Team Chimera Zero (PM to Enter)

[Thunder Over the Falls]

Hiroki was extremely surprised that Shigure would go so far and ask what was wrong. He wasn’t expecting something like that especially after he just punched him. He kept sobbing for quite some time, leaving the room in somewhat uncomfortable silence. The boy tried to relax, at the very least he lifted his head to look at Shigure.

Hiro’s eyes were red and puffy from the tears, and tear streaks were visible down his cheeks. He lifted an arm up to wipe his nose and sniffled a bit more. ”Shigure…do you…do you think I’m a monster?” he asked his older cousin. Shigure would most likely know exactly what he was talking about, though the word had been brought up not minutes before.

”I can’t stop thinking about the mission and…” he cut his sentence short, unable to say what he was thinking outloud. He’d killed a man, even though the man was anything but helpless. The bandits had even kidnapped a helpless boy yet Hiro still felt this bad over the circumstance.

[Image In the Falls]

Though Shigure was sitting there attempting to console the kid, his sarcasm shown through once more. the Genin jumped off of the bed, smiling at his younger cousin. "I wouldn't say monster, but you sure know how to take a man out!" Shigure chuckled loudly after saying this, but it was short lived. Staring at Hiroki, his smile faded quickly.

"If your going to cry after every mission, then why bother being a shinobi? You were taught that the life of a Shinobi was a rough and uncaring lifestyle, and that feeling towards other people and your emotions should be turned off while in missions." Shigure continued to talk while he stood still, a large force that seemed to make itself known without a single hint of movement. He was serious.

"I know your really happy-go-lucky, but your gonna have to live up to what you've done. Don't think about how the bandit died, think of how you helped save a small defenseless kid in need. You have to weight the pro's with the con's. Don't beat yourself up."

[Thunder Over the Falls]

At first, Hiro couldn’t believe Shigure’s answer to the question he asked. Was it really something to be that proud of? He looked down at his knees and sighed, letting Shigure finish his extended answer. He certainly didn’t feel proud at all about his ‘accomplishment’. It was odd, listening to Shigure give Hiro this speech about living up to it and looking at the ‘bright side.’ They had basically switched roles when it came to interacting with each other.

Think about it a different way…

Hiroki was silent for a good five minutes after Shigure had finished speaking. Everything that his cousin had said was now rolling around and wrestling with Hiro’s own personal feelings on the matter. He wasn’t going to cry after every mission, it was just that in this case he’d taken a man’s life without meaning to. He didn’t necessarily think that it would be any different but it did just the same.

He knew that as a shinobi, he would have to do things like that at some point. It reminded him of when his dad died in a way. He knew what it was like to lose someone and if the bandit had anyone close to him he put them in the same situation. What Shigure said clicked right then. They’d saved the daimyo’s son, meaning he saved someone from having to go through what he did.

”Man…the world is harsh…”

His new revelation about the whole situation would go unheard, what he did say was merely his observation of that point. He rubbed the tears away from his eyes as he slowly calmed. Hiro attempted a smile but at this point it was still weak.

The younger of the two shook his head. ”Shut emotions off…right?” he wondered. ”I do that every day Shigure.” His statement was harsh and it sounded like it was painful for him to admit.

[Image In the Falls]

The young Genin stood there for many moments, watching his cousin tussle with his emotions. It seemed like minutes had pasts to Shigure as he stood there, statuesque. Suddenly a look of aggravation swept across his face as Hiroki was taking his sweet time. Moving his right hand forward, it looked as though Shigure was about to scowled his teammate, but retracted as he heard the boy speak.

"Shut off my emotions right? I do that everyday, Shigure."

This made him think, and when Shigure began thinking, it was hard to stop him. What does he mean? Could he be serious? Hiroki's always one to bring optimism to any situation, I don't get it. If Hiroki was paying attention, he would see his cousin move his right hand up and brush the Auburn locks out of his face, which he normally did when faced with a difficult situation.

Instead of being supportive, Shigure asked only one word. "Explain."

