Graduation had been a breeze for the two girls, nearly the same in appearance. They were known as the Hanatsuki twins by most of their class. One rarely saw one without the other nearby. Even with their genin team assignments, they remained together. With the kekkei genkai that they shared, it was an advantage to keep them together. You see the kekkei genkai they possessed allowed them to merge with one another. It allowed fo surprise attacks and other nasty surprises. With that being said, neither twin was very sure about having to expand their ability to work together to include a third, though Wakane was more open about giving it a try.
The rainy morning that had the two up and about before the sun rose would give way to some of the most interesting and frustrating years of their lives. The day after their graduation, the day that they would meet at their designated training ground to meet with their sensei and their new teammate. There had been no warning as to who they would be meeting. The only thing that had been printed on the card that they had received was a date, time and location: March 4th, 6 am, Training Ground 3. Without knowing what was to come the two readied themselves for the day. Wakane trudging sleepily through her morning routine, as Yasu prodded the girl faster. She would not let them arrive late. At least she would make sure on this day that both of them arrived on time.
"Wakane, move." The command was given softly but left no room to argue. A grumble came in reply. Yasu sighed and pushed her glasses further up her nose.
"I will not be late today." She pushed her sister harshly in the direction of their shared bathroom. She didn't care that it caused Wakane to stumble and mutter darkly under her breath about her 'demonic' tendencies. She was bent over her pack, making sure that she had packed everything that she thought she might need for the day. Yasu had no clue what to expect. They could simply be training all day, or perhaps they would be getting a mission. She hoped that whoever was assigned to their squad was not like her sister. Wakane annoyed her enough as it was. With a slight nod, she zipped up the pack and straightend. She had already braided her long black hair into a thick braid that hung down her back. Her forehead protected was tied firmly around her head. She mentally went through her morning routine, trying to make sure that she had done everything. Teeth brushed, check. Hair tamed, check. Clothes, check. Pack, check. All that was missing was breakfast. She glanced at the clock that stood on the floor next to her futon. They still had enough time to eat and make it to Training Ground 3 without being late. She would go and scrounge up breakfast.
A few minutes later, Wakane walked out of their shared bathroom with her black hair in two braids. Her forehead protector was tied around her waist. Her dark brown eyes flicked around the room that she shared with her sister.
"I guess Yasu's already making breakfast." She muttered to herself, as she moved toward where her own pack was sitting. She picked it up by the strap and exited her bedroom and trudged down the hall towards the kitchen. As she neared she could hear Yasu talking with their father. The girl straigtened her posture slighty before she entered the kitchen.
"Good morning, daddy." She set her pack down next to her sister's just inside the doorway and moved to join her sister at the stove.
"Good morning, Wakane." Her father's deep voice was clear, despite the early hour. "Excited about your first day as a genin?" he asked, watching the older of the two retrieve silverware, bowls, and glasses to set the table.
"Definitely. I hope our sensei can show us a lot of new taijutsu moves." She stacked the tableware in such a way that she could transport it to the table in one go.
"I'm sure your sensei will be teaching you what you need to learn to survive." Came her father's reply. He was not a shinobi, but he knew that a shinobi's life was not to be taken lightly. As a merchant he dealt on occasion with shinobi.
Breakfast was a simple affair of miso soup and leftover rice with a side of pickled assorted vegetables and a glass of juice. With just enough time to spare, the two left their father to clean up breakfast.
With a minute to spare they arrived at the drab Training Ground 3. The rain obscured most of the surrounding area, making it impossible to tell what exactly made this training ground unique. Yasu tugged the hood of her short, waterproof cloak a bit further down, eyes sweeping over the area.
"I think we're early." Wakane stretched her arms over her head, causing the identical cloak that she wore to fall open. Yasu didn't reply. Where was their third teammate and sensei?
"GENIN-CHAN!" A child's voice rang out loudly, making Yasu flinch. She whirled around and stared at the white haired child that was skipping towards them. A kiseru was held between thin lips, letting out a small stream of bubbles. The child stopped by skipping right into a puddle, spraying Wakane with dirty water.
"Hey!" Wakane jumped back, but it was too late. "Watch where you are jumping in puddles." She frowned as dirty water dripped from her cloak and pants. She shivered; the feeling of fabric sticking to her skin was not pleasant. At least the child had the sense to look apologetic at the girl.
"This is no place for kids." Yasu shook her head. Who let their kid out at this hour?
