Team 4's Meeting: Make it or Break it

## Participants:

Nayru Namikaze

Harusame Hyuga

Akio Hatake

Shiro Sarutobi

## Role Play:

Tsuokusho: --Ru opened the Folder she had received from Lady Akatori. Inside were the members of her new team and details obtained from their Academy experiences. Not only did they have their behaviours but also had their personalities written down, not that it would matter in the end. Personalities and behaviors change frequently, especially in youth. Ru believed a person cannot truly be described with a pen, only emulated. The only thing she knew she could trust was the actions of others. After examining the list of her new-to-be genin, she nodded and proceeded to prepare for what she needed. -- She had thought about how to initiate her genin for awhile now, even before receiving the Folder. She smiled as she readied her things, knowing for sure what she had planned. After changing her outfit to a more suitable attire, she grabbed two Kunai from her bag that she kept within her house and put them on her belt. She then grabbed a necklace talisman hanging from her wall and placed it around her neck. On the talisman was the Kanji “Love” etched into it. Three more necklace talismans hung from the wall, each the same as the last. She grabbed those and kept them within her right palm, for the time being. Lastly, she grabbed a wooden pole, roughly the length of herself, and walked with it in her left hand. Returning to the table, she grabbed a pen and began writing a letter to each of her students. The note simply stated to meet at the base of the lonely tree where they can begin their life as a ninja. She sealed and sent the letters by messenger bird to a swift delivery. She quickly departed her home and arrived at the tree where she took the 3 talismans and placed them hanging from a branch in the tree. Now all that was left was for her to wait for her students. --

Harusame: Harusame had woken up early that morning so she could prepare herself. This was a special day for her. It was the day that she was supposed to be meeting her team for the first time. She didn't know where nor when this was going to happen so she wanted to make sure she was prepared at all times. Since sunrise, she was up. Sure, it took her a few hours of bathing, dressing, makeup, and other things but afterwards, she was ready to go. She stretched her body and then just read about other villages, histories, clans, and so forth until a bird flew through her window. As the bird dropped the letter for her, she caught it from the air with one hand while the other had chakra getting focused to the finger so she could cut open the seal in one swipe. With a quick glance over the message, she learned the location of where to meet and she left out of the same window the bird had arrived and left through. She only left a black and lavender streak as she left to the meeting ground. After all, almost her entire body was covered by the dress she wore which was solid black. She had left so abruptly, that she thought she left before she had brought her own tools with her, but she didn't carry them anyways. When leaving through the window, her hand instinctively grabbed the large scroll she had leaning against the wall, which really felt like nothing with the speed at which she was going, giving the air most of the work in keeping it lifted so she merely needed to guide it. When she was finally arriving at the location, she slowed down so when she got there, it wouldn't be a sudden stop. The scroll would come forward and one end would be to the ground while the other stood straight up with her hand over it. Her posture other than her one extended arm was straight enough she could have books balanced on her head. Her eyes glanced around quickly, checking to see if she was the first or last to arrive while taking in a note of the surrounding area passively. When she spotted the main person she was looking for, she thought for a second that she was last to arrive but realized it was merely her newly assigned teacher. A bit disappointed, she thought her teacher was going to be much older than just a teenager but nothing she could do about it now. Obviously, the main part wouldn't start until everyone was gathered, so she offered a bow. "Top of the morning to you, teacher." She was hoping that she was right with this being her teacher, rather than just another student who's been held back a couple of years but seeing as how they were the only two there so she just had to hope she had a competent teacher.

Tsuokusho: -- After placing the talismans upon the tree, she turned and rested her back upon the tree, folding her arms and awaited her teammates. Upon realizing something of note: She never put a specific time on the letter of summoning. Not that it mattered too much. It wasn't like anyone should be in any hurry.  -- Ru pulled her hair forward to avoid it getting too ruffled by the tree's bark.  --  From the distance, Ru could hear someone approaching. Shortly after, a girl in a long black dress appeared before her, holding a large scroll. Noticing various things about her, she cleanly took care of herself.  Holding a excellent back posture as well as an appearance that seemed to take a few hours in the very least to set up.  Another notable detail about the young one before her was her eyes, immediately hinting at her Hyuga lineage. The sight of them immediately brought back memories of her teacher and made Ru visibly smile.  --  The Hyuga bowed to Ru and greeted her. Ru, still with a smile to her face, saluted with two fingers to her forehead, just like her father would do to her.  "You must be Harusame, correct?" she asked.  --  Ru lifted her back and returned to a standing position, though returns her arms to a fold again after saluting. Still standing there next to the tree, Ru looks over the girl once more and nods. A scroll that large wasn't seen very often, which made Ru curious. After all, the contents, if any, would be interesting to see, especially from a genin.  --  "It seems you are the first here," Ru states to the girl. "First to the party has it's own responsibilities. Are you okay with that?"  --  She chuckled slightly, though it was a serious question. A strong attendance leads to higher expectations than most.  Hopefully the child was willing to work with that knowledge.  --

Harusame: "That is I. Hyuga, Harusame." She answered.  When she found out she was the first to arrive, that surprised her. Surely she wasn't? She had came the moment she had received the message. Since there was no specific time on it, she figured that meant the time was now. She didn't live that close by so if others hadn't came by now, then she must have mistaken it. Was this meeting scheduled for some other time? "I apologize if I arrived too early. I thought that the message was to meet now, did i misinterpret?" She was about to ask if she read over something, but that would be too much to confess to if it did happen. Misinterpreting is enough already. "I do not mind the responsibilities of being first, I merely hope I didn't arrive sooner than you were prepared for, Naryu-sama." She was a bit embarrassed due to this mishap. It's rather unfortunate that she did have to make sure a bad first impression but it would have turned bad either way. If she had not arrived this early, she would be risking being late had the situation been reversed but arriving too early is still the same as arriving too late. When she got a good look at whom her teacher will be, she was a bit impressed. Judging from appearance alone, this was going to be interesting, to say the least. Perhaps after seeing what she was capable, the opinion would change but so far, she thought this would help her with her goals, at the bare minimum.

