บท 4: Chapter 4 – Team 11
Date: January 22nd, 13 years following the Kyuubi's attack
Time: 12:30 PM
Tanaka led Team 11 to the rooftop meeting area of the Academy. The meeting spot had been Okito's favorite place when he'd been the same age as his Genin - it had one of the best views in the city, short of climbing to the top of the Hokage Cliff.
As they entered the horseshoe-shaped meeting spot, Takahashi looked down at the tree at the entrance of the Academy. "Kyouran." He said simply, not even raising his voice from its normal pitch or volume, before taking a seat opposite the twins. As Okito watched, a black blur leapt from the tree's upper branches onto the roof of the second floor and then bound up to the rooftop to take a spot beside the Genin - it was a black panther, young enough to be mistaken as a common housecat at a distance.
The cat growled at Takahashi, who nodded as he apparently understood the feline's language. "Yes, the dog's gone. Now that we'll be in the field, you won't have to stay outside alone all day long."
"It's a shame you lost that bet with Inuzaka-san, Takahashi-kun." Motoko said. "Kyouran's just as cute as Akamaru."
"Speak for yourself, sis." Raiden disagreed. "It's ridiculous to rely on a tool that can think for itself."
"You're just saying that because Akamaru bit you and Kyouran scratched your leg after you picked fights with their humans." Motoko pointed out. Her brother opened her mouth, but quickly closed it as he realized that, once again, he wouldn't be able to win the argument.
Okito smiled as he opened the bag that he'd carried with him, setting it down on the table. "I can see that this is going to be interesting... Here, I've got muffins enough for each of us from my family's bakery. I even brought one for Kyouran."
Takahashi smiled. "It was a nice thought, Sensei, but he's not supposed to eat bread products."
Raiden looked at the muffins. "Wait a minute... Tanaka-sensei, as in the Tanaka Bakery..?" Okito nodded. "Sweet! Do we get a discount?"
"Our house isn't far from your store," Motoko explained. "So Mom usually shops at your family's bakery for everything along those lines."
"We'll see how well you do as a team before we consider side benefits, hmm?" Okito smiled, playfully mussing Raiden's already wild hair and getting a grin from the young fighter. "Now, I've been on a special assignment outside the village for the last few years." He looked at each of them. "So, I'd like to take this time to get to know each of you." He focused on Raiden. "Why don't you start?"
The male Hata shrugged. "Sure. I'm Raiden Hata and I love to fight. A fight is the truest expression of martial arts; where you can experience and display its true beauty." A beatific grin appeared. "It's the main reason I became a ninja - my dream is to discover the pinnacle of combat arts. I want to see all the styles out there, find their best aspects and incorporate them into a new style altogether."
Okito nodded. "That's an excellent dream to aspire to, Raiden." He glanced at his twin sister. "And how about you, Motoko-chan?"
"Me?" Motoko asked, clearly dismayed at being dragged into the spotlight. "Ano..." She began to twiddle her thumbs uncomfortably. "I'm Motoko Hata... but you already knew that. Um..."
Raiden sighed. "She's here because of me." He said. "For some reason neither of us can really relax when we're away from the other; Mom and Dad thinks it's because we're twins. I wanted to be a ninja, so she became one, too." The male Hata grimaced. "We also found out that if we're too far apart our ability to make chakra takes a hit, but we don't get on edge anymore."
"You don't want to be a ninja, Motoko?" Tanaka asked, curious as to her motivation.
"I didn't really think of it initially... We were only 5 when we entered the Academy, after all…" The female Hata answered. "But after that first year of classes, I found that I was enjoying it a lot. I found lots of friends, like Himata-chan and Kimiko-chan and Shino-kun and..." Her cheeks took on a reddish tint as she trailed off. She took a breath and the flush cleared. "Anyways, I want to be a ninja so we have more in common with each other."
Raiden rolled his eyes. "She's sweet on Oni Inugami..." Motoko's face went beet red and she cried "Nii-chan!", but her brother ignored her. "For the life of me I can't figure out why; he barely gives her the time of day."
