Re: First Meeting~

[Sasuke]

The genin all came out at the same time as their escorts finished...

To the groups surprise Tomo was already waiting for them when he came out...

"Why hello everyone..." Tomo nodded as the escorts all bowed and turned back down the hall...

"Well we have usurped these peoples time and hospitality long enough, and since we have our first lesson to finish lets all move outside..."

Tomo stretched and turned side to side to crack his back as he stood up... he let out exaggerated sighs for each time he was able to crack his back...

Tomo hurried the students out onto the streets where the oxen were waitin patiently on the side of the street...

"Well... you guys are lucky today... " Tomo said with enthusiasm... "We're going to go explore the northern outskirts of town... I haven't been there before and we'll need room so I think you'll ride the oxen as I run around trying to find a good spot..."

Tomo said all of this with his hand on his chin not caring that everyone was glaring at him as he talked to himself... his oxen because only Fushii was even interested in exploring eternal winter's cold, and the genin because only Kei seemed excited to forget the moment and leave to get on with the lesson...

Fushii came closer to Tomo and said, "I'm ready to do this... I can carry all three of them if you'd like..."

Tomo smiled and put his hand gently on Fushii's muzzle and petted him...

"Lets see... I think I'm forgetting something..." Tomo thought hard and quietly for a moment and then he said... "AHA... you guys thought I'd completely forget about the question of the day didn't you..."

Tomo rounded on his left heel once and then made a goofy pointing stance towards Kei... "LET'S HAVE IT!!!" he said in a loud voice and then quietly he said... "what is the answer?..."

Okishii just rolled her eyes and contemplated what Kumo was like right now, in the thick of their winter it was tolerable, but in this winter she couldn't feel her hoofs...

Ginmooru just stood shivering and lamented the thought of having to bear this cold, or the wind as he ran... this whole idea was just unbearable as he stood silently shivering...

[Sasuke]

Ryou was more than happy to get out of that place. With a word of muttered thanks that he was certain his escort didn't even hear, he left the tattooing room, walking faster than usual. He slipped his jacket back on as he came face to face with Tomo; and boy he wasn't that happy at all.

"Oi; did you purposely give me the deaf guy? Now I'm stuck with your name written on my ba-"

"Why hello everyone..."

...

What nerve. Now even more annoyed than before, he looked around to find the source of Tomo's ignorance. It appeared that Kei and Toya had also returned from their tattooing, but for some reason, both of them looked happy about it. As thought these tattoos like... made them men or something. Rolling his eyes, Ryou looked back at Tomo.

"Well we have usurped these peoples time and hospitality long enough, and since we have our first lesson to finish lets all move outside..."

"WHAT? You mean we're not even done yet. Grrr...."

Ryou just wanted to go home and sleep. This was turning into more of a nightmare than he could have imagined. His mood didn't improve at all as they left the tattoo parlour. Hey; at least it had been warm in there. Outside it seemed to have only gotten colder. Ryou tagged along at the back, slouching his way towards the other side of the road where those Oxen were still standing.

"Well... you guys are lucky today... We're going to go explore the northern outskirts of town..."

Oh yayyyy. More trekking and suffering through the cold. Joyyy.

"...I haven't been there before and we'll need room so I think you'll ride the oxen as I run around trying to find a good spot..."

What. Riding...? No way.

"Uh I'd rather n-"

"I'm ready to do this... I can carry all three of them if you'd like..." said one of the Oxen; the old one.

Ryou rounded on the Ox and Tomo Sensei, now only revolted.

"A, I am not riding ANYTHING with them," he spat, pointing at Kei and Toya, "...And B, I am not riding one of those Oxen at all. I think I'd rather walk,"

For the millionth Time, Tomo Sensei ignored him. He wasn't even looking at him anymore. He appeared to be thinking about something; a pretty blank expression on his face. And then he turned to look at Kei, and Ryou suddenly remembered what Tomo had been thinking about.

"AHA... you guys thought I'd completely forget about the question of the day didn't you..."

Well, judging from the expression on Tomo's face a few seconds ago; he had completely forgotten. He had only just remembered. And also, what the hell? Question of the day? Did that mean that Tomo was going to ask them such stupid questions every single time they came to training. Ryou groaned, yet he was barely heard over Tomo's sudden shout.

"LET'S HAVE IT!!!"

The words were accompanied by a rather stupid gesture too. A clownish point and turn; way too much drama.

"...Retard,"

Rolling his eyes once again Ryou looked around at Kei too. Judging from his expression, he probably had no idea what the answer was either. Ryou heaved a sigh; they were in for a very long day.

[Sasuke]

Still sitting on the edge of the table and staring down at the newly injected ink in his right shoulder, Toya suddenly thought back to his exchange of words in the hallway with Kei only a few minutes earlier.

"Pshh, me, worried? Not a chance! I wasn't worried at all. I know exactly what I'm going to say to Tomo-sama!"

Toya held back a smirk while remembering those misleadingly confident words. It was obvious that her façade only served as a way to hide the fact that he had absolutely no answer prepared for Tomo when he would finally ask again. And then Kei had added two more words that his enhances hearing had barely managed to pick up.

"...but thanks."

So maybe Kei really did have a softer side buried beneath that rough personality and several layers of baggy and mismatched clothing. It seemed that Toya simply needed to give this team a chance and keep an open mind if they were going to have any chance of working together effectively. Though when it came to Ryou… well, maybe it would take more than just an open mind and calm words to form a bond with him…

“Thanks for your hard work. I appreciate it.”

Toya stood up after changing back into his shirt and jacket and then followed his escort out of the room and back to the main area where Tomo was already waiting for them. The other two genin arrived at nearly the same time.

"Oi; did you purposely give me the deaf guy? Now I'm stuck with your name written on my ba-"

Apparently, Ryou could find a way to complain about anything, no matter how insignificant it was. Apparently the boy thought much too highly of himself, since he had become so upset about being forced to bear the name of his leader on his skin. It should be considered an honor to wear the symbol of the Emperor proudly, and that was what Toya planned to do.

"Why hello everyone..."

Toya simply nodded in response to Tomo’s greeting. He was eager to find out what exactly their first lesson would consist of, especially since Tomo had waited so long to start it. Hopefully it would be some sort of task that would teach them something valuable for their upcoming careers as shinobi. And after learning from the best of Yuki, Toya planned on becoming the best of the new generation by using 100 percent of his effort on learning and training.

"Well we have usurped these peoples time and hospitality long enough, and since we have our first lesson to finish lets all move outside..."

"WHAT? You mean we're not even done yet. Grrr...."

Toya rolled his eyes, even though the gesture would be impossible for anyone else to see. Ryou had started to sound like an annoying broken record who could only angrily complain about each word that came from Tomo’s mouth. Toya would admit that things had been quite frustrating at first, but once he had accepted the fact that Tomo had a… unique way of doing things, it really wasn’t so bad.

”Suck it up and get over it. A genin should not be complaining about his sensei’s orders so adamantly…” Toya had previously vowed to get along with his two teammates after their first argument had ended, but he couldn’t tolerate Ryou’s flippancy towards Tomo. After muttering those words as they arrived outside, Toya stood next to Kei and waited for Tomo to give his next instructions.

"Well... you guys are lucky today... We're going to go explore the northern outskirts of town..."

