Snowy mountain, why do you not weep?

Is your heart too cold?

Snowy mountain, why do you weep?

Is your heart too full of pain?

Chapter 2: Boat

Being the practical person that he was, Kinari had made sure he was well prepared the night before. All of his weapons and miscellaneous ninja pointy things were laid out, each one checked meticulously for damage or rust. He also had some emergency supplies; bandages, a tourniquet, and other first aid items, just in case. Last but not least, he had a small flask of hot green tea. He didn't exactly need it, but tea soothed his nerves, and most likely they would need some soothing by the end of the day.

It was a chilly day, unusually cold even for autumn, and he picked out a long sleeved khaki shirt and baggy pants from his limited wardrobe, both of which would conceal kunai or shuriken, and hopefully camouflage him against the wood of the Hokage's headquarters. He had a nasty suspicion that Kenta meant for them to get to the roof the long way around, no easy task with the amount of security present because of the risk of assassination. Given what he had seen of the Jounin so far, he wouldn't put it past him to abandon them up there if they got caught, either. That would do wonders for his reputation, alright.....

He wanted to get their early, so he quickly buckled on the belt containing most of his weapons, as well as a small pouch for the medical supplies. He hid a few more shuriken up his sleeves, slotting them into place on two small sheathes specifically designed for the purpose. Most genin didn't use anything like this, but Kinari had seen a pair in the market and decided to buy them on a whim, using up most of his food money in the process.

Feeling unusually self confident, he opened the door to his apartment and strode outside, ready to take whatever challenges life threw at him.

He glanced over at his clock as he was about to shut the door and realized he was at least two hours early.

"Crap..."

Kinari had barely stepped back inside and closed the door when something hard thudded into it, shaking the rather flimsy wall it was set into. Startled, he jumped backwards, his training not yet ingrained enough for him to think of drawing a weapon.

"Ow! Damnit, why'd you close the door?"

"K...Kaoru-san?" Kinari said, opening the door a fraction. What the hell was he doing?

"Yes, it's me! Damn, I was gonna surprise you."

Kinari opened the door fully and was greeted by Kaoru rubbing a painful looking lump on his head. Miyuki was standing behind him looking disapproving.

"Serves you right! Be more careful from now on!"

"What are you guys doing here?" Kinari asked, keeping the half closed door between himself and the other two genin without realizing it. For most of his like he had assumed everyone would act hostile towards him, and he was having trouble convincing himself Kaoru didn't have a more malicious reason to sneak up behind him.

"We were thinking of getting something to eat before the big event, and we decided to invite you along."

"C'mon! It'll be fun!" Miyuki said, coaxingly.

"I don't know." Kinari said, glancing into the safety of his apartment. They genuinely wanted him to go and get something to eat with them, he could tell, and since they were going to be on the same team he would have to start feeling more comfortable around them eventually.

Well, if they were making an effort to get to know him, he could at least do the same thing. Realistically, what was the worst that could happen?

"Okay, let's go then!" He said, trying to sound enthusiastic. He stepped outside and shut the door firmly behind him.

"That's the spirit! I recommend we go and get some fried octopus. It's really great this time of year." Kaoru said, pointing off towards the center of the village.

Kinari and Miyuki stared at him for several seconds.

"...You're kidding, right?" Miyuki asked, making a face.

"No, I'm serious! If you can eat it for dinner you can eat it for breakfast."

"Uh-huh. I have a much better idea that won't make us all sick, okay?"

The Itada Noodle Bar, like most restaurants and places of leisure in the village, showed signs of hard times. It had the uncomfortable atmosphere of a building that was usually full of people, but was now suddenly empty. Hasty repairs had been made to parts of the walls after a recent attack, although not fro the Hidden Mist. They weren't in open warfare just yet. However, gangs of raiders and missing-nin were becoming an increasingly serious threat.

"Kaoru-san, I can't afford this place. Most restaurants are charging a fortune because it's so difficult to import stuff!" Kinari mumbled. He had never felt embarrassed about his modest lifestyle before, but he knew the Ando clan was extremely wealthy; one of the few in Konoha that had managed to retain it's assets.

"Don't worry, I'll pay for it. The vault at home is really easy to get into." Kaoru assured him, leading the three into the restaurant's brightly lit interior.

"Um....are you sure it's such a good idea to-"

"Hey, Kaoru-kun! Miyuki-chan! Haven't seen you two around for a while!" A large man with graying hair behind the counter said loudly. Obviously Miyuki and Kaoru were regulars. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Kinari. He's on our genin team." Kaoru said, purposefully.

