Squad Meeting! A Team of Defects! [Team Defect]

[eli]

Haruma let out a soft sigh of contentment as she stepped through the marketplace of Konoha with relaxed grace. It was a particularly sunny day outside, but a cool wind charmed the town with its presence and brushed through the streets, erasing any heat that the denizens of the village were feeling. All in all, it was a beautiful day outside, and what was even better was that Haruma had just reached her destination. She treaded quietly out of the marketplace and onto one of the various training fields that inhabited the village. This one was empty, and showed a pretty fair terrain. It was basically a large clearing surrounded by tall trees. A small river swept through the left side of the field, and on the right side, almost ten target posts were set up. It was the perfect setting for what was going to come.

And what was going to come? The meeting of Haruma's new Genin team. As a Jonin, she was able to apply to become a mentor for a Genin team. The team she had received was named "Team Defect". It was a rather odd name, and Haruma would have to inquire the Genin themselves about the name. The reason she didn't know herself was because... well, she had requested that the village not tell her anything about the team or any of the members on it. She didn't know much about them- she had only requested that their academy teacher deliver them a message to meet at the field she was residing in at the moment in the next fifteen minutes. Quite honestly, she didn't even know the names of the children she would be mentoring. Why did she request such a thing? Because Haruma was the type of person that wanted to meet others in person and learn about them in person. She didn't just want to listen to what the Leaf academy teachers thought of them.

Contradicting what she had said about meeting them in person however, Haruma decided it would be best to meet them with a water clone at first. She might as well test their basic knowledge. If they truly were Genin, they probably wouldn't detect anything wrong with the water clone. And that would actually be convenient, since Haruma planned on forcing them into a quick spar. If there was already a clone taking her place initially, well, she would be hitting two birds with one stone. So without thinking about it further, she silently walked over to the river running through the training field and performed the jutsu for a water clone. She smiled softly as the clone appeared. "Beautiful as always" she whispered in a singsong voice before darting into the trees. The clone itself walked to the center of the field and sat down with its legs crossed, closing its eyes as if meditating. All there was to do now was to wait. Though she didn't show it, saying Haruma was excited would be an understatement.

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[hyo]

Hyosuke had received the letter from his kid sister. His sister was currently in the academy and he had the sensei that she had when he was her age. He had glanced at it the night before and threw it in the trash. It was about time that their team got going to take on missions. He had been training with his cousin and father too much and he needed a break from them. It was not that fact that he did not like training with them, but more of the lines he needed some more examples of fighting.

Hyosuke did not get there that early, but he knew he was early when he saw someone older come into the grounds. He was leaning up against a tree a good few hundred feet away from the posts. He watched her and noticed there was something odd about how she carried herself. He tilted his head and grinned slightly when he realized what it was that was bugging him about the person. ”That is a water clone….is she the sensei of this team I have been placed on or is she just trying to do more than one thing at a time?” He sighed slightly and looked around him for a moment. It was just him and the sensei at the grounds and no sign of anyone else. ”Great I am the first one here too. I suppose I should not keep her waiting if she is our sensei.”

Hyosuke pushed himself off the tree and slowly cross the field that was in front of him. He had placed his hands in his pocket has he watched the water clone. He needed to decide what he was going to do about it. If this happened not to be his sensei than he could easily play it off has a mistaken identity. He just did not have the note anymore to really prove it. He knew attacking the clone that he could not attack back and would only go back to it clone state unless he hit it was a good amount of force and that was just stupid of him to pull his tonfa out to take it out. He sighed as he walked closer to the clone.

”You are a bad water clone, if you think I am going to fall for you being a real person. Only an idiot would fall for this trick or one that has never seen a water clone before.” His voice was calm has he came up a complete stop about ten feet away from the clone. He knew the person was out there and he did not want to end up in their trap.

[stormecho]

Metsuki was more than eager to go check on her team. Finally, something would happen! A part of her knew this excitement wasn't just meeting a new teacher, of having friends and being able to do ninja things, but because she needed people to depend on. Ao was not enough, much as she loved her. She needed a pack, and that wasn't something easily found. She would be lucky if her team turned out to be her pack - there was a good chance that hope would die, especially with the way Hyosuke acted. Even thinking of him made her try to bristle, back hunching and growling in her throat. He had no right to call Ao a mutt! Her half-blood status wasn't well-known outside of her clan, so obviously he had chosen the word only to taunt her. But why? They were supposed to be teammates...

That thought occupied her until she reached the training field, navigating by scent. Hyosuke's scent was strong in her nose, as well as a stranger's that smelled... wet. Damp, like moisture. She wrinkled her nose, finally bothering to look at what was around her. Iwahashi-san, of course, and that was enough to set her on edge slightly. Ao curled her lip upward with scorn, a fang displayed before she relaxed and nudged Met's leg to catch her attention, staring at the woman sitting in the field. Met studied her. If Hyosuke had greeted her, she had missed it - sleeping in parks tended to slow her down when the field was a long way away from the bench that had been her resting spot. Tilting her head, she tried to figure out how to phrase this nicely.

"Er... Excuse me, but you're a water clone, aren't you?" she said politely, nodding to Hyosuke but otherwise not greeting him. The smell gave it away - a clone could not have a created scent unless some sort of scented smoke bomb was used to hide them... and then they smelled exactly like the smoke. It was easy enough to tell the difference between fake and real, when clones did not have time to acquire a smell that could stand up to scrutiny.

[sachiko]

Sachiko was more than just a little ecstatic to have heard that she'd finally been assigned a Genin team. After graduating a year late compared to everyone else due to her absolute lack in the areas of Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, any setbacks to the young girl were certainly a bad thing in the long run. She didn't need anything else to hold her back from what she was striving to do, and that was to become a ninja, despite her physical ailments in numerous areas.

Still, regardless of the situation, it was never a setback to be put on a Genin team, no matter who you were placed with. Sachiko herself was rather optimistic about the entire thing; she was pointedly joyful as she skipped out to her aunt and uncle after receiving a written message. How would she decipher a written message, one might have asked; however, there was the existence of braille in language, and some people, due to the fact that the Riyuu, a clan of blind illusionists and the clan which Sachiko herself hailed from, had managed to learn to at least write the language to send messages to said people. It was even used to send messages between teams and the village, especially if a Riyuu was involved on both ends of the spectrum.

