It had been about three weeks time since the squads had been chosen and their training started. Already there was beginning to be some squad rivalry occurring, which was by everyone's standards a good thing. The lodging that was secured by the Volcano Village's Elders was sufficient enough to house all of Beta Squad. Just as the house secured by Alpha Squad's Oita Watanabe was more than enough to house their squad as well. As of yet, however, no missions have been handed out to either squad. It seemed as though the Council was still uncertain as to whether or not the squads could handle working as a team. But the Squad Leaders felt that was soon to change...
Ishiaki met with Tsu in his favorite Ramen shop. "I think they're ready. It's been 3 weeks, plenty of time for them to get acclimated to each other's fighting styles and abilities. I think the Council just needs some convincing." He paused to take a bite of his lunch, beef ramen with sauteed shrimp. "A little display perhaps?"
Hinji sat at a small little eatery on the main road. The food wasn't great but every table had a very large umbrella over them blocking the sun out splendidly. He slowly ate a bowl of rice as he looked over his charms to decide what new ones to make.
Entering the vicinity of the eatery that his teammate was at,
Kano quickly found a seat beside him. "Whatcha workin on Hinji?"
Akane was taking some time off and was relaxing in one of the public bath houses in the village. Entering the bath area in only a towel(and an eye patch), she stepped to the steamy water's edge and removed her towel. Akane stepped in slowly, letting her body adjust to the hot water. "Ahh..." she exhaled as she knelt down and sat.
"I am looking over my summon cards to see what I have used."
Hinji explained, not taking his eyes off the papers. "Going to replace the used ones with some new ones I learned recently."
The robust sound of a guitar followed
El as he wandered down the street, he noticed Hinji and Kano sitting at Hinji's favorite resturant and hurried over. "Que pasa amigos?"--
Hinji stopped what he was doing and looked up at El. "And what does that mean again? I cant remember."
Tsu nodded slightly, chewing her large mouthful of fish hurridly to try and talk to Ishiaki. She swallowed quickly, almost choked, and gasped for air once the lump of fish made it through her throat. "Perhaps. You obviously have something in mind, share it with me."
"It means 'how are you friends'"
Oita said. At least it was SUGGESTED it was Oita, because no one else really staggers around under that much wood without bad splinters or some sort of religious ideal. He had abandoned his pack for the day, gone into the woods around and collected several thick branches to test their resiliance back at his workshop; they could see his knees struggling to support the weight of the wood, almost trembling as he gripped it grimly.
"Do you need assistance?"
Hinji asked, trying to see him behind the branches to make sure it was Oita. "Why dont you have your puppets help you?"
"Helps my training"
Oita grunted as he tried to hold his stance with the logs "If I'm too lazy... to carry the wood... why should I even be allowed puppets?"
"Fair enough."
Hinji said as he returned to his summon cards. He pulled out his ink and brush and some blank cards and began the first marks on his card.
"The Council wants to be sure that the squads can work as a team before assigning any missions. What if we prove to them that the squads can do that?"
Ishiaki asked, then paused to take a sip of his drink. "I think a little practice battle between the two teams could prove beneficial."
"Oh. Cool man."
Kano replied as El and Oita walked up. "You building more puppets or is all that just for repairs, Oita?" He asked him curiously. He had been wanting to see the guy's puppets in action since meeting him and still has yet to get a chance to.
"right now I'm doing tests, seeing if the wood around here is any good"
Oita explained, wondering how long he could actually stand here before his knees fused together. "If it is I might try using it for repairs. If it's good enough THEN I'll use it for a new puppet, if I can think of a new design."
With a mouth full of flat bread
El was unable to answer Hinji's question. A few days after arriving he'd found a shop that served food, not exactly, but similar to what he was used too.
Akane was enjoying her own personal down time in the public bath. There was a bamboo wall nearly thirty feet high that blocked the men's and the women's bath areas. With her hair up and wrapped in a towel, she leaned back against the side and sat peacefully.
"I think if we keep you any longer, you're gonna fall over man. You sure you don't need any help with all that?"
Kano asked him, a little worried he wasn't gonna make it. Even though they were on opposite squads, he still felt as if Oita could be a friend.
"No, but thank you for the offer"
Oita said, grinning from behind the pile of wood "I really must get going... really." With a small grunt he straightened up and began to move forward, practically blindly, heading towards his home.
"Wonder what he's up to?"
El had acquired a perch along one of the low banisters of the shop. Reclining against the post he'd gone back to absentmindedly playing his guitar, attempting the convey puzzlement with his music. This also served as an appropriate backdrop for Oita as he moved down the street.
"Found you." A voice said 30 feet above Akane.
