Team Tai Fighters, Assemble!! (Private)

A new day would rise over Sungakure, bathing the Monkey's Uncle in Dawn's brilliance. The sun's rays would break through the curtains of the upstairs bedroom window, shining in the eyes of Page, Sheffield and Katusragi. The rays would rouse the three from slumber and bade them to awake. Even if they wished to ignore this sensation, the routine of their daily life would force them up: as this was the time when the workday would start.

As the three went about their morning routines, preparing for their jobs at the teashop, Page would note that their jounin and sensei, Raleth, had not instructed them for quite some time. Katsuragi would remeber asking the aged Sarutobi why this was the case, and the immense man's response was "Busy with work". Upon hearing this, Sheffield would be disheartened, as he had seen the fruit-bearing shinobi only on the floor of the Monkey's Uncle.

Disheartened, the three would finish their respective morning routines and go down the stairs, where, on the center table, a spread of fried eggs, potatoes and oranges would greet them. Kettles of steaming, black-honey tea would surround the plates and a small note would sit between them.

It's time.

Sheffield and Page would pick up on the scent of Raleth from the note and would sense that his trail leads towards the entrance of the Monkey's Uncle. Katsuragi, being annoyed at the theatrics of the "gentle giant", would grab the card and notice something on the back of it, a small, hand-drawn map. Katsuragi would see the shape of wind country, the symbol of suna denoting the village's placement in the country and an "X" marking a location a few miles northeast of the village. Putting two and two together, the genin would know their sensei's intention: meet him in the desert, away from the village.

After breakfast, the three would pack their things and head out, making sure to lock the Monkey's Uncle as they did. The three would make their way to the Village entrance, the wizened-gate guard, Han, would wave to them with a steaming cup of tea in his hand.

As the two exited the perimeter of the biodome, the chill of the desert would make them shiver and the heat from the rising sun would bade them to hurry.

After some time, they would spot a mountain in the distance, whose peak has been cleaved in two. As they make their way, they see that this split mountain looms over a dune-flanked valley. In the center of this valley lies a sizeable pond, with exotic, desert greenery surrounding it. The surface of this water surges with shimmering-scaled fish, light dance above the pond and around the greenery, giving this small oasis an enchanting look.

Behind this oasis sits the meditating Sarutobi, Raleth. His ashen hair is pulled back, his headband is wrapped around his neck and his pipe rests in his mouth. He wears a jounin jacket that hugs his chest and shoulders, rough-polished guards, bearing the symbol of the Sarutobi, rest on his arms. As the three walk down the Valley of the Cleaved Summit, the pale-eyes of the shinobi open up. He stands, brushing the sand off his white pants and weapons pouches. He raises his hand. 

"Yo!"

As the three travel down, they would notice that the valley around them would be 60 meters in diameter, with the pond in the center being 5 meters in diameter. Raleth would be 10 meters from this pond. When the three reach the pond, they would notice a palm sized, metal-monkey tied to his waist by a bright blue ribbon. 

"Apologize," thrums the basso voice of Raleth, "for getting lost in my work, I did not expect the burden of the tea shop. We've not much time since the Exams and I've been lax with your training. So please, forgive me." The aged sensei would bow to his students.

"I'm sure you've noticed the token on my waist," the Sarutobi gestures to the item on his hip, "your objective is simple: take this token from me. You can accomplish this in whatever way you see fit. However.." the stone faced sensei would smirk, and puff smoke from his jade and green pipe, "if you use any jutsu or techniques I will respond appropriately. As of now, I will not use any." 

The immense sarutobi rolls his shoulders and opens his stance. He brings his hands up in guard and keeps his feet shoulder width apart, he places his left foot behind his right and bounces on his toes: adopting a brawling fighting stance. He extends his balled fist to his students.


"When you're ready."


[781]

Stats/AP:

Page would wake with the shining sun, the beams gently waking him, only for the former farmer to cover his face with his blanket to avoid being disturbed this early. This attempt, however, would prove to be quite futile and although it may have worked should he have been sleeping alone tonight, the combination of the noises from the rousing roommate Katsuragi mixed with the stomping from his wolf companion Sheffield, it certainly wouldn't work with both working in tandem to pull Page back into his working morning routine. He would hop out of bed and let Kats take the first crack at the shower, being the respectful sorts and knowing he was the one prone to taking his time in there. To waking himself up and loosen some muscles he played with Sheff, dashing around the room as he gathered his clothes for after his shower. After Katsuragi got his cleaning done, Page made haste about brushing his teeth and showering himself off, at this point eager to start the day. He had gotten into the routine of getting all he needed done in this shared space, and had grown accustom to the sort of gymnastics required for said arrangement, so while his roommate was running around finishing his touches, Page went to one nestled corner independent of the rest of the room, a lararium of sorts in which he had laid out two headbands of the Village Hidden in the Sand, one with much more slack than the other. The man took hold of both of them, tying one around his arm, the one with less length, and tying the other, longer headband around Sheffield's neck like a scarf, dusted himself off, and got ready mentally to face both the downstairs of the Monkey's Uncle, and the rest of the day, probably just an another day of work. "Been quite a while since Sarutobi Sensei trained us, eh Kats? Wonder if he has anything in store for us soon or if it will just be another day of tea, food, and hijinks, I just feel like with the Chunin exams coming up he'd turn up the heat a whole lot?" the young shinobi asked the younger shinobi.

