A/N: MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAAA! see, i said i'd have it out faster, woo! :3
though i did change up the test from what it was originally, for some reason INSANITY! seems to work a whole lot better in Kumo then trying to use 'logic' and conventional means... and its funnier, thus automatically wins~
welp, this counts as both the 'end' of the Academy days and the introduction of whats next, woo! -throws confetti- Arc 4 done! :D
ENJOY!
Tick… tick… tick…
Somewhere there was a clock ticking.
Teal eyes opened, spotting the empty white ceiling he had become familiar with for the past few days. He had woken up in this bed several days ago, and every day since, but everyday felt like a haze, a dream, something that wasn't real and he would eventually close his eyes, waking up back on the battlefield where he was supposed to be… where she would be…
There was a shift not far from him, something that caused his tan ear to twitch and his nose to instinctively breathe in the scent. Something cold and metallic, like snow on an old buried blade. The boy didn't move, feeling for any vibrations through his hand on the mattress under the standard white hospital covers, waiting for the intruder to make a move so he could gauge their size, force and whatever intent they may have. He had had very few visitors since waking up, mostly hospital staff smelling of herbs and medicinal concoctions, his sensei who had wept tears of joy for his awakening though he was hard pressed to believe them, and that girl a few years his senior with the grey hair and cute smile. He had recognized her from taking missions from the Raikage; she had been his assistant-in-training, though now it seemed she was his full-fledged assistant, reminding him a significant amount of time had passed from that battlefield to now.
Whoever this other, new, person was stood up, smoothly with barely any effort, taking steps towards him in purposeful measure, placing their weight mostly on the outside of their feet. This was someone that walked quickly and silently, as while he didn't hear anything aside from a shift of presence and heels on hard stone floor, he got the impression she was carrying more then she appeared. –An Assassin…- was his first thought, someone silent with confidence and weapons, of course they would want him dead.
–You fail, you die…- it had been the only thing his parents ever agreed on, a shared philosophy that was probably the basis of their entire relationship. The dark tan boy waited for the sound of a blade being drawn, for the killer to come within view… -You fail, you die…-
The assassin stopped at the side of his bed, right next to his face and teal eyes shifted to look at the woman's grey ones.
Kemui looked down at the bed-ridden boy who looked at her with the eyes of a veteran. She had waited for him to awaken so they could speak, discuss the possibility of him becoming a candidate for Yorihi's partner. That had been the idea, until the boy opened his eyes and she watched his reactions to everything. Without moving he had an awareness of her presence, he was calm and didn't outwardly show his knowledge, even allowing her to move closer without threat. The assassin would have thought the boy a fool and already lost his chance if it weren't for the look in his eyes as he turned to look directly at her.
He saw death in her and did not look away.
-He will do…- the barest of smiles came to the woman's lips as her mind made its decision, knowing she'd have to speak with Mabui further along with the Triad and finally Yorihi's father to finalize it, but already she could tell, this boy was the one, "Kumori Uenkai," she spoke his name and his teal eyebrows lowered only the slightest bit, still expecting the worst, "I am called Kemui, and I have something I need to discuss with you…"
A wave of suspicion passed the boy's eyes but he showed no sign of relief or annoyance, he would listen and take whatever this woman had to say. For now it seemed, today was not the day he was to die.
Yorihi was very annoyed.
The should-be-blind girl stood amongst the crowd of Kumo genin-hopefuls out on the training field. There were far more students then she thought taking the graduating test, apparently from other graduating classes she had no idea existed, students ranging anywhere from her age to probably 16, if not more, and they were all so loud.
"Ugh," she rubbed her ears with the base of her palms, trying to drown out the noise. It was earlier then their normal classes, the sun hadn't even come up over the edge of the mountain range, it was wet, cold, she could feel the moisture hanging in the air from the storm the night before and it was making her nose feel like it was going to run. She did not need to get a sudden cold right now. Bachiko, annoyingly hiss-giggled in the back of her mind as he watched the crowd in his invisible form while his master indignantly growled at him, sniffling all the while.
"Shut up," the blind girl grunted under her breath, bringing one hand up to rub her nose, hoping to get it to stop.
A hand suddenly found its way on her head, pushing her head down slightly and decidedly messing with her hair, "Good morning, Princess!"
Yorihi's hands gripped the handles of her top two blades tight enough to turn her knuckles white, shoulders up to her ears and trying not to growl at the older girl.
Xiao just chuckled, removing her hand to put them behind her head, grinning all the while at the moody younger girl. What could the dusky-pinkette say, she was a morning person.
"M-mornin'…" a wide loud yawn, echoed by a growling one just as wide and with fangs, as both Oku and Lior walked in a sleep-like haze beside the girls, "Xiao-chan, Yorihi-hime…" the blonde pale boy was asleep on his feet, eyes shut and face droopy.
A tattooed brow only rose as a response from the blind girl.
The day's first scowl found its way onto Xiao's face as she walked up to the boy and slapped him across the face, hoping to wake him up more. All it did was leave a red mark and make him release a pitiful sound. Red eyes glared at him, "Wake up Oku!" she grabbed him by the top of his shirt and the latch on his shoulder for the knapsack on his back, which Lior quickly retreated to, and shook him vigorously.
A certain 'blind' girl and her invisible cat sweat-dropped appropriately at the scene.
"Ahh, I just love seeing you kids being so friendly in the morning~" a sly voice called over the rabble of the students.
Everything went eerily silent as they all knew that voice… and feared it equally.
Yorihi unconsciously shuddered while Xiao gripped Oku's shirt a bit tighter then she meant, nearly strangling the boy who seemed to finally be waking up.
"Xiao let go of your partner before I fail you right now," a much more serene, if still scary, voice called out over the crowd, which happened to split like a departing sea leaving a direct line of sight between the red eyed girl strangling her comrade and the Masters, Ruri in particular as her tiny black eyes zeroed in on the dusky-pinkette with a look that was hard to tell if she was threatening or chiding.
Xiao immediately dropped Oku, who yelped slightly as he went straight to the ground, Lior vacating the knapsack for safety.
Next to the quarreling duo Yorihi cringed slightly as the boy hit the ground rather hard, not that she turned or anything in his direction but felt bad for him… sort of.
Ruri walked down the split of students, Moe and Kuri behind her smirking threateningly or passively walking with eyes closed respectively, as the fierce looking tattooed woman approached the end, where Xiao squirmed, Oku pitifully made his way back up and Yorihi stood stock still not sure what was going to happen next. The tall woman stopped right in front of the Raikage's daughter, arms behind her back non-threateningly as she looked down at the blind girl reading what little she could on the girl's mostly covered face, "It is good to see you joining the rest Yorihi…"
Said girl could only gulp, "Y-yes, Ruri-sensei," unconsciously she shook her head before trying to make herself seem taller, not that it worked very well, "Of course I'm here," her hands gripped on her blades, "I still have to take the test like everyone else…"
A pinprick of a smile rose on the tall blonde's lips, obscured by her tattoos, "Indeed, you do…" her small black eyes glanced back at her fellow Masters, Kuri with his eyes still closed and Moe sinisterly smirking like there was some inside joke only the psychopathic midget knew about. The smile turned into a bit of a smirk, "Kuri…"
The chubby bald man gave the barest of nods, before stepping between the two women, taking a deep breath…
Warning bells were going off in Yorihi's mind as she instinctively switched her eyes over to chakra sight, sensing something amiss underneath the Ninjutsu Master. What she saw made her eyes widen, her tattooed brows to rise as she took a deep breath before yelling out at the top of her lungs, "MOVE!"
Most of the students just looked at the small, younger girl like she was crazy, before hearing a laugh from Moe as Kuri held his arms out, palms out…
"Toukai no jutsu!" and immediately the large man stomped down into a perfect horse stance, knees bent at ninety-degrees with his fists up and arms out, solid as a rock. A wave of chakra burst through the plateau the students were standing on, cracks spider webbed out from a circle around the Masters and proceeded to dig deep and break apart, causing the large stone pillar-like structure of the plateau to burst and collapse inward.
The single greatest fear a Kumo-nin had was falling to their death as not only was it an insulting way to die but just how easy it could happen in their home. One would think because they lived so high up they lost their fear of heights at a young age, part of this was true, it wasn't the heights that scared anyone in Kumo, but the weightlessness of falling itself and feeling helpless to stop it as the ground rushed up at you from behind layers of clouds, never knowing which one was the last…
Yorihi, despite her enhanced senses and ability to see through everything was experiencing this in full force. A vague memory from a time she could not recall springing to life… rain, cold, weightlessness, the infinite prospect of dying… she wasn't conscious at the time but for some reason her body remembered. It was probably the only thing that let her snap out of the trance quicker than most of the other students, "BACHIKO!"
Out of thin air the ethereal cat appeared, spinning in a flip as his body grew in size, but it wasn't exactly his large size she needed, he couldn't fly or anything… as far as she knew, but his rampant growth allowed for a force to spring off of as the large ghost-cat kicked her with rocket-like impact towards the one of the nearer sides of the basin. Yorihi hit with enough impact to leave a bodily imprint and she stuck on with chakra by instinct. The outer wall of the basin developed by Kuri's technique was smooth and slick; one would actually have to have decent experience with wall-walking to latch on, simply knowing wasn't enough. Feeling around she watched as several students, using their own means managed to get to the walls, about half of them actually stayed on them with just chakra, others digging in with blades, fists, whatever they could to make a hold. Cyan-tattooed brows furrowed. –Is this the test?-
She felt as the Bakeneko returned to her presence, sticking visibly around her shoulders feeling little point to hide anymore as she scanned the surroundings. Some students were still falling, along with rocks and other debris. Some of them even trying to jump up what was coming down on them to make their way to some form of safety. A desperate murmur came to Yorihi's heart as she watched them, wanting to reach out and grab them, help them…
The bakeneko on her shoulder growled, calling them weak and unfit if they couldn't save themselves…
-Should I?- all of her training had been on her own, it should have been a foreign thought to help others, but something inside her… something called out to help those that were trying so hard.
