person as in she was a good middle ground between what T would consider the extreme personalities. He came to this conclusion after her fist bump to him, she didn’t do it so Excitingly yet at the same time she did do it even throwing a smile in. He could see already she would be a conductor for his personality and maybe for the other teammate and almost like on cue the sweaty ones arrival completed the motley crew in Ts mind as a team of genin didn’t exceed 3 Members,4 if you counted the jounin sensai. The last arrival definitely was in a rush or had been training prior or that’s atleast what T theorized which to him made logical sense considering he was dripping sweat and for that amount you definitely had to work for it.

As ordered he stepped up on the line finding himself on the right side of the sweaty shinobi. He actually like that, he might call his guy sweaty if this whole squad proved to be a feasible long term option as in the sensai doesn’t get replaced or leave entirely and his 2 teammates stayed around long enough to form bonds with him. As the kunoichi stood up to introduce herself it was clear The kunoichi was shortest of the team but he didn’t let that manifest into any subconscious notations of weakness. As she spoke He folded his arms and carefully listened logging the information in his mind for use at another time of be needed to strike up a conversation with this one. He learnt her name was Kobayashi, she was a medical Ninjutsu and fuinjutsu specialist and that she wanted to become strong. T had a rather deep interpretation of these things. Her name was her name Their wasn’t much for T to analyze there however he still knew names had a special value and often times has some sort of meaning.She was a medical Ninjutsu and fuinjutsu specialist, now that was important to T he was happy they had a medical ninja on the team considering their future assignments all kinds of things could go wrong out in the field and someone who could save your life was invaluable. Someone could replace a shinobi in a sense but replacing a medical ninja especially a skilled one was hard and impossible while out on a mission in any number of lands. Kobayashi being a medical ninja definitely made him feel better about the Survivability of this Squad. As she finished he figured he would step up and introduce himself to his new sansei and teammates.

He stepped forward off the line and away from the 2 other shinobi to begin his little introduction, he was a little nervous he desperately wanted to make a good impression. He let out a deep breath before just jumping into it head first. “ Yo,I’m T Raiu, I’m a Ninjutsu and taijutsu specialist, I like to be in my opponents face,real physical close up fighting. I wish to someday become a powerful shinobi and bring glory to kumo and if I’m lucky I can pull Raikage.” He chuckled before continuing “ ummmm, I have a affinity for Raiton and suiton as you might have already guessed from my clan name and the kanji tattooed on my shoulders” he pointed to lightning (雷) tattooed on his right and the water(水)tattooed on his left. “ I have a kekkei genkai, Storm Release which basically is like....Raiton that flows like Suiton, or highly condensed lasers.” He scratched his chin trying to think of anything else he’d possibly like to let his sensei and teammates know about him, it came to him in the form of a ending statement “ Well yea without taking up to much time I’d like to say I’m excited to be here and learn with you guys and um yea I think that’s about it” he stepped back onto the line satisfied with his introduction.however something was wrong as he noticed a feeling in his stomach,like a empty pit and then it hit him. He had forgotten to eat breakfast before showing up. As reality set in to how hunger he was gonna be today he simply mentally decided to take his mind off his hunger and focus on getting to know his new squad and sensai
He simply folded his arms and dug in mentally for the day ahead as he expected Mr sweaty to speak next who he just happened to be standing next to

WC-822/1480

The heavily breathing ninja, now after having a moment to recover would stand normally. He regained his breath rather quickly upon noticing the attentive eyes of the Guanyin peering his way. Atsushi had been the last to arrive, and in addition he was the only one who arrived tired. It seemed like everyone else had arrived with enough time to make the deadline rather comfortably. As his whirring senbon came to a stop before being palmed, the air around the oldest ninja became serious, and without ever deciding to or giving it any thought Atsushi found himself lining up with the other two genin, ending up just beside of the genin with the matted hair. The jounin and the vulture on his shoulder would be the first to be introduced, setting the stage for the genin to follow suit, for their own introductions. As Daremo set the bar, he didn't reveal much about himself in detail. Rank,  a quick summary of his skills, elements, and the hope that he'd be able to pass on his own knowledge in an effort to create a stronger future generation, at least that's what Atsushi gleaned.  That was the pattern he'd follow, tell just enough, so that the team could see how and why he was an asset.

The girl who'd been sitting atop the training log eating would be first to speak. Atsushi wondered if she was somehow related to the other ninja, was emulating him, or possibly both, but those questions would be ones capable of answering themselves over time. Knowing that some found it difficult to speak when others did, and having been told very directly to talk one at a time, Atsushi would wait to speak until he was sure that the others said all they wanted lest he interrupt and cause strife. First to break the ice among the fledgling ninja was the Guanyin. The confirmation that they were from the same clan was by no means important to Atsushi. It was more like it caused an itch he couldn't scratch, and to hear it stated out loud was satisfying beyond belief. As she spoke he'd occasionally look from her to the other four to see their reactions to the information she was giving. Besides their clan the two seemed to have quite a bit in common affinity/skill wise as well. Something that Atsushi knew could just be linked to them having similar backgrounds. As Riku wasn't introduced more thoroughly, Atsushi would make the assumption that Riku was more a friend the genin brought along then a team mate that she worked with.

As the one beside of him began to speak next Atsushi would give his attention to T, also looking at the reactions of the others. T had a balanced skill set. As far as Atsushi knew T's skills were the most suited for fighting other ninja out of the three genin. Ninjutsu, from what Atsushi'd learned in the academy, was the most ubiquitous usage of chakra among ninja, regardless of country or specialty. It was all of the flashy things that Atsushi imagined when he imagined ninja fighting, where as Zaylee's jutsu hinted at the subtler elements of ninja life. Atsushi truly didn't know which was more fearsome. In addition to everything else T sported a Kekkei Genkai that gave him access to a special element, and the introduction of this element caused Atsushi to tilt his head slightly. He'd been under the impression that there were only five, but this was a conversation for another time. It was his turn now.

Atsushi would clear his throat, "I'm Atsushi, a sojutsu specialist." He would grab a non-existent spear twirl it in his right hand, before catching it firmly. He 'd snap into a cat stance pointing the imaginary spear towards Daremo with his right hand fully extended and his left about a foot back. His grip and stature molded to the shape of the spear he'd forgotten at home. The flourish was to give an image of what exactly he meant when he mentioned sojutsu to prevent any possible confusion. It was at this moment that Atsushi realized he'd left his spear at the front door. "My elemental affinity is for Raiton though the tests show I also have a slight affinity for Katon jutsu. I hope to learn from my team and grow as a person and a ninja. It is nice to meet the four of you" If anything, Atsushi's introduction might have been a little ambiguous, but he figured if he needed to give more information later he could, though he'd not mention his clan for now. As he concluded his introduction concluded he would go back to a casual standing position, looking down at his open, empty hands for but a moment as he longed for the spear he'd left behind.

[WC= 830]

Turning his attention to the first one to speak, it being Zaylee, Daremo listened intently. His daughter introducing herself, and hinting at the relationship between the pair. Though she did not outright say that they were father and daughter, it could be concluded from the shared resembles between them. Briefly, he wonders did the other two figure out the connection between the pair? Unless specifically asked, he was not going to indulge the type of information to them.If they were curious than they would ask, it was as simple as that, at least in his eyes. As she gave more information about herself, Daremo was pleased with what was shared. She gave enough for her teammates a good basic understanding on who she was. She did what was asked, and he could not ask for more.

