Sharpening the spear: Suna Team 9 [Recruiting]

[raiwatanabe]

0917 hours

Rai stood at the training grounds deep within the canyon cutting through the border wall of Suna. It was a quiet, unused training grounds, the tracks of several ANBU faded after the last rain storms. The equipment was old, rotting, and riddled with splintered debris as several of the training posts sagged, leaning towards the ground. The only equipment that seemed to be in safe condition were the stained, muddy ropes dangling from the vertical wall in the center of the grounds.

She had received the notice directly from two ANBU, which was odd. Most genin, especially fresh recruits, were not given such a treatment unless there was cause for suspicion. The training grounds were isolated, as well, far from the others used within the village. It was... odd. Especially the note's indication that strict discipline was required to keep this request quiet.

Watanabe thought back to the meeting with Gaara and the hunter-nin known as Yuki, wondering if this had something to do with it. Had the ANBU been observing, or worse, had Gaara informed the council of her activities with that Yuki character?

In the distance, she noticed someone approaching, a girl she had seen during the academy training. Feeling for a kunai, she paused, remembering what Yuki had told her about being like ice. She'd need to work on that. Still, what was this girl doing here? There was no explanation in the letter about anyone else coming, or when her appointment with a genin squad would begin.

Was this some form of discipline, maybe a work detail? Or worse, she thought, it could be-

She waited for a moment, before the girl was easily visible, and held her hands out in a non-threatening gesture. She seemed a little nervous, as well. "Umm... hey," Rai said. "What brings you here?"

[hebiko]

The sun had climbed up far enough in the sky for it to have no difficulty in looming over the edges of most of the buildings, though there were still what some would consider a decent amount of shadows left as it hadn't hit high noon quite yet. In another three hours, shade would be hard to find unless one was lurking indoors or hanging out under the overhangs that randomly riddled the streets and alley ways. Hebiko didn't worry about getting into the shade though. In fact, she was avoiding it as it was time to follow through with the daily Akarui-gouin Chinshi. Seeing how the Light Drinking Meditation involved absorbing a decent amount of light, she sat in what some would consider the harsh heat, having placed herself in the middle of the roof of her home.

Her eyes were closed, her back straight, legs tucked under her as opposed to the more classic meditation pose, and her hands were resting on her knees. Though she usually wore her hair down, in this instance it had been bunched up into a quick bun and secured at the upper back part of her head as she was trying to get as much sun as possible. This was also why she didn't wear the usual second layer of clothing and neglected anything she wore from the mid-thigh and down. These articles of her clothing had been folded a little ways beside her for her to put on once she was done. breathing in, she drew in the light that the sun and the reflection of the sun off of the surface of the building was offering her. As she breathed out instead of letting the light escape, she had it stored away. This happened repetitively for about ten minutes as that was the limit she was at right then, and she stopped as she knew not to go any further than that.

Hebiko normally would have opened her eyes and reached over before pulling on all of second layer, but the routine was broken this morning. As soon as she opened her eyes, the ANBU were right there on the roof with her. Without breaking momentum but altering her movement to better respond, she was on her feet as she felt that remaining in the previous position would have been like lounging. When the ANBU showed, it called for a serious and official moment. She place almost all of her focus onto them, only a small portion going to the continuation of the storing of the previously absorbed light. There was no wasted time between that moment and the delivery of her notice....

[Current time...]

The destination set for her had been the training grounds and as soon as the ANBU had left and an instant after she had pulled on the rest of her usual outfit, Hebiko had took haste in getting there. She didn't let herself get distracted or slow her pace. Her pace only slowed when she arrived to the designated location and that was only out of courtesy as she spotted another genin there. What was she doing there? It was the first question since the interaction with the ANBU, that Hebiko had had. Up until now, she had told herself that questions could wait and that getting what she was told to do done had been more important. Now that she had indeed done what she had been told to, the questions filtered in. Not that it showed on her face. No, her face remained more or less expressionless even as she measured the other girl up and observed her while closing the distance.

She slowed to a stop, standing almost what would seem like was in a relaxed position. But if someone looked closely enough, they would see that she stood with her feet parted to a certain degree and her weight was shifted so she could dodge or react quickly depending on situation. The dark skinned pre-teen didn't allow her curiosity about the moment show on the surface, nor did she show the minor distraction she had going on due to her having to make sure that no parts of her were glowing. It was always hard to keep from glowing when unusual levels of activity came so soon after the meditation. Not that she was even thinking of complaining.

