Kageru sat along the lakeside, relaxing while taking in the scenery. Kageru laid down upon the grass, resting his head on his hands. Kageru slowly drifted into a light sleep. As his eyes closed shut, an image of a man he had met long ago flashed within his mind for moment before he was disturbed by the village guards. A single man escorting a woman had walked up behind Kageru. He reluctantly stood up, grunting as he worked his way back up to his feet.

"Kageru-san..." the guard started, "...this woman arrived from the Hidden Sand for your upcoming mission."

Kageru nodded to the guard as he took his leave. Kageru held his hand out, offering a handshake to the woman.

"Welcome to the Hidden Waterfall village. I am Yoshiaki Kageru."

The woman reached out and shook Kageru's hand firmly. "I am Temari. Ambassador of the Hidden Sand, and sister of our Kazekage, Gaara."

"It's an honor to be working with you." Kageru motioned for Temari to follow him.

Kageru led Temari to a small, shaded area with a few benches arranged in a circle with a fire pit in the center and sat down across from her.

"So how many other will be joining us exactly?" Temari asked.

Kageru sat hunched over, "If I rememeber correctly, we will be joined by a Leaf and Mist ninja. If the Leaf ninja departed around the same time you did, then whoever it is should be joining us shortly."

Temari stood up to place her backpack and her fan on the floor next to her and noticed the same guard that had escorted her into the village, escorting a man with dark brown hair reaching halfway to his shoulders. The man's skin was a light tan, and his clothes were black, accented with a bandages around his waist and arms and a large scroll carried upon on his back.

Kageru walked over to meet the guard once again. The guard completed walking the man to Kageru and took his leave. Upon closer inspection, Kageru noticed the man's headband around his neck dawning the Hidden Leaf symbol. Kageru greeted the man with a firm handshake.

"Greetings, I am Yoshiaki Kageru."

"I am Ominichi Camaru. I am a jounin from the hidden leaf. Our Hokage spoke highly of you. She seemed assured that this mission would be a success with you leading it."

Kageru chuckled and scratched his head lightly, "I guess I left quite an impression on some of the five Kage."

Kageru led Camaru to a seat between himself and Temari. Camaru removed his scroll and carefully placed it on the empty space next to him on his bench.

"This is Temari, ambassador of the Hidden Sand and sister of the Kazekage." Kageru announced before sitting down.

"It's an honor to meet you Temari-san." Camaru said, politely.

"Likewise." Temari replied.

Kageru paused for a moment and sized up his two teammates and then spoke out, "So i'm not sure when our fouth member will be here, so perhaps we should learn more about each other, strengths, weaknesses, battle style. Things like that."

Without another word Camaru stood up and spoke, "Understood. I specialize in earth and water style ninjutsu, I am skilled in the uses of taijutsu and sealing style jutsu. I am easily susceptible to genjutsu and stealthy targets." Camaru picked up his large scroll and continued, "I always carry this scroll with me. It has been passed down in my family for generations. It allows for me to summon my close friend, Ichibi, a giant eagle I signed a contract with when I was nine. The scroll also has many other uses such as storing materials, aiding with barriers and sealing, and many others. Very few members of my family have been able to utilize every single service this scroll offers...It's saved my life on several occasions."

Camaru placed his scroll back down upon the bench and sat down. Kageru became intrigued with his teammate's skill set. Temari, seeing that Kageru had been deep in thought but still paying attention, began to speak.

"I specialize in long range wind style ninjutsu. I will not engage in close combat. My fan is my one and only weapon, it has three stages of attack strength represented by three moons painted on it, one being the weakest and three being the strongest. Using my fan, I can summon a powerful weasel that can cut down an entire forest within seconds, I can also repel all sound based jutsu and attacks using it."

Kageru nodded, taking a mental note of what he had to work with.

"I specialize in wind and lightning style ninjutsu, but I have experience in all forms of combat. Although I am weakest in genjutsu and will fall if used against me. I prefer mid to long range combat but will engage in close combat if I must. I do not have it with me, but I use a gonbai specially designed for me. It helps to amplify my wind style chakra. I also have..." Kageru paused for a moment, a disturbed look on his face.

"What seems to be the problem Kageru-san?" Camaru asked.

Kageru looked at the ground for a few moments, "A few years ago, I traveled around the land. I came across an island which dealt with enhancing summoning creatures then distributed them to shinobi across the land...It was abandoned when I found it, and the summoning creatures all seemed distressed and helpless. They led me to a giant lab with a tank in the middle of the room. I went up to look inside the tank and there it was...A huge disgusting looking creature. It seemed like it was in a hibernation state, but it awoke when I came near...It smashed its way out of its tank and devoured all of the summoning creatures around me...it was a tough fight but I was able to subdue the beast and force it into a contract with me...I call it 'The Chimera'."

Temari and Camaru seemed disturbed by Kageru's story.

"What kind of abilities does this beast have anyway?" Temari inquired.

Kageru hesitated before he spoke, "Well...After I made the contract, i tore the lab apart looking for information on what exactly the creature was...apparently the scientists that once inhabited the area were trying to develop the ultimate summoning creature, the beast can devour other creatures and absorb their traits, able to use them itself. The beast can also use wind and lighting style ninjutsu along with genjutsu on a high level."

