[Social] A New Duo Forms

[Sanjuro]

“Do you have any idea what time it is!? Get out of bed this instant! Takeo! TAKEO! Stop ignoring me and get up!!!”

A skinny, black haired woman bust through the wooden door marked on the outside with a single kunai. Inside, where she was expecting to find her son was, nothing but an empty futon. Her freshly plucked eyebrow twitched in barely suppressed rage before she turned and stormed out of the room. The moment the door shut behind her, the futon was enveloped in a plume of smoke.

“Blasted woman.”

The smoke dissipated to reveal a young man sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room with his hand held in the tiger seal. Takeo shook his head and leaned back to stare at the ceiling. The sun had only just passed the horizon, but this was a daily occurrence for the white-haired genin. He thought she would let up trying to force her dreams on him when he became a genin, but she just got worse. Sometimes Takeo really wished he was an orphan.

“No point in trying to go back to sleep now,” the genin winced when he heard the loud clattering of pots and pans on the floor below, “definitely no point.”

Takeo quickly gathered up his equipment and strapped it on; making sure it was all secure before heading over to the window. He waited for a few seconds until he heard a loud crash and quickly opened his only escape route. He has a suspicion that his mother had purposely made it creaky so she could hear whenever he tried to leave through it. Adding some chakra to his feet, he sat on the windowsill and put his feet against the wall. His control would be something he worked on in the near future. Once his feet were stuck to the wall, he pushed off the sill and started walking down the side of the two-story house. How his mother could afford this place was a mystery to him. Maybe his father was secretly a millionaire and she got it all when he died.

‘Ugh, none of that matters right now,’ he thought. ‘Hokage-sama has assigned me a new teammate. Hopefully he is better than the last one… but being fresh out of the academy, I seriously doubt that.’ The current shortage of equal Genin to Jounin often meant that Takeo would work with another Genin in a pair rather than a four-man squad with a Jounin sensei and third teammate. Not that it really mattered to him, as long as his partner could keep up. More often than not, that wasn’t the case. It didn’t even occur to the young Genin that he had only graduated a few weeks ago.

Reaching into his pouch, he shuffled around its contents before finding the missive he had received the day before. It was a simple meeting time and place. Outside the Academy… at 7.30 am. What a pain, it was only just coming round on 7. He slowed his pace considerably and tucked his hands into his pockets. No need to rush, he had half an hour to get there.

[Rothynn]

Today was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and the birds were singing. The air was soft, cool and felt wonderful against Mitsuru's skin. He just knew today would be great, nature would never lie to him. There was an excited spring in his step as he made his way down to meet his father who seemed to be preparing... breakfast. Mitsuru was just about to leave before he saw the happy, smiling face of his father. "Breakfast is ready!" His father looked so proud of his... creation. ".. Thanks Dad, it looks great." Mitsuru ate his what seemed to be.. red eggs.. however that works and listened to his father, babbling like a mad man.

"Todays the day! You get your new team mate and you can start doing your own missions, my little boy is growing up!" Mitsuru thought it was great, his father had been praising him for a week and a half now. Always bragging how his son had just become a full fledged Genin, to a group of seasoned Jounin who really couldn't care less. Mitsuru owed it all to his father, without him he would've dropped out of the academy a long time ago. But instead, he continued his archery and ninjutsu day in and day out, making sure he was going to be the best team mate anybody could have! On that note, he got up off his chair, waved a cheerful and excited goodbye to his equally happy father and made his way out of the door, towards manhood!

"Bow, check. Pouches, check. Headband, check!" he stopped there momentarily, touching his shiny headband with immense excitement. Looking down, he made one last check.. he didn't need that happening again. "Pants, check." One would think he was stupid, but it was the opposite. He was smart, but far too emotional. During his bouts of extreme excitement (like now), he tended to forget some of his equipment, like pants. Now that made an interesting meeting between parent and teacher.

But! He couldn't let himself get distracted, he took off in a sprint towards the Academy. 7:30am, Outside the Academy. Thats when he'd mean his new best friend! He just knew they would be best friends forever. Little did he realize, it was still only 7 o'clock in the morning and the grounds would be deserted. When he finally got there, he looked around to search for his new buddy. Who, obviously.. was no where to be found. But thats what you get for being an overexcited idiot, right?

