Things were changing rather quickly for Kenshin as he walked out of the administration building and headed to meet two new students. He nodded to a few people as he walked by still in his own head. His eyes bounced from person to person as they realized where he came from. His flak jacket was a dead giveaway that he was from Sunagakure, the former village. Of course, he would adjust his attire soon. His emerald hair flew in his face as he turned a corner and headed towards the meeting spot. The academy was were these kids journeys started, and so they would meet their sensei in that very place. He decided moving to the roofs might clear his head. A a couple of jumps was all it took to get up the building and on the rooftop. He continued forward as he thought of what he might say to the two genin. This was certainly going to be ineresting.

He eventually came upon the entrance to the Kirigakure Ninja Academy, famous for it's bloody past. Kenshin couldn't wait to meet his new students. He jumped from the rooftop and landed smoothly on the ground beside the door. He yawned as he laid his weight against the frame in a relaxed pose. He had nothing to do now but see just what kind of ninja this Gattsu and Iro were. He knew there was always a possibility of getting a third student too. He didn't know why, but that was kind of exciting. Maybe this would be a good thing...

[264]

The classroom was lively with the sounds of hustle and bustle as people prepared to meet their new assignments. The sensei one received was incredibly important in the role of developing ones self, as the person teaching you could very easily guide you into their own ideals, if they so chose to do. Gattsu awaited eagerly, avoiding speaking, given he was older than most of the people here, including a few of the teachers. As people slowly left as their sensei's came and went, Gattsu noticed the now fewer candidates for his potential ally. Slowly trickling out, the faces of each who had passed were smiling with glee, most students excited for the missions that await.

A small boy, no further along than twelve or thirteen, caught Gattsu's eye with the rather large spear he was carrying, given his size. Curious about the choice of weapon, he began to find himself wondering about what kind of techniques  a spear fighter might posses. He'd need to be able to close a gap quickly, should the need arise. After a few minutes had passed, Gattsu finally piped up. "Hey, kid with the spear. Who are you?" Silence followed for a few seconds, before another sensei arriving broke the calm.

"He must not have heard me." Gattsu thought, realizing his mistake was not crossing the classroom to speak to someone. Waiting for the other group to leave, the boy looked up from his small mess of blue hair, finally seeming to acknowledge Gattsu for the first time. "Excuse me, but where did you learn to use that?" Pointing at the child's spear intently, with a look of curiosity spreading across his face.

WC: [283]

[Posting in thread with permission of Kenshin]

Oh, I hate this. I mean, I'm excited to see who I'll be training with, but I hate that it's taking so long to find out.

I looked around the room as I continued doing what I had been doing for the past fifteen minutes, sketching different possible sealing formulae in a notebook while trying not to look too impatient. Most of the students I knew well had already been assigned to squads, now all that was left were students I had only seen in passing or were totally unfamiliar with.

"Hey, kid with the spear. Who are you?" asked a voice from my left.

I turned and faced a ninja who, judging by his age, might have been a chunin or even jonin, but judging by the fact that he was sitting and seemed to be similarly waiting for a squad assignment, I guessed that he was a genin as well.

Wow, with black hair, black pants, and a black shirt, I guess he really likes black. It's a good color for a ninja to prefer, I guess.

I had never met him before, and truth be told, he looked pretty intimidating. I tried not to make eye contact for too long as I followed his line of sight to the kid he was talking about.

Yep, that kid actually has a spear. Especially with so few people left, how did I not notice that?!?

I looked down at my notebook.

I guess I was a bit preoccupied. Speaking of which, if I first infuse the chakra counterclockwise, then seal a smaller amount of chakra...

While I was theorizing over a jutsu I probably wasn't even going to try to finish, another sensei had come in to claim his group. I listened for my name, but it would seem I'd have to wait a bit longer.

"Excuse me, but where did you learn to use that?"

The guy from before had gotten up to talk to the kid with the spear. I looked up at them, honestly a bit curious myself. The kid with the spear looked the same age as me, so maybe he had learned it from his family.

Or maybe he learned it on one of the days I skipped because I was really excited with a new sealing technique. Did we ever really go into weapon training besides just kunai, senbon, shuriken, and the like? Oh well.

As I thought, I realized I had been absentmindedly staring at them the whole time, thinking about an answer I wasn't actually listening to.

I really should stop doing that...

WC: 439

Back in the academy building after all this time. He was still a genin, but that was fine. He had other things to worry about. He turned to lean against the wall with the spear leaning on his chest. Looking over the room a few people stuck out. There was an older guy that was the first sore thumb. He would keep an eye on him, as he was one of the few who weren't straight out of the academy. Before Iro had a chance to continue scanning, the man walked over as if they had both taken notice of each other. He would stand up straight as the guy approached.

"Excuse me, but where did you learn to use that?"

The man was pointing at his spear with a look of intrigue. Iro looked at him and spoke calmly. "I learned from my family. I know it's an odd choice, but I just took to it." He was being honest and his tone suggested that. Iro also noticed a boy close by that had taken notice of their conversation. Iro turned his gaze back to the man in front of him. "Iro Hozuki, nice to meet you." He spoke as he stuck out his right hand to shake with the man. He figured it was better to make friends than enemies.

