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- l Genin l - l Iwagakure l - l Assassin l -

"Timing is key to a perfectly timed attack..."

XXX

XXX Gage nodded at the man as he mentioned getting used to the mist. 'Looks like I have to anyways...' He thought as the man went over to the bin. He gave the man an odd eye as he pulled a vest out of the bin. 'A vest? for what... I'm not chuunin yet.' He thought as Kaizen tossed the vest his way. Gage reached out with one hand to grab it and quickly realized why Kaizen grabbed the vest. When it reached Gage's hand, the only thing he could do was let it sink to the ground with a light thud. 'I wasn't ready for that...' He thought as he put both hands on the vest and pulled it over his head. He pulled it down and strapped the sides and then jumped a few times. 'It's not too bad...' He thought as he tried to get used to the extra weight.

Once he finished, He listened to Kaizen brief him on his mission. "Got it. Nikko's... Looks like I'll be following my nose... Be back soon." Gage said before running out the door. He made it outside and stopped. 'I'll need a few sticks...' He thought as he pulled out a kunai and walked forward. Gage got lucky and found a tree not long after. He hoped up, cut off three branches and was down in less then 10 seconds. A little slow, but the weight of the vest was getting to him. He raised his head and took a wiff of the air. "That way..." He said turning towards the beach and ran off.

[Ramen Mission - 1/7 - START]

"We are the culmination of every choice we have ever made..."

After Gage had left, Kai decided that he would simply take a short nap while he waited for the genin to return, thinking to himself, I can always just take him with me to get the scrolls, besides I forgot to ask which katon techniques he still needed to learn. Leaning against one of the walls of the large training room, Kai let out a satisfied sigh as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and closed his eyes.

Before he'd even gotten the chance to dream, Kaizen heard the sound of a door opening followed by labored breathing. Opening his eyes, Kai smiled at the sight of a very clearly fatigued Gage as he made his way towards him, steaming bowl of ramen in hand. Rising to his feet, Kai reached out to take the bowl from the boy, lifting a quizzical eyebrow at the self-made support the he had made to keep his arm steady. Well he's certainly doesn't lack ingenuity..., he thought as Gage let the stick fall to the floor after handing Kaizen the bowl. Watching silently as Gage made his way towards the wall he had been leaning against himself only moments before, the white-eyed chuunin chuckled lightly as the lad collapsed to the ground.

Looking down at the bowl for a moment, Kai simply nodded before walking over and setting the bowl down next to Gage. "You did well to make it back without spilling a single drop by the looks of it, but unfortunately you have still failed. You see, I said that you were to bring it back without losing a single drop of ramen, but if you'll look at the bowl you will notice that the ramen does not quite reach the line, though I know for a fact that Nikko filled it. You failed for the same reason I and all of my squad mates failed... evaporation. No matter what, that steaming bowl of ramen was bound to lose a bit of water."

Placing a hand on the youth's head, Kai tousled his hair slightly before saying in a playful tone, "Don't worry, you'll still get credit for the mission as well as pay. You can even have the ramen too! First though, you must answer me this. As I'm sure you can tell by now, this was a test, but do you know what the lesson is?"

"... but sometimes, the right choice isn't always clear."

No rush Bro. Just making sure you see I posted. Lol I know I kind of replied fast.

(Not the vest, again... lol gonk )

Gage listened quietly as Kaizen responded to his answer. He was partially right and partially wrong. 'Figures...' He thought to himself as everything went silent. Gage's eyes wandered to the floor as he saw his left leg quiver. He'd over exerted himself and signs where showing. He wouldn't give up now, though. He had just started training here in the Mist and he didn't want to make a bad impression on the first day. He was going to train as long as he could stand on his two feet.

Kai finally broke the silence, continuing on with his lecture. Gage had nearly forgot about the ramen until Kai and mentioned it. "Oh right..." He said sitting down in a traditional fashion. He picked up the ramen in both hands before looking at Kaizen. "Let's see..." He said trying to remember what he still had to learn. He picked the bowl up to his lips and took a long sip out of the warm broth. 'Shrimp... Perfect...' He thought as he removed the bowl from his lips. "If I remember right I still need to learn Ichi, Shuriken no Jutsu, Ni, Hoteri Ougigata no Jutsu, and Hi Shinten no Jutsu..." He said with a light laugh. He took another drag from his bowl of ramen before adding, "I never was good with learning the small stuff, that's why I went straight into learning the Flaming Muay-Thai." Gage reminisced for a moment, remembering the all the work he had gone through to learn that Taijutsu. He remembered how Death Spank had almost burnt himself to death, trying to overdo the jutsu. Gage smiled to himself as he finished his ramen, then stood once more. He felt a little better now. He hadn't realized how hungry he was, not having eaten a decent meal in a couple of days probably didn't help either. All in all, Gage was in a slightly better physical shape then he was only moments before.

