Serena and Hina:
By the time they reach their destination, Serena is exhausted. Even Hina, who has more stamina, has started to slow down. "We'll rest here. One of the wind bijuu should sense us soon and come to greet us. Remember to be polite. We need their permission to enter their territory, or they'll get angry. If you do manage to ally yourselves with one of them, then it's likely you'll eventually be considered family, thus giving you permission to enter and exit their territory freely," says Hina.
She senses one of the bijuu approaching an hour later. Did it take them that long to notice they were here, or did they just not consider their human visitors to be a threat? The bijuu that comes to greet them is different than she expected. For one thing, it's only slightly bigger than an eagle. She had heard that bijuu were supposed to be huge. The fact that the forest they were in had trees larger than anything found in the human realm was an indication of that. Larger planet, larger creatures living in it. Right?
Hina senses her confusion. "The bijuu can condense their chakra to make themselves smaller. The fact that this one has done so, means that they're willing to talk to us. They wouldn't have bothered to shrink down if they were just going to attack us," says Hina.
When the bijuu lands on the tree next to them, Hina gives a short bow to him. She follows her cousin's lead and gives a bow of her own. "Humans," says the bijuu. "I am Saith, third in command of this pack. State your names and intentions."
"My name is Hina. I am here as my cousin's guide." Her cousins looks at her expectantly. Guess it's her turn for introductions.
"My name is Serena. I have come here to see if anyone from this pack would be willing to ally themselves with me; to connect their chakra to mine," she says.
Saith studies them for a moment before nodding. "It has been a while since any of us has had children. One of us might be willing to make a deal with you, child. Follow me."
Saith leads them to a meadow near the forest. Serena assumed it was the pack's meeting place because she saw a few dozen of them here. A few of them were in the trees or resting on the ground, but most of them were flying in the air. As she watched, some of them did loop de loops and other aerial maneuvers. It actually looked like they were playing. She saw a white wolf napping in the shade of a tree. Did birds and wolves get along?
"You'll need to introduce yourself to Alpha Serata first. If she gives approval, you can start talking to the others and find one willing to connect their chakra to yours," says Saith. "Also, you don't have to refer to her as alpha. Just call her Serata and talk politely. Unlike humans, most bijuu don't use suffixes."
She nods to show she understands, so Saith leads them to the middle of the meadow. "Wait here while I inform Serata that you are here," he says before flying straight up. From what she can see on the ground, it looks like he is flying towards the largest bird in the sky. The two birds seem to converse for a while whilst flying in a circle before they both abruptly dive towards her location.
The bird that lands in front of her is three times her height. The bird has white feathers and pink eyes. "Welcome to my territory, human. I am Serata."
"Thank you for meeting with me, Serata. My name is Serena Hakuo," she says with a slight bow.
"Serena, there are many bijuu in my pack. It would take forever for you to speak to all of them. Why don't you tell me something about yourself so I can give you an idea of who you should start off talking to? What are your likes, dislikes, hobbies? Are you a patient person or hot-headed? That sort of thing," says Serata.
"I like my family. My twin sister and I want to get strong to protect our family, especially our younger adopted brother and our younger cousin. I enjoy thinking up new ways to use seals. I don't like bullies. The village doesn't like my adopted brother because he is the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. Even though the Kyuubi was sealed into Naruto to protect the village, they only see the fox when they look at him. It isn't right. Naruto didn't ask to be a jinchuriki and he isn't the Kyuubi." Her hands were clenched by her sides and a scowl was on her face.
"Naruto is one of the sweetest kids I've ever met. He was starved for affection when we met him. I don't want to know what his life would have been like if we hadn't taken him in. The orphanage kicked him out when he was five; children shouldn't have to live alone."
"You wanted to know about my personality, right? Well, I think I'm compassionate. I don't like to see people being treated unfairly. I'm not as prone to violence as my sister, though. I've sensed genuine hate from her before directed towards the villagers. I think it makes her uncomfortable to feel that way about the people in her village, though. I can't bring myself to hate them. They're full of fear. They were helpless to do anything while the Kyuubi destroyed their village. Every time they see Naruto, they're reminded of their helplessness and the blood of their loved ones. It doesn't excuse their actions, but it makes them understandable."
Serena paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "Let's see. My hobbies are learning more about seals and training. Kira and I help Naruto and our cousin, Sasuke, train as well. And I think when I become a genin, I'm going to ask my Jounin sensei to teach me genjutsu. I can use genjutsu to capture an enemy if it isn't necessary to kill him. I think I would be better suited for spying types of missions rather than assassination."