[224]

Kenshin walked into the building and headed towards classroom 4 where his students were waiting. His bow was on his back and he was ready to show these kids about being a ninja. He would take a left and let someone pass before walking into the the room. There were quite a few people in random places around the room, but two people stood out instantly. That was his students. It seemed like they were getting to know each other, and both had manners so it was good so far. As he was about to step forward, one of the jounin tapped his shoulder. He turned to look as they spoke. "You have one more student, I'm glad I caught you. His name is Nobuya and he is right there." He pointed to another kid who was watching the two talk. "Thank you." Kenshin said with a nod as the man took his exit. He then turned back to his students. One was older than him, so this was sure to be fun.

He took a few steps forward and cleared his throat. He spoke loud enough to be heard by all three of them. "Gattsu, Iro, Nobuya." He looked from one to the next as he spoke their names. "You three are with me. I'm Kenshin Mori and i'll be your sensei." He spoke calmly as he looked all three over. It seemed that He a wide variety of students. An ice user, a hozuki, and a mystery addition. "Follow me and we'll get somewhere were we can have our first meeting." Kenshin waved his hand for them to follow before turning and heading out the door. He made sure to turn right and head to a classroom that was empty when he passed by earlier. A few more steps was all it took before he was in the classroom with the students close behind. This was gonna be interesting. How did he want to handle this? Introductions and then a description of what they do seemed to be a good idea, so that was a start.

[352 + 264 = 616]

Stopping only to shake the boys hand, and offer a warm smile at the other student, Gattsu followed Kenshin out the door. With the other two following in turn, the quite clear day for the Kiri showed good promise. The town was bustling, moving faster as the day had progressed, as if the city itself were taking in a deep breath. On days like this, people seemed to smile more, do more good, and even go out of their way more. The new sensei still had yet to stop, and the walk was beginning to drone on, so Gattsu had started to ponder the potential assignments ahead of him.

"So, what do you guys think well do first?" Gattsu said aloud to Iro and Nobuya. Knowing that genin were usually assigned to towns keeping and civil services meant this may end up being a boring time. "Oh whoops, probably should have introduced myself first. Pardon the rudeness, Gattsu Aisu at your service." Extending his hand out in turn to the other member of this new team. "Pleasure to meet you all."

[WC 283 + 181 = 464]

So this is my team. Seems like this'll be interesting. Especially the fact that our new sensei carries a bow. It always seemed like such a cool weapon, but I really haven't seen anyone use one before. Most ranged combat I know of is done with thrown stuff or ninjutsu.

I was walking alongside the boy with the spear from earlier, apparently my new teammate Iro...something. I wasn't really paying attention when he'd introduced himself to the genin now walking in front of me, whose name must be Gattsu by process of elimination, back in the classroom. But at least their first names would be pretty easy to remember.

Hopefully.

As we were walking through a quite busy street, Gattsu dropped back to where Iro and I were walking and asked, "So, what do you guys think we'll do first?"

Before I could respond, he added, "Oh whoops, probably should've introduced myself first. Pardon the rudeness, Gattsu Aisu at your service. Pleasure to meet you all."

I shook his outstretched hand, smiling.

For as intimidating as this guy looks, he actually seems pretty nice. Or at least very polite.

"No worries, its nice to meet you too. Yeah, sorry I've been kinda quiet, but truth be told, I've been wondering the same thing actually. Hopefully nothing too bad to start us out with, though I really hope it's more exciting than those academy classes. Maybe we'll be learning some new jutsu now that we're in a squad. Or maybe we'll just go straight into a mission like patrolling the village borders or something. What do you think?" I turned to Iro beside me.

Didn't you forget something?
...Right, the thing Gattsu JUST apologized for.

Sometimes simple things like that could really easily slip my mind when I was busy thinking about other things.

Racing to speak before I'd be interrupting Iro, I turned my head slightly and quickly said, "I'm Nobuya, by the way. Nobuya Yomechiro."

WC: 342
Total WC: 781

One minute Iro was shaking hands with the dude, then all the sudden he is snapped to reality by the sound of a voice. It was a younger voice, but it spoke with authority.

"Gattsu, Iro, Nobuya."

Iro turned his head to see a man standing there with green messy hair and a bow on his back. The weapon was rare and his appearance was odd, but that voice meant he was probably their sensei, though he had no idea who Gattsu and Nobuya were.

"Follow me and we'll get somewhere were we can have our first meeting."

The Hozuki immediately nodded and followed the man out of the door. He was taking a brisk step, but it didn't take the other two long to group up with Iro. The taller one spoke.

"So, what do you guys think well do first? Oh whoops, probably should have introduced myself first. Pardon the rudeness, Gattsu Aisu at your service. Pleasure to meet you all."

An aisu clan memeber was right in front of him. Despite his best efforts, he was sure the man could see the slight flinch on Iro's face once the name Aisu was spoken. Of course, this made him think of his dad and where he could be. He missed Strafe so much...but now was not the time for that. He focused as his other teammate spoke.

"No worries, its nice to meet you too. Yeah, sorry I've been kinda quiet, but truth be told, I've been wondering the same thing actually. Hopefully nothing too bad to start us out with, though I really hope it's more exciting than those academy classes. Maybe we'll be learning some new jutsu now that we're in a squad. Or maybe we'll just go straight into a mission like patrolling the village borders or something. What do you think? I'm Nobuya, by the way. Nobuya Yomechiro."

Nobuya seemed like a nice guy who's mind runs faster than he can keep up with, but the answer was probably pretty close to accurate. "I'm thinking some low level missions to see what we can do. Maybe even a training session." Iro could only hope he would get stronger off of this team. He had to go find his dad. He followed the man in the classroom as the other two came in after him. Once they were all there, he waited for his new sensei to speak.

