Chapter 7

Desensitisation

Genma, Jōnin sensei for Genin Team 12 was heading for Konoha's main gate. It had been three months since he'd taken charge of his team and he had to admit he'd enjoyed it. His team acted maturely in their tasks, took nothing for granted and didn't let up in their training despite their official duties.

The past twelve weeks had seen Team 12 complete 21 D-Rank and 2 C-Rank missions alongside their substantial training regime which hadn't let up. They'd earned themselves a reputation for their exemplary professionalism and fast completion times. He'd not have to deal with the complaints that all new Genin seemed to have with D-Rank missions, much to the ire of other Jōnin Sensei. He did feel that while Naruto wanted to complain about painting fences, pulling weeds, walking dogs and catching that infamous cat, he was kept in line by the other two.

But despite Genma's best efforts, his Genin had yet to make their first kills [1], their C-Ranks went without incident and he didn't want to risk a B-Rank. Which led the four of them to today.

Today was his team's first mission that would take them out of Hi no Kuni. They were heading for Kaze no Kuni, more specifically they were heading for Sunagakure. Looking over at the departure/ Arrival station, his team was already assembled and awaiting his arrival. Walking up to them he started the pre-mission 'rituals' for lack of a better word.

"Team, you've learnt the details?"
"Hai, Sensei. We're to ensure an important message from Konoha is safely delivered to Sunagakure. The message is deemed important enough to be sent via Shinobi instead of messenger bird thus an unofficial timescale of four days to arrive applies." Tri stated, with his photographic memory, would know the mission inside out, Objectives, Timescale, Targets etc.

Genma nodded, turning his head to face Itachi, "Route?"
"Hai, Sensei. Our journey will be taking us to Sunagakure, to do so we need to travel through at least one minor nations. For obvious reasons it won't be Amegakure so we'll be passing through Kawa no Kuni (Land of Rivers). To meet our timescale we'll need to move fast to allow for the bureaucracy of entering and leaving Kawa no Kuni." It was Itachi's job to plan the route to and from their destination.

"Naruto, threats and contingencies?"
"Hai Sensei. There shouldn't be any troubles getting to the border, there is, however, limited intelligence on potential problems inside Kawa no Kuni, we may have to be wary of bandits. There shouldn't be any issues inside Kaze no Kuni, Sunagakure is meticulous in dealing with bandits. Secondary routes are planned."

Genma nodded approvingly, "Very good team, you are supplied long enough for this mission?"

"Hai Sensei, mission length estimate of 6-9 days, we're supplied for 14," Tri stated.

"Excellent, let's get to it." Genma had the message sealed in a storage seal on his wrist, just one of the things his students had, in fact, taught him.

And with that they departed, dispensing with walking in favour of breaking straight into a run. Before long they were jumping through the trees in a modified diamond formation. Naruto took point and also knew their route. Tri took the left while the first of his two shadow clones took the right. Itachi took the rear-centre to make the best use of his Sharingan, Genma henged to look like Tri was the rear guard behind Itachi. Tri's second shadow clone henged to look like Genma took the centre.

The formation continued westwards for hours before turning south-west. They were to cross at Kawa no Kuni's narrowest point separating Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni. That would mean they'd be crossing relatively close to the Kawa no Kuni's/ Amegakure's joint border. The lands hidden village, Tanigakure (Village hidden in Valleys) was also far to the south, so the chance of encountering bandits or missing-nin increased.

By the time night came they were near the border. All four were able to create shadow clones so two would take half night watches with clones and they'd alternate with the other two the following night. The night was a quiet late spring night. Tri and Itachi had taken the first nights watch, Tri had relieved Itachi hours ago and the sun would soon rise over the horizon.

