Kaze glanced at Shinji. Exchanging silent words with the quiet boy. "Sure, Sensei." She agreed for both of them, realizing this wasn't something she should make jokes about. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Kaori-sensei had lost a teammate in the past. Very few ninja reached the rank of jonin without losing one or both of their genin teammates. It was why there were always so few jonin in the village. Many ninjas didn't survive to reach that rank. "Shinji and I have looked out for each other for years." She shrugged. "I already know most everything about him." She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, she folded her hands and rested her chin on them. This was her thinking pose, one she only adopted when she really wanted to concentrate and work something out. "So, tell us about yourself, sensei. You're part of this squad too, ne?" So far their sensei was a mystery and Kaze hated mysteries, they were like an insult to her intelligence. "Let's get to know each other."

Shinji shifted uncomfortably. There was at least one important thing even Kaze didn't know about him. He wondered if he needed to tell his teammates and sensei his secret but he didn't dare. Not yet. He'd ask his dad first. It was a family secret after all.

"Well..." Kaori sat down on the ground with her legs crossed. "My mother raised me by herself. I've never met my father, because he died when I was small. I spent the majority of my youth training and learning the ways of the shinobi from my mother. I graduated the academy at the top of my class and was placed on a team with two boys. I was the first of my squad to pass the chuunin exams and so far the only one to reach the rank of jounin. When I was fifteen, I lost a teammate to a hopeless mission. My squad never recovered, and I've been doing mostly solo missions ever since." She sighed and scratched the back of her head. "I specialize in weapons and my aim is dead-on. I hope that's something I can pass on to you guys." She shrugged, "But enough about me. I want to hear about the two of you. Why did you choose to become shinobi? Do you have any goals?"

Shikaharu sat in a dark corner of Kaida's room, as she rested in the bed, when he heard someone calling his name. He raised his eyes without moving his head and grimaced once he'd seen who was looking for him. "Ah, what a drag. What do you want Satoshi?" His voice was filled with dry annoyance and scratched his head slowly. His mind wandered to what would happen if his sister found out, but then it took a turn for the worst. What would happen if his mom and grandmother found out? Horror was etched across his face as he thought about the end results. "Why did this have to happen to little Kaida?" The Nara calmed himself down and turned back to the 'acclaimed' handsome green beast, "Does this have to do with my little truancy problem or is this something that is less insignificant?"

"If only it was a matter so simple." Satoshi sighed, now standing in the doorway. "Hokage-sama needs to speak with you and your squad. He has a mission for you." He added as he shook his disheveled, jet black bangs from his eyes. While his father's...interesting haircut was more...convenient, Satoshi was still glad he opted for a regular, far from a bowl cut, hair style. All in all, he actually resembled Sakura much more than he did Rock Lee, but his father's personality was an apparent trait about him.

Shikaharu kept his slumped over posture even at the mention of the Hokage wanting to see him. "Well, why didn't you say so? Where am I supposed to go?" He folded his arms as he leaned on the giant fan that was strapped to his back. He pondered the mission and started to plot out the steps for the various possibilities and/or situations that may present themselves before his squad. Haru stood up and made his way to the doorway, patting Satoshi's shoulder and speaking gravely without turning away from the direction he was facing, "Do me a favor and watch my cousin. She's been through enough problems as it is and I don't want her to suffer through anything further. Well at least from things that are preventable. So just watch her until she is safe, that's my only request."

"You can count on me." Satoshi smiled, saluting playfully. "Kaida is in safe hands while I'm around, no need to worry." Konoha's handsome, green beast placed his own hand on Shikaharu's shoulder. "Be careful and come home safe, okay?" He removed his hand from the genin's person and took a few steps into the grim appearing hospital room. Satoshi was pretty well known to everyone in the village, mostly because he acted as a jack of all trades for the Hokage. Some days he'd be by the front gate greeting travelers and other days he was running specific errands for Naruto. His charisma was unmatched and neither was his loyalty.

Haru walked through the halls slowly, but picked up speed once he'd seen a window there. He burst from behind the glass and rapidly through his fan out, soaring on the fan with the wind whipping against him. The young genin surveyed the village to look for its leader, Naruto. He sighed as he continued on what seemed like a fruitless search until he'd seen a jonin jumping from his family's compound. "I wonder who that could be. I hope it's not my sensei looking for me," he said calmly. Shikaharu gained more speed as he followed behind the older ninja, who appeared to be heading toward Lexi's home, until he called out, "Hey, are you looking for me? Please convince me I'm wrong. I don't need to be chewed out, not at this moment anyway." He turned his mouth to the side and continued watching the man.