When the worry was dismissed as Raleth being busy with work, Sheffield would let out a bit of a whimper, obviously made sad by unavailability of his friend that had procured so much food for him. As they reached the landing of the stairs, however, they would have a massive shift in terms of mood as they got an eye full of the massive display of food in drink that awaited them, digging in before fully examing everything. Page would find the note "It's Time, I wonder what that could mean?" the former farmer would read before realizing a more potent version of Raleth's scent than the normal residual smell the building contained. Both the farmer and his dog perked up and walked outside, following the scent to their teacher to the outside while Katsuragi investigated the note left behind, bringing to the other two student's attention that there was a map on the flip side of the note. 

"Oh," Page would exclaim, "I would suppose that the chances dictate he wants us to go to wherever that map dictates, would hope there is a red mark somewhere." He would wait for a response and if his hypothesis was confirmed, he would again shout out, "Well I'll be damned, guess we best make haste on our way to that x, wouldn't want to keep good ol' Ral waiting, let me just grab something real quick." The young shinobi would dash past the refurbished stairs and up into his room, grabbing the forearm bracer that proved his lucky charm, saving his ass in more than he could count, occasions like his battle with Ak-Ichi, and potentially whatever this training in the desert entailed. 

Meeting Katsuragi and Sheffield at the door, the three would start their way to the village gates, wave to the gate guardians, and start through the perilous path through the desert to the marked location. Page would snuggle his nose deeper into his scarf as they entered the cold of the day breaking desert, shivering with the cold he had lacked the nature accustomed to, having lived in the climate controlled area for long enough. Sheffield and Page following the scent of their sensei, and Katsuragi following the map, they would head towards a mountain in the distance. Knowing his teachers knack for the geographical feature, Sheffield and Page bee lined for it, Page breaking the air resistance as he moved first, Sheffield to his left flank and if Kats would so choose to his right flank, allowing both of them to move with a lower expenditure of energy.

Eventually the three ninja, two men one dog, would arrive at the Oasis, Sheffield taking his time to walk around the area taking in all the sights and smells. Seeing his master filled Page with a familiar joy, and his signature "Yo," prompted a casual, "How's it swinging Sarutobi Sensei? Been too long."

As his master's master would speak, Sheffield would follow his nose sniffing close to the ground, peaking in under him as he would bow and attempting to lick his face catching eyes with the big man. "Ah no need to worry, I get the feeling, we all sometimes get busy. Yo since the last time we met it looks like I became the inheritor of a newspaper? Wild stuff man. Well I suppose there is no time like the present to start back up the training, I think with some dedication we can make time for the chunin exams, just got to grind out this training, what did you have in mind? please no fighting monkeys, please no fighting monkeys," Page would say.

Page and Sheffield would listen patiently to their master as he detailed their training, both of them collecting themselves with Katsugari about 5 meters away from him turning to his ally after all was described and ask, "So roomie, we gonna make a plan about this or go in guns blazing and just hope it all works out?" Sheffield cranking his head to add emphasis.


WC:1,041

Page would train with Raleth for the entire day, working and working trying to retrieve that damn token, and Raleth always found a way to outpace the two ninja, seemingly slowing them down as they would attempt to grab it. They would need to think, to form a strategy to take the token without Raleth being able to escape. Obviously trying to test his speed didn't work, so they had to create something better. Page would smash his fist into the earth, creating a crater and throwing enough dirt into the air to mask him as he used hiding like a mole technique to delve under the earth while Katsuragi would attack in a flanking maneuver, pushing Raleth back directly the direction Page was going. Raleth would sense this and get too bothered managing the two he would forget the cute dog behind him, that would grab the tokens in his mouth and run off to his master, closing the day of training with a victory for the two students.
WC: 170, TWC 1,211
Exit
1,125/1,125 for Hiding in Camouflage B Rank
75/75 for memorizing the scent of Katsuragi for whenever he posts in this damn thread lol, anyway I gotta get to CEs soon

Approved except for Katsuragi Scent

EXIT, Total WC 786, Will Make Claims Later

Max Stat Discount, 25%
1171/1500 (previous thread claim) +429 for Thoudand Flying Water Needles of Death

353/1125 for Phoenix Flower

approved