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[Adas]

Konoha Chronicles

The Shinobi's Path

Toshiro lay in bed, wide awake, staring into the nothingness of his dark room. Despite the lack of sunlight that should have begun to creep through his windows, he knew it was well time to be out of bed. Thunder broke the early morning silence – no rain fell from the sky, and no lightning to herald its coming, but a dark sky spoke of the day to come. Letting out a deep sigh, he slowly pushed the covers back, and got up.

He glanced out the window as he got dressed, trying to decide whether or not he’d be warm enough in his usual garb – a dark blue shirt that ended at his elbows, which he, like always, didn’t bother to tuck into his dark gray pants. Feeling that he’d be fine, he carefully dressed himself, and slipped his feet into his sandals. Using a mirror hanging behind his door, he tied his hair into a messy ponytail, and, comfortable with his appearance, left his room quietly.

Stepping out into the Yakanashi compound, Toshiro instantly wished he’d put on warmer clothes, but not wishing to return to his room, strode forward. The compound was fairly large – a series of three small buildings surrounding a garden marked the living quarters of the entire clan, with a pathway, flanked by two larger buildings, which lead to the main gate. Normally, he would stop in at both before heading to the academy – one was a training area for the clan’s shinobi, while the other, a recreational area, housed the kitchen and dining rooms. Today however he was neither hungry nor felt the urge to train – even if he did, his sleeping in no longer allowed enough time for either.

Without saying a word to anyone, he crept out through the main gate and began walking towards the academy. Something bothered him that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. It wasn’t nervousness; he knew that much – despite the fact that the genin examinations would be held later that day, he knew he had nothing to worry about with those. Still, something bothered him, as it had earlier that morning as he lay awake, as it had the night before when he couldn’t sleep.

The citizens of Konoha had begun their morning earlier then he had - the streets, despite the early hour of the day, were already bustling with activity. Kids not younger then he were running about playing games while store owners shouted their wares. Toshiro took it all in at once, but remained uninterested. It didn't matter to him, it wasn't his business. He simply carried on.

All at once, he realized what was bothering him - it was the sky. It was the dampness in the air, it was the chill of the breeze, and the darkness of the sky. Why isn't it raining yet? he wondered. Everything pointed towards rain, but the sky simply refused to crack. Toshiro liked the rain, loved being out when rain pour and lightning cracked across the sky - this was simply a tease. He sighed.

With the academy finally coming into sight, he shrugged it off, and prepared himself for what he felt was going to be a long day.

[Isabella-Black]

Suki had been stretching after her morning training routine when the low boom of thunder rumbled through the halls of her family compound. She waited for a moment, expecting to hear the rhythmic drumming of rain against the roof, but when nothing came she became curious and moved from the worn tatami mats to the raised wooden planks near the training building's sole open window. She leaned out, balanced her weight on the heel of her palms and glanced towards the heavens. The sky was overcast, lending a dark shadow to her clan compound and the surrounding landscape. The forested area to the north was dark, foreboding and the angles of her father's house seemed sharper somehow in the dim light. Even the flowers of her mother's garden seemed to tremble in anticipation for the storm to come.

The wind was cold against the bare skin of her arms. Her father or uncle would likely be able to tell her what such a breeze heralded - a light rain or a roaring downpour - but they were both already gathered for the monthly council meeting in the compound's main temple and would have no time to satisfy her curiosity. She was already running short on time in any case, she had to get dressed and make her way to the Academy, least she was late for the examinations later that afternoon. Despite herself she couldn't help but become excited; she'd barely slept the night before, knowing that today was finally the day she would become a genin. Exhaustion pulled at her body, but she barely noticed. Today was the day. She pushed off from the window sill, returned to the lowered center of the room and finished to her exercises before she exited the training compound and returned to her room.

Her father's house was impressive, the largest in the clan. It had its own wing dedicated to training, and another for formally receiving important guests. The rest was the family's living space, with the dinning and kitchen area situated towards the south and the bedrooms in the east. Suki's was situated at the end of that wing so she often had to sprint down the hallway just to get ready each morning, but it afforded her a good measure of privacy so she was grateful for that.

