The spring air was crisp and clean with barely a hint of a breeze as the newly-crowned genin streamed into the courtyard in front of the ninja academy. Children of all kinds of backgrounds and experiences walked towards the bulletin boards, eyes bright and eager as they searched the lists for their names, the names of friends, and the names of the teachers that had been assigned to them.

Natsuko was one of those eager genin, although you'd never hear it from her. When Natsuko's eyes caught on her name, they quickly made a circle around and up to take in her full team--team twelve, led by Jinn Kokono, consisting of: Tetsuba Zaisette, herself, and Kazuhiko Taketori.

A grin crept on to Natsuko's face when she realized that she'd been sorted into the same team as the resident genius, Kazuko Taketori. There was no shortage of girls who fawned after him secretly, and although he often came second to the the descendants of the Uchiha clan, there was nonetheless much to be said about the quiet boy who aced exams both written and performed. In fact Natsuko had the sneaking suspicion that the Hyuuga heiress was interested in him, although she was sure her friend would never admit such a thing. As Natsuko was the type to hold off judgement until she met someone in person, she didn't think much of the Taketori other than the fact that he was talented and a team member she would rather fight with than against.

If she knew little about Kazuhiko, she knew even less about the name listed with the other two. "Zaisette Tetsuba" sounded unfamiliar on the tongue and strange in her mind, like some sort of long-lost tribe or such. Of course, this probably wasn't far off considering that most of the Leaf children had run amok in Konohagakure, playing pranks and teasing each other. Natsuko had thought she'd known everyone in town, being among the more social and persistent children that didn't let up even if someone refused to leave their house. She'd stand by their door all afternoon if need be, and need did ask the very thing of her several time when it came to lazier or shier children.

Because of this, Natsuko didn't know what to think of the fact that she'd never heard of this "Tetsuba" boy. Was he some sort of recluse that never left his house? A rich, sheltered boy that thought himself too high to be bothered with the rascals running around in the streets? Or someone from somewhere else altogether. Natsuko couldn't help a cringe when she realized that, because her team had been alotted the genius that was Kazuhiko Taketori, they may have also been alotted the worst of the crop as well. The cream and the leftovers balanced nicely in books, ensuring no distinct bias. This was, of course, assuming that Nasuko was "average," which she hoped she was.

Their team captain and sensei, Jinn Kokono, was a mystery as well, although that didn't come as a surprise to Natsuko. Most genin didn't have the luxury of landing a famous captain like a candidate for Hokage or a village hero, so that she couldn't attatch a face to the name for this particular individual didn't bother Natsuko.

Looking around, Natsuko grinned when she spotted a familiar boy with a head of short black hair and a pair of light grey eyes. Skipping over, Natsuko skidded to a stop beside Kazuhiko Taketori and waved ethusiastically. “Kazu-chan!” she said, grinning. “Guess what? We're teammates now!” the girl said, a brilliant smile stretched across her face as she spoke.

Kazuhiko, having arrived a little earlier and already seen the rosters, didn't offer much of a response other than a curt nod, but Natsuko wasn't so easily deterred.

“So, do you have any idea who the Tetsuba kid is?” she asked, coming to a stop beside the black-haired boy. “I've never even heard of him.”

Well that's a surprise, Kazuhiko thought, frown deepening slightly. While he was by no means uninformed as to the going-ons around the village, he had expected someone as rambunctious as Natsuko to know everyone. To hear that she didn't meant that this "Tetsuba" character... is most likely a new arrival, Kazuhiko realized, his frown now carving a shadow in his young features.

The boy's silence and contemplative frown told Natsuko that she was far from losing the battle of starting a conversation with the broody boy. "So, how has your morning been?"

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Genin all around the courtyard's main entrance turned towards an unsightly disturbance. Whispers and sighs echoed silently between the students as one of the village's Jonin found herself trudging through the front gate, uncomfortably pulling at something that slowed her to a crawl. She jerked and huffed irritably, prompting several chuckles. What in the world was she doing? A few moments after her apperance, it became painfully clear as she tore a boy from behind the courtyard's frontal wall.