"Um, I try to stay calm most of the time. I don't like to lash out at people when I'm angry; and I know panicking won't help me solve my problems. When I'm sad, I don't get angry like my sister does. I just feel sad. I want to help Naruto achieve his dream of becoming Hokage. Despite all the hardship he's endured, he still manages to be optimistic. I think he would make a good Hokage someday."
Serata watches the human girl ramble on, amused. Most of the humans she encountered weren't this open right from the beginning. Perhaps this child understood on some level that this pack would become her family. So far, she likes what she hears about this child. She knows of a few bijuu in her pack who would be perfect partners for this child; but at the same time, she also wants to keep the child for herself. This human, Serena, is not violent by nature, but will fight to protect her family. That is a trait of an alpha. Who better to pair up with a human alpha than a bijuu alpha?
"Serena," she says when the child is done talking, "I have decided. I will bond with you."
Serena blinks slowly, not having expected that. She notices her cousin's eyes have gone wide. Was it that unusual for Serata to choose her? She can sense amusement from Serata because of their reaction.
"Alpha's do not chose human partners as often as the other bijuu because it doesn't take us as long to have children of our own. But I have already had a couple of natural born children. You are an interesting child, and I think we will get along well," says Serata.
"Thank you. I look forward to working with you," says Serena.
Serata looks at Hina, "You know how to create the seal, correct? We should begin now."
Hina nods her head in agreement. She unseals ink and a brush from one of her wristbands. "The seal will need to go on your back, Serena. We should go somewhere private for this. I imagine you don't really want them to see you shirtless."
Serena could feel a blush forming. "Ah, no, I don't." She follows Hina farther out into the forest. Once they're far enough away, she removes her shirt and sits down. It takes Hina about an hour to place the seal on her.
"Alright, you can put your shirt on now. Let's go back and connect your seal to Serata." Says Hina.
After they get back to the meadow, Serena tugs her shirt down a bit so that the top of the seal is showing. Serata leans down and presses her beak against the seal, and then pours chakra into it. As the bond forms, Serena's eyes glow pink, the color of Serata's chakra.
Serena turns and looks at Serata. She can feel the bijuu's chakra in her. It was odd. She also felt something different in her mind. She had heard that the human and bijuu who were connected with this seal could communicate telepathically. Was she feeling that bond forming?
"What happens now?" Serena asks. Serata tilts her head, thinking.
"How long were the two of you planning on staying here?" asks Serata.
"About a week," replies Hina.
"Then for the next week, Serena, you and I will work on learning how to communicate using the bond. We can learn more about each other, and I will introduce you to a few of my pack mates," says Serata.
Kira and Meira:
Kira frowned at the seal on her wrist. It was glowing pink. And she could sense bijuu chakra from it. Had Serena already bonded to a bijuu? Meira and she hadn't even made it to Ravka's pack yet. Her sister couldn't have been there for more than a few hours, and she had already befriended one of the bijuu. Her sister made friends so much more easily than she did.
"What's wrong?" asks Meira, glancing back at her. Kira didn't think she had seen her seal glow. Meira was traveling ahead of her.
"It's not important," she replies, increasing her speed. She wanted to get there as quickly as possible. She didn't like being separated from her sister for very long. Although she supposed that this was good practice for when they were on separate teams. Once they were old enough to go on missions outside the village, they could be separated for months at a time.
It took them a few more days, but they finally reached the edge of Ravka's territory. They only had to wait a few minutes before one of the bijuu came to greet them. The bijuu has dark green eyes with feathers of different shades of green.
"Well, isn't this a surprise. We haven't had a human visit us in years. Welcome, humans. My name is Daroth, second in command of this pack," he says.
"It's nice to meet you, Daroth. My name is Meira, and this is my cousin Kira. We've come here in the hopes that one of your pack will be willing to bond with her." Meira bows slightly to the bijuu to show respect. Kira, not knowing the customs of the bijuu, copies her cousin's example.
Daroth observes the two humans for a moment. "You two are from the Hakuo clan, aren't you? This human child, does she live in this dimension or the human realm?" he asks.
Meira gives him a puzzled look. "She lives in the human realm. Does that matter?"
"It has been a while since one of us has heard news about the human realm. Whoever is bonded to the child will be able to see the human realm from her eyes. And then her bonded bijuu can share what he sees with the rest of the pack. It will make life interesting. We get bored after a while of nothing new happening, you know," says Daroth.
"Anyway, I'll take you to where the others are now. Follow me." Daroth leads them through the forest and to a lake. Birds of different colors and sizes can be seen flying through the air. Kira even sees a few of them dive into the lake. It actually looked like they were able to fly underwater. She didn't understand how that was possible, but assumed it was because they were water bijuu. Chakra creatures didn't have to obey the same laws of physics that humans and animals did.
