(IC) The Life of a Shinobi (Chapter 1: Squad 5)

A little over 2 weeks ago, a group of 21 students graduated from the academy and became Genin.  Among those students were Ryan, Mugen, and Kaori. The students met back in the class room today and were assigned to their three man squads.  Each squad was dismissed individually to meet their sensei.  The genin must train with their sensei and complete a total of 8 missions before they can take the Chunin exams and begin to move up the ranks.  This...is the life of a shinobi.


Raiku Zari took his students, Mugen, Ryan, and Kaori, to the training field.  He wanted to get to know them a bit as well as see what they were capable of.  The four of them sat down in a circle.  Raiku looked at his three students.  "Alright then, let's begin."  Raiku looked over at Mugen, "Tell me me your full name, a hobbie of yours, and...give me one word to describe you."

The name's Mugen Kakusu-Ken and one my hobbies is just reading manga or whatever keeps me entertained long enough for me to finish it. And I guess I'm what you'd call a "friendly A-hole". heh heh.

Raiku smiled after hearing Mugen's response.  He'd had several students before who could be considered "friendly a-holes."  From past experience, Raiku realized that they weren't usually the type of people to get along well with teammates. "Well the two of us should have a lot of fun together," said Raiku.  He looked over at the female.  "You're next."

"Oh...well my name is Kaori Yamanaka.  I enjoy drawing and painting and...I guess a word to describe me would be...determined."

"An artistic type huh?" he thought.  "Well I hope to see that determination of yours on the field," he said to her.  He looked at the last student, Ryan.  "Alright kid, your turn."

"My name is Ryan kasai. I like rollerblading as a hobbie and I guess you can describe me as hyperactive, easy going, and laid-back."

"Sigh...didn't I tell this kid to give me ONE word to describe himself?" thought Raiku, "The inabilty to follow simple directions is not a good sign but I guess I'm stuck with him."

Raiku stood to his feet.

"Alright.  My name is Raiku Zari, and I will be your sensei.  My goal is to train with you and have you complete a total of 8 missions so that you can take the Chunin exams.  First, I want to see what your team work looks like."

Raiku walked over to a tree.  He took a nail out of his pocket and nailed a shinobi headband to the tree.  I want the three of you to retrieve this headband.  If one of you gets the headband, you all pass. If after an hour nobody gets it, you all fail and will be sent back to the academy.  Any questions?"

"Yeah" said Mugen, "think fast". He tossed a flash bomb at his new sensei then quickly fired three shots from his crossbow, pinning both his legs to the ground and his hand to the tree.

Raiku didn't even seem to attempt to dodge the shots from the crossbow. Once pinned, however, Raiku suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke and only a wooden log remained.

"A substitution!" thought Kaori as she looked around for the real Raiku.

Raiku suddenly walked from behind the very tree that his substitution was pinned to. "Nice try," he said, "But you didn't think such a simple attack would get the best of a Jounin did you?"

"Not really" said Mugen with a smile, "but...I'm sure this would get ya" said the shadow clone standing behind Raiku with his sword pointing at his neck.

"This one is quite skilled," thought Raiku.  He looked over at Ryan, "Why isn't he getting involved?" he thought.  He quickly noticed that Kaori was nowhere in sight.  He looked over towards the tree with the headband on it and saw Kaori running towards it.  "Well I can't let that happen," he thought.  Raiku quickly focused his lightning chakra nature and released it in all directions.  "Chidori Stream!"


The electrical current quickly streamed through the sword and destroyed the clone.  Raiku then jumped between Kaori and the tree.  "Ah ah ah," he said with a smile.

Surprised by Raiku's quick escape, Kaori quickly retreated back near Ryan and Mugen.  "Maybe we need a better strategy," she said.

"Gee you think?" Mugen responded sarcastically. "Hey roller boy, wake up! Space out time is over. HOOAH! Time to get your head out of your butt and help us!" Mugen drew his sword, charging it with the Chidori.

"Huh what?! Well I have an idea. I'll distract him and you guys grab the headband. He's fast right? I'm hyperactive so I can match his speed."

"Unfortunately, it's not that simple," said Kaori, "His goal is to protect the head band, not chase us around. We need to force him away from that tree if we're going to get that headband."

