ANBU introductions: questionable tactics? [Class]

[Yamanaka Utano]

Haji stood on the obstacle course field his arms crossed and folded in a stance suitable to his position as an ANBU. His ANBU mask was fit snuggly over his face, his wild hair tied back into a knot. He was requested by the academy to instruct some of the academy students in some ANBU tactics and possibly scout out potentials for the AIT program, otherwise he would be in the academy as a normal main branch shinobi.

Haji was normally a very curious and care free man, but when he was beneath the mask, he became a separate creature entirely; one of duty, and deadly elegance. His armor and mask were the mark of his status as an ANBU, his mask painted into a deadly shape. "Now I just have to wait for them to show" Haji mumbled to himself, muffled by the mask. He would never admit it, but he hated having his mask on, it always got sweaty and itchy beneath the mask and he was forced to tie his hair back so that he could actually see through the eye slots. While much of the time Haji wondered if him having six arms would reveal his identity to the population of cloud, he rest assured that they wouldn't; there were plenty of people of Hachiashi decent among the population, enough to keep him from being identified purely by his looks. His fighting style however was normally pretty well identifiable, so when in combat he made sure to be more discreet than he normally would.

He would stand and await the arrival of the students assigned to the class, and as they walked in they would notice that the obstacle course had been cleared away in favor of an open field that had a large circle painted in the center, the circle was divided into four quadrants. The ground beneath the quadrants seemed to be worked and oddly well groomed with a sandy, loose earth.

At his side Haji had a bag that seemed full of some kind of materials. He would stand stoically until every student arrived, he would not speak, he would not move. The students would have been informed of the nature of the class being involved with ANBU tactics and ideals, so Haji expected them to appear and act in an according manner.

But this was not always the case. The ANBU branch was not for everyone. "These kids are in for something interesting at the very least" Haji muttered once more. "I hope I don't get in trouble for being too extreme with them..." Haji shrugged it off with a chuckle "It's not like anyone will die... I think"

[Welcome everyone! Once everybody arrives that wants to I will get this class underway! As I'm sure you guys know about classes by now, in order to qualify for the class requirements and get that sweet double training everybody has to have a minimum of five posts and 1500 words spanning over those five posts! This is each, so make sure to post your WC at the bottom of your posts so you can keep track! Best of luck my lil students, this should be interesting!]

[Wc 533]
[MFT]

 

[Sei]

Izanagi trudged on towards the obstacle course, his hands in his pockets. His headphones where over his ears, the muffled sounds of different types of classical music playing throughout the duration of his trek. It was a stark contrast to the music he'd been listening to before (hip-hop), but he'd heard one song that his father played and was almost instantly hooked. He closed his eyes for a second as he walked, waving and flicking his left hand as if he were the conductor of an orchestra; as his hand raised, there was a small flicker of olive green chakra in his left hand, the outline of a small conductor's stick appearing for a second before disappearing, entirely unknown to him. If one really wanted to know, this young lad had a special talent for Cadency that will show up sooner or later but for now I'm just giving you all hints to his cool instrument.

He opened his eyes only seconds later, as he didn't feel like randomly tripping over something and falling. He was quite near the obstacle course now, and he could see a figure in the distance. A mask covered this individual's face, leaving Izanagi trying to find its gender through the physique. Looking the person over, he guessed it was a man, though there were plenty of masculine-built women running around. He couldn't be a hundred percent sure, so he refrained from using any definitive pronouns.

Izan was dressed for battle: he had on a sleeveless black shirt and a pair of black shorts over grey compression pants. His combat gloves were tucked into his belt, along with the music player. His long, platinum-blonde hair was pulled back and made into a tight bun, only a few strands escaping to brush across his face. He removed the headphones as he walked, putting them around his neck as he neared the figure.

He clasped his hands in front of himself and bowed with strict, proper posture, just like his father had taught him. "Mizushima, Izanagi. Academy Student." He waited about three seconds for anything else to be said before he walked to the side, standing nearly stock-still as he waited for the lesson to start. He carefully observed the surroundings, paying special attention to the painted circle in the clearing. It wasn't anything he'd seen before, and he had no idea what was going to happen in this class. Not even a guess.

He wondered who else would be joining them; his mind flashed to a few other Academy Students he knew, and ranked them on likeliness of attending this one. He was about a minute of thinking before he realized his music was still quite loud, and no longer muffled since they weren't on. He clenched his jaw as his hand moved down to the music player slowly, flicking it off without looking (because familiar) and shuffling slightly on his feet. Hopefully, lesson points wouldn't be docked for that slip-up; if it even was.

[ WC: 499 ]

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

Today would be his third, and probably the most interesting class he was anticipating this week. It was a class for ANBU in Training. After his first success with Yuii San, a rather informative first lesson, of endurance and how to maintain stamina in a fight. He called Yuii Sensei's words, 'A tired ninja is due to make a mistake, and that mistake may cost your life.' He was traveling from home to the training grounds, today he wore a light gray flak jacket, buttoned up to its collar, and fitting firmly to his torso. Thick leather arm guards covered his wrists and forearms up to his elbow, complete with his Hyuuga gauntlets, wrapped up by bandages underneath. Matching light gray fitted joggers for ease of movement, plus ninja sandles with spikes on the bottom for traveling on rough terrain. His attired was complete with two swords, a shorter Kodaci blade for defense, on his left hip. A large offensive striking blade, Katana, across his back, hilt at his right shoulder. The boy's eyes were firmly closed and his only sense of direction would come from his knowledge of the path, and the sounds in the near distance.

His class with Junko gave him more insight of the ANBU corps. A ninja who lives and dies in the shadows defending the safety of the village by a whispering blade. True, no one may never know the name of their hero, but his enemies who he should face will soon come to know the ANBU ninja he would become. His duties would be rectified by his undying allegiance to the cloud and his fellow ninja. So many thoughts raced through his mind as he closed in on the training grounds, two large bodies already there. One seemed to have his arms crossed, and in the distance Shouyu would see with now open eyes, the white coloration and design of an ANBU mask. Most likely, this was the teacher who was providing today's lesson. The man next, tall, towering with a large shadow. No doubt, that was Izanagi, and he seemed to be in his own world of music again. Shouyu came up to the dirt field, he immediately caught the design but it couldn't recognize it for anything. 'What could this be?' Thinking to himself, he paused, eyes fixated on the field. His demeanor was calm, nonchalant if you will, his examination fell short and he shook his head, displeased at his own unknowing of today's lesson.