Hebiko noted that the brunette seemed nervous, even if only a little. Was this an act, or was she really that way? That would only be told in time, she told herself. As the other girl spoke up, she listened to the words closely to find if there was any hitch in the tone or anything that might give away what this was about. Not that Hebiko expected to catch everything, she was only a genin after all. Rai Watanabe. The name finally came to her. She recognized this girl from the Academy. But again, Hebiko took to hiding what was on her mind. Sometimes it paid off to be like that. As she heard the question, she told herself that this could be some kind of test. Well, as long as kittens weren't involved, this would be fine.

"I'm just here."

Yes, the reply might have seemed a bit... brisk to put it lightly, but she didn't know just how much about the situation that she could really give away. It wouldn't be too strange coming from her anyways as she wasn't really known to be the most bubbly of individuals. She had often been seen as the quiet, calm, serious type. There were a few different ways she could have answered the other pre-teen, but that had been the first thing to slip past her lips and for now, she'd stick to it.

[raiwatanabe]

0923 hours

That was odd, another genin fresh from the academy? Why would another genin be here, unless this wasn't some kind of lecture about loose lips sinking ships. Rai watched her carefully as she approached, and noted the dark tan, brilliant platinum blonde hair, as well as the matching eyes. That was... what was her name again? Hebiko, wasn't it? Rai couldn't remember exactly. She didn't spend time in the academy with the other girls. They were always so goofy and foolish.

Suna kunoichi never did like to play with explosives or boats, after all.

"Just... here, eh?" Rai answered cautiously. Mentally kicking herself for speaking so obviously like a scared civilian, she repeated the learned mantra from her chuunin instructor. "Kunoichi chew nails while merchant daughters suck cotton candy!"

Watanabe did her best to keep her mouth shut, and went about scanning her surroundings, her head panning as her body followed. She could see the odd look in the girl's face, even if she couldn't quite read it. She was used to it, after all.

Some girls in the academy had nicknamed her "the machine" for a reason.

She didn't know what to say to this girl, if anything. The notice was quite strict. Perhaps this was intelligence gathering training. If that were the case, however, it was not going well. She would have to work on her personality more, as her mother suggested.

Maybe it was tactical training.

Then again, it wouldn't hurt to ask a few questions.

"Weren't you in the academy class with me?" When the girl answered, that did offer some reassurance to Rai. The girl wasn't completely opposed to some basic questions. That was always a plus. Feeling reassured, Watanabe continued. "So, yeah... any idea what this place is? I heard it was an old chuunin training ground some time ago."

The girl's response seemed distant, almost cold in a way, and Rai chose that moment to just break off any casual conversation. Whoever she was, what she was doing here was serious, and for her own part, Rai wasn't going to do anything to screw up before she was appointed to a jounin sensei.

"Be like ice," she muttered to herself. "Just be like ice."

The blonde seemed to notice this latest behavior, and the resulting look made Rai flinch, and start to fumble with her rebreather. If she could just distract herself for the time being with something to work on, maybe she could get through whatever this scenario the ANBU set her up for was.

Rai found the nearest training post, and knelt beside it, removing the rebreather from her back. Setting it on the ground, she began field-stripping the components down to the tanks and sodium peroxide scrubber. Noticing an odd look, especially when the Amegakure insignia engraved inside the dorsal casing was exposed, Rai simply looked at the girl, raised an eyebrow, and then went back to the gear.

It wouldn't possibly hurt to say something about the inquiry.

"It was my dad's, when he was a genin," she explained. "I just need a river, lake, or something to swim in, and put it to the test." Perhaps, that wasn't quite the best response. Most people in Suna wouldn't admit to a parent who fought for an opposing village, or even admit to having some of their former equipment.

Sighing, Watanabe slapped the equipment together, put the mouthpiece in to take a test breath, and throwing the unit over her shoulder, just shook her head. "You don't think I can hack it, do you? I mean, that's why you're here, right? To see if I deserve to be thrown into a genin squad?"

[hebiko]

She was silent as she observed Rai, even if it seemed to make the other girl nervous. Habiko was used to some people getting nervous around her... well, those outside of her clan seeing how other members of the Hotaru had similar moments though most not to the same degree. She didn't take any action in reassuring the brunette though, having noticed in the past that sometimes it just made the situation more awkward. On top of that, the blonde was actually somewhat interested in what might happen if she remained silent and just watched the situation unfold for a little while.