[416 +224 = 640]

As soon as all three were in front of him, Kenshin would speak again. "Okay, so now that we are all here. I need introductions. Please give your full name, your goal, and what kind of jutsu you use." Kenshin smiled as he thought about it. "I'll go first so you don't feel nervous. I am Kenshin Mori, I want to find a new home for myself, and I use bows, puppetry, and ninjutsu." He spoke calmly and even gestured to his bow as it was brought up. "We will be a team for a while, so we might as well get used to each other. Once we are done with introductions then we will continue with the next part of the meeting."

He would wait for a few as each of them had their turns. He was attentive and would try his best to remember what they told him. His memory always had been a problem. Iro's name wasn't well known, but Kenshin was briefed on who he was. The other two were more of a mystery, especially Nobuya. If he could guess, the older one probably wanted to skip the weak mission and the youngest will be absorbing everything like a sponge. In the end, the next portion was going to be fun.

[616 + 219 = 835]

Gattsu spoke clearly and loudly, taking good care not to stutter or stumble his response.
"My name is Gattsu Aisu. My goal is to become strong enough to bring the Aisu name to the head of the clan. I focus on taijutsu and medical jutsu, specializing in close quarters and medical theory and the potential applications, respectively." When he finally finished his statement, he turned to face his newfound allies. Perhaps these other two would have come from even further to be here than he had.


[WC 464 + 86 = 550]

A new home?

It was just now that I realized that our new sensei wasn't wearing Kirigakure attire, but ninja gear that marked him as a ninja of Sunagakure. I probably should've noticed before, but so many people have been traveling around the world due to the Chunin exams in Konoha that I just spaced it out.

Gattsu spoke first. Apparently he specialized in close-quarters combat with taijutsu and medical ninjutsu. Both specialties that I never even got close to getting the hang of. With taijutsu, I was always just below average, and while I had a good deal of chakra control, I could never remember enough biology to take a serious interest in medical ninjutsu.

It was my turn to speak.

"My name is Nobuya Yomechiro. I want to be strong enough that I can help in protecting the village."

To be honest, I don't really have a goal. I mean, yeah I want to protect the village, but mostly I've just been messing around with fuuinjutsu. But now that I'm a genin, I should get more serious...

"I really enjoy using fuuinjutsu, though I am decently proficient in regular ninjutsu as well. The techniques I've learned so far don't really have much power behind them, but they are able to do other helpful things!"

WC: 224
Total WC: 1005

Gattsu started by going first. Iro looked at him with curiousity. He was sort of interested in hearing the Aisu's story and seeing what he knew about his father. This just was good luck for once.

"My name is Gattsu Aisu. My goal is to become strong enough to bring the Aisu name to the head of the clan. I focus on taijutsu and medical jutsu, specializing in close quarters and medical theory and the potential applications, respectively."

Okay, so this guys literally used most of the things Strafe did. This was just getting odd. He seemed like a capable person and having a medic around never hurt. Next up was Nobuya, which this was the first bit of information Iro was getting on the kid.

"My name is Nobuya Yomechiro. I want to be strong enough that I can help in protecting the village. I really enjoy using fuuinjutsu, though I am decently proficient in regular ninjutsu as well. The techniques I've learned so far don't really have much power behind them, but they are able to do other helpful things!"

He seemed to have some spunk and he new some support stuff from the sound of it so that was a good thing. He would be interested to see the boy's fighting style. It was now Iro's turn and he wanted to be clear. "I am Iro Hozuki, I want to free my father Strafe Aisu, I use spears, sealing, and ninjutsu." He spoke straight to the point before waiting for futher instruction from Kenshin. At least with a team he might end up getting to go further out and get more information.

[280 + 640 = 920]

Kenshin listened as each student took their turn in sharing who they were as a shinobi. The exersize had more meaning than meets they eye. After they were all done he nodded than continued to speak. "Well, at least we have a wide variety of things we can do. We need to get used to thinking as a unit, so please remember what was said here. We need to know how to react in order to keep each other safe." He would then look at each one individually. "Gattsu, you are our medic. I need you not to solely rely on taijutsu and make sure you are safe. Your more valuable than you realize." He was being honest as not every squad got the privilege of having a medic.

He then looked to Nobuya with a kind expression. "You are young and can use ninjutsu and some support stuff from the sounds of it. You'll be back line with me. Stay close to me and we can be pretty good together." He then turned to Iro with a grin. "You get the job of being front line with Gattsu behind you. Your spear and you're hidan allow you to be damage a lot less of often than most shinobi. Make sure you watch our medic's back." He would then step back and take out his bow. "I am back line with Nobuya and I will be leading from the rear. If you listen to me, we have a pretty good set up."

He looked them over once again. "Now that we have a plan and our introductions out of the way, we need to do something together as a squad." He would ponder a few more moments before continuing. "We are going to do a bit of friendly training. I want you three to impress me during this training. Your performance during will determine what level of mission I allow you to go on." He put his hand on his chin as he thought a little more. "We are going to go the training area. Once we are there I will fill you guys in on the training." He would wait for any reactions or questions. He was sure he could answer any they had.

[378 + 835 = 1213]

As the walk to the training area began, it became incredibly apparent that it was going to be as fun as he had hoped.

Training is something i know well, i cant wait to get some work in. And the day couldn't have been nicer.

With nothing more than the mist of a light fog, and a sun that lacked its normal cloud companions, the day looked as if it were going to be continuing the calm weather they had foreseen. Silence ensued for the first few minutes, with them only beginning to chat after realizing it must be across town.

