The young jonin looked down from where she was seated, on one of the many tall watchtowers which were situated throughout Konoha. Her position gave her a very good view of the three genin standing below her, each one standing separate from the others.
Unlike most of the jonin teachers, Kari, assigned to team nine, hadn't arrived at the team selection to lead her team off. Instead, she had simply left the three young ninja a message to meet her at the village's south gate.
The three of them were a very motley crew. They were all of about average height, but that was where any similarities ended.
The one closest to her was actually leaning up against the large tower, tapping on the metal with a finger. He was very strange looking at first glance. Quite long brown hair fell down his back in a messy tangle. His bangs were pulled into two simple braids which hung on the sides of his face, each one with several beads threaded into them. The strange birthmarks he possessed on his face were the only part of his skin that wasn't dark; a pair of ice-blue upside down triangles at the the outter edges of each eye, looking mildly like icicles. He wore his thin green jacket somewhat untidily, open at the front to show a plain blue T-shirt. His pants were a darker shade of green, almost grey in their paleness. His sandles were the generic blue pair which many of the ninja in the village wore.
Glancing down at the reports of each of her new genins, Kari quickly identified this one as Suzunaka, the so-called natural chakra controller, according to Genma. Her fellow jonin always spoke about the young ninja who had become somewhat of a protegé to him. Genma had said that this boy's abilities even surpassed most genin already. Coming from Genma, this was quite a lot.
Shifting her gaze to the next of the three, her eyes met the tallest member of her group. Another boy, this one was dressed as quite the anti-thesis to Suzunaka. His clothes were terribly plain; a grey, zip-up hooded sweatshirt with no shirt underneath, and some old jeans cut off half way down the shins. His skin was darker than Suzunaka's tanned shade, being truly brown. His hair was of a darker shade of the same colour, cropped close to his head. Overall, he appeared to be an incredibly average ninja, aside from…
Ah, yes. She could see them, those two bags. The same type most ninja kept on the back of their belts, larger than average. He had one strapped to each leg just above the knee. Those were what made him quite the opposite of average. Gazing down at her reports, she nodded her suspicions. Hide, child of two of the greatest jonin in Konoha's history… and heir to the legacy, perhaps…
Finally, her eyes drifted over to the final member of her team, and the only other female. This one had been selected specifically for her team. She'd actually had to barter and argue quite a bit with the other jonin leaders in order to get her. She definitely stood out in a crowd, with her manner of dress. Instead of a conventional shirt, she simply used an incredibly long and wide piece of white fabric, wrapped again and again from over one shoulder to under the opposite arm, and clipped in at the back. Her pants appeared incredibly odd, being a very dark red colour. The outside of the legs were actually longer than the inside, so that when she stood with her legs together they made a small triangle of visible skin. Her skin was very average toned, not pale, but note terribly tanned either. Her black hair was shorter than most girls', only going down to the nape of her neck.
It was her eyes, however, which drew the most attention. At first glance, there wasn't anything odd about them. However, when one actually looked at them for any amount of time, it became apparently that the eyes' colour was constantly changing very subtly. It was never very noticeable, but there was always that slight shift taking place. Shitana, youngest daughter of the Kasiju clan, and inheritant of the gengan.
Grinning, Kari decided that it was high time that she make her presence known.
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"Where is she?" the other boy said, grinding his foot into the ground with annoyance. "I mean, how long ago was she supposed to be here?"
"Thirty-six minutes, forty-two seconds," Suzunaka stated aloud.
The other boy glanced over at him, one eyebrow raised. "You've been counting?"
"Yes," Suzunaka replied simply.
"Oh…" the boy muttered, turning away.
Suzunaka grinned. He liked this guy. He would be fun to mess around with. That girl though… He glanced over at her again. It was so hard to look at her! Not in an offensive way, but simply because of those bloody eyes! How was she doing that? She hadn't said a word since they'd all met back in the classroom, which made Suzunaka uneasy. He needed to hear her voice in order to judge her. Without sound, she seemed somehow… empty.
"I'm sorry about that," a voice said from several feet away from them. All three turned quickly in surprise to find a female jonin standing before them. "My name is Kari."
Suzunaka sized her up slowly. She was dressed terribly averagely. The normal blue jumpsuit and green vest which most ninja ranked higher than genin wore. Her hair was a very light shade of brown, and tied back into a tight ponytail. Despite this normal appearance, Suzunaka instantly understood how good she was. He hadn't even heard the slightest sound of her approach…
"What were you doing?" the other boy demanded. "Some of us have better things to do with our time!"