Having managed to decipher the message with little problems, Sachiko had set to getting herself ready for the proposed time that they'd been asked to meet at a specific training ground. She hadn't been told anything about any of her comrades; no names, no background information, not even genders. She assumed that, since it was the most logical situation, she would be placed with two other boys and possibly a male sensei, though the occurence of a female sensei wouldn't have been too abnormal, either. Regardless, they seemed to rarely put two girls and one boy on a team, so Sachiko would just have to learn to handle such a situation... And hopefully she'd be able to get along with them.

It would be good, however, if she was paired with one or two people that were better in the departments in which she generally failed in. It would create a lot of team diversity for them, she knew, as Sachiko herself was innately skilled with Genjutsu as per the battle style of her clan. She was also physically blind, though with her clan abilities she'd learned to overcome such an instance. It gave her better hearing than some of the Inuzuka, that was for sure, as well as naturally enhanced smell, touch, and taste. Hearing was especially an enhanced skill of hers; as it was the second-last main sense which she had to use, and with what her clan's abilities were based upon - Onton, or the Sound Element - she was able to hear things much, much better than the average human; she could even put some average animals to shame, too.

Without anything to distract her, the young girl had got herself ready, making sure her weapons pouches were securely on her thigh and hip, hidden underneath the off-white and blue material of her dress. She'd combed her hair nicely to at least look presentable - as she'd no need to worry about looks and impressing boys just yet - and, in conferencing with her aunt and uncle, made sure she did look presentable enough to leave the home. It was difficult for her to be able to tell whether she looked all right or not, and therefore she often had to get other people to tell her such. Lacking a sense of sight was certainly a setback in everday life, that was for sure.

Leaving the house, Sachiko carefully made her way down the streets of Konoha, with what was literally a cane in her hand. She was tapping her way down the street as always, a pair of sunglasses hiding her eyes; she didn't need other people to see the disgusting sight of her eyes wandering aimlessly, unable to focus on anything like the regular human eye would. Even so, it made her stare look blank, and a few people always gave her sideways looks. Finally finding her way to where the training grounds started, Sachiko quickly telescoped the pole back into its palm-size form and slid it into her hip pouch, where it would probably stay for the remainder of the day.

Stepping into the trees, she formed a few seals, feeling the familiar sensation of chakra rising to her ears as she activated her clan's special jutsu; the Naiteki Joukei. Soon the world around her was illuminated as her eyes, closed during the activation of the jutsu, were soon sealed shut with chakra. Her closed eyes allowed a broader focus on the world around her, and every sound that was made perceivable by her ears was reflected in her "vision". The sound waves bounced off of each of the trees, illuminating them and the little-detailed world she always saw. Removing the sunglasses, the girl began to speed through the trees, slowing down as she came to the assigned training ground.

As she came closer, she could first hear a boy's voice; so she'd been right, and there was at least one male on her team. He was talking someting about a water clone... Perhaps their sensei had tried a trick? Well, if that was the case, and it truly was a water clone, Sachiko would be able to tell the difference without a second look. The sound waves would travel through the substance of the clone, while some would reflect, giving it almost a translucent appearance in her sonar. Soon, a female's voice came forward, her tone more questioning about the water clone. So there was a female on her team as well? She didn't recognize either of the voices, but then again, she also hadn't listened all too carefully to the pitch or tenor of them, either. That meant that her sensei was either male or female... but already, their male counterpart was outnumbered. This would surely prove to be an interesting ordeal.

With her small, four-and-a-half-foot frame stepping out of the trees, Sachiko clearly saw the dilemma. The sounds of the area radiated off of the clone, some reflecting back, and others passing through to reflect off of other objects and possibly some particles in the air. Sachiko also noted that there were two people here; one male, and one female. They looked relatively small, which most likely meant that they were her Genin comrades, though she honestly couldn't tell the gender of either of them due to her lack of actual detail in her sight.

"It's a water clone," the girl's small, rather high-pitched yet melodic voice stated with a smile. Her little blonde head tilted sideways slightly, reflecting how cute she actually was. She was almost like a pixie in her ways... Dainty, small, and melodically voiced. Now it was only to figure out where their sensei was... And figure out what exactly was going to go on in regards to their team formation.

[eli]

As Haruma sat in her treetop perch a slight distance from the water clone, she noticed that the first to approach was none other than Iwahashi Hyosuke. Now that would be interesting. From what she had heard, the Iwahashi clan kept to themselves on average. In fact, she didn't even know too much about them, other than that this boy in front of her was one of the junior members. And to her surprise, he had noticed the water clone without a second glance. Now there was talent. At least, Haruma thought so. She hardly knew what Genin should and shouldn't be capable of considering she was always one step ahead due to her mother's harsh training. But the ability to recognize her clone so quickly was enlightening- at least it was looking like she wouldn't get a team of inexperienced academy students who had just scraped by in the graduation. That was always a good thing to hear. However, what wasn't so good to hear was the kid's attitude. He insulted her water clone, even stating that it was a "bad" water clone. She scoffed at that. No water clone was better or worse than another. He was obviously just trying to gain attention, at least in her eyes. The water clone itself looked up and quirked an eyebrow.

However, before the clone or Haruma herself could really react to what he said, another member of the team appeared. This one appeared to be an Inuzuka, for she had the traditional fang marks on her cheeks. Haruma however, could not identify her by name. She knew of a recent academy graduate named Inuzuka Kiba, and she knew his mother pretty well, but other than that she had never seen this girl before. Of course, then she saw the dog that trailed along next to her, and she knew for sure she was an Inuzuka. To her surprise, this girl noticed the water clone just the same as Hyosuke had. The girl, though, was much more polite, and did not direct such insulting words towards the clone as Hyosuke had. Haruma was a little puzzled how she figured it out at first, but it became obvious soon after. With those sensitive noses of theirs, her and her nin-dog were sure to have smelled a difference in the clone. Probably the water or something. Either way, the Inuzuka was a pretty polite little girl so far. Hopefully Hyosuke would learn from her example. In response to her inquiring about the water clone, the water clone stood up. Just as it was about to answer, however, another person entered the training fields.

