First Meeting~

[Sasuke]

Tomo was walking casually down the street of the Imperial city... he had his elite guards incognito all around him... not like he needed them...
Tomo's gaze glanced over at one of his lesser experienced guards who's uniform was showing through the knit shirt that he had slipped over it... 'I'll have to give them a breifing on disguise later...' Tomo said...

he began whistling as he walked... "Aggggggggh..." he sighed in between songs... "What a beautiful day!"

Tomo walked to the entrance of the most reputable tattoo parlor Snow City... which coincidentally was attached to the largest hot springs spa as well...

Steam was rising thick in the air over the building... Tomo breathed the mix of steaming water and cold air in deep...

"Ah..." he said... "Well this is the place... might as well make sure the team meets all of us..."

Tomo opened up a small summoning scroll and then slammed it between his open palm and the ground... sealing lines came out but were swallowed in an instant...

His three oxen familiars stepped forward each one in elaborate imperial robes... Okishii's was blue and had glass orbs sewn into it... Ginmooru's was white with silver lines crisscrossing all over it... And Fushii's was an thick bear-hide robe with an elaborate green pattern skirting a large saddle, obviously meant for a rider...

Tomo said, "Well now that I am ready, Its just a matter of waiting..."

Okishii and Ginmooru were silent and reserved... which was in both their characters normally, but now that they were in a land of ice and snow they had become somehow more reclusive and subdued...

Fushii was the only one of Tomo's oxen who seemed happy to meet these new genin... "It's about time you got another team together Tomo... I haven't had the fun of exploring since young Ikibi was with us..."

Tomo nodded and rested his back on Fushii, the great grey musk ox and whistled waiting for his team...

[Sasuke]

Walking down the same street that Tomo had used only minutes earlier, Toya raised his arms above his head to stretch them. The night before, he had instructed his two private servants to wake him at a very early hour to give him enough time to eat and prepare before the team meeting. He did not plan on being late, in fact, he was planning to arrive much earlier than they had been told to.

Toya now reflected back on the message he had received. It was rare enough to be given a personal letter from the Emperor of Yuki himself, but being invited to join Tomoushii’s own team of genin-ranked shinobi could only be considered the highest honor any Yuki-nin could ever hope for. However, one detail in the letter stood out as odd to Toya’s eyes. The location of the meeting had been set at a famous tattoo parlor. Why would the leader of the entire country form his own personal team and then choose this place for their first meeting? Wouldn’t the palace be a much more suitable setting? Regardless, Toya had no desire to question the motives of his new sensei, so he would simply go where he was told.

Finally approaching the building, the dark-haired genin blinked reflexively at the sight in front of him. There stood the Emperor along with three enormous oxen clothed in colorful, imperial robes. Toya had to restrain himself from making any obvious facial expressions of surprise, since he was ‘blind’. That’s what the public was made to believe, but in reality, he could see everything perfectly. The dark shades that he wore only served to seal his Fatesplitter’s vision and hide it from the public. He hated being forced to conceal such a useful power, but this was the price he had to pay in order to stay alive.

Finally snapping out of his thoughts and remembering what he had been doing, Toya bowed his head in respect to his new teacher and spoke with a calm, but resonant voice. “Hello, Yukiokami-sama. It is a privilege to be requested for your team. I hope to learn much under your guidance.”

[Sasuke]

"Where are you going anyway? Shinobi are so unorganized. Why couldn't you do somethin' with more dignity?"

"Who're you to talk about a job with dignity? Last time I checked, you used to be a frikin underwear model,"

"Don't you dare talk to your mother like tha-"

"You're not my mother,"

-SLAM-

Ryou had never gotten on with his Stepmother. He hated her and her random hate of all things ever so slightly rugged. Just like shinobi, tattoos probably fell into that catagory of things that his stepmother hated. That was why he hadn't told her exactly where he was headed either.

Come to think of it, even he didn't have any idea why his new sensei had asked for him to come and meet his new team at a Tattoo Parlour. According to his father, they had arranged for somebody really special and skilled to be his teacher, but it just didn't make any sense for such a "legendary" person to start out like this. But whatever, one of the few things that made Ryou happy was rebelling against his stepmother, so the more strikes he got against her, the better.

It wasn't really that long a walk to the Tattoo Parlour, which, like his house, was actually pretty close to the center of town. It was a pretty nice day, too. Just like always, the village was very cold, but there was a glint of sun, shining rainbow against snow. Ryou's silver hair blew around behind him, tickling his neck, as he walked, his hands in the pockets of his specially tailored coat as he slouched through the snow in a fashion that he knew his dear stepmother would never approve of.

His father had apparently wanted to escort him to his first training session, but something had come up with the governers, just as usual, and he had ended up being whisked away. Instead Ryou was supposed to be travelling with his stepmother, but he knew that the old hag didn't want to set foot anywhere near a place where shinobi were, and he didn't really want her around either, so as a result, there he was, alone. He couldn't have been happier though; how many normal kids were actually escorted to their first training session? Ryou didn't really want to stand out anyway. He hated it. It was nice walking through the village without having to stop every five minutes because somebody wanted to talk to his father.

After a further two minutes or so of walking, Ryou came upon the tattoo parlour in question. He had never really been on this street before, now that he thought about it. It was something of an "adults" street; the famous downtown area. The largest hotspring, some nightclubs and then the most famous tattoo parlour. Usually you would expect to find idiotic adults like Ryou's stepmother, vain people who didn't really care about anything except their making sure they walked around revealing as much skin as possible, so it was quite strange to see four people there, completely clothed in what looked almost like drapery. Well, one person, four animals. Big animals too! There was also a smaller figure there... Gee, they looked so strange in this setting.

Oh god, more ways to stand out. Joy.

Ryou's next few steps were taken with more anger than his previous ones. Suddenly he didn't really want to be here anymore. But this was his genin team, the start of his career, his dignity-less career. Yep. He came closer, and as the sun's bright glare against the snow receeeded, he made out exactly who his sensei was.

The one person in the village with more authority than his father; The Emporer.

"You've got to be kidding," muttered Ryou in an undertone. Oh yeah, the name rang a bell. THAT was the guy his father was talking about; the legendary shinobi was going to be his new sensei. Damnit; Ryou didn't really want any more attention due to mere association.

He came to a halt in front of the Yukiokami, Tomoushii Soratodai, and at him for a few seconds before slouching forward just a bit further. His bow wasn't anything too impressive, pretty much just an inclination of his head. Finally, he rummaged through his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a tightly wrapped scroll.

"My name's Ryou Yutaka," he said, handing the scroll to his new teacher, "My father told me to give you that,"

Dearest Yukiokami-San,

It is a great honor to have you as the trainer for my son; for many years I've been pretty sure that he's been wanting to to follow in the footsteps of the great race known as shinobi. Once again, such an honor it is...

As such, Ryou is a fairly good boy, but as my wife has pointed out to me, he can be a bit "mentally challenging" at times; or to be a bit more blunt, slightly rude. I'm sorry if he annoys you, and if such a thing does happen, I will be more than happy to withdraw him as your student.

I was originally hoping to escort him, but something has come up. Very sorry again. Now I know my son can be a bit shabby with his skills, but I know he'll be well taken care of with you as his teacher, so I have no worries whatsoever!

Yours sincerely,
Yukata Daisuke

Snow Country Daimyou

The scroll was his father's replacement for not being able to escord Ryou to his first training session. Ryou been instructed to just give it, but not to read it, but it didn't really matter; he had already guessed what it had said. Exactly the same thing his father told anybody else who he was left in the care of.

"By the way," he called out to his sensei, "I am not "shabby" or "mentally challenging"; I don't need to be looked after. Don't worry about my father,"

With that, he took to lean against the wall beside his new teammate; waiting for whoever else was going to show up.

[Sasuke]

"...Kei!"

"..."

"KEI!"

"Zzzzzzz..."

"Kei, WAKE UP!"

"OW!"

Murasaki Kei shot straight out of bed and onto the floor. She clutched the painful bump that had just arisen on her head, wincing. "Nii-san, what'd you do that for?!" Kei glared up at her brother. "My alarm clock didn't go off yet!" She glanced over at the clock where it sat quietly on her bedside table. 6:48! Still early. Her alarm was set to go off at seven, so she'd have plenty of time to get ready. "I could still be sleeping right now! Thanks a lot..."

"Uh... Kei?" The girl's brother cut in, looking down at his sister. "You do remember that clock is broken, right? It has been since six last morning!"

"...CRAP. Why didn't you tell me!?"

"I just di--"

"I'M GONNA BE LAAAAATE!"

And with that, Kei was off. She got dressed at lightning speed, just barely dragging a brush through her hair and quickly tying her trademark bandana around her forehead to keep her tame her wild violet hair. She darted down the stairs, shoving a slice of toast in her mouth as she slipped on her gloves and pulled on her boots. The Yuki forehead protector was tied securely around her arm, and a bright green scarf around her neck.

With that, she was set.

"I'm off!"

"...Bye Kei!"

Now, Kei wasn't normally the type of person to get up early for no reason. But today was a very important day. It was her first real day as a genin, and the day she got to meet her new team. But... even more exciting than that...

She was gonna get a tattoo!

The letter she'd recieved from her new sensei had clearly said to meet at the tattoo parlor in town, of all places. This was surprising to her, seeing as Kei had heard her new sensei was to be the Emperor himself. She'd gotten a lot of grief from her dad about how she had to behave and work hard and try her best and everything, while her brothers had been really jealous that Kei had gotten such an awesome sensei as the Emperor. Kei herself wasn't quite sure just how it had happened, seeing as her grades in the Academy had always been, well... not the best. But that was okay! She was going to work hard today. The Academy teachers must have seen something in her, to give her such a powerful team leader. Still, Kei was a little worried. Being the Emperor and all, what if her sensei was... stuffy? Boring? Strict?