"Do my little genin-chan not want to play?" Came the child's reply, "I thought that they would want to play." The twins glanced at one another before returning their gazes to the child that stood before them. Said child was pulling a card out of the his pocket. He waved it in front of his face, giving them a rather devious grin.
"I thought my precious genin-chan would like to remain genin and not have to go back to the academy." The card, Yasu noticed, was the same that they had received.
"Who are you?" She had taken a step towards the child. Her eyes narrowed. Could this child be some sort of test? The child puffed out his chest and blew a few more bubbles, before taking the kiseru from his lips.
"I'm Nagare, your sensei." He puffed out his cheeks, trying to seem more important but failed. The twins looked at the child for a long moment, before both burst into laughter.
"Oh god, that is a good one." Wakane managed between laughs, "ne, Yasu?" Yasu could merely nod as laughter shook her frame. Who did this kid think he was? A jounin sensei? Not likely. Nagare pouted as the two laughed at him. He was rather expecting the reaction, but that didn't make him any less inclined to pout.
"That's not funny. If you don't believe me, you can go take it up with your academy teacher." The child threatened, "I can still send you back." He waved his kiseru threateningly at the two who were slowly starting to get themselves under control.
"What's all this, eh?" Three sets of eyes swept towards a boy that was a bit taller than the twins with a bronze mask covering the upper half of his face. The boy folded his arms over his chest and returned the stares with a hostile glare of his own.
"What?" he snapped. Nagare was the first to respond.
"My third genin-chan." He launched himself at the boy that had joined them. The boy backpedalled, raising a hand to swat Nagare away. The twins weren't sure how exactly Nagare had avoided the swat, but he had and was now clinging to the scruffy looking boy that had joined them.
"Oi, get off." The boy growled, trying to pull Nagare off him. With a huff Nagare allowed the boy to pull him off.
"Now that all of my precious genin-chan are here, we can start." The child clapped his hands together. The twins stared at Nagare. They couldn't believe that he was their sensei. A child could not be their sensei. There must be a mistake.
"Can't believe I dragged meself out of bed for this." The rather wild looking boy grumbled, shoving his hands into the pockets of his rather ragged pants. Disinterest rolled off the boy.
"Let's start by introducing ourselves." He looked at the three genin with a hopeful grin, "I'll go first. My name's Nagare Kaehoukou. I am your sensei. I like cake and bubbles." He paused and scrunched up his face in concentration,"My specialty is ninjutsu." He chirped after a long moment of silence. It seemed with that the boy had enough.
"Well, you kids have fun, aye? I've better things to do than stick it out with you two lollies." He began to walk away, boredom rolling off him in waves. A rather cute frown creased the childlike features of Nagare's face as the boy walked away.
"You know, Salos-chan, you arn't supposed to walk away from your Jounin sensei like that. Five minutes of time out for you." With a wave of his kiseru, Nagare's chakra spiked. The rain that had been falling around the boy-Salos-began to waver, forming a ball of water around the poor genin. He wandered over to where the boy was trapped and tapped the ball of water with his kiseru, a satisfied smile on his face.
"From now on, the first time each day that you disrespect me so thoroughly, or you try to skip out on training, it's five minutes. Every time after that, I will add one to five more minutes on a sliding scale." His grin widened. "Think of it as training! If you keep acting bad enough, you're going to have to learn to hold your breath for up to 10 minutes at a time! I hope you took a big enough breath, because I know most little genin-chan like yourself can't hold their breath for five minutes." He turned his back on the now struggling boy and casually walked back towards the twins. The two were giving him disbelieving looks.
"So who is next?" the child looked up at them expectantly. Wakane nervously cleared her throat, hoping he wasn't talking about getting trapped in a bubble.
"My name is Wakane. Hanatsuki Wakane. I like taijutsu and bitter chocolate. My specialty is taijutsu and bukijutsu." She glanced at her sister.
"My name is Yasu. I enjoy working with poisons and spicy food. My specialty is taijutsu, poisons, and bukijutsu." Yasu glanced over at the third member of their team still trapped in his watery prison. It seemed like he was about to pass out at any moment.
"My my, so unrefined. You two have a lot of work to do. Taijutsu..." He made a face that was akin to a child being forced to eat broccoli. "It's so lame. So uncool. Now that-" He motioned back towards his water prison technique. "is super cool. Ninjutsu is my specialty. It can accomplish so much more than just breaking things. First things first, I want you to tell me how much you know about manipulating chakra, and what types of jutsu you have already learned." Wakane's gaze traveled to their third teammate.
