The Way of the Shinobi

by ReiFurui

Thean Yane, a member of the Hidden Village of the Moon Tsuki , and his comrades will soon be drawn into a plot that stretches back into the village's dark past, and darker future. Uses mostly new characters, similar to some of the konoha ninjas

2. Part 1, Genin Life

AN: For those interested, this is roughly ten years after the prologue ends. And yes, the Prologue was supposed to scream the number nine at you. You'll find out why...

eventually. ;) In the meantime, enjoy the first part of the actual story.

Part 1: Genin Life

Thean Yane sat in a tree in the Hidden Village of the Moon's garden, his eyes focused on the forehead protector in his hand. At last, he had finally graduated from the academy. He kicked his leg idly, it's limp form hanging off the branch he was sitting on, his other leg bent to place his foot on the branch. He had worked so hard in order to finally make it to genin level, but now it seemed so sudden. He wrapped the forehead protector around the fingers of his right hand, the metal plate protecting his fingers and looking like a pair of brass knuckles. The crescent moon's tips pointed upwards, towards the sky where the real moon rested. It seemed like years since he had entered the little room with his review board waiting to grade him, even though that was only a few hours ago. "Report back here tomorrow at 7:00am to be sorted into teams," he said to himself, repeating the words the chief examiner had said to him after he was finished. He had looked at the board afterwards where they posted the actual scores. The whole class had been pretty close, but only two people had scored higher than him. It's not my fault that Jay did better in the genjutsu portion of the test he thought to himself. Lot's of people did better than me in the genjutsu area, but I still scored so much higher in the other areas to make up for it. I was even the only one to receive a perfect on chakra control. He silently remembered the examiners' faces as he had showed his control, walking along the ceiling with hardly any concentration. As for Bren, well he is just a know-it-all, and he's good at everything. He began weaving his hand in the air, and a glowing blue strand of chakra began to spin out of it, curling and wrapping around his fingers and hand slowly, as if gravity didn't fully affect it. He liked playing with his own unique jutsu like this, as he found it quite relaxing.

"Boo!" said a voice next to his ear, disturbing his thoughts. Yane jumped up, startled, and landed on the path below the tree, a pair of kunai sliding down his wide sleeves into his hands from their hiding places. When he saw the form of his laughing sister crouched next to where he had been sitting, he blushed. Rather hurriedly he slid the kunai back into the holders up his sleeves as she almost fell out of the tree in her hysterics. Yane hated it when she did that sort of thing.

"What do you want?" he asked her.

"To congratulate you," she managed to get out between giggles. "It's not every day your brother makes genin." She gracefully dropped out of the tree next to him. She smiled at him a smile that would make any man look twice, and even being her brother, Yane couldn't help but look into her face. "You did very nicely in the exam."

Yane laughed at that. "No thanks to you," he replied. "You did everything you possibly could to make certain that I had the worst time possible."

"Who, me?" she asked innocently as she spun around. She was very well built, about as far as one could get from being hard on the eyes. She had blue eyes almost as light as his own, and her dark brown hair flowed down to just below the shoulder blades, Yane's black hair being a little less than half that length. She was also thinner than him, but what weight she had was muscle, not fat, and was only a few inches shorter than him. Yane sometimes wondered how it was that she was still single at 18 with her looks. "I would never do anything like that. I may have been a little harsh on you, but that was only to make you better."

"A little harsh?" Yane exclaimed, remembering his first day in the academy. When he had learned Hetan would be his teacher, he had thought his life would have been a little easier. He had been dead wrong. The first day, he had walked in and sat down, the other students filling in the rest of the seats. When everyone was there and the bell rang, Hetan was nowhere in sight. Then she dropped out of the ceiling next to Yane and fussed at him for not spotting her sooner. Yane felt so embarrassed that day that he didn't say anything for the next two classes. "If you don't count the time during class, then I'll agree with that," Yane said.

Hetan smiled at him. "Okay, I get it," she responded. "I have to say, we need to work on your genjutsu. It was your only bad spot in the whole exam."

Yane sighed. Hetan always got on him about using genjutsu. "I don't need genjutsu. I do fine without it."

Hetan ignored him. "I'll see you at the house later. Mom is probably going to make you something special for dinner to celebrate." With that she disappeared into the trees. She even looked graceful doing that. She always looked graceful. Yane wished he knew how she could just vanish like that. Then he heard a noise in the bushes behind him. He turned around in time to see two of his classmates jump out of a bush. Apparently one of them had scared the other. He recognized the two of them as Reikon Kasui and Hitomi Satoru. Then it occurred to him that they might have been eaves dropping on him and his sister, particularly on her scaring him. Blushing, he turned and disappeared into the trees, running from the two of them.

He had gotten about two hundred feet away when it hit him. Great, Yane he thought to himself. You successfully ran away from people who were scared out of their wits. What a great use of your genin skills. With that, he turned around and leapt into a tree. He quickly made a chakra string and attached it to a kunai. He then threw the kunai into the branch of a tree and swung into it. He repeated the process to get to the tree he had been in when Hetan had spooked him. He surveyed the other genin below him as he sat and made himself comfortable in the tree.

Kasui and Satoru were talking. Now it was Yane's turn to spy. Kasui was about five foot five with pale blue eyes and teal hair reaching down to around her neck. She was rather pale and thinly built, her new genin headband securely hanging around her neck. Her sleeveless black jacket covered most of her white undershirt, save for the white sleeves reaching down to her elbows. Her hands up to just below the edges of the white sleeves were bandaged, and so were her legs from her feet, which were tucked into a pair of blue sandals, up to her shins and over the edge of her beige pants. A kunai pouch rested on her right leg. Satoru was very similar, his hair also being teal, though it was a little shorter than Kasui's. His eyes were green, and he was only about an inch shorter than Kasui. He wore his headband around his left arm just below the shoulder, and his blue vest had pouches for kunai on either side. His green khaki style pants covered his lower body, save for his feet in typical wooden sandals.

"So Kasui, what are you planning on doing till tomorrow?" Satoru asked her. Yane wondered what he had missed of their conversation by running like he had.

Kasui's response was very calm, despite Satoru having scared her a few minutes before. "I was planning on doing some sparing, since my parents probably aren't home yet."

Satoru's eyes lit up. "Perfect. Mind if I join you?" Yane could tell he was hiding something.

Kasui grinned. "Sure, why not? Let's have some fun." With that, the two of them backed away from each other a bit. Yane was watching them, but also noticed someone else hiding in the bushes. I guess Jay thinks this is interesting, too. Aoi Jay was peering out from a dense clump of bushes at them, and only Yane's height allowed him to see her. He turned back to the little match before him.

"Ready when you are," Satoru said.

"Let's go then," Kasui said as she rushed towards Satoru. Satoru, on the other hand, stayed where he was, moving his hands to perform two quick handsigns. Just before Kasui's fist would have struck Satoru, it hit something that looked almost like a curtain. The shield absorbed the impact, bending in and then, with a third handsign from Satoru, rebounded Kasui backwards. Kasui stumbled and barely regained her balance. Unfortunately for her, Satoru had other plans. As she stumbled, he swept his leg out under her, and she hit the ground with a rather undignified thump.

"Cute trick," Kasui said as she pulled herself to her feet, embarrassment clearly visible on her face. "What do you call it?"

"That," Satoru said with a bit of a smirk, "is my Chakra Shield Technique."

Yane nodded thoughtfully. That could come in handy. I wonder if I could learn how to do that? But Kasui was readying herself again. This time, she performed several handsigns. I wonder what she is planning. Yane's fascination with this little fight was steadily increasing. After all, one of these guys might be on his team, and a good shinobi knew not just his own strengths and weaknesses, but his allies' and his enemies' as well.

"Try this one!" she yelled as chakra surged around her hand. It then quickly froze. As she thrust her hand forward, the frozen ice moved, shooting forward into the shape of a long serpent-like dragon. The dragon hit Satoru's shield and sent him backwards about ten feet. The shield was shimmering and rippling around his body and it took several minutes for it to calm down.

Satoru looked amazed. "What was that?" he asked as he panted.

Kasui was also panting. "Frozen Dragons of Winter," she replied. Her hand was flexing, obviously trying to clear the shock of the recoil. "I'm surprised your shield held."

Satoru nodded. "I can understand why." Yane nodded too. He could understand that those two were both good potential allies. They could work well together, Satoru blocking shots while Kasui delivers the hard blows. Yane couldn't resist any longer. He had to join in the fun.

