(I have received a surprisingly large amount of followers for this story in such a short time. O.o Hello, followers and stalkers. I'd like to apologize in advance if I make flubs with the timeline- I've been googling out my ass and trying to find a definitive time of when everything happens is ridiculously hard. Also for personality shifts- I'm no master at writing, obviously. Hm… I'd appreciate any thoughts and ideas for things to come from those of you who stalk and lurk silently, if anyone would like to offer any. Reviews are loved, same with favorites and follows.)

For Lauren. She was doing this for Lauren, Toki had to remind herself as sweat drove an itchy line down from what she hoped was not her butt crack. She was on her hands, feet up in the air, as she walked along on her palms. Hanging from her feet, were grocery bags that they'd been tasked with picking up. Only they had to do it on their hands, instead of like normal human beings. It was nearing evening, the sun ducking behind the Hokage Mountain, and despite the chill the shadows had, Toki was warm in her 'off to do the d-ranks harmless work' uniform.

Next to her, Ahi wobbled, and would have fallen against her if it hadn't been for the quick activation of the tattoo on her lower back. A mass of shadow tails looped around his frame and kept him balanced, setting him upright before withdrawing back into the seal on her skin.

"Those are really freaky, y'know?" Kushina grunted from next to her. Her long red hair had been braided and turned into a pinned lump on her head. One to many times it had come out of it's bindings, and she'd stepped on it with her palms. She now tasked Toki with pinning it properly before they had to deal with training.

"They're only freaky when they're not helping you," Toki huffed. Kushina was the steadiest out of the three of them when it came to walking on their hands, but even she was wobbling now. They had, of course, been at it for hours after their day of missions.

They were several months into their team training- and into D-ranks. D-ranks paid shit for cash, they found out. Barely pocket change, after the village and the clan took their taxes out of it. Kushina didn't have clan taxes like they did, but it barely made much difference. They hadn't been able to have their celebratory dinners out, but they were saving for the time that they could pool their collective cash and do it together.

There was a extraordinarily large number of D-ranks available, and not enough genin to do them all one at a time. The village was low on ninja within it's walls- so the Chunin were no longer being delegated to do C-ranks either. Toki wasn't privileged to get a lot of information on what was causing it, but her father had muttered to her that he thought there might soon be something bad happening.

She put it out of her mind for the most part- training needed to take the forefront of her thoughts.

The three of them were, by far, one of the better genin teams for doing D-ranks. Not the best- Team Jiraiya had that one in the bag, simply because his team was ridiculously swift. But Team Hige was second best. Gardening, painting, cleaning, short in village courier missions, the three were very good at what they were tasked to do. They did them fast, did them right, and did them without fuss.

For the most part, they used the missions as excuses to train. For example, if they had to paint, it was done without touching the ground, or disturbing the paint. Tree-walking became something they were very good at without having to be instructed much. Water walking to some extent too- balancing on top of fresh paint without leaving shoeprints was a task and a half, but entirely more fun than the group had expected.

Toki wasn't looking forwards to actual water walking- she'd nearly drowned twice when she had been this age in Dina's lifetime. The residual fear of water deeper than her knees lingered. A river, she might be okay. But she intended to stay far away from Wave.

The redhead snorted. "They're freaky even when they're helping me."

"I think they're kinda neat," Ahi panted. "Sort of like a creepy and helpful tentacle monster that lives in your backside."

Toki made a face at them, and proceeded to turn the corner and return to their Sensei. Hige waited for them just around the bend, idly picking something out from his teeth with a clawed finger.

"Fifteen minutes and fifty five seconds. That is ten seconds better than yesterday, but you could have done twenty seconds better instead." Compliment followed by a scolding was usual when it came to timed things.

"Sorry, Sensei." Tokiko responded quietly. She handed over the bags without complaint, and then planted her feet on the ground. Using her shadows, she pushed herself upright, and gave him a flat look. "We'll try to do better tomorrow."

"You'll have to save that for another 'tomorrow'." He snorts. "We've got a mission- we leave tonight. It's your first C-rank. We've got to go to Tanzaku Gai. We're to deliver a shipment of weapons and rations to a group of Ninja that are stationed there."

"Really?" Ahi blinked. "What do they do with it there?"

"They ship it to the boarders of the land of Rivers, and the land of Rain to keep boarder patrols stocked for their rotations." Hige supplied easily. He accepted the bags from the others as they got to their feet, and stuffed them into a storage scroll. It was tucked away into the pocket of his flack vest. "Now, no dawdling. You've got one hour to meet me at the village gates. Take a general long term mission pack- it's six days walk civilian pace. We're going to make it shorter though."

"We're running?" Kushina looked unimpressed. They had spent most of the day running amok in the village, so she had every right to look discontent. Hige had not been dishonest when he said they would be pushed, to become the frontal assault team that he was directed to create.

Hige barked a laugh, clapping her on the shoulder. "Running builds character. Besides, if you're too slow to dodge an attack-"

"Then as good as canon fodder, yes, we know." Ahi huffed.