"Oh...really. Well, that's nice." The man said, instantly losing his cheerful tone.

Kinari cringed. Why had he agreed to this?

"I'll have the usual." Miyuki said, ignoring the tension that suddenly filled the room.

"And I guess you will too, Kaoru-kun."

The man turned to Kinari and stared at him silently for a few seconds. His eyes were unfocused and he didn't seem to be looking at anything anyone else could see.

"You look...a lot like your father..." He said, quietly, then abruptly snapped out of his daze. "Oh! Forgive me, I didn't mean to be so rude! What would you like?"

"Um...miso soup....." Kinari muttered, although his appetite had deserted him.

The man nodded and disappeared into the back of the restaurant.

"What the hell was that all about?" Kaoru wondered, his voice sounding uncomfortably loud in the silent restaurant.

"You know just as well as I do." Kinari said, darkly. "Let's not talk about it, okay?"

Thankfully, it was someone else who brought out there food, and the trio ate quickly in silence and left. Kinari could tell Miyuki and Kaoru were worried about how the restaurant owner had reacted to him, but he didn't really care. He was more than used to people acting like that around him. The only thing that bothered him was that the man seemed to have known his father......

The rest of the village was still waking up as they walked towards the Hokage's building at a leisurely pace. Most of the stores were already displaying their wares, their owners hoping to make extra money by opening early. The open air market near the center of the village that sold mostly food and other commodities was practically deserted, a far cry from it's usual lively bustle. Importing crops and other necessities was getting more and more difficult, and it showed.

There were already many Shinobi traversing the rooftops, most of them on guard duty against a possible attack, hurrying to relieve those that had been defending Konoha's walls all night. The tension in the air was almost palpable, and Kinari could tell that some of the ordinary people were watching the ninja as they leaped from one building to another, no doubt wondering if they knew of some disaster that was about to occur. Sometimes he wondered the same thing.

The Hokage's administrative building was neither grand nor particularly intimidating looking, but it was big, and extremely well defended. Like most buildings in the village, wood was the primary building material used to construct it, and it had an almost ramshackle appearance. In a ninja village, people didn't make their homes expecting them to escape damage for long, and cheap, easily replaced materials were used wherever possible. It was the same common sense that had convinced people of the merits of using paper walls in earthquake prone areas in the past.

"Well, here we are!" Kaoru said, with no sign of trepidation in his voice. In fact, he seemed more excited than anything else. Kinari wished he could be that confident. Now that they were finally here, he felt as if his stomach was turning to jelly.

"Just don't do anything reckless, Kaoru." Miyuki said, and Kinari noticed she also didn't look quite as eager as Kaoru. By now he had realized that she was by far the more responsible of the two.

"Kinari-kun, you were worrying too much about this! Look, there aren't even any guards here!" Kaoru said, stepping through the gates of the building purposefully.

"Excuse me, can I help you with anything?"

Kaoru looked up into the stern face of a Jounin standing upside down on the horizontal beam at the top of the gate. There faces were about five inches apart, a few meters too close for Kaoru's liking.

"Heh....didn't see you there." He said, smiling nervously. The Jounin didn't look impressed. "Right...anyway, we're here to see Kenta-sensei. He told us to meet him here."

"Kenta-san is currently at a meeting with the Hokage. He hasn't given me any instructions to let anyone through. If you want to talk to him, you'll have to wait for him to come out."

And with that, the ninja made a seal with his hands and dissapeared, his movements too fast to keep track of.

"Bastard." Kaoru muttered. "I bet he's still around here somewhere."

"We're going to have to sneak in." Kinari said, quickly scanning the building. He couldn't see any more guards, but that didn't mean much. For some reason he wasn't nervous about what they were about to do. He felt....calm. As if this was just another excersize that Hakamatsu-sensei was making them do.

"How are we supposed to do that? We're practically at war, so the security will definetely be tight." Miyuki said, wishing Hakamatsu-sensei had taught them more genjutsu while they had been in his class.

"I think I can see a way in."

"I trust you all know why I've gathered you here." The second Hokage said, going on before waiting for a reply. "The three Special Genin squads are not only important, they are vital. You three, the strongest Jounin in the village, have been picked to train these genin. You are the best, and your students will reflect that."

