The sky was a pastelle blue, clouds drifted past, the tree's waved as the wind pushed ever so lightly, and a small river trickled down a rock face so innocent and pure. An ordinary Onlooker would deem this scene as calm, but of course, there is always something underneath the calm to worry about.

For only a few metres away, a figure was walking past this calm site, its ivory coloured cloak covering its face and its body, and have sleeves that so far surpassed its hands, they trailed upon the cold ground. The leggings it wore were sky blue, and one of the tunnels had been ripped half off, leaving a shredded end, and showing a gathering of bandages, wrapped around the persons right leg, and on top of these bandages, two jet black chains also coiled around this persons legs, as if they were two hungry snakes, and this person were they're prey.
The figure was carrying a large, double-ended sythe, which had a brown, wooden pole, a yellow insignia on each end. The metal on the top half of the sythe gleamed in the early morning sunlight, the other end remained in the darkness of the figures shadow.

The figure glided over to the stream, cupped its hands, and lifted the waters to its shadowed face. It drank this water as if it had'nt had anything to drink for days upon end. The figure sighed. It lifted its hands and took down the hood that covered its head, revealing the face of a young boy. His face was of normal colour, his eyes a blackish-grey. He had hair that was black as the darkness on a cool, crisp night, but it had reddened ends to it, as if it had been sprayed by a wave of blood.
The boys face was solemn, and looked as though he had lost all hope on something. He gave out no aura of menace, nor of any kind of anger or hatred. In fact, unless he was right next to you, or in front of you, you wouldnt notice him. Instead, the boy had the face of one who was well beyond his years, one with less enthusiasm and caring.

The boy walked over to a nearby rabbit burrow, a put his hand to the entrance of it., sensing the presence of the frightened inhabitants, he closed his eyes and said but one thing..
"I'm Sorry"
In a sudden flash, the boys hands are taken away from the burrow's entrance, and he does a number of hand signs. He then again points his palm toward the entrance, and as this time a seal appears.
Chains begin abrupting out of the seal, and heading into the burrow. The chains are moving at fast speeds, as if they had a life of their own, and all the while the boy has closed eyes, and is concentrating hard.
A small yelp echoes from the burrow.
The chains begin retracting from the burrow, carrying with them a struggling rabbit, which is being held at its neck. It is flapping around, trying to escape, the boy watches the rabbit suffocate with an emotionless face. The rabbit is dead.

He walks over to the fire, the chains still attached to his palm, and the rabbits corpse still in the metallic grip of the souless chains, the boy starts a fire, and again does a number of hand signs. A sprout of liquid metal pours out of his other, free, hand, and settles not on, but just above the ground- floating. The boy waving his hand, as if he were a musical conducter, and the liquid begins to form itself into a pot. The pot drifts over to the water and picks up a load from it. It then rests on the two stands, created earlier, above the fire. The chains drop the deceased rabbit, and begin slowly contracting into the boys hand. The boy winces as the last link dissapears into his palm. There is no hole in the boys hand, but a trail of dark red blood trickles down. The boy picks up the rabbit and rubs the blood off on its pelt. The boy then proceeds in taking a knife out from underneath his cloak, and begins skinning the rabbit as the water boils in the pot...

-(An Amount of time later)-
The knife, which has a golden handle, is dipped into the streams waters, and then put back into the boys holster underneath his ghostly white cloak. The Rabbits meat is left, cooking in the pot, as the boy walks over to the burrow yet again. The boy croaches down, inside he can see two other rabbits, one considerably young, cowering in fear. He takes something out of his pouch, and leaves it by the entrance of the burrow- it is a small carrot, and a handful of lettuce leaves.
The boy serenely walks over to the pot, and takes a wooden eating bowl and spoon from his pouch. He pours the meaty stew into the bowl, and begins eating. It is an entire hour before he is finished. However, the stew is not yet completely eaten.

The boy continues onward to a local town, and he comes across an old, sleeping tramp. The tramp is as thin as can be, and is obviously on the brink of death. The boy outstreches his hands and put down the pot, containing the rabbit stew. The Boy walks on, the tramp would never cross his path again.

The Tramp awoke three hours later, stood up, and his bare foot nudged the pot, he gasped as he realised that someone had actually been kind to one so horrid looking, and foul smelling! The tramp engaged in this food with keen animosity, and when he had finished it, he laid back on the wall, and sighed in happiness. He had a full stomach, and he grinned from ear to ear. At which point he noticed there was a something underneath the pot, "Whats this?" he said to himself, he moved the pot out of the way, revealing a small note. He went on and read the writing on the paper.
"To the Tramp,
I hope you enjoy this meal. But now you must help yourself. Sell this pot, and buy some decent clothes, and if you have any sanity you should go take a bath. Perhaps then you may be able to find an employer who will give you a job.
Yours, Katoso Shunin"
A small tear trickled down the Tramps dirty face.

"..Two days later, five guards were reported killed and their bodies mutilated beyond comprehension, as well as this several Information Scrolls were said to have been stolen.."

It was the early afternoon in the land of water. The trees were soaked in the light mist, and a small wind drifted through the branches.
He leapt across the hills, stood on the braches, and glided across the wood. This was Katoso Shunin.


The boy was only 16, but because of his calm, emotionless face, you would think him far older. He wore an Ivory colored cloak, with sky blue trousers, and one of the trouser legs had been half-torn off, revealing a leg wrapped in bandages, and on top of the bandages, two chains coiled around his leg like snakes. He had black hair, with reddened tips, as if they were soaked in blood. The Boys eyes were jet black and piercing.


"Hmph, I should get there easily at this pace" He uttered to himself, as he leapt of one branch, and gracefully landed on another. However, as he was jumping, a branch broke! Katoso fell, landing on his feet, with an almost feline grace. He cursed, "Dammit, the tree's here are far too weak too support my weight, I'd better proceed on the ground." And so Katoso flung himself into a sprint, launching himself at full throttle, through the dense wood, dodging the trees and foliage as he did. A sudden noise caught his ears, he looked over to see what it was..


Crash!


Katoso was on the floor, slightly dazed by what had just happened. He heard multiple things hit the ground., he opened his eyes. Katoso saw he had bumped into a girl, she seemed to be of his age- She also seemed to be very angry.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?! Running around like that, bumping into innocent ladies such as myself!" She shouted at Katoso."Oh, uh, sorry" Muttered Katoso, still slightly hindered by the collision. He stood up and took a good look at the girl.


She had long, shiny, black hair, which had obviously been combed repeatedly, it also had a single orange bead on each side of her hair. The clothing she wore was a white shirt, which had a large tear down the bottom-middle, exposing her belly. She had a brown belt that was worn at a crooked angle, and a pair of red shorts.

"Well? Are you going to help me or not!" She said rudely, pointing toward the pile of firewood that she'd obviously dropped in the collision. ."..sure" Katoso replied, after a while of thought, "(Damn, If I waste time on this girl, I'll never get there.. but I guess its just better to get this over with so I can move on...)"
Katoso picked up a load of firewood, considerably more than the girl had picked up, and began following.


"So, what your name?" Katoso eventually said, after almost twenty minutes of walking in silence.
"Oh" said the girl in surprise, "Its Sakina, what’s yours then?" "My names...well... I'd rather not tell you."
Sakina Frowned. "That’s highly impolite, you know!"
"I've never been good with manners.." Katoso said, trailing off.
Sakina sighed, "Just tell me your name to start with then, its not polite to ask for someone’s name, and then not tell them your own!" Sakina said promptly. Katoso sighed. "Fine.. Its Katoso, Katoso Shunin"


It was another five whole minutes of Katoso enduring this girls constant babble about proper manners until they finally got near to their destination. "Here we are!" Sakina said positively as they turned round the corner. "Home, sweet, ho.." Sakina stopped in mid sentence. Her Home, a lovely wooden shack, was on fire.


"W-w-what happened?" Sakina mumbled, close to tears. "It seems those bandits burned your home down." Pointing to the two figures near the burning shack, who were laughing loudly, as if they had created a work of art- one of them holding a sack undoubtedly containing most of Sakina's possessions.

"Look! Interlopers!" shouted one of the bandits. "Yeah! Lets go rob them!" Shouted the other.
"I don’t have time for this..." murmured Katoso, while Sakina stayed, sat on the ground, weeping over her burning home. She looked up, Katoso was drawing his weapon- a duel-bladed scythe.


"I'll make this quick." Katoso said grimly to the bandits. "Quick, huh? You mean how fast we're gunna pummel you?" Said the first bandit, joking. But before he had even finished his rant, Katoso was running at him with a silent fury. "(How dare you laugh at a crying girl!)" He thought angrily.

Katoso was now at the first bandits position, and after quickly pushing the second bandit 5 foot away, he proceeded in upper cutting the first one with his scythe, cutting his armour right down the middle, and launching him straight up into the air, with only a trail of blood left behind. As the first bandit was flying through the air, gurgling in pain, he dropped the sack.