He now fixed his attention to Izanagi, who he lowered his head to with a boy, and he even gave the boy a narrow stare, not at out of resentment but purely competitive nature. To his teacher, the boy would not only bow at the shoulders but at the hip, showing full respect and boldly speaking his name.

"Hoshi, Hoshi Shouyu of Kumokagure."

He walked over quietly and took his standing position, hands crossed behind his back with his young chin high beside Izanagi. The shinobi towered over the 4'9 eight year old boy and almost made him look like a baby compared to him. But hey, size didn't matter to much, with their spar in the forest Shouyu found Izan to be a pillar of strength. It was a tough battle, one that Shouyu thought he would never succeed on coming out alive in. It was test of the shinobi's will. Izanagi proved to be a formiddable opponent, like Kiri. But maybe, even it wasn't for his Kekkai Genkai, the Byakugan, he probably wouldn't stand a chance at all against this giant. He shook these thoughts and faced forward, still and focused, awaiting the other class members. He maintained a nonchalant behavior and began to stare into the distance, wondering of today's lessons. Also, he wondered who was behind this mask, something familiar about this person Shouyu couldn't shake, but he did eventually, and put his mind to the task at hand.

[WC 1500 - 629]

 

[Kisho]

“Hmm. ANBU?”

Kisho read over a leaflet as he made his way towards the familiar building. Like most of the buildings in Kumo, it’s proper name was strange and quite hard to pronounce. Compared to the rest of the language used around the village it seemed archaic and foreign. Even more foreign than he, a foreigner. At any rate, he had never heard anyone use it's proper name or any other similar to it. The village hidden amongst the clouds was hiding many things indeed.

The top tier of the pagoda came into view and Kisho quickened his pace. He'd rather not be late for this class. After receiving the notice, he did a little research because he had never heard of ANBU. Apparently, it was the village's special operations force composed of elite shinobi and shrouded in secrecy. The lesson would likely be led by one of its members and super elite shinobi who protected the village probably didn’t like tardiness.

As he entered the building, he balled up the leaflet and tossed it into a nearby trash can. Arriving at the designated, Kisho felt underwhelmed. The notice instructed him to meet at the obstacle course, but from what he could see, there were no obstacles; there was only a large field with a circle separated into four parts by a cross. He reserved judgment , however. If his stay in Kumo taught him anything thus far, it was to expect the unexpected.

He settled in quietly, noticing a couple of familiar faces: there was Hoshi, the super energetic swordsman and Izanagi the spawn of giants. He nodded to both of them and smiled The teacher, however, he didn’t recognize. With the mask the teacher was wearing, Kisho was unlikely to guess its identity anyway. He was, however, most definitely ANBU. To him, Kisho gave a respectful bow.

The scene at present didn’t offer much in the way analysis. The bag next to the masked teacher combined with the circle were interesting though. He scanned the surroundings once more before looking back towards the teacher to await further instruction.

[WC = 349]
[MFT]

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

The Scarred boy had been pointed towards the class that was currently taking place, he hadn’t intended on participating in any more classes as he was set for graduation shortly, but this one was a bit different than the others that he had dealt with so far. An ANBU was teaching a class on the subject of their organization’s tactics, and it had been hinted at might be there for another reason, this meant that the class was rather of interest to him and something that he would be attending despite his status. He had thanked the instructor who had passed the information to him, given them a bow deeper than he normally did as well before setting off, he was in a bit of a hurry as he hadn’t been informed of the class until just now, and it was starting rather soon. As such, while he started by dashing past a few others on the ground floor he quickly decide that he would take to the roof-tops, heading towards the obstacle course away from the twists and turns of the hallways, and without having to deal with the groups of people that were currently wandering in them. He popped open a window, climbed out of it, making sure to shut it tightly before continuing on his way, this time much quicker than he had been moving before.

It didn’t take too long to arrive at the designated location, the boy perched on the wall, watching those already gathered for a moment, he didn’t recognize the other students, but the masked man for a moment reminded him very strongly of Doku, but that was quickly dismissed, as the build was different, even if they both where six-armed ANBU, which was rare enough he assumed. The mask was different as well, which totally ruled it out then. He looked at the cleared area for a moment, took in the others already present, as well as the sack that the man had that was full of something or another. Finding that there wasn’t much more to be learned in the short time that he had, he dropped to the ground and approached, he took up position at the far right of the gathered students silently before giving a bow, “Hotaka Kyo, Reporting.” He announced as he did so, he then stood straight, his hands at his sides and waited for the class to begin. He wasn't sure if the instructor had been expecting him to join, as he hadn't known he would be himself.


[WC = 423]
[MFT]

 

[Kobura]

Kobura had heard about the ANBU class that was being held and figured it would compliment her style greatly especially with her newly acquired poisons. She was unsure exactly of what they did but knew they moved in the shadows and normally took on dangerous missions that could leave them dead on the battlefield. This she liked and it peaked her interest as she made her way to the village but not before making a trip home to get a black scarf to cover the her face from the nose down. Although she knew it wasn't necessary she wouldn't to feel like she was already apart of the ANBU since she had always wanted a mask. To her the mask hid all emotions and made an ANBU even more deadlier since the only way that you could determine their mood was by body language. She rushed to making it to the class so that she wasn't late since she was a stickler for attendence and had never been late or missed a day, even when she was an Academy Student.

Upon entering she noticed that both Shouyu and Izanagi were already there but the other two she had never seen before. She stood beside Shouyu without saying a word as she stared at the instructor. His mask was awesome to her and this made her want one even more. She remained in her normal attire which made her easily identifiable by Shouyu and Izanagi with a few additions to her gear such as a belt and shoulder pouch. Since their last meeting she had obtained several supplies that would compliment her and the team she was on if they were on a mission. Her kunai holster was on the opposite leg of her tool pouch and it seemed she already had her hands wrapped with bandages as if she was ready to engage in battle. Her dark raven hair that was rather short stopped just below her cheek bones with her blue eyes seeming to sparkle while fixated on the instructor. She bowed her head "Hyūga Kobura present" she said in a soft tone announcing who she was to the instructor and those that she had not met yet.