"So, for the record, i'm still working on my medical skills. i apologize in advance if i cannot yet perform at par."

His medical skills were still mostly theoretical methods, so there was plenty of room for error. Gattsu only hoped that it wouldn't come at the cost of any of them.

[WC 550 + 158 = 708]

In the first few minutes with my new comrades, I had learned about them so much more than I expected. To start with, Kenshin-sensei was from Sunagakure, he was a long-range specialist, and he seemed to have a pretty tactical mind.

After all, he had assessed us and identified the most logical formation for what he currently knows just from listening to all of us give a general description of our abilities.

I was kind of worried about the formation to be honest, but I didn't want to disappoint Kenshin right off the bat. It's true that I was nowhere near as good at close combat as a taijutsu specialist or a weapons-user, but the jutsu that I'd learned so far didn't really have the range that I'd hope. Even the earth-style jutsu that I'd been working on recently only had a range of about 10m.

The problem is that most of my jutsu rely on seals that I apply directly. If the jutsu that I've been working on so far stray too far from the seal, it loses potency exponentially. But if I try and maintain a jutsu like the Binding Leg Seal jutsu without a seal, it leaves me vulnerable. Either way, there's no way I can stay as far back as someone who uses both puppets and bows, both usually pretty long-range techniques. I'll definitely have to train hard if I want to be an effective member of this team.

Thinking about puppets actually, I wonder what his look like? Maybe we're going to get to see them in whatever "friendly training" Kenshin has in store for us.

I continued walking behind Kenshin-sensei, inadvertently staring at his back. His bow caught my eye.

Maybe I don't have to learn as many jutsu as I thought if he could teach me how to use something like that!

I decided to ask him about it later, and turned my attention to the other two, Gattsu and Iro. I thought back to what Iro said in his introduction.

"I am Iro Hozuki, I want to free my father Strafe Aisu, I use spears, sealing, and ninjutsu."

There was so much to unpack in such few words.

First of all, I'm really excited that we have another sealer on our team. I wonder what kind of sealing he uses? Where did he learn it? Maybe he'd want to swap formulae? Oh wait, are you supposed to keep that stuff a secret? I can never remember. But he's a comrade, right? It should be fine...Also, he's part of the Hozuki clan. That's amazing. Their keekei genkai is super cool! I wonder if I have a kekkei genkai like that?

I never really understood kekkei genkai. I knew that it was a bloodline trait that was usually pretty closely guarded in each family, but I didn't know how people would realize they had one.

Maybe my family's really good at fuuinjutsu. Or maybe we're all just daydreamers, and that's our specialty.

I smiled to myself. Gattsu snapped me out of my daze by saying, "So, for the record, I'm still working on my medical skills. I apologize in advance if I cannot yet perform at par."

I turned my smile towards him.

"No worries, I can't really do a lot of ninjutsu besides the basic stuff they taught us at the academy. And now that we've got Kenshin-sensei, I'm sure we'll be fine."

And then there was Gattsu. I was honestly kinda scared of him at first, but he seems super polite. Maybe one of the most polite people I've ever met. I wonder if he'll be this formal all the time?

To me, for Gattsu Aisu to be polite while looking tough, and to know both medical ninjutsu and taijutsu was pretty appropriate for how he presented himself.

That reminds me, didn't Iro say his apparently captive dad's name was Aisu? I wonder if Iro and Gattsu are related.

If they are related, I reasoned, they must be from two separate branches or something, or else Gattsu wouldn't have needed to ask Iro's name back at the academy.

Since I was thinking of Iro, I decided to ask:

"So, what kind of sealing do you do? I mostly just mess around with stuff, but I just figured out a way to transfer seals between scrolls, which is kinda cool. It'd probably be cooler if I didn't accidentally ruin my last set with my experiments though."

I stuck my hand in my hair and smiled sheepishly.

Maybe they didn't need to know your penchant for scroll-destruction just yet, but they know now, Nobuya. They know now.

WC: 816
Total WC: 1821

"You get the job of being front line with Gattsu behind you. Your spear and you're hidan allow you to be damage a lot less of often than most shinobi. Make sure you watch our medic's back."

Iro listened intently as Kenshin began to asses them based on their answers. To be sure of so much in such a short amount of time...Either he was pretty tactically sound or too sure of himself. Regardless, the man was leader so his say went. Iro didn't have a better plan, so he wasn't going to complain. Iro listened very carefully to the instructions given to him. As soon as Kenshin finished and he had a chance, Iro spoke very confidently. "I have some experience fighting along side Aisu clan members, so it should be pretty easy." He knew that the synergy had to be there, but if it worked their combo could be nasty with two sealers present.

"So, for the record, i'm still working on my medical skills. i apologize in advance if i cannot yet perform at par."

"No worries, I can't really do a lot of ninjutsu besides the basic stuff they taught us at the academy. And now that we've got Kenshin-sensei, I'm sure we'll be fine."

So it seems they all had work to do, but that was fine. That's what being in a squad was about, growing as shinobi. He would nod as he commented. "I still have to work more on my sealing, so we all have goals now." He was right of course. It's easier to improve if you have a finish line in mind. It was just a few moments later that Nobuya spoke to Iro directly.

"So, what kind of sealing do you do? I mostly just mess around with stuff, but I just figured out a way to transfer seals between scrolls, which is kinda cool. It'd probably be cooler if I didn't accidentally ruin my last set with my experiments though."