And unfold it did. It started out with Rai's body language shifting to a more cautious one as the answer was repeated in a question form. Then, the brunette was looking around. Hebiko watched for a moment then let her own eyes dart around the scene before locking back onto the other genin. Again her mind wandered to what this might be about. What kind of test was this if it was one? What were they waiting for if it wasn't?

"We graduated at the same time." She said in reply to the question about their having been in the same academy class together.

Again, she wasn't really giving away too much. For a brief moment, her mind flickered to the possibility of this not even being Rai but someone disguised as her to try to see just how much Hebiko might talk about. But the thought didn't linger for more than a second as she told herself that she was just being too paranoid. She doubted that it was the case.

"It's an old chunin training ground that hasn't been used in a while."

Alright, even Hebiko had to admit that was a little more frosty than needed, but she wouldn't be admitting that out loud. She could do better than just repeating what the other girl had asked in a statement form. For all she knew, this might have been a personality test or something along those lines.

"I actually haven't heard a great amount about this place, nor have I been out here with the exception of one or two times. Judging by the state of most of the equipment, I'd say there hasn't been any training done here in over a decade." She added, but it still lacked much emotion in comparison to what the other girl might think was normal.

As Rai muttered to herself, Hebiko couldn't help but to find familiarity in those words. Just about any Hotaru would find that familiar, seeing how they were trained as soon as they began to be able to understand things- to keep control of their emotions. To keep the surface smooth and the nature calm, seeing how their well being could be counting on it. The muttering and the following reaction to Rai noticing that she had caught her in the act, was mentally noted as a a few other details had been in this encounter.

Hebiko's eyes narrowed ever so slightly when she caught glimpse of the rebreather, possibly the first time her expression had changed since her arrival to the scene. Her mind skipped back to the thought that had passed through it earlier but again, Hebiko pushed it to the side, though not leaving it as being as low on the possibility scale this time. What was a Sunagakure resident doing with an Amegakure device.... especially with the symbol still on it? The answer came without Hebiko having to speak out a word, the other girl seeming to have no difficulty when it came to revealing things about herself. It was her father's, meaning that her father had been Amegakure.

"Or an oasis." She commented while still filling out her mental notes, her expression going back to what was normal for her.

She watched Rai fiddling around with the rebreather some more and putting it back together, her glance moving from the preteen once or twice as she watched to see if anyone else was arriving before her amber eyes went back to her again. Rai was talking again, this time being a bit more paranoid and jumpy in Hebiko's opinion. Had she been Mineko, she might have answered with a smart-alec comment like 'You figured out my master plan'. But, she wasn't. Hebiko was more mature than that. Though she doubted if her answer would be any more satisfying.

"I'm just here." She stated, crossing her arms in what would be a casual way for her.

She shifted a little of her attention towards the storing process of the light that was being absorbed into her at a natural pace while she stood there with the other girl not too far away. For someone not used to this, it would feel like their very blood was simmering in a way as each cell processed and contained actual light and as the chakra mingled in with it. As the Hotaru were used to this process through the generations, it was completely painless though.

Her mind wandered a little. Not so much to where she was distracted away from her observation of the jumpy paranoid and insecure girl not too far before her, but enough for her to contemplate over things such as the fact that if she were to get cut right now- her blood would be glowing. It was due to the fact that she had been Light Drinking not too long ago. That, and because she was not in a relaxed state after. Now, that would be annoying... Though bleeding was annoying anyways. But bleeding glowing blood would be even more annoying as it was embarrassing.

To her, it was about as embarrassing as some found expelling a loud burst of gas during meditation lessons embarrassing. It was a sign of her not having the control she should have. Of still being too childish. Though, in her defense, some adults still had their issues when it came to glowing or glowing by-products. Still, she didn't accept that. She had to be an example after all. She had to be a role model for her little sister Miyoko. Even if the girl didn't nearly take things as seriously as she should. On one hand, Hebiko wondered when her sibling would just grow up. But, on the other, she had a part of her that hoped that Mineko wouldn't grow up too soon.

It was strange and made little sense to her, but it was how she felt... even if she didn't show it. Then again, she didn't really show much of anything, now did she. Even her mother had told her she took it too far sometimes. But this was how Hebiko was, she couldn't see herself changing this. At least it got her where she needed to go, right? It was by far better than the mess she had been seven years ago. It had taken her days to stop glowing the bed after....