Once inside, she considered the weather before unfolding her blue dress and slipping it on over her training shorts. It had no sleeves, so she grabbed her dark jacket from the closet to wear on top, as well as her belt and weapons pouch which she clipped to her waist. She stopped by her mirror and ran a comb through the short strands of her black hair and fussed with her bangs, dyed a deep purple, before she was satisfied and made her way out of the house, jacket in hand. She ignored her older brothers, eating their breakfast in the kitchen - she had already eaten earlier before she'd begun training, and slipped outside into the cold air.

It only took her ten minutes to make her way to the Academy, but by then she could already see small gatherings of students beginning to file into the classroom. She felt the stirrings of anticipation coil in her chest as she wondered how many of her former classmates would obtain that coveted genin status, and if she would be among them. She felt for her weapons as if to reassure herself, and stepped inside the classroom, finding her seat and pulling out one of the Academy textbooks, suddenly consumed with the urge to study. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as students began to file in, one after another, most looking as exhausted as she felt and just as anxious.

Another crack of thunder sounded overhead and Suki wondered if it would finally rain once she'd become a real shinobi.

[Adas]

Hating being late for anything, Toshiro was one of the first to arrive at the Academy. Those he passed in the halls seemed as bleak as the weather. Perhaps it’s because of the weather he mused, but knew that it wasn’t the case – the genin exams would be held at some point that day, and a sense of impending doom hung in the air. He shrugged his shirt down awkwardly. He wasn’t nervous about the weather.

Well, maybe a little bit….

Toshiro entered the classroom, and to his satisfaction, found that he had beaten nearly everyone there. He hated walking into crowded rooms, instead preferring to sit quietly and wait for everyone else to enter. Those in the classroom already – he spotted Suki, nose buried in her textbook – looked groggy still. That’s what you get for staying up all night practicing he thought to himself with a certain amount of resentment. This test would be easy, and those that actually needed to spend time preparing didn’t deserve the forehead protector.

Thunder ripped through the silence once more making Toshiro jump. Cursing his sudden anxiousness and hoping no one noticed, he slumped down in a seat near the back of the room, away from the prying eyes of his classmates. One by one the nervous students filed into the room, until finally Lamara-sensei entered. Toshiro was surprised to see her – he had been expecting their normal teacher, Kizuka-sensei, but here standing before them was a teacher who he had passed before in the halls of the academy, but never been taught by. A general murmur rose in the room until Lamara-sensei cleared her throat, and then all went silent.

“I’m sure none of you expected me today,” she began in a calm, clear voice. “On the day of your genin exam, I’m sure you’d much rather have final words from Kizuka-sensei – unfortunately, he has been sent on a mission outside of the village.”

Once again, a murmur began to rise in the room as nervous students tried to imagine what kind of mission their instructor had been sent on. As the mutters began to die down, Lamara-sensei continued. “Kizuka-sensei told me express to you his feelings of confidence towards your tests – he is confident that you will all remember your training, and pass today’s exam with flying colours. Now, as for the exam – due to Kizuka-sensei being away today, I have been instructed to tell you what tonight’s exam details, and to do then proceed to give you the rest of the day to practise for it.”

The murmurs rose once more, but this time holding an excited, anxious tone as the students wondered what they would be examined on. This time, Lamara-sensei was not so kind towards the interruption and cleared her throat loudly, silencing the room. “Tonight’s examination will test your ability to transform your physical being – the transformation jutsu is a basic ninja technique, and one that all genin must be able to perform with perfection whenever required. Your passing or failing tonight’s exam will depend on your ability to perform the Transformation Jutsu!”

Toshiro smiled despite himself. That’s it? he mused. This isn’t going to be an issue at all… However, to his surprise, he heard several groans from his fellow classmates.

“Class dismissed!”

