It would be another start, another assignment, one that may possible hold together, or crumble like the last one. To him, it didn't entirely matter. It wasn't a significant matter, nor would it be a life changing one, but he knew that he would have to pull his weight in order for himself, and the three assigned under him to succeed. That is, if all three decided to show. It seemed his luck came when he was a student, just a genin. Though, that squad fell apart as soon as it was formed. It seemed everyone under that squad was able to succeed in power, stature, and hierarchy in the village. Now, each of the three were notable figures with their former sensei remaining a Jounin. One of the three ended up becoming the Mizukage. The other two, himself and another, became Sannin of the village. His next squad, with himself as a Jounin, resulted in only two of the three showing up on the first day. Though only one seemed to show some form of determination to the purple haired man that stood in an empty courtyard, waiting for whoever showed enough dedication to show up. He never bothered remembering their names, only deciding to do so for the one's who actually decided to show up. Yuudai had sent a message via messenger birds to the three, notifying that they should arrive at the designated location at 10:00 am sharp. He had signed off his full name, though that was more for the sake of formality than anything else.

The other squads he was in, as both a leader and a member, met at the forgotten well on the outskirts of the village. This time, he chose differently. Yuudai felt no need to travel outside of the village, nor was their much significance to that location when he thought about it, except for the times he came across others on random occasion. Letting out a short sigh, Yuudai ran a hand through his hair, making sure not to ruin his ponytail, not that he cared much about it at the moment. The weather was fine, normal for Kiri standards. Not hot, yet not cold. The mist hanging over the village. A somewhat wetness to the air, though mostly attributed to the mist.

With his back facing a single entrance, Yuudai watched as Suichi aimlessly wandered around the area. He knew this location wasn't suitable for combat or training, though he never planned on doing such today. There was far too much going on recently in his mind, preoccupied, that he decided he just wanted to meet the genin on his squad. With both his weapons resting against his side, carrying them around as he usually did so, clad in his westernized clothes, seeing as how he'd probably going out in to the village after things were wrapped up with the squad, he would patiently wait for those who wanted to arrive. If they didn't, Yuudai would already place them in a category that would be difficult for them to escape. With his aimless gaze wandering, Yuudai knew it'd be soon that they would arrive, seeing as how some may choose to arrive early, some on the dot, or not at all. Right now, the time was 9:45 am. Fifteen more minutes, and how he'd feel about the individuals would be decided. They were just another, additional, piece that added to his already growing list of things we needed to address, along with his clan, his personal duties, the situation that recently raised in his life, and now this squad.

Yuudai, sensing a presence, hearing the faintest of footsteps, noticed someone coming in to the empty courtyard. He doubted anyone but the members of his squad would show up, if they showed up. The first person to step in to the courtyard was a female. Based off of appearance, he knew that she did not appear to be threatening, though he doubted appearance alone would give him a sense of who the person actually was. Suichi, who was still walking around the courtyard, didn't appear to be threatening due to his normal appearance, but Yuudai knew for a fact that the creature wasn't as strong as he looked in his current form.  This would be the first time a female was placed on a squad that he led, the only other time he had a female on the same squad was when he was just a genin and Solstice was one of the three members of said squad. Yuudai watched her come to a stop, a few feet away from himself. “Are you the sensei?” Straightforward and to the point, something that Yuudai was familiar with. “I mean – Are you Yuudai-sensei?” He really didn't care how she phrased her question, as he responded with a slight nod. He would wait until the exact time he had given before he would speak up.

A few moments had passed before another person stepped in to the clearing, a male at that. Yuudai watched the figure out of the corner of his eye for a few seconds before closing them. He wondered if all three would show up, or if he'd be stuck with just two... again. The footsteps of the male seemed to pick up suddenly, causing Yuudai to open one eye, watching the speeding figure make his way towards them. He was able to catch site of the boy eying the female. Yuudai hoped the boy didn't act the way he thought he would. Closing his opened eye, he waited a few more seconds, so that the other male would be closer once Yuudai would open both eyes. What he expected, came to be in a sort of fashion, as the boy had latched on to the female of the group, though addressed her as if they had known each other previously, something he didn't care much about. Ignoring the statement, he knew it was almost the exact time he had given for them to arrive.

Clearing his throat softly, Yuudai looked to face the two, to see if the boy would continue to have his hold on the female. He didn't care for the nature of their relationship, but he wanted to get this meeting over and done with for the time being, knowing that this particular encounter would be short due to the previous one's he had been in. But, given that today was the first meeting, he may as well do things properly. "Well since whoever is here is here, lets start with introductions, then everything else later." He still held tardiness or not showing up as something he greatly disliked, something that was subtly hinted at with the tone of the voice he used when he spoke. "I am Aisu Yuudai, the leader of Squad 3. Today won't be long, just mainly pleasantries. Just state your name and whatever else you feel is of some importance. If you have any question about me, just ask and I'll probably answer."