[Thunder Over the Falls]

Hiroki’s body tensed as Shigure spoke once more, though he expected as much. The boy nodded, looking off to the side of the room while he let out a heavy sigh. He’d been able to calm down, though whether or not he was truly over it was yet to be seen. At the very least, Hiro had been able to calm down and actually speak - which was a good start.

”Remember a while ago… I told you that you and mom are the only family I have left.” He paused, trying to find the right words to say. Life had dealt Hiro a difficult hand, and now this incident had brought everything to the surface. Hopefully, it would help so that he could finally get past the things that haunted him. ”It hurts... to be lonely. I just don’t show it.”

His explanation was short, though Shigure was smart enough that he should be able to understand just exactly what Hiro was talking about. ”That’s why I got so mad at you when we were training those difficult jutsu and you didn’t seem to care about your own safety.” He stopped, taking a shaky breath while he tried not to start crying again. ”I didn’t want to lose someone else.”

[Lava Beneath the Falls]

{Enter}

Phy lingered about the general area for days, scoping it out seeing if she truly wanted to be in that house. Then she got to thinking as she stood up on a tree branch of a pretty sakura tree, her hair blowing as the leafs did with the wind. 'Aye...has it been a month already?' she thought as time passed her by a lot. She looked down at her once injured leg, clenching her fist of that reminder of her stupid accident she had in the mission. The girl had such a trouble past yet she kept herself distant from everyone so she wouldn't relive it. She was trying to be someone completely different killing that one she used to be inside. Thus being that cold morbid killer to prove her worth as a strong ninja. She had a lot to learn it seemed.

Phy who had been standing there for awhile had heard some commotion going on within the house. Cries and thuds was pretty much what it sounded like to her, but it didn't make her jump into action to see what was going on. For some reason she either already knew it was the two boys or she just didn't think she needed to involve herself in it.

Thirty minutes would pass by and course the curiousity within Phy got to her as to what did happen in the house. 'Man...this blows...' she thought as she jumped gracefully from the sakura tree to the roof of the house. She gingerly stepped along the boards, her attempt to not make a sound wasn't going over well. The house was old and empty, no sound buffers of any kind and Phy was still young and naive to being extremely stealthy even though she believed she was. She would attempt to find some sort of hole in the roof to look down from as she preferred to watch from high places. Though her depth of perception lacked due to her left eye.

[Image In the Falls]

The room was silenced after Hiroki was done speaking. The only movement within it seemed to be the sunlight creeping across the floor, its only entrance to the room being the dusty window that kept unwanted nature from reaching its claws into the room. This as well as his younger family member's speech gave way to a minor flashback of Shigure's mother ordering the maid to clean the windows better.

It had been almost two and a half years since he left home, even though he never wanted to see the place again, constant thoughts and memories of the place continued to pry themselves into Shigure's mind. Though no thought of them were typically happy, Shigure's worry about his family came from time to time. It was only then did he realize what Hiroki was attempting to say. The boy missed his Father.

Shigure hadn't ever wondered what he would think if his inner family was ever hurt or died, he had never had to deal with it. He didn't know how to react to attempt to make a statement to Hiroki to attempt to cheer him up. This somehow made the boy angry. Hiroki had felt something Shigure hadn't. There was his Sensei, but it wasn't enough of a bond to keep the young Genin from moving on. He went with the best answer he could give, going off of what it felt to lose a person that he had just met months ago.

"Your gonna have to get over it... You don't see me whining."

It was the typical thing that Shigure did, attempt to place himself above others. It was a very premature thing to say, but he had said it, and couldn't take it back. Instead of retracting it, the Boy instead moved closer to Hiroki, as if he was attempting to tower over the boy and put pressure on him. Anything to make Hiroki feel inferior. Shigure didn't like handling emotional problems, Hiroki included.

One thing was for sure though, it seemed that Shigure had made a bond with his cousin, for Shigure didn't attempt such a long and personal conversation with just anyone. Was the bond good or bad? Only time could honestly tell.

[Thunder Over the Falls]

The room went silent once more: silent enough to hear Phyre’s footsteps echo through the house. Hiro figured it was the third member of their team, so he didn’t really pay that much mind to the noise. In an odd way knowing that their other team member was there had an odd sort of comforting effect for Hiro.