"Ravka is currently flying. You wait here while I'll announce your arrival," says Daroth before flying high into the sky. The bird he flies over to has dark blue feathers. After a minute, both Daroth and Ravka fly over to a few other bijuu. It is a group of seven that returns to the ground to sit in front of her.
"I am Ravka, the leader of this pack. You've met my second, Daroth. The other five are Hera, Mithka, Yara, Rita, and Jarta. They all have different personalities. I wish for you, Kira, to talk to each of them and tell me which one you get along better with."
She spends the next few days talking with the five of them. She learns that Hera and Jarta both have short tempers like her. Yara is the most creative out of the five of them and likes to day-dream. Rita has a calm personality while Mithka gets excited easily.
Although she likes all five of them, she has to admit that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to bond with Hera or Jarta. Kira knew she needed someone calm, not someone who would agree with her when she wanted to start yelling at idiots.
She thought that Yara's creativity complimented her own nicely. You had to be able to think outside the box to create new seals, after all. Rita has a calming influence on her. Perhaps Rita could keep help her deal with her anger issues? And she liked Mithka, but he was a bit childish for her. The life of a ninja wasn't all sunshine and daisies. Although Mithka probably had a serious side, and he might be able to cheer her up if she lost a comrade.
Of course it wasn't just her opinion that mattered. The bijuu had a say in whether they wanted to be bonded to her. Well, even if none of the five wanted to bond to her, there were other bijuu in Ravka's pack. Eventually, it was time to talk to Ravka about what she thought about each of the five bijuu. Ravka patiently listened to her as she listed both the positive and negative personality traits of the bijuu.
"So you aren't sure which one you want to bond to, but you know Hera and Jarta would only encourage your anger issues," says Ravka.
"Yeah, pretty much," says Kira.
"Kira, what would you say is your greatest achievement?" asks Ravka.
Kira stares at her for a moment, puzzled. Her greatest achievement? She had to think about it. Out of everything she's done in her twelve years of life, what was she most proud of? She glanced down at her wrist. She had tried for three years to create a telepathy seal; and although it hadn't worked the way she wanted, it had still created a link between her and Serena.
"This, I think," says Kira, holding out her wrist to show Ravka the seal. "I originally wanted to create a telepathic bond between my sister and I. It didn't end up working out like that, but Serena and I now share a mindscape. We can use this connection to locate each other anywhere. We can also leave each other messages in the mindscape."
Ravka leaned down to get a closer look at the seal, so Kira made the seal unfold to its full size, which was from her wrist to her elbow. Ravka had been alive a long time and had learned seals from some of the humans that had visited her pack. What she saw on this girl's arm was amazing. 'She created a soul-binding seal. This level of seal work is advanced for someone her age. But I don't see an anchor seal anywhere. What will happen if one of them dies?'
"This is rather impressive. Did you and your sister create this by yourselves? How old were you?" Ravka asks.
"We started working on it when we were five and finished when we were eight. We didn't ask for anyone's help because we didn't think they would allow it. They might have thought it was childish or dangerous to try, I don't know. Children don't tend to care about risks as much as adults do. At the time, we had yet to see the seal that bonds a human and a bijuu. Perhaps if we had, we would have been able to actually create a telepathy seal, instead of what we have now. But, I don't regret it. This seal has its uses," says Kira, smiling contently.
Ravka tilts her head slightly, thinking about Kira. 'This child can admit to her faults, but doesn't get depressed about it. She doesn't seem to have self-esteem issues nor is she arrogant. She has talent. I wonder how much farther she could go with the advice and chakra from a bijuu. If Kira passes her talent onto her children, and her bijuu partner passes their chakra onto the child, it will make for a very powerful Yokai.'
Ravka decides to spend the rest of the week Kira is here getting to know the human child. If Kira is surprised by this change, she doesn't remark upon it. On the last day, Ravka visits her children. She needs to know if her natural born children would be against having a Yokai sibling in the future. After finding out that they're okay with it, she goes back to the humans and asks Meira to place the seal on Kira.
Initially Meira suggested that the seal be put on Kira in a more private location. Kira had responded by asking whether bijuu were ever attracted to humans. After finding out that, no, they weren't, Kira takes off her shirt there. "If they don't care, then neither do I," she had said.
'Kids her age are usually shyer than this,' thinks Meira, both confused and amused. How did her cousin become this self-confident? She didn't think Serena was like this.
Ravka approved of Kira's attitude. Bijuu had no need for clothes; and she had always thought of human shyness as a weakness. Ravka did not want to be bonded to a shy, meek human. Strength of will was just as important as strength of the body.
