(Thanks for coming back to read the fourth chapter of the series. I hope you give it a chance and read a few chapters before deciding to drop it. I do warn that the series is planned to be very long and probably won't be completed for at least 3 years. I love feedback and constructive criticism, so please leave a review so I can improve my writing and storytelling skills. Enjoy!)
Deep in the dark underground of the Hidden Leaf Village there is a small secluded room with a single chair inside. There is a man sitting in the chair, bound to it by various ropes and chains. His face is bloody, sweaty, dirty, and extremely tired. In the corner of the room there is another man, his face is clean, his clothes are freshly pressed, and though he's flipping through a magazine, he looks rather bored. Immediately outside the door there is another guard and a few meters further down the hall is a third man. This man is leaning against a wall and humming a cheerful melody to himself as he waits for someone. The sound of footsteps begins to echo down the hall and a few seconds later a woman comes into view.
She has long, black flowing hair, and her eyes are a scarlet red shade. She wears a white blouse that extends past her hips, with a black fishnet top under it and one red sleeve. The other arm is covered in white bandages up to the elbow and her legs are bare save for her tiny red shorts. Compared to the men she looks very out of place in the bowels of the village. The humming man stops humming and stands up straight to greet her, "Welcome Kayo, I'm glad you could make it. I'm sorry we had to pull you all the way down here."
"It really is not a problem. I just returned from a nice, relaxing vacation. I'm ready to get back into the swing of things so why not start with this?" she replies, "Although I am surprised that you would need me."
"Well, this guy is pretty tough. The interrogation squad couldn't get anything out of him and no one from the Yamanaka clan was able to penetrate his defenses," he explains, "So you are the last hope of finding out what his mission was and if he completed it."
"If he is so good then how did you catch him in the first place?" she inquires.
"Well that is the strange part. He was sneaking around some restricted rooms in headquarters when an ANBU member came across him. For some reason he just stood there looking at her," explains the man as he scratches his head, "He didn't even try to run away."
"That is strange," Kayo agrees, "But also good to know. Well then, show me to him."
He leads her to the door which the guard opens up and closes once they are inside. The guard in the corner, reading the magazine, gives a courteous nod which she returns. The prisoner doesn't even seem to notice her at first until she steps up right in front of him.
"Who are you?" he asks, his voice a little hoarse.
"Me? Oh, I'm just here to get some information," she replies. His dead and desolate expression turns into a smirk and he begins laughing uncontrollably.
"Something funny?" asks the head guard.
Once his laughing fit calms down and the prisoner responds, "You think she can break me? No one can break me. She will fail like all the rest."
"Don't be so sure," warns the guard in the corner, "She is not a normal interrogator, she is more of a specialist."
"It doesn't matter what she is," the captured spy sneers, "She won't get anything out of me."
"Enough talking, let's get on with this," says Kayo, "You wouldn't happen to have another chair would you?"
"Sorry, only the one," the head guard apologizes.
"Its fine," Kayo says as she sits down on the ground and crosses her legs. She takes two deep breaths of air before beginning to weave a complicated series of hand signs.
"What are you doing?" the prisoner questions.
"You'll find out in a moment," Kayo replies as she finishes the last sign and stares straight into his eyes, "Mind Interrogation Jutsu!" The prisoner's eyes become blank and his body stiff. Her eyes close and, as the Jutsu takes effect, Kayo experiences the familiar feeling of her mind disconnecting from her body. Her consciousness flows forward and invades the mind of the captured man.
When she opens her eyes Kayo is standing in the middle of a stairwell. The stairs are made of some sort of grey stone and the walls of various colored bricks. She begins to ascend the stairs which have flickering torches every so often to light the passage. Soon she comes to a corner and the stairs turn to the left and a while after that another left turn appears. "Well, I guess his mind is configured like a tower," she thinks, "If I just keep walking for a while I should find a door." So she continues to ascend the stairs walking farther and farther up and turning left when the next corner comes around.
