The early evening sun beat down heavily on Naoto's head as she arrived at the Third Training Field. She looked around her anxiously in search of her teacher, as she was definitely excited to show how good of a student she could be. "I might even get to show off my unique Fire based release," Naoto mumbled softly, with a small smile, as she scanned for her sensei.
"Excuse me for being late, Naoto. I had a last minute errand to take care of." A voice would suddenly speak from behind the young girl, and it would become apparent Tora has arrived, only a couple of minutes late. She then walked to the center of the training field and motioned to Naoto to come and sit in front of her as she sat down and examined her student "I hope you are doing well now. Your arm is fine?" She asked with a slight concerned look.
A voice spoke from behind Naoto, it was Hatake-sensei, asking to be excused for her lateness. Naoto responded with a small head bow, "It's not a problem, Sensei, I only just arrived as well," She responded quickly, before following Hatake's motion to sit down in the spot motioned to. When asked about her arm, Naoto shrugged, as if she had forgotten about the injury. "It's just a bit sore, that's it. I'm told I don't have enough muscle to keep my arm in place all the time, so it's happened before, and unfortunately, it might happen again. . ." She said quickly, as she glanced down at her arm, absently rubbing it with her hand. "I appreciate your concern sensei," Naoto suddenly said, stiffly, as she realized she had forgot who she was talking to.
Nodding, Tora took out a small notebook from her pouch along with a pen and wrote something down before looking at her student again "That's good to know, so I could try and figure out something to help with that. But that is something we will work on another time." She said before putting the notebook and pen back in the pouch, and then taking out the bell Naoto managed to get in the training session "I assume you remember this well. Now, before I tell you what I want you to do, I want to hear from you two things. The first is who was the leading the capture of Kakashi and the first bell. The second is how you caught the second bell." She said and closed her fist on the bell.
When her sensei took out the notebook, Naoto squinted at it. She was obviously uneasy about getting information about herself getting recorded, but she stayed silent about it, having enough respect to not question her sensei's methods.When Hatake withdrew a bell from her pouch, Naoto almost instantly recognized it as the bell she had secured. Her sensei asked if she remembered the bell, and Naoto nodded in confirmation. Then, Hatake went on to ask if, One: she remembered who had led the mission to capture kakashi, and Two: how Naoto had caught the bell. She nodded in response, and answered the former question first. "Kumoga gave us the leadership we needed to capture Kakashi, and. . ." Naoto suddenly blushed as she remembered her foolhardy endeavor to catch the bell out of the air as it fell from the top of the tree. "I made the mistake of risking my life in order to capture the bell, and dislocated my arm in the process." she said quietly.
Listening to how Naoto described both things made something clear to Tora "First of all, you chose to give Kumoga the leadership. Both you and Takeshi could've said something about her plan, but chose not to. You chose the easy path of following the instructions of someone else. I will explain to you in a bit something regarding that, but first I want to go over the fact you decided to risk your life for a bell." She said and let the bell slip out of her closed hand and then grabbed the small piece of rope which made it swing below her hand and ring a bit "What made you decide to do that move? There were plenty of other ways to retrieve the bell. Safer and slower ways, but at the same time, better ways. So, seeing you knew about your arm problem, why go and do that?" She asked, sounding a bit serious.
Hatake's attitude involving Kumoga's leadership of the group seemed very negative, which stood out to Naoto as odd. She hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but now it seemed she might get lectured for it. When her sensei went on to ask why she had risked her life, Naoto's cheeks reddened again, and her gaze shifted to her feet. "I dived for the bell because. . . This might sound crazy, but with how scaling the tree was going, I had the mindset of this is a real mission and it drove me to risk my life to succeed. It was actually very out of character for me, and I deeply apologize for any worry it might have caused you, sensei," She said in a low voice, obviously ashamed of her actions.
"Don't worry about making me worried. What I am concerned about is the fact you forgot it is a training session. You need to make it clear to yourself when we are merely training, and when we are in a mission, doesn't matter which one, you want to find the safe route to success. If you cannot, then you try and find other, less safe ways. But as long as you have the option, avoid risking your, and your team's life at all costs. I hope I am clear about that." Tora said and then moved to place the bell in Naoto's hand "Keep the bell as a reminder for that." She added.