Northern outskirts? Toya could not recall ever going there. In fact, he rarely left the immediate area of his large house and the buildings owned by his inherited trading company. But now he only wondered why Tomo would have them travel to such a remote area, especially considering the average weather of Yukigakure.

"...I haven't been there before and we'll need room so I think you'll ride the oxen as I run around trying to find a good spot..."

"Uh I'd rather n-"

Ride the oxen? It certainly did not sound appealing to Toya, but he didn’t want to cause any more conflict among the team members, so he would just go along with it. And lo and behold, Ryou started to object again before Tomo had even finished explaining things. What a shocker.

"I'm ready to do this... I can carry all three of them if you'd like..."

Well, the oldest and first introduced of the oxen seemed motivated to do this, and he had a lot of confidence in his strength. The other two animals seemed focused enough on simply surviving in the freezing weather of the area. Apparently, the weather had been much more mild in Kumogakure, and the poor summons had yet to adjust between climates.

"A, I am not riding ANYTHING with them ...And B, I am not riding one of those Oxen at all. I think I'd rather walk,"

As much as he knew it would be smart to just ignore Ryou, Toya could not hold himself back. The natural urge to defend himself against such an obviously personal insult remained stronger than his desire to create a bond with his team.

”What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is there something about us that disgusts you so much? If you really have that much of a problem with us and this entire thing, then go ahead and walk. We’ll see how long your body holds up in this weather, especially when we get further north.”

After another angry outburst, Toya took a deep breath of the frosty air, once again attempting to calm down. It was at that moment that Tomo spoke up, bringing up something that all three genin probably wanted him to forget forever.

"AHA... you guys thought I'd completely forget about the question of the day didn't you..."

Actually, Toya had been the one to forget about the question. After telling Kei not to worry about figuring out the correct answer, the whole thing had become lost somewhere in his mind, but it seemed that their sensei would not let them off the hook that easily.

"LET'S HAVE IT!!!"

Tomo’s overdramatic point and stance were… well, odd to say the least. However, Toya simply held on to the thought that the Emperor simply had an incredibly unique way of teaching and acting, so he simply had to be patient and give the man a chance to teach them whatever he had planned for the genin. But there went Ryou again, never missing a chance to throw his judgmental two cents in.

"...Retard,"

Toya flashed a glare in Ryou’s direction. Though his eyes were not visible, the rest of his face would clearly express to his teammate exactly what he was feeling at the moment. Using such a word for their sensei and Emperor would be punishable by death in certain countries, but luckily for Ryou, Tomo seemed far too kind to punish him at all. Now Toya was actually eager to see what Tomo would do to them for incorrectly answering the question. He had confidence in his ability to tolerate pain, but it would be satisfying to see Ryou undergoing the same consequences.

Turning his gaze to his other teammate who stood nearby, Toya waited to hear Kei’s answer. He still expected nothing from the genin, but it didn’t matter to him anymore. He simply wanted this frustrating exercise to end, so that they could all move on to the more beneficial lessons and learn something valuable. After all, that was kind of the point in forming a team of shinobi in the first place…

[Sasuke]

Kei was quickly growing impatient with Ryou's constant complaints.

Every time the boy opened his mouth, something negative came out. Kei hated people like him more than anything else; people who did nothing but bring others down to make themselves feel better. People who cared about no one other than themselves. And if she had to listen to him any longer she was going to have to smash his face in, so Kei instead focused on listening to Tomo-sama and doing her best to drown out Ryou's words with her thoughts.

"Well... you guys are lucky today," Tomo-sama stated enthusiastically. The team had moved outside by now, and were all standing around in front of the tattoo parlor while Tomo explained the situation. "We're going to go explore the northern outskirts of town. I haven't been there before and we'll need room so I think you'll ride the oxen as I run around trying to find a good spot..." Riding the oxen? It sounded like fun! But of course, Kei knew better than to think Ryou wouldn't try and ruin this too.

"A, I am not riding ANYTHING with them ...And B, I am not riding one of those Oxen at all. I think I'd rather walk."

Kei clenched her teeth, glaring at Ryou as her hands balled up into fists. Just how had she ended up with such a jerk for a teammate? Toya wasn't too pleased either.

”What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is there something about us that disgusts you so much? If you really have that much of a problem with us and this entire thing, then go ahead and walk. We’ll see how long your body holds up in this weather, especially when we get further north.”

"OR we could always leave you behind, Ryou-kun, Kei snarled. "If you hate us that much, why don't you just go home? I don't want you here either, all you do is whine whine whine! If I were Tomo-sama, I'd have booted you out of the team AGES ago." Kei whirled and turned her back on Ryou, fuming.

"AHA... you guys thought I'd completely forget about the question of the day didn't you..."

...Uh oh.

Tomo-sama spun around dramatically and pointed at Kei.

"LET'S HAVE IT!!!"

Kei stared.

The truth was, she still didn't know what to say. She didn't know anything about the jutsu Tomo-same used, besides summoning. But Ryou had already said that, and he'd been wrong! So what was she supposed to say?? Kei flailed, racking her brain for an answer. This wasn't some sort of confusing trick question, was it? Because how exactly were they supposed to know any of his jutsu, let alone his favorite, if they'd never met him before? Ryou was probably glaring at her right now, urging her to get it right and save him from punishment. Not that he deserved it at this point... Waah, this was too much pressure for poor Kei... Suddenly Toya's words from earlier echoed in her mind.

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

...I really hope you're right.

Kei took a deep breath.

"...I have no idea!" Kei grinned nervously in a failed attempt at appearing confident. Inside, she was terrified. She was going to be in so much trouble now... But there wasn't anything else she could say. It was just the truth. "I don't know any of your jutsu, so there's no way I could guess your favorite out of those. So... I guess the conclusion that I came to is... I have no idea," Kei repeated. "What is your favorite jutsu?" She had a bad feeling at this point that Tomo-sama was just going to show the team his favorite jutsu... by demonstrating it on them. They were so done for... but she could only hope that Toya had been right.

Kei winced, waiting for Tomo's reaction, and her punishment.

[Sasuke]

Tomo's face went blank... she had answered with a question... it took him aback...

"Well..." Tomo said standing upright and returning his voice to a normal level, "That is the lesson we are going to teach you..."

Tomo smiled and looked at each of his genin in the eyes...

"Mount up... we're leaving..." Tomo looked at Ryou before he had a chance to complain... "NOW!..."

Tomo's face never flinched and never lost his smile, but something about his eyes and demeanor made his smile look... warped, and twisted... like if Ryou had said a word he would have experience something unnatural...

Tomo turned his back on them all and started to walk off ahead of the Oxen...

"Fushii... take the genin to the location we decided on earlier..." Tomo turned his head to Okishi and Gin... "You two can return home and be warm... but tomorrow we are going all day and you both need to be prepared for the cold..."

Tomo looked straight at Ryou and said, "Before I go I am going to explain Rule #1 while you are training with me... there will be more rules as we go but Rule #1 is going to hold you over until I meet you back at our little day camp... so here it is..."

"Rule #1: Team mates earn everything they get on their own merit, and the team will share in all rewards and punishments."

Tomo's smile widened... "Ryou, your outbursts have cost the team talking rights until Fushii gets you to camp... if you or anyone of your teammates so much as makes a peep, Fushii will tell me, and..."

Tomo paused and straightened himself out, saying pleasantly, "Well we will cross that bridge when we get there... No talking..."

Fushii got on his knees to allow the genin to mount his warm and decoratively robed saddle...

