The Forming of Team 3 (Solo +Training) (Squad formation)

The graduation ceremony was quick but memorable as all of the students were given the appropriate certification of being a Shinobi. They got their profile's approved-- and earned their leaf headbands. Shao wore his around his forehead in a traditional sense. Mari did the same. Kyle wore his around his arm in a more sportish fashon-- and as soon as he got it, he jumped for joy that he earned his mark as a shinobi. Family for many of the students were there. Even Shao's mother and father was there. He didn't know who Mari and Kyle's parents were but they seemed happy as they were as well.

That was the day before. Once again, all three of them were back in the classrooms with the other kids who graduated-- to be assigned into squads and assign their instructor from this point onward. They may have passed the academy exam, but from this moment on-- they were going to undergo serious training at the hands of their new sensei.

So once again, they were in the classroom, their headbands on and both waiting as the proctor began to call out names. "Hm... just you wait," Kyle whispered across to Shao -- Mari next to him. "I'll become an awesome shinobi. Then I'll be better than you as a ninja."

Shao frowned at Kyle's direction. "You do realize this is a completely one-sided rivalry you invented for yourself, right?" Shao said , "I could just admit your better than me and you're done, right?"

"Oh so that's how you wanna be, hm?" Kyle sneered at Shao. "Well fine. Well when I become Hokage, maybe then you will see just how great I am."

"Since when do you work for my approval so much?" Shao questioned, him still reading his book in between the instructor's directions and Kyle's rants.

"Come on, you two..." Mari groaned, "We finally graduated. Put your pride away, please,"

"Don't look at me," Shao replied to Mari. "This is Kyle's issue..."

"Alright, the next pairing for their squads are as followed. Team 3," the leaf village proctor announced. "Shao Hyuga," he said.

Shao stopped reading and looked up in attention. He would soon know who his partners were.

"...Kyle Majin," the proctor announced.

Shao felt a grim shadow fall upon him, metaphorically speaking, as he turned to Kyle. Both surprise and cockiness showed on his face as he gleamed at him, as if to silently voice his declared rivalry against Shao-- one that Shao had no desire to spur on.

"Oh this is gonna be great..." Shao groaned and buried his face back into his book.

"And last for team 3... Mari Sen-- "

"YES!" Mari shouted, raising her hand. The class went quiet by her outburst, but soon she lowered her hand. She appeared embarassed about something as shao looked at her. "Um, sorry," She replied, "But okay, I'm part of Team 3. Thank you."

The proctor looked to Mari, but then slowly returned to the list.

Shao shook his head and held his left hand to his ear-- Mari having shouted right into his eardrum. Seeing this, the girl flinched and looked to him apologetically. "Oh, I'm sorry Shao. "

"It's okay.. I'm fine, " Shao replied, shaoking his head. All the while Kyle grinned.

"This is great! All three of us in a squad together! This is perfect!" Kyle said with enthusiasm.

Though Shao didn't approve of Kyle's overly eager rivalry-- it was a good thing. Shao, Mari and Kyle had become close over the past month, and became great friends. For them to be on the same quad was a pleasant surprise.

It was then the proctor wrote out each squad number with a room number. "Each one of you will report to the room number, where you will meet your instructor and squad leader. Please report there. Each of you will be assigned an envelop with his or her name."

With that, they were dismissed and left for their rooms.

Once they got their envelops, they were assigned to room 2B of the academy. Once more, they waited in the second row, observing the door. Kyle and Mari were in attendance while Shao easily waited, his book on his desk as he read through it. It had been 15 minutes since they arrived and they were waiting for him.

"Jeez... where is this guy?" Kyle said, his feet up on the desk as he waited with his hands behind his head. "He's suppose to be a Jounin right?"

Mari opened her letter again to read the details of their instructor. "Our Sensei supposedly is a JOunin-- his name is Yasha Hatake." Mari read, "I feel I know that name somewhere before. Wait..."

It was then that Shao put down his book and looked to Mari. "Yasha, as in Lord Yasha?" he asked in interest, "I heard of him. He is actually a lord for his efforts. He has a famous nickname too, but I don't remember what it is. "

"So what?" Kyle interrupted, not that impressed. "I bet I could beat him, just you wait!"