Sakina ran over to the sack, and began rummaging through it. "How dare you! I'll Kill you, you brat!" Shouted the second bandit. "Go ahead and try" replied Katoso calmly, sporting a small, taunting smile. "This ones mine." Said a voice.

Katoso looked behind him, it was Sakina, she was looking very determined, and was wielding what seemed to be an old flute.
"Ha! As if a mere girl could beat ME!" laughed the bandit. "You'll see." Stated Sakina.

Sakina began playing on the flute. A fast paced melody began to abrupt out the instrument, a song that had a slight tinge of urgency to it.
The bandit laughed. "What? A song? What are you gunna do? Send me to sleep?" But Sakina kept playing. However, the bandit would soon realize what Sakina was doing, as a small head popped out of the blow hole of the flute. It was a snake.


It dropped onto the floor, and began trailing across to the bandit. Soon, more and more snakes began appearing out of the flute, as if the instrument were erupting. The bandit looked in horror as the hundreds of snakes, littered around Sakina, were hissing and slithering around her. Even Katoso himself looked on in curiosity and slight awe.
Sakina began doing hand signs. After which she forcefully said: "Snake trap justsu!" At this point, all the snakes began heading toward the bandit, encircling him, moving faster than he ever could.


"No! Please! Help!" He cried., "No way" Sakina replied coldly. The snakes began to run up his legs, his body, and eventually tackled him down to the ground, where the snakes obscured his entire body, crawling all over him, amuffled scream echoed through the density of the crawlin snakes.

After three minutes, the snakes disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the bandit was left, white as a sheet, not moving at all.

"Sakina, I have a... proposition, for you." Katoso asked, somewhat quietly. "Yes?" Sakina replied, slightly smiling "(This guys kinda cute, hehe, maybes he's going to ask me out on a date!)".
"Since your now homeless.." "Who said I'm homeless?!" Sakina interrupted. "Me, because those bandits just burnt down your home, which makes you homeless.." "Oh yeah... that just hit me..damn.."
"Yes, well, I'm going on a trip to the village hidden in the mist, and I was hoping that you'd like to come with me, I could use Shinobi Abilities like yours." "And you'd like the company right!" Sakina said happily. Katoso was slightly taken back by this response . "Urm, not so much the company.. No." "Oh.." replied Sakina, drifting back into her slight depression. " yeah, I'll go." She said, eventually.
"Good, we should be able to reach kirigakure by nightfall, if we head out now." "What are you waiting for then? Let's go!" said Sakina Cheerfully, and the two set off into the woods, headed for the Village Hidden in the mist, Kirigakure.

Credit goes to these Marvelous People For creating the Following Characters;
-"Sakina Shi'in" by Temari_Love
-"Kanji Motori" by Quzor
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sakina and Katoso approached the walls of Kirigakure with anticipation, excitement, and dread. They knew that if they were discovered, and were found guilty or trespassing or worse, accused of spying for an enemy village or organization, they would be submitted to banishment, torture for information, or even execution.

Sakina gulped hard, a trickle of cold sweat running down her forehead, she looked over to Katoso for support, "Do you really think this is a good idea? I mean...” She thought about the prospect of being captured again, all the grim prospects coming to fruition, and begin to shiver in fear. Katoso looked over at Sakina, he saw that she was petrified, her eyes were filled with it and for good reason. Katoso thought back to the time he saw Sakinas ‘Snake Jutsu’ in action. She was, or could be, a strong ninja if she could get the proper teaching, much like Katoso, and Kirigakure was full of orphans apparently, so perhaps they’d have a greater chance of getting in. "(This is my only chance to get into the shinobi system, and have a greater chance of finding.. them..)" He thought hard. Katoso sighed deeply, there was no doubt, he couldn’t move on if Sakina was going to react like this- "If you are this scared, you may leave. But I am going to move on forward, rather than back." And with that he began to walk on, leaving Sakina behind.
Sakina had never felt like such a baby in all her life, so she stood up straight, tried to calm herself, and quickly plucked up the courage to follow suit, even though she wasn’t really happy about it, “(I’m a shinobi! I shouldn’t be afraid of anything!)”

Eventually the two came to a large archway, which was so gigantic it blocked out the ray of the sun. It had two large wooden doors connected to it, which at the moment closed, and therefore blocking their path, on the arch, the words: "Destiny is hidden from all but you" was carved into the granite surface; it was obviously the motto of the Village. Katoso looked at these words, and gave a mere grunt of discontent, while Sakina was too busy looking out for Mist Shinobi to notice the fine architecture. "This way is blocked." Katoso said blankly, "obviously.." Sakina replied sarcastically, with a frown. "Hmph, well, you should put your hood up, because we’re going over the wall. I we don't want to be noticed, do we?" Katoso explained as he pointed up toward the large wall up north. Sakina sighed, although it sounded a drastic thing to do, she guessed it was the only option that didn’t involve leaving the area. They both put up their hoods; Katoso's hood was ghostly white, while Sakina's was a deep shade of crimson. The two jumped up onto the wall, the coast was clear; they proceeded to jump down into a shady alleyway, there were dirty trashcans, left over food rotting on the floor, and more dtails too disgusting to describe. It seemed the north Isle was home to the lower part of society.
The actual area they were in seemed to be somewhat neglected, and abandoned. All the shops were boarded up, with “keep out” written on them, not that you could properly read it, with graffiti being everywhere. The homeless littered the streets, and piles of rubbish drifted around the dirty pebble floor, as if it had places to go.

The two's pulses were racing, at any point now they could be found out, captured, and taken away. This dreadful thought even made Katoso, a calm and collected boy, shudder in fear. "Right, first of all, we need to find somewhere we can stay, like an abandoned house, or a shed.." Katoso whispered to Sakina. " A SHED!? What do you think I am?! Some kind of Mule!?" Sakina blurted out loudly. Katoso quickly slapped his hand onto Sakinas open mouth. "Quiet you idiot! We'll be found if you're that stupid!" He muttered angrily. He released his grip on Sakinas, now sore, mouth. "You didn’t have to hit me that that hard you know.." she scowled. Katoso dismissed this petty comment, and the two set about finding some kind of shelter.
It was then Katoso realized. They hadn't any money. "Damnit!" he cursed, "What?" He looked toward Sakina, "Do you have any money on you?" She delved into her somewhat baggy pockets, and pulled out a half a handful of small coins. "Its enough to buy lunch!" she said with a weak smile. The two sighed; they knew that they wouldn't last long in the Village without any money. But they didn’t need to.
Katoso and Sakina felt cold hands on their shoulders, they looked round petrified, the two men holding them in place were tall, wearing shinobi jackets, and had Mist Village Forehead protectors. Their worst fear had been realized, they had been caught. "What have we got here, then?" The first guard said, "A couple of intruders it seems" continued the other. Before they could react, Both Sakina and Katoso had been knocked out.

Katoso opened his eyes, he was still in shock from that unexpected knockout, all he could see was blackness, his vision cleared, he was in a small, dark room, and he was tied to a chair. He looked over, next to him was Sakina, she was still unconscious. “(At least we haven’t been separated)” He thought. He recognized one of the voices talking, it was one the guards that captured him. "We found them on the North Isle, just drifting around, they broke in, and we decided to detain them." "Good" Said a man in a very deep voice, "You were right to arrest such intruding filth such as this, nice work." Katoso heard the door creak open and shut. He looked up, the guard had left. And the man with the deep voice was now sitting at the table in front of them.
He had dark sunglasses, and was wearing a dark green mask that covered his mouth and somewhat large nose; the mask was neatly tucked into his white shirt, he wore a mist emblem on his right arm, and a had a tattoo of a wolf on the left side of his face.
"So, you're awake, hm?" he said softly. "Well, I hope you had a peaceful sleep, because it’s going to be hell for you from here on out, little boy."
Katoso grinned, this man knew nothing of hell, ("he's just trying to scare me, trying to make me 'crack' under the pressure)" he thought. The man saw Katosos sly grin, and swiftly gave him a powerful punch to his right cheek. "This isn't a game, twerp".
Katoso felt the blood leak out the side of his mouth, that small drop trickling down his neck. Katoso wanted to laugh, but didn't want to give the man satifaction in hitting him again. Katoso began to regain feeling in his hands again; and he began to laugh without realizing. The Man began to show rage for Katoso's seeming stupidity, and proceeded in punching him in the face again, and a black eye showed up on Katoso's face quickly, it was a deep purple, and began to smart Katoso greatly, as if it were aflame.
Sakina mumbled something, it seemed as if she was coming to. "Wha-?" she said weakly. "Whats happening?" The Man began to grin wickedly. "Now, why are you here? Whats your mission? Why were you in the 'trashcan' part of soceity?" He asked slyly. Sakina saw Katoso’s various cuts and bruises, and gasped in fear of what might happen to her.
"We aren’t telling you anything." Katoso said boldly. The Interogator cracked his hairy knuckles in excitement, and was about to punch Katoso when, suddenly, the door opened.
A scout walked in, and whispered something into the Interrogators ear. He immediately frowned. "What?! That’s preposterous!" The scout shook his head. "Orders are Orders" he said plainly. "Hmph! Fine!” He went over to Katoso and Sakina, and untied them from their chairs. "You are to follow him, and if you try to run for it, I'll hunt you down and gut you myself." He said angrily, directing the two toward the scout.