"Glad we're clear on that. Now, off you go. First out of village mission is a big thing for genin- but it wont be dangerous beyond the occasional bandit, or issue in the city itself. Tanzaku Gai is a rough town. Don't bring any valuables that you don't want to risk losing. Now, off with you."

The team parted, heading to their respective homes. Susumu had shown Toki how to pack one when she'd been younger, so it wasn't much for her to go home to do it now. He wasn't home- he was off at the border of Tea for some mission he couldn't tell her about. But, Dai was home.

"And where are you off to in such a hurry?" The paralyzed man rolled next to her in her room, and stooped down to set her bag on his lap. He began organizing it for her as she handed him the things she'd need. While she got what she needed, he took the moment to pull something out of his pocket and stuff it into her travel pack. There. A few thousand yen would be enough for some takeout if she needed it in town. Or wanted it. Nara travel rations, while better than the general forces, left something to be desired most of the time.

"First out of village mission." She grins to him. "We're off to some place called Tanzaku Gai. It's gonna be pretty cool."

Dai nods, and beams at her. "Since the bandit's have been removed from Tanzaku, it's safer. I'm guessing it's your first C-rank?"

"Yep! Off to deliver some supplies. Will you be okay at home by yourself?"

"I was a Jōnin before I was crippled- I'm very sure I can figure out how to get myself some rice for breakfast." Once he was sure it was set for a good mission, he handed it over, and turned his chair around so she could re-dress in proper mission gear. "Make sure you wear your pants. It's very warm there."

When he was allowed to turn around, Toki displayed herself eagerly. She wore the characteristic dark shinobi pants- the ones that turned your legs into balloons if you didn't fasten the bottoms properly, and a dark navy sleeveless shirt covered in black mesh. The distinctive Nara short coat- though in a dark green, and turned into a vest rather than a coat- adorned her shoulders. Her hair sat in two dark braids, emerald eyes twinkling at him mischievously from her pale-skinned face.

"Mission worthy, you think?"

He nods. "Very. You'll need to watch your braids. Those make nice handholds for other ninja." He leaned up to tug them lightly, and hummed softly. "You have time to put some wire in it? It'll bloody some fingers if they touch it."

Really, she didn't have the time she'd like to have. Unfortunately, most of her time was used up in getting home and gathering things. Braiding wires in took time. "Not really, Dai. I was given an hour, and only an hour." She gave him an apologetic smile, fanged and not all that unapologetic. "Besides, I'd forget and go to fiddle with my braids and slice my fingers off."

A snort left him, and he patted her shoulder fondly. "True that, true that. Still, enjoy your time out. I slipped in a little extra yen in case you need something while out and about, or lose your rations."

"You know you didn't have to do that, Dai." She points out as she straps on her pack. Not like she's going to fuss- her genin pay wouldn't pay for more than a bento at most. "That's your money from tattooing."

He waves a hand as his chair turns around and rolls out of her room. Toki takes a moment to muse that Chakra can be used for some of the most amazing things, such as controlling a wheelchair without hands. Super cool. "Stop your worrying, will you? Enjoy it- it's a gift. Consider it a congrats for your first C-rank."

"Thanks, Dai." She passes by him, stopping only to hug his arm fondly, before all but leaping down the stairs. "Tell Dad not to worry if he gets home before I do."

Dai knew just how disgruntled Susumu had been when Toki had announced that the entire purpose of her squad was to be a frontal assault team. He'd raged- about as much as a motivated Nara can- that Nara were not atypically frontal assault types, because of their low chakra capacity. Toki's only standing argument in that was the fact her chakra capacities were already higher than most of the clan kids of her age.

He could thank her mother's genetics for that.

"Will do, Toki." He waved her off as he eased down the stairs. "Be safe, and bring honor to our village."

She nodded to him, and took off.

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Leaving the gates of the village was invigorating at first, until Hige cracked the metaphorical whip. The 'whip' so to speak, was Sachi. The hound was to run at their heels, and deliver a hard bite to the back of their legs if they started to flag. The genin set off at a sprint, working to keep up with the breakneck speed that Hige set out for them along the ground. They would run for hours, covering ground faster than most genin would have to run.

In truth, this was harder than Hige would usual push. He didn't normally use Sachi as a way to make them do something- but Hige had an odd sense that something was going to happen in the next few years. Call it an animals sixth sense, but Hige needed these three to know what it's like to be run into the ground. What better time to test their limits than when they were within the safe limits of their own country?

Sachi wasn't loud in her chase. She didn't howl, or bay when a student started to lag behind. It wasn't until you felt the air from her growl that you realized you were in trouble. She was the silent and ever looming threat that nipped at their backsides and urged them to go faster. Faster and faster, to outrun the fangs and fur at their back.