"Fushii, if one of them talks sit on them all and I'll come find you..." Tomo said with a laugh... the mysterious thing was that the laugh made the genin even more confused as to whether or not he was actually joking or not...

Tomo ran a couple of steps and then took a giant bound... this bound was fast, powerful but what made it most impressive is that is was literally silent and never even disturbed the earth beneath his feet... if the students hadn't been watching him leave they would never have been able to know... his presence wasn't any higher, his chakra hadn't changed levels it was as if he were being lifted away and not actually doing it himself...

Fushii stood up after all of the genin had gotten on... he turned in a direction that let him get out onto the street and said... "Listen, I don't care if you speak or not... I'm not going to sit on you... however, I will throw you off my back if I hear you arguing... Adamu is going to get really tough on you in about an hour, so I am taking pity on you... don't make me regret it..."

With that Fushii took off... and by took off, it means that one moment they were standing still, and the next they were moving so fast that they couldn't see clearly the things that were coming from in front of them...

after the initial shock of the sudden motion left, the movements of the ox got strange... first off he made literally no noise, and what was strangest was that he literally left no dust thrown up in his wake... his movement was silent, powerful and yet surprisingly balanced for all of the sharp and hard turns they were making...

the genin had no trouble staying on his back... all three of them, though gripping whatever clothe leather or other graspable object they could find as tightly as possible, found that after they had adjusted to the speed they could actually sit quite comfortably and not worry about the big muskox throwing them off to one side or the other...

their journey took only a few minutes... which seemed to actually defeat Tomo's purpose of punishing them in the first place... when they arrived Fushii said... "Hang On tight or you'll be thrown...

he braced himself for an immediate stop at a large vertical wooden pole standing in the middle of an open and secluded ice plain...

after Fushii had let them off, it only took Fushii the time to say... "Well... Now we wait..." for Tomo to make his coming presence known...

at first there was only a shadow against the sky high in the air... but when it crossed the genin again they could tell it was something big coming their way...

then on the third bound that they could see, Tomo was clearly visible underneath a large bundle of logs and timber... there looked like there was enough there to build a small fort... the bundle of logs looked like a huge flying cylinder... it looked like it must have weighed enough to take weeks to move with a team of experienced loggers, but Tomo carried it on his back as if it were a back pack... as he came closer he made an enormously large bound and flipped himself and the logs as he came down... landing on his feet with the a grunt... "HMPH!"...

but his chakra made a large circle around his landing zone, which cleared the heads of the genin by a good 30 meters... the circle of chakra which was a dark and clear gray only went out about 5 meters in each direction... but cause the ground to not so much as sink or crack from the enormous amount of weight Tomo and his logs had made on the ice and snow...

Tomo set the logs down with a loud "CRASH"

"Gah..." he heaved a sigh... "Fushii my friend nice to see that you made it without complications..."

"Now Then!..." Tomo said wiping his hands and approaching his genin in a single bound... "Welcome each of you to Camp TomoYuki... this area will be our base of operations while we train... and I have written your parents a letter that they received as you were getting your tattoos... explaining how you will be staying out here with me for the next week..."

Tomo looked directly at Ryou... "Today you will learn the answer to the question of the day... but first..."

Tomo reached into a pocket and took out a small scroll...

"Lets eat..." he said...

Tomo turned his back to the students and laid out his scroll trying to decide what he was in the mood to eat... and eying the selection before him being careful to consider their following exercise...

"Hmm what shall it be then?..." he said to himself...

[Sasuke]

”What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is there something about us that disgusts you so much? If you really have that much of a problem with us and this entire thing, then go ahead and walk. We’ll see how long your body holds up in this weather, especially when we get further north.”

"OR we could always leave you behind, Ryou-kun, If you hate us that much, why don't you just go home? I don't want you here either, all you do is whine whine whine! If I were Tomo-sama, I'd have booted you out of the team AGES ago."

Ryou automatically opened his mouth to yell out yet another insult but before he knew it, he had shut it again. Something in Kei's words had made him do what had up until then been the impossible; shut up.

Why don't you just go home...

No. He hadn't meant it like that. Why was everybody suddenly turning on him now. Toya had said some pretty rude things too. How come everything was always Ryou's fault though. Why were they suddenly ganging up on him? He didn't want to go home; he actually liked it here better than home. Up until now; nobody had really taken any definite sides against anyone. But suddenly it was "Hate Ryou Hour". It wasn't that he didn't get along with people or anything; he just wanted a better life. Something better than what he got at home. Sure; he complained, but he had signed up for this whole thing with hope for some improvement; but nothing. He had expected something better than having an underwear model scream and hit him twenty four hours a day. It wasn't that he particularly hated Kei and Toya in particular; he had never been too good at socializing. He was just well, dissapointed.

He opened his mouth again to say something else, but it didn't matter. He couldn't make anything that was short of rude come out, and nobody was paying any attention anymore. Ryou barely heard Kei trying and failing at answering Tomo's question. He felt sick. And then before he knew it, he was angry again. None of this was his fault. It wasn't like he chose to be whiny and anti-social. It was just that was well... like that. Life had chosen it for him.

And boy was life bloody unfair.

"Mount up... we're leaving... NOW!..."

Snapping out of it, Ryou looked back around to find that Tomo was staring at him. Several things came to him at once; things he had known but not taken any notice of. Such as the fact that Kei had failed to answer the question and that this was apparently punishment. Tomo's stare wasn't the usual mirth filled look though; there was no sunshine in that smile. Even Ryou knew that this was a good time to keep his mouth shut. He found it hard to even glare back.

"Fushii... take the genin to the location we decided on earlier... You two can return home and be warm... but tomorrow we are going all day and you both need to be prepared for the cold..."

He looked around to find that Kei and Toya were quite complacently climbing onto the back of the Ox. Ryou looked back around to Tomo, only to find that he was still staring at him. Sighing, Ryou climbed onto the back of the Ox, sitting behind Kei. Something about that stare just managed to achieve the world record time for shutting Ryou up.

"Before I go I am going to explain Rule #1 while you are training with me... there will be more rules as we go but Rule #1 is going to hold you over until I meet you back at our little day camp... so here it is... Rule #1: Team mates earn everything they get on their own merit, and the team will share in all rewards and punishments."

Ryou noticed that as Tomo said this, he was looking directly at him. Not Toya, not Kei. He got the meaning of these words, and he didn't like it.

"Ryou, your outbursts have cost the team talking rights until Fushii gets you to camp... if you or anyone of your teammates so much as makes a peep, Fushii will tell me, and... Well we will cross that bridge when we get there... No talking..."

So. It was all his fault again. What happened to Kei failing to answer the question? What about Toya's random outburst earlier? Huh? How come there was no punishment for any of that. How come it was only his rudeness which had cost them all punishment? This wasn't going to achieve anything for the team. It was only going to make Toya and Kei hate him even more, if that was even possible. It wasn't fair.

"Fushii, if one of them talks sit on them all and I'll come find you..."

Ryou only scowled; he didn't really care if he got sat on right now. He hated his crap life more than ever at this present moment, he honestly didn't care if it ended right here and now. Tomo didn't notice him, and before Ryou knew it, the Ox Sage had vanished. The Ox on which he was sitting meanwhile, had begun moving.

"Listen, I don't care if you speak or not... I'm not going to sit on you... however, I will throw you off my back if I hear you arguing... Adamu is going to get really tough on you in about an hour, so I am taking pity on you... don't make me regret it..."