Iro immediatly smiled at the boy's excitement. "Sorry to be a disappointment, but it's my weakest of my abilities. I have mostly theoretical knowledge now, not a lot of jutsu or anything. I was trying to find a way to unseal my dad." He spoke in a pretty calm tone despite the subject matter. It had been years now, the shock had long since worn off and he was just angry. That was fine though, it fueled his motivation. "Hopefully being teammates with you will make that process a little easier." He said thinking back to when he was first trying to understand sealing and how it worked. He was ready to get started training now.

[464 + 920 = 1384]

Kenshin listened as they spoke and began to speak between themselves pretty openly. Maybe he was lucky, he didn't see a problem kid yet, but it was still early on. After a few minutes Kenshin spoke up again. "Okay guys follow me." He gestured as he started the walk to the training session. He looked up at the nice day and it reminded him a bit of home. He chuckled a bit on the matter and then looked back to make sure the three were following him. It didn't take long before they were walking up on the area Kenshin had selected. Once he got there he turned and waited for everyone else to walk up. Then he cleared his throat.

"This is where we will hold our first training session. We are going to be doing some basic sparring. No jutsu, including any clan abilities. We are going solely off of physical combat here. We are lucky enough to have another squad leader around that i asked to bring by. This is another squad of fresh genin, they are more than aware of the no jutsu rule. Academy techniques are allowed though, as substitutions and the like are pretty common in hand to hand combat."

With that he would turn as he sensed their arrival. The Jounin nodded as their squad was prepped by the looks on their face. A girl and two males. One boy used a long sword and the other two Genin had no weapons, so it was perfect. "The two with weapons will spar. I'll let the other 4 pick their groups." The other Jounin spoke this time, his deep baritone differed from Kenshin on mid pitched voice. It was time to see what they were made of.

[296 + 1213 = 1509]

"Okay guys follow me."

We must be close, I cant wait.

Gattsu's ever appearing smile only grew wider as the next words left his new sensei's mouth.

"This is where we will hold our first training session. We are going to be doing some basic sparring. No jutsu, including any clan abilities. We are going solely off of physical combat here. We are lucky enough to have another squad leader around that i asked to bring by. This is another squad of fresh genin, they are more than aware of the no jutsu rule. Academy techniques are allowed though, as substitutions and the like are pretty common in hand to hand combat."

After the other squad had arrived, their Jounin barked his rigid command: "The two with weapons will spar. I'll let the other 4 pick their groups."

Kind of rude not to introduce themselves, but ill guess well make do. The boy with the weapon was for Iro to challenge, so my choice should probably be the boy. With his size, hes probably pretty slow, and built to take a few hits

"Ill take the large one on first. I'm sorry, but ill be swinging at full force. I don't like to pull my punches."

The Genin spat onto the ground before walking off to the side to match Gattsu's stride.

"Ready?" Gattsu asked, the boy giving a mere nod of acknowledgement.

"Go."

As soon as the word left Gattsu's mouth, the boy was upon him, striking with his palms. The strikes weren't particularly strong, but they did bring enough of a threat to want to end it as soon as possible. As the first few strikes were caught by his guard, an opening clearly had shown itself.

He closed the gap quick, but the actual strikes didn't move fast at all. Should have plenty of an opening to strike right after he does.

As the opportunity presented itself, so did gattsu respond in turn, opening with a jab to slow his opponent. It was then the flow had shifted, the speed of the battle shifted to the other side. Strike after strike, they exchanged blows, but it became quickly apparent that the difference in power would serve as a gap far too large to overcome. Gattsu's strikes slowly began to crack the bones of his opponents guard, and as he attempted to swing back, was met with merely a smile and another fist, as Gattsu slowly began to have a few small fractures of his own from the force of his strikes.

As each blow struck, the large dark haired Genin was knocked around, getting staggered by each incoming attack. Time seemed to stretch on, as the two began to wait out for the boys guard to give out. When it did, with a large cracking sound, Gattsu fired off the full power straight he had been dying to land since the start. He had blocked in time, but with the wrong hand. With a sickeningly loud crack and the ninja's scream, the winner had been made clear.

"Good fight. Id offer to shake your hand, but... you know. Hope to fight you again someday."

Smiling as the dark haired genin arrived back at his jounin for healing, Gattsu waved him off once before returning to his teammates.

"So, looks like you're next, Nobu."

[WC: 708 + 597 = 1305]

"So, looks like you're next, Nobu."

"Right, haha." I laughed nervously.

That. Was. Terrifying. Note to self: Never, EVER piss off Gattsu. I guess he's not calling himself a taijutsu specialist for nothing.

The attacks from both sides looked absolutely brutal, and not only was Gattsu able to take it for as long as he did, but as soon as that other guy let his guard drop even just a bit, Gattsu flattened him with a super-powered punch. And the noise that accompanied it wasn't pleasant to hear. It was hard not to wince when you could hear it a couple meters from the fight.

"You idiot!" the girl said as she lightly bopped her defeated comrade on the head, "Now I'm gonna have to beat this clown twice as hard!"

"And you!" she exclaimed as she pointed at me, "What's your name? Nobu? Well you're gonna regret choosing to fight me!"

I decided that now was not the time to correct her on either point, my name or my choice in the matter. I stepped forward to face my opponent. The only kunoichi of the bunch, she was looking pretty angry that Gattsu just obliterated her teammate.

So she's out for vengeance and I'm the target.

I knew I couldn't let my guard drop for a moment or else she'd do to me what Gattsu did to his opponent. But I didn't have much time to think. A moment later, the battle started. Much to my surprise, neither of us moved initially. Then, she started running forward, as did I. As we approached each other, she put her left foot down and used the momentum to swing her right foot into a kick. I was moving too quickly to duck without tripping, and rolling would leave me too defenseless, so I put my arms up to my left to block as I skidded slightly on the slightly slick grass.