Tri was sat up a tree some ten feet off the ground, he had ten clones in a 100-foot circle surrounding their camp. Each clone had a piece of fine ninja wire tied around a finger. The wires were all attached to Tri's fingers and thumbs, a pull on any of them would alert him to any problems. With his hands palms down eight fingers from his left pinkie to his right middle finger were assigned compass points, the final two were reserves closer to the camp he could move them between the other eight.

And that's exactly what was happening, the wire on his left ring finger was being lightly pulled.

One short pull followed by one long pull meant six threats from the south-west. Then his left thumb started moving, two short pulls followed by one long pull, seven more threats from the north. He pulled on his two clone reserves, two pulls sent one to the south-west and five sent the second to the north.

While waiting for them to arrive, gather information and then dispel he channelled chakra into a seal array on his left forearm, activating it. The seal was connected to three scrolls, each scroll was located right next to his sleeping teammates. The scrolls emitted a quiet, low pitched buzz that would wake them, the scroll would also display the directions the threat was approaching from.

The wire around his right ring finger went slack, meaning it had been cut, the clone would cut the wire to identify itself and then dispel, which it duly did. Tri was still sat in the tree unmoved as Itachi appeared next to him, as he did Tri's second reserve clone dispelled. "What have you found?"

"Bandits, two groups, six to the south-west, seven to the north, both converging on the camp."

"Ok, Tri, let them pass under you before you set off any traps." The Uzumaki just nodded as Itachi shunshined back to camp. It was the job of the other three to act unaware and draw them in.

Itachi made himself look occupied, Genma was still in his tent while a shadow clone of Naruto was snoozing at the base of a tree, the real Naruto was on the other side of the camp up a tree. With a series of pulls on the wires, Tri recalled four of his clones to a tighter perimeter around the camp, with that he cut all the wires and made ready.

"Boss, we see three of them in their camp, they look like Ninja," Taki whispered, he was a small man with dirty blonde hair. His leader's name was simply Tan, Taki had always wondered why he'd chosen the name Tan, perhaps on account of his bronze skin tone, who knew. "If they are Ninja, then there should be a fourth, they operate in teams of four. We need to move quickly before the fourth one turns up, we've got the jump on the others. Wait for the others to start the attack," Tan replied in a half growl, half whisper.

None of them had noticed that they'd passed right under Tri, who was squatted down on a high branch, the ram seal formed, ready to detonate the explosive and flash bang tags. A few seconds later the group from the north rushed in the clearing, shouting and screaming. They thought they had the element of surprise.

This line of thought continued, right up until one stepped on one of Itachi's explosive tags to the camps north, which immediately detonated launching the poor man into the air minus a leg; He was dead before he hit the floor. The other six were shocked to a standstill and were immediately under attack as three Ninja rushed them.

Tan was angry at his assault being stopped so quickly, "All right boys, let's finish them off. And be quick about it!" the man shouted as his contingent charged out of the undergrowth with him leading the way. Tan only got about six feet before he too stepped on a tag, it didn't immediately explode, however, it did explode when Taki was running past it. The explosion launched him into a tree and Tan to the ground with great force. The first tags explosion triggered the others, enveloping the other four killing them instantly. Tri dropped down out of the tree obscured by the smoke.

They watched in horror as their comrade was launched through the air, his now detached leg going one way while the rest of him went another. There was no scream, but there was a fountain of blood and it seemed to coat everything, they included. They were such a state of shock that two more died before they even came to their senses as a pair of senbon embedded in the neck of one and a tantō impaled the chest of another.

The remaining four managed to pull themselves together and charged Naruto and Genma only for several of Tri's clones to drop down amongst them, one of them driving a kunai deep into a bandit just above the collarbone. The man screamed as he collapsed, the blood squirted out of the wound as the blade struck an artery. The next to fall was killed by Itachi, a flurry of shuriken striking him in the chest.

