How to train as a ninja (AKA: Free child labor)
"How long is he gonna take!" Sentai groaned angrily.
"It's seven forty," Kirisho mumbled in annoyance as he rested up against a tree, "He isn't late yet."
"Where the hell is Tyler?" Sentai grumbled, somewhat put off by his quiet teammate.
A few minutes later, Tyler jogged up and sat down on the ground, "I'm glad I made it on time." Tyler said as he tried to catch his breath.
"Good," Kuroda said from the tree Kirisho had been leaning against, startling the genin, "Now I'm sure you all have things that you want to train in."
"Fire ninjutsu." Sentai said quickly.
"Genjutsu." Kirisho said quietly, with a strange smile across his face.
"Medical jutsu." Tyler said helpfully.
"Unfortunately for you kids," Kuroda said with a cold chuckle, "I'm not incredibly skilled in any of that, so we're going to do some chakra control training."
"Why?" Sentai asked in confusion, "What would we need that for?"
"Because without control any skill requiring chakra is absolutely worthless," Kuroda said in annoyance, "Your medical would be less effective," He said, pointing at Tyler, "Your genjutsu would be pitifully easy to break," He said, pointing at Kirisho, "And your fire jutsu would do more harm to friend than foe." He said finally with disdain, pointing at Sentai.
"So how do we train control?" Tyler asked.
"I'm glad you asked." Kuroda said with a sadistic smile.
"Well this isn't what I had in mind." Tyler said thoughtfully as he stared at literally piles of dishes in front of him.
"Thank you very much Kuroda," Teuchi said with a embarrassed laugh, "I've been meaning to get to them, but I haven't had the time."
"Sure you haven't," Ayame said, playfully jabbing her dad lightly, "You've been too busy hanging out at the bar, be honest."
"At my age?" Teuchi grumbled, "Thanks again Kuroda."
"No problem," Kuroda said with a respectful nod, "Now, here's what you are going to do." Kuroda said, picking up a bowl, "You are going to use just your chakra to clean these dishes." The genin gave him a startled look, and he shook his head in annoyance, "Remember, too little chakra and nothing gets done, use too much and you risk breaking the dish. Any dish you break, you pay for out of your own pocket."
"Is that all you are going to tell us?" Tyler asked, hoping there was more.
"No, that's all." Kuroda said as he picked up his backpack and walked away, "If any of you leave your genin status is revoked and I'll send you back to the academy quicker than you can cry about it."
There was a long silence, and then Sentai began to fume.
"This is ridiculous, he can't just leave us to wash dishes." Sentai muttered angrily.
"I'm sure he has something important to attend to," Tyler said, more to convince himself than anyone else as he began work on his first bowl, "He'll teach us more later."
"Look," Kuroda said in a huff as Hinata panted heavily, "There is an important rule for ninja, that rule is be decisive." He said as he pulled Hinata to her feet then gestured for her to resume a combat stance.
"If you are not decisive," Kuroda said as she launched a quick, but weak assault, which Kuroda nimbly dodged, "Your attacks will have no effect." He said as he spun, using one foot to drag her foot out of position, then tripped her to the ground.
"Kuroda-san," Hinata said as she continued to pant, "This is too hard."
"There is no such thing," Kuroda snapped, then held himself back as the girl cringed at his tone, "What I mean, is that the fool whose eye you are so eager to catch is actually right about one thing. Hard work can make win through, provided some discipline and skill is involved."
"B-but, I don't have any of those things." Hinata stammered as she caught her breath.
"Stop," Kuroda said with some steel, causing her to freeze, "You have natural skill, you just need some drive and discipline." He said, retaking his stance, "Try again."
Hinata took a deep breath, and charged. Kuroda stepped aside, and with one hand knocked her to the ground.
"Again." The white-haired man said as the Hyuuga got back to her feet.
"K-kuroda-san," Hinata said quickly, "Can we take a break?"
"One more try." Kuroda insisted, keeping his stance.
Hinata, finally beginning to become angry after two hours of this, charged. As Kuroda's open palm came to knock her aside, Hinata ducked under it, and spun. As she did, she grabbed Kuroda's arm and took Kuroda off his feet using her momentum. Kuroda, in great surprise, barely tumbled into the fall, and pulled himself up and out of the small girls grasp.
"That was risky and stupid," Kuroda said with a modicum of respect in his voice, "But it was also the first time you landed anything like a blow." He said, shocking her greatly as he offered her a hand up.
"I-if it was stupid, why do you make it sound like it was a good thing?" Hinata asked in some confusion.