Shao sighed, "You can be a real idiot sometimes, Kyle. You should of let me finished," Shao said, "For someone who wants to be Hokage someday, you forgot something about his name. Yasha Hatake... as in Kakashi Hatake. Yasha Hatake is a descendant of the 6th Hokage!"

Mari gasped, the name finally striking a cord with her. "That's right. He must be related to him. Wow... " she said.

Even Kyle seemed impressed, as Shao looked at his wide-eyed face. "So regardless what you wanna do, lets try to be somewhat respectful to him." SHao said.

Kyle looked up in wonder, his mind running through his overworked imagination. "Hehe... so, if I can beat him, I bet I can beat someone as strong as the 6th hokage. Hahaha... This is gonna be awesome!" he boasted, his voice now a shout.

Both Mari and Kyle forrowed their brows at Kyle. Dumbfounded and embarrassed, Shao returned to his book. "Oh, this is gonna end in disaster..." he sighed.

It was then the sound of the sliding door to the classroom caught their attention. It opened slowly and soon someone stepped in. Everyone turned to the door, curious of whom might show up. Slowly it opened and he appeared-- a vision in black, shrouded in mystery.

The man to step into the room was a tall, dark man of medium build. He had black hair tied into a bun on his head and a goatee on his chin. He wore a black outfit consist of a gi and hakama, adorn with golden embroidery of clouds and lightning. He also wore a dual white scarves trailing behind his shoulders He also appeared to wear strange footwear that left his feet bare save for the top and insole of his feet. His attire seemed almost mythological. Finally, most noticeable-- was a golden mask that hid his upper face from view. His nose and eyes were completely obscured by the mask, leaving his face a mystery.

Slowly, his 'gaze' turned to Shao, Mari and Kyle, all three of them looking back at him with interest.

"So..." the man spoke, his tone deep but thoughtful, "I am guessing you are them. An interesting trio."

Shao didn't say anything right away. In fact he returned to his book for a moment, to finish his page. Mari sat patiently, waiting to hear what the man had further to say.

Kyle however...

"HYAAA!" Kyle had jumped overhead, intending to deliver a strong punch to the man who was to be their new Sensei. He came down to deliver the punch....

Whish!

He hit nothing but air as in an instant, the man was gone---

-- only to appear directly behind Kyle as he landed.

WHOMP! Kyle suddenly was flat on the ground, the man with a foot at Kyle's upper back, keeping him pinned like an animal. "GAH! HEY WHAT THE?!" Kyle gasped, but was stunned by how fast he was suddenly thrown under the weight of his target and unable to get up.

He squirmed under the man's foot, and all the while, the man looked composed behind his mask.

Mari gasped as she saw him move. "Incredible. I never seen anyone that fast before..." she said as she saw him take down Kyle.

Shao kept a steady and calm reaction to Kyle's take down. Of course, he saw it coming a mile away, but still even he was impressed by the actions of their new Sensei. He kept quiet for a moment, and just listened.

The masked man turned to Mari and Shao while Kyle continued to struggle below his foot. "So, I take it you must be Mari," he said as he glanced at her, and turned his attention to Shao. "And you must be Shao Hyuga. "

Then his gaze came to Kyle below him. "And I assume this little monkey is Kyle," he teased lightly.

"MONKEY?!" Kyle shouted, causing his struggles to increase. "I AIN'T NO MONKEY! LET ME GO DAMNIT!"

"Well, we seem to have quite a bit of work ahead of us," Yasha said and finally raised his foot from Kyle's back. Kyle spun up, giving an angry glare to the masked shinobi.

Shao sighed as he turned a page of his book. "I told you so, Kyle." he replied.

"Aw, shut up! " Kyle rebutted.

"Well, everyone, lets take this outside. We have a bit of work ahead of us," Yasha explained, leading the way out of the classroom. As Kyle gritted his teeth and observed their new master, Shao was more impressed by his action. There was an air of experience around him, one that the young Hyuga could respect and learn from.

