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The twins looked a little down when he mentioned his family troubles. Since they were the only two members of the main house and were partially responsible for ripping the clan a new gap in the family tree, they had received mixed emotions from their family, but at least they had family. This guy had none. They didn't really know how to console him but gave him a smile indicating he had friends now.

"How in the world are we supposed to react to that?"
I have no idea. Just keep smiling. He's definitely in a lot of pain, so just be a friend to him. Let's just change the subject."

"We have no idea at all who our sensei will be. Have you any idea who he, or even she, may be?" The twins stared at him, kind of hoping that he would have some idea as to who their sensei would be. Since they had been enstated as genin, their sensei had only told them to meditate on their genjutsu and destroy the Idou, so that was really all the higher training they had.

Shinji shook his head. "I've no idea. I wasn't told. I'm betting that, at the very least, our sensei is female. Just a hunch, but it's a 50/50 chance."

Shinji had the feeling that they were being watched. He couldn't tell where it was coming from, but it didn't seem malevolent anyway. Shinji dismissed the thought and asked. "How about we do a little sparring?"

Isaaku nodded, but seemed confused. "On what? You, or just randomly?" Isaaku picked the latter, if he just attacked his sensei then he really didn't want to face the repercussions. He took two steps back and to the direction away from the girls. He made the tiger symbol before rapidly go through the others that were required to summon the jutsu. "Tori, Saru, Inu, Oni, Yasha, Tatsu, Uma, I, Tora!" "Stilleto Boom," Isaaku muttered as he spun once and stopped with a stance for balance. Ten daggers shot out of Isaaku's folds of clothing. They flew in perfect harmony right past Yuki-sensei, only to impale themselves into the training ground walls.

"Simple, now for the tortoise shell..." Isaaku made more signs. "Ushi, I, Tatsu, Tora." He made a strange motion as he spun to a crouch and earth flowed over his body and made a dome. Inside he made half of the Tora sign and the dome sank. It came up slowly under Batafurai, one end opening so he crawl out from under her.

"Is that what you were looking for?" Isaaku asked uncertainly.

Yuki left Isaaku's question pass by him, unsure if it was true uncertainty or a snide remark. Okay, so moderate spread fire and decent heavy defense including subterrainian transportation, all with an earthen flair. It seems like he will be the tank of the group. Of course, I have yet to see the girls' techniques. After Isaaku's demonstration, Yuki said, "Yes, that's fine, Isaaku. Now, Ran, how about you go next?" It wasn't as much that he was interested in Ran's jutsu (though he was) as he wanted the eager Batafurai to wait.

((Just so you know, Gale, the twins have a telepathic connection that allows them to speak without anyone hearing. This is represented by the green and blue colors. The teal color can be heard.))

The twins moved in opposite directions, allowing the arrow to shoot between them and hit the wall behind them with a fair amount of force. They looked at the spot where they just were, realizing that the arrow had been going toward the spot just between them. They realized, among other things, that the arrow wasn't aimed for them but that spot. Then, something else caught their eye. The cherry blosoms as well as the temporary invisibility had no effect.

"You get that?"
"He's not affected by genjutsu."
"Well, not sight anyway."
"Let's remedy this."

The twins Kurama clan abilities allowed them to master all five senses. Using that with this, they could always throw off hearing and, to some degree, even affect feel and the other two, but they had a better idea. Their False World was a sort of conference call. It stretched time to as long as they wanted whereas the real world only gave a few milliseconds. It allowed for several things to occur, but it couldn't do physical damage even amplified by their Kurama abilities. They made the necessary hand seals and saw the man, drawing him into the False World. It would have appeared as complete blackness with the twins in the middle. She would feel as though she were performing actions, but in the real world, her body couldn't react. In this world, nothing but communication could occur.

"We know you don't mean us any harm. What is your purpose, ma'am?" In the False World, all illusory amplifications were useless. One of its abilities. You came in as you knew yourself to be, so they saw her for what she truly was.

Even though she kept her eyes closed, she knew the twins could see her already. Their illusionary world made her chuckle inside; she knew her body couldn’t move in reality, but because her mind could, it showed a very obvious weakness already. Not only that, but the twins made a grave mistake that could’ve cost them their life. Somehow intuition told her that this was to be expected, and because of that, she was able to prepare a remedy for such a situation.

“Hmm, you guys are very good,” complimented Avelaine, as she kept her eyes closed in the illusionary world, because she knew her blinker wasn’t covering her eyes, “but I wonder if you’ve ever heard of the power of the mind?”

“Now let me ask you this: Are we in a different world of your guys’ creation, or is this the real world with an illusory blanket over it, made to seem so that my body cannot move in reality?” Avelaine asked.