Keiko never was overly fond of quiet people, particularly those who - in addition to simply having a preference for silence - were unresponsive to cues from others. Most of the individuals that she had encountered befitting this description had been shy, unconfident people, lacking the self-esteem to bring attention to themselves by talking. But, as with all things, exceptions had to be made - such was how the world worked. And within the few moments she had spent with her new squad leader, well … I certainly hope he’ll be an exception. A slight movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention away from Yuudai, and to her delight, the source of the distraction was none other than a small penguin, actively moving across the empty courtyard. Eyes following the movements of the seemingly non threatening creature - who she assumed to be Yuudai’s companion, seeing as one didn’t normally happen upon a lone, wild penguin within the village - she barely took notice of the male’s brief, non-verbal response to her question.

It was the arrival of the second squad member that finally tore her attention away, her eyes first noticing that her squad leader appeared to be focused on something - or rather, someone - behind her. Brows furrowing, she managed to turn almost ninety degrees before arms enveloped her, guiding her back to her original positions a few moments ago. A light touch against her shoulder was followed by a startlingly familiar voice, one that incited mixed feelings within her. “Kei-chan~ don’t tell me we’re squad mates! I couldn’t have picked a better partner myself!” Sighing, she shrugged his head off of its perch on her shoulder, hoping that he’ll drop his arms as well. “Stop.” She hissed at him, bringing an arm back to elbow him in the side in what she hoped was a subtle move. Anything else she wanted to say or do was dismissed at the soft sound of someone clearly trying to get their attention.

“Well since whoever is here is here, lets start with introductions, then everything else later." It appeared that they were to start right away, punctually, even though they were clearly missing one more individual. He wasn’t planning on just cutting the third member out simply because of tardiness, was he? If so, then that meant … she’d be stuck with Hayato. Should she be thrilled that this was a chance for the two childhood friends to spend more time together? But a squad wasn’t fun and games, and lately, just spending a few moments with Hayato made her want to tear her hair out. “What about our other squad mate?” She blurted out, suddenly overrun by her thoughts.The purple-haired male continued with an introduction, and she fell silent as he spoke. It was crisp and rather uninformative, really, the only thing she learned from his brief words was his name - and that was information that had been provided in the note. Glancing at Hayato to see if he would say anything, she decided to follow up with her own introduction. “I’m Kitahara Keiko.” What she felt was of importance … Well, seeing as she had decide to use her adopted family name instead of the name she had been born into, it might’ve been smart to add that she was an Aisu as well. But she didn’t feel like it. She never did - anything that had to do with her past gave her an unpleasant feeling. Settling for standard information instead, she added, “Seventeen, born and raised in Kirigakure.”

Hayato rubbed the spot on his side where Keiko’s elbow had connected, mostly for show as the hit wasn’t hard enough to actually cause pain, just enough to push him away. “You’re so cold Kei-chan, even for a Hyoton user,” Hayato teased, “Our own little Ice Queen.” He walked over to Keiko’s side in order to face their new squad leader and listened to him as he introduced himself. “An Aisu, huh?” Hayato mused to himself as he threw a concerned glance over to Keiko, thinking back to her past, “Is she going to be okay with this?”

As Keiko introduced herself, Hayato couldn’t help but notice that the squad was one man short. Curious. Was the third member just late or as this a two man squad? Hayato didn’t really mind either way. If the third member couldn’t be bothered to show up on time for their first squad meeting and didn’t have a legitimate reason for being absent then they were probably better off without them. The life of a shinobi is not forgiving to those who are unprepared and careless. On the other hand, if the squad was only meant to be a two man squad behind this Aisu Yuudai then it only spoke to his abilities. Besides, it wasn’t like Hayato would be particularly upset about having one less person in the group to worry about. That was one less person that he had to worry about protecting as far as he was concerned.

“Well, I guess it’s my turn then. My name is Misora Hayato. You probably have a full report on my abilities from the dossier you received when I was assigned to your squad and Keiko knows me already, so I won’t bother  breaking that down for the sake of brevity. Other than what everyone here should already know about me though? There isn’t much to tell. With any luck we’ll be together for a while so you’ll just have to find out for yourself. So what’s on the agenda for today then?”