Now this was convenient. Haruma had half-expected most of them to be late, but it seemed that they were well-disciplined enough. However, she would just have to see if this newcomer could identify the clone. To her water clone's demise, it was seen through just as easily as the others. Further examination from afar revealed that the girl was wearing sunglasses, but she didn't seem to be focusing on any particular area. Perhaps she was blind? Most likely not. Haruma had rarely heard of blind ninja, excluding the Riyuu clan. But she was unaware of any offspring of theirs graduating from the academy. And besides that, any blind person would have to be very talented to become a ninja. It was a bit sad, but very true. Looking closer at the newcomer, Haruma couldn't help but let a smile appear on her face. The girl was so cute. Haruma actually managed to giggle a bit, and the water clone smirked. "Well done" it said, before melting into water and plopping down on the grass. Now it was time for Haruma's entrance.

With little effort, she was on the side of the field behind where the water clone once was. With a smile on her face, she walked forward and clapped. "Very good, all of you. I'm a bit surprised, I didn't think people at a Genin level could see through clones like that with such ease." she stated, stopping about ten feet in front of them. "My name is Kyotesk Haruma, and from here on out, you can call me Haruma-sensei." she stated in a calm tone, placing both of her hands on her hips. Her eyes swooped over all three of them swiftly as she lifted her right hand to tap her chin lightly. "Hmm. I suppose we should probably start with a bit more introductions. But first, I want to do a little exercise, if you're up for it. If you're not, well, then I'll fail you and replace you." she said, an innocent and soothing smile never leaving her face. Despite what she was saying, she always spoke in a melodic and benign manner. They would have to get used to it. The only reason she even threatened the three children with the last part was because she was expecting trouble from the male if she didn't.

Before letting any of them answer, she padded off past them to the small stream that flowed through the stream. "Come along. I want you all to sit on the opposite side of this stream that I'm on." she said, her melodic voice shifting to a bit of a commanding tone. She swiftly leaped to the other side with little trouble at all and proceeded to sit with her legs crossed, facing the stream. She was right on the water's edge, and her hands were folded neatly in her lap. She continued to speak, even though some of them hadn't sat down yet. "This will most likely sound like a rather boring exercise, but that's just too bad. You're going to learn how to relax yourselves and you're going to learn patience. Is that understood? If you have any objections, please speak now and I will gladly tell you how wrong you are." she finished with a gleaming smile, looking at each of them one by one. This was certainly going to be hard for them. A relaxation exercise for kids would be difficult, but they would have to learn sooner or later that life wasn't all about being hyperactive.

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[hyo]

Hyosuke was not surprise to see the clone lacked any reaction to his words. He was actually a little disappointed in it and he was debating if he should attack it already and draw out the person that created it. Before he could place his choice into action, however, someone else came up to the ground. He turned his attention to the person that was coming up on them. He knew right away who she was mainly because he had run into her before this meeting. He had nothing really to say to her and her wanting to bond with him.

He looked back to the clone and waited to see if she could tell if it was a clone or not. He would have been rather disappointed in the Inuzuka if she failed this little test and it would only prove his statement right about her. She was only a mutt of the Inuzuka clan along with her dog. To his slight surprise she had also noticed it was a water clone. Hyosuke showed no emotion expression about it other than walking away from the girl some.

He was getting restless with just waiting for the clone to do something or the sensei to come out of hiding. He knew going to look for her at the point would be pointless since he knew they were probably being watched and it was a vast training ground. Running off in a pointless meeting was something stupid and would not afford to do at the moment.

Hyosuke found himself wanting to say something out loud, but was stopped when he saw someone else coming from the trees. He tilted his head and watched the girl come closer to them in not so ready fashion of actually knowing where she was. He grinned slightly when he realized that he was the only male on the team and he heard his sensei was also a female. ”I get stuck with the one that seems blind and the two mutts and a sensei that uses a water clone to greet us. That is just not proper now is it?” He knew there was nothing that he could really do about it, but wait and watched. He looked down at his feet has the new girl called the water clone out. It seemed that each had their own strengths at the moment.

He turned back to the voice that clapped when the older female commented that she was not excepting them to see through her clone. He grinned slightly and walked a bit further away from her. He was being seen has nothing, but a low level genin. He did not know another Genin that could pull off the water clone. Instead of arguing with the sensei he let it for now. He looked like he was slowly paying her attention when she talked about getting to know each other and spoke her name. He had no reason to call her Haruma-sensei just yet. He would stick with Kyotesk-sensei. What caught his interest, however, was that she had something for them to do before getting to know each other. He sighed slightly and looked down to the ground. Missions would have to wait.

Before anyone spoke Haruma was on the move again towards a stream that was close to them. He turned and watched her leap across the water and sat down. He listened a bit closely to what she wanted them to do now. Sit and do nothing seemed like it was impossible to do for the most part. Hyosuke was use to being active in training and not sitting down and waiting to be told what to do. He raised his eyebrow when she commented that they could speak now before they began.

He thought to himself and knew she had probably heard his comment about her clone. He figured that was one of the reasons why she gave them a warning about being replaced on the team and how she would tell them how wrong they were. He grinned more and closed his eyes slightly. He did not want to be kicked off the team and disappoint his father. He was an Iwahashi and they were raised to be shinobi.

He slowly moved and sat down on the ground in front of the river. He was not too happy about sitting there, but he focused his eyes on the water instead of anything else. He moved and pulled out his tonfa and laid them in his lap, so they would not get dirty from hanging on the ground. ”She is not the type of sensei I need. I am a close range fighter, which means I might learn absolutely nothing from her. Maybe it would be for the best to be kicked off the team. I would not have to deal with the two mutts at least.”

[stormecho]

Metsuki looked at the newcomer curiously, and inclined her head. "Hello. That courtesy done, she looked on expectantly as the water clone melted away, replaced by the actual sensei. It was the effort of a moment to memorize the other's scent, as well as the new girl's. For some reason, Met couldn't remember her name... Keeping quiet, she simply nodded acknowledgement as Haruma-sensei introduced herself and began to talk. She had no inclination of failing, and the idea of relaxing by a stream, out in the open was appealing. Ao was far more relaxed in the open air - meeting in a classroom would have caused problems for both of them.

