First Encounter

Tamero watched as Renji quickly proved that Kana was the runaway. Wow, he was good. He wondered why Kana had tried running away in the first place. It was a bad idea. No one got in or out of the Crested without someone knowing about it. He didn't know how it was set up, but he knew there was something around the village that made it impossible. It was pure genius really.

"Ahah, I knew it," Renji said with a nod and a grin. "So why'd you run? Was it because of sensei?" he asked curiously.

Kana's hands clenched as she ran. "Shut your face, I told you I didn't run away."

"Come on, I just proved you did. We're on a team anyways, why can't you try to trust us?"

"I don't even know you," she spat bitterly.

Renji glared at her a moment. "I don't know you either, but I have to trust the two of you with my life if we go on missions, and I do!"

At that, Kana stopped running, turning on her heel and decking Renji in the stomach. "Well I don't, okay! Mind your own damn business!"

Tamero blinked when the two started arguing. He then came to a stop when Kana punched Renji. "Hey, that wasn't caused for," he told her. "What's your problem?" He looked to Renji. "You okay?" Tamero couldn't believe this. They were supposed to be a team and Kana had just punched their teammate. "We won't make it through a mission if we don't get our acts together," he stated blandly.

Kana glared at the two when Tamero went over to help Renji, her fists clenched. She'd been in a good mood until the black haired kid had opened his big mouth. "My problem is that kid," she said, pointing to Renji, who was coughing a bit.

Renji nodded when Tamero asked if he was okay, standing up straight, having doubled over from the impact. It wasn't that she hit exceptionally hard, but having been running, the hit had come unexpectedly. "The hell man? It was just a question!" He said, glaring at her. He had half a mind to fight back, but he knew there would be plenty of time for that. "I think I see why sensei kicked you off in the first place," he said, rubbing his stomach in irritation.

"Sh-shut up!" Kana said angrily. "That's not why he kicked me off," she growled.

"Yeah, he didn't kick you off because you have a temper and a bad attitude to boot. Right. You act like a brat, you know that?"

Tamero looked between the two of them. He hoped that they wouldn't start fighting. It would be disastrous. "Hey, come on guys, we shouldn't be arguing...or fighting amongst ourselves. Sensei is waiting for us to finish these laps so that we can train. So can we stop the bickering and get a move on before he comes looking for us." Tamero hoped they would see it his way and start back on the run.

Felix looked at the woods. They should have finished the first lap by now. Just what were they doing in there?

Renji glared at Kana a few more moments before nodding to Tamero's statement. "He's right. We don't want to get on his bad side on the first official day," he said with a sigh. "Are you gonna be able to do all five laps?" he asked the blond girl, with a raised eyebrow.

Kana kept glaring at Renji, her hands clenched. "I'll be fine," she said coldly, starting off at a run again. She glanced to her side when she realized that Renji started a jog ahead of her, but keeping pace with her. That kid thought he was going to be squad leader, didn't he? The mere thought made her mad. Though she was sure that she wouldn't be squad leader, she hoped that Renji wouldn't be either.

Tamero was grateful when they started running again. Good. He followed after them. Staying behind Kana just because. No specific reason, but he hoped she didn't think he was staying behind so it wouldn't make her look bad, or that he thought she'd fall or something. That wasn't the case. How were they going to survive together? Kana and Renji obviously had issues with each other and he was just there. He silently vowed to be the mediator of the two.

Kana kept running behind Renji, but it was hard to focus on being mad at the boy when she had to concentrate on her leg. It was getting to the point where every other step she took, she nearly stumbled. In her head, she knew she had to get her mind together and not fight with the others, but that black haired kid was just so infuriating!

Renji ran in front of them at a steady pace, looking back only every once in a while to make sure Kana and Tamero weren't falling behind. It shouldn't have been long until they had the first lap done.

Felix had taken a seat and was examining his kunai when he spotted the kids finishing the first lap. "What is wrong with you three, you think I have all day, pick up the pace," he called to them.

Tamero looked at their teacher as he told them they were moving too slow. Didn't the guy know Kana was injured? He looked at Renji and then Kana, wondering what they should do. If they ran faster, Kana would be in pain, he could see that she already was. If they kept running at this pace, who knew what would happen. Tamero sighed, waiting for the others to make a decision.

Renji looked at their teacher when he told them to move faster, then looked back to Kana.

Kana looked at Renji when he looked at her, giving him a look. "You heard him," she said simply. She was sure she'd be able to handle it. Renji gave her a light frown before shaking his head and starting off at a faster pace.

Tamero sighed. This wasn't going to work. There was no way she'd be able to hold up on her own at a faster pace. Why was she too stubborn to see it? Sighing again he moved up beside Kana. "You know, if it's too much for you, I don't mind helping you, and I'm sure Renji wouldn't either, if you'd just ask him," the white haired by said. He wanted them all to get along. He wanted them all to succeed. But the chances were slim to none at this rate.