Kaminiri or Kami; as she was being commonly refereed to lately, was perched along one of the bamboo walls, looking down at Akane.
Akane jolted an eye open when she heard Kami's voice. She looked over to see her clinging on the edge of a wall. "Oh... Hehe-- good job? Um... how did you know?"
Kami slid down the bamboo and landed next to Akane's bath "I checked all your favorite places to eat, the arcade, the school, the woods, that market where you bought the bird that one time. I used.... what did Ishiaki Sensei call it?... Process of elimination... that and I found your foot prints three blocks away."
"Uh huh..."
Akane forced a smile, missing her quiet time already. "Did you-" she paused, "need something?"
"It's your turn to find me right?"
Kami asked "That was how this exercise worked correct, "hide n' seek" as you called it?" She took particular care in pronouncing the N and K sounds, wrapping them around her tongue as if this where some native ritual to Akane's home nation.
"Yeaaa....mayb
e after my bath? This is too good... I probably couldn't get out if I tried." Akane exaggerated, blinking slowly as she relaxed again.
"Is the bath at Oita's home not sufficient?" Kami asked sitting down in the dirt to wait.
"Definitely not." Akane said flat out, not wanting to talk anymore. She kept her eye closed as she soaked.
"Is this one of those "Try it for yourself" moments you keep telling me about?" Kami asked, the spot next to Akane's happened to be empty.
"You might want to talk to that woman." Akane lifted a finger and pointed to a thick woman with a stern look on her face at Kami.
"Oh, ok." Kami approached the lady like Akane suggested and disappeared with her for a few moments. Kami returned dressed in a bath towel with her hair wrapped up. "I didn't know you had to pay yo bathe here, should I be paying Oita for my water usage?" She removed her rope and slipped in quickly next to Akane.
"Pff...he offered." Akane said, waking up from her doze when Kami approached. "If he does demand money....run?" she joked.
Kami pondered the circumstances in which the demanding of money would cause retreat. She still wasn't used to live in the big village.
"He said he's testing the wood...Why bother getting so much to test it before you use it though?" Kano asked. He shrugged. "Oh well. I just hope it's good, that way I can see more puppets." He turned back to his other comrade. "So are you always this quiet?" He didn't mean it to sound that made and quickly flustered himself into explaining such.
"I need to focus on my calligraphy while writing my summon cards." Hinji explained slowly as he worked with his brush and ink. "One mistake could have catastrophic results once summoned. Other then that I have never seen a need for prolonged conversation."
Akane yawned and opened her eye to Kami, "See? Isn't this relaxing?"
"Huh. Well I understand the concentrating while making the cards. The last thing you'd want to do is screw up the jutsu." Kano paused and tried to consider his next words carefully. "Does everyone in your village feel the same way?" He asked finally, feeling that they were a most non-insultful manner
Hinji didn't answer immediately. He waited till he put the final stroke on his card and set his brush down before answering. "No, my town has its far share of conversationalists and gossipers. I was brought to this point of view by my first sensei."
"Um..." Kami readjusted herself more comfortable and took in the splendid heat of the water "It is actually, I can see why you would hide here."
"What can I say? I'm the best there is..." Akane stretched out, rotating her neck around.
Kami leaned her head back and looked up at the clouds.
"A strong silent type was he?" Kano asked, trying to strike up a conversation. He looked at the card curiously and added, "So what's that summon?"
Ishiaki set his utensils down and folded his hands over the table. "So what do you think, Tsu? Are they ready to prove themselves?" He was confident of his own students, and hoped that their rivals proved to be just as capable.
"This one will hopefully summon a Shadow Warrior." Hinji said as he attached some string to the card and fastened it to his hat. "It will be the first time I have attempted this particular summon. Hopefully it wont try to kill us."
After a while of silence, Akane opened her eyes without moving and glanced at the reclining Kami. It was strange having her so quiet. Sure, her constant babbling got on her nerves at times but...
Akane reached down under water and grabbed her ankle and quickly pulled it towards her and up out of the water.
Kami went under, sputtering and loosing her towel, she came up gasping "I thought this was a relaxation exercise?" she choked, as she fought back the burning in her nose. "Why would you do that?"
"Hang on a sec...is that a regular problem with your summons??" Kano asked him, about ready to leap backwards to avoid anything from his teammate's summoning cards.
"I have had several instances where I was required to put down my own summons." Hinji explained as he finished putting up his tools into a little pouch. "That is how I learned the grave importance of practicing my calligraphy. One wrong stroke and my enemy gains a teammate."
"I get it." El said "It's like me and my guitar, if I play an attack wrong I can incapacitate myself before the enemy has a chance to."