Wait, why is it so wet? It hasn’t rained for a couple of days, notable in Kirigakure, and this wasn’t a particularly wet area. What could’ve caused the ground to be recently moistened?

I thought back to the fight that just happened.

Oh, right. Blood. Maybe stop thinking about that and focus on the battle.

As I had been wondering about the spot on the ground, the girl had been fiercely attacking, keeping up an offense ever since I blocked her kick. Right now, I was just looking for an opening, but she hadn’t given me much opportunity at all, hence me thinking about the spot on the ground in an effort to clear my mind and stop me from panicking. I had found that daydreaming was actually a pretty good way to keep calm in a lot of stressful situations.

Still, she has to leave an opening somewhere. Or at least she can’t…

My thoughts were interrupted as she landed a blow to my gut. I took two steps back as I saw her about to throw another punch, this time with her left. This punch, however, didn’t have nearly the strength or the speed the first one did.

She’s trying to see if I’ll counter-attack.

It was then that I realized that despite her quick attacks, all she was doing right now was trying to find a weak spot in my defense, just as I was trying to find a weak spot in her offense. That’s why, despite her seemingly aggressive battle tactics, she waited a moment before charging at me. She wanted to see what I’d do. And right from the get-go, specifically because I too hesitated before charging at her, she knew I fought defensively. And that allowed her to test me offensively. And when it doesn’t look like the offense will tire out soon, eventually a hole will appear in the defense.

When facing a smarter opponent, it’s probably best for me to change up my style. The only way I’m coming out on top of this is going to be through trickery and surprise.

As her fist came near me, I redirected it with my right hand and brought my left hand up to try and hit her face. I saw her smile as she easily dodged out of the way of my fist, trying to pull her left hand back towards her as she did so. But she had gotten too cocky, and she had gotten too close. I tightened my grip and pulled her in closer. As she slipped towards me, I shifted my body weight, and with my left arm still outstretched from the punch, elbowed her hard in the face, using the two leverage points I now had to bring her to the ground.

WHAT?!? That actually worked! That was awesome!

She looked up at me with a fierceness in her eyes above a now-bloodied nose as she used her legs to kick mine out from under me as she kneed me in the chin.

Ouch.

I was dazed for a moment, but a moment was all she needed. She twisted my arm around to behind my back as she simultaneously pulled me to the ground while lifting herself up. I tried to twist myself out, but only half-succeeded and landed on my side. Still, in order to not break my arm, I had to land with my captured arm facing up and my free arm now trapped on the ground. She got a few more good hits in before her sensei told her to stop. She had won. I had lost. The battle was over.

Bloodied and defeated, I staggered back to my team with my head held down in shame.

“I’m so sorry sensei, Gattsu, Iro. I failed. Please don’t keep the others from going on tougher missions just because of me sensei. I can improve. And I’ll stay back, just like you said.” I said quietly.

And after Gattsu had done such a good job, I felt absolutely useless.

Sure I’m not a taijutsu specialist, but I at least thought I’d do a better job than that.

I worked on cleaning the blood from my face as I sat down on the ground. It was Iro’s turn next. I wasn’t really feeling up to it, but I thought I’d be supportive.

“You’ve got this Iro. You know this, but distance is your friend. Know your strengths and you’ll destroy this guy. Break a leg. Specifically his,” I offered through a slightly-bloodied smile.

WC: 1115
Total WC: 2936

"Okay guys follow me."

Iro listened as he kept pace with his sensei. He moved when he moved and he made sure that he was effecient. It didn't matter if they weren't training already, he was too excited. The trip was rather short as they walked up on the training area pretty quickly. Kenshin stopped and started speaking again.

"This is where we will hold our first training session. We are going to be doing some basic sparring. No jutsu, including any clan abilities. We are going solely off of physical combat here. We are lucky enough to have another squad leader around that i asked to bring by. This is another squad of fresh genin, they are more than aware of the no jutsu rule. Academy techniques are allowed though, as substitutions and the like are pretty common in hand to hand combat."

The other jounin also added in that Iro would be fighting the guy with the sword. That was fine with Iro though, he would rather fight a person with a weapon anyway. He nodded and a few moments later Gattsu offered to take on the first opponent. He was bigger and he sounded confident, so Iro wasn't too worried. To tell the truth, the match was short lived. Gattsu waited patiently and picked his opponent apart. Iro smirked at how impressive the Genin was in combat. He would make a pretty good ally. As Gattsu walked back over, he would give a nod of approval.

Nobuya was next and this was the one Iro was worried about. He was sure the kid had talent in his field, but this was out of his comfort zones and they had no knowledge of the enemy. He fought the female, and he did well. He managed to surprise her and use pretty sound judgement to avoid damage for a while. In the end, the sensei called the match. Nobuya walked over as if he had done something wrong, which made Iro speak up. "Don't be sad, you did your best." Nobuya could probably use some reassurance right now. The boy then spoke to Iro.

“You’ve got this Iro. You know this, but distance is your friend. Know your strengths and you’ll destroy this guy. Break a leg. Specifically his,”

Iro snickered a bit at the joke as he walked forward with his spear in hand. He bowed slightly to the enemy, who surprisingly did the same back. At least this one had some manners. They both snapped into ready stances at nearly the same time. From there both moved in. The sword was jabbed forward, going for a quick strike. Using the spear's long handle, Iro tapped it out of the way and used a jab forward of his own. The opponent the jumped into the air, dodging it and landing a few feet back. Iro took the delay as an opportunity. He took two steps and planted the end of his spear. He used the pole section to vault himself forward and aimed a kick at his chest.