The first words that truly registered for Yuudai were the words spoken by the male, pertaining to the female of the group's kekkei genkai, a hyoton user. Well, that was interesting, though he had never seen this individual in the past, as he had encountered pretty much every member of the Aisu clan, or at least heard of their name and probably had passed them by at least once, even if he hadn't bothered to recall every feature. Yet, now he couldn't recall any moments where he had met this individual. Passing off his curiosity, he listened to the two introduce themselves, taking note of names for the time being. Though, before they began introductions, the female of the group seemed to blurt out a comment relating to the missing member of the squad. "Being late could be the difference between life and death. Thus, since whoever the third member is, we will continue without them. As far as I'm concerned, that spot is vacated." With that said, the introductions began for the members of his squad.

The first was Kitahara Keiko and the other Misora Hayato. So, she did not take the Aisu name? He wondered about the circumstances that surrounded her, yet really didn't care much for them at the time being. There was far too much on his mind at the current time for him to worry about the situations others were in. With his future currently being held in the balance, he'd rather have finished with today's meeting and figuring out what he was going to do. Yuudai did make some mental notes about the two, one being Keiko being able to use Hyoton chakra and the other being the Misora seemed to talk quiet a bit. Aside from that, he wanted to know about what was next on the agenda, something he really didn't plan out. Yuudai just wanted today's meeting to be done quickly, mainly because of other things happening in his life lately. "Well, seeing as you two already know each other, there isn't much that needs to be accomplished. If this squad holds up, then it'd be for the best if we get better acquainted. If there aren't any questions, then we can wrap today up. Sate your curiosity now if you want, otherwise I'll send another message for when we begin training, which will probably not be anytime soon, as my time will be occupied elsewhere." With that said, Suichi waddled up to Yuudai's side, waiting for the first meeting to wrap up before he would leave with the Sannin.

Productivity, something Yuudai held in high regard, but today certainly wasn't the day he could dedicate to his squad, nor anytime in the near week or so. Maybe, once everything was sorted out, once he had his own head clear, he could teach them. But, he still had so much to teach himself. His title only shown a side of his abilities, but he knew, clearly knew, there was still something holding him back. Something that would hold him back eternally until he got over the single hurdle. Though that was for another day. For now, he felt that it was best to wrap up his primary meeting with the squad, then find someplace for him to clear his head, for him to figure out what he wanted to do. Letting out a breath of air, a deep one at that, Yuudai turned his attention skyward, certainly thinking about his inner turmoil.

Lost in thought for a second, he heard a squeal, something the made his ears cringe. Heightened senses of a shinobi did that, but there was also the fact that Yuudai kept himself around quiet individuals, or at least attempted to, so his ears never truly adjusted to such a high-pitched, feminine squeal. There was inward thoughts of never wanting to hear such a sound again, as it felt as if he could never truly become adjusted to the level of sound that one noise could make on its own. “Is that your combat pet? Does he have name? What can he do?” That was the source of the atrocious noise that escaped her? Suichi of all things? Releasing a silent groan, his right hand pressed against his temple as Yuudai closed his eyes, letting out a silent breath. The Aisu tried not to let out a external sound, just keeping his musings to himself as he figured out how he would approach the topic. It seemed like something simple, yet he never really had to introduce the penguin beyond the creatures name. "This, is Suichi. You could consider him a combat pet, but he's more on the tame side than actually physically. I suppose his strength would be somewhere near that of a jounin or special jounin." Maybe that was all he needed to do before he could call it here. There wasn't much that he really needed to explain about the creature, and he often began to wonder why the penguin would idly follow him around, even if it had the intent of doing nothing at all.

That was it. For now. If his squad went on to do other things, fine by him, since the last one he had didn't turn out either, so his expectations for this new squad were lower than his original thoughts when he received his first. If anything, he believed they should find their own light if they could, as they could easily achieve their own results. Dependence hurts. Relying on others, though common in the shinobi word, also was contradictory as in the end, everyone looked out for only their best interests. Letting out a short, quiet whistle, Suichi perked up, knowing that it was time for them to leave, to get on with things. Was Yuudai being incompetent as a squad leader? Probably. Actually, he most likely already knew that, and just wanted the day over with. Maybe one day, he'd pick things up.

"Do what you must to succeed. Don't let the label of a squad hold you down." Maybe it was also the fact that he never got along with people that kicked in, that wanted to distance himself from the squad. Was there a potential fear of want? Of the bonds he'd possibly make? Probably. Though, that in itself would only be proven through time, something which Yuudai wasn't giving to anybody at this moment. He knew it wouldn't be soon, and by then the squad may have already dispersed, but there was inner turmoil inside of him, telling him to turn back, face the two individuals and begin with squad-esque duties. But, it was already too late, he had already set his mind on leaving the area. "Find me if you need anything. Otherwise, I'll find you." And with that, the Aisu clan head and the critter that accompanied him left the courtyard.

[exit thread]