Team of the Unknown

Senshi vibrated with pure excitement as he headed to the training grounds at his top speed, he would be about thirty minutes early but he considered this to be a good thing as he could continue practicing his chakra suppression and chakra sensing abilities. He was trying to become more affluent in them in order to truly make them combat capable. He didn’t feel as though he was really quite good enough with them yet. As he ran, he went over the scroll that had been delivered to his door the day before. He still couldn’t contain the excitement he felt at having finally been deemed worthy enough to be placed on a team with a real, live Jounin. He’d never actually met a Jounin other than his uncle before, and he could feel a small bit of freight at the thought. As he landed in the training ground that had been designated by the scroll, he took a quick look around his surroundings pushing his chakra out in several pulses searching for any other signs around him.
 

Feeling nothing coming back he situated himself near the wooden training posts and took a seat. He had ensured that his study brown pants were as perfect looking as he could get them. The few black pieces of armor he wore were as free of dents as possible, his sturdy black vest was also clean and showing as little wear as possible. His elbow length fishnet shirt underneath was new, a present from his parents for being put on a team. All of his weapons were as clean as possible, and well sharpened considering he came from a family of blacksmiths he knew how to take care of his equipment. He had studied especially hard the night before going over a book on common jutsus he had recently bought. Taking a deep breath he began to alternate between completing suppressing his chakra and sending out a pulse of chakra to routinely check the area for anyone approaching. He would finally get to take harder missions and prove himself to his village.






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Reizo jumped in excitement when he received the scroll the day before. He had been selected to become a part of a randomly chosen team of Genin to be led by a top level Jounin of the village. This was a huge step forward to becoming the greatest shinobi of all time; now, Reizo would be able to go on higher level missions, and potentially work toward being recognized and become a Chuunin. This was the best news Reizo could've gotten, and he couldn't wipe the smile off his face, even a day after the fact. His mom had celebrated the news the night before with a last minute feast, but today only had himself to cheer for the great news as his mom was out working the dumpling cart. The boy would slip on his blue shinobi sandals, shove the scroll into his bag, and prepare to head out. Reizo snatched his bag with his usual 1 liter of water and the scroll tucked away inside, and darted out the door toward the training grounds where he was told to meet his new team.

Reizo was excited and very eager to see who his teammates and sensei would be. They were randomly selected, so it was likely a good chance to meet new people to work with, which was always an interesting experience. It was still 20 minutes before the printed time to arrive, but Reizo entered the training grounds with gusto, scanning the area to see who could be on his team should anyone have been there already. Reizo's eyes widened with enthusiasm when he saw Senshi was patiently meditating in an open space. Reizo was wearing his purple outfit this time: a sleeveless purple cotton tank with a blue sash worn as a belt, and matching purple loose-fitted slacks. His also wore his blue Kumogakure headband proudly upon his brow. "No way! Did you get an invitation too, Senshi-kun? Does that mean we're on the same team?" Reizo beamed with enthusiasm. Life certainly found a way to make circumstances interesting, that's for sure. Perhaps it was just destiny.

351 words

As he woke up out of his bed, he heard a noise approach the front of his door. Due to his honed senses, he gets agitated by even the slightest noises when he is tired. As he walks towards the door, he notices an envelope at the front of his door. Curious as to what it could be. He assumed it wasa  mission of some sort that he had to get done, he figured it was about that time to finally do a mission as a jounin. As began to read the beginning details of the letter. It turned out it was a lot worse than he thought. It was an invitation for him to meet his team. He had been put in a squad and is responsible for three genin. Itami saw it as baby sitting which he really was not a fan of. Lost as to how to respond to this letter. Itami would then begin to get ready. Since its under the order of the higher ups, he had no choice but to be their squad leader.

As he headed to the training grounds just like the letter said. He would make his way there. As he begins to gets closer and closer to the training grounds, he notices two boys standing there. He assumes that is his team. As he approaches them, he looks around for a bit noticing there is only two of them...

"Where's the third person, its not a good start to be late on the first day..." Itami would say with an emotionless tone. Feeling a bit annoyed already, seeing one of the team members are missing. Hopefully there is a good excuse for why they're not here yet.

Wandering through the training grounds on his daily routine, Max would drag Napa along as he watched the few other folks that had been out here that day. It didn’t feel like there were many shinobi training today. Max didn’t frequent the training grounds often, so whether or not this was a normal occurrence was unknown to him. Still, it felt rather empty here. Max was used to the solitude, so that wasn’t so much the issue, but he enjoyed watching the village to see what all was going on with the other townsfolk.
 
“Extra boring today…. Napa, do you see anything interesting going on?” Max would ask the skeletal puppet as he walked towards the edge of the training area expecting to return to the village and see if anything exciting were going on there. Just then, he notices out of the corner of his eye some people that had looked familiar. Adjusting his gaze, he realized that they had been the two kids he had me the day before.
 