The two remaining managed to recover and defeat Tri's shadow clones before they reached Naruto, the first with a big overhead swing with his katana, the second coming at the blonde from the right. Naruto blocked the swing with his own tantō but a wild horizontal swing from the second forced him back. Both bandits came forward clumsily, nearly bumping into one another, 'They don't know how to fight together' he thought as their blades clashed again. Again he'd blocked an overhead swing, on this occasion, however, he was able to kick his opponent's standing leg at the knee. In a grunt of pain the man fell to one knee before he could look up again Naruto kneed him in the face, he could feel his nose give way as it broke. He didn't have time to process the pain as Naruto ran him through with a tantō.

Not having time to pull his blade out he jumped back and unsheathed his second tantō. The sole survivor in front of him was shaking as he held his longer sword out in front of him. Naruto would never move as his opponent's throat was slashed open by a shuriken.

Tan was face down in the dirt. His ears rang as he slowly managed to raise his head as the last of his northern contingent went down grasping his throat, he could see the spray of red. With difficulty he looked behind him, his group of six were down, no one looked like they were getting up. A kick to the ribs rolled him onto his back. Before he could even try to get up, a knee over his chest held him down.

Looking down at him was a boy, he couldn't have been older than ten. The child's face, framed by red and black was emotionless. "Guess you're the fourth then. They sure start you young, don't they." Tan managed to get out. Tri shrugged, "Comes with the territory," was the calm reply. "Now, are there any more of you, or just the thirteen?"

"What do you care," Tan practically spat back. Tri pondered his retort for a moment, "Hmm, I guess you're right, I don't." Quicker than Tan could comprehend a kunai opened his throat. Tri didn't budge, even as the blood splashed across his face and clothes he continued to watch as the light left Tan's eyes. Only when they closed did he stand again.

Itachi and Genma looked on slightly unnerved as Tri was painted red. Sensing their questions Tri shouted over to them, "I'm desensitising myself to it all, rather now than when my life's on the line," Genma understood his reasoning, 'he didn't have to go overboard though'. "Itachi, Tri, see if we've any survivors and start piling the bodies."

"Hai, sensei," they both replied.

Genma made his way to Naruto, who still hadn't moved. "You alright? Naruto," Naruto took a moment to register his Sensei's voice. "Uh, y..yeah, I..I'll be fine Sensei." His head turned quickly when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, the first is never pleasant," Genma reassured him. "If you need to be sick, then do so, you aren't the first and you won't be the last," he added.

As if he'd been waiting for leave to do so, he shot into the bushes. He left him be and picked up the nearest body. First, however, he had to pull Naruto's tantō out.

It took a few minutes to pile twelve corpses up, "Itachi, we're one short," it was only then that they noticed the form of Taki propped up against a tree, he was missing the lower half of his right leg and a hand. Itachi approached him and squatted down in front of him. "Do you want it to end?" he asked, a weak nod was all he received in reply. "Very well." Itachi, grabbing him by the hair lifted Taki's head up to face him and quickly cut his throat. Within seconds the man stopped breathing.

Waiting until the bleeding stopped he dragged the final body over to the pile. "Ok you two, on three. One, two, three," Genma counted, "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu," (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique) all three of them said, their collective fireballs igniting the corpses. With Naruto's return, Genma sat them all down.

"So, how do you all feel?" he asked tentatively. Naruto had the look of someone who'd just be sick, Itachi's face had a green tint to it and Tri stared at the ground, no emotion on his face. "Sensei, does it get any easier?"

"No Naruto, it never really gets any easier. But you get used to it." Genma's answer was bluntly but truthfully spoken. "It's why we've taken as many C-Ranks as we have, I wanted to get you used to this. When you are, you're ready for the Chūnin Exams. But tell me, how do you feel?" Itachi went first, "Not great, I want to pity them. But I know pity is one emotion I can't have."
"Correct Itachi, Pity is an emotion you cannot have, pity will get you killed." His Sensei's blunt reply made Itachi wince slightly. "Sensei, I-I feel sick, I looked one in the eyes after I'd ran him through with my tantō."
"As I've said before, it's normal to feel as you are right now on your first kills. General advice, however, don't look them in the eyes while they die."

