The Journey of Konoha Team Six Begins!

Today was one that would be quite consequential for three newly aspiring Genin. The Ninja Academy had sent out rosters of young students who they'd Graduated as Ninja, but that was a bit disingenuous to how the process worked. There was still another step that the three may not be entirely aware of, and that was getting a Jounin (or in Shojin's case, a Special Jounin) to assume responsibility for them, take them under his wing, and train them before they could truly become Ninja in Konohagakure. Shojin had met with his own Sensei, Jun Hagoromo, a few days prior.

He may have graduated from being her Genin disciple, but Jun-Sensei was still very much a mentor to Shojin, and she had helped him go through the names the Academy had given in order to hand-select who he would best be able to mentor, as well as who would build a cohesive team when the time came that Shojin stepped back in order to let these three Genin take on more independence. Their names; Hajime Noya, Sumiyuri Chinoike, and Kogami Senju.

There were reasons each was selected; Hajime was selected, almost entirely, because Shojin recognized his name and had attended his graduation. He was completely unaware of the fact this meeting was orchestrated by one Kentaku Rojorai, and that he'd been manipulated for this moment. Shojin had chosen the Chinoike because of how young she was when she managed to graduate the academy; only 11! She must have tremendous promise. As well, her birthplace being in another village and having faced hardship as a young girl, Shojin could relate to facing adversity. Kogami Senju had been chosen because of the birthright; his clan boasted apex power, the founding of the village itself, and nobility such that Shojin did not want to pass up the opportunity to work with him.

There was a fourth member of this team as well; Yemon Akawaga. Shojin had met this blind Samurai before, what felt like an eternity ago. Yemon was assigned to Shojin's team as an advisor and a way to get a diplomat from the Land of Iron into a more "boots on ground" situation. The Genin were rather lucky to be mentored by both a Konohagakure Special Jounin, but also by someone of equivalent power who used an entire different class of abilities and powers.

All of these individuals had been summoned to a private Training Field available to just this team for their first meeting. Today, they'd prove themselves worthy to be Shojin's proteges, or be sent back to the Academy for more training!

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Yemon was playing his bass under a tree while he waited for the rest of the group. He had set up about a half hour ago, with his cane and sword right next to him on a piece of cloth next to the instrument's case. Yemon was meticulous about treating his gear with respect. He was not a ninja that went through fifty kunai and shuriken a day. He thought, though hiding some of the swords he had near obliterated recently training in nature probably would not have done him any favors on that end.

He lowered his hand to the lower frets and began tapping a soft tune. Like so. He was using each vibration to watch the trees and the leaves, but mainly to pick Shojin out as he stood and then the ninja as they approached. It was all the same to Yemon, he would do what he was told, that way he was not stepping on toes and not ruining anyone's view of Tetsu.

The bigger issue that he had in the back of his mind as he played was the fact that this meant there were going to be people who would see him do things. While he had never seen it for himself, Samurai were different, and they were not as versatile as ninja. He eventually finished playing and set the bass back in its case. He stood up and yawned with a stretch before reaching down to grab his cane and tie his sword back into his robe before walking over to Shojin.

He avoided speaking, after all, he wasn't in charge and Shojin was probably going to tell him if he needed to know anything relevant anyway.

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Kogami being the next one to arrive, he didn't have too many things on him besides his regular uniform. To Kogami, this seemed like more or less of a meet and greet and he wasn't expecting anything in particular to happen. However, the person who would be leading konoha's team six was a special jonin that basically blazed through the ranking with incredible talent. Kogami felt that he had a lot to learn from him, especially since he didn't have access to wood release like the other Senju clan members did, and made up for it with a little bit more spicy skills.

"Yo teach, if I didn't know any better, you don't look that much older than I am. People talk a lot about prodigies but I think this is the crux if they have monsters like you running around the village. At least know I'm safe. " Kogami had somewhat of a crude way of talking, but he was still respectful and even professional in his way. He also took a look at the man who had the bass instrument in his hands, quite possibly tuning out the weapon or something. In all honesty, Kogami had no idea what he was doing.

"Is that a guitar? That person's on the team too? He's going to fight with music? I mean, I'm as much as ninja rock music as the next guy, but I kind of have my doubts unless there's something more to it that I'm simply not noticing. "Perhaps more people would show up soon?