Upon hearing these words, Ryou sat in silence for a few seconds, once again thinking about how he was going to talk without getting punished, but quite suddenly they were moving far too fast for him to think about anything at all, except holding on. There were times during the rush that he just contemplated letting go altogether, because that was just how much he hated himself right now, but before he could actually achieve anything of the sort, the Ox had asked them to brace themselves one final time, and then they had arrived. He slid down off the Ox's back, still not saying a word.

"Well... Now we wait..."

It was then that Ryou decided to break his silence. He didn't know whether or not they had gotten their arguing rights back, but he didn't really care.

"...So we're going to get punished even harder eh? YAY. I wonder what kinda torture he's got planned for us nex-"

As expected, Toya and Kei were giving him dissaproving looks. Yes, even Toya with his sunglasses on was giving him one, he could tell. But that didn't stop Ryou,

"Oi! We're allowed to talk, provided we don't argue. Well guess what; I'm talking. I'm stating my opinion. It ain't arguing till somebody decides to challenge me; and if that happens, they're the one arguing! Everything ain't my bliddy fault!"

He glared at Toya and Kei, expecting them to come back at him like the smartasses they were once again. But they were stripped of their chances by something large coming their way. It looked like a massive log but as it came closer and closer toward the ground, it became clear that it was a bunch of logs, being carried by a person; Tomo.

With a loud crash of wood, chakra, snow and ice, Tomo was once again standing in front of them, once again having shown off his abilities. Well, perhaps he was kinda talented, but he was the emprorer. What did you expect?

"Gah... Fushii my friend nice to see that you made it without complications..."

It had gotten to the point that Ryou wouldn't have even been surprised if one of the others suggested that he was a complication, but surprisingly, they didn't.

"Now Then!... Welcome each of you to Camp TomoYuki... this area will be our base of operations while we train... and I have written your parents a letter that they received as you were getting your tattoos... explaining how you will be staying out here with me for the next week..."

...

"What the?! You can't just steal us away from our families like that. Not that I'm complaining; I don't need them or anything; it's just. Ughh.... camping? I don't do camping!"

It was true. He hadn't even slept anywhere other than his own home at all since he had been very small. He had been camping once or twice back when his mother was alive, but never since. His stepmother had a massive hate for anything that involved dirt, so it had always been out of the question. Ryou didn't really like to associate with her, but he was so used to having servants and a warm bed. Not camping out in tents.

"Today,"

Ryou found that Tomo had once again disregarded him and was staring again, once again seemingly only talking to him and not even bothering with looking at Kei and Toya.

"You will learn the answer to the question of the day... but first..."

He rolled his eyes again. Ryou didn't really care what Tomo's favorite jutsu was. He just wanted to get out of here. Well, he didn't want to go home, but nobody seemed to like him here anyway. He didn't want them to hate him either; he just didn't know what he was doing wrong. He didn't know what these people were doing for him. He didn't see any reason to stick around. Okay; well maybe they had gotten somewhere. They had made him keep his mouth shut for a while, Kei had made him laugh, Toya was a guy around his own age to talk to... Tomo was going to teach him jutsu...

Maybe this would be okay. If only...

"Lets eat..."

"What the heck are you on about?! You take us here to punish us; steal us away from our families, tell us you're going to teach us some flashy jutsu, but then you sit down and worry about what you're going to eat! ARE YOU CRAZY!?!"

...If only everyone had some common sense around here.

[Sasuke]

"OR we could always leave you behind, Ryou-kun, If you hate us that much, why don't you just go home? I don't want you here either, all you do is whine whine whine! If I were Tomo-sama, I'd have booted you out of the team AGES ago."

Woah, so Kei had finally taken Toya’s side this time… or maybe rather than Toya’s side, it was simply the side that disliked Ryou. Either way, it felt better to have someone aligning their opinion with his rather than yelling back at him. The most surprising moment came when Ryou did not reply to both of his teammate’s shouts. The angry genin had actually remained silent instead of yelling back to continue the argument. Now it was time to focus and see how Kei would finally respond to Tomo’s question.

"...I have no idea! I don't know any of your jutsu, so there's no way I could guess your favorite out of those. So... I guess the conclusion that I came to is... I have no idea. What is your favorite jutsu?"

A smile began to tug at the corners of Toya’s mouth. It seemed that Kei decided to take his advice and simply forget about answering the question. He was glad to see that his teammate’s impulsive and excitable behavior could be just as entertaining now as it had been annoying earlier. It all depended on the angle at which one looked at it. Besides, how bad could their punishment really be? Tomo seemed like a kind enough man, and he couldn’t have really expected them to know the answer… right?

"Well… That is the lesson we are going to teach you..."

See, no harm done. Tomo had planned on revealing the technique to them eventually, meaning that the three genin had been let off the hook for now. Though Toya still secretly wished that the punishment really had existed. Then maybe Ryou would have finally been put in his place, where he belonged.


"Mount up... we're leaving... NOW!..."

Something in Tomo’s expression seemed somehow… off as he commanded his team. Luckily, it seemed that his new sternness had been mostly directed at Ryou, meaning that Toya and Kei could probably relax for the moment. At least, until they found out what this ‘lesson’ that Tomo had in mind would turn out to be.

"Fushii... take the genin to the location we decided on earlier... You two can return home and be warm... but tomorrow we are going all day and you both need to be prepared for the cold..."

Toya glanced to the side and watched as the other two oxen began to exit the area. Apparently, Fushii really did have the strength to carry the entire team on his back, since Tomo had just sent away his remaining summons. Now he simply wanted to know where their exact destination was located. Then, without hesitation, Toya quickly climbed up onto Fuushi’s back. The back of an ox sounded like a very undesirable place to be, but the high-quality royal robes made it quite comfortable. Perhaps this ride would not be so bad after all.

"Before I go I am going to explain Rule #1 while you are training with me... there will be more rules as we go but Rule #1 is going to hold you over until I meet you back at our little day camp... so here it is... Rule #1: Team mates earn everything they get on their own merit, and the team will share in all rewards and punishments."

Damn, what an unfair rule. True, succeeding and failing together as a group was an essential part of teamwork, but when one member continually earned reasons to be punished, well… it really sucked. He avoided glaring at Ryou and instead tried to keep his focus directed on his sensei.

"Ryou, your outbursts have cost the team talking rights until Fushii gets you to camp... if you or anyone of your teammates so much as makes a peep, Fushii will tell me, and... Well we will cross that bridge when we get there... No talking... Fushii, if one of them talks sit on them all and I'll come find you..."

Such a fitting punishment for the team, but more specifically, Ryou. Tomo definitely seemed serious about them following this rule, and Toya planned to obey it without any objections. Besides, their sensei was probably doing them all a favor by forbidding them to speak during the ride to wherever this ‘camp’ was. The initial force of the giant ox taking off at full speed almost caught him by surprise, but the movement became much smoother and easier to deal with after a few more moments. In fact, Toya had begun enjoying the trip when Fushii suddenly spoke up.

"Listen, I don't care if you speak or not... I'm not going to sit on you... however, I will throw you off my back if I hear you arguing... Adamu is going to get really tough on you in about an hour, so I am taking pity on you... don't make me regret it..."

”Sure thing, Fushii-san…” Toya replied briefly, since it seemed that Ryou had certainly lost his usual knack for speaking out. This animal had a lot of intelligence as well as strength, so Toya had no problem with showing him a little respect.