Fear was a great motivator, Toki realized as she dodged the sharp fangs of the normally gentle hound. She was the fastest of the three, given the mastery she had for chakra control. Augmenting her muscles with chakra was almost second nature. Pressing forth with a ragged breath, Toki overtook Kushina, leaving her to be the slowest of the three.

While fear kept them going when their legs burned and cramped and eventually passed into the painful numbness that signified overexertion, it was the knowledge that their Sensei was ahead of them that kept them from scattering instinctively to regroup and face the threat panting at their back. And perhaps, Toki mused as she used a shadow tail to throw Kushina ahead of her roughly and out of the path of Sachi's lunge, it was the trust that the three of them were building that kept them together.

It was pitch black in the forest- Toki's internal clock told her it might have been sometime around midnight if not even later than that- when Hige called for them to stop. The three landed at his feet. Toki collapsed to her knees upon her legs feeling the stillness, and Ahi bent at the waist and proceeded to vomit up what little bile was in his stomach.

Kushina managed to rub his back as she stumbled not to fall into the mess, and the redhead glared at their Sensei and the hound that came to sit by his side.

"Good job, you three. You've covered two days normal pace in just under six hours." He clapped grandly to them. "Now, stretch your legs, walk it off, eat your rations, and get some sleep. Sachi and I will keep guard tonight- I'm not cruel enough to make you run so much and then make you take turns keeping watch. We'll run like this tomorrow too. Once you have an easier time keeping that pace, you'll all be stuck on watch rotations. But that's for later!" He hummed cheerfully.

"Sensei," Ahi rasped, "I don't know if I can do that again. My heart was going to leap out of my chest by the end of our run." Still, he wiped his mouth and set to stretching his limbs.

All of the built up lactic acid in Toki's limbs burned. She flooded her muscles with chakra again to wash away some of it, but ended up stretching with Kushina just like Ahi was.

"I'll be joining Sachi tomorrow. I'm going to forewarn you now- anything I throw at you will be harmless, even if it doesn't seem like it. Do your best to dodge anyways- eventually the Genjutsu will be joined by real weapons." He hummed. "Consider this… Hard core training to give you all a swift kick in the right direction. Come the first break tomorrow, I'll be teaching you your first jutsu outside of the academy basic, and whatever your clans have taught you."

"While I'm thrilled for a new jutsu, Sensei, you really are a slave driver, y'know?" Kushina looked better than Toki or Ahi, so she was the one who ambled off to collect some twigs for a small fire to heat their rations.

"Oh yes, I am quite aware." Hige laughed. Their Sensei and Sachi then disappeared into the darkness of the trees to keep watch.

Toki collapsed into the dirt, and dug her shadows carefully into it. A deep circle lifted free, and was set down on the ground near it for later replacement after the night. There, success. Her part in this was done for the most part. She'd have to cook the rations themselves- Kushina was good enough, but Ahi wasn't allowed to touch anything more than instant ramen or eggs until Toki had the chance to put him through the basics of cooking.

Ahi managed to toss her his travel pack before he stumbled over to one of the bushes as his stomach betrayed him again, and Toki winced at his retching. "Better out than in," she sighed, rummaging through his belongings. She tugged out some rice for him, and a container of water to boil it in, and set preparing it.

Kushina dropped the twigs into the hole, and Toki lit it with spark rocks easily enough. They were pleasantly dry, so the fire ate up the welcoming fuel swiftly. It was enough of a heat to put a pot on, which she filled with the dried rice from all of their rations. Everything else was dried for eating just as was.

"Bleugh." Ahi looked moderately green as he came to sit next to Kushina. "That's more running than I've ever done in my life."

"We'll have to get used to it though," Toki mused, "Running is a part of being a ninja. Of course, we don't usually run a million miles in a few hours either, but we'll all have to get better at it for future missions."

"True. And if you keep tossing your meals up after running, you're gonna be wasting a lot of food." The red head snorted slightly.

He made a face at her. "Yeah, I know. I'll work on it. I think it was just the sudden stop that did it- I was okay while we were running. But the lurch from the stop made me a little…"

"Motion sick?" Toki supplied. An Uchiha prone to motion sickness was a hilarious thought, until one actually saw it in action. She felt sort of bad for him.

He nodded.

"You'll have to learn how to handle it." She clicked her tongue, and set the rice to boil.

They were quiet from there, having little energy to banter after such a relentless run. Once they had their meals and buried the used up fire with the carefully removed plot of dirt that Toki had pulled out, the three genin ended sprawled in a pile at the base of a tree. They'd tugged some fallen widow makers over to use the still living branches for a windbreak, and proceeded to pile against each other for warmth and sleep. none of them directly wished to dig out blankets and such, because that was effort that had to be spent that none of them had the energy for.

Morning was fast approaching, and the three of them wanted to get as much sleep as possible before the sunlight made it harder than the darkness. It was little doubt that Hige would be running them again once they roused, and they would be beyond tired by their next break.

With any luck, he would be merciful enough to give them a couple hours rest after they woke and ran again. Toki wasn't holding much hope for it, though.