[Ellerby]

Sorry it's so short and talky, I wasn't really sure what to write. lol Next one will be longer!
"Class Dismissed!" Lamara-sensei exclaimed. The students all got up from their seats at once and quickly began murmuring about the nights examination as they left the room. Temaru sat as his desk while the majority of the students exited the class to avoid the pushing and shoving. His head rested on his hand, he fiddled with his pencil in his other hand and sighed.

I hate transformation jutsu... he thought to himself. Meko, Temaru's black Ninja Cat, picked up on his concern and mewed softly from his scarf. The cloth was wrapped loosely around his neck at the back to create a hood for the cat to sleep in. Meko crawled onto Temaru's shoulder and swatted at the pencil in his hand. Temaru smiled softly and rubbed his little friends head.

"What am I going to do, Meko? I suck at transformation jutsu..." Meko mewed in response and Temaru nodded. "You're right, I'm not as bad as some of the others. I'll just have to go home and practice..." And then a devious thought crosses Temaru's mind. Meko sensed it and growled softly.

"Maybe I can pull a fast one on the examiners..." Temaru whispered to Meko. "I'll say I'm transforming into you... and then I'll just pull a quick Substitution Jutsu instead, substituting myself for the real you..."

Meko mewed in disapproval and Temaru sighed. "I guess you're right. If they ask you to transform back I'm kind of screwed. Why can't you just learn substitution jutsu, Meko?!" Temaru went to pat his cat on the head, but Meko pulled back from his hand and fell backward into the scarf. Temaru laughed slightly and got up from his seat.

"I guess I'll just have to transform into you succesfully, Meko!" Temaru exclaimed with new confidence, thrusting his arm into the air. Meko replied by jumping up from his hood with one paw in the air, mewing excitedly.

Edited by White, 11 February 2011 - 05:48 PM.

[Isabella-Black]

Suki picked up her text book from where she'd placed it on the desk, and flipped forward to the section on taijutsu technique as she exited the classroom, thoroughly disappointed. She'd been expecting something challenging to usher her forward to her new genin status (something which seemed readily available now that she knew what was expected of her to pass) although she supposed something that was more her level would be nigh impossible for the rest of the stragglers, so presumptuous as to already consider themselves real shinobi before even setting foot outside the Academy doors.

Still, her father's voice reprimanded, echoing in her head, you're lucky they didn't decide to focus this test on genjutsu techniques. Your skills in illusion are still pathetically amateur. Suki deflated; she was a fair ninjutsu user - more than skilled enough to gain her headband - and her skills in taijutsu were years ahead of her peers, but she had never been adept at genjutsu and struggled daily to improve. It was laughable how poorly she scored in that area, and even the most basic technique often baffled her. It was pathetic for an aspiring kunoichi and especially for a member of the proud Kudara clan. Suki sighed and turned the page back to the section on genjutsu and forced herself to pay attention.

A voice from the right interrupted her reading, "Miss Kudara?" Suki turned and pinned the speaker with a glare. The boy, a student in her year named Kagoya, shifted minutely and hurried to continue. "I-I-I was wondering... you're good at this ninjutsu stuff, right?"

And he wasn't; Suki could already see where this was headed. She nodded anyway.

"Well I was wondering, since you're not doing anything," - Suki narrowed her eyes at his presumption - "maybe you could give me a few pointers?" Kagoya asked, nubbing his hand against his neck in a sheepish gesture.

Suki said nothing for a moment, allowing Kagoya to fidget nervously in the silence, before answering with a curt, "Yes, I could." She caught the boy's eager smile out of the corner of her eye before she turned on her heels and began walking towards the training grounds, nose buried in her book once again.

Kagoya stuttered indigently behind her, completely baffled, before he ran after her. Suki had to bit her tongue to suppress a smirk.

"What gives, Kudara?" He demanded, having caught up and was now keeping stride beside her. "I thought you said, you'd help me?"

Suki closed her book with a sharp snap, keeping her attention forward. "I said I could help you. Not that I had any intention of doing so."

"What?"

