Team Shizen met at the hospital at 9 A.M. to start their mission. They were to help heal the sick and bandage up the injured. In the beginning they were hesitant being in a different type of hospital than they were used to. It was bigger with slightly more advanced technology, but with a little help and reassuring they got right to work. It was their first mission and it ended in success leaving the Hokage quite pleased.
At around noon they went to the training grounds to practice techniques. It started off slow with a little target practice, but as time went by Nishiya gradually became tougher on them due to the earlier conversation with the other Jonin. She, of course, didn’t notice, but the other three definitely did.
A couple hours had passed when they decided to take a break. They all sat down in the shade against the trees and drank water to re-hydrate. And it was then that the woman noticed her team looked absolutely drained.
"Oh, come on girls," Nishiya scolded. "You shouldn’t be this tired.”
"Sensei," Etsuyo whined. "We've been practicing for hours and you amped it up this time! Your obstacles are newer and more complex."
"Really?" she asked, doubting her statement. To prove she was wrong, she looked out onto the training ground and saw that it was almost completely covered with shattered stones, trees that were knocked down, shuriken, and kunai knives.
“See,” Yumika said, noticing her sensei blink repeatedly in realization. “When have we ever done this much damage when we were only training?”
Realizing they were right, she apologized. "Sorry, I didn't notice…"
"Is something bothering you, Sensei?" Ayako asked.
"No,” she answered, unbelievably. “I just want to make sure you're ready for the exam, that's all…" All three girls gave her a questioning look. "And that you can…outdo all the other Genin…" Nishiya admitted slowly and sheepishly.
"You don't think we can do that with how we are now?" The Uchiha pushed.
"Are you-“ she scoffed. “Of course I do! I'm just making sure. Don't worry about it."
"Sensei, if you were confident, you wouldn't be making us work this hard…" she contradicted.
Their sensei’s patience was already thinned from this morning, and now she was at her breaking point.
"Now you've done it…" Yumika whispered, seeing Nishiya instantly turn bright red.
"THAT'S ENOUGH TALKING! LET'S GET BACK TO WORK! MOVE IT! MOVE IT! MOVE IT!" Nishiya screamed at the top of her lungs. The girls jumped up off the ground as fast as they could, spilling their water on the ground, and started to run to the middle of the field in a line. Yumika was in front, Ayako in the middle, and Etsuyo at the end. Their sensei just stood at their resting spot smirking.
That’ll remind them to never question me on my feelings. She thought proudly watching them run.
Suddenly Yumika stopped in her tracks. Ayako, not noticing right away, smacked into the girls back, and then Etsuyo did the same to her. Like dominoes, they landed on the ground on top of one another causing them to groan in unison.
"Etsuyo!" Ayako grunted. "Get off of me!"
"Sorry," she quickly apologized as she got up.
Meanwhile, under the trees, Nishiya was laughing hysterically. “You three okay?” she called out through short bursts of laughter.
“Yeah!” Ayako responded with her hand on her hip. “Thanks for breaking our fall, Yumika.” She grinned, reaching out her hand for her to grab.
"Shut up… " Yumika grumbled, taking it.
While she helped her friend get back on her feet, she asked, "Why'd you stop, anyway?"
"Because someone's watching us," she dully informed, dusting the dirt off herself.
"What?” she began to scan the area. “Where?"
Yumika sighed, "In the trees behind Nishiya sensei."
Ayako faced that direction, squinting her eyes in an attempt to get a better look into the forest. "Hmmm…"she hummed. Quickly, she darted into the trees and disappeared. All that could be heard were the rustling of the leaves as she searched for the observer.
Yumika, Etsuyo, and Nishiya sensei stared at the spot Ayako vanished, listening to her movements.
Then, it went completely quiet for a second.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"Ayako yelled, angrily, breaking the silence. A boy flew out of the trees, screaming until he hit the ground, right in front of her teammates.
"Naruto?" Etsuyo recognized the blonde knucklehead. “You’re the one who was spying on us?”
"I-I wasn't spying…” he defended himself nervously. “I was just uh…I was told to be here!" He sat on the ground looking up to the girls, rubbing his lower back where he was obviously kicked.