Kenta said nothing, although on the inside he was fuming. He had only found out about the plan to form three teams of exceptional genin a few hours after he had picked Kinari, Kaoru and Miyuki. Now he knew why the Hokage had been pressing him so hard to train a team of Genin. If he had known what was going on from the start, he probably wouldn't have agreed to it.

"I'm sure all three of you know about the situation with the advanced bloodlines, how weak they have become. We need strong shinobi to survive, and we need to start training them now. The academy has had to teach some areas more heavily than others, especially when it comes to chakra control. You'll need to make up for this with your students. Understand?"

The three jounin nodded in reply, Kenta more reluctantly than the other two. This was going to be a pain in the ass...

"As for the situation with the Hidden Mist, we have temporarily stopped accepting missions from the Rain Country, and also ones that would force our ninja to cross the Rain Country's border. We've also stopped accepting 'trivial' missions. Unfortunately, that means our genin are going to have to start undertaking what would normally be classed as a C rank mission, but it can't be helped. If war breaks out, those kids need to be ready for it." He looked at each Jounin in turn to make they all understood. "Alright, any questions?"

"Hokage-sama." A female jounin, one whose name Kenta didn't know, said. "The next Chuunin exam was supposed to be held in the Hidden Mist's village. If we go to war, that could lead to some problems."

"We'll deal with that when the time comes. We're not the only ones the Hidden Mist has been acting agressive towards, so the exam might have to be held somewhere else instead."

The woman nodded.

"Nothing else? Alright, each of you take a scroll from that able over there." He said, gesturing towards a low table to his right. "They're mission scrolls. They're all tougher than what an ordinary team would get on their first time, but they should still be a walk in the park. And cheer up, Maehara. You'll make us all depressed with an expression like that."

Kenta muttered something under his breath and grabbed a scroll from the table, stalking quickly out of the room. He ignored the other Jounin's stifled laughter.

"Kaoru, hurry up!" Miyuki hissed, an edge of panic creeping into her voice. Kaoru was balanced precariously on a tree branch that looked far too small to hold his weight. Directly below him was an ANBU shinobi, characteristic white mask and cloak hiding his identity. Miraculously, he hadn't looked up yet, but a ninja adept enough to be in the ANBU could only stay oblivious for so long.

The jump between the tree branch and the wooden parapet that ran along the side of the tower would be simple for any ninja, but doing it without alerting the guard below would be far more difficult.

There was a sudden crack as the branch snapped, and Miyuki squeezed her eyes shut, expecting Kaoru to be cut down in a rain of shuriken. When nothing happened she opened them slightly.

The ANBU had caught the branch before it hit the ground, but Kaoru was no where to be seen. Instead, a small brown bird was sitting on of the lower branches, chirping peacefully.

The guard tossed away the broken branch, took one more quick look around, then walked off, much to Miyuki's relief.

"He's gone, Kaoru-san." Kinari said, apparently talking to no one. "Turn back and get over here!"

There was a flash of smoke and Kaoru was standing where the bird had been moments before, grinning mischeviously.

"Pretty good, huh? Genjutsu is really handy!" He said, leaping easily onto the wooden platform beside Miyuki and Kinari.

"Idiot!" Miyuki said, taking a swing at his head. "That was really dangerous! If that ANBU had hit you with something when you were like that you would have been killed for sure!"

"He didn't, though, so there's not point in thinking about it, right?" Kaoru replied, airily. "But, Kinari-kun, how did you know I was the bird?"

"Well, there was no bird there before. So I guessed it had to be you." Kinari said, simply.

"Good one. I was too freaked out about the ANBU guy to notice.." Miyuki said. Kinari had been acting strangely ever since they had started. He seemed so focused. Already he had pointed out three pitfalls that she would have walked right into, saving them from certain failure. If this was what he was like without the rest of those assholes at the academy around, she could see why Kenta had picked him for their team.

"You take point again, Kinari-kun." Kaoru said, gesturing towards the top of the tower. He also seemed to have noticed the sudden change in Kinari, but he didn't comment on it.

Kinari nodded. He looked upwards, his mind going through the possible routes and dismissing them one by one. He didn't think about how easy it seemed, where a few minutes earlier it had looked impossible. He was afraid that if he scrutinized it too much, this new found bubble of calm and clarity would burst, and all of his old doubts would come rushing back in and engulfe him. He had a mission to complete, and that was all he was going to think about.

