"He's late." Mai Kamiya's matter-of-fact tone ended the already uncomfortable silence among herself, her sensei, and the other female member of her genin team. Their third comrade, and only male teammate was already one hour and forty minutes late; the four shinobi needed to have left Takigakure no less than an hour before, if they wanted to reach their first checkpoint under the safety of daylight. With one white eyebrow raised, Mai's icy blue eyes met the gentle black gaze of her sensei. "Lui-Sensei?" In response, the man let out a gusty sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. "Alright, Mai." He nodded slowly, motioning in her direction. "Just be quick, and don't strain yourself too hard… You need to preserve as much of your chakra as you can for the exams, travelling to the Leaf might prove more taxing than you realize." Making a few quick hand signs, the white-haired kunoichi closed her eyes. "Special Technique: Spirit Hair Jutsu!"
The scene around Mai seemed to fade, the voices of her sensei and teammate melting into the distance, as new surroundings began to appear. Blinking slowly, the kunoichi took a careful, but quick look around. The ground beneath her feet was a dark mix of rocks and dirt, soft and dampened by the misty air. 'The Falls?' Mai wondered 'What's Daisuke doing here?' She was suddenly aware of a wet, squishy sensation against her skin. Her teammate was kneeling in the dirt, she concluded. From her jutsu's eyes, she could see him on his hands and knees at the edge of a sparkling pool at the edge of the great waterfall, could feel the cool water lapping against her skin as Daisuke dipped something into the water's depths. Suddenly, the boy's eyes narrowed in realization. Running a hand across his black cornrowed hair, he dropped his gaze to study his shirt intensely. "Hn." Humming in satisfaction as his search proved his assumption correct, he slowly removed the long, white strand of hair from his maroon jumpsuit, just below his left shoulder. "Damnit Mai… I'm coming." Opening her blue eyes slowly, Mai blinked in surprise at the set of dark red eyes mere inches from her own.
"Well? What'd you see, Mai?" The kunoichi belonging to those red eyes sat back on her heels, scarlet pigtails bouncing. "Where's Daisuke—Oh.." a slight blush decorated her cheeks, as her red gaze fell on something beyond Mai. "I'm here, I'm here." The boy in question grumbled, shifting his travel-pack higher onto his back. He glared at his white-haired teammate. "Didn't have to go and spy on me!" "You were- are two hours late, Daisuke. Making the rest of us wait is rude!" the kunoichi trained her gaze on her scarlet-pigtailed friend. "Isn't that right, Sora?" A pair of red eyes shifted uncomfortably between her two teammates, before settling on the grass beneath her feet. "um… well, it is pretty rude, when there are four of us travelling…" "A-chem!" The older shinobi, having had enough of the awkward exchange between his students, finally interrupted the conversation. "Come on, we're all on the same team here!" the jounin-sensei smiled. Looking at Daisuke, he continued. "You were late, yes. However, it allowed Mai, Sora, and myself to spend some quality time together, as a family." Three pairs of eyes rolled at his explanation. "Shouldn't we get going?" Mai prodded. "Yeah, I don't want to take chances being out in the dark!" Sora agreed, nodding as she picked up her own travel-pack. Daisuke followed suit, all three genin falling into place behind Lui-Sensei, passing through the great stone gates of the village and onto the wide forest path that led towards Konoha.