After the seal was drawn, Ravka leaned down to touch her beak to the seal before channeling chakra into it. She could see Kira's eyes flash light blue for a moment, the same color as her chakra. After a few minutes, she could start to feel the bond form. With enough practice, Kira and she would be able to talk to each other through the bond.
"Serena and Hina will have already started to head back. We should leave soon," says Meira.
There is a part of Kira that wants to stay here longer, to continue to talk to the bijuu around her, to learn more about them. But she also misses her sister and the rest of her family in Konoha. Reluctantly, she says goodbye to her new friends before following after her cousin.
Serena and Hina:
"It'll take Kira and Meira longer to get here because the water bijuu territory is farther away. We can either wait here for them or head back to the village," says Hina. The two of them were currently standing in the area where the four of them had decided to split up. Kira and Meira would have to travel past this area to get back to the village.
"I'd like to wait for them, if that's alright with you," says Serena. Her cousin doesn't protest, so Serena sits down under the shade of a tree. She had never been away from her sister for this long and is anxious to be reunited. She glances down at the seal on her wrist and is surprised to see it glowing blue. She looks at it with a perplexed look. It takes her a moment before she realizes what's going on. Her sister must have found a bijuu to bond to. Did the seal on her sister's wrist glow pink when she had bonded to Serata?
Serena glances over at Hina. Doing nothing for three or more days would be a wasted opportunity. Since her cousin is obviously a seal master, she should ask her questions about sealing. She can use this time to improve her sealing skills, and perhaps she'll do some taijutsu training as well. She needed to improve her physical strength.
Kira and Meira:
"It looks like Serena and Hina are waiting for us; I can sense them up ahead," says Meira.
Kira keeps her eyes locked in the direction she can sense her sister and speeds up her pace. Finally, she gets to see her sister again!
'You really care for her, don't you?' Kira nearly trips as she suddenly hears Ravka's voice in her mind. They hadn't really had time to practice talking through the bond, so she wasn't quite sure how to respond.
'I love my sister, as well as the rest of my family,' replies Kira.
'I heard you talking about them to the others. Your branch of the family is not as large as the Void branch.'
'No, it's not. And not everyone in the family has to learn self-defense either. Most of my family in the human realm are civilians. I need to be strong enough to protect them.'
'Hmm. Contact me again when you get to Konoha. I want to see what your village looks like.'
'Will do.'
Kira finally reaches the clearing where Serena and Hina are waiting for them. She can't keep the smile off her face when she sees her sister. The two of them hug before giving a brief summary of what happened while they were apart. They could discuss the details later at home.
"Come on girls. We need to get going if we want to get you home before the deadline.
We promised Hinrik we wouldn't be gone longer than a month. I'm sure your family is missing you," says Hina.
Kira and Serena, age 12; Naruto and Sasuke, age 9:
By the time Naruto and Sasuke got out of bed, Kira and Serena had breakfast on the table. They had tried teaching the boys how to cook, but it hadn't gone well. If they didn't cook, then Naruto would just eat ramen. Sasuke would try to eat something healthy, but Naruto convinced him to eat ramen too often for their liking. A balanced diet was important, and they were glad that Aunt Yumiko had taught them how to cook. Yumiko would still be cooking for them, but they wanted to learn how to do things for themselves now that they were to be ninja. But, Aunt Yumiko had agreed to cook for Naruto and Sasuke when the twins had to take missions outside the village.
"It looks good," says Naruto. "Thanks for cooking for us."
"Thank you for the food," says Sasuke.
The four of them sit at the table and eat quickly. They needed to be at the academy soon. Today Serena and Kira would be placed in their genin teams. They had taken the graduation exam yesterday. Sasuke and Naruto had wanted to take the test early, but Kira had protested. Nine may not have been too young to do D-rank missions, but she knew they would try to get a higher ranked mission before they were ready. The village wasn't at war, so there was no need to send children on dangerous missions.
The ninja academy was mostly year round with a month long break in between school years. Today was Sasuke and Naruto's last day of the school year.
"During the break, I plan to teach you two the tree-walking exercise," says Kira.
"Really?" asks Naruto, hopefully.
"Of course," she says.
Naruto cheers while Sasuke has a pleased expression on his face. The two of them had been wanting her to teach them this chakra technique since they saw her walk up the side of a building last year. Unfortunately for them, she hadn't thought they were ready at that time. But their chakra control had improved just enough over this past year that she now believed they were ready to learn it.
"We should get going now," says Serena, "or else we'll be late."
Kira had been right when she predicted that Serena and her would be on separate teams. It was disappointing but perhaps it was for the best. Serena and her were planning on specializing in different areas. Serena wanted to learn genjutsu and specialize in infiltration. Kira, however, wanted to be a front-line fighter and learn as many water ninjutsu as she could.