"Because you took a risk, and if I had been even a bit more off my guard you would have had me." Kuroda said with a quick nod, "You've earned a five minute break." Hinata's shoulders slumped at the short amount of time, and Kuroda sighed, "Fine, fifteen minutes." He said as he pulled a rice dumpling from his pack and tossed it to the Hyuuga.
"What made you become a ninja Kuroda-san?" Hinata asked, hoping him giving her food was a sign that he was going to lighten up.
"That isn't important." Kuroda deflected, "Why are you a ninja? You don't seem to like it very much."
"W-well," Hinata said as she pushed her index fingers together, "I want to protect my village."
"Please don't lie to me," Kuroda said angrily, "You joined to be closer to the Uzumaki boy, didn't you?"
"Y-yes." Hinata said in resignation.
"Well, that's one way to get closer to your love interest I suppose." Kuroda mumbled as he thought about the next phase of their training.
"R-really?" Hinata asked hopefully.
"Yes I," Kuroda almost said 'totally meant it' with venom, but couldn't as he saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes, "On your feet." Kuroda said as he came up into a battle stance.
"B-but," Hinata stuttered as she scrambled to her feet and quickly took her own stance, "It's barely been ten minutes."
"I'm going to kill Naruto." Kuroda said with a cold smile.
"W-what?" Hinata said as her eyes widened in surprise and Kuroda drew a training blade.
"If you do not attack with everything you have, with every ounce of instinct, I will kill Naruto." Kuroda said as his smile grew thin and dangerous.
"W-why?" Hinata asked as she tensed up.
"Because I can, and no one can stop me." Kuroda said as he readied himself for attack, "Except for you, you are the only thing between me and my target."
"N-no, I won't let you." Hinata said with as much resolve as she could.\
"Then try." Kuroda snarled, then dashed forward, swinging the weapon for Hinata's arm.
Hinata nearly squeaked in fear as she slapped the blade out of the way and ducked forward, thrusting one chakra powered strike towards Kuroda's mid-section.
Kuroda spun around the attack, narrowly avoiding the attack and dropped the blade as he kicked at one of the Hyuuga's knees.
Hinata leapt into him, past the attack, and struck for his arms, except this time the attack succeeded in part, knocking Kuroda's right arm numb.
"Well done," Kuroda yelled, shoving Hinata away from him hard, "You fight like that all the time, do you understand?" Kuroda lectured.
"I-I just," Hinata huffed, "I couldn't let you hurt anyone I care about."
"That feeling is the one you need to use in combat." Kuroda said with a sigh, "Well done, you can go now."
"W-what? I thought we weren't done until four?" Hinata asked in confusion, "It's barely one."
"You've learned enough, and you look like hell." Kuroda said with sigh of annoyance, "Now get going, Kurenai will want you back for your regular training."
"T-thank you Kuroda-san," Hinata said quickly as she gathered her pack, "Have a good day."
"This is ridiculous." Sentai said angrily as yet another dish shattered in his hands.
"I'm not doing too badly." Tyler said as he got another dish clean on his third try and set it aside.
"Me either." Kirisho said as he cleaned a dish to a shine in one go and set it aside.
"Showoff." Sentai muttered.
"How did you do that?" Tyler asked, hoping to glean some knowledge from the quiet boy.
"I can't afford to break any plates." Kirisho said as he polished another one and set it aside.
"What?" Tyler asked in surprise at his answer.
"I live with my uncle, he barely makes enough to support us both." Kirisho said solidly, "I can't afford to break any of these."
"Okay," Sentai said as he looked at the pile of broken dishes next to him, "I live alone, so I guess I'm pretty f-"
"You'll be fine," Kuroda said quickly, cutting off Sentai mid-sentence, "Let's go, I have a mission for you."
"What is it?" Tyler and Sentai asked hopefully.
"I think it's right up your alley." Kuroda said with a smile.
"To hell with that cat!" A very scratched up Sentai growled angrily.
"Settle down; at least try to make it easier for me to heal you." Tyler mumbled in annoyance.
"I thought it was a very pretty cat." Kirisho said with his now trademark creepy smile.
"Be creepier Kirisho," Kuroda quipped, "Team, I have sad news."
"What's that Kuroda-sensei?" Sentai asked.
"Yet another incompetent is joining our team," Kuroda said with a chuckle, "One Serrot Tyberium. He'll be filling the assault role for this team, a role that dearly needs to be filled before we enter any combat."
"What're his skills?" Kirisho asked, not recognizing the name.
"Taijutsu and ninjutsu." Kuroda said.
"Wait, as in the son of Yukina Tyberium?" Tyler interrupted, causing the others to look at him in confusion, "The legendary Ninja Hunter?"
"The same," Kuroda said with a smirk, "Though Serrot has nothing near the same skill as his mother."