Yane quickly wove six chakra strings, attaching a kunai to one of the ends of each string. He then attached a weighted ball to the other end. Jumping out of the tree, he released them into the air, flinging them at Kasui and Satoru. The two were caught off guard, and the kunai stabbed into the ground next to them. The balls carried the weight though, and they swung around the two of them, tightly binding them. While in air, and with the kunai still on their way, Yane wove a seventh string, which he attached to another kunai, flinging it into a tree. He used it too adjust his jump to cause him to land in another tree. Yane smiled as he turned around. Too easy.

Kasui and Satoru wasted no time though. After a few minutes of struggling, Satoru pushed his shield outward, snapping the strings after only a moment's resistance. Kasui on the other hand, managed to reach her hand around and use a smaller version of her Frozen Dragons of Winter ability to sever the chakra strings holding her. Well those were only strings, not ropes or chains. Kasui and Satoru were now looking in the trees. "Who was that?" Kasui said to Satoru.

"I think it was Yane," he replied still looking into the trees about fifty feet to Yane's right. "I didn't know he could do that. Could be better if it was stronger though." Satoru didn't know how right he was. But Yane noticed something else. Jay had moved too. She wasn't in the bushes she had been in. Satoru suddenly smacked himself in the head with the heel of his hand. "How stupid could I be?" he said, apparently talking to himself. He quickly performed the clone jutsu, and three Satorus were standing in the clearing. Kasui imitated him, creating two clones of herself. Yane knew they were simple images, and couldn't hurt him at all, but he also knew they could be used to spot him. The six people down there were now a sizable searching force, so Yane decided the rules needed to change. He dropped out of the tree to the ground, his hands in the air to indicate he was there in peace.

He was spotted instantly. "What was that all about?" Kasui asked him. "We were having a simple spar and you just thought it would be funny if you tossed a couple strings into the middle of it?" Yane refrained from saying that was exactly what he thought. Instead he lowered his arms.

"I would like to propose a new sparring match," Yane said very simply. "You two against me." He thought that things might get a little interesting like that. Kasui and Satoru grinned as their clones disappeared.

"Seems fair to me," Satoru said. But before he could do anything, another voice called out.

"Hold it!" Jay said as she dropped from a branch right above the bushes she had been hiding in. Yane almost laughed. Evasion rule number one: the best place to hide is in plain sight. Jay came over beside Yane. "Two against one seems so unfair. How about two on two?" Yane smiled. He found this whole thing quiet entertaining.

Kasui and Satoru looked at each other and shrugged. But another voice stopped them from going any farther.

"I think I want to join in this match." The voice belonged to Utoa Bren, who was walking out of the trees a little to Yane's right. Bren was the star pupil. He was the best in the class, and everyone knew he had never really tried all that hard in class, or if he had, he always acted like he wasn't. He also happened to be the guy all the girls dreamed about. His thick brown hair was trimmed to just below his ears, making it not too long, and not too short. His hazel eyes were cold, revealing no emotion. His headband held back the hair slightly, causing the lose strands to droop just over his eyes, obscuring them somewhat. He wore a brown shirt that sported the Utoa clan emblem, a red river, on the chest with sleeves ending a few inches after his shoulders. Brown, leather, finger-less gloves extended to just past the elbow, leaving only a small amount of skin visible. The leather gloves also sported about ten small needles each that stuck into his skin, probably for his clan's bloodline jutsu. His pants were also brown, and extended down to cover part of his sandals. Yane groaned. He couldn't stand the guy.

He turned towards Satoru and Kasui. "I think that you could use a little help, since only one of you two can actually fight." Kasui sighed, and Satoru grimaced. Yane wasn't the only guy that hated Bren. Satoru started to say something, but Kasui interrupted him.

"Of course! With you on our team, how can we fail?" Bren didn't even seem to hear the compliment. He was already looking at Yane and Jay. But yet another person interrupted the genin, this time jumping out of a tree and landing in the middle of the clearing between the two groups. His hair, which was streaked white and black, fell obscuring his face. His left arm was wrapped in black cloth that was slightly torn, revealing the tip of some sort of sharp, metallic object.

Baed Trent looked up slowly. "I want in on this action," he looked up towards Yane and Jay. His left eye was black, but his right eye had a white line running down thru the iris, splitting it into two black halves. "Perhaps I will join the less numerous side," he said, and then walked over beside Jay and Yane. Now the two groups of three were facing each other, and Yane planned to play to his strengths.

"Alright, let's have each team head off into the woods in opposite directions for about two hundred feet, and then we will start," Yane suggested.

"No," Bren said. "Let's have it out here and now. Besides, your scores in the trap setting portion of the genin exam were incredibly high. I don't think we could go after you like that. After seeing your jutsu, I have an idea of why it is so high." Bren stated it simply, but it still annoyed Yane.

"What's wrong?" Yane started. "Are you afraid that you can't beat my traps, or just worried I'll bruise your face?" Bren frowned.

"I don't think you can lay a finger on my face, loser," he calmly replied. "You don't have the skill."

Yane fumed. "You better hope that I don't, or you won't have anything left to look at." Kasui squawked at that.

"Don't you dare even try!" she said, her eyes filled with murder for Yane.

Yane laughed. "Let's just start, this is getting boring."

"I agree," Bren said. "Your dull wit is starting to annoy me."

Yane wanted to smash Bren's face into the ground. "Each team gets five minutes to discuss with each other though, right?" Yane asked. Bren nodded at that.

"Seems fair enough." With that, he turned towards his teammates and began to talk in a quiet voice. Yane turned towards Jay and Trent, knowing that they needed a plan.

"Okay, first off, what can each of us do?" Yane asked quietly, planning to get everyone's strengths and weaknesses. "I personally can weave my chakra into strings, ropes, and chains, depending on the strength I want for them and the chakra I put into them. The weakness to this is that I can't do it very fast if I want them to be strong. I am also very skilled with traps." The others nodded.

Jay spoke up next. "I am able to bond to other's chakra, either draining them or giving them my chakra." She suddenly looked a little nervous. "Sometimes though, people can turn that bond against me, and I can't form more than one bond at a time. Also, I have to be still while I'm creating the bond." Yane could see some definite possibilities emerging. Now it was Trent's turn.

"I can channel lightning, using it to shock opponents," he said. "I can't do it too much though, cause my body can't handle tons of electricity. Also, one of two other personalities will sometimes take over while I'm fighting." Yane thought he had developed a plan that would work. He quickly told them his first, second, and third stages to the plan.

Jay nodded. "Sounds good. Let's do it." Trent also nodded. Bren and his team were just finishing their discussion as well.

Bren faced Yane. "On three, begin." Yane nodded. "One," Bren said.

"Two," Yane replied.

"Three!" they said together, and both teams instantly sprang into action. Yane began a chakra string as a lightning bolt arced down from the clear sky and hit Trent's forehead protector. Jay closed her eyes as she began a chakra bond. Bren's team was moving too though. When Trent released the lightning at the opposition, all of them jumped behind Satoru, who quickly blocked it with his shield. Kasui's right hand covered in chakra and then ice as she readied her jutsu. Bren depressed two buttons, one on each glove, that retracted the needles out of his skin, and blood began flowing out of his arms in the twenty or so places it had been pierced. Yane threw the chakra chain he had just made, knowing that it would bind Satoru to that place, and that they could then get around his shield. That is when things began to go really wrong.

The blood flowing out of Bren's arms shot forward as if possessed and intercepted the chakra chain, throwing it harmlessly away. At the same time, Kasui stepped forward and released her jutsu, firing a dragon of ice forward towards Yane and his teammates. They quickly moved out of the way, but Bren was one step ahead of them. As they stepped out of the way, his blood tentacles slammed into their sides, knocking them back together when Kasui's jutsu had passed. Yane barely stayed on his feet. Jay nodded to Trent though, and as Trent was struck once again, Yane turned and headed into the woods behind them, the first stage of the plan done. Now it was time for stage two.

Jay smiled in grim determination as Trent released his lightning at the other genin. She had done her part, and as Satoru suddenly realized he didn't have enough chakra to hold the shield against the lightning heading for him, he yelled for the others to move, blocking what he could before the rest of the bolt caught him in the chest. Kasui and Bren managed to dodge to the side just in time. Kasui fired off another of her Ice Dragons of Winter at Jay and Trent, but they had been planning on that. They quickly leapt into the trees above, dodging the attack as Bren's blood tendrils missed knocking them into the powerful flow of ice. Jay just hopped that Yane's plan would work. Trent suddenly laughed, and Jay looked at him.