She raised back up straightening her posture with her arms to her side looking at the others in the room for a brief moment to see if she had seen them before in the village. She tried to tell if they were students still and it seemed that they were but that didn't mean anything now days especially since as a Genin she could rival some of the Chunin or at least so she thought in her own eyes. She turned back to the instructor she was now ready to learn about stalking, tracking, and killing people in the shadows, something she felt was the backbone of the ninja society.

[Wordcount: 479]

 

[Yamanaka Utano]

Haji watched as a tall young man with headphones walked into the obstacle course area, he scrunched his face up underneath his mask I thought I had reserved this area for the class today</B><i></i>. The man continued to approach the course and Haji noticed that the young man was slightly taller than he was, and Haji was 6’2.

Haji was about to speak up and ask the man if he had seen the posting outside that indicated Haji had reserved the course for the day when the young man spoke.

"Mizushima, Izanagi. Academy Student."

Then the student bowed before him. Haji looked at his list and information on the students that he had in his belt on a scroll and his eyes bulged beneath his mask. Raiden help me this guy is a 12 year old kid?! Haji rolled the scroll back up and turned to the young man and nodded in affirmation. If that’s the way we’re making ‘em in cloud these days I’m gonna be able to retire early! Kid must really like his veggies.

Haji pointed off to the side to indicate to Izanagi to stand off to the side. ”Don’t walk through the diagram on the ground if you can help it” Haji added, his voice distorted by his mask.

Just as haji ushered Izan off, the next of his class waltzed in and Haji nearly burst out laughing. It’s that little guy from the forest! The one with absolutely no stealth intentions whatsoever! Haji was glad his arms were in front of his stomach so that no one could see him holding back his chuckle.

"Hoshi, Hoshi Shouyu of Kumokagure."

The young man seemed serious about the class, as he promptly walked over and took his place next to the giant. Haji looked at the young man with a renewed faith in the student. He may have learned a thing or two since then. Haji nodded at the young man as he took his place.

The next to enter was a young long haired boy who walked up and spoke no words, but gave a bow of respect to Haji before taking his place amongst the other two. Ok, well, not the first time I have had a mystery child wander into a class of mine, but he seems respectful enough. Haji nodded in return to the young man.

Shortly thereafter a young man dropped down into the area. Haji eyed him curiously. <B>Interesting…<i></i> the young man was scarred and had short dark hair. The boy walked up and bowed to Haji.

“Hotaka Kyo, Reporting.”

He uttered before straightening back up and then taking his place amongst the others. His height was similar to the normal sized children. Haji couldn’t help but cast another sideways glance at the giant twelve year old.

Finally, a young woman with short raven colored hair entered the course area and took her place amongst her fellow students. Her blue eyes seemed to be locked onto His mask, and he raised an eyebrow beneath it in question. After taking her place she spoke up.

"Hyūga Kobura present"

She announced it with a slight bow of her head before falling silent once more. Haji stood for some time after and stared at the students, thought running through his mind in regards to what he knew about each of the student’s capabilities that he had been able to garner from their previous assessments. One of them was already as Genin, the girl, Haji noticed this as he looked into his scroll once more. After some time had passed and no one else approached, Haji walked calmly, and carefully around the diagram until it was between him and his students.

"While we work here today you may refer to me by my rank, which is Mempo. Sensei is also acceptable."

”You all know why you’re here” Haji spoke, his voice still distorted by his mask in order to hide his identity. ”The ANBU Corps. A branch of Kumo that is known even to other villages, famed for their ability to fight in combat against other shinobi, and if necessary, slay them” Haji eyed the faces of each of the students carefully as he spoke.

”A few of you may have come here expecting that the ANBU are a celebrated branch, that you will find glory in serving the village through the means that we as a branch can give you. Some of you may even think that it will be fulfilling, and while I am not saying that it will not give you some feeling of purpose, the ANBU are not for those who dream of greatness.” Haji bit into that last word hard.

”The ANBU first and foremost, serve the interest of Kumo and her people. We are the first as well as the last line of defense against all things that threaten the village, whether they be from outside forces… or those who lurk within our own walls and among our own people.” Haji paused.

”I am not trying to scare you off, and I am not trying to persuade you not to join. I am simply dispelling any illusions you might have. You would not be the first to take upon yourselves the weight of this villages secrets only to be crushed beneath them.” Haji began to pace around the circle.

”The life of an ANBU operative is a lonely one. You will perform great deeds at times, possibly even save the village from an imminent threat, and there will be no recognition for you besides the ranking you may earn within the corps. No one will know how you have saved them, and more importantly, no one will have to know what you had to DO to save them.” Haji stopped walking at that point, ending directly in front of the students.

”That being said, the ANBU are not always about sneaking about in the shadows. Many of our duties include policing others of the village, and A LOT of standing guard. We are also sent upon missions to return missing nin to the village to stand trial, this is the duty of the Hunter nin. While many believe that we are sent to merely kill them, our first duty is more often to subdue them. Haji nodded.

”Now, what is the most valuable tool an ANBU has?” Haji stared at them and then answered without waiting “their mask” Haji gestured toward his own. ”An ANBU’s identity is their most vulnerable attribute, and it must be protected, there are strict rules that are in place in order to protect us.”

”Therefore, for the duration of our exercise that we will be doing today, you will wear these” Haji walked over to his bag of equipment and pulled out five masks.

”Put these on, and do not remove them until I tell you.” Haji handed one to each of the students.

”For the duration of today’s exercise you will be working together as a squad! This is to represent that ANBU work their best when they work together, just as any other branch of shinobi do.” Haji walked back to the outside of the diagram on the ground.

”So, if you please, place your masks on so that we may begin.” Haji smiled beneath his mask.