It was not being on separate teams that really bothered Kira; it was the fact that her teammates were from civilian families. Unfortunately, everyone in their class, aside from Serena and her, were from civilian families. Naruto and Sasuke were lucky; they were in a class with several ninja clan heirs.
She didn't have anything against civilians; they just weren't as strong. The only training civilians got was at the academy, while ninjas taught their children from a young age. Civilians could become strong ninjas if they were determined enough, but most didn't have the motivation to make it past Chunin.
Kira was on Team 3 with Kiro Yamada and Hiroki Saito. Their teacher was Kenzou Mizushima. Serena was on Team 5 with Natsuo Nakano and Tadashi Tachibana. Their teacher was Nozomi Yukimura.
Kira and Serena had researched the Jounin of the village earlier this year. Whoever had chosen their teachers knew what they were doing. Serena's sensei knew genjutsu and had gone on several successful infiltration missions. Kira's sensei was a Kenjutsu specialist with a water chakra affinity. He would know enough water ninjutsu for a genin like her to learn.
However, she was rather irritated to be on a team with Hiroki. She has heard the comments that boy has made and knew him to be rather sexist. It would be difficult to work with him while he had such an attitude. Most likely, she would have to beat the idea that women weren't weak into his head.
After the teams were announced, the class was dismissed for their lunch break. She could have chosen to eat with her teammates but really didn't want to deal with that hassle yet. Instead, she ate lunch with her sister and her teammates. Natsuo and Tadashi were surprised she was eating with them, but neither protested.
"You two had better treat my sister right. As far as I can tell, none of you are sexist like Hiroki, but looks can be deceiving," says Kira.
Serena is exasperated by her sister's overprotectiveness while Natsuo and Tadashi assure Kira that they want to get along with their new teammate. None of them have anything against women. Kira is satisfied with their answer and gives them a smile.
"It's important for teammates to get along. You never know when you'll need your teammates help in a life or death battle. Loyalty is considered important to the Hakuo clan. As long as you're kind to my sister, the Hakuo clan will have your back," says Kira. 'Unless you share your parents' hatred towards Naruto, then you can hang like the rest of them,' she thinks. She hears what sounds like a sigh within her mind. It seems like Ravka is listening.
She checks the time and realizes that the lunch break is almost over. "I'm heading back to the classroom now. I'll see you later, Serena."
Kira's sensei is one of the first to enter the room, which means he's punctual. Good. She hated to be kept waiting. "Team 3? I'm your sensei, Kenzou Mizushima. Follow me," he says.
As she follows him to their meeting spot, one of the training areas scattered across the village, she observes her new sensei. He has short, spikey brown hair and green eyes. He's wearing the standard ninja outfit: green vest, black pants, ninja sandals, and ninja headband on his forehead. He has a sword strapped to his back and a kunai holster on his thigh. His skin is tanned from the sun.
Her two teammates have short black hair. Kiro has brown eyes and tan skin, while Hiroki has blue eyes and pale skin. Like their sensei, the three of them are wearing ninja sandals and have a kunai holster. However, Kira doesn't think they have weapons sealed in their clothes like she does.
"Alright, team, let's start off by introducing ourselves. My name is Kenzou Mizushima. My likes are Kenjutsu, dango, and hardworking people. My dislikes are laziness, traitors, and lemons. My hobbies are training and cooking. My goal for the future is to become the best Kenjutsu user in Fire Country."
Kenzou points at Kiro. "Your turn."
"My name is Kiro Yamada. My likes are strawberries, my family, and adventure novels. My dislikes are math, plums, and chores. My hobbies are painting and swimming. My dream is to become a strong ninja and to paint scenes from my adventures."
"I'll go next. My name is Hiroki Saito. My likes are sports and beef ramen. I don't like the color pink and homework. My dream is to be an awesome ninja. I'll rescue princesses and defeat enemy ninja."
"My name is Kira Hakuo. I like my family, sealing, and water. I dislike weakness and ignorance. My goal is for my sister and me to become sealing masters and to create new seals." 'I'll also help Naruto become Hokage and find out the truth behind the Uchiha massacre,' she thinks. But there was no point in saying any of that out loud. She knew what the parents of her teammates thought about Naruto, and she didn't want to hear them echo their parent's hatred. She also didn't want Kenzou-sensei to know she was investigating what happened that night. As far as the village was concerned, Itachi Uchiha was a traitor and a murderer.
"Good. Now that the introductions are over, we can get started. The genin test you took in the Academy was just to see who had the potential to become genin. Every Jounin sensei gives their team a test to see if they become actual genin. If you fail, you get sent back to the Academy. If you pass, then I'll train you to become Chunin, and we'll go on missions together," says Kenzou-sensei.