Without thinking she pulled out two of her wired kunai in each hand, throwing one each into the mountainside for support before bolting down the side and out, hopping rocks to get to anyone nearby. –Others helped me when I needed it…- thoughts of Xiao smirking as she tried getting the chakra-field down, Yugito telling her a story to understand a concept, her Father picking her up when she was feeling down… -So why shouldn't I?- in her head she could hear the voices of the Masters, chiding about how Kumo-nin stood on their own two feet, never expecting help and never asking it as the young blind girl pulled back her arm before releasing another of her wired kunai towards a student trying to find footing on a stone. –Never said anything about how we couldn't help one another…- the student squeaked as a wire wrapped around them, yanking them up from the fall and tossing them towards the wall, a smirk rose on the pale girl's face as she could see the shock in their eyes as they backflipped, catching themselves in a crouch near where she planted her kunai.
"What in th-?" the student, a boy with grayish blonde hair blinked. He'd just been thrown back by some weird girl in one of the other classes. –The blind girl?- he'd heard about her, never met her before, but definitely heard about her. No one at the Academy hadn't heard something about this weird little girl taking the crash course, too full of herself to really talk to anyone… or so they all thought. He watched for a second as she bound from one falling rock to the next, using her wired kunai to grab and toss people that were almost below the cloudline back above it and close enough to the walls to help correct themselves.
Another girl, this one with sherbet colored hair got thrown next to him. She got up with wide eyes and holding on tight to the wall before turning and seeing his just as equally stunned face.
They both heard a wrenching of metal as the kunai at their feet started to pull from the wall.
Instinctively the grayish-blonde jumped at the one next to him, that girl helped him, no reason to not pay the blind girl back, "Grab that kunai, keep it in the wall!" he pointed and barked as the girl nodded and did the same.
Bachiko was faster than his master, jumping off her shoulders and darting off in a series of bounces among the debris heading towards another unfortunate student, kicking them towards the wall like he had his master. The girl was a fool… these ones were either unlucky or didn't have the skill to save themselves, yet she was interfering and helping them out… he kicked another one. It was stupid… so, so, so stupid… another… His vibrant blue eyes turned back as one of her kunai that held her to the wall seemed to finally break, and he felt her sudden fear… then relief? Vibrant blue eyes glanced up and saw two, no three, students holding on to her last tether, actually swinging her towards some others… all the bakeneko could do was blink…
Yorihi could only grin widely, as with her full-range spherical view she could see those that helped her, those she had helped, and others taking her example. She also noticed the Masters didn't look too pleased… -It only matters we don't fall right? It shouldn't matter how we don't…- is the thought she had at first…
Then she noticed the smirk on Moe's pale face as the woman bit reached behind her, pulling out something that folded out into a recurve bow, and out of a seal on it she pulled a barbed arrow, knocking the thing and taking aim right at her…
Tattooed brows rose over hidden white eyes as the arrow was released… she felt a jerk, the others holding her to the wall trying to pull her out of the way, only for Moe's real target to be revealed, the tether keeping Yorihi from falling…
The line snapped as the arrow went past, and Yorihi's first instinct was to throw one of the others she had towards the closest surface… the central stone pillar the Masters were standing on…
Sadly the kunai didn't dig in deep enough as it slipped out with ease, partially making Yorihi wonder if it were coated in something to prevent that or chakra… she threw another too far away to reach the wall at this point… only for it to be deflected?
A swirling object caught her attention, and her focus followed it up to its source…
Ruri was wielding a segmented spear, using its long internal chain to deflect anything that tried getting close or even tamper with other students trying to rescue others…
This wasn't just a test… -It's a small scale war!- the students were literally having to fight the Masters, and the moment Yorihi realized that she felt something grab onto the back of her collar and yank her up…
"I swear," a rough voice called above her, "You cause the biggest trouble…" red eyes looked down at the girl with a cocky smirk as Xiao dropped her on what appeared to be Zishi, the large grey and black manta-ray looking Minazuki.
Yorihi couldn't help but blink behind her bandana before frowning openly, "I didn't do anything!"
Red eyes just stared unconvinced down at the girl, before having to crouch, barrel-rolling the Minazuki as Moe seemed to have found a new target…
Yorihi fell off, reaching out on instinct and actually surprised Xiao caught her before continued the barrel-roll and slingshoting the girl back toward the wall where the other students caught her…
"We got you boss!" the boy with grayish-blonde hair said, as he and the girl with sherbet hair set the smaller girl 'down' relatively on the wall. Another boy with mint-green colored hair pulled out the kunai and handing them back to her…
Yorihi just blinked, translated only to the onlookers as quirking of her eyebrows. The three were grinning at her, as if expecting something…
"What's next?" the girl asked pulling out what looked to be scimitars off her back.
"Yea," the mint-haired boy was running some paste along his face, which Yorihi could easily feel some form of chakra in it, "How're we going to get them back boss?"
A bit larger hand came down her shoulder and she realized it was the grayish haired boy, "What's the plan?"
Again, Yorihi could only blink… she just wanted to help, she'd never been in charge of anyone before… her mouth opened a moment as if to speak-
When something shiny and on fire whizzing towards them caught her eye…
It was an arrow, courtesy of Moe, with an exploding tag on it…
"GET DOWN!" instinctively Yorihi put her hands together, the feel of her chakra flowing through her more natural in this instance of battle than any other time she had tried to call it since leaving the caves. The three ducked around her as a chakra bubble, fully formed and perfectly round bubble, appeared around them deflecting the explosive off enough to be harmless before it went off.
As the smoke cleared Yorihi released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding… only for that sixth sense of incoming danger to spark again, as she turned just enough to catch what appeared to be the bladed edge of an elongated spear headed straight for her head…
Yorihi's hands went straight for the beat rods in her back pouch, not sure if she could deflect it in time-
Only for the girl with the scimitars cut down with the blunt side of her blades, causing the segmented chain and spearhead to wrap around her blades, "Think this can get us there?" she smirked back at the blind girl.
Again, Yorihi was surprised by the students around her, but pushed it aside quickly as she caught sight of Ruri, smiling, as she dropped the spear and summoning up a chained maul, "Let it go, unless you can use it…" the blind girl stepped forward as the other removed the useless weapon from her blades, trying to get a good sense of the entire situation.
-They brought us out here for the test…- her eyes caught sight of the various 'battles' going on around the walls. It seemed some students were attacking others, probably under a genjutsu of Moe's while the short woman picked off others with her bow. Ruri was throwing out weapons from who-knew-where and literally dancing around the other two preventing students from getting any kind of hold on the central pillar, and those that managed to climb up were swiftly kicked off by the Taijutsu-specialist. The only one that didn't seem to be doing anything was Kuri, as he sat in a meditative lotus position between the two women. –Most likely gathering chakra…- in a situation like this, Kuri was the biggest threat, he had caused the collapse of the plateau, forming this bowl-like structure, and with his Nintjutsu would truly be the formidable one if he actually went on the offensive.
-But what's the goal?- there had to be a reason for all this, not just to set the students against the Masters…
Another wave of arrows came flying their way and Yorihi quickly backflipped up the side of the wall before skidding to a halt and calling to her 'subordinates', "If either of you are good with genjutsu, go around to the other groups and help them break the others out of Moe's illusions," the mint-haired boy gave a firm nod, darting off towards the closest group, "We need to help form up something to distract the Masters and get them focused on one side…"
"I'll get the help of some the other kids in my class," the girl with the scimitars spoke back, deflecting arrow shots, "We'll focus them on the opposite side!" before darting the other way…
The boy with the grayish-blonde hair took up a position in front of Yorhi, having pulled out a pair of gauntlets that seemed to cover his entire forearms as he grabbed another chained weapon Ruri sent their way, "Whatever you plan on doing boss, get on it," he looked back at the younger girl with a smirk, "You definitely don't seem as bad as the other students say, by the way…" before he gathered an enormous amount of chakra into his legs and launched himself off, leaving dust and a creator…
Yorihi righted herself and could see the boy, midair, beat off arrows and other weapons, only to crash into the side of the central pillar, shaking it. It gave the blind girl an idea as she noticed something like a crack forming further down near the cloudline. –A few more hits like that and we could probably topple it… forcing them to either fall or to the walls where we can swarm them!- If the point here was a war, then all they had to do was make the Masters lose, right?
The familiar weight of her forever-companion Bachiko settled on the girl's shoulders as she dodged and weaved through artillery and others fighting, tapping those caught in genjutsu as she passed to snap them out of it. –I was wondering where you were!- the cat grumbled something about rescuing useless people as the girl skidded and rolled down out of one of the larger students swinging a large axe, ending with enough force to kick the heavy blade off kilter enough to sling him around off balance. –I need you to find Oku and Lior and tell them the plan…- she didn't have to look to know the 'bored' ghost cat was glaring at her confused as if to ask 'what plan?'. She growled under her breathe, dodging more arrows and pulling another student out of their path. –You are IN my head, just take it and go!- vibrant blue eyes rolled before the creature disappeared from her shoulders, a sudden tug on her consciousness as she could feel him searching about for the blonde boy in his silly hat.
