The Birth of Team 2

The harsh desert rays of the sun beat down on his focused brow as the scarlet eyed Jounin sat perched atop an earthen construct made from his own chakra that resembled the mask of a Tengu spirit- the earthen structure itself was a 2 meter in diameter stone  with smoothed sides that made it comfortable enough to sit on and across from him, 3 meters away would be three other stone Tengu masked faces spaced a meter and a half apart from each other. He continued to sit with his legs crossed and his eyes closed as he tried to meditate and focus on the infrastructure for a new technique he hoped to give birth to in the coming weeks- he had been so busy lately with the Kage summit as well as business with the Kazekage that he hadnt found much time to train or tend to his own growth. Today, was different however and he had quite the responsibility- the day had finally arrived for him to meet his new squad of shinobi, Genin for which he would be responsible moving forward. He had already had the pleasure of meeting one of them, Souji Hyuuga, a young shinobi who had promising potential but needed work in his restraint- he had come to know the boy on a much more personal level thanks to their mutual respect and close relationship with Mizuki but he couldnt help but wonder about the other two. "Perhaps Souji will finally have a rival.. someone to push him a bit further. I think that would be good for him as it seems hes getting a bit comfortable with his skill level." A smirk would take hold of his expression as he pondered the thought of the young genius meeting two others that shared in his skill level or even perhaps eclipsed it- the excitement was almost too much to contain as he continued to wait for their arrival.

He had sent summons by messenger bird to each of the Genin to meet him at these coordinates outside of the village in the heart of the desert at noon- getting there three hours early, he understood he would be the first to arrive but that was much to his intent. Upon arrival the three of them would see two large sand dunes approximately 100 meters apart and parallel to each other and in between the sand dunes would be a small oasis, hidden from the naked eye by surrounding palm trees that circled the body of water 30 meters in diameter. The stone Tengu faces that Zaine had created would sit 10 meters just outside of this oasis with the palm trees to his back- his new students would have a solid view of it once they arrived and took their respective seats. This small oasis was a place that he would come to train with his long time friend and rival Raleth Sarutobi and it was perfect as an arena given its access to Earth and water- this was crucial for todays meeting incase a demonstration of skills was in order and he happened to have multiple water ninjutsu users. 

The clock had finally hit a half an hour before noon and he would see one of his Genin arrive but to his surprise it was not Souji- perhaps the young Hyuuga had gotten tied up but still it was clear that these two newcomers would be providing a few curveballs so to speak. He would smile as he began to talk for what felt like the first time in days, "It seems you made it here pretty early! Welcome and please take a seat on any of these three stones. My name is Zaine Uchiha and from this day until you become a Chuunin, ill be your sensei. Nice to meet you." He would await a reply from the young man as he sized him up a bit, noting the immense chakra flow and strangeness of it. 

Oasis:

[WC=664]

The foul nature of his chakra coursing through his body could be sensed and noticed by anyone capable of picking up anything strange opposed to one possessing a regular human being's signature. However, Sebastian was well past the stage of being considered a regular human being so in some wicked way it did make sense. Not only did the Tau house the infamous kekkei genkai Earth Grudge Fear, the man also acquired the equally notorious bloodline of those born in the Jugo clan, Natural Berserker. Combined with his already monstrous appearance, safe to say Sebastian truly was a frightening individual. With his remarkable green eyes capable of penetrating and staring into one's soul the misfit wondered how he would be seen by the outside world. 

Earlier that day, as he was now currently making his way to a particular location, Sebastian received a message delivered by bird. It would be the Tau's first time being summoned through such means since in the past it were usually messengers sent by the Kazekage whenever they had a task or mission for him to complete, so this way would be a nice change of pace. The letter contained coordinates belonging to a place outside the village and was signed by Zaine, the Jounin who'd from now on would be acting as Sebastian's sensei. That name did ring a bell as he remembered it being mentioned by Mizuki when he last paid a visit to the Kazekage. Although short and to the point, their meeting brought up the fact of the man responsible for leading him and his team.