[WC 1200]
[MFT]
[Ok folks lets get this class on the road! Now that everyone is accounted for we will move a bit faster. I'm gonna put a three day limit on posting since we have so many people participating and I don't want it to get bogged down. PM me on Nc or message me on Discord @Haji to let me know if you are gonna be late posting. Otherwise I will just assume what your person will do!]

 

[Sei]

Izanagi moved little and said less as the others arrived, though he did note Hoshi's lack of enthusiasm - it was like he'd gotten more mature out of absolutely nowhere, which made little sense to him. But he had to admit.... He liked it. The young Academy Student seemed to be more powerful and acted like it, and hopefully he'd become the type to make his power less known and then surprise everyone with his strength. Seemed like he'd be a good shinobi, when the time came. He was still a midget, though.

He kept his eyes on the (slightly) shorter ANBU, quite unable to read his expressions or reactions thanks to the mask and discipline. Past reading his scroll to check what was most likely information on Izanagi, there was little the gigantic boy could discern; had he found out of Haji's quiet reactions, though, he might have laughed. It was always funny to see how a person reacted to his own stupid growth, even though he disliked being thought of as grown-up - he was about the same age as everyone here obviously not including Haji.

His eyes flicked up on Kisho's entrance, before going back to wandering the area. He hadn't had much of a meaningful reaction with the long-haired boy, though he had learned that he was from a non-shinobi family and seemed to start doing well in a vastly different world. He'd be an interesting one to watch, for sure, to see how far his potential arced. Nothing really much there past that, however, and so he was mostly ignored.

And then there was the unknown. A gash across the nose made Izanagi raise an eyebrow, wondering where he'd acquired that one. Something.... Something was off about this one. Izanagi couldn't be sure whatsoever and his writer couldn't quite say anything about his powerlevel because metagaming, but he could feel it. He shifted slightly, before nodding to Kobura, his former mission leader.

Well, that's three out of four students that knew of, making one of the larger classes he'd been in. Granted, he'd only been in one other. He waited just as all the others did, before perking up and looking at the masked ANBU as he began to speak.

He nodded along with everything Haji said, the (mostly) same principles having been drilled into him since the day he started training. His father was a former ANBU, and so he wasn't surprised by most of what the masked sensei said, nor with the blank mask handed to each of them. He merely nodded, fitting it correctly to his face and staring out of the eye-slits curiously, looking all around to get a feel of what he was lacking in terms of vision.

Honestly, with the hit to his peripherals, he wondered why ANBU even continued these same masks. Maybe to keep from one's identity from being found out through their eyes (which was maybe possible?), but still. He looked to the Mempo and awaited further instructions, looking once at each of the other students - his new "squad" for this class.

[ MFT - 514 WC ]

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

Shortly after his arrival, a long haired boy was walking up, "Oh, it's Kisho!" His face lit up, seeing another face he was familiar with. Truly, today's lesson would prove difficult for trio, indeed, he expected it to be much different then their lesson with Yuii Sensei. A lesson of endurance, but man, the kid wondered if he would endure this class. His eyes went from Kisho, after smiling and returning his nod, to the diagram and the scanned the field. His lesson with Junko Sensei taught him another thing, teamwork, and the objective. So far, with these two, he could imagine some good chemistry in team work. Izanagi was definitely going to be an upfront guy, almost a vanguard if you would. Kisho would be long range, assessing the situation providing support from afar. Shouyu could scout, understand the enemies weakness and together formulate plots to do almost anything. Though, Kisho's abilities were still in the air, and Shouyu pondered this over. His brows stitched together in deep thought, crinkling the corner of his white hues.

Suddenly his eyes shot to the right, immediately aware of another dropping in. He did so with ease, exceptional agility, seemed a bit older than Izanagi if not the same age, he couldn't guess. He wore a scar across his face... This startled the boy, his reaction was his left hand reaching to his right eye brow. Rubbing his own scar from a storm as a child. It was nothing compared to his though. And, hmm, there was something about his demeanor that Shouyu understood. "No doubt, he's a strong one. If he was here all along and to not be noticed." He didn't know if the boy saw or not, but Shouyu would also nod in response to him, eyes fixated upon him strongly before relieving his gaze back to the diagram, returning to his own personal thoughts. These days, he did more talking than thinking, or at least he tried too.

His gaze and thoughts were distracted again once he caught whiff of a different scent. Smells like... a girl. He looked around to find that it was indeed a girl not just anyone, but Kobura. He somewhat surprised him, he didn't think she'd be taking classes as Genin, let alone an ANBU class at that. This made the boy smirk, before his face gave a curious look, "Oh!" He would say this to himself mentally but mouthing it as well. He chuckled before speaking. His position changed, immediately he stood up right, hands at his hips, chin high fists clenched. Intently he listened to some information he had before with Junko sensei, but this was more in depth. He nodded, never faltering a strong gaze at Mempo. He was coming to understand his position as the Raikage's hands and feet. With this occupation it was more than certain, he would die on the field, unknown of his sacrifice. "But that is nothing to fear, when knowing that every mission I accomplished, has saved my people and they may continue to live a free life! In leisure and in peace! I will gladly put my safety at risk at all costs, for their safety. Right, to protect the people. That is my ninja way!" The kid was so moved by Mempo's words his fist would rise to his face and tremble lightly from him clenching to tightly. Mempo's last question lead to him handing Shouyu a blank mask. His hand now trembled furiously. He was so excited, almost shocked he was being given one. He slowly accepted it and bit his bottom lip anxiously, smiling like the Joker. He put it on as instructed, surprisingly it fit snug. His sight was minimized through the holes but that wouldn't matter so much for a Hyuuga. Behind the mask he kept his Joker smile, and snickered lightly, feeling like a real ANBU in training.

"Ha, Hey Kobura, I see you got you some new stuff! I did too."

He patted two belt pouches on hip full of some nifty small stuff he needed for, whatever, whenever. After patting that same hand quickly formed a thumbs up at his previous team leader. This class was looking fun, and again all of his merriment was cut short when the instructor began to speak.