After walking for what seems like hours she suddenly stops and smiles. "Very clever, this isn't a tower at all; it is an impossible staircase," she says as she puts her hands together and concentrates for a moment and then places a single hand on a wall, "Reveal."
The bricks she placed her hand on all start turning brown and changing their texture and composition into that of wood. The effect spreads out until it forms into the shape of a door. A metal knob emerges from the newly created door and Kayo grabs it and opens it. The room on the other side is pitch-black so she takes the nearest torch off the wall and steps into the darkness.
The door closes itself behind her and only a very small area of the room is revealed by the light of the torch; but with the light she spots another torch on a wall and uses the fire from hers to light it. Once the fire is transferred all the torches in the room come alive. This new room is very large and composed of hundreds of new doors and hundreds of stairs leading to the doors. However, not all of the stairs and doors are in the correct position. Some are upside down, some sideways, and some at angles. "No wonder no one from the Yamanaka clan could get any information," she mutters, "I haven't seen mental defenses like this in a while. Whoever trained this guy did a really good job. Too bad for him that I know how to bypass a Relativity Technique."
Kayo places her torch in an open slot and then sits down on the ground in a cross-legged position. She places her hands together and closes her eyes to concentrate. After a few moments a breeze begins to flow around the room. Then the breeze picks up into a strong gust of wind centered around her. Her hair flies up and whips around as the wind moves faster and faster turning into a tornado with her at the epicenter. Amazingly, none of the torches seem to be affected by this wind, but everything else does. The bricks that the stairs are made of fly out of their positions and swirl around. The doors join them as well and eventually the torches, but their flames stay lit. Kayo changes the way her hands are locked to form a new seal and bricks begin flying out of the tornado. As they shoot out they land perfectly on top of each other and form four walls spaced about 100 meters apart. The doors fly out after and settle themselves into place leaving exactly a meter in between each. Finally the only thing left are the torches, and once they all fly out and settle into place the tornado reverts into a strong wind, a light breeze, and then fades into nothing.
"And so I don't have to waste time later," Kayo comments with a slight smile as she makes new hand signs, "Open!" The doors in the room fly open one after another, going around the room like dominoes. Kayo opens her scarlet eyes and proudly smiles at her work. She stands and walks over to the nearest door to peek inside. In this room a small sandy-haired boy is playing with a stuffed frog. She moves to the next room in which the child is running through a harsh downpour of rain and his clothes are getting drenched. In the room after that the child is laughing with a young violet-haired girl that looks to be the same age. Kayo moves from room to room, glancing in each just to make sure she doesn't miss anything.
"Most of these memories are immaterial," she thinks as she watches a teenage version of the boy kissing a teenage version of the girl, "He does seem to have a very good memory though. Most people don't even have half as many rooms as this." She moves along from door to door observing the memories of the prisoner, watching his life go by. For the most part the memories are in order, although are few of them are jumbled around. One thing she does notice is that she has yet to encounter a memory from his older years. After a while she comes to a door that has not been opened. She reaches for the handle and immediately two metal bars sprout out and barricade the door.
"He still has defenses in place? He really is good. I can see why he was chosen to be a spy," she says as she makes a few hand signs, "But it still is not good enough." She reaches her hand out and shoves it into the door. It phases straight through the door as if it was air. She shoves her arm in up to the elbow and then slowly twists it to the left. She uses her free hand to make another hand sign and orders, "Unlock!" The metal bars retract into the door frame and when she extracts her arm the door swings open.
Inside this room the teenage boy and girl seem to be embracing in a hug under the light of a full moon. Yet the girl pulls back clutching something in her chest. Her blouse turns crimson and she holds up her hand staring at the blood in disbelief. "...Why?" she asks in anguish.
"I had no choice," replies the boy with coldness and indifference, "You are a distraction. I can't serve the village with my full abilities as long as you exist."