She certainly hoped he wasn't. But whoever this guy was, if he was gonna let Kei get a tattoo, he was cool in her book! Her dad would never approve of something like that... Kei snickered. Oh well!

Kei was dashing across the rooftops of Yuki by now, running as fast as she could to meet up with her team on time. If she kept this pace up, she wouldn't be too late... Ah, and there it was! The tattoo parlor! Kei ran across the roof of the parlor, heading to the front where her teammates stood underneath. They were probably introducing themselves to the sensei right about now... Kei skidded to a halt, preparing to jump off the edge of the roof. She'd make a dramatic entrance! Her new teammates would be in awe of her skill! She--

Oops.

Kei slipped on a patch of ice and fell of the edge, where she landed directly behind her teammates, facefirst in a snowbank.

...Well, that was some first impression...

But Kei was not one to be discouraged. She scrambled to her feet, addressing her new team. Sometime during the fall, Kei's bandana had slipped down her face and was now obscuring her vision, but she didn't stop to fix it. Nothing would get in the way of her grand entrance! ...Even if she had kinda just fallen of the roof back there... Oh well!

Kei grinned.

"Um... Hey! I'm Kei!"

[Sasuke]

Tomo saw his three genin come in one by one... each one was as he had expected, young and inexperienced, but he knew that each one had their own potential...

Tomo remained silent as the first one approached him... he looked at him and turned his eyes to the one who had a letter from his parents...

Tomo opened the scroll and read it... he raised one eye brow and laughed... throwing it over his shoulder he saw his last student approach... falling down in the snow, Tomo wanted to go help her up, but the girl was under so much pressure that she scrambled to her feet before Tomo had even moved in her direction to help her...

'That girl has a good reaction time... the one with overbearing parents is going to want to get away from home as much as possible, and the suck up needs to get a challenge that ruins his plans a bit..."

Tomo was analyzing their movements and manners with a hidden interest... making each word, gesture and hesitation another piece of insight into their situation...

"Okay..." Tomo said making sure that his subjects and guards were in earshot... "Well met all of you... My name is Soratodai Adamu... I am indeed the crowned Yukiokami, but from now on you all will address me as Tomo-sama or Tomo-sempai..."

not waiting for a response he bow low and waited for his students to return his bow...

[Sasuke]

My name’s Ryou Yutaka. My father told me to give you that.

Toya stood up straight after he had finished greeting Tomo and glanced over at the first arrival. The boy seemed normal enough, though it seemed odd that his father had sent him with a scroll for the Emperor. Perhaps it listed specific instructions regarding Ryou’s training, though Toya did not bother wasting his time trying to figure it out.

By the way, I am not "shabby" or "mentally challenging"; I don't need to be looked after. Don't worry about my father.

Now Toya’s interest had been piqued again. This boy’s father had sent a warning to Tomo about his own son? Either the man was very over-protective, or he simply had absolutely no faith in his own child. Regardless of which it was, their family apparently had a few issues that still needed to be worked out.

With nothing left to do but wait for their final member, assuming that this team would include the usual group of three genin to one sensei, Toya waited silently. He was not an extremely talkative person unless someone else initiated a conversation, and he remained content in the silence of their group.

His patience had just about run out when the sudden sound of a large object hitting the snow behind them reached his ears, causing him to spin around in order to see what had happened. The sight that met his eyes was definitely not what he had been expecting. A young… boy(?) had fallen face-first into the snow, but he quickly jumped to his feet, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his forehead protector was covering most of his eyes…

"Um... Hey! I'm Kei!"

Toya could barely resist slapping his palm against his forehead. This was the team that the Emperor of Yuki had hand-picked? Both of the other genin appeared to be a year or two younger than he was. The first boy clearly had an issue with his family, and this second one couldn’t even arrive at the rendezvous location without taking a plunge into the snow.

After Tomo finished his greeting, Toya gave a slight nod. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Tomo-sama. I am Toya Nanaya.” Adding his name was mainly directed at the new arrivals who had not heard his introduction yet. The genin then quickly returned the bow, feeling slightly strange about this whole situation. He had grown accustomed to having other people serve him and use respectful names for him, but he would have to get used to those conditions being reversed. This meeting had already started in such a strange manner, and they hadn’t even talked about why they were in front of a tattoo parlor…

[Sasuke]

Ryou only raised his eyebrows in confusion and awe when his new Sensei proceeded to just throw the scroll over his shoulder and laugh. He had never seen anybody just do something like that to anything that involved his father. Wow, there was something about this Tomo-Sensei that just set him apart from the rest. Wow.

But the emporer appeared to have nothing more to say to him, and simply beckoned him to go and wait with his other teammate. And so he did; he turned around, only to see the boy looking from the Emperor to him in a strange way. Ryou simply glared back; his teammate was a little taller than he was, and everything about what he wore just seemed to be as black as his hair. Matching with those thick black sunglasses he wore. Ryou wondered how exactly this guy could see through those, but then he remembered that he had seen people like this before; and it struck him that perhaps this guy couldn't even see at all.

The silence that followed sure was an awkward one. Ryou kept looking from the Emporer to his teammate, bringing his arms across his chest to protect himself from the cold he hadn't prepared so well for. Being just like everybody else was something he had often craved, but it was just so strange not to be treated like he was some kind of superstar. The minutes in silence just seemed to go on with no activity except the wind picking up speed every now and then, having Ryou really wish he had brought a jacket. Never one to keep his temper well, it wasn't long before he randomly started enquiring as to what was going on.

"Are we going to start any time soo-"

-CRASH-

Ryou turned around; the sound of something other than passing wind taking him by great surprise. He raised his eyebrows again at the site. A young boy, roughly his age had just landed on the snow. Judging from the fact that he had made a loud noise despite landing on soft snow must have meant that he had fallen from a great height. A glance up at the roof proved Ryou right. Never having been one to help other people up, Ryou merely folded his arms and leaned against the wall as the boy who he suspected was his new teammate stood up. Ryou caught his eye, eyebrows raised, as the boy finally finished picking himself up.

"Um... Hey! I'm Kei!"

"Ryou Yutaka," he suplied, still staring at boy.

Right. Once again, father had been wrong. He had said something about Ryou going to be trained under some really epic teacher; and epic teachers apparently made epic students. But even if there was something epic about the teacher, he was yet to show it. As for Ryou's two teammates; you had to be joking.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Tomo-sama. I am Toya Nanaya.”


So, Toya and Kei, eh? Well, they sure were pretty strange. This whole thing was strange. The three boys seemingly had absolutely nothing in common, and just judging from the personalities he had seen so far, Ryou was pretty sure that they weren't going to get along too well.

"Well met all of you... My name is Soratodai Adamu... I am indeed the crowned Yukiokami, but from now on you all will address me as Tomo-sama or Tomo-sempai..."

And with that, their Sensei bowed. Sempai. Sama. Words Ryou had never used in his entire life. Words that had already been used to describe him even though he was merely fourteen. These were just such outside terms to Ryou. To either side of him, Ryou's teammates gave their bows, but he just looked straight at the man for a few seconds, and for the first time in his entire life, he too bent over and showed some respect. It sure was a change, but perhaps it was something to get used to.

Straightening up once more, Ryou glanced again at the sign above the tattoo parlour and said, the rude tone once against present in his voice;

"So anyway, why are we at this tattoo parlour?"

But some things would never change.

[Sasuke]

Kei pushed her bandana up out of her eyes in order to get a good look at her new team.

So.

Toya and Ryou, huh?

Kei's first impression of her teammates... well, they looked kinda boring. They'd been completely unfazed by her dramatic entrance! In fact, they looked kinda... annoyed. That was no fun! She looked her teammates over. Ryou fit in perfectly among all the snow, what with his pale skin and silvery hair.

The other one was Toya. Of the two, he looked more annoyed by Kei's sudden appearance. She only responded to his disapproval by flashing him and even wider grin. "You're just jealous you didn't have a dramatic entrance like mine~" she muttered under her breath, only half-intending for him to hear. Touya's appearance was the complete opposite of Ryou's. He had dark hair. And... was he wearing sunglasses? They were so dark, too! Kei couldn't even see his eyes! Creeeepy. She couldn't help but feel curious about why he was wearing them, but that question would have to wait.

For Kei's attention had suddenly shifted over to her sensei. Tomo-sama, as she was to call him. Hopefully he wasn't too upset with how she'd just kinda... fallen on her face like that. Seeing as he was the Emperor of all Yuki and everything. But he looked a tiny bit impressed by the way she'd gotten up so quickly after falling, so things were okay! Kei bounded out of the snowbank and over to stand before Tomo on the other side of Ryou. Her eyes traveled beyond her sensei and over to the group of oxen standing with him. They were so big... almost intimidating, but at the same time... Kei really wanted to pet one!

Beside her, Toya and Ryou bowed low in respect for their sensei. Kei quickly followed their example. "Hai, Tomo-sama!" She did her best to sound as serious as possible. After all, a team was a serious thing! So was getting a tattoo. This was so cool~ Although, it was hard to be serious when her bandana kept falling over her eyes...

"So anyway, why are we at this tattoo parlour?"

"To get a tattoo, what do you think?" Kei cut in quickly. "We are getting tattoos, right? I've never gotten a tattoo before! I wonder what kind of tattoo... and where will I put it? Hmm..." Even if her teammates Ryou and Toya didn't exactly share the feeling, Kei was positively brimming with enthusiasm. This was going to be so cool!