[WC 718+629= 1347]

 

[Kisho]

Shortly after his own arrival, the size of the group increased to include two more (what he assumed to be) students: Hotaka Kyo and Hyuuga Kobura. Both were strangers to Kisho, but they also possessed distinguishing features that would help him remember them. (He was much better with faces than with names. Hailing from a group of nomads, he relied heavily on visual cues, such as landmarks, to navigate the uncivilized world.) The former bore a ghastly scar across his face, while Kobura had a pair of milky white eyes, just like Hoshi. He began to wonder if they were related before the masked teacher's voice commanded his attention.

It spoke with authority and confidence, though the scene was quite surreal. While the Mempo was speaking, there was no movement of the lips and it’s distorted voice seeping from behind the mask. No emotions either; a total enigma. It was as if he were facing a wild animal, unsure of its intentions. Very intimidating. These ANBU types really lived up to the hype the masked figure was speaking about.

Judging from the Mempo's words, Kisho gathered that loyalty was an extremely component of the job. How loyal was he? Would they test his loyalty? He looked at the proctor's scroll nervously. Does it know that I’m not from here? Would he be willing to die for the village? He liked it here of course, but there was still some bitterness directed towards the village's decision makers.

”Put these on, and do not remove them until I tell you.”

Kisho eyed the masks curiously and waited until Hoshi’s vibrating hand moved before grabbing his and temporarily held it with his mouth while he quickly tied his locs into a bun. He slipped it on and looked around. It would take some getting used to, but maybe the five of them together could compensate for the reduced vision.

[WC = 317]
[MFT]

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

Kyo stood and waited quietly, standing rock still as he did so, only moving to gain sight of Kobura whom he noticed coming in from the vibrations that resounded in the ground announcing her arrival, as they did just about everyone's. He noted the name she gave, the way she stood and that she watched the others. He stayed simply listening to the speech begin given to them by the Instructor, the masked, six-armed ANBU, who happened not to be Doku, as he was certain of it after the man started moving and speaking, other things could all be disguised easy enough, but not all of them together, not with the vibrations and entire general feel, at least he didn't feel that it could be done to him by someone he knew well enough like Doku. There was a momentary feeling of disappointment that went through him before he shut it out and focused on the class at hand. He noticed the eyes of the other boy and returned the nod he gave him, though it was slight, to the point if the other wasn't watching well enough he may not even notice it.

The speech was something like he had expected, the fact that he had to empathize that they would not get glory or 'greatness' Kyo found a bit odd, why would one expect any such thing from working with or in an organization where one of the standing tenants was to be unknown to the rest of the population at large, to the point where your supposed to keep up appearances as a normal nin as part of the Main branch? The rest was basic information until he produced masks for them to wear, telling them that they were to keep them on for the rest of the instruction, Kyo wandered a moment about simply summoning a blank mask for himself to wear, though his was more meant for the protection that it offered to his head, than the hiding of his identity. Though he supposed he did use it for that at times, when he would otherwise be discovered performing a mission that he didn't want to. He took his mask without a comment, sliding the straps on the back of his head and tightening them down properly so that the mask would stay in its position when they begin whatever hurried and violent movement that they would be engaging in shortly. He wasn't as bothered by the blocking of the vision, what with his Tremor Sense still functioning just fine, and the fact that he was somewhat used to wearing a mask already. Still he stood ready, stoic and silent, waiting for more instructions, while his mind played what if games with the other students and their instructor as combatants. It was a safe bet that the instructor could deal with them all easily enough, though the others he didn't know enough about to judge one way or another, he still ran scenarios through his mind, waiting and watching the whole while.

[WC = 423 + 507 = 930]
[MFT]

 

[Kobura]

Kobura nodded at Shouyu after he had spoke to her still remaining silent and only turning to acknowledge him. The introduction the instructor had gave was what she expected the best ninjas were the unknown ones and those that did survive long enough to become of age and mature most likely retired leaving it to the new generation. Since to her you needed to be one of the elite to survive countless encounters with other deadly ninjas.

She watched as the teacher handed out masks to them which all seemed to be blank and white. She took hers removing the garment that was previously on her face placing it in her shoulder pouch. She slowly slid the mask onto her face smiling underneath it as she loved the secrecy that came with it. Other than the minor hinderance in sight she was sure her bakyugan would help assist with that a little bit. She was now ready for whatever lesson the instructor had for them. It was time to show them why she was a genin that was about to be a chunin in a few days.

It might of been awkward to them that a genin was in this class but she never thought such a class would help her until she heard about some of the jutsu they possessed like critical exposure that would enhance and compliant her taijutsu and poison techniques. Allowing her to become a deadly friend and foe. She could only imagine what devasting jutsu the ANBU possessed and this was her introduction to the secret and deadly branch that others feared and respected at the same time.

[Wordcount: 273]

 

[Yamanaka Utano]

”Perfect” Haji stated more for himself rather than the students. ”Now that you have the masks on we can begin”.
Haji walked a ways away from the students with his bag of equipment and set it down before removing something out of view of the students. He allowed them to see that he took something from within the bag, just not what it was. When he stood up again, it was visible that he held something in five of his six hands.

”Like I said before, this will be a team effort. Most ANBU work in squads, sometimes all together accomplishing one feat, while at other times splitting up to complete smaller parts of a more whole achievement”.

Haji approached the students again, this time he couldn’t help but grin beneath his mask.

”As you may already have begun to notice, unless you are more resistant than most, the skin around your face will have gone numb. This is because the masks I gave you were lined with the mucus of someone of Hachiashi heritage” Haji pointed at himself with his free hand ”Ding Ding Ding” he chimed.

“My particular brand will slowly paralyze your bodies before eventually stopping your heart. Don’t worry! It’ll be just like falling asleep!” Haji joked very badly. ”Now to address the giant spider in the room” and with that Haji sprang up spewing a great web of mucus that attached to the ceiling and then grasping it upside down. His hand passed one of the items into a pouch and then formed hand seals before a giant puff of smoke expanded from beneath his hand.

Once the cloud cleared, a great spider lay atop the web, hissing in anger.

”Shush” Haji scolded.

All around the great spiders back were spiders about the size of a small dog, and if looked at closely, were actually sort of cute.

Haji plucked five of the children off of the great spider, who hissed in protest even further, thrashing her legs on the great web making it shiver, but hold fast.