Genma then cast his gaze on Tri, "Which brings us to you Tri, I know you deliberately looked him in the eyes."
"I-I don't feel anything Sensei. I don't feel pity, remorse, anger, disgust, guilt nor sick. Nothing and that in itself doesn't feel right." Yet again his red and black haired Genin perplexed him, he'd never come across a Genin that experienced no emotion under such circumstances. "Alright, I want you each to know that you did well. Now, get cleaned up and we'll get going, we should reach Kana no Kuni by midday." Genma went to patrol the perimeter just to make sure it was secure. He quickly came across several of Tri's lookout clones still active. 'He was telling the truth, big emotional pulls tend to dispel clones'.

Back in the camp Itachi and Tri were quickly able to clean and change clothes. Tri even having the presence of mind to use Suiton and Katon to make hot water for them. Naruto, however, had hardly moved, again a hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality. "You understand it was either you or him, yes?" At Naruto's silent nod Tri continued, "Besides, I don't fancy explaining to Kaa-chan how I let you get yourself killed by a bandit," he joked, he succeeded in getting a small smile out of his brother.

It took them nearly half an hour to clean and break camp. The corpses, for the most part, had been reduced to ash, their equipment retrieved and that of their opponents disposed of. "Sensei, perhaps in light of the morning's events, might I suggest a change in formation."
"Elaborate, Tri."
"For today at the least, adopt a line formation. I take point, Itachi second, Naruto third and you on rear guard Sensei. I'll line each flank with three shadow clones." Genma considered his proposal a moment before nodding in agreement, 'Naruto and Itachi are still coming to terms, their concentration will likely suffer as a result. "Ok, for today we'll change to the line formation, but the rear two clones will be mine," Tri nodded, dispelling the rest of his previous clones and creating four new ones. He gave clones just enough chakra to complete their tasks, his lookouts were spent, thus dispelled.

And with that they were off again, jumping through the trees. As Genma had anticipated, they reached the border just before midday as the great forests of Hi no Kuni gave way to the vast valleys and plains of Kana no Kuni. Passport checks were quicker than expected and after a quick lunch they continued, running over the endless grasslands only occasionally broken up by fir and pine trees, the wind unbroken by the forests was stronger too.

The northern regions of Kana no Kuni was relatively devoid of much more than villages and small towns given the proximity to Amegakure, the major cities and the hidden village were much further south. There were only a certain number of border crossings between Kana no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni, thus they were soon turning south south-west to reach the nearest one. And by late afternoon they reached the border town. After again clearing passport control they decided to keep going until nightfall, doing so ensured they'd reach Sunagakure the following afternoon.

"Okay team, we'll be camping here tonight, we're on one of the main roads to Suna, which is patrolled heavily so don't wander off and don't antagonise their patrols should any come by." They camped at the base of an outcrop of rock to better shelter them from the wind. And as planned Genma and Naruto took their turns on watch, not that the blonde could sleep much anyway.

They were in the desert proper now and as the sun rose the following day, so did the temperature. "Gah, this heat is unbearable," a weary Naruto griped as they set off once more. The night and thankfully the morning had passed without incident. "Don't worry Naruto, it's still only morning, it'll keep getting worse until midday," Tri deadpanned. Genma got a laugh as Naruto's face dropped at his brother's words.

And just as Tri had said, the heat got worse and worse. By the time they stopped just past midday to rest and cool down the sweat was pouring off all four of them. And throughout the whole ordeal, Naruto had complained constantly, so much so that Tri decided to do something about it.