Suki rolled her eyes: "If you can't be bothered to learn such a basic ninja technique in the months we've had since sensei's lesson, than why should I be bothered to lose my training time just to help a slacker like you?"

"Cause it'd be nice of you to help me?"

"Nice doesn't get you far as a shinobi."

Kagoya glared venomously, clearly annoyed, but he didn't turn away or break stride. He must really be desperate. Suki realized, let's see how desperate. She stopped suddenly and turned to look the taller boy directly in the eye. He shifted to a stop and met her gaze for a moment before he turned to look around, realizing for the first time that she had led him to the eastern training grounds of the academy, surrounded by trees on two sides and pocketed with boulders and uneven terrain. They were still in sight of the main building and less than twenty feet from a gaggle of students, practicing for the exam.

Suki was unimpressed, the first thing she'd learned as a kunoichi was to always be aware of her surroundings. She dropped her book to the ground and crossed her arms , "Show me what you've got."

Kagoya gave her a determined look before making the correct signs and transforming in a cloud of smoke. In his place stood Kizuka-sensei... or at least it was supposed to be... maybe. He really did need her help. Suki couldn't hide the look of disbelief on her face. Kagoya's transformation was... deformed at best. It was entirely asymetrical, holding only the barest resemblance to their teacher, and looked very much like someone had folded him up in order for him to stand at Kagoya's height. It was actually appalling - no wonder he'd been desperate enough to seek her help. Another puff of smoke and the monstrosity vanished. Kagoya reappeared in its place, embarrassed and plainly avoiding her gaze.

"That's horrible," Suki announced, plainly. "You're obviously no good at controlling your chakra, if you're even putting enough in that thing to begin with and you're not focusing at all. If you were it wouldn't look..." she gestured wildly with her hands "like that."

Kagoya glared heatedly at her, daring her to do better. So she did. A moment later Kagoya was staring at the mirror image of himself, angry glare and all. Suki/Kagoya shifted her/his hand onto her/his hip, annoyed. "You need to build up your chakra, focus on the target, and then manipulate your energy into the shape you want." The real Kagoya started back a bit, unnerved at hearing his own voice echoed back at him. Suki transformed back.

"How did you do that?" Kagoya asked.

"I just told you." Suki replied with a flippant gesture. "If you can't figure it out on your own, then you're obviously hopeless."

When she made to walk away, Kagoya shot forward and grabbed her arm, moving faster than she would have thought possible. "Come on, Kudara. I really need some help here."

She could have twisted his arm until he let go, or smashed his forearm to give him an ugly bruise. Instead, Suki smirked and turned back to face the boy, his hand still on her arm. "Tell you what," she began slowly, "I need a sparring partner to pass the time. If you can pin me, I'll help you fix your Transformation until its as good as mine."

Kagoya considered her for a moment, noting her slender figure and how his fingers completely encircled her wrist. "And if I can't?" He asked, cautiously, not trusting that sly grin on his opponents face.

Suki shrugged, "Then I get a nice warm up out of it. Your call."

Kagoya didn't waste a minute before shifting into an offensive stance, his grip on her wrist increased until it was almost bruising. He smirked, "Bring it."

The next thing Kagoya knew, he was on his back in the dirt. Suki looked down at his prone form, one knee still firmly planted on his abdomen and her grip on his arm poised to twist and snap his wrist if he moved the wrong way. She leaned down and gave him her sweetest smile.

"Best two out of three?"

[Adas]

Toshiro summoned his chakra forward, and, upon releasing it, thought of Kizuka-sensei. Smoke burst forth, and upon its clearing, there stood a perfect replication of Kizuka-sensei – his blonde hair, short, pug-like nose, the scar that ran down his cheek, the Konoha combat vest. A perfect transformation. Another burst of smoke, and Toshiro strode out confidently. Child’s play he mused. He knew he had nothing to fear from tonight’s exam.

