Meet The New Boss

[yaksha]

Haidou had decided, during his investigations into the three genin he'd been asked to meet, that there were too many parks in Konoha. He'd been told that the young children enjoyed spending time at the public parks, usually discussing their plans for the future, or remembering old missions or whatever it was they did. At this point, he didn't really care what the boys were doing; sweat was beginning to spread across his pits, and his multiple chins almost glistened in the sunlight, as he entered the fifth park of the village. This one was full of small children, many running around and laughing like idiots. How long before they all grew up? Before life started to batter them down, started to break them, and make them fit the same mold as everyone else? One year? Two? Maybe five, if they were the luckiest sons of bitches alive? Still, not nearly enough time to really appreciate how free they were.

One child ran close, looking up at him and pointing a thumb and extended index finger at him. Firing this imaginary gun several times, and revealing a wide grin that was missing several teeth, he declared "Bang! You're dead!"

Haidou leaned down, his face pulling into a fierce mask of jollity as he reached out. He grasped the boy's shoulder between two pudgy fingers, and began to squeeze hard enough to elicit a faint paling of the boy. Now, his grin grew wider, as he spoke.

"Bensha. Yasunari. Kawa."

"Y-you mean Shijin?"

"Right. Where are they?"

The boy pointed at a corner of the park, almost running screaming when the fingers relinquished their grip on him.

[Ace Trainer]

Yasunari sat in the corner of the park that the kid had just pointed at, sitting down next to Bensha and Kawa. It was interesting because the plant life around the park was rather lively, with the exception of Yasunari, who was sitting in a patch of dead grass that looked as if it had been burnt off. It was, of course, because of Yasunari's nature of jutsu.

Regardless he sat there relaxing, until the kid pointed at them, "Do you guys know who that jounin is?", he asked blatantly.

[Niro]

Kawa had been lazying around with Yasunari and Bensha, bored as hell as it was just another day at the park. No missions, no messing around. Just...lazying. Well, that was until Yasunari pointed out some large, somewhat scary looking man was threatening a kid and the kid pointed at them.

"Dunno, but is it me or does he have like...six chins?"

[Microfiles]

For the most part Minoru had been trailing behind Haidou. He didn't really want to stick too close to his Jounin for a number of things. The first being that he did sweat quite a lot being fat and all and although his smell of sweat wasn't specifically horrid it was still a scent of sweat. The second was that Haidou was a huge fat guy walking into a children's park in a massive trench coat type thing, no doubt someone people would associate with illegal acts. And finally the third, and probably the most meaningful, was that he didn't want to be associated with his sensei no matter where he went. Minoru wanted to be his own man and while there was some sort of connection between the two it wasn't one either of them would admit to.

So, Minoru was around five or six steps behind the trench coat guy. Walking with his hands in his pants pockets whilst taking in the glorious, natural scenery. It was something most Senju enjoyed: A lush surrounding that was anything but artificial. By the time Haidou had brought himself to basically torture a child for information Minoru was glancing the opposite way, simply whistling to himself. Almost as though he didn't know the tall fat guy who everyone was glancing at. Geez, how embarrassing.

At least he could look forward to something, even if it was little: One of his new temporary teammates was a Senju. While he hadn't heard of Bensha in particular he was told a fair deal about his abilities. Unique even to the Senju Bensha was apparently capable of furthering their skills of creation into simple things such as grass and plants. Hopefully the two would get along. I mean, why wouldn't they?

[7eleven]

Bensha, who had previously been half-asleep, snapped awake when he heard one of his friends say something about a jounin. Looking around rather lazily, he spotted the man that the other two had already noticed. He also noticed the Senju boy trailing behind him (they might not be easy to pick out of a crowd, but you learn to spot one when you are one). "More important than his six chins..." Bensha yawned, standing up slowly. "Is the fact that he seems to be heading right for us, and doesn't really seem to be in all that great of a mood. Do you guys thing we messed something up?"

[yaksha]

Haidou moved with a strange amount of grace for his size, his footsteps making little noise as he approached the three genin. His face, normally set into a scowl or a grimace, was now a vindictive, ferocious grin. He moved with the slow, inevitable passing of a glacier; though they may not have been able to tell immediately, he was prepared to walk over anything that got between him and these children. His three chins wobbled slightly as he walked, especially when he began to glance around them. The movements of his fat rolls were almost mesmerizing, so it was easy to miss the deceptively corded muscle beneath it all.

"Hello, children. My name is Haidou, but you can call me Big Daddy, because from now on, I'm your squad leader." He crouched slightly, his body forming an almost ludicrous circle as he did. His head, hair cut short enough to seem non-existant, began to bob slightly, and his teeth poked out from between his lips as he glanced at each of them in turn.

"Now I don't know who your old leader was, and I don't much care. Clearly, if he's letting you sit on a bench and spend a day like this and smell each other's farts, he's not worth the position. That's why I'm going to expect you at training ground 7 in an hour and a half. I've read your files; I know your parents' names, their jobs, and their addresses. If one of you is late, you'll get to see firsthand what a REAL Jounin is like."