"So when are we meeting him?" Tyler asked.
"Tomorrow, training ground six, eight o'clock." Kuroda said tersely, "Make sure that you come ready for a real mission." And with that Kuroda left.
"So, we should go meet this Serrot person." Tyler said as he turned to his teammates.
"I think that's a great idea," Sentai agreed, "You two go ahead, I have a few things to do"
"Okay, we'll see you later." Tyler said, beckoning him goodbye.
"Later." Sentai said, then disappeared.
"I think I know where he lives." Kirisho said out of the blue.
"I," Tyler said as he rolled that sentence around in his head, "You know what, I'm not even going to ask why you know that."
"Hi, can I help you?" The pretty brunette girl behind the counter greeted as they walked into the store.
"Yeah, is there a Serrot here?" Tyler asked with a friendly smile.
"No," TenTen said with a smile, "But I know where you can find him." She said as she took her apron off and set it behind the counter, "Mom, I'm going across the street for a bit."
"Well, you were close." Tyler said with a chuckle as they followed the bun-haired girl out the door and across the street.
"Hey, stinker!" TenTen yelled as she entered the shop across the street, and a young girl, about twelve years old, appeared out of nowhere, "Where's your brother?"
"He's in the forge crazy lady," The girl said with a smile, "Want me to get him for you?"
"Sure Ishra, bring him out here." TenTen said with a grin, "And try not to hurt him too bad doing it."
"No promises." Ishra said with a devious grin as she disappeared into the back of the shop.
"So, you wouldn't happen to be the same TenTen that is on Neji Hyuuga's team?" Tyler asked curiously.
"The same." TenTen said with a smile, "I had no idea I was as well known as Neji. And you are?"
"Tyler Okibi," Tyler said, offering the brunette weapon user his hand, "I'm a medic genin on the new Team 6."
"Is that the same Team 6 that got destroyed two years ago?" TenTen said thoughtfully.
"Wait, what?" Tyler said as his eyes widened in surprise.
"Two years ago, Team 6 went on a mission to clear out a bandit issue on the border with Rain country and was never heard from again." Kirisho said helpfully as Tyler's face turned even more pale, "Two weeks later another team found their bodies floating down the river towards Konohagakure. Many considered it a warning from Rain, but there was no confirmation from Rain's government about the incident."
"How do you know that?" Tyler asked, somewhat disturbed by the accurate recount.
"I read the action report." Kirisho said with a shrug, "It's not illegal." Kirisho said defensively as the others gave him an inquisitive look.
"Did you need me for something TenTen?" A boy called as he stepped out from the back of the store, and then glanced at the assembled group of genin.
"I-I'm," Tyler stammered as he gazed at the incredibly handsome, very well-toned, dark haired dark eyed boy, "I'm Tyler." He said, as he finally offered his hand and thought, If my entire team looked as good as this guy and Kuroda-sensei I'd be in heaven.
"Okay, and why are you here?" Serrot asked carefully as he released the other boy's hand.
"They are your new teammates Serrot," TenTen said with a smile as she patted him on the back, "Have fun, I have to get back to the shop."
"Okay, see you later." Serrot said as he smiled back at her as she left.
"So, you know TenTen-chan pretty well I take it?" Tyler asked as he watched the girl go back to her shop.
"We've lived across the street from each other for as long as I remember." Serrot said with a sigh, "So I guess we're on the same team now, huh?"
"Yes, and I'm very glad we have an assault nin now." Tyler said with a friendly smile.
"Who makes up the rest of the team?" Serrot asked as he took his smithing apron off.
"I'm Kirisho, information and genjutsu expert," Kirisho answered, "Sentai is our fire jutsu user, and Kuroda is our sensei."
"Okay, so I guess I'll be the one in the line of fire right?" Serrot said with a sigh, "That's okay I guess."
"So," Tyler said quickly, "Want to get some dinner, maybe get to know each other a bit better?"
"Sure," Serrot shrugged, "But I need to tell my mom first."
"Why?" Kirisho asked.
"You don't know my mom, man." Serrot said with a chuckle as he went back into the rear of the store.
"So, what's it like being the son of the great Ninja Hunter?" Tyler asked as they sat in a small restaurant.
"Not great," Serrot said with another shrug, "She doesn't teach me any of her more interesting skills."
"Well that's too bad." Tyler said with a nod.
"But she did teach me my basics for Taijutsu." Serrot said with a grin.
"Well that's cool," Tyler said with a smile, "Maybe you could teach me something."
"Yeah sure." Serrot said with a shrug, "But I'm really not that great, I just know the basics."
"Still better than me I bet." Tyler said with a chuckle.
"Tyler!" Someone called from across the restaurant, and Tyler turned to see Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru and Choji coming across the restaurant towards them.