Moving to look at the mostly dark sky, she felt calm, and wondered if her student felt the same "Now we move onto giving Kumoga the leadership. You are in a team. While it is fine to count on someone to make a plan and then execute what they come up with, it is not always the smartest thing to do, counting only on a certain person to come up with plans and lead the way. What if the person is rendered unconscious, or if the person is completely away? What you would've done if Kumoga hadn't come up with a plan?" Tora asked, keeping her eyes on the sky for another moment before moving to look back at Naoto.
As Hatake lectured Naoto on the importance of distinguishing between a mission and a training session, Naoto nodded in understanding. Her sensei reinforced the point that she needed to ensure that the safest, and most effective path was the path being taken. The lives of her team mates and herself were more important then taking the easiest, or fastest path to their goal. When handed the bell, she looked at it for a few seconds before placing it in her pocket silently. She decieded she would deal with it when she got home. Hatake sensei went on to talk about Kumoga's leadership, and the advantages and dangers of relying on someone to make a plan. It soon became obvious to herself that she hadn't had a plan if Kumoga had been knocked unconscious, or injured in some way. When Hatake asked what she would have done if Kumoga hadn't had a plan, Naoto thought for a few seconds before responding truthfully. "If Kumoga hadn't been the one to lead us, I would have tried my best to come up with a plan. Although as I look at in retrospect, even now I can't specifically say what I would have done. If anything, I would suggest that we could have come from two different angles, and trapped the Kakashi, but the clones would have made that plan very ineffective." Naoto said slowly, thinking as she spoke. Her wakizashi was poking her in the side, so she unlatchd it, and set it aside for use in the future, if needed.
Noticing Naoto placed her short katana next to her made Tora wonder if her student was expecting some kind of combat training during the session "So you would've stepped up to try and form a plan. Thats both good and bad. You need to remember the key word is team. You are a part of a group, which means if you are unsure about a plan, then you need to ask your team for their opinion. This will only help you form a better plan, if you do not think your plan is good enough. As for Kakashi's shadow clones, I can only say that you shouldn't try and figure out an opponent from how they look, as it can be very misleading. But i will give all three of you a lesson on that." She said before gathering three small stones and placing them in front of Naoto "Now we move onto the next part of the session. This is not a real situation. The three stones in front of you represent you, Kumoga and Takeshi. The three of you have been given a task to capture, interrogate and then dispose of a man who has harmful information on Kiri, but you must do it as quickly as you can. You need to position each member of the team on a spot you think will be best suited for them. One will capture, one will interrogate, and the last one will dispose, to ensure the effectiveness of the mission. You get to choose which member is stationed where." She finished explaining the situation and waited to see how will her student decide to react to it.
Naoto seemed a bit restless as she sat in front of Hatake, obviously not keen on staying put for too long. When Hatake explained why her strategy of taking the position of leader would be both good, and bad, Naoto listened closely, making a mental note to become closer to her team, and ask for their opinions often. Then her sensei went on to explain the importance of not judging an adversary based on appearance, and explained how they would go into greater detail about that paticular subject later, with the entire team. Hatake went on to present three stones to Naoto, and explained a situation in which they would be presented with a target to capture, interregate, then eliminate. She suddenly seemed wary, as if she knew something was off. When Hatake finished explained, Naoto voiced her worries, obviously confused. "This seems very odd, considering I dont know where the enemy is, nor whether the target is skilled at self defence. I dont even know the terrain. Without that knowledge, I can't even begin to formulate attack formations. All I can do is arrange my team according to when they will be used. Is this on purpose sensei?"
"Let us say that you do have all of the knowledge required about the terrain, how well the enemy is skilled at self defence, and his location. What matters now if how you will decide to split your team to the roles. The target isn't good at self defence, the location is somewhere you know well and have the advantage at, and he is currently staying put. Who will capture him, who will interrogate him, and who will be the one to dispose of him?" Tora asked once more, trying to make it clear that she was still waiting for an answer without directly answering Naoto's question.