Temari stood astonished, as Camaru simply seemed even more disturbed than before.

"How is that possible?!" Temari exclaimed.

"Indeed, how is a mere creature able to utilize such techniques?" Camaru added.

Kageru shook his head in despair, "I don't know. The beast killed off everyone on the island, judging from the records I found. After it feasted upon the men and women, it went into hibernation, then when it sensed my chakra, it woke up to feast once again. I've only used it on a few rare occasions, I try not to call it forth unless I have to. It takes an incredible amount of chakra to keep it in check and prevent it from eating everything in its sight."

Temari stood up, slightly enraged, "Why didn't you destroy it? That beast could break free of your grip from any moment and go rampant!"

"That's the thing Temari, it can't be killed. It's the ultimate creature for a reason. I've tried on multiple occasions, it simply absorbs my justu, the most I can do is trap it within a barrier and continue to think on what to do with it."

Kageru sighed deeply, "I understand that you are disturbed by this, but you both traveled far to get here and i'm sure you're both tired. It's getting late, I suggest you both rest at our inn across the lake. Let the innkeeper know who you are and you will be provided with rooms, compliments of the Hidden Waterfall. We shall wait until our number four arrives."

Still disturbed, everyone bowed their heads to each other and went to their respective domiciles. Three days had gone by as Kageru, Temari, and Camaru waited for the fourth member of their squad. Finally, late afternoon on the third day of waiting, a different guard walked up up Kageru. Standing behind the guard was a man dawning the traditional outfit of the Hidden Mist. He carried a short, blue, triple-bladed sword on his left hip as he looked around, curious.

Kageru walked up to greet the man as he did with Temari and Camaru, "Welcome to the Hidden Waterfall, I am Yoshiaki Kageru."

Kageru held his hand out to shake the newcomer's, but he simply glanced at Kageru's hand, then back at Kageru himself, a look of slight annoyance in his eyes. Kageru pulled his hand back, feeling awkward.

"Well, those of us here already have learned each others strengths and weaknesses and such, we can fill you in now." Kageru offered.

The man simply looked even more annoyed, "My name is Kazumi Jinn, I am here for the mission, nothing more. I have no interest in sharing my weaknesses with any of you, lest you decide to turn on me later."

Kageru became confused, "I assure you Jinn, none of us will turn against each other. We are all comrades working for the same goal on this mission and we need to cooperate to ensure its success."

Jinn scoffed at Kageru, "I have travled from the Hidden Mist. As you know, it's very far from here and i'm exhausted from my journey. I do not wish to speak right now, only rest."

"As you wish Jinn, our inn is across the lake, let the innkeeper know who you are and you will be provided a room. Tomorrow we depart for the Land of Rivers."

Jinn barged through Kageru and walked towards the inn. Kageru glanced at Jinn as he walked away, then to Temari and Camaru who stood behind him. They merely shrugged and followed Jinn to the inn. Later, in the dead of night, Kageru found it hard to sleep. He arose from his bed slowly and put on a blue t-shirt and pants, then proceeded to leave his home. Kageru walked along the lakeside, the moonlight shining through the thick canopy of the trees. Kageru gazed upon the still waters of the lake as fireflies buzzed across the village. As Kageru walked, he noticed someone in the distance, also standing at the lake's edge, staring into the lake's calm waters.

Kageru walked up to the man, noticing that it was Jinn. "Jinn," Kageru called out. Jinn looked over at Kageru slowly, then gazed at the lake once again. "what are you doing out here at this hour?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Jinn said harshly, still staring at the still waters.

"Well, I couldn't sleep so I decided to go for a short walk. Something seems to be troubling you Jinn. Perhaps you should share, I would be glad to help if I could."

"No, I don't want to bother you with my troubles." Jinn replied, his anger turning into depression.

"It's no trouble at all, we're comrades now and I wish to help my comrades when they need it most."

Jinn hesitated for a few moments, sighed deeply, then spoke, "Recently, I lost a great many people who were very dear to me...Since I lost them, only thoughts of revenge have flowed through my mind. I want vengeance, vengeance upon those responsible!"

Kageru seemed to empathize with Jinn, "I know a little of how you feel. It hurts to lose someone precious to you, but to lose so many? It's almost unheard of. A few years ago, a boy and his older sister came to this village. His sister wished for the boy to be trained in the art of wind style. I became his sensei for the next year, teaching him all I knew. We became close during that year, but eventually he had to leave the village. I had confidence in what I had taught him, but a few months after he left, I received a message saying that he had died. My only regret is not knowing what happened to him...I often find myself wondering what happened to him."

Jinn seemed to be relieved at the moment, "Well...it's good to know that there are others in the world who know what it's like. I guess i'm not alone after all."

Kageru smiled and patted Jinn on the back, "Get some rest Jinn. It will take us at least two days to reach our destination and chances are we will all need as much rest as we can get."

As Kageru turned to leave, Jinn stopped him and offered Kageru the handshake that he had rejected upon his arrival. Kageru smiled and shook hands with Jinn.

"I apologize for my rudeness earlier." Jinn said as the handshake ended.

"Don't worry about it Jinn, I understand. Now go and get your rest, we leave first thing tomorrow."