Bringing a finger to his lips, signalling Itachi and Genma to keep quiet he channelled chakra to his feet to silence his footsteps. He slowly crept up behind Naruto who was stabbing a kunai in the sand and was still complaining. Now in place, Tri formed the Dog seal, his chest expanded and soon the silence of the desert was shattered by a startled scream as Tri unleashed a torrent of water right on top of Naruto. The blonde spluttered and thrashed around as his brain processed what had just happened

Itachi had a wide smile, Genma laughed while Naruto scowled at his brother. "Tri, what the hell?" he shouted. "Baka, because I tired of hearing your whining and moaning about being thirsty again or how it's too hot. You can mould Suiton chakra, you could have easily solved both just by creating water in your stomach with your chakra." Tri shot back.

Naruto had least had the dignity to look slightly embarrassed as he had the answer to his problems literally dumped on top of him. "Kami and they made you a Genin," Tri joked at his brother's expense, immediately the blondes scowl returned.

"All right you two, get ready. I want to reach Sunagakure sometime today and we won't if you two start trying to turn the desert into an oasis." Within minutes they were off again, it didn't take for the sun to dry Naruto out.

Another hour or two later Genma slowed them to a regular walk. "Ok, we walk from here. We don't want to spook the sentries by running at them full speed. And we definitely don't want to cause an international incident involving two children of the Hokage. So all of you better behave. Now it's your first time in another hidden village, you're going to stick out as Konoha Shinobi so the civilians are going to stare. And the Shinobi will be watching you constantly."

"Will any try to antagonise us Sensei?" Itachi asked. "Some might, they'll likely be younger though, Genin like you. The older Chūnin and Jōnin might recognise the resemblance between Naruto and Hokage-sama and think better of it, that and they're supposed to be adults," their Sensei answered. "Oh, and we'll likely be staying overnight and departing in the morning," he quickly added.

Without another word, they continued towards the main entrance to Sunagakure. The village was surrounded by a massive circular wall of rock that shielded the village from most of the sandstorms. It also meant that there was one way in and one way out thanks to a single cleft in the cliffs of stone.

It took another ten minutes or so before they reached the entrance, the cliffs towered over them. Before they could go any further a Suna Shinobi stepped forward. "Konoha Shinobi, present your passports and state your business in Sunagakure."

Genma handed over his and his teams passports. "Your names?"
"Shiranui Genma."
"Uzumaki Tri."
"Uchiha Itachi."
"Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto." The final name caught the Suna off-guard. It wasn't every day the son of the Yondaime Hokage showed up outside another hidden village. "Are you really," another Suna-nin said rhetorically. "Certainly has the same hair, now your purpose in Sunagakure?" the first, a Chūnin replied.

"We were tasked to deliver a message from the Hokage to the Kazekage," Genma stated, not really wanting to waste time chit-chatting. "You," the first said to another nin, "Go check whether the Kazekage is waiting on a delivered message from Konoha."

"Hai," the nin replied as she immediately ran through the cleft towards the Kazekage's tower. Genma internally groaned while Tri who figuring it would take a while simply sat down on a small mound of sand. Channelling chakra into a storage seal made two books appear in his hand, he quickly formed the clone seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" and next to him appeared a clone that he handed a book to, both began reading to the bewilderment of the gathered Suna shinobi.

"Shadow Clones eh, not bad for a Gaki," a Suna-nin commented. Tri's little display had even drawn the attention of a Suna Jōnin. "Even figured out the memory retention when they dispel to speed up learning."
"So where'd you learn that then, eh Gaki. Your Sensei teach ya?"
"No, I taught myself, it's a remarkably easy technique to learn, you just need the chakra for it," Tri replied, not even looking up from his book, off in the distance they could hear a couple of voices that were slowly getting louder.

"You know, it's rude to not look at someone when they're talking to you," the Jōnin verbally jabbed. She was trying to get a reaction out of him, Genma knew it, Itachi knew it, Naruto, all the other Suna-nin but most importantly so did Tri. With a little sigh, he created another shadow clone, this time without hand seals and handed his book to it. He looked up at the Jōnin, "Yes, Suna-san?" he said in a totally calm voice.