Tsuokusho: -- Ru looks at the girl named Harusame as she begins to apologize for being too early. Ru attempts to hide the amusement she had for the action, but ended up using her hand to cover her mouth as she lightly giggles.  --   "No, don't worry about it," Ru said, recuperating from her laugh. " Though, it is best to keep in mind that arriving early has its own troubles as well."  --  Ru returned her hand to folding position once again and looked around, specifically at the talismans hanging from the tree. Knowing she put them well up on the tree, she simply nodded and smiled before returning her gaze towards her new student.  --  "I'm always prepared." She stated with a grin. "The more important question that you should be worrying about..." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Are you?" she asked.  --  Ru began to walk just slightly under the tree until she was properly covered by the shade of it.   Once she arrived, she sat on the ground and laid back onto the grass arms behind her head as a pillow. Shortly after getting into position, she beckoned for the student to join her on the ground next to her.  She then closed her eyes to enjoy the small breeze and sounds of leaves lightly rustling within the occasional blowing wind.  --  While maintaining her eyes being closed, she solemnly begins to speak.  "I wouldn't worry too much about it now, though." she says softly, almost as if half asleep. "Whether you are ready or not depends on your decisions in the future."  --  Ru continued to lay there, the clothes she wore blowing with portions of her hair in the wind. Occasionally her necklace with the kanji "Love" would catch wind and follow it, only to be snugged from the string around her neck.  --

Harusame: Her embarrassment was almost enough to cause her face to turn red. That would just make things worse so she did her best to prevent that from actually happening. When her sensei looks up, her eyes glance up as well. Whenever seeing someone look somewhere, it must be an instinctual urge to look there as well just in case something amazing or terrifying is going on, probably for self preservation. That's when she noticed the talisman up there. They were the same ones around Ru's neck, if she remembered correctly. When her eyes came back down to her teacher, they skipped past her own eyes to look at her chest and she was right, it was the same. Besides introductions, was she going to be putting her Genin through a test to analyze their abilities? Ru must be confident that she can defend three separate points simultaneously against three different opponents or vastly underestimates her students simply because they're Genin by putting herself at a major disadvantage. If she had correctly determined the test then that just means she'd have to be the first to get one because after that, with less places to guard, the focus will be increased and make it harder to the point of the last one being near-impossible to get after going from two on one to just one on one. A second layer to the test must be teamwork since a selfish person would quit once they got theirs so the true purpose must be for the first winning two to be willing to help out the last with the potential threat of having what they had just won to taken away. On the other hand, this is all just one big hypothesis based merely on an observation and could be wrong so she shouldn't get too proud of herself without more information. "I'm ready, sensei. Like you, I like to be ready for most situations." She responded, putting her thoughts in the back of her mind for now since it'd be useless wondering about something that will be explained later on. Watching her teacher go to lie down was a bit odd. Harusame had readied herself and put herself on edge so she wouldn't let her guard down so she could prove herself and wasn't entirely sure if she should let her guard down or not. She didn't want to be rude though so she picked up her scroll with some effort, without moving quickly, the scroll was a lot heavier, and went next to her. First, she sat herself down about a foot away from her sensei before laying the scroll down a few inches to her left with her in between the scroll and her teacher before laying herself back as well. Every so often, her eyes would be glancing over, checking to see if her teacher had moved or was planning something but so far everything seemed normal so with one last turn of her head to check, she looked towards the sky and tilted the scroll diagonally to sit her head on the edge of it while her fingers intertwined over her lower abdomen, just over her crossed legs. Green would show too well on her dress so she was careful not to actually move her body to actually rub into the grass and lifted her legs when crossing them so it wouldn't rub the material against the grass itself when making sure she wasn't revealing anything. The wind did good by forcing the loose material at her legs against her legs and even if anything did get revealed, it'd just be the black tights she wore under. "With all due respect and I hope you don't mind me asking something like this, but you really are strong, aren't you, sensei? Sorry if it's a bit of a personal question and I will be able to find out for myself eventually, I'm sure.. But you seem quite relaxed and to be able to freely relax must mean you're either confident in yourself or not aware of your surroundings and I of course assume you are very aware, even now."

ItsupikiOkami: Akio had awoken later than usual on this
particular morning. As he sluggishly got out of bed, Akio would get dressed as
usual and don his mask. His outfit consisted of all black clothes. A jacket,
shirt scarf, pants, glove, and shoes all clad in black. Once he was dressed he
would follow his normal morning routine of doing his hair brushing teeth, etc.
and make his way into the kitchen. As he made his way t the counter, Akio would
notice a small letter, as he opened and read it, Akio noticed that the letter
stated only to meet at the lonely tree with no specific time. Akio shrugged and
made his way toward the front door. “Mom must be out on errands right now.” He
thought to himself as he made it to the entryway of his home. Akio would stop
there and grab his tanto blade then, look to the picture of his father on the
end table next to the front door. “Don’t worry dad, today is the day I begin my
career as a ninja. I’ll be sure to make you proud.” Akio quickly left his home
and stepped out onto the busy streets, making his way toward the meet up
location, hoping that he wasn’t the last to arrive.  As he reached the clearing, Akio saw two women
laying in the grass, one with blonde hair, the other with lavender. There also
appeared to be three talismans hanging from the lonely tree, Akio wondered what
they could be for but, he shrugged it off and approached the two as to
introduce himself. “Hello there. I’m Akio Hatake, I’m here for the team
meeting. I am a late? Did I miss everything?” Akio would ask as he peered down
at the two prone women. He would then sit down nervously and await a response
from the two laying in the grass.