Kiro frowns at their sensei while Hiroki scowls. Neither of them had expected a second test. Kira, however, had heard about this from Aunt Yumiko, who was a retired shinobi.
"Whatever this test it, we'll ace it!" says Hiroki. Kiro nods his agreement, looking determined.
"What's the test, sensei?" asks Kira.
"You're going to spar with me. The goal is to knock me down. If you can manage that by the end of the day, then I'll accept you three as my students," says Kenzou.
Kira immediately starts trying to come up with strategies. It would require all three of them working together to knock down a Jounin; and even then, they'd only succeed if he was holding back.
"Let's do this!" shouts Hiroki, sprinting at Kenzou.
Kira and Kiro exchange startled glances. What happened to strategy? There was no helping it now, though. "Let's go help him then," she says.
The two of them run after their teammate. While Hiroki attacks their sensei from the front, Kiro and Kira attack from the side. She would need to stick to taijutsu and kunai. Her teammates wouldn't be expecting her to use exploding tags and could get caught in the explosion. The three of them needed an opportunity to come up with a plan.
After a few minutes of fighting them, their sensei knocks them back and throws down a smoke bomb. "What?" asks Kiro, holding an arm up to his mouth to block the smoke.
"I never said I'd make this easy on you, did I? Good luck trying to find me," says Kenzou before rushing off. The three of them don't have the ability to keep up with his speed. That wouldn't be a problem for her, though. She could use his chakra to find him.
"Dammit, where did he go?" asks Hiroki, scowling.
"We should come up with a plan for when we find him," says Kira. She begins to tell them the strategy that she's come up with.
Hiroki frowns at her. "Since when did you become the boss? I'm not taking orders from a girl."
Kiro looks at Hiroki with exasperation in his eyes. Why did this have to be about gender?
Kira takes a deep, slow breath. "If you have a better plan, let's hear it," she says.
Hiroki stays silent, clearing trying to think of something. After a minute of this, Kiro interrupts. "I think her plan could work."
"Alright, fine. We'll try it your way. But, how are we going to find him?" asks Hiroki.
Kira smiles. "By sensing his chakra. He's two miles that way," she says, pointing.
Both boys seem surprised by her ability, which didn't surprise her at all. The Academy didn't really talk about Kekkei Genkai, which was odd for a village who loved Kekkei Genkai as much as Konoha did. Perhaps the clans didn't want the details of their abilities to get out.
The three of them set off towards their sensei with her in the lead. Her plan ended up working out, surprisingly well. The teacher clearly wasn't expecting her to have explosive tags, although he should have. What Hakuo didn't know how to make explosive tags? Even the civilians were taught how to make them, as well as storage scrolls.
Kiro and Hiroki attacked their sensei from behind, using kunai and shuriken attached to ninja wire. She attacked from the front using her explosive tags. Although, her explosive tags were less explosive and more noise. She hadn't wanted to risk causing any serious damage to any of her teammates, so her tags were half the explosive power of the standard tags and three times as loud. Her ears were actually ringing a bit now. She would need to have Aunt Yumiko take a look at her when she got home. Her aunt had studied some medical ninjutsu when she was an active shinobi and would at least be able to tell her whether she needed to go to the hospital.
So, basically, her explosive tags surprised their sensei, causing him to step back and stumble over the ninja wire. To prevent him from regaining his balance before he hit the ground, Kiro and Hiroki leapt at him and pulled him the rest of the way down.
The three genin looked at each other and smiled.
"We did it!" exclaimed Hiroki. He held his hand up to Hiro and the two of them high-fived.
Hiroki and Kiro walked over to stand next to Kira while their sensei got up from the ground. Kenzou smiled proudly at the three of them. "That was an impressive show of teamwork. Congratulations, Team 3. You passed my test," says Kenzou.
Kira tilts her head at him. "No take backs?" she asks.
Kenzou blinks at her, confused. "Um, no. No take backs. What…?"
Kira interrupts him by turning to Hiroki and punching the boy in the stomach. He hunches over in pain as the breath is knocked out of him. "What do you mean you don't take orders from a girl?! If you think having a dick makes you smarter than me, then I'll fucking cut it off!" she yells furiously. All the anger that she had been suppressing has come rushing back now that their goal has been completed. She had known that yelling at Hiroki wouldn't get him to cooperate, but now she could show him how she really felt.
"Kira!" shouts Kenzou, surprised and slightly horrified.
Hiroki looks at her, eyes wide, while Kiro begins to slowly back away from her with his arms in front of his groin. Neither of them had ever seen her this angry.