*****

The three of them were taken to the outskirts of the village into the open field of tall grass that bordered the forest. Shao sat upon a nearby boulder as Kyle leaned against it and Mari sat cross-legged in the grass. Yasha, their new squad leader, stood before them as he reviewed a file in hand. The file contained the academy details of each of them. He looked at it in quiet and reviewed each one, leaving the three students waiting.

Finally, he finished to look at all three of them-- though it was hard to truly read his expression due to the mask. "Well... you can imagine we are now going to be working together from here on out, so first thing I'd like you all to do is introduce yourselves," Yasha suggested, raising a hand to them. "Tell me a bit about yourselves. You're likes, hobbies, goals, dreams. Anything you wish to share to me and your teammates. "

Shao blinked at the question, but understood why they were asked it. Even though Shao knew Kyle and Mari from their time in the academy, they still knew a little about Yasha himself. (Removing the Hatake lore. sorry)

"You," Yasha said, pointing to Shao, "Why don't you share a little about yourself."

Shao blinked but soon took a breath and considered what to say. "My name is Shao Hyuga. I'm 11 years old. I enjoy reading and learning about new jutsu. Genjutsu is my favorite topic. Writing is one of my favorite pastimes. I'm... struggling a bit in Taijutsu, but I am eager to correct my flaws. I... I don't have any real goals yet as a ninja. I can't think that far ahead, but I know of what I want to do now. I want to be a ninja of my own talent, not solely on my clan's abilities." Shao explained smoothly. There was some hesitation in his voice but he answered honestly.

Yasha nodded to his response. It was a fair one to him and he acknowledged his honesty. "Now you, the spiky haired monkey." he said and glanced at Kyle.

"STOP CALLING ME MONKEY!" Kyle shouted, and stood up. With a big grin he readjusted his headband. "I'm Kyle Majin-- I'm 10 years old. My favorite food is ramen and ice cream. I love sports, especially soccer. But I also love wrestling and other forms of Taijutsu. I'm the best at it . And my dream... hehe," he snickered, his tone becoming louder. "I'm gonna become the next Hokage-- to be the strongest ninja Konoha has ever seen. "

"My that is... ambitious," Yasha replied, his tone a little less believed.

Shao just turned to his book to avoid the embarrassing look on his face, and Mari merely chuckled at Kyle's outburst once more.

Yasha then turned his attention to the last member of the squad. "And you, young miss. Tell us a bit about yourself," he asked.

Mari jumped at the question, her face turning a bit red. "Um... well, My name is Mari. I'm 10 years old, and my hobbies are gardening, and taking care of animals. I'm good at ninjutsu, but I want to expand my knowlege of it. My goal is... um..." Mari hesitated, her lips perched that caught Shao's attention, "Well, I want to make my own path as a Shinobi. I really don't wanna go too much into it, but that is my goal."

Yasha listened carefully and took noticed to something. "Interesting that you don't share your sir name, isn't it?" he asked. However, that question caused Mari to stiffen. Shao noticed it too, seeing how quiet she was. However, Yasha-- through what part of his face was visible, smiled. "Well, its not important. ALl fine goals-- even if some are a bit impulsive."

"HEY! What does that mean?!" Kyle shouted back to Yasha.

Shao sat forward from his rock towards Yasha. "If I may ask, Sensei, what about you? Do you mind telling us a bit about yourself?" he asked.

Yasha glanced up at Shao, but nodded. "Oh, me?" he asked and pointed at himself. "Well let's see.... My name is Yasha Okami," he admitted, "I have many hobbies, and some dislikes... I personally like creating new ninjutsu of my own. I am known by another name, but I don't feel like sharing that just yet. One of my hobbies i can share is that i like Shogi and meditating. I am afraid my dream is not as lofty as others, nor am I able to share it, but one of my goals is to be a good teacher for students as you."

Shao smiled, feeling better about their mystery instructor. HOwever, Kyle still frowned at him, angry how he made him look like a fool.

"Anyway now that we become more familiar with each other, its now time we get down to business," Yasha soon announced as he dropped the folder on the grass below. "Before we even begin any missions-- you have one more exam you must pass before you be deployed on more official missions."