"Hey girl," Tyler said with a chuckle, "Who is this?"
"I'm Ino Yamanaka," The pretty blonde girl said as she offered her hand to Tyler, "What's your name?" Ino asked as she batted her eyelashes at the handsome boy.
"Uh, Ino," Sakura said with a chuckle, "This is Tyler."
"Oh," Ino said in surprise, then laughed awkwardly, "I'm so sorry, I just haven't seen you in a long time."
"It's okay," Tyler said as they sat in the booth with them, "So this must be the newest Ina, Shika, Cho."
"Yes," Sakura said distractedly as she gave Serrot a side-long glance, "Who is this?"
"This is Serrot," Tyler said with a friendly grin, "He's our assault nin and new teammate."
"He is SUPER hot," Ino whispered to Sakura and Tyler, "And he looks a lot like Sasuke."
"I know!" Tyler whispered excitedly, "I have the best team ever."
"So," Serrot said with a slightly annoyed tone, "Are you as annoyed by this stuff as I am?"
"Yes." Shikamaru said tiredly.
"Kinda." Choji said before chomping down on a few chips.
"Oh yeah." A voice said from outside the window, startling all the gathered genin as they looked for the source, but saw only the branches of the tree outside.
"Let's go," Serrot said as he stood suddenly and grabbed Tyler and Sakura's arms, "We're being followed."
"I'm leaving." Shikamaru mumbled, and then walked away from them, with Choji close behind.
"So," Ino said quickly as they left the restaurant, "Who is your sensei?"
"Kuroda Kurogasa." Tyler said quickly as Serrot finally stopped several blocks away.
"Wait," Ino said as she thought about the name, "Is he tall, really good looking, and has white-hair and intense eyes?"
"Yes." Tyler said with a nod.
"He is a total prick." Ino said angrily, "He did his squad leader test on a mission with my team, and he was a total ass."
"I seem to recall that that particular mission was incredibly successful, and the amount of bandit attacks went down twenty six percent afterwards." Kirisho said helpfully, causing the others to all look at him in surprise, "I read the report." He said with a shrug.
"Because he butchered the bandits in cold blood!" Ino said angrily.
"From what I understand those bandits were butchering innocent civilians," Kirisho said, "And based on your irrational anger, it has nothing to do with the mission."
"So, what is it really Ino?" Sakura asked in confusion.
"He," Ino said, looking away and blushing heavily, "He kissed me, and said it was to 'keep our cover'."
"Kirisho, is that true?" Tyler asked, shocking Kirisho somewhat, "You read the file right?"
"Yeah, apparently," Kirisho said as he dug the report out of the back of his mind, "Kuroda kissed her when some bandits discovered them scouting the forest. It worked, and the bandit, apparently not wanting to draw attention to the forest, left them alone."
"Sounds legit." Serrot said with a shrug.
"Totally." Someone said from a tree next to them.
"Assassin!" Serrot yelled as he leapt into the air and punched the person as hard as he could, knocking them out of the tree.
"Ow!" Sentai yelled as he hit the ground, "What the hell man?"
"Who do you work for?" Serrot said dangerously as he assumed a taijutsu stance.
"Serrot, I don't think," Tyler started to say, when Kirisho hushed him and stepped forward.
"We know you work for the enemy," Kirsiho said coldly, "But we don't know which one, so I'll have to torture it out of you." He said seriously.
"To hell with this." Sentai said quickly, then leapt backwards and ran.
"I'll follow him to his hideout," Kirisho said with a disturbing smile, "Meet me back here in two hours." And with that, he disappeared.
There was a long silence, then Sakura shook her head.
"What just happened?" The pink haired kunoichi asked in complete confusion, "I thought he was one of your teammates?"
"Really?" Serrot asked as he looked at Tyler in confusion, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I didn't really have the chance." Tyler said with a shrug, "And don't ask me why Kirisho played along, because I have no idea."
"Who?" Serrot asked as he blinked in confusion.
"The guy who just ran off?" Tyler said, hoping they'd get it, but the other genin just gave him a blank stare, and he sighed, "The creepy kid?"
"Oh." Serrot said with a nod.
"Right." Sakura said as she tried to remember who he was.
"Gotcha." Ino said, giving Tyler the thumbs-up.
"Great," Tyler said with a sigh, "So, what should we do now?"
"We should go eat," Serrot said as his stomach growled, "Because I'm really hungry."
"I hear your team is getting a combat mission tomorrow," Sakura said with a somewhat worried look, "Do you think you'll be alright?"
"Kuroda seems very capable," Tyler said with a nod, "I think that if we run into any trouble he should be able to get us out of it alive."