The pain and hurt show in her eyes as the tears roll down her cheeks. "I...I loved you," the girl says as her last words before pulling a dagger out of her chest. The blood pours out of the mortal wound and she collapses onto the ground. The boy turns his back on her without the slightest thought and walks away.
"So, this is what they teach their ninja in the Serpent Village," Kayo thinks shaking her head in disgust as she moves on to the next door. After a few more unimportant memories she comes to a corner of the room still having learned nothing significant. The next wall is filled with the man's training to become a ninja and some of his first missions. She arrives at the second corner and after opening the first few doors she fears that it will be much of the same type of memories. But then she comes across another closed door that bars itself from opening. After using her technique to unlock the door she sees a memory of his first true spying mission. She moves on to the next door to find that it is also closed.
She glances at the next door in line and sees that it is also closed. She looks at the one after it and sees the same thing. In fact, the entire section of the wall seems to be filled with closed doors. "Damn this is going to take forever if I have to open them all up one by one," she thinks dreading the prospect of going though one by one, "Well, only one choice then. I haven't done this in a while, but it should fit the task." She takes up a seated position again and begins to concentrate. After a moment, and a series of hand signs, a small, green object pops up from the ground in the center of the room. It grows larger and larger, turning brown as bark forms around the center. Then the tree sprouts branches, and the branches sprout branches, and those branches sprout branches.
The tree becomes enormous and the branches spread out far and wide. Then each of the branches stretches out until it finds one of the closed doors. They phase through the door in the same manner that her arm did earlier. With a twist and the order from Kayo all of the doors pop open. "Something is wrong," Kayo senses opening her eyes. She stands and begins to walk, weaving her way through the maze of branches searching for something. She walks and walks until finally she sees it. One door has not opened. This door has five metal bars across it, all in the color of gold. "I have you," she smirks, "It might have taken me hours to find this one if you hadn't added the extra protection."
She stands directly in front of the door and closes her eyes to concentrate while forming hand signs. Suddenly all of the branches retract from their doors and flood toward this door; the one that contains the man's most recent memories. The branches swarm all around her and surge into the door. They rip and tear at the golden bars, tossing them aside when they come loose. A solid gold shield drops down in front of the door, chopping the branches in half. Another wave of branches surges forward and slams into this new barrier. They scratch and claw and slash and pull until the new barrier comes flying off. Finally, the door swings open and Kayo steps forward to experience the full memory.
Kayo opens her eyes as her mind returns to her own body. She is back in the small, isolated room with the two guards and the prisoner strapped to the chair. "How did it go?" asks the one in the corner, still reading his magazine.
"It took a little more effort than I anticipated, but I got what we needed," she explains as she stands.
The prisoner seems to awaken from a comatose state and immediately senses something is not right. "Impossible! That is impossible; no one can get through the labyrinth. Let alone open the golden door!" he shouts.
"It is only a labyrinth because you re-designed it to be that way," Kayo responds, "That little trick confuses a lot of people, but once you know how, it is easy to return it to the original form."
"They never told me someone like you was in this village," the captive says, "Who...who are you?"
"It doesn't matter," says Kayo as she moves to leave the room with the lead guard, "Oh, and just so you know, the woman in the hallway was not her. You killed her all those years ago." As the door closes the spy hangs his head in guilt and shame.
Outside the lead guard asks, "So, what did you find out?"
"I'll give a full report to the Hokage, but basically he failed his mission," she reveals, "The Serpent Village wanted information on the defensive strategies of our village. He was able to get some information, but we caught him before he could pass it on to his superiors."
"Why did he give up when we captured him?" the guard inquires.
"He thought the ANBU woman was someone he killed a long time ago," she explains.
"I see, well thanks for all the help," he replies.
"No problem. Ohh, I left his mind open so that the Yamanaka clan can go back inside later. I'm sure there is a lot of important information we can learn from him, I just didn't feel like sifting through it all on my own," she adds.
