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"Don't worry about it, but could you send these criminals to the interrogation unit? We need to know who they are and what their target was" Rinan motioned towards the motionless bodies. Rinzuki stood adjacent the to the motionless bodies with a stoic expression, staring into space. "How could I not stop them, how could I be so weak he thought". He then balled his hand into a fist, clenching tightly, infuriated with dissatisfaction for his actions.

Nagamichi, by a stroke of good fortune, was far from the events that had taken place at the Hyuuga manor. The genin swordsman was currently taking a stroll around the Academy grounds. He had been cleared by the groundskeeper, who had been fond of the young Irikura since the day he healed the man's injured hip. Nagamichi looked around at the many lessons that were taking place all over the complex: water walking, weapon accuracy, taijutsu sparring and espionage training. The majority of the students were taking their schooling seriously, while there were the odd few loafing around and causing trouble here and there. The genin swordsman made his way over to the classroom area of the academy.

It was a single-story compound split in half by a long hardwood walkway. The classrooms took up about one third of the entire academy space, but the fact that the entire area of the academy was spread over two small plateaus connected by a bridge made it look like it was a lot bigger. Nagamichi was now walking down the same walkway he had used to a little over a year ago. He was just about to walk past the last classroom on the left when all of a sudden he heard the voice of a young boy complaining about something of his that was just broken, apparently a music listening device of some sort. The voice of a middle-aged woman could now be heard reprimanding who could only be the same student, more than likely the instructor according to the boy named Aeal's previous outburst. It seemed that this Aeal kid had been listening to music during the lecture and the instructor had somehow managed to break the device while trying to get his attention.

The instructors here are always so serious at their job. thought Nagamichi with a chuckle. He now found himself standing with his back to the wall listening to the exchange between teacher and student. He was so caught up in the conversation that he flinched when the bell, which was located right above him on the wall, rang to signal the end of the day. Students filed out of the classrooms down the hall, which was almost packed. Nagamichi heard the voice of Aeal at the door and saw the boy, who had green-and-black hair styled in a mohawk and wearing earphones walking away at a somewhat rhythmic swagger. The instructor was yelling up a storm, but sadly her words were falling on deaf ears. At that point Nagamichi decided to follow this mystery boy.

Nagamichi could clearly hear the music that played from Aeal's ear phones, even with a few students standing between the two of them. The genin swordsman wondered how it was that the green-and-black haired kid could listen to music that loud without damaging his eardrums. It was because his thoughts had strayed for a few seconds that Nagamichi failed to notice the fact that the students that had been ahead of him moved to the side, and continued to walk a short distance. When Aeal stumbled backwards and caught himself on the Irikura's shoulder, Nagamichi snapped out of his short daydream and assessed the current situation. It seemed that Daicihi, a boy who had been at the academy long before Nagamichi had enrolled. He was good at the ninja arts, but his bullying caused him to be held back every time.

One would think he would have learned his lesson by now, thought the young medic, feeling Aeal push off of him and confront Daichi. Apparently the latter had pushed a scrawny boy into Aeal, and the boy in question was standing a few feet away at the edge of the now gathering crowd. Daichi approached Aeal and pinned him against a locker, causing Nagamichi's hand to stray over to the hilt of his sword. This isn't my fight... he thought and slowly calmed himself down while watching what was going to happen. The green-and-black haired boy shook his head, causing his earphones to fall and hang around his neck, and told the bully to apologize to the other kid and also give him his lunch money. Nagamichi's eyes widened in disbelief as Daichi's demeanor changed from aggressive to apologetic in an instant, and his jaw dropped when Daichi agreed and carried out Aeal's orders like if it was nothing. What the heck just happened!? wondered the genin swordsman just before Aeal turned to address him. "Don't sweat it, i was just taking a stroll through the campus and just happened to be at the right place at the right time." replied Nagamichi with a smile. "My name's Nagamichi, by the way. Nagamichi Irikura."