Ao got to the stream first, eyeing all three of her team with suspicion, though Hyosuke got a glower for calling them both a mutt earlier. Met might have been eager to make friends and make sure they worked together as a pack should, but the half-wolf would have been happy if they were left to their own devices. Sitting down beside her partner, Met slung an arm around the dog's shoulders, breathing in deeply. It didn't take much effort to relax and wait, as long as she didn't think of or look at Hyosuke. A bit more difficult to ignore him, but she accomplished it.

[sachiko]

[[ooc: she took the glasses off, just so you know. xD Her eyes are closed. >_>]]

It was upon a rather surprised note that their sensei, who wasn't too far away in a tree, had announced that they'd passed the little test which had been set up for them. Sachiko was a little confused as she tilted her head to the side, the confusion obvious in the small girl's face. So the clone had been a test? Well, it certainly hadn't been the right one to test the true knowledge of the small blonde, as seeing through a clone made of such a sound-permeable substance was particularly easy to one who used sonar to navigate. Even so, it was a test, and she'd passed. It was surely a point for optimistic, non-arrogant glee from the kunoichi.

"The composition of the clone gave it away, sensei," Sachiko said pointedly, her voice not scolding or arrogant, but merely stating a point blankly. "The waves passed through it partially, which pointed it out as a false." Her head was still cocked slightly to the side as she spoke, once again enhancing how cute she was. Her actual cuteness wasn't something she intended to flaunt; it was merely something that was there, but she was too small and too young to have been considered "beautiful". It was more along the lines of childlike cute than anything, and she didn't intend to look in such a manner. It was simply how she was, nor was she about to be arrogant and fish for compliments or flattery about it, either.

Just from the tenor of their voices, Sachiko was able to tell the gender of each of the members of her team. Even though the boy might not have hit puberty yet, at least not enough for his voice to begin to crack, there was still a minute difference perceived by the enlightened ears of the blind girl; Metsuki, the other girl, still had a considerably higher-pitched voice, as did their apparently female sensei. Well, this was surely going to be an interesting ordeal; already she could feel a somewhat hostile or dislike-based atmosphere coming from the boy... Perhaps he wasn't too pleased with who he was placed with. Well, he'd just have to get used to it! If he thought her useless because of her disability, then he'd best start thinking again, or she might just catch him in a Genjutsu.

It wasn't long before their sensei introduced herself as Kyotesk Haruma. She'd heard of the Haruma clan... It was amazing what one could hear in supposedly unheard conversations when they were able to eavesdrop and appear as if they really were paying attention to something else. So that meant their sensei was a Genjutsu user, which also meant that Sachiko would be able to at least learn a bit more in the field of Genjutsu from it. Their Genjutsu, however, were much different than the Riyuu's. While they may have utilized sound without a physical medium like most did, the Kyotesk were able to use their chakra and voicebox as the medium... It really was an interesting concept. Sachiko herself could do that [to an extent] but she was able to utilize any form of sound to begin a Genjutsu.

Sachiko guessed that the other girl was an Inuzuka, as she appeared to be accompanied by a canine... It was not, however, a nindog like most Inuzuka. No, this particular one was a wolf companion; an interesting combination. She'd heard of wolves being used, but it was often looked down upon at times, because wolves were considered undisciplined hunters. All the same, they weren't all that much different, aside from common behaviours of course. The other boy, however, she had nothing to go on about, unless he was the Inuzuka. That didn't seem likely, however; the wolf appeared to be sticking to the side of who would be his or her master or mistress, and in this case, it looked like a mistress more than anything.

Their sensei went on about going into introductions for them, but first they were going to do something else. To say the least, they were going to meditate. Well, that was an easy task for the young girl; meditation meant leaving all focus of the physical world behind, usually by the closing of the eyes; it also meant focusing on the sounds around you and allowing such sounds to calm you. The sound of the stream trickling sent vibrations through the air, illuminating things rather clearly around them. She could see where their sensei was on the stream, and soon the woman had leaped clear to the other side. Following suit, Sachiko walked up to a point where there was a small rock in the stream - as the stream itself was wide, but shallow - and leaped first to the rock, then to the other side. There was no possible way that she would have been able to simply leap across with her short legs.

In reaching the other side, Sachiko quietly followed suit to what her sensei did; after releasing the chakra focused on her ears, she sat near the stream, though she herself sat a bit farther back to dampen the noise a bit more. Sitting as close to the edge of the water as Haruma had would simply have disturbed her even more. Before she opened her eyes, however, she slid the sunglasses back on and opened them, only to see nothing as always. She'd let her eyes wander as much as they wanted, because they could not focus on anything, which meant there would be no distractions for her. Her short legs were crossed, and her hands folded in her lap, just like she'd been taught by others. She'd done things such as this before... Especially when she'd been in a more disturbed mental state and needed to calm herself. Even now nightmares of the scenes she'd experienced still haunted her mind...

[eli]

These kids she was dealing with really were sharper than she thought. Of course, the water clone had been an easy test, but one that a few Genin would have failed easily. Basically it had been just a low set test and they seemed to pass it with flying colors. And what was more, Hyosuke seemed to just pass it off as a bad way to teach. For this reason, she favored the other two Genin at the moment. Of course, she wasn't one to play favorites and that definitely wouldn't last, but being around people who seemed so arrogant really irked her. However, she was the one who signed up for this, so she would just have to be tolerant. And besides, what could be more fun than teaching a group of energetic youngsters about connecting to their spiritual selves?

Haruma had noticed that shortly after her introduction, the small cute girl had spoken. She mentioned that the composition of the clone was what had caused it to be seen through, and that 'waves' had only passed through it partially. Now Haruma knew for sure that this was a Riyuu. She didn't fully understand what she meant by waves going through the clone, though she guessed it had to do something with the sound waves considering that was what members of the Riyuu clan relied on to survey their surroundings. But anyways, the important thing was that now she knew that all of the Genin in her squad came from different clans. Hyosuke from the Iwahashi clan, the girl with the dog from the Inuzuka clan, and the blind girl from the Riyuu clan. Now that made for an interesting combination.