She tried following the chaos and feel of her invisible friend until she skid past what looked to be a seal imbedded in the mountainside… and then everything went black. –Genjutsu…- she placed a pale hand on the side of the cold mountain to get her bearings from feeling, it hadn't been that long since such blackness comforted her, now a warning that made her smirk as she felt around for the seal that had triggered the seals in her tattoos. Two fingers found the paper and with a push of chakra she burned the thing out, causing the burning above her eyes to fade and the world to come back into color.
She stood, grinning as she faced the Masters yelling, "THAT'S NOT GOINGTO WORK ON ME MOE-SENSEI!"
"Oh really?" the short woman smirked behind her half-moon spectacles, zeroing in on the loud girl that too easily stood out, letting loose an arrow with a multiplying seal causing it to form a veritable 'black rain' heading her way. The girl did that interesting 'barrier' thing of hers again, only it seemed she'd gotten much better at it from the last time the genjutsu Master had seen it back at her expeditionary match. –Guess she has been working on her control some…- the red-so-dark-it-was-almost-black haired woman grinned, cocking another arrow, aiming for the cocky Raikage's daughter-
"Forget about her," the rough voice of the tall woman on the other side of their small pillar called back as Ruri had summoned up a shield and another segmented spear, blocking lighting and earth projectiles with the shield and extending the spear to cut a veritable fissure on the other side where a large number of the students were gathering, focusing their attacks, "We need to do something to break them up on this side…"
"Tch," the midget pouted, turning enough to let loose another batch of arrows, these ones with explosives, "You know what they're doing, right?"
The taller woman smirked as she rolled around the shorter, blocking a lightning pebble shot from the sky, noticing Xiao wielding a slingshot riding a Minazuki and apparently leading an aerial attack with the few other students capable of flight, "Of course, it's obvious…" she planted her spear, kneeling down to better guard as she summoned up a chain net and tossing it at the fliers, taking down two, forcing one's bird summon to disappear and Xiao to go catch them, "But for being a motley crew never having worked together before and already using tactics is impressive for such beginners…"
A snort from the shorter woman as she released a vindictive bolt shaped like a prong that grew in size and rammed Xiao right off her damn flying manta-ray, pinning the girl to a side of the wall. Far too often had the girl messed up one of her more devious shots, it was worth putting her down, " 'impressive' she says, please…" another bolt to 'de-summon' the damn manta-ray as she focused on sending out seals to catch some of the other fliers in genjutsu, "any genin worth their breath would figure out these kinds of tactics easy…"
A smirk from the tattooed woman as she tossed the round shield, summoning up several scutum-type ones in a wall, ducking behind them as the students seemed to be taking a page from Moe's book and retaliating with rampant kunai and artillery, "isn't that what they're supposed to be proving to us?"
A deep guttural sigh from the midget as she took up a position over one of the shields, "Yes, yes, whatever…" she pinned several more students, particularly the ones that got close to hitting her, they seemed to have the best aim or luck, best to put them down…
Ruri seemed to lean over to Kuri's still form, grabbing something out of his back pouch before rolling open what appeared to be a scroll, with hundreds of seals on it. The muscular tattooed woman bit grabbed the head of her spear and cut up both of her hands, letting blood flow freely from the shallow cuts.
An extremely-dark-red brow rose as the short teacher sat next to her comrade, back to the shields looking at the woman with flat skeptical dark green eyes, "You're really doing that, aren't you?"
The only response she got was a smirk as the tattooed woman wiped her bloody hands along the scroll and performed several seals…
Moe sighed with an obvious smirk, "Honestly, it's like you don't even want them to win…"
Blonde brows furrowed, "Shut up…" and she threw her hands palms down on the scroll, "Ryunoha no jutsu!"
The seals on the scroll glowed for a moment before snaking off and out of the page, forming chains that connected into an orb above the Masters. For a moment the students just stared, most never having seen a technique on this level before and having no idea what it was supposed to do.
Yorihi wasn't bothering to watch it implicitly, as she could 'see' it no matter where she was as the girl made a dash towards where she'd seen Xiao get pinned. Moe had attacked both her and Xiao directly for a reason she figured –We're the ones causing her the most problems- a grin spread on her pale face as she nearly made it, Xiao elbowing the tight binding and obviously frustrated she had yet to break it herself.
That was when the strange orb seemed to explode in a flashing light…
"AUGH!" Unable to 'avoid' seeing, Yorihi 'dropped' to the wall, curling into a ball, hoping anyone that saw just assumed she was ducking from the shockwave and not her eyes burning. –damnit that hurts! My retinas!- She forced back the urge to rub anywhere near the bandana on her face and decided to just shake it off. The flash left her normal sight buzzing with bright spots and she knew shifting to chakra-sight would be no different as she could feel the chakra in whatever that explosion was. After a second of being dazed she finally could partially 'see' what the attack had done, "What the-?"
Littered all around her and in the walls of the mountain were weapons… LOTS AND LOTS of weapons.
The girl's head started to tilt as she was trying to understand what the point of such an attack was… -If it's just a shrapnel burst… why so many? And so much chakra?- it was a veritable 'stab in the dark' technique, as not many of the students seemed put out by the explosion of blades… while effective once or twice, it could easily be countered by simply dodging… something didn't seem right. –and why do I still feel all that chakra?-
Just as the girl was about to shift to her chakra-sight to find out the 'ground' started to shake… and before she could so much as question a hand sprouted out in front of her…
"EEK!" she couldn't help it, dear sweet Kami if anyone in her family ever found out she screamed at what appeared to be an armor-clad person digging itself out of the ground to grab the weapon in front of it, she would never live it down.
The armor-clad minion seemed to pull itself out fully, grabbing what appeared to be a large halberd in front of it and swiftly raised it above its spiky armored head about to bring it down on the stunned girl…
That is until its helmet popped off, courtesy of a lightning pellet…
The armor seemed to tumble a bit, missing its swing as Yorihi dodge around it, kicking it off the mountain and running towards wherever that pellet had come from. She spotted Xiao with her slingshot out and red-eye twitching, "GET ME THE HELL OUT OF THIS THING YORIHI!"
-Don't have to tell me twice- the younger girl slid under another armor-summon, doing a rolling flip to dislodge it from the mountain and spinning out of the way of another. Xiao was popping off helmets of those she could before apparently realizing the better tactic was to go for their legs so they had no means to hold onto the mountain side.
Quickly enough Yorihi rolled next to Xiao, taking one of her beat-rods and jamming it between the girl and the binding arrow, wedging it out like a fulcrum.
"Ah!" Xiao quickly grabbed the younger girl's arm as she almost fell once the thing was off, before quickly getting her balance on the wall, attaching her chakra and sliding behind Yorihi, performing several seals and releasing a breath of lighting at three incoming armor-summons, "So, plans Princess?"
Yorihi finished up a combo on one, sliding her rods underneath it to remove its legs, scoffing, "Seriously, why doesn't everyone keep asking me about 'plans'?!"
"Hehe," the dusky-pinkette shot two more before grabbing the girl behind her and twirling them both out of the way of one of Moe's arrows, "Probably 'cause you're the one that started this whole thing?"
"Me?!" she rolled in front of Xiao, deflecting what looked to be a thrown axe, either from Ruri or some genjutsu'd student with her crossed rods, "How did I start this?!"
Another chuckle from the older girl as she started a longer series of seals, relying on Yorihi to keep any of the armor-summons away, "Well, you were the first one to spot Kuri-sensei's 'collapse' technique…"
A snort as another helmet went flying…
"… And you were the first one to go after other students, saving them from falling…" red eyes rolled, she had thought it was a dumb idea, the girl risking her own neck for others when she could have failed from falling herself… not that the dark skinned medic-aspirant hadn't grudgingly summoned Zishi and helped out similarly after watching the fool.
"It seemed like the right thing to do!" honestly, first Bachiko, now Xiao!
Dusky-pink hair just shook. –This girl… really…- for whatever reason Xiao couldn't help the smirk pulling at her dark lips as she slammed both hands down on the ground, she could feel the drain, knowing this was the last time she'd be able to do this. –But it'll be worth it!- out from under her hands two bursts of smoke appeared, and from that smoke two head sized orbs of lighting shot out, taking down several of the armor-summons. As the smoke cleared two manta-ray type Minazuki closed their mouths, one black and grey that was obviously Zishi, the other a burnt reddish on top and orange on the bottom. Xiao quickly jumped on Zishi, turning back with an overblown smirk to Yorihi, "You're chariot Princess~"
The younger girl just scowled at the snark before jumping up on the unfamiliar Minazuki, using her chakra to latch on as the thing decided a corkscrew following Xiao and Zishi was a great idea, "XIAO!"
"That's Daishi!" the older girl called from atop hers as she seemed to remain in a crouch, one hand flat on Zishi while the other formed a seal, "He should get you where you need to go!"
"What about you?!" the blind girl called, not liking where she was at all, and a sinking feeling filling her chest as she watched Xiao grin back at her.
"Doing what I need to," with that she pointed out with her seal, apparently a signal to 'Daishi' to drop and pick up speed, taking Yorihi with it.
Yorihi watched with bated breath as Xiao focused back on her floating companion, she knew if she switched to chakra-sight she'd see Xiao pouring whatever she had left into her summon as Zishi opened its mouth wide, similar to how 'Big Mama' had done seeming to split its body in two and form a ball of lightning in the center. The brightness with which the lightning orb produced seemed to dim everything around it, as if the Minazuki was eating the light itself, before releasing one of those strange sounds and the orb itself.