Just as he thought about heading over, a thought suddenly struck him. “Maybe they didn’t want to hang out with you,” Napa would whisper in Max’s ear, “but don’t worry. I’ll always be there for you, boy.” The puppet had been trying to cause Max to retreat further back into his shell and cause a divide between them and him. Of course, Max knew that Napa was like this and so he wouldn’t let it happen. “No, Napa. It was most likely that they didn’t know where I lived. I didn’t tell them the other day, and so they didn’t know where to find me.” Max would counter, shutting the puppet up for now.
 
Just then, another person approached the two of them. It didn’t look as though a battle were about to occur, for everybody seemed to lax to expect a fight. “Never saw him before… wonder who that is….” Max would say to himself as he slowly walked over to the grouping. If they saw him he would give a wave signifying that he recognized them.
 
Max would walk over with a smile, hoping that Napa had been wrong. “Hello Reizo, Kobayashi, and…” Max looked up at the older man, noticing the Kumo headband he wore on his forehead, “other Kumogakure shinobi. I hope I’m not interrupting anything. What are you guys doing here? I assume training based on the location.”


He wouldn't know much of what was going on, nor that Itami had been a Jounin. He just wanted to say 'hi'. At this range, the stench of death and decay on him would be faint, but those with heightened senses would likely find it rather unpleasant. The boy looked rather disheveled and dirty as well, but otherwise seemed pleasant enough.

OoC: I'm going to RP it out as though I didn't receive the invite, since I don't technically have a "home" for it to have been delivered to. Hope you folks don't mind

Senshi opened his eyes just as the purple clad Genin landed in the training grounds, his loud excited greeting surprised the other boy so much so that he sat blinking in place awkwardly for several minuets. He was still surprised by how much chakra the other Genin put out compared to himself. “Uhm, Yes Reizo-Sem…San, I received the order to report here instead of the Missions building to meet our Jounin Commander. It will be nice working with you to progress our skills.” After speaking Senshi let out another pulse of Chakra his head whipping around suddenly to the left in surprise. He hadn’t yet felt someone with chakra this large before and it was almost completely deadening his sense of where Reizo was standing. So this was what a real Jounin felt like. He would need to work extra hard to be able to even reach the possibility of that power. As the man approached Senshi observed him for several seconds until he spoke.
 

Immediately bracing to the most rigid form of attention that he could Senshi placed his arms at his sides fists clenched so hard her feared they may cramp, back and legs as straight as they could possibly go, His shoulders squared back, and his head held high eyes pointed just above the Jounin’s head. His chakra pulsed again in the almost instinctual habit he was trying to develop. Vaguely out of the corner of his eyes he could see Yamaguchi Maximillian approaching them. The way he spoke made the overly militaristic boy want to cringe. Apparently they three were the team, which Senshi had no problem with. He was just the most junior Genin on the team, if the tallest by quite a large margin. “Sir, Genin Kobayashi Senshi, I believe Maximillian-Sempai may be our third member. I apologize for our lateness, we shall endeavor to ensure each other is on time from this point forwards.” He continued to hold himself rigidly, he felt rude for not greeting the youngest blonde back but there was a Jounin. He was addressing him and Senshi couldn’t, wouldn’t look away and disrespect his first ever commander. 

Senshi confirmed Reizo's suspicions. It would seem that the two had been placed on the same team along with one other member and a Jounin. Reizo was very excited- the most excitement he had felt since graduating the Academy. He was finally on his way up the ladder, and he got to share it along with one of his new friends. Reizo then watched as Senshi immediately became rigid and tense, was something wrong? Reizo turned around to see another figure approaching. Judging from his appearance and Senshi's premonitions, this must be the Jounin that was assigned to the squad.

Hmm, something feels off about this guy, but I'm not sure what it is. It's unnerving even to be near him. Then again, maybe I'm just not used to being in such close proximity to a strong shinobi, Reizo thought to himself. The man was stoic, but had yet to introduce himself. His voice made the hairs on Reizo's neck stand on in. His very presence and authority was chilling. Reizo was enamored by the man's cool authoritative demeanor, but was equally frightened and unnerved.

Only a few moments would pass and who Reizo presumed must've been the third member arrived. Him too? Who would've guessed that my team would be me, Max, and Senshi? the Genin thought to himself. Reizo accidentally let his emotions fly when he presumed Max to be the third member, "Luuuuucky~!" he would shout, before immediately covering his mouth, somewhat embarrassed by his own excitement. "I mean, this team is awesome," he would reconfirm, more civilly this time, turning his attention toward the Jounin. "We're all here now, it seems. Should we introduce ourselves? I think we're familiar with one another already, but..." Reizo let his voice trail off, letting his sentence finish itself. He didn't want to come off as rude, nor did he want it to seem like they were all good friends. They still only barely knew one another, as reassuring as it might've been that they all at the very least were acquainted. Now that they were all here, Reizo eagerly awaited what his new sensei had to say. Reizo stood there and now crossed his arms in anticipation.