"Uh, Nagare-sensei, maybe you should let him out." She pointed at their teammate that had stopped struggling. Nagare glanced at the boy; with a wave of his hand the water began to drain, but the boy was still trapped within a bubble made of water. He returned his attention to the two girls, ignoring the gasping boy. "Go on." He prompted.
"One manipulates chakra to execute jutsus. Chakra can be manipulated to form objects and to change types, as seen in nature release jutsus." She glanced nervously at her sister, "I've only learned the basic academy jutsus, how to do what I do with my sister, and-and-and-"
"Hiding in the Mist. Uncle Iroku taught us that one. I can also use the Haze Clone Technique. We've mainly been focusing on taijutsu." Yasu interupted her sister's stuttering. Nagare nodded slowly.
"Ninjutsu is the art of shaping and manipulating chakra. As you are more than likely aware from your existing training, this is primarily done by the use of hand-seals, and mental control." He said, sitting down on the ground in front of them and motioning for them to do the same. "The two techniques you've already learned are very good examples of the two primary methods through which Ninjutsu functions. The first is Shape Transformation, through which you give body and shape to your Chakra. The Haze Clone technique demonstrates this perfectly, because you must have very precise control of Shape Transformation to make the clones accurate. Hiding in the Mist technique represents the other primary method, Nature Transformation, through which you change the actual physical properties of your chakra, and turn it into an element."
He took out the two slips of paper and handed one to each of the girls. "Shape transformation is the easiest and most commonly used form of Ninjutsu. Most Clone techniques and weapon-based techniques all rely solely on Shape Transformation. The application of Nature Transformation is what allows you to do things far beyond the bounds of normal capabilities. The iconic images of crashing waves, great balls of fire, bolts of lightning, these are all representative of applications of Nature Transformation." He said, beaming and taking out a slip of paper for himself, and holding it in the palm of his free hand. "All Ninja have the capability to use any form of Nature Transformation, all that is required is skill and practice. Most ninja never learn more than one element, because of one key factor. Each Ninja's chakra resonates most strongly with one of the five elements. Now then, can either of you tell me what those five elements are?" He said, putting the kiseru between his lips and blowing a few bubbles.
"Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Lightning." Yasu's reply was almost mechanical, "That's easy."
At this point Salos had awoken, uttering curses that would make a sailor blush.
"You coulda killed me! You shoulda killed me! Now I'm GONNA kill you, once I get out of this stupid thing!" He tried to claw at the walls of his prison, but the walls merely distended slightly. "I ain't gonna let this go, you bubble-lovin' ninny. Just cuz you got the element o' surprise don't mean a lick for a lot, that I can tell you." The speal coming from the furious boy interrupted Nagare's teaching, making the child-like jounin to glance at Salos, before turning his attention back to the twins. Noting that Nagare had been teaching the twins while he drowned made the boy's anger sharpen into white hot rage.
"That's correct Yasu. Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth. Each Shinobi has the affinity for at least one of these elements within them, which means that techniques utilizing that nature will both be easier to accomplish, and more potent. Nature based techniques are usually the most powerful, since they can do things that chakra alone cannot accomplish." He said, nodding sagely and blowing a few more bubbles.
"Hehe. I get it." Salos snorted, "You take on the bad egg of the bunch, an' the big boss upstairs pays you for the hassle, yeah. Just as rotten as usual, this whole place, yeah. Come to think of it, I bet we're all rotten if y'crack our heads open. We're all the same inside, all bad eggs." Nagare looked at the genin trapped in the bubble and stood slowly. He walked over to the bubble.
"You know Salos-chan, you're right. I am the same as you. Except I'm a lot lot worse." He gave the boy an innocent smile "The only reason I didn't kill you was because I'd get in trouble, not because I care about your life. They wouldn't let me teach genin-chan anymore if I killed one of you, so I have to restrain myself." Nagare let out a slightly eerie giggle. It was odd to hear what appeared to be a 7 or so year old boy talking about ending Salos' life so carelessly. "But you're right. You and I are both very very bad eggs. That's why they put you with me, because I'm probably the only one who can understand you. And more importantly than that, I'm the only one who isn't afraid to put you in the hospital if it means putting you in your place." He held up one of the chakra papers that he had given the twins. "Now what about you Salos? What type of Ninjutsu do you know, and how much do you know about chakra natures? Maybe if your answer is satisfactory, I'll let you out, and we can test how strong you are for real." Nagare turned and walked back over to the twins, intent on continuing his teaching. Throughout all of this Yasu had kept rather quiet. Salos's incessant ranting was really starting to make her head hurt. Did he ever shut up? It was bad enough that their sensei was a child. She had subconciously slipped a hand into her hip pouch to dance over the senbon she had stored within it.
