New Teachings

[Michelle]

Kakani gritted her teeth. She had expected something like this, but she could not have accurately predicted what. Immediately, new moves flashed through her mind- but which one to use, which one would work? The sensei could go on using clones and they would never touch him. Wait. Keiyou could see clones! Why had he continued his feint if he had seen through Bonkotsu’s trick… ? There was only one explanation; the hawk had something of his own planned. Kakani smiled inside. She had forgotten- Keiyou was smarter than he looked.

Instead of feinting, he had in fact not braked at all. He disappeared into the puff of smoke remaining from the clone’s disappearance, and it had appeared as though he had flown out of range. Her eyes flicked forward- he was standing right in front of her! Before she could even twitch a muscle, he was gone again… to her right! She pivoted on the spot, in time to see a brown blur drop like a stone. Utterly silent, Keiyou had dropped from the last shreds of mist no more than two feet above the sensei’s head. His wings were folded tightly to his sides, but they opened just as soundlessly and his talons extended- this was no feint.

Quick thinking, she whipped four shuriken out and flung them with her best accuracy at his ankles. He would immediately spot them, and would have to avoid them either by jumping or moving to the side. Now, her team-mates were on either side, so perhaps if he moved to the side they could touch him. But, to insure that he did not jump to either side and completely avoid Keiyou’s blow, she whipped four more kunai to either side of him with her free hand- her flute safely holstered on her belt again. There was one last option for the sensei- and that was behind him… right into Raidon!

[Tomoko Kaida]

Raidon's eyes widened, though he wasn't startled - suprised, perhaps, but not startled. Just like a jounin to do... He landed, and his suprise turned to startlement at the clang of his weapon meeting a kunai. Then, without even knowing it, he was falling towards the ground. I'd had never expect him to hide in the smoke of his clone... Raidon caught himself before he fell, twisting and landing on his feet. His weapon nearly clattered to the ground before he snatched it up and stood.

Raidon's eyes flashed to Kakani. No doubt she had another plan, but just incase his fingers swiftly swooped to his pocket, clutching the ring of three shuriken with his fingertips. Raidon smirked, impressed with the girl's skill. Cut off the top... the bottom... the sides... leaves Rai. Something clicked in his mind, telling him the jounin could easily deflect this attack as always, and thus he whirled his weapon back into an attack position and rushed, flinging the shuriken as best as he could at Kotsu as he towards his back.

The shuriken free from his hand, he extended his arm as far as it could go. At best he could maybe poke him in the back, if not stab him with his weapon. Yeah. Right. Don't get your hopes up. Raidon turned his head quickly and flicked his eyes from Raven to Kotsu before turning his head back to watch where he was going. Raven had ever opportunity open right now: She could do anything and almost anything would help them - except running away, really. Raidon's smirk grew into a slight grin before it disappeared, knowing full well this was certainly not the end of the battle here.

[Tsukiyo Raven]

((Please, excuse the crappiness. >.>))

Though she hated to admit it, Kakani was smart. Smarter than her. Raven's mind had raced with all sorts of ideas when their previous one had failed, but had been too rushed to settle on one. A new respect for Kakani arose within her, and she submitted to the younger girl's intelligence and quickness of wit.

Though Bonkotsu-Sensei was a Jounin, she was a little bit surprised. His movements were fast, faster than she had expected. Raven mentally chastised herself for being so stupid. Of course he was fast! He was a Jounin! What had she expected?

Raven watched Kakani carefully, looking for any sign of direction, to see if she wanted her to do anything specifically. Not seeing any, Raven settled on when she saw an opening to see what she could do. Thanks to Kakani's plan, there was a wide open spot. Performing the hand seals quickly, her form shimmered, and split into three.

Then she did something rather strange. Raven dismissed her two clones, and they dissapeared in two bursts of smoke which enveloped her. She dissapeared for only a second. From the mist, three images of Raven ran forward, reaching for Bonkotsu-Sensei. Then, from above, one more fell from the sky towards Bonkotsu-Sensei. The one from the top threw three shurrikens from the top, making sure that he could not go up. If all went according to plan, they would have him trapped.