WishIHadABetterName: 🔥- Shiro Sarutobi awoke at a start, hearing the flapping of the messenger bird approaching his home, a tree on the outskirts of the village, on the opposing end of the village. Taking the letter from the bird, Shiro would offer the small creature a small piece of bread, a reward for a job well done. Shiro had a soft spot for animals. Once Shiro had read the letter, he would groan, as he had assumed this meant he was late, given the location. "Danm it...I wish we could just meet in a public place, like down town... so much easier to get too..." As he said this, he would slip on his average cloths he had collected. They were standard issue for genin, sadly... He had modified them extensively, despite his less than impressive means to do so. Once he had his old flak vest slipped on over a simple black sweater, he would pull up his black stranded pants, making the wraps around his ankles and lower calves, as he put on his sandals. Sighing once, he would mumble "Alright... I guess I'll rush over." As he said this, he slipped on his cold black mask, with a dark X resting in the center, taking up most of this cruel construct of his. It was a trophy from a strong bandit he had killed. It was slightly nostalgic, as well as rather intimidating to look at. Once this mask was on, he would place his old black Jingashi style hat, with white tags flowing down from the rims. Last, but not least, Shiro would sling over his shoulder his five black katana, each one with a different name. 1: Kuroi Ha : Black Sword, 2: Soranoken: Empty Sword, 3:  Burankuburedo: Blank Blade, 4: Asai Katta: Shallow cutter, 5: Kami No Ha: God Cutting Blade. Each of these swords were forged in violence, and quenched in blood, and never left his side, save for times when swords would be inappropriate. Once he was dressed and ready to go, Shiro would hop off of his branch, launching himself towards the nearest wall. Once he landed on the wall, he would squat still for a few moments, tensing his legs as he built up strength. Once he was ready, he would put a massive amount of force in his legs, launching himself upwards, sending himself a good portion of the way to the training ground, as he landed in front of the kage building, letting a plume of dust form around him. Taking a moment to gaze at the magnificent structure, he would smile. "It will be an honor to serve." Once he said this, he would continue his journey. Once he arrived, he would walk calmly through the clearing, waving towards his new team mates and sensei, although he wasn't quite sure who was the Sensei, and who was the teacher..."Oii...this is the meeting place for team four...right?" As he said this, he spun Kami No Ha around his knuckles, with the scabbard covering the blade."I'm sorry if I'm a bit late...my home isn't exactly next door.." As he said this, he smiled in a bright light hearted tone, joking around lightly with the group. As he stood there, spinning his blade, he watched them for any sort of reaction.-🔥

Tsuokusho: --  Ru would quickly notice the girl looking at the talismans both on the tree and on herself. That is, of course, if she had her eyes open and looking.  Silence rolled by, where only the sound of leaves and grass could be heard rustling. Ru could only assume that the child was trying to figure out what they intended on doing here, which brought a smirk to her face.  --  Not too much silence went by before the Hyuga spoke up again, explaining that she was prepared for anything. Ru lightly chuckled before returning to her normal, jovial face. "That's good to hear," she says, still maintaining her eyes closed.  She could hear the Hyuga Kid sit down next to her, clearly a bit cautious. Ru simply made note of her hostilities. "No need to be concerned, really. We are all pretty friendly here," she says with a smile on her face.  --  The Hyuga makes note and ends up explaining to Ru her observations. Ru opens up her eye closest to the Hyuga, just barely enough to see out of. "What's the need to be fully aware?" She asks with a smile. "After all, we are a team. There isn't much to worry about."  --  From just beyond where they lay, Ru could hear someone approaching. She laid up, propping her arms to the ground and raised herself into a sitting position. Looking up, she saw a masked boy with a scarf and completely covered in black standing before them. Quickly, the boy made his name known and quickly asked if they were late. Ru looked at him with her bright, blue eyes and a friendly grin across her face. "Hey Akio Hatake, welcome," she said, two finger saluting him. "You're just in time, I'd say. We were in no rush, anyway." She patted the ground and beckoned him to sit next to her on the grass.  --  Shortly after the arrival of the Hatake, another member arrived. Ru made mental mention of his large hat, mask and plentiful bounty of swords on his back. The boy asked if the small group of people was Team 4. "Indeed," Ru began, smiling and giving a two finger salute. "Shiro Sarutobi, I presume?" she asks with a grin. Though he didn't give his name out, the Folder she had received from Lady Akatori clearly labeled the boy that stood in front of her. "Welcome to Team 4," She says to him, and then to everyone before her. She beckons the new arrival to also take a seat in front of her, so that they all sat around her within a circle.  --  Ru begins with a high note. She looks around at the three genin around her. "Together we make up Team 4, and from what I can tell, a good team indeed." Ru holds up her hand to her face and raises her index finger, as if introducing the number one. "First things first," she says with a grin. "We should get to know each other."  --  Ru leans up now, still sitting on the ground, but crossing her legs and placing both hands in her lap. "I'll go first," she says.  "My name is Nayru Namikaze. Ru for short, if you so wish. I like puzzles and people, sometimes even together." She looks around the area at each of her Genin. "What about everyone here?" She asks.  --

Harusame: Isn't much to worry about, eh? Rather strange to hear something like that. After all, there is always something to worry about. This could be the perfect time to attack and she herself could be someone wanting her dead in disguise. Jounin, after all, must have gained at least a few enemies in their time. This was the chance that she would be waiting for to strike if she had the motive to do so. She then noticed that the teacher was moving to sit up. Was someone else coming? She had her eyes follow the teachers and soon enough, she could see a boy coming. A mask? Hiding something, protecting from something, or fear of something? What was the purpose of such a thing? He had some motive for it and it'd be interesting to figure out what that motive is. Harusame figured she might as well sit herself up as well since so she just pulled herself up with a little core strength while pulling her scroll to her side so it'd be resting against her leg. A Hatake. Soon after, the other member of the team arrived. So it seemed that she wasn't the only one to misread the note, just the others assumed they were late while she assumed she was early. Really, those notes should have had a time on them. A Jounin shouldn't forget something that simple.. Unless it was intentional. So far, their teacher didn't seem like the type who would construct such schemes but maybe she just wasn't seeing it yet. This new boy had a mask on as well. Not only did he have a mask, but he seemed like he was geared for battle. He had five swords but two hands. Was his swordsmanship so poor that he wasn't confident in having swords not break? The sword is a rather frail weapon but that many replacements shouldn't be needed. Ah, finally! They were getting started! Harusame listened closely since she was going to need to know as much as she could about the others. Not only because it would be needed to plan good strategies to work together well but also in case the time came where she had to eliminate one of them. Ru's mention of puzzles and people essentially confirmed her suspicions about the time on the notes and only enhanced the suspicions of the talisman on the trees. To learn the most of someone, you must first give something away about yourself so they can give something away about themselves. That meant she was going to take the responsibility of having the lead and be the next to introduce herself. She was the first to arrive, after all. She would end up being the team leader as well so it was her duty to take the lead. She placed a hand down on the grass just next to her scroll so she could lift up her butt and bring her legs back and under her so she'd be in more of a kneeling position and sitting on her ankles. Her dress was probably going to get ruined now thanks to it being rubbed up against the grass no matter how much she tried to maintain as much weight as she could onto her arm so the least amount would be forcing her fabric to rub against the grass. Her hands would then move to rest on each of her legs and she'd turn her head so she could have the three of them in her vision. It was only polite to speak to the audience you're addressing. "I am Hyuga, Harusame. I like to read up on most subjects and learn as much as I can. I'll also make sure that so long as we are a team, I'll broaden myself so make up for what the others lack when it's needed." She, of course, was trying to be as nice as she could by making sure that they knew that she'd help make up for the parts that they'd be failing at.