She narrowed her eyes at him, she hadn't expected the reaction he gave her. "Calm one aren't you Gaki."
"I suppose I am, Suna-san. But tell me, is it not rude to not use someone's name when talking to them," again his voice was calm. "I suppose that is true Tri-san, but I don't really feel like telling you my name. A slight smile slowly appeared on his face. "That's quite alright, I don't need to ask Pakura-san."

The woman was taken aback, the surprise evident on her face. A face of fair skin with pupiless brown eyes, her hair was tied in a bun and was completely green but for an orange bang either side of her face. Her attire consisted of a sleeveless, backless top and short tight pants with an obi around her waist and purple arm warmers that reached the shoulders. Her outfit was completed with bandages around her tights and ankles.

"Right now I imagine you're wondering how I know your name." Tri created another shadow clone which immediately henged into a book. He tossed the book towards Pakura which she effortlessly caught. "Page 76," Tri instructed her, she opened the book to the page and read. "It's Konoha's Bingo book Pakura-san, I know every entry in it."

"Why did you make a clone into the Bingo book?" Itachi asked. Tri briefly laughed, "Incase she didn't feel like returning it, we technically aren't allowed to hand Konoha's Bingo book to shinobi of other villages." To make his point he clicked his fingers and the book in Pakura's hands disappeared in a puff of smoke as did one of his two reading clones, Tri retrieved the dropped book and began reading once more.

The voices that they could hear off in the distance had drawn closer, they could now be identified as a Suna Genin team returning from a mission. The Chūnin who'd stopped them let out an exacerbated groan. "Konoha-nin, I ask you to be patient with these three, they entirely too fond of running their mouths," he warned them.

As they came closer they could pick up some of their comments, the same full of bluster and bravado comments that nearly all Genin seemed to make. "That mission was too easy for me!"
"I can take on missing ninja, no problem!"
"I'm ready for the Chūnin Exams!"
"I could beat Sasori himself!" Many of the assembled nin, Konoha included cringed at the last comment, Sasori was an S-Rank missing-nin. He was regarded as the best puppeteer in the world was certainly not going to be bested by a Genin that talked too much.

The border guard stepped forward, "Identify yourselves," he ordered.

"Souta Noburu, Jōnin Sensei, team 13, returning from completed assignment." The guard opened a large book and began searching for the team. It was going so well, then one of the Genin noticed the Konoha Hitai-ate's and attires. "You need a hand keeping out the riff-raff, eh guard-san? One of them sneered while his teammates snickered. The assembled Suna-nin, Pakura included internally groaned. A confrontation was now seemingly inevitable.

But none of them replied. Tri read his book, Itachi span a kunai around a finger while looking off into the distance while Naruto stood stock still, arms folded and eyes closed. Seeing he wasn't going to get a reply, the Genin decided to keep talking. "Huh, seems you know to keep quiet amongst your superiors," the disdain evident in his voice. "Not really, we just don't feel like talking to you. You're rather rude," Naruto replied in a calm voice that made Genma smirk.

The blonde gave him nothing to come back on, nothing to insult, so he searched for an easier target, skipping their Jōnin he turned to Itachi. Before he could say a word he found a pair of three tomoe Sharingan staring back at him, he immediately thought better of insulting an Uchiha. Which left him one other option, a black and red haired boy sat on a sand dune alongside a replica both reading a book.

He walked up to Tri, "What's your deal, you so dumb you need to read the same book twice?" he loudly proclaimed snatching the book from Tri's hand. Tri smiled slightly which made Naruto laugh. He quickly looked at Naruto before sneering again. "See, even you teammate agrees," he mocked turning back to face Tri. When he did, however, he found that the book was gone and Tri was reading it again which only made Naruto laugh harder.