[Sasuke]

Tomo raised himself back up and put a hand in the air to stop the talking...

"Yes," Tomo said reluctantly... "We are outside a tattoo parlor for a good reason... but we will get to that reason after we are finished with the introductions..."

Tomo indicated his oxen, Fushii Okishii and Gin...

Tomo patted Fushii on the back and said, "This is Fushii the oldest living ox in the world, and he had already claimed that title before I meet him in my early years as hopeful candidate for the academy in Kumo... He is my most trusted friend and my dearest companion..."

Fushii was dressed up, but looked as if the elegant robe that he wore was nothing more than a blanket... this gray muskox's coat shown a mix of light brown and deep gray, the tips of each hair became a venerable shade of white and only his snout had any traces of youthful brown to it...

Fushii bowed his head low and then walked up to each of the young genin and raised his snout over each of their heads... his soft perfumed fur and gentle expression glazed over the fact that he invaded each of their comfort zones to take a deep and probing sniff...

Fushii took two steps back in the seemingly busy street and spoke out loud, "Well they are certainly much different than your last group Adamu... at least this team you've put together are all younger and less experienced than you..."

Tomo fanned a hand in front of his face at the comment... walking over to Okishii he gently stroked her head and scratched under her chin... "This amazing animal is Okishii..." Tomo announced over his shoulder to the genin... If she ends up scolding you at some point, just bow and do what she says and you won't have any problems... otherwise..."

at this Tomo turned and made passing glances over his new team... "On second thought we'll cross that bridge when we get there..."

Okishii was wearing her robe well, but her coat having been pampered by the Imperial court was shining and clean... her yak fur was dark brown and gleaming in the cold sun... her features were impressive, but what caught the eye about Okishii more than anything about her was her black and hypnotic eyes...

Okishii said nothing, she just glared at each genin straight in the eye... her deep and full eyes seemed to penetrate their thoughts feelings and memories with an almost invasive quality, but her eyes were gentle and inviting so the longer she stared at one of the genin the longer they wanted to stare back... Okishii got through with her study and without moving from her place she bowed and said, "Hello my dears... it is a pleasure to meet you..."

Tomo walked on further and came to his final ox summon familiar... "This my young students is my final introduction before we have a bit of fun..." Tomo made sure to give a smile and passing glance to Kei... "This is Ginmooru, he hasn't been talking as much since we came to the frozen air of this country, which is saying something because he usually is the quietest of the bunch... if he says anything at all I expect you to listen carefully and follow his instructions to the letter, because above all Gin can notice things out of place a mile away, he is the only ox i have met that has a better awareness than Okishii..."

Ginmooru looked as if he were entirely out of place in the land of snow... his coat was short and light silver colored, his robe was extra thick around his neck and abdomen, but it seemed to hardly do any good because he was starting to shiver... but as Tomo introduced him he put on a brave face bowing low and then saying in a low voice... "Hello..."

Tomo patted Gin on the shoulder and said, "Well that's a relief, I didn't think I'd be able to get you out of your shell today... I guess that means you must like these genin..."

Tomo looked over at his students who looked apprehensive and distant from him... he never understood the glares he received for holding conversations with his ox familiars... it was as if he was the only person alive sometimes that still used ninja beasts...

"Well..." Tomo said in a louder voice... "Don't be shy, these oxen are not here for your gazing pleasure... after we are done here they are going to be helping us give you your first lesson... which I guess means that in a way they are each a sensei..."

Tomo put his hand on his chin and looked over the group and said to himself... "I am so lucky to be able to have such a fine team of souls around me..."

[Sasuke]

Toya had been blind for the first fourteen years of his life. Like, actually blind, not just an act for his own protection. His sight had returned on his fourteenth birthday, the same day that his father was ‘mysteriously’ murdered by an ‘unknown’ assailant. His feigned blindness had only been going for two years, which meant that his other four senses were much more acute than most people’s, even for a shinobi.

”You’re just jealous you didn’t have a dramatic entrance like mine~”

Jealous? Who did this kid think he was? His dramatic entrance was equivalent to slipping off a rooftop and diving head-first into a pile of snow, and yet he had the nerve to say something like that. Well, whatever. It did not really matter to Toya anymore. Their real skills would be measured soon, and that was when he planned on proving his skill and worth to this new team. Until then, he would just have to bear with the quirks of his teammates.

“So anyway, why are we at this tattoo parlour?”

Finally someone had asked the question that had been bugging him ever since he had received the summons from Tomo. The Emperor could not possibly expect them to permanently mark their bodies during their very first meeting… right? Toya didn’t really have a problem with that hypothesis, but it still seemed odd…

"To get a tattoo, what do you think? We are getting tattoos, right? I've never gotten a tattoo before! I wonder what kind of tattoo... and where will I put it? Hmm..."

Oh boy, even without the help of the almost supernaturally perceptive eyes of the Shiki clan, Toya could already begin to stereotype this particular teammate into one particular category. Kei seemed to be the loud and reckless type who preferred to act first and ask questions… never. The overexcited genin was already thinking about the location of the tattoo before Tomo had even mentioned what they were really doing here.

Toya simply sighed quietly and remained silent. It would be pointless to make any further comments before letting Tomo speak again, since he held the title of their sensei now. And maybe they would find out why the Emperor had brought his three intimidating oxen with him as well.

After Tomo had finished telling them to be patient and wait until after he had finished introductions, Toya had to wonder about which introductions were even left. The three genin and their leader had already introduced themselves, and that left…

"This is Fushii the oldest living ox in the world, and he had already claimed that title before I meet him in my early years as hopeful candidate for the academy in Kumo... He is my most trusted friend and my dearest companion..."

Oh right, the oxen had yet to be named. Toya had to restrain himself from flinching when the intimidating creature stepped much to close to him and systematically sniffed each of the genin. He admitted that smell was probably one of the key senses for an animal, but it still remained a very uncomfortable experience.

"Well they are certainly much different than your last group Adamu... at least this team you've put together are all younger and less experienced than you..."

Toya had heard of talking summons before, but it was a different story to see and hear them in person. So this ox had been around to see Tomo’s last team? He could only wonder if that last team had survived intact, because Toya was already starting to have doubts about this group. Would they really be able to overcome their differences and accomplish anything?

"This amazing animal is Okishii... If she ends up scolding you at some point, just bow and do what she says and you won't have any problems... otherwise..."

Wonderful, now this female ox was apparently the team mother who would scold them for their mistakes and expect them to listen to everything she said. The beast’s glare seemed to reach Toya’s eyes, even beneath the dark lenses that concealed them. He found himself wanting to look away several times, as if this animal could somehow see his true eyes and discover the secret that he had been hiding for his entire life…

"Hello my dears... it is a pleasure to meet you..."

After such an intense stare and an ominous introduction, the ox managed to come up with a normal and pleasant greeting. Toya returned her bow and quickly straightened up to face the third and final of Tomo’s companions, for lack of a better word for them. "The pleasure is ours, Okishii-san…"

"This is Ginmooru, he hasn't been talking as much since we came to the frozen air of this country, which is saying something because he usually is the quietest of the bunch... if he says anything at all I expect you to listen carefully and follow his instructions to the letter, because above all Gin can notice things out of place a mile away, he is the only ox i have met that has a better awareness than Okishii..."

What? After the intense gazing of the female ox, now this one was supposedly even better at reading people? Toya barely withstood the black, piercing gaze of Okishii, but now it was going to be worse? Luckily for him, this Ginmooru seemed to be incredibly introverted and shy, since the creature mumbled a silent “Hello”, and yet Tomo seemed to think of it as an incredibly feat.

"Don't be shy, these oxen are not here for your gazing pleasure... after we are done here they are going to be helping us give you your first lesson... which I guess means that in a way they are each a sensei..."

So they weren’t here just for a meeting, since it appeared that Tomo had already planned their first training lesson involving these three imposing oxen. But now the only thing pressing on Toya’s mind was what Tomo had meant by saying ‘after we are done here’. Did that mean they were actually going to all get a tattoo here? This truly was completely different from the experience that Toya had been expecting when he first arrived, but maybe it would work out for the best.

After remaining silent for such a long increment, Toya finally spoke up again. “Tomo-sama… were we correct in assuming that we are going to receive some sort of… marking here?” His tone wavered between being inquisitive and apprehensive. Now hopefully they would receive a clear answer this time…

[Sasuke]

Wow, so much enthusiasm. What the heck was this Kei guy so excited about anyway? Tattoos weren't really anything that special, well, at least, nobody in their right mind would just rush into getting something so permanant this hastily. What an idiot. The new arrival didn't really seem to have any interest in Ryou, either. He had just given him one mere glance and then decided that he was too boring and had instead moved on to stare at Toya. But heck, Ryou wasn't complaining. It was nice, camouflage was.

”You’re just jealous you didn’t have a dramatic entrance like mine~”

Ryou paused for a moment upon turning around and staring at his new teammate standing up to the tall dark guy, and suddenly, a strange sensation came upon him. It was like his insides were almost dancing; rearranging each and every cell which made up the shape of his face, and then, before he knew it, Ryou Yutaka was laughing. Nothing about this comment was too funny; either, but for some reason it had Ryou doing that one thing he hadn't done for years and years; since perhaps even before his mother had died. It wasn't a full laugh or anything; maybe only just a snigger, but it was something. Suddenly, it didn't seem so bad to be here anymore. Even if it was a mere few seconds, there was suddenly something more keeping him there; amusement.


"To get a tattoo, what do you think? We are getting tattoos, right? I've never gotten a tattoo before! I wonder what kind of tattoo... and where will I put it? Hmm..."