No, she would rather not think about that. Hebiko realized that her attention had strayed slightly more than she had intended to let it even if her expression had remained as plain as slate. She hadn't been so far gone to where she was no longer paying attention to her surroundings but had there been some kind of ambush set up, she probably would have missed a few subtle clues of one coming on.

"I'm nothing near being judge or jury." She commented even if it had been a long pause in between her last statement and this one.

It was the truth though. Even if she did take mental notes and make opinions on people, she didn't judge them completely. It was more of measuring how compatible the person and herself would be in working with each other if situation came up that they would be doing just that. Right now, Hebiko didn't know what was going on. All she knew was that she had gotten a notice to come here, and that the other genin that had already been here seemed about as clueless to the situation as she was. Though, the blonde wasn't anywhere near throwing around accusations or becoming paranoid about not making the cut.

Her not doing these things didn't mean that she cared any less about making it onto a team. In fact, she had been worrying over that since right before her graduation from the academy. She just hadn't voiced her thoughts on the matter. She had hoped that she had proven herself to be good enough though. A late bloomer like herself had to work that little bit harder to stay on the same level as the average. Then, push harder than that to get anywhere near being considered better than average. And oh how she had pushed. She didn't let herself fall into the illusion that she was one of the best, but that didn't mean that she didn't strive to get there.

One day.... maybe one day. But today, she remained without a team and with no word about getting on one. Getting on the team was one of the first steps towards climbing the ladder of success... after the one big step of graduating into becoming a Genin, that was. Then, there was the whole chunin exam. It would have been a lie if she said that she felt like she was ready for one of those. She was actually kind of relieved that they would have to wait for a while before that particular event.

To say that it would be stressful for her if she found out she was to participate in one any time soon, would have been the understatement of the century. She would probably have to resort to attempting to paint her hair and wear sun shades to try hiding the glow from how nervous she would be. Hebiko would be one unhappy shinobi. But, if she was selected for such a thing, embarrassment and stress aside, she would make sure to represent her clan in a way to make them proud.

Hebiko almost shook her head but barely caught herself. All this idle time was making her think too much about unnecessary things. She was more than beginning to wish that whatever was supposed to happen, would happen already. It wasn't to the point where she would start getting annoyed, but it wasn't exactly pleasant either. A small part of her whispered in her mind that she could have been practicing her jutsu or training with her marksmanship with her marbles right now like she had planned when she had first woken up. Possibly wrangling Mineko into practicing with her so to make it easier for her to keep up with her class.

A slow soundless sigh came from the dark skinned blonde and she consciously slowed the absorption of light into her body as she felt that she had gotten more than enough for the day. She didn't want to accidentally overload with it or anything like that. That would be unpleasant, to put it very mildly. Just like any other child from her clan, she had heard the stories of what happened to the people who over did it. None of the stories ended well. There were no happy endings when it came to abusing the techniques or blood abilities. She couldn't remember how young she had been when she had first started to be told about the stories, but one thing was for sure- she never forgot the actual tales. They were enough to give people with weak hearts or low constitution, nightmares.

She brought her thoughts away from such things and began to clear out her mind some. For now, she would just focus on the here and now, and not worry about the background thoughts that were going on. The last thing she needed was to get too distracted.

[raiwatanabe]

0927 hours

Rai didn't know what to say as the girl just zoned out into her own little world. Either way, it was too dull, and should the worst happen, she needed at least something to do to keep her mind occupied. But, what was there to do?

"Any idea what we're waiting for?" Rai asked, setting her backpack, rebreather, and other gear aside. When the girl seemed to shake her head, however, Rai wasn't paying too much attention. Obviously Hebiko didn't want to be bothered, so she was on her own to solve the problem.

Solving such a problem meant getting a better perspective on things, and being in a position in which they would not be taken by surprise. The training grounds were surrounded by the border wall just above the top of the canyon some fifty meters skyward. Not seeing any crevasses or outcroppings to make the situation any easier, Rai grumbled. It would be fifty meters of climbing using Kinobori no Waza, with her gear in tow.

Of course, she was thinking of this in the wrong perspective. It wasn't so much a burden as a test. It would be fun, in it's own, distracting sort of way.