ItsupikiOkami: Relieved to find out that he was indeed in
the right place and he was not late, Akio would begin to relax. As he began to
get comfortable on the grass, another young man showed up. He had five swords
strapped to his back, a mask, and a large hat on his head. The young man was
one of his teammates along with the girl with the lavender hair. The two women
would sit up, and his sensei would begin to speak. She spoke of making a short
introduction and began to tell everyone a little bit of herself. His sensei
liked both people and puzzles, she seemed kind enough and this put Akio at
ease. He hadn’t wanted a sensei who would dislike having to be there, teaching
them the ropes of being a ninja. The girl with the lavender hair would begin to
speak next, her name was Harusame Hyuga, and apparently she read quite a bit.
She said that she would broaden up her horizon’s to cover what the team lacks.
Akio thought that the girl would make a very good teammate in the months to
come. There were only two left to introduce themselves, Akio and the young man
who had been called Shiro Sarutobi. Akio figured that he sould be the next one
to give a short introduction since he had arrived before the Sarutobi. “My name
is Akio Hatake, Aki for short. I like to explore the city and study up on all
things ninja. I look forward to joining this team and getting to know everyone.”
As Akio finished his introduction, he would look around at the area. It was
quite peaceful, only one tree and a quiet field. Akio thought this would make a
good place to come and meditate in the future. As he took in his surroundings,
he couldn’t help but be filled with excitement for the days to come.

WishIHadABetterName: 🔥-Shiro, almost certain he was being sized up by the young girl sitting on the grass before him, with lavender hair and eyes of a Hyuga, would smile under his mask. She looked interesting, but in the long run...not that strong...definitely a gentle fist user. He made note to keep her at a slight distance during sparing matches. Mouthing to himself, knowing the Hyuga may pick up on this anyway, he would tell himself that the second of his five swords would best match her. The best match to kill her, that is. As for the Jonin Sensei, he would think for a moment before deciding the first was the best tool for her. As for the other masked genin, he would decide his hands would suit him best in that case. But this was all in the back of his mind, only passing on the choice to the Hyuga. This wasn't a form of aggression, simply a self deference mechanism Shiro had developed. Once the other young man had made himself known, he would hold his fifth blade like a cane, resting his hands on the butt of the handle, as he took his hat off, letting it dangle behind him over his swords. Soon after, he would rest his mask ageist his back as well, tied to his belt. As a simple trophy, he still wasn't used to wearing it. Brushing his white hair back, he would look on the three of them with his warm blood-like eyes, and a kind smile. He had two piercings on his lower lip, and two across the bridge of his nose. But that was nothing but a little detail. He would open his mouth. "Hey. My name is Shiro Sarutobi. My aim is to become one of the most lethal swordsmen of the Baragakure. My interests are food, hugs, and maybe a little bit of friendship. My swords are yours as long as we call each other comrades, or friends. I hope we can get along together." As he said this, he would offer a half bow, keeping his right eye half open, watching the movements of the other members, looking for patterns in body language. But this, once again, was little more than a habit.-🔥

Tsuokusho: -- Ru, smiled and watched her Genin, her eyes properly examining her team as they took turns to speak. After already seeing Haru's eyes darting too and from different places, Ru could already begin to tell what was going through her head. She enjoyed attention to detail and paying attention to others, that being correctly guessed when the Hyuga explained their love for gathering information through books. The big flaw with this being the tendency to overthink things. Sometimes too much information is a bad thing because it clouds the mind and leads to hesitation.  Regardless to say, her posture kept strong and her voice held a level of politeness not seen in too many Genin.  "It's a very nice pleasure to meet you formally, Harusame!" Ru states with a smile.  --  Ru continued to sit as she turned her head to the next presenter, hands lightly balled up into her lap. On an examining of this Genin, she noticed a tanto blade on him. As the boy spoke, he continued wearing a mask upon his face. Though possibly not intentional, this absolutely struck Ru as strange. 'Perhaps the mask held a type of symbol,' Ru thought to herself. 'Maybe, even, the Hatake's visual identity was important as well.' Either way, that could potentially cause hesitation if the value of concealment becomes compromised.' Continuing to listen to her Genin, her face lightened up a bit further when he mentioned exploring. Ru had always enjoyed the adventurous persona, almost as if that was the exact reason she had took up being a ninja. Either way, the Hatake finished his greeting and returned to his meditative state. "It is wonderful to meet you in person, Akio!" Ru lightly says, nodding her head in a bow-like manner.  --  Ru then turns to the third and final Genin to see them standing still, using one of his swords as a prop for his hands. Seeing as to how many swords he has, Ru 5 counted in total. Along with excess equipment such as his hat, even the fastest Ninja would be weighed down and slowed holding on to all of that. Even then, continuing in a prolonged fight itself would be detrimental to their stamina. The Sarutobi spoke, introducing themselves  and explained their interests. The Genin's interests were quite vague and basic, though still values worth keeping. "We're all comrades here," Ru began to speak to him after he finished with his introduction. "It is a wonderful pleasure to make your acquaintance, Shiro!"  --  "As a matter of fact, it is wonderful that you all were able to come along." Ru said out loud. Unfortunately for Ru, who is a jovial and friendly individual, takes note that becoming a Genin had it's downsides. The smile left her face as she began to talk seriously for a moment. "The life of a ninja is serious," she begins. "Statistically speaking, one of you will die a horrible death. It's a terrible way to go, and if you aren't prepared for it, I recommend dropping out now." She pauses a moment before continuing. Breathing in and out again, she continues. " There have been quite a few times within my shinobi life where if I didn't have luck on my side, I wouldn't be here now." She paused again, this time standing up from her sitting position. "If you drop out now, I understand," she says, facing her students, both sitting and standing once again. "This life isn't for everyone."  --  She then makes her way to the tree where she once again places her back against the tree, leaning upon it. Just next to her lay the stick she had brought, leaning up against the tree. "If you still feel up to this, knowing the fact of death may greet you in your career as a jounin," she said, face still serious. "Then stand in front of me and prove to me that you are ready to become a shinobi."  --  The day had just reached midday and the sun shone very subtly through the leaves of the tree, leaving small sunlight patches throughout the shade. Ru folded her arms as she awaited to see which shinobi joined her and which backed out. Ru wished for no ninja to be hurt or killed just because they thought being a shinobi would be fun. It is serious work indeed.  --