"Uh… Ruri," half-moon spectacles slid down the pale woman's face as she lowered her bow long enough to just stare at the flying, glowing thing in front of her…
"What?!" the tall woman growled, holding her hands in a seal with her eyes closed, obviously concentrating on controlling the summon army of armor suits keeping the students occupied.
Instead of answering in any manner of verbal language, Moe just grabbed the other teacher's head and turned her to see what she was seeing, because she really didn't expect such a thing from an Academy student… even from their village.
Beady black eyes were forced open as the taller woman scowled before something bright caught her attention. She blinked before a neural look came over her face as she said oddly calm, "Why didn't you take that girl out?"
"I DID!" Moe just threw her hands up…
As it was, at this very moment most of the shinobi forces were going about their normal daily tasks, such as paperwork, guard duty, checking rounds of patients and even a bit of gambling here and there on the results of this year's academy graduation.
Most were seated quite comfortably in their daily routine…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
... until there was an explosion that shook the entire village hidden in the clouds.
Around the village several eyebrows rose, none more flatly or suspiciously then Reki's, the desk clerk who was currently smoking out on one of the platforms during one of her myriad 'smoke breaks'. This particular platform happened to have a good view of training plateau by the Academy… which just had an orb of electrical chakra shot out of it causing a good chunk of one side to start collapsing.
The older woman simply blinked thin black eyes as she raised her hand to remove the cigarette, snorting when she saw the wreckage start to 'fix' itself.
"Oh," a dark chuckle left her throat, "That brings me back… hahaha!"
"Haa… haa…" Xiao took in large gulps of air, feeling far more drained then she should have. –Zishi… did you take more than I thought?- the manta-ray chirped listlessly below her, its thrumming easily felt in her hand as she collapsed on top of the thing, "Note to self… haa… learn… to do that… right…" an attack that powerful should have knocked at least one of the Masters off right? It helped them, right?
Tired red eyes glanced up as the smoke cleared from the attack…
There was a hole a bit bigger than the electrical orb Zishi released cut clean through the central pillar… and blew out a good chunk of the wall behind…
"Uhh… oops?" Xiao could feel sweat trailing down her neck, surprised to see that kind of damage to be honest. -Don't tell me Yorihi's rubbing off on me…- she'd never live it down if the younger girl heard that…
-But at least there's damage- she quickly shook the odd thoughts out of her mind. With a big hole like that all they'd need is someone else to hit it and surely the pillar would fall, making the Masters vulnerable, and the students would win… right?
That's when a familiar sound caught in her ears and red-eyes went straight for the pillar. –No…- it looked like the hole was convulsing before it started actually closing up!
With what little energy the dusky-pinkette had in her she stood, ready to go in there and keep it open by force if she had to herself, "Son of a Bitch!"
Unfortunately Xiao's reckless charge was easily anticipated by the Masters, as Moe notched an arrow and released, dispelling the summoned Minazuki and watching passively as the obviously worn out girl fell, "Thanks for playing, you fail~"
Ruri just shook her head, "It was a good effort, no reason to fail her just on that."
Dark green eyes rolled as Moe shot off another arrow to some stragglers on that side, many of the students having vacated the area before Xiao's attack hit, luckily saving most of their lives if scattering their forces back to effectively useless. With many of the students stunned or just not sure what to do her genjutsu was back in full force, and with Ruri's armor-minions tossing students off the walls this graduation test seemed almost over. A snort from the short woman as this started to become far too easy, "I'm not saying she failed because of that silly attack," there went another one, "I'm saying she fails by the basic rule of the game: you fall, you die!" she released another arrow with a smirk, this one creating a gas cloud when it hit, it wasn't poisonous or anything fun like that, but enough to freak out some of the students to lose concentration and start falling off…
Ruri tried not to roll her eyes, or smirk, as that had always been their basic cut-off point. A student falls, they fail, because something as dumb as that could get them killed and they didn't have time to waste out in the field on such people. They had expressed this sentiment enough, hoping to get it to stick in the kids' heads that solidarity was their greatest strength, because of their small numbers Kumo-nin had to rely on themselves, never expecting a rescue, it made them strong and independent individually but lacking in certain other areas. Teamwork was something they had a harder time learning, that was usually for the partners and their sensei to teach… but it seemed their oddest student had brought it up even here during the graduation test. –Always a surprise with that one…- the tall woman had expected Yorihi to notice their plan the quickest, even save herself by some means even if her talents weren't in this particular field… what she hadn't expected was the girl to go above and beyond to actually try 'saving' other students, even coordinating them a little into a kind of unit against them. The moment Ruri and Moe had saw that they had decided to up the 'game' a little… and here they were, students dropping like flies while the 'arena' was reforming itself thanks to Kuri.
-Was it all really worth it?- beady black eyes glanced from Moe who seemed to be enjoying herself, getting a chance to really screw with the students, while Kuri remained still as he had been the whole time monitoring everything, while she had pulled out some of her more 'drastic' techniques for large-scale warfare if held back on the lethality.
It was when her eyes caught on something just outside of her normal sight under the edge of the pillar that a blonde brow raised. The tall woman crawled over to the edge… and her eyes widened at something she had honestly not been expecting, causing her to laugh.
A shudder ran across Moe's shoulders as she popped two more students, before turning back to her fellow female teacher and giving the woman a queer look as she seemed to be chuckling over something, "That's really freaking me out, stop it…"
The tattooed woman just seemed to grin, pointing down with a free hand, "seems we'll have to reconsider new grounds for 'failure' this time around…"
A red-so-dark-almost-black brow quirked above the short woman's half-moon spectacles as she leaned over just enough to see what the tall blonde was pointing at… only for her jaw to drop, "You've got to be fucking with me…"
It appeared the students were being a bit more organized then they realized. Whoever was the leader was a genius, or they were all simply lucky enough to be working on the same page simultaneously. Sprawling out from the pillar and covering the entire basin just above the cloud line was a giant, intricate spider web. It seemed that those students who fell were either caught by the web or managed to save themselves below the Master's ability to see, and were using the webbing as a bridge to make their way to the central pillar, most of them teaming up closely to hide outside the Master's peripheries to make sure they weren't caught. And since the central pillar seemed to negate their attempts to simply wall-walk it up, they started piling up, on each other's backs or climbing it the old-fashioned way with kunai, shoe-spikes, wire, and whatever else was at their disposal.
"It seems," Ruri's serene voice cut into Moe's scowling, "this year's batch are quite determined to beat us, even putting aside their normal in-fighting and competition to stand united against their one goal…"
Dark green eyes stared flatly as the short woman stood up straight. She was still for all of a moment before pulling out her bow, notching a particularly sharp barbed arrow with a corkscrew head designed specifically to pierce at high speeds and aiming straight down, "I got an answer for them right here!"
The tall woman swiftly stood up and grabbed the short one's hand, forcing her to hold the arrow and unable to release, "Leave them be…"
Moe's head turned just enough to skeptically glare at the taller woman, "Are you kidding? We're supposed to not stop!" she struggled to get the woman to remove her hand, "This is supposed to be a simulation of a real war, there are no 'breaks' or 'letting up' in war!"
Ruri's larger tattooed hand tightened around Moe's as she looked at her sternly, "And there's no reason to continue a farce once it's been played out," the short woman managed to shrug her off even if she lowered her bow, "They've shown to have improved well, in skill, tactics, cooperation, and other areas that are quite impressive…"
"Yea, whatever…" the pale woman droned… before quirking a brow and instinctively aiming her bow up and letting the arrow fly. There was a poof! As a summon dispelled and out of the clouds dropped their favorite student, seeming to aim straight for them with her beat rods crossed in front of her. A smirk picked at the edge of Moe's lips, "Seems we did win after all…"
There was a sigh from the tall woman as she pulled out her segmented spear, preparing with Moe to capture the only one either of them would deem 'the leader'…
"Shit!" Yorihi squeaked as Daishi chirped away into a puff of smoke after getting shot by Moe and she was left to literally fall to the ground on her own. Luckily, or unluckily depending on who's point of view it was, she happened to be right over the pillar the Masters were stacked out on. Lucky to have somewhere relatively close to land, unlucky in that both the Genjutsu and Taijutsu Masters had their weapons out aimed right at her…
-Goddamnit!- she crossed her arms, pulling herself up into a ball to create a smaller target hopping to not get shot by the two women… that's when she felt a pull on her consciousness and a certain cat's paws on her shoulder. –Bachiko?- she didn't bother to look, he was still in something of his incorporeal form, but told her the 'badger' had done its job. She didn't question if he meant Oku, Lior or both and just grinned. –Want to play a game with the Masters?- the Cheshire grin she could feel spread on his feline features instantly wiped away any fear she may have had at facing the jounin below alone.
"Let's go!" the girl falling girl extended her arms getting closer and closer to the small pillar, now with more confidence then they seemed to realize as she came within range. Immediately Ruri's segmented spear aimed for her head, a tilt of her neck and she only got a slice on her cheek, barely missing the bandana but on the other side got an arrow in her right shoulder and upper thigh, "BACHIKO! NOW!"
Barely feet from them and out of nowhere a mass of bluish-black flames spun in the air, revealing a massive bakeneko that leapt at the women, claws, fangs and fur extended creating a frightening scene.