"Well... Now we wait..."

Ryou had already disembarked from Fushii’s back, and now Toya decided to do the same. He quickly swung his legs over the side of the animal and slid down the soft robes of the beast. After landing in the snow, he took a few steps forward and glanced around. The area seemed… empty, for lack of better words. How could they possibly train in a barren place like this…

...So we're going to get punished even harder eh? YAY. I wonder what kinda torture he's got planned for us nex- Oi! We're allowed to talk, provided we don't argue. Well guess what; I'm talking. I'm stating my opinion. It ain't arguing till somebody decides to challenge me; and if that happens, they're the one arguing! Everything ain't my bloody fault!"

Toya simply folded his arms and remained completely silent. Ryou’s foolish words broke over him like waves on a rocky cliff, producing no results. As much as he wanted to speak up and admonish his teammate for continually insulting their sensei and trying to avoid taking any of the blame for their arguments, he knew that further problems would bring punishment on all three of them. It would be unfair if he and Kei suffered for their teammate’s anger, so ignoring him remained the only plausible option. A loud crash signaled that Tomo had arrived, and Toya stared at the massive pile of wood in awe. Had a single shinobi really carried all of this singlehandedly?

"Gah... Fushii my friend nice to see that you made it without complications... Now Then!... Welcome each of you to Camp TomoYuki... this area will be our base of operations while we train... and I have written your parents a letter that they received as you were getting your tattoos... explaining how you will be staying out here with me for the next week..."

Now the reason for choosing such a secluded location made sense. Apparently Tomo planned on having them all build their own shelters themselves, especially now that they would be surviving out here for an entire week. Seeing as how Toya no longer had any parents, he assumed that one of his employees had received the letter and could handle things while he was absent. Toya only hoped that he could survive the week with Ryou intact and remain able to return home in one piece.

"What the?! You can't just steal us away from our families like that. Not that I'm complaining; I don't need them or anything; it's just. Ughh.... camping? I don't do camping!"

Aww, the poor little Ryou couldn’t handle being away from his family and his precious sheltered life for a whole seven days? What kind of shinobi did he think he was? Even a genin knew the basic survival skills to survive for days on their own in the wild, and in this case they had the Emperor of Yuki himself to aid them.

”Well looks like you will have to learn how to ‘do camping’ for the next week…” After this brief sentence directed at Ryou, Toya raised both of his arms to the sky in a deep stretch to get his blood pumping. The weather had become even colder now that there were no buildings around to shield them from the biting wind. Luckily, most Yuki ninja were accustomed to extremely low temperatures

"Today, you will learn the answer to the question of the day... but first... let’s eat…"

Toya blinked when Tomo mentioned that they would finally learn the answer to his question. At this point, he was actually intrigued about their sensei’s favorite jutsu, hoping that it would be something to make all of their troubles worthwhile. He didn’t see why Tomo found this an appropriate time to eat, though that had little significance in the long run. But, as usual, the peaceful moment shattered when Ryou opened his mouth.

"What the heck are you on about?! You take us here to punish us; steal us away from our families, tell us you're going to teach us some flashy jutsu, but then you sit down and worry about what you're going to eat! ARE YOU CRAZY!?!"

”Looks like someone needs to learn how to adapt. Isn’t that one of the foundational principles of a shinobi? We need the ability to adapt to any situation at any given time. The only one who sounds crazy right now is you, Ryou. Calm down and stop yelling for once.”

Toya hoped that he had not overstepped his boundaries by responding to Ryou instead of allowing Tomo to reply first. But really, someone needed to show this guy that not everything in the world would go exactly how he wanted. People like Toya had learned that the hard way, through pain and personal experience, but apparently Ryou had missed the message that he needed to grow up and learn to be flexible when it came to these types of situations.

Once that finally happened, then maybe Team Tomoyuki would gain even the smallest chances of unifying as a team. Tomo, Kei, and Toya had apparently reached a mutual state of peace or acceptance, and now it was time to see if Ryou had the ability to get over himself and join the group. That was simply the harsh reality of it all.

[Sasuke]

Riding an ox was... not what Kei had expected.

She'd expected the large animal to move slowly, even awkwardly, but that was not the case. Instead she found herself hanging on for dear life as the scenery of Yuki flashed by her in a blur. Up in front, Toya was silent, and Ryou, sitting behind Kei, was quiet as well, oddly enough. Come to think of it, he hadn't said anything since she'd yelled at him earlier and told him to go home. Maybe she'd finally knocked some sense into the boy. Then again, maybe he was too distracted with trying not to fall off the speeding ox.

Sure enough, the instant Fushii halted, directly in the middle of a wide, icy plain, the old, whiny Ryou was back again.

"...So we're going to get punished even harder eh? YAY. I wonder what kinda torture he's got planned for us nex-"

Kei glared.

"Oi! We're allowed to talk, provided we don't argue. Well guess what; I'm talking. I'm stating my opinion. It ain't arguing till somebody decides to challenge me; and if that happens, they're the one arguing! Everything ain't my bloody fault!"

As soon as he'd started that rant, Kei had opened her mouth to cut him off and hopefully teach that annoying boy a lesson, but one glance at Toya gave her a better idea. Her teammate was just standing there, arms crossed, unresponsive. Following his example Kei slid off of the ox into the snow and and took a few steps past Ryou. By the time he was halfway through the third sentence, Kei was standing with her back to Ryou, completely ignoring him. And she would continue to do so as long as Ryou kept up that annoying whining of his, or at least, until she couldn't take it anymore and yelled at him again. Kei was used to being extremely talkative, she wasn't all quiet and aloof like Toya was, but hey, she could try.

As soon as Ryou shut his mouth, there was a long, awkward silence. Neither Kei nor Toya said anything, and Ryou was left to stand there alone, hopefully feeling very stupid after his angry rant received no reaction from the other two. At least, that was what Kei was aiming for. Once Ryou realized what a jerk he was being, maybe he'd shut up and try to get along for once.

However, the silence was broken all too soon, shattered with a loud CRASH which heralded the arrival of Tomo-sama.

The source of the sound was apparently a massive bundle of logs which Tomo had been carrying, and had just now set down on the ground. Despite their weight however, there wasn't a single dent or crack in the ice. And, despite the weight of the logs, Tomo had been able to move without effort at all. And he'd certainly been jumping higher than any normal person, despite all that weight... Kei wondered if whatever he had just done was in fact, the 'favorite jutsu' that had caused the team so much stress over guessing it.

"Welcome, each of you, to Camp TomoYuki," Tomo said as he approached the three genin. "This area will be our base of operations while we train... and I have written your parents a letter that they received as you were getting your tattoos... explaining how you will be staying out here with me for the next week..."

Ryou, of course, had a complaint. As always.

"What the?! You can't just steal us away from our families like that. Not that I'm complaining; I don't need them or anything; it's just. Ughh.... camping? I don't do camping!"

Toya cut in with something about how Ryou was just going to have to learn to do camping, but Kei remained silent for once. She bit her lip, doing her best to ignore Ryou's words and not even so much as look at him. She didn't care what Ryou thought, Kei liked camping. She did it all the time with her family. After all, she wasn't a spoiled brat like Ryou. She actually knew how to have fun. She knew how to work hard too, unlike SOMEONE here.