Harusame: Harusame resisted squinting her eyes as she noticed what the swordsman was mouthing. She stopped herself though since that could have caused problems. So, he was doing something similar to she was. At least she had the advantage of knowing his plots and him not knowing hers. If something were to ever happen, it'd give her the advantage. After everyone was finished speaking, her eyes went towards her teacher and listened to what was being explained. At first, it seemed like she was making a joke. They may be kids but the dangers should be well understood. Becoming a ninja and not being prepared for your own death would be foolish. It was something Harusame herself wanted to fix since death didn't seem all too appealing to her but she knew that it was possible to die before achieving her goals. Harusame lifted her body up through just her legs as they pushed themselves off the ground so she could end up in a standing position. She'd use her right foot to press down on the edge of her massive scroll to use the leverage gained to cause it to push upwards to her right hand to be grabbed. With some effort, she lifted the scroll and walked directly in front of her teacher, placing one end of the scroll down so her hand could hold the other end propped up. "This isn't the life of your typical person but it is the life I have chosen." She stated, prepared for whatever may be next. Now seemed like the time she was finally waiting for. The time she'd be learning about what those talisman represented. She couldn't help but have her eyes glance back up at them curiously before looking back to her teacher. Her curiosity was about to be satisfied and inside, she could barely contain herself just to see how accurate her hypothesis was.

ItsupikiOkami: Akio listened attentively as his new sensei
spoke aloud of the dangers of becoming a ninja. Akio knew of the risks all to
well since he had lost his father at a young age, right before entering the
academy to become a ninja himself. Though the idea of dying at such a young age
was terrifying to the young genin, he could not allow this fear to set in. He
wanted to be a shinobi to rival his father and he would let nothing stand in
the way of his dream. The girl known as Harusame stood then, showing her
readiness to accept the risks of being a ninja. Several thoughts went through
Akio’s head at that time, some of them being his own future, the people he
would meet as a ninja, and the ever present danger of losing his life. Akio
shook these thoughts from his head as he steeled his nerves and stood then, lowering
his mask and locking eyes with his sensei. “I’m well aware of the risks and I
accept them whole-heartedly.” Akio would say as he stood there both feet firmly
planted into the ground. ‘No turning back now, this is the future that I want
and I will not let a silly fear keep me from it. I will be ready for anything
that will be thrown at me in the years to come.’ Akio, still looking his sensei
eyes, waited for the Sarutobi’s reaction and what would follow when everyone
had made their decision.

WishIHadABetterName:🔥- Shiro would smile at this challenge, noting the hyugas troubled reaction. But this was unimportant. As he turned his attention to his teacher, he heard her warn the group of the dangers of this life style. This wasn't anything new to Shiro, as he was well acquainted with the loss of life that came so natural with this life. Noting every word, he would watch the first of the young ones step forward, the hyuga. Younger than him, but beaming with potential. Hearing her sentiments, he would smile. He knew he would get along well with her. Her reaction gave him a much better mental image of her. It was good info for him. Soon after, the shy young Hatake would step forward, and make his sentiments known. It was somewhat clear he was slightly worried, but admirably shook these feelings away, and stood up for the path he was after. He liked this reaction. Noticing he was the last one, he would shrug his shoulders. Having already given up any chance of a normal life, the choice was easy for him. Lifting up the rather awkwardly large katana, he would replace it on his back, resting as the lowest of his blades, the largest, and his apparent favorite. Once the sword was returned, he would take three steps forward, closing the gap from him and the group, standing between the two that had gone before them. "My life for my service. My sword for our success, and my body for your hearts. I'm in, until the end, whenever that may be." As he said this, he smiled at his sensei, almost bursting with confidence, without arrogance. He was very excited to start living for something other than his own survival. Once he finished his little quote, he would cross his arms, waiting for his sensei's reaction, and the continuation of this interesting event.-

Tsuokusho: --  Ru continued to lean back against the tree. First to approach was Haru, carrying her large scroll forward with her. She stood a few feet away from Ru, but seemed confident with her stance. After speaking her words, Ru nodded, though still with seriousness upon her face.  --  The second to approach was the Hatake. He stood up from where he was sitting and approached to the same distance the Hyuga was. Stating his sentiment, Ru also nodded with his words.  --  Finally, The Sarutobi shrugged and returned the sword to his back and joined his Genin companions. He crossed his arms and stood there with a smirk. Finally, Ru nodded once more and held a smirk on her face.  --  Ru unfolded her arms and bumped herself off of the tree to a basic standing position. "You all say this now, which is good," she says, "However, at this point, any fear shown won't be tolerated. You've made your choice. You can't back out now."  Ru reaches down and grabs her stick that is leaning on the tree. She twirls the stick around a bit before planting it next to her. "Saying you're prepared for the worst is easy," she begins. "But can your words speak for your actions?" A smile rises from her face, much larger than just a smirk. "Prove it to me, then. We will participate in a challenge. Prove yourself and you will be ready to truly become a ninja. Fail the challenge, and you're life as a shinobi ends here." Though harsh to end their dream of shinobi, a simple challenge is necessary to become shinobi. After all, if they couldn't complete the challenge given to them now, they absolutely wouldn't be able to complete the missions given to them later.  --  "The challenge is simple," Ru said. "All you have to do is surprise me. That's it." Ru laughed slightly at this. She then held up her free hand, as her other one was holding the stick before her, and extended two fingers. As she did this, a large smile could be seen on her face. "You have two attempts to surprise me. Simple, right?" As soon as her hand holding two fingers up returned to her side, she tightened her grip on her stick for just a moment before throwing it up into the air. As the stick flew through the air, Ru quickly signed the Tiger Seal and used Body Flicker Technique to quickly move to a branch above the students. The stick arrived shortly after her as she grabbed it from the air. Placing the staff at her side, she formed another Tiger Seal, using Water Clone Technique to create three clones below her, next to the Genin. She then plopped herself down onto the branch above so that she could witness the interactions, placing the staff horizontal ways across her lap. The three water clones spread out slightly, allowing each Genin a chance to show her what they have without interfering with the other.  --  "Two chances," she said slightly louder so that the others could hear. The three talismans that hung from the tree branches dangled and moved with the wind, same going for Ru's hair. "Good luck!" she says now. A smile shows on not only her face, but on the three water clone's faces as well. The water clones each drew a kunai and prepared for the Genin ninja's tactics.  --