[Ace Trainer]

Yasunari looked at the jounin, unconcerned about what he was saying. Until he threatened them. Yasunari didn't respond well to threats. The constant verbal abuse at home had trained him not to. When that was said, his body immediately tensed up, and you could see grass that hadn't yet been burnt fizzling up near him.

"We have a jounin. Perhaps you should be talking to him, before you talk to us. You're more than welcome to come to my home and report misbehavior, though. I hear jounin often complaining about how ruthless "Hitoare-chan" can be, I wonder if you'd be able to handle her...", he said. It was just as much of a threat back. It was unlike Yasunari but, few people threatened him. Most knew who his mother was, and knew better to threaten her. She was a loose cannon, him insulting Yasunari was sure to set her off. Despite how much she hated the boy.

[7eleven]

Bensha looked back and forth between Yasu and his apparent new jounin leader before speaking up as soon as Yasu had finished talking, directing his words at the tub of lard that stood in front of him. "Dude, you're a douche."

[Niro]

"Yasu had a point. From what I've heard his mom is pretty damn tough. Isn't threatening other shinobies of the same village kinda well, treason? Whatever, doesn't matter." Kawa shrugged. "Also, do you have daddy problems? I've only heard that cheesy line spoken by people who have those problems anyway." Once again the genin shrugged. "Yasu, Bensha I guess it's best if we just go, he IS our superior and I felt like a stump just lying there." The genin scooted to the side and got up, walking away towards training ground 7.

[yaksha]

Haidou could barely hide his laughter. Just as he'd expected, these three genin hadn't responded well to the knowledge that they had a new Jounin. Each of them had, in their own way, told him that he was unwelcome; this was just fine by the shinobi. He hadn't really wanted to lead a squad, but after Haidou's first mission, he had been impressed. The child was smart, he was resourceful, and most of all, he was neat. These three, however, were carefree, lazy, and all too simple. He saw little potential in them, but that would be found out when they reached the training ground.

He paused, realizing that there was something he'd forgotten to mention. Of course the children probably liked their old, lazy, simple Jounin. Would they even realize he had left? He doubted it; most other shinobi may have been more careful about it, but if Izigin hadn't taken the time to inform them, they deserved to hear it from Haidou.

"What was your old Jounin's name? Izigin, I think? Didn't you wonder where he went?" He paused for a moment, inhaling slightly, before mentally steeling himself.

"Hear he went out of town. I think he decided to take some time off. Of course, someone's gotta hold the fort. And if you've got time to relax, you damn well better make sure you're not letting yourself get lazy."

---

It was ten minutes before the time they were expected to meet, and Haidou was lumbering for the training ground slowly. His face showed no expression now; neither the demeaning, ferocious grin that made others feel like they were some interesting bug under his gaze, nor the scowl of disappointment adorned his face. Instead, he seemed almost apathetic while he approached the appointed area, and examined it. Their first meeting hadn't been the best of meetings, but that wasn't a real concern. Whether these genin liked him or not, they would learn what he had to teach. They'd grow. And, when he was done, they'd be ready to take anything that they could run across on a mission.

His hand drifted to a pocket of his trenchcoat, pressing against a small silver container within, and sighing wistfully. His throat was parched, and he was already dying for a drink. By the time the training was done today, he'd probably be killing for one. But he knew too well what alcohol did, courtesy of his father. He'd drank quite a lot, once. Now, the once irresistible urge was now only a slight twinge. Still, the flask of whiskey was always just within reach, reminding him that if he really needed it, he could have as much as he chose.

He'd never needed it yet, and with any luck he never would again.

[Ace Trainer]

Yasunari frowned when Haidou said this, he hadn't really worried about their jounin. But him having said this....well, it changed things. This man really -was- their jounin, he had no choice in the matter. Which meant they needed to cooperate with him, even if he was a complete asshole.

He looked over at Bensha then Kawa, and shrugged. "I guess Kawa is right, Bensha..if he's been assigned to us, we should work with him...", he stood up. The grass that had been directly under him was burnt to a crisp, and because he was frustrated, he had unintentionally activated the pestilence jutsu. As he leaned against the tree next to him, leaves began falling almost immediately. This had to be a little intimidating to both Bensha and that little Senju that was with Haidou, considering they were Senju.

It wasn't intentional, and it wasn't a threat. Yasunari was just...frustrated with the situation. so without another word he turned away and began walking.

[7eleven]

Bensha, taking after Yasu, walked oddly close to him. When the pair had reached a good distance from big-fat-fatty, he spoke softly to equally frustrated genin. "Look...dude, I'm not going to that training thing. If this guy's going to make it as an instructor, or even a jounin, he's going to have to learn some people skills. I can't deal with that kind of guy." Bensha then peeled off from Yasu, heading through a grove of trees.