"Yeah right!" Ayako yelled, reappearing from the foliage. "By who?"
"Kakashi sensei!” he answered. “A-and he was told by the Hokage!" The entire team's eyes widened.
The Hokage? Now, he's just making things up… Ayako thought. "Sure he was…"
"I'm telling the truth! I wasn't spying…okay, maybe a little,” he confessed, “but I wasn't there long, I swear! I figured you wouldn't notice and I could get a sneak peak of what abilities you guys have! But I didn’t see anything special. I got here just before you three fell on each other."
"That’s believable,” Etsuyo responded accepting his explanation. “Thanks for being truthful, Naruto," Etsuyo praised earning herself a semi-hard slap on the arm from Yumika. “Ouch!” she yelped. Rubbing her arm, she gave the girl a strong glare. “What was that for?”
“For being too nice…” she lamely excused. Slowly she turned her head back to Naruto. “Say the Hokage did tell your sensei to order your team to meet here…” Yumika recapped. She kept her voice as calm as possible, adding no emotion whatsoever in her tone. “Why are you alone?"
"Because…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head. He wasn’t sure how to explain the situation even though it was quite simple. He got here first out of excitement. But that answer wouldn’t escape passed his lips with Yumika’s stone-cold, fierce, piercing, yellow eyes glowering down at him.
"Because they’re not coming, are they?" Ayako finished for him. From behind, she cracked her knuckles ready to hit him over the head. But more rustling coming from the trees stopped her. All of them diverted their gaze to the area the sounds came from.
"Naruto, what did you do?" A girl called out, walking out of the shade.
"Sakura!” he announced, letting out a sigh of relief. “Finally, you guys showed up."
“You were supposed to meet us at the start of the trail, not here,” she scolded.
"Loser…" Sasuke appeared and behind him their sensei.
The two teams came together and conversed with each other while Kakashi and Nishiya remained in the shade.
"Sorry to intrude," Kakashi apologized.
She snickered. "No you aren't," she said, calling his bluff. They stared at each other. "You want to tell me why your team is really here? Or can I come to the conclusion of spying?"
"The Hokage sent us," he informed.
"I see that you made sure your team would have the same story to tell.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
"It’s not a story, it’s the truth. He felt this would be a good way to get to know you four."
"By seeing our abilities?" she added for him.
“It’s an efficient way to break the ice.” He shrugged.
“Right…” she hung on the word. “Now did he feel that way before or after you told him you wanted to check us out?” she presumed.
"After,” he granted, “but I wasn’t the one who talked to him. It was more of Asuma’s idea.” Nishiya’s eyebrows knitted together. “That being said, he, as well as Kurenai, should be arriving soon.”
"What?" Right then, as if on cue, two more teams came from a trail to her left. It was Asuma and Kurenai along with their students.
"Good afternoon, Nishiya," Kurenai greeted.
In the center of the field, Yumika, Ayako, and Etsuyo stopped talking to the others, turning to look at who had just arrived.
"Who are they?" Ayako wondered, her hands on her hips.
"The rest of the Rookie Genin of the Leaf," Sasuke casually answered.
"What are they doing here?" Yumika asked.
"The same reason we are," Sakura responded in a secret attempt to prevent the girl from speaking to Sasuke. "The Hokage instructed us to be here at this time to meet with your team."
"That's a little…strange…" Etsuyo commented.
"Yeah, well if the Hokage orders it, it must be obeyed,” she said smartly.
“Isn’t that true for all orders that come from a higher source?” Yumika retorted. Sakura merely sneered at her remark, to which, Yumika raised a gray eyebrow.
“Okay, but why would he think this is a good idea?” Ayako questioned.
Yumika crossed her arms and sighed. “I don’t think this idea was entirely his.”
“What do you mean?”
“Listen,” she directed. All six of them shut their mouths and tuned into the adults’ conversation.
“This is ridiculous!” They all heard Nishiya yell at the other Jonin. Meanwhile, the other students ran towards the field, looking at the woman as if she had just grown another head.
"What do you mean the Hokage ordered this?” Nishiya continued to go off. “This is insane! You shouldn't have to see what my girls can do! That can wait until the exams!"