"If you get into serious trouble, I will not come to rescue you." Kuroda stated as he examined the shocked faces of his genin the next day, "If you endanger the mission on your own, then you have made your own bed and I will gladly let you lie in it. Any questions?"
"Yes sensei," Tyler said as he raised his hand, "I thought you told us never to leave a teammate behind."
"That is correct." Kuroda said with a nod.
"But," Tyler said as he stammered in confusion, "Then, what?"
"What I mean is," Kuroda said with a sigh, "If one of your teammates attacks a rogue ANBU squad head on, full well knowing how stupid it is to do so, then he has effectively chosen to die. If you go in after him, you have also chosen to die." Kuroda said sternly.
"Sensei?" Serrot said, raising his hand.
"Yes, what is it?" Kuroda asked in annoyance at there being any additional questions.
"Why are there four of us?" Serrot asked carefully, "I thought a perfect cell was three?"
"That assumes all three are competent," Kuroda said with a snort, "Which none of you are."
"So, quantity versus quality?" Kirisho offered helpfully.
"Correct." Kuroda said with a nod, "Anything else before I brief you?" Looking around, he saw no other hands up and began the briefing.
"The enemy is a small group of bandits to the east and south of Konohagakure. While they aren't much of a threat to any ninja, they have been harassing nearby settlements, so we are being sent to deal with them. Initial reports from the locals indicate that their base should be somewhere in this area," Kuroda said, pointing at a small area of forest near one of the villages, "So that's where we'll be searching."
"Now here is the important part," Kuroda said, rolling up the map and looking each of the genin in the eye as he spoke, "No one attacks until I give the order, and if you encounter any rogue nin of any kind, you retreat immediately and let me handle it. Are we clear?" Kuroda said firmly, getting a nod from each genin, "Then let's get moving."
"So," Tyler said as he finally figured out how to leap through the trees and talk at the same time, "Serrot, do you know anyone close to our age aside from TenTen?"
"Yes, Naruto and I are pretty well acquainted, I sort of know Sasuke, and Kiba and I are," Serrot said with a pause as he thought about the right word for what they did, "We are a very specific type of friend, one that I can't really talk about."
"OH," Tyler said with a knowing nod, "You know, that sort of thing is completely acceptable."
"I'm sorry?" Serrot said in confusion as Kuroda laughed at his expense and Sentai made gaging noises.
"I'm actually looking for a friend like that too," Tyler said as he took the opportunity to get closer to Serrot and touch him lightly on the shoulder, "So if you ever need someone to talk about things like this, I'm here for you."
"Oh, you like pulling pranks too?" Serrot asked in surprise.
Tyler's face turned pale, Sentai said with a chuckle, Kuroda laughed so hard he almost fell off his flight path, and even Kirisho snickered.
"What's so funny?" Serrot asked as Tyler began to chuckle at his own situation.
"It's," Tyler began to say, but Kuroda cut him off.
"He thought you were gay." Kuroda said with a final chuckle, "Which was fairly reasonable of him to think."
"Hey!" Serrot exclaimed, "I'm not gay."
"You say it like it's a bad thing." Tyler said, taking some offense.
"Oh crap," Serrot said, quickly trying to back track, "No I didn't mean it like that."
"I know, relax." Tyler said with a disarming laugh, "It's no big deal; you just sent the wrong signals."
"Okay," Kuroda said, bringing his hand up in a halting motion and causing each genin to stop on a different branch, "We're nearing the area the last enemy patrol was seen in, I want complete silence unless I specifically state otherwise." The team nodded, and Kuroda gave the 'go' signal, and the genin leapt to the ground, and began carefully making their way through the forest.
Sentai and Kirisho took to the trees and began to circle to the south east while Tyler and Serrot stayed on the forest floor and went directly east and Kuroda stayed between the two teams.
Sentai searched carefully through the trees with Kirisho on his left, and eventually Sentai began noticing that each tree they came across had a gash across it. Kirisho looked at the mark as well, and recognized the mark, but couldn't quite remember what it meant.
Meanwhile, Serrot moved carefully through the brush with Tyler close behind, and he noted the signs of heavy movement through the forest. Tyler noticed that the forest had several poisonous plants that grew like weeds, and also noticed that the plants had been disturbed in several areas.
After an hour or so of combing through the woods, Sentai stumbled upon two men in ratty outfits and each was carrying a spear. He gave the 'halt' signal to Kirisho, who stopped dead next to him.
"Enemies, eleven o'clock." Sentai whispered as he gestured to the two bandits.
"Sentries," Kirisho whispered, then grimaced in disdain as the bandits burst into laughter, "Bad ones."