Securing the mouthpiece of the rebreather within the backpack, tying down the weapons pouches, and securing all but her father's ninjato, which she proceeded to sling over her left shoulder, Watanabe gestured towards the canyon wall opposite the training grounds entrance. "We need intel on the situation," she explained. "You can climb with chakra, right?"

Satisfied with Hebiko's answer, Rai started moving casually towards the deep shadows of the canyon. This would involve bunshin no jutsu with a simultaneous kawarimi to make the substitution seamless, but she could do it, if it were required. She tapped on the girl's shoulder, and gestured only a portion of the hand seals, hoping Hebiko would understand.

Moving to the edge of the light and shadow, Rai took in a silent breath, forming the seals immediately. First came the substitution technique with a nearby fallen training post, and then the clone to sit atop it. In her black turtleneck and khaki utility pants, Rai thought there would be no issue with blending into the darkness. Most of her metal implements were secured, and her father, for all his genius, had stained the ninjato in a flat black paint.

The weapon was a dulled, slightly rusted, and stained implement. However, each atrocity to its former glory, each imperfection added to what must have been a highly decorative blade, was a crucial help to any wetwork the trained shinobi would require. Particularly, the decorative sash being cut away and replaced with a webbed tactical sling mounted on the sheath, with a simple strip of leather tied to the hilt kept the sword secured for situations just like this one.

Pulling the balaclava down over her face, Rai was no longer a stranger to the darkness, but a shadow amongst her brethren. Silent in her movements, slowly scaling the first meter of harsh sandstone, she clung with all her life to the surface. Probing every outcropping for traps, she scoured the surface for any hints to an ambush, but had found none.

Now looking down to the canyon floor, she paused. Hebiko seemed to hesitate on the edge of the shadows, unwilling to step out of the light. Frozen in place, Watanabe wondered if the girl could still see her, or didn't follow the plan for the ascent.

Gripping a piece of loose gravel, she tossed the pebble at the girl, waiting for a reaction, some kind of response to her inquiry.

[hebiko]

"No." Hebiko said with a slight shake of her head.

The answer was simple but it should have done the job. Hebiko didn't know what they were waiting for, all she knew was that it would be better to be patient and wait to see what this was about than to do too much of anything. Though, the question did nag at her some. As Rai began to fidget around with her things, Hebiko took another quick scan around with a glance before going back to watching what the other girl was doing as she still hadn't completely ruled out that the other girl could be part of some test. It wasn't like they really knew much about each other even if they had been in the Academy together.

As she was asked if she could climb with chakra after a comment on needing intel on the situation, Hebiko rose a bright blonde brow.

"I can." She stated.

But just because she could, didn't mean that she was looking forward to it. She would have preferred to avoid it actually. She would have preferred to avoid using any excess chakra in general. At least for another small handful of minutes. Though, had this been a jonin suggesting that she do something like this, she probably wouldn't have let herself think too much about her own comforts. This, however, was not the case.

Rai closed the distance between them and reached out, but the blonde didn't avoid the touch as she didn't want to make the other girl any more paranoid as she seemed to display the capability of being in this situation. As the tap was made and the gestures followed, Habiko suppressed a sigh. Well, it would be better to get a better idea of the surroundings, so it made sense. But at the same time, if they were both distracted with this task, then there was the chance of someone coming from below despite the clones that were left behind... Though it would have been easy to pull on the ditsy act to avoid this situation, she decided to just go the honest rout. She simply didn't mirror Rai in her actions but rather decided to take on the role of look out.

The brunette didn't seem to notice this as she went through the plan she had made. Hebiko glanced around yet again. The reason behind her scanning the area so often was due to her looking for any change in the scenery. Land navigation was one of the topics she was more interested in, so she had learned to take in details about an area and memorize them quickly. So far, nothing seemed out of place. Of course, this was her taking into account the actions of the other genin that was with her in this more or less abandoned training ground.

Rai seemed to get impatient or something, in Hebiko's point of view, as a pebble was thrown in the dark skinned shinobi's direction. A swift movement from Hebiko followed; one hand darting to her pouch then whipping back out before her wrist and fingers flicked in one fluent movement. What had been whipped out hadn't been a kunai to deflect the piece of gravel, but a hollow metal marble that was half an inch in diameter. It was only luck that caused the marble to bounce back in her direction as the pebble was deflected and Hebiko caught it. Somewhere in the back of her mind where she was still a bit too immature, a small voice told her that it had been a shame that Mineko hadn't been able to be there to see what just happened as the little girl would have thought Hebiko was that much cooler. Of course, the older of the siblings wouldn't have said anything to encourage or deny the thought of the younger.