[Inuzuka Bonkotsu]

Smart kids he had to admit, but not close enough. They had better do better then this to capture him. Tilting his head as he heard a faint whisp of a bird's wings. So they were using that bird as a distraction again. No it was a trap, they were using the bird as a trap. Not bad, but he had seen better. Tilting his head as he barely caught sight of kunais, shurikens and clones. Clever clever genins, but not enough. He knew there were many escape routes for his type. He knew exactly how to weasel himself out of a trap, he had done something like this once before. Those kids will learn quickly though. But they had better do quicker then this.

Toukon caught sight of the bird. Wrinkling his maw in disgust. Slowly emerging from his hiding spot and growling quite loudly. Slowly arching his back as he started to change. This was going to teach the kids further. Give them a new variety to their training. But the dog wasn't as pleased as Kotsu was. With quick movements, the dog was now much bigger and slightly demonic then before. Swiftly lunging towards the kids, saliva emitting from his fangs down his mouth. Claws scraping across the floor as he leaped towards the bird, before diverting his attention towards Kakani. A direct attack, but the dog was way to soft for that.

He lunged for the child, mouth agape as if he was going to eat her, but he halted. Fangs barly visible as he stared at her in shock. Eyes widen slightly before he leaped back. Slowly becoming his normal self and leaping for the hawk once more. Spinning around as wind gusted around his legs. Curling his lips into a snarl as he bared his fangs at the genins. Growling a slight warning that he would protect his master. Latching his fangs onto one of the kunai and tossing it towards the ground. Growling once more as he half-glanced to them. Still displeased with their movements.

Kotsu watched his dog from the corner of his eyes. Quickly with swift movements, disappeared and toss kunais at each diversion. Making Raven's clones disappear and clining against each of their weapons. Quickly appearing behind Kakani and attempted to close his claws among her neck. Slowly lending to her. "You are a smart girl, you should figure out a better status." He smirked and leaped backwards, waiting for another worthless plan.

[Michelle]

Kakani’s eyes widened momentarily as the dog froze, so close to her face she could count his teeth. Her pupils snapped back into normal size as the dog withdrew, Keiyou shrieking and climbing above the dog’s reach, barely clearing the fangs, and losing a few feathers in the process. The girl’s eyes narrowed, narrowing so far they became fiery slits. ‘I am not going to fail this test. Whatever he does, I will throw myself into this.. I cannot fail.’ With that thought burning in her mind, she took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She exhaled, letting the air rush out of her and opening her eyes.

She had calmed herself. Her objective was clear in her mind’s eye, and she merely let herself stand. She did not try to think, she did not plan. And slowly, slowly, what took only what could be eight seconds, it came to her. What she had to do- something that would work because it could not blunder, not in this situation. Was she ready.. ?

Yes.

It was a jutsu her brother had taught her, though her parents not only thought he didn’t know it but didn’t think she would be ready for it anyway. Hibiki Shinzui no Jutsu- the Sound Essence Jutsu. With a sudden burst of movement, her flute was in her hands and she played eight notes, up and down all over the scales and one or two notes sounding like they didn’t belong to a scale at all…

And she vanished.

Utterly and completely gone. But the sound was not! The same eight notes repeated themselves over and over, jumbled, out of order. The sound quickly became loudest around Bonkotsu, clear, bursting notes of sound. Then Kakani reappeared- directly above Bonkotsu! Not a foot above, not even half a foot- no more than half a centimeter. The jutsu had been simple- it was not even terrible effective if you meant to attack someone… played correctly, the user would dissolve into sound, just like those from the Village Hidden in the Mist could disappear into the mist. She could then rematerialize where she chose, but she had to do so before the notes repeated themselves fifty times. She had obviously chosen to reappear in the best spot she could- and had done so. There was just about no way to dodge this, but she held her breath for that one frozen moment in time as she came back into visible being. At the very best, perhaps she could knock him over, and give her team-mates time to touch him. At the very least, she was sure she could bursh him even if he moved at the speed of light... 'I was being stupid. Why didn't I think of the Hibiki Shinzui no Jutsu before?' Inwardly, she knew that it had been because she had not trusted her instincts, and had tried to plan out the steps they took.