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Sumi arrived at the training grounds She looked at the people around her and wondered about her new team mates. She noticed a guy who looked like a guy she graduated the academy with. She felt like a failure for not already having a team like he did but she was beyond excited to see what she could learn from him. If he was already a Jonin, he must be an insanely talented ninja. She went over to him and said hello.

After, she went to sit next to the other two students who were already there. Looking without making it obvious, she noticed the two other guys. One had an instrument and had a sword next to him. He appeared to be strange. She wondered if he was from a different village. The other guy did not appear to be different and seemed to be from the leaf. She noticed that he had just finished a conversation with the sensei Shojin. She was almost certain that was his name. Sumi usually had a hard time with names.

She guessed that the whole team was in the area, however he had not started his beginning statements. Sumi assumed that all teams had three members only. She crossed her legs and leaned over to meet her wrist to her face. She could not remember a team with four members. Maybe she was overthinking it and this was the first test that Shojin was preparing for us. She remained patient and excited for the day.
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As each of the arrivals made their way into the training grounds, Shojin smiled at each of them, and he would offer them each a handshake.  Since he knew Yemon, he'd extend a handshake to him as well, but his words would be limited to "Good morning! Good to see you."  As Shojin did this for Kogami, he couldn't help but display a small smile at his words.  It wasn't the flattery he found intriguing, but more so the straightforward attitude that he had to have for that to be his first words to his new sensei.  

In truth, Shojin saw the aforementioned attitude of Kogami as something positive.  Straight to the point.  That was something that was important in the world of Ninja, and if one had concerns, they should air them.  "Prodigy is a strong word, but I will confirm your safety.  Yours and anyone else's on the team will always come before my own."  Shojin would refrain from commenting about Yemon's guitar.  He was a bit curious about it himself, but even if he weren't, allowing the team to mingle naturally was probably a good thing.

When Sumiyuri approached, Shojin would follow the drill with her.  "Sumiyuri, good to see you again," he'd say with his hand extended.  "I remember you from the Academy, no?"

Following the introductions from who was currently here on the team, Shojin would wait around a few more minutes for Hajime to arrive before really getting started with anything.  It was only a few moments, however, before a messenger ninja would arrive next to him, making use of an extraordinarily fast body flicker technique for someone who must have been a senior Genin or new Chuunin.  He'd whisper a few words to Shojin about Hajime's whereabouts at a volume the others couldn't hear; well, save for Yemon, who had an extremely acute sense of hearing, and if he tuned in, he could probably make out the words too.

"Hajime Noya will not be here today, or anytime soon.  The reasons are confidential, and you will be briefed at a later date in a secure location.  That is all I know."  

Shojin's response was nuetral, but slightly louder than the other's tone, and so the rest of the team would hear him.  "Alright.  Inform the Hokage, and get back to me with a date, time, and location as soon as you are given word."

Then, Shojin would turn to the rest of the team.  "Alright, there are two things planned for today, but first, an explanation.  Yemon here is an ambassador from somewhere else and serves here to help train you guys, as he is rather capable himself, but also to learn from you and me about the Land of Fire and how their Ninja operate.  I'll let him get more into that after I'm finished.  Additionally, your third teammate, Hajime, will not be joining us in the foreseeable future.  You will know more about that as soon as I do. The first thing planned is introductions, and then a bit of a light training session so I can see where we all stand."

"My name is Shojin Kagemori, and I am a brand new Special Jounin in the village.  You guys are my first team, so I will be learning every step of the way as well. Together, I am sure we will all become strong in our respective roles, and I have two pieces of advice and a request for each of you.  First; It is important to assess where you are as a Ninja and in your career, and to always be looking for ways to improve.  Nothing is ever enough, no matter how strong or smart you become.  Second; knowing where you can improve and punishing yourself for failure are very different.  You will fail, and you will never be strong enough.  These are not bad things. Everyone fails, and the deciding factor for whether you are a good ninja is whether you turn that into a learning experience or a pity party, not how strong you are.  And my request;  If I am screwed up, call me out on it.  I'm here to learn, same as you, and I need to know what is important to improve on; and you bet your asses I'll be doing this for each of you."

Finally, he'd gesture to Yemon, and once he was finished, to each other person in turn.  He'd say to Yemon, "If you want to give them some background on who you are and what your function is here, and, of course, introduce yourself, that'd be great." Then, he'd remember Yemon was blind.  "Ahem. Uh, Yemon, I mean."  For the others, he'd simply ask them to introduce themselves, give their goals, and to put some thought into each of their strengths and weaknesses.