“I’m guessing . . . I can’t move my body, but that’s only if I were the one really caught right?”, she said half-jokingly, “So what if I told the both of you that I’m actually aiming for both of your heads right now?”

This was the preparation that Mayumi had done earlier. She had done this not during the hand seals for the ‘false world’ but even before then, when they dodged her second arrow and looked at the spot where she aimed; this, apparently, turned out to be their mistake. The fact that they looked away from her for a second to stare at the aimed spot gave her enough time to do everything she wanted to do. Using Ashibumi, or her ‘light step’, Mayumi had already placed herself behind the twins line of sight, but not before leaving behind a shadow clone of herself. She had sensed the illusion that gripped her clone, and it was then that she came out of hiding, and aimed two arrows at the twins, one for each.

“So, guys, first lesson: always keep an eye on your enemy. You never know what they might do, or where they might pop up, but you guys should have already known that, being Chuunin and all . . .”, her clone said to them, still giggling.

As soon as ran uttered the words, "senbon hone," he remembered just what the Kaguya clan was known for. Escaping from his thoughts, several senbon were thrown in the same direction that Isaaku has thrown his daggers, albeit more accurately and orderly than his had been. Ran then shot her farthest upper extremities as phalange bullets. Right, faster and more accurate spread fire than Isaaku, though Ran's takes a little more lead-up time. Plus, another more powerful projectile attack that I'm guessing can be used from a good distance and in a number of ways. Naturally, she'll never run out of ammo mid-battle, so I'm guessing she'll be the stealthy supportive member. Although she may also act as the initial berserker member.

Impressed, Yuki replied, "Very well. Now..." Before he could continue, Batafurai seized the moment for her own demonstration. She was the only one left, so it was obvious it was to be her turn next anyway. At the sight of her electricity jutsu, Yuki's eyes widened with apprehension. Heh, it figures the head ANBU would have me, a metal-bender be the leader of a group containing an electricity-weilder. I'll have to be mindful of her attacks so as not to get shocked. Then again, her jutsu, if used properly with mine, could prove to create some interesting effects. Either way, this'll certainly be a much more varied group than my last. I'll have to think hard about what position she should take in combat.

Regaining a more normal expression on his face before Batafurai neared, he smiled as she passed. "Good then. So, we're all acquainted by name and jutsu," Pausing for just a moment, he continued, "Now, we have a mission for today. We're scheduled to arrive and begin in about 5 minutes, so I'll explain quickly. As genin, you can probably expect your assignments to be nothing of much consequence in the beginning. personbally, I would rather you start off with 'low potential for combat' missions, but this is not what higher powers and tradition have established. So, we will be heading over to one of the leaf village's elder's house. The elders are the hokage's cabinet regarding political matters, so show due respect. Once there, we'll be performing basic farm upkeep duties. You can expect milking, weeding, and other thigns of that nature. The location is on the other side of the village toward the hokage monument. So, are we good to go?" He looked at each one of his genin and then toward the 7 distant stone faces engraved in the cliff.

~~~~~~~~

A cold white mask emerged from the shadowed ledge of a Konohagakure tower. Tonbo, on his way to report to his superior hasn delayed a moment to observe the teams matching up. So, it's that time again, huh? The pale kitsune helmet-like mask, complete with eye holes, snout, and purple whisker markings flashed away in an instant. Arriving, at the meeting point, several other ANBU were lined up, waiting for the head ANBU to reveal himself and provide further instruction. Tonbo himself joined the line as well. A yellowed and shipped kitsune mask appeared opposite of the others. It spoke low and softly, giving a short greeting to all and allotting tasks to each individual ANBU unit as they dashed off. The master, as most referred to the head ANBU, gave orders to Tonbo's squad, but told Tonbo to remain. Unsure of what this could mean, Tonbo straightened up and stared through into nothingness like a good soldier.

The mask halted in front of him and spoke, "Ah, agent OT-01. I have a very special task for you. I have chosen to allow you to preside over all the new squads formed for international diplomacy. No direct intervention should be needed unless things go awry. You needn't reveal yourself to even the squad leaders themselves either. Now, depart!"

Tonbo bowed his head, replying, "Of course, master." With that he too flitted away from the master's presence. Nobody is quite sure of the identity of the ANBU's head 'master.' Still, some would guess it is the hokage himself. Others suggest a nija who garnered immortality, seeing as the master had been around for many years longer than a ninja is able to perform his duties, let alone a human live.

Returning to his perch overlooking the training grounds, he spoke to himself, "Hello, I am Tonbo. I will be your guardian from now on.