A/N: Hi again. Just incase I wasn't clear enough the first time…
Disclamer: I do not, in any way shape or form, own Naruto. Nor do I own Kouji and Kouichi. This is purely a fanfic.
Chapter 2, Teammates and Leaders
"Good morning, Yuki-chan. Feeling better?"
"Malao? How the hell did you get in this time?" Yuki blinked sleepily at her friend, raising a silver eyebrow at the state of his normally brown hair. It was covered, as were numerous other parts of him, in a fine back powder. With a groan of incredulity as her muddled mind connected the pieces, she answered her own question. "The chimney?! Mfph, you've tracked soot all though my house! I can't believe you! You had better believe that I'm not cleaning it up," she growled, tossing off the sheets and stretching as she stood up.
"M'kay then, but it looks awfully dirty out here," Malao remarked, looking over his shoulder at the trail of ash with a smirk.
"You're cleaning it up, IDIOT!" Yuki yelled at him, literally kicking him out of her room and slamming the door. Stalking over to her closet, she pulled out her silver tank top and skirt, slipping it on over her blue fishnet shorts and sleeveless shirt. She grabbed her fishnet gloves from her bedside table and wrapped her forehead protector around her arm. Running a brush though her silvery hair, she wrapped it into a loose ponytail to keep it out of her face.
Yawing slightly, she picked up a small pendent threaded onto a pale blue ribbon. A wetness lingered in the corners of her eyes as she lightly traced the silvery insignia. Her mother's necklace. She her lips curved in a small smile as she fastened it securely around her neck. Then, taking a deep breath, she opened the door.
Miraculously, Malao seemed to have found the broom, which actually wasn't too surprising in itself considering how many times he'd needed it. The miracle was more of the fact that he had actually cleaned up most of the soot. Stifling another yawn, she walked over to the small kitchen. It was already occupied by Malao, who was boiling water for tea as though he lived there.
"Malao, why are you in my house again?" she asked groggily.
"Well, I thought you'd need to wake up, considering you need to meet with your team," he said, jubilant as always.
Damn him and his cheerful-morning-ness. Wait, did he just say…?
"Oh for the love of…I didn't get my students yesterday!" she voiced an extremely colorful string of words as she ran for the door. Malao grabbed her arm as she passed him.
"It's alright. Calm down, I got them for you. They'll be waiting for us in a few hours at the training field. You know, the one Yohji-sensei used to take us to?" he soothed, guiding his drowsy friend back to her seat. "Eat something," he coaxed, knowing full well that she was often inclined to skip breakfast.
"I'm not hungry," she grumbled, still irritated about the whole team mix-up.
"That's the spirit!" Malao grinned, dumping a plate of toast in front of her, quickly followed by a cup of tea. "I know you don't actually like coffee, but this should wake you up anyway."
Yuki glared at him.
"Did you hear a word I just said?"
"Yup, two actually. You said, 'I'm' and 'hungry'. It'll get cold."
"You have very selective hearing," she grumbled, nibbling on a slice of toast as he laughed.
)( - )(
"Why are you staring at me like that?" Moya snapped at the girl he sensed standing more or less to his right.
"I'm sorry. I was just trying to imagine what it must be like to be…you know…" Kaia trailed off awkwardly.
"Blind? I wouldn't know otherwise now would I?" he said agitatedly.
Kuromei ignored the two of them, cutting and mending his hand under the tree where he had slept the night before.
"Is that why you came to get me this morning?"
"Well, yeah. I just wanted to help, in case you couldn't find it without anyone here. I didn't know Kuromei-kun would be here."
He looked up when she said his name. 'Kun'? That meant she thought they were friends didn't it? Well, he didn't care. She could delude herself all she wanted, it was her problem.
"I don't want your help, and I don't need your pity," Moya said angrily, turning his back on the girl. "Next time, you just worry about yourself," he stalked across the clearing, stubbing his foot once on a rock, before sitting near the edge.
He looked as though he might have been meditating, but in actuality he was listening to his surroundings, trying to 'feel' where things were by the life-energy they possessed. People and animals were easiest, plants were harder, but still readable. Unfortunately, nonliving things, such as the rock he'd nearly tripped over, were impossible for him to sense. Yet.
Kaia sighed, having failed utterly in her attempts to become friends with her blind teammate, she turned her attention to the other boy.
"Hi, Kuromei-kun. I would have gotten you too, but I didn't know where you lived," she smiled affably at him as she spoke. He found her exuberance annoying.
"Nobody knows where I live," he finally muttered when she didn't give up after a few minutes of glaring.
"Oh."
He thought his answer might have discouraged her, but after a moment of contemplation, her eyes flashed green and she started asking him questions, mainly revolving about his history, family life, what he used to do, etc, but she also included questions he wouldn't have thought of, such as what his favorite food was, and where he'd want to go if he could go anywhere in the world.
She just kept talking. Feeling as though she had surely exceeded the forty-seven-question record by now, he growled.
