L~

[Kleee]

The sky was azure above them, an expanse that matched the peerless ocean in its depth. The place where the four stood was surrounded by both; a slight field of grass on a relatively small portion of white sand. The crystal clear water lapped gently at the edge of the land, and near the water, a small grove of trees grew. Several chairs were carved into the wood, comfortable even though they lacked cushions. This place was called an island, but it was moreso a peninsula, connected to the mainland by a thin thread of sand. The tide sometimes covered this.

Today, though, the local field was to be a training ground. Having heard the story of the three genin, Zabuza had agreed to help them. Thinking as they walked, though, he wondered if this was the right decision. Three genin against a ship of bandits? Even a full day of training wouldn't help them, if the bandits were half confident. Given that the kids had been taken by the bandits, it seems like that was the case, though they did get away...

And there they were, on the small island in the sun. The sun beamed down, and Zabuza's voice rang loudly and rich through the summer air.

"So, you have a boat to catch. That's all well and good. But before you run, you must learn to walk. And before you walk, you must learn to crawl."

He lifted the Kubikiri Houcho over his shoulder, letting it fall tipfirst into the ground.

"Today, you crawl. I do not know the extent of your fighting abilities, and, if I should judge by the reaction to our meeting in the bakery, I do not have high hopes. Kei, I respect your desire to attack. The fault in your action, however, was not doing it sooner... also, it is important to gauge who you are attacking before you do. There is a careful balance in timing; gauge quickly, then attack. Ryou, your reaction by cowering... well, I think we both know what is wrong with that. Toya, you did indeed gauge who you were being attacked by, but you did nothing. Restraint is important, but inaction is sometimes the worst response of all."

Letting the words hit home, Zabuza turned to one of the trees. This one was grizzled; it had seen ages on the islet, and from its weathered trunk grew thick, strong beams. With a flash of the blade, Zabuza cut one of the branches. Catching the rather large branch with his free hand, he dropped to a crosslegged sitting position. A small kunai appeared in his hand, with crossbranches on the hilt; the blade was perfect for carving. And carving it did! Motioning for the three to sit as he carved, Zabuza began to craft three identical bokken.

Time passed, and with the hour Zabuza stood. In his hands were the three bokken; they lacked the varnish of a finished wooden sword, but they were flawlessly balanced and easy in the hand. A hilt had been carved into the old, thick wood, and each of the grips had crosshatching to keep the weapon in the person's hand.

"Today, we crawl. You are each going to attack me; a single strike. I will do nothing but defend; I am doing this to gauge your fighting ability, and see how much you need to learn from. You may wonder, how can he learn this from a single hit..."

He fixed them with the glare that had been the last sight of countless people, a frozen, bloodless stare.

"I have experience. The best of you gets a prize. Kei, first. Ryou, second. Toya, last."

He dropped to a combat stance as he threw the three weapons.

In his hand reappeared was the carving kunai. It was time to move.

[Kleee]

When the Mizukage himself had offered to aid Kei and her teammates in beating the bandits, taking over their ship, and ultimately escaping from Haha Island once and for all, she hadn't been quite sure what to expect. Was he going to crush the bandits single-handedly with the use of some ultra-powerful, forbidden jutsu? Or was he instead going to teach the three genin an ultra-powerful jutsu of their own?

One thing was for certain, however; Kei had been expecting a little more action and a lot less talking.

"So, you have a boat to catch. That's all well and good. But before you run, you must learn to walk. And before you walk, you must learn to crawl. Today, you crawl," Zabuza began, from where he stood in front of the three genin. Personally, Kei wasn't quite sure how crawling had anything to do with beating up bandits, but she did her best to pay attention to his words anyway. He was the Mizukage after all, chances were the man knew what he was talking about. Unfortunately, not everything he was saying was quite what Kei wanted to hear...

"I do not know the extent of your fighting abilities, and, if I should judge by the reaction to our meeting in the bakery, I do not have high hopes. Kei, I respect your desire to attack. The fault in your action, however, was not doing it sooner... also, it is important to gauge who you are attacking before you do. There is a careful balance in timing; gauge quickly, then attack."

Kei winced. Ouch. She was being singled out already? Well, at least he 'respected her desire to attack'. She'd just have to remember his advice for next time...

"Ryou, your reaction by cowering... well, I think we both know what is wrong with that."