Sakina and Katoso followed the scout out into the hall, the floors were of light brown wood, and the walls were painted a cheerful pastille blue. No one would expect the room they just came from was used for torture. Sakina looked out one of the various circular windows as they were walking along. It seemed they were on another Isle, the houses here were colorful, and there were small children playing in the streets happily. A far cry from the wasteland of the previous Island they visited. Eventually, they came to a screen door, with the word "leader" painted on it with bright Gold ink. The scout opened the door, and ushered the two inside.

Katoso looked around; the room was filled with scraps of armor, old blunted weapons, and pictures of various people. Candles were placed at every picture, and the entire room smelt strongly of Jasmine. At the very end of the room, there seemed to be a Small, old man. He was kneeling down on a velvet cushion, with his backed turned toward Katoso and Sakina. He looked around at the two curious young shinobi. "Ah, your here at last. I hope your not too upset about your treatment thus far.."
Sakina was about to protest, and begin lecturing this senile old man about not letting your people beat innocent young people for information they should know they couldn't possible have. But Katoso Interrupted her; "No- we're fine." The old man smiled, he had a large, white, almost fluffy beard, he was almost completely bald, apart from puffs of surviving hair sprouting out above his ears. "Thats good to hear. Because I am here to help you get into this fine Village of Kirigakure." "Fine?! You call the dirty, trash-ridden Isle to the north fine?" Sakina blurted out abruptly. "Alas, this village has come upon hard times, and we cannot help every isle, and unfortunately because of this, the Northern Isle has become neglected." Sakina looked at the old mans face, he was obviously very upset and concerned, and soon she was feeling rather rude, and her anger truned to embarrassment at shouting at this poor old man. "However, this is the present, not the past. And if we change are ways now- our Village may have a brighter future." Katoso became slightly interested. "How are you going to do that, then?" He asked. "Well, our Village has lost many a battle, and many a good shinobi thus. We need to refill our ranks, and stop turning away those who need aid, and become a caring nation. As we should be." The Old mans pleasant smile returned once again. "And why do you speak with such authority, old man?" At this comment, the old man gave a short, hearty laugh; "Because, dear child, I am the greatest authority, I am the 4th Mizukage of Kirigakure."

Sakina was stunned. Was this old man truly the Mizukage? Or was he just senile? She looked over at Katoso- he seemed to be unmoved by this new information, and she quickly decided to trust Katoso's judgment, and believe the old mans words. "This is the part where you come in." The old man said seriously. "Our village desperately needs new shinobi, with courageous intent and cunning, such as you displayed. And, if you are so keen to become a member of our mist-family, who am I to turn you away?" The 4th laughed again, this time increasing cheerful. "So, if there somewhere we can stay, Mizukage?" Sakina asked. "Yes. I now announce you, with my full power as the 4th Mizukage, villagers, and genin shinobi of Kirigakure."

"Wait... Only Genin?" Katoso replied. "Yes, but you are in luck, the chunin exams are in a mere week, but, you are in need of- another.."
"Another?" Sakina asked curiously. "Yes, you need another team-mate for your little squad. Otherwise you will not be eligible for the chunin exams."
"Damnit! Where will we find another squad member in 7 days?" The 4th chuckled. "What’s so funny?" Katoso replied defensively. "I've prepared ahead, young one. I have a third member already." The 4th clapped twice. The door slid open, and a boy walked in, he was the same age of Sakina and Katoso, he had brown, spiked hair, a white top, green bracers, and black tight-fitting trousers, with flames imprinted on them at the end of the legs. "May I introduce to you; Motori Kanji- the self-proclaimed 'Flame of the Land of Water'. He will complete your team, which will hereafter be reffered to as 'Squad 4'"

Katoso and Sakina studied the boy, he had a cheerful smile on him, but he also had an aura of arrogance around him. "You stuck me with these two losers? Pieces of trash you found of the street? I feel Highly insulted Mizukage-sama." He said obnoxiously. "Hmph" Katoso replied. "You look like a total idiot to me. Perhaps you should go back to whatever hole you crawled out from, you little insect." Kanji was furious, "How dare you! I hate you already!" He shouted at Katoso. "Does it look like I care if you hate me?" Katoso replied coolly. Sakina sighed, her too teammates weren't getting off to a positive start.

"Ahem- if you can settle down please, you have 7 days till the chunin exam. I want you to go out and learn the water clone jutsu in this time period. You must do this together- this is a bonding exercise, and you need to get to know each others style and techniques before you take on such a large task like the chunin exams."
Sakina nodded, Kanji pouted, Katoso sighed, and the fourth smiled. "( This is going to be.. Interesting.)" He thought to himself, as the new squad 4 went out his door, and out into the world- as a team.

Credit goes to these Marvelous People For creating the Following Characters;
-"Sakina Shi'in" by Temari_Love
-"Kanji Motori" by Quzor
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The newly formed squad 4 roamed through the pebbled streets of the south island of Kirigakure, thorugh the various market stalls, the streets filled to the brim with buyers, and the merchants selling the latest types fish they had caught in the fishing ground nearby, and yelling out the new deals they had. The entire street smelt strongly of baked salmon.

As they walked, many a person waved at Kanji, or said hello as they passed by- Kanji was obviously well known in the Village, he was popular, even.
However, the people gestured toward the two new-comers, Sakina and Katoso, obviously questioning to who they might be, Kanji just shrugged them off, because he himself didnt actually know who they were. And the three and continued to roam down the various paths, at an akward silence.

"Where are we going to learn this Water Clone technique then- and how? They won't let us have a sensei because your still suspected spies.." Kanji said, peering at the other two.
Sakina rolled her eyes; this boy was far too full of himself. "Well, if you direct me to the nearest library, perhaps their might be some information scrolls or books that can help us."
Kanji pointed toward a street to the left, and explained to Sakina to follow the path until she got there, Sakina nodded, and walked off silently.

"Oh great, now I'm stuck with you.." Kanji muttered, looking angrily at Katoso, he still hadn't forgiven him for calling him a little insect earlier in the presence of the Mizukage, and looking at him just made him feel even more annoyed.
"If you don’t stop looking at me like that, I'll make sure you dont see anything else for the rest of your days." Katoso replied coldly, matching Kanji's gaze.

Kanji pouted "As if you could even lay a scratch on me. Your all talk and no action, spy."
"Oh really? Perhaps you would like to test your theory, and fight me... Unless your afraid, which I can understand." Kanji was so mad, you could see steam pouring out his ears. "Fine! Let’s go to the training grounds! We can settle this there!"
Kanji began to walk faster, toward a western direction. Katoso merely sighed, and followed his temperamental teammate.

Kanji arrived, far before Katoso, at the Kirigakure arena- a place used for practice, target training, and in this case settling disputes. The arena had gray walls and no ceiling, revealing a cloudy sky with small beams of sunlight shining through, with multiple target dummies being used for kunai-throwing training by Kirigakure academy students, although the youngest of them seemed to be getting absolutely nowhere and ending up crying or getting into a annoyed fit. “(Hah! I beat him here, he’s a total slowpoke..)” though Kanji with a smile on his face.




“Hey! Kan-san!” shouted a voice. A girl of Kanji’s age was running toward him, her arming waving madly and a big smile on her face, she had smooth, dark purple hair, big hazel-colored eyes, and was wearing a blue shirt that was two sizes to big for her.

“Hi kierra! What’s up?” Kanji said happily. “Oh, nothing, I just wanted to say hi… Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you had a meeting with the Mizukage! You really shouldn’t miss that!” she said, wagging her finger knowingly. Kanji frowned and made a sound that can only be described as a grunt. “I’ve been there already…”
“And? What did he say?” Kierra asked inquisitively. “I’ve been put into a squad… I’m now an official member of ‘squad 4’” Kanji replied sarcastically. “What? A squad? I thought you were going to be put we me and Viroko, but that’s great news Kanji; don’t be so upset!” Kanji continued to frown. “It’s not as good as you might think…”
“Oh really? Who have you been partnered with?” asked Kierra. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a figure appeared behind Kierra, it was Katoso. “I am…” Katoso said coldly.

Kierra was so surprised by this sudden shock she nearly jumped out her skin, and turning round to face this new person’s merciless stare just freaked her out even more. Kierra suddenly became light-headed, and feel unconscious, with stars ‘floating’ round her head.