"Go tell Kuroda-sensei," Sentai whispered, "I'll keep track of them."
Kirisho nodded and leapt away quietly, but as he did he accidentally brushed a branch, causing a rustling noise that both sentries immediately were drawn to.
"Crap, crap, crap." Sentai muttered to himself as the sentries got closer and closer as they carefully scanned the trees for the source of the noise. Then there was a noise like brush being pushed aside to the left, and the two bandits whirled to face Serrot and Tyler.
"He's just a kid." One bandit said with a laugh as he leveled his spear and Serrot took a fighting stance.
"Do you see the head band?" The other man said as he gestured at the piece of metal strapped to cloth on the boy's head, "He's a ninja, we can't take him."
"Of course we can," The first said with a laugh that sounded more sinister in his head, "He's probably one of them crappy ones." He said as he moved steadily forward and his friend carefully circled around their flank.
"Serrot," Tyler hissed, "Do something."
"I-I," Serrot stammered, not really knowing what to do.
Suddenly, two kunai flew out of the tree and landed in front of the bandits, causing them to jump slightly, and turn to see Sentai.
"Do you know who I am?" Sentai said loudly, hoping to throw them off guard by sounding more badass than he actually was.
"A dead kid." One bandit said with an evil grin as he hefted his spear and aimed at the boy.
Sentai froze in fear as the man pulled his arm back, and he tried his best to bring his hands up into a seal.
Suddenly, there was a puff of smoke, and Kuroda was between the two bandits with a kunai in one hand. With a deft movement he buried the kunai in one man's neck causing a dribble of crimson to appear from the wound, and he drove his other hand into the other bandit's kidney, knocking him to the ground in pain.
With a quick stomp, the man died and Kuroda quickly glared around at his team.
"Sentai, that was stupid." Kuroda said with a gesture at the two dead bandits, "You gave away your position when you could have easily killed them from the shadows."
"Serrot," Kuroda said solidly as the dark haired boy tried to shake off what he had just seen, "In close combat any hesitation will end with you as a corpse for the enemy to spit on. Your mother told me that once." Kuroda said with a disappointed shake of his head, "Be glad she wasn't here to see that."
"Everyone, on me." Kuroda said with a circular wave of his hand, "Have you found the camp?" He asked as all four genin gathered around.
"Based on the deployment of those sentries it should be in that direction a few hundred meters." Kirisho said analytically, gesturing to the east.
"Very good," Kuroda said with a nod, "I took a fairly good look at the camp from the north end of it, and from what I can see their organization is shoddy at best. So, how should we attack?" Kuroda asked the gathered genin, startling them somewhat.
"Shouldn't you be coming up with the plans as the team leader?" Tyler asked.
"No, I already know what I would do in this situation." Kuroda said with a shake of his head, "I want to know what you all think we should do."
"Well," Tyler said as he rubbed his jaw, "Without a doubt we know that the only person in an assault role should be yourself and Serrot. So, maybe have Sentai throw a fireball their way to sow some confusion to start."
"Then I could put up a genjutsu that he's shooting more fire jutsu," Kirisho said helpfully, "As that's happening, you could throw some kunai and remain ready to aid Serrot and Kuroda-sensei should they need it." He said to Tyler.
"And Kuroda and I could hit them from the two sides they expect it the least," Serrot said as he rubbed his head in thought, "Would that work Kuro-sensei?"
"Yes," Kuroda said with a grimace, "And don't call me Kuro-sensei."
"Dammit!" Gerald the bandit yelled as he threw down his hand of cards, "What a load of sh-"
"Fire!" The man across from him yelled as he leapt up from his chair.
"Well, I was gonna say shit, but sure." Gerald said with a shrug.
Then the fireball hit him square in the back, exploding and killing him and the other three men around the card table instantly.
"Yes!" Sentai said with a victorious arm-pump from atop his branch at the edge of the camp as the bandits scrambled around to determine what had happened.
"Stop panicking!" One particularly well-armed bandit hollered as he walked calmly out of his tent, even as Kirisho's genjutsu kicked in and seemingly dozens of smaller fireballs began to fly into the camp, "It's an illusion you idiots!"
"Hey loud mouth," A slightly quaking voice said from behind him, and the bandit turned to face Serrot, who calmly took his taijutsu stance as the bandit leader drew a steel katana and wakazashi, "Start panicking."
"Because I have to fight a snotty genin?" The bandit leader said with a laugh, "I don't think so!" He yelled as he lunged forward, striking for Serrot's head with the katana.
Serrot ducked under the attack then jump kicked the man in the head with surprising force, causing the man's head to snap upward, dazing him somewhat. Serrot followed up with a hammer fist to the man's head as he came down, but the man expected another blow, and stepped backwards as he thrust forward with the wakazashi, cutting Serrot's torso somewhat as the boy came down.