Nagamichi stood by silently as Aeal chuckled at the retreating Daichi. The green-and-black haired boy then turned and formally introduced himself as Aeal Zakayia. The academy student explained the reason behind Daichi's weird behavior was caused by a genjutsu. Nagamichi began to wonder when and how Aeal would have been able to execute a genjutsu without the aid of hand seals. In the end, the white-haired boy came to the conclusion that Aeal must have been gifted with an affinity for the skill.
"Well it's nice to formally make your acquaintance, Aeal. Your genjutsu skills are pretty powerful if you're able to drive someone else's movements without much effort." Apparently the academy student needed to go pick up some money he had earned from working at the ramen shop because he asked Nagamichi to tag along. The medic swordsman thought about what he needed to do later and decided that he could still complete his chores before heading to bed. "I guess i can go with you. There's nothing else of utmost importance that i need to do at the moment."

The music from Aeal's earphones finally began to lose volume until there was no sound coming from them. The boy's reaction to this occurrence proved Nagamichi's hunch that the batteries had died, canceling the need to strain his voice so that Aeal would be able to hear him. Raising his voice was something the genin seldom did unless he was truly upset. "Lead on." said Nagamichi. As the duo was walking over the bridge Aeal asked the white-haired boy when he had graduated from the academy. "I graduated from there a little over a year ago. Then again i was home schooled most of the time so i was almost never at the academy either."

After a while of walking through the village Nagamichi noticed a change in Aeal's demeanor. The upbeat, active boy he had just met only an hour earlier seemed to have taken a dive out of character. The academy student smiled and waved to familiar faces every so often, but it was as if he wasn't really there completely. The genin swordsman was about to bring it up to Aeal when the duo walked by a store where a man, more than likely the owner, was arranging the displays. Nagamichi looked over the items that were on display slowly, taking in the details of the store's inventory so that he knew where to go find said wares if the situation called for it in future events.

While the white-haired genin was doing this the shopkeeper spoke to Aeal, inquiring about the reason why the young boy's music wasn't playing. Aeal replied stating that the batteries were dead and he was low on money at the moment, but would have some later during the day. The shopkeeper decided to hand the academy student a pair of new batteries for free, which the latter accepted gratefully and proceeded to insert them into his music playback device. Not long after music could again be heard coming from the boy's earphones. Aeal thanked the shopkeeper, whose name turned out to be Pietro. Pietro just smiled, saying that he would do anything for his best customer and returned to his work. Nagamichi came back from viewing the wares, gazing back as Pietro entered the store.

"He seems to be very fond of you, Aeal. I guess you're a frequent shopper here." said the genin swordsman, who had spotted several earphones of the same make as Aeal's, just in different colors and sizes. He tried to ignore the type of music coming from the academy student's device, which was completely opposite to the calm, soothing music he was used to hearing at home.

Aeal nodded and affirmed that he did indeed shop at the store all the time, scrolling through the music selection of his device while he did. A few seconds later a new song started playing and after a while it began to die down.
Those batteries must be faulty... thought Nagamichi, looking over at the academy student who had a big smile on his face. But why is he smil- The question was answered in a split second. Whatever the song Aeal had been listening to was appeared to have induced a seizure in the young boy. The medic swordsman was about to pounce on the academy student, but stopped himself upon seeing that Aeal's jerky movements were taking him in an oddly deliberate direction. All Nagamichi could do was stand there gazing at the quickly receding figure of the green-and-black haired boy with his jaw gaping. Pietro returned with more things for the display and saw the white-haired swordsman still standing there.
"It seems like you've never seen shuffling, young man. It's a new style of dancing, and popular with youngsters these days." said the shopkeeper as he began to arrange the items for his display, which at this point was just about done.
"Is that what people call it?" asked Nagamichi, turning his head in Pietro's direction. "Looks more like a fit of epilepsy if you ask me." The shopkeeper chuckled.
"You're funny kid. You're the first kid your age that has shown some sort of attachment to the old ways of doing things." Pietro put the final touches on the display and dusted his hands. "It is a good thing but in the end you will become detached from future generations. Try and loosen up a bit. Give shuffling a chance. You never know if you'll like it otherwise." With that said he went back into his store, leaving Nagamichi to mull over his words before he too headed off in the direction of the ramen shop.