So honestly, Kei was actually kind of looking forward to the next week. Or she would be, if she didn't have to spend it with stupid Ryou. So instead, she was just going to do her best to ignore him. Kei wasn't about to let Ryou ruin her fun OR her training.

"Today, you will learn the answer to the question of the day... but first... let’s eat…"

Food! Suddenly, Kei remembered just how hungry she was. She was starving! It seemed like ages since breakfast. Oh and they were going to learn about Tomo's favorite jutsu, too. She had to admit, she was pretty curious by now. Especially after she'd seen how he moved those logs. Kei was so focused on all this that she'd completely forgotten about Ryou, but once again, the whiny brat was out on a mission to ruin EVERYTHING. She should have known better than to think he was capable of shutting up for more than five seconds...

"What the heck are you on about?! You take us here to punish us; steal us away from our families, tell us you're going to teach us some flashy jutsu, but then you sit down and worry about what you're going to eat! ARE YOU CRAZY!?!"

The moment the words left his lips, Kei had turned on him, furious. She'd completely given up on ever managing to ignore Ryou by now, he was just so... so... Ugh!

"No, what the heck are YOU on about, Ryou!? Who the hell let YOU graduate the Academy, huh? You're nothing but a spoiled little brat who can't do anything by yourself. All you ever do is compla--"

”Looks like someone needs to learn how to adapt," Toya interrupted. "Isn’t that one of the foundational principles of a shinobi? We need the ability to adapt to any situation at any given time. The only one who sounds crazy right now is you, Ryou. Calm down and stop yelling for once.”

Kei sighed. "I really hate to admit it, but Toya's right. You said you didn't need your family, but you seem completely dead set on running home back to them instead of training here with your team. Well guess what? You're a genin now. You're gonna have to grow up and quit being such a whiny little kid someday. You'll have to go on lots of missions where you'll be away from home for days and days. Get used to it!" Kei wasn't usually the type of person to give advice like this, or even get this mad at someone, but Ryou was an exception. Sure, she wasn't the most patient person ever, but Ryou tested what little patience Kei did have like no one else before him. Still, she was trying her hardest not to break down and yell at him again, and instead talk calmly like Toya was doing. She didn't need to get herself in any more trouble with Tomo-sama than she was already in. "It's just like Toya said. The only crazy one here is you, Ryou. If you would just calm down and stop yelling at everyone, the next seven days together won't be so bad. We could learn a lot. Besides, this is shinobi training. No one said it was going to be easy."

"So, how about it Ryou? Are you a shinobi or not?"

[Sasuke]

Tomo had long since heard enough from his students at this point, but he let them continue so that they might be able to solve their problems...

he was tempted to step in right after Kei's speech and give them a verbal beat down... but instead he withheld his tongue... knowing that after dinner and everyone would be full and well-spirited... well as well-spirited as they were going to get... the point being that they would be in much better shape to get torn down then now when their morale was low and Ryou might have progress with the rest of the team...

above all Tomo saw only possibilities if this team were left on their own to solve problems... and the more he gave them the solution the less they stood to gain both as a team and individually... and sacrificing his own pride and standing wasn't against his principle that learning and becoming stronger was the most important thing a young shinobi could do...

Tomo raised a finger and made up his mind that he had no clue what he preferred so he just simply charged chakra into his palm and said a covering, "AHA!..." as he slammed his palm down on the first symbol that he came across on his scroll...

to the students surprise, this small and seemingly insignificant scroll not only contained meals, but apparently whole buildings to eat them in...

because what appeared out of the gigantic plume of summoning smoke was a large log cabin with smoke coming out from the chimney...

Tomo stood up facing the door with his hands on his hips and said as he smelled the wonderful smell of freshly cooked meat and vegetables... "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!... I am so glad that I am Soratodai... otherwise I don't know how I would get by on regular rations out in the wild... though I think my family in particular are spoiled, there is no substitute for good home cooking out in the middle of the wilderness..."

Tomo turned around and said, "Well... don't just stand there gawping in the cold... come on in and make yourselves at home... be sure you enjoy tonight because my family spent a long time preparing this meal despite the easiness of its appearance in front of you..."

Tomo opened the door to reveal what was a two room lodging, it had a kitchen/dining space with a bedroom adjacent to it... the dining area had a fully set and sweet smelling table of food prepared and steaming in the cold winter air that Tomo's team had let in...

Tomo shut the door behind his students and said... "Please be my guests and sit yourselves down and while we eat... we can see if you can't help you find the answers to the question of the day..."

Tomo let the students find their places and start eating while he slowly approached his seat and stood over it... waiting in a pause between their discussion he cleared his throat and said... "Alright!... before we get to business I will ask you to pick up the glass to your right... it is filled with a traditional Soratodai Pumpkin Ale... don't worry, it's not potent enough for you to abuse like other alcoholic drinks..."

Tomo raised his glass high and said in a loud and enthusiastic voice... "This is a toast to our team, may we each honor each other as family and friend, may we continue on after our duty is served to enjoy each other and the days we spend together, and may we forever remember the lessons that we teach each other here and in all of the places our shared missions and obligations take us... In This We Hold... TO TEAM TOMOYUKI!!!..."

Tomo held his glass and waited until each student hit his glass with theirs until downing all of his full glass of pumpkin ale down in one continuous chug... taking a deep breath after he finished he wipied his mouth with a napkin and sat down... taking himself a large piece of meat and began serving himself...

as he served himself various foods that were specialties of his clan and home Tomo took the silence of his students enjoyment to introduce them to the next step in their exercise...

"While you are eating, you will be carrying out an important part of your training... remember the first rule that everything you do is earned on your own... lets hope that you can earn this meal by winning my little game I have for you..."

Tomo looked at each of his students to make sure he had their attention...

"During your meal you can ask me any question you like... any question at all... but you will only get three questions each... you win if at any point you can answer today's question, you lose if the last person has asked their final question and you are still unable to answer it... before we begin I have two things important to tell you..."

"One, That once a person has asked their third question they must stand up and leave the building and wait with Fushii until the rest are finished..."

"Two, and this is most important... if someone guesses at the question and gets it wrong... they are automatically disqualified and will leave the table..."

Tomo paused to reach for a large plate of yellow vegetable mash...

"Oh, and another thing... Everyone must try, if someone takes longer than than I think is reasonable to ask a question I'll ask them to give an answer to the question and if they fail to answer, everyone will stop eating and we will begin training outside in the cold..."

Tomo began eating and with a deep moan of contentment let the flavors of home seep into his tongue and invade his pallet...

Tomo waited with anticipation for the first question to come out of the group... half expecting the first round of Ryou's complaints about his stipulations to generate it... half expecting the group to all remain silent and relish the hot and delicious meal that they were eating...

[Sasuke]

"No, what the heck are YOU on about, Ryou!? Who the hell let YOU graduate the Academy, huh? You're nothing but a spoiled little brat who can't do anything by yourself. All you ever do is compla--"

”Looks like someone needs to learn how to adapt. Isn’t that one of the foundational principles of a shinobi? We need the ability to adapt to any situation at any given time. The only one who sounds crazy right now is you, Ryou. Calm down and stop yelling for once.”
"I really hate to admit it, but Toya's right. You said you didn't need your family, but you seem completely dead set on running home back to them instead of training here with your team. Well guess what? You're a genin now. You're gonna have to grow up and quit being such a whiny little kid someday. You'll have to go on lots of missions where you'll be away from home for days and days. Get used to it! It's just like Toya said. The only crazy one here is you, Ryou. If you would just calm down and stop yelling at everyone, the next seven days together won't be so bad. We could learn a lot. Besides, this is shinobi training. No one said it was going to be easy."