Citrine eyes focused on the second individual to speak. The assumption of them being apart of the Raiu clan was confirmed. The energetic individual had the storm release, much like Mizuki did. Daremo listened to T’s introduction, finding some joy in the energy he brought to the team. While some might not have enjoyued the way he introduced himself, Daremo found it refreshing to see. T, who apparently love to get up close and personal with his adversaries, did not seem to conform to a lot of genins who try to ‘suck up’ to the sensei for whatever reason. Although the dream of becoming the Raikage was a loathing one, Daremo could still respect it. Though, he did wonder if the male knew the road to Kage was a long, endearing one? If not, he would quickly learn it. Listening to T’s explanation of the storm release, the silver-haired male nodded, understanding what he was trying to convey.

Finally, Daremo’s attention shifted to the last member. The one who almost arrived late to the training grounds. Focusing on the individual, he gave them the same attention as he gave the others. Noting how the other person did not give a surname as the rest of them did, Daremo mentally smirks, while remaining ever stoic. Seemed like one of them was being careful in what they revealed. Surnames had power, and it seemed like Atsushi understand that. The flourish of movements performed by Atsuchi was watched with an expert-like gaze. Not from someone who had wielded a spear, but, from someone who had fought in too many battles to remotely care about, and knew what to look for when it came to openings. Sojutsu users were something Daremo did not have much experience training or dealing with. It would definitely be something that he would need to read upon during his free time.

With introductions out of the way, Daremo clapped his hands together, releasing a ‘meaningless’ burst of chakra that disturbed the ground around him, and causes Hiretsu to glare at her companion “Good. You now all have a basic understanding of what your teammate can do “ Daremo spoke, eying the group before him, “There will be instances where you know very little about those who you are working with, yet, you are expected to work as a well as possible with them. Missions are time sensitives, you won’t always get the luxury of having long talks with your teammates to determine ways to work together. You must be able to do that on the fly, and in a manner that friendly fire is reduced to the bare minimum. And it is this you will be tested on. . .”

Reaching into his pocket, Daremo pulled out a scroll and tossed it to them. “While on my way here, I received a scroll. In the scroll, you will find out a female civilian had been kidnapped and is being held for ransom by three bandits. They are threatening to kill her if the money they want isn’t given to them within the next two hours. Her family does not have the money to pay for the ransom, thus requested a mission. Because the bandits are not considered that much of a threat, the mission was handed to me and my genin team. . . you. Therefore, your first trial will be finding the three bandits and returning the captured woman home. Be forewarned, these bandits have very little to lose, and won’t hesitate to hurt any of you.” In the scroll, there would be stretches of the bandits, and the girl in question. There would also be details on their last whereabouts.

“Unfortunately, I have a mission of my own to take care of. It being something of importance that I need to do after team introduction. Good luck. If you survive, our team training starts tomorrow at 6 am. ” Daremo said, revealing another scroll on his person, and walking away from the premise, disappearing from view. Unknowingly to the genins, the mission they were given was a test. The bandits and kidnapped woman were all clones of Daremo, who were made only moments prior. The silver-haired male wanted to see how they would handle working together without any prior experience or knowing only just very little about their teammates.

---

Ryuichi, glanced back at the woman gagged and bounded. Her dark blue eyes glared at him with seething hatred, and he chuckled at the look. “Why give me that look? As long your parents pay us, nothing will happen to you. . if not?”, he licked the flat side of the kunai, and looked at the woman with amusement, “Well, I can’t promise you will return back in one piece.” Turning his back to the woman, who was placed in a cave, that was now blocked by the male, Ryuichi focuses on looking down the mountain pass that led to the valley where he and his brothers decided to hide the female. Speaking of his brothers, dark brown eyes, glanced up, spotting his brothers patrolling the top of the cliffs that were above the small valley that they had set up camp in.

---

1005[2583]

Bandits Triples FC:

Kidnapped Female:

All of theses are Shadow clones, henged into the above pictures. 

Also, feel free to use everything in your arsenal, and do not worry about keeping count of your chakra. This is just a test for the team. . have fun with it.

.oO(OOC: For the sake of this thread, and the fact that my jutsu have not been updated yet (haven’t had the time with school work), I’m going to use my jutsu as they had been approved before the start of the thread since we started it before the updates came out.)

Everyone had lined up as Daremo had said to - not exactly surprising considering most Genin wouldn’t outright oppose the words of a Jounin. Just as she had done with her father, Zaylee gave her teammates her undivided attention as well when they spoke in turn. The next to speak after herself was T - the one she had fist bumped with moments prior - and she listened intently as he explained that he specialized in Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, with access to a third element known as Storm Release. His fighting style involved being up-close and personal with his opponent, and he hoped to become a powerful shinobi one day and possibly even take the Raikage position. It was this last fact that had her forcing back a smile: the talk with her father from several days earlier had come to the forefront of her mind and she found herself wondering if T would have said the same thing if future events that were being planned had already occured. While Zaylee herself have no visions of gandure of that sort she could still respect the drive to step into a leadership position, and couldn’t help but to wonder just how far T would end up going - especially if they all saw this squad through to the end. Zaylee knew that being put into a leadership position even when it came to missions could be stressful, her father having done so with her on both an A-rank and a B-rank mission already, but carrying the burdens of an entire village on your shoulders was a stress of a whole nother level: but she also knew that if her father did the same with her teammates as he did with her, then T would be trained to do just that and be able to follow his dreams and ambitions.

Her citrine colored gaze and her attention would shift then to the last who had arrived, and the last to speak. She would listen intently as Atsushi introduced himself, failing to give a surname or clan name, before speaking on his proficiency with sojutsu. Being a weapons user herself - something she had realized suddenly she had forgot to mention, though this was more due to the fact that she still hadn’t revealed this fact to Daremo yet either - she was familiar with the term even if she had never used a staff before. She watched then as he twirled a non-existent spear before striking a pose that spoke of being combat ready. More information would follow about Atsushi’s elemental abilities: raiton, with katon ability as well. Atsushi then concluded his introduction, speaking of how he wished to learn and grow as a person as well as a ninja, tacking on at the end that it was nice to meet them all.

As Zaylee shifted her citrine colored gaze back onto Daremo, throwing a sideways glance at Riku who pipped softly, she couldn’t help but think about everyone’s raiton affinity: something that all four of them shared. In fact, as she thought about it, three of them shared both raiton and suiton, which would certainly make training interesting. It made her curious to see just how each of them would use those elements though. Of course, Zaylee had every intention of beginning to learn Ninjutsu soon, which would give her even greater control and manipulation over her elements, but that would come in time. Clearing her mind of the thought she listened as her father spoke words of wisdom of how such introductions would not always be possible: there would be situations in which they would have to work with others without knowing what they were capable of, but would have to do so in a manner that would keep as much friendly fire down as possible. As he added that it would be this that they would be tested on Zaylee felt curiosity spark within her: what exactly did he have planned for them?