"What's so funny blondie?" a second Genin asked with her nasally voice. After taking a few second to calm himself down he replied, "Oh, it's nothing really, it's just that my brother doesn't like people messing with his Fūinjutsu books." She looked at Naruto, then at Tri before snorting. "You both have the same two parents?"

"Yes," Naruto replied narrowing his eyes, his voice carrying an edge to it. "You don't look anything alike you know, perhaps you should ask your mom again."

The silence that followed was deafening, Itachi's kunai stopped spinning, faces on the Suna-nin paled at her insinuation yet the two brothers looked totally calm. The shit-eating grin on her face slowly faded as she took in the reactions of everyone else. Tri snapped his book shut, took the second book back, dispelled the clone and sealed them away before standing. Despite how angry Tri could get at Kushina for ignoring Naruto and himself he utterly adored his Kaa-chan. It was her words that gave him the life he now had. And right now Tri was angry.

Naruto had been leaking killing intent ever since the comment was made but that was utterly swamped as it rolled off of Tri in waves. The Suna trio were terrified, some of the older nin found themselves taking a step back. Genma was concerned that a fight was about to break out, oh, thank Kami' he thought as he spotted the returning runner dispatched to validify their presence.

Coming to a stop next to the Chūnin guard, "Yep, the Kazekage is waiting on a message from Konoha."

"Excellent," Genma said loudly clapping his hands. "Then we'll take our leave, Tri, Naruto, Itachi, let's go," he quickly added, absolute authority in his voice, wanting to get his Genin away before they put someone in the hospital. " In an instant the killing intent ceased. "Hai, Sensei," the three uttered. The Chūnin guard only nodded as the four Konoha-nin walked past him.

After they'd left, the Suna Jōnin Sensei came up to him, he'd seen the looks on his comrades face, "Who were they?" he asked. "The two your Genin just insulted are sons of the Yondaime Hokage," the Jōnin suddenly felt sick as he pieced together just who the woman his Genin had slandered was. Pakura also took the opportunity to slip away as the Jōnin was left with three Genin shaking like leaves in the wind.

-Kazekage's Office-

"I thank you and your team for getting this here as quickly as you have. I wasn't expecting you here until tomorrow," Rasa, the Yondaime Kazekage thanked the four Konoha shinobi stood in front of him. "Thank you Kazekage-Dono," thanked Genma, bowing slightly. Rasa had finished writing his reply and was placing it inside an envelope.

"If you see my assistant outside, she'll see to your accommodation for the evening," he said handing the sealed envelope to Genma. "Thank you, Kazekage-Dono," Genma repeated, he and his team bowing before seeing themselves out.

Rasa leaned his chin on his hands as he watched them leave. 'So those two are yours, eh Minato. Interesting'.

Having shut the door Genma turned to find the assistant right in front of him. She held out an unsealed envelope and gave him a smile. "Your accommodation is in the envelope, the rooms are under your name Shiranui-san."

"Uh, thank you," he sheepishly replied.

It had been a few hours since they'd left the Kazekage's office. They had checked into their hotel and had gone out for something to eat, now they were on their way back to their rooms. Tri himself was passing his gaze over the rooftops of the many buildings around them until he spotted what he was looking for. "Genma-Sensei," he said getting the Jōnin's attention. "Hmm, yes Tri?"

"Might I be excused, there's something I'd like to do before turning in." Genma surveyed his Genin for a moment, rolling the senbon in his mouth before nodding. "Alright, but don't be long." He got a nod in return before Tri walked off in another direction.

As soon as Tri was out of sight he shunshined on top of a nearby building. "Thank you for taking the time to meet me, there's a matter I'd like your advice on," he asked as a figure walked out of the shadows.

End Chapter

[1] - I never really understood why so little seems to be done to desensitise Konoha Genin before they're thrown into the Chūnin Exams, how can Genin teams be realistically expected to compete in Chūnin Exams, how do they adequately compete in an exam they can be killed in when they themselves have no experience in killing.