Pausing the swimming in his thoughts, Ryou looked up to find that Kei had once again turned to face him and had answered the question he had carelessly thrown out earlier. Even with Kei's "humor" earlier though; Ryou still couldn't help the annoyance flooding back to him. He already knew that they were obviously going to get tattoos, he just wondered why a brand new squad of genin actually needed them. But as he opened his mouth to give his usual annoyed tirade, he found that perhaps now wasn't the time. The ghost of his laughter was still there in his throat; he didn't just want to yell at this guy for no reason whatsoever. He had made him smile; heck, that counted for something. And besides, it wasn't long before Tomo-Sensei decided to silence them all, anyway.

"We are outside a tattoo parlor for a good reason... but we will get to that reason after we are finished with the introductions..."

Just because Ryou had a few moments of self-control, it didn't really mean that it was going to last. Before he knew it, Tomo Sensei had launched into a random discussion about the dumb animals he had surrounding him, and any trace of even a smile on Ryou's face evaporated.

"This is Fushii the oldest living ox in the world, and he had already claimed that title before I meet him in my early years as hopeful candidate for the academy in Kumo... He is my most trusted friend and my dearest companion..."

And there he was, gloating again. Ryou hated people who gloated. His father and stepmother did it all the time. He didn't know why people wanted to be famous; popular; have absolutely everything. Nobody really cared if you owned the oh my god greatest ox of all time. This guy was already starting to get on Ryou's nerves. And the animal was too. As it stepped forward slowly and made sniffing sounds; putting it's snout closer to him than any other animal had been permitted to in the past. It was the strangest feeling; something he certainly wasn't used to. He also wasn't used to animals talking.

"Well they are certainly much different than your last group Adamu... at least this team you've put together are all younger and less experienced than you..."

...

"Right," Ryou muttered in an undertone, looking at the Ox with slight annoyance.

"This amazing animal is Okishii... If she ends up scolding you at some point, just bow and do what she says and you won't have any problems... otherwise..."

Ryou looked away to the second animal. It didn't seem to be speaking at all, but was instead glaring at him in the same way he stepmother glared at him. And judging from what Tomo-Sensei said about her scolding you if you didn't listen to her every single command, this Ox really was like his stepmother. The only difference was that this was an Ox, not a Cow.

"Hello my dears... it is a pleasure to meet you..."

He merely nodded at the animal, slight revulsion in his expression. He had heard of animals which could talk before, but still... gee, these animals were so strange.

"This is Ginmooru, he hasn't been talking as much since we came to the frozen air of this country, which is saying something because he usually is the quietest of the bunch... if he says anything at all I expect you to listen carefully and follow his instructions to the letter, because above all Gin can notice things out of place a mile away, he is the only ox i have met that has a better awareness than Okishii..."

Ryou was glad to be given the chance to look away from Okishii; it didn't look too impressed with his simple jerk of head as opposed to a full bow. It was a good thing that this animal didn't really seem to care. It was the most normal of them all; considering it couldn't even talk. Ginmooru muttered something, and Ryou merely nodded as though just telling that animal that it was probably better off keeping it's mouth shut anyway. Unfortunately, Tomo-Sensei had other plans.

"Don't be shy, these oxen are not here for your gazing pleasure... after we are done here they are going to be helping us give you your first lesson... which I guess means that in a way they are each a sensei..."

With these words, Ryou virtually spat into the snow, unable to believe his ears. Oxen teaching them? What the hell? What was there to learn from Oxen anyway. This was just getting more and more stupid by the minute.

“Tomo-sama… were we correct in assuming that we are going to receive some sort of… marking here?”

Yes. Very stupid.

"Well duh; of course we're here to get some sort of marking; idiot. Anyway, I think everybody and everything knows what each other are now; so can we get started?"

[Sasuke]

Kei could have gone on talking nonstop like that for hours.

Luckily Tomo seemed to notice this and raised a hand indicating for the group to be silent. Or rather, just Kei. The other two... well, they didn't seem to be very talkative. They weren't very friendly now were they? Kei thought to herself, frowning slightly. Then again, maybe they were just shy. Yeah, that was it! Well, Kei would fix that. She'd already gotten Ryou to laugh a little bit. And here she'd thought he was completely boring... he had a sense of humor in there somewhere, she could tell! Sure, a laugh and a smile didn't seem like much, but it was a start!

Still, Kei finally quieted down when her sensei began to speak. More introductions? Hadn't all of them already introduced themselves? ...Oh! He must have meant the oxen. Tomo spoke of the first ox, Fushii, very fondly, going on about how he was the his most trusted friend and dearest companion. Apparently he was the oldest ox in the world, too. How old did oxen get, anyways? Not very old, or at least, Kei thought so. But this one was apparently way older than even Tomo! Clearly, these weren't just any old oxen. They were special.

Ryou and Toya didn't seem to see that though. Ryou looked annoyed at the oxen, and Toya seemed kinda weirded out. Kei though, had never really had any other friends her age due to their differences. Instead, most of her only friends had been animals. So she understood perfectly what it was like to be friends with animals, and talk to them too. Kei didn't care if Ryou and Toya thought it was weird, she thought it was cool!

But she had to admit, having Fushii get so close and sniff her like that was kinda scary. He was so big and intimidating! But if Kei was nervous, she did her best not to show it, standing very still and looking him straight in the eye. Upon second glance, the ox wasn't so scary after all. He looked like a nice ox! And something about his eyes... he looked wise. Kei blinked, slightly surprised. Well, that was to be expected, considering his age. And these were special oxen after all.

But the real surprise came when Fushii drew away and opened his mouth.

"Well they are certainly much different than your last group Adamu... at least this team you've put together are all younger and less experienced than you..."

The brave front Kei had been putting on was suddenly ruined as she jumped a bit, startled. The... the ox had talked! She could tell they were smart, but she hadn't expected them to be that smart. But once Kei got over the initial shock of talking oxen, she thought about the ox's words. 'Different'? Was that a good thing or a bad thing...? She could only hope it was good. And maybe they were young and inexperienced now, but that would change! Kei was going to be the greatest shinobi in Yuki one day! She'd show them.

"Just you wait!" Kei called out suddenly. She grinned, pumping her fist in the air. "We might be inexperienced now, but someday we're gonna be the best three shinobi in all Yuki! Maybe even the whole world!" She looked over, glancing at her teammates for support. "...Right guys?"

...Unfortunately, Ryou and Toya didn't seem to share her enthusiasm. Kei crossed her arms and looked away, pouting.

"This amazing animal is Okishii... If she ends up scolding you at some point, just bow and do what she says and you won't have any problems... otherwise..."

Kei winced. This one sounded scary... But she soon breathed a sigh of relief, for Okishii simply greeted them with a polite "Hello my dears... it is a pleasure to meet you..." Well okay, she seemed friendly enough. Kei guessed she must be one of those types that was nice and friendly and everything until you got on their bad side... then you were in biiig trouble. Toya responded to Okishii's greeting with equal politeness, and Kei smirked. He sounded calm, but she bet that under that cold, calm exterior, he was shaking in his shinobi shoes at the idea of that big ox getting mad at him! Kei echoed Toya's greeting to Okishii-san and Tomo went on to introduce the final ox.

"This my young students is my final introduction before we have a bit of fun..." She couldn't help but notice Tomo catch her eye and smile at her at this time. Kei sheepishly returned the smile. Clearly he'd noticed that of the three, she was the least serious, and the most fun-loving... but she couldn't help it! After all, with both Ryou and Toya here, the team would probably be really stuffy and boring without someone being dramatic outgoing. So Kei was taking on that job! She'd make up for their lack of enthusiasm while they made up for her lack of seriousness.

"This is Ginmooru, he hasn't been talking as much since we came to the frozen air of this country, which is saying something because he usually is the quietest of the bunch... if he says anything at all I expect you to listen carefully and follow his instructions to the letter, because above all Gin can notice things out of place a mile away, he is the only ox i have met that has a better awareness than Okishii..."

"Hello..."

The ox bowed. Kei hadn't known oxen could bow but... she did now! She returned the bow and replied cheerfully, "Hi Ginmooru-san!" Normally Kei wasn't one for politeness, or even honorifics. But these oxen were different. In part because they seemed so intelligent and friendly and, well... the other because she reeeaally didn't want to get on Okishii's bad side. But... she'd just keep that part to herself, Kei decided, laughing inwardly. Besides, she did really like the oxen. They were definitely more interesting than Ryou and Toya, anyways!

“Tomo-sama… were we correct in assuming that we are going to receive some sort of… marking here?” Toya asked suddenly. Kei blinked. Hadn't they already... kinda clarified that? Apparently he'd missed the memo. Ryou chimed in next, obviously growing irritated.

"Well duh; of course we're here to get some sort of marking; idiot. Anyway, I think everybody and everything knows what each other are now; so can we get started?"

Kei couldn't help but chime in. "It's called a tattoo, Mister Smartypants. Not 'some sort of marking'. You sound like you've never heard of one before! ...Hey, what do you mean by everything?!"

...Great, only a few minutes in and they were already arguing.

[Sasuke]

Tomo stood still and watched the three pre-teens in front of him argue... he thought of his first team, and how much younger and inexperienced this team was... Tsuuki, Ikibi, Renton... they each had personal hardships to overcome and Tomo could rely on even Renton to act with respect and dignity...

Tomo's face was silently pondering his last team and the fallout when he suddenly shook himself out...

"Well okay, so we know everything I guess I should get to my first lesson then..." Tomo's smile became bigger and his face lowered...

Tomo wanted them to get a team tattoo... something more permanent than Team Tomo's patches that were now just keepsakes... but an idea had crossed his mind as Ryou seemed to have lost the interest in this group...