The boy was surprised by this athletic movement, bringing his arms up just in time to block the kick. Iro landed gracefully. He saw the flash of light as the sun reflected off of it's surface. The kid was trying to use a sweeping attack to limit Iro's movement. Normally, he would just use his clan technique, but it wasn't allowed. Iro then bent backwards dodging it, but a few seconds more and he would have lost. This was too close for comfort. He used the momentum from leaning forward to turn. A spin with full extension on his spear was the plan as he made a quick spin, aiming the spear to land on the boy's shoulder. It seemed that guys' reaction timing just wasn't keeping up. He was late, causing him not to take damage, but be forced to the ground as he blocked.

In a flash Iro was on top of him, spear pointing at his chest. "I think that will settle it." Iro said calmly as he raised his spear and extended a hand to him. He helped him up and the returned to his teammates. "it looks like I won. So sensei, what do you think of our matches?" He turned to Kenshin with a kid like expression for the first time, showing his pride on his face for how well he did.

[750 + 1384 = 2134]

Each student was now about to fight and it had Kenshin a little excited. He watched intently as Gattsu stepped up first, He knew the other kid not to have any sort of close combat specialties, but Gattsu obviously did not. It was an interesting way of fighting. Relying on mostly boxing was unique and yet it worked.The other kid did well, but Gattsu overpowered him pretty quickly. He showed patience and great decision making during the spar. He was actually impressed, and that was a good thing. Gattsu walked back over after breaking some bones and Kenshin turned to him. "Nice job, but next time lets not break our sparing partners." He said with a look of secret prid over his willingness to prove his strength.

The next match involved Nobuya and a kunoichi. She looked like a pretty fierce girl and had an attitude to back it up. Kenshin knew that she could use taijutsu decently, so Nobuya was already at a disadvantage. The match started and Kenshin made sure he was watching closely. The sealer was actually holding his own. There were some nice dodges and the slam was pretty impressive to execut against someone who knew taijutsu more. However, she eventually took control and had his twisted up as she landed a few hits. She stopped at the sound of her sensei's voice, and Nobuya walked over looking defeated. "You did well. The point wasn't for you all to win. It was to see what you did in a bad situation and you adapted well. Good job." His honesty was aparent as he watched Iro step up.

Because of the fact that weapons were involved, this one was a little different. Kenshin was ready to move at a moments notice, just in case it went south quickly. Iro's spear was another unique style that he was interested to see. The long sword of his opponent should be a familiar weapon to fight against, so it should be fine. The fight actually went well. Iro used his weapons length and momentum to his advantage. Most Sword styles aren't meant to block strikes that heavy, so it put him at a disadvantage. Iro used that to win quickly. The Hozuki walked back over and awaited his sensei's comments. "Smart play with using your advantages. I would have like a little more length in the fight though, to see a bit more of your style." He nodded as he finished, looking towards the other Jounin. "Thanks for helping out. Bye!" With a wave, they ran off heading to a place to go heal their wounds.

He turned back to his students and looked at all three of them. " Now that I have seen that display, I have some idea of your combat ability. I also want to see how you follow instructions, so a mission will take care of that. Overall, you three did well and should be proud. Now we can go get some food." He laughed a bit at his own self as he turned and started walking again. "So any preferences? I'll buy this time since I haven't taken you three on a mission yet." He could actually do with some more money coming in as well. He would make sure to sign them up for a mission soon. For now they would walk until they found somewhere to eat.

[572 + 1509 = 2081]

“I’m so sorry sensei, Gattsu, Iro. I failed. Please don’t keep the others from going on tougher missions just because of me sensei. I can improve. And I’ll stay back, just like you said.”

Nobuyas head hung low as he re-approached his team.

Seems really down for a fight that was stacked against him. should probably cheer him up later.

Only a few moments had elapsed before Iro set out after his foe. “You’ve got this Iro. You know this, but distance is your friend. Know your strengths and you’ll destroy this guy. Break a leg. Specifically his,” Nobuya told his ally, in preparation, with Gattsu merely offering a nod of his own to the young spear fighter. In but a flash, Iro's fight was over, having his opponent pinned after the first major counter.

"it looks like I won. So sensei, what do you think of our matches?"

Note to self: Do not allow myself to be at the business end of his spear.

After Kenshin had spoken to each of the Genin as they returned from their bouts, he turn to face us all and spoke aloud our next set of orders.

" Now that I have seen that display, I have some idea of your combat ability. I also want to see how you follow instructions, so a mission will take care of that. Overall, you three did well and should be proud. Now we can go get some food."

"So any preferences? I'll buy this time since I haven't taken you three on a mission yet."

A meal? I wonder if he'd spring for meat? The stale meat from the rations ran out a while back, and the scraps from the inn get old so quickly.

"So, how would some fried pork sound? I'm in a meat kind of mood."

Gattsu asked his teammates with a grand smile on his face, far softer than the one he wore whilst fighting. Snatching up Nobu and placing him upon his shoulders, he finally brought himself to find the words of assurance to the boy.

"Sucks you lost, but the fight was stacked against you. ive got Taijutsu, and Iro has his spear. Without jutsu, its not exactly a full representation of your skills. Oh, and sorry about the uhh... blood."