[Tell me if this is too out there. ]

[Tomoko Kaida]

Raidon wrinkled his nose angrily. This wasn't working. For every attack he had a counter attack. His weapon met nothing but air. Raidon was really done with these fancy plans for now. They had to act, and quick. His eyes flashed over to the dog as it leapt at Kakani.. and then stopped? Drawr. Confusing ninjas, these two really were... if you could call the dog a ninja. His head turned fast to refocus on their sensei, blinking in confusion when Kakani began to play her flute again... then disappeared and reappeared above the sensei by almost nothing. As soon as the girl reappered, Raidon had darted in their general direction, flipping his staff around so that the plain metal cap was the one aiming for Kotsu.

Rai's eyes narrowed as he tensed partially, ready to swing his weapon aside if the jounin were to disappear so Kakani wouldn't be the one to meet the end of his weapon.

(bleh. I had nothing to post, really >< sorry for the craptastic ness of it all)

[Tsukiyo Raven]

Raven, seeing Kakani's jutsu, grinned. She WAS clever. Jounins may be able to counter many things, but the laws of Gravity? Could a Jouning even do that? She doubted it, and she hoped she wouldn't regret it later.

Using the oportunity that Kakani had opened, Raven drew her quarterstaff from her back, dashing quickly towards her Sensei and her teammates. All the while, however, her eyes watched Toukon as well as her Sensei. She would NOT let that dog interfere this time. The dog had nearly taken a bite out of Kakani last time...what if he went a little overboard next time? No. She wouldn't allow it.

Raidon had his weapon out as well, and both of them used a staff-like weapon. Huh. Go figure. It seemed Toukon only interveined when he thought his master could be harmed, which meant when they used weapons. Raven's eyes darted from Toukon to her Sensei quickly as she dashed in.

((Pffft! They're better than mine, Raidon! XD))

[Inuzuka Bonkotsu]

The jounin grinned deviously. The genins had worked so swell together to attempt on touching their sensei. It was so enjoyable to see those kids thrive so hard to become full genins. And if they were to succeed, he'd enjoy having them go on tough missions. That is if they pass this test. He had never pass any genin in his lifetime. Why? Because they were all bull-headed kids that thought to highly of themselves. While attempting to catch the object of the test, they failed to realize the most important thing of it all: Teamwork. Despite Kotsu's stubborn and anti-social behavior, he still expected those kids to learn teamwork. He wasn't going to let those kids fall back onto his own mistakes.

Tilting his head as he saw Kakani play her flute and then disappear. Hearing the sounds so swell, his kine sense of hearing was that of a dog's. He smirked and rolled his eyes, tilting his head as he barely saw her and her team mates go all at once. The same effort they had always been trying for the past minutes. Or was it hours? He had never kept track of that. He sighed and shook his head. He waited there instead of moving. The team had successfully caught him and just barely touched him. After he had learned he was defeated, he leaped aside.

Dirt and dust picking off the ground. Coughing slightly as he crouched there. Holding his shoulder, he was grazed by Raidon's weapon. He grinned, his dog-like fangs showing. He laughed for a few moments, his body heaving. He straighten himself up and flexed out his claws. Cracking his neck and shoulders as he looked to them. "Congratulations..You kids passed." He paused. "Not only did you manage to score the object of the test, but you also learned a very important lesson. Teamwork." He rolled his eyes. "Be lucky, you're the first team I passed." He waited.

[Michelle]

Kakani had brushed him just barely as she landed. She landed lightly, then stood, sliding her flute back into her belt. Touching him had been… difficult, to say the very least! She had been forced to pull out several tricks, and even then it had not been enough until now. She knew he had let them touch him- if he had really not wanted them to pass, he would have stayed out of reach. She figured he had seen something else in what they had done to pass them. Relief flickered briefly through her eyes, but it was only a flicker and other than that she looked as she had when she had arrived. She certainly didn’t feel it. The jutsus she had used had definitely eaten some of her chakra. She glanced over at Raidon and Raven, who seemed to be the same as her as far as she could tell.

She turned to Bonkotsu, just as he spoke. As expected, he reported that they’d passed. Then, though, was the surprise. They’d been the only ones he’d passed? She wondered why. Teamwork didn’t even cross her mind, because that lesson had been driven into her by her brother. Try her hardest on her own, but if placed in a team, she was not to think of them as things that would slow her down but as tools she could use to get the job done. Honestly, she didn’t think of them as valuable team-mates. Not yet, anyway. At the moment, they were only objects she could use on a mission, whether it be mending a fence or fighting an enemy. That way, if either of them got hurt, it would not affect her other than probably irritating her and forcing her to ‘fix’ the person if she could so he or she could be used again. Such was her defense.

