Chapter 1

[Karin]

She glanced nervously at the woman next to her, sitting on the fence of the training grounds she'd been sent to. She hadn't said a word just yet, but Karin was fairly sure that she was her new team sensei. Maybe she was waiting for the other two members before doing introductions?

Karin also wasn't very sure why she'd been put in a new team either, but she wasn't complaining about that. Shigeri and Amano hadn't been what she'd call great teammates… or people, really. She wouldn't be missing them, that was for sure. However, that didn't mean that the new team would be better. For all she knew, it could be worse.

The fact that her own sensei remained silent even after she arrived and tried to talk to her didn't reassure her at all.

'Arriving early wasn't a good idea,' she thought, pursing her lips. Shifting on her feet, she looked down the path towards the village which's wall she could see not so far into the distance. Training Ground Four wasn't very far from it, after all. There, she caught sight of a yellow, black and white shape approaching the place.

Eventually, Karin and the silent supposed-sensei found themselves faced with a blond boy that looked… Very fancy, like he was a noble. It clashed horribly with the plain look of the grassy surroundings, the wooden fences, and the dirt path. Not that she would point that out, of course. Karin wanted to avoid making a bad impression if that could help her situation.

She could hope, at least.

The blond boy whom Karin could only assume was one of her new teammates looked across the field they found themselves at. He kept his nose up as he scanned the area and both of them, almost as if he were judging their worth and found them wanting. He held his silence for a few seconds while maintaining eye contact with each of them before letting out a hum that sounded almost pleased.

"Good, it seems that at least some people in this team do hold the minimal amount of manners to be on time," he said with an approving nod. The man placed his hand on top of each other and gave them a short but elaborate bow. "You stand before Kazuhiro Kiyoshi, Heir of the Kiyoshi clan, and future ruler of the village," his voice boomed with pride that bordered on arrogance as he smirked at them. Even while bowing he looked like he was preening. Karin didn't even know such a thing was possible.

"Ah, um, I'm Karin, no clan or… er, surname either," she introduced herself lamely, gulping down and feeling as if she were failing already. This was the heir of one of the four council clans that had been put in her team? Why had no one told her?!

"A civilian, then?" the clan heir murmured while tilting his head, a frown of confusion marring his face. "Interesting… I imagined the team for the exams would have been with members of the four clans. To pick a civilian over them… I wonder what father is thinking," he cupped his chin in thought.

Karin, unsure of what to say to that, glanced at who she guessed was their sensei, but the woman had barely turned her head towards the man, giving a slight nod in greeting. Otherwise, she remained silent under her kasa. Wasn't she going to say anything? Maybe she was mute?

"...I guess it doesn't really matter. I assume that father picked you for a reason, and time will tell if you are worth being on the same team as me," Kazuhiro suddenly said, startling her out of her thoughts. "As for you, Singing Blade, it is rude to not return courtesies. Especially to a member of an allied clan. Your status within your clan notwithstanding. I am still the Heir, not some lowlife you can brush off," he continued with a frown in their senseis direction, seemingly taking their sensei's silence as faux pas.

All he got in response was a slight smirk peeking from under the woman's hat. She couldn't get a good look under the kasa, but Karin would say she looked amused. Her chakra seemed to imply as much, if she was reading it right, at least. Something that she could feel annoyed Kazuhiro even more as the seconds passed and no answer came.

She could feel him start to mold some of his chakra at his core while his smug looks started gaining a dangerous edge.

Karin gulped and took a step back.

Their sensei remained silent, but she did tilt her head. A second later, there was a sharp sound as her thumb pushed the sword at her hips just the slightest bit out of its scabbard. That was a dare if Karin had ever seen one.

She took another step back.