With a soft yet shaky sigh, Hiro closed his eyes to just think. Shigure had moved to try and be intimidating yet for the moment the smaller boy was not paying much attention. After another few minutes he opened his eyes, they seemed to have regained the luster that had been lacking due to the month-long depression. He stared up into Shigure’s eyes and did something typical of Hiro, yet still confusing.

A smile stretched across his face almost instantly.

”Shigure…thanks.” His voice wasn’t shaky; in fact it was practically back to normal. ”Thanks for talking to me, and helping me out.” He knew the last comment was because his cousin had never lost someone as close to him as Hiro had. In a weird way, when Shigure said get over it and deal with it, Hiro understood that even if he had a difficult time showing it his cousin cared about him.

[Lava Beneath the Falls]

Phyre slowly walked about on the roof seeing it really had no holes to peak through. 'Bummer...' she thought as she preferred to stay up in what would be like a tree to her and look down at them. Though it had seemed things had quieted down, either they stopped fighting or training or whoever intruded was dead. Phy would shake her head slightly and plop herself down on the roof. 'Hmm...I think I failed to hold up to my end and tell them my name....oh well...' she would say yanking out a camera she had stashed in her tree for awhile and now happened to have with her in her bag.

She dangled the digital camera out in front of her like some sort of precious necklace. 'Six...years...has it really been that long since I last saw you sister?' she thought. She had yet to even look at the pictures she took that day of the accident, the camera along with herself the only survivors of it. She was only slightly curious to know what the pictures looked like, that of her sister, Sesshoume, and her smiling and having a grand ole' time. Just what would they hold...or would the file have become corrupted? Phy loved taking pictures but since that day, her passionate hobby just seemed more depressing to do so.

She came close to looking but at last minute chose to place the camera down beside her. Her eye's nearly welled up with tears but she held back thinking, 'Six years...and I still can't do it...' with that she would mess about taking notice she had a few small pebbles wedged within her boots. The pond on the back half of the place she would think to throw some of them down not knowing why. It aint like they would skip across she was too high up for that. Though if the boys looked out they see random projectiles falling down from above. The girl however remained distant from the group. Whether it was because she was a girl and she didn't want to pal around when not on a mission with the guys, not that if they had been girls she would change her mindset on it anyway.

If there was one thing Phy hated it was small children and a gaggle of preppy girls. She was a hard one to convince she belonged anywhere with anyone in society. Phy only killed a bandit to show she herself wasn't weak, it didn't phase her as much as Hiroki but deep down she did it to kill off lingering emotions. She sighed saying softly. "Why am I even here?"

[Image In the Falls]

After staring at the newly revived optimistic Hiroki, Shigure would amuse his cousin by acting more irritated than before. "Fine, just smile and carry on, I really could care less." Using his typical -better than thou- hand gestures, his hands would swirl in front of the boy, like he was brushing his cousin off. While doing this, the young Genin began to turn around, facing towards the window. As he fully turned, a small smile crept up on the boys Face, so small it could be deemed insignificant. Maybe Shigure really did care.

While the -Happy- moment continued, something else caught the boy's line if sight. Looking out the window, in clear view of the small pond, Shigure noticed small stones being dropped from what seemed like the roof. "See what happens when I get pissed? It starts to rain Dirt. Ain't that some sh-" Shigure caught himself before he cursed, though he didn't know why. It was awkward and confusing.

Placing two and two together from the projectiles falling from the roof and the loud footsteps from the same place, Shigure knew Phyre had to be up on the roof. Suddenly a grand idea came to the boys mind that even he thought was ingenious.

"Wanna go have some fun?"

Shigure turned to Hiroki as he spoke, smiling maniacally.

Just then the young boy sped from the room, and straight through the front door.

[Thunder Over the Falls]

"Huh?" he wondered, before hearing the splashes from the outside pond. He blinked and slowly got to his feet, wiping away the leftover tears and salt from his eyes and cheeks. He was glad to find out that Shigure really did care, even if the way that the older boy showed it was a bit odd.

He laughed softly as his cousin cut himself off and knew where he was taking that statement. Hiro was all in all better off than he had been for the past month. He reached around to his back and checked his bags, makings sure he still had all of his things on him.