"That is correct." Hinji said. He didn't realize that El's attacks had the same downfall as his own. It was very interesting.
"Well that's interesting." Kano said with a smirk. "So I'm on a team with two guys who could potentially take out our own team before getting to the enemy? Nice...then again I'm really one to talk, if I aim wrong, my fire can just as easily backblast on us."
"Everyone's power has a weakness. At least ours can be hidden with practice." Hinji said as he started in on his ramen which had nearly gone cold.
"Which is why we practice mi amigo." El said strumming a bit. "Hinji with his paints, me and my guitar. It's a learning process man."
Akane smirked, "Always be on your toes." She took her hands and sliced at the water surface, towards Kami.
Kami dodged, not understanding that it was a game. "Your going to get us removed."
"You want me to warm that up for yah?" Kano asked Hinji with an arched eyebrow. He had the feeling the answer would be no, especially after having mentioned the possibility of backblast.
"Oh quite" Tsu giggled happily, finishing her own food and setting her chop sticks across the bowl "So long as they've been doing the homework I set them..."
"So we shall approach the Council with our plan, and then inform our squads after they have reached a decision." Ishiaki explained, satisfied that she felt the same way that he did
"Should we keep it a secret from the squads?" Tsu asked, licking her lips slowly as there were a few pieces still around her mouth "I mean, it won't make them rivals if we just spring it on them, and it'd give them time to learn the others weaknesses if we told them before hand. Much better to see how quickly they learn and adapt."
"It is fine." Hinji said, "Its temperature does not affect its replenishing capabilities."
"That's part of the game." Akane said, adjusting her fallen towel from atop her head.
"I think they may have already developed a sort of rivalry between themselves." Ishiaki thought, even though it had only been a few weeks, it did seem to have begun developing a little bit. "We could tell them what we plan to do and give them time to prepare themselves, but not inform them of when the Council sets the date. I think that would be best, that way they do not have enough time to be fully prepared and it would truly show how well they have learned."
Kano sat back and sighed. "I hope we get missions soon, this constant training is getting pretty boring."
"Mmmm... perhaps" Tsu admitted, wishing they would have left it the last moment; after all, she really wanted to see their faces when they told the squads. "Should we go to the Council now?"
"I concur, I have gone through too many summon cards during this time." Hinji said with mild irritation in his voice. "I do not think that our sensei understands how much of my time has been spent creating more."
"It may take some time for the Council to gather, but it wouldn't hurt to inform them now so that they may send out word." Ishiaki said, taking his money out and leaving it on the table to pay for their meal.
"Well, next time she comes to get us for training, maybe you should just let her know that? I mean we are supposed to be able to talk to her about things." Kano offered with a shrug
Hinji waved a hand in dismissal. "She will just tell me to work on my taijutsu instead and will solve nothing."
"Mmmmm-hmmmmm" Tsu mumbled, her eyes flashing across the money on the table; her hand flashed out and a note replaced itself with a couple of coins; no need to leave that much as a tip "So we will tell them now"
Ishiaki shook his head lightly. He nodded however. "We'll tell them on our way to inform the Council to hold a gathering."
"Agreed." El said playing a mournful tune "She will only give us a mission when she believes we are ready."
"I wish I had known the rules." Kami said coughing up a bit more water.
Akane looked at Kami sympathetically. "Alright, you and I are friends, right? I just have to ask- what's with the lack of- you know?" she didn't how to explain it, "street smarts?"
Tsu nodded and stretched slightly "If we can manage to find them... How is Akane doing by the way?"
"Honestly? I haven't got a clue. After training today, I gave them the rest of the day off. It seemed a fair thing." Ishiaki explained with a shrug. "I'd imagine that Oita is working on his puppets. The boy works so very hard, it's quite admirable."
Tsu let out a soft "Hmmmm..." noise as if she did not agree with that sentiment. Still she didn't comment, instead just brushing some crumbs she noticed off her clothes "My lot need a moment to restock, Hinji runs out of summoning cards quicker than I like... I'd suggest he let others write them for him but I don't think we have any from his clan. Maybe we should suggest to the council to allow people from different villages to put forward their best scroll scribes..."
"Then again, some of his cards may need for him to be the one to write them. Like a blood contract type deal." Ishiaki offered thoughtfully. "But truly, I do not know the extent of the boy's power and cannot really judge for myself."
"I'll have to ask" Tsu said simply, sighing and looking around slowly at the town as they walked through it.
"I'd never seen a street before coming to this village." Kami said ringing water out of her hair.
"I came from a jungle island, remember? There were several villages scattered all around, but the forest was where the most fun was. But...I still know how to play around." Akane said, fixing her eyepatch.