Oh, so maybe she wasn't the only one in trouble here. Kei stuck her tongue out at Ryou, hoping Zabuza hadn't noticed. It didn't seem that he had, as instead he went on to detail to Toya his weaknesses, and something about inaction and responses and... stuff. She was barely listening at this point, for she'd already predicted where this meeting would go, and it looked like they were finally getting to the good part. Zabuza had sliced a branch off from a nearby tree, and motioned for the three genin to sit as he began to carve the wood into a blade. Kei sat, waiting and watching intently as he worked.

She'd never been one for waiting quietly and patiently, and it was even worse when she was waiting for something exciting to happen, like right now. Needless to say, she wasn't doing so well with the whole 'quietly and patiently' thing. As the minutes wore on, she even considered punching her teammate again for amusement, but fortunately for Ryou, Zabuza stood before Kei was forced to resort to such drastic measures.

"Today, we crawl," he repeated. "You are each going to attack me; a single strike. I will do nothing but defend; I am doing this to gauge your fighting ability, and see how much you need to learn from. You may wonder, how can he learn this from a single hit... I have experience. The best of you gets a prize. Kei, first. Ryou, second. Toya, last."

Kei snatched one of the three bokuto out of the air as Zabuza moved into a combat stance. Yes, she was first! Looked like all that waiting had paid off. Kei was about to rush forward right away, but then she remembered Zabuza's advice. Right... she had to do that gauging thing first. Well, Zabuza was wielding that carving kunai from earlier, and she had her bokuto... Kei's weapon was bigger! Clearly, she had the upper hand here! Now she darted forward, hopefully fast enough not to be chastised for attacking soon enough again... But after all, she hadn't had to do much 'gauging' of this situation. It was obvious who was going to win here.

...Right?

Gripping her bokken tightly, Kei swung it back and then attempted to strike Zabuza as hard as she could.

"Take that!"

[Kleee]

Even with Zabuza agreeing to helping the three genin attack the bandits, steal their boat and leave Haha Island for good, Ryou still wasn't satisfied. Departing the ill-named Island using a crappy boat that had once belonged to a hoard of fat stupid bandits wasn't Ryou's idea of a getaway; he had expected someone to somehow call a helicopter to take them back to Yuki. Hitting the seas before walking the rest of the way home was a course of action he would never normally agree to take part in; but it just so happened that Haha Island was something of a criminal haven, and hanging around waiting for luxury rescue services wasn't exactly advisable. And that was how Ryou ended up following grouchily after his teammates, hands in his pocket, wishing desperately that he still had his shoes as the prickly grass brushed across his feet.

"...If this place was on the map, then my father's search party would have found me by now, but noooo~" he whined, deciding to let out his frustration by annoying everybody else to hell. Thankfully for Ryou's teammates, this didn't last long, as Zabuza finally decided to quit dawdling and start lecturing.

"So, you have a boat to catch. That's all well and good. But before you run, you must learn to walk. And before you walk, you must learn to crawl. Today, you crawl,"

Ryou rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure he had learnt how to crawl when he was a couple of months old, and even in Zabuza's metaphorical context, it didn't make much sense. It wasn't that hard for the damn Ex-Assasin-Seven-Swordsman-of-the-Mist-Mizukage to kill a couple of mentally challenged bandits and send them off on their way, but it looked like all of this actually had a point or something.

"I do not know the extent of your fighting abilities, and, if I should judge by the reaction to our meeting in the bakery, I do not have high hopes. Kei, I respect your desire to attack. The fault in your action, however, was not doing it sooner... also, it is important to gauge who you are attacking before you do. There is a careful balance in timing; gauge quickly, then attack."

Ryou zoned out very quickly. Pointless lecture. It was useless trying to make Kei actually think.

"...Ryou, your reaction by cowering... well, I think we both know what is wrong with that."

And upon hearing his own name, Ryou jumped right back into caring about what was going on, and his reaction to all this was far from calm.

"...Why you! I wasn't cowering! The only reason I backed away was because I actually knew who you were and I wasn't stupid enough to come at you...Unlike some people" he shot a glance at Kei, who had her tongue out, "It's called Self Defence, not cowering!"