"If you think your rank and legends will intimidate me, you are more of a fool than I thought you would be. If it is disrespect and confrontation what you wish, then, that is what I shall provide-"

Before he could finish speaking, one of the fancy earrings he was wearing fell to the ground. Kazuhiro squinted his eyes as a small trail of blood fell from his cheek. For a moment no one spoke as the two stared at one another and Karin tried to look at both of them at the same time and failed. The confrontation was done at last, and they could finally move past the tense atmosphere.

Or so she thought right before Kazuhiro's hand started moving to produce hand signs and their sensei fully unsheathed her sword. Her smirk was still plastered on her face, her chakra calm and only swirling around in amusement. The clan heir's already turbulent chakra gathered at his core in amounts that she was sure no genin should have.

A flash of light and explosion took her hearing away and made her roll down across the floor. Years of academy lessons forced her to act unconsciously and he redirected her rolls into a standing position to face the danger. By the time she regained her senses, both her future sensei and teammate were already in the middle of the field.

Gouges of the previously flat earth littered the space between her previous position and the center of the field, patches of grass were already burning and charred chunks of earth sizzled because of the terrible heat. Her mind however focused on the two people a distance away.

Her sensei looked as pristine as she had when she first met her just a scant few minutes ago, not a single hair out of place, the only difference being the smirk on her face – which looked even more mocking than before – and her stance. Her legs were wide open in a way that distributed most of her weight to her front foot, which pointed straight forward, almost as if she was about to pounce. Her shoulder facing her opponent and her back was fully tense, all her muscles ready in preparation for a strike. One hand rested on the hilt of her sword, while the other held the sheet tightly to her body.

Kiyoshi was the complete opposite, his hair was a bit disheveled and his previously pristine white elaborated yukata was marred with red from the blood of the multiple cuts across his limbs. A drop of blood fell from his forehead, covering a sun-like tattoo and falling on the bridge of his nose. Yet, he refused to close his eyes, or clean it. Probably to not lose even a single movement of their sensei.

His face was still set in that smug and almost arrogant expression, Karin was starting to think was his default face. His eyes still seemed to look down on everything and everyone. Yet, even from her position, she could see the cold defiance and determination in the eyes of her fellow genin. Karin didn't need her ability to see that even after being shown how outmatched he was, Kazuhiro was unwilling to back down.

The redhead circulated some chakra to her ears to get rid of the annoying ringing in them. Her vision still swam a little, but a quick mental check of her body condition was enough to tell her that she was still fit for battle. Even though she really didn't want to get involved. As soon as the ringing disappeared, Karin's ears picked up the voice of her teammate as he prepared yet another jutsu. Her sensei stance lowered slightly more, but she didn't look worried.

And then there was…

"...t Release: House of M-"

"You are late," their sensei said, speaking for the first time, tilting her head so she was looking at both Kazuhiro and… Karin turned quickly. She'd picked up on it, but she'd been too focused on the fight going on. Now that she looked, however, there was someone that had arrived. She'd thought them just passing by, but apparently they were coming to that particular Training Ground too. 'The last teammate?' she wondered, hoping that he'd be more reasonable than Kazuhiro.

Sitting on the fence nearby was another boy about Kazuhiro's and her age, with a black and white hoodie, red eyes surrounded by dark rings and pitch black hair messily falling in front of his face. The boy let out a slight hum, barely audible as it was, muffled by a black and red gas mask he wore over his mouth and nose.

"Not too late," the woman that Kazuhiro had called Singing Blade added, speaking in a soft, almost whispering voice. "One could say you are just in time. The illustrious heir was about to make a fool of himself."

"Humph, and now you deign to speak…" Kazuhiro said with a snort as his chakra simmered down. Still, he didn't argue the accusation that he would have lost.

"You are all here now, so yes," the woman replied. "Your teammates already introduced themselves," she added, turning to the new arrival, who was looking between them with interest.