"Ryou..." Tomo said casting him a smile, "What is my favorite jutsu?"

[Sasuke]

"Well duh; of course we're here to get some sort of marking; idiot. Anyway, I think everybody and everything knows what each other are now; so can we get started?"

Did this guy really just say that? To him? Toya had simply been trying to clarify the situation and see if he could get a more specific answer out of Tomo, but this Ryou seemed to be in an impatient mood. He even had the nerve to rudely ask his new sensei and the Emperor of Yuki himself when they would finally start. Toya’s mouth began to open as a biting response prepared to roll off his tongue, when another voice piped up and cut him off.

"It's called a tattoo, Mister Smartypants. Not 'some sort of marking'. You sound like you've never heard of one before! ...Hey, what do you mean by everything?!"

Did this guy really just say that? To him? Actually, Toya really was not sure whether Kei’s words were directed at him or Ryou, but either way it had done a good job of irritating him even further, pushing him closer and closer to the edge of his already thinning patience.

Toya took a small step forward and pointed an accusing index finger directly at Ryou. His anger had almost caused him to slip up on his ‘blind guy’ routine, but the fact that his teammate had just finished speaking gave him a legitimate reason to know the position that he was standing in.

“Who do you think you are, talking down to me like that? I don’t know who your father is, but maybe he was right to call you ‘shabby’ and ‘mentally challenging’, because that’s all you have been so far. I was only trying to clarify why we were called here, so back off, alright?”

That was the longest string of words that had come from Toya’s mouth in one breath in a long time. He preferred to speak in short, concise, and calm sentences that conveyed his meaning coolly and logically, but his temper controlled his actions at the moment. After finishing his monologue, he turned to his second teammate and spoke in the same agitated and icy tone.

“And you dare to insult someone else’s intelligence? Your ‘dramatic entrance’ consisted of flying off an icy rooftop and plummeting straight into a pile of snow! Your clothing looks like you are more blind than I am, and that stupid bandana is probably the cause of it.”

Toya stopped and took a deep breath of the frigid village air to calm his nerves and hopefully cool his fiery temper for the moment. He feared that his ‘other’ side would threaten to engulf him if he didn’t take control of his emotions, so he said no more until their sensei once again spoke up.

"Well okay, so we know everything I guess I should get to my first lesson then..."

What? After all of the talk about finally getting their alleged tattoos, now Tomo wanted to skip that step and do their training lesson first? Was he actually serious about all this?

"Ryou... What is my favorite jutsu?" And then Toya couldn’t restrain himself for a second time, even though the question had clearly been directed to Ryou.

“Tomo-sama, excuse my bluntness, but what does this have to do with anything? We have never seen you in action, and we know nothing about the jutsus in your arsenal. Would you please get to the point and explain what we are doing here?”

Toya’s patience had ground itself to the bone, and now he was most likely going to receive the consequences for it. From Ryou, Kei, Tomo, and possibly even the three oxen with the way this situation had turned out. What a great team introduction…

[Sasuke]

"It's called a tattoo, Mister Smartypants. Not 'some sort of marking'. You sound like you've never heard of one before! ...Hey, what do you mean by everything?!"

Ryou turned to glare at Kei again. Who exactly did this guy think he was..? He was pretty small in build and his voice was kinda high pitched; if the situation was something different, it might have even been comical to see Kei yelling like that as though they were on equal footing. Only it wasn't really very funny because Ryou really was pissed off now.

"Oi!" He yelled, rounding on Kei, now having lost his temper with him as well, "Who are you to talk to me like, idiot. Do you know who my father i-"

“Who do you think you are, talking down to me like that? I don’t know who your father is, but maybe he was right to call you ‘shabby’ and ‘mentally challenging’, because that’s all you have been so far. I was only trying to clarify why we were called here, so back off, alright?”

Toya had finally come off sulking on the wall to start his own tirade of insults. It was worse than Ryou's outburst was though; much, much worse. Ryou was well; always like that. He just shouted all the time and was easily irritated. As stupid as he was, Toya hadn't seemed like that. Even though he had been arguing with Ryou for some time now; he hadn't yelled. Not like this. In his whole life, Ryou could not recall anybody yelling like this.

"Who're you to call ME mentally challenging. At least I don't have some kinda personality problem. What on earth is wi-"

“And you dare to insult someone else’s intelligence? Your ‘dramatic entrance’ consisted of flying off an icy rooftop and plummeting straight into a pile of snow! Your clothing looks like you are more blind than I am, and that stupid bandana is probably the cause of it.”

Something about those words didn't seem to click either. Sure, Toya had just interrupted him for the second time, but that wasn't the bit that had bothered him. What the hell was this guy yelling at Kei for? The whole "dramatica entrance" thing had happened five whole minutes ago. And in the scale of a fight; that was a pretty long time. Even Ryou didn't yell at people for no good reason.

Bah; who had gotten this guy into a really bad mood? Oh yeah; that had been Ryou. BUT STILL. He had no right to go storming around like a bull.

"Why the hell are YOU just yelling at people for the sake of yelling at people? YOU were the one who was asking about whether we were going to get some sort of marking; and we give you an answer!" Ryou spat, his breath visible in the snow, "What the heck is your proble-"

Not for the first time that day, Ryou was cut off. It wasn't Toya this time though.

"Well okay, so we know everything I guess I should get to my first lesson then..."

And what was with this guy? Hadn't he heard ANYTHING of the last few sentences? Didn't he care that Toya was currently the biggest jerk in the universe? Ryou rolled his eyes, and then continued to yelling.

"Oi, Toya I'm not done with yo-"

"Ryou... What is my favorite jutsu?"

...

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Ryou yelled, not bothering with respect anymore. What the heck.

“Tomo-sama, excuse my bluntness, but what does this have to do with anything? We have never seen you in action, and we know nothing about the jutsus in your arsenal. Would you please get to the point and explain what we are doing here?”

It was funny; but for the first time all day, Toya was actually talking sense. Maybe he had calmed down; just that wee bit. Anyway; he had a point. What a stupid and random question. It wasn't like Tomo had shown them any jutsu. It wasn't like he had shown them anything at all so far, either.

"Yeah. What the hell? How am I supposed to know anything? Why the hell are you calling ME out? Why don't you ask them?" Ryou snarled, indicating Toya and Kei.

He suddenly he heard a loud snort and then a grrrr'ing sound. Looking around; he saw that the Oxen didn't look too happy in the slightest. They looked angry at him; too. What on earth had he done? It was Toya who had started this whole thing. Oh yeah; he had failed to answer Tomo-Sensei. But that was all he had done against them. Geezus, these stupid Oxen really did need to loosen up. Ryou took a deep breath and looked back at Tomo Sensei, slight fury still in his voice.

"...Judging from what I've seen though; it's evidently nothing that's capable of stopping a raging idiot. Hmm, must be something less flashy then. Much less flashy," He looked down, knowing that he was probably in for it now, "...Something like summoning Oxen,"

[Sasuke]

Things were quickly headed downhill from here.

It seemed that the three genin weren't capable of being around each other for more than a few minutes without a simple conversation turning into a heated shouting match. What had been a relatively quiet, calm team meeting just moments before had quickly exploded into a massive argument. Ryou rounded on Kei.

"Oi! Who are you to talk to me like, idiot. Do you know who my father i-"

“Who do you think you are, talking down to me like that? I don’t know who your father is, but maybe he was right to call you ‘shabby’ and ‘mentally challenging’, because that’s all you have been so far. I was only trying to clarify why we were called here, so back off, alright?”

"Yeah, he's right," Kei chimed in, agreeing with Toya for once. "I don't give a damn who your dad is, all I know is that you're a boring, stuffy, stuck-up idiot. So don't call me an idiot, idiot! Besides, whoever he is, I bet he's just as dumb as y--"

“And you dare to insult someone else’s intelligence? Your ‘dramatic entrance’ consisted of flying off an icy rooftop and plummeting straight into a pile of snow! Your clothing looks like you are more blind than I am, and that stupid bandana is probably the cause of it.”

"...The hell!? Just whose side are you on?? Don't interrupt me you moron, I was agreeing with you!" Kei was furious now. "What does my outfit have to do with anything!? I like my clothes, thank you very much." How could she have ever considered actually working together with these two? Clearly, it would never work out. Kei would sooner punch one of the two boys in the face than fight alongside them. And with the way things were going, that was probably exactly what was going to happen. "And they're certainly better than all black like yours! What are you, emo? What kind of dude insults someone else's fashion sense, anyway!? Actually, screw that, what kind of blind dude insults someone else's fashion sense?? Like you would know anything about that! How the hell do you even know what I'm wearing?" Kei demanded. "I bet you're just making it up!" ...Then again if he was making it up, he wouldn't know about her bandana. This guy had issues, Kei decided simply. She didn't really know or care just what the hell they were, just that she was going to beat them out of him herself. Her hands clenched into fists and she rounded on her teammate. Kei probably really would have started a fight too with him too, but at that moment Ryou's voice rang out, directed at Toya.

"Why the hell are YOU just yelling at people for the sake of yelling at people? YOU were the one who was asking about whether we were going to get some sort of marking; and we give you an answer! What the heck is your proble-"

So, Ryou was taking her side again. He'd finally made up his mind, huh? Kei had always known he was the cooler of the two boys, if either one of them even classified as 'cool'. Not that she needed some boy to stick up for her, of course. Besides, Ryou was the one who'd gotten them all into this mess. Oh and he'd called her an idiot, she remembered suddenly. She wasn't about to forgive him for that so quickly, even if he was yelling at Toya. But suddenly, Ryou was interrupted by the voice of Tomo-sama.