Everyone kept quiet for it and listened carefully. "Out of all the Genin registered, only a percentage remain. The rest are cut out if they lack the qualities needed for a ninja." Yasha explained emotionless behind his mask. As the others listened, now on edge from the alert, they knew this could end badly. "Before I assume my role as your instructor, I need to see a grasp of what all of you are capable of. A pass or fail exam."

Yasha soon reached behind him and soon drew out an item that jingled in his hand. In his hand, he held two bells. "Your assignment is very simple. You just have to take these bells away from me. That's it." he explained, holding them in view of the three.

Shao narrowed his gaze at the bells. Even though Yasha said it himself, there had to be more to this test than that.  

"The one of you who doesn't get the bell-- will be tied to that stump over there," Yasha explained, pointing to one of the stumps over there.

It was then that Mari raised her hand, but didn't wait to be called out. "Wait a minute, Yasha sensei. There are only two bells! " she stated, exactly what Shao was thinking.

"The one who doesn't get the bell... will be sent back to the academy, failing the test."

A tension was carried on the breeze between the three friends. The realization that one of them would indefinitely fail if they couldn't get the bell. With only 2 bells between the three of them, it was inescapable. Kyle gritted his teeth and even Shao felt his heart beat faster. The thought of failing this far was not something he wanted to consider... and the shame that would follow him by his father.

"Of course, all three of you can fail this test as well. You have till sunset to accomplish this test," Yasha soon gazed up at the sky from behind his mask-- observing the sun and a few birds that circled overhead. "From the looks of it, you have three hours. "

Even Mari was nervous, her hands knitted against her chest as she looked between Kyle and Shao.

"YOu may use any weapons you like and any jutsu to try and take these bells from me," Yasha explained as he attached the bells to his sash. "YOu must come at me with the intent to kill, by any means-- or you will not be able to even touch these bells. Do you all understand?"

Shao, Kyle and Mari were quiet but had focused looks on their face. Kyle soon stood up from his sitting position and Shao too knelt up from the rock, observing Yasha closely with his white eyes.

"I will give you this one little hint," Yasha said, a smirk on his face. "A ninja must see through deception. I assume you know this phrase well from the academy. The same principal holds true here... now, you may begin when i say 'go'. "

ALl three of them rose up, and got ready. Shao began to bring chakra through his limbs. Though his control wasn't perfect, he had developed quite a bit, and was working to make it all work.

"Go!" Yasha declared.

The three of them scattered at Yasha's cue and vanished from sight. Indeed, each one was fast and quick to hide themselves. They were all now scattered and keeping out of view of yasha. However, with his mask, those that were nearby couldn't read his expression.

In the trees nearby of the forest, Shao laid in wait. He kept in the shadow of the trees and didn't make a sound. He could tell Mari was nearby, hiding inside some bushes to his left. It was still a good start.

"Well, they know how to hide effectively," Yasha said to himself as he stood there. "Let's see just how..."

"YAAAA!" The loud, aggressive voice of Kyle erupted as he jumped into action. He didn't waste anytime as he sprung from his hiding place and was now in the air above Yasha. He jumped with a fist held back to punch him in the air. "SURPRISE ATTACK!!" he shouted.

WHACK!!-- Kyle was suddenly knocked back mid-air by a backward strike from Yasha. He had leaned back, avoided the punch and countered with a high kick right inot Kyle's stomach. A wheeze escaped Kyle as he fell backwards and tumbled onto the grass.

"A surprise attack is no surprise when you blurt it out, little monkey..." Yasha said.

Shao frowned from his hiding place. Kyle you idiot... Shough thought.

Though his wind knocked out, Kyle rolled back to his feet and glared back at Yasha. "I'm not gonna be held back! I will become a ninja and Hokage. ANd some dumb mask-wearing jerk ain't stopping me!" he shouted and charged again.

"This again..." Yasha sighed, sharing the same issue. "YOu cannot win with straight forward approach."

KYle soon swung a kick-- but thjis time Yasha caught it with his fiast, and took hold of Kyle's ankle-- but it was then that the boy used the momentom to throw a fist. He was incredibly acrobatic when it came to Taijutsu. Even Shao was impressed by his maneuverability in combat. Far better than he was.