To kill time, Mitsuru decided that it would be totally cool to climb a tree near the gate. Placing his bow up against the wall, he jumped up the tree with skills that would make a monkey proud. Large grin etched in his face as he sat up on a branch, hand blocking out the sun so he could see across the area.

[Sanjuro]

Takeo casually strolled up the wall surrounding the Academy grounds. Even at his sedate pace, it had only taken a grand total of twenty minutes to cross the village. He reached the top of the wall and quickly scanned the grounds. No one… was walking at least. It was hard to miss the jittering buddle of red that was sitting in a tree across the yard. Hopping over the fence and attaching to the side of the building he quickly made his way to the roof. The three level academy was a pain to scale but Takeo didn’t mind; it was like training… kind of.

‘I wonder if he noticed me coming up. If he did, good. He can follow me up here. I really don’t feel like sitting in a tree. If he isn’t up here by 7.30 then I guess I will have no choice to go and collect him.’

The genin came to a halt at some red sets surrounded by trees. Konoha really did love its trees but come on. Who the hell put trees on a roof? With a sigh he plopped down into the seat and took his sword from his back, unsheathing it and going over the finer details. He didn’t want to have a sub-par weapon whilst on a mission, now did he?

[Rothynn]

Mitsuru couldn't help it. He just really loved nature... any excuse to be near it is a good enough excuse for him. The time quickly passed as the sun started to rise ever so slightly, putting that nice morning glow over everything, which caused him to stop in awe and look over Konoha. It really was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. It was still too early for most people to be up and about, peaceful silence still reigning over Konoha. For how long though? It didn't matter to him though, the beauty he could see and hear now was good enough for him. Waiting another 24 hours to see it again was a small price to pay.

His thoughts were broken as he noticed what seemed to be someone near his age making their way to the Shinobi Academy, sparing the smallest of glances towards Mitsuru and making his way up the side of the building. It's not like people worked hard to make stairs or anything. It seemed the kid was heading towards Mitsuru's meeting place, maybe he was the new best friend he was getting! Jumping down off the tree eagerly, Mitsuru snatched up his belongings and made his way through the building, walking up the stairs like a normal person.

Finally making it up to the top, Mitsuru decided to break the kid's concentration on his weapon by walking up behind him and shouting in his ear.

"HI, I'M MITSURU." he grinned a bit before continuing. "YOU'RE MY NEW BEST FRIEND!"

[Sanjuro]

A shiver ran down Takeo’s spine and the white haired kid looked up from his weapon for a second, frowning. He had a very bad feeling. When he realized no one was there, he looked back to his sword when the shiver came back and this time the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He adjusted his grip on the sword’s hilt; someone was watching him.

"HI, I'M MITSURU. YOU'RE MY NEW BEST FRIEND!"

Takeo whipped around and had the tip of his sword at the newcomer’s neck in a flash. It was that brat with the red coat from the tree. Oh great, so this was his new teammate. His eyebrow twitched at the ridiculous grin on the kids face; it was annoyingly bright, especially for this early in the morning. “… You’re loud.”

He slowly withdrew his sword and tucked it into its sheath before standing up. “I assume you are my new teammate, yes? I am Homura Takeo, Genin of Konoha… yourself?”

[Rothynn]

It had only been 5 minute before Mitsuru managed to get himself into a near death experience in his new team. The small, thin blade shined maliciously at the tip of his neck before the owner twitched and released his blade while commenting on Mitsuru's wonderful talents. “… You’re loud.” Yes, Mitsuru takes being called loud as a compliment, surprising? Didn't think so.

The new boy stood up promptly and introduced himself “I assume you are my new teammate, yes? I am Homura Takeo, Genin of Konoha… yourself?” Something was off with this kid, he was too... adult. Being serious is great when you're in the middle of a mission, but while introducing yourself to your new teammate? Weirdo. Anyway...

"Senju, Mitsuru! I'm 13 years old, I like trees and people! How about you, Takey?"