"Not bad for a kid," The bandit said as he surveyed his camp, which was being decimated by kunai strikes, the occasional fireball, and a white-haired boy he guessed was a chunin, "But I have a surprise or two left." He said as he swung in an upward arc this time, causing Serrot to back-step towards one of his men.
"Oh crap," Serrot murmured to himself as he realized what his enemy was doing, and turned sideways so that he could see both men in the same field of vision, "Oh crap."
"Serrot!" Sentai yelled, causing Serrot to look over at him, "I've got your back!" He yelled as he flashed through some hand seals and channeled as much chakra as he could, "Fire Style: Fireball!" He yelled, then fired the large flame attack at the bandit leader's back.
"Oh crap!" Serrot yelled as he leapt forward with all his might, to no avail as the fireball splashed over the area, searing Serrot's back badly as the bandit leader hollered in pain and the other bandit collapsed to the ground and died.
"By kami, Sentai!" Serrot howled as he rolled around trying desperately to put out the fire as Tyler broke cover and made a dash for Serrot.
"My bad!" Sentai yelled back, when an arrow thumped into the tree next to him, causing his eyes to widen as he saw a bandit knock another arrow and aim at him. Sentai yelped as the arrow wizzed by him and he lost his footing on the tree branch and fought for balance. Another arrow shot towards Sentai, and cut his shoulder, throwing him completely off balance as Kirisho finally threw a kunai at the bow-wielder, and the missile embedded itself in the bandits leg, dropping him to the ground. Sentai fell for what seemed like forever, then hit the ground with a resounding thud, nearly knocking the boy unconscious as pain shot through his body.
Meanwhile, with a choice strike at the bandits throat, Kuroda felled the last one and looked around suspiciously.
"We aren't done yet!" Kuroda yelled as he dashed over to Serrot and took up a protective stance, "Be on your guard!"
"What do you mean?" Tyler asked as he kneeled in front of Serrot just as a ninja with the marked through headband of a Konoha missing nin appeared behind him and raised a kunai to strike him in the back.
In a surprising burst of agility, Serrot leapt at the other nin, taking him to the ground just in time to save the medic from the strike.
"Serrot!" Tyler yelled as Serrot began to struggle with the enemy and they tumbled around on the ground.
"Tyler, eyes forward!" Kuroda yelled, causing the medic's eyes to snap to his sensei.
Kuroda was facing-off with another enemy nin brandishing a katana, and Kuroda's face went deadpan as he drew a blade of his own from his back.
At the same time, Kirisho watched all of this nervously until he felt a cold shiver shoot up his spine, and he ducked just in time to avoid a kunai aimed at his head. Kirisho whirled to see where the attack had come from, only to see nothing but the forest.
Kirisho's eyes widened as he felt another attack coming, and he leapt down to the forest floor next to Sentai and quickly put up the genjutsu of a bush around them.
"Sentai," Kirisho whispered, "How much chakra do you have left?"
"Not a lot," Sentai groaned in pain, "I think it's broken."
"Please listen," Kirisho whispered, "The enemy is a stealth nin that goes to new cover counterclockwise around his target after every attack. So next time he attacks, you need to shoot a fireball where he should be."
"Okay, I'll try." Sentai groaned, just as two kunai wizzed overhead, "Fire Style: Fireball!" Sentai said as quietly as he could before shooting the fireball where Kirisho had indicated.
The attack flew into the brush and exploded, and someone ran screaming out of the brush on fire.
"Yes!" Sentai said happily, "I'm doing great today!"
Meanwhile Kuroda deflected the enemy's initial strike with the flat of his blade then made a quick strike forward, making a deep gash in his enemy's arm. The other ninja gasped in pain and Kuroda kicked the man's knee, snapping it backwards, and dropping him to the ground. In a deft motion Kuroda reversed his grip and plunged the blade down into the other ninja, striking his heart and killing him instantly.
At the same time, Serrot finally tumbled on top of the other nin and began pounding his face in with blow after blow. The other nin brought a knee up into Serrot's groin, hard, causing Serrot to fly into a rage and slam the tip of his elbow into the other man's windpipe, killing him instantly.
Serrot panted heavily as he did his best to catch his breath, then he realized that he was sitting on top of a person he had just killed.
"I, I," Serrot stammered, "I killed him."
"It's okay," Kuroda said as he patted Serrot on the back in what he hoped was a comforting manner, "If it helps he would've killed you if you had hesitated, and the first kill is always the hardest."
"Can we please go now?" Serrot muttered.