She nodded, acknowledging Bonkotsu’s words. Then, she asked, “When is our first mission?” She was unsure, but she thought most Genin got their first mission the day after they passed. Personally, it didn’t matter to her- if her told her to get up and go on an escort mission right now she would. Always, she had her objective in mind, if not foremost in her thoughts, and this Genin, Chuunin, Jounin order of business would suit her goal better than anything else she could think of.

[Tomoko Kaida]

Raidon stopped fast as he leapt away, grinning to himself as the few moments of silence they got while the dust settled passed. He'd seen Kakani lightly brush against him, and had felt the bare slight pressure of his weapon. Apparently, Raven had touched him too, which was why he slowly turned and carefully began to minimize his weapon again. He plucked the caps off and pocketed them idly, sliding the metal back together and placing the weapon in the rightful place of it: Rai's little weapon pouch. His yellow eyes completely missed checking over his teammates as he normally would've, instead remaining intent on Kotsu. Had he been a dog, his ears would've perked up high to listen better to the jounin. Though, it wasn't like there was so much racket he could barely be heard. Time seemed to tick forever for their verdict to be passed. He said he'd pass them if they touched him... but perhaps they'd done something completely wrong. Not that Raidon knew what that could possibly be, however. Finally, after what seemed to him to be eons of waiting, Kotsu spoke. His words rang in Raidon's head with a happy echo.

"You kids passed."

Like Kakani, Raidon was suprised of what he said next after the important what-they-learned segment. "Be lucky, you're the first team I passed.". Raidon's eyes widened for a moment. They really were lucky, if no one had ever been passed before. Raidon straightened and smiled softly. Lucky, congratulations, nothing. They really had to try hard to pass this test and do it well enough that they were the first. Raidon turned his head and watched as the sun began to break the horizon. It had taken them a while... and in the dark, too. But, they had passed. They were real genin now. They were real ninjas.

Raidon's head finally turned to his teammates when Kakani asked her question. Their first mission? Raidon had taken Kakani to be quite sure of herself, confident, and clever, but not someone who liked to rush things along. However, the male genin wasn't a mind reader, and he didn't know at all if she was just dying to do all her missions and become a chuunin, or if she was simply asking out of curiousity. Raidon sighed inwardly as he remembered that genin, especially new genin, got no fun missions. It was mostly walking dogs and weeding or keeping elders company if they had nothing to do. Of course, Rai would preform said missions proudly, no matter how boring or ridiculous they were.

"I hope we don't a D-Rank that's too boring to start with..." Rai mused idly, sticking his hands in his pockets idly and fingering the metal cap he had removed from his weapon. "But, aside from that, before we launch completely into a new topic, congrats on a job well done, I guess." Raidon's sleep had certainly drained away, and so had his no-nonsense fighting demeanor. He was back to friendly-mode, giving both Kakani and Raven a bright grin. Though he never had been a morning person who wakes up early to try and beat a jounin, Raidon sure could pretend.

[Tsukiyo Raven]

Raven's gloved hand brushed Bonkotsu-Sensei's arm lightly. Raven's body twisted, and landed with a soft thump on her feet. As the dust settled, Raven gazed at her hand. She had touched him, but it felt slightly like an empty victory: Bonkotsu-Sensei had let them touch him on purpose. Apparently, they had done something right? Had it been teamwork? Ever since she was small, Raven had been a loyal little thing. The fact that no one wanted to hang around her was of little consiquence.

You kids Pass.

Something clicked within her. They had passed. With the help of her two teammates, she was now a real ninja, a Genin. A new feeling arose within her. Was this pride? It was a new feeling for her, to be proud of something. Up until now, she had merely been a wraith, not solidly clinging to anything, therefore having nothing to become proud about. It was a....nice feeling, she decided. Her new-found pride was also for Kakani and Raidon. Without their teamwork, they all would have failed long ago.

Raven was compelled to congradulate them, to thank them, to wish for more success for the future. However, it never quite came. Raven was, to say the least, not one to express emotions. It was not that she did not want too, but in fact it was the opposite. She wanted to with all her heart but, the fact was, she didn't know how. Since being shipped away by parents she loved, Raven had just stopped carring one day. Academy days weren't much better, as she was constantly shunned by the other students. She had just gotten used to getting by on her own.