I hope he takes that the right way, hes been a bit "squirmy", might be scared. Iro still seems fine though. Difference in combat experience maybe? I should ask Nobu if hes got any fighting experience sometime.

Walking slowly, the group began to leave the park, having spent but an hour or so in the area.

[WC 1305 + 476 = 1781]

Iro's match seemed to start as quickly as it ended. One moment the opponent was charging with his sword, the next Iro had him down on the ground at spearpoint. I was feeling a little better thanks to sensei and Iro's words of encouragement, but I couldn't help but be a little ashamed that I was the only one on our team that lost.

I mean, I graduated the academy too, I should've been able to put up more of a fight than that. Maybe if I had just waited a moment longer, or used the substitution jutsu like sensei suggested...

Once Iro returned, I looked up at him and told him, "That was awesome, Iro! You fought that pretty perfectly!"

As the other team departed, Kenshin spoke to us.

"Now that I have seen that display, I have some idea of your combat ability. I also want to see how you follow instructions, so a mission will take care of that. Overall, you three did well and should be proud. Now we can go get some food. So any preferences? I'll buy this time since I haven't taken you three on a mission yet."

"So, how would some fried pork sound? I'm in a meat kind of mood."

Fried pork is nice. Really the only kind of pork I don't like is when they put it next to cabbage in that awful dish they call 'gyoza.' Eww.

"Oooh, that sounds really good actually. I haven't had fried pork in a while."

As I contemplated whether I knew any specific restaurants that served good pork, I felt myself being lifted up.

What's going on?!?

I looked behind me and saw Gattsu picking me up quite effortlessly, placing me on his shoulders. I looked down at his head as he spoke.

"Sucks you lost, but the fight was stacked against you. I've got Taijutsu, and Iro has his spear. Without jutsu, it's not exactly a full representation of your skills. Oh, and sorry about the uhh... blood."

I smiled.

That was actually super nice of him to say. Certainly makes me feel a lot more like a part of the team.

"Ya know, Gattsu, I think you might be one of the nicest people I've ever met."

I recalled my thoughts about my own capabilities from earlier, and decided now would be as good a time as any to ask.

At least it might show initiative.

"Hey, Kenshin-sensei, could you teach me how to use a bow like yours sometime?" I asked as I pointed to the weapon on his back, still talking from atop Gattsu's shoulders. "If I'm gonna be in the back, it might help the team."

WC: 464
Total WC: 3400

"Smart play with using your advantages. I would have like a little more length in the fight though, to see a bit more of your style."

"That was awesome, Iro! You fought that pretty perfectly!"

They spoke back to back and Iro couldn't help but crack a smile. It was nice to let himself be around people and be normal again. It had been a while. He then waited as Kenshin began to speak again.

"Now that I have seen that display, I have some idea of your combat ability. I also want to see how you follow instructions, so a mission will take care of that. Overall, you three did well and should be proud. Now we can go get some food. So any preferences? I'll buy this time since I haven't taken you three on a mission yet."

The idea made Iro's stomach growl. He hadn't realized how long it had been since he last ate something. He nodded in response, as he didn't care where they went. He was just glad it was going as well as it was. Gattsu spoke up, giving an option. He was all for Pork, as he liked meats more than vegetables anyway. The older Genin then scooped up Nobuya and put him on his shoulders. Iro smiled at the exchange. Nobuya was right of course, Gattsu had proven himself capable and friendly. They were lucky to have him.

Nobuya then asked Kenshin if he would teach him bows. Iro's ears perked up at the idea, as it sounded pretty cool. "Yea, I think learning bows would come in handy too. Maybe I could give you some lessons on spears too Nobuya." He said with a nod towards the youngest of them. It made sense for them all to get some experience with them. Plus Iro wanted to learn all the weapon styles eventually. "There is a place 3 blocks up to the left that has good fried pork. I've been there a few times." He decided being helpful would make the food come faster. He couldn't wait to sit down and eat a meal with his squad.

[365 + 2134 = 2499]

As they started walking, Gattsu imediately suggest pork, which Kenshin was fine with. He then grabbed Nobuya and put him on his shoulders. He was fortunate that they all got along so well. Not evey squad had this much fun together. He smiled at the words of encouragement from Gattsu and the response from Nobuya. Even in the worse situations, he already knew Gattsu would look out for him. Afterwards, Nobuya turned his attention to Kenshin.

"Hey, Kenshin-sensei, could you teach me how to use a bow like yours sometime? If I'm gonna be in the back, it might help the team."

That was actually something Kenshin had been considering and he was glad it was an option the kid was for. Having a sealing bow user could be really interesting. Iro chimed in then.

"Yea, I think learning bows would come in handy too. Maybe I could give you some lessons on spears too Nobuya."

Kenshin couldn't help but nod in approval. "It's not a bad idea. Learning that would give you an option in case someone closed the distance and I couldn't stop them. Plus having us be able to swap positions would help as well." Kenshin's mind was already making plans for his team. Their abilities, plus their willingness to learn had him ready to get stronger himself.

"There is a place 3 blocks up to the left that has good fried pork. I've been there a few times."

It sounded like a winner to Kenshin. A few more minutes and they were outside the door. After a second, Kenshin went in first, picking a table and sitting down. He couldn't wait to get some classic Kiri cooking. Cuisine wasn't as varied back home. He figured they deserved a meal after trying so hard in the training session. Kenshin nodded to Gattsu "I'll let you order, I'm fine with whatever." He sat back and relaxed, happy with how the day was going so far.

[338 + 2081 = 2419]