"I'll be sure to send them in as soon as possible," he responds, "Good work." Without looking back or accepting his praise, Kayo silently walks down the long hallway disappearing into the darkness.
Team 3 arrives in front of the Hokage's study with Kuroda carrying their defeated teacher and the others tentatively following behind. From inside the chamber they hear the 8th and another female voice having a discussion about Genjutsu. Sakura and Jando pause and hesitate before the solid, oak doors that open into the chambers of the most powerful person in the village.
"What are we doing here anyway?" Jando wonders, "It's not like the Hokage has time to talk with some new and unimportant Genin like us. There is no way we can get a meeting with her. What is this Kuroda kid thinking?"
"Umm... maybe we should come back later," Sakura suggests nervously, "She seems to be busy with someone right now. We probably shouldn't interrupt."
Kuroda bursts through the doors, walks into the room, and throws Raj onto the ground. His unconscious body makes a large thud when it impacts the wooden floor boards. Shocked by his boldness, Sakura and Jando stand dumbfounded in the hallway for a minute before following him in. Kuroda glances over at the woman standing across from the Hokage. He notes her exquisite beauty, flawless porcelain skin combined with her dark hair and scarlet eyes that give her an exotic look. But then he turns his attention toward the blonde-haired woman behind the desk.
Outrage and shock flashes like shadows across the Eighth Hokage's face as she demands, "What in the world happened?"
"Sakura and I passed the test," Kuroda politely replies before he throws the bells over and they tinkle when they hit the papers on her desk, "Even though the point of the exercise wasn't to get the bells we did it anyway. However, now we require a new Sensei. Raj Fujo just really is not up to par." He glances back over at the black-haired woman and sees a hint of curiosity in her eyes that intrigues him.
The Hokage stands on her feet slamming her fists on the solid oak desk and starts to yell, "It is not your decision who…!"
Kuroda cuts her off, "That woman over there seems like she would be an appropriate replacement. Jando, Sakura, I will see you tomorrow." Then he turns his back and simply walks out of the room leaving Jando and Sakura behind to feel the Hokage's wrath.
"Ohh man, I am beat," announces Kenta Akimichi as he rests his hands on his knees. His new teammates, from Team 10, Yui Yamanaka and Ichimaru Nara stop alongside him.
"Yeah, me too," says Yui stretching her arms out and yawning, "I definitely wasn't expecting something like that."
"I guess becoming a Genin isn't anything to joke around about," says Ichimaru as he folds his arms behind his head and stares up at the sky, "It is going to be a lot tougher from here on out. Are you two ready for it?"
"What's with the new attitude?" Yui inquires, "I always thought you were a goofball and a slacker."
"Yeah, well, everybody has to grow up sometime," he replies.
"I'm definitely ready!" Kenta proclaims as a large growl comes from his stomach, "I just need a refill first. I know a great sushi bar by the Academy, you guys want to come? My treat."
"Oh, I know that place," says Yui, "It is great, I'm definitely in. Let's go Ichimaru."
Still staring at the clouds Ichimaru thinks, "This is my new life now. These are my new comrades, no, my new friends. I know we can become strong together."
"Come on, Ichimaru," calls Yui, already running up the road with Kenta.
"Hurry up or you will miss out," yells Kenta.
"Wait up for me," says Ichimaru running after them.
Kenta, Yui, and Ichimaru are walking towards the Academy looking exhausted and hungry when Kuroda appears in front of them says, "Yo."
Kenta nearly jumps out of his pants before realizing who it is, "Oh, it's just you Kuroda. How did you do that?"
"Huh do what?" he replies playing dumb, "So, did you guys pass your test?"
"Yeah, we are all officially Genin," Ichimaru answers glancing proudly at the other members of Team 10.
Kuroda comments, "Everyone in my team passed as well, but our Sensei was not qualified so we are getting a new one."
Ichimaru comments, "My Sensei is really good and really smart. I've been told that Yoshikuni Dosu is one of top Jonin in the village."
"That is really great for you," Kuroda murmurs.