“What the hell was that for?!” said Kanji angrily “You totally scared her you dick!”
“Hmph, I didn’t mean to… it’s not my fault if she’s too weak to withstand a little shock…” Katoso replied, shrugging. They took her to the arena stands nearby, and lay her down on one of the chairs.
“Hey, what’s up with Kierra Kan-san?” said another voice. The two looked up to see a boy walking toward them, he had short brown hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and was carrying a large metal spear he had obviously just been practicing with.

“Oh, hey Viroko, Kierra just got seriously spooked by that baka right there.” Kanji explained, gesturing toward Katoso. Viroko laughed. “You actually managed to shut her up? I’m impressed… What’s your name, new guy?”
“It’s Katoso Shunin… and you must be Viroko, right?” Katoso said coolly. “Aye, Viroko Hasuna.”

Kierra opened her eyes; all she could see was Kanji, with Viroko’s voice jabbering on in the background. “Where.. Where am I?” she said weakly. “You’re in the arena, you scared by my new teammate.” Kanji said. Kierra’s memories came flooding back, making her squeal a little, as she saw Katoso once again. “You.. s..s..scared me!” she said trembling. Katoso sighed, “Hmph, and?” Kanji started to become boiling mad, “Don’t talk to her like that, you dick!” he shouted. “Let’s settle what we came here to do then, shall we?” Katoso replied.
“Huh? What you came here to do? What’s that?” asked Viroko and Kierra together.
“We came here to fight it out.” Kanji replied, his eyes still fixed in a stare with Katoso’s.



The two proceeded to the centre of the arena, and after ushering everyone away, stood toward eachother, with about 15 metres of distance between them, ready to battle.
“I hope you won’t bore me!” Kanji said mockingly “… Because you’ve got no chance, loser!” Katoso merely ignored him, and closed his eyes- much to Kanji’s dislike.
Kanji clutched his sword and small, blue shield, and ran toward Katoso at full pelt “Gues I’ll make the first move!” And swung his sword at him with considerable force.

Katoso made a leap into the air, and managed to jump over Kanji’s sword- Kanji gasped in surprise, and Katoso kicked him in the chest, forcing him back 5 metres.
Kanji got up and held his chest- he was winded a little, but he had to keep fighting! He couldn’t lose to this guy! “Time to step it up a notch, hm?” he said with a manic grin on his face. Katoso, with his eyes still shut, said “Hmph. Try your best at the very least…”

Kanji made a couple of hand signs, and shouted; “Fire Style: Air Explosion!” And put his palms out toward Katoso, who stood there, awaiting this technique. “Hah, you’re in for it now!” Suddenly the air around Katoso became very hot, and shortly after, an explosion engulfed Katoso. The crowd gasped, Kanji grinned, and no one could see Katoso due to the large cloud of dust and smoke surround him.
As the dust cleared, Kanji saw a figure on the ground “( He wasn’t so tough!)” he thought. But… it was a, now burnt, log! “Argh! A substitution jutsu!” Kanji exclaimed.
Suddenly, Kanji felt a presence behind him. “You really suck, don’t you?” Katoso said coldly. And punched Kanji in the middle of his spine, causing him to collapse.
“I’m now worried that if you’re my teammate, you might drag me down…” Katoso said, looking down on Kanji as he writhed in pain.

He looked round, there was enough room… “Time to finish this joke of a match.”
Katoso made some hand signs; “Gekko genkai! Blood chains!” Katoso said calmly. Suddenly, a long chain sprouted, heading menacingly toward Kanji’s neck...
“Stop it you two!” Sakina shouted at the entrance, and at once the chains burst in a puff of smoke, and ceased to exist.

“I don’t know what you guys were doing, and I don’t care either… But I’ve got some books we can use to help us perfect our water clone jutsu, so lets get going!” Sakina shouted at her teammates.
“She’s a bit bossy, isn’t she? Let me guess, this is your other squad-mate?” said Viroko doubtfully, while Kierra nodded in agreement.
“Yeah she is…” Kanji said as he got up- he glared at Katoso, who was walking toward Sakina. Katoso stopped and directed his head toward Kanji. “Hurry up, loser.”
Kanji ran toward his squad-mates, and the three headed out, to perfect their jutsu, with Kanji sulking, of course.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The evening sun shone down on squad 4, and they paced their way toward a suitable location to learn their water clone jutsu.
Kanji thought back to the fight that had just happened… was Katoso really going to strangle him with that weird chain? What was that chain anyway? He thought about how Katoso looked so calm, so ready… Kanji looked forward at his squadmate- Katoso still had that annoying calmness about him, as if he were silently mocking Kanji, which of course just infuriated Kanji yet again.

“Stop thinking about how I beat you in the arena- whats done is done. And you lost; that’s it- get over it, loser.” Katoso said. “What?!” Kanji replied angrily. “I didn’t lose! The match was a draw, nobody won, idiot! I never lose!”
Katoso closed his eyes; “You’re only kidding yourself, now shut the hell up.” Kanji was fuming, but decided to stay quiet.

“Right you two, stop bickering like small children, its beginning to bother me.” Sakina said with an angry tone. “Hmph” the other two said simultaneously. Sakina sighed, these two were complete idiots.
“Anyway…” she said to change the subject “We’re here, lets get practicing.”
They had arrived at the shoreline of the north island, a perfect place to learn water jutsu. The waves rolled into shore, and all seemed peaceful as a light salty breeze wafted across them.

Sakina opened the blue coloured scroll, and began reading. Katoso and Kanji just stood there; staring at eachother angrily, until Katoso made a somewhat small smile. “What’s so funny?” asked Kanji. “I was just picturing your face from when I hit you in the back… it was priceless…” Kanji rubbed his back- his spine was still a bit sore, but he couldn’t let Katoso know; “Hah! You hit like a girl!” Kanji said mockingly. “What did you say!?” Sakina shouted out, causing Kanji to feel very, very small. “N-n-nothing” he squeaked. “That’s what I thought.” Sakina said with a scowl, and then began reading the scroll once again.
“Right, I think I’ve worked it out.” She said eventually; “We’ve got to ush our chakra into the water- and use it to shape the liquid into our form.” She rolled up the scroll. “Seems simple enough” Katoso commented. Kanji made a snort of laughter. “As if you could ever do it, loser!” Katoso said defensively. “Wanna bet?” Kanji replied “Last one to learn it’s a loser!” “Hmph, fine”. The two separated, and made their own little area’s along the coast.

Kanji focused his chakra, through his feet, into the water… “(This is far to easy for a top-notch shinobi like me!)” he thought proudly. He began to try to pick up the water and shape it with his chakra… it was far harder than he expected. He managed to bring the water up about 3 centimetres, before he had to let go and it collapsed causing a miniscule splash. Kanji looked over at the over two, Sakina was still reading through the scroll, nodding constantly, and Katoso was just standing there, concentration showing on his face, but, slowly but surely, a pillar of water was frifting upward, and reached about twice as high as kanji’s did before it too plummeted. This made Kanji very mad – how could this baka be doing better than him, the fire of the land of water? Kanji just vowed to work twice as hard.

Suddenly, Sakina put down the scroll, and walked into the water. She made a couple of hand-signs, and said calmly; “Water Style: Water Clone jutsu!”. Suddenly, water rose up quickly up to Sakina’s height, and began to change form, until it looked like an exact replica of Sakina herself. Kanji looked in awe, she was really good at chakra control… Sakina made a vague smile, and waved to her water clone, who made an innocent wave back, also smiling heartily. Then, the water clone split apart, and became a mere puddle once again. Sakina walked onto the land, and picked up the scroll; “I’m going to give this back, I’ll see you guys tomorrow by the fountain, around 8 o’clock, that is if you don’t kill eachother beforehand.” Kanji nodded, and Katoso sighed in agreement.
Sakina walked off, whistling happily at her success.

Kanji met Katoso’s gaze, the one to finish this jutsu last would be a loser, and Kanji would not except that! He made a couple of hand signs, and said the name of the jutsu, but this time with force. The water mimicked his rushed attitude, by exploding upward, and splashing Kanji in the face with such a force that it propelled him backward into the water. He sat their in the water, still at a miss to what had just happened, until he saw Katoso also trying, this time getting far successful, with the pillar not only reaching his height, but developing what seemed to be blobbish arms.