Without a word, he leaped into the air, landing on a thin railing that ran horizontally along the wall for a few metres. He felt himself begin to overbalance and slammed his hands against the rough wood in front of him, sending a flow of chakra into his palms. He winced as the wood splintered slightly. Obviously his chakra control wasn't quite precise enough yet, but at least he wouldn't fall off. Miyuki followed him, trying the same trick with about the same level of success.

Kaoru also used chakra to stick his hands to the wall, but he did it perfectly, using just the right amount to grip the wall without breaking it.

"Wow. You have great control, Kaoru-san." Kinari said, although quietly. They were now standing on the sloped roof a small room jutting out of the side of the building, and he was worried someone might be inside. "This gives me an idea."

He took a large kunai from his belt and handed it to Kaoru.

"Do either of you have any rope?"

"Uh...yeah! I brought some, just in case." Miyuki said, lifting up her shirt slightly to reveal a small length of rope wrapped around her waist. "I remembered what you said about Kenta-sensei making us climb this thing. But what do you want it for?"

"Kaoru-san, can you run up the wall?" Kinari asked.

"Run up the..." Realization flashed across Kaoru's face, and he grinned excitedly. "Yeah, I think so. My uncle trained me for all sorts of stuff like this."

He took the rope from Miyuki and drew four large kunai. Each one was the type usually used exclusively for stabbing rather than throwing, and a thick, sturdy handle that made them good to use as 'stepping stones' onto high or hard to get to areas, or to use for climbing.

He gripped the first kunai in his mouth and kept the rope and other three in his hands, then took a running leap at the wall. He wasn't good enough to just run up it from standing, like a Chuunin or more experienced Genin, but with a run up first he could make it up the wall easily. It was just one of the advantaged of being in a clan where everyone expected you to be more skillful than anyone else your age.

He hit the wood and began to run, letting the rope out as he went. A quarter of the way up he rammed the first kunai into the wall. As he was running he threaded the rope through the holes in the other two kunai he was holding, so that when they were stuck in the wall they kept the rop in place, stopping it from swinging in the wind. At the top he stopped completely, his stomach muscles screaming from the strain of standing horizontally. He took the last kunai from his mouth and pinned the rope into place. It was about a metre away from the top of the building, more than close enough for Kinari and Miyuki to jump up from once they had climbed the rest of the way. With a sigh of relief, he released his grip on the wall with his feet and climed on to the top of building, flattening himself against the roof to avoid detection from below.

From below, Kinari and Miyuki appraised Kaoru's job. The wood wasn't cracked anywhere, despite the fact that he had been running hard, and the large kunai were just deep enough into the wall to ensure they wouldn't fall out without breaking the wood.

"Wow, Kinari-kun, what was a really good idea!" Miyuki said, impressed. Now they could simply rapel up the roof, pulling the rope up after them.

"Oh. Thanks." Kinari said, embarrased. It had been a good idea, he had to admit, but it wasn't perfect. The guards around the Hokage's building were vigilant, and Kaoru could easily have been spotted running up the wall. Thankfully, it was still quite early in the morning, and the night ANBU guard hadn't switched yet. He had gambled on them being tired, and also on them focussing more outside the walls than inside.

"You go up the rope first. I'll stay down here and make sure nobody sees us."

"No, this was your idea. You go up first, I'll keep watch." Miyuki said, grabbing him by the arm and guiding him towards the rope.

"Wha-? Are you sure?"

"Of course I am! Now hurry up before someone sees us!"

Kinari nodded and grabbed the thin rope in both hands, giving it a sharp tug. If it gave way when he was half way up he would probably break his neck. Thankfully Koaru had done a good job, and the rope was firmly attached.

Taking a deep breath, Kinari hopped onto the wall, laying his feet flat against it. This would be difficult to an ordinary person, but Kinari practically ran up, using a small amount of chakra to keep himself firmly attached. Even still, his arms were tired by the time he reached the top, and he just had time check that Kaoru's kunai was still secure at the top of the rope (It was) before he hauled himself up.

He found Kaoru with his eyes closed, basking in the sun. He looked as if he was asleep.

"Oh, hey Kinari." He said, opening his eyes. "What took so long?"

"Shut up." He said, grinning. He could tell by Kaoru's expression that he wasn't serious.

Poking his head over the side of roof, he could see that Miyuki was about halfway up. She was going as fast he had been, but she didn't seem tired at all. Either she wasn't using chakra, or she had a lot more than Kinari did.