"Well okay, so we know everything I guess I should get to my first lesson then... Ryou... What is my favorite jutsu?"

Kei blinked.

That certainly wasn't the reaction she'd been expecting from the man. Actually, she hadn't been expecting any reaction from him. In her anger, Kei had forgotten about everything other than her fight with Ryou and Toya. Tomo-sama's unexpected reaction had startled her into silence for the moment, however. But... wasn't he mad at them for arguing so much? It seemed almost random for him to suddenly single out Ryou and ask the boy to guess his favorite jutsu. Well, whatever, he probably had a plan. As long whatever the plan was didn't involve Kei getting in trouble, it was fine with her! Kei's grin returned, confident that she had escaped punishment. Besides, it was pretty funny to watch Ryou and Toya freaking out over a simple question.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?"

“Tomo-sama, excuse my bluntness, but what does this have to do with anything? We have never seen you in action, and we know nothing about the jutsus in your arsenal. Would you please get to the point and explain what we are doing here?”

"Yeah. What the hell? How am I supposed to know anything? Why the hell are you calling ME out? Why don't you ask them?"

"Maybe because you started the whole argument in the first place," Kei muttered. She stuck her tongue out at Ryou. But either he didn't notice or simply didn't care at this point, because the boy ignored her and went on to attempt answering the question. Things may have calmed down slightly, but Kei still didn't like Ryou and Toya. Not one bit. Maybe she'd forgive them if they managed to quit being such losers, but...

Still, one thing was certain.

If this team ever wanted to get along and work together...

...they had a LOT of work ahead of them.

[Sasuke]

"I'm sorry... " Tomo said as he raised a palm above his head... "That's the wrong answer..."

Tomo turned to Toya throwing down his hand in front of his face pointing at him and said, "You can get Ryou off the hook if you can answer the question right Toya..."

Tomo walked over to Fushii and started to look for something in his pouch and said, "Ah I knew i hadn't forgot it... good..."

Tomo quickly withdrew his hand and looked over at Ryou... "C'mon... I haven't got all day, if you answer incorrectly you have to share his punishment later..."

[Sasuke]

"...The hell!? Just whose side are you on?? Don't interrupt me you moron, I was agreeing with you! What does my outfit have to do with anything!? I like my clothes, thank you very much. And they're certainly better than all black like yours! What are you, emo? What kind of dude insults someone else's fashion sense, anyway!? Actually, screw that, what kind of blind dude insults someone else's fashion sense?? Like you would know anything about that! How the hell do you even know what I'm wearing? I bet you're just making it up!"

Damn, that kind of slipup could turn out to be very bad for Toya if he didn’t do something to resolve it right away. How could he have been foolish enough to let his anger cloud his mind to the point where he could give away such an important secret? This was no game; a mistake like that could potentially cost him his life depending on how this turned out. Hopefully Ryou and Tomo were both too wrapped up in the yelling to have paid too much attention to what Kei had pointed out.

“There is nothing wrong with wearing black, and I am not on anyone’s side! And I can tell by how clumsy and reckless you are that you probably end up dressing like an idiot, even if I can’t see it for myself!”

Hopefully that would be enough to end that discussion for the moment without either of the others catching on to what they had been talking about. The more people who suspected him, the harder it would be to cover it up with his usual excuses. After the arguing finally seemed to die down, the three genin focused their attention back on their sensei.

“Tomo-sama, excuse my bluntness, but what does this have to do with anything? We have never seen you in action, and we know nothing about the jutsus in your arsenal. Would you please get to the point and explain what we are doing here?”

"Yeah. What the hell? How am I supposed to know anything? Why the hell are you calling ME out? Why don't you ask them?"

"Maybe because you started the whole argument in the first place."

Toya held back the urge to smirk when he heard Kei’s last quiet comment, but he made sure not to add anymore kindling to the fire of this team quarrel. The strangest thing about the argument of the three genin was that they had not formed any clear sides. The tide had continually turned back and forth, with each of them supporting one teammate for one moment and then violently yelling at them the next. This chaotic dispute had left them all angry at their teammates for some reason or other, and even this temporary peace felt awkward and tense.

"...Judging from what I've seen though; it's evidently nothing that's capable of stopping a raging idiot. Hmm, must be something less flashy then. Much less flashy ...Something like summoning Oxen,"

Ryou probably thought he was pretty clever to add another backhanded insult in his response to Tomo’s question, but Toya had already regained his emotional control at this point. Normally his levelheadedness kept him from losing to his anger, but he had stupidly allowed his usual composure to break temporarily. But he vowed not to allow it to happen a second time today.

"I'm sorry... That's the wrong answer..."

As much as he hated to admit it, Toya was surprised that Ryou’s answer had been incorrect. Tomo seemed to hold a close, though very strange in Toya’s opinion, relationship with his oxen, so he would have guessed that summoning them would be his favorite jutsu.

"You can get Ryou off the hook if you can answer the question right Toya..."

You’ve got to be kidding me. This is starting to get ridiculous…

"C'mon... I haven't got all day, if you answer incorrectly you have to share his punishment later..."

So now we are going to be punished for incorrectly answering an impossible question? This IS ridiculous…

”I have no idea what your favorite jutsu, and I honestly do not care anymore. I’m sorry, Tomo-sama, but I have absolutely no patience for this anymore. You’re asking us a question about something we know nothing about.

Even to the Emperor of Yuki and his new sensei, those words were the nicest he could muster up at the moment. After angrily shouting back and forth between his teammates and now dealing with this odd question, Toya no longer cared about acting respectful.

[Sasuke]

Tomo had to smile at this genin's attitude... but he quickly put his tongue in his cheek and cleared his throat... "Uh huh..." he said shortly and quietly...

Tomo turned his back and looked at Fushii and winked at him as he walked backwards a step and then brought his face around and in front of Kei's...

"You are their last hope Kei," Tomoushii said... "Can you save them from a cruel fate?"

Tomo stood up and reached into his pocket to retrieve a paper which was folded in half... keeping it in his hand while he turned to let Kei think...

"While we are waiting I have to tell you about the reason we are here standing outside the tattoo parlor..." Tomo opened up the piece of paper and revealed a symbol...



"This is our team symbol..." Tomo said... "We are each going to get it as a tattoo as a keepsake, think of it as my present from me to you..."

Tomo said as he handed it to Ryou...

"This symbol is going to not only be our team's emblem, but as we progress I will teach be teaching you techniques that will allow us to use these tattoos for special purposes..."

Tomo finally walked up to the door, and said, "They've been expecting us for awhile, but then I am not one to leave out the opportunity to introduce new people to my oxen"

the door opened and a man who looked to be old enough to be Tomo's grandfather answered it...

the man spoke with a cheerful but raspy and tired voice... "Hello, yes come right in... I see you have brought the others with you this time..."

Tomo held the door for them and said, "Yes, sorry to keep you waiting my good friend, but being a Soratodai I can't leave introductions for later..."

The old man and Tomo laughed with a familiarity that struck the students as odd... their sensei was a foreigner... How did he know this old man?...

the old man indicated to the waiting room couches as Tomo shut the door behind the pondering Kei...

"Don't worry about answering yet Kei, we'll wait until we've all come out with our new markings..." Tomo smiled... "Oh that reminds me... Hey Ol' 'Tsuba... they did remember the details to the seals right?..."

The old man answered... "I have taken care of everything, our secretaries will take you each to your own rooms and there the seal will be made as you have instructed... incomplete and without the spells you have designed for it..."

Tomo nodded and said, "Excellent, you're a good man Bansou..."

The old man bowed low and smiled under his thick white mustache... "I'll go make sure everything's ready and then your escorts will take care of you from there...

Tomo nodded, "Thanks again for your help you really have been tremendous..."

Tomo sat down on the biggest couch next to Toya, he looked around and cheerfully whistled and relaxed in the comfortable waiting room...

The building's inside was much more decorated and lively than the outside... steam was licking the high ceiling from the hall where one could almost smell the warm inviting hot springs... the stone walls had elaborate red metal engravings hanging every other meter it seemed...

the waiting room itself had a beautiful tiled floor, the tiles of which were a strange and reflective blue color...

the atmosphere of this place was of tranquility and harmony... Tomo couldn't help but enjoy the moment of just sitting and taking in the attention to detail that this business put into their workplace...

[Sasuke]

"Maybe because you started the whole argument in the first place."

"What the? No I didn't. Toya was the one who asked why we were here, and you were the one who was all-" he put up an imitation of Kei's squeaky voice, "OH MY GOD IT'S CALLED A TATTOO~! NOT JUST A MARKING~!"

Ryou was sick of thinking Kei was cooler than Toya now. It had gotten to the point that they had both crossed the line. Both of them were complete idiots. Actually, everybody here was a complete idiot. Tomo Sensei was no exception.

"I'm sorry... That's the wrong answer..."

...

Not that he had really wanted to get busted or anything; but Ryou honestly expected Tomo to yell at him. As dumb as those Oxen appeared, Tomo had apparently appeared to like them. So when Ryou had stated his answer in a tone that had placed very little value on those Oxen, he had thought that Tomo would just get all protective and yell or something. Instead he had simply moved on to face Toya, completely nonplussed, only stating that Ryou had the wrong answer.

"You can get Ryou off the hook if you can answer the question right Toya..."

So, it looked like he was in for some kind of punishment. Still, judging from Tomo's tone it seemed like the only reason Ryou was going to get it was because he had stated the wrong answer; not because of his cheek. What the? Did this guy honestly have no problem with him and his big ego? Geez, Tomo sure was strange.

"C'mon... I haven't got all day, if you answer incorrectly you have to share his punishment later..."