Watching as her father reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll, her curiosity only spiked further. On reflex she reached out and caught the scroll as it was tossed, opening it up and glancing at its contents while her father spoke of having picked up a mission on his way to them. Passing the scroll so that the other two could take a look as well her focus would shift back onto her father as he described the situation: a woman had been kidnapped by some bandits, and they had been tasked with rescuing her. A ransom, requested by the bandits, could not be paid by the family and thus they needed to step in and save the poor soul. They would have to track the bandits down and bring their captive back safely: briefly Zaylee’s gaze darkened as thoughts of her own kidnapping, not even a month prior, surfaced in her mind, causing her short temper to begin to flare which she stomped out almost immediately: she couldn’t let her emotions rule on this, and she knew it, it would make her sloppy and less effective. As her father concluded his words by saying that he would not be accompanying them, that this would be something they had to do on their own as he had other matters to attend to, her mind began to whirl back to situations during A-rank and B-rank missions in which her father had forced her into the leadership position, having her come up with the plan and simply following her lead: it seemed almost as if fate had demanded such for a day such as today to come along. With leadership style training under her belt she felt the need to take the lead on this, but she was curious just how well her teammates would handle that.

Watching as her father walked away to handle his own business she focused her attention back onto T and Atsushi. ”I have experience in matters such as this: less than a month ago I was kidnapped by the Infinity Gang while visiting Iwagakure with my father, so I got a look at the inner-workings of bandits. I've also been on both A-rank and B-rank missions.”, she paused, keeping the information brief if for no other reason than the fact that they simply didn’t have time to deal with the details right now considering the life at stake. In fact the only reason she mentioned it at all was so that they knew the kind of experience she had. ”Unless these three bandits have a piece of property somewhere, they are likely hidden up in the mountains and using the natural terrain to their advantage. There are plenty of natural caves they could be hiding out in, and in which they could easily stash a victim. I can send Riku on ahead of us to scout the area, she’ll blend in well with the other eagles that are native to the area and it should help her to go unnoticed. My jutsu will allow me to see everything that Riku sees.” It was with a sort of ease that Zaylee found herself slipping into the mindset of a leader, and she waited to see if T and Atsushi had issues with this, or her plan. If no issues were made she would do as she said she could: forming the bird handseal and establishing a medical ninjutsu based connection between herself and the harpy eagle on her shoulder. Riku would launch herself off of her perch and take to the skies as Zaylee closed one eye, now able to see what Riku could see as her eagle joined the others soaring around, searching for any sign of this captured woman or her captors. ”Come on, I have to stay within forty meters of Riku or else the connection gets stretched too thin and breaks.”

Zaylee would take off if her other teammates seemed willing to follow her, heading out of the training ground and the village itself to head towards the wild mountain ranges, remaining close enough to Riku to see as she saw, moving with one eye open and one closed as the connection was maintained. Zaylee would lead the way by using the landscape to her advantage, keeping out of wide open space in favor of using the natural trees and brush as coverage. She knew it would important to maintain the element of surprise, and it was her goal to make sure they maintained that as much as possible. It wouldn’t be but a short period of time before Riku spotted what looked to be three identical individuals, two up on a ledge, and another at the opening of a cave. ”I think I have found them. Three individuals, they look like they could be triplets. Two are up on the ledge, a third is a bit further down at the entrance to a cave.” Riku, knowing well to blend in, would take up a perch near some other eagles, preening herself as if the predator didn’t have a care in the world, while the connection remained established so that Zaylee could watch from the cover of the trees and brush.

”We need a plan. I doubt these bandits will hesitate in using the woman as leverage if they think it’ll give them the advantage over us.”

---

1,620 | 3,465

Jutsu Used:

Naturally as they had given him their attention T did the same for Atsushi who seemed to be more reserved About giving up information atleast when compared to T and Zayle. he did know he fought with a spear or atleast that’s what he gathered from his little opening twirl move . From his reservedness it was surprising he even let out what his affinities were and surprise surprise he also had ration and Suiton. T was not surprised to find the squad all shared a affinity for Raiton. It was only basic knowledge that Raiton was extremely common in Kumogakure and the land of lighting as a whole, T had hypothesized it had something to do with a geographical gene pool of the land of lighting after all a affinity was often times due to a persons genetics, although what was particularly interesting was the fact the Squad almost has another matching element in Suiton but this  element was only commonly seen in the the kiri,Ame,Taik and the land of hot springs and waves. From a global perspective this made Suiton the most widely used nature by far, however a affinity for it in the land of lighting was uncommon for a non Raiu clan member so was surprised Zaylee had it.

He was beginning to go off on a whole tangent and shook his head clear to focus on he task at hand as This was beside the point his new sensai had given them a mission to complete by themselves sensai would reach into his back pocket and throw the scroll at the team. Naturally T would attempt to catch it but Zaylee would snatch the tossed scroll before T could even raise his hand. “She’s Faster than I thought” he thought to himself as he inches closer to her to take a look at the contents of the scrolls she had casually rolled out. something else caught his attention as his brown eyes lifted up from the scroll to see Zaylees gaze suddenly darken. He wanted to ask her what was wrong but he held his tongue as to not stir the pot though secretly he did have his own reasoning behind that suddenly Change of glare. Hypothesis ranged greatly but the one he thought had the most credence was  her being friends with the hostage and or knowing the men responsible. As before he needed to catch himself before he went on a tangent. As sensai was making his leave from the group Zaylee spoke up letting the rest of the group know she knew what she was doing in a situation like this stating a kidnapping by a gang in Iwa. His mine began to work again drawing parallels between her kidnapping and that dark gaze. “ Could that be why?” he asked himself listening to the rest of what she had to say. As a short pause came T had Nothing to say or add to her previous statement. It wasn’t long before she would begin again describing in detail the mission, nothing she said was not untrue T was nterested by the jutus she spoke of, being able to see though the eyes of a bird was a powerful intelligence gathering tool. As the explanation of the jutus and her thoughts on where the bandits would be cams to a end T thought he should add something this time when the next pause came and when it did he spoke in his usual manner “ Yo girl I Train up in these mountains day in and day out, I can’t say for the rest of the land of lighting but the mountains inside the village walls I know like the back of my hand. If they’re up there we’ll flush em out” upon finishing this Zaylee would seem to be forming seals most likely in correlation with her bird. This was further reinforced when the bird of prey launched itself from her shoulders in a fabulous fashion and flew into the sky which oddly enough caused Zaylee to close one of her eyes to what he assumed to be a birds vision which he still thought was extremely impressive.

As Zaylee took off instinctively T did the same. The wind blowing against his face felt good as kept his pace slightly behind Zaylee and he began to notice she took on a leader role very naturally as if she was born to lead, the way she spoke in detail and planned was on par with what he considered to be Squad leaders. As they weaved into natural trees and brush as coverage no doubt to cover their movements from the training ground Ts eyes darted side to side keeping a certain level of awareness on his surroundings. As they got further and further away from the Training grounds he spoke up to remind the Squad they did have a deadline “We best think of something and fast cause 2 hours isn’t long. We need to get in and get out with the girl everything else is Irrelevant, don’t get me wrong I love a good brawl but it’s not always the smartest or most effective way as such I feel this mission needs to be handled with a certain Finesse especially since they have a hostage. One screw up and they won’t hesitate to off her right then and there ”funny enough it wasn’t long before Zaylee made the announcement she had spotted all 3. Took was first to speak up at the new update of information and after Zaylee had asked the group for ideas on how to handle this “Good job!, and you’re right they won’t hesitate so i propose we  take this slow and steady And in my option the Transformation jutus is gonna be our best friend on this mission. I’m just going off the top of my head with this one but from where you say their positioning is I’d suggest we somehow get that guy outside the cave away from the entrance, ambush him,kill him,use The transformation jutus to walk back in grab the girl. saying you’re letting her use the bathroom or something and then simply make a run with the girl or we can be more direct and lead the other two into ambush with the ruse we are moving to a new hide out then proceed to ambush and kill them while one of us makes away with the girl. Like I said that’s just a few ways I think we could about handling this mission. its a shame we have barley any time or prep so I just threw it all out their in one go feel free to disagree completely but we do need a gameplan. Going in blind is gonna cost that girl her live. And i don’t know about y’all but I don’t want that on my head ”