Kana looked at Tamero as he said that she didn't have to go so fast. "I'll be fine. What's the point in being a ninja if I can't handle a little pain," she said stubbornly. But even as she said so, it was clear she was already having a hard time keeping up at that pace.

Renji looked back as Tamero started talking to Kana about her not being able to handle it. "I wouldn't mind helping," he agreed. He didn't hate the girl, and he didn't want her pushing herself, because it wasn't going to help any of them.

Tamero sighed. Why was she being so difficult. He looked at Renji as he spoke and then back to Kana. He didn't know what to say to her, so he just kept moving forward. This was going to end in a disaster, he could feel it in his bones. This was just the beginning, who knew what type of training they would be doing once this was over. How would they be able to do any training with Kana injured? He hoped it wasn't anything too serious. If so, they'd be in trouble. Or at least she would be in trouble...

It wasn't five minutes later that Kana finally ended up tripping forward with a light gasp. Her leg was burning, and she wasn't sure she could continue at such a fast pace for much longer. And she was sure she'd felt the stitches had opened too.

Renji slowed and stopped when he heard Kana trip. Turning, he went over to Kana, kneeling down to help her up. "Hey, you okay?" When Kana didn't take his help, he sighed. "Come on, let us help you. We're not going to get anywhere like this." He wasn't entirely sure what her problem was, but she really had to get it together, and fast.

Tamero turned when Kana suddenly tripped. He too tried to help her up. He was usually good with making friends and stuff, but Kana was one tough cookie. "Why won't you let us help you?" He asked. "Why are you so stubborn? If you think you can do this on your own, then what's the point of you even being on a team with us," he asked. "This is a three man squad, not a one man squad. If you want a one man squad, then why not go find a private sensei. If you don't let us help you, then you're only slowing us down. Sensei already said that he didn't have time for us to be moving slow." He didn't sound mean as he spoke, more or less distressed.

Kana took a few moments to regain herself, breathing a bit heavily. Why couldn't he have thrown a kunai at her arm instead? She wouldn't have minded so much if it had been her arm, but now she couldn't even run! When Tamero spoke, she kept her gaze down. She wondered why she found herself thinking he was right. She'd never been good with making friends, so why had she been so keen on making it onto a team if she couldn't make friends with them? "Fine," she finally said. "But I don't know how you two plan on helping me in this shape..."

Renji gave a sigh when Kana finally agreed to let them help her. "Well, first thing's first. We gotta get you up," he said, taking a hold of one of Kana's arms and looking at Tamero to do the same before helping her to her feet.

Tamero gave a wide smile when Kana agreed to let them help her. "Awesome," he said as he took her other arm. He quickly examined the situation. "Okay, we'll have to work as a single unit," he said. "I'll take her weaker side to hold her weight so she won't have to use her bad leg, I'm stronger out of the three. " He hoped they wouldn't take that the wrong way. He was good in taijutsu, so physically, he was a bit more capable than them. "Renji, stay on that side as support. We have to move together. Me and Renji first and then you Kana, understand." They would be able to get out of this in no time.

When Tamero explained what they were going to do, Kana felt rather pathetic. Once again she felt that feeling of hate and anger welling up in herself. Why her leg? Now if she got pissed off she couldn't even run it away. At least not until her leg was healed. Even though she felt horrible about having to do this, the blond girl didn't protest.

Renji nodded at Tamero's plan. Kid was smart. And honestly, he didn't doubt that Tamero was stronger than he was. His specialty was ninjutsu after all. "Alright, let's get this done," he said with a grin, slipping one of Kana's arms over his shoulders. This would be a cake walk. Besides, if one of them ever got injured in battle like this, now they would know just what to do. And they'd have practice in it. This was actually really good for training. Taking a breath, Renji started forwards in unison with Tamero and Kana.

Felix looked at the setup he'd created. It would do perfectly. He'd organized what resembled a military boot camp set up. The course started at the three kunai. The only obstacle before them was a summoning of the Executioner. Past the Executioner was a wall at least 35ft high. It was almost like a rock climbing wall, but there were very few rocks to grasp onto. They were widely separated. Behind the wall was a large pool of water that extended at least 15 feet before being able to reach land. Once on land, there was a variety of obstacles that proved very fatal if not careful. Past the variety of obstacles was a bare space of land at least 50 feet before one would reach the forest. At the forest was blue tap marking a path. Throughout the forest was multiple unseen booby traps, including genjutsu just waiting to be triggered. Once out of the forest, there was another clearing, with a single scroll laying in the middle.