Hatake gave her new information, which Naoto definetly apprecieted. She had been worried that it had been a trick question, and she would be scolded for answering too suddenly. After a minute or two of silent thinking, she came up with an answer. "Kumoga would be in charge of capturing the target." She said, moving the middle stone forward slightly. "Her webs would make incapacitating the target very easy, and are just generally the best option for conserving rescourses as well. I would torture-I mean extract the information from the target by burning him until he divulged the precious information. If needed, severe burns would definetly loosen his lips. Then Takeshi would be tasked with eliminating the target, once the information was given. After all, killing the person, although enjoyable, is also the easiest task, and I don't have the knowledge needed to confidently assign him to a different task." As she mentioned each team member, she moved a corresponding stone forward for emphasis, then withdrew the stone to it's original location before moving on.
Listening carefully and looking at how Naoto moved each stone, Tora noticed how she easily praised Kumoga's nets for being good for capturing, and then appeared a bit too full of herself with her fire release, which was a bad sign already. She did have a very valid point as to why she would put Takeshi in the disposing, but that didn't make up for being full of herself. Standing up, she moved a bit away from her student and motioned to her to stand up as well "I want you to attack me with one of your fire jutsus. Without the sword. Just a regular jutsu." She said.
Naoto watched as Hatake stood up, and was instructed to use her fire jutsu on her sensei. She blinked in surprise, but shrugged before standing. As she stood, leaving her katana by her feet, she thought for a few moments, before preforming the tiger seal, and taking a deep breath. Before Naoto could even let out a bit of fire out of her mouth, she would see a sudden stream of water come at her direction, without any warning and in complete surprise. After a few moments of the water stream, Tora stopped the jutsu and then looked at her student "Don't be too cocky about your fire release. You only finished the academy not long ago and while it is nice to see how much faith you have in it, remember that some people can counter it, and with extreme ease. So, if we go back to the situation from before, relaying on a single method isn't smart. You should always have a few methods. And some people can tolerate a lot more than others, so you should think about more than physical methods, but I'll teach the entire team about that as well." She said and then moved back closer to Naoto.
Naoto looked stunned as she was suddenly sprayed with water, quickly lifting her arms to fend off the torrent. She indignantly, but silently, listened to Hatake's advice. It was quite obvious that if this wasn't her sensei, she would have a started a full fledged attack, However, since this was someone she respected, the only sign of her want to assualt the person before her was her right hand, which was slightly twitching. every few seconds. Soon though, she calmed herself enough to relieve herself of the twitching, making a note to fix her now dampened hair. When Hatake seemed to have stopped talking, and wasn't just pausing, she tried to justify her actions by saying, "I assumed an ensnared enemy with poor self defence skills wouldn't pose enough of a threat to warrant me using my blade,"
"I merely did this because you appeared to be relaying on your fire techniques too much. And I also wanted to show you that some jutsus can be performed without seals if someone is experienced enough. Even if they can't protect themselves with the jutsus, they can still know how to perform something like this, which is one of the simplest jutsus to know. I expect you to remember that, Naoto." Tora explained and gave her a smile before motioning to her to sit down again "Now onto the more personal part. I want to hear about you. How old you are, what do your parents do, and your hobbies in your free time." She said in a lot more cheerful tone.
Hatake's explanation definetly helped Naoto understand why she had done what she had done. Without realizing it, she had begun to brag about her release; To her sensei no less! Her sensei's smile helped to, and when motioned to, Naoto sat down. When her sensei said Now onto the more personal part Naoto flinched, thought it was almost unnoticable. If the person watching was keen enough, they could interpret this as a sign she was about to lie in some way. Despite this, she answered the question smoothly, and without pausing. "I am thirteen years old, my dad is currently out of the job, and my mom is absent. In my free time, I study and train to make myself a better ninja."