Of course, these were the Masters, and as surprising as a demon summoned from thin air was all he managed to garner was a blink of surprise…
Then Moe started laughing, as she willingly slid down the side of the pillar right before the beast hit, bow drawn and pelting the thing with a few arrows, honestly impressed it was the real deal and not some illusion.
Ruri on the other hand dropped her spear as the cat came down, taking a heavy stance, pulling her fist back and just as the cat landed threw a megaton punch up into the fiery felines underbelly…
There was a loud long yowl as the bakeneko took the hit, its paws bracing for the small amount of space on the pillar it could latch onto and only because of the tattooed woman's fist did it not crush her or the man still meditating in the center of it.
Yorihi landed relatively softly on her constant-companion's back, rubbing his fur as she could feel the punch through their bond. Unconsciously she gripped her abdomen, falling to her knees on his back, "D-damn…" she knew Ruri was a master of Taijutsu, but never really thought about just how hard that woman could punch… apparently enough to stop a demon in its tracks. –Those muscles… certainly, not for show…- then she felt the impossible… Bachiko, in his large form was rising, "What the-?"
Underneath the massive feline Ruri extended her fist, raising her other arm to hold the demon more securely before walking to the edge of the pillar and literally tossing it off…
Large vibrant blue eyes and hidden white ones blinked… before a shriek may or may not have been uttered as the massive feline descended.
Ruri simply wiped off her hands, partially wondering what was the point of summoning a giant cat let alone why her cousin's daughter had such a thing. –Perhaps because she's close with the jinchuuriki?- but that didn't make sense, otherwise she'd have a bull, right?
Moe climbed back up the pillar, stopping only long enough as she tossed her bow on solid ground to stare at the other woman who seemed to be thinking something over quite seriously, "You realize you literally just tossed a minor demon, right?"
"Hmm?" a blonde brow rose above those shadowed tattooed eyes as the woman looked down at the one still hanging somewhat off their pillar.
Dark green eyes blinked flatly as the short woman couldn't help but push up her glasses, "Forked tail, body made entirely of dense demonic chakra…" at the continued blank look she only blinked again, "You didn't even notice did you?"
The only response from the blonde was to stare, not convinced that was it at all.
Moe just shook her head, putting two fingers to the center of her brow, "I-I don't… even…"
It was at that moment that thin eyes opened for the first time during this entire insane endeavor as Kuri breathed out slowly as if just waking from one of his normal meditations and said in a crisp flat voice, "We should leave…"
Two sets of brows rose as the female Masters stared down at the man.
As it also so happened the ground in front of the man cracked open, a shuffling of large claws as something black, white and grey growled a moment, snorting, hissing, and looking about wildly with ruffled fur. The badger's beady black eyes took in the three teachers for all of a moment before growling, diving back down into its hole for a second only to reappear with some manner of package it set out in front of them before burrowing back down into the hole in a huff.
The package was blinking…
Flatly Moe stared at the badger-delivery, "Yea I think we should go…"
From her falling position atop Bachiko Yorihi could only grin widely as the top of the pillar exploded, followed quickly by a series of explosions inside it that caused the entire structure to collapse.
After performing several interesting aerial maneuvers that that included pollvaulting off of debris, the large ghost cat made his way back to one of the side walls, standing momentarily to allow his master a moment to enjoy the spectacle. He snorted, unimpressed.
"What'dya think Yorihi-hime?" a voice called up from above them, it was Oku grinning widely with a pair of binoculars as he sat on the edge of basin wall, "Looks like everyone got out of the way safe enough, even our sensei, not that I didn't expect it, but I think this means the test's over right?" absently the boy held out one hand, causing Yorihi raise a brow for a moment wondering what he was waving at…
Only for a screeching, hissing, angry ball of burnt fur to land exactly in his hand, dropping into his lap and unraveling to be one very irate Lior. The Badger immediately jumped off his master only to hiss and spit and growl for however long straight it took his fur to grow back the right color.
Again, Yorihi and Bachiko could only blink, before the girl released a grin, "Yea… I think that's everything…"
By now, she really should have learned to not expect anything to be over so easily…
Ruri, Kuri and Moe stood on top of the Academy tower watching as their students seemed to think they had won…
"Kuri," the tall woman turned to the chubby man, again seated and in a seemingly meditative position, "If you would do the honors…"
"Indeed," the man brought his hands up to his chest, performing another set of seals before holding his hands out in a manner that showed only the basin in the space between his fingers and thumbs, "Zettai Toukai no jutsu," and with a pulse of chakra the Masters got the splendid view of watching the entire thing crumble, listening to their students shout all manner of obscenities as they once again had to go through saving themselves.
"They should learn by now," Moe said calmly as she folded her arms over her chest, "No matter what, in the end, we win!" the cute smirk on her face was downright creepy.
Small black eyes watched the destruction passively, knowing they'd have it rebuilt by tomorrow, before glancing from one of her fellow Masters to the other, "Verdict?"
"They did adequate," was all the calm chubby man said as he put his hands down, opening his eyes and seeing the slightly broader horizon.
A snicker came from the tall blonde's left, "If any of them survive, I say they passed," she cracked her neck, ignoring the raised brows sent her way, "Haven't had that much fun in a long while~"
Ruri simply gave a shrug, "I agree, those that participated after phase one definitely showed adequate skill usage, potential, and adaptability, there is no reason to keep them at the academy," she rolled her shoulders, feeling a bit stiff from having to toss so many weapons, reminding herself she'd have to go grab and reseal them all at some point, "Those that fell beforehand failed though for being so unprepared."
"Then it is settled," the chubby man gave a grunt as she stood to his feet, folding his arms behind his back, "We have those that passed and those that failed," he turned on his heel, walking towards the roof access, "Now we only need to determine proper Company assignments and any adjustments to the pairing roster…"
Immediately Moe deflated, whining, "Can't we go clean up the training ground instead…"
"Nope," without even looking or missing a beat Ruri grabbed one of Moe's arms and dragged the overly reluctant Genjutsu Master back inside so they could finalize the results of the test, "We have footage to review, assignments to determine, and the exact specifics of who truly graduated or not." Normally Ruri was not a vindictive woman, but even she found something… amusing about Moe's plight.
For her part, the short teacher started crying, why oh why couldn't she just go back to having 'fun' with the students instead?
The aftermath of the 'graduation war' was the same as it had always been in Kumo, students digging themselves out of the rubble despite wounds while ANBU, jounin, and even the occasional parent stood by, smirking at those that managed to save themselves. It was one of the few times the shinobi bothered to come down to base of the mountains. Soon enough everyone had been dug out, the tunnels leading to Kumo caving in and training mishaps led most of the active duty shinobi to be extremely efficient at search and rescue in this type of scenario… plus they had some overly eager help.
"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! AAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWW YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAA!"
In the form of two overly eager Bijuu containers, one obviously more vocal then the other.
Yugito could only press two fingers to her head, bypassing the cat-formed chakra cloak surrounding her body as Bee seemed to jump around in his 'Big Hachi' form, bucking rubble out of the way with giant horns and using his myriad tails to grab conscious and unconscious students and hand them off to ANBU waiting in the wings. The feline Jinchuuriki stuck to her 'small' form, holding just the chakra cloak in human form giving her two tails that could easily grab anyone she found, but more importantly the cloak giving her Matatabi's heightened senses to help coordinate the search and rescue better. If only her Senpai were using his form in such a manner…
"Senpai," the cat groaned, waving her tails about agitatedly, "Keep that up and you'll cause another rockslide…"
The gigantic Ushi-Oni seemed to pause at the small cat-woman's flat words, turning his enormous upper torso to face her, that big bull head looking down with its vacant beastly eyes as the thing snorted heavily enough to send two others standing nearby to the ground, "Yugi-chan~ how can ya be so cold, only take a whirl, 'fore the day gets old, lookin' for little home-girl~"
The copper-eyes cat just shook her head, "Senpai~" a groan, "You're not the only one worried…" the chakra-cloaked blonde looked around the floor of what was left of the basin, her nose twitching with each scent as the chakra ears of her cloak moved about, searching for any movement or sign of someone else buried under rubble, "ANBU got all the stragglers that failed out before the collapse, and honestly that webbing made it a bit trickier when the whole thing came down…" unconsciously she raised a 'paw' and rubbed her cheek along it, fighting the urge to lick it and start cleaning her fur, there were some weird drawbacks to this form, "We got most of them accounted for, just a few more and I'm sure she's fine~" there was no doubt in Yugito's mind that Yorihi was okay, her adorable little niece had Matatabi's kitten with her after all.
The giant multistory bull-octapus-thing just snorted again at the feline, sending other shinobi flying with what may have been shrieks no one paid attention to, before 'standing' up and seeming to give that thuggish pout only Killer Bee could produce, "Say what ya want Yugi-chan, I gotta do whata' can," each beat in his rhyme was accented with the slam of a separate tail causing the ground to easily shake.
"BEE!" astral fur raised on Yugito's back as her tails went up straight hissing at the reckless bull.
Another thuggish pout was her response, but at least the thrashing octo-tails stopped. The two jinchuuriki seemed to intently stare at one another for a good long moment, making many of the other shinobi nearby uncomfortable as a titanic bijuu battle breaking out was the last thing anyone wanted.
Luckily a sound seemed to catch Yugito off-guard, "Hmm?" the chakra-formed cat ears on her head twitching this way and that before she leapt down on all fours and sped off towards the opposite end of the basin.
"Eh?!" without thinking mega-Bee spun around and went after the small glowing cat as well, causing more than one shriek as ANBU and others bolted out of the way of the giant Ushi-Oni. The two demon containers halted at the far side of the basin, Bee just watching as the feline jinchuuriki wiggled her nose and moved about chakra ear. The large bull head of the Hachibi went left, right and up, "Where it at, prickly cat, I don't see jack 'fore headin' back?"