Briefly after explaining the initial instructions for her new test, Haruma had leaped over the small river that ran through the training field and proceeded to sit down in a relaxed position. She then looked up and watched the others come in one by one. The Inuzuka girl was first- or actually, her dog. But as was with Inuzuka clan members, the master and hound were never far apart. Or in this case, the mistress and hound. Haruma smiled as she watched the girl sling an arm over her companion. The next to come was Hyosuke, who had sat down and lifted some weapons into his lap. This was most likely to keep them from being dirty. Telling from what the weapons were, she guessed he was a short ranged fighter. The third and final one to come was the Riyuu girl, who hopped across the lake and sat down next to Haruma. The instructions were to sit on the opposite side, as the other two had, but looking back on how she had explained the instructions, Haruma realized they could have been very easily misconstrued. It didn't matter. Besides, the Riyuu girl would be much more adept at the test anyways.

With a grin, Haruma looked around at all of the people in her squad. "So I've got an Iwahashi, a Riyuu, and an Inuzuka, huh?" she said, her voice enthusiastic. This was great. There was actually a bit of diversity on the team, instead of having too many members of one style. "So in other words, I've got a short range expert, an illusionary expert, and a tracking expert. What a diverse team!" she said happily, beaming at all three of them in turn. "And don't think that I won't push you to your limits in each of your specialties just because you're adept at them. Hyosuke, you'll have to endure taijutsu combat like you've never felt before." she said, directing her attention to him first. Her eyes lingered on him for a bit before shifting to the Inuzuka and her companion. "And you two. You two will be put through rigorous tracking missions. I can really see both of you developing into a great tracking team." she said, talking to both the Inuzuka and her dog. She might as well regard them both equally, for nin-dogs were intelligent creatures after all. She then directed her attention to the girl beside her. "And you, Riyuu, I'll help you personally with your genjutsu skills. I'm sure one day you'll easily outmatch me." she said playfully, thus ending her small speeches to each of them.

But now would start the actual test itself. However, it wasn't a test as much as it was an exercise of sorts. "Now, here are the rules of the game I want to play. Each of you is to close your eyes and focus on the water running in the stream. This is an exercise to test your relaxation skills, which are much more important to a shinobi than most think." she explained, her tone growing serious. "In turns, we will begin to introduce ourselves. I'll start, and then Hyosuke, and then you two" she said, regarding the Inuzuka and her companion. "And then you, Riyuu." she finished, a small smile on her face. She was using the girl's clan name because she did not know what else to call her at this point. "I want you all to state your names, where you originated from, and three interesting facts about yourself. If you're truly at peace and relaxed with the current of the river, this will come easy to you. If you aren't relaxing or focused enough, then you'll stumble over your words. Don't think of cheating, because I'll be watching to make sure you don't." she said, a slight warning tone present in her voice.

"Now all of you, close your eyes and relax." she commanded. "As promised, I'll start.

[/b]" she said, without closing her eyes. She was relaxed enough already that she didn't have to close her eyes and focus. She knew that the Riyuu girl would feel the same. "As I've already said, my name is Kyotesk Haruma. I was born in Kirigakure and defected from the village with my mother to move here after my clan was massacred. Three interesting facts about me are that I have never tasted any sort of seafood in my life, I am one of the two remaining members of the Kyotesk clan, and I am highly regarded as not only a massage therapist, but the 'Mistress of Relaxation' in this village. Hyosuke, you're next." she said calmly, rarely stopping to pause and never stuttering. Her eyes shifted over to Hyosuke, She would be interested to hear what he would have to say, furthermore whether or not he would be able to relax or not.[/blockquote][/size][/color][/font]

[hyo]

Hyosuke noticed that Metsuki and Ao were the first ones to the small stream followed by the other girl. He stared into the water only blinking or making a movement when he needed to be. He did feel like the odd one out because he was the only male on the team, but he was not going to show this to the others. He did not want to seem week to them because of this. He had a younger sister, so this was nothing compared to dealing with her. His sister was demanding with her attention after all.

Hyosuke looked up slightly when Haruma said his last name has if she was familiar with his clan. He tapped one of his fingers against his leg and watched her call him a short range fighter as if he had no other skill. He was working on ninjutsu with his father and even has the same chakra alignment has him which made things easier for him in a sense.

He looked back down when she started to address Metsuki and Ao. He did not care about them and the bond that Metsuki wanted to make with him. He wanted nothing to do with a ‘pack’ like the Inuzuka called it. He had no need for it. He took a deep breath for a moment and closed his eyes. He did not like to think about making friends. In the end, they were nothing, but the enemy. He would not activate his bloodline for them. Right now though, he had no choice in his actions. He was stuck with them until he was kicked off of the team.

Hyosuke was force to look up when Haruma commented on how she was going to train him in taijutsu. He grinned slightly more because of this. He did not want to be seen has another Lee from the academy. He was capable of ninjutsu and it seemed like he was going to have to prove it to her. ”She keeps hinting that I do not know the foundation of ninjutsu…taijutsu and short range. I am more than what she sees me has! I did see through her clone and I can create one of them too. Neither one of the other two knows how I bet.” After a moment when she started to address the two mutts he looked back down to the water and paid her no mind for now. He was not liking being on this team at the moment and he was not sure how he could really get out of it. He did not want to be sent back to the academy and face his father because he could not get along with his new team.

When Haruma started to address the team again about how she wanted them to close their eyes and relax and answer some questions he tilted his head more to the left side of him. He was not sure how relaxing would make them answer the questions better, but he would have to try right. He knew if anyone tried to do something he would be ready because his tonfa where in his lap at the moment and he was going to make sure they stayed there.

He listened to her talk about herself and then she told him that he was going to start this off. He grinned more and tried to listen to the stream the best he could, but his mind was flying at the moment. He was not even sure where to start in all of this. His ears picked up something else in the distance. It was a small chirping sound in a nearby tree. His head slightly leaned towards the sound more so than the river. The river was just too calm for him and the chirping from the bird eased his mind more than what he thought it did.