Trent's eyes had a new malevolent light in them. He turned to look at Jay. "Trent is gone, and Trent is here." He said with a wicked grin. "Now it is time to get this fight going." But he didn't get the chance to do anything immediately as Bren's blood tentacles came stabbing into the branches they were in, one of them catching Jay in the left shoulder. With a grunt, Jay dropped to the ground and quickly broke the bond with Satoru, this time searching for Yane's Chakra signature. What she found surprised her greatly. As she latched onto Yane's chakra, she felt the thin lines of his chakra marking his chakra strings laid out all around where he was.

"Go!" Jay yelled, and ran back into the woods after Yane, Trent close on her heels. I hope you were right, Yane.

Yane sighed as he felt his chakra begin to replenish. That meant that Trent and Jay were on their way back towards him. Yane had laid out some pretty good traps, and if Bren, Kasui, and Satoru were able to see the big trap, he would give them a lot more credit for their abilities than he already did. They haven't the slightest clue of what they are walking into. Yane thought to himself. Soon, Yane felt the first of his detection wires snap. He had left those particular wires attached to him, so that if they were broken, he would know. Yane took great pride in his skills with laying traps.

After a few moments, Yane felt one of his wires severed that he knew to be a fake trip wire. It was easily in sight so that someone would disarm it, and they had. Yane quickly pulled a different string, and knew that he had just released a group of three kunai at the person who had cut his string. In a matter of minutes, he had felt and set off a total of about thirty traps, and they were only halfway to Yane. They would come no farther though, as they had just walked into the biggest trap of all. Yane set it off and then dropped out of the tree. He walked forward about twenty-five feet to be greeted by a pleasant sight.

Bren and Kasui were suspended in the air in a net of chakra chains that Yane had reinforced with the chakra Jay had sent him, which used to be Satoru's. Apparently though, Jay and Trent had also been caught in a couple of his other traps, accidentally setting them off while drawing Bren and Kasui deeper into the woods. Yane smiled. He knew it was over. It was only a few minutes later when he was picking himself off of the ground that he realized that blood wasn't trapped so easily. Yane rubbed the side of his face that Bren's attack had hit, silently cursing himself for his stupidity.

"Admit it Bren, we win," Yane said. Bren simply shook his head.

"Turn around," he said. When Yane did, he saw the kunai mere inches from his head. "I think it is you who should admit defeat," Bren said as he moved the kunai being held by his blood closer to Yane's head.

"Fine, you bastard!" Yane said. He turned back towards Bren, releasing the chakra strings in all of his traps. "I need to go collect my gear from where it was placed," Yane said with a swift turn around. He heard Bren being praised by Kasui for a few moments before he got out of earshot. Then Yane began picking up his kunai and other gear off the ground. He felt so angry with himself for letting Bren pull that off that he wanted to scream. With a muttered curse, he moved on to the next piece of his equipment.

Reo Kamie watched as the newly appointed genin left the Hidden Village of the Moon's garden, all but the one who was cleaning up his traps. Several of them were helping the one who had been electrocuted. Kamie smiled a knowing smile. Her yellow eyes followed the genin as they separated at the path, each intent on their own home. Kamie, being the information gatherer she was, quickly assigned her own names to each one of them. There was Shield, Power, Lightning, Trapper, Puzzle, and Utoa. Reo recognized the Utoa clan jutsu when she saw it, so that one genin was defiantly an Utoa. As for Puzzle, well she was a mystery. Kamie was sure she had been doing something, but she wasn't sure what it was. Kamie didn't like not knowing.

Kamie's eyes turned red as she heard voices behind her. Those damn ANBU squads never seemed to give up. She turned and leapt from the branch she had been sitting in to another such branch, continuing along the trees until she was well outside the bounds of the village Tuski. She then turned and began the three day journey towards her home. She wasn't sure what it was, but Trapper had seemed familiar for some reason. When she finally realized why he looked so familiar, she almost turned back around. Kamie resisted though. She had a feeling she would be seeing the young man again very soon. Her eyes turned green as she thought about why she would. Kamie disappeared into the trees as the sun set, her thoughts all on what she would do next.

Yane opened the door to his house slowly. He knew Hetan probably had a surprise or two waiting for him inside. She always did. Yane was certainly greeted by a surprise. Hetan, his brother, Grath, his mother, Nami, and his aunt, Mara, were all there to celebrate. After the traditional handshakes and greetings, they all sat down to eat the excellent meal of stir fried beef and vegetables, along with plenty of rice. "You know, I still remember when I graduated from the academy," Yane's aunt said. "It was a big day for me. Oh, I almost forgot," She seemed to startle herself. "I have another surprise for you. I'll be leading one of your genin teams!"

Yane smiled as he quickly downed the food in his mouth. "That's great! Any ideas on who's in your genin team?" Yane asked.

"Of course I know, but I won't tell you," she said with a smile, wagging one finger as if he had just done something wrong. Sometimes, his mother's sister acted more like another sister of his.

His brother smirked at Yane. "You know I'm gonna beat you, right?" he said smugly.

"Only if you graduate the academy in the next couple of months," Yane retorted. His brother grimaced back, but his resolve recovered quickly.

"I will beat you one of these days!" he said, and Yane laughed.

"Yeah, but you have to survive Hetan first," Yane said, glancing at his sister. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Actually," Yane's mother said. "He'll be in my class this next session." Grath smiled for a few moments. Then it faded as his mother turned to him. "But that just means I'll be even harder on you than I need to. That is, of course, if you still plan on getting better than your brother." With that she winked at Yane's brother, returning to her own bowl. Grath still looked glum.

"Don't worry," Yane said to him. "I'll give you some help." Grath started to smile, and then realized that that would be taking help from his would-be rival.

"No thanks," he said, and resumed eating. Yane gave a little chuckle and continued his own supper.

After dinner, Yane headed up to his room. Lying on his bed, Yane thought about what all might happen tomorrow. Yane attributed that fact that he couldn't sleep to excitement. He was lying there for about twenty minutes before he realized the real problem. His thoughts wouldn't stop, no matter what he tried to clear his mind. In other words, he was in a genjutsu.

"Hetan!"

The next morning, Yane got up early with the intention of getting to the academy before the others. It was a good thing he got up that early, because when he opened his eyes, what met his eyes made him wonder if he was still asleep. His sister had outdone herself this time. He was on the roof. How she had moved him and all of his furniture onto the roof without him waking was beyond him, but she had.

"Hetan, when I get my hands on you, you are so dead!" Yane screamed. Half an hour later, he was walking to the academy. Hetan was busy putting his stuff back in his room. She always ended up cleaning her pranks back up. Maybe these jokes were why she was still single. Then again, Yane was the only one he knew she used them on.

As he reached an intersection with a road out of the Utoa clan district, Sara came out of the district. Utoa Sara had brown hair dropping down almost to her waist. Her blue eyes opened wide when she saw Yane. She wore purple pants, and her sleeveless shirt was also purple. Her newly acquired genin headband was wrapped around her waist like a belt. She had the same gloves that Bren wore on her arms also, though hers were a light shade of purple. "Hello Yane," she said at last, her voice a little shaky.

"Hi Sara," Yane responded. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."

She quickly shook her head. "No, I'm fine. You just startled me is all." She still sounded a little nervous.

"Well that's good," Yane said. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

She blushed a little and muttered something about seeing him at the academy before running off, back towards the Utoa district she had just left. Yane watched her go.

"I wonder what that was all about?" he asked no one in particular. Unfortunately, he got an answer.

"Maybe she was just trying to get away from you," Bren said behind him. "I don't see any reason not to." Yane turned around and faced him.

"Bren, I don't want to have to hurt you right before we get assigned to teams," Yane said.

"You still haven't proven you can, loser," Bren said back, and turned towards the academy. He and Yane walked on with Yane fuming silently. When they reached the academy room, they sat on opposite ends of the room. Slowly, the room began to fill up. Yane watched as Kasui, Satoru, Jay, and Trent all came in, as well as Sara, Kinslee Kiri, Utoa Anika, Yira Regar, Juo Nemada, and finally Werth Cav. Hetan had arrived partway thru, but there were also four jounin there. One had been there before anyone had come into the room. Mara was also there, as well as two other men Yane didn't know. Once Cav arrived, they could begin.

"Alright, now that we're all here," Hetan began, "let's introduce the Jounin who will be leading your teams." The first Jounin to step forward was the one who had been there even before Bren and Yane.

"I am Henrt Kunio, and I will be leading team 1, for however long the team can survive my treatment." Kunio gave a bit of a laugh at that, but Yane was not amused. He knew Kunio's reputation for being the hardest team leader there was. He had only ever passed two teams. Mara was next, introducing herself to the class, along with her hope they all did really well. The third person to step forward looked pretty tough to Yane.