The training field had been littered with his fellow classmates so he decided to practice on his own near a fountain a couple of blocks away from the Academy. The day was still cool, and unnaturally calm, but Toshiro’s thoughts were finally elsewhere. He thought of the others in his class, of those who were struggling to perfect their technique before the examination. He couldn’t understand why a technique as simple as the transformation technique required such intense practise. Either you were ready, or you weren’t, and no amount of cramming beforehand could save you if you weren’t. Toshiro simply couldn’t understand, and he hated not understanding. Annoyed, he began to trudge away from the fountain where he had planned on practising something a bit tougher and headed towards the training field.

As he had left it, most of his fellow classmates were present, nearly all practising the transformation technique. Some were simply relaxing together, joking and laughing, discussing the prospect that by this time tomorrow they would be shinobi. Toshiro kept his distance from everyone, merely wishing to observe, wishing to find some clarity in their actions but finding none. He sighed, and was about to turn and leave when something caught his eye. Two of his classmates were fighting.

He approached them quietly, not wanting to draw attention to himself. Suki, one of the strongest in their class – and to Toshiro’s chagrin, far superior to he himself – was sparring with Kagoya. Toshiro was suddenly interested. Why would she fight him? he wondered. More importantly, why would he fight her?.

The two continued to fight before him, Kagoya attempting to grab his female adversary while Suki effortlessly dodged time and time again. Her moves were brilliant, simple and yet complex at the same time. Kagoya feinted to her right, and struck her left side aimed straight at her wrists, but she pivoted on her right foot delivering a solid kick from her left. Kagoya flew through the air and hit the ground with a resounding thud.

“I’m not done yet!” Kagoya spat, still sprawled on the ground. He tried to pull himself up, but a kunai found its mark in the dirt directly above his face.

“Yes, I’m afraid you are,” Toshiro spoke softly. He turned his attention to Suki. She stood slightly shorter than he did, with short, jet-black hair. She was pretty – there was no denying that, but Toshiro knew not to underestimate an enemy based on physical appearance. She was strong, stronger than he, so he couldn’t let his guard down. No longer paying attention his fallen classmate, he glared at Suki, attempting – in vain – to stare her down.

“When you’re done warming up, fight me.”

[Isabella-Black]

Kagoya scrambled to his feet, hastily brushing dirt off his clothes before he stormed towards Toshiro. "Hey! I was here first!" He shoved an accusing finger in the other boy's face, "And I said I'm not done yet!"

Suki watched with wry amusement, as Toshiro paused in his attempt to stare her into submission to glare disdainfully at the ranting Kagoya. She was familiar with the Yakanashi boy - a decent student, higher up in ranking than Kagoya but still average in comparison to the more advanced prodigies like herself. She'd sparred with him a few times in class but she'd never considered him anything particularly special, certainly not skilled enough to take her in a one-on-one taijutsu match. The only thing notable about him was the intense way he always seemed to stare at her; not as if he thought she was attractive or impressive, but as if she was constantly in his way, an obstacle for him to overcome.

She smirked and fell back into her favourite method of baiting the Yakanashi. "And you are?" She asked, drawing the attention of the field back to her. She kept her tone intentionally annoyed and dismissive, "I was having a nice time sparring with Kagoya, you know."

Toshiro gritted his teeth, though his composure was better than most, clearly angered by the fact that she seemed to have forgotten his name. Suki reached up and began idly fiddling with her hair, digging the knife in deeper with her apparent disinterest. She said: "If you want someone to spar with so badly, why don't you go find one of the other dead lasts. I'm sure you're already well acquainted."

"I'm here to fight you." Toshiro replied evenly. Suki's eyes snapped forward, returning his glare with a cool, even glance.

She didn't get a chance to reply before Kagoya stepped in. "She said, no! And we're still sparring, so back off, Yakanashi." Normally she'd be offended when people tried to speak for her, but Suki said nothing, content to watch and see what Toshiro's reaction would be.

She wasn't disappointed. Without so much as breaking his focus on her, Toshiro slipped down and kicked the other boy's legs out from under him, sending him sprawling to the ground once again in an undignified. The tai-jutsu enthusiast in her noted his form and technique - solid, but purely technical - as Kagoya roared up and tried to attack. Toshiro blocked and parried with ease for a moment before catching Kagoya off guard with a strike against his shin and managing to knock him away with a gesture that was clearly practiced.