Copper slit eyes rolled… before spotting some rubble moving. Immediately Yugito flashed over and started pulling off large boulders with clawed hands and ethereal tails…
Bee had all the moment to look before the pile of rubble the cat was scratching away at exploded in a burst of blue-black chakra and one angry yowl.
Yugito gracefully jumped away from the minor explosion, landing on her feet before looking at whatever had just thrown out that burst of chakra. A growl echoed from the hole before two furry long ears stuck out, twitching this way and that until the thing rose enough more to show two vibrant, if obviously scowling, blue eyes.
A fanged grin spread on the feline jinchuuriki's face a wave of relief passing through her, "Heeeey~ Batsu-chan!"
The large bakeneko seemed to snort disapprovingly at the use of its 'old' name, before quickly hopping out of the rubble and heading straight for the smaller woman, nuzzling quite affectionately. Purring was definitely involved.
Yugito couldn't help the cat-like grin that spread on her face as she hugged the large feline demon back. Both her and Matatabi were relieved to see her kitten was okay, and Yugito was honestly surprised at just how big he had gotten. The young blonde jinchuuriki had only ever seen him in his 'travel' form, skulking about Yorihi's shoulders or taunting Sutego, she never even thought he had a 'big' form, as it was he was probably as tall as Bee at his shoulder, "You've gotten so big!" yes there was a squeal, she was sure Matatabi was saying something important that she wasn't paying attention to before she held her arms out, holding the sides of Bachiko's face and looking him right in the eyes, her fiery copper-slit ones to his vibrant blues, "You can tell me about that later, for now, where's Yorihi-chan?"
The cat snorted, giving the impression like he was mildly insulted that the container of his mother would even suggest that he'd be fine without tending to his foolish master, honestly the nerve! Those large vibrant blues went to the side as he brought his large forked tail down, showing the smaller woman an unconscious, and bleeding, blind girl with her head lulled back.
"Noo… I dun… too early… for bats…" apparently she wasn't dead, just unconscious and talking in her sleep or suffering from a concussion as she mumbled on about something incoherent. As the two jinchuuriki just seemed to baffledly stare the large bakeneko just rolled his eyes, moving his forked tails to set the girl on his back where she sprawled out, still mumbling incoherent things. He gave a snort, babbling to Yugito that he'd take her somewhere safe before moving on.
"They're looking over the students at the hospital, take her there!" Yugito called out to the huffy cat, unable to help smirking as he waved his forked tails before trotting up the wall, over the top and out of sight. The blonde woman sighed, "Just when you think human teenagers are bad enough…" she may or may not have snorted in a somewhat familiar way.
The large demon-bull-octopus-thing tried, heavy emphasis on 'tried', to sneak away and follow the blue-black tabby up the wall…
"Bee," a flat multitoned voice called out, even if the woman wasn't facing him, "You're over a hundred feet tall and have all the stealth of a bull in a china shop," coppery-slit eyes turned on the 'sneaking' Ushi-Oni, "We still have work to do here…"
There was a pitiful whine from the gargantuan rapper-wannabe.
It would be three days later before Yorihi woke up without muttering inconsistent things, apparently the concussion receding.
"Ugh," the black haze of unconsciousness easily lifted allowing the girl to see everything around her, not that there was much to see, it was all white. White ceiling, white floors, white walls, white sheets… out of the disturbingness of the abundant white she slapped herself, feeling the rampant pain go through her cheek and jaw. For a moment she frowned, rubbing the 'wound', "Not a genjutsu I guess…"
"Hey are you awake?!" a cheery voice broke into the girl's still somewhat waking up form and post-concussive haze.
Partially she wished she could 'close' her eyes, just to stop seeing all the white, it was giving her a headache but that would require a genjutsu or knocking herself out again. She could feel her eyes were scrunched closed because of how her eyebrows bunched up but it did nothing to deter the excessive white.
"Yorihi-hime?" a hand was lightly shaking her shoulder and her brain seemed to finally bother registering the other person in the room.
"Uhhh… what?" a pale hand flicked at the silly blonde boy's hand off her shoulder as she faced him, "Oku-kun, what are you doing here?" she noticed the boy smiling widely as he took a step back… but something shiny on his silly had caught her attention.
The blonde boy would see the blind girl's tattooed brows furrow confused like she just noticed something. He only grinned, raising a hand to fiddle with the place he'd had stitched into his hat, "I dunno how you can always tell this stuff, but…" he grabbed her hand and brought it up to his head, letting her fingers dance over the new plate, "What'cha think? Cool huh?"
Tracing the symbol of Kumo on the boy's 'hitae-ate' with both her captive hand and eyes certainly woke her up. She could feel the blink behind her bandana but Oku didn't notice as he was doing that silly grin that closed his eyes. After a second he finally let her hand go so she could trail the plate herself, without even thinking a smile spread on her pale cheeks, "That's great Oku-kun, you passed!"
"Hehe," he leaned back out of her reach, rubbing his nose embarrassed, "You and a couple others have been out since the test," he reached into his back pouch pulling something out with a dark fabric, "About fifty-some of us passed that little war with full honors," the grin on the boy spread but softened enough to show his eyes as he held out the object to the bedridden girl, "Sorry you missed the ceremony, but here… it-it's yours!"
In his hand was a hitae-ate with a dark blue band.
The blonde fidgeted as he held it out to the girl, scratching the side of his cheek as if embarrassed, "I-I asked the Masters if they had one same color as the bandana ya wear all the time…" there was something foolishly adorable about the red crossing his face as she reached out to grab the hitae-ate, "Th-this was the closest they had…"
Gingerly Yorihi held the plate and fabric headband between her hands, running the fabric between her fingers and the metal under her thumbs. –This… this is mine…- she was frozen as so much emotion ran through her in this moment she had no idea how to express it. Pride in that she passed, amazed that now she was a shinobi… even joy at the sillyness of Oku picking her color for the band even if it was uncommon for Kumo-nin. –The Masters probably had this special… or Otou-sama… or Kemui-sama…- without thinking she quickly reached up and tugged down the bandana that hid her precious eyes…
Oku sucked in his breath when he realized what the girl was doing, the red running across his face even more. Supposedly no one had seen her take that bandana off, they all knew she was blind because she functioned normally despite the thing, but it was still weird to see her tug the thing down. The act was synonymous to the younger girl taking off her shirt, or that's how Oku interpreted it and tried to quickly turn around… but that didn't stop him from seeing her closed eyes and the purple scars as she pulled the hitae-ate up and tied it around to cover her eyes. The boy was frozen in place, a concerned look overcoming his face, "Yorihi-hime…"
-Oh damnit!- the younger girl may or may not have squeaked, she hadn't meant for him to see anything, luckily her eyes were closed… right? So it wasn't that bad, and he only looked concerned, "Er…" she fastened the knot, making sure her 'new' bandana was secure as the old one hung around her neck, "Y-you weren't supposed to see that…"
"Eh-heheh," again that nervous scratching, "S-see what?" flatly the younger girl's cyan tattooed brows just 'glared' at him, "Er…" nervous scratch on his cheek, "I-I won't tell anyone 'bout it…" immediately his hands went in front of him in a rather pitiful praying form, "Promise!"
Against her will a smirk picked at the blue-black haired girl's lips and she may or may not have released an undignified snort, "Heh," a pale hand raised, trying futily to hide the grin, "Its… its okay Oku-kun…"
"R-really?!" how someone could blink with their eyes closed was beyond her, but somehow Oku managed to do it as he looked up rather pitifully from his hands… before grinning wide, "Great!" then his face fell as he seemed to get serious, "Though, c-can I ask you a question?"
The boy's only response was the raising of a tattooed brow, as if to give him the go ahead.
His blonde brows furrowed as a rather pitiful pout came over his light face, "Those scars…" he noticed the girl stiffen, "Are those… are those why you can't see?"
Pale hands gripped the white sheets as the girl 'looked' away from him, "Forget about those Oku-kun…" she really needed to come up with a sufficient back-story in case this happened again. –Note to self, talk to Baba about that 'back-story' she came up with…-
"Okay," the boy had a determined look on his face, serious but oddly too childish and ended up more cute than anything else, "I can tell it's something personal," seriously the 'serious nod' did not work with the boy's face as he dropped his fist into his other hand like making some kind of serious point, "But know this Yorihi-hime," suddenly there was a serious thumbs up in her personal space, "When you feel ready to tell someone, I hope it's me!" thank god there wasn't a ping to his teeth, that would have been too much…
Yorihi just blinked behind her hitae-ate, making her brows twitch as she didn't know how to interpret Oku trying to be 'serious'… it just wasn't working. Before she knew what was happening as the silence dragged on between them her hand raised as she released a rather pitiful giggle.
Instead of feeling insulted or anything, the older boy just grinned, chuckling to himself as he took his held out hand and scratched behind his neck, laughing with his friend.
"O-okay," the pale girl have a nod, "Maybe… maybe one day I can tell you," the boy beamed and she just joined him in smiling, knowing she'd most likely never be allowed to tell him. But one day… maybe she'd want to…
The boy just gave an honest grin.
A ruffle suddenly went across the younger girl's shoulders. –Something's missing…- her ears twitched and her nose flair, as if expecting something in the emptiness… like a certain someone telling the older boy to shut up or cursing her for blowing something up. –huh… that's weird…- scanning the room she found she, Oku and his badger Lior under the bed were the only occupants. The dark blue haired girl's head tilted, "Ne, Oku-kun," the boy stilled as he turned towards her, "Where's Xiao-chan?"