Meanwhile, in the far distant land of tea, two figures, both wearing white hooded cloaks which hid their entire bodies, entered a small, unsuspecting town. One was tall a slim, and was carrying a large, twin-bladed scythe, while the other smaller and obviously younger one was carrying a very bent katana-sword. The two walked ominously through the town, looking through each window, peering to see if the one they wanted was in there…
The townsfolk didn’t get many strangers around here, so they looked curiously at the two, trying to distinguish their faces, but unable to due to the over-shadowing hoods. Plucking up some courage, a merchant walked up to the two, and asked; “H-hello there, w-would you like some, f-fish?” he trembled. The taller of the two slowly turned his head toward the merchant. All the merchant could see underneath the hood was his jet black eyes, staring at him… as if he were staring into his soul itself, judging him. “No… have you seen a boy round here? He would have a cloak, and a scythe, just like mine…” he said coldly. “Um… n-no, I cant say we h-have.” The merchant trembled, his hands quivering- something about this person just made him terrified. The smaller figure made a small, playful laugh. “You can’t help us? Then the only thing your good for is a bit of fun- isn’t that right, bro’?” he said in a joyful, yet menacing, tone. The taller one nodded, and the younger figure drew his katana; “I’d like you to meet teddy…”

Kanji focused harder, and harder, he HAD to learn this technique, he HAD to. “(One more try! This will do it!)” he thought furiously. “Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu!” he yelled, and he put all his effort, all his remaining chakra, into this last attempt. The pillar of water shot up, reached Kanji’s height… and didn’t crash down! To the contrary, it was fattening out, making out arms and legs, and even a head! Kanji waving his hands about, as if he were sculpting a piece of art. The water clone had fingers now, a nose, and even ears! Kanji began smiling to himself, he was winning against Katoso!
The Water clone was fully formed, and was like a mirror image of Kanji. He cheered joyfully, he had done it! Kanji looked over, and saw Katoso looking over him, with a sceptical, yet slightly impressed look on his face. “Hah! You’re a loser, Katoso! HAH!” he shouted, and grin spread wide on his face.

Katoso suddenly sighed. “It’s good you ACTUALLY managed to achieve something, you idiot.” Kanji frowned. “You can’t insult me, I beat you!” Kanji replied defensively. “Oh, you think you did, did you?” Katoso said saracastically. “Well, guess what, you lost.” “Oh yeah? I don’t see your clone anywhere!” Kanji shouted. “It’s standing right infront of you, dumbass.” Katoso said, sighing. Kanji gasped. “Yes- I finished learning the jutsu an hour ago, and left me, the water clone, here, just to annoy you when you actually thought you had won…”
“It’s not true! You’re lying! Prove it!” Kanji said accusively, and Katoso just sighed in reply. “Fine…” And the figure of Katoso simply broke up into drops of water, and melted away into the coastline. “ARGH!!” Kanji yelled.

Across the island, Katoso was sitting at the sushi returant, eating his food, and being admired by the girls in the corner who had heard, or even seen, his success in the arena against Kanji. He heard Kanji’s yell at his table, and a small smile appeared on his face.

Credit goes to these Marvelous People For creating the Following Characters;
-"Sakina Shi'in" by Temari_Love
-"Kanji Motori" by Quzor
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Its was early morning, around 7:50am, and Sakina
was leaning on the side of the fountain, yawning slightly. “(Where are those two?)” she thought, then thinking about her rather uncomfortable stay in the small, grey flat that the mist village had so generously given to her, even though the only thing it contained was an old mattress with a strange stain on it. Katoso walked up to Sakina, gave a small wave of recognition, and sat down on a nearby bench, without saying a word. “(I wonder what he thinking about…)” pondered Sakina. As the two waited for their third squadmate, an akward silence envoped the entire area and stayed there.
“So, what are we going to do today Katoso? Hehe…” Sakina said in doubtful hope. “To be honest, I don’t care, as long as the idiot hurries up and we can do it now.” Katoso replied with his eyes shut. “Speak of the devil…”
Kanji was running down the street, his clothes all scrunched up, and his eyes showed signs of panic. “Sorry…guys…over…slept” he puffed. “It doesn’t matter” Sakina said sternly “Lets just get going.”

Katoso walked up to Kanji, who was still trying to steady his breathing; “Tied are we? Did you tire yourself out, being the last to learn the water clone jutsu, loser.” Kanji scowled. “Well how do you like THIS jutsu then…” Kanji said, while making a couple of handsigns; “Joke Jutsu: Prime Insult!” his hand tripled in size, and he was pointing a rude middle finger toward Katoso. “Up yours, Katoso” he said smiling, thinking he was so witty. Katoso just sighed, but smiled as Sakina quietly walked behind Kanji while he was so preoccupied by laughing, a silent rage showing on her face. “You… BAKA!” She yelled, punching Kanji so hard on his head he fell to floor, and a large bump appearing.

It was five minutes before Kanji eventually regained consciousness, and stood up. “Awake are we?” Katoso said mockingly. Kanji looked over; Sakina was pacing up and down, a lighting cloud floating above her head, giving a clear signal that she was still pretty mad about Kanji’s Joke jutsu. “Let’s just go” she growled. “Hmph, where to?” Katoso asked, only to be given a nasty look, so Katoso decided to just keep quiet for the while, rather than tempt a woman’s wrath. The two boys followed Sakina all the way to the Mizukage’s building, which from the outside looked exactly like the Hokage’s building in the fire village, except it had a blue roof rather than red, and the emblem on the front said; “Mist”. Kanji smiled a little. “What’s so funny?” Sakina asked. “Nothing, its just im a little proud, my father designed and helped build this place.” Squad 4 climbed up the stairs, and got to the screen door, with the word: “leader” written on it, with gleaming gold ink. Katoso pulled back the door, and the strong smell of jasmine hit them, just as it did on their last visit. The room was still its same condition, with old sets on Nin-armour on stands, rusty weapons from decades ago hanging on the walls, and pictures up everywhere, with candles burning brightly by each one. The Mizukage walked up them, with an almost fatherly smile spread across his face. “So, I’m guessing you’ve learnt the jutsu?” He said calmly. “Yes, Mizukage-sama, we have.” Sakina replied, bowing. The Mizukage’s smile grew even bigger. “Splendid! Now you know at least one water style jutsu, you can officially be a part of this Village’s Shinobi!” he chuckled. The door opened once again, and a mist scout poked his head through, with an urgent look on his face; “Mizukage-sama! A village in the Tea Village, all the citizens, ALL of them, have been slaughtered.” He said, panting slightly.
The Mizukage’s smile disappeared; “We need to keep relations with that country up, they’ve been weakening recently, and we need that trade.” He said seriously. “Then perhaps we can firstly go send a scout squad to the scene? It will at least prove we care.” The scout replied, and the Mizukage nodded, and looked at squad 4; “There you go. It’s your first mission: to go see if you can find any survivors, or any clues toward the killers identity- “You can’t be serious Mizukage-sama! Not only are these children only genin, but those two only arrived recently!” the scout said interrupting. The Mizukage’s smile reappeared; “I have all faith in this squad.” He said with a smile, and he pointed toward Kanji; “This boy has the knowledge of fire and water jutsu…” He pointed toward Sakina; “This girl has shown the ability to learn things quicker than most of our chunin and some jounin...” He pointed toward Katoso; “And this boy… he shows enormous potential.”
The scout left, and the Mizukage turned his head toward the three; “I’m sure you’ll complete this mission with little trouble.” He said to them. Kanji grinned; “Of course we will- this squad has me!” he said happily. “He said why we should be able to complete the mission, not fail it.” Katoso replied sarcastically, with his eyes shut.
Kanji crossed his arms and frowned like an infant, and Sakina just sighed at her squadmates idiotic rivalry.
“Right, you better get going… Good luck with the mission, you three.” Said the Mizukage. The three bowed; “Yes, Mizukage-sama.” They said respectively, but as Katoso went to leave, the Mizukage gently grabbed him shoulder to keep him behind, and signalled for the other two to leave.

“My boy, my scouts have told me that you have… an intresting gift.” He said calmly “If you would call my kekkei genkai a ‘gift’ then yes.” Katoso replied, the mizukage smiled; “I’ve only heard of one clan who could do that kind of technique, and that the legendary Shunin clan- the clan of Shadows.” Katoso was taken back a little, he knew about his clan? How? “(But then again, he was the mizukage, he’s bound to know quite a bit.)” Katoso pondered. “I must tell you, Katoso, although Kirigakure welcomes and houses many clans- in fact their what make this Village part of the 5 great Shinobi Nations- But your Bloodline trait is known by few, and understood by few, meaning using it in public is bound to scare some… if you use it to its full potential.” The Mizukage said with a serious look, and Katoso could of sworn he saw what looked like a gulp underneath that fluffy beard. “Yes. Mizukage-sama.” Katoso nodded.
“Its good to see you understand Katoso, now please go, and succeed in your mission.”

Katoso opened the door; “Katoso, one last thing.” The Mizukage said suddenly; “Please restrain of using THAT kind of jutsu in this Village, and please on use it when needed- though I have not witnessed it myself, your clans unique style is know to cause… terror.”
Katoso nodded, and left in silence.
Outside the Mizukages building, Kanji and Sakina were waiting for him. “What took you so long?” Kanji complained. “None of your business, loser.” Replied Katoso in a moody tone. “Whatever, we need to stop of at my home, to get some food supplies.” Kanji added.