”Iwahashi Hyosuke, from Konohagakure. I have a little sister at the academy and our father is our clan leader. I have been training with the tonfas since I was young with one of my cousins.” He had slowly started to tap his thumb against one of the tonfa with the chirping that he was hearing. It was not a force tapping, but a gentle one to the beat. ”I have been able to do a water clone since before I graduated the academy.” The expression on his face at the moment was sort between a calm one and an annoyed one.

[stormecho]

Metsuki couldn't stop a grin at the praise lavished upon the team by their sensei. She had thought her sensei might not approve of having a pair that was inclined so much for tracking and reconaissance, but it turned out she was wrong... That was good. The introduction exercise didn't worry her much, since they were outside and she was more than happy to revel in her happiness and the warmth of the sun. The sound of the stream was soothing as well, and the air was clear of any particularily bad smells - a perfect scene. Though it was harder to tell with Ao, judging by how she was less stiff than before, and her ears weren't pricked and alert, the wolf-dog was feeling just as happy as she was. Besides, she wasn't acknowledged often by teachers in the Academy, who had preferred that Ao leave - and ignored her if she had to stay. So being treated as Met's equal by their sensei was more than enough to brighten her mood, and maybe even have her respect Haruma-sensei.

The issue of what to say didn't feel urgent as first Haruma-sensei and then Hyosuke spoke up. Really, the latter should have been Iwahashi-san, but he had insulted her and Ao. She couldn't afford him any respect in the privacy of her own thoughts. Her turn came around, and she didn't fidget, lifting her head to test the air, eyes still closed. My name is Inuzuka Metsuki, and this is Aomidori. Since that's long, I call her Ao. she began. "I was born in Konoha. I feel sick if I eat too much store-bought food, I help Ao with hunting, and if I try hard enough, I can smell some emotions on people, as well as tell the differences between types of chakra."

Maybe it wasn't a standard 'three interesting things', but she felt the first and last would be useful to know. Of course, if her sensei wanted to know what might be wrong with her, she would have to ask her clan - and maybe Haruma-sensei wouldn't want her on the team after that - but she truly didn't want to keep that information back. And the last was something that would be useful to know for the tracking training, so it made sense to mention it.

[sachiko]

Sachiko saw rather clearly the reasoning behind their calm state of mind; it was easy to know that if one were calm and focused, their clarity of mind would be improved. It was part of the reason Sachiko, when not using her clan's abilities, was able to focus in on conversations and eavesdrop while appearing almost completely oblivious; she had no visual distractions due to her lack of sight, which inherently increased that ability.

From what Haruma had pointed out, they appeared to be a very well-rounded team; Hyosuke would most likely be their main fighter in any situation, attacking from the frontlines with whatever orthodox - or maybe unorthodox - weapon he wished to use. It would certainly be his job, then, to keep their backup from falling into trouble. Metsuki, their Inuzuka, would also be a very important part to the team; she would be their main tracker, though Sachiko herself would provide backup through sound as much as she could. Then she noticed that Haruma appeared to be singling her out in a sense... Well, it made sense, to an extent. They were both Genjutsu users, and although Sachiko was a little squirmy [mentally] about the commentary, she was glad that she'd be able to improve her Genjutsu skills. She wasn't quite sure about outmatching her sensei, however; she surely had a long way to go, that was for sure.

Soon their sensei began to explain herself, and Sachiko, unmoving, was focused on the words in the air. Sound was the only thing she was able to focus on and, tuning out the sound of the stream to a mere comforting background noise, she lingered on the words of their sensei. She'd been born during the bloody incidents that had gone on in Mizu no Kuni with the bloodlines... Her fellow Riyuu clanmates had taught her such. It also meant that Haruma knew how loss would affect a person... another understanding which they would have, or so Sachiko noted. She herself had experienced loss, though hers was much greater in the sense that she'd seen and experienced horrendous incidents in her lifetime that no child, not even a mature one, should have ever experienced. Regardless of how young she might have looked or sounded when she spoke, she was truly a much more mentally matured young girl than what one might have expected.

Sachiko could also note that the woman talked with a rather melodic tone of voice... Relaxation and massage therapist? Well that was certainly something unexpected. Perhaps the woman was a bit of a medical ninja, as well, which surely wouldn't have been a surprise at all. Using Genjutsu did require a fair amount of chakra control, which could be tied into medical ninjutsu as well.

As Hyosuke then went to introduce himself, Sachiko could hear the rather arrogant tone behind his voice. There was no need for arrogance and looking down upon the rest of the team. This was surely going to be something difficult to overcome... He was probably a bit of a pessimist, too, which Sachiko was clearly the opposite of. Her personality came off as rather caring and optimistic, which was exactly how she was... In most situations, at least. She would at least try to make people think that, even if her thoughts were otherwise... She could tell that he was clearly annoyed by their situation. A gentle frown crossed her face, a sign of slight confusion. It was cute that he had a little sister, though, and interesting that he wielded a tonfa. He still seemed pretty arrogant, especially about the fact that he was able to do a water clone before he'd even graduated. The girl frowned a little more at that. His attitude was rather disheartening...

Then Metsuki went, and the mood appeared to lighten a little more. She first introduced herself and then introduced her hound, Aomidori. That's a really pretty name, Sachiko thought, her frown starting to disappear. Even Ao was a cute nickname... It was a chuckling point that Metsuki felt sick after eating too much food that wasn't homemade, and it was also interesting that she could sometimes smell the emotions on a person. It was an acquired trait to notice emotions without the use of the sense of sight; even Sachiko had trouble determining it from tone of voice alone, even though she could hear changes in a person's voice on a much higher scale than anyone else. The ability to tell the differences between types of chakra was also an interesting point... Sachiko was taking note of all of these in the back of her mind, for use later on.

Soon, however, it was the Riyuu girl's turn to speak. All the while that the others had been talking, she'd been deciding upon her own words; she wasn't sure whether she should include the detail about what had happened to her in the clan, or not. The major details were considerably confidential, but it wouldn't hurt to say that she'd experienced loss on a great scale, would it? However, she'd decided against that factor, and had finally figured out what it was that she was going to say.