About half an hour before the day would hit noon Sebastian arrived at the location described in the letter. Upon his arrival his eyes would meet with an oasis symbolizing Sunagakure and the Land of Wind's beauty. Once he was done taking in his surroundings the Tau noticed one other individual had made his way over and was sitting atop what seemed to be an earthen stone. Sebastian started walking towards the man waiting for him, making his stop at the spot where he could see another set of stones, three to be precise. One for each member of the team, with the Jounin one meter apart from where his three genin would be seated. "Ah, yes. I made it my habit to always arrive before the kid, he both likes and finds it annoying when I do so" he'd be referring to Souji, the young Hyuuga he befriended and came to see as a little brother.

Sebastian figured he needed no introduction, but as a token of good will the misfit decided to do so anyway. "Mikaelson, my friends call me Seba although I can't say there are many of those around". Once he got that out of the way the misfit took a seat on the far left, for some reason that side had always been his favorite, call it superstition of some sort. "I suppose all that is left for us is to wait" the Tau voiced, his foul chakra growing by each minute.

(WC: 512)

1/6 Nature Stacks

"That would certainly explain a lot..." Started a voice, both men knew all too well from 10 meters abaft of the Tau. "I had a feeling that you were doing that just to piss me off." Paces of feet in walking drawing ever closer, the Hyuuga with both hands within the depths of the pockets of his black jacket - conveying intense glares of irritation from lilac eyes to the back of Sebastian's head. Once he was within 3 meters, 2, 1 feet of the Tau, he would slam his hand on the back of his head in a friendly, yet teasingly manner as he pushed and pulled in recurrent. "'My friends call me Seb', huh? Funny! I don't recall ever calling you that, not once! Guess that means we're not friends then, huuuuuh, Ogre?!" Twisting his face in clear disapproval of that very statement, he would continue his rough play for a few seconds longer before using his fist to bump the shoulder of the Tau - holding it out for a fist bump in return before leaving his side. Giving a side smile after the assumed bump came through. "I prefer for you to be on time, than to be late. If that means to piss me off in the process, so be it."  

The Hyuuga would take his seat in the center, he would turn to look the crimson eye Jounin directly in the eyes before addressing. "Hyuuga, Souji. But you already knew that." Before he arrived, he was in the process of catching up with something that, in all honesty, he wasn't expected to - Shizou Hyuuga, someone that Souji grew up with from the hidden leaf. He defecting from the village to escape their cruelty, the Hyuuga's. Apparently, since the departure of the lilac eyed genin the clan looked to turn Shizou into the next weapon in Souji's place. Souji believed that they should have known better, Shizou was a gentle soul, combat was never his area of specialty. Though the new Hyuuga was older than him, Shizou looked up to Souji, because he was the only one in the clan that saw his potential to be more. It irritated the boy to see that they treated him like scum - he needed a proper hand to groom him, but who was Souji to talk... he never had that and he turned out to be a weapon of unique design.  

Shaking the thought from his mental, the Hyuuga would take note of the area they were in. What stood out boldly was the earth structures with Tengu masks on the walls of them. A slight rise of the brows indicates that the boy was somewhat intrigued by them - finding them to be... "That's pretty badass..." For a lack of a better word, he would think. The next was the odd sensation he was 'feeling' from his left, Sebastian's presence was feeling quite odd to him, almost dreadful. Still unaware of his ability to sense chakra, the boy would only assume it was something else. But this granted the Tau a subtle glance from those lilac eyes. "Hey, Ogre... are you...feeling okay over there?" He inquired, this was the first time he sensed Sebastian's chakra and it was new to him. Seeing it was different, he could understand that and process it, but this was foreign to him. Those very same eyes would stray towards their sensei as he noticed his 'presence' too. "What the hell is going on here? I'm getting a sickening feeling from both of these guys." Narrowing his eyes a bit he would keep his thoughts to himself.

Next was the oasis abaft of the Uchiha, with the tree's leaves swaying in the breeze, he must admit it was a pretty nice sight. Although, it did remind him of an uncomfortable memory - the training grounds with the animals. Souji nearly created an imperfect oasis there trying to best one of the apes. Nearly destroyed their entire homes, which caused him further consequences from the guardians of that grounds. A cold chill brushed over him, his eyes fell to the lower right out of both embarrassment and shame. Since then he's been back everyday to help repair and look after the creatures there. Taking the knowledge he learned from Sebastian about gardening, he applied that to planting new trees and berry bushes to hopefully help feed and add to their population.  