"One of those people being you, Hide?" the girl asked sarcastically, speaking for the first time. Suzunaka glanced over to her, seeing that she had gotten up from her crouching position and was now standing quite straight facing them. Apparently, she and the boy knew each other… but of course, Suzunaka reflected, that was to be expected. Most of the kids in his class seemed to know each other's names. He'd never really bothered.
"Yes, I actually do have something I'd like to get to…" he replied slowly.
"Like what? That crossword puzzle you've been working on since you were five?" she asked innocently. "Oh, by the by, five down is 'moo'."
"Funny and original," he laughed, shaking his head. "And yet, still completely annoying, Shita."
"That's Shitana!" she growled at him threateningly.
"Well!" the jonin said quite loudly, bringing their attention back to her. "While it seems like you're all getting along so well already, I thought it might be a good idea to just sit down and introduce ourselves to each other!"
Shitana and Hide both flashed her looks which clearly said, 'Do we have to?'
Her oral response was, "But of course, if you don't want to, we can skip that part and just go straight ahead with the training regiment I've planned out…" She let her words hang on the air, glancing around at all three. When she saw that nobody was quite keen on this idea, she nodded, and said, "That's what I thought. So, how about you guys just tell us… hmm… your name, something you like, and what your dream is. Who wants to go first?"
Silence reigned over the area as all three of the genin simply stared back at her. Sighing, she muttered, "Alright, I guess I'll start. Hello, my name is Karimi Zuya, though you can call me Kari. Or, to be more specific, Kari-sensei. I like… hmm… I guess…" she paused, looking up into space for a moment, before continuing. "I like the sky. And my dreams…? I've already fulfilled most of them. Hopefully to die in my late forties before I can get too old on some sort of suicidal mission." She grinned at them. "Who's next?" When nobody replied, she shook her head, muttering something about initiative, and then pointed at Suzunaka. "How about you?"
"Alright," the boy shrugged. "My name is Suzunaka. Just Suzunaka. I like noise, and… no dreams that I can think of."
"None?"
"No, I don't really dream," he said simply, shrugging again.
"Alright," Kari muttered, glancing him up and down. She turned her attention to the left of him, to Shitana. "How about you?"
"I'm Shitana Kasiju. I like it when people keep out of my way, and my dream..." she laughed a bit. "Is to beat my eldest sister one-on-one someday."
Hide snorted, and Shitana glared at him, about to explode.
"Right, and what about you Hide?" Kari continued quickly, hoping to prevent another round of bickering.
"Well, you've ruined half of the name surprise now, haven't you?" he said, grinning over at her in a cocky manner. "My name's Hide Hohner, and I like wasting time. In the future…" he closed his eyes for a moment, as though trying to remember. "Meh, I've got a few plans."
"Anything specific?" Kari asked.
"No, not really," he replied, shrugging. "A little something concerning the Hidden Village of Clouds, but that's about it."
"Right…" Kari muttered, arching her eyebrows. Well, this was going to be interesting, she could already tell. So far, two of them looked about ready to kill each other, and one seemed quite content not to interact in the least bit with the others. Well, Kakashi, she thought, I hope that that trick you taught me will work. Grinning, she said aloud, "Well, I have to go now."
"What!?" Hide and Shitana demanded as one, and even Suzunaka glanced up at that little statement.
"You just got here!" Hide yelled. "I mean, aren't we going to… I dunno… do something as a team, or something like that?"
"Oh, sorry," she shrugged, turning her back to the three genins and beginning to walk away. "I have work to do, lots of paper work for the new team. The three of you can do something if you'd like, but I'll meet you all tomorrow on the seventh training ground, at dawn!"
And without another word, the jonin disappeared.
The three genin were left standing there, simply staring at where their teacher had been a moment before.
"Well," Hide muttered after a moment, glancing over to the other two, "do either of you mind if we call it a day, then?"
"Gotta work on that crossword?" Shitana asked, tauntingly.
"Oh screw off!" Dorause replied. "Why did I get stuck with this team?"
"We're both asking the same question," Shitana replied, grinning and looking back to the other boy, "aren't we, Suzunaka?"
The boy jumped, and looked up at her. "Er, sorry, what?"
The girl stared at him with those confusing eyes, and asked, "Were you paying any attention during any of that?"
"Not much," he shrugged. "What were you talking about?"
"I'm leaving," Hide muttered, holding up his hands and rolling his eyes. "Sorry, I need to go contemplate why the world does cruel things like this."
"It's because it hates you," Shitana offered as he began walking away. She watched him go for a few moments, then turned to face Suzunaka, giving him a curious look. "Are you doing anything, then?"