"I am Juo Unker, and I will teach some of you how to survive on your own." Yane studied him for a moment. He was of the Juo clan, so he wouldn't be teaching Nemada, as she was in the clan with him, and Juos strictly forbid that sort of aid. The final Jounin stepped forward.

"My name is Grant Quay, and I will teach the final team." For just a moment, Yane had a flash in his mind. He was young, and he was talking to someone. Then he heard Quay's voice in his imaginings. It disappeared as soon as it began, and Yane was confused for a moment as to where he was. Then Hetan picked up a piece of paper from the teacher's desk.

"Now I will read off your team assignments," Hetan said. She read her way partway down the sheet. "Team 1, led by Henrt Kunio, will comprise Baed Trent, Thean Yane, and Utoa Sara." Yane looked around at his teammates. Trent seemed eager, but Sara looked like she was going to faint. Yane wondered why he seemed to get all the bad breaks, getting Kunio for a jounin. At least he liked his teammates. But Yane listened as Hetan spoke again.

"Team 2, led by Sone Mara, will include Utoa Anika, Aoi Jay, and Juo Nemada." Yane now looked at the members of his aunt's team. Anika looked excited, while Jay appeared to be skeptical. She was probably thinking about the team match-up. Nemada was almost as excited as Anika. Hetan began reading from the paper again.

"The third team, led by Juo Unker, has the following genin members: Hitomi Satoru, Reikon Kasui, and Yira Regar." Satoru and Kasui smiled at one another. Regar looked from one to the other and rolled his eyes, no doubt misinterpreting Satoru and Kasui's looks. Hetan now read off the final team.

"Team 4, under Grant Quay's leadership, is made up of Utoa Bren, Werth Cav, and Kinslee Kiri." Kiri stood up, pumping her fist in the air.

"Yes!" she said, then blushed and sat back down. Cav shook his head, but Bren was instead watching the jounin, Quay. Yane wondered what Bren was thinking. His thoughts were interrupted by Kunio and Mara turning towards the other jounin.

"Well, see you all later," Mara said with a smile. Kunio simply waved once. Quay and Unker nodded.

"My team, to me!" Juo Unker roared. Everyone in the room jumped, except the other jounin, and of course, Unker himself. His team followed him out, and Quay quietly laughed a little.

"He never ceases to amaze me," Quay muttered in a voice barely audible to Yane. Then Quay spoke louder. "Alright, come with me, guys," he said, and his team left with him.

When they were gone Hetan spoke up again. "I'll see all of you later," she said and headed out of the room. Yane wondered if Mara's team or Kunio's would leave next, but he was surprised.

"Alright," Mara said with a smile. "Our two teams," Mara said with a nod to Kunio, "will work together for this first mission." Sara and Anika glared at each other. Yane had heard that the Utoa clan had fierce rivalries among its members. He hoped that wouldn't cause too much trouble. Then Sara looked over towards Yane, and he smiled at her. Her face turned red and she immediately turned back to the front of the room. Kunio pulled out a map and laid it flat on the table while Yane wondered what was wrong with Sara.

"We will move in two days," Kunio began, "and then we will assault this fortified position." Kunio's finger stabbed out at a collection of buildings surrounded by a wall. It looked like some clan's grounds. "The enemy has captured a package of documents that are extremely important. These documents must be retrieved and returned, unopened, in order to pass the mission." Yane decided to ask the question on his mind.

"Sensei," he started, awarding Kunio the teacher's title, "why wait two days allowing the enemy to fortify the area farther or to leave it entirely?" Kunio sighed.

"You are untrained to work together." He said. "Going in there with no plan and no practice working together would be suicide." Kunio spoke as if lecturing to someone that had no sense at all. "As for them leaving, that is unlikely. Intel reports that they are planning to guard the papers for four days, at which time, a third party will arrive to take them to their final destination. There is approximately the same number of enemy shinobi as there are between our two teams." Yane wondered why they were sending in a team of genin to do this, but no one asked his opinion.

Mara smiled again. "I know you all can do this, so don't worry," she said with a motherly attitude. Yane could already tell that her team liked her, and he didn't blame them. He liked her too. She turned to the other jounin, and asked, "Should we give them the tactical overview of the best way for them to work together now?" Kunio shrugged.

"If you think we should, then let's do it now," he replied. "Me, I'd rather be reading a book right now." Yane wondered what books Kunio read. He would have to ask him later. Then Mara decided to speak again.

"As long as you don't start reading out loud, then feel free to occupy yourself," she said, and Yane thought she was going to say more but she kept it to herself. Kunio just shrugged again, pulling a book out of his pocket. When Yane looked at the title, he suddenly understood what she was going on about. That book was a well known best-seller, or at least it was among men. Yane almost laughed. So Kunio was like that, was he?

Mara shook her head, and Yane could have sworn he heard her mutter, "Men." Then Yane was sure she spoke as she addressed the whole room. "Okay, the first part of our strategy for how you all should work together is this. Yane." Yane turned to look intently at her, while everyone else looked at him. "You will be the point man. You are good at detecting any sort of trap except for genjutsu, which is why Nemada will be right behind you, detecting genjutsu as best she can. You two are the forward group."

Now Yane and Nemada looked at one another. She was about three inches shorter than Yane, and was decently pretty. Her long, Juo clan red hair fell to just above her waist, and her brown eyes looked right at Yane. She wore a red shirt with sleeves to about 3 inches from the shoulder, and Yane being a guy couldn't help but notice the neckline that dropped to show nothing, but give the impression that it was showing a lot. A matching skirt that fell to just above her knees, with a slit up the right leg showing the darker red shorts underneath, completed the outfit, along with her dark wood sandals. On her left shoulder was her head protector and a kunai pouch smaller than most, but then the Juo clan jutsu would not work with kunai anyway, so that wasn't too surprising.

"Now," Mara said interrupting Yane's thoughts and causing him to turn back towards the front of the room. "The next group behind them will be the support group, able to help anyone who needs aid. Jay and Sara, you two will be there. If someone needs help, then the two of you will lend aid. Jay can supply chakra while Sara offers the defensive capabilities of her jutsu." That got Yane's attention. An Utoa that was defensive at Sara's age was unusual.

"The third group will be the hammer blow. Trent, Anika, that's you." The two of them smiled with glee. "Trent, your command of lightning offers a very strong blow while Anika can keep many opponents at once occupied. Together, you should be able to sandwich them between two options. The slow and painful way, or the one or two hits and it's over." The two of them smiled at each other, but Yane couldn't help but see the connection there. Bren and Kasui did the same thing, with Satoru shielding them.

"Now, let's go and train for the mission," Mara said. "We will use a special training field quickly assembled that will mimic the hallways and passages of the real target. I want you and your partner to become very used to working with one another, so that you can act with instinct when the time comes." Yane wondered how well he and Nemada would work together. When he looked at her though, he saw that she was already looking at him. She quickly turned away and got up with the others so they could all go to the training field. As Yane got up as well, he chuckled. This might be more interesting than I thought it would be, he said to himself.

When Yane woke up two days later, all he could think about was the mission. Today was his first genin mission, and he planned to make sure it was a success. Yane quickly checked the inside of his robe-like shirt. All his gear was there, so he was ready to go. Wait, what's this? He thought as he found something he didn't recognize. Soon, he was casing Hetan around the house with the rubber chicken she had stuck in his clothes. "Hetan, when I catch you, you are so dead!" he yelled.

When he got sick of running after his sister, he headed to breakfast. After that, he was on his way to the Academy again to meet up with the jounin and his team for the mission. Yane was so excited he almost walked into Sara coming to the same corner as last time. Both of them jumped back. "Oh, sorry," Yane said. "My mind was wandering."

Sara's face was red. "Oh, yeah, me too," she said, her breathing slowing to an only slightly faster than normal rate. "I was thinking about the mission today." Yane noticed that her voice shook slightly.

"Me too," Yane said. "I wonder how tough our opponents will be." Yane knew he sounded excited. He was, so it didn't matter. "And if I get into a rough spot, then you and Jay can help me out of it, so I'm not worried." Yane was pleased to pay Sara the compliment. Normally, she paid him compliments, and he liked to return the favor.

Sara's face flushed even worse. "I-I-I don't think you will have to worry about that," she stuttered. "You're too good for that kind of thing to happen to you." She sounded a little more confident this time, but she was still shy.

Yane nodded, since Yane was indeed good, and he knew it. "Hey!" he suddenly exclaimed. "We need to go if we don't want to be late. Come on!" he said, and grabbed her hand to pull her along. Him leading her, they ran off down the street.