Gage waited quietly as Kaizen thought about something for a moment. He began to finish the noddles left in the bowl as Kai began speaking. Kaizen pointed towards the training vest as Gage was in mid-swallow. 'NO WAY!!!' Gage thought as he choked on the noddles he was slurping and dropped the bowl of ramen. Even though it was almost finished it did leave a small mess. Gage swallowed and stood up. He met Kaizen's twisted grin with a concerned face. "Please tell me your joking..." He said at last.

He waited for Kaizen to answer him, but instead he posed another question for Gage to answer. He gave the man a weird look, but decided that he wasn't joking so he walked over to the vest and put it on reluctantly. "Shadows and Darkness are my domain, though I can play the role of a warrior if need be..." He said answering the question. He wasn't sure what was meant by it, but he knew himself to be an assassin.

"Oh and how long do I have to wear this thing, before switching to something more proper, I guess is a good word..." He asked Kaizen as he waited for what ever TORTURE was planned next.

((I thought it would be funny to choke on some noddles. lol))

Gage nodded as Kaizen spoke. The training vest had worn heavy on him the first time, but after slipping it on again he realized that he was getting used to the weight. Kazien talked about a Warrior and a Hunter, a decision Gage would have to make in his life. 'I think I know the answer...' He thought for a moment as he pondered Kaizen's words.

Next thing Gage heard was that they where going for a jog. 'Oh great... I'm worn out and we're going run... Just my luck...' He thought as Kaizen left. Gage knew that a 'jog' for a chuunin meant full speed for a genin, but Gage would keep up, as long as his training vest didn't weigh him down.

He started after Kaizen, darting straight out of the door of the Training Facility into the Hazy Mist that was beginning to lighten up the more Gage was in it. When he made it outside, it took him a moment to adjust to the mist before locating Kaizen in a tree. Gage sighed and threw himself high into the air landing a bit loudly on the side of Kaizen and squatted down. "I'm going to have to get used to that..." He said out loud as he waited for Kaizen to do whatever he planned to do.

(Crap Post, sorry...)

Gage let out a sigh as he squatted their next to Kai on the tree. There seemed to be hardly anything he had really learned while in Iwagakure. He listened as Kaizen explained to him his next objective. "Alright. Lead the way, then..." Gage said to Kai as the Chuunin jumped off the tree onto the ground.

Gage followed, with a less graceful jump and landing, but still landed on his feet. He started running after Kaizen. 'Jeez this vest is making me slow...' He thought, being used to keeping up with Chuunins for so long. As they ran, Gage noticed that his eyes had become a little more accustomed to the Mist.
[Mist Eyes 5/10]

[Exit - Kiri Park]

"We are the culmination of every choice we have ever made..."

Walking down the well-worn dirt path leading towards Kiri's state of the art training facility, Kaizen read nurse Kozuki's note once more before taking one of the pills she had given him. According to the note he had enough to last him two weeks, though whether or not he would actually need a refill was not entirely clear. I certainly hope I won't, Kai thought to himself with a sigh, smacking his lips in a futile attempt to rid his mouth of the pill's after-taste.

Opening one of the facility's double doors, Kaizen shot the desk clerk a smile and a wave, earning himself a rueful smile from the pretty young woman, before heading down the hallway to find a private room to begin his training. Finding an unoccupied room, he slipped in and took a good look around. The room was huge, with training dummies lining one wall while a veritable arsenal lined the wall opposite them, and in the center was a lone pedestal with a small keypad. The pedestal could be used to transform the room to match a different setting using a combination of technology and powerful ninjutsu. For his purposes however, the sparsely furnished room would work fine as it was.

Reaching into the scroll case located on the back of his waist, Kaizen pulled out three scrolls, all of them filled with various Katon techniques for him to learn. Opening the one marked as academy level techniques, he read over the list until he found one that sounded useful. "Katon: Tanebi no Jutsu, that could have it's uses, all it takes is a small spark to make a large boom after all", Kai muttered to himself as he looked over the instructions on how to perform the technique. He set the scrolls down on the floor and then lifted his hand in front of his chest, placing his thumb and middle finger together. [1/3 Katon: Tanebi no Jutsu]

As he stood there, Kai's eyes began to change, a brilliant red seeping out of the center of his pale gaze, till the entirety of both eyes took on the color of flame. Forcing chakra to his hand, Kai could almost feel the heat building up between his two fingers. Releasing his chakra at the same time he snapped his fingers, a small spark formed at the point where his fingers had made contact. A good start, but it wouldn't do much good if he couldn't start the spark a bit further away.[2/3]

Starting again, Kai placed his thumb and middle-finger back together. Forcing chakra into his hand, he tried to think of how he could get the spark to start away from him, just releasing the chakra clearly doesn't work, perhaps I can manage to throw the chakra away from myself as I release it... With his new theory in mind, Kai let the chakra build up between his fingers as he drew back his hand as if preparing to throw something. "Katon: Tanebi no Jutsu!", he called out as he threw his arm forward and snapped his fingers. Much to his delight, a spark appeared in the air about ten feet away from where he was standing. Well that's one down. [3/3 Katon: Tanebi no Jutsu learned]

"... but sometimes, the right choice isn't always clear."