With a few blinks, he looked to the right of him - the empty space revealed that there was suppose to be a third. "Ugh! Someone's late..." Exclaimed the boy before looking to his sensei for their thoughts on the matter.

[WC: 775]

At first sight he could tell much about this genin, given that his body radiated a dense and almost foul chakra and this was accompanied by the natural sense of nature chakra that he was picking up from the boy- he had never had a knack for sensing or utilizing nature chakra until recently when he received a transplant courtesy of the villages own Deputy Kage. Now, with jugo blood resonating from within himself, it was a simple feat to detect its presence in others when accompanied by the chakra vision of his sharingan- still, it was clear by the density and flow of the chakra within the boy that his power still had a bit to be desired. Zaine couldnt help but smirk and chuckle as he heard the boy speak of his pupil, "When you say kid I assume youre speaking about Souji. He's an interesting one to say the least but I imagine you two have quite the dynamic.." His words would travel on the wind as Seba took his seat. Luckily for the two of them it wasnt long before a familiar voice was heard, revealing Souji who wasted no time in taking opportunities to jest and jab at his teammate. "It seems the two of them are already well acquainted.. maybe thats why Mizu assigned them to me specifically. But that still begs the question if they have a synergistic flow to their combat." He thought to himself as he allowed Souji to finish in his commentary before taking his seat as well. Having trained with the young Hyuuga for some time now, Zaine had acquired a bit of a sense for what he was thinking based on his body language and observations and he was pleased to note that Souji seemed to have a grasp on the latent power both he and Seba held within them. "Its only been a few weeks and he's developed this much."

The triangulated tomoe in his irises would spin at a slow but steady pace as he scanned the immediate area for any movement and to his displeasure he discovered nothing out of the ordinary- with a regrettable sigh he would come to a standing position atop his tengu face statue, "It seems our other member wont be joining us today which saddens me deeply. However, this doesnt change the fact that if you are sitting here with me today, you are officially a member of Sunagakure's Team 2. From here on out I will be overseeing your progress and assisting you in any way that I can. I expect you both to maintain a certain level of maturity and respect for one another and your superiors. Furthermore, I would like to be completely forth coming with you two about my intentions." Folding his arms a smile boasting confidence would take hold of his expression, "I intend for you two to ascend to the level of Chuunin in a matter of 2 months. I cant explain at the moment why i'm putting such a task on your shoulders and I apologize for the rushed manner that this is being presented, but its imperative that you two give the next two months your all so that you can enter into the exams being hosted." There was a large amount of guilt to be felt about throwing this proposal at his rather green disciples, but there was no other way to express this- the times they were heading into might prove to be those of war and strife and the village needed all the assistance and growth it could get. 


Having a pretty solid idea on the response he would get from Souji, his mind was at ease understanding that the young Hyuuga would without a doubt rise to the occasion and accept this challenge- still, he needed the verbal confirmation and he couldnt be too sure if Seba would be up for such an endeavor. Refusal would be completely understandable as usually genin can take years of growth and development before they are ready for such an undertaking, but Zaine had no doubt in his mind that both of these boys would be able to handle it and perform if they were to give it their all. "Well, Ill need to know that you're both behind the idea of intense training for the next two months in order to ready yourselves and that youll put one hundred percent of your effort into this. So, are you with me?" He would await their replies, knowing somewhere within that the answer for both would be unanimous and embody the pride of Sunagakure. 


[WC=771]


2/6 Nature Stacks

Sebastian listened, his new Jounin easily figuring out it was Souji he was talking about when he referred to him as the kid. "Yes, that's the one" the Tau replied to Zaine, "and what can I say? He obviously needs me". A laugh escaped Sebastian's mouth, the man clearly finding his own jokes amusing. Although quite unfamiliar with the concept of a team, let alone friends, the green eyed individual assumed that's how their interactions should be. And for what it's worth, it also felt more natural that way. By then, after some time had passed, he could hear an irritated voice, it wasn't exactly rocket science to find out who it belonged to.  