"Not much," he replied, not really looking at her. It seemed more like he was just gazing up into the sky for no reason. "Why?"
"I don't know," she said, walking over to lean on the tower beside him. "I don't really feel like going home yet, and I don't have much else to do."
Suzunaka was quite confused by this. What was she trying to say? It was all very well that she had nothing to do, that was too bad for her. But what did it have to do with him?
As the silence wore on, Suzunaka was finally forced to ask, "Yes… and?"
Shitana sighed. "Nothing." She stood up straight and started walking away. "I guess I'll just head home."
She had gone perhaps twenty steps before, suddenly, she cried out, and fell to one knee. Surprised, Suzunaka instantly ran over to her. He stood behind the girl, not quite knowing what to do.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Something…" she gasped, and she looked up. Suzunaka gasped. Shitana's eyes, puils, whites and all, had gone totally black. "Something's not right."
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Walking home, Hide kept glancing around at all of the streets. They all seemed strangely… empty. It was odd. At this time of day, the streets would normally all be bustling with people out about their business, or going to get something to eat. However, he hadn't seen a single person since he'd left Shitana and Suzunaka.
Sighing, Hide decided just to ignore it, and kicked an empty plastic bag which was blowing by. He fell grudgingly into his own thoughts. How the heck had he gotten caught in such a terrible team? There was Shitana the hothead, and Suzunaka the bizarre quiet kid.
It wasn't like Hide didn't have any friends. Quite the contrary. He was one of the more popular guys in the class. It just seemed as if… nobody he liked was on the team. He was very good friends with most of the other boys in his class, like Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji and Naruto. However, all of them were on other teams. With the girls, he'd always gotten along with Ino and Sakura, and even that weird Hinata girl.
It just so happened that the one girl in the class who he, and most of the rest of the academy population, didn't like was on his team. She was always getting into fights with people, and, even worse, she was always winning them. He remembered the time that Kiba and her had come back to class after lunch covered in bruises and cuts. The two had fought, and it seemed as though the girl had given as good as she got. And with Kiba, too, arguably one of the best ninja in their year! She was just so… prickly…
And Suzunaka, too. Hide didn't have any problems with the boy, aside from the fact that he was just so… weird. And quiet, too. He never said anything. He always just sat there in class, normally tapping his foot or drumming the desk with his pencil. The only person whom he ever spoke with was Shino, and the bug user wasn't much better for conversation. And yet, dispite how admittedly stupid he seemed, he was always near or at the top of the class. The only person who regularly outdid him in classwork was Sakura, and with weapons training he tended to be comfortably above average with everything. He was just odd.
Sighing, Hide decided to take a seat on an empty bench on the side of the street. He glanced around at all the empty stalls and building about him, wondering once again where everybody could be. Even if it was a weekday, this wasn't normal. The emptiness made him uncomfortable. His eyes scanned around the entire street slowly, searching for any sign of life.
A sudden glint caught his attention, and Hide's eyes zoomed over to its source. As soon as they settled upon it, the boy cried out, then flung himself off of the bench, rolling and coming up to his feet as a kunai whipped through the space his head had been occupying a moment before.
Hide assumed a combat position, with his feet planted far apart from each other. He inhaled and exhaled heavily, his eyes never staying in one position for more than two seconds. Where had that kunai come from?
He saw a small flash to his right, and dove, getting out of the way of another kunai. He came up to his feet, but had to move again intsantly, the knives no longer giving him time between each throw. What was going on?
He glanced behind himself for a moment, scanning all of the roofs and shadows, but could find nobody. Growling in annoyance, he turned his face back to the way he was running, and saw the six kunais flying towards him. His mind knew that he wouldn't have enough time to dodge. Instantly, his hands flew down into the two bags at his legs, making metallic clinking noises as they did. He felt energy rushing through his veins, and tried to focus it, simply thinking, Please, please, please!
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"Shitana?" Suzunaka asked, slowly taking a step back from those empty eyes.
All of a sudden, she blinked, and just like that, the blackness disappeared to be replaced by the normal shifty appearance. She gasped, and stood up suddenly straight, panting.
"Shitana," Suzunaka repeated, unsure, "what's wrong?"
"I don't know," she said simply, looking down at herself. She was shaking. For some reason, she was shuddering. "I just…" She looked up, and her eyes went wide. The next thing Suzunaka knew, she had slammed into him with a full body tackle, and they both fell over. Suzunaka was confused by this, until, over her shoulder, he just made out the massive shuriken which had missed them.