Ichimaru starts to ask, "So what exactly happened with…?"
"Sorry, I have to get going," says Kuroda as he turns to walk away, "See you around."
Ichimaru watches his best friend walk off and is left standing in disappointment.
Meanwhile the 8th Hokage has been interviewing Jando and Sakura about the events of the Genin test.
"So, you are saying that Kuroda defeated Raj Fujo, a highly skilled Jonin, all by himself? And he did this by summoning multiple shadow clones and then trapping Raj underground and knocking him out?" the Hokage summarizes.
"Yes, Lady Katonae," Sakura confirms meekly.
"Then he said your team needed a new teacher and you headed here?" the Hokage inquires.
"Well, no, there was something else first," says Jando uncomfortably looking down at the floorboards.
"And that would be...?" she prompts.
"Well, Kuroda took the two bells and said that he would give the other to one of us in exchange for something," Jando explains.
"What did he want?" the Hokage asks.
"Well... he said that he wanted one of my eyes or that he wanted Sakura to be his slave or servant or something," Jando reveals, "I wasn't sure if he was joking or not, but Sakura took the deal and they went off somewhere together for a bit."
"Sakura, is this true?" the Hokage asks, her tone and facial expression changing from angered to interested.
"Yeah, but Jando is just exaggerating a bit," Sakura replies, trying to hide her nervousness and stick to the plan Kuroda gave to her, "He just wants me to help him out with chores and stuff, since... you know... he lives all by himself."
"So, then, why did you need to go off alone with him?" the Hokage inquires suspiciously as she peer into the mind of the young girl and drag out the truth.
"We were just discussing when I would be free and if my parents would have any problem with it," Sakura lies.
"Fine, fine enough of this," the Hokage announces, though still skeptical about the tale, "For the moment I will appoint Kayo here as your new Jonin leader. You'll meet her tomorrow at the Three Pillars for your first mission. Now get out of here."
"Yes, ma'am," says Sakura quickly hurrying to the door.
"Yes, ma'am," repeats Jando eagerly following after her.
"You don't really mind this, do you?" the Hokage asks after the two young Genin exit the room and close the door.
"I don't mind it," replies the raven-haired woman standing across the desk from her, "I haven't been needed on a lot of missions lately, and I have been interested in teaching for a while."
"Good, because going through all the trouble of selecting a new Sensei for Team 3 is something I don't have the time for," the newly-appointed Hokage says with a heavy sigh.
"It should be fairly interesting," the younger woman replies, "Especially with that taller boy on the team."
"You know who he is, don't you?" the Hokage asks.
"Yes, I am aware," the Jonin confirms.
"And you don't have any problem with it?" asks the 8th.
"If the 7th Hokage didn't have a problem with him, then neither do I," the Jonin confirms.
"Very well then, here is a complete profile on the team so you can catch up," says the Hokage handing her a folder, "Make sure to keep an eye on Kuroda though. Something seems strange about him. He is different from before."
Sakura, Jando, and Kuroda meet around noon at the Three Pillars. Wooden posts are stuck in the ground; each about two meters tall. For generations this site has been the meeting place of newly-appointed Genin. The ground around the posts is filled with patches of dirt and grass, evidence of the sweat from the hard training of young ninja. They wait patiently until their new Sensei arrives.
"Sorry I am late," says the raven haired woman suddenly appearing in a tornado of leaves, "I had some things to finish up, but anyway, my name is Kayo Yuhi. As you know the Hokage saw fit to replace your previous squad leader Raj Fujo and give him another assignment. So, since I am relatively free I took the job."
"Good afternoon, Kayo-sensei," Kuroda says politely.
She looks at him skeptically and then says, "I'm impressed from what I was told about you from the report of the test, but I expect that all of you will work as a team from now on."
"You don't have to worry about that," Kuroda assures her.