Sara couldn't believe this was happening. She was probably about as red as a neon sign right now, and she was surprised she was still conscious. Here she was running down the street, hand-in-hand with Thean Yane, and she was still awake? In her widest dreams, she had never thought this would happen, but then Yane didn't have these thoughts on his mind. At least, Sara didn't think he did.

Now they were approaching the entrance to the Academy, which was the lower part of the heart and soul of the town, the Monolith. Tsuki's own Yurokage lived on the upper floors, while the floors right below that were the administration offices that kept the village running smoothly. The floors below that held the ANBU barracks, as all ANBU of the Hidden Village of the Moon were required to live there. Under those floors were the extra rooms where people who were shinobi in the service of the Kage could live. Then came the five floors that made up the Academy.

The bottom floor was the offices and temporary housing for the teachers. Most of the teachers just lived throughout the village, but some choose to live in the Academy. The next two floors held classrooms for the teaching of the students. Above that were two more floors divided into a total of six large practice fields, with anything from moving targets, to staff members who generated shadow clones and genjutsu opponents. One of them was set up like a forest, complete with a little stream that ran through it. The pumps to keep it flowing had to be huge.

In all, the building that housed the Academy was a massive spire with two wings reaching out to create a crescent shaped courtyard. It towered over the whole village, its height due to its 15 floors. The top had a very large crescent moon with the tips pointing up mounted on it. It had to add another 20 feet or so in height. It looked identical to the moon that adorned her headband, which happened to be around her waist instead of her head. As Sara thought again of Yane and him pulling her along, she wished she could live in this moment forever. But it all had to end too soon. Sara noticed Hetan, her and Yane's academy teacher in the entryway of the Monolith, staring rather intently. Then she was gone. Had Sara been mistaken?

They reached the classroom where they were meeting for the mission, and Yane let go of her hand. "See you later, Sara," Yane said. As Sara mumbled out a reply, her heart broke. Of course she was simply dreaming. Yane would never feel that way about her. That didn't stop her from wishing for her dream to come true though. Sara wondered if Yane had the slightest clue as to how she felt about him. She didn't think he did, and that was probably for the better. The less he knew, the less likely he was to run away from what friendship they had.

She took a seat halfway down the room, and glanced over at Yane again. He had just taken a seat a few rows farther forward than her spot. She looked back towards the front of the room though, and found that Yane's Jounin, Kunio if Sara was remembering correctly, was looking right at her. Sara turned scarlet again, and looked at her shoes. Did he suspect what was going on in her mind? She hoped not. When she looked up again, he was reading that book of his again, but Sara was sure he knew everything that was going on in the room.

So far, aside from Sara and Yane, three others were in the room. Kunio was one of them, as well as Aoi Jay and Juo Nemada. The two of them were talking about something, but Sara didn't bother trying to hear what it was. She didn't normally do that kind of thing. Sara sat there quietly calming down from the excitement with Yane as the rest of the people arrived. Even when Kunio started talking again, Sara wasn't paying any attention. She was looking at Yane.

Yane smiled to himself as Kunio started talking.

"Alright, now that we're all here, let's get started," he said. "You all know what to do, and I expect nothing less than a perfect performance." He sounded more like they were putting on a show instead of going on a mission.

Yane glanced around the room at his companions. Jay was sitting in her chair, making the three inches shorter than Yane hard to detect. Her medium brown hair was pulled back into a twist, and would reach her shoulders if let down. Her vivid green eyes stood out from her blue shirt and flared tan pants. Her headband was on top of her head, facing the ceiling, and she had to weigh no more than 110 pounds, if that. Over her shirt was a black vest, and the kunai pouch on her left leg matched its color. Her black boots were tied tightly, and Yane had thought before that she looked pretty nice. She seemed eager, but was still calculating every aspect of the mission.

Trent and Anika were sitting beside one another, heads together and discussing their job. Occasionally, Anika would glare at Sara, but the looks never lasted longer than a moment. The rivalry in the Utoa clan must be worse than Yane knew, because, Sara met those glares with a ferocity Yane had never imagined she had. Then Sara looked over at Yane and saw him watching her. She immediately flushed red and looked at the floor, so Yane looked away from her, instead turning his attention to the Jounin.

Mara and Kunio were talking to each other quietly. Kunio had to bend over considerably, as his 6'7" overtopped Mara's height by a good 17 inches. They each had the customary Tsuki chunnin emblem ring, which was shaped like a crescent moon, matching the image on the forehead protector. Kunio's was on his right middle finger, and Mara's tied into her hair, just to the left of her eyes. It was in the only lock of her almost white blonde hair that wasn't falling to her waist in a ponytail. Kunio's own black hair hung down, obscuring his right eye, but was cut short in the back. Under that hair, you could just barely make out the scar that ran down his face and neck. Kunio's brown eyes contrasted Mara's light gray. Mara wore a red mini cape wrapped around her like a shawl, ending just before her waist and held closed by her forehead protector. Her white, long-sleeved shirt met her red skirt at her waist, which covered the gray pants that disappeared under her gray boots at the shin. Kunio wore a dark blue, long-sleeve shirt under a gray vest. He also wore a pair of similarly dark blue pants, with a short gray cape coming of the back of his belt, covering the back to mid-thigh. His black boots ended just above the ankle, with the forehead protector wrapped around his left thigh, pointing away from him. Yane couldn't help but wonder what was with all the gray.

Kunio straightened. "You all know your jobs, so don't be distracted by unexpected circumstances. This is a very important mission. Don't mess it up." This sounded so different from what he had said a moment ago that Yane couldn't help but wonder what the two Jounin had been discussing. The thoughts left his mind when Kunio said, "Let's go."

Yane stepped on the tree branch, pushing off to jump to the next. Everyone else was right behind him. Next to him was Jay, and following behind them were Trent, Anika, Sara, Nemada, Kunio, and Mara. He sighed with anticipation of what lay ahead. Kunio and Mara were talking to each other quietly, but Yane couldn't help but think they were actually watching everyone, and more besides. Then Jay spoke up beside him.

"Something still seems off about this," she said.

"What do you mean?" Yane asked.

She was looking in front of her, but Yane got the feeling she wasn't seeing anything. "This mission. Why hand it to a group of freshly made genin?" she questioned.

Yane studied her face. She showed little emotion, but it was obvious this had bothered her. "I don't know," he said, looking away. "But I trust the Jounin."

"I'm not sure I do," Jay replied, which caught Yane off-guard. What was she thinking? Then some laughter behind him caused Yane to look over his shoulder. Mara was laughing at something Kunio had said. Then she cut off, looking at the genin.

"Silence from now on, got it?" the female Jounin said, despite the irony. Everyone nodded, and she and Kunio broke off from the rest of them, suddenly moving much faster. They disappeared into the trees so quickly that Yane wondered for a second if they had ever been there in the first place. Now Jay dropped back, and Nemada moved up next to him. The genin were ready. Here we go, Yane thought.

The black masked figure walked through the hallways of the old buildings with a sense of familiarity that had come through days of being in these rooms. His thoughts began to drift to his collection of swords at home when an explosion shook the building. Looking out the window, the guard saw a cloud of smoke and debris rising from where a section of the wall had used to be. A pair of Tsuki shinobi jumped through the new gap, and were soon lost among the buildings. Two dark clothed shapes flashed across the compound towards them, and the guard laughed as he recognized his leading Jounin. So far, everything seems to be going according to plan, he laughed to himself.

Yane watched the walled area, which looked like a small city, not the former grounds of a long-dead clan. He felt everyone in the group was tense, waiting, like him for the signal. They didn't have to wait long. A roar filled the air as a portion of the far wall exploded. The Jounin had done their part, now it was the genins' turn.

"Let's move," Yane said, and he and Nemada flashed forward, followed by Jay, Sara, Trent, and Anika. They moved across the narrow strip of cleared land before the wall, and as they approached it, Yane began weaving a long chakra string. When done, he attached a hook to the end from the folds of his shirt. He tossed his newly made grappling hook at the wall as they reached it, and it landed at the top with a small thunk. He pulled, and the hook bit into the old wood, grabbing a firm hold.

He motioned, and Nemada climbed up, followed by Yane and the rest. Once over the edge, they landed on the small walkway. Yane grabbed his grapple, and quickly dug it into the other side of the wall, tossing the string off the walkway. They slid down one-by-one, and then began moving towards the nearest building. So far, so good, Yane thought.