"We have a signed document of his instructions," Asuma notified, calmly with a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. He reached into his pocket and took out a folded sheet of paper which was snatched from his hands by Nishiya before he could extend his arm to give it to her.
She quickly unfolded it and read the contents as thorough as possible, hoping to find any phrase or word that would disprove their words. Luckily, she found something in the little bit of writing that slightly eased her mind. “Correction,” she said from behind the sheet, “you have papers to prove your presence here and interaction with my team. Not the showcasing of my girls’ abilities.” She lifted her head above the stationary and flashed the three with a sly grin.
“Wait, what?” Asuma snatched back the paper from her hands and read it himself.
Nishiya laughed at his action, amused by his own shock. “You never read the letter when you asked for it, did you?” she concluded, laughing a little harder when he raised his head from the paper and sneered.
"Well you could anyway," Kakashi urged. “Like I said before, it would be an efficient way to break the ice.”
The woman scoffed. “How about no?” she spoke with a serious tone and stare. “One,” she held up her pointer finger, “I will not disobey the Hokage’s orders for your entertainment. Two,” she brought up her middle, “another I know what you’re up to. Three,” she raised her ring finger, “I’m not having them go through this again.”
Kurenai raised an eyebrow at her words. “Can I ask what you mean by the second and third explanation?”
Nishiya sighed and looked meaningfully over at her three students. With the grin still plastered on her face, she said in the cockiest tone she could voice, “I know you guys are… worried. I mean come on.” She gestured with her hand to the rookies. “Your Genin are fresh from the academy and they’re entered in the Chunin Exams already. Mine have been Genin for two years now, and for all we know, they could be pitted against them. If you see what they can do today, there’s still enough time for you to train the crap out of your students so they’re a little more prepared. I do remember saying your teams should really be observing mine. I guess you wanted to take me up on that offer… even though I didn’t really mean it.”
“Hold on a second,” Asuma interjected, “that’s not-“
Before he could continue, she cut him off. “As for the third reason… these girls have been through enough pointless tests,” she told them. “In order to move here, they, as well as I, had to take a written portion, were interrogated in several ways, and had to show almost all of our abilities to the Tokubetsu Jonin of this village. They do not need to be nerve wracked again.”
“All that was nerve wracking?” Kurenai asked.
“They wanted to be accepted so badly, they were highly afraid they would fail. With every test they constantly thought they didn’t do well enough. If I tell them that they have to show what they can do to you three, they might come to the conclusion that this is another test and could possibly kick us out of here if they do badly.” She sighed. “So, there will be no showcase for you and your teams,” she firmly stated. “You get introductions and polite conversations and that’s it. Any questions you have about Ayako’s, Yumika’s, or Etsuyo’s strength, you ask me. I have no problem with that.”
The three Jonin exchanged glances before confirming their understanding. “Alright,” the three affirmed.
With that, Nishiya led the way to the center of the field where all the Genin stood staring at the adults. Hands at her sides, she held a stoic expression and kept her eyes on her own students and saw Ayako and Etsuyo had a slight hint of apprehension in their facial expressions, while Yumika, of course, stayed calm.
“Is everything alright, Nishiya sensei?” Etsuyo wondered aloud, twiddling her thumbs in front of her.
She smiled warmly. “Yes, everything is just fine,” she answered easily. “Lord Hokage has requested that we formally introduce ourselves to our fellow comrades. So, Asuma…” she faced the man. “Will you and your team start us out? Just state your names, we’ll do the same."
"Of course..." He moved to stand behind his three students. "Hello there girls,” he greeted, the cigarette still in his mouth. “My name is Asuma Sarutobi and this is Team Ten."
"Hi, I'm Ino Yamanaka of the Yamanaka Clan," a blonde girl in purple introduced.
"I'm Chouji Akimichi of the Akimichi Clan," a chubby boy said in between chews of his potato chips.
The last boy, who had black hair tied in a ponytail, sighed. "What a drag…” he began. “I'm Shikamaru Nara…"
"Nice to meet you," Etsuyo commented kindly, glancing at all three.
“Kurenai,” Nishiya gestured to the other Jonin woman.