1170 WC{2650}

When his Daremo addressed them with a simple clap, Atsushi's attention snapped for the moment to the older ninja as he began his instructing, not paying his instructor's burst of chakra any mind. Not one for picking up on all the details, he lined up the important part of what his instructor said. He was about to test them on their ability to scrap together what little they knew about the situation and decide on a method of attack without stepping on each others toes. It was something Atsushi had a hard time imagining doing with strangers, and to be seriously frank he wasn't really sure how their jutsu functioned. He'd only begin to wonder what the man had in mind before it was revealed with a simple toss of a scroll. A mission. A great smile spread across the genin's teeth as he reveled in the opportunity to prove himself, but it was a smile that was quickly unwoven as the details of the mission were explained.

There was a woman being kidnapped that they could have been saving this entire time, moreover it was possible that Atsushi had passed by her on his way into the village. A piece of him was angry beyond belief, angry that Daremo would with hold this information, angry that they were wasting time, angry that scum like them existed, and angry that they'd throw someone else's life away to cut a profit. It was that last one especially that made a vein in his forehead pop. He slightly opened his mouth about to shout at Daremo, probably ruining his spot on this team. He wanted to grit his teeth as he spat vitriol at his sensei, but he felt that something was direly wrong about the way he thought about the situation. It was in that moment that he grew incredibly embarrassed the quick flash of anger quickly turning to shame as he thought he realized why his captain told them to introduce themselves before he told them about the mission. 'It was that first thing he said about not having time to assess the situation. He gave us that gift. Seriously, I'm so dumb.' The ninja returned from his thoughts as his sensei mentioned his own mission.

“Unfortunately, I have a mission of my own to take care of. It being something of importance that I need to do after team introduction. Good luck. If you survive, our team training starts tomorrow at 6 am. ”

"Seriously, Thank you Daremo-sensei!" If the genin had been told about the mission before their introductions, Atsushi knew at least he might have brashly run off first without a second thought. Hearing that his team mates had such complicated skills under their belts - a combination element, a sealing jutsu, and medical training - he was completely impressed with them, having no doubt that they'd be essential to the success of this mission where he would've flopped entirely on his own. As his sensei walked off Atsushi'd look over his shoulder talking after him. "We will return that lady to her family alive," he'd pause for a moment as Daremo got further away before raising his voice to a shout, so he could make sure the jounin could hear him. The toothy smile would return to his face as he did so. "So make sure you don't slack off on your mission either. Tomorrow we won't want to hear that you're too injured for training!"

An aura, a force, a feeling, no it would be better to call it a presence, attracted Atsushi's attention back to the other two genin. It called him to listen and beckoned him to readjust his focus. He expected a something dire, like a great beast, as he turned around, but to his surprise it was the little 10 year old. She was easily the youngest of the group, but her words lured him in like a moth to light. She spoke of her experience. She gave her guesses at where she thought the bandits may be. She gave her plan to find them. Every word she spoke seriously filled him with more and more confidence. He'd find himself nodding in agreement with T as the same more or less applied to him. Without a question or a doubt Atsushi would follow behind the other two seriously regretting that he forgot his spear in such a dire situation. Hunting out in these mountains was how Atsushi gathered his food every week, so when he watched Zaylee navigating the terrain, using it to conceal herself from those she was hunting, it seriously impressed him.

"We best think of something and fast cause 2 hours isn’t long... One screw up and they won’t hesitate to off her right then and there."

"Exactly. This situations way too dire. It'd really be best if we didn't have to fight."

”I think I have found them." Atsushi would slow to a halt beside of her, as the squad leader began to relay information to her team mates. "Three individuals, they look like they could be triplets. Two are up on the ledge, a third is a bit further down at the entrance to a cave.” The two up top were probably keeping look out, and since they didn't know how strong the enemy was, other than the fact that "The bandits [were] not considered that much of a threat", Atsushi thought it'd be best to not fight all three at once. Though two at once was something he'd be willing to try, so when T gave his suggestion, he'd readily agree. He saw an opportunity to put his abilities to work while not having to flaunt them in front of everyone else.

"I think you're right that seems like our best bet. Just remember we don't even need to fight the guy at the cave entrance. If we can get the lady, we can just Body Flicker out of there with her." Atsushi would pause for a moment deciding if he actually wanted to commit to the plan slowly formulating in his head. "I'm seriously no good with sneaking about, and I'm not too good with people either. With or without my spear I'm seriously durable though. I may not be able to take the two up there." Atsushi would point at the two at the ledges above the mountain pass. Taking into account his words he seemed a little too eager to go fight them. "But I know I can distract them long enough to give you two an opening to get the girl. As soon as you two grab the lady give me a signal, and I'll get out of there and meet you at the river we passed a half mile back."

Atsushi would separate off from the other two hoping they'd put their trust in his words. He'd use the natural flora and terrain to maneuver to a location that wouldn't reveal his comrades, treating the situation as dire as he knew it was. Once he was confident that he could reveal himself and not give away the fact that he wasn't alone he'd emerge. He hoped his lack of experience wouldn't compromise the other to since, while he was used to stalking prey, he was still relatively inexperienced. He acknowledged that meant that if these ninja were more experienced than him it was very possible that they may discover the others regardless. Atsushi would hop up to the ledge that two of the three triplets were located. He felt there was a comfortable enough amount of space up here to fight, though he would prefer much more. The genin would draw his kunai and glare at the two as his rage began to boil over. These were the exact kind of people that Atsushi hated, and if neither of the other two followed him. "Hey! You two." One of Atsushi's shuriken would fly between the two triplets. The genin would get serious lowering his center of gravity as he prepared to fight, probably to the chagrin of his companions. "Identify yourselves. This is Kumogakure territory. Seriously though, I'm going to need you to show that you're allowed to be here, or I'll have to take you in."

[WC= 1416/2937]

Disappearing around the corner, leaving away from the training grounds, Daremo’s thoughts shifted towards the impromptu test giving to the genins that would, hopefully, become his squad. If any of them remember the words spoken moments prior to the mission be given to them, they would realize how relevant the words were to their current situation. Chuunins and higher did not have the luxury of remaining in the same squad for a considerable amount of time. There are times where they are assigned teammates who they had very to no interaction with prior to going on a time-sensitive mission. They barely would have time to get to know one another before having to trust the other in a scenario that could cost them their lives.

That is the type of situation he tossed the three genins into. He wanted to see how well they can work together with the little information each one of them gave to one another. It was that reason why he did not set a ‘complete’ format in how they introduce themselves. He allowed them to say whatever they desire about themselves and did not bother in asking for more. If none of them too the incentive in asking questions regarding their potential teammates then it is there fault. He was not here to coddle them, holding their hands through their journey of becoming Chuunin. It wasn’t his style at all.