Harusame: Finally. To hear what it was.. So close.. Just pay attention a little bit longer.. aaanddd... Disappointment. It was just a simple surprise? That was not something she had expected. where those talisman decoys this entire time? Put there only to make her think that they meant something more when actually, they were just there for decoration? What a cruel thing to do. Rather impressive, actually. She hated it and it felt like she died a little inside from having thought that over so much to have a simple test such as "surprise me" be what she had to go through. That actually made her like her teacher, just from putting those up there. Even if that wasn't her intention, she still felt impressed that she could have been so well distracted by something like that. Back to the task at hand, she was only being confronted with a water clone and honestly, she was disappointed that it was just a mere clone she had to go against. Her free hand, she placed over her face as she lowered her head at this time, shaking it with a light sigh. "No." Her voice was rather flat as she said this, refusing to do something such as that. She wanted, no, she deserved something better than that. Her face slid up out of the palm of her hand to look directly up at her teacher who seemed to just be relaxing herself up in the tree while having the clones do the effort for her. "I apologize, Ru-sensei, but I will not participate in such an event." Her eyes that were looking up at Ru now had more pronounced pupils with the veins near her temples bulging under her skin. "I would much rather you come down her to personally be the one standing in front of me rather than a clone." Her voice now was changing to something laced with more malicious intentions. Her hand gripped the edge of the scroll she held tightly as the one that was on her face went over to the side of it to grab the end of it to open, just a few inches rather than the whole way through with only the back part being faced outwards with the inner part where whatever is inside of it would be facing towards Harusame's own legs. "At least do me the kindness of letting me prove my metal against an actual Jounin." She now had a smirk on her face as she was directly challenging Ru while disregarding the test being given.

ItsupikiOkami: Akio stood there for a second as one of the three
water clones stood in from of him, kunai drawn. He would pull his mask back
over the lower half of his face and begin to quickly formulate a plan. ‘How in
the world am I supposed to surprise this person?’ Akio thought to himself.  For something so simple, it struck Akio as
needlessly complicated, he honestly had no clue what he was going to do to
surprise his new sensei. As he tried to gather his thoughts, Akio came up with
a rather silly idea. He hated the fact that it was the only idea he had come up
with but, he would go with it nonetheless. He had noted a small patch of
flowers about ten feet behind the tree his sensei had seated her self in and
that was his destination. He raised his hands and formed them into the sign of
the tiger and he would then body flicker toward the small patch of flowers he
had noted a few seconds prior. Though he hated himself for having such a stupid
plan, he was going to follow through with it even if it meant receiving some
ridicule down the line. Akio quickly picked a flower, placing it in his
headband, as not to lose it when he moved back. Once again moving his hands
into the seal of the tiger he would body flicker into the tree next to his
sensei and quickly placed the flower he had in his headband gently onto his
sensei’s ear. He would quickly mutter “I hate myself for this” as he jumped
backwards out of the tree curious to see how his sensei would react to the
stupid thing he had just done.

WishIHadABetterName: 🔥- Shiro would listen to his sensei. Watching her mouth move, only half believing the test was that simple. But, then again, this was a perfect exercise for him. For him, the test wasn't to surprise her. It was abit more than that. It was a chance to try something new he had been toying with. But, like it or not, it was a simple test. "Surprise you...? That's it...? Alright...this may prove interesting. Next time, don't make the clone look so much like you. This may hurt your feelings a little..." As shiro said this, he reached towards his back, firmly gripping his first katana. The blade he had said would be the best of the five to kill her with. Letting some of his chakra flow into the blade as he drew it, the blade heated slightly from the fire based chakra attempting to flow through the steel, letting out an eairy ringing noise echo through the air as the cold steel bounded ageist the hot blade. This ringing was loud, but soft...faint but clear. As he drew the blade, he would slide his hat back on with his free hand, then soon after his mask. Once on, the blade would be taken into both of his hands, bringing the handle towards his face, holding it horizontally, so the blade would guard his right half, pointing away from the tree. Once the blade rested in it's chosen position, he would...change...His eyes sharper, his body harder. He was letting out a sort of mental pressure...enough to make a lesser man or woman feel like they were choking. Like there was something in someone's thought that needed to get out. This feeling...it was enough to make someone feel alone. Cold. It was best described as killing intent. His cold red eyes were clear, even through the dark holes inside his mask. Shiro would give it some time, letting the blade heat. But to his disappointment, he wasn't able to reach any heat he would have taken to be satisfactory. He couldn't do it. Not nearly enough experience to properly channel the chakra. The heat was uneven, and not nearly hot enough. Once he had given up, he would simply sheath his blade, letting the metal cool within the sheath, causing a searing, strained noise to echo behind him. He would then remove his hat and mask, and stand there calmly. The air around them slowly cleared of this pressure, leaving with the sound from his blade finally settling down, but Shiro's eyes didn't change. Staring coldly at his sensei's image. It was clear that the threat wasn't even close to being over. Sighing, as Shiro would be expected to do SOMETHING, he would raise his hands, forming the signs that represented Snake, then Ram, Monkey, Board, Horse, then finally Tiger. Once he had formed them, he would take a deep breath. "You two, Haru, Akio, jump. Now. Fire style. Great Fireball Jutsu." As he said this, he would breath out a massive wave of flame. A simple, but danm devastating jutsu. Once the massive wave was expelled from his mouth, it would rush in the general direction of the three clones, as they stood unused, and ignored. The searing flames would rush in there general direction, hovering roughly two feet above the ground, just barley missing the flowers in the surrounding area. If the flame engulfed even one of them, he would have been satisfied by the attempt. Even if he did not manage to subdue one of the clones, he would be placated with the results, as this was his strongest flame burst yet, but by standards, it wasn't that impressive. Finally, he would turn his cold, predatory gaze towards his teacher. Waiting for any form of reaction from her. Disappointing in himself, he would stand waiting for a scolding. As he wasn't able to use his imagined skill much at all yet. Let alone well. He felt like a failer. -🔥