The metal marble wasn't put away just yet but slipped between two fingers for the time being as her hand went to her side. Hebiko looked in the direction the pebble had come from. Watanabe seemed to be pretty good with the blending, as the Hotaru member couldn't spot her right away. Not that the mental note would be mentioned out loud unless there was a report requested.

[raiwatanabe]

1023 hours

It was a slow, laborious climb, stretching the limits of Rai's chakra reserves. However, this rate of speed, lingering on the dark cliff face was a necessity. Without such a mind-numbingly slow approach, she could be more easily detected. Just as she reached the edge of the cliff, her right hand reaching out to the flat surface above, she looked back contemplatively at the blonde genin.

A slight blush crossed Rai's face. Too bad it was hidden underneath the balaclava.

These sort of thoughts were foreign to Rai, particularly when it involved someone outside of her immediate family. However, there was something rather... She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but Watanabe supposed interaction with this Hebiko could be quite intriguing.

Slowly, as delicately as possible, she hauled herself over the ledge of the cliff face, and rolled until she was planted on firm ground. Keeping the balaclava secured, Rai scanned the canyon below. There was nothing seemingly out of place. The clone was still there, sitting still, twitching occasionally in classic Watanabe fashion. She could see Hebiko, but there was no other activity.

Realizing the training grounds seemed clear, Rai turned her attention to the trail leading from the edge she was near, to an observation booth only a few meters away. There were fresh tracks of various sizes, all with a heavy tread, and a single tire pattern with occasional parallel marks evenly spaced from the tire track.

The tracks which made their way in and out of the booth were similar, but one unique set seemed to have overlapped each other recently, as if the visitor had returned several times recently. Considering the last sandstorm had only been a few days prior, this was a recent development.

Moving silently to the booth, a wooden structure with a roof and open viewing area, Rai noted several boxes containing rudimentary shuriken, kunai, metal wire, fresh paper targets, and more importantly, a pair of binoculars resting on the rail of the booth.

Rai noted the protective caps of the optics were removed, and a slight layer of damp sweat remained on the frames.

The AO, or area of operations, was still hot.

Noting the inventory, and what she could surmise from the observer, Rai considered how to best approach the descent, and discuss the matter with Hebiko. It could be a slow, frustrating climb back down, but she could still feel the lack of any capacity left to her chakra. She was drained beyond her usefulness, and searching the ledge, could not see any other means to reach the training grounds.

Then she noticed the thick rappelling line coiled on the ground beside the observation booth. Running every meter of length through her hand to search for the common signs of wear, or the more uncommon signs of sabotage, she found the rope to be in good working order. Actually, it was rather odd, noting how professionally coiled the line had been, as if deliberately set for her discovery.

Reaching into her pack, Rai strung a pair of kunai to her wrists, one per each hand, with metal wire. It was not ideal, but should their observer choose to cut the rappelling line on her descent, she would have a back-up plan.

The descent was more of a free-fall, using the line only to control the speed to the training grounds below. Hitting the ground with an audible thud, Rai walked casually up to her clone, waved hello for a moment, then dispelled it without a second thought. Turning to Hebiko, her paranoid twitching in her right hand obvious to the blonde, the brunette pointed skyward.

"There is one observer currently on the premises, approximately an average sized adult of yet an indeterminate gender, likely the leader in a small squad of various sized adults. They have no kekkai-genkai sensor or observational abilities, no other support units, but a well-stocked supply of training equipment, and no intentions to engage or be engaged. They are carrying limited equipment, and have prepared the grounds within the last week, with the support of their unit."

Rai paused for a moment, waiting for her reply.

[hebiko]

There didn't come another pebble from the shadows and Hebiko's eyes were refusing to adjust to the light and dark ratio so she waited a few moments before before taking another almost obsessive compulsive action in scanning the area again for any changes. Nothing out of the ordinary compared to how everything had been lain out upon her arrival. Well, nothing that she could notice at her level of observation skills anyways. She wouldn't say that she had the best observation skills in anyone of her age, that was for sure. But she wasn't the worst either.