The boy seemed to blink, looking left, then right before staring at her blankly, "Ehehe," giving a nervous chuckle, "R-right, Xiao-chan… she's… uh… well…" his voice got squeakier as he went.
Yorihi just 'brow' glared at him.
There may or may not have been a squeak and physical jump from the newly-minted genin, "W-well, see, thing is…" that nervous cheek scratching was back, "Xiao-chan's still kinda… out…"
"Out?" the blind girl repeated flatly, causing the boy to sweat more.
Red spread across his cheeks as he became obviously embarrassed, "S-she's been out since the test," with a heavy sigh the boy slumped back into the chair next to his friends bed, actually pulling off his hat, showing his unruly dirty blonde hair as he nervously rung the thing, "I-its been three days but the docs say she'll likely be out for a week cause she pushed herself so hard…" he was definitely pouting as well as strangling his poor silly hat.
Yorihi felt bad for the boy, he looked terrible so worried, "D-did she pass?" it was terrible for her to ask but it was the only thing she could put into words. She felt bad for the girl, and worried… and a lot of other things she wasn't sure of… -Xiao's helped me the most at the Academy besides the Masters… if she's not okay…- she honestly had no idea what'd she do, worse what would happen if the loudmouthed dusky-pinkette with the horrible bedside manner hadn't passed? What would Oku do without his prospective partner? –Are they still partners?-
Oddly a wry grin passed the boy's face as he turned to her, "Heck yea she did!" it was so much more comforting seeing him excited for the older girl, it was adorable how bright his face got, "Actually she got the number one slot for all of us that passed!"
A tattooed brow may or may not have twitched –What?!- "S-she did?" how did Xiao get number one and not her?! She was the Raikage's daughter! She trained three times as much as any of the other students and managed to pass the crash-course!
That nervous chuckling from the boy started up again as he put his hands up in defense, "Eh-heh," despite the fact the quiet girl had asked lowly and nicely like normal, something terrifying ran down his spine. –Yorihi-hime wouldn't be jealous of Xiao-chan, right… right?- "Er… um," the boy fumbled for the right words as the silence seemed to bring a further impending sense of doom! "W-well the Masters said she showed the most skill during the test, plus other stuff they judged…" he waved his hands as if trying to calm the girl down, even if she wasn't exploding or anything. –doesn't hurt to be cautious- he'd seen her break more buildings in the Village then even the Raikage himself, the girl had a volatile side hiding under all that serene calmness, "I-I believe the Masters said she got it for being the most aggressive, it would'a been you but you showed better leadership capabilities, while Xiao had went all out straight for the 'target' herself, exemplifying a real Kumo-nin…" he scratched his cheek again, it had been funny watching the Masters going through the list of the top students only for none of them to have been present due to 'test-related-injuries'.
For half a second Yorihi pouted as she crossed her arms… then a smirk seemed to pass her lips, "heh," in truth she was proud of the older girl, even she couldn't deny she had been impressed by the things the girl had come up with. –The way she'd used her summons… was amazing!- during her time learning the chakra-field she hadn't once seen the older girl try something like a double summon or having the Minazuki attack like that, it had been impressive… and inspiring! If she could figure out some cool moves like that with Bachiko… "Hehehe," instantly Yorihi brought her hands up to pitifully try to hide her giggles before noticing Oku was looking at her funny, "Er…" pale fists lowered slightly, "Well good for Xiao-chan!" this time she did give an honest smile, she was proud of her… 'friend', "But next time I'll get the top slot!"
The boy ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair, grinning so wide, "I don't doubt Yorihi-hime," a small chuckle, "But I doubt Xiao-chan'll give up her top slot so easily…"
"She better not!" small pale fists were up and pumping like a certain big Oni, "I beat her once, I'll do it again, and again, and again!"
"Eheh," Oku could feel sweat running down his neck. –I didn't think girls could be so competitive…-
"Oh yea!" the blind girl turned to the boy not wearing his silly hat, "You and Xiao-chan," for some reason a blush spread on the boy's face that Yorihi didn't get, "You guys are still partners right?"
For some reason the dirty-blonde boy breathed a sigh of relief before grinning at the younger girl, "Of course!" more fist pumping, "We make a great team!" something shiny entered the boy's eyes as he grinned amazingly wide to the younger girl, "And you won't believe whose gonna be our sensei!"
This did cause a tattooed brow to pique, Oku was extremely excited, and while he was a generally excitable boy, this was a bit excessive, "Who?"
"You're aunt!" the boy grinned so wide it threatened to split his face in half, "The Nibi Jinchuuriki, Yugito-sensei!" there may or may not have been a fanboyish squeal, "She talked to me after the ceremony yesterday where I got this," absently he held up his hat, noting the newly added plate while continuing in that squealy excited voice, "She said she was impressed by not only Xiao-chan snagging the top slot, but also by me and Lior setting the bombs, I mean I told her it was your idea…" his voice dipped a bit as his shoulders slouched at the end before perking back up, "But it didn't matter, she's going to be working with us in Company D! Isn't that awesome!"
Again that tattooed brow rose, curious, "But doesn't Nee-chan usually work for Company E?" she may or may not have had her feline companion tell her about the people around her, not that she was spying or anything, she was just curious what Companies they were assigned to and their specialties. Nii Yugito was usually part of a team of an 'Extermination' team with two other members, Bachiko knew them as she'd only seen them before once or twice, but they were supposed to be part of Company E.
The older boy shrugged, leaning on his arms, "Dunno, but it's not uncommon for sensei to switch out of a Company to train a team," he rubbed his nose, remembering some of the stuff from their lessons, "Partners are picked for their talents and sent where they need to, the Sensei are more to watch us and make sure we don't do something stupid…" a light chuckle, "Plus I'm sure it looks good ya know, to train some kids in another Company…"
A certain pout may or may not have crossed the young girl's face, "I guess, though extermination squads are a bit different from demolitions…" Kemui-sama had her study up on the organization of the Companies, each had its own specific task for the regular forces while the ANBU versions were usually combined and much more dangerous. Chances were she knew more about the military structure of their village then the boy next to her, but even if he didn't know, the way his eyes lit up was a bit freaky…
"Demolitions!" again that weird smile and pumped fists, "Well thanks to you we got all that experience about architecture and building structure, so I suppose it only makes sense," his head tilted slightly as the dirty-blonde seemed to be thinking harder than normal, "Though why would they have someone as important at Yugito-sensei teach us that kind of stuff?"
Yorihi just scratched her head, saying the first thing that came to mind, "Maybe they want to design an infiltration demolitions team, Nee-chan's really good at sneaking about…" the older blonde woman had the Nibi in her after all, and with how prideful Bachiko was about being a cat and sneaky there was no way Nibi-sama wouldn't have Nee-chan not great at it. She suddenly felt an indignant tug on her consciousness that caused her to smirk. –I was wondering where you were- Bachiko revealed himself to be sitting next to her on the bed, scoffing in that indignant cat way. She giggled at him.
"Oh hey!" Oku grinned as the blue-black tabby seemed to materialize out of thin air next to his friend, preening, "Haven't seen you in awhile neko-chan!"
Vibrant blue eyes paused in mid-paw-lick to glare at the silly boy holding his silly hat. How dare he refer to him as a mere cat! The nerve!
Of course the finicky feline's master just snickered at his whining. He glared at her next.
"Hehe," the younger girl turned to the dirty-blonde, "He doesn't like being referred to as a regular cat…"
Seafoam green eyes blinked, "Oh yea, I guess he wouldn't, hehe" he scratched the back of his head embarrassed, "I mean I knew he wasn't an ordinary cat, Yorihi-hime, but the stuff you pulled off with him during the test was really cool, a lot of the other students are still talking about you riding down out of the sky on this super-demon-cat," the fanboy-fist-pumping was back, though the boy seemed to be more grinning in appreciation of a friend then full-on fanboy mode, "Even though Ruri-sensei handled you guys quick, it was really awesome, and the perfect distraction for Lior, thanks!"
Now it was Yorihi's turn to scratch her cheek nervously and ignore the sudden heat in the room, "T-Thanks, Oku-kun…"
"No problem!" the boy earnestly grinned. The younger girl was always a mystery so it was fun watching the kind of things she could pull out during the test, and he was happy there was someone out there Xiao-chan could work with besides him. Thinking about his partner he checked his watch, "Oh snap! Its that late already!" the boy jumped from his chair, the sudden rattle enough to wake up a certain grumpy badger under the bed, before he turned to the bedridden girl, "Hey, I have to go see if Xiao-chan's up yet, don't take this the wrong way, I'm glad you're up, but I gotta hurry!"
Tattooed brows quirked at the boy's odd behavior, he seemed to start running in place, "Sure, but why the hurry? I thought you said she was still unconscious?"
There was a visible shake throughout the boy as he shook his fists and Lior seemed to climb up his pants, "Ye-Yea she is, but if I don't hurry her brother will come back before I get there!" the younger girl's brow rose higher and the pace of the boy's in-place running increased, "He's been watching her like a hawk, won't let me see her, so I gotta sneak in when he's gone," another glance at his watch and with a squeak he ran to the door, "SorryYorihi-HimeGottaGoBYE!" and off he went, dust cloud in his wake.