Shinji finally spoke up, "I chose to become a shinobi for the honor of my clan." He said simply, 'and because what else was I going to do with a hundred thousand kikaichu to feed...' he added silently in a wry mental voice. Unlike most of his fellow insect wielders, Shinji had been gifted his kikaichu before he was old enough to decide whether he wanted to be a shinobi or not. There were reasons for it and he had never resented his father for making that decision for him, but sometimes he wondered what life would be like if he had been born normal. He face was a mask, showing none of these secret thoughts as he faced Kaori.

Kaze absorbed her sensei's brief history, filing things away in her mind to organize later. Kaze frowned as the questions were then turned on her, "Goals?" She shrugged. "Not really. I just want to keep my villages safe, I guess." Everyone always expected her to have some grand aim in life, but she much preferred to deal with each day as it came. She thought so much about every little thing, planning too far ahead would leave her with no time to relax.

She had purposefully used the plural villages, betraying her dual loyalty to Konoha and Suna. She wanted to see how her new sensei would react to it. One of her academy professors had disliked her for it and tried to fail her. She needed to know how Kaori-sensei felt towards Suna. She would not tolerate anyone who did not support the peace between her two villages.

Konohamaru looked up and stopped running, crossing his arms and glaring up at the young Nara boy. "Where have you been? Have you seen Lexi or Sano?" He asked impatiently. The boy's explanation had better be good or he'd set the Nara matriarch loose on him.

Naruto waited anxiously in his office. What was taking so long? He wondered if he should just go retrieve Shineji himself...but what if that was exactly what the enemy wanted. They had so few ninjas in the village at the moment. Business had been very good and everything had been so peaceful between the villages. Perhaps he was stretching the village's resources too thin.

OOC: Just giving everyone some metagame teasers about Shinji. Don't use that information in game, I was just sharing his thoughts. If you want to know what all that is about, you'll have to find out for yourselves IC. lol. Aren't I evil?

OOC: Sorry, I'm so excited and I don't pay attention to the details. I've got to work on that.

Shikaharu frowned at his sensei, "Well, it was a family matter that had to be dealt with. My cousin is in the hospital because of chakra depletion apparently. Also, to answer your other question, no I haven't seen those two troublesome girls." He stared neutrally at Konohamaru as he glared at him. The Nara motioned for his sensei to follow him, "Chances are those two overactive females are plotting some amateur trap. There's no use trying to set things up like that especially since it's my territory," he shrugged sluggishly as he sat on the fan and continued gliding over to Lexi's residence.

OOC: Konohamaru has been your sensei for a year. You've just been away visiting Suna for a month or so...kay Haru?

Konohamaru nodded and continued heading for Lexi's home. "How did your cousin end up exhausting her chakra so early in the day? She would have had to do some massively draining jutsus to pass out from it."

OOC: Kaida can regain consciousness anytime now. It has been an hour or so in game. Night Cassidy. See you tomorrow.

Kaori nodded as the two responded. "For honor and for loyalty, huh?" She repeated to herself, as if letting it sink in. "I take it that you haven't chosen to ally yourself strictly with Konoha or Suna then, Soyokaze. That I don't mind." Kaori yawned but suddenly shot a very serious look in Soyokaze's direction, "Be warned though, if your loyalty to Konoha falters during a mission and puts your teammates in danger, naturally I'll have no choice but to restrain you or worse." Kaori glanced over at Shinji and back at the Nara girl. "I have faith it won't come to that." With a sudden change in tone, Kaori gave a sly smirk. "I don't know a lot about the Aburame clan. It seems this will be a learning experience for me as well."

[[OOC: Chop, chop Miss Kazekage's Offspring, Satoshi has things to do. :] j/k I just like playing him~]]

OOC: lol...*nice guy pose*

Kaze shrugged. Her loyalty to both her villages was unbreakable, so that would never be an issue. If Suna and Konoha ever went against each other, she had long ago decided she'd have to conquer both villages to keep them at peace. The plans were already in her head, constantly being revised so she would always be ready to act, no matter what else happened. Still, she hoped it would never come to that. Being Kazekage and Hokage at the same time sounded like such a pain. It would be easier if she could get her family to help but she'd find that out if the time ever came to implement her plans.

Shinji could feel that Kaze was hiding something. It was there in the taste of her chakra to his kikaichu. What did she have to hide? She'd never made a secret of her dual heritage and loyalty to both. She'd even injured people over it. He resolved to talk to her about it later. Then he thought better of it. 'She is just as entitled to secrets as I am.' He mused, silently.