"My name is Riyuu Sachiko, of the Riyuu Clan. I originated from a small village outside of Konohagakure no Sato, but my mother's heritage lies here, and due to events in the past I reside with my aunt and uncle within the village walls." Sachiko's clearly peaceful state was reflected in her words; she had a great amount of focus, it appeared. While to some this might have been seen as a trait of mere power and intelligence, it really had nothing to do with such. She was used to these sorts of instances, as she actually had to rely on her ears to get by in everyday life, as well as her other senses. She didn't have the ease of physical eyesight like others did... Therefore, she couldn't read body language properly, even with her sonar, and she couldn't see those looks behind people's eyes, either.

"I am, like every other member of my clan, born physically blind, though our clan techniques allow us to compensate for it through the same ability which a bat or a dolphin would use to navigate. I have experienced many things in life, things which I do not wish to re-encounter, and some people call me a midget because I'm so small." She wasn't sure how interesting the last fact was, but it was a fact nonetheless, and it would at least have people realize how tiny she actually was. She stood at only four and a half feet tall, and barely weighed anything; her frame was small and frail, although her long hair probably made up for a lot of her weight. With her introduction done, she nodded, a smile breaking out across her face slightly, although she assumed none of them could see it; Haruma had told them to close their eyes, after all.

[eli]

Haruma had a happy grin on her face as she looked at all the bright young faces. Well, two bright young faces. Metsuki and Sachiko seemed to be enjoying themselves, but Hyosuke still had that angry look about him. Haruma could have almost rolled her eyes. His attitude was waning on her, but luckily the wild aura coming from the Inuzuka and her companion and the cute aura coming from the Riyuu was enough to keep her happy. For now at least. It seemed that the team as a whole was not as dysfunctional as she thought they would be, considering the slightly degrading name. Haruma looked forward to teaching them, though she was going easy on them at the moment. Soon enough, the militant instincts she had inherited from her mother would kick in and she would be drilling them nonstop. Haruma wanted her to team to enjoy the title of the most talented in the village.

Shortly after everyone sat down, Haruma explained the exercise and promptly started it. She noticed that everyone had closed their eyes, which had come as a surprise to her. After a very brief scan of everyone, Haruma noticed that the Inuzuka had trouble focusing initially but soon was able to relax. Hyosuke seemed to have his thoughts elsewhere telling by his movements. And finally, the Riyuu was doing perfectly fine. That was expected from her, for she already was at peace with her mind when her sight was taken away- because, well, it was taken away from her before or after birth. The whole point of the exercise in itself was to try and become at peace with the surroundings while the sense that most people relied on primarily was taken away. That was why Haruma incorporated the running water- to let them have a little sense of what was going on so that they wouldn't become paranoid by brief silences or anything like that.

After checking if everyone had their eyes closed, Haruma proceeded to introduce herself. Once she had finished, she passed the figurative baton to Hyosuke, and she was quite upset with the results. Instead of focus.ing on the river, he seemed to be inclining his head towards another sound. She broke her concentration swiftly and noticed the chirping of a bird became more present. She almost outwardly sighed. It was typical for the abrasive types of people to purposefully focus on something else, especially something with more excitement in the tone than the river, but it wasn't the idea of the exercise. And what was worse, he seemed to have some sort of scowl on his face. His concentration was very weak, and after he began speaking he started to tap his thumb against one of his weapons. Haruma mentally sighed this time, closing her eyes briefly as she lifted two fingers to rub her temples. This kid was going to be a headache, but if she had too, she would make him sit there for hours with her until he managed to follow directions correctly and learn to focus.

The next one up was the Inuzuka girl. As if on queue, she went straight into her introduction with nary an offbeat movement. Haruma smiled at this. She had usually known members of the Inuzuka clan to be quite wild, but it seemed that this one wasn't going to give her a hard time like an Inuzuka Kiba did. She heard he had caused all kinds of trouble. Refocusing on the Inuzuka, it was revealed that her name was Metsuki, and her dog Aomidori. And above all that, Haruma found a very interesting quality in her that was not present in other Inuzuka- or at least she didn't think so. Apparently Metsuki could occasionally smell some emotions and easily differentiate types of chakra. Now that would be useful, especially for trying to define what chakra nature their opponents used. At the moment, she was very happy to have the girl on her team. She had done a magnificent job on this little relaxation test, and frankly, Haruma was proud of her.

As Metsuki ended her speech, Haruma's eyes drifted to the Riyuu girl. Upon initial examination, she seemed to be very at peace with her surroundings. Now that was expected. After all, she didn't focus on sight like the others did. 'Perhaps I should have given her earplugs' Haruma thought to herself, repeating it mentally and then dismissing it. That would be cruel. After all, this game wasn't about survival without the primary sense, it was about relaxation without the primary sense. And if she had given the Riyuu girl headphones, the poor girl would be down two senses. As the girl began to speak, it was revealed that her name was Sachiko. While she was talking, she appeared to have great focus. It seemed as if both her and Metsuki were going to be the only ones that didn't cause too much trouble in this group, but hey, there was always one troublemaker. As Sachiko continued to speak, she stated that she had sonar capabilities. That was nothing new to Haruma, for she had heard of the clan. The next fact was that she had experienced many things, which was way to broad to be an interesting fact, and the last was just... well, a fact. Haruma supposed it had some value, but it really hadn't been what she was looking for. Nevertheless, she was impressed with Haruma.

"Very good. You can all open your eyes now. Except you, Hyosuke. I want you to continue to focus on trying to be at peace with the sound of the stream, not the bird in the tree." she said calmly. Yes, she had just called him out. It was her own personal wake up call to the boy, telling him that she was no pushover and that she did know what she was doing. He would probably be angry with her, but it didn't matter. If he was going to give her attitude and backtalk, she would just have to assert herself and make sure he knew who was in charge. Metsuki and Sachiko seemed to have no problem with knowing who was in charge, and that made Haruma's life a lot easier. They both seemed to have an interest in learning, and they were very attentive and individually polite in different ways. Hyosuke was just rebellious, but though Haruma called him out, she wasn't going to regard him as any lesser than the rest of the team. They were a team after all, and she would treat all of them as equals. However, if extra time was required to work on Hyosuke, she would take the time to do it.