"Hey, hey. Careful about the head, I still need to use my brain today" the Tau voiced upon Souji's arrival and typical greeting before engaging in a fist bump. Once the young Hyuuga had taken a seat to his right, Sebastian paid attention as the boy started to introduce himself, not that it was still necessary considering everyone present already knew each other but it did however make sense and fit the current situation and atmosphere. "Hm? What's this? Come here, let me feel your forehead to see if you're sick, you must be having a fever if you're worrying about me". Sebastian would stretch out his arms to get a hold of Souji, annoying him in the process. Although the Tau appreciated his friend's concern about whatever was going on with him, he also figured it would be best not to give anyone a reason to worry, at least for now.

The conversation then shifted into another direction. Both Zaine and Souji brought up the fact that their last member didn't show up, something Sebastian also noticed. After all, from the little information he had on these kind of teams he knew they usually came with three Genin and their Jounin leader. "Shame, I'm sure he would have liked me. Oh well, guess this means more time for the two of us". All jokes aside, the misfit tried to see the positive side of things, even though the situation wasn't particularly ideal. Now that they were informed about the matter of their missing member it was time for Zaine to reveal his intentions and goals he wanted to achieve and aim towards with Team 2.

Sebastian listened attentively to his sensei, curious what the man had in mind for them. It was interesting to hear, some parts even made him wonder how exactly they should be interpreted. Assist them in any way, similar to how Kenshin helped him unlock a new power the moment he granted the Tau powers that usually were only meant for the Jugo? If that were to be the case, bring it on. Regardless what happened ever since he arrived in Sunagakure there hadn't been a single moment where Sebastian stopped thinking about his main goal, getting stronger through whatever means necessary. He didn't care about what he had to do, nor the questions he had to ask. If it meant getting what he wanted, power, nothing would be too much. As long as it helped him become the best version he could possibly be, a weapon for Sunagakure to use.

"Interesting. Mizuki, our Lady Kazekage did mention I could ask you if there was anything I needed. I gained something valuable from her predecessor, I'm looking forward to find out what else there is I can get my hands on". Perhaps some would find his lust for power sickening, but in his own mind Sebastian simply wanted to be able to stand amongst the true powerful human beings in the world. No matter what people would tell you, without power you won't get anywhere. Anywho, two months. That was the limit Zaine had set for them in order to become worthy and ascend to a higher level. "Chuunin? Sounds responsible. What do you say kid, think I have it in me?" With a jab of his elbow into Souji's left side the misfit wondered how his friend would feel about the road they got ahead of them.

The Jounin would end his speech asking both Genin for their support, inquiring whether or not they'd be giving it their all. "Let's get strong together". Sebastian only needed a few words to express his feelings, his eyes set on a prize going by the name of power.

(WC: 735, TWC: 1247)

Nature Stacks: 2/6

He would listen to the replies of his new students and their answers would give him all the reassurance needed that they would be willing and able to meet the challenge he had set for them- a smile harboring relief and gratitude would come over his expression as he walked towards them both, standing only a half a meter from them respectively. "Thank you both for your dedication. I promise I wont let either of you down. Unfortunately, we won't be able to get any training in today, as i've realized there's a matter back in the village that requires my attention. In all of the excitement of meeting you guys and going over this big announcement, I had forgotten all about it. Rest assure though, the time for training will come and I intend to set out on missions with you both as soon as possible." He would nod to both young shinobi before clapping his hands together, causing the Tengu faced boulders to recede into the ground abruptly- he would continue to walk away, while noting the reactions of his pupils to see if they would fall on their hides or spring from the stones once realizing their foundation was becoming unsteady. With no words left for them, he would take his leave. 

[Total WC=1,650]

EXIT


Using double AP max stat bonus


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Approved

Upon hearing his Sensei speak and nodding in response the boy would standing as the tengu boulder recedes back into the terrain. Souji turning to look his friend in the eye and nodded to him as he made his own departure from the grounds.

Exit
[WC: 44]
[Total WC: 1,350]

Max stats claim: 27 AP

Approved