They hit the ground, and rolled over several times with the momentum. When they finally stopped moving, both of them simply remained where they lay for a moment, breathing very deep. Then, Shitana extricated herself from Suzunaka, and looked around at the area around them.
"Where…?"
Suzunaka suddenly yelled, "Get down!"
Figuring that it would be best to listen to him in this situation, Shitana threw herself on the ground, while Suzunaka slapped his hands together into several very complicated-looking seals. He finished by yelling, "Ototon: Otodan no jutsu!", and pointing at the space that Shitana had just been standing in.
Instantly, a rippling ran through the air, eminatating from Suzunaka's fingers. The energy seemed to build for a moment, then exploded outwards and forward, releasing an incredible roar. The blast of pure sound rocketed by where Shitana had been standing, and hit a large group of kunais and shurikens aimed for her. As soon as they hit the wave of sound, they scattered, flying backwards in all directions.
Suzunaka's chest heaved, and he fell back somewhat from the force of the attack. Panting from his now sitting position, he glanced over to Shitana, and asked, "Are you… alright?"
"Er, yeah," she replied shakily. She stood up very slowly, looking at him all the while. Finally, she asked him, "Where did you learn to do that?"
"I don't know," came the simple reply.
"Right…" she muttered.
The two of them stood their uncomfortably for a short time, gazing around themselves in confusion. Finally, Suzunaka whispered, "We should report this to the Hokage."
"Yes," the girl replied at once, and they started running.
The southern gate was actually quite a remote location. The principal gate for Konoha village was the northern one, as it was closest to the living quarters and shopping district of the city. The southern, however, was on the very outskirts of the suburbs, and thus, they would have a good distance to go before they would probably find any ninja.
As they ran, Shitana yelled out to Suzunaka, "You keep watch on the right, I'll cover the left!"
Suzunaka simply nodded his consent, and they continued going.
They ran for perhaps ten minutes without finding anybody. Quite literally anybody. It was as though the entire town was deserted. The two had to keep glancing to each other to make sure that they were still there.
Eventually, Shitana yelled over to Suzunaka, "Let's stop!"
They did, and Suzunaka gave her a questioning look.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, shaking her head. "Something just isn't right here."
"I understand," Suzunaka replied, turning slowly around to survey the area.
"No, it's more than that…" she said. Her breathing was becoming somewhat irregular, and her voice had a faraway quality to it. "There's something there… I can feel it… like dirt on a telescope or something like that… I… watch out!"
At her words, Suzunaka spun around in the direction she pointed, throwing his arms up in front of him as a barrier. Pain arched up from several points on his forearms as three kunais slammed into his skin, embedding themselves into the arm. Suzunaka screamed in pain, and fell to one knee. He took a deep breath to steady himself, then looked up in front of him.
Before him, there was an adult ninja. He looked to be in his late twenties, perhaps early thirties. He wore a simple outfit: a full green cloak which shielded all of his features, and a hood which covered his forehead protector. He was gazing down at the two genin with completely emotionless eyes, the way and eagle might gaze at two mice.
"What do you want?" Suzunaka demanded, gritting his teeth through the pain.
"Blood…" was the ninja's only answer.
The genin's eyes went wide with shock, and quickly he asked, despite himself, "Shitana, are you still with me?"
No response came.
"Shitana?" Suzunaka demanded, somewhat frightened now. He glanced over his shoulders, and yelled, "Shitana!"
She had fallen to her knees, and that same perfect blackness had returned to her eyes. Suzunaka stared at her in horror, and asked one more time, "Shitana?"
Then, a fist smashed into his chest. He wheezed, and coughed once, letting out blood. Turning his head back, he saw the green robed ninja standing directly in front of him, close enough that Suzunaka could smell his breath.
"You should worry about yourself more than her," he advised.
Suzunaka tried to reply, but stopped as another fist flew at him. He reached up and blocked it with both hands. Grinning, the other ninja used the genin's grip against him, and lifted him into the air with it. As Suzunaka hung there for a moment, the ninja twirled, and delivered a heavy kick to the boy's stomach. Suzunaka coughed once more as he flew back, and landed hard on his back.
His chest heaving, Suzunaka rolled painfully over onto his front and pushed himself up. Glancing up, he saw that Shitana was still kneeling down and staring ahead, completely unawares of what was happening.
Then, a knee hit him in the face, and the boy fell back again, crying out. He tried getting himself back up to a standing position, but another attack came in and knocked him off his feet again.
As her teammate continued yelling and coughing with the beating, Shitana simply knelt there, her strange eyes unmoving, unblinking. A few words escaped her lips, soft and tremulous in tone. "What's going on…?"