Ryou looked at Toya; folding his arms. Whatever this punishment was; it would be alot worse if Toya was going to "share" it. Actually, as much as Ryou didn't want to live in the pain of having Toya save him from his problems, he knew that Tomo probably did have something painful up his sleeve, and he preferrebly didn't want to face it.

Alright idiot. Both of us are screwed unless you answer correctly. Say something.

Unfortunately, Toya looked just as clueless as he had.

”I have no idea what your favorite jutsu, and I honestly do not care anymore. I’m sorry, Tomo-sama, but I have absolutely no patience for this anymore. You’re asking us a question about something we know nothing about.

Wow. What nice words. It appeared that Toya had calmed down now, but that didn't make anything better. Bah, he hadn't even given a proper answer. Even Ryou had done that. Sort of.

"Uh huh.. You are their last hope Kei, Can you save them from a cruel fate?"

Tomo rounded on Kei, as did Ryou.

You heard him. LAST HOPE. You better say something, or we're all screwed.

Judging from what Ryou had seen so far, Kei wasn't very bright. So they probably were already screwed.

"While we are waiting I have to tell you about the reason we are here standing outside the tattoo parlor..."

Out of the corner of his eye, Ryou noticed that Kei indeed seemed to have no idea what to say. Their best bet was probably to delay Tomo as much as possible so that he would just... forget. The "legendary" Ox Sage was fumbling with what appeared to be a piece of paper. He opened it up and revealed what appered to be a symbol.

"This is our team symbol... We are each going to get it as a tattoo as a keepsake, think of it as my present from me to you..."

Tomo took a few steps ahead and passed him the paper.

"This symbol is going to not only be our team's emblem, but as we progress I will teach be teaching you techniques that will allow us to use these tattoos for special purposes... They've been expecting us for awhile, but then I am not one to leave out the opportunity to introduce new people to my oxen"

Ryou was barely listening to what Tomo was saying. So, they had been right. They were going to get tattoos eh? Straightening out the paper, Ryou read the characters that were written on it. His eyebrows rose as he finished.

"Hang on; this says Tomoushii on it..." he said, looking up, annoyed, "What the hell is this? Shameless advertising? I am not walking around with your name permantly imprinted on my ski-"

And then quite suddenly, the door was thrown open, cutting Ryou off yet again, an old man emerged. Tomo launched into a conversation with him which made it seem like the pair of them were close friends.

"Oh that reminds me... Hey Ol' 'Tsuba... they did remember the details to the seals right?..."

"I have taken care of everything, our secretaries will take you each to your own rooms and there the seal will be made as you have instructed... incomplete and without the spells you have designed for it...

Seals? Spells? What the? Many questions burst instantly to Ryou's head but before one of them won the battle of which one would be asked first, a group of escorts were beckoning them into a large building.

The inside of the tattoo parlour was kinda like the place where Ryou's stepmother worked. Minus many women running around in nothing but underwear. Everything was highly polished and shiny, and posters were covering the walls, showing off all of the latest designs. Workers ran around carrying images of various designs. It was really quite warm in here too; really nice. It almost had Ryou calm down and forget about hating everyone for a few minutes.

"...SO; what's this about spells and seals? Are these actually going to have some purpose other than shameless advertising?"

[Sasuke]

Tomo heard the question and stopped whistling... he turned to Ryou and looked at him with a casual and relaxed face...

"Ah... so you heard that huh?... Well I hate to rain on your parade but we aren't at that lesson yet... I am sure you guys, since you know everything about the people you've met today; are smart enough to piece things together before we get to it... but of course..." Tomo turned his grin to Kei and said, "I am not giving any answers away until we've answered our first..."

as soon as Tomo said this there were four attendants that came out... each one held a placard with the name of one of Tomo's team...

Tomo looked at the attendants carefully... There was a beautiful young and attractive woman holding his own... a burly and yet well groomed dark-skinned man holding Toya's, an old and wiry man with a forked beard holding Rouy's, and the man that Tomo had been talking with held Kei's...

Tomo looked at the placards as he started to speak...

"Please follow your escorts to the inking rooms..." the old man said...

Tomo held up his hand and halted everyone... "Crazy Ol' Tsubo... Hold on you made a mistake..."

Tomo took the placard with his own name out of the hands of the pretty young female and switched it with Kei's...

"That's much better..." Tomo said...

The old man Tomo called Tsubo bowed and said, "I'm sorry I had forgotten..."

Tomo laughed and firmly smacked the old man on the back... "Yep... I'm a married man... you knew that didn't you, you old perv..."

Tomo winked inconspicuously at Kei, whom he saw was only half paying attention anyways...

"Kei!" Tomo said in a louder voice to grab her attention... "Hey think about the question while you're in there, I'll be expecting your answer when we are all out of this..."

Tomo turned and walked down the hall with the his old escort and their voices talked loudly and laughingly as they went... into one of the last rooms down the hall...

((ooc: you will each now rp your escorts as they take you to their rooms... there they will be making preparations and trying to make small talk... rp what dialogue and description you want but I'll rp us coming back together as a team after arty has posted twice...))

[[arty i suggest that your first post be entering the room with your escort and then the second one be talking to her while she's getting prepped...]]

[Sasuke]

When Ryou failed to answer Tomo-sama's question, Kei half-expected him to just drop it and tell the three of them the correct answer. At least, that was what she hoped he would do. But to her dismay, Tomo turned to Toya next. This could mean only one thing: if he failed to answer it too, it would be Kei's turn. Kei could only hope he'd get it right himself and save her from the pressure of having to answer her sensei's impossible question.

Unfortunately, things rarely turned out the way she hoped. This situation was no different.

”I have no idea what your favorite jutsu, and I honestly do not care anymore. I’m sorry, Tomo-sama, but I have absolutely no patience for this anymore. You’re asking us a question about something we know nothing about."

Kei facepalmed.

He hadn't even tried!

"You are their last hope Kei," came Tomo-sama's voice, his face now directly in front of hers. "Can you save them from a cruel fate?"

"...Uh." Was the most intelligent response she could muster at the moment. "I... I..."

Thankfully, Tomo-sama decided to give her some time to think and instead went on to talk about the tattoos they would be getting today. Kei was relieved she at least didn't have to answer immediately, because well... she had no idea what her answer was going to be. It certainly didn't help that her teammates were glaring at her. Kei glared right back though. It wasn't fair for them to expect her to get the question right when neither of them had any idea. They'd failed too, they had no right to get mad at her if she messed up!

Still, she had a feeling they would.

But all this was forgotten when Kei caught a glimpse of the tattoo design over Ryou's shoulder. A four-pointed star, probably symbolizing each member of the team. Kei grinned. It looked pretty cool, actually. It looked so... official! And important. But of course, Ryou had to insult the design in an attempt to go and ruin everything once again. Luckily he was interrupted as Tomo walked over to the door and an old man answered. Tomo and the man exchanged greetings as if they'd known each other for ages. The three genin were then ushered inside at last.

The warmth of the waiting room was welcome, especially after Kei's recent plunge face-first into the snow. Still, waiting rooms meant lots of sitting around. And waiting. Kei didn't like waiting. She especially didn't like waiting when it meant sitting on a couch next to Ryou of all people. (She was making quite show of scooting as far away from the boy as possible, sitting dangerously close to the edge of her seat in order to escape his glare.)

So, naturally, Kei was immensely grateful when it was finally time to head into the inking room.

"Please follow your escorts to the inking rooms..." called the old man holding Kei's namecard. Tomo however, switched the placards so that Kei's was instead in the hands of the young woman. Kei blinked and followed her instead, eager to finally get away from the glares of her teammates and the pressing question still eating away at her in the back of her mind.

..."Kei!"

Kei sighed. Apparently she wasn't about to escape that easily.

"Hey think about the question while you're in there, I'll be expecting your answer when we are all out of this..."

Kei winced. "Right!" She still needed to think of something... But that could wait for now, thankfully. Kei met up with her escort, finally ready to head down the hall and into the inking room.

[Sasuke]

"Ah... so you heard that huh?... Well I hate to rain on your parade but we aren't at that lesson yet... I am sure you guys, since you know everything about the people you've met today; are smart enough to piece things together before we get to it... but of course...I am not giving any answers away until we've answered our first..."

Ryou opened his mouth to say something; but figured that he was already getting punished and arguing would probably only make it worse. He glanced sideways at Kei instead and found that the little midget had scooted away to the edge of the seat. Gee, what on earth was his problem? Oh well, Ryou wasn't complaining. It wasn't like he wanted to be next to the fool anyway. Rolling his eyes, he looked away and back to the front where four people, evidently tattoo artists, had appeared, each carrying a namecard. Unfortunately for him, the least impressive of the four had his name.

Glancing around at the others, Ryou wondered exactly what he had to do next, but the others were already standing up and moving away with their respective artists, leaving Ryou with the whispy old warlock that had his name in his hand.

"Your name?" said the man; opening his mouth to reveal many missing teeth.

"You're holding it," Ryou said irritably, getting to his feet.

"Your name?" the man repeated. What the? Was this guy deaf...? He was still staring at him as though he hadn't even said anything at all.

"Yutaka Ryou,"

"Hah?"

"YU-TA-KA RY-OU,"

"Hah? Kyo eh? Okay okay, come along!"

"It's Ryou,"

The supposedly deaf man beckoned and led Ryou away into one of the adjoining rooms. He didn't know where the others had gotten too, and was beginning to realize just how strange this was. The tattoo parlour was a fairly small room with a large bed in the middle and various tools scattered on a table next to it. Walking into the room, slightly apprehensive, Ryou found himself being beckoned onto the bed by the old man.