Raiku watched as his new students discussed a plan. He saw Mugen charging a chidori sword. "This kid is full of surprises," he thought. He pulled out a kunai and charged his own chidori into it. It wasn't a sword, but fighting a swordsman without a weapon can be dangerous.

"Hey Kaori, do you think you can control a jonin" asked Mugen.

"I should be able to," replied Kaori, "I'm not sure how long I'd be able control him though."

"That works," replied Mugen, "me and the Re-re over here can get sensei's attention. Just let us know when your ready to go."

"Okay, if you guys just keep him still then I can hit him," replied Kaori.

At lighting speed, Mugen charged towards Raiku with his chidori charged weapon set for a quick attack.

Raiku blocked the oncoming sword attack with his chidori charged kunai. While in the clash with Mugen, Raiku looked over at Ryan, who still wasn't doing anything. "What's with this kid?" he thought, "I'd hate to pass him if he keeps this up. I may have to go back on my word and fail him despite the outcome of this exercise."

Raiku expected to clash weapons with Mugen, but his blade merely went through an afterimage. From behind, Mugen attacked with 4 lighting slashes then shot 3 more bolts from his crossbow.

"What the...how is he that fast?!" thought Raiku as the genin made such an unexpected move. However, just before the four slashes made contact, Raiku managed to make a quick jump out of the sword's range. Unfortunately, while he was still in the air after the jump, Mugen fired three shots from his crossbow. Unable to change direction and dodge, Raiku was forced to deflect the shots with his chidori charged kunai. His reaction was quick, but with such little time to think, he only managed to block the first two. The final shot punctured his sholder. Raiku landed on the ground after the jump. "I can't believe it, this kid actually injured me," he thought to himself. Raiku yanked the crossbow bolt out of his shoulder and blood began to pour out. "Darn it," thought Raiku, "I underestimated this kid. A mere genin shouldn't be this...(*gasp*)

Raiku's thought process was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a wolf's howl in his head. From his intense study of clan ninjutsu when he was younger, he was quite aware of what just happened. "Darn..." thought Raiku. "Hi sensei!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" came a loud annoying voice in his head. "Sigh...I was too careless," thought Raiku. He didn't even bother responding to the voice, he knew it was Kaori. Kaori had apparently taken advantage of the opportunity and used the Mind Transfer jutsu, a technique used by the Yamanaka clan to temporarily gain control of the target's mind.

Kaori's body fell to the ground, as if she suddenly fell asleep. "Mugen it worked! I'm in sensei's body!" she yelled.

While Raiku's body was under Kaori's control, Mugen walked to the tree and pulled the headband off. "And that's that sensei," he said, proudly displaying the headband.

Several moments later...

The gang is sitting in a circle again, having completed the training exam.  Raiku patched up his shoulder with a first aid kit he brought.  Normally, the jonin brings a kit along for the genin students.  A jonin would never expect to be using a kit on themselves.

"Heh heh...Sorry bout your shoulder sensei but you know I had to get that headband," said Mugen with a sheepish smile.

"Of course," responded Raiku, "The two of you (referring to Mugen and Kaori) have done an excellent job and I underestimated your abilities."  Raiku then looked over towards Ryan, who was still standing there like a zombie.  "I normally don't go back on my word, but this time I'll have to make an exception.  Despite the fact that your team got the headband, I am choosing to fail you.  You didn't even make an effort to assist your team, and the one time they tried to formulate a plan, you only gave a poorly thought out suggestion that ultimately would have failed.  I'm sorry, but I'm sending you back to the academy.  I'm not even sure how you graduated."

After completing the training exam, Mugen and Kaori began going on missions with their sensei.  Although teams are supposed to be made up of four individuals, an exception was made for this particular situation.  After completing a total of 8 missions, the team was ready to participate in the Chunin exams. After taking the written portion of the exam, 66 students (22 teams) were able to move onto the second portion which was the Forest of Death. Only 21 students (7 teams) survived/completed the Forest of Death portion.  The students who passed will now move onto the preliminary round of the Chunin exams tournament.

As for Ryan...he wen't back to the academy and had to start from the beginning.  The kid didn't know the first thing about being a ninja.