"Now Metsuki, Aomidori, Sachiko- I want to move on to the next test. It won't be hard, but I will be testing your abilities to maneuver projectiles and surprise attacks quickly. Be prepared, for you might get hurt. This will be the most physically straining of my tests for today, but I believe that you all can pass it. Hyosuke, you can join us when I believe that you've come to peace with the river. Until then, sit there and focus- oh, and try not to be distracted by the whizzing sounds of shuriken and such." she said in a melodic fashion, though near the end a smirk found its way onto her lips. Now the act of focusing was going to be a lot harder, but that was his punishment for taking her test for granted. She knew it would probably pain him to be missing out on the physical test, and it might even cause anxiety, but he would just have to sit there and relax until it was over. As for Sachiko, Metsuki, and Ao... well, they would have to deal with her attacks.

Before giving the trio participating in the current test any time to reply, she did hand signs for multiple water clones. Three appeared, to be exact. "Let the games begin!" she shouted triumphantly as her and the three clones seemed to disappear, though they had only dashed into the bushes. The first leaped into a tree and threw four shuriken targeted at Ao from there. The second dashed out of the bushes, and in almost an instant was in front of Sachiko. The clone quickly threw a punch at the Riyuu's face, leaving its torso open. The third clone ducked behind a rock near the edge of the training grounds and threw five senbon at Metsuki. All of these attacks were done simultaneously, and Haruma really did not plan to show mercy- though she had made sure not to aim for any vital spots. As for her real body, she situated herself where she had previously been sitting- across the river from Hyosuke. For the time being, she was going to keep a close eye on him.

[/color][/font][/size]

[hyo]

Hyosuke could not honestly say that he was listening to the other two girls at the moment. His has his thumb was tapping against the tonfa his mind was running through some basic attack and defense styles that Daisuke had taught him. Running through them in his head had always been one of the ways he relaxed for some reason and he did not care exactly what Haruma said about this. It was his way and he did not want to see things Haruma way for now.

His mind, however, was pulled from his memories by his sensei talking again at last. He heard that they could open their eyes and he was about to when she called him out and told him that he had basically failed in what she was trying to do with them at first. His thumb slowly curled around the tonfa and held it against his palm and thumb. He was just tense because of what she said to him. He had focused on something that calmed him down and it was wrong. The tapping against the tonfa was something he picked up from Daisuke when he was calm and relaxed.

Hyosuke knew how to relax on his own terms, not someone else. He was not use to being told how to doing things. His father always told him that he had to find his own way of dealing with things, but now he was being told off by someone that basically didn’t know him. He supposed he had to expect that from someone that was outside of his family and not knowing who he was. He didn’t want to seem like the troublemaker of the team, but he could tell that he was heading there fast. It was not that hard to pick up from Haruma and the two other girls, even though they were not paying him much attention he was sure they noticed.

He took a deep breath and re-evaluate what he had to do. He had to sit there with his eyes closes and focus on nothing, but the stream that was in front of him. He never really paid attention to the water in a stream, nor had he really saw what was in the stream in the training ground. The bird in the tree was something he was going to have to push to the back of his mind and that was harder than it looked for him. He was use to the sharp noises around him more than the quiet ones. She was asking him to pay attention to something it was not custom for him to do.

He grinned slightly, but it soon faded away. He would not allow himself to take any bait that she threw at him to make a comment. He had to show her that he would not be easily corrupted to her ways. Barking comments and orders too her seemed like it would piss her off more towards him. He would not give Sachiko or the two mutts the knowledge that she was getting to him. Was he willing to give her the satisfaction of forming to her wishes? No, he was not ready to admit defeat either.

Hyosuke listened to the sounds that were around him. His head was still tilted to the left, but he allowed himself to listen to the sounds that were coming from the trees and his other team mates. He was slowly started to think of a way to deal with Haruma on his own since the other two was no longer around him. He knew the water clone was nothing at the moment, but it would allow him to make it sit there and listen to the stream. Well that is if he could pull it off just right. He had never really practice creating a water clone at a different range before. He was sure Haruma was watching him as well. Timing was everything especially in taijutsu and performing jutsu.

Hyosuke knew he had to wait and ‘try’ and focus some the stream. He could give Haruma a false sense of forming to her ways. For now he decided that it was the best course of action. He released his grip on his tonfa and moved it back with his thumb and pulled his thumb back towards his palm. She wanted him to sit still and listen to the stream, so that was what she got from him. He tried to loosen up his facial expression for now too has he tilted his head slightly down.

[stormecho]

Metsuki tilted her head at the instructions. She was glad she had been as relaxed as Haruma-sensei wanted, and more than a little smug that Hyosuke wasn't doing as well. That was bad, and she scolded herself for it, since they were teammates and equals, but she had done better than he had, and he had insulted her. Somehow, she couldn't get over that. Still, she wasn't required to work with him now, which was all the better, as she wasn't sure how well she could fight beside him. It was an obstacle to surmount, but right now she had no interest in doing so. There was plenty of time for that. Ao had no interest in ever accepting him as an equal - she could tell that instantly. That was a pity... Ao could be stubborn.

She had no more time to think, as suddenly Harmua-sensei created three clones - water, again - and attacked. Met didn't have time to worry about Sachiko, though the news that the girl was blind had struck her. She couldn't imagine losing any of her senses - the closest she could compare it to was being locked in a small space, unable to move or get out. To lose her sight wasn't as bad, since she could navigate through scent and sound, but to lose either of the latter made her cringe in sympathy. That had to be horrible. Still, she couldn't watch out for her teammate, as both she and Ao were targeted. Luckily, even if Ao wasn't fully nindog, she was both swift and strong.

Thankfully, both were ranged attacks. Metsuki leaped backwards, reflexively landing in a crouch, one arm on the ground to balance and the other ready to grab and throw a shuriken in return. The idea was to throw off the attacker by going from a large to a small target quickly, and allow her to retain her mobility. Prepared to leap again, she waited - would the test consist of more than one surprise attack? She didn't dare turn to watch Ao, but there was no angry snarl, so her dog had avoided the attack as well. In the corner of her eye, she could see Ao moving constantly, weaving back and forth in an unpredictble pattern while she waited for the next flurry of attacks.