Haji descended with the spiders and set each of them down, one in front of each student. ”Now since I know you have a limited time” Haji joked once again ”I’ll make your task apparent quickly”

From each of his hands, and the one he placed in the pouch, Haji revealed five vials before placing one on the backs of each of the baby spiders and secured with mucus.

The blue vial placed on the spider before Iza.

The purple vial placed on the spider before Hoshi

Atop Kisho’s spider, a green vial was placed

For Kyo’s spider a vial of turquoise

And finally for Kobura’s spider a vial of violet

Haji stepped back and eyed his students once more, looking into their eyes through the masks. Then he gave each of the little spiders a tiny smack on the abdomen and they scurried away to climb the walls of the obstacle course. Two spiders, the two that carried the violet and green vials, scurried back into the pile of baby spiders atop their mother. Two others, carrying the blue and turquoise vials, simply began running at mach speed all over the course.

The final spider, the one that carried the purple vial, simply ran to the center of the diagram on the ground, and stood defensively in the center. Haji turned and eyed that one with a twinkle in his eye.

”Couldn’t have asked for it to have gone better” Haji said brightly. He turned back to his students, who no doubt were feeling the poisons effects by now.

”Within each of those vials is a component of the antidote to my particular strain of poison. Since each Hachiashi has a unique strain, I guarantee that I am the only one in this room who knows the antidote. Your duty will be to retrieve the vials from these young spiderlings and bring them back here to this spot to await further instructions from me.” Then, almost as an afterthought he added.

”Oh, and try not to hurt them? Mama wouldn’t receive that well” Haji pointed up, and almost as if for emphasis, or maybe warning? The great spider atop the web shrieked.

”Well? Go on my little practice ANBU, the clocks ticking” three hands tapped three wrists.

[WC 731 words]
[Post order is not important! So post whenever ]

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

Everyone had their mask on now, but suddenly his laughter came to a halt after a strange feeling. It felt like, he mask itself was seeping into his face, sealing shut. And not only that, his keen chakra sense was picking up on a disturbance in his chakra network. He coughed, lightly, maybe no one heard but he immediately cast his Byakugan and looked around. Okay, now he can see it. Mempo was speaking but Shouyu stopped listening, trying to figure out what was suddenly overcoming them. Had, did, Mempo do this? His eyes turned to him again, cringing beneath the mask, his throat felt like a frog was jumping around in there, speechless.

Haji: ”As you may already have begun to notice, unless you are more resistant than most, the skin around your face will have gone numb. This is because the masks I gave you were lined with the mucus of someone of Hachiashi heritage”

Now his eyes grew wide, possibly easily visible with those white hues behind the mask. He was right, something was disrupting his chakra causing him to feel this way. In a sense, he was almost relieved it wasn't pre-game jitters but something actually real. Still, this made the task more serious, a time limit and a debuff on all his team mates. It made everything at this moment crucial!

He explained how this serum worked and Shouyu could be seen nodding once, understanding his own, and his team's situation. And as if this didn't get worst, he followed Mempo with his eyes as he jumped, wove some seals and cast a summoning jutsu. It was the largest damned spider the kid ever seen, and his Mother, would freak. He took one step back looking at the monster spider. Behind the mask the kid stared intently.

Things weren't looking any better by the second. There five spiders before them now, each carrying a vial. The purple designated for himself, so it seemed. He nodded, focused, still trying to fight back the effects of this accursed poison. He smacked the spiders and they scattered, Shouyu took another step back, he was only preparing himself. He had no intel on the spiders, he was sure no one really did. To go head on with them would prove to be wasteful. Two went back to the mom, two scurried about, and his was in defense. Simple enough. But this would take extreme team work. He stood straight up, puffing his chest out as he offered aloud to his team mates a plan.

"Team... It is currently 5 on 5..."

He performed a quick series of hand seals before three clouds appeared, cleared and revealed three more of the young ninja. He would then kneel down at his position, looking up at the mom and looking through the chakra networks. He could see the many spiders, and his only idea to where the two carrying the vials went is where they landed when he first saw them. It would be ideal to retrieve them immediately before they burrow and hide themselves from his own special eyes.

"Okay, the odds are no 8 on 5. Izan, if you can summon some clones as well I believe the more the merrier. As for the two that jumped up, I cannot see with my Byakugan whether which one has ou-"

His eyes caught it, Mempo's small amount of chakra that was placed onto the spiders in a mucus was glowing a vibrant color in two distinct locations of the mass. He grinned behind the mask, before wincing again at the sudden pull of his energy, due to the poison.

"Time is limited, I suggest we split up into three teams. Three should attempt at the two of the top, whether me or Kobura as a sensory type to help find the correct spider in efficient time. Another Three should attempt to capture the scurrying spiders, by that time we should have all our numbers for the last. But, allow my Lightning Clones to get a feel for the enemy before we drive hard."

He looked at three of his clones, they all looked back. He sent a mental note, relaying the plans to the three. The clones nodded, and immediately dispersed taking the team of three to chase the two spiders scurrying about the obstacle course. Now, these clones weren't as fast Shouyu himself, and even more bogged down by the effects of Mempo's poison, the spiders were definitely at a high speed. And his clones could be seen darting about the obstacles. Two were chasing directly behind the two spiders while one remained on higher ground, as if to pounce if one had gotten caught.

The real Shouyu, rose from his kneeling position to stand once more, and face the spider who held a defensive stance, in the center of the diagram. He didn't know what to do right now, what defenses the spider had, or if it would even attack. He could see from the jump, they were quick on their feet. His lackluster movement right now would be an issue for sure. Still, the boy slid into stance, "No matter, this will be dealt with either way."

[WC 869]

 

[Kobura]

Kobura knew she had noticed something out of place with the mask she had been given. She was so use to the smell of poisons that the scent eluded her as it felt like it was melting into her skin. This poison was one of the ones she had yet to develop a resistance to and considering the source that would be difficult in the first place.

She listened intently as she slowed her breathing down remaining calm and ignored the initial panic button in her heart. She followed the instructors words as soon as they left his lips, and once her vial was announced she made sure to track the spider just in case the others failed to do so.