That was when Shigure asked if he wanted to go have fun. He blinked, and nodded. "Okay Shigure, what do you have in mind?" he asked, wondering what exactly brought on the maniacal smile.

Hiro followed quickly after the older boy, definitely

[Lava Beneath the Falls]

Phy had soon enough run out of stones to throw, she was quite bored up there on the roof, but thus was her life. Before she ever met her so called team she was on, she always sat in her tree staring into space it seemed or would go off exercising keeping her muscles in top form. Phy's sais glimmered in the sunlight, she was fully armed like usual. Though once more she found herself holding onto the camera. She looked at it but more like she stared through it. Her knees were bent under her chin, and her head closed to resting on them.

She seemed so still even a butterfly would land on Phy and not seem to stir her or the creature. Though maybe the fact the camera dangled like a necklace trying to hypnotize someone wasn't too bright of her. She seemed down non-the least but of course this is ms. tough girl, so she'd never admit to it. Phy would barely hear the front door open and close, and the footsteps that followed. 'Movement?' she barely thought, not really caring now to get into it.

[Image In the Falls]

The smell of the foliage around the house was alarming, the green grass put off a faint sour smell, the blooming trees a loud smell of flowers, the cool pond gave moisture to the air, and the ground, and earthy smell. The smell of nature always got to the young boy, who in previous years, spent most of his time in the forests of Hi no Kuni as a child.

Moving out further into the lawn, he'd yell off back towards the house. "GET DOWN HERE!" A little aggression in his voice would surely coax the girl off the roof. Shigure waited patiently for them to get organized, but he couldn't wait much longer. The boy was anxious, even though only a few seconds had went by.

"FREE FOR ALL FIGHT!"

Shigure was bound an determined to get a spar in with the three of them, and it seemed like now was the perfect opportunity. Even if it was barbaric, it would help the team loosen up a little and behave more as a unit. Plus learning everyone's abilities and skill sets was also a plus. Even though it seemed everyone was equipped with their weapons, Shigure had none of his, and he didnt need them. "Lets spar, it will get out some of our pent up energy." The young boy stated, motioning to his left bicep, which was now flexed via his clenched fist and raised arm.

[Thunder Over the Falls]

Hiro found himself outside the house, now between the pond and the front door. He blinked and as soon as Shigure yelled up to Phyre he seemed a bit alarmed. It was a bit uncharacteristic of the older boy to be so aggressive.

He was going to say something, when he heard the words "Free for all fight" come from Shigure's mouth. He seemed really surprised but could tell that the older boy wasn't kidding, especially when he finished speaking.

This left Hiro with an interesting dilemma. Pretty much all of his abilities were for killing or disabling. His hand fell down to his quiver, and then something clicked. He had arrows that didn't have sharp tips on them...it'd leave a bruise but it wouldn't kill!

Without much other word he moved his hand back behind him into the butt-bag that hung from his belt. He pulled the dark green scroll from it, unfurled the paper and applied chakra to it. In a puff of smoke, he was holding his bow with his right hand. He quickly placed the weapon around his torso and rerolled the scroll, slipping it back into the pouch.

"Okay I'm ready!" he told the other two present.

[Lava Beneath the Falls]

Phyre sat there holding the camera and the butterfly that still perched itself on her arm. She glanced up to hearing Shigure yelling at her to get down. Looking dumbfounded she thought. 'He seriously just bark orders at me?' She continued to sit there not exactly caring to do a thing. Sure she had a passion for fighting but she wasn't in the mindset for it after all the inner thoughts of what had happened six years ago. "Your barking orders at the wrong person...I refuse to come down and play ninja." she would yell back, though she had already placed the camera back in the back and her hand was close to the glimmering sais on her legs.

What was up with the red head now? Was it she didn't want to barbeque her new team? Or was it her inner turmoil was getting her down beyond the will to fight it off? She thought of it some more not exactly sure she was liking anything right about now until it seemed her camera had turned on while she had placed it in her bag. It played a bit of video and she heard her sister's voice muffled within the bag. The laughter that followed, and the thunder in the background, the flashes of memory came forth to Phy's mind. Her fist clinched in anger not being able to take it much longer. "Stupid...dumbass..." she muttered, as she reached in her bag to shut the camera down.