Jumping on a nearby rooftop, Daremo began to move across them, heading towards the location of where his test had been prepared at. With Hiretsu flying above, his thoughts drifted towards the one who might be effective most by this particular test. Zaylee. It having only been less than a month since her being kidnapped by the Infinity Gang who was looking to sell her, among other girls, for a hefty sum of money. The experience was traumatic for his daughter to say the least. He remembers the nights where she would not sleep in her own room, refusing to leave his or his wife side at all. He remembers the screams of terror that she has in the middle of the night as her dreams tormented her on the ‘what ifs’ that could have happened that they. So many restless nights, times where sleep escaped him due to his concern of Zaylee.

Knowing what she had been through, Daremo still found it necessary for this test to happen in this particular way. Traumatic experiences happen to all shinobi, hell, he even has a few that are locked away, but, there will be a time where one needs to overcome them, or, at the very least, lock them away until the mission is completed. Zaylee will need to overcome her demons and push forward. The other two, they will get a hard lesson about the shinobi world. A world that Daremo had known for way too long. Hidden on the opposite side of the small valley, he peered at his clones and waited for the action to commence.

Dressed in dark grey colors with a hint of dark grey mixed in, Ryūsaku, the oldest of the triples was getting antsy. The small valley, while provided cover from the elements, was still too open for his taste. There were still ways a shinobi could get a drop on them, if they were smart about. “Tsk, I do not like this at all. Why did we agree with Ryuichi?”, the question, glancing at the middle brother, Ryūzō, dressed in all dark grey. “Apparently, he wanted to be close enough in case the girl’s parents did not hold up their end of the, and give us the money in exchange for the girl. If they didn’t, the girl dies, along with her parents, before raiding the house for any valuables.” Nodding in understanding, Ryūsaku kept his eyes peeled for any signs of something amidst.

“Tsk, eh does know that there is a good chance the parents mention their child being kidnapped to the Kage right, and hired a team of shinobi to take us down, yeah?”, An experienced team of shinobi would be incredibly hard to deal with if one is sent. While he was confident that could handle their own it is only against the inexperience or foolish. Tilting his head to the side, Ryūsaku swore under his breath, picking up the sound of a group approaching from the direction of the hidden village. “Seems like we have company, hopefully, it is the girl’s parents with the money.”, he murmured, getting the middle brother to agree with him.

Seeing moment, Ryūsaku watched as a pint-size boy, with a Kumo headband, appeared in front of them, and glared at them hatefully. Didn’t they tell the parents what would have in shinobi was involved in the matter? “Ryuichi! Shinobi! Kill the girl!”, Ryūsaku spoke, deflecting the shuriken thrown in their general direction, into the ground. “Ryūzō, make sure our little brother gets the job done . . . remember no loose ends.” As the other brother left, jumping down the cliff, and landing near the frightened girl. Ryūsaku looked at the boy, “Take me in? Boy, you are decades from doing that.”, without wasting any time, he speeds towards the boy with speed unbecoming of an average bandit.

The distance between them in less than a second with Ryūsaku’s hand wrapping around the boy’s neck, and applying pressure to cut off his airway supply as he was lifted up. Bringing up his left hand, he would make several punches to the boy’s sternum, knocking the air out of the boy, “Are you working with someone else, boy!? Did the girl’s parents send you after her, ignoring what we said would happen if shinobi got involved?”, he asked, dropping the boy onto the ground. Grabbing the boy by the shirt, he jumps off the cliff, and into the valley where his brothers where, while still maintaining a grip on the other.  Placing a foot on the boy's back,flared at the sight of the girl being alive, “Didn’t I say kill the bitch!? The ransom is a bust now that this brat is here. Kill her, at least her body parts can fetch something on the black market.” He said, “Watch boy. . this what happens warnings are not heeded.” 

The woman in question begins to sob as she was roughly yanked up to her feet by Ryūzō, and felt a kunai being pressed to her neck by the other brother, “Nothing personal. . this is just business." 

---

1107[3691]

”No! Don’t!”, Zaylee would whisper scream as she watched one of her teammates rush off towards the cave, but it was far too late to stop him: had she been older she would have let out a curse in frustration, but instead she simply looked towards her remaining teammate. ”We might end up having to save two people now.”, she would mutter softly before turning her focus back onto the cave, watching as the her teammate’s kunai was deflected before he was grabbed by the throat. With Atsushi now in trouble as well, unless he managed to get himself out of it, their one person rescue mission had now turned into two. While it had been drilled into her by her mother, Amaya, to never put herself into harm’s way for a teammate who made a mistake and instead preserve her own life, in that moment she knew she couldn’t just walk away - it wasn’t in her nature to do nothing. As she heard one of the bandits give an order to kill the girl she knew that their time was up: they had to do something.

Thinking quickly a plan came into her mind, ”I have a plan. I can throw kunai and shuriken to distract the bandits, and follow up with a windmill shuriken to the man who has a knife to the girls throat - it should hopefully finish him off and get the bandits distracted enough to finish the girl off. The kunai should provide a distraction, and if so you can get our teammate free. We’ll need all our combined power to finish them off now that our cover is blown.” Her plan was whispered as she broke her connection with Riku and opened both eyes, just loud enough for her teammate to hear, and if T agreed to it she would begin to move again as she pulled from a pouch at her hip several kunai. Once within range she would break her cover, a flick of her wrist sending kunai soaring towards her targets with practiced ease, aimed towards vital organs. Should this prove to be enough of a distaction a windmill shuriken would follow, aiming to slice the jugular vein of the bandits neck who had been holding the woman.

All of this would be done as she ran, using a burst of speed to close the distance between herself and her opponents: while their goal was simply to save the girl, she would not leave a teammate behind or stand by while watching one die. As she continued to move, gaining closer at a speed of fifteen meters per second. From within her kimono, having been hidden from sight within a scroll, would come forth a katana - though rusted it would still be deadly with the right aim. If the bandit holding the girl had not ended up taken care of with the combination of kunai and the windmill shuriken then she would slice downward at the wrist holding the knife to the girls throat as fast as possible while maintaining accuracy. If, however, the clone was finished off, a little over a dozen makibishi would be tossed onto the ground surrounding the woman ”Don’t touch those.”, she would speak as a warning to the female while her slice with her rusty katana would be aimed towards the bandit not currently restraining her teammate, aiming to slice him across the gut with the same speed and accuracy as before - a well practiced movement that had been perfected in several solo training sessions: she was aiming to kill, it was as simple as that. Even if her attack did miss she hoped that the makibishi surrounding the female would be enough to keep the bandits from reaching her again and attempting to use her as a sort of human meat shield to save their own asses.