He glanced over at the walls and cursed under his breath. Two ANBU were talking to each other, and if either glanced over in there direction they would be able to see them perfectly.

He motioned to Miyuki to hurry up, and she increased her speed, a worried look on her face.

Kinary chewed his lip, wondering what to do. Miyuki would be up the wall in a few seconds, but they probably wouldn't have time to get the rope up as well. Attacking the ANBU was out of the question, because they would be beaten easily and then probably arrested.

"Kaoru-san, look." Kinari whispered, pointing towards the two Shinobi. They were probably too far away to hear them, but he didn't want to take any chances.

"Crap." Kaoru hissed, looking where Kinari was pointing. "We need to make a distraction or something. Hang on a second...."

He reached into the small pack he carried around his waist. It was similar to Kinari's, except it was completely filled with weapons. He extracted a small ball on a string and tied it around a short kunari. It was technically a type of bomb, but it would only injure someone if you set it off right in front of their face. Instead it was mainly designed to make a lot of noise, accompanied by a bright flash, very much like a small firework.

He stood up, took aim, and hurled the kunai as hard as he could. It flew through the air, went over the wall, and presumably lodged somewhere in the ground.

Kaoru dropped to the ground again as a loud bang sent the two ANBU running, along with another shinobi that neither of them had noticed before.

A second later Miyuki's head appeared over the edge of the roof, and she pulled herself up.

"What the hell was that?" She said, pulling the rope up behind her. There was nothing they could do about the kunai still lodged in the wall, but hopefully Kenta would arrive soon and vouch for them if they got caught.

"Kaoru-san threw a flash-bang." Kinari said, simply.

Miyuki stopped pulling up the rope and stared at Kaoru.

"You're an idiot, you know that? What if you had hit one of them by accident?"

"Yeah, I agree." Kenta said. "You'd be in a lot of trouble if you attacked an ANBU."

The three genin froze and slowly turned around. Kenta was standing in front of them, holding three Konoha headbands.

"Yaaa! Kenta-sensei!" Miyuki yelled, dropping the rope in fright. "When did you get here?"

"Oh, I've been here for a while. I watched your rather daring escapade with that rope, Koaru-kun. That was a pretty good idea, Kinari-kun. I'd give it a B" He said, as if he was grading a piece of homework. "One thing I was wondering, though, was why you climbed the tower in the first place."

All three of them gawked at the Jounin.

"But... but the guard said we couldn't get in!" Kaoru argued. "He said you never mentioned anything to him."

"Really? Well, that was probably the guard at the North gate. You should have gone to the South

gate. The guy there was expecting you. Talk about a misunderstanding." Kenta replied, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"You're not serious, are you?" Miyuki said, disparingly.

"Afraid so. Next time make sure to think before doing something rash like that." Kenta said, grinning broadly. "Anyway, you're here now and that's the important thing. I have some things to fill you guys in on, and then I'll dispense the headbands. Make yourselves comfortable, this is going to take a while.

"First of all, you are not an ordinary Genin squad. You are Special Genin squad B."

"Does that mean there are other squads?" Kinari asked, curiously.

"Correct. There are three, designated A, B and C. The Special Genin project was concieved quite a while ago, when the trouble with the Hidden Mist first started. The Hokage decided we needed some extra firepower to help us if it came to a war. That, and...some other reasons. Anyway, the project involved three Jounin choosing three exceptional trainees from the Academy and training them. The aim was to create extremely powerful young Shinobi. You three, along with teams A and C, are experimental. If this goes well, there will probably be other teams like you. I don't think I need to tell you that your training is going to be tougher than if you were ordinary Genin. Same with your missions." He paused for a moment to let this information sink in before continuing.

"Since I'm going to be your teacher, I guess you should know a little bit about me. My name is Maehara Kenta, I'm thirty five, and as you can probably guess by looking at me, I'm from the Wind Country. How I ended up here is a long and interesting story that I have no intention of telling any of you. Ever. I'm a high ranking Jounin, which basically means I could kill any of you in the time it takes you to blink. Okay, now your turn. Tell me a little about yourselves, your strengths and weaknesses, that kind of thing."

"I'll go first!" Kaoru said, as he was the only one not staring at Kenta with a mixture of outrage and disbelief. "I'm Ando Kaoru. I'm thirteen and I'm from the legendary swordsman family, the Ando clan. I'm great at close range combat and my chakra control is really good, but I'm not so great at some jutsu."