Ten minutes had passed since the time she said she didn't want to play to her now getting up and what appeared to be like a fiery aurora flowing about her. She would then leap down showing her leg was truly healed, and drawing out her sais flipping them around in her hands like they were batons. "Well Shitger you need a weapon to fight....go get it...and let's get this stupid thing done with." she said in a frustrated mood. Shigure definitely provoked her into a bad mood alright. "Glad to see your finally wanting to fight too Hickory." she would say knowing the kid was down from what happened in the mission, she had no idea he was still down up till about fifteen minutes ago.

[Image In the Falls]

Shaking his head, the boy glared at Phyre, his smirk ever-present. "I wont need mine, I'm not that good at Taijutsu anyways." Though the boy was correct, he seemed a little over confident in this three way spar. It might be a mistake in the end, but he didn't care. "Ill just roll with my own two hands."

As they all formed on the lawn in front of the House, it seemed as if the wind was dancing around the young Semitsu. Small gusts of wind wrapped themselves through the group, encircling the trio. "So, I'm assuming everyone's ready? Three... two... one... go!" Suddenly, without a trace, Shigure dashed into the nearby woods, attempting to find a spot that was deemed suitable to hide. The first move in any fight for a long ranged ninja was concealment.

Almost 30 meters into the woods, Shigure perched himself upon a rather large magnolia tree, using the sturdy branches and large leaves to shroud his person. The tree was completely perfect, no gaps in the leaves, no deadened areas, and its strength was decent, providing no motion of movement if Shigure shifted his stance. The genin loved this tree.

Now... Lets see what you guys can do...

[Thunder Over the Falls]

Hiro was not in the least expecting Shigure of all people to initiate something like this. He blinked as he watched his cousin vanish and run into the woods. It figured he would pick there. Hiro knew his arrows wouldn’t be as effective with branches and leaves blocking his vision. Quite the effective strategy, then again Shigure was the smart one.

The youngest of the three moved away from the house, attempting to get some distance from Phyre though not before he heard her call him Hickory again. He stopped and turned toward her, a determined look on his face.

“I’m gonna make you remember that my name’s Hiroki!”

His eyes narrowed and lightning type chakra crackled about his skin with the rising emotion. It just went to show some of what he might be capable of. However, the scars that branched across his arms looked like lightning to begin with…just how dangerous could this eleven year old get?

With a new determination he opted to stay in the open as he ran about 3 meters into the pond near the house, standing in the water up to his shin. Shigure would eventually have to come out if he was going to participate in some semblance of the word. Hiro pulled the bow off of his torso and held it in his hand, while at the same time he drew a blunt point arrow from the quiver at his hip.

[Lava Beneath the Falls]

Phy's eyes darted as she slightly saw the shadow of Shigure go somewhere into the woods. Where exactly? She had no clue, it was a bit faster then what she had ever done. 'Great...' she thought annoyed already. As it looked like Hiroki was on his way after Shigure he suddenly stopped short and turned towards the red head.

“I’m gonna make you remember that my name’s Hiroki!”

Phy at first didn't care what Hiroki had said until the lightning effects started, and a slight sweat drop formed on the side of her face. Her nerves started to shake even. 'Oh god...what did I do?' It had been awhile since Phy felt the factor of fear, she didn't know what she could use against these guys. That goofy smiling one that aint so much smiling right now...was long range. That much Phy knew, and being she was most definitely closed range with a few ninjutsu that might help her, she really felt the kid just cut her down to size and murdered her right where she stood.

Phy's heart was racing, Shigure was the one that wanted it, and she remembered when she wished nothing more than to beat his butt up. Though this was his idea....was he that confident he would prove the victor in it all? Or just really cocky and wanted him to make her think that she had nothing against him. Either way Phy was now worried about looking bad, being once again ridiculed for all the stuff she has done or caused. She tried to think back on the mission as Hiroki was going into the water drawing out his bow. Quickly her thoughts raced trying to think what exactly did Shigure do in that mission? Was he long, medium or close range?