Flicking the marble up her sleeve for temporary stashing in case something changed the scene from boring and silent to explosive and all too exciting, she took several steps to get to a spot where she could get a better ground view. Every once in a while, her eyes would flicker to the edges of the ledges, skimming just enough to check for movement before she went to making sure she wasn't missing anything ground-side. In one of the glances upward, she had spotted Rai crawling over the edge and watched the other girl until she had disappeared out of sight over the side.

After Rai disappeared, Hebiko went to her thoughts again, but this time keeping more aware of her surroundings than actually sticking to the thinking. The thoughts played in the background as she played scout. Briefly, she wondered if this was where her father had trained when he was back in his chunin days. She could be walking in his long faded footsteps. Her full focus came to the current moment though as she had that nagging sensation that she was being watched. It could have been the paranoia of being in a place she wasn't used to with high walls on each side... but she wasn't going to just brush it off as being nothing. A slight shift of her left arm and hand came. She had always been more of a lefty than a a righty. It was the reason why she wore the single sleeve on her left arm. It helped her hide things when she needed to. And, it kept a light hold of her marbles if she did a quick tucking away of them at the crease int he elbow.

She didn't let her guard down. It was what caused her to tense and almost send a marble streaking through the air when she heard the thud of someone or something landing not too far away from her. Almost, but not quite. And she had managed to keep herself from turning into a lantern by keeping a firm grip on the billions on billions of microscopic beads of light inside of her body just that. Inside. Out of sight, deep in her veins.

"Then it might be best to let then keep believing that they won't be engaged by seeming oblivious of them if they haven't gotten around to spotting us by now or if we haven't disturbed too much for them to miss. If we're going the rout of what would be more towards going by the books, we'd make sure that a jonin was made aware of the situation. Assuming that someone isn't already. Any sign of where they might have gone?"

Hebiko assumed that no one had been up there or there would have been more action right then. When she was talking about a report being made to a jonin, she of course meant in the most subtle way possible in case the two of them were not as alone as they seemed to be. Right now, the blonde was going to assume that looks were deceiving.

[raiwatanabe]

1036 hours

Rai nodded as Hebiko covered the "by the book" solution to the problem. However, there was something about this set-up, something that told her the ANBU already knew what was happening. It was obviously a test, but a test of what? A test of following procedures was one possibility, but leading a genin to an otherwise abandoned training site with all the equipment set, and another genin-

The thoughts of Yuki returned to her mind, and the phrase "be like ice".

There were times, Rai's grandfather told her, when trust was more important than anything else in the world. Alongside trust, however, also came faith. If one did not have faith to take some aspects of the world at face value, then one would live in a self-contained, paranoid world the rest of their natural life.

It took a great deal of time as Watanabe studied her surroundings, working through the information she had so far. She was in an abandoned training site, which appeared to be stocked with supplies recently by several individuals. One of those individuals, likely the leader, had been recently observing both Hebiko and herself. The means to safely observe and collect this information was available without any hint of sabotage.

Then there was Hebiko, someone who appeared to be acting like a good academy student, trying to please her instructor.

It seemed obvious, almost too obvious. The lingering doubts were still there, but if someone did not make a move, they would remain in this paranoid loop indefinitely.

Sighing, Rai twitched for a moment, reaching for the folded letter. "Let me guess," she started. "You were issued one of these by ANBU?"

[hebiko]

There were too many possible answers to this situation and none being given. Hebiko didn't like this, not that she voiced her feelings on the matter. The shocking blonde said nothing and her expression remained the same smooth surface even if there were plenty of currents being made deep below it. The ANBU weren't sloppy, not in the least. They would have, should have, caught onto this especially when two somewhat freshly made genin were assigned to be out in this area. There was more than a small chance that they were being tested on how they would react to their findings.

If that was the case, then it went back to if they should go on through the procedure of informing a higher ranked shinobi about their findings, like what would be deemed one of the more appropriate actions, or if they would figure the situation on their own through improvisation. She personally would have preferred going through this chain of events by the book. By what they were taught and trained to think of doing first. At least, what she had been trained and taught to do. Some students took the teachings differently than the others. To her, she took the teachings as almost like orders. Not quite, but if she could follow them, she would.

Was Rai there as a means to try to steer her away from what was right to do? Temptation in a way? Hebiko had over heard plenty of conversations that had started off with something along the lines of "never be fooled by a pretty face". Was this one of those situations? Of course she hadn't had that be told to her directly, but still... a lesson was a lesson. She watched the other girl as she seemed to twitch some and pulled out a paper. A very familiar looking paper in fact. Truth, or decoy? Her instincts were having inward arguments with themselves on what she should do or think so she simply observed for the time being.