"Hi there, I'm Kurenai Yuhi and I’d like to introduce you to Team Eight."
"Hello, I-I'm um…" a girl with grey eyes and short black hair stuttered, her shyness becoming apparent. “I'm Hinata Hyuuga of the Hyuuga Clan."
"Hey there, cuties," the boy wearing a hood with a dog on his head, bluntly spoke next. "I'm Kiba Inuzuka of the Inuzuka Clan. Pleased to meet you." He was staring directly at Ayako who was giving him an irritated look. "And this is Akamaru." He pointed to his head.
"I'm Shino Aburame… of the Aburame Clan." said the last that had dark brown hair and was wearing sunglasses.
"Uh…Hi there…" Ayako replied, thinking they were an odd bunch in her head.
"You’ve met Team Seven already,” Nishiya pointed out. “So there’s really no reason for their introductions. But to be fair, since everyone else did it, why don’t you four go ahead?”
Accepting her offer, Kakashi started things off. “My name is Kakashi Hatake.”
"Sakura Haruno,” the pink-haired girl bowed.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki!" he practically screamed in their faces. “And I’m going to be the next Hokage! Believe it!”
With a finger in her ear and one eye closed, Yumika snottily whispered to Etsuyo, “This kid… is going to make me deaf…” The other girl swiftly slapped her in the arm. She was barely affected but she still stared at the spot in surprise. “What was that for?” she asked her.
“For being too mean,” Etsuyo replied with her nose in the air and her arms crossed over her chest. Ayako snickered at her remark, recalling Yumika’s early statement.
Yumika gave them both a dirty look and turned away.
Finishing the introductions off by not bothering to announce himself, Sasuke muttered, “Hn.”
“Nice to meet you, Hn,” Ayako joked appearing next her brother only to nudge his arm with her elbow which earned her an irritated side glance.
"Anyway,” Kakashi interfered, “altogether, our teams make the Nine Rookies of the Leaf."
"Nice to know," Nishiya said quickly. “To continue this conversation, the orders said we had to let you all know who we were and to follow that, my team will give you brief information about ourselves.” She looked down at her students who walked over to stand next to her. They each gave a swift nod in acceptance.
“We are Team Shizen,” she began. “My name is Nishiya and I originally come from Kirigakure. I’m 24 years old-“
“You’re revealing your age?” Kurenai pondered. Nishiya knew exactly what she was getting at.
Continuing her induction, she said, “and you’ll come to find that I am not like any other woman you know.” Leaving it at that, she gestured to the bright faced, red-head at her left.
"Hello, I'm Etsuyo Terumi and it’s great to meet all of you!” she cheerfully acquainted, taking her cue. “Like my sensei, I come from Kirigakure. I have a little sister named Hanako. Um…" she paused, unsure of what to say next. “Oh!” she found something to share. “I’m usually a very nice person, if you couldn’t tell already,” she flashed them all a smile, “and I can’t wait to get to know more about all of you.”
Etsuyo turned her head to face Ayako as her signal to speak.
Ayako gave them all a short wave, taking her turn. “Ayako Uchiha, here," she began with a sweet grin. “Twin sister of Sasuke, but you all knew that already… I haven’t fully existed until recently, but I am a Konoha native. Again, obvious information,” she noted, tapping her cheek with her finger, glancing at everyone’s faces as they waited for her to continue. “I bet you didn’t know I’m five minutes older than Sasuke,” she blurted. Her brother stared at her oddly. “I’m pretty easy to get along with…” Sweat began to form on her forehead. I have no idea what I’m saying… She felt the pressure begin to build.
“Alright, alright…” Nishiya raised her hand to stop the girl, noticing her discomfort. “You don’t need to speak more than you want, Ayako.”
“I’m not normally this awkward, I promise. I just couldn’t decipher what was appropriate to share on the spot.” Ayako let out a short, nervous laugh and closed her mouth.
“Moving on,” Nishiya made eye contact with the last of her students who showed no enjoyment in getting to speak whatsoever.
"Yumika Hakinowa…" she spoke dully, rolling her eyes at how dumb she felt this was. She crossed her arms and didn’t bother to eye the faces of her new fellow Genin, but definitely felt their eyes on her.