Kira turns to Kenzou and frowns at him. "I apologize for my outburst, sensei. But Hiroki needs to understand that his sexist way of thinking isn't acceptable. Thinking that women are inherently weaker than men will cause him to underestimate his female opponents, which could get him killed. Or he'll insult an enemy kunoichi who will then decide to kill him, when she might otherwise have been willing to spare his life."
Kenzou looks at her thoughtfully. "Although that is true, I think it would be better if you expressed your opinion without hitting your teammate," he says.
"Yes, sensei."
Kenzou checks the time. "Why don't we go get supper to celebrate? My treat."
The three genin cheerfully agree and begin to debate where they should go.
"Team 5. I'm Nozomi Yukimura. Follow me." The three genin follow their new sensei to a park in the middle of the village. The four of them then sit together at one of the picnic benches.
Serena observes their new teammates while she waits for Nozomi-sensei to start speaking. Natsuo has light brown hair with blonde streaks that goes down to his neck, green eyes, and pale skin. Tadashi has short black hair, blue eyes, and dark skin. Nozomi has long brown hair, currently in a braid, dark brown eyes, and tan skin.
"Alright, first of all, I want you to tell me what you know about me," says Nozomi.
Natsuo and Tadashi stare at her, confused. "We've just met, sensei. All we know is your name," says Natsuo.
"Not true," says Serena. "I know that Nozomi-sensei specializes in genjutsu."
Nozomi smiles. "That's true. And how did you find know that, Serena?"
"My sister and I asked around. We learned the names of the current Jounin as well as their specializations."
Nozomi actually looks impressed. "Ninja tend to be tight lipped about their comrades in case someone is a spy. How did you get them to tell you this?"
"Kira and I told them that we were training to be ninja, and that we think being a ninja is awesome. We wanted to hear cool ninja stories. Things like that. We got different stories from different people. From the stories, we were able to figure out what each ninja's specialty was. You are known for using genjutsu in your fights."
"So you lied to get information?"
Serena looks thoughtful. "I suppose so. We actually just wanted to know more about our possible Jounin sensei, but didn't think they would respond as well to that. People talk more when they don't know you're gathering information. Adults are more open with what they believe are naïve children."
"You have a good understanding of how people think, then?" asks Nozomi.
"I think so. I don't always guess right, but I can usually shift the direction of the conversation based on what they're feeling," says Serena.
Her two teammates look at her curiously, so Nozomi explains, "Serena is an Hakuo. Their family Kekkei Genkai allows them to sense the chakra and emotions of other people."
"Cool," says Tadashi. She can tell that Natsuo is not as impressed. Serena supposes that her ability doesn't look as impressive as the Sharingan or Byakugan.
"It is a very useful ability," says Nozomi. "With it, she can tell when someone is lying to her. Can you understand why that would be important for a shinobi? It would especially be important for a spy to have such an ability. To be able to tell when someone is suspicious of you or whether they are giving you false Intel. A very valuable ability indeed." The contemplative look Nozomi gives her makes Serena a bit uncomfortable. Was Nozomi suggesting that she should be a spy? That kind of job would require her to be away from the village for possibly years at a time. She didn't want to be away from her family that long.
"Moving on, it is now time for our introductions. As you know, I am Nozomi Yukimura. My likes are rabbits, knives, botany, and genjutsu. My dislikes are cabbages and rats. My hobbies include making poisons and manipulating people. My goal is to train at least one new spy for the village. Perhaps, one day, one of you will venture out and gather Intel for Konoha."
She points at Serena, "Your turn, kid."
"My name is Serena Hakuo. I like my family, poetry, and sealing. I dislike cold weather, sour food, and bullies. My hobbies are training, creating seals, and tutoring my brother. My goal is for my sister and me to become seal masters, to create new seals, and to help my brother achieve his dream of becoming Hokage."
Nozomi gives her a curious look, wondering who her 'brother' is. As far as she knows, Serena and Kira don't have any other siblings. An adopted sibling, perhaps, or a close friend? She gestures for Natsuo to go next.
"My name is Natsuo Nakano. My likes are comic books, sports, and my family. I don't like cockroaches or broccoli. My hobbies include babysitting my siblings, cooking, and studying poisons. My goal is to become a strong ninja and to help support my family."
Nozomi smiles when he mentions poisons. She's glad that at least one of her students shares her interests. She nods at Tadashi for him to go next.
"My name is Tadashi Tachibana. I like animals, music, and math. I dislike history and asparagus. My hobbies are reading and knitting. Right now, my goal is just to see the ocean. I don't really have a lifelong goal yet."
"Okay, now that the introductions are over, it's time to get down to business. Now, how many of you knew that there's a second test before you officially become genin?" Only Serena raises her hand. Nozomi continues talking before Natsuo and Tadashi can ask questions.