"Your burns are bad, if I don't treat them immediately you could have permanent damage." Tyler said quickly as he analyzed Serrot's wounds, "And based on the way you're moving indicates that if you move too much you may suffer permanent damage to your… you know."
"Oh dear kami," Kuroda muttered, "Look, there aren't any enemies in the area, so we can take our time getting back. Can you fix him on the move?"
"Well, the junk yes," Tyler said with a nod, "The burns need to be treated now, then I can deal with them a bit more extensively when we get back."
"Okay, once we get Sentai back on his feet we'll get moving." Kuroda said with a resigned sigh.
"He'll be okay," Tyler said thoughtfully as he examined Sentai, and touched his leg lightly and channeled some medical chakra into the sprain, "Kirsiho should help him move until we get back though."
"Okay," Kuroda said quickly, "Now let's get back and make our report."
"Patient has minor first degree burns, and is presenting minor symptoms for shock." Tyler said quickly as he set Serrot onto a gurney, "Sentai has a broken Tibia, which has been mended, and a severe concussion."
"Great," Kuroda mumbled, "Our first real mission and half of my genin get severely wounded."
"Well, thanks to Tyler they should all be okay." The doctor nin said with an impressed nod, "He's one of the best medics in town, if not the best."
"Wow," Kuroda said, actually impressed for once, "That's incredible Tyler."
"I suppose," Tyler said with a non-committal shrug, "But my combat skills kinda suck."
"Work at making them better," Kuroda said with a shrug of his own, "Then they won't."
"Well, I liked how you handled that sword earlier," Tyler said, blushing somewhat at the innuendo, "Could you teach me that?"
"Yeah sure," Kuroda mumbled, annoyed at aforementioned innuendo, "Just don't make it weird?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Tyler said defensively.
"You damn well what I mean," Kuroda hissed, "Mister four-hour-crotch-healer."
"In my defense, he was badly burned in that area." Tyler muttered quickly as he averted his eyes.
"Whatever dude," Kuroda said as he backed away slowly, "I have to go talk to Serrot."
Kuroda made his way through the hospital to Serrot's room with little effort, and waited for the medic's to leave before talking to him.
"So, I called your mother on the way in from town," Kuroda said quickly, "She'll want to know how your first kill was."
"You didn't tell her, did you?" Serrot asked nervously, receiving a head shake from Kuroda, "How do you know her?"
"I don't." Kuroda said solidly.
"But, earlier you said that my mother told you something once, and I was wondering when she told you that." Serrot asked helpfully.
"Still don't know what you're talking about." Kuroda said with a shrug, "Anyways, she should be here soon."
"Serrot!" Yukina yelled as she all but flew through the door, "Are you alright?"
"I-I'm fine mom." Serrot said a bit shakily.
"Kuroda," Yukina said as her dark eyes fixed Kuroda with a glare that could cut through steel, "You didn't let him get severely wounded did you?"
"On the contrary," Kuroda said fearfully, doing his best to keep his voice from wavering, "One of his teammates set him on fire, I couldn't have helped that. But Serrot did exceptionally well at eliminating a rogue nin."
"Oh, your first ninja!" Yukina said proudly, "How was it dear?"
"It," Serrot said shakily, "How do you know Kuro-sensei?"
"What?" Yukina asked in surprise as Kuroda's right eye twitched once.
"Kuroda said you told him something, which I thought meant he knew you." Serrot said quickly, "So I was wondering how you knew him."
"Oh, well, you see," Yukina muttered.
That was when Ishra attacked.
"Brother!" She yelled as she pounced through the door and landed on the foot of his bed, "Are you alright?"
"Uh, sorta." Serrot said, obviously avoiding saying he wasn't.
In a shocking move, Ishra hugged him, causing everyone in the room to look on in shock.
"Great, bye." Kuroda said quickly and disappeared through the door, doing his best to pretend he hadn't been part of that.
"Kuroda-sensei!" Sentai called, causing Kuroda to sigh as he walked over to his bedside, "Am I gonna be alright?"
"Yes, you'll be fine." Kuroda sighed, "Don't ask stupid questions." He said as he walked away.
"But, where are you going?" Sentai yelled after him.
"Home, goodnight." Kuroda said as he quickly left.
"I wonder who he lives with?" Tyler mumbled to himself as he donned his white coat and began to look at his teammate's medical paperwork,
"No idea, but I know he lives in an apartment in the western market district." Kirisho stated, causing Tyler to jump.
"Were you there the entire time?" Tyler asked quickly.
"Yes." Kirisho said with a jerky nod, "Why?" He asked as Tyler edged carefully away, "What's going on?"
"So, how do you do that?" Sentai asked Kirisho, who gave him a quizzical look, "I've been trying to be able to do that forever."