As the three arrived, Sakina looked at Kanji’s home- it was rather traditional- screen doors, it was entirely made out wood, and an old fountain trickled water in the front garden.
Katoso disappeared behind the front door, only to reappear in a few second, carrying a green bag, which Sakina assumed was holding their rations. “All right lets g-” Kanji started, only to be interrupted by the front door opening , and a tall woman coming out- she had long black hair, and jade green eyes. “Hello there, I’m Kanji’s Mother.” She said in a reassuring voice. Sakina looked at Kanji, he was going a bright shade of red; “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Motori.” Sakina said politely. Mrs. Motori smiled, “You must be Kanji’s squad! How lovely, he’s been having trouble getting into a squad, we were beginning to think he should choose a different path other than the Shinobi.” “Mom!” Kanji shouted in embarrassment, “All right dear, no need to shout- anyway, I packed you some nice riceballs and 3 flasks of water.” She said smiling sweetly. “Thank you… now can we get going” Katoso said, pointing toward the Village gates.

When squad 4 got to the gates, Kanji looked around the misty lake. “Where’s the boat?” he asked. “You idiot, we’re supposed to walk.” Replied Sakina, “What? Why? I want to save my chakra, not use it up on water-walking!” Kanji shouted. “It’s not far, and water-walking uses very little chakra- unless your weak I suppose.” Katoso said with his eyes shut.
Sakina and Katoso walked across the lake naturally, leaving Kanji behind, Kanji waited for 3 seconds, before sighing, and began to follow is squad. “(I won’t be left behind, damnit!)” he thought.

The sun was shining down in the boundary from the tea country to the water country, and the three mist ninja who made up squad 4 were sweltering in the midday heat.
“Are we there yet?” Kanji moaned, as he plodded along behind Katoso and Sakina, his face covered in sweat. “For the sixteenth time, NO! Stop asking you baka!” Sakina shouted- she was getting very agitated and annoyed at her squad mates immaturity.
All three of them sighed; they were all tired, and so hot it seemed as if the were wandering into an oven.
“All right, I think we better take a rest here, I for one need a drink.” Sakina said, and Kanji and Katoso nodded in agreement.

Kanji got out the pack his mother had prepared for them, and took out the three flasks of water, handing them to his squad mates. Kanji gulped it down as fast as he could; he was so thirsty it was like his mouth had become a miniature desert. “You shouldn’t drink it so fast, loser. You’ll get dizzy or even ill...” Katoso started, but Kanji just kept drinking.
Sakina stood up; “Right, let’s get going, the sooner we get there, the sooner this mission ends!” she said optimistically. Kanji tried to get up, but it felt like the world was spinning around him; “(Damnit! Katoso was right… Argh, I hate this!)” he thought angrily. Katoso looked at Kanji, and saw that he was having trouble standing up. “I told you, you idiot.” He said mockingly. “SHUT UP!” Kanji replied angrily, leaping to his feet. See? Now let’s go already!”

As they entered the tea country, Katoso couldn’t help admiring the scene; it was a landscape of rolling fields of all sorts of crop; rice, wheat, barley, and of course tea leaves, and the air was calm and still. But then Katoso started to think about other things, like what the the Mizukage had said to him- a flashback occurred to him;

“My boy, my scouts have told me that you have… an intresting gift.” The Mizukage said calmly “If you would call my kekkei genkai a ‘gift’ then yes.” Katoso replied, the mizukage smiled; “I’ve only heard of one clan who could do that kind of technique, and that the legendary Shunin clan- the clan of Shadows.”

How did he know? Katoso had always thought his clan was a secret aong other things, and although the he was Mizukage, he couldn’t help pondering what contacts the old man may have… Then Katoso’s flashback turned to the other thing the Mizukage said;

Katoso opened the door; “Katoso, one last thing.” The Mizukage said suddenly; “Please restrain of using THAT kind of jutsu in this Village, and please on use it when needed- though I have not witnessed it myself, your clans unique style is know to cause… terror.”

Katoso shook his head, that kind of jutsu was his best! And if he had to ue the forbidden Shadow Style to beat them, if they were truly the cause of the entire villages murder, which was not beyond their limits, Katoso would have to use that style, or he would surely die…


“What are you thinking about Katoso? Whats wrong?” Sakina asked, looking over at Katoso. “Oh... Nothing” Katoso replied quickly, shaking his head. Sakina pouted; “You really shouldn’t be so quiet and secluded… if you have a problem, its our duty as teammates to help you!” she said with a smile. “Hmph, as if the loser could help me.” Katoso grunted, pointing at Kanji. “Hey! I feel insulted!” Kanji cried defensively, and Sakina just laughed at the two’s rivalry. Katoso looked forward. “It seems we’re almost there…” he said, pointing at the crumbled wreckage of a town in front of them.

The three looked among the ruins, there were smashed shops, all the buildings were either completely destroyed, or were only just standing, with massive holes in their sides.
Dust floated all around them, and in the rubble, some long things were sticking out- human arms. Those who were trapped underneath the heavy rubble of buildings, the small fragments of rock and steel to be their tomb. Katoso looked down, there was a small Childs stuffed animal- a teddy at his feet. He picked it up, and clenched it in his hands- it had to be them… maybe the younger of the two couldn’t bear to do this… but HE could… he had no compassion, no mercy, he had no heart… only he could bring such destruction for no reason, apart from to test that his affinity for killing was still at its best… “(I vow, right here, right now, I will avenge all whos had to die because of me, all who’s had to die by his hand)” Katoso thought furiously, rage showing on his face. The three began looking for survivors, although they themselves doubted there would be any. But as they searched through the skeletal frames of houses and shops, they heard a large crash from the other side of the Village; “Don’t drop that you fool!” Somebody shouted loudly and angrily.

The three went to the cause of all the noise, and secretly looked round the corner; there were three men, picking up old iron beams, and loading them into some kind of truck- they were scavenging for metal.
Two of the men looked exactly the same, short brown hair, and a black uniform that covered their entire bodies that no part of their skin could be seen, and on their faces all you could see where masks- masks that showed someone screaming. The third man also had short, but dark purple hair, which was tied up into a small pony-tail at the back, and he had wide, rectangular glasses. He wore a large white cape, which obscured his entire body.

“Keep working, you ignorant mongrels!” he shouted at the two, who were amazingly kept working in complete silence, even though they were being pelted by this mans horrible insults.
Suddenly, the man saw squad 4 spying on him out of the corner of his eye, and immediately pointed at them; “Witnesses! They can’t escape! Kill them all!” he shouted frantically, and the two workers put down their iron beams and began running at them, kunai drawn.
“Shit!” Kanji cursed, and he drew his own blade, and blocked one of the mens attacks. Sakina jumped back, and threw a couple of throwing stars at the other man- all three hit his chest, but he kept running at full pelt! Not even any bloodshed! Katoso drew out his scythe, and countered the enemies assault, sending the man who obviously had no concept of pain into a wall, causing it to collapse on top of him.

“Haha! You’re a good field test, you are, little children!” said the man mockingly.
“Who are you, and what do you want?!” Kanji said, still locked in arms with the first man, “Well, I might as well tell you, as your going to die here… My name is Joko, and I’m one of the Sial Bandit Lords- the lord of steel is my full title…” Joko said in a pompous tone.
“Never heard of them, but that still doesn’t tell us what you want though, does it?” Katoso asked, one of his scythe blades pointed toward Joko. “Well, I’m here getting metal for my beautiful creations, but now you’ve seen me, I can’t let you live! However, you can make good test subjects for my drone prototypes, hm?” Joko replied with a grin on his face.

“Drones? You mean puppets?” Sakina asked. “No dear girl, puppets are the way of the past!” Joko shouted braggingly, pointing toward the wreckage of the wall, where the man was arising, his uniform torn to shreds.
Kanji saw his opportunity, and quickly thrust the second drones kunai into the air, and punched it as hard as he could it the face. The mask crack down the middle, and fell to the floor, all that remained was metal and blank face of rusty metal.
“My puppets don’t need strings! My puppets are independent! These are my finest creations! Mecha-nin!” he shouted, and the two drones leapt out of their uniforms and masks, and jumped so they were next to their master, so that the squad could see what they truly looked like.

They were tall, their faces completely blank and emotionless as a wall. And their torso had a large gear protruding out of it continually spinning round, their arms and legs full of bolts, screws, and dials with moving needles. The only sound that came from the drones were the small ticking’s that echoed from within their bodies, they looked so human, but inhuman at the same time.

“Okay drones, draw your weapons! And initialize attack on these spies!” Joko shouted, pointing at the squad. The drones left hands dropped to the floor, and in the hands place, a rusty blades slid menacingly out.
The drones ran amazingly fast at the squad, so fast both Kanji and Katoso didn’t have time to prepare, and got forced backward several feet, and the drones just stood there, waiting with ticking fury.

Katoso got up, he was fine, but when he looked over at Kanji, he had a large gash on his left leg, there was no way he’d be able to avoid another assault, and he would get seriously injured. “Sakina! Check Kanji! I’ll deal with these!” Katoso instructed as he got up, to face his mechanical opponents. “Looks like I’ll have to defy you, Mizukage…” Katoso uttered to himself. The first drone ran toward Katoso, and Katoso jumped high enough to do a somersault, and embed his scythe into the Mecha-nins neck, and threw it toward the other drone, causing both to fall on top of each other in a scrambled heap.