Yasha blocked with his shoulder, and then Kyle used his free foot to try and strike another part of his body. Yasha took hold of that one with his free hand-- but it left all his arms occupied. A grin showed on Kyle's face as he had one hand free-- and attempted to steal a bell from Yasha's sash.

However...

ZAAP!. The grip from his limbs soon suddenly released a flash and Kyle suddenly felt a sharp stab of pain in his body.

He dropped from the ground , small jolts of electricity dancing over his body and his hair on end.

Shao blinked at this, surprised. "The Jounin used some kind of Lightning jutsu to shock Kyle in direct combat. "

KYle grunted as he felt his body go stiff. "Wh... I... Can't move..." he grunted, trying to move but his body paralyzed.

"Raiton: Shock Palm jutsu," Yasha said casually. He looked down at Kyle seeing him stuck in an embarassing position on the ground. "Can't move, huh? Don't worry. The paralysis will wear off in a few minutes. "

Shao knew that observing an enemy first was a good start to analyzing an enemy, but none of them alone would have the skill to outclass Yasha. He was a Jounin-- in a class that far outmatched any of them.

(Training: 1st roll-- Raiton, 2, 3, 4--- STR. 5 and 6 -- INT. + 2 from Quick Learner. )

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Dice

---

'Exercise Dice' : 10, 2, 10, 3, 6, 1

While Kyle distracted him, Shao was extremely tempted to try and attack. To throw a shuriken at him in his blind side-- but there was too much space between them. There was no way he could attack between them. In the end, all he was able to learn was that this foe was fast and could use ninjutsu to compensate Taijutsu as well.

Shao took a deep breath and tried to plan out a counter attack. "Calm down, breathe.. think of the best way to catch him off guard and grab the bells. But... its not something I can do alone..." he thought to himself, but as he blinked-- something happened.

Yasha was gone.

"Huh, where did he go?" SHao thought and looked around. There was no trace of him. It was then his eyes widened.All that was left was Kyle lying on the ground. With one target gone, Yasha was going after the others.. "No... he is seeking us out now!"

Shao quickly took off from his hiding spot in the trees to not give his position. "I can't stay here, or he will locate me too easily."

Meanwhile, running through the forest, Mari also was on the move. She saw Kyle get taken down and also knew that moving away was the safer bet. Unlike Shao, she was struggling to think strategically. The realization that one of them would fail and be sent back actually drove fear into her heart. "What do I do? This test ... if he catches me, I won't be able to fight back...." she thought .

Suddenly she came to a stop as she soon saw something through the trees. She landed on one of the branches, and soon saw Yasha, casually standing there and looking away from her. A sense of relief and hope swelled in her chest. "Good, he hasn't seen me..." she thought, and considered a plan. "I can use that jutsu but... no, i can't worry about that. I'll use a sleeping gas bomb and knock him out." she thought and reached into her pack.

"Maaaarrriiii...." a voice whispered behind her.

She blinked and turned--- only to find Yasha kneeling down behind her, his arms on his knees and looking at her like a bird of prey with his mask.


"YAAAAAAAAH!!!" Mari screamed.

(Training rolls: 1 for Raiton, 2 for Dex, 3 for End. +2 from quick learner.)

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Dice

---

'Exercise Dice' : 6, 7, 10, 10, 4, 7

Shao heard the scream from Mari, his own senses going on high alert. "He got Mari too? No..." he groaned in his head. He was in one of the fields, having covered his tracks, but now he heard Mari was in trouble. His instincts told him to go to her aid. He began to ran towards her voice, but soon stopped. "Wait a minute... to run right to her is running right into Yasha Sensei... He could use her ambush as bait to lure us out."

Cautiously, Shao moved forward to the source of the scream, and soon saw Mari on the ground. She was unconscious on the ground as Shao landed. "Mari!" Shao shouted and ran towards her.  She was lying flat on her back as Shao got to her. "Mari, talk to me!" Shao said and tried to rouse her.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked to him. "Oh... Shao...?" she groaned.