Ryou spat a the ground, now in an even more foul mood than before as Zabuza snapped a branch off a tree and asked the genin to sit down for a while. The time it took him to complete whatever he was doing washours, Ryou contemplating sleep the entire while. He lay down in the grass, staring at the bright blue sky, examining the scenery in contrast to the weather in Yuki; it sucked! Lying on the grass was not as comfortable as resting in the cold snow, feeling the warmth of cottony clothes contrast against the chill of the ice. But here, he didn't even have those clothes. The repeat thoughts played in his mind until he indeed did doze off...

"Today, we crawl,"

It felt like Ryou had merely been sleeping for seconds when Zabuza's voice came thundering back at him, repeating the same thing he had said the last time he had talked. Pushing himself up with his arms, Ryou brushed windswept hair out of his face to reveal a glare that looked none too happy.

"You are each going to attack me; a single strike. I will do nothing but defend; I am doing this to gauge your fighting ability, and see how much you need to learn from. You may wonder, how can he learn this from a single hit... I have experience. The best of you gets a prize. Kei, first. Ryou, second. Toya, last."

"Wha-?" Ryou began, still in the midst of comprehending what Zabuza had just said. His speech however, was quickly cut short as the Kiri Nin decided to send a large sword, specifically a bokken, hurling right at him. Jumping to his feet with more energy than he had exhibited all day, Ryou caught the weapon in mid-air, watching Zabuza draw a kunai, ready for them to strike. Under normal circumstances, Ryou once again wouldn't prove to be the participating type, but Zabuza had mentioned something along the lines of a prize. And that meant some kind of personal possesion; and Ryou couldn't just refuse that.

As per usual, Kei was the first to jump into action, taking slightly more time to deliver the attack than usual. Hmm, it looked like she had taken some time out to rub two brain cells together...

"Take that!"

It appeared that Kei had concluded her move. Well, that meant it was Ryou's turn to act. Hmm, how would be the best way to conduct this? Well, Kei's attack had been mostly frontal. Quick, but direct. If Zabuza had enough speed, which Ryou was pretty sure he did, then the attack was somewhat stoppable. Maybe the way to go here would be via the tactic of surprise...

Checking to see if Zabuza was still preoccupied with Kei, Ryou darted aroud, until he came to face Zabuza's back, a small, confident smirk on his face.

Here goes nothing!

Ryou charged at the Mist Man's back, the bokken held firmly in his right hand. His left hand flew upwards, aiming to somehow grip around Zabuza's neck, as to root him in the spot ...a move that would have been more effective had Ryou actually been taller. Simultaneously, Ryou threw his right hand, still clasping the sword, towards Zabuza's back, going for a strong strike to the spine.

"...Who's crawling now!"

[Kleee]

Relief had immediately flooded Toya after Zabuza had been generous enough to assist them in their flight from the bandits and from this island altogether. Even if the three genin had managed to avoid getting recaptured by the bandits, it would have been a nearly impossible task for them to somehow acquire a ship or other method of returning to the mainland. But instead of simply escorting them to the nearest dock and getting a ship for them, it seemed that the Mizukage wanted to teach them a few things before they would have to go their separate ways. Luckily, Toya was in a good mood now that their escape method was assured, so he was perfectly fine with this turn of events.

"...If this place was on the map, then my father's search party would have found me by now, but noooo~"

Toya rolled his eyes, but bit his tongue. There were a million witty insults that he could have easily responded with, but it would tarnish their village’s reputation in front of the Mizukage himself if a team of genin constantly bickered about small subjects in front of him. Besides, he was still trying his hardest to be a good teammate and accept his teammate’s more undesirable qualities. Which, in Ryou’s case, were pretty much all of his qualities…

"So, you have a boat to catch. That's all well and good. But before you run, you must learn to walk. And before you walk, you must learn to crawl. Today, you crawl,"

Toya simply nodded and stayed silent. It was true that the three of them could certainly use some more experience in many different areas of shinobi life. If they had been more careful back when that stupid captive bandit had told them the fake location of his comrade’s camp, then maybe they would not have ended up in this situation in the first place. Boy was he going to regret falling into that trap for a long time…

"I do not know the extent of your fighting abilities, and, if I should judge by the reaction to our meeting in the bakery, I do not have high hopes. Kei, I respect your desire to attack. The fault in your action, however, was not doing it sooner... also, it is important to gauge who you are attacking before you do. There is a careful balance in timing; gauge quickly, then attack."