He wanted to get as much information about the boy as he could, maybe something could explain why he was so formal. Mitsuru didn't like it at all, he wanted a fun happy team mate. Someone he could talk to and laugh with. He would break this kid out of his shell, no matter what!

"Let's go get something to eat!" he yelled, grabbing Takeo by the hand and jumping off the side of the building, taking the poor boy with him.

[Sanjuro]

Takeo didn’t know whether to kill the kid or slowly torture him. Takey? Takey!? What the hell kind of nickname was that!? It made him want to stab something. Preferably the red ball of energy that was currently dragging him towards the edge… of the… building…? Oh son of a--!

He yanked his hand free of Mitsuru’s grasp and shifted his weight to get ready for impact. He would have been surprised at the strength of the thirteen year old if it wasn’t for the fact he was currently plummeting towards solid ground. The white-haired ninja bent his knees to help absorb the impact but still winced at the sudden and violent halt. He really, really hated this kid.

‘Why the hell did he just try and kill me? It can’t have been the whole sword-to-the-neck thing, he seemed pretty excited about that… hold the phone!’ ‘Let's go get something to eat!’ … Oh Takeo was definitely going to slowly torture the brat. Then, after getting over the shock of what had just occurred, he realized that the kid was a Senju. So, a member of one of the most prestigious clans in Konoha was on his team, huh? Hopefully he was as strong as the rumors about the clan suggested. If he could manipulate wood, all the better.

Tucking his sword into the small band on the back of his shirt, he started walking towards a small sushi bar he often frequented. They had the best sushi and even catered to young children with some made entirely of candy. Tucking his hands into his pockets, he decided to let the younger child start the questioning.

[Rothynn]

You might be thinking, is this kid an idiot? But he really isn't. He's just an excitable 13 year old child, who just happens to love everything. Food being his most favorite at the moment. "Food Food Food Food Food!" He was hungry and really needed to eat, what better place to strike up a conversation with his new team mate then over some food? They had no where else to go today really, so now was a better time then any.

Takeo seemed to be trying to steer them both towards a sushi bar, probably one he'd been to before judging by the intended force behind the movements. Mitsuru really had no reason to complain, it tasted good so what the hell, he's allowed to spoil himself every once and a while. In an attempt to get some conversation going on their way, he just had to ask. "So, whats your family like? When do I get to meet them?" the verbal assault continued, leaving Takeo no chance to respond. "I think it's a good idea to meet each others parents, you should meet my dad! He's cool, he's totally good at ninja stuff but he can't really cook." taking a deep breath, he continued once more. "I can't wait to go on missions, I wonder what kind of missions we'll do at first? I got told they are really boring but I don't see how! They're missions. They just have to be cool!"

He trailed off slowly as they entered the bar, taking a seat down in the front corner up against the window. It was slowly getting brighter, more and more people seemed to be emerging and starting their daily routine. Before long, it would be normal old crowded Konoha. Not that Mitsuru really minded, he liked stopping to talk to people and hear their plans for the day.. but he really wished he could see that beautiful and quiet Konoha far more often. Once a day really wasn't enough.

[Sanjuro]

He didn’t even need to place an order and the middle-aged woman behind the bar started working on his breakfast with a kind smile. Takeo had been coming to the same sushi bar for years and had always ordered the same thing. He was glad he could get a few minutes of peace while the kid placed his order though. He needed the time to assimilate all the questions he had just thrown at him. Picking up the steaming tea that had just been placed in front of him, he blew softly across the top before taking a sip.

“My mother is an ex-ninja, my father is dead. You shall meet neither. The missions we will be going on are most likely going to be D-Class and therefore generally consist of chores to earn some pocket money and promote teamwork.” Short and to the point.

He stared at his reflection in his tea for a moment before sighing. He had gotten a message telling him to try and be more open towards his next teammate a few days ago. They kept running off because of his loner mentality. ‘Here goes…’

“I am fifteen years old, I failed the ‘true’ Genin Exams three times before finally understanding the point of the exercise. My goals are simple, to become a ninja that can protect Konoha against its enemies and ultimately join the ANBU. What are your career goals?” There, he tried.