"Take it easy," Shao warned and reached a hand to help her up. She took it and sat up. However, she reached forward and gave him a hug-- causing Shao to blush a bit at her embrace.

"Shao thank you..." she said as she hugged him...

... but then a devious grin appeared on her face.

ZAP!!

A course of electricity appeared from her hand and zapped Shao right into his back-- similar to Kyle. Kyle gave a shout and fell to the ground.

Mari soon stood up, a defiant expression on her face then--- Poof! Smoke erupted from her form to reveal it was Yasha. He stood over Shao, his expression emotionless. "A ninja must see through deception, young Hyuga. You never considered that one of your allies was a fake--"

POOF!!

Suddenly, SHao's body vanished in a puff of smoke, to reveal it was only a log that clattered on the ground.

If anyone could of seen Yasha's eyes, he would of been wide-eyed with surprise. "A substitution jutsu--" he said.

WHOOSH!!-- Shao moved in at that moment. Using all his energy and speed he could muster, he moved in right behind Yasha, poised to grab the bells as fast as he could. However-- Yasha caught wift of SHao's movement and jumped out of the way just in time. His flip caused him to look right at Shao-- seeing his Byakkugan now active as he moved.

Yasha landed with a skid away from Shao. "Clever..." he said and slowly rose up, facing Shao. "So you knew it was a trap after all."

Shao glared at Yasha with his empowered eyes. "I memorized Mari's chakra flow and properties. Your's is different. Besides that, the trap was too obvious to risk going in unprepared." he said.

The two stared each other down, neither one moving just yet. Shao took a deep breath and thought what to do. Now that he was exposed, he couldn't hide and strike-- but now he had to face him head on. If he was lucky, one of his friends might come and distract him. However... he couldn't depend on that. So he did only what he could do... fight.

Slowly, he let out a deep breath and entered a fighting stance. Yasha's gaze drifted up as he soon saw Shao assume a wide stance, his hands extended out , not in fists but open palmed style.

The gentle fist style.

"I see. The gentle fist..." Yasha said, observing Shao's style. "A formidable weapon, but there is a flaw to your logic. I know from your file your weakest subject is Taijutsu. The gentle fist is not so effective if you lack the power to deliver effective strikes. "

"Then you don't know the gentle fist that well," SHao corrected.

Yasha smirked from behind his mask, his smirk visible to Shao. "We shall see..."

Shao moved in to strike! With his palms, he focused his chakra to reach his target, aiming for the main body, but still, Yasha was faster. He knew that a single strike would cause trouble.

Yasha dodged every strike Shao threw, able to keep a good few inches away from Shao.

SHao jumped into the air, attempting to deliver a kick, but was stopped by Yasha's hand on his shoe. "You will have to do better than that, little man."

It was then that suddenly, Shao vanished in a blur of speed-- he vanished even from Yasha's eyes. "He's fast. No-- its the Body Flicker jutsu--"

Shao reappeared directly behind Yasha, poised again right in range. He reached forward with his palm-- but what happened next really surprised Yasha.

The spark of electricity that seemed to come from his palm to strike.

ZAP!! The electric current was almost the same as when Yasha did it to Kyle. Raiton-- Wave of Inspiration-- a smaller version from the Shock Palm he used. The blast would not only hurt but paralyze the victim.

Shao was about to reach for the bells when---

Poof.

Yasha was gone, and all that was left was a log, similar to what SHao used to escape. "No..." shao groaned as he looked around with his Byakkugan, "A substitution jutsu. "

HOwever, as he looked-- Yasha was gone, taken off to get out of range of Shao's vision. With a sigh, Shao calmed down and retracted his Byakkugan. To use both that and ninjutsu was beginning to strain his chakra, and he had to conserve it.

From afar, Yasha felt safe enough to examine what he knew-- even saw Shao from his distance, perched upon one of the high reaching peaks of the forest's trees. "Lightning style at his age... normally that isn't something a genin can usually do. It is true, out of all three of these kids, this one is the most adept and intelligent. " he said to himself and observed at this point.

(Training: 1st roll: Raiton mastery, 2nd : Chakra Control, 3 and 4: Int)