"That... that... that's not true." Motoko stuttered back. "He's really a nice person."
"He's arrogant, sarcastic and a general annoyance!" Raiden argued back. "You've seen him in classes: aside from the bookwork tests, he's average at best. At least Sasuke has the skills to back up his arrogance. I could take Inugami without thinking twice."
"No; you couldn't." Motoko taunted simply, confidence coming back into her voice. "You don't even come close... And if it weren't for the fact that I feel some of your pain, I'd say to give it shot so he can prove you wrong."
Tanaka's eyebrow rose in interest; this hadn't been in their dossier. That could be a MAJOR complication in the field. "You feel each other's pain?"
Raiden shrugged. "Vaguely... For example, I bruised my shin once in training and had a limp for a few days. During that time, Momo's leg wouldn't support her full weight, giving her a similar limp. The doctors had a name for it: psychosomatic conversion something-or-other. Mainly I got a feeling they didn't really understand it either."
"And why are you so confident that Sho Inugami could beat your brother?" Okito asked.
'There are no windows that look out on the training grounds when he exposed his real skill earlier and Bya-chan would have mentioned seeing someone else observing the fight.' He thought to himself.
Motoko shrugged. "I've been told I'm a sensory-type ninja, like Akamaru and Kyouran... I felt this wild pulse of chakra during lunch and I recognized it as Sho's." A hint of blush returned. "I… Ano… I hurt myself a few weeks ago during a training session and he was there and he used his medical techniques to patch me up and when he did..." Her words had sped up and her blush got stronger as she recalled the events and how they'd made her feel. "I UNDERSTOOD him or I knew there was a lot of power in him or…" Her face was now as red as a tomato, but she began a breathing exercise to calm herself. "Anyways, I can't explain it, but I KNOW it's the truth and not just my feelings about him."
'Very interesting...' Okito Tanaka thought to himself. 'It's a very rare ability for a human to be able to read chakra beyond merely detecting it. If she can learn how to harness that, it could give her insight to a foe on par with the Uchiha's ability, even if it doesn't let her see through their techniques the way the Sharingan could. Raiden has the desire to be an exceptional fighter, but Motoko has the potential to become one; how ironic.' He nodded, turning to Takahashi. "And how about you?"
Takahashi shrugged. "I didn't have anything better to do... The village is the only constant in my life, so why not help protect it and make it grow?"
It took everything in Tanaka to keep his face impassive. Rook and Knight had been two of his early mentors in the ANBU special forces and while the Hokage's decision had been the best available, it was hard to see their son like this. 'I wonder if he even remembers them...' Okito wondered morbidly.
"What about you, Takahashi?"
"I'm me; Kyouran and his pride are my family and I have no enemies that I'm aware of. I like just about everybody in the village except the explosives specialists... Explosions are a pathetic trick to allow you to kill people you lack the courage or the strength to do face-to-face."
'Looks like he remembers bits of what happened, but not the whole story.' Okito thought to himself.
"What about you, Sensei?" Motoko asked.
"Hmm? Oh, well, as I said before, I'm Okito Tanaka and my family owns a bakery. I've got two siblings that help run the store; I'm the only one that displayed the capability to generate chakra, first in three generations of Tanakas to do so and I decided to become a ninja. I became a Chuunin about 9 years ago when I was 15 and was a Jonin by 18. Most of my duties had me serving the Hokage directly and the rest…" He gave them a slight smile. "Well, it's classified."
He paused. "Now, unless you have any other questions for me, we'll call it a day. I want you to be at the 21st Training Zone by 6:30 AM for an exercise that will allow me to evaluate your ninja skills. Bring a lunch..." He paused. "Oh, before I forget; don't eat breakfast - it's going to be a strenuous test; if you get sick, you get to clean up." At that declaration, Raiden and Takahashi broke into grins - clearly vowing to themselves that wouldn't happen, but Motoko simply looked uncertain.
"Team 11; dismissed."
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