"Each Jounin gives their genin a final test before they decide whether or not he or she will teach them. If you pass my test, then I'll train you and we'll go on missions together. If you fail, you get sent back to the Academy. Any questions?" Nozomi asks.
"What's our test, sensei?" asks Tadashi.
"Information gathering, of course." Nozomi pulls out three pieces of paper and hands one to each of them. "As you can see, you each have a different name. I want you to find out as much information as you can about this person. You have until the end of the day. And this is not a team exercise. I want you to focus on the person written on your own paper. I know some Jounin test teamwork, but I can teach you that myself. What I want to know is whether you have any potential at information gathering. Do you understand?"
The three of them nod. "All right then, get going. Good luck, kids," says Nozomi.
Serena looks at the name on her paper and doesn't recognize it. She knows this man isn't one of the current Jounin, but he could be anyone else. Hmm. The library does have some information about the civilians in the village, mostly about the people who own shops. She'll go to the library and see if it has any information on him.
From the library records, she is able to find out that the man is a civilian carpenter. Now she needs to find him. The best way to find out information about someone is to talk to them. She finds him thirty minutes later and sees that he's currently working. She waits until he isn't in the middle of hammering something before she approaches him.
From there, she pretends to be a curious child who finds the process of building houses fascinating. She's learned that the best way to get people to open up is to talk about something that they both like and have extensive knowledge of. She steers the conversation slowly, mostly letting the man ramble on about whatever he wishes. Eventually, she is able to find out why he became a carpenter in the first place, what occupation his parents had, and the fact that he has a spouse and children, as well as a few other personal details.
Before the sun sets, she returns to the park where her sensei is waiting. Natsuo and Tadashi return shortly after she does. The three of them share what they've learned with Nozomi-sensei; and Serena is pleasantly surprised to see that the boys have done as well as she has. Perhaps there's hope for this team, after all.
"You all did better than I expected. You didn't get as much information as I would have, but it's impressive for untrained genin. Congratulations. You three pass," says Nozomi-sensei.
The three genin exchange happy, relieved smiles. Natsuo's stomach growls, causing everyone to realize that it is, in fact, dinner time. Nozomi smiles at her new team.
"Why don't we go out to eat together? I'll pay this time as a reward for passing," says Nozomi.
The three of them agree and thank their new sensei. Now they just have to agree on a place to eat.
The restaurant her team ends up choosing is 'Worldwide Cuisine.' It's a restaurant that's become more popular lately. It's also owned by her aunt and uncle, Sayuri and Aoi. When they get to the restaurant, Serena is surprised to see her sister is already there with her team.
Kira smiles at her. "Victory dinner?" she asks.
"Yes. Our teams ended up choosing the same place?" asks Serena, amused.
"Mm-hmm. I'm not surprised. Ever since Aunt Sayuri moved to a larger building and expanded the menu, more and more people have come here. The food is good, but more importantly, it's different," says Kira.
'Worldwide Cuisine' isn't just a name. The menu contains dishes from every country on the continent. Their aunt gets a lot of the ingredients from the Village Hidden in the Void, instead of having to buy it from merchants visiting the village. It saves her money that way. Merchants buy ingredients from one village and then sell it to another for a larger price than what they bought it for. Because the ingredients are exotic, people are willing to pay more. The Village Hidden in the Void has its own merchants who teleport outside of the village they want to buy something from. Aunt Sayuri buys her ingredients from Hakuo family members who don't charge her more than what it cost them to buy the item.
The eight of them decide to sit together. Because Kira and Serena are sisters, it's likely that the two teams will work together in the future, if only just to train together.
"Noriko and Sumiko are working here today," says Serena.
"Who are they?" asks Natsuo.
"Our cousins," says Kira. "They'll probably inherit the restaurant after their parents retire or die of old age, whichever comes first."
"This is an interesting menu," says Nozomi.
The menu is five pages long. Each page is from one of the Five Elemental Countries. Each dish has one or two sentences describing it; the menu also states whether the dish is sweet, spicy, or sour. Every week, there are different specials to convince people to try something new. Serena looks at the chalk board on the wall.
"Deserts from Suna are half-off today," says Serena
"Not just the deserts," says Aunt Sayuri walking up to them. "For you and your team, everything is half off today. Congratulations on making genin, Kira, Serena."
"Thank you, Aunt Sayuri," says the twins in unison, causing their aunt to laugh.
The two teams spend the next hour getting to know each other and trying new foods. By the end of the meal, Kira's dislike of her new teammate, Hiroki, has lessened, though it will take a while longer before she can honestly call him a friend.