"Quit pulling," Jinn grunted, with her newly assigned student caught firmly in her grasp. Tetsuba pulled and yanked as hard as he could, struggling to escape Jinn's vice-like grip to no avail. "Quit it." It was rare to see any shinobi putting on such a defiant display the way Tetsuba had with his assigned sensei, but what little reputation he had made it somewhat believable for any who'd recognized his name. Jinn scanned the courtyard silently while the boy continued to struggle, spotting her other two students a few moments later, to her relief. She released Tetsuba's wrist, and let him tumble backwards. In a clumsy display of stubbornness, several Genin found themselves toppled by Tetsuba as he careened towards their small group. A Chorus of grunts and angry shouts rained upon the boy as he stood himself up and scrambled back towards Jinn. Clumsy idiot, reckless jerk, why is he even here? Jinn shook her head and waved to both Kazuhiko, and Natsuko. "Hey, kids!" She called out. It was a little early for her to arrive, but Jinn hadn't ever found herself in this position before. Teaching Genin? The Hokage wasn't exactly clear on when, or how her duties were supposed to be carried out. So, in a shameless display, she'd rushed to find all three of her pupils, starting with the most difficult of the lot. Tetsuba spun around and dusted off his cloth pants, and bare chest. The boy's appearance was curious, but it hardly drew as much attention as his bitter attitude. As soon as his composure returned, he looked over to the two Genin that Jinn had called towards them. He didn't recognize either of them, why should he? What he did notice though, were Kazuhiko's pale eyes. They resembled the famed Hyuga eye coloration, an appearance that Tetsuba found a strange comfort in. For one who's own eyes were unusually pale, it was nice when others shared his problems. Though, to his knowledge, the Byakugan was not frowned upon in Konoha, and the Hyuga was dearly respected, much unlike the Tetsuba clan.

"We're not supposed to-"

"Hush!" Jinn hissed, spinning towards Tetsuba for a brief moment. He flinched, but stood his ground and shrugged it off. There really wasn't any point in trying to run off again. He'd already been publicly humiliated. What more harm was there in just... Going with the flow? He set his eyes back on the two that Jinn waved over and sighed. The small silvered Genin wasn't looking forward to any of this.

A commotion in the crowd drew Natsuko’s attention away from Kazuhiko as her eyes sought out what the noise was about. The crowd parted just as a feminine voice called towards Natsuko and Kazuhiko. Frowning, Natsuko looked between the female ninja and her very unwilling travel companion in confusion. Who were they?

Kazuhiko, however, was already up and moving. It didn’t take long for him to put two and two together and figure out who the odd pair were, and the boy crossed the distance between them just as quickly.

“Jinn Kokono, correct?” he asked, coming to a stop beside the Jonin. Flicking his eyes over the shirtless boy on the ground, Kazuhiko frowned. While the boy’s eyes were light in color, they lacked the most notable colorations or traits that graced the Village of the Hidden Leaf, thus alluding Kazuhiko. And Kazuhiko hated being in the dark. “Are you Tetsuba Zaisette?”

In the time it had taken Kazuhiko to ask his questions, Natsuko had sprinted over to the now-trio, skidding to a halt beside the Taketori as she eyed the shirtless boy in amusement. “Tetsuba Zaisette” had just about met all of her requirements for “teammate that she would mess with,” as Kazuhiko had automatically been ruled off the list due to his standing as both the genius and heir of the Taketori clan. However, formalities came before fun, and Natsuko tore her attention away from the pale boy to focus on her team leader, a Jonin with a fierce pair of scars running along her jawline.

“Natsuko Rinha,” Natsuko said, bowing respectfully to the jonin. “Thank you for taking us under your wing!” Introductions with the authority figure out of the way, Natsuko turned her attention to her other teammate that she was sure would open up to her with time. After all, she didn’t ask for much—just a few personal details here and there, perhaps, paired with nagging attentions if they weren’t forked over. “Nice to meet you, Tetsuba Zai-set-te,” Natsuko said, sounding his last name out one syllable at a time. “Are you by chance foreign? You have a rather odd name.”

The question caught Kazuhiko’s attention, and his eyes flicked to his female teammate in momentary shock that quickly morphed into exasperated amusement. Only the likes of Natsuko Rinha could get away with such an upfront and rude question, and by “get away” Kazuhiko meant “be accepted for” because he was sure that even the Rinha herself knew that she probably wasn’t going to get much out of the boy so quickly. His eyes flicked to Jinn’s face briefly before focusing on the scene around him—lost and confused genin trying to match names to faces and faces to teams. He’d have to start now too, Kazuhiko realized. After all, it was team against team during the chunin exams.

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@tex

Jinn nodded and turned to Tetsuba, who'd seemed a little shocked that somebody had addressed him by name. The young boy glanced at Kazuhiko and nodded, while still cleaning specks of dust off of himself. "Call me Zay" Tetsuba muttered, "I prefer Zay." He'd liked Kazuhiko from the start. It had more to do with his eyes than anything else, really, but something about the boy was more respectable than most he'd met, even if they hadn't even exchanged more than ten words. Jinn turned back to witness her third student rushing over. Zay looked up, far less excited, especially when she started asking questions about his name. "Yeah, foreign," Tetsuba barked, answering her question briefly and looking back towards Jinn for guidance.