Tsuokusho: --  Ru sat within the tree, awaiting the different responses that her Genin might be able to give her. She could tell that some of them were rather taken back by the challenge. Each seemed to have their own illustration to it, which was rather entertaining to Ru. 'So this is the feeling,' she says to herself with a grin on her face, remembering her time as a Genin. All three of her clones shared the same grin, each eyeing their own Genin with cautious intent. After all, their challenge was to surprise her, and she wasn't about to give them just a simple completion.  --  Almost immediately after, the Hyuga shook their head and refused to participate, stating that she'd rather challenge the real deal instead of the clone. Ru laughed a bit from that, as she sat on the branch, her wooden staff still relaxing horizontal across her lap. "Whether or not it's defeating 1,000 Rogue ninjas or rescuing a cat from a tree, it is your shinobi duty to perform these tasks to the best of your ability," Ru stated. "Sure, what I have presented for you isn't as orthodox as you'd might like, but it is an important skill as a ninja to have."  Ru speaks loudly so that every Genin would be able to hear. "A Shinobi must be able to improvise a surprise. The art of surprising can lead to the victory before the fight even begins." She pauses a moment before lifting her hand up, revealing an index finger. "One try remaining" she says with a smile.  The clone before the Hyuga chuckled slightly before clasping her hands together, almost as if in prayer as the Hyuga had their hands ready to reveal the scroll.  Ru was always curious as to what was in the scroll.  Her curiosity was peaked, and hopefully she wouldn't be disappointed.  --  Shifting glances to the Hatake, she saw the boy standing there, pondering a moment before returning his mask to his face. She saw him note something behind the tree she was in, but both Ru and the clone she had for the Hatake would continue to maintain eye contact on the boy. The Hatake would form the Tiger Seal, using his Body Flicker technique to flicker somewhere, though she had no idea where. A few moments later, she found the boy using Body Flicker again right next to her in the tree. Ru looked over to the boy who now stood above her and awaited him to do something. At this point, the clone who was made for the Hatake had folded her arms and was now looking at the boy in the tree as well. He grabbed something from his headband, which was quickly revealed as a flower, and placed it upon Ru's ear.  Muttering something, he jumps back out of the tree, towards the original spot he was in before.  Ru, with a smile on her face, turned back to the boy who had just arrived at the ground. "Pretty clever," she said grin beaming. She grabbed the flower from her ear and began spinning it within her fingers. "That's thinking outside the box for sure." The clone, still with folded arms, continues to maintain Ocular contact with the Hatake, though smiling along side Ru. "A gift of this kind is sweet for sure," she began. "Unfortunately, you suffer the burden of not being the first to do that." she shrugs a bit before placing the flower back upon her ear. She held her index finger up to the Hatake and smiled. "One try remaining."  --  Finally, her attention rose to the Sarutobi. He muttered some words before reaching for a sword of his. Drawing one of his blades, and sliding his hat and mask back on, he began to hold his blade in a strange manner. It was clear that he was pouring chakra into his blade, as the blade sang a soft, steam-like tone, confirming his Fire Nature. Unfortunately, all dramatic effect was lost as the boy just stood there. Any attempt to do something such as scare Ru or Ru's clone was simply ignored. After just standing there for a bit of time, the Genin just returned his blade to the sheath, continuing the steamy noise before slowly dying out.  Ru saw the boy get slightly frustrated before beginning to form seals. 'Snake, Monkey, Boar,' Ru thought to herself before realizing that his jutsu was continuing seals. Hopefully, and most likely, her clone that she had assigned to the Sarutobi would react to this. Sure enough, her clone, who was in front of the Sarutobi, would begin signing her own signs. \*Ram → Horse → Bird\* the clone would sign, just finishing her justu right as the wave of flames began emitting from the mouth of the Genin. As the fire approached the clone, a \*Tornado of Water\* appeared around the clone, dispersing any and all fire from the Genin that approached her.  Saving the other participants from the need to dodge, the only issue anyone needed to worry about was getting sprinkled by the water that was just around the clone. Ru, sitting on the tree, shook her head in disapproval. "That's a big jutsu to just be flinging around, you know." She says to the Sarutobi. "Just a simple attack is supposed to surprise anyone, though? If an enemy shinobi was to see you forming that many hand signs in front of them, no matter how good the jutsu is, they'll be too prepared to avoid it." She paused and sighed before her smile slowly returned. "You could have at least tried to hide first." She did the same as the previous two and raised her index finger towards the Sarutobi. "One try remaining," She spoke out loud.  --  Ru began to rise up from the branch, carrying the stick she had with her until she was standing with her stick being held at the side. A large gust of wind brushed the leaves from side to side, agitating the Talismans that hung from the tree. The talisman that hung from Ru's neck was also affected by this, blowing in accordance to the wind's direction. "As simple as the Challenge may appear to be, you should quickly come to realize it's difficulty. Think creatively, but also think swiftly. On missions or in fights, you only have now to worry about, so you have to think crazy and big." Ru began tapping the staff lightly against the tree branch. "If you can't obtain success from this, how can you intend to find success in other missions?" She paused before realizing something before hand. A smile appeared before her face, coming to conclusions in her own head. "One try remaining," she said softly, before returning to the voice that others could hear her with. "I may have forgotten to tell you guys a small detail," She states to them. "All of you need to be successful, or none of you are." All three Water Clones before the Genin smiled, while still maintaining eye contact with their respected Genin. Ru, herself smiling, continues watching over the Genin to see their own reactions. Hopefully, the Genin be able to come up with something clever this time around.  --