[Rothynn]

Hungry and confused at all the weird names, Mitsuru just closed his eyes and pointed randomly at 5 things on the menu and ordered them.

This guy would make a fun teammate. The way he carried himself proved that he was at least a competent ninja for somebody of his rank. He was a bit cold, but Mitsuru could deal with that. Mitsuru enjoyed having a new best friend, Takey just didn't know his new honorary position yet. He was eager to learn about Takeo and he was going to keep on asking questions until he knew everything about him.

"Your family are ninja? So are mine. I'm from the Senju clan, almost all of us are ninja! We have so much in common Takey!"

The way Mitsuru saw it, Takeo needed someone to learn to talk to people and Mitsuru loved talking. They were going to be great together!

[Sanjuro]

Takeo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. This kid was really starting to annoy him. He couldn't even answer a direct question. "Please stop calling me Takey. My name is Takeo. Use it."

He ran his fingers through his hair and smiled slightly when his breakfast was placed in front of him. Taking up the offered chopsticks, he held them between his thumb and his forefinger and put his hands palm-to-palm. "Itadakimasu." Taking a bite of his food, he rolled it around in his mouth for a second before swallowing and turning to his teammate. "We are going to be working togethor from here on out, so we should know each others strengths and weaknesses. The best way to do that would be a spar, but for now why don't you simply tell me what you are good at?"

[Rothynn]

Mitsuru's eyes lit up as two waitresses brought his dishes over to his table. There was so much food and so little time to eat. Opting to eat and talk at the same time, Mitsuru answered Takey's question, food and saliva coating the now dirty table.

"While I agree that a spar would be helpful, this is not the place nor time for one. I'm a long range Archer with Mokuton Ninjutsu. I have little to no ability with Genjutsu or any weapon besides my bow." Swallowing his mouthful and filling it once more with food, Mitsuru continued. "I'm probably about average in speed and strength, so I try to keep away from close quarters combat." The time for stupidity was over, this was official Konoha matters and Mitsuru had to try act seriously. Looking over his team mate once more, he followed up on his explanation with an observation. "Judging by your weapon you prefer to keep in close range, maybe some mid ranged ninjutsu to back you up. No offense, but I don't think you have any talent in Genjutsu at all."

As soon as he stopped talking, he shoved more food back into his mouth and continued to chew, smiling all the while. "Getting off the subject of all that boring stuff. What do you do for fun?"

[Sanjuro]

Blue eyes blinked at the horrifying sight in front of him. This kid’s eating habits were going to get on his nerves, fast. It was simply impolite to talk with your mouthful, and the mess he was making… Takeo forcefully suppressed a shudder. Disgust quickly turned to surprise however when Mitsuru started listing off his skills and correctly guessed his own abilities. ‘Impressive… I would have never guessed what he could do aside from his Mokuton abilities, and he correctly deduced my own skills just by seeing my sword. Frankly, that is rather scary. I think I am starting to like this kid.’

… And then he had to go and ruin it by getting off the topic of ninja. Sigh. “I train.” ‘No need for him to know that training usually involves avoiding my mother. That woman is a mean tracker when I am late for training.’

Takeo slowly ate the rest of his breakfast, putting emphasis on chewing with his mouth shut and not talking while it was full. Maybe he could teach this kid some basic table manners while they were on a team. He had a sudden feeling that some of the more pompous clients they were bound to get would really hate Mitsuru.

[Rothynn]

Finishing his 5 dish meal off with a large burp, Mitsuru watched in amazement as Takeo's facial expressions swapped at least 5 times while Mitsuru ate and spoke. "You make funny faces." Mitsuru was completely oblivious to the disgusted looks from the other people within the sushi bar, several had actually left due to his.. manners.

"You train? Thats it? Boooooooring." Slapping some money on the table, Mitsuru grabbed Takeo by the arm once more and dragged him out into the streets again. "Let's go do something fun!" No was not really an option for Takeo as he was pulled through the village at moderate speeds, dust flicking occasionally into his face.