The group began moving through the rooms, Yane disarming the traps he found, keeping the parts of them that he could. It seemed like this was going to be easy, and Yane didn't like that. Soon though, they turned a corner, and found that the end had been blocked off. Yane leaned towards Nemada. "I'm no good with genjutsu, so can you tell me weather this is or not?" he asked.

"It isn't," she said after a moment. Yane looked at the solid wall of ice with relief.

"Then someone bust it down," Yane said.

"That would attract attention," Jay pointed out. "We should go around."

Yane shook his head.

"He's right," Trent piped in. "We learned this route, we should stick with it. Going around is just asking for trouble."

Nemada sighed. "I got it." She closed her eyes, and chakra coated her body. Yane watched in fascination as it pulled forward off of her, reforming itself. Yane looked at the cat made out of chakra. It walked towards the barrier, small scorch marks showing where it walked. It reached the wall, and suddenly flared up, burning through the ice wall in seconds. The cat stretched, and then faded. Nemada's eye opened, and she began walking forward.

"Come on," the member of the Juo clan said, and the rest followed her. Suddenly, Yane got an odd feeling, and looked down the side hallway they were passing, which had been blocked by the ice wall. He yelled and shoved Nemada forward, the momentum carrying him along with her. Behind him, a trail of ice fired across, right where Nemada and him should have been. Damn it! Yane thought.

The person at the end of the other hallway echoed his thoughts with an exclamation, and disappeared. "Move!" Yane yelled, and move they did, the whole group running through the halls. They turned another corner, and they entered a large room, the floors padded for training. A masked figure sat off to the side, a large sword leaning against him.

"Go on past," the figure said.

Yane looked skeptically at the other shinobi. "And let you come at us from behind? I don't think so." He said.

The figure shrugged. "Ok, but there is about five others coming up behind you."

Trent turned to Yane. "If he's telling the truth, we don't have the time to fight him. We've got to move."

Yane sighed. "You're right, but we can't risk him attacking us too."

"I'll take care of him," Trent replied. "You all run on ahead."

"What if you're still fighting when his back-up gets here?" Yane asked.

Trent shrugged. "Then I run like hell." He said. "Down the wrong hallway," he added, a grin breaking the seriousness of his expression.

Yane nodded, and they hurried off, leaving Trent to fight the single enemy. Just don't die Trent, Yane thought.

Trent cracked his knuckles as the black figure stood. Now Trent could see that he wore a more typically sized sword on his hip, or rather three of them. There were two smaller blades on his legs, and two more on his arms. Several more hilts poked up over his shoulders, revealing even more weapons. Kunai pouches decorated his clothes, and Trent didn't bother trying to count how many he had. Trent's opponent unsheathed the large sword, tossing the sheath behind him, which stopped, and flew onto his back, locking onto it. "You know that I won't allow anyone to interfere in our fight, right?" the sword wielder said.

"I figured as much by your attitude," Trent replied. "Me either."

"Good," the man said. He adjusted his position, and it was clear that he was now in his stance. "Come."

Trent pulled out a kunai, but he already knew that his kunai wasn't going to be of much use in the traditional sense here. He would have to get creative. Trent rushed forward, throwing caution to the wind. Let's see what he's got!

His opponent stayed where he was, his sword held off to one side at an angle. The blade was roughly five feet long. Trent had no chance of reaching the target before the blade would reach him. Unless, the wielder was slow, that is. Trent moved fast, and crossed the twenty or so feet separating them in seconds. The other's blade slashed out faster than Trent thought it could, and he barely rolled to the side in time. As it passed over Trent's head, he felt a strong pressure, as if the blade was actually pressed to his face.

He came up onto his feet, and as he did, he felt a small pain in his head. Reaching up, he found a small cut above his left eye. What was that? Trent wondered. The blade, it didn't touch me. Why am I bleeding? He shut his thoughts up as the swordsman charged at him, the blade off to his right side. Trent jumped up, throwing his kunai at his attacker. The sword flashed and it was knocked aside, but Trent had already gotten to the other end of the room, and released more kunai at the swordsman. The sword moved so fast it seemed to be a knife rather than a five-foot long two-handed sword.

Trent began looking around the room, instead of at his opponent, searching for something to aid him, and spotted it sooner than he thought. Now it was a matter of getting to it. The swordsman was bearing down on him again though, the monster blade swinging out to cut Trent from hip to shoulder. Trent cursed as he realized he couldn't dodge fast enough, and moved his arm to take the blow. A sharp pain cut into Trent's thoughts, and the last thing he saw was the shocked face of his attacker. Good, he thought. It worked.

Yane cursed as he jumped to the side in order to dodge the blast of ice shooting at him. This is getting annoying, he thought. "Someone take him out!" Yane yelled. In response, a number of blood tentacles flashed towards their attacker, and he dodged them narrowly. The tentacles continued their assault, leaving several small cuts on the target, but he managed to dodge just enough to avoid serious injury.

Ice coated the black clad figure's hand, and he punched forward with it, releasing a large blast of ice down the corridor. The blood tentacles, far from their source, froze in its path. "Shit!" Anika said, and started to move out of the way, knowing that she was too slow. Then Sara jumped out in the ice's path. Blood flowed over her arms, forming a large shield in the ice's path. It impacted the shield, but it held against the assault. The fresh blood must have still had enough heat to stop it. Anika only seemed pissed that the other Utoa had saved her.

The shield pulled back into Sara, and as she ducked back around the corner, a small cat made of Chakra ran out from the safety, heading for the now confused attacker. He quickly ran down an adjoining corridor, disappearing for the fifth time! "Will this guy ever stand and fight?" asked Nemada's ghostly voice emanating from the cat, which dissipated as it spoke.

"I doubt it," Yane said. "He's too reliant on surprising us. Once we are able to mount a counter-attack, he gets out fast. That ability must take a toll to use." Yane couldn't help but wonder on whether or not this shinobi was related to Kasui, what with the technique's similarities. He saw his thoughts mirrored on Jay's face as well. "He isn't the real threat, just a stalling action. Let's move!"

Everyone ran down the hallway, turning the opposite way that the ice-user had gone. They managed three turns before a blast of ice announced their attacker once more. Damn it, I hope Trent is doing a better job than we are! Yane thought to himself as he ducked behind a corner for protection.

Trent shook his head, the sensation of control coming over him. "Trent is gone and Trent is here," he said, and his eyes locked onto his opponent, his sword still impacted on Trent's arm. With a shove, he sent the swordsman reeling, and straightened himself, ripping the torn sleeve of his shirt off. He flexed his arm, and the metal, triangle shaped blades imbedded down its length glinted in the light. He let the excess length of them loose, which fell in a large whip shape out from his arm. "Let's start again, shall we?" With that, Trent swung his blade-whip at his attacker, who now switched to the defensive.

The blade spun, fast as it had been at attacking, this time working to keep the small blades attached into a whip from ripping him to shreds. Trent began to maneuver around him, using the whip to keep the blur of a shinobi at a distance from him. Once again, things took a turn for the worse, as the shinobi smacked the whip off at an angle, and threw the monstrous sword after it. The blades hit the wall, and the sword impacted right after them, pinning them against the wall.

Trent didn't have time to cuss as the shinobi ran towards him, pulling two of the swords off his hip as he came. Trent hoped he was close enough. With all his force, he attempted to pull power out of the wall outlet. Luckily for him, it came, and the electricity that arced to him was immediately redirected at his attacker. The swordsman was shot back, and Trent pulled hard enough to free his blades.

"Now then," he said to the shinobi now wielding two shorter swords, "I think we can really begin."

"Yes," the other shinobi said as he stood, his hair flipping back from his black masked face. "Let's begin."

Yane and the rest ran down the hallway, wary of the next attack. When it came, it wasn't what they expected. One minute, Yane was running in the lead, the next, he was flat on his stomach, Nemada standing on his back. "What the hell are you doing?" Yane asked, looking over his shoulder.

"I don't know!" Nemada said, a sly smile on her face, in stark contrast to the panicked tone in her voice. "I just did it, I didn't try to!" Yane wasn't sure what was going on, but his thoughts changed drastically fast when a kunai appeared in her hand. He quickly pushed with his arms and pushed himself up, knocking her off balance. She fell, and Yane moved to back away from her as fast as he could. His progress was stopped when the hallway behind him filled with ice, shooting out from a side hallway.

"Nemada, stop kidding around," Yane said as she clumsily got to her feet, the others behind her now confused, just like Yane.

"I'm not!" she said in that same panicked voice, again despite the smug look on her face. That's when it clicked. That look on her face wasn't one Yane had ever seen on her face, even when she pulled a prank. This was the look of self-satisfaction. "I can't control my body!" she cried, only confirming Yane's fears.