"Forgive his manners," Jinn cut in, with a humble nod, "Tetsuba- Ehm, Zay here isn't very social, from what I've been told. But there will be plenty of time to fix that!" Zay huffed at Jinn's confidence, and looked over his new teammates once again. Kazuhiko seemed more astute than Natsuko. His posture spoke worlds, and the way he observed his surroundings was rather telling. A thinker, was it? Or just another dog to the Hyuga name? Zay didn't care either way, it was a respectable type of composure! Tetsuba couldn't relate. Then again, he didn't have a family reputation to uphold at all, let alone one that mattered nearly as much as the Hyuga's. That girl on the other hand...

"Admittedly, I'm new to this whole, uh... Leader, teacher-type business. I've always been more of a soldier.." Jinn croaked, unsure in how exactly she was to approach training the children before her. Zay toned it out and focused on Natsuko. She seemed so much more care-free than the other boy in his group. The way she approached them, the look on her face, the way she sounded out his name... It all bugged him, more so than her question had. Tetsuba wondered if anyone here even knew what being a shinobi entailed? Whether they were a loyal prodigy, or a peppy go-getter, the point of all this training remained the same. Zay's eyes drafted away from Natsuko, and he began to look over the crowds. Genin glared at their group, both with jealousy, and pity. Paired with him? Good luck! Zay wasn't fond of what their eyes implied, but shrugged it all off with a hearty yawn. Jinn's eyes darted towards the boy, but she cleared her throat and kept speaking.

"That being said, I haven't had much time to prepare a lesson plan, or anything along those lines. So, considering the current uh, Dynamic that we've been gifted with," Jinn paused and glanced at each Genin briefly, "I imagine that getting a little more acquainted with one another would be an excellent start to our morning! But, as much as I love being surrounded by excited young Shinobi, I think it would be wise for us to set a much more reasonable meeting place, for today, and the future." Jinn smiled and rose one arm, pointing it towards the courtyard's exit and starting her way away from the academy. "We'll have plenty of time to talk as we walk- Ah, incidental rhyme!.. Ahem."

Zay immediately turned away from his teammates and shoved his hands into his pant pockets, lazily trudging after Jinn with his back held unusually straight. Zay had always been the lazy sort, but posture was of utmost importance to him! Especially since he rarely ever wore a shirt in the summer. Nobody needed to stare at a crooked spine, the mere thought embarrassed him more than any tumble through the dirt ever could.

Natsuko liked Jinn. While the Jonin was clearly a lot more well-versed in the world than Natsuko herself, she had a sense of humor to her that didn’t say “I’m-a-broody-teen-don’t-mess-with-me” like the aura around “Zay” did. But, sadly, she’d have to make do with the mysterious white-haired boy that didn’t seem to be from any major or minor family in Konoha. No, Natsuko was pretty sure he was either from some ambiguous family that had lived in the village fringes or simply from another village altogether — the second of which was more interesting.

“No problem. Maybe we could just walk around and grab an early lunch,” she suggested to Jinn with a grin. “Worst comes to worst, we can just meet up here and head elsewhere every day.”

Beside her, Kazuhiko snorted lightly, but Natsuko paid him no mind. Instead, she skipped ahead to keep in pace with “Zay.” “So, Zay,” she said, a mischievous grin on her face as she looked him up and down, “where are you from? Who are your friends? How old are you?” Ignoring the second light snort from beside her — Kazuhiko, the stiff — Natsuko grinned at the boy she’d been hurling questions at. “All I know is that you’re not from around here — I know all the boys in the neighborhood, and none of them have a head of hair that’s half as pale as yours.”

“Oh, there’s a great ramen place just down the street to the left,” Natsuko said as the quintent neared the end of the street. “Not that Kazuhiko-san has ever been there — or bothered to try — but it’s pretty good.” After a brief discussion — slight protest on Kazuhiko’s end — there seemed to be no better ideas, so to the ramen shop they went.

“Natsuko! I see you’ve made new friends,” the wrinkled noodle maker said, lines accentuating his delight in some customers — new customers, to boot. “How can I help you four today?”

“The usual for me, Gakuro,” Natsuko said, a grin on her face as she hopped on to one of the barside stools. Kazuhiko followed hesitantly, eyes flicking between the shopkeeper and his menu hanging on the back wall.

“I’ll get the udon with chicken broth,” he said at last, fiddling with the chopsticks in front of him.

“Mother would approve,” Natsuko sniped as the others placed their orders, thanking Gakuro as he passed her a ceramic cup of steaming tea.

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