Until now. When Raidon flashed her a grin, she tried her best to return the grin, but it came out as more of a frown. Perhapse, with practice, she would get better at interaction with her teammates. "Uh...yeah.." She said in response to Raidon. "You too..." Kakani's question had not startled Raven. She too was egar to start her first mission as well. She was not in such a hurry to begin right away, however. Raven shot Kakani a calculating glance, her eyes reflecting ... what was it? Respect? Who knew. Raven waited for Bonkotsu-Sensei's reply.

[Inuzuka Bonkotsu]

Toukon tilted his head as he padded over to his master. Circling the jounin to make sure his body was not damaged during the fight. Of course all of this was entirely pointless in the first place. Kotsu had his ways of keeping from getting to injured in the fight. If all went well, he usually was never touched by anything but dirt. Shocking as it was, it all depended on how well you trained and how hard you thrived to get things done right. Also Kotsu somehow was able to heal himself and endure alot more then a normal human. They say it is because of an inner demon within his beloved master. He halted and stood beside Kotsu.

Kotsu smirked at the genins' ambition and eagerness. This all seemed pleasing in someway or another. He shook his head and turned his back towards them. Not even bothering to utter a word. His mind pondering endlessly over the fact. It was quite pointless to give the genins a direct answer. But if all went his way correctly, they should be getting more challenging missions. But the Hokages wouldn't allow a simple genin to go on ranked C's or B's or even A's. That was why he hated training genins. The missions ranked D were always so boring.

"I agree. Rank D missions seem so boring and not even a challenge. Anyone can walk a dog or water the plants. Or even pick garbage from a littered yard. But it takes a real ninja to prove themselves on a ranked A or B mission." He half-glanced to them. "Some ninjas come back alive whether they be scarred or else killed in action. Other wise known as KIA." He paused. "But it's not my decision to make the rank missions. It's the Hokage. Unless you can convince the Hokage for a better mission, you're stuck." He shrugged. "As for starting our mission, soon."

[Michelle]

Kakani listened silently, inwardly acknowledging. She knew all of this already, but found no point in stating it and wasn't paticularly irked by him confirming it. She would walk a damn dog if it meant getting her to the next level, but she couldn't promise the dog would enjoy it. The girl wasn't fond of strolling, and the animal would probably be hard-pressed to keep up with her pace. Same went with the rest of the missions- they were petty in her eyes, and she wanted to begin serious training as soon as she could. Her eyes narrowed at the thoughts of days of gardening and mundane chores, but she didn't really have a choice.

Mentally, she shrugged it off and snorted lightly, contempt lacing her thoughts, before forgetting the matter entirely. It was for another time. Tactful, as usual, she spoke up again. "Are we dismissed, or do you mean soon enough that we should wait?" Personally, she disliked asking questions but she wanted to find out whether they were staying or if she could go home and finish reading a techique scroll she had been studying over the past few days. In a nearby tree Keiyou karked discontentedly, sensing his mistresses own discontent. He had always been closely linked to her and now was no exception. 'These two here, my 'team-mates'... are not driven enough. If I am to work with them, or use them at all, I must find a way to make them work harder. They are not treating this utterly seriously, despite that they think they are. Until they treat every obstacle like a life and death situtation, not a I-don't-want-to-fail-just-because-I'll-go-back-to-the-Academy.'

She spared them a glance, plans churning in the back of her mind. In the end, they might end up hating her- but it would be nessecary... she would find out what caused them the most pain... and use that to trigger their true determination. Slowly, her titian eyes turned back to this new sensei of hers, Bonkotsu. He was obviously not fond of them, nor she, him. For now her judgement rested, but she would eventually find out how seriously he took teaching his new Genin trainees. She would not settle for a teacher that would not put his time into teaching his students, just like she would not tolerate students that did not give every effort.

This was not recess anymore. D-rank missions or not, training was about to begin.