"Sara, I need you to watch my back with that ice freak. Everyone else, find who's controlling Nemada!" Sara moved up behind Nemada, and grasping her shoulders, nimbly leapt onto them and over her and Yane, landing behind him. He was momentarily shocked by her gracefulness, and caught himself with his jaw hanging open just as Nemada swiped at him with the kunai.

The rest of the group split up, Anika heading back the way they had come, Jay down a side passage they had just passed after standing with her eyes closed for a moment. Sara was twirling a pair of blood shields and blocking every blast of ice from the enemy, while Yane focused on Nemada.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she kept repeating, and tears started to leak from that still smug face as she continued to attack Yane. Her swings were awkward and slow, nothing like Nemada's usual, fluid movements. Apparently, the controller wasn't using full control, or they were very unskilled in hand to hand combat. Yane had no trouble dodging the attacks, as he was rather fast himself.

Then, Nemada's face changed, and the kunai dropped from her hand. Her face melted into a frightened one, and the tears began to fall freely, uninhibited. Still crying, she fell forward onto Yane, flinging her arms around him. Yane started trying to comfort her.

"I'm so sorry!" she sobbed. "I couldn't stop myself!"

"I know," Yane said softly. "It's ok, Nemada."

Nemada sobbed on his shoulder, and then something happened Yane couldn't explain. Sara was suddenly there, ripping Nemada away from him, throwing her into the wall. "Sara!" Yane exclaimed. "What are you doing?!"

"Saving your life!" she shouted back, pointing at the floor behind him. Yane looked, and saw a kunai on the floor. Another kunai. "She was about to stab you in the back."

Yane looked at Nemada. "Damn," was all she said. "Time for plan B I guess."

"Nemada, what's going on?" Yane asked. She smiled.

"I don't know what you mean," she said, then suddenly ran forward and grabbed Yane's wrist in one hand, Sara's in the other. She was moving much faster than she had been. "Now!" she shouted.

Yane watched as the ice user turned the corner, readying another shot. It would hit them all. "But it will hit you too!" Yane pointed out.

"I won't be here when it hits, but you three will," she replied and laughed.

"I don't think so," Sara said. As the ice came shooting down the hallway, Sara's blood forced the hand off her wrist, and she pushed both hands forward. A blood shield began to pour out from her arms, but it was moving too slow.

"What...?" said Nemada as she let go of Yane's wrist. Then the ice slammed into the three of them.

Jay was following the Chakra signature she had found. It matched the odd one layered on top of Nemada's, and Jay would bet it was their man. She turned a corner into a room, and saw a black clothed figure cross-legged on the floor. Her eyes opened as Jay entered the room, and her lips peeled back in a smile. "I figured one of you would find me," she said. "Not you though. I thought it would be the Utoa. You look a little boring."

Jay, cautious around her unknown enemy, didn't rise to the bait.

"Too bad you didn't move faster," she, as Jay could hear the feminine tone to it, said. "You think I would have woken up unless I was done? Your friends are dead."

Jay remained quiet, shoving the bubbling concern down. She would have to stay focused for this. They were a mind controller. There was no time to waste. Jay closed her eyes and focused.

"What, lamenting them? Don't worry, you'll be with them soon enough." Jay opened her eyes in time to see the female ninja lunging at her, kunai in hand. She quickly rolled out of the way, and activated the bond she had just formed. She began to feel the mind controller's Chakra filling her own. She turned to face her opponent, and found herself looking into her enemy's eyes. Then she started laughing. She heard a voice say "What, that easy? I wish it had been the Utoa." It was her voice. She had been grabbed by the mind control.

But the control wasn't perfect. She could still feel the Chakra Bond. She could still control it. She had a chance.

"Now you're lost," she said as her body moved towards the nearby window. "How should I kill you?" her voice mocked. Jay didn't care. Her hope lay in pulling the Chakra out as fast as she could. It wouldn't take long, but she needed time.

"Not even fighting it, are you?" her voice questioned. "I wonder why? What are you thinking?"

Jay didn't answer, or rather, didn't even attempt to. Almost there, Just a little longer.

"Wait, what's happening?" she asked. "I'm losing control. How? You're not even fighting it?" Jay focused harder. Almost.

"My Chakra, how did you?" and then Jay was in control. The other fell to her knees.

"What did you…" and then she collapsed. It must have been a side effect of the rapid Chakra drain. Jay quickly turned and ran for her friends. She might still have time.

Yane looked up as Jay turned the corner. Anika had already come back empty handed. "I thought…" she said.

"Did you get him?" Yane asked.

"Her," Jay said. "I got her."

Yane nodded. "Good."

"Is everyone…" she trailed off as she looked past him. Yane knew what she was seeing, but he looked over his shoulder anyway. Sara had done her best, even thrown herself in the way at the last minute. She saved Yane and Nemada, and she had paid for it. "Is she…?" Jay couldn't finish the sentence.

"She's alive," Yane said. "At least, for now. I don't know how serious her injuries are though." Yane studied Anika, kneeled over Sara, tears clouding her eyes. It must be hard, since Sara was a cousin of some sort.

Jay looked off, as if not seeing the scene before her. "She's my cousin," she said. "Did you know?"

Yane looked at her. "No, I didn't."

"My mom's sister," she said, still not seeing anything other than the bloodied Genin. "Her mother is my mom's sister."

Yane sighed and stood. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Jay said.

Yane looked over the group. The ice ninja was on the floor a little farther on. Nemada had slammed a fist into his face while the dust was settling. He wasn't dead, but he would be out for a while. "We have to keep moving," he said.

Anika turned her tear filled eyes on him. "Sara can't move! We can't just leave her!" the emotion in her voice made Yane's throat tighten.

"We have to carry out the mission," he responded.

"Fuck the mission!" came Anika's reply. Nemada placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Anika, we can't help her right now, but we can later," she said.

"Like hell we can't!" she said, and placed her hands on Sara's chest. Blood began to pour out of her arms into Sara.

"What are you doing?" Yane asked.

"I'm keeping her alive," was the reply.

"You'll kill yourself like that!" Yane said back.

"I won't let her die!"

"Stop being so stupid!" Yane shouted. "You can't help her if you faint from blood loss! Now stop that and keep your wits about you!"

"I won't leave her," Anika said, less forcefully this time.

"I'm not asking you too," Yane replied. "I'm asking you to keep her alive despite the attempts guards will make while we finish the mission and bring help." Anika looked up at him and nodded.

"Count on it," she said.

"I will," Yane said. "Let's move!"

With that, he, Nemada, and Jay took off down the hallway. Yane looked over his shoulder once, and saw Jay doing the same. Trent, Anika, Sara, he thought. Don't die!

They didn't run into any more guards the whole rest of the way. They stopped outside the room where the files were kept, knowing there would be a trap.

"How many?" Yane whispered to Jay. She closed her eyes for a few moments as she sensed for Chakra in the next room. Then her eyes opened in shock.

"None," she said. "There's no one in there." Yane stared in disbelief, and then slowly opened the door. Walls covered in file cabinets met his eyes. Other than that, the room was empty.

"Where's the guards?" Yane asked.

The guard who was supposed to be in the records room was on the other side of the clan grounds, where he shouldn't have been. He stood on top of a building, watching the battle bellow. Four Jounin doing battle was not something he would pass up to sit in a room of files to keep some brats from stealing a damn folder.

A building exploded, and pieces went flying through the air, several pieces headed right for the out of place guard. They flew into him, and passed right through. The guard didn't bat an eye as he watched the battle below. "So these are Jounin."

Yane and the others found the folder fast enough, and retraced their steps, coming upon Anika and Sara soon enough. Sara had been bandaged up, but the bandages were already red. She didn't look good. Anika looked up as they arrived.

"Can we move her?" he asked.

"I think so," Anika said. "She seems a little better, but we need a stretcher."

Yane nodded, and began weaving chakra strings. "We'll need a couple strong poles." Nemada and Jay went in search of some while Yane worked. They came back, and put together a stretcher out of the bamboo rods they had gotten out of a practice room, probably practice staves. They got Sara onto it, and Anika and Jay carried her. Yane and Nemada each walked at an end, guarding the two carrying Sara.

They soon reached the corner before the room to where they had left Trent. Yane swallowed his concern and looked around the corner. Trent was sprawled out against a pillar in the room, the other shinobi similar laid out against the opposite pole. The room was in terrible condition, with burns and cuts all over the walls and floors.

They came around the corner and Trent looked up. "Hey guys, how's it going?" he asked.

Yane stared. "What? That's all you have to say?"

"Yeah, why not?" he asked.