Meanwhile, elsewhere, meaning too far away for any of you to actually know about it, a figure was berating seven kneeling ninjas. "You let one escape! I told you to wipe out anyone you encountered!! We aren't ready to face the leaf yet!! My plans must NOT be compromised!" He reached out and grasped one of the ninjas by the throat, lifting the man off the ground. "This...is the price of failure!" He snarled. The man struggled for a moment and then went still, staring at his master with a look of complete horror. After a few moments the shadowed figure dropped the man and stormed off. "Get that mess out of here!" He snapped at the remaining shinobis. That's when the screaming started. The man smiled. A minor setback, they would retreat for a while and the great village of Konoha would forget all about them. The leaf ninja were good at forgetting things.

OOC: The scary thing is...I think Kaze could do it. Especially if she got the rest of her family in on it. Naras are a scary thing when provoked. *eyes Shikamaru warily* *eyes big hole full of dirt* Yeah....

[[OOC: XDDD Hey, now, Shikamaru is beast and he deserved his revenge. ;3 -snuggles Shika plushie she has on her bed- >>;; Oh, oh, shall I also play Gai sensei if the need for him comes? XDD Is there a list somewhere that shows who plays which canons? I know we're supposed to play our parents, but there are some canons left who aren't claimed. Annnnd I'll be editing this with a post in a few. So, no one be surprised.]]

Kaori sighed again, her eyes once again wandering to the school yard entrance. "I thought I made a poor first impression, but this child is definitely taking the cake." A ladybug buzzed in front of her face as she spoke and resisted her attempts to blow it away. Stubbornly, the insect plopped itself down on the top of Kaori's head. "Hey, shoo," she mumbled as she gently picked the bug off her hair and placed it on the ground to crawl away on its own. She didn't hate bugs. She'd certainly gotten over that irrational fear being on a male dominated squad, however, she didn't particularly enjoy them crawling on her skin either.

OOC: Other than Naruto (because he's Hokage so I'm playing him for story purposes) and the other parents, the NPCs can be used by anyone as needed. Whoever brings them into the story can play them. At least for talking to them and silly interactions. If an NPC needs to fight, I'll take over. Try to keep the original characters the focus though, the canon characters should just be here for flavor. *waits for edit*

[[OOC: Posted~]]

Shinji called the ladybug to his hand and informed it that Kaori-sensei wasn't a flower. He then let it fly off to find a better place to crawl around. He was afraid there might be a problem, having taken note of the way she looked at his Kikaichu earlier and now how she reacted to a harmless ladybug. "Do you...not like bugs, Kaori-sensei?" He asked reluctantly. Many of the academy teachers had shied away from him because of his family jutsu, though they all tried not to show it. Shinji needed to know right now if Kaori was going to be able to work with him.

Kaze was pulled from her musings by Shinji's question. She turned a sharp look on their new sensei. If Kaori wasn't careful with her words she could seriously alienate the shy boy. Shinji was very touchy about insects and about his family's relationship with them.

OOC: Kaze isn't rude...er...she's just REALLY blunt. Yeah, that's it. lol. Okay, I admit she seems a little rude if you don't know her...

[[OOC: I noticed. It seems like both the Nara kids got that from Temari. XD]]

"Hm?" Kaori looked over at Shinji, oblivious to the how serious her answer to such a simple question was. "I don't mind them. If they'd like to land on me, I would prefer a little warning though." She answered honestly. "So, no, I don't dislike bugs. Actually, I'm rather excited to see how you work with them, Shinji. Hopefully you can help me understand them better." That too was plainly sincere. Kaori wasn't the number one bug fan in the world, but she definitely didn't get squeamish or throw a fit when they were around. They're a part of the world, and she's perfectly fine with sharing it with them.

Shikaharu shrugged without turning around, "I don't know how she did it. I just happen to see her laying on the ground when I was passing through. So there's no telling how she strained her chakra out like that." Haru grew tired of talking about the condition of Kaida. He knew she'd be fine, so he switched topics quickly. "Anyway, what's the mission that was so important that our squad had to take?" He was sure it had something to do with his squad being one of the oldest genin teams, if they weren't already the eldest.

Shinji nodded, "Understood." It wasn't as bad as he had feared. Sensei obviously wasn't as comfortable with his bugs as Kaze was, but she was at least willing to work with him. Although, in Kaze's case, he strongly suspected she was just too lazy to make a fuss over trivial things and his insects crawling on her fell into that category in her mind. "Perhaps we should go see if Alex-san is still home?" He suggested. "I would hate to waste whatever plans you made for us today, Kaori-sensei."

Kaze relaxed. The woman's answer could have been worse, and Kaori-sensei seemed sincere. That was a definite plus. She grimaced at Shinji's suggestion. She was enjoying the chance to sit and relax for a while.