"Anything involving subtltey." Miyuki interjected.

"Unfortunately, yes." Kaoru said, sheepishly. "I want to be a great Jounin so I won't have to be head of the Ando clan when I'm older."

Kinari didn't see how being a great ninja would stop Kaoru from becoming head of the clan, but he didn't ask him. Kaoru's business was his own.

"I see. Okay, Kinari-kun, you next." Kenta said, still not sounding particularly interested.

"Um...well, at the academy I was never much good at close range combat. And I don't like climbing very much, either." Kinari said, his earlier confidence evaporating.

"Yes...I can see that." Kenta said, glancing over the side of the massive building they were standing on. "A vertigo sufferer if ever I saw one. Anyway, what are you good at?"

"I don't know. I never really thought about it."

"So you suck at everything? Well, according to this report card that found it's way out of Hakamatsu's desk, you show an unusual aptitude for genjutsu, and your aim and accuracy with a kunai or shuriken was at the same level as an experienced Genin." Kenta informed an amazed Kinari, reading from a small slip of paper covered in Hakamatsu's handwriting.

"Now, lastly, what's your ambition?"

It took a few seconds for Kinari to realise he was being asked a question. The idea of his teacher writing anything good about him was like imagining him with four arms; it was a funny thought, but it could never actually happen.

"I want to be in the ANBU." He said. This had been his goal for longer than he could remember, but he had never really thought he could be good enough to make it into the elite group. But now that he was on Kenta's Special Genin squad...well, it looked a little bit more likely than it had at the academy.

"ANBU? Wow, that's original." Kenta said, sarcastically. "Any particular reason?"

Kinari shrugged. "I don't know. Everyone wants to be ANBU, right?"

"Okay, that just leaves you, Miyuki. " Kenta said, turning to the last and only female member of the group. He suddenly realised that nearly all shinobi teams were made up of two males and one female. Odd, he had never noticed before.

"Well, at the academy, Hakamatsu-sensei always said I had really good Chakra control, but I always had a good amount as well. And since it's usually either one or the other, I guess that's my area of specialty." Miyuki said. She felt as if she was bragging, but it was true that her Chakra capacity was a lot higher than normal for someone with such good control. "And...well, my family isn't powerful or famous or anything, and we don't have an Advanced Bloodline, but we've always been good with herbs and poisons."

"Exactly. And that's why you're on this team. Poison users are rare, and even rarer are those born with a talent for using herbs and other natural substanced to heal or kill. Someone who can cripple a group of enemies or neautralize an enemy poison attack is a valuable member of any team." Kenta said, as if he was giving a lecture at the academy.

Kinari was impressed at Miyuki's abilities, but Kaoru was visibly shocked.

"I never knew that!" He said with a mixture of annoyance and astonishment. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's sort of a secret." Miyuki replied, regretfully. "It's always been traditional for us not to tell people unless we had to. I don't really know why, though."

"Heh, you sounds like some secret cabal or something." Kaoru mused, his annoyance dissapearing instantly. "It's pretty cool, though. I think I'll pay more attention next time I have dinner with you."

Miyuki grinned, relieved that her friend wasn't annoyed at her.

"Well, now that that's all out of the way, there's just one more thing left." Kenta said, holding out the three headbands. "Take one. From now on you're all Konoha ninja."

Kinari was afraid to move in case this all turned out to be a dream. For so long getting a headband and becoming a Genin had been his one motivation in life, and now it was finally happening. He took the one on top of the small pile held it in his hands reverently. The metal forehead protector was brand new and shone brightly in the morning sun, the leaf symbol etched expertly into it's surface.

"Make sure not to lose though, alright?" Kenta said, smiling in spite of himself. He remembered when he got his headband. It wasn't the type of thing you forgot in a hurry.

"Well, now that the formalities are over, how about we go take care of your first mission?" He said, his tone business like. He took out the scroll the Hokage had given him and unrolled it so his three protoges could see it. "This is Special Genin Squad B's first mission. Enjoy."

Author's notes: Whew, finally finished! This took a lot longer than I meant it to take! Unfortunately, real life sort of threw a few spanners in the works, as it does with annoying regularity. Hopefully Chapter 3 won't take nearly as long.

If you spot any mistakes in this chapter (Even a tiny little spelling mistake) please let me know, either in a review or by e-mail ) and I'll correct it immediately! I'll put your name on the next chapter to show I appreciate your help.