“And…” Her sensei pushed, raising an eyebrow at her.
“And I don’t care for this at all,” she added snottily, refusing to say anything about herself. Opening up was obviously not her forte.
Her sensei shrugged, freely giving up. “Well, I guess you can get something about her out of that.”
“Clearly,” someone in the group barked. Yumika snapped her head towards the others to look for the person who spoke. Quickly, she found it was none other than Kiba who denigrated her. “So does every member of the enemy clan have an attitude like that?” he continued after she locked her eyes with his.
A gray eyebrow rose on her face, befuddled. Who does her think he is… she irritably thought. Wait a second… Realization sunk in when she vaguely remembered his greeting, even though it was only a few minutes ago. “Nah, that’s just me,” she hastily answered. “Are all the puppies of Konoha,” she coughed a little too late, mocking him by belittling his clan and animal. “I mean, Inuzuka members so… gruff?”
Everyone else widened their eyes at the girl and boy, feeling the tension that was starting to build. But they couldn’t help themselves from wanting to see what could occur if there was no interference. Even the Jonin wanted to see how it would turn out. So they remained silent and watched the scene unfold.
He sneered at her remark, stepping closer to her until he almost closed the gap. “You call us puppies? I expected a nickname much ruder than that,” he expressed his thought. “In fact, I don’t even think of it as an insult, because I’d rather be called a puppy than a prissy, little, kitten.”
“Nice one,” she praised. “I haven’t heard that before…” Her voice filled with sarcasm. “I’d probably be more hurt if our clan didn’t kick your clan’s ass in the past.” He scoffed. “If you wanted me to call you what we really nicknamed your clan, I would in a heartbeat.” She shrugged her shoulders. “But I understand that this whole get together is supposed to be tamed.”
“Screw that,” he spat, clenching his fists at his sides. “And what do you know about being tamed? Last time I checked, your people have been having troubles being restrained.”
That stung the Hakinowa a little in the chest, thinking about the ongoing situation in her home. As a response, she stared icily at her with her yellow eyes and clenched her jaw. She used a good amount of might to suppress her bubbling anger.
“That’s enough, Kiba…” Kurenai piped up in an attempt to stop her student from starting something that could end up badly.
“Hey, we didn’t sign anything to guarantee this was going to be subtle,” Kiba turned and told her. “Now, I want to hear what her clan nicknamed mine.”
Yumika’s facial appearance didn’t change, though her temper slowly diminished, she began to feel more devious. His personality trait of short-tempered let her know he would easily explode at her words. And the possibility of seeing that was tempting. “I don’t know…” She crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side. “I don’t think a no-class mutt like you can handle it.” A smirk appeared on her lips as she watched his expression now dramatically change into a raged form from the ‘accidental’ slip of her tongue. “Oops…” Her eyes flashed in satisfaction of receiving the reaction she wanted.
“No-class mutt?!” he shouted, raising a fist in her face. “Alright, bring it on! This chick is asking for it!”
She blinked a few times, unaffected. “On the contrary, you did, but…fine by me. Fair warning, this ‘kitten’ has a side that is fiercer and far more intimidating, and it’s not as forgiving…as you should know by now.” Yumika brought her voice down to a whisper on the last word. “Though, you haven’t hit the spot that unleashes that side. You haven’t even gotten extremely close. Calling me a prissy little kitten is just as lame as me calling you a mutt. But I still hit a nerve, didn’t I?” she asked him insincerely. The wind blew at that moment, adding to the tension.
“Yumika, stop,” Nishiya ordered, grabbing a hold of her forearm. “We are not here to pick fights,” she reminded.
She didn’t take her sharp eyes off of him before responding, “Trust me, it wouldn’t have been much of a fight.”
Without warning, Nishiya firmly stomped her foot, causing a square of the ground underneath Yumika to shoot up and fling her high into the air. Kiba stumbled backwards, taken aback by the sudden action inches from his face. The other Genin copied his expression and looked completely flabbergasted as they watched Yumika twirl in the sky.
She was indeed taken off guard, but not enough to make her land anywhere else but her feet.