"You know what, maybe we should just tell them a few minutes before we bring them before the Council." Ishiaki told Tsu as they strolled through the town. "Let's inform the Council and ask that we be permitted to prove them first."
"Good idea" Tsu said, nodding slightly and still scanning the crowds for the pupils; as the crowds thickened she began to jump up, trying to see over taller heads than hers by leaping slightly, and very ineffectually.
"I know how to have fun." Kami said a little offended.
Being the instigator she was, Akane lazily glanced at Kami for a moment, "Oh yea? Prove it."
"I do not believe that day will come." Hinji said remorsefully. "I do believe she doubts our skills as ninjas."
"Then perhaps we shall have to prove ourselves to her next time we train." Kano said proudly. "Or perhaps we should prove to her by doing more training right now! What do you say?"
"What kind of training do you have in mind?" Hinji said with a slight hint of interest in his voice.
"Something that if she walks in on us, it would prove we're good ninjas." Kano explained with a shrug. He hadn't really thought that much into it, just knew that they should probably be training, if she truly thought they were not good ninjas.
"Do you not believe that the current training regimen is enough?" Hinji said upon discovering no specific topic of training had been planned.
"There's always time for more training." Kano told him with a nod. He crossed his arms for a more dramatic pose. "Seriously though, if she doubts our skill, we should totally be training more to prove otherwise."
Kami looked at Akane and thought for a moment "We have to stop this exercise." she told Akane.
Akane just rolled her eye and sighed, leaning back against the side of the bath. She rested her head back and closed her eye, trying to forget everything.
"Fine, I won't prove it." Kami said having done with the subject. Akane often confused her and she didn't like it, she reminded her of her sister.
"Did I not mention how many summons cards I go through?" Hinji said with a slight sigh. "I would have to spend another hour or so replenishing my cards afterward."
"Then don't use your cards?" Kano asked him in a kind of matter of fact tone. "I mean, can't you do anything else? Wow...that sounded really harsh...I mean, you don't have to use the cards for everything do you?"
"Fine, I won't prove it" Kami said having done with the subject. Akane often confused her and she didn't like it, she reminded her of her sister.
Akane relaxed once more, closing her eyes and meditating a little in the hot water.
"My summoning cards are the focus of my powers." Hinji explained, "So far the only other thing I have been able to do is become invisible in shadow and whack people with a special wooden stick."
"Maybe you should work on learning some Tai-jutsu or something." Kano asked him with a shrug. "Maybe because we're so dependent on our personal styles and not really branching out into other forms of jutsu, maybe that's why Tsu-sensei feels the way she does."
"When you spend the majority of your born life in the study of summons you dont get much time to study anything else." Hinji said, gently swatting the cards hanging down in front of his face.
"Look" Tsu said, elbowing Ishiaki in the waist and point to three figures in the distance, barely recognizable. "It's my group... Lets go say hi." She didn't seem to notice she was pointing while her partner was blind.
"I so know what you mean hombre." El said "My hands first touched a guitar when I was just three years. I have had little need for other amusements and distractions sense. And when you accidentally bring down a barn, is best to study harder."
"So lemme get this straight, you guys didn't get a choice? That sucks man! I mean yeah, pretty much everybody in my village is fire style, but it's kinda hard not to be when you live in a volcano...but we still got to choose which direction to take it." Kano explained, "I chose to use it through Tai-jutsu, which I know seems really weird and all, but dude, you ever been punched with a flaming fist? It's awesome."
"They appear to be having quite the discussion. I wonder if my squad is doing something as productive." Ishiaki told her admirably.
"The guitar is a tradition in my family." El said proudly "I am honored to carry it on. I follow in the footsteps of Don El Mariachi, a great sound ninja for who I am so named. I hope someday to even carry his guitar."
"Well I did try and encourage partnership between them all. They are all quite powerful, quite specific... and were quite unable to work together to begin with. Now that I got them talking however they seem to be improving." Tsu nodded sagely and giggled slightly as they got close enough that she thought her students might see her. "oi!" she called out, waving her hand at the three boys.
Before Hinji could divulge the details of his conscription he heard and saw Tsu. He promptly got up and moved in front of them. "Good afternoon sensei."
Kano quickly stood at attention when she arrived. "Is there something you need, sensei?" He asked nervously.
"Well... I might just want to talk to you, I mean you are my students. I'd like to catch up with you..." Tsu said, pouting slightly at her students; she must really terrify them.
El peeked at their Sensi from beneath his sombrero, he'd not gotten used to this whole "Standing at attention" thing.
"So- how's the boyfriend challenge?" Akane asked after a long moment of silence. "Getting any better? saw you two chatting last night at dinner."