Konohamaru frowned, "I don't know yet. We'll find out when we arrive at Naruto-oniisan's office. First we have to find your teammates."

OOC: I think Ninja has hit the three day mark. *goes to make sure* Sano has too. Who wants to babysit their characters?

"Retrieval of tardy pupils wasn't exactly a part of the job description," Kaori said as she rose to her feet, "but I suppose we don't have any other option." She dusted herself off, tidying her appearance as best as she could under the current circumstances. "Does anyone know where she lives? I've never casually dropped by the Hokage's home before." Kaori felt silly asking her younger students the whereabouts of the Hokage's daughter, but she wasn't entirely sure whether she lived on the Hyuuga compound or in the village somewhere.

[[OOC: I'd prefer not to, but I can if I need to. ]]

OOC: I'll take over Lexi. Anything to help really.

Haru grunted when Konohamaru addressed the fact that they would still have to get his teammates. He laid on his fan with his limbs overlapping his aerial weapon. He yawned as he watched the passing clouds in the sky. The Nara flipped over onto his stomach and said curiously, "Konohamaru-senpai, are you able to summon animals?"

Konohamaru looked up at the boy, curious about the sudden change of subject. "Yes." He said slowly. He'd never summoned in front of his squad and they'd never shown any interest in summoning before.

Kaze stood and stretched. "The Hokage and his family live in the Hokage's tower." She said dryly, as she started walking. She could hardly believe a jonin wouldn't know that.

Shinji pushed away from the tree and followed after his teammate. As he passed Kaori he shrugged, "Don't mind Kaze." He said softly, "She gets more acerbic when she's nervous."

"I do not! Shut-up, Shinji." Kaze shoved her hands in her pockets and continued walking away.

OOC: Thanks Cassie, Lexi is yours. I've got Alex and Sano, I guess. Unless someone else comes in and wants them. Faiyth you are already doing plenty. lol. Everyone else has posted recently.

"Well, no harm done." Kaori smirked as Soyokaze walked by, "I'm aware that a poor attitude is a sign of insecurity." The jounin looked off in the direction of the Hokage Tower and shrugged, "If that's only where we're going, then I'll meet the two of you there." With that, she seemed to vanish for a moment as her speed gave her a hefty head start. She slowed herself down upon reaching the tower and came to a clean halt. She lifted her right fist to knock, but paused. Was she really about to enter this place and ask for the Hokage's daughter, looking like she just returned from a battlefield?

OOC: No I've got Sano, It's just I was waiting for the right time to post and all~ :P

Sano stopped at the training area. She was surprised. "Ah! Konohamaru isn't here! Maybe I should look for him around the village!" she said. She began to look, starting at the Ichiraku Ramen Bar.

You guys are in town or at the Nara place?

OOC: Hey, Slide. Good to see you. Your teammate/sensei are almost to Lexi's house, looking for her. I have a question. Where does everyone keep getting this teleporting thing from? The only Naruto character I know of that can actually teleport is Minato (the fourth hokage) and I haven't seen anything to say that he passed the technique on. He also seemed to need chakra markers to flash to, he didn't just jaunt off blindly. Ninjas can move faster than the eye can follow but only for short distances (like in the substitution jutsu or to get away with a smoke bomb for distraction, or something like Gaara's sand swirl distraction or a clone to cover their exit). Why else is there so much tree running in Naruto if people can just poof themselves where they want to go? So please cut that out unless you can show me some proof that you should be able to do it. Okay. Thanks!

Hinata entered her daughter's room to tidy up. Alex always left in such a hurry. Hinata noticed the bed was rumpled and went to make it. She squeaked as she pulled back the blanket to discover Alex still asleep. "Alex-chan!" She yelped, shaking the girl gently. "You're late!" The purple haired woman shouldn't have been surprised, Alex was so excited the night before she could get to sleep.

Alex shot upright in her bed and only ninja reflexes kept her mother from getting hit in the face by her daughter's head. "OH NO!" Alex jumped up and scurried around her room, throwing on her clothes and grabbing her headband off her nightstand. She practically flew down the stairs and out the door. "OOF!!" She collided with the woman standing there. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm running late and....is that blood?! Are you bleeding?!" She frantically checked the woman for injuries.

Kaze and Shinji turned the nearby corner just in time to witness their hyperactive teammate's crash into Kaori sensei. Kaze rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Shinji just hunched his shoulders and sighed. He wasn't looking forward to dealing with Alex, but he remembered his father's advice from the day before. He would answer her incessant questions and hopefully get them out of the way as soon as possible. Hopefully they'd be a better squad because of it.