"Now I have a question for you." She stopped in the middle of a 'what' to listen. "Do you realize how annoying you are?"
Kaia blinked at him, looking surprised.
"I, uh, I guess not. Sorry," she sighed, seeming somewhat downcast. Her eyes turned back to their previous gold, but the hue was more washed-out looking than it had been before. She sat beside Kuromei, looking rather disappointed as both boys ignored the presence of the others. She looked from one to the other, then sighed, feeling slightly bored. She hated being bored, frowning she tried to think of something to do to pass the time until the jounin, or at least someone remotely friendly, arrived.
Sprawling forward on her stomach, Kaia pulled out her 'claws', her own design of weaponry. She had cut a suriken into three segments then threaded them onto a cloth band to strip of material, weaving them into the thin chain within. They were sturdy, strong and comfortable, as long as you weren't on the business end of those points.
Unfortunately only one was finished, but the other would take less time now that she had a better tool to use. Her other 'tool' was what she had used to cut the suriken, but it was hard to use safely with something so small. A scar on her arm was testimony to the power of her hidden 'fangs', made accidentally when her grip slipped, causing the blade to skim lightly along the skin. Luckily her grip had been loose, but even so, it had cut her to the bone, and resulted in a wooden replacement until she learned to draw and duel properly. Her brother had kept her 'fangs' for almost an entire year, much to her disappointment.
Smiling to herself, Kaia pulled the half-finished set from her weapons pouch. She had lined the chain up last night, and all that remained was to attach the pieces and measure it to fit; with nothing else to do while she waited, Kaia seized the opportunity to finish her set. The glint of the blades as she cut into the chain did what her friendly disposition could not.
"What's that?" Kuromei asked, his interest sparked by the unfamiliar weapons.
"My claws," Kaia answered, thrilled to have at least gotten his attention, "Why do you ask?" She was determined to keep it now that she'd finally acquired it.
"They looks different, that's all," he said, striving to remain nonchalant despite his curiosity.
"They should, they're my own invention," she said proudly. Satisfied with the tip she'd been attaching, she moved on to the next. Kuromei watched the blades cutting and melding with the chain as Kaia attached the second tip. When she reached for a third, however, he voiced his opinion.
"It would be more dangerous if you used a long blade, with a hook on the end. It could rip through skin better that way."
"True, but it wouldn't work with three blades, it'd be too awkward," Kaia looked thoughtfully at her almost finished work. "Maybe if I used two though… but it wouldn't work for what I want these to do."
"They aren't meant to 'strip the flesh from the bone of thine enemy' or something like that? Too bad," Kuromei sighed.
Kaia stared at him.
"What are you, some kind of psychopath? You say you like blood and you cut yourself all the time. Now you say that any tool that isn't solely for killing isn't worth the effort?" her tone was still cheerful, conflicting with her slightly negative questioning.
"I never said you had to kill with it," he sulked.
"You're a strange one, psycho-boy," she commented, though she seemed genuinely pleased that her new teammate appeared to be a nut.
Moya, on the other hand, was content to ignore the two and their unusual conversation. Allowing anyone to become close to you was like standing under a trap as you were setting it. It would get you in the end, and you would surely regret it. Friendship was one trap he was never going to be caught in.
"Well, what were you planning on using it for?" Kuromei asked.
"Well, they're really useful for climbing, or if I need to get a good grip on something. I wanted to make a pair, so that I can use them together. That's why they need to be shorter, if they were too long they would get in the way. I do want to use them for fighting too, but it would be kind of inconvenient if I got my hand stuck on someone because the hooks got caught," Kaia said as she finished the last piercing. Wrapping the band around her wrist one last time to be certain, she slashed off the excess material.
"Done!" she purred happily, sliding them both onto her hands and fastening them with her teeth. She held up her hands, pleased with the way her work had come out. Kuromei watched with open interest as she easily cut the scraps of chain into bits.
"How did you cut that?" he finally asked.
"With the claws," she answered, glancing at him. It had been rather apparent, she'd just done it.
"No, I mean how did you cut the weapons," he rolled his eyes as he clarified what he felt should have been an obvious question.
"Oh," Kaia sat back up so she could face him. "I used my fangs to cut the pieces. They're too awkward to use for piercing the chains though. I kept cutting through them by accident. My brother could've done it with his fang, but I wanted to make them on my own."
"Your 'fangs'?" Kuromei asked.
What, did she rip out a tooth or something?
From experience, he knew that most teeth did not grow back easily, if at all. With the exception of baby teeth, which were actually supposed to come out and be replaced by bigger, sharper teeth.
"Mm-hmm. But those I can't show you. My brother would take them again if I fool around with them. 'They aren't toys, you need to show respect for your weapons.'" she mimicked.
Kuromei shrugged, apparently loosing interest in the conversation.
Too bad, it would have been interesting to see what could have sliced through those 'claws' so cleanly. I'll bet it could cut clean through bone too. Now that would be interesting.