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[OOC Notes:  Don't worry, just had to go through a bunch here, my posts will probably shorten to between 250-500 words for the most part.  Sorry for the word wall.  Also, I left everything regarding Hajime really vague because he said we had full creative liberty with his character, but I wanna give him a bit to change his mind, as well as come up with how to handle it after a bit.]

Yemon wanted to point out that he did not play ninja anything. Technically that was not a type of music and therefore he did not care but getting into an argument right out the gate seemed like a bad idea. He had shaken Shojin's hand, only after he had simply bowed politely as was custom in his part of the world. It was an odd double greeting but hey, he was preserving his culture and being diplomatic. At least he thought he was and that was more or less the point according to him. His opinion would not be noticed or accounted for anyway so it was more or less peace of mind.

He waited patiently for Shojin to finish speaking as he stood up, brushed off and put his bass against the tree before grabbing his cane and sword and placing the latter on his hip. He tapped the cane and clicked his tongue a few times to gauge distances and roughly what the other two looked like. In his odd imaginary wire frame sort of way. Yemon then bowed to the other two. "I am Akawaga Yemon, I am from Iron, not a ninja, do not know anything about being a ninja. I am a Samurai, blind, one with nature, and a musician, though not necessarily in that order. I like tea, after all good tea is it's own reward, music, and rain. I can not see, and I can not summon fireballs and mind wipe people. I don't have super strength and I can't hurl magic nonsense. Though, for every action you understand, I have swung my sword a thousand times. Do the math, cause I may not do a lot, but I do one thing extremely well."

Yemon stated and then bowed politely and waited for someone else to speak, resuming the rhythmic clicking of his tongue.

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"If I were you, I wouldn't make any promises that I can't keep. I was taught at an early age that as strong as you are, you might not be able to save everyone depending on the circumstances. But I'll never hold it against you, that's what it means to be on top, right? Making all of the hard choices. Yeah..."

It would suck if Kogami was the one that had to be sacrificed or wasn't saved in the end if things got ugly. But on account of weaker ninja who wouldn't survive without that assistance or even worse off, they would need every bit of help they can get. Kogami understood this, or at the very least, he understood that some people simply have a higher priority in terms of the rescue list. In Kogami's own personal list, it would be children, the cornerstone of a village's future that keeps it afloat for the future generation. Would that be the right choice in the end? Who knew?

"Hm, down a member already?"

That was strange, Kogami wondered what happened to the guy? There was a time that he missed class once due to overeating spicy food and his digestive system worked a lot harder than usual. Bathroom issues aren't the best excuse and it wasn't something that he was always willing to share in regards to reasoning. However, it does make for a funny story. There was also the samurai guy, and it really did surprise him that he had a disability in terms of his sight.

"Wait, you're blind? And yet you can still move around like that? I read actual comics about blind swordsman, well novels anyway. But I didn't think it was an actual person. Maybe they were talking about you?"

Figuring that it was his turn to introduce himself, Kogami got started.

"I'm Kogami Senju, I use earth style. I like swords, i've been practicing an art called the sekiro sword style, train it every other day. Hitting hard, that's all it's about. I might not be able to use wood release, but you shouldn't count me out because of that. Oh right, I can hear very well. It's pretty useful at times, but not when your parents are getting it on. Then....not so much. "

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*Training sekiro sword style*

Sumi was in awe of the samurai standing close to her. She would have never known he was blind. Yemon was his name and the other was Kogami. She started getting nervous about what to say about herself. She wondered if she should bring up her past or what her power is. She wondered if they would like her. It was a silly little fear. She did not need anyone's approval. As Kogami finished his remarks, her heart began to beat faster knowing what she would say. She took a deep breath

"Hello, my name is Sumiyuri Chinoike. I am originally from the hidden stone village. I came to the leaf when I was around four and have been here since. I have the ability to use blood release, however since I am the only one in my immediate family that can use it, I have had to figure it out on my own. I kind of have my own rules. I also have a kekkei genkai which I wish to train up more. It is called the Ketsuryugan. I unlocked it just a bit before I came to the village even though I did not know about it. It does look a bit creepy at first not going to lie. I have been keeping to myself since I arrived but I am eager to start taking on missions on our new team and getting to know you all."

She smiled excited to start this new adventure. She wondered if they knew anything about her power. While she wanted them to know what all she could do, she was not ready to give up all of her secrets yet.

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