"... Yota Hirano," the boy said, simply with an equally simple nod. Karin noted that his voice was low and raspy, as if he had a sore throat. "Kazuhiro Kiyoshi," he continued, giving another nod to the clan heir. "... Himari," he added, towards their now named… sensei? Karin wasn't too sure about that yet. Then his red eyes turned towards her, staring at her for a long moment with his seemingly exhausted gaze. Then he just tilted his head, clearly unaware of who she was.

"... K-Karin," she stammered, gulping again.

The boy, Yota, simply nodded his acknowledgement.

"Greetings," Kazuhiro said then, frowning as he tried to fix the mess that had become his appearance. As he did though, he shot a confused frown towards Yota, but refrained from saying anything else. At least not before their sensei clapped her hands to get their attention.

Karin almost thought she'd tell her to let the boy bite her so that she could heal him, but nothing of the sort happened.

"My name is Himari Kusanoha, for those of you that don't know me," she introduced herself… Which seemed to be mostly for Karin's benefit, since the other two seemed to know her already. Nevertheless she appreciated that, even if she still felt incredibly out of the loop. "As I said, everyone's here and everyone knows each other now," the woman said softly, looking between them. "I'll be honest, since I'm sure you'll figure it out very quickly… Or hopefully you would. This is not a normal team. This is a team formed specifically for the Chunin Exams that will be held in Konoha. Kusagakure wants to make a statement and thus, it has put together the best team it can as of this moment," she explained, making Karin's eyes widen.

The best team? She was part of the best team?

"We have the illustrious genius of the Kiyoshi clan, inheritor of their founder bloodline," the woman continued looking towards Kazuhiro, Who seemed to preen at the attention even though he still glared daggers at their sens-Ms. Kusanoha. Then, she turned towards Yota. "And the unfortunate prodigy," she added, confusing Karin. How was being a prodigy unfortunate? "Last," the woman said, her eyes locking on Karin. She idly noted that she didn't say 'but not least'... She wasn't really surprised though. "One of the best sensors in the village along with a healing bloodline that will keep both talents alive, hopefully."

Suddenly, she could feel Kazuhiro's yellow and Yota's red eyes staring at her, making her shift uncomfortably. She made her sound a lot more impressive than she was, Karin thought, nervously adjusting her glasses. She was just a quick heal for most people. Bite, drink some blood and there, job done. It wasn't even her doing anything, really.

"The village and its leaders hope that you three will represent Kusagakure well in the eyes of the world," the woman kept going, her expression unchanged from the relaxed look it'd had before. One would have thought she was doing a really long commentary on the weather, really. "I'm not here to teach you anything. My talents lie in completely different places from yours. I'm here to give you advice and, more importantly, to protect you. So, I won't stop you if you call me sensei, but I won't care if you don't. With that said, we can use our time however you see fit while we wait for the time to leave in a few weeks. I'd recommend getting to know one another better and work on what you can through this time to get ready. You three, along with everyone else we send, will have the job to show the Elemental Nations that there's more around than the Great Five."

There was a long moment of silence then and Karin was almost grateful for it. It gave her time to process the fact that she'd apparently been put in a team with two talents of the village and she was supposed to… keep up, apparently, and keep them alive. How was she going to do that? She'd passed her exams to be a genin with average grades. Hell, she wouldn't even have passed if it hadn't been for the written parts.

And now she was in a team with a clan heir and a prodigy?

She gulped when she saw the former's eyes slide towards her. Kazuhiro seemed stuck somewhere between glaring at their sensei – who was now back to being silent as she leaned back against the fence of the training ground – and looking between Yota and her. After a moment of panic, Karin noticed, once more, the small cuts that now littered the heir's body and clothes.

"Do you… Um… Need help healing those?" she offered after a moment. Because this was the heir of one of the four clans of the village. If she allowed him to go back home injured without doing something about it… This was precisely what she'd been put in the team for, she realized. She couldn't not do her part or people would be displeased about that.

Apparently, that might have been the wrong thing to say.