---

660 | 4,125

Weapons Used:

“yo stop” he whispered yell as his teammate took off towards the cave and out of sight. He looked back at Zaylee almost with the same expression she had on her face but it was her that spoke up first upon the matter of their Gung-ho teammate. “We might end up having to save two people now.” She spoke which pretty much echoed his own thought at the moment. “ I’ll get him don’t worry” he dug his heels into the sort soil of their position preparing to burst his speed out to grab his comrade out of the clutches of death. He would refuse to let someone he just meet die even if it was by their own miscalculation of the situation that got them into a life or detach situation. T liked to think he was the kind of ninja you could count On when needed and someone who would always have your back. Ts eyes narrowed at the bandit who’s foot was on his friends back, he was gonna move now. It was  Coincidentally around this time she spoke up again with her own plan of how to proceed with this unexpected change of plans. , ”I have a plan. I can throw kunai and shuriken to distract the bandits, and follow up with a windmill shuriken to the man who has a knife to the girls throat - it should hopefully finish him off and get the bandits distracted enough to finish the girl off. The kunai should provide a distraction, and if so you can get our teammate free. We’ll need all our combined power to finish them off now that our cover is blown.” T nodded almost timing his movements with hers. Dashing away ducking and diving between bushes and trees as he headed to his friend. About half way there he reached into his ninja tool pouch pulling out a simple Kunia which he held in his right hand in a reverse grip  Reminiscent of the primitive hand positions one held a knife or dagger for a stabbing Motion. He formed 3 seals Ram → Snake → Tiger to summon forth a clone that ran beside the real. As they both jumped down right before coming into full view of the bandit holding his friend T used this bottom of the barrel E ranked academy jutus ,To attempt and trick the bandit as just before they came into full view he let his clone go ahead and stand behind a tree getting into a decent position as the real T backtracked around to get behind the bandit and his comrade. Once in position on the ridge above his comrade and the bandit. In synch his clone went straight for the attack leaping form the bushes charging the bandit with his Kunia in hand. At the same time T would attempt to fall off the ridge legs spread in a fashion that would allow him to land on the bandits neck and introduce the Kunia right into the back of his cranium or top of the neck. He knew the dangers of what he was doing if the bandit was to move he would fall and stab his teammate, to prevent this possible T kept his right Foot near the ridge planning to dig into the rock to slow his decent is needed. The last thing he wanted to do was or accidentally kill his own friend. The hope was his clone would trick the bandit and  Zaylees attempts to save the girl would even further distract the bandit from the attack from above.

WC-615{3265}

Whispered warnings would come from his team mate's mouths, but Atsushi was sure of himself. He didn't intend to run directly into the cave he only meant to be a distraction. He had confidence that two no name ninja couldn't take him. This confidence, this naivety, led him to press on past his team mates to confront the two triplets without much more of a plan than that. It would be a decision he'd very quickly learned was a misstep. He stood before the two twins, and no sooner had he thrown the shuriken than the man passively deflected it and moved in on the genin with a speed and ferocity he'd never witnessed before. The bandit hand was around his throat in less time than he could fathom, with no room to move Atsushi would be locked into this man's clutches as the first fist planted itself into his chest. He'd cough or yell out, but the man's clutch was too tight, with the following blows that wasn't a problem as the force of the pulled the air from his lungs. Atsushi could feel the liquid pain spreading beneath his skin deepening with each blow and reminding him with each blow of the serious mistake he'd made.

“Are you working with someone else, boy!? Did the girl’s parents send you after her, ignoring what we said would happen if shinobi got involved?”

Atsushi would force himself to speak as he was dropped to the ground. "Girl's parents? You were being suspicious so I questioned you. I seriously need to mind my own business." Atsushi would squirm as the man grabbed him by his shirt taking him where his brothers were. It was a seriously bad situation for Atsushi. For a moment he considered using his Kekkei genkai to heal himself, but doing so would make him more vulnerable to further damage. Damage that he wouldn't be able to prevent. He was along for the ride as they entered the cave and a bandit held a knife to the young maiden's throat, seeming hesitant for only a moment before telling her it was just business. These guys were seriously going to kill this woman was the thought that became apparent in Atsushi's mind. Worse yet there was nothing he could do to stop them. Not alone. If he'd not rushed in like this that girl definitely wouldn't be in danger like this.

It was then Atsushi, pinned to the ground by the bandit's foot, noticed them. The first attacked the triplet threatening the woman's life. The second attacked the man holding him down. Zaylee and T had come to fix the mistake he'd made, but Atsushi worried that they'd just be making thins worse for themselves If Atsushi would sense any shifting of weight of the foot on his back he would attempt to grab it, slide it off of him, and thus free himself from this grapple, though this was unlikely. Atsushi regardless of whether or not he'd escaped would grab onto the bandit's leg making him a prime target to be attacked by T. Atsushi was seriously out of cards though if neither of these tactics bore fruit. a thought that filled him with dread.

[556/3493]

Hearing movement, Ryuchi snapped his head in the direction of which the sound was coming from, and spotted a silver-haired girl heading towards them. “Shit, there are others.”, Ryuzo, the one holding a kunai to the hostage’s neck, exclaimed. He should have know that there was a chance others would have accompanied the captured boy. He had heard his eldest brother asked the other captive about there being others, but never getting a response out of the boy. So, he just assumed the boy was working alone, but, that was a mistake on his part. It seemed like the boy had accomplices.

The knife drawing across the girl’s neck would halt, deflecting the kunai that was aimed at him. Unfortunately for Ryuchi, the deflection would not save him from the girl’s assault. His eyes widen at the sight of the windmill shuriken hidden behind the kunai. Having no time to react, the shuriken would find its purpose, biting into Ryuchi’s neck, and prove to be a fatal wound, causing him to poof out of existence. The resulting action, if seen by the genins, would tell them that the individual was a clone of sorts; one that could interact with the environment.

   Cursing at their brother’s demise, Ryuzo would attempt to move towards the freed hostage, and finish off the job.  However, such a thing would not be possible as the silver-haired girl had sat her sights on him. Having turned to witness his brother’s death, Ryuzo could not react fast enough to the slice across his stomach. A slice that would have been deep enough to prove fatal, if it was done on a living person, but, in this case, it was just enough to cause him to poof out of existence, just as Ryuchi did. At the same time, Ryusaku felt a weight on his shoulders, “What th - - -” anything he was going to say halted as a kunai was buried into his cranium. The attack deep enough to prove fatal, and causing him to poof out of existence.

Freed from her captives, the blonde female looked at them with gratitude, “Thank you for saving me. I - - -” A silver tipped senbon would be thrown faster than the genin’s eyes could track, piercing the clone through her neck, causing her to poof out of existence,  and burying itself within the ground. To Zaylee, two foot senbon would be of familiarity, but, to the others? It would be unknown. A familiar vulture made herself known, by perching itself on Zaylee’s shoulder, and cawked. Then proceeded to look around at the other genins as if scrutinizing them.

Daremo made his appearance where the senbon had landed, “Interesting teamwork, you have there.”, he spoke in a neutral tone as he picked up the senbon. Looking at the genin squad, he spoke once more, “As you might have guess, the mission was a farce. A impromptu training session by me to see how well you three can work with one another without any experience in teamwork, and with the only information you knew about your teammate being what they told at during the introduction. You had to trust and use that information to the best of your ability to formulate some type of plan to rescue a hostile.  Not only that, you had to figure out your role in the grand scheme of things. Who was going to be team leader, and who was going to do what.” he spoke, letting the words sink in for the three genins.