"Let's go play with some animals!" yelled Mitsuru as they started to make their way towards the forest. Not even the cold Takeo could say no to a fluffy squirrel.

[Sanjuro]

Not this again! Yanking his arm away from Mitsuru, Takeo slowed down a little bit to conserve his energy and to better process his surroundings. He needed an escape route. Taking to the rooftops would be the easiest way but there was no way of knowing how fast Mitsuru was or if he could last longer in an all out race. Ice-blue eyes trailed over the sides of the buildings when he started to smile. He really loved the way Konoha’s buildings were set up; patios for the win.

Taking a sharp left, he bound up towards the nearest patio. His eyes widened when he realized that it was just out of reach. Gritting his teeth, he focused his chakra and expelled it in a sharp burst out of his feet; the sudden explosion of energy under his feet catapulted him the extra few feet needed to clear the railing. Careful not to lose his momentum, he jumped up the next few patios and hauled himself up onto the roof. Swinging around behind a water tank, he folded his fingers through a set of seals.

‘Hitsuji, Hebi, Tora! Bunshin no Jutsu!’

Beside the fleeing Genin appeared a carbon copy which kept running ahead along the roof. Takeo didn’t waste any time and dropped off the ledge, using chakra to latch onto the wall and run down to the alley below. Even Takeo’s patience had a limit.

TechniquesShow

*Bai Chouyaku [Doubled Leap]
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
By channeling chakra into her feet and releasing it in a short burst in the middle of a jump, Takeo is able to, "jump again", increasing the range and height of their leaps. They can also use this to change direction in mid-air.

*Bunshin no Jutsu [Clone Technique]
E-Ranked Ninjutsu
Bunshin no Jutsu is a Ninjutsu technique which every ninja learns at the Ninja Academy. The Bunshin technique creates a substanceless copy of the ninja. The copy serves can serve as a distraction or as means to confuse their opponent. As soon the the Bunshin gets attacked or comes into contact with the opponent, they will disappear in a puff of smoke.

[Rothynn]

"This is going to be so much fu--" It had been a good 10 seconds before Mitsuru had noticed he was running and dragging nothing behind him. Takeo had decided to run for it, leaving him high and dry. "Chase?!" Mitsuru's eyes lit with excitement while he pulled his bow quickly off his shoulder. "I'm it!"

He turned around quickly to notice Takeo sprinting across the roof behind him. Mitsuru decided that Takeo would be quick enough to dodge his arrow, so why not have some fun?! Pulling his first arrow out of the quiver, he had no time to take trajectories into consideration with the boy making his escape quickly. He pushed a small amount of chakra through his arrow and loaded it into his compound bow, aiming directly at Takeo.

"Heitan Keiro!" yelled Mitsuru, announcing his attack to the boy on the roof. Releasing the bamboo arrow from the bow, it shot directly through the air, slicing through the wind easily. It didn't take long before the arrow connected directly with the boys head.. causing him to.. burst in a cloud of smoke?!

"Bunshin! Good idea Takey!" exclaimed Mitsuru "I can do that to!"

As he finished his sentence, Mitsuru put his hands into a small array of handseals. As soon as the handseals finished, wood started to protrude from Mitsuru's body and warp into a carbon copy of him. "Mokuton • Ki Bunshin no Jutsu, All right!" Drawing a second arrow, the real Mitsuru took the lead and darted up towards the building, running directly up the side of it to where he destroyed the clone. "If I was Takey, where would I be?"

[Sanjuro]

Takeo’s eyes widened when he saw the arrows go through his clone’s head. What the hell was Mitsuru thinking!? ‘If that had been me up there… This kid is freaking insane!’ Suddenly, he was thinking it wasn’t such a good idea to wait around and see if Mitsuru fell for his trick. Slipping out into the crowded street from the alley, Takeo tried to subtly get as far away as he possibly could without drawing attention to himself…

“Gotcha! You skipped this morning’s training boy! Are you prepared to face your punishment!?”

Takeo’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head at the sudden vice grip on his shoulder. How the hell had she found him already!? His head slowly turned until he could see the red face and blazing eyes of a demon just behind him. He quickly snapped back to looking straight ahead that it was a surprise his neck didn’t snap. He had better chances surviving Mitsuru’s messed up idea of tag than his mother’s punishment.