"I don't need your help for something as paltry as this," he hissed at her with a frown on his face. It made Karin flinch slightly and shrink on herself. 'Great, not even five minutes with the new team and I already annoyed one of them.' "But," the man continued then, seemingly not done with speaking. His glare transformed into an analyzing look directed at her. "-I would also like to know what is so special about you to be selected for this team… Go ahead then, I will generously allow you to heal my wounds." He waved his hand in her direction as if to order her to get on with it.

"Uh, um," she started, blinking at him for a moment. "It works by… biting me," she started, having to force the word "biting" out of her mouth. Oh, how she hated that her bloodline worked like that. "By consuming some of my chakra directly, most wounds close quickly unless they are severe."

Kazuhiro pursed his lips in slight disgust. If her five minutes of knowing him taught her anything about the clan heir, it was that he would most likely find the idea of biting a person like her disgusting. Yota, their seemingly mostly silent third teammate just continued to observe from the sidelines. A curious tilt of his head was the only sign that he was listening.

"Very well, then," Kazuhiro brought her attention back to him then. The blond teenager approached her and grabbed her arm gently when Karin offered it to him. The disgusted expression on his face became even worse when he observed the scars from multiple bite wounds.

Karin looked away just before she felt his teeth sink into her flesh. The revolting feeling filled her to the very brink, bile rose up her throat. How she hated that sensation of someone biting her. How she hated the pain and the drain that came with it. How she hated reliving the memories of her mother leaving their house and never coming back every time it happened. How she hated that it was the only thing that she could do.

Soon enough, Kazuhiro's teeth left her and she could look back again. Slight wonder crossed his eyes as he observed the multiple but not too deep slashes swiftly close themselves at fast speed, leaving only dried blood and unblemished skin behind.

"Fascinating…." His golden eyes moved from his healed arms to her. There was also an inkling of what she thought was acknowledgment, if Karin had to guess. For some reason, that made her feel even more disgusted. She couldn't help the slight glare she directed at her new teammate. "Perhaps, you will be of worth on the team, then," he added with a slight smile.

Of course all he cared about was her bloodline.

"It doesn't work… with permanent damage… right?" Yota asked, bringing their attention back to him while the dark-haired boy looked between them in turn.

"No, it doesn't," Karin replied curtly, earning a silent nod from the other boy. It was looking more and more like her new team cared only for her ability too. Maybe it had been too much to hope otherwise though. She deflated, seeing the many band aids stuck at different parts of Yota's neck, what was visible of his upper chest and other patches of visible skin elsewhre. "You need healing too?"

Surprisingly, he simply shook his head.

"But… the wounds?" she asked, more hesitantly as she gestured to what she had observed.

"No wounds…" he answered before his eye twitched and he coughed. It was short, but it didn't give the impression that it was nothing. She'd seen the difference very clearly herself. 'Permanent damage,' he'd asked about. 'Unfortunate prodigy,' Himari had called him.

Karin was starting to put some puzzle pieces together in regards to the boy.

"Hmm, a ninja my age with a gas mask and lung problems… You," Kazuhiro said then, reminding them that he was there. "Are you perhaps the student of the Dragon's Tongue?"

'Who?' Karin wondered.

Yota nodded silently at the blonde, simply letting the pause in the conversation stretch awkwardly. Kazuhiro's eye twitched. Yota continued staring while his chakra…

His chakra.

How Karin had missed it was a wonder by itself. Kazuhiro seemed to be a powerhouse all on his own, his chakra reserves surpassing hers, something that, likely due to her bloodline, very few people their age could claim. But Yota dwarfed them together. Standing next to him and feeling his chakra, she could only admire the peacefulness that radiated from him and his energy, like a campfire on a cold night… Or maybe like the sunlight on a winter day.

"I guess it wouldn't be proper for me to hold your lack of an answer against you, given your condition… Very well, I shall allow it," Kazuhiro stated, clearly unaware of what Karin had just realized in regards to their teammate.