Briefly his eyes glanced at Atuschi, “While one of you decided to play a hero, rushing into a situation with so little information, and attempt to save the hostage by themselves. And we saw the end results of that. Right, Atuschi?”, he asked, looking at the boy in question. “Can you tell us why you decided to run off on your on? Furthermore, instead of using the terrain to your advantage, you expose yourself, and demanded the bandits to release the hostage. Why?  If this was a real situation, you would have been killed, no questions asked. Bandits don’t keep shinobi around unless they are drugged to the point of incompetence, or they have a way to seal off their abilities. Shinobis are killed for we are dangerous to them. If you would have stuck with the teammates, the mission would have been easier.”
If the question was answered, Daremo turned his attention to Zaylee and Tristan “You two showed good teamwork.”, looking at Tristan, he continued, “Even though you had no reason to trust Zaylee, asides from her being a teammate, you trusted in her judgement. You followed her plans, and even gave additional advice. You showed that you would actually work with your teammates, and value their opinions. You are not afraid to take a none leadership role.” The appraisal would end there, “As for your tactics. Remember, the academy clone does not cast a shadow nor interact with the environment. An experience person would noticed this, and see through the deceptive move. Furthermore, it was risky of you to jump on the bandit’s back with Atuschi underneath. The bandit could have easier sensed you, move out of the way, resulting in you accidentally injuring your teammate. Instead of doing that, you could have forced the bandit off your teammate either by throwing multiple kunais or using the surroundings to your advantage. Understand?”

His gaze fell onto Zaylee, “And finally, Zaylee. You took charge of the situation immediately. Giving a plan that would have worked if every teammate participate. You listened to the suggestion of your teammates, and not dismissing them. Even after Atuschi went off on his own, you managed to come up with a plan to not only rescue the hostage, but, also save your teammate as well. When it came to your tactics, it was executed well. The kunai used was just a distraction, either the bandit would need to deflect the kunai or risk getting fatally injured. At the same time, the shuriken hidden within the kunai’s made it so that even if the kunai was deflected, the bandit would not have enough time to react to the other. “ having gave his praise to the silver haired teen, it was time for the critique. “While your tactic was impressive, you jeopardize the client with the projectiles. The clone could have easily moved the client in the path of kunai and shuriken, resulting in either a death or fatally hurt client. Instead, you could have used your bird to harass and attack the bandit holding client hostage. This would have caused annoyance, and maybe even had the bandit release the hostage to get rid of the annoying pest, thus, giving you another opening. Also, while you made the right choice in attacking those closest to the hostage, your back was turned to the other bandit, who had his foot pressed down on your teammates back. If he wanted to, he could have tossed a projectile at your back and could have greatly injured you. Once the bandit holding the hostage was taking care of, you used Makibishi to keep the other bandit from grabbing the hostage and using her as a body shield. Sometimes a few makibishi is not enough to keep a bandit from using a hostage as a body shield, because, at the end of the day, it is better to be injured than dead. Understand?”

Allowing the words to sink in with the genins, Daremo stroke the head of Hiretsu, the King Vulture returning back to perching on his shoulder. “While the test was a failure. Yes, you managed to save the hostage, but, in a real life scenario, it might not have played out this one. Atsushi would have been killed, leaving Zaylee and Tristan in an unfavorable position. Depending on the competence of those you were facing, one of you would have been ganged up on by two of the bandits, leaving the other to deal with the last bandit who might have already killed the hostage upon Atsuchi making his presence known. In the worst case, you all would have died, in the best? One of might have survived, though, that meant leaving behind your teammates.” The words were factual and cold. He did not sugar coat what would have happened to them if the mission was actually real. “Luckily, this was just a test, thus, you have the opportunity to correct the mistakes you made so that they won’t cost your life in the battlefield. As of now, you are nobodies. Just disposal meat shields to be thrown out in mass at the whims of the higher ups. As your sensei, I will be changing that. I will break you, and rebuild you into something more than just lowly meat shields. Your dreams, aspirations? I will see to it that they are fulfilled so long as you remember the importance of working as a team. The journey will not be easy. You will fail. You will curse me out. You will despise the ground I walk on, and wish for my death. But, at the end, you will be better than what you are now. Do you think you are ready for this?”, he would asked them. This would be the first team in a long time since he had taken, and unlike those before them, he would not fail them.

“Do you have any questions?”, he asked, looking at them expectantly. If there were no questions, Daremo would speak once more, “For the remainder of the week, I will be working with you all either individually, helping you become stronger in your own right, and as a team, building up on your ability to work as a unit. Scenarios such as this one will be used to gauge how well you work as a team. Understood?”, looking about, he waited to see if anyone would ask anything, “For now, go home, rest up, reflect on this experience. Meet up back here tomorrow at 5 am.”

Daremo would only leave when the last member of the squad left, disappearing in a body flicker, much to Hiretsu’s annoyance.

---

1706[5397]

The senbon into the freed captives neck gave her pause, her citrine yellow gaze taking in the sight of it before a soft sigh left her lips: a test then? This became more of a likely guess as a familiar bird landed on her shoulder: Hiretsu: which meant that her father was likely not far behind. Then sudden, where the senbon landed was her father and sensei, her attention shifting off of her teammates whom she had glanced to and over to him: already she knew they were likely in for a talking to - this had not gone at all like it should have, and even Zaylee herself was willing to admit she had made some critical mistakes. She waited patiently as she stood there, listening as her father spoke first to Atsushi, and then to T. Finally, it was her turn, and despite knowing what was likely going to get the same kind of talking to the both of them just had she gave her father her complete attention: it wasn’t like he was being mean or spiteful after all, he was telling them what they had done wrong so that they could correct it in the future - and so that they didn’t end up getting themselves killed in a more real situation.

As he spoke first of the good things she had accomplished, how she had taken charge immediately, and had come up with a plan that would have worked, while also listening to what her teammates had to say about the matter, and even how she managed to come up with a plan to save not only the hostage but one of her teammates after he had rushed in, she showed not a single ounce of pride upon her face. As nice as the words were, the good things she had done mattered less to her than the things she had gotten wrong. She knew she could pull off leading the team simply because of the experience she had gained working one on one with her father. So no, what she wanted to know was what all she had done wrong, and she wouldn’t have to wait long to find out.

As he mentioned that she had jeopardized the client with the projectiles she mentally cursed herself - it had been a thought she too had had but only after the fact. As he mentioned that she should have just had used her bird to harass the bandit, getting him to release the client in favor of staving off the annoyance that was the bird, she took a mental note of this for the future: she wouldn’t be making the same mistake again. She also had made another mistake beyond this one that could have been fatal: in expecting T to handle the bandit along with getting their teammate free she had foolishly turned her back to the bandit, opening herself up to be attacked should the bandit have been presented the chance. When her father went on to mention that her tactic at keeping the other bandits from getting close to the client once more would have likely not worked in a real world situation she knew she would have to come up with something else the next time a situation like this came up. Having nothing really to say, no questions to ask, she nodded her head in understanding, glancing over at her other two teammates and wondering how they would take the criticism: such things could make people quit squads, and she hoped this wouldn’t be the case here. They had potential, and could go far working together if they all stuck it out.

As her father concluded what he had to say, marking the test as a failure, calling them disposable meat shields - something he planned on changing - she internally winced. This hadn’t gone as she had hoped it would, but she had to have hope that they would improve. She would stick around long enough to see if her teammates had any questions, and barring that they had none she would body flicker away after they were dismissed, quiet and contemplating the way things had done, knowing well she was likely going to get an earful from her mother if she found out about this failure: not that she wasn’t going to get one anyway considering she went against what Amaya was always preaching. Tonight was going to be a long night: skipping dinner was definitely the plan if she could get away with it.