"I was, yes." She replied simply, though she made no move to pull out her own letter.

[raiwatanabe]

1043 hours

Hebiko was one of those people, apparently, that would not trust regardless of what the situation demanded. Rai looked the girl over again, and tried her best to avoid blushing. Still, thoughts of her were difficult to restrain. Twitching nervously again, Rai looked back at the paper used for the letter, and considered the ANBU who delivered the message.

"If we go, by the book, leaving one person to observe the grounds while the other relays the message would be the most appropriate response. But, if we do that, and this is a hostile environment, we should stick together." She paused, thinking through the evidence found at the booth. She could not escape her hypothesis.

Feeling in her backpack for her gear, Watanabe had a slight grin spread across her face. "I have an idea," she said, pulling out a smoke grenade. She tossed the instrument to Hebiko, and took one herself. "We signal from the booth," she said, pointing at the observation booth at the top of the cliff. "We take different paths, to make sure if this is a genuine threat, we are both not prevented from signaling the ANBU."

Handing the girl a kunai, Watanabe grinned. "This could be a fun day after all."

[hebiko]

Hebiko didn't make any verbal reply to the first thing Rai had said but she did raise a brow somewhat to show that she felt that the brunette was making some sense with where she was going. If they had to stick together though, they would have to come up with a plan where they could do that and to not completely abandon the training area at the same time...


Rai seemed to come up with a solution first. Or at least, speak up with one first and take the first action. Hebiko caught the smoke bomb that was tossed to her, her letting her hand move with the momentum of the object for a second before the actual catch to soften the landing of it in her hand. It was something she did borne out of habit. It was the same way she caught her marbles if they ricocheted back to her during training. This provided the least amount of impact and a more fluent type of movement from the catch.

"And the idea is?" Hebiko asked when Rai stated she had an idea.

She listened as the other girl filled her in on what was in her head to do. As she was handed a kunai though, Hebiko had to resist giving Rai one of the looks she tended to give her sister when her sister did something unnecessary. Really... Just because Hebiko preferred to use marbles as a choice weapon and was quicker to pull one out rather than a kunai, it didn't mean that she didn't carry the standard issue weapons and tools that all genin should come equipped with.

"Let's get started."

It was her only response to being told the plan and to the comment about this being a fun day. Hebiko wasn't worried about if this would be fun or not. She hadn't really sought out "fun" in a while actually. In her mind, this wasn't about fun. This was about getting what needed to be done, done.

[raiwatanabe]

1047 hours

Still drained of chakra, Rai tightened the straps to her backpack, and started slowly up the rappelling line, climbing directly up the cliffside, fully visible to any and all individuals along the training grounds. It seemed a foolish idea at first, but she considered playing the default decoy might at least earn some points for loyalty from Hebiko. If she was willing to take on the more dangerous assignment, she could keep the other girl theoretically out of harm's way.

Nearly halfway up the rope, Rai had to stop, wrapping the rope between her ankles, and flexing her hands one at a time. She had never climbed this distance by rope alone. Perhaps, she considered, it would be time to start taking up more obstacle course training.

Looking back over the course during her slight pause, she thought she saw motion along the ledge of the cliff. Freezing in place, Rai studied the surfaces for anything she had not seen before. However, nothing appeared out of order. Erring on the side of a shorter, less stressful climb, she continued up the rope, eventually reaching the top.

Once there, she rolled herself over the ledge, and came to rest just beside the booth. Taking a short breath, Watanabe gripped the smoke grenade, and stumbled to a slight jog along the trail, looking for a suitable open area to trigger the signal. About twelve meters down the trail towards the wall, she found one: a large rock formation left untouched along the cliffside, offering high visibility. Climbing slowly along the side, she slammed the device against the firm surface, triggering the standard friction detonator.

In only seconds, a large cloud of gray smoke burst from the container, burning cool to the touch. Rai grinned, thinking back to learning the recipe from a few acquaintances in the academy, whose parents made the grenades to save cost on their routine missions.

Flopping onto her back, the girl took slow, steady breaths, her muscles sore, joints screaming from the ascent. She would need to get bettter. Perhaps, if Hebiko was not busy later...