The Raikage's daughter just blinked behind her hitae-ate. –Well… that was a thing…- she knew Seichi-san could be quiet and intimidating but she never thought he'd be so over-protective of his independent younger sister as to stop her partner from seeing her. –Then again…- she noticed Oku had ran out without closing the door, causing her to sigh, "With how worried Oku gets maybe Seichi-san is worried Xiao-chan won't be able to sleep with him around…" the thought of Oku fretting so much as to make Xiao wake up, even from a medically induced coma caused her to chuckle, it wasn't that far-fetched a thought.
Openly the younger girl giggled to the empty room as she moved to slid off the side of the bed to go close the door. Her entire body felt stiff, like that time she'd been out for a day after Reki's 'training', an unconscious shudder ran through her as her bare feet touched the cold white floor, holding onto the bed a moment to make sure she wasn't going to fall or anything. The eerie whiteness of the room returned now that she was alone again and made her feel slightly disoriented. With a shake of her head she stood on her own two feet and walked to the door, annoyed with the strange feel of the hospital gown. –where are my clothes?- as her hand reached for the edge of the door to close it she mildly wondered if the hospital staff took her clothes to ensure she wouldn't escape.
That's when a dark tan hand grabbed the top of the door and forced it to stay open.
Blinking behind her new hitae-ate Yorihi refocused her sight on this new person standing in front of her. The first thing she noticed was the hitae-ate plate on his belt, marking him at least a genin. It was a boy that seemed to be older then her with cropped teal hair and eyes looking down at her with something of a neutral frown on his face. There were cuts on both his eyebrows leaving minor scars as he stepped forward, his large presence forcing her to take a step back. A large clever-looking sword was strapped to his side with a feather hanging off the end where he rested his left arm. The boy seemed to look her up and down same as she did, though he appeared ready for battle while she was stuck in damn hospital gown.
"You're Tenkyuu Yorihi, right?" his voice was flat and stern as he looked down at her with an unwavering glace.
A pout tugged at the younger girl's face as she felt the boy exuding some manner of killer intent, it was nothing compared to what she had felt in her life, but obviously he as trying to 'intimidate' her for some reason. –Like that would work…- she was the Raikage's daughter and had trained under two Assassin's that made his killer intent nothing in comparison, threats did not work on her. Standing tall she stood in front of the boy, really wishing she at least had her swords, "I am," her voice was stern and forceful as she released a small portion of her own killing intent, "You are?"
It was barely visible but with eyes like hers she could easily see the miniscule flinch, she had surprised him, if a little, before his imposing persona was back in place as the teal haired boy stood tall, hand on the clever and eyes right on the plate covering her eyes, "I'm Kumori Uenkai," his eyes narrowed the slightest bit and she caught the grip on his sword, "and starting tomorrow you're my new teammate…"
This caused Yorihi's browed to rise… she hadn't expected so soon to meet her partner, let alone that it would be someone older and completely unfamiliar. Speechless her mouth opened to say something but couldn't find the words.
"Hmp," the older boy seemed to scoff as he turned sideways as if to head back out the door, "Kemui-sama told me you were strong, but we'll see…" he turned fully showing the blind girl his back, "Show up at training ground 18 tomorrow morning and I'll see if you're worth my time…"
A very undignified growl escaped the younger girl, "If I'm worth your time?" two steps forward as her voice rose, "I'm the Raikage's daughter and I'm sure I've had more training then you!" she grabbed the back of his shirt turning him back, "So if anything its whether or not you are worth my time!"
The older boy turned with her pull enough to look down at the tough-acting little girl, "Feh," effortlessly he grabbed her hand and pulled it off him, twisting it in a way that would eventually break it, the girl didn't so much as flinch, "Arrogant aren't you," he let go when he could feel he shaking… or had she been gathering chakra? "Kemui-sama told me some about you, but it's still up for me to judge if you're good enough to be worth watching over…"
The younger girl tightened her hands into fists. This boy, Kumori Uenkai, dared to call her arrogant while he looked down on her like that… but at the mention of her Teacher she calmed, slightly. –Kemui-sama spoke to him directly…- her brows lowered as she pushed back her annoyance to scan him completely –If she spoke to him, she must have chosen him as my partner for a reason…-
Uenkai noticed the girl's hostility lowered, not becoming any less threatening, just less overt, like she was thinking about something important or looking him over. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested in knowing what she thought –Seems she does have some of that woman's cautiousness…- a scared brow rose slightly, "Tomorrow, training ground 18, 0500, don't be late…" and with that he turned to leave.
"What if I'm not cleared to leave?" Yorihi asked calmly, something about his physiology catching her attention.
The boy just shrugged a shoulder, "Then you fail…" just as he took a step outside the door the girl said something that made him stop dead…
"Are you sure you can handle a real fight, with a body like that?" she didn't need her enhanced sight that could see through everything to notice but it certainly helped to confirm what her other senses were telling her, and since the boy stopped she obviously must have been right, "You're muscles are atrophied, I'd say half of what they've been capable of, meaning you've been still for a very long time, either restrained or unconscious…" from what she could sense of the condition of the boy's muscles they had been ripped and torn like someone that worked out actively, quite normal in active duty Kumo-nin, but the state they were in was far less than the damage would suggest, meaning they had wasted away, atrophied, at some point.
Uenkai's entire body seemed to flex as he held dark tan fists at his sides, not turning around, "You're not the only one that needs to be tested…" He'd be lying if he said he wasn't impressed, not many could tell he'd been inactive for so long at just a figurative glance. The girl may have been a newly minted rookie but her senses were top-notch, the white haired assassin hadn't been lying. He glanced over his shoulder with one lone teal eye, taking in the small girl in the terrible hospital gown, "Tomorrow, 0500… don't be late…" –Don't disappoint me…- before he grabbed the sliding door and closed it softly.
At the soft click of the door shutting Yorihi's shoulders slumped. She didn't know what to make of this new boy, "Kumori Uenkai," what a strange name, what a strange boy… her fist impression of him certainly didn't make her like him right off the bat but if he was chosen to be her partner there had to be a reason. –What were you thinking, Kemui-sama, picking a guy like him?- the young girl suddenly had a lot of questions for the Assassin but knew they'd have to wait, as far as she knew the white haired woman was on a mission and it seemed she'd just received her first 'real' one: getting out of this hospital and meeting her new partner.
"This is going to be fun," she said flatly, turning to find her clothes and get out of this annoyingly white room.
Bachiko just seemed to hiss-giggle, lounging on the bed, amused at his master's new predicament…
Zettai – absolute, Toukai – collapse, destruction
Ryu no ha – Ryu- dragon, no – (a participle, connects the words), Ha- tooth – Dragon's Teeth
A/N: to say, i had originally planned out the 'test' for Kumo a LOOOOOOOOOOONG time ago, as in long before i had thought up Ruri, Kuri, and Moe, just faceless standins that for some reason looked/acted kinda like Mizuki, probably because they had to be dicks, but originally the test was the typical three-way test: Taijutsu sparing, some kind of intelligence test, and finally the Kumo-brand-special bit of dickery, tossing kids off a bridge... because that is the biggest 'deal' with Kumo, falling, it is the most simple thing that can kill them and is the inherent reason they make it mandatory for EVERYONE (civilians included) that lives in their village to be AT LEAST genin level, Ie: able to save themself should they fall... now this was the 'basic' idea with some thought and logic... then i made Ruri, Kuri, and Moe and well... they just would not stand for something so blunt and 'simple'... why have specifically geared tests when they can test EVERYTHING at once while having some 'fun' (Moe's words) so like Kemui last time they hijacked me for that bit of the test, as you can tell, they had some fun... and that's the whole reason we do this writing thing right? fun~ :P
plus i can see the insane-logic in it, if their genin can deal with a small-scale war, pfft, they can deal with just about anything anyone else throws at them, besides what better way to figure out how people will react in a situation then make it happen... i rather like their little element of 'surprise' and fuckery... Kumo-nin are prideful and won't go down without a fight, such badasses~
and the kids were never in 'real' danger, the Masters wouldn't allow any of the kids getting killed... concussed, broken limbs, and internal bleeding sure, but they're not going to waste all their efforts by killing any of the silly students, pfft...
now for a bit of nerdy-ness: Ruri's technique and using of spear/shield combos, this comes from me playing with her 'other' half, she looks primarily like Kali - Goddess of violence and destruction in Hindu mythology, but her other big inspiration is Athena, greek goddess of war and wisdom, ironically both of these goddesses can be considered the most motherly of their respective mythos, depending how you interpret them, so i liked showing just how 'violent' Ruri can be but at the same time showing she's really the one of the Triad that 'cares' the most about the students (unlike Moe whose obviously a bit crazy and Kuri who's ambivalent) but back to the point, Athena was often shown with a spear/shield combo so i kinda giggled every time she sported them in this, and the 'Dragon's Teeth' comes from the trials of Hercules, where one he had to get the golden apple that was guarded by a great dragon, unfortunately after killing the dragon its teeth were planted into the earth, sprouting magical warriors, it is because of this story the term 'dragon's teeth' is synonymous with an autonomous army that comes out of nowhere... i rather like the idea of that for a technique :3
well, that's the daily dose of mythos, i haven't gotten to that in awhile XD and as for the rest... well, say hi to Yorihi's new partner, i don't think they've gotten off on the right foot... XD
Love to those that got to review the last one, and hope you all have fun with this and that it lives up to my apparently high standards :P
Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!
-Ikasury
Ps: i highly appreciate when you guys point out grammar stuff i miss, i re-read this stuff so much i think i just start to easily miss obvious things, so thanks again for those that point them out :3