Upon the teacher finishing the summary she listened as Shouyu spoke up a plan of action.

"We need the clones to distract the mother spider and the other baby spiders to attempt to retrieve the two vials there. Shouyu and I probably will have an easier time locating them while y'all focus on the other two then we converge on the one in the middle at once."

She had basically confirmed what Shouyu stated previously before nodding at him as her Byakugan activated and she looked at the mama spider. "Shouyu let's go" she announced hoping the others understood the plan.

[Wordcount: 222]

 

[Kisho]

What a great start to the lesson...

Was this the mucus that was slowly rolling down the sides of his face? A drop rolled from the tip of his nose before settling in the corner of his mouth. A taste of brine pierced his taste buds momentarily before dissipating into nothing. No, it was sweat: he had begun to panic. His chest rose and fell at a furious tempo as struggled to cope with the fact that he would soon be dead. Soon he would be mass of clay, lifeless, his spirit being whisked away by a masked reaper. Soon, he would be a failure. His father's stern face appeared in his mask, scowling, rebuking.

Suddenly the mask had grown to be unbearably tight. He could make it all end if he could just peel off the damned mask. He could return to his amidst the trees in the forest where the air was abundant and wasn’t so stale. Kisho’s right hand instinctively reach for his face, his fingers twisted as if mauled by gout, ready to claw the mask off his face.

A single bead of sweat rolled down the crack of his ass, it’s coldness jarring his senses. Where he in a different situation, he would have laughed because it was quite bizarre and tickled greatly, but he was in no mood to laugh. ‘No!' he screamed to himself, ‘You want to help people! You want to change the world! You can’t quit. You can’t fail...'

Instead of on his face, he chose to rest his hand on chest. His mind steady and his crack sweaty, Kisho looked up to see the class instructor on the ceiling, accompanied by an impossibly large spider along with he could on assume were its offspring as large as they were. How long had he been pitying his condition? Had anyone noticed? He nervously looked at his peers. If they had panicked, he couldn’t have noticed. Between his own hysteria, the smoke, and their masks, he was effectively blind.

Haji set a spider before him and then adorned it with a green vial. Truthfully, the thing freaked him out. It was grotesque and Kisho likely would have panicked again if hadn’t seen a summoned creature before. It looked as though it was taunting him, daring him to take the vial on its back. By now Kisho had already figured that the antidote was within it and as Haji explained their task he frowned. With the sensei's emphasis on teamwork, he knew that only the green vial wouldn’t help—they needed all of them. So much for just taking his and leaving the other fucked over. He wouldn’t have minded. After all, he barely knew them.

After Haji finished explaining their task, the hatchling that held his portion of the antidote darted away, blending into the mass of legs above them. ‘Great,” he thought as he looked up.

Hoshi was the first to speak, followed by Kobura. They had analyzed the situation and formulated a plan quickly. They both possessed the Byakugon, an extraordinary set of eyes that could see chakra, (Kisho had been studying!), so it would make sense that they go after the hidden ones. Hoshi also provided a set of clones which would be useful for distractions, as Kobura mentioned.

Still, Kisho knew the task wouldn’t be that easy, especially being poisoned. The mother was still a wild card. What would she do as her children were ruthlessly hunted by a group of masked children? She probably wouldn’t sit still for long and when moved, two of the vials would be moving too. And then there still was the circle in the middle. What was that for? ‘Dammit!’ he thought. There were still too many unknowns.

For now he stood back, still outside of the circle and distanced from the mother spider. He wouldn’t just stand there idling though. “Earth Flow River!” he said firmly after weaving through a set of handseals. He took aim at the spiders carrying the blue and turquoise vials, holding the last seal to see if the jutsu would connect.

“that should slow them down..”

As the jutsu raced towards the spiders he began to form a new set of seals, ready for their reaction.

[WC = 715]
[MFT]

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

The scarred boy watched and listened, stoic as ever in disposition, as he listened to their instructor inform them that he had poisoned them all, while Kyo himself hadn't particularly noticed the effects of the poison, he watched the reactions of the others, both with his eyes and his other senses, though he concentrated on the spiders that Haji had pulled forth "What is it with giant spiders lately? First in Yuii's class and now in this one." he thought to himself and placed the spider’s vials on with his tremor sense. Some of the others reactions were concerning, nearly panicking and starting to remove the mask that they were to wear for the duration of the class. The boy instead did not, though what he did do wasn't much more inspiring, though at least the boy didn't fail right off the bat by removing his mask.

Rather than rush off and chase down his own he watched as a few of the others started their actions, quietly, expressionless behind his mask, letting them plan out their actions and movements. He saw that at least two were focusing on the one in the diagram, while one other was looking to the mother spider tracking their targets there. Rather than join the one tracking, he decided upon helping the other two, getting them one by one should do well enough. The boy's skin hardened as he began to move, cracks appearing in it as he did so, making his skin appear as if it was now stone. Those paying attention would notice he performed his own jutsu, pulling forth a second version of Kyo, which advanced with him towards the spider in the center circle. As they neared the edge, one of the Kyo's quickly sank into the ground, disappearing from sight while the other would move forward to strike alongside the other two. The faster they got even a single vial, the faster they became a more effective fighting force. While the others above the ground were intending to get a hold of the one spider that way, the one below ground intended to merely trap the spider below ground, pulling it in with him and binding it where it wouldn't cause trouble, and would be relatively safe as well.

[WC = 930 + 380 = 1310]
[MFT]

 

[Yamanaka Utano]

Haji took a step back to get out of the way of his students. Now, let’s see what you can do… he mused, his eyes focusing as he quietly opened the Gate of View to allow him to follow along with ease.

He eyed them noticing each react to being poisoned differently. Hoshi’s eyes widened but he stared intently during the instructions so he didn’t seem too phased by it. Neither did Kobura, and judging by her slowed breathing and calm demeanor, she had some experience with poisons. Good, slow your heart rate, slow the spread of the poison, she knows how to deal with it.

Kisho looked as though he were reaching for the mask to remove it, and Haji’s eyes narrowed at him before the students hand ended up resting on his chest instead. Haji nodded. Iza the giant was stoic as ever, making no noticeable reactions. Similarly, Kyo looked on his fellow students without much of a reaction either. Haji’s brow furrowed.