Yane shook his head. "Come on, let's go."

"I can't," Trent replied.

Yane looked concerned. "Why, are you to injured?"

"No, but we're not done yet," Trent said, standing.

"We?" Yane asked, looking at the black clothed figure.

He groaned and stood. "Yes, we," he said. "Ready to go again?" the man asked.

"Sure," Trent said. "Let them through though,"

"Of course," the swordsman said.

"Wait, what?" Yane said. "Come on, we have to go."

"Nope," Trent said. "Besides, you need a rear guard. That's me."

"No, you're coming with us."

"Am not, you're not my captain, just another Genin."

"Don't make me drag you along." Yane said.

"Try it," Trent replied, lazily flicking his arm, causing Yane to notice the metal blade whip for the first time. They stared at one another for a few moments. Then the wall exploded in, and the Jounin were there. Kunio was smoking, and looked over his shoulder at the genin.

"What the hell are you standing there for?" he said. "Get moving!"

"Damn," Trent muttered. He looked at his sparing partner, "Sorry friend."

The swordsman nodded. "Yeah, me too." And sat back down, watching the genin run down the hallway. He looked at the Jounin who was smoking in front of him, who returned the look. Then he was back in the fight with the other Jounin. The swordsman settled down to enjoy the show. Too bad. He liked that black-masked lightning user.

Yane and the rest ran down the hallways, turning corner after corner. It's a good thing they had practiced the run several times, because otherwise they would have been lost by this point. They had just turned a corner, and suddenly there was a person in front of them, all clothed in black like the rest of the guards. Yane didn't slow, and yelled over his shoulder.

"We don't have time to stop, so let him have it!" In reply, a bolt of lightning and several blood tentacles shot around and over him, followed by about a dozen kunai. The target simply stood there, not moving an inch. Just before the impacts converged on him, Yane saw his hands flip in two rapid handsigns. It can't be, Yane thought. Then the person was gone in a shower of electricity and dust, but Yane saw it. "Stop!" he said, following his own advice. The blood tentacles retracted back to Anika, and they took in the sight. The kunai hadn't hit their mark. They had bounced off. Yane had seen that jutsu before.

The dust cleared, and they saw the black clad shinobi standing up, where the impact had blown him back a bit, but there was not so much as a tear in his clothing. The air around him seemed to shimmer slightly. That is what did it for him.

"It can't be!" Jay said, realizing that she had seen this too.

"What?" asked Anika. "It's just a good trick."

"We've seen this before," replied Trent, catching on as well.

"You have?" questioned Nemada.

"Yes." This time it was Yane who spoke. "It's the same jutsu Satoru uses." Then he was flat on his chest, knocked down from behind.

He heard the others' fighting the surprise attack, and quickly got back up, cautious about the shield user as he looked to see where the attack had come from. At the other end of the hallway, just past where they had turned into the hallway, stood a ninja. Blood was pouring out of his arms, and it was attacking the entire group at the same time. An Utoa working for the enemy? What the hell was going on?

Yane quickly began weaving chakra threads, and attached them to kunai, which he threw at the shield user, temporarily pinning him in place. Then he pulled out one of his pre-made traps, a chakra chain with kunai at each end. He let it fly at the Utoa, but it was knocked aside by a blood tentacle. Perfect, Yane thought as the second kunai he had thrown went unnoticed until it was to late, the exploding note collapsing the ceiling above the Utoa.

The blood tentacles fell to the floor, and began to slither towards the rubble. So the Utoa had managed to survive. They had to move. They turned towards the shield user, who was just now freeing himself.

"I wonder how strong that shield is?" asked Nemada. Then her chakra moved out of her body, forming the cat again. It ran forward, scorching the floor. It impacted on the shield, just as the shinobi dodged to the side, only scraping it. He went flying into the wall, and through it into the room. The cat was gone before it landed. Nemada sagged towards Yane, and he caught her.

"You okay?" Yane asked. She nodded.

"I will be. I've used by ability too much." Yane nodded.

"Then let's move," he said.

They started down the hallway as quickly as they could, but with a stretcher and Nemada as tired as she was, it was slow going. They didn't run into any more trouble though, although they occasionally heard the Jounin fighting. Or at least they assumed the explosions were them. Before long they were out of the clan grounds and in the woods. Nemada was a little better by then, and they began to move a bit faster. They weren't far into the forest before Sara started shaking.

"Oh shit!" Anika said as she saw Sara start convulsing. Please let us get back in time! Yane thought.

They entered the village after several hours. Sara had stopped shaking, but she was barely breathing at this point. Yane hoped that they weren't too late.

"Get her to the hospital!" Yane said, and took off for the Academy, the folder pressed against the inside of his robe-like shirt. The information inside had better be worth all the trouble they had gone through.

When he got to the room they had met in for the mission, he saw Kunio standing there, completely unhurt.

"How did you get back so fast?" Yane asked.

Kunio shrugged. "I'm fast." Then he held out his hand. Yane gave him the folder. "Nice to see you didn't try to open it."

Yane was confused. "How do you know I didn't open it?"

For answer, Kunio threw the folder out the window. It opened when he did, and Yane could see exploding tags for only a second before it exploded. "That's how."

Then Yane opened his eyes. He was sitting in one of the seats in the room, and so were all the genin, including those not in his team. Everyone else looked just as confused as he did, and they all looked forward at the four Jounin in the front of the room. Hetan was there as well, and she was covered in sweat.

"Congratulations," Kunio said. "You all pass."

"Pass what?" asked Anika.

"The last thing I remember was being injured," said a voice, and Yane looked to see Sara completely unharmed.

"That is because you thought you were," replied Mara. "It was necessary for this first mission."

Yane was still confused. "What do you mean?"

"That whole mission never happened," Quay responded.

"What?" said Kiri. "What about that person I controlled? I almost got them to stab one of the other intruders! You're saying that never happened?"

"What!" exclaimed Nemada. "You were the one controlling me!" A cold chill slid down Yane spine.

Kiri looked very confused. "But they didn't look like you. They were clothed in black, and their face was covered too."

"Actually, nobody was," Unker said. "You were all under Genjutsu."

This time the room exploded with a unison, "What!?"

Kunio nodded. "Thanks to our very talented Chunnin here," he indicated Hetan, "your entire first mission caused you to never have to leave this room."

"Well, technically, we had to move you in here," Mara added. "You entered the genjutsu when you came into the Academy." Yane stared at his sister, and he wasn't the only one. She could do that with genjutsu? And to twelve people at once! Yane could barely believe it.

"That's incredible!" Kasui said, and several others echoed her. Hetan blushed at the compliments.

"I'd like to get some rest now, if you all don't mind," Hetan said, and then left the room. Yane stared after her, wondering what it must take if even that good wasn't enough to be a Jounin. Kunio spoke again then.

"We expect to see you all in the designated meeting areas posted in the lobby in the morning. Your next missions await." The room began to empty, but Yane caught up to Kunio.

"So the other two teams were the guards?" he asked.

"Yes," was the reply. "You did well. You'll make a good team leader someday."

Yane stopped and stared after the Jounin as he walked away. He just complimented me, Yane thought. He never compliments anyone. With that thought, he turned and headed home. He was extremely tired, even though he hadn't really done anything today. "Tomorrow will be even better though," he said to no one in particular. Then a voice behind him made him turn.

"Hey, you want to get something to eat?" asked Nemada, looking a little embarrassed. Yane smiled at the offer. Rest could wait.

"Sure, let's go," he said. "My treat."

Sara watched around the corner as Yane and Nemada walked off together. She couldn't help feeling the pain at having to watch, instead of being in Nemada's shoes. She would never have the courage to admit her feelings for Yane though, not to him. With a sigh she headed off to her clan's grounds. She almost followed Yane and Nemada, but that wouldn't be right. She disappeared down a street, carefully holding back the tears that wanted to come out.

Hours later, Jay sat on the branch of a tree, her Genin headband in her lap. It wasn't right, what had happened to Sara. If only someone could have used medical ninjutsu when she had first been hurt, it might have changed things. Jay was glad that it had been fake, but it still seemed too real to her. I have to get stronger, She thought. She looked out from her perch over the ocean the lapped at the shore of the village, the moon's reflection in the water, and the one floating above it, high in the sky. She sat there for a long time before heading home.

Yane had been home for a while, but his dinner with Nemada and the day's excitement had kept him awake for hours. He finally felt tired enough to go to sleep, and he went up to his room. He opened the door, and then he was drenched, the bucket of water that had been carefully positioned swinging merrily in the air, still attached to the ceiling. "Hetan!" Yane shouted.