It was so strange, and almost scary, seeing the two of them both turn on him like that. Up until then, Ryou hadn’t really taken any understanding of what they had said in, but this time, when they were talking, he knew that these were words which he just couldn’t ignore. They were telling him exactly why he would have no reason to be here if he kept going on like he was. But they weren’t entirely right – he did have shinobi skills, according to his academy teacher he was one of the best in his class at chakra control. He hadn’t even grown up with a shinobi background, so such a thing was pretty impressive. He had gotten the tip from various people that he did indeed have the chance to one day grow up to be a great shinobi. He was quite sure he had been this way when he was at academy. No; for his entire life. But he had never been called a whiny kid before.

Or maybe it was because he had never been made to socialize like this ever before. He had never been given to a bunch of people and then known that these were the people he was going to spend the rest of a career with. He had never been forced into socializing. He’d never been forced into anything, actually.

“Oi! I don’t know half this stuff. Look, I’m less used to it than you two are. Get off my case. I don’t know much about being a shinobi; my father’s a politician, my mother’s a… uh… YEAH!”

Even as Ryou tried to argue with them, his every breath visible as white smoke in the cold, he knew that he wasn’t being very convincing. They were probably right. He was being stuck up; and it was his fault that they were in this situation anyway. He had just said it himself; he didn’t know much about being a shinobi, but apparently, they did. Who was he to chastisize them about something they knew far more about. As much as he hated to admit it; there was nothing else he could really say. They had a point. And he had already made up the decision to take the path of a ninja a long time ago; but standing there arguing wasn’t going to make him a shinobi.

"So, how about it Ryou? Are you a shinobi or not?"

“Yes,”

It was only a one word answer that Ryou gave them, but it was enough for them, and him, to notice that something had changed. Even though he still looked at Kei straight on, the arrogance was gone from Ryou’s voice. There was even a slight tone of apology in his voice as the realization of how much of an idiot he had been so far crashed down into him. And suddenly all of this was making him feel sick. He looked away from Kei and Toya, now completely humiliated at being caught out like this. Why on earth did he have to behave like that? Why was it so hard for him to adapt?

Kei and Toya were probably happy now, but even if they were going to react as such, they didn’t get a chance, as a diversion in the form of a gigantic plume of smoke suddenly came out from behind the genin, turning all heads in that direction. Suddenly, where there had previously been nothing except snow, there was what appeared to be a large log cabin. A nice smell was radiating from inside, which suddenly had Ryou not feel so sick anymore, but more hungry. He suddenly remembered that he hadn’t eaten anything all day.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!... I am so glad that I am Soratodai... otherwise I don't know how I would get by on regular rations out in the wild... though I think my family in particular are spoiled, there is no substitute for good home cooking out in the middle of the wilderness..."

Tomo Sensei pushed open the door of the building he had just erected from nothing and walked inside, beckoning the genin to follow.

"Well... don't just stand there gawping in the cold... come on in and make yourselves at home... be sure you enjoy tonight because my family spent a long time preparing this meal despite the easiness of its appearance in front of you..."

Ryou probably knew nothing of meals which had so much work put into them. Since he was born, he’d had servants who he would just take for granted. Perhaps if he had come straight here from home, he would have complained about how horrible the food was, but he was so hungry that he didn’t care. Oh, and he was going to try not to complain from now on. He still didn’t like Kei and Toya, but he knew that if they didn’t at least try to get along they’d end up in even deeper shit than they were now.

The room was pretty warm; following after his teammates, Ryou took a seat at the dining table in front of him. His self control did have it’s limits, and he didn’t wait for any indication before he picked up his fork and started eating. He evidently wasn’t supposed to have, because Tomo wasn’t done with the formalities.

"This is a toast to our team, may we each honor each other as family and friend, may we continue on after our duty is served to enjoy each other and the days we spend together, and may we forever remember the lessons that we teach each other here and in all of the places our shared missions and obligations take us... In This We Hold... TO TEAM TOMOYUKI!!!..."

Ryou put down his fork and picked up the glass that was right next to him. He didn’t say anything; but that was probably more out of having his mouth full than politeness. Watching the others do the same, Ryou raised the glass to his lips and took a sip of the ale…

…It tasted disgusting. Like pumpkin. Well, Tomo had said that it contained pumpkin, but that didn’t stop it from being gross. Ryou spit the small amount of ale that he had already taken into his mouth back into the glass and only pretended to drink. Once again, he was tempted to complain. Damnit; it was just sooo easy to lose your head. Ryou was silent in the toast, and didn’t yell Tomoyuki when he toasted. He didn’t really think that such a well, pathetic, team deserved a toast anyway.

Setting down his still full glass, Ryou set his eyes on the food once more. He barely got started when Tomo decided to speak again.

"While you are eating, you will be carrying out an important part of your training... remember the first rule that everything you do is earned on your own... lets hope that you can earn this meal by winning my little game I have for you... During your meal you can ask me any question you like... any question at all... but you will only get three questions each... you win if at any point you can answer today's question, you lose if the last person has asked their final question and you are still unable to answer it... before we begin I have two things important to tell you...”

Oh, so he still hadn’t given up on the whole question thing. Well that sucked. Now he was going to have them play a “game” in order to guess it. Why on earth did they have to guess it anyway? And besides, jutsus could be anything , you couldn’t just guess them with nine questions.


"One, That once a person has asked their third question they must stand up and leave the building and wait with Fushii until the rest are finished… Two, and this is most important... if someone guesses at the question and gets it wrong... they are automatically disqualified and will leave the table..."

Oh yayyy. Throw more rules to make the whole thing seem even worse. Well, Ryou didn’t really care about what Tomo’s favourite jutsu was anymore than he cared before. He was going to sit there and not say anything. It wasn’t like he was evading punishment or anything, because being the goody goodys that they were, Kei and Toya would try, and according to Tomo, if they got punished, Ryou would too. Seemed pretty fair to him.

"Oh, and another thing... Everyone must try, if someone takes longer than than I think is reasonable to ask a question I'll ask them to give an answer to the question and if they fail to answer, everyone will stop eating and we will begin training outside in the cold..."

…Or not. Well, that wasn’t exactly fair. They weren’t only just forced to ask questions, they also had to do it within a time limit, or be forced to go outside and wait in the cold. Well that really sucked, and not only that.

Hey! We have absolutely no idea what the parameters of the jutsu are. There’s millions and millions of them out there! You can’t expect us to guess in just nine questions…

That was what Ryou felt like yelling. Had this happened just before Kei had yelled at him, then he would have well yelled it out. But he knew better now; he had to calm down. Yelling would probably only have him outside in the cold, Damnit. Well, only one thing left for it. Make things as simple as possible; ask the obvious questions before the others got to them. Ryou swallowed, and perhaps took everyone by surprise when he talked, simply “complying” to instructions without complaining for once,

“What’s your chakra element?”

Well that would slightly lower the amount of possible jutsus. To some fraction of infinity.

[Sasuke]

Tomo laughed and swallowed... "It doesn't matter..." he answered...

Tomo was very surprised... Ryou hadn't shouted out of turn or complained about the food... he was actually behaving well...

it must be the food' Tomo thought to himself as he waited for the next question to come...

