The challenge to acquire the bells was running late into the afternoon and not one of the genin had even managed to touch one at this point. They had each made several attempts only to be quickly shut down by their new teacher. At this point Yui could feel the frustration built up not only in himself but in the others as well. It felt impossible. Their teacher had been effortlessly holding them at bay for hours and to Yui's surprise he couldn't see a single bead of sweat on the man. If anything he looked relaxed and bored as he waited to see who would challenge him next. That made him more frustrated than anything. What should he do to get one of those bells? At this moment he was starting to think he didn't care. Right now he just wanted to wipe that dull expression off of the man's face.
"Kitsura! Koji!", he yelled out never taking his eyes off of Kazuki who seemed so disinterested as to not even acknowledge the outburst. Yui wasn't surprised that the others came when he called for them. He knew they wanted to pass as badly as he had up until a while ago. If this was the best he could do then he really did need the training and that name him only that much more determined to win. He didn't need a bell. He just needed to show what he could do, with the exception of his kekkeigenkai of course. When the other two genin stopped beside him he turned to see their questioning looks. "We need to work together if we stand a chance against him," he supplied and the reply he got from Koji was exactly what he had expected from the spike haired boy. Skepticism.
"There are only two bells", he deadpanned. "How would we even decide who gets one?" The boy then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Or would you expect one of us to fail on purpose?"
"He has a point", Kitsura chimed in with a matter of fact tone.
Yui wondered if these two really thought they were good enough to not need training. Especially after the way they had each been brushed off so easily by their sensei. Was he the only one who thought he needed more practice? The only rational one? "I don't care about the bells", he told them trying not to raise his voice in annoyance. "I know I need to train more, but I'm tired of seeing him beat us so easily."
"So you plan to fail on purpose?" Koji sounded astonished at Yui's confession.
"I plan to make him regret under estimating us. You can keep the stupid bells." There was a spark in the boys soft green eyes. A glint that told them he had thought out a plan.
By the time everyone knew their role the light of the day had started to dim. "We only have time for one last try," she told them, staring up at the pink sky.
"Good because I only have the energy for one more." Koji was holding his stomach as it made a large growl, reminding them each how hungry they were. Hungry and drained of energy. This had better work.
Kazuki wasn't quite sure what the three teens were planning as he watched them from the corner of his eye at least they were finally going to work as a team. Or so he thought until he saw Koji flail his arms about in the air. "Man this is lame", he yelled not so much at the other two but to empty space instead before he turned his back on them. "I don't need help from you guys. I'll get one of those bells on my own!" He was running now, headed straight to the front of where their sensei stood.
Kazuki was disappointed. The young ball of energy hadn't even tried for a surprise attack, instead he was screaming and rushing in on his own. He had to give him credit for guts, but sadly that was not the point of this exercise. He wanted to evaluate their team work which seemed to be nonexistent when a win didn't benefit them evenly. He would just have to drill it into them through training. One way or another they would learn the meaning of team work.
"Mud shackles", Koji yelled out. He hadn't needed to yell it out. Kazuki had seen the move earlier and recognized the signs. Before the ground below him had a chance to liquify and latch onto him, he launched himself into the air. Such a simple technique alone would never catch him. As he thought about how futile the attempt was his eyes caught sight of a grin. "Heh" The boy's grin turned to a mischievous, full faced smirk. "Ground or air, we got you now."
We. Kazuki's mind latched to the word as he his eyes darted to where the others had been, only to see a cyclone of water heading straight for him. It was fast and glowing as he watched pulses of electricity traveling through it, producing sharp cracking sounds as they hit the air and jumped back into the liquid mass. He only had a moment to react before the possibly lethal attack would hit him.
To the surprise of all three genin a wall of hardened earth shot up with lightning speed. The pillar of water and electricity hit with such force as to crack the hard surface before spreading in all directions and falling lifeless to the ground. The plan had failed but the younger three were not ready to resign just yet.
Kazuki was falling fast toward Koji's jutsu below him and with quick thinking and even quicker reflexes, he kicked the wall with force causing it to break apart. The pieces were propelled like projectiles headed for Yui and Kitsura while throwing himself out of reach of the earth style jutsu. While the two dodged the larger chunks and deflected the smaller ones, Kazuki had seemingly effortlessly flipped himself over to land hands and feet pressed to the ground not unlike a cat.
With the other two distracted it was all left to Koji. The boy was on the jounin with a flash, poised in the air ready to flip himself to bring his heel down with considerable force. Kazuki dodged the assaulting foot, rolling his head to the side and then back as it passed within an inch of him. The boy was good with his taijutsu, but not good enough. Before he could redirect the flow of his motion Kazuki reached up and grabbed him by his ankle using the already flipping motion against him. Pulling the boy's leg down and around made him land flat on his stomach, the only thing keeping him from a cracked head being his arms underneath it.
He was done. They all were. Kazuki could tell. But in truth they had actually lasted longer than he thought they would. "We're done here", he proclaimed as the last bit of light was seeping through the trees. It made everything look magical. He had not wanted a team of genin to train but looking around he could see how tired each of them were. They had started moderately early in the morning and yet here they were actually trying up to the very end, despite being exhausted both in chakra and stamina. They hadn't even stopped to eat. With such a dedicated group of young ninja maybe there just might be such a thing as magic.