After Itami spoke about where the third person was, he was really getting annoyed from one of them being late and on top of that.. having to babysit. Its not like he has a choice, there's no way he could resign from the team knowing how the ranks above him work. So he has no choice but to be stuck with these these guy's. It was obvious that these two were familiar with each other. One of the kids was acting a little strange to Itami, as if he was really nervous. He sorta introduced himself and mentioned the third shinobi of the group named was Maximillian. Itami already knew the names of the ones on his team, since they were in the letter. But of course he didn't know who was who. But according to what the kid said, he was obviously Kobayashi, the second guy was Reizo and the late one was Maximillian. 

"Okay..." Itami said to Kobayashi, feeling he didn't have much to say. He was never much of a talker and being on a team was never in his plans. As Maximillian finally showed up, Itami noticed how the kid looked. He looked as if he was homeless. He noticed that he was holding a puppet. He never really seen a puppet user in person, it was a bit interesting. But that still doesn't change the fact he's late. The kid would speak as if he didn't know what was going on. Itami assumed that was the missing kid since they all recognized him.


"You... who just showed up, don't be late again." Itami would say casually but yet a bit annoyed about how this team thing was just suddenly thrown at him. Reizo would then begin to speak saying everyone was now present. They may know each other, but Itami doesn't know a thing about them. So it would be a good idea to introduce themselves to me.

"You may know each other but I know nothing about you... I want to know your name, your specialty, any elements if you know any.. and why you decided to become a shinobi. Kobayashi go first, then Reizo, then Maximillian." Itami would say to the three. Curious to hearing their answers. Being a shinobi is a dangerous job. Not just because you can die, but also the decisions you make. Sometimes you may be told to kill a woman or even a kid. But you must fulfill that duty as if your life depended on it.  

While he was awaiting their answers, he wanted to analyze something real quick. Using his chakra sensory, he wants to know who has the higher chakra level out of the three. The puppet boy had the highest amount of chakra out of the three surprisingly. With Reizo having the second largest and Kobayashi having the third.

Senshi felt his head swiveling slowly behind him to stare at Reizo like the boy had lost his mind. Who shouted in front of a superior officer like that, was he insane? He couldn’t believe he’d broken decorum to stare at the other boy. His head snapped around quickly to look back at their Jounin, but all he heard was the long draw out okaaaay that came out. With the attention turning off of himself Senshi felt his body relaxing minutely. As his instructor commanded them to introduce themselves Senshi decided to take some leeway to greet Max, he hadn’t seen the other boy in a while after all and he distinctly recalled liking him at the execution grounds. “Good morning, Maximilian-sempai and Napa-Sempai, it is a pleasure to see you both again.” Turning from max to attempt to face the group as a whole Senshi felt his body straightening as he addressed them. He was the youngest in terms of how long he had been a Genin and felt the need to become more formal to deal with it.
 
“I am Kobayashi Senshi, of the Kobayashi family. I currently only specialize in weapons but I know several techniques from all branches with the exception of Genjutsu. I am a lightning element user, and have two techniques dedicated to it as of now. I became a shinobi because….” Senshi trailed off his mid wandering for a moment as he wondered why he had become a shinobi. He was sure he had more reasons than just the one that occurred to him. Shrugging the thoughts off he realized he had been in his own mind for several seconds. Clearing his throat he picked up where he had left off, “When I was born my father already had two sons and decided to dedicate my life to the village. I’ve come to be attached to the village though in the course of my D ranks and I find that I want to improve it in some way, to be able to leave a lasting impression I suppose.” Senshi stopped abruptly again coloring slightly at his words as he considered the D rank he had done of helping the children at the academy. He had felt quite a bit of pride in being able to further the shinobi of his village and he wanted to do that sort of thing more.
 

Turning slightly to angle his body so that he was looking at Reizo, he gave an aborted motion with his hand to indicate it was the other boys turn. “Uh… that’s it I guess…” He trailed off again feeling slightly inadequate in his answer but couldn’t think of any other reason on why he would be here. He was here because he was told to be, and he always did what he was told without fail.

Reizo attentively listened to his new sensei speak. He seemed very reserved in his speech, and very measured. It felt like he was being forced to be with the group, but strangely Reizo could sense that he also didn't really mind it as much as he was making it seem. Reizo's intuition may've been wrong, but he got the impression that a lot of the Jounin's expressions were somewhat exaggerated. Even though the Jounin had scolded Max's tardiness, he didn't seem that perturbed by it, seeing it as more of a nuisance than a crime like Senshi had seemed to think of it.