"What this paper is, is Chakra paper. By concentrating chakra into the palm of your hand, the paper will react to it in one of several different ways. If you have water element, it will grow soggy. Fire, it'll burst into flames. Lightning will cause it to spark. Wind will cut the paper in half. And earth will cause it to turn to dust." Nagare spoke unhurried, holding out the chakra paper that he still had clutched in his hand. It had grown soggy as he spoke, "See?" He moved back towards Salos, waving the soggy paper at him. "See?" he repeated himself. He whipped out another piece of paper and plunged his hand into the drained bubble, shoving the chakra paper into Salos's hand. Salos tried to grab Nagare, but instead he ended up with the chakra paper. He fisted it in his hand.
"I know my place, damn it. I will not be fodder for you. Shove off." He looked at the piece of paper in his hand, unaware that Yasu had moved closer to the two.
"Who needs that malarkey, anyway? I don't catch people by surprise with this sorcery shit. Which reminds me-" He was cut off as he felt the sting of a senbon right above his left clavicle and the fast acting paralyzing poison entered his system. His muscles seized, as he was rendered immobile. Yasu smirked. It was finally quiet. Her respite was short. A smart slap to the back of her head had her glaring down at their sensei.
"Now, now, Yasu-chan, it is not your place to discipline Salos-chan. I am the jounin-sensei, and it is my duty to help correct his attitude. All you'll do by throwing things at him is make it worse, especially when he can't fight back." He frowned at the girl. Yasu crossed her arms over her chest.
"My intention wasn't to discipline. It was to make him quiet. He is grating on my nerves." She retored. The senbon that she had chosen had been coated in a fast acting poison that did not take too long to wear off. Nagare shook his head and motioned for the smiling Wakane to join them.
"Alright, let's see what kind of chakra nature you two have." The two concentrated their chakra into their respective chakra papers. Yasu's was the first to show a change. The girl yelped and dropped the paper that had burst into flames. A moment after Yasu's had burst into flames, Wakane's crumbled to dust. It seemed that they did not share chakra natures: Wakane with earth and Yasu with fire.
As the three busied themselves in finding out what chakra natures the twins had, Salos was furiously trying to fight the poison coursing through his system. He was furious at the pint-sized girl that had silenced him. When he was free of this poison, he would make sure that she paid for her deed. As he struggled against the hold of the poison, his chakra spiked uncontrolled. The paper in his hand reacted to the fluctuating chakra and began to turn black, dissolving and dripping down his hand. If he could move his muscles, his eyes would have widened at the sight of the chakra paper liquifying. That was certainly not what he was expecting. It was also not what Nagare had been expecting. He had turned at the feel of Salos's chakra fluctuating, just catching sight of the dissolving paper. He hurried over to the boy and watched the last drops of the black liquid paper drip from the boy's hand.
"That certainly is an interesting reaction. I've never seen chakra paper do that before." He grinned up at the boy, "This will definitly be fun. Maybe some new kekkei genkai." Nagare was muttering possibilities now.
"Is that so? A new kekkei genkai? Aye, ye've got my attention now, professor. I'll play along all nice like, for now. Keep me interested and I won't need to rage." The boy was slowly starting to regain control of his body. Nagare released the chakra that had been giving the water around Salos its shape and spun to look at the twins.
"We are going to play a game now. Yasu was bad and broke the rules, so Wakane, you get to be with Salos in this game. Yasu will be given one minute to run as fast as she can away from here. At which time, Wakane and Salos, you two will track her down and subdue her NON-LETHALLY." He emphasized. "Any minor injuries you receive I can fix, but anything life-threatening will not be tolerated. I'll be keeping tabs on all of you, and will intervene directly if it should get out of hand. Also, anyone who breaks this rule will get to spend 5 minutes in the time-out bubble, with one warning to draw a breath. Wakane, if you help your sister in any way, you'll be spending the next 24 hours in the time-out-bubble, but I'll let you breathe. This means you won't be able to talk to anyone, move, eat, nothing, for 24 hours." It was clear that he was very serious about this. The child took a long look at Yasu, "Yasu, your minute begins now."