Managing to spot the flinch, Tora wondered what it was about for a moment and then listened carefully to what Naoto said. The answer sounded like the truth, but only part of the truth. Deciding to investigate further later, she moved to straighten up a bit "Alright, well, I am already aware of your Fire Release, so now you can go ahead and ask me whatever you wish to know about me. While I will not answer everything, I will answer most of your questions. So, anything you would like to know?" She asked Naoto, wondering if the girl had any questions.
It took Naoto a few seconds to come up with a reasonable question to ask Tora, and even then it wasn't the best question. "How old are you sensei?" She asked curiously, her face showing that she clearly didn't now the answer. She had tried guessing at several points, but she had gotten nowhere.
"I'm thirty years old. I might not look like it, but I already have quite a bit of exprience in the world." She replied in a cheerful tone before looking up at the sky "Feel free to ask me a few questions at once. I won't become any less motivated to answer if you send ten questions at once. Like I said earlier, this is the more personal part. After this, we will be done." She said and was slightly wondering what she will do afterwards.
When given permission to, Naoto started rapid firing questions, "What do you do in your free time? What was the hardest part of your genin training? How many attempts did it take you to complete the Chunin exams, and what was it like? What is your favorite food?" There was a small pause before she asked her last question, as she was obviously unsure about it. The pause was just long enough to make it seem like she was done, but right before Hatake-sensei could answer, Naoto suddenly asked, "Who was the first person you killed?"
Happy to see that her student had so many questions, Tora took a deep breath before beginning to answer "In my free time I enjoy spending time with my friends, training or reading a good book. The hardest part of my genin training was losing my best friend, as he died. It only took me a single try at the chuunin exams, but I passed because of pure luck and lots of energy that I had back at the time. The chuunin exam I was at was very challanging, since back then I only had Wind release and the opponent had Earth, so most of my jutsus were easily countered, but I managed to find a way behind him and strike his leg, making him fall to the ground and ending the fight. I was lucky he wasn't good at Earth jutsus like I was in Wind. My favorite food is roasted salmon with a side of steamed noodles, carrot and tomato." She answered and then stopped for a few moments, as if she is seeing her first kill right in front of her. She knew very well she couldn't tell it to Naoto, so she looked back at her student with a more serious look "My first kill was when I was young. About your age, actually. And while it was indirect, I caused my best friend to die. Thats how I lost him." She said, knowing that was partial truth.
Naoto listened closely as Hatake answered each of her questions. When she came to the part about accidiently killing her friend, Naoto twitched again, and for a split second a look of dissapointment crossed her face, as if she had expected a more exciting story, or a more direct cause of death. Despite this, she didn't push the issue, as she didn't want to act too suspicous around Hatake-sensei. "That's all the questions I have, sensei. Thank you for answering," Naoto said, bowing her head lightly.
"You are most welcome, Naoto. And we are done now, so have a pleasant and safe evening. You are free to go." Tora told Naoto before standing up and giving her another smile. She had also noticed the second twitch, and knew that something was definetly up. She figured that after the mission she could investigate what caused those, but for now, she wanted to go home and get some sleep before the mission at the morning. Then she realised something "Before you go, Naoto, go and inform Takeshi and Kumoga to be ready at the village gate tomorrow morning at 7 am. Tell them that if they are late they will be punished. And the same goes for you." She said, and the smile vanished from her face.
Naoto smiled back at Hatake when she was told that they were done for the evening. Right before she turned to leave however, she was given instructions to inform Takeshi and Kumoga of the location they had to be for the mission tommorrow at 7 am, along with a warning to give about punishments for being late. Hatake made sure to note that Naoto would also be punished if she was late. After inquiring about, and recieving information about Takeshi and Kumoga's living residences, she headed out to inform them of the mission ahead, as well as delivering Hatake-sensei's warning about tardiness.
Watching as her student left the training field, Tora decided that instead of heading home, she will go to see one of her friends. She wanted to try and see if she could get a pair of eyes on Naoto without her student realizing it. Something felt very odd about how the young girl reacted to certain things, which made her wonder what could've possibly caused those reactions. She then walked away from the training field, and instead of turning in the usual direction, she went in the direction of the Mizukage's office building, hoping her friend is still there.