Interesting… Maybe he hadn’t used enough? Iza was rather large and he had not expected a student to be that… massive, when prepping the masks. Kyo on the other hand Haji did not have much of an explanation for.

Soon after, the young Hoshi began chattering off a plan. Haji nodded. Then they all seemed to spring into action. Hoshi created three clones which Haji identified immediately with his gate and he watched as all three of them went sprinting off after the running spiderlings. Thoooose won’t work on their own… Haji thought to himself as he frowned.

The real Hoshi stood in a stance staring down the spider in the diagram upon the ground. Haji grinned at the staring contest.

Kobura was taking in the location of the spiderlings that had returned to their mothers back, she would locate them easily with her Byakugan and be able to relay that information to others she chose to. Haji nodded at this as well, everyone seemed to be taking their roles.
Then Kisho let loose a jutsu which created mud beneath the two spiders that Hoshi’s clones were chasing. The spider’s legs became caught up within the mud allowing for the three Hoshi clones to catch up and snag the two of them successfully.

”Good!” Haji boomed ”That’s the kind of cooperation you need, good analysis of what was needed Kisho, and Hoshi nice faith in your team to back you up”

Haji wasn’t going to be totally silent during this. It was a class after all, not a test.

Finally the Kyo boy moved after carefully watching his team mates. His skin had become stone like and a clone sank into the ground. Haji followed the actions of the clone beneath the ground with his View Gate, raising an eyebrow as it approached the diagram on the ground. Hoshi was still staring the spiderling down as Kyo approached it.

The clone beneatht he earth snared the spiderling and Kyo entered the diagram retrieving the vial from it with ease.
Haji laughed. ”Hey! Sometimes there is false information that can be given, I drew the diagram when I entered here. It is nothing but a drawing.” He shrugged his shoulders.

Then he looked over towards Iza, who had still not moved from his spot. What is he waiting for? Haji wondered. Just as the thought went through his mind that Iza might be charging up some kind of hidden jutsu, the large boy fell face first into the ground like a tree felled in the forest.

”Oh…” Haji muttered.

Then the great spider above them shrieked and let loose a huge torrent of webbing which attached itself to Iza’s lower back and began slowly drawing him up toward her, all the while spinning him in more and more webbing.

”New developments students! What do you do now? Save your squadmate at the risk of the mission? Or complete it despite maybe losing someone along the way? You’re losing time” Haji was stern, but he had to be.

Behind his mask Haji's face was beet red. I guess I used too much on that big guy after all? Oops…

[WC 696]
[MFT]
[Hey guys! Iza won’t be able to finish up the class with us so we will continue without him. Good work so far!]

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

Everything seemed to be successful and he must say, the way the team worked hand in hand was amazing, everyone was quick on their feet. Kobura was on the way to tracking down the two mommy spiders who retreated. His clones successfully caught the spiders but only cause Kisho's quick thinking of the Earth Flow River. Kyo helped Shouyu as Shouyu only played as a mere distraction for the spider, while Kyo seized it from underground. That was fast, three down two to go. His third clone was free and leaving the real Shouyu free as well.

Suddenly, Izan just collapsed to floor face first, Both Hoshi's looked in confusion, he wasn't moving maybe he was immobilized by the poison. He was a rather large character and maybe got a higher dosage than the others. And soon enough, more troubled spark.

"Izanagi!!!"

He was being wrapped up by sticky webs and lifted up to the momma spider being wrapped up like a spider burrito. No way he'd let his friend become a snack for that beast. Quick thinking, his clone jumped into the air, tho very far Izanagi, this clone would only be a stepping stool as the Real Shouyu had leaped too. They were evenly in the air when the clone placed his hands at his hip making a cup for Shouyu to step into so the clone could launch him higher in the air and offer him a double jump in mid air.

"Team! Catch Izanagi, I will free him and assist Kobura at the top!"

He successfully double jumped and increased his height reach Izanagi as his fingers would form a dagger shape with two fingers being the point, chakra encasing the two fingers and forming an extension shaped like a small blade. He used the gentle fist technique to accurately strike the webbing at its weak points reattaching Izanagi.

Although, he wasn't able to catch him, he hoped someone down at ground level would react and catch him. Shouyu would then let himself be reeled up to the Momma spider before freeing himself with another combination of gentle fist strikes, cutting the webs to free himself. He beckoned Kobura to converge on the spiders immediately and remove themselves from the momma spider. The other small spiders reacted and attempted to chase him and down and web him up.

His agility kept the spiders at bay before coming within range of the blue vial carrying spider, Shouyu would release the chakra from his feet allowing himself to free to be free of the sticky web, but he had to activate the chakra again, so not to fall off the giant spider. He jumped at the spider, performing several forward hand springs before cartwheeling behind it with a final leap, he'd attempt to grab it.

 

[Kisho]

Kisho smiled at the sound of spider legs scurrying in mud. The momentum had swung in their favor and they were making quick work of retrieving the vials. There were only two left. In his opinion these two would be the most difficult to apprehend because they were with the mother, hidden amongst a nest of sipderlings. Still, both Hosh and Kobura were focused on her and he doubted she could hold them back.

All the while Izanagi fell. Kisho was rather surprised that he had gotten so easily. From what Kisho had seen, he was a fairly powerful ninja. Must have been the poison. Once again, he was reminded of the poison that was in his own system. How much longer they had, he didn’t know, but he definitely did not want to be spider food. At any rate, he would make his movements diligently and measured. If the teacher’s words were true, the poison travelled through blood so he didn’t want to significantly raise his pulse.

Focusing on Izanagi, Kisho drew five of his knives, fanning them out evenly. All five were thrown at the falling giant. Four of them were intended for his shorts and one was for the fabric of his collar. Hopefully, his aim was true, leaving Izanagi pinned to a wall safely.

He then turned his attention back to the mother spider, waiting to see how it would react. At his present distance he could safely provide support while keeping his movements to a minimum. His hands rested at his side, ready to weave signs or throw knives if the situation called for it.

[WC = 270]
[MFT]