"Like I said," Toshiro relaxed his stance as Kagoya panted, winded from the assault, "you're done."

Kagoya looked like he was about to retort; Suki cut him off. "He's right." When he turned and looked at her in shock, Suki merely shrugged. "You're winded and exhausted. If you can't take him down" - she caught the barest flash of venom in Toshiro's stare - "then you don't have a chance at beating me."

As if he'd had one to begin with, she thought, then turned to face Toshiro. He barely looked phased from the short session with Kagoya, and it would be nice to go up again someone who had more than a fleeting grasp of tai-jutsu technique; she shifted into a defensive stance, ready. "Well, come on then."

[Adas]

Toshiro’s clenched his fist, a white-knuckled grip over his own, barely restrained fury. He recognized each of her words, each of her actions a deliberate act in order to bait him into an attack – unfortunately, they were working. Pretend you don’t know my name? We’ll see how long this lasts you bi—

Toshiro’s thoughts were interrupted as Kagoya launched one last desperate assault. Toshiro played into it perfectly – he moved quickly to meet Kagoya but spun behind him and threw a punch at Suki. For the briefest of moments, a look of shock shot across her face and Toshiro knew his blow would connect. Suki regained her composure in an instant and narrowly dodged the blow. She hit the ground and struck out with her leg, catching Toshiro off-guard. Dammit! he cursed at himself, catching himself mid-fall with his hands, but Suki was already waiting for him. She drove her foot down towards his hands attempting to knock him over, but Toshiro threw himself up and dodged the blow.

He launched himself at Suki and the two began to fight. Blows were parried and countered on both sides, neither landing a solid hit on the other. Toshiro knew that he wasn’t as strong at taijutsu as Suki was, but he followed the forms he had been taught both by their academy instructors and from the lessons he had received at home from his father and older brothers. His technique was perfect, yet he never managed to strike his opponent down.

Suki danced around him, her body a weapon as she nimbly dodged his attacks. He had never seen forms such as hers before – everything seemed improvised, a reaction to his action as each stepped flowed into the next. She spent most of the fight dodging his attacks, but when she struck , she struck hard. The speed of her blows were simply unavoidable – Toshiro had to block each hit or fear being knocked over.

Their fight soon garnered a small crowd. Those who had been training decided to come over and watch the fight, forming a small ring around the two combatants. This irritated Toshiro to no end, but he tried his hardest not to focus on them and to keep his attention split between Suki and the formation of a plan to bring her down.

As they fought, a plan quickly began to form in his mind. A second feint to draw her attention away from his left hand, giving him a chance to finally land a hit. He waited patiently for her to strike, knowing that she would expect him to block as she had forced him to do the entire fight. However, this time he was ready. When the blow finally did come – a solid right hook aimed at his chest – Toshiro pivoted and spun out of the way. In one swift motion he went for a kunai from his belt, knowing that instinctually, her next move would be to disarm it. And, to his utter pleasure, it worked.

Seeing the deadly blade, Suki leapt into the air and kicked his wrist, causing him to drop it. He took advantage of the moment and finally went in for the blow he had been planning all along with his other fist. Suki was ready for him though – as he closed in, she spun in the air and connected her other foot with his face, sending him flying back until he connected with the ground.

Blood dripped out of his nose, but he leapt back to up and took an offensive stance. “I’m not done with you yet, dammit!” he roared, his usual calm, his usual coolness a fleeting memory. Thunder roared once again across the sky, and finally the heavens broke – the rain finally began to pour.

The few classmates who had made up their ground made to run for cover from the rain, as did those who had remained training the transformation technique while they fought. Soon, only a few left in the training field, but Toshiro paid them no mind. Soaked to the bone, hair matted against his face more from sweat then the falling rain, he glared at Suki, never once abandoning his stance.