[Tomoko Kaida]

Raidon stuck his arms out of his pockets and folded them neatly across his chest. It was fairly loathesome, the fact that all they could do at the time was drag around puppies and rip weeds from the ground and so on. Maybe if they prayed hard enough a really boring mission, a bunch of chuunin from another village would hop by and ask for a spar. Yeah. Right. If they ever did, Kotsu would most likely kick their ass back to their mother's house and they'd still be stuck. It wasn't like Rai, Raven, and Kakani were going to march up to the hokage and demand that they do something more fun. This was what every genin team did, and there would be no exceptions. It's not like they could do anything by force. Yeah, Rai could see that. The three of them ganging up on the hokage and whacking his head with a book until he gave them a decent mission. No... actually, what he could see was Kakani the introvert glaring at them from the doorway to the Hokage's office, Raven reluctantly kind of looking between the door and the Hokage, while Rai stood there with a book behind his back completely silent and unwilling to go bash in the greatest ninja of their village's head. So, scratch the whole lets-convince-the-hogake thing for now.

Raidon glanced at each member of his new team in turn. He already had a pretty good idea of what he was dealing with: a team of serious, quiet introverts. For the mainly extroverted Rai, this would prove a challenge. How was he supposed to get along with a girl who is so serious she doesn't look like she'd ever had fun in her life, and another girl who tries to barely to smile all she could do is frown. Rai actually had no grudges against the sensei. It wasn't like he'd voice them if he ever had one... or ever think it. He just wasn't brought up that way, the one way where you feel free to speak your mind to everyone and get your ass kicked numerous times because of it. Not to say that Raidon was weak... just nice is all. Rai looked back to the sky. Despite being perhaps the boringest member of the team personality wise, Kakani was clever and skilled. Rai had passed the academy with top marks in all his classes, but he never really applied his skills as often as he should have. Realizing only now that it was a grand mistake not to do so. Of course, it was in the past. If he trained in the present, right now, every day, the future would be brighter for him.

Raidon redirected his thoughts to the other new genin, Raven. She appeared to be just as serious as Kakani, if not a little less. She, however, did try to obtain the general humanity given to her when she was born. And, she had a staff weapon too. Though that was completely unnecessary to his general overview of her, Raidon thought it was cool. He loved staffs, considering his own favorite weapon was his blade-tipped metal one. With time, Rai could get used to both introverts, he hoped. Rai could get used to the jounin in less than a day, he suspected. The genin was just that way with adults, trying not to cause too much trouble with them.

Raidon lowered his head again and peered at Kotsu. He'd said soon, which was a sure sign of good. Rai was just as eager as the others to get started training and to preform missions. Wasn't there a certain number of missions one team had to do before being able to be entered in the chuunin exams, if their jounin selected them? All the better to get started sooner.

"If it's not rude to ask," Raidon started in a generally toneless voice, though eagerness and enthusiasm was itching to burst out of it (but it didn't, because Rai was pretty sure that their sensei wouldn't like him practically jumping on his head and demanding they started faster wouldn't be very... well, good), "but how soon?"

[Tsukiyo Raven]

Raven stayed silent as the others asked questions. Whatever their Sensei would have them do, she would do it, and at the time specified. Until then, she had no need to ask when they would get going. If they went soon, now even, then she would go. If they went later, she would go then too. It was of little consiquence to her WHEN they did it, as long as they got it DONE.

Raven felt Raidon's eyes on her, and she felt slightly uncomfortable. The only time people ever stared at her was when they were staring at her eyes. Her eyes...they were a nucisance to her. Sometimes, her pupils would dissapear all together, and it would just be one mass of colour. Luckily, they were their normal sage green colour, pupils included. Still, Raidon's gaze was on her. It was strange....why was he looking at her?

And now, she had to. Raven looked up and met his gaze. His face got her thinking. He seemed so....blissfully aware. He seemed not to care at all, and just hung loose and had fun: The oposite of Kakani and herself. Bot she and kakani were serious, while Raidon was only serious when need be. It made her feel...what was it? Envious? Yes...she wished she could be like Raidon. Alas, however, she held onto things far longer than need be. That was why she was such a fool.

Compared to the other two, she felt weak and hopeless, a mediocre ninja. The other two thrived, while she kind of just existed. Both of them were so talented..and what did she have? One jutsu, some Taijutsu, and a staff. It felt as if she was holding them back. Well..that would just have to change, wouldn't it? She was the oldest, and yet, was the most useless. Determination welled up within her. She did NOT want her teammates to fail due to her incompetance. She would train day and night if it meant getting better. She wouldn't let her team, nor her Sensei down.