Harusame: Harusame just sighed and mumbled. "I was sure that a sudden shift in personalities like that would at least be a little surprising. There goes that route."  Clearly she wanted something a bit more than that. A simple surprise attack? No, it's too late for that. She already used one turn so her next attack would have to account for that which is rather difficult if it's not delayed. What other kind of surprises could she possibly do? "In that case, let's see if being attacked with this much power is enough to surprise you!" She kicked the base of the scroll so that it'd fall to it's side while she pulled the edge of the scroll upwards. It'd pretty much cover her legs up to the middle of her chest while she focused her chakra into the scroll to release it's contents. The release of the seal would cause a puffy white cloud of smoke to accompany the release of the contents inside. Being so close, she got engulfed in this smoke and from inside of it, her voice would start out normal but get louder as she went. "Uulltimaatte... Poooowweeerrrr!!" She'd leap up into the air swiftly, the biggest indication being the smoke that suddenly went upwards.  "Penguin Disaster Thrust!" She'd yell as she went from being in the air to headed straight towards Ru's clone that was supposed to be hers. Her body was now covered in a skintight black suit with a poorly made penguin mask that looked like it was attached to her head by a simple string tied around her face. In her hand, a massive lance that was diving straight down towards Ru. Ru should be able to see through the attack that it wasn't actually aimed directly at her but instead to the ground in front of her. However, before reaching the ground, the transformation technique would end and she'd just be falling from the ground with her normal look but three senbon in each of her hands and one in her mouth that would all be launched towards the clone. This strategy was a simple one. First, she used the scroll and smoke released from the seal activating to form hand seals for a transformation, followed by a loud and flashy attack that obviously was not a threat just to get in close enough for the real attack to be launched. The first attack, hopefully causing her to let her guard down enough, thinking that the attack itself was of no threat with that first move being the surprise when that was just the feint for the real surprise. It would be an immediate failure if the suit and weapon weren't meant to believe to come from the scroll but really, she was just taking the senbon out of the scroll and using the scroll itself to hide her hand seals in case the smoke wasn't sufficient enough. That way, a jutsu wouldn't be getting suspected. Honestly, she figured since her teammate just got scolded for being too open about his jutsu and that he should have hidden them, it would be expected so she probably should have started with this. Countless scenarios of both success and failure were running through her head. However, not once did she think about when she was warned that if all of them didn't succeed then none of them would because she had to have faith in the others to be able to be able to pass this. Otherwise, she wouldn't want to deal with being on a team of those who can't even pull their own weight. Regardless of whether or not she passes here, it wasn't going to stop her. Even if she wasn't considered a real ninja, she'd just continue on being an unofficial ninja and  continue on with her goals.

ItsupikiOkami: As Akio landed back on the ground, he saw on
of the clones save him from being set ablaze. He was thankful that his sensei
had been able to stop his teammate’s jutsu, for he was doubtful that he would
have been able to move quick enough to get out of its range. He heard his
sensei speak then, mentioning that they would all need to pass or they would
all fail. ‘As if this wasn’t complicated enough’ Akio thought to himself ‘Now
it’s gotten even more difficult.’ Akio was having a hard time coming up with
something else he could possibly do. As he racked his brain for an idea, Akio
would watch Harusame as she put on quite the display. It was easily the single
most hilarious and confusing thing that Akio had ever seen. For as long as he
lived, Akio was sure that he would never forget what he had just seen. If the
moment had been less serious, he would have fallen over in an uncontrollable
fit of laughter easily but, since he needed to keep a level head and think
carefully about his next move, Akio would only chuckle to himself for a quick
second. ‘Well this could already be all over for us if that didn’t surprise
her’ Akio thought to himself after he regained his composure but, he was sure
that it did for it had left him quite surprised for sure. He would glance over
at his other teammate, Shiro but, it didn’t appear as though he was going to
spring into action again just quite yet. ‘I need to come up with something,
anything at all that could possibly surprise this woman’ Akio thought to
himself yet again. While he did admire the challenge, this seemed a much more
difficult task than it needed to be. Surely this was just a lesson to teach
them something of greater importance, this couldn’t be just a simple pass or
fail scenario, it had to be something else on a much greater scale. Right now
though, that didn’t matter, like his sensei had said, no matter the mission, it
needed to be completed. Akio quickly thought back to the previous day, a day
which he remembered fondly, he thought of the person he had met and their
interactions, and this filled him with a newfound determination. Akio would
quickly draw his blade and dash toward the water clone, attempting to cut it in
half, seeing as it was in his way, just grinning at him. His usually bright
eyes had gone cold and dark. He didn’t know what in the world he was going to
do and this angered him immensely. Akio was not used to this anger but, he was
sure it was something he would get used to in the years to come. Once past the
clone, defeated or not, Akio would position himself underneath the branch that
his sensei was sat on, sheathe his blade, and leap towards the branch. His goal
was to take the talisman that his sensei had around her neck. As he quickly
made his way up the tree, Akio would leap at his sensei and snatch the talisman
right off her neck. Whether he would succeed or not, it would surely be
surprising to suddenly have someone leap at you appearing to go right for the
throat.

WishIHadABetterName: 🔥-Shiro had confirmed his fail, as the clone hadn't been affected much at all by his killing intent, and had easily nulled his jutsu. Angered by this, but calmed, he would draw his fifth katana, Kami No Ha. Not only would he unsheathe the blade, he would place three explosive tags on the blade. Each one over one another near the tip of the blade. "Then let's try this..." As shiro said this, he would raise his blade as he had before, unorthodox, true enough, but a perfect guard for him. Holding the blade with his right hand, he would hold his left hand to his right side, in a flat palm, with his right foot before his left, taking a customized stance, seemingly unrelated to any style of combat taught in the academy. No, this was different. Once he had taken his stance, he would take a deep breath, knocking his hat off, but leaving the mask. The second his hat landed, he would use his slightly above average speed to close the distance from him to the clone. Once he was within two feet of the clone, he would swing his blade towards the clone, rotating the blade in his hand like a drill almost... an odd strike...All of these strikes were aimed for three key points on his opponent's body, one for her right shoulder, two for her left hip, and the third directly for her heart. If even one of the strikes landed, he would instantly flow chakra into the blade. It didn't need to be perfect, as long as his sensei's clone was within ten feet of Shiro, hit or miss, this flame chakra would cause the tags to explode. This was an almost suicidal attack..but it sure was a shock, to see it come from a genin in a simple test. If even one of the tags made contact with his chakra, his right arm would be completely blown off, left forearm crippled, with burns on his face, but the clone would have the worst of it. Given the clone was made of water, it would render the clone a mist if she was within five feet, greatly weaken if she was within ten feet. Shiro didn't care much for his own health, letting him do this attack without hesitation, as passing the test before him was his one and only concern. Given the thickness of the blade, the sword would go unharmed, as it was used to extreme heat, this was nothing new to him. He was sure he would pass his test if he did this little risk of an attack, confident in his choice. He was smiling under his mask the whole time, loving the risk of pain, for the reward of victory.-