[Ellerby]

Observing the fight the whole time from a nearby tree sat Temaru and his cat Meko. Temaru had been practicing his transformation jutsu when Suki and the other boy had arrived but quickly fled to a tree to hide his failed transformation. He was pleasantly surprised to see Kagoya do an absolutely horrific transformation, making his seem like a clone but that uprising feeling did not last long as Suki's perfect transformation of Kagoya was astounding.

Now that it had started raining, a lot of the other students had left the scene of the fight. Temaru, on the other hand, stayed fairly dry in his tree and decided to stay and see how it would end. He'd always been very good at taijutsu, but Temaru always chose gaining distance on his opponent rather than throwing a punch. Watching the two fight so flawlessly was motivating, though.

Maybe I should spar more... Meko yawned. ...Nah.

After a few more minutes of them exchanging blows, Temaru began to grow bored of the fight. "If this goes on at this rate, I don't think this fight will end until one of them has to go to the bathroom or something." he said to Meko. The cat mewed softly in agreement.

"What do you say, Meko, shall we crash this party?" his cat meowed excitedly and jumped into his hood. Making some quick seals a puff of smoke appeared and was quickly wisped away by the strong wind of the storm revealing a very believable Kizuka-sensei.

I think this is my best one yet! That advice Suki gave Kagoya really helped! Temaru paused briefly. I need to study more, apparently. He then smirked and jumped down from the tree just as the two fighters were seemingly about to land a hit on the other.

"Hey! What are you two doing out here, you're going to catch a cold!" the two genin stopped and stared at the transformation for a second. They then exchanged skeptical looks and glanced back at Temaru. Standing up and out of her fighting stance, Suki patted some dirt from her shoulders as she walked up to the fake Kizuka.

"You know, Temaru, if you want to make a believable Kizuka..." she sighed and didn't even have to finish her sentence as Toshiro did for her.

"You need to lose the cat on your head." he said. Temaru glanced up at Meko, who was still the same black cat as always, purring ontop of his head. He released the transformation and slumped to the ground.

"And here I thought I had fooled you guys." he frowned.

[Adas]

Toshiro sighed, exasperated. Temaru stood there looking like an utter fool with his cat on his head. Moron – if he doesn’t watch out for things like that, he won’t pass tonight he thought to himself, unsure of why it bothered him so much. Settling on an explanation that he was still annoyed with Suki, he turned back to her.

“I think I’m about done here,” he told her. “I’m heading back to class before this turns into any more of a circus.”

“You were done before you even started,” she mocked, the barest hint of a smile on her face. Toshiro grunted, and began to walk away.

“Hey, wait!” Temaru called, standing back up. “Why head back now? The examinations aren’t until this afternoon – there’s still plenty of time to practise!”

“Then I suggest you use it,” he called back over his shoulder. He wouldn’t be surprised if both he and Kagoya failed the exam later that day. Well, that wasn’t fair he admitted – Temaru was several steps higher than Kagoya, but even still….

Kagoya called back an insult – The beaten never know when to shut up… – but Toshiro paid it no mind and kept walking. He had lost interest in the sparring match, lost interest in Kagoya’s weakness and lost interest in Temaru’s antics. The rain was finally falling, and he finally felt at ease.

Well, somewhat. As he walked through the deserted, rain-soaked streets of Konoha, he thought back to his fight with Suki. His form had been perfect, his technique impeccable, yet she had countered his blows with ease. He had trained in his family compound night after night under the watchful eyes of his father and brothers, and had earned his right to call himself a shinobi in the eyes of the Yakanashi clan – even if he hadn’t officially earned his genin status yet. Things came easily to him – instead of spending time learning something new, he spent his time perfecting it. And yet, Suki hadn’t seen him as a threat what-so-ever. It was enough to make him yell in anger, something he never did.

He stomped his foot in a puddle, spraying water every which direction. His original destination had been to get some ramen before the examination, but he had suddenly lost his appetite. He walked alone through the falling rain back towards the academy where he would await the examination.