When the kids finally came out, he looked them over. They looked even weirder up close like that. He'd seen them on the second go around helping Kana. "Glad you all finished that. Now, it's time for real training. Take a three minute break and then get ready for the next part. You'll be running an obstacle course. You'll have an hour to complete it." The entire thing was covered with genjutsu to keep them from seeing it at the moment. All that was visible were the kunai.

Tamero walked in unison with them. He was glad they'd finally got over their differences long enough to get through the running. When the finished, he felt like he'd accomplished something great. When their sensei spoke of a three minute break and then an obstacle course, Tamero blinked. "Obstacle course? Where? In the woods?" He asked.

When they finally completed the last lap, Renji offered to help Kana sit down, but when he did, her only reply was "Ninja don't sit down." Shaking his head, he at least helped her over to a tree for her to lean on. She already looked rather worn out, and it was obvious she was trying to keep from showing pain. Even with their help, he'd caught her flinching a few times as they ran. Renji looked around when their sensei mentioned an obstacle course. All he saw were three kunai. He figured then would be a good time to bring something up. "Sensei?" he waited for either a response, or the man to look at him. "What's your name?"

Kana leaned against the tree rather heavily, her breaths coming a bit labored. She could finish this. She'd have to. This was the first day of training, she couldn't back out of it. When she looked at their teacher, she paused, noticing that his chakra wasn't stationary this time. The light blue pulsated and streamed throughout his body. Was he currently using a jutsu? Had to be, right? She looked to the forest, then back to him, but then looked quickly back to the forest. Was it just her, or was the air shimmering slightly? Did that mean there was a veil over the area? She only shook her head, looking to the silver haired man for an answer to Renji's question.

Even Tamero had wanted to know the answer. He'd been dying to know who this guy was for the longest. It was obvious he hadn't told Kana or Renji either. Tamero was about to plop down on the ground for those three minutes when he remember overhearing Kana speaking to Renji. For some odd reason, he thought that meant more than her just being stubborn.

Felix looked Renji when he was asked his name. "Names aren't important at the moment. You may won't to save that bit of thinking for what's coming up," he said without much emotion. Felix turned away and walked over to the three kunai. He stood in front of them as he waited for time to end. This would be fun to watch.

Renji blinked when the guy said names weren't important. Then why did he bother asking for theirs? The black haired kid nearly clicked his tongue when he remembered that the guy was still looking at him. Yeah, didn't want to set him off. He didn't know what the guy was capable of. He looked to Kana and Tamero and shrugged. When the three minutes were up, Renji went to see if Kana needed help, but she said she'd be fine, at least for now. Shrugging, Renji went over to the kunai, followed by Kana as she made her way over as well. Her gaze though, rather than being on their teacher, was on that odd shimmering veil that was floating in the air. She couldn't be sure, but she thought maybe that was actually chakra...

Felix would eventually give them his name, when he felt like they were worthy of knowing it. Not in the sense that he was high and mighty, but he wanted to make sure they would be his students from here on out. Why waste his breath on children who would be leaving? When the three gathered around the kunai, Felix nodded. "Pick up the kunai. You'll be needing it, for it is your only means of defense throughout this entire obstacle." Felix looked at them with a grin, waiting for them to pick up the kunai. It would shatter the genjutsu over the beginning of the course and unveil the Executioner and the wall. "You all have 2 and half hours to get through this. If you fail, you might as well not bother coming back here." They may have thought it was stupid to give them so much time, but they would need it. "Try not to die," he said casually as he walked off to the side.

Tamero looked at the kunai and then at the sensei. When the guy said try not to die, Tamero swallowed. "Do people die during his training?" He asked. He didn't want to be the first to pick up that kunai, so he waited for them. He was curious to see if Kana would be the first.

Kana looked at their teacher as he spoke up, glancing at her teammates. She too swallowed as he told them not to die. She shook her head and looked to Renji and Tamero with a nod. "Ready?" she asked. Once she got a response, be it a nod or a yes, Kana swiped up her kunai. When the genjutsu dropped, so did her mouth. What was that thing in front of them?

Renji shrugged at Tamero when the boy asked if people died during this guy's training. "Whether they have or not, let's make sure we don't," he said, nodding to Kana, as he too picked up his kunai. When he saw what was revealed by that action, he couldn't help but to take a step back. "Th-the hell?" It was only then that Renji realized- they should have taken the time to get to know each others strengths and weaknesses while they'd been running. But who knew they'd be faced with an obstacle course with this thing as the first obstacle? Could they even use jutsu??

Tamero gave a sigh when Renji shrugged. He picked up his kunai and nearly shoved it back into the ground when he saw what was in their way. "C-can we put the kunai back and do something else," he asked in a light joking matter. He often made jokes when he was scared, just to lighten up the mood and keep him from panicking. The answer was clearly no when the Executioner charged them. "Run!" Tamero said as he took off in the opposite direction of the thing charging them.