Seeing that Kuromei wasn't interested anymore, Kaia scratched the claws in the dirt, making little furrows in the ground. She could probably break them in on a tree or something, but didn't really feel like it. Not right now anyway, maybe if she got bored again later.
Moya moved for the first time since he sat down, his face turning towards his left. A few moments later, the faint crunch of leaves could be heard coming from that direction.
"It's the boy that was teamed with the twins," Moya muttered and returned to his pensive state.
"Hi Kouichi!" Kaia bounded to her feet. "You're early, the jounin haven't gotten here yet," she explained cheerfully.
"Oh, ok," he mumbled, stopping at the edge of the clearing. He just stood there, looking down at his sandals.
"You can hang out with us if you want, it doesn't matter if you're not on our team," Kaia offered. Koucihi looked up, glancing from the grinning Kaia to the moody Kuromei and then at Moya, sitting apart from everyone else.
"Um, no thanks," he spoke even more quietly than before.
Kaia sighed, someone else who didn't want to talk, or do anything.
She tapped her claws together absently, looking around at the group.
Odd, Kouichi seemed different today, less pale. She studied his lightly freckled face for a few moments until he became evidently uncomfortable with her scrutiny. 'Maybe coming early was a bad idea,' she thought glumly to herself as she looked back down at her hands. It wasn't much fun sitting in silence.
After what seemed like forever, but was in reality only a few minutes, Yuki and Malao arrived at the clearing.
"Brings back memories, don't it?" Malao grinned, nudging Yuki with his elbow as he spoke.
"Yes," she muttered, "You know, I'd actually managed to forget some of them."
"The time you fell out of the tree was so funny! You landed in that giant mud puddle, remember? And then you sank, and we all had to pull you out, you looked like a mud-monster!" Malao chuckled to himself at the thought. Yuki looked irritated.
"Thanks for the reminder," she said dryly. She stopped dead when she caught sight of the genin waiting for them. "Malao, what time did you tell them to get here?" she yelled, whirling on him. "Honestly, I can't believe that you'd actually forget about your students after just one day!"
"I didn't forget," he protested, holding his hands up defensively. "They're just early." Yuki glared at him for a moment more, then sighed, shaking her head as she turned to face the group.
"Alright, I'm Kitsune Yuki, and I'm team five's sensei. I couldn't make it yesterday, so today we'll make up for it," she said, looking at the four of them.
"Which ones are mine?" she asked Malao in an undertone.
Moya sighed. Hopefully, she wasn't really irresponsible.
"Kaia, Kuromei, and Moya, you go with Yuki," Malao told them.
Kaia bounded eagerly to her feet, as Kuromei shuffled behind her. Moya stood up slowly and walked carefully towards the new person.
"Alright, team, follow me." Yuki gestured at them to come and started walking away. Malao flashed her a thumbs-up as she passed, and she half smiled back. Kouichi looked nervously at Malao as the others left.
"I've got a surprise for you guys. We'll just wait for the others to come first…oh! Kaia, did your brother say anything before you left this morning?" he called at the girl's retreating back. She stopped and, turning, she called back to him.
"He had to go see the Hokage, but he said he'd take his student for today, and then tell him to join our group until he gets back from his mission," she told the jounin rapidly before catching up to her group again, dodging Kouji on her way out.
The boy scowled at her as she passed, 'annoying jabber-jaws.' He strode into the clearing, barely acknowledging Malao's presence, his gaze traveling indifferently over the other genin. He crossed his arms as he waited impatiently for the arrival of his teacher. Kouichi watched him timidly, looking away quickly when the other boy glanced back at him.
Right on time, the Hoshi twins scampered into the clearing, laughing at each other about something or other.
"Good morning!" Panda said sunnily.
"It's afternoon, silly," her brother told her, resulting in another fit of giggles on her part.
"All right, now that we're all here, here's the surprise," the twins looked eagerly at Malao as they waited to find out what was going on. "We have our first mission today-"
The jounin was cut off by an excited squeal. He shrugged slightly, unoffended by the interruption. "Nice enthusiasm, but it isn't that kind of a mission."
Panda shrugged, it didn't matter to her what kind of a mission it was, just having one was exciting. Ryuji obviously agreed with his sister, but Kouichi seemed uncertain again.
"Kouji, Kagemaru-kun will be here later, he's at a meeting right now," Malao told the brooding genin, who shrugged carelessly and leaned back against the tree.
"Well, come on everyone," the jounin looked as though he was trying to heard his group out of the clearing. "He'll be here soon," he called over his shoulder to the boy again as he and his team faded from view.
Kouji looked irritably around at the empty space, impatient to get started.
A/N: Hi again...er...again The next few chapters will be about what the different groups are doing. I thought it would be less confusing to separate them from each other. So the next few chapters might be rather short, but they'll (hopefully) be updated faster than this one was.