Yota simply nodded again at the clan heir, if it was an acknowledgment or a sign of gratitude was anyone's guess, however. Karin felt a slight shift in Yota's chakra though, and she'd almost say that he was amused. What was visible of his face gave away nothing, of course, but she wouldn't have been surprised if he was smiling under the mask.

From off to the side, their sensei seemed much more open about her own amusement though, if the smile Karin caught was anything to go by.

It was probably a good thing that Kazuhiro had his back to her. She really hoped they didn't get into another fight. Everyone here was scary and she didn't want to get caught in the middle of that fight. Moreover, she now had the responsibility of healing them afterwards too, which she'd rather avoid as much as possible.

"With that said," Kazuhiro continued, taking a deep breath in and puffing his chest, making him look even more like the heir he was. She was starting to think that aside from him, their impromptu team wasn't very talkative. It was a good thing that he seemed to like the sound of his own voice. "I guess we should get to know each other and our fighting styles for now. We were given a mission to not disappoint Kusagakure, and I will not fail at it even if I have to drag the two of you along." The clan heir spared a look at both of them as if daring to claim otherwise.

"O-of course," Karin muttered, gulping at the sudden seriousness of his gaze. "I agree."

Yota simply nodded once more, his chakra back to the calm it held before. She was having a hard time figuring out if he was tired, generally calm or he just didn't care. His baggy eyes seemed to imply the former, but the reading of his chakra didn't quite match. Then again, she had hardly met people with so much energy in them so that could be messing with her sensing.

Kazuhiro held their gaze for a moment and nodded at them as if they had met some kind of standard.

"Very well, then. I guess we could start with some talks over lunch, and then spar for a while to gauge your current levels." The clan heir turned to look towards the village and folded his hands inside the long sleeves of his yukata. "Follow me, we shall have dinner at my clan's compound. I won't stand for subpar cuisine while discussing mission matters unless I absolutely have to." Without waiting for a response, he started walking expecting them to follow him, only stopping for one moment to glare at their sensei and snort in derision.

Behind him, Karin shared a look with Yota before the other boy shrugged and followed after the blond. Her eyes moved towards their sensei then, but the woman just gave her a smile and a wave of her hand. 'Well… we are off to a great start, I guess,' she thought to herself, sighing before jogging a little to catch up with her two new teammates.

"I would also ask you to provide a list of any tool or item you shall require for training or the mission itself. I will make sure to forward and get them for you. I won't allow the chance of failure just out of carelessness or being underprepared."

Oh, well, that was more thoughtful than she expected the so far prideful clan heir to be.

Perhaps he wasn't as bad as she thought…

"T-thank-"

"Do not stutter that way," he interrupted her curtly. "It is unsightly and it is grating on my nerves. If you have a speech impediment, then I shall also cover for a diction professor to-"

Or perhaps not…

Karin deflated a little as she half-listened to the clan heir drone on. Beside her, she felt Yota's chakra spark with what she was growing more and more sure it was amusement. 'Well, glad we can entertain you,' she thought, directing a side-glare at him that only seemed to make him even happier. She thought she could almost see the smile in his eyes at that moment.

[} Chapter End {]

Adrian: Wonderful team, isn't it? You can just see they'll be the best of friends in no time.

Arc: I am sure it will be fine. As long as everyone keeps up, then things will go smoothly. I mean, they were selected as the best of the best for a reason, no? What do you think, Karin?

Karin: Meep. Why is this happening to me?

Adrian:... Yeah… The best of the best…

Karin: Is it too late to go back to my old team?

Adrian: Sigh… Anyway, I hope you guys liked the chapter. And cheer up, Karin, I'm sure you won't suffer through this story, so have fun! Like everyone else!

Karin: Wait so… It's not like I will actually suffer in this story, right?... Right?

Arc: Remember to leave a review! Adrian and Arc leave quietly.

Karin: Right?!... Guys?!

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