[Microfiles]

Anticipating the following events all too well Minoru had walked off from the group without formally introducing himself. In fact he didn't really say a word. Getting to know his sensei over the past couple of weeks made him sure of a couple of things: One, that he was outspoken and Minoru couldn't get a word in no matter what, Two, he would constantly push whoever he could whenever he could to train and three, Minoru probably wasn't as important as the other three. While they were just temporary placements getting them use to Haidou's bitch ass mannerisms and exercises would take a fair amount of time and effort. For now, the Genin would probably fall to the sidelines yet still be expected to do his best. Damn fat guys and their expectations.

Whilst making his way through a shortcut he figured out the orange-haired youngster collected falling leaves while he could. It was a habit that required some sum of patience and understanding of nature. As such Minoru had only managed to catch two or three as he got half way through the shortcut that was densely populated by trees. Minoru's father was capable of catching up to twenty within a few steps in a forest area, simply by holding out his hand and anticipating the fall of the leaves. It wasn't something the Genin was use to and it proved rather difficult for him to catch one while just holding an open palm out. However he managed to luckily catch two and half of one which seemed to be dropping straight at him anyway.

After around half the time of the average journey to the training ground Minoru arrived at training ground seven. Simply discarding the leaves in his hand to the side the young orange-haired chap simply slouched against one of the wooden dummies present at the site, mainly used for projectile training. He'd have to wait for the others to arrive. Be it a long time or short.

[Niro]

Kawa had not stuck around to see Bensha peel and head off towards wherever but right now he didn't really care. What he did care about was their new instructor. Threats and nicknames already? Pedo, idiot, or protective. One of the three, didn't matter yet.

Kawa arrived a minute or two after Minoru and walked over to the middle of the field, sitting down and whistling a tune as he waited for Yasunari, Bensha, and Haidou.

'Hmm, if Big Daddy is what he wants us to call him, what's his real name? Meh, find out latter.'

[yaksha]

Haidou had been too absorbed in himself to arrive that easrly; he was still stuck on their first meeting, and the almost universal rejection he'd gotten from the kids. Haidou had never been especially social when he was on the job; why would he be? He had no one's feelings he wished to spare, no one he really cared about offending. He knew the names he was called, knew the glances he recieved for his tremendous girth. He knew he was tolerated more than accepted, and he hated them all for it; he could live with flat out rejection, could understand simple spite, but this half-hatred, all these people that wished him gone but still smiled at him on the streets, brought no end of fury to the Akimichi.

He thought back to the genin; each so young, each so naive to the ways of the world. None of them even pretended any measure of respect or like for the jounin they had been assigned. Not one of them would want to learn with them. He'd resigned himself to working this way long ago, to being known as the village's hardass. But did he want to TEACH this way? Was he willing to do this to a bunch of kids, not even really shinobi yet? They needed a capable teacher, yes. But they needed a teacher they could rely on to teach them.

"They don't need a friend; they've got plenty of those already. What they need is a sensei. And that's what I'm going to give them."

Having decided his course of action, Haidou hitched his enormous gut, moving towards the training ground with renewed purpose. There was plenty of time left, he could scope out the training ground, and-

And some of them were already there. He could see Minoru, sitting patiently and waiting for him. One of the three new recruits-Kawa, wasn't it?- was similarly waiting for his arrival. He started, then caught himself mentally. His gaze shifted over them, nodding his tacit approval, before he lumbered to the furthest corner of the training ground, peering at a training dummy with hawk eyes.

"You're early. Early's always good. Where are the other two?"

[Ace Trainer]

Yasunari approached the field silently, the dead grass still following him as he walked. It was a shame he looked so frustrated. It must be such an isolated world where any plants in your vicinity die. Maybe that's why he was so keen to team up with Bensha. Bensha had chakra in his plants, so Yasunari's technique didn't affect them. Perhaps Minoru would be a good addition to the team as well, then.

He looked at Haidou and frowned, approaching him, bowing his head ever so slightly. And then looking at Haidou dead on. "Well, I came.", he said.

[Niro]

"Well, Yasunari should b-yeah, there he is. Hehe, he came. I think Bensha went home, dunno but he just had an air of not giving a shit. I'll talk to him later, doesn't really matter now." Kawa replied back to the large man.

"What do you need us to do? Prove something to you? Or are you gonna be one of those jounin who makes us introduce ourselves?" Kawa asked with a blank look, bored out of his mind.

[yaksha]

"Neither. I'm not 'one of those Jounin.' I'm Haidou Akimichi. And I don't care if there's some sort of schedule I'm supposed to follow, or some sort of rule I'm breaking." The shinobi shifted his gut slightly, his face as impassive as a mountain, before he spoke. "What I need you to do is tell me why you're here. And none of this 'you told me to' bullshit. You're shinobi; no matter how much you hate me, and how much you hate the job, you chose it. And you damn well better know what you're signing up for."