"I only asked him what a volcano was." Kami said still a bit disgruntled that Akane suggested she didn't know how to have real fun.
"Oh..." Hinji said shocked. He had expected to be summoned for a mission or more training or something of the like. Instead she wishes to just talk to them. He stood there speechless.
"That's it? Come on, girl! You need to get on that before someone else snatches him up." Akane encouraged. "Though....we are the only two girls and you don't have to worry about me, he's all yours."
"I should probably put more effort into my training rather than try to peruse a boy." Kami told her
"Aww...THEN what will be my entertainment?" Akane complained, opening her eye to glance at her.
"I am wasting precious time I could be training." Kami said getting out of the bath and into her robe. "As are you." Akane's pestering had been growing on her nerves a lot lately.
"What's wrong with you?" Akane asked in an annoyed tone. "Meditation is just as important."
"Just talk?" Kano asked her curiously, his shoulders slumping at the thought. He knew the others felt the same way, they were itching for action! And their Sensei was just wanting to talk...
"Well, we were thinking" Tsu began conversationally "How they haven't sent us out on any missions because they don't know how good you guys are. So, me and Ishiaki were thinking, how about we set the two teams up against each other. What do you guys think?"
"A friendly sparing match?" Hinji asked. "Wouldnt that only prove that the winning team is ready while the losers need more practice?"
"We were hoping to find it a little more active than 'friendly'" Tsu giggled, raising her eyebrows at the boys and staring at them with her huge eyes "And not if you do well enough for both teams to impress with their abilities."
"So the point is not to win but to gauge how much we've improved from our training?" El asked, his question had no musical accompaniment for once.
"A good old fashioned fight!" Kano said happily. "That'll be awesome!" He looked at his teammates. "Seriously guys, we finally get to show off what we can do and afterwards we'll be given missions. Not to mention we get to see how good the others are."
"I do not believe there was a promise of missions." Hinji said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"In the end, it is up to the council" Tsu admitted, bowing her head to one side "But if you do well enough I'm sure they'll give you missions. And honestly... isn't this fight better than anything you've got going so far?"
"The council has decided that neither of the squads are prepared enough to take on missions yet. But we both believe that you six can handle any mission that they give to you. So we need to prove that fact to them and the best way that we could come up with is a little show of your abilities." Ishiaki explained to the three boys.
"Have you told the girls and Oita about this?" El asked
"I am on the way to inform them right now, but we ran into you three first." Ishiaki replied with a polite smile. "None of you would happen to know where they could be would you?"
"Oita passed by several minutes ago carrying three times his weight in wood." Hinji said. "He went that way, I believe to their house."
"And the girls?" Tsu asked, looking at the direction they had pointed for Oita "Are they together or apart?"
"They are most likely together." El guessed "But I've not seem them today."
Ishiaki's eyebrows arched at the description of Oita's actions. "Interesting...well it looks like I will have to summon them." He turned to Tsu and bowed his head politely. "I will leave you to brief your team while I do the same for my own. Hopefully, it shall not take the Council long to gather. The less time we have to prepare, I believe the better the demonstration shall be." With that said, he Ninja POOF!ed out of there.
Kano rubbed his hands together. "Oh man....I can't wait! We're finally gonna see some action!"
"I wouldn't be so excited to run head long into conflict." Hinji said to Kano. "How would you feel if we get decimated?"
"Dude, seriously? We are gonna cream them!" Kano told him confidently. "Seriously! Check it. We've got you with your shadows and your summoning. El with his musical sound waves. And me with my taijutsu and FIRE attacks. What have they got? Puppets, feathers, and...and...you know what? I don't really know wha all that Kami chick can do. But seriously, puppets and feathers dude. Come on!"
"Or you know, keep ignoring me...'cause that's mature." Akane scowled, taking her hair out of the towel, though she stayed in the tub.
"Don't get too confident" Tsu said, raising an eyebrow at Kano "Fighting Oita is like fighting two men at once. Three if he actually throws a punch. Akane can become lighter than air and throw feathers at you... SHARP feathers. As for Kami... lets just say she's in touch with her animal side."
"Where will we be fighting?" Hinji asked curiously. By the sounds of things he is going to be on the defensive the entire match. If he had shadows then he could hide in them and fight from there.
"Probably in the stadium, but there are lots of places they might ask for. We need to decide on the exact place, but probably you'd be the opening show for the stadium, before the graduation fights" Tsu said, completely guessing.
Hinji grimaced, he had seen the stadium before and there wasn't enough shadow there for him to work with. Looks like he is going to have to be summoning on the defensive. He may also need to work on his Taijutsu a bit before the match.