"That is good to hear. Now, to start out, I want to do a little exercise. Since I just introduced myself I will start out by giving some background information," she says as she brushes some loose bangs out of her eyes, "I am 28 years old and I have lived in the Leaf Village all my life. I specialize in Genjutsu techniques, but I am a Jonin and am skilled in other areas. I have served in a variety of sections and on various teams throughout my time as a ninja. Some of them I can talk about and some of them I can't. My goal in life is to keep the people of this village safe from any threats that come against them."
"I guess I'll go next then," the pink-haired girl says, stepping forward, "I'm Sakura Nagana and I am only 12. My family has lived in the village for generations, and we own a small store that sells a mixture of items. There have been some great kunoichi who came from the family and I just want to be strong like they were."
"I'm Jando Hyuga and I'm 14," says the Hyuga boy as he runs his hand through his short-cut hair, "My clan was one of the founding members of the Leaf Village. My goal is to become the leader and strongest member of the clan. Anyone who gets in my way will get a fist to the face."
"All right then..." says Kayo feeling awkward, "Looks like you're the last one."
"I'm Kuroda Taishi and I am 12 years old," says the taller boy with jet black hair, "I live alone in my own apartment. As I am sure you know I used to be a big troublemaker and played pranks on villagers nearly every day. My goal now is to grow up and do my part to help make this world a more peaceful place."
"Well, those are all noble goals and, as your Sensei, I will do my best to help you achieve them," says Kayo with a warm smile.
Soon after that day Team 3 starts going on assigned missions, but they are not quite what the new Genins expected. The first few missions are the basic D-rank ones like helping out villagers with chores, pulling weeds, walking dogs, or planting crops for sick farmers. While they were initially excited to start out on real missions, these ones were not the type they expected. They found the assigned ones unsatisfying; leaving them itching for some real action.
"What is the point of doing this mission anyway?" Jando complains, "Ninjas shouldn't have to do these types of trivial things!"
"Just be quiet and stop complaining," warns Sakura, who is hiding in the bushes beside him, "I'm sure once we do enough of these easy ones we will start to get more difficult assignments."
"This is so irritating," he moans, "I could be doing actual training instead of sitting here and doing nothing."
"Just focus on our assignment," she orders, "We are sitting here so we can ambush the target when Kuroda gives us the signal."
There is a crackle of static from her radio and then a voice says, "Target is moving again."
"Copy that," replies Sakura as she touches a button on the radio to talk, "Is the target headed our way?"
"Negative," says the voice, "I will redirect and notify you when it is coming."
"Understood, good luck Kuroda," she responds.
Kuroda takes his hand off the transmitter button and watches carefully as a small, black ball of fur darts out of the bushes. He follows after it from above in the trees thinking, "If I remember correctly there should be a large boulder ahead. I can make my move there." The cat charges ahead chasing after who knows what. A minute later it slows down and comes to a halt in front of a large, gray boulder that looks very out of place in the forest. Kuroda drops down right behind the cat making barely any noise in the process. "Hmm... well maybe I can catch it on my own instead of driving it into the ambush," he thinks as he reaches forward.
But this cat is a little trickier than most. It senses him and spins around hissing and baring its fangs. Then it takes off, darting right through his legs. He tries to catch it, but it is too nimble and agile. "Man, that thing is fast," thinks Kuroda as he spins around, "And now it is going in the wrong direction." He flips open the pack on his leg and extracts some kunai. The cat is running away when one of the kunai zips over its head and lands in its path. Scared for its life the cat hops around the weapon and tries to keep running in the same direction. Several more blades land and block off that path, causing the cat to turn and head towards the south.
Kuroda chases after it, picking his kunai up along the way. He puts his hand on the transmitter to send word to the others, "The target is heading your way, Sakura. ETA one minute."
"Okay, we will be ready," she responds.
"Kuroda, you are supposed to catch the cat not kill it, remember?" says another voice on the radio.
"I didn't hit it, Sensei," Kuroda replies innocently.
"Just be more careful," Kayo warns, "Our client would be very angry if we brought her pet back dead."