Before Senshi even spoke, Reizo could already assert in his mind what he expected him to say. To Reizo, Senshi seemed to make his shinobi lifestyle into a self-endowed duty. It was as though he didn't have a choice to be a ninja in the first place. Reizo guessed that it might've been a family related responsibility, or maybe even a religious thing. Senshi seemed to qualify Reizo's assumptions; it was, in fact, a family matter.

Reizo was eager to share his own thoughts. He figured his reasons were very different from everyone else's, but he hoped it wouldn't seem superficial. "I'm Reizo Shoyu. I come from a small, unimportant family," Reizo would start. He then continued to list his qualifications and important details, "I'm a Taijutsu specialist, but have just learned my first lightning elemental jutsu, thanks to some help from Senshi-kun. Even though I'm focused on Taijutsu at the moment, I've taken some interest in Ninjutsu as well, although I haven't developed very far in that sense. As to why I became a shinobi," Reizo took a deep breath, composing himself.

"I became a shinobi for two reasons. The first was because my father was a shinobi who died in combat, and I wanted to follow in his path. However, I have my own motivations. I'm going to be very honest here. I was bored. Nothing really met the challenge I was seeking when I was a child, and I thought being a shinobi would be, well... it would be kinda fun. And to be honest, so far it's held up to that. I recognize it's all dangerous work, but that's the kind of challenge that makes it exciting and all the more worthwhile to me, anyway. Now that I've started on this path, I want to be the Greatest of All Time. I don't want to be Raikage, I don't want to be the strongest shinobi. I want to become so respected and so, um, 'good' that 20, 40, 300 years from now there will be no argument that I was, without any shadow of a doubt, the most talented shinobi to ever live. Moreso even than the Sage of Six Paths himself. That's what drives me and motivates me every day to train. I know in my heart that the potential is there, and when I'm really on my game and have fully developed my abilities, I believe no one will even come close to my level."

Reizo may've sounded cocky and self-assured, but he didn't care. He answered the question as honestly as possible. He had his own sense of pride and honor that he sought to uphold, and wouldn't be dismissed otherwise. It was quite the monologue he had given, but he spoke from his heart, and that's what mattered to Reizo. He wanted to be true to himself- if he couldn't do that, he'd never be able to come to terms with reality.

Max would look puzzled for a moment, unsure of what exactly was going on. He was late? He didn’t even know that he was supposed to be anywhere. Good thing he had been in the area then, otherwise he wouldn’t have showed up at all. He would walk over and find his spot among the other members of this newly formed team. Luckily, it had been folks that Max was already familiar with, so that would help smooth over some of the awkwardness of him meeting new folks.
 
“I will do my best not to be late again.” Max would say in an apologetic manner to the Jounin, not because he honestly felt that he did anything wrong and more so because it was the proper thing to do in such an occasion.
 
He wants to learn about the group as a whole and what they can do. That makes a great deal of sense, as an informed leader can make better decisions than an uninformed one. Max would listen in as the others in the group spoke, taking his own mental notes. He already knew them and what their specialties were, but their motivations for becoming shinobi weren’t a topic that they had discussed much. Knowing why they do things would also prove useful to Max, should he ever need to call on that information in the future. All knowledge is power, especially knowledge of what make things ‘tick’.
 
The others spoke on their respective turns, and it seemed to be little Max’s turn to speak up. The first parts were fairly easy. The answers would be fairly straightforward.

“My name is Maximillian of the Yamaguchi clan, and this guy on my back is Napa. I have a talent at building things and understanding how stuff works, and so I specialize in the ninja art of puppetry.” These quick answers for the first part didn’t give him much time deciding how to phrase the next answer the team leader sought. Why did Max become a shinobi? Giving it another brief moment of thought, he would answer.
 
“I am a shinobi because that is the role of the Yamaguchi clan. We are protectors of Kumogakure, and so from birth I was groomed to take on that responsibility. The life of a shinobi is a dangerous one, but men of the Yamaguchi clan don’t fear death in a way that others do. No, we only fear failing to protect and serve Kumogakure. That is why I try to continue to grow stronger, even after my fairly small clan was wiped out by war and…” Max wasn’t sure how to word the next part. He didn’t want to say something that would be seen as treasonous, even if the words he spoke were the truth.


“War and the actions of our current Raikage, Mortarion. Lord Mortarion has given me much motivation and inspired me to better myself in many ways. I seek to better the village as a whole, starting with my own development. Once that is complete, I can protect this village from any of its enemies whether they be foreign or domestic.” Max’s normally lax demeanor was different when he spoke of his motivations. He had a solemn look on his face, and a serious tone in his voice.