"In the stadium? But that place is so boring! Please tell me they intend to set the stage for such a fight right?" Kano asked in a voice that begged for the attention. "Like lots of trees and stuff? Cover to hide behind, stuff to burn, places to set traps? They want a show, then we need the proper stage."
"I'll not get any where if I don't apply myself." Kami said as she tied her forehead protector on. "I've only got this one chance to impress my father and earn the right to challenge my sister for Kage. She's already years ahead of me."
"A stage would be nice." El said, his eyes all a glimmer for a moment. A stage would indeed be a proper place for him for a demonstration of his talents... the trouble was was that he probably wasn't thinking of the same kind of stage that everyone else was.
"What's with all the dramatic, cliche destinies in our little hodgepodge group of ninjas? Everything is honer this and 'I need to prove myself' that..." Akane rolled her eye, still sitting in the bath.
With a POOF!, Ishiaki appeared perched on the fence of the bath over looking the girls. He held up a hand. "Hey. Been lookin for you two."
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Akane shouted, sinking into the water so her sensei didn't see her breasts. This was a public bath house! People don't wear suits! Didn't he know that!? With an arm, she pushed the water as hard as she could. Controlling the wind, she sent water flying up at Ishiaki. "Get out of here, perv!"
"I'm sure they will set it out as THEY want" Tsu said firmly, but kindly "I will have no say in this. But I'm certain it will not be bare, as ninjas have very little reason to attack in the open."
Kami rolled her eyes at Akane "He's blind!" she told her "No offence sensei. We've been here three weeks and you still forget that he's blind." Kami then took a running jump and monkey leaped the fences corner to the top where their sensei was waiting. "I was just telling her how eager I am to get training again."
"I don't care- that's still freaky rude!" Akane shouted. She took the towel from her hair and wrapped it around her body after she stepped out of the pool. "Even if he's blind- I don't want to be naked in front of my teacher. It's creepy." she said to herself.
"Glad to hear that, Kaminari. Because I've got some news." Ishiaki said, bending backwards to avoid the small wave of water that Akane sent towards him. "Besides, whenever will you two both come to accept the fact that I'm not quite that blind?" He smirked and stood up on the railing. "Anyway, hurry up and get dressed. I will see you back at the house with Oita. This is information to be shared with the entire team. You both know how I hate repeating myself." With a flourish of his hand, he ninja POOF!ed out.
"Either way, Sensei. We get to show what we're made of. It'll be great. When do we start?" Kano asked curiously, practically bouncing up and down with excitement
Akane fluffed her hair and dried herself thoroughly. Going to her basket, she started to dress.
"Hai Sensei." Kami replied and wondered if she should be polite and wait for Akane.
Akane's outfit was a bit complicated and it took her a little while to completely dress. Her sensei's words echoed in her head, "Wait... he can't somehow see us completely, can he?" she muttered. Tieing her belt around her waist, she straightened the seam of her bathing suit-like bottom.
"It's the council's decision, council's decision!" Tsu said, gripping onto Kano's jacket so he would stop bouncing; it was making her feel sick. "We've got to tell the others as well, I think Ishiaki's doing that."
"My grandfather lost half his fingers in an accident and could still preform some of the most complicated jutsu I've ever seen." Kami said still sitting on the wall waiting for Akane.
"And... you yell at me for not wanting him to be around me naked. Alrighty then." Akane said, fluffing her hair before walking with Kami out of the bathhouse.
Ishiaki ninja POOF!ed inside the house that Oita had managed to obtain. "Oita? The others said they saw you heading back here."
There was a lot of noise and smoke inside Oita's house; the sound of hissing as hot metal pressed against something cold, a soft groaning and the soft drawn out grate of wood being worked on. What was worse was it was all coming from behind one door, Oita's workshop. He was either working hard or he was on fire.
Ishiaki quickly moved to Oita's door, knocking on it roughly. He could hear all the racket from the other side, he could only imagine how loud it must have actually been in there. "Oita? Open up."
The noise stopped, the door seemingly surrounded by light as the smoke and dust glowed from whatever light source was behind the door. Oita's shadow passed beneath the door, tracing over Ishiaki before the door opened slowly. Oita peered up at the man, blinking hard from behind a pair of thick goggles; his tools and whatever he was doing previously still remained hidden by the smoke. "Yes Sensei?" the odd little boy asked.
"What I mean is, just because he's impaired doesn't mean he's not formidable." Kami told Akane.
"I don't care if he's blind or not- I don't want the guy around when I'm bathing. It's a bond that I don't care to exactly have with a sensei." Akane said honestly. "Come on, let's move it."