Though, there was something odd about her landing that everyone caught. She didn’t slam down like anyone else would. She sort of floated back to the ground.
“I thought you weren’t going to show us your abilities, Nishiya,” Asuma questioned her, believing she went back on her words.
She stared at the pillar she created that was at eyelevel and came up with an intriguing idea. “On second thought,” she spoke with a wide grin on her face, “there is something they can show you that wouldn’t worry me one bit. Simply because you won’t get an advantage out of it,” she cleverly added. Ayako and Etsuyo quickly caught on and exchanged approving nods.
“Yumika!” the woman called out to the girl who remained standing meters away from the group. “If you have pent up energy… fly.”
“Fly?” Sakura questioned loudly.
“Yes. Fly,” Nishiya confirmed as if it was a normal request.
Yumika looked at all the other Genin with a smirk plastered on her face, proud of her capability to do what they can only imagine, and without any objection, she followed her instructions.
Taking in a deep breath, she lifted her arms slowly and gracefully above her head as if they were wings, and with one, fluid swipe down, the wind created lifted her into the air. Once she got to a reasonable height, she floated for a second to catch a glimpse of the rookies’ faces and she was pleased at what she saw. Each one of them, except for Sasuke and Shikamaru whose eyes were only bulging, and Shino whose expression couldn’t be read, had their eyes wide, mouths open, and arms dropped at their sides.
She continued her flight after that sight. Leaning forward onto her stomach, she glided ahead until she was directly above Nishiya’s pillar, and began to gradually descend. When she landed on the rock, the air beneath her feet dispersed and blew the hair on everyone’s head.
Her arms crossed over her chest as she uninterestedly said, “That didn’t do anything for me…”
“How’d she do that?” Ino suddenly asked in her shocked state.
Nishiya let out a short giggle. “Wait to ask questions, boys and girls. There is still more to show you.” She turned to her left and smiled at the Uchiha next to her. “Ayako, care to make it rain?” she requested casually.
“With pleasure,” the girl accepted, grinning from ear to ear.
Ayako walked backwards until she was a good distance away from everyone. All eyes were on her now. She spread out arms with closed fists and concentrated with her eyes open. There was a few seconds of silence before a ‘whooshing’ noise erupted from behind her. Suddenly two streams of water from a nearby river whirled out of the forest behind her on both sides. Once it reached her, the water wrapped around her body and encased her in a wide, shimmering, blue, liquid cocoon. Only her fists were visible, sticking out of the sides until she quickly lifted her arms up above her head. The water then sprung up into the sky and flattened. “Get ready!” she excitedly exclaimed, opening her hands.
The sheet above exploded into tiny droplets and fell onto the field, and the group. When it was over, there were mixed expressions of surprise, anger, and intrigue over the fact that they were soaked. Ayako made her way back with wide strides and only smiled at all the faces when she returned
Nishiya didn’t hesitate to proceed on with the show. “Has anyone ever been underground?” she nonchalantly asked the group.
“Undergr-“ Sakura was interrupted quickly when Nishiya brought her arms in front of her and the ground began to shake. Firmly pressing down on the air, the next thing they knew, they were in a deep underground cavern where it was pitch black, unharmed and unmoved.
“Give me a light, Etsuyo.” Nishiya’s eager voice echoed the space.
With a quick snap of her fingers, two flames ignited in both her palms illuminating the darkness and her smirking face.
“Okay,” the woman spoke from behind her student. “Now we’re finished.” The ground shook once more before it rose back to the surface.
Each and every one of their comrades was highly confused. No hand seals, no jutsu calling, nothing. They pulled the elements by their own bidding. They questioned what were they doing, how did they do it, and most importantly, what type of shinobi were they? The Genin had no clue, but the Jonin knew, yet they were still as surprised as their students.
"Nishiya…" Kurenai spluttered. "You can't be serious… You’re all-"
"Yes," she interrupted, confirming the suspicion, "we are…”
“You’re all what?” Naruto questioned.
“Something special,” Ayako answered, leaving everyone hanging.
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Chapter notes: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…but the characters I created are all mine.
A/N: HEADS UP! This is a continuation of last chapter. Enjoy!