But as it seemed Hiroki was already drawing his arrow, it was blurry from where Phy was standing seeing as she can't see too far ahead clearly. She only knew it had to be an arrow from how the figure was going. Thus another sweat drop formed on the side of her face. She was more scared of Hiroki being he had the long range and supposed lightning to him. She felt more comfortable attempting to go after Shigure who had no weapons on him. As she darted up onto one of the trees to go hide up there to scout hoping Hiroki didn't see her, she began to wonder... Shigure seemed confident he didn't 'need' his weapons... "Who the hell are these people?" she whispered as she attempted to be slightly in the woods.

[Image In the Falls]

Shigure stood firm in the tree, glancing around every so often to see if anyone followed. It didnt seem like the two were going to take after him, though Shigure did notice Hiroki run to the water and eventually Phyre run and scurry up one of the trees near him. Thirty meters wasn't that far off the field, Shigure actually could see both of them quite easily from his vantage point.

All the boy could do was think of what to do next, it looked like two of the three of them were hiding, and Hiroki was standing alone in the field. Shigure didn't figure this in his equation, since he and Phyre are in the woods, it gave Hiroki a better offensive point, since we wouldn't be able to leave the woods without him seeing us. Maybe Hiroki was smart after all... Though Shigure could still play off of this.

Quickly the young genin flew through the first set of Handseals in this Spar. It looked like since he was the one that planned it, he would be the one to start the match. Visualizing his terrain and the shadows in the woods and field, he designed this jutsu with precision, for it would be the second time the other two would see this jutsu, but the first time it was used right.

"Hydrou Bunshin no Jutsu"

Almost abruptly, a second form of the genin manifested beside him. Staring at his self seemed odd at the time, so Shigure let the clone drop from the tree, and head towards the field. If the two of them noticed this version of the boy and decided to attack it, they would be in a world of surprise.

Technique's Used:

SPOILER: Click to show

Hydrou Bunshin no Jutsu -learned-
Rank: "D"
Skill: GenJutsu
Effect: The user performs the needed handsigns and then creates what seems to be an ordinary clone. The clone cannot attack and will disappear the second it meets an opponent. When the clone is destroyed two more clones come in the place of the destroyed clone. This can continue infinitely if the clones are continuously destroyed, its purpose to overwhelm the opponent in numbers and cause an effect of invincibility although the clones can do no damage. A simple "Kai" technique can easily get rid of all of the clones when used by a skilled GenJutsu user.
Special: Boar, Rat, Dragon, Tiger
Drawback: No drawbacks to the user
Description: The hydra clone technique looks like a normal bunshin no jutsu, however this is changed as the clone is destroyed and more take it's place, making the technique look like a high level kage bunshin no jutsu when in reality the clones are simple clones that can do no damage.
Limit: Must know Figment Perception

[Thunder Over the Falls]

Both of them are in the forest. That’s good and bad for me. Good ‘cause I will know when they come out of the forest but bad ‘cause I’m in plain sight. S’okay though…if Phyre tried to use any fire jutsu I can just fall back into the water…and Shigure…

Those thoughts zoomed through Hiro’s head as he stood there with his bow at the ready. He had picked it up and nocked the arrow to it with the point aimed at Phyre as she ran into the tree. Rule of thumb was to never turn your back on an opponent - especially one that could attack at such a range. He’d been practicing with his bow long enough to be able to judge distances.

He guessed that his cousin had gone about 30 meters into the forest, any further and he knew sight would become an issue. Phyre hadn’t gone that far, and the edge of the forest wasn’t too far away from the edge of the pond - about 15 meters. He was 3 meters from the edge of the pond, which put Shigure just outside of his accurate range. Phyre on the other hand, he could see the tree which she climbed.

The young genin’s finger twitched as he was about to release the arrow at the female member of the team. However, he saw Shigure emerge from the forest only 20 or so meters away from him.

Perfect

A voice in the back of his head was saying something about this being a trick, but he fired anyway. Hiro turned his body and pointed the arrow above what was actually Shigure’s clone. He let it loose, and the weapon made an arc through the air. After plenty of time hunting, his accuracy was damn good. The arrow was aimed at the clone’s chest.