But it just stood up again, completely unaffected by what just happened, “(damn, looks like my weapon cant affect them…)” Katoso thought. Joko laughed, and began clapping. “Very Impressive for such a young ninja, I must say.” He said with a sick smile.
The drones began moving again, and lunged toward Katoso with blades drawn- Katoso jumped backward to avoid it, and it seemed to of worked, but the blades suddenly slid out further, and only narrowly missed Katoso’s stomach. Katoso quickly snapped the first ones blade, and stuck it into its head. The mecha-nin made electrified sounds, going into complete spasm, before just completely dying, and falling to fall as crap metal.
“One down, one to go…” Katoso said, breathing hard, this was testing his endurance heavily. Joko frowned for a moment, but reverted back to his mocking grin soon after.
“Good work boy, but can you take the other? Now it knows how you beat the first drone, it won’t make the same mistake!”

He was right. The drone jumped back, and the blade slid back into its arm. Then, it right hand this time ejected, only this time, and hand was still connected by a steel-wire rope.
The Mecha-nin was using it as a flail, trying to avoid close combat! It really was learning!
Katoso thought hard, there had to be a way to get close to it…
He snapped his fingers, he had an idea! “Shadow Clone Jutsu!” he shouted, and there were now four Katoso’s, instead of one!
The drone went for the Katoso to the far left, throwing its hand-flail as hard as it could, but Katoso just exploded in a puff of smoke, it was a clone!
Then two other Katoso’s quickly grabbed the flail, and pulled it as hard as they could, causing the robot to fly forward. They kicked to robot high into the air. And then the two also exploded into puffs of smoke.
Then the remaining, and the original Katoso leapt up to meet the drone in mid-air, and grabbed its left arm and left leg. “Cngratulations, you’re the first victim to this technique…” Katoso said with a weak smile.

He span round, still holding the mecha-nin, and locked his feet into the mechanical montrousities side, and pulled out as hard as he could, causing the drone to bend into the arrow shape. “Moonlight Execution!” shouted Katoso, as they hit the ground with seismic force, sending waves of dust over Sakina, Kanji, and even Joko, who was now scowling.

As Katoso looked down, the mecha-nin had been smashed to pieces, its limbs scattered among the ground, and various gears and wires littered around him.
“You did it Katoso!” Sakina shouted happily. “Not quite…” Joko replied with an angry glare. “You may of beaten my mere drones, which to say I’m rather angry about, but you still have yet to beat the master!”

Joko unhooked his cloak, and it fell to the floor with a thump.Sakina, Kanji and Katoso gasped at what Joko’s true form really was.
The right side of Joko’s body was completely mechanised, with large exhaust’s constantly puffing out steam, and large dials move from left to right. All the metal was browned with rustn and Joko’s left hand was to be replaced by another menacing claw.
“What are you?” Kanji asked.
“Your opponent!”

Credit goes to these Marvelous People For creating the Following Characters;
-"Sakina Shi'in" by Temari_Love
-"Kanji Motori" by Quzor
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dust filled the air, and squad 4 stood among the ruins of the newly-destroyed town in the land of tea, faced with a foe that could only be described as a mechanical monstrosity.
Joko laughed at them, a metal grin spread across his face.
Katoso was breathing hard… he was far to tired to battle again, and that last technique had drained him of all his energy!

Joko opened his right claw, and ran toward the kneeling Katoso, ready to give this annoying pest a final blow. “This is the end!” he shouted. Katoso closed his eyes, and waited to be struck, there was no way he could dodge. All he saw was the blackness of his own eyelids, but he heard something. Something that started soft, a low melody, a song even. Still keeping his eyes tightly shut, he listened closer- the tempo of the music was increasing, becoming faster and stronger, more rhythmical, Katoso heard the sweet song of a flute being played… behind him.

Katoso opened his eyes, and 4 short-swords, floating as if they were being held by invisible warriors, zoomed past his head, and blocked Joko!
The swords acted as one, blocking, attacking, parrying, countering, all at the same time, but still completely in tune and in beat with the music, as if they were dancing! Katoso turned his head, it was Sakina! She was controlling the swords through some sort of melodical technique! Katoso was amazed at how the song was so beautiful, but the actual techniques power so immense! He looked at Sakina, she was stood beside the sitting Kanji, who was also looking at his team-mate in awe. She was swaying as she played, completely intertwined in the music, each note she was putting more passion into it, and it showed by the swords slowly but surely winning against Joko, scratching his metal exterior, cutting at wires and tubes, causing Joko to become highly defensive to this assault.

“Damn you, you little brat! I’ll break that flute in half!” Joko cursed angrily, but Sakina just kept playing, the time in-between the blades attack shortening every time. Joko swiped at the blades, and while they swerved back, he quickly made a large back-step, and with his metallic, claw-like hands, made a couple of hand-signs. “Earth style: Hands of Iron!” he said, a grin reappearing on his face. Suddenly, two large hands, made completely of iron ore, erupted out of the ground, and encased all four blades in a powerful clap. The blades disappeared into a puff of smoke, and Sakina stopped playing, and began to glare at her enemy. Joko sniggered, and pointed toward Sakina- and the two massive hands began to race toward her, clenched as a fist. Sakina managed to jump out the way easily, and while in mid-air took her time to examine the terrain of the battlefield. “(Aha! Knew there was one somewhere!)” she thought, as she spotted a nearby well, which she assumed was used by the now-deceased Villagers.

Sakina purposely landed by the well. “Water Style: Water clone Jutsu!” she said, and the water slid out of the well, and two water clones appeared either side of her, smiling as much as the original. “That’s pointless, I saw which are the clones, I’ll just attack the original!” Joko mocked. Sakina laughed a little. “That’s not the point, the clones are here to accompany me!” she replied, and as soon as she stopped talking, all three Sakina’s drew out their flutes.

“Sound Style: Tri-melody!” she said calmly. And suddenly three different songs began to erupt from the three. Each song having a different effect.
The first song was directed toward Kanji and Katoso, and the two immediately felt its affects- they felt stronger somehow, and they felt intense chakra flows in their body, as it were flowing through them like a river. Joko’s song however, was different, he clutched his ears, it felt like his head was going to implode, the sound causing him tremendous pain. “Argh!” he shouted in anguish, and slammed the earth so hard the ripples made the three musicians break apart to avoid being hit. Sakina looked back at Joko, his appearance had changed dramatically, his eyes had become wide with rage, and his mouth curved into a metal smile that gave her the creeps. His ears were leaking small amounts of blood due to the song, which had injured his inner ear.

“I’ll… kill… you” Joko growled, causing Sakina to feel somewhat uncomfortable. “Sakina! Get back!” shouted a voice from the right- it was Kanji, and he had a wild grin on his face. Sakina jumped over, and listened in to the plan.

“Think you can do it?” Kanji asked, after a while of explaining. Sakina nodded, and looked toward the insane looking Joko. “You run on steam, don’t you?” she asked. Joko gave no answer, not even his usual menacing smile, he just looked at her through hating eyes. She picked up her flute and began playing. “Sound style: Song of four champions!”
The same four short-swords reappeared once more, and lunged toward Joko. “I’ve beaten them before, I’ll do it again!” Joko shouted in rage, and smashed the swords onto the ground with his right arm, the swords hitting the earth with a clatter. He looked down at the swords, and his eyes opened in panic. “There’s only three!?” he exclaimed, but it was too late. The fourth sword had sneaked its way behind him, and struck him from behind, hitting a large black tank attached to his right shoulder, which was connected to many funnels that emitted steam. The tank was leaking water badly, through the gaping hole the sword had created. Joko clutched the hole, desperately trying to keep all the water in, without it, all the mechanics of his body wouldn’t work! But squad 4 was one step ahead.

“Fire style: Air explosion!” Kanji shouted, during the time of damage, and the amount of time it took Joko to stop the tank leaking so badly, he had successfully got a good amount of air with his chakra into the tank.
The tank burst out in a massive explosion, and Joko stood there in full view of it.
Joko was still standing when the dust and smoke cleared; his entire metal arms had been blown of, apart from a small amount still attached to his torso.
Joko was desperately trying to move, to escape, but all the mechanical limbs he treasured so much had failed him, anchoring him to the ground, stopping his retreat. “DAMMIT!” he shouted angrily.

Joko heard a sigh from in front of him. It was Katoso. “Its time to end this…” he said calmly. Joko saw his hands, two chains were coming out of them from nowhere, and digging their way into the earth. Joko met Katoso’s glare, and smiled a little. “You’ve won, and I’ll admit that your splendid ninja, all three of you. But you will regret this…” Joko said, still smiling madly. “How come?” Kanji replied. “I am one of the four Sial Bandit lords, and they will notice that I’ve gone missing…” “One of the four, what?” Kanji asked in a confused tone, causing Joko to laugh. “I guess they won’t be teaching you about us, hm? Well, heres a lesson you’ll never get anywhere else. The Sial Bandits are a group of untied criminals and outcasts that donate their lifes to the dream of one, the strongest of the lords.”