”You will improve, do not worry. As long as you don’t quit you will prosper, child.”, came an all too familiar voice within her head: the man from her dreams, the man in the tomb she kept constantly seeing during her slumbering hours. She was reminded in that moment, as goosebumps broke out across her flesh as she arrived outside the back door of her family’s home that she had meant to talk to her father about the dreams she had been having. Instead of responding to the voice she simply muttered beneath her breath , ”It can wait. It’s not important.”, before heading inside, pausing to listen and see if anyone was home before making a straight line to her room and shutting the door. Heading to her desk she sat down and pulled a volume of text towards her: it was back to studying.

---

905 | 5,030

Atsushi would resist against the clone's strength from his spot on the ground though by now he was sure this was a fruitless act. His own over confidence got him into this situation, and now he was more of a burden to his team than the hostage he attempted to help in the first place. Helplessly he was going to have to watch as the crooks  opened the woman's neck right in front of him. His fists would tighten causing his knuckles to go white. She was so close. He was so close to her that he could almost save her. Frustrated eyes began to well, not for himself this was his own fault for being weak, but for the woman. Atsushi would be solely responsible for her death, a fact that the bandits let him be reminded of explicitly as they placed cold steel against soft flesh. Atsushi knew how this story went from there a simple flick and the blood laden fruit would spill forth as the bonds that kept integral fluids contained would be rended apart. The flow of vital ichor would start the timer until the woman's clock reached zero, but that's not what came next. As Zaylee and T came in they dispatched the bandit holding the blade to the maiden's neck, and much to Atsushi's surprise the man poofed out of existence as if he'd never been there, leaving behind only smoke where flesh had once been. It was reminiscent to the clone technique, but something was different about it. It seemed so real. A second and third attack destroyed the other two utterly. One separated into two clouds of smoke by a blade. The other, the one holding down Atsushi pierced from above as his team mates saved his life in addition to the maiden's.

Atsushi would wipe dirt and tears from his face before looking back to the other two just briefly enough so that they could see the gratitude on his face. As he turned back to hear his teammates receive a "Thank you for- Um- I -", a malicious whistle pierced through the once captive's chest causing Atsushi's eyes to go wide and his mouth to drop as she too poofed out of existence leaving a massive senbon in her place. Dumbstruck, Atsushi thoughts didn't even know where to begin. The first conclusion they came to was that this was all an elaborate ploy by the bandits to get money, but that didn't quite make sense. Then Daremo appeared where the woman once stood and the young genin realized that he'd had no clue where the last senbon even came from. Before he could gather his thought the regal jonin, took in the situation in the area as his companion joined him perching itself comfortably on Zaylee's shoulder.  Daremo weighed the situation and it seemed as if he didn't like what he saw. It was a look that multiplied the guilt and uselessness that Atsushi felt. He'd made dumb mistakes, and there were plenty of people to witness that.

"Sensei." A sheepish greeting escaped Atsushi's lips.

“Interesting teamwork, you have there." A comment with teeth sharp enough to bite flesh hit Atsushi especially hard as he was the reason the teamwork fell apart. “As you might have guess, the mission was a farce. A impromptu training session by me to see how well you three can work with one another without any experience in teamwork, and with the only information you knew about your teammate being what they told at during the introduction. You had to trust and use that information to the best of your ability to formulate some type of plan to rescue a hostage.  Not only that, you had to figure out your role in the grand scheme of things. Who was going to be team leader, and who was going to do what.” It took Atsushi time to understand what the man was saying and only just now had he even considered the possibility of his sensei being able to plan far enough ahead that this could have been his doing. His was dozens of steps ahead of them, from the scroll to his timing. Was this what real ninja were like?

Briefly his eyes glanced at Atsushi, “While one of you decided to play a hero, rushing into a situation with so little information, and attempt to save the hostage by themselves. And we saw the end results of that. Right, Atsushi?”, he asked, looking at the boy in question whose only response was a slight nod. “Can you tell us why you decided to run off on your on? Furthermore, instead of using the terrain to your advantage, you expose yourself, and demanded the bandits to release the hostage. Why?  If this was a real situation, you would have been killed, no questions asked. Bandits don’t keep shinobi around unless they are drugged to the point of incompetence, or they have a way to seal off their abilities. Shinobi are killed for we are dangerous to them. If you would have stuck with the teammates, the mission would have been easier.”

Atsushi looked at Daremo earnestly. The guilt he felt while damped by his surprise had yet to completely dissolved. This was an important question and he had to think hard about how to answer it. He played the scene out again in his head. "I'm not the brightest nor the most skilled." Atsushi would paused for just a moment as he tried to condense feelings and thoughts into words. "As you could probably tell. I'm not sure if I can think quick on my feet, but I can take a punch. I didn't want to be in the cave with the woman because I didn't want to any of my jutsu to make things more dire." This last statement though was a lie as probably noted by the subtle tremble in his eyes as he barely restrained them enough to keep eye contact. He was scared to reveal his kekkei genkai, and that was the long and short of it. He'd swallow slightly as he resumed with the truth "I got my words jumbled up when I got up there. It's easy to bait in animal into thinking you're something your not when you- No, that's how I want to say it. I'm seriously bad at imitating other people. It's not really my strong suit. I wanted to make them nervous and defensive I never wanted to play the hero. I never thought it would turn out so direly." A hand would rise to the back of his head as he scratched his scruffy blue hair.

"I might have messed up really, really bad, but I never meant for anyone else to get hurt." With that Atsushi would go silent nodding with due respect and agreement when Daremo gave compliments to the other genin, and taking in critiques that they may present if they addressed him. His intention in that 'mission' had been good, but he was overconfident, executed his plan poorly, didn't communicate or coordinate with his team, and became a burden to them. A swell on encouragement would surge through Atsushi as he heard the ending of Daremo's lecture. There were a lot of things that Atsushi wasn't, but hardworking wasn't one of them. With this chance he was willing to push past his any of his previous selves, and leap forward towards manifesting his dreams. He would put in the work that was necessary, if it would get him out of the plateau that he'd began his life in. He'd unbegrudgingly take the hard path up because that's what he'd been born into.

When Daremo released them Atsushi would perform hand seals slower than seemed necessary before using shunshin to head back home splitting off from the group. Just a few kilometers away from the cave entrance though he'd stop and the tears would be back as he'd fall onto his hands and knees. He'd release a long held back cough as fractured ribs and stirred up insides released blood onto the fauna carpeted ground. He'd been hiding his pain, trying to feign being uninjured as he became a hostage. He had been awkward and minimal in his movements during the fight because even though he had jutsu to use he'd been in far too much pain to do so. A single, nervous hand would raise up and lightly tap the wounds which screamed out in retaliation. He'd raise his shirt looking down at the dark bruising from the blows he'd received. His breathing had been wrong since he confronted the first bandit and he'd not even slightly healed over the course of the fight. He'd take a forceful inhale and then another before exhaling, the tears from the pain continuing. The bruising would become diluted definitely not quickly enough for Atsushi as the pain continued even for a short while after the bruising had disappeared as potent waves of Yang chakra focused on specific areas in his body. He'd done the most he could, and the pain had subsided enough where shunshin no longer hurt. He return home, with any luck the rest of his injuries would be healed up before tomorrow.

[WC= 1588/5081]

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EXIT THREAD
5000 WC → Training Senjutsu → D-Rank