"We.. failed", Koji said with disdain as he tried to catch the breath that had been thrust out of him.
Kazuki gave another look over the three young shinobi as they gathered around him, bruised and exhausted, awaiting their sentence. Yui was the only one who didn't look disappointed. As he made his way over he had what could only be called a smirk. His goal had been met despite not retrieving a bell because just as the wall of earth had risen, just before it had blocked his view. He had seen a grin replace his sensei's blank expression. He could accept more training and even recognized that he needed it, but to see his teacher look down on him would only boil his blood into action. And to his satisfaction he knew the stronger man wouldn't be able to translate the curve on his lips.
"So so not that we failed when do we start your hellish training?" Yui was feeling pretty confident and surprisingly satisfied.
"Actually you three passed." The man's words were nonchalant as he pulled his book back from his pocket before grimacing and putting it away again. There was not enough light to continue where he had stopped, another reminder that his new team had pushed all the way to their deadline. He looked back up at them to see a range of emotions painted across their faces, the more lingering being surprise. "You showed me you can work as a team. Getting the bells was never the real objective." He had only threatened them with hard training to drive a wedge between them and for most of the day it seemed to work.
"Yes! We did it!", cried Koji as the boy found yet another pocket of energy. The fact he was so cheerful even when he looked bruised and beat up was a testament to how rigid he had heard Kazuki's training methods could be. Yui just couldn't believe he could still find the energy to jump around the way he was.
"So what's next sensei?" Kitsura seemed to always be on point. She didn't waste time wondering what was coming and instead asked out right, gathering all eyes back to the man in charge.
The man looked to Koji, seeing he was the worst off and asked him if he would be well enough to train the next day. The boy looked quite surprised at this. After all he had heard about the man he wondered if he would ever get a real day off but here they were. Kazuki was asking Koji if they should take a day of rest. The boy wiggled his arms, took a step forward and then shook his head. He had been assessing the damage he had taken. "I want to get stronger sensei!" The determination in his fierce grin spoke volumes as he said what all three of them were thinking.
A smile pulled at the edges of Kazuki's lips. "Next we will refine your skills." The way he worded it made the genin perk up more. He said they have skills, meaning they were skilled. "Meet me here tomorrow around noon."
"Noon? Not morning?", Kitsura questioned him.
"Yes noon. Tomorrow will use a lot of chakra so rest up." Before he could be asked any more questions he held his hand up as a sign of goodbye and poofed into a cloud before their eyes.
Yui was exhausted and so he copied his mentor's exit holding his own hand up but instead of vanishing he made his way back to the path that led him there. "Wait! Let's walk home together", he heard from behind. As the genin of endless energy ran up he sighed and have him a crooked look. "I don't live very far form you", the boy explained causing Yui to give in. He was in too good a mood to really be annoyed.
At some point during the dragging walk home Koji had introduced the topic of going to the bath house. "Come on I want to hear more about the sand village", Koji pleaded giving his best impression of puppy dog eyes. He really shouldn't though. He was terrible at it.
"I've.. never been to a bath house." Yui could feel the heat rising up to his cheeks. "Is it weird?" He had never needed to visit a public bath when he lived in the sand. His apartment there had it's own bath and the thought of others seeing him so exposed made him anxious. Luckily Koji didn't let his mind wander too far.
"You've never been to one?" Koji almost sounded to be in disbelief. "You must have had it good back in your old village." The brown haired boy watched as the other's lightly flushed cheeks lost there color and a grimace replaced the sheepish smile. It was obvious he didn't want to talk about his previous home. "Too soon huh?", Koji asked to receive a nod. "Fine then I won't ask about it but come with me to the baths and I'll show you around."
After a few moments of debating with himself Yui agreed to go. He couldn't keep doing sponge baths at home forever and at least this way he would not be going alone. He would need some cloths though and so they made several stops before reaching the white haired boy's apartment building. Just drop off a few things and they would be ready to go.
"So.. does everyone just walk around naked?" Yui had become so nervous that the words couldn't be contained. Koji on the other hand had no clue what was going on as the topic had been dropped a good while back.
"Huh?"
Yui could feel his face turning red. He hadn't meant to actually ask. It was just a concern he had. "At the bath house", he clarified quickly.
The boy in front of him burst into laughter as he relaxed. It was just what Yui needed to relax a bit himself. When the spikey haired boy could speak again he had a hint of a teasing tone. "I guess some do. But most keep a towel around their waist."
"And changing?" Yui was finally feeling better about asking the other these questions. Why had he not done this earlier?
"You can go into one of the changing rooms if you're shy", Koji told him with a smile.
"Right thanks. Uh hang on just a minute" Yui ran off into the other room to check himself and make sure his transformation was solid. When he felt ready he reappeared to Koji giving him a quizzical look. Upon a sheepish smile from Yui the other boy raised his shoulders and then let them drop before turning to lead the way.
Walking in now Yui didn't feel as scared. He had someone going with him to wick away some of the awkward air. His new teammate was kind showing him where to change and where to rinse off before getting into the giant warm bath. Everything was going smooth. He had even managed to keep his eyes from wandering anywhere they shouldn't be. When he finally slid into the wonderous how water, towel still secured for privacy, he felt the day's wear melt away leaving him happy and relaxing and proud.