“You said you were the Lord of metal, what else can you tell us about the other Lords, if you’re such a powerful organization” Sakina ask wth a sarcastic tone. Joko laughed again. “Well, there a four lords: Lord of Metal, who is yours truly, Lord of Poison, Lord of Souls, and Lord of Death, and that’s the lesson I’m afraid.” “Fine, goodbye- Joko” Katoso said coldly, and the chains burst out of the ground, and wrapped themselves around Joko’s ankles, and quickly dragged him completely below the ground.
“Release” Katoso said, and the chains coming out of his palms disappeared in a puff of smoke, and he turned to see the horrified face of Kanji. “You.. You buried him ALIVE?” he said nervously. “Don’t forget, he was going to kill us… we cant risk taking him with us… I had to sentence him to death here and now…” Katoso replied with a cold stare, and turned to leave the village.

Kanji looked down at the spot where Joko should have been, which was replaced by an empty space, and a hill of newly turned rubble on the floor. “(Well, at least I know we work well as a team now… so I guess this squad isn’t totally useless)” he began thinking, unknown to him that Katoso was thinking the exact same thing.

Credit goes to these Marvelous People For creating the Following Characters;
-"Sakina Shi'in" by Temari_Love
-"Kanji Motori" by Quzor
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Katoso, Sakina and Kanji were all back at Kirigakure, and presently in the Mizukages room, Sakina and Katoso were standing, and Kanji was sitting on one of the nearby chairs, twiddling his thumbs as he waited for the Mizukage to hurry up.
The door slid open, and the Mizukage walked in, with a normal wide smile on his face. “You succeeded in your mission, in fact you did two missions in one go, I’m very impressed.” He said calmly. “Two missions, Mizukage-sama?” Sakina replied confused. “Yes. The person that attacked you, Joko, was a Sial bandit lord-” “He told us himself...” interrupted Katoso, he eyes shut whilst talking. “Well, he was a B-rank criminal, so that’s defiantly got you recognition among the council.” Kanji sighed, he kept thinking how all the council was, was just a load of old crones bent on making life for young ninja as hard as possible. “The Sial Bandits continue to be a thorn in our side for some time now, they kill our merchants, and steal from us on our trade routes, plus the normal chaos any rogue organisation brings.” The Mizukage continued.

“Mizukage-sama, before Joko… died… he told us that there were 3 more leaders, what about them?” Sakina asked. The Mizukage stood there, thinking and stroking his beard in thought. “Well… perhaps after the event, you could help us find and get rid off the others, hm?” he said with a smile. Kanji couldn’t help butting in, “Event?” he asked curiously. “Yes, my boy, Kirigakure has been chosen to host an honourable event- the festival of elements, were villages will come here from all countries, and promote trade, show us their cultures, and eventually show us the strength of their new shinobi in combat.” This peaked Katoso’s interest, “Combat? You mean some kind of tournament?” “Yes, I thought you’d be excited, knowing what your families like..” the Mizukage trailed off, but shook his head, and his smile reappeared. “But yes, there will be shinobi coming from all over the continent, from villages like the one in the treetops, to the one hidden in the lava. And you, my star squad now with your recent mission, have been selected to represent us in tournament!” Kanji made a wild smile, and made a thumbs-up gesture. “We won’t let you down!” he chuckled, and Mizukage laughed, as well as a small laugh by Sakina.

“You have three days to prepare, and by the looks of you, you each have your own style, and therefore must have your own training ideas.” Said the Mizukage. Squad 4 nodded. “Then, I’ll leave you to it, hm?” he smiled, and pointed toward the door. Kanji ran out, muttering something about winning the tournament with ease. Katoso and Sakina left in no such rush. And walked to the outside of the building. “What are you planning on doing, Katoso-kun?” she chirped, but Katoso just gave her an emotionless look, and replied; “I’ll think of something… you?” Sakina felt a bit pissed off, “(That’s a bit rude, hmph)” she thought, but she kept a forced smile on her face. “I’m planning to go to the library, and look up some new water and music jutsus.” She replied, but Katoso just made a small grunt, and turned to leave. When Katoso was out of sight and earshot, Sakinas smile disappeared, and was replaced by a small frown. “That boy rally needs to open up, hes far to grim.” And with that she trotted of to train, down the pebbled path of Kirgakure.


Meanwhile, the scene was far different, and worse, in a far off town, somewhere in the land of fire, where the ground had been soaked with blood. Two hooded shinobi stood over a pile of corpses, looking at their work.
“Hmph, this was far too easy, I need some kind of opponent.” The taller one muttered, his voice void of all feelings or mercy. The smaller of the two laughed a little. “Would I be a challenge, Nii-san?” he chuckled, but the taller one just shook his head, and glared at the smaller one, his face was so shadowed you couldn’t make out any features, but he had bluish hair lapsing down the right hand of his face, and the lower part of his face, including his mouth, was wrapped in bone-white bandages. The smaller looked into the eye that showed, and it seemed as if he were staring into the depth of his soul. “No, you wouldn’t. And if you ever thought you could and actually challenged me, you’d be dead in under five seconds, little brother.” The smaller shuddered, and put down his hood. He had longish brown hair, and he looked around eleven or twelve years old. He had eyes like his older brother, jet black, but his eyes had at least some feeling in them.

Suddenly, a kunai shot out, which was headed straight for the taller of the two, and it hit his right arm. The smaller one gasped a little, but the taller was still standing there, emotionless, and he looked down at the wound, that was bleeding, as it were nothing but a mosquito bite. He grabbed the kunai, and tore it out. There was a leaf ninja standing on top of one the nearby buildings, he was in battle stance, with shuriken drawn, he had brown hair with the average forehead protector, and wore a chunin vest. “Hey, y-you! I’m here to a-avenge this town, prepare to fight!” he stuttered. The smaller of the two made the intention to move, but the taller quickly put his hand on his chest, and stopped him. “Vi… this ones mine.” He said coldly, still staring at the leaf shinobi, who was now shaking slightly.

Vi nodded, and the taller one scraped some of the blood from his arm wound onto the kunai that was thrown onto him. “How much do you know about the shunin clan?” he asked casually. “N-nothing, but it doesn’t matter!” he replied, still quivering. “Well, I’ll let you know… our blood has special properties, and it allows us to create and manipulate the iron in our bloodstream…” The leaf shinobi jumped down, and was ready for battle.
The taller nin flicked the blood into the air, but it stopped in mid fall, and suddenly started expanding, changing shape, until there were three kunai suspended in mid-air.
“Now, fear our clans unique style, fool…” he said, glaring madly at the leaf shinobi, who threw all his shuriken at the taller one in panic. Vi jumped forward and deflected them all with ease, and smiled sweetly at the shinobi. “Your going to die here.” He said with a false innocence in his voice. The taller nin started making hand signs.

“Shadow Style: Black holes!” he shouted, and suddenly three black disc-like shapes appeared near him, drifting around in mid-air, the were as black as sky on a cold, clear night, and radiated an aura of menace. The taller nin waved his finger, and the three kunai shot forward into the discs at inhuman speeds, and disappeared!
The leaf shinobi looked around in horror as he realised three of the exact same kind of discs had appeared around him, they were portals! But it was to late, the kunai shot out, and hit his limbs, he looked at his condition- his two arms and his left leg were bleedinmg heavily, and he was now struggling to keep standing. He paniced as he looked back up at his opponent, the taller nin had created seven more kunai, and as soon as he saw these, they all shot through yet more discs.

There was a load scream, that echoed throughout the town. After five minutes, the ground beneath the leaf shinobi was a deep red, and his entire body, spare his head, was impaled by so many kunai’s he couldn’t even count them. He fell to his knee’s, the pain was unbearable. But he looked up, the taller nin wasn’t there anymore! He felt a cold presence still… but it was behind him. He felt a hand touch his shoulder. “You fail as an opponent, but you at least succeed at being a target dummy…” he heard the cruel, cold voice from behind him, and looked round terrified to see the taller of the two towering over him. “I am the victor. I am Taegro Shunin. And I am the one who will send you to the pits of death.” He muttered, disdain in his voice. Taegro pulled out a kunai, and swiftly stuck it through the kneeling leaf shinobi’s neck, who gurgled for a couple of seconds, but soon fell to the floor and fell into the grasp of unconsciousness and eventual death.

The kunais stuck in the corpse melted away into their initial material- blood, and the taller nin looked down at the small, unsuspected town he had destroyed- men, women, children- all dead. “(Just another to add to the list… I’m coming Katoso, and I’ll annihilate anyone who dares to get in my way.)” Taegro gestured to Vi, and they both pulled their hoods up, covering their faces with shadow so that they couldn’t be recognised, and they left the town, walking slowly and silently, with no idea where they would end up next.