The white-haired boy caught up with Aeal just as the song on his music player ended. He was awed that the academy student was so immersed in his music that he failed to notice he was alone for the better part of three minutes. The head chef was then commenting on Aeal's dance moves and presenting him with a paycheck for having worked three shifts the past weekend. The green-and-black haired boy, addressing the chef as Tsulu, said it was no problem. A few seconds later the two were discussing putting on a show since it boosted up the amount of people that visited the ramen shop. Aeal seemed to be considering it, but said that he wouldn't be graduating anytime soon he would consider learning break dancing. Nagamichi was surprised when the dancing boy asked for his input about whether he should learn the new style.
"If that's what you feel you should do, go for it." replied the genin swordsman with a smile. "Maybe yuo can teach me how to do that shuffling thing."

[Lightning]

Tick tock tick tock tick tock… Each movement of that wretched clock sent a bolt of electricity through Kansei’s very soul. Each second that passed, each and every moment… it was a fraction of time that was being wasted. What kind of ninja needs to learn language and stuff like that anyways? Kansei needed training, he needed to risk!

He drummed his fingers on the table in front of him. His sensei continued to drone on and on and on. Not once today had he looked away from the chalkboard. Instead, he noisy clacked away at it with a piece of chalk, and spoke of things that Kansei barely cared about.

Kansei crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. His squinty fox-like eyes scrutinized the chunin at the front. Suddenly, a smile came across his face. Kansei could get a fight in today after all! The student got back onto all four of his chair’s legs, then shuffled back a bit. Casual now. He pretended to take some notes. He shifted in his chair very slightly. His keen eyes never left the teacher.

Kansei got up and snuck around the chairs of his fellow classmates. They gave him dirty looks, but since when could a dirty look get you in trouble? Once he hit the hallway, Kansei took off in a full sprint. He vaulted through a window, out into the city streets. He tumbled into an alleyway beside the academy building.

“Not bad, if I do say so myself,” he patted himself on the back, “Now I’m gonna learn some real ninja moves. But where should I start?” Kansei snapped his fingers, “The usual spot will do.” He marched off, cracking his knuckles.

x x x x x x x x x x

Kansei stood in front of Risky Business, a rough sake bar on a cliff-side platform near the edge of Kumogakure. The patrons were the toughest of the tough, as far as non-shinobi went. The sake was so strong that it was nicknamed ‘Rat Poison’. The security was said to be Yakuza. Those who frequented the place would know that they were only there to protect the sake house, not the customers. Even more dangerous than the inside of the place was the outside. The back alleyway was decorated with muggers and thieves.

This was Kansei’s favorite place in Kumogakure, this was a place where he could get attacked and fight back. This was a place to practice his new moves, to prove his ninja might. Kansei stood in front of the place and did a few stretches. He did eight squats and eight lunges on each side, and followed up with a few jumping jacks. He was- “GTG” good-to-go.

He walked into the side alley, and was greeted by two thugs. They looked at him stunned for a moment; they were new around here. They weren’t used to an academy student dropping by and kicking their asses from there to Konoha and back. Kansei give them a smug smirk. They returned it, and drew out a pair of switchblades.

“Ey’ kid,” they said. Their rusty blades pointed at Kansei’s body, “I dunneh’ what yeh doin’ here, but how ‘bout yeh give us that walleht on yeh belt, huh kid?” Kansei shook his head, and gave them a cocky wave of his hand. They responded with a laugh and a knife lunge. Kansei fell to his side, and dodged the twin knife lunges.

“Round One!” He called, “Fight!” His hand formed a fist, and he nailed one of the thugs in the face. He hit the guy so hard that he fell backwards into a trash can! Kansei performed a leg sweep next, on the second guy. The guy hopped over Kansei’s leg, and stabbed at the student.

“Check it!” Kansei kicked away the thugs arm, and then kicked him hard in the gut. Like a break-dancer he spun. His kicks and spins got him back to his feet.

That wasn’t the end of the encounter, however. The first man came-to! Not to worry, however. Kansei wasn’t worried, he had mad skills! He had so many mad skills that he was practically main character material! Kansei rocketed forward, and bashed away the man’s arm.

One hit, two hit, three hit, four. Four punches connected on the thug’s chest. Kansei wrapped one arm about the attacker’s arm, and went for a fifth and final punch to the face. This massive haymaker made an uncomfortable sound when it his the thugs face. It was something of a mix of a crunch and a pop. The bloodied thug fell down. He was unconscious for sure this time...

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