"A'right Kyo; where you want tattoo?"

Ryou hadn't exactly thought about that. Tattoos were just one of those permanant things; he had to pick some part of his body where he was forever going to show this thing off. Hmm...

"My shoulder, I suppose,"

"Hah?"

"MY SHOUL-DER" Ryou repeated, slightly louder than before, indicating the back of his left shoulder. The man nodded.

"Take off shirt than!! Lay down!!"

Well, these sure were perculiar instructions for an elderly man to give a fourteen year old boy. But then again, this guy looked so weak, Ryou knew he could probably overpower him anyway if anything... strange happened. Pulling off his shirt, Ryou laid himself down on the bed.

"Also," Ryou said as he felt the man get a towel and begin to clean the section of his back, "...Do you mind if ya just give me the symbol? Don't write "Tomoushii" on it. I'd rather not have that,"

"Okay!! Okaay!! Readyyy!?!?"

"Ye- OW!"

The first needle hurt. Alot. And then this man was moving it around. It was the most painful thing he had ever experienced; it took his mind off Toya, and Kei and Tomo Sensei and all the other stupid things that had gone on as he gritted his teeth waiting for it to stop. It just seemed to go on and on; the clock on the wall ticking onwards. It was almost an entire eternity after the tattooing had started when the old man finally spoke again.

"...Done! Done! Kyo! Tattoo completed!"

Hardly believing his ears, Ryou sat up, his back aching now. The man held up a mirror, allowing him to gaze at the mark of ink that he'd have to carry forever. The handsome team symbol stood there, bright from under his skin. And underneath that...

"WHAT THE HELL YOU OLD BUZZARD? I TOLD YOU NOT TO WRITE TOMOUSHII ON IT!"

"Hah?"

[Sasuke]

You are their last hope Kei," Tomoushii said... "Can you save them from a cruel fate?"

Toya could only sigh and shake his head discreetly. So Tomo really was going to make all three of them attempt to answer his ludicrous question? If Ryou had failed after guessing the most obvious answer, and Toya had been too frustrated by the whole thing to even try, what chance did Kei have of somehow stumbling into the correct answer?

"...Uh… I... I..."

And that just about sealed it. They were all going to face whatever ‘punishment’ Tomo had in mind for them. Toya didn’t really care anymore, so he wouldn’t be upset ur surprised if Kei guessed incorrectly. Though whenever he glanced over in Kei’s direction, the dark and imposing image of a blank face with eyes concealed by dark lenses probably gave off the impression that he was staring angrily at her.

Toya resisted the urge to yawn as their sensei explained to them about the team seal that was going to be tattooed onto each of the genin and gave the piece of paper a brief look. It was actually cooler than he thought it would be. He had expected some strange oxen marking or something else that reflected the Emperor’s strange quirks or tastes.

"Hang on; this says Tomoushii on it..." he said, looking up, annoyed, "What the hell is this? Shameless advertising? I am not walking around with your name permantly imprinted on my ski-"

Eyes rolled beneath Toya’s sunglasses. Did Ryou really have a negative comment to insert into any situation? Toya would be the first to admit that he sometimes had an anger problem, but he never spoke or acted out of line when he was calm and suppressed any heated emotions.

"...SO; what's this about spells and seals? Are these actually going to have some purpose other than shameless advertising?"

Finally a question that Toya actually wanted to hear the answer to, though the second question didn’t need to be added. Apparently Ryou had no problem openly insulting the Emperor and their new sensei. This guy had a lot of nerve, but Toya tried to ignore it for the moment to avoid getting irritated again.

After entering the building and sitting next to Tomo in the waiting room for several minutes, Toya’s mind had begun to drift off. Any excitement that he had originally felt after finding out he would be a part of the Emperor’s special team had diminished. He was stuck with this arrogant and spiteful Ryou. Kei’s personality wasn’t too bad, but his impulsive nature and… unique choice of clothing were another thing. The conversation between Tomo and the old man seemed like a blur to him until one of the commands was directed at the genin.

"Please follow your escorts to the inking rooms..."

So it was finally time to go. Toya wondered how exactly it felt for ink to be permanently injected into your skin, but it couldn’t be too bad if Tomo was requiring three young genin of his own village to do it, right?

"Hey think about the question while you're in there, I'll be expecting your answer when we are all out of this..."

Damn, so Tomo hadn’t forgotten about that. Toya had already given up on any of them figuring out what the answer really was and had moved on to thinking about how they would be punished for answering incorrectly. Well, it probably couldn’t be too bad, considering the fact that they were Tomo’s new students now.

Picking up on the fact that Toya was supposedly blind, the dark-skinned man called out his name. Toya quickly stood up and followed after the man, who spoke a few words every few seconds to help the sightless genin follow him. As they passed Kei and his female escort, Toya lowered his voice to almost a whisper as he walked directly passed his teammate.

"Don’t worry too much about the answer. We can handle whatever Tomo-sama is going to throw at us."

And with that said, Toya followed his escort into the next room on the left side of the hallway and sat down on the table inside. The well-built, dark-skinned man closed the door behind them and approached the table. Toya was actually surprised to see someone with such a deep skin tone, since most people in Yukigakure did not have much exposure to sunlight, but the blind genin remembered not to comment about something visual like that.

”Alright, Nanaya Toya, is it? Where would you prefer the symbol to be located?”

Toya blinked for a moment and then traced his fingers over the front section of his right shoulder that lay only a few centimeters away from his collarbone. He was normally a person of few words, so this gesture was all he needed.

”Not too talkative, eh? Well, it doesn’t matter, this is only business after all. Please lie down on the table and remove your shirt.”

Toya nodded and removed his dark outerwear and the t-shirt beneath it as well. Most people in this village wore at least two layers to shield themselves from the cold, but as Kei had shown earlier, some people wear even more than that.

As Toya rested on his back, the tattooist readied his needle and spoke a brief warning about the pain before he began the process. As the needle entered the skin of his shoulder, Toya neither flinches, nor cried out. The years of Spartan-like training and punishments that his cruel father had forced him to endure for so long had caused him to become numb to most pain. That did not include everything, but something as small as this would not be enough to bother him, even though it did bring up a lot of… unwanted memories of his past. Several silent minutes passed by before the procedure was completed.

“Done without a sound. You have an incredible tolerance for pain, Toya. Even most grown men flinch at least once during the inking.”

Toya simply shrugged and gazed down at the mark on his arm. It was actually a nice symbol, and he hoped that in the future he would be able to wear it proudly. Though a lot of that would depend on how well the three genin worked together in the future… but for now he simply wanted this day to end and get a fresh start at a later team gathering. And hopefully it would not go as terribly as this one had ended up.

[Sasuke]

"Hey there. So you're Kei?"

"Yep! That's me."

"Alright then, follow me."

With that, Kei and her escort were headed down the hall. Kei's escort was a girl, one of those really pretty ones that wore makeup and obsessed over their hair all the time. One of those girls Kei didn't understand. They tended to be mean sometimes and look down on others, at least, in Kei's experience of other girls, but this one actually seemed pretty friendly. But the real surprise came from Toya.

"Don’t worry too much about the answer. We can handle whatever Tomo-sama is going to throw at us."

At first, Kei wasn't sure she'd heard correctly. Had Toya just... said something nice? Wow, she hadn't thought he had it in him. Still, he had insulted her clothes earlier... she was reluctant to accept kindness from someone like him. "Pshh, me, worried? Not a chance! I wasn't worried at all," Kei lied. "I know exactly what I'm going to say to Tomo-sama!" Another lie. In reality, she still had no idea how to answer. Not that she would ever tell Toya that. He was pretty much gone now, already on his way inside the next room, so Kei couldn't be sure if he heard the quiet "...but thanks." she'd muttered reluctantly, as though talking to herself.

After all, she was relieved to know at least one person on the team wouldn't hate her forever if she screwed this up.

Ryou, on the other hand...

Well, she didn't need to worry about all that just yet. She still had time! Plenty of time.

So Kei let her mind wander instead to the awesome tattoo she was about to get. Though... she'd never gotten a tattoo before. She didn't know anything about how exactly one went about getting a tattoo in the first place, actually. Hopefully it didn't hurt too badly. Still, it would be worth it in the end. Sure, the team had been arguing almost non-stop since they'd gotten here, but Kei had faith that, one day, they'd be able to understand each other and work together. Toya had surprised her by actually coming out and saying something almost nice, and Ryou had laughed a little bit earlier. They couldn't be all bad. Besides, Kei had meant it when she said she wanted to become one of the best shinobi in Yuki along with Ryou and Toya. She wasn't about to give up so easily just because they didn't get along right away. And she wasn't about to let her teammates give up either.

But she was still totally going to punch them later for making fun of her. They weren't getting off the hook that easily.

"Okay! Here we are~ Kei, where do you want the tattoo?"

"Hmm... Here's good!" Kei indicated her right shoulder.

"Right then. Take off your shirt and lie down."

"...'Kay."

Kei removed her jacket, as well as the shirt underneath. She would have removed the tank top underneath as well, but the woman stopped her. "Um... on second thought, you can keep that one on."

"Why?"

"I didn't realize--uh, nevermind...Anyways, ready to start? This may hurt."

"Oka--OW OW OWWW."

What seemed like an eternity of pain and needles and Kei's protests later, the tattoo was finally completed. Kei glanced down at the tattoo, pleased. Her escort, however, was just relieved the whole thing was finally over. She'd suffered more than Kei, having to listen to all the girl's shouting and complaining about the needles. Kei, however, had already forgotten all about the pain. She only had eyes for the new marking on her shoulder.

"Sweet! It's awesome, thanks!"

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