[Sasuke]

"I really hate to admit it, but Toya's right. You said you didn't need your family, but you seem completely dead set on running home back to them instead of training here with your team. Well guess what? You're a genin now. You're gonna have to grow up and quit being such a whiny little kid someday. You'll have to go on lots of missions where you'll be away from home for days and days. Get used to it! It's just like Toya said. The only crazy one here is you, Ryou. If you would just calm down and stop yelling at everyone, the next seven days together won't be so bad. We could learn a lot. Besides, this is shinobi training. No one said it was going to be easy."

It still felt good that Kei remained on his side of this ‘discussion’, but had it really been necessary to emphasis that he [i]really[/u] hated to agree with Toya? Well, it didn’t really matter anymore. The fact was that they had successfully called out Ryou, and he no longer had any reasonable way to defend himself from their blunt accusations. He would either have to admit that they were right or simply stop talking. Either way, Toya would be satisfied with the result. And yet, Ryou still found a way to throw a lame excuse right back at them.

“Oi! I don’t know half this stuff. Look, I’m less used to it than you two are. Get off my case. I don’t know much about being a shinobi; my father’s a politician, my mother’s a… uh… YEAH!”

”More pathetic excuses. We all went through the same Academy and have the same experience as a shinobi. Neither of my parents were shinobi, and even if they had been, the only thing that matters is what you are. So don’t try to hide behind your family as a defense against our words."

Toya had vaguely implied that his parents were not around anymore, but he hoped that no one would dig deeper into that implication. Right now, all of his focus was on Ryou and putting him in his place, so he had carelessly mentioned his parents as a counterexample to use against Ryou’s excuse.

"So, how about it Ryou? Are you a shinobi or not?"

”Yes.”

”Good. If your answer is sincere, then you will stand with us and make it through this week intact. Let’s live up to the name that is now imprinted on our bodies, shall we?”

Toya brought his hand down on his right shoulder and directed a small smile at his teammates. It certainly wasn’t one of his more heavily used expressions, but it certainly brightened his demeanor when he decided to smile. He still wasn’t sure whether he really believed that Ryou was repentant, but for now he would enjoy the brief moment of peace. And perhaps they really would be able to survive this week and come out stronger and more unified.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!... I am so glad that I am Soratodai... otherwise I don't know how I would get by on regular rations out in the wild... though I think my family in particular are spoiled, there is no substitute for good home cooking out in the middle of the wilderness... Well... don't just stand there gawping in the cold... come on in and make yourselves at home... be sure you enjoy tonight because my family spent a long time preparing this meal despite the easiness of its appearance in front of you..."

Now that had been surprising. Tomo-sama really had a lot of tricks up his sleeves. When the man had first appeared with the huge quantity of wood, Toya had been sure that the genin would be forced to construct shelters from the material, but apparently Tomo had more convenient methods at his disposal. He quickly followed Tomo and Ryou through the door to avoid standing in the same frozen spot for too long. Even a Yuki shinobi had his limits when it came to these temperatures. He chose a seat next to Ryou as a small gesture of peace, hoping that they could get through the rest of this day with no further arguments. Unlike his teammate, Toya decided not to eat anything yet. He wasn’t particularly hungry at the moment, and he wanted to hear if Tomo would say anything first.

"This is a toast to our team, may we each honor each other as family and friend, may we continue on after our duty is served to enjoy each other and the days we spend together, and may we forever remember the lessons that we teach each other here and in all of the places our shared missions and obligations take us... In This We Hold... TO TEAM TOMOYUKI!!!..."

Toya pretended to have trouble finding his drink before his fingers finally closed around the cup. He raised it in the air and nodded in Tomo’s direction.

“To Team Tomoyuki.”

It lacked the enthusiasm of Tomo’s voice, but at least he had said something. Unlike a certain person sitting next to him who apparently still had an issue with teamwork. After taking a long sip of the ale, Toya set down the cup. He didn’t particularly like the taste, and he had never had a very high alcohol tolerance, so he wisely chose not to drink anymore of the ale.

"While you are eating, you will be carrying out an important part of your training... remember the first rule that everything you do is earned on your own... lets hope that you can earn this meal by winning my little game I have for you... During your meal you can ask me any question you like... any question at all... but you will only get three questions each... you win if at any point you can answer today's question, you lose if the last person has asked their final question and you are still unable to answer it... before we begin I have two things important to tell you...”

On one hand, it frustrated Toya that Tomo continued to bring that stupid question up, but this time they would be able to dig for information before they were forced to answer. If he and his teammates were smart, they would be able to severely narrow down their options through the use of their three questions each.

"One, That once a person has asked their third question they must stand up and leave the building and wait with Fushii until the rest are finished… Two, and this is most important... if someone guesses at the question and gets it wrong... they are automatically disqualified and will leave the table..."

Okay, so they would need to conserve their questions instead of asking them all consecutively. Not too hard. He certainly did not want to leave this warm and food-filled place and be sent back into the cold, so Toya did not plan on making any hasty guesses this time around.

"Oh, and another thing... Everyone must try, if someone takes longer than than I think is reasonable to ask a question I'll ask them to give an answer to the question and if they fail to answer, everyone will stop eating and we will begin training outside in the cold..."

It certainly sounded like a strange addition to the rules, but it wouldn’t matter. Toya didn’t plan on stalling for too much time, so things would work out if Kei and Ryou played smart. Actually, maybe this would be a problem if he had to rely on the cooperation and intellect of his two teammates…

“What’s your chakra element?”

Hmm, not a bad question, though Toya would have waited a few more minutes before speaking. He took another bite of his food and glanced over at Tomo to hear the answer. This one would surely narrow down the field of jutsus that they needed to choose from.

"It doesn't matter..."

….Okay. Instead of an answer, they received a laugh and a refusal from Tomo. One of their nine questions had gone down the drain in under ten seconds, and they knew just as much as they had at the start of this game. Toya decided to speak up next, and he would have to make it count. Though that was assuming Tomo would even answer him…

”Tomo-sama, what aspect of the shinobi do you specialize in? Taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu?”

Toya wanted more than anything to have access to his eyes in a situation like this, but obviously that option was completely off-limits here. The only time he could use them was when he could ‘take care’ of any witnesses or use them from afar without being spotted. And since neither of those conditions could be met here, they would have to solve this problem the proper way and try to leech more information by using their questions wisely. Now they would see if Tomo planned to give them a real answer this time…

[Sasuke]

"Okay, Okay..." Tomoushii conceded... "Since I think you're not going to get the answer by this exercise anyways I will answer your questions fully... To your question Toya, I am a master of my clan's Taijutsu arts... you'll see them if we are ever in trouble... I am also a Sage in the Ninjutsu arts... again you'd see them if we were ever in trouble... I only have a few genjutsu techniques worth speaking about... I'm not the genjutsu type..."

Tomo turned back to Ryou... "To answer your earlier question Ryou, I can use many elements... My clan's Kekkei Genkai gives me the ability to change gravity and use it in many ways against my opponent... To explain, you guys tought that I must be very strong to carry that huge pile of logs, the reality is that my chakra changed gravity's effect on those logs to the point where it was easy for me to lift them..."

Tomo turned his head to Kei... "Understand of course that none of that information will help you solve the question..."

[Sasuke]

This team is disbanded, i will be starting another team... filled with people who don't abandon friends!...

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