Truth certainly existed in Zabuza’s analysis. Toya had always known that Kei’s eagerness and willingness to take action was a double-edged sword. Quick action could often lead to victory, but only if there was some type of thought behind the actions.

"...Ryou, your reaction by cowering... well, I think we both know what is wrong with that."

"...Why you! I wasn't cowering! The only reason I backed away was because I actually knew who you were and I wasn't stupid enough to come at you...Unlike some people. It's called Self Defence, not cowering!"

Toya smirked at Zabuza’s reprimand and the offended reactions of Ryou. Unfortunately, his smirk was quickly erased as the large Kiri leader continued on to mention Toya.

“Toya, you did indeed gauge who you were being attacked by, but you did nothing. Restraint is important, but inaction is sometimes the worst response of all."

A slight flare of anger and an urge to defend himself arose inside of Toya, but he quelled it before he did or said anything he would regret. Ryou seemed to have somehow started acting more disturbed and whiny than he usually was, if that could even happen. Zabuza had started crafting some sort of weapons with his knife, so Toya sat down somewhere in between the spots where Kei and Ryou had decided to wait. Even without his sight, he could hear the sounds of Ryou’s frustrated movements, so he made sure to inch slightly away from that spot. Now it became a simple waiting game as they anticipated whatever Zabuza had in store for them.

"Today, we crawl. You are each going to attack me; a single strike. I will do nothing but defend; I am doing this to gauge your fighting ability, and see how much you need to learn from. You may wonder, how can he learn this from a single hit... I have experience. The best of you gets a prize. Kei, first. Ryou, second. Toya, last."

The slight whirring noise of the wooden object flying towards his head had been the only warning Toya received of the weapon’s approach. His trained senses and quick reflexes saved him from receiving a facial disfiguring as he reached out and agilely reached forward and caught the wooden hilt in his right hand. It felt good to finally have a blade back in his hands, even a wooden one. The bandits had long ago confiscated his usual arsenal of knives.

"Take that!"

Training for over ten years without functional eyes was both a blessing and a curse for Toya. In this case, it was a real lifesaver for him. Focusing on his auditory senses alone, he could estimate what exactly everyone was doing in the immediate area. Kei had charged forward and struck forward towards Zabuza, and another figure had approached the man from the back, which could clearly only be Ryou.

Instead of trying a more basic maneuver, Toya decided to attempt something a little more risky. Gathering chakra in his legs and feet, he ran forward and leapt into the air, easily sailing high enough to clear the top of the Mizukage’s head by several inches. Using the momentum of his jump/dive, he swung the wooden blade in a downward motion, hoping to strike, or at least clip, the top of Zabuza’s head as he passed by. Then he would simply land on his feet on the opposite side of his target. But then again, that was only if the MIzukage hadn’t completely countered his action and obliterated him in the process by then…

[Kleee]

Well, these kids were good at reacting to an order. And they caught the bokuto, as well. It was finally time, however, to see if they could react in a proper fashion and process his words. Sometimes one faced an enemy head on; they would not fully be able to comprehend his strength, but they knew he was stronger. It was always better to practice against an opponent stronger than oneself, simply because improvement would occur. So they went.

Kei, as expected, had attacked in a simplistic manner; she came directly at him with a swing. The swing was surprisingly hard, harder than Zabuza had anticipated. He loosened the joint in his leading arm, taking the force of the strike with the middle of the kunai blade. Shaving the weapon down the side of the bokuto, he balanced it on the hilt, and twisted. The bokuto flew from her grip, sticking into the firm soil as it vibrated like a plucked string.

Fluidly, Zabuza swept his leg; this action not only sent Kei to the ground, it spun him to face the oncoming Ryou. Having dropped to a knee and his fingertips, Zabuza lashed out with a wicked straight kick; this caught Ryou in the midsection. Bad idea to try an attack like that when you're too short. His sword flew, getting caught in the tree from which it had been taken. As Ryou lifted into the air, Zabuza swung his legs around. Digging them into the dirt, he grasped the airborne prince, sending him into the air.

Directly into the blade and flying form of Toya. A vicious crack filled the air, and Zabuza rose from the pushup position he had ended the fight in.

Surveying the damage, he looked at the sorry lot. Ryou's attack was preposterous, given his height, and Toya had tried for too much showmanship.

"The winner is... "

Dramatic pause, though Ryou probably couldn't hear.

"Kei."

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