"Yes, Sensei," he replies as he charges after the animal.
"Here it comes, Jando," says Sakura as she sees the feline sprinting towards their position.
"Yeah, I see it," replies the Hyuga boy.
Sakura watches closely as it comes into range and says "Okay, we move in five... four... three..."
"Here I go!" shouts Jando as he bursts out of the bushes with the big, brown sack to catch the animal in.
"Wait, you idiot!" yells Sakura as she jumps out after him. That cat puts on the brakes when it sees the boy leap out from hiding. It turns around to go back the other way, but Kuroda is charging in from the direction. It spins back the other way and sprints back to Jando. He tries to catch it in the sack but it darts around him, easily dodging his attempts. Then the cat spots Sakura and suddenly leaps straight at her.
"Well, that was unexpected," says Kuroda walking up. Sakura holds the cat in her arms like a baby, it purrs as she stokes it.
"Good work, team," says Kayo as she drops down from the trees, "It didn't go exactly as planned, but in the end you completed the task."
"I guess we all have room for improvement," says Kuroda ruefully.
"Especially you, Jando," comments Sakura, "You moved way too early. If it hadn't jumped into my arms we would still be chasing after it."
"Ahh, who cares, it is just a stupid cat anyways," he responds looking disgruntled, "Can we go do a real mission now?"
"Let's go back and drop it off to the client before anything else," says Kuroda. He moves up closer to walk with Sakura but as he approaches the cat becomes defensive and hisses. He backs away from her and it settles back down. "That's strange," he thinks, "Animals usually like me."
"I guess it only likes girls," says Kayo as she pets the cat with no problem.
As she walks through the forest back towards the village Kayo watches her students interacting with each other and examines what she has learned about them over the past few weeks, "Kuroda seems to be the most mature of the bunch which is surprising considering the reports about him. I guess the Hokage was right when she said something seemed different about him. But overall he is strong, fast, intelligent, quick to react, and a hard worker. Plus, he seems to get along with Sakura and they work well together. She is just a little immature, but that is normal for a girl her age. But as a ninja she is completely and utterly average. She has all of the basics down, but she doesn't have anything after that. I'll have to work with her more to try and find her true calling. Then finally we have Jando. Cocky, rash, impatient, and not very bright. I'll have to put the most work into him if I want my first batch of students to succeed. I guess it is true that becoming a Jonin leader and teaching the youth of the village isn't an easy task."
There is a rapping at her window and Sakura wearily opens her eyes to the new day. She turns her head to look at the clock and mumbles sleepily, "It's only seven o'clock; it is way too early to be getting up on a Saturday." The noise continues and Sakura is forced to get up to see what is going on. Outside of her window Kuroda is waiting patiently on the balcony. She rubs her eyes, yawns, and then slides open the glass. "Did you need me for something?" she asks sleepily.
"I don't really need you for anything today," he says, "But the Hokage does."
"The Hokage? What does she need me for?" she inquires.
"Well, she doesn't need you specifically, she wants the whole team there," he reveals, "Kayo-sensei said we will be going on our first C-rank mission today."
At the news Sakura instantly becomes fully awake and energetic asking, "What? Are you serious? Our first C-rank?"
"That's what she said," he confirms.
Sakura slams the glass and pulls the curtain closed. She scrambles around, throwing things all over the room, trying to find everything she needs for the day. Kuroda patiently waits outside just staring up at the clouds. Sakura emerges fifteen minutes later complaining about her messy hair and they take off toward the center of the village.
(What do you think of the new Sensei Kayo Yuhi? I really think this chapter was the best so far and if you liked it I hope you will continue reading. I forgot to mention, if you want more information on my characters you can see their bios on my profile page. Be warned, there may be some spoilers. Also I'm in the process of getting pictures drawn for the characters, but I have no idea how long that will take. If you're interested in drawing and have a DA account then send me a Message. Enjoy the next chapter, and please review.)