"I've got some news to share with you and the girls. They're on their way back from town now." Ishiaki told him. "You know I don't like to repeat myself, so get ready to hear the news, ok?"
Kami jumped up to a nearby pole. There where 50 ft. tall red long posts set all over town, this way ninja message carriers could quickly bypass the people on the streets below. Kami often used them to navigate around town, it reminded her of zipping threw the trees back home and one could discern their location easier from 50 feet up.
Akane formed a light gust around her form. In her ballerina-like way, she lept easily from light pole to post to gutter. The two made their way back to the house in mere seconds. Perching on the rim of the roof, Akane dropped down and grabbed the edge, swinging her feet into an open window. Her body followed in a delicate, flowing motion. She crouched ever so slightly when she landed. Akane stood confidently and moved some hair out of her face.
Kami made it to the roof and jumped down with out any fancy ballerina moves. Her hair flipped over into her eyes and she; very unladylike, blew it back to where it belonged before walking into the house.
Oita cocked his head to one side after a moment, thinking hard and chewing on his lip for a moment "So, we are finally going to face the other team then? I thought we'd be doing that sooner honestly. But if this is the time you chose then I suppose I have no choice."
"Intuitive lil bugger, aren't you?" Ishiaki said with a chuckle. He shook his head lightly. "Like I said, I'd rather wait until everyone's here to say anything." He looked up as he sensed the girls entering the house. "Perfect. Come on, we'll take this to the living room, much better than discussing it in the hallway." He turned and headed toward the living room
Akane followed her teacher's lead into the living area. She sat herself down on the couch and waited for instruction.
Well it was team based, was serious and they hadn't had a mission yet, Oita had just guessed really. Shrugging slightly he moved to the couch as well, settling the other side of the couch so Akane and Oita were as far apart as possible on the same furniture.
Kami headed into the kitchen and was gone for a few moments before returning with a beverage and some sliced fruit for their sensei. She'd done this to all the visitors they'd received since she'd moved in. It was traditionally polite among her people and she sat the refreshments on the table next to Ishiaki before taking a seat herself
Suck up- Akane thought, reclining back from her posture.
"Thank you, Kami." Ishiaki said, bowing his head in appreciation. He grabbed a small slice of fruit and popped it in his mouth before beginning. "Alright. I'm sure you're all wondering just why it is that you haven't been given any missions yet. Well, the Council isn't exactly sure that you are ready for missions. Tsu and I have discussed it and sent word to the Council to gather themselves..." He paused dramatically and grinned a little as he looked at his students, "...for a demonstration. You will be fighting the other squad as soon as the Council gathers."
Oita simply nodded at Ishiaki, cocking his head to one side "So we must be be sure to show our skills, even if we find the other team easy. We must present a chance to display ourselves..." He sighed slightly and leant back against the couch "Like a peacock." His head turned until he stared at Akane.
Akane felt Oita's eyes on her when she noted his bird reference. She turned her head and met her eye with his. She forced an awkward smile, "Eheheh...right."
"Correct. It does not matter precisely who wins or loses the match, more like how you play the game." Ishiaki offered in explanation. He scratched his head softly and continued. "I have tried my best at training you three and I believe that you are ready to be sent on missions. Now I am not saying that my training would be complete, just that I'm satisfied enough to say you're capable. There is still much to learn, there always is."
Kami became quietly excited at the notion of facing the other team. "Have you decided how we will be matched yet?"
It would be logical to Oita for it to be a team battle... but he supposed a one on one show was more efficient at displaying powers. It depended on what they wanted the outcome to be, he supposed.
"It's going to be a bit weird... almost like it's just another practice. I mean- we're all friends, you know?" Akane added.
"It's going to be a team battle. All three of you against the three of them. How you devise a way to defeat them is up to you and is actually what the battle is about. You could decide to break off and go one on one, or double team somebody. It doesn't matter, and unfortunately, I cannot assist you any further than to tell you that you will be fighting them and soon." Ishiaki explained further and leaned back against the couch. "When the Council has gathered, I'll be coming to get you for the demonstration. If I were you, I'd set out to plan immediately."
Hinji was deep in thought trying to flesh out an attack strategy. "We should devise a plan of attack before we step into this battle. The best weapon of a ninja is a plan."
"I just kinda figured we'd hit them hard and fast." Kano said with a shrug. Planning wasn't exactly one of his strong suits.
"Use the skills I have taught you" Tsu said, while thinking tried to teach you "That is all I can do to aid you in this fight. Everything else would seem like a weakness on our part."
Akane cracked her toes on the floor as she sat up on the couch. "I guess it might be quicker to whipe out one of them with two of us. But that might be hard with one of our members trying to keep track of two of them."