“I apologize mother but…” he ran through the handseals as quickly as he could. The next minute Mrs. Homura was holding onto a wrapped up carpet from a nearby stall. “I have a team meeting to attend!”

Takeo shot up onto the rooftops and took off after Mitsuru. As long as he had the other Genin around his mother couldn’t possibly punish him for lying… right?

TechniquesShow

*Kawarimi no Jutsu [Change of Body Stance Technique]
E-Ranked Ninjutsu
Kawarimi no Jutsu is a basic Ninjutsu technique. When in danger the ninja will quickly substitute themself with another nearby object. This can be a block of wood.. This allows the ninja to quickly flee and hide while the original object takes the brunt of their opponents attack. This can only be done with inanimate objects that are not being controlled by chakra.

[Rothynn]

He couldn't see Takeo anywhere. Standing on top of the village, he looked out in an attempt to find his stray team mate. Chase was fun, but Mitsuru didn't want to be "it" forever. If he was Takeo, where would he go? It made him think, he really didn't know anything about his team mate yet, he'd have to work on that as soon as possible.

“Gotcha! You skipped this morning’s training boy! Are you prepared to face your punishment!?”

Mitsuru turned around to face the location of the woman, he felt sorry for any person who had to train with tha-- Takeo! Mitsuru couldn't help but grin at his good luck. She seemed to be the mother that Takeo spoke of earlier. Jumping off the side of the building, he ran down to the enraged woman who seemed to be holding a roll of carpet. Now to use the 'ninja' part of 'ninja chase'.

"Hi Ma'am, I was wondering if you had seen a boy come through here?" he paused, fully expecting the enraged woman to hit him. "He has snow white hair and an angry face." he paused once more to read her reaction. "He was an hour late to our Genin meeting and then tried to escape when I found him." The sudden change from anger, to realization and then back to anger was hilarious. She was going to murder her son. Takeo would forgive him though, this was a ninja game and all is fair in love and war.

What scared him was her speed, she dropped the carpet and darted off in a direction that Mitsuru assumed was the way his soon-to-be-dead team mate.

"Sorry Takeo, I had to."

[Sanjuro]

The sudden feeling of dread that filled Takeo was something that he had suffered through on numerous occasions. Someone had told his mother he had done something wrong. Crap, crap, crap! He didn’t even need to look back to know that his mother was hot on his heels. Hauling ass around a corner, he quickly snapped out two sets of handseals. The first resulted in a group of six clones running ahead of him and going in different directions. The second had Takeo turn into a tall, brown haired villager he had seen around the village a few times before.

A blur and growl signified Mrs. Homura racing past. Takeo quickly turned on his heel and started in the opposite direction only to find Mitsuru coming up on his position. It was payback time. He put his hands together to start making seals with a vice grip caught his shoulder again.

“Did you really think you could fool your own mother so easily? Tch, I clearly haven’t been pushing you hard enough! Get moving, mister!”

The transformation wavered and collapsed, revealing a downcast Takeo. ‘Evil wench.’

“This evil wench is going to make you strong!”

Takeo’s eyes bugged out of his head. Since when could she read minds!?

“I’ve always been able to kiddo. You there! Takeo’s teammate! Get to stepping, mister! You are coming too!”

[Rothynn]

There was absolutely no way that Mitsuru was going to go train with that. He always knew a Ki Bunshin would be useful outside of combat, this way is even better though. As they walked around a corner, he pretended to trip over and swapped himself with the Ki Bunshin made during the chase game.

As the clone walked off with Takeo and the demo-- his mother. Saluting Takeo as he walked off, Mitsuru muttered a small prayer for his life as he turned around on his heels and walked off in the other direction. All this playing had given him an appetite and it was almost lunch time. Opting for some good old fashioned barbecue, he made his way through the main streets of Konoha, it truly was busy now. He could hardly even hear the birds chirping around him.

His first day on his new genin team was great, he really hoped every day was as good as the first. It would be fun.