"I can summon Master Risu and some of his ninja to steal Hinji's cards." Kami offered "I don't think he can summon without them."
El was silent, playing his fingers across his strings, the music emoted that he was deep in thought, wondering who he could most easily take out with his sound waves.
"Well, now that you know. I will leave you to prepare." Ishiaki told them all, bowing his head slightly. He grabbed a couple more pieces of fruit and then vanished in a POOF
Akane brought her legs up to her chest. "Maybe one of us can go spy on them....you know... to scoop out their strategy."
"I'm afraid that is one thing I do not excel at" Oita admitted, nodding to Akane "But it would be a logical idea. I do hope however we would have some time to plan our OWN strategy."
"Well we are up against fire, shadow and music." Akane said, "So what- all we need is a bucket of water, a flashlight and cotton balls." She was clearly sarcastic, but she paused for a moment, "Actually- the cotton balls might be a good idea."
"Perhaps we should vacate to a different private area so we are certain the other team is not aware of our plans?" Oita asked pensively.
"Well unless the area is well shadowed I am going to be under constant attack to diffuse my summoning." Hinji said trying to play out the fight in his head. "I believe that you, Kano, should bring about a large flame to put the entire arena into shadow. That way I can hide in them and summon in safety. I can also use the shadows to attack with some taijutsu before hiding again."
"I agree with Oita." Kami told Akane "If they are already aware they might have had the same idea as you and are spying on us as we speak."
"And I can keep them off of you with my music." El told Hinji "Not that you'd need my help or anything."
"Alright- how much time we got?" Akane glanced to the group. She got up from her seat and adjusted her belt of feathers.
Ishiaki reappeared outside the other group's current location. "Tsu? We need to go to the Council. I've informed my squad, now it's time to leave them to their devices?"
"I could do that. As long as there's stuff to burn in the arena, that is..." Kano told Hinji with a nod. "I mean, we have no idea what the battlefield is gonna look like. If they stick us in the sand, I can't exactly go and make a wall of fire without tiring myself out by burning just my chakra. So we should try to get a plan B in order in case they stick us somewhere where our elemental abilities would do no good."
"If it comes down to it I can bring up a shadow barrier that should keep most attacks at bay." Hinji said as he tapped a specific summons card. "It was one of the second summon I did and have it mastered now. Don't know how it will hold up against different attacks though."
"Yes yes, very nice, but it's too-" Tsu sighed as Ishiaki appeared, turning to him and raising an eyebrow "Alright then, are we walking? I think one of the most obvious things you should teach is to not draw attention to yourself. Exploding every five minutes isn't doing you any favors Ishiaki."
"We're in a ninja village. Besides, nobody else seems to really notice." Ishiaki told her with a grin
"At least an hour." Kami guessed "Sensei does have to alert the council."
"I can try bringing up a wall of earth." El pondered wuietly, thinking of a way to give Hinji more shadows if Kano couldn't burn enough.
"Perhaps we should move to my workshop? They can't have bugged that yet" Oita said assuredly "I'm sure I can... tidy away before you two step in there."
"Right, but that's absolutely no use when we're trying to be sneaky" Tsu chuckled, raising her eyebrow "Nevermind, we can continue this conversation another time. Lets go shall we?"
Kami got a bit excited "Oh you've not let us see it yet!"
"Alright, let's get moving though." Akane said, ready to hurry out.
"Right" Oita got up and moved off with surprising speed, obviously wanting time to tidy up before they came in. "Just... give me a moment" he mumbled before slamming the door closed after him. He began to shift things inside, heavy sounding things by the sound of scraping and a small yelp as he dropped it on his foot. There was the sound of doors shutting, locks clicking and a small jangle of keys being put away.
"I'll put my money on a crazy sex addict with an array of sadistic torture toys." Akane whispered over to Kami.
Ishiaki bowed dramatically, his hand dancing in the air before him as his head lowered. "After you, m'lady."
Kano shook his head lightly at the antics of the other master.
"A what addict?" Kami asked. She knew what sex was, but just not in those terms.
El played a peppy little tune as they began to walk.
Tsu rolled her eyes at Ishiaki but moved off with him, walking happily along and skipping slightly. A master of disguise indeed.
"Forget it-" Akane went to the door, "HEY! Hurry your as up, we don't have much time!"
Kami crossed her arms and turned her back to Akane, showing that she wasn't approving of her attitude towards her lately. So what she wasn't familiar with their culture, that didn't mean Akane could be mean to her.
Oita's workshop door opened slowly, his hand waving madly at them as he said "Come in, come in."
Stumble!