Team Cybele: The Hare and the Snake

[Princess Tracy]

"Ooh, that's cool. You any good with ninjutsu? It doesn't even matter if you are. What you have there is a - I think - reusable completion scroll. Apply a bit of blood to it and once a day you can summon a turtle - no chakra, no expertise required. I'm sure summoning turtles will come in handy in a bind, so take good case of that scroll before I consider just taking it for myself." Amon claps, pleased with her analysis. "Looks like we're pretty well equipped after all! Let's go kick some ass. If I read my files right, you're Hoshi, aren't ya?" She extands a hand to shake.

Is that guy sure he doesn't need a bit of healing? I don't want him collapsing halfway through travelling - it certainly wouldn't make MY job any easier.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke cracks a tiny smile at that. "Well, you need not worry about that Cybele-sensei. I will appreciate your gift as it was intended. Thank you." He bowed politely, happy that she had been so thoughful.

"Is this what having a mother is like?" he wondered idly.

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

Their jounin looks down at Yousuke with a mix of surprise, confusion, and with a gradually growing blush. "I-I didn't give you anything. I-I mean you're a nice young man, but I would never... N-Not that you're.. I mean--" Cybele sighs as Yousuke cracks her concentration and composure with some strange off-the-wall remark. "You'll probably make some girl really happy someday, but you're far too young for me Yousuke. You should aim for girls your own age. It's healthier for you."

[zeone3000]

"Houshi," he politely corrected while carefully shaking her hand. "And yes, I am. As for your other question, no. I can't even use ninjutsu or genjutsu for that matter. Though, I was the best at taijutsu at the academy. Probably still am really. The best they seen in a while actually."

He tucks the scroll back away, "Trust me, I will. Whoever gave dropped off must be my guardian angel."

Houshi shook his head with a grin, "Uhm, sensei, I think he meant that in a more maternal fashion. Like a lion protecting her cubs."

[Princess Tracy]

"Houshi, right you are," Amon says with a nod. Listening into Yosuke's odd exchange with her new sensei, she titters. "You know, if you don't give me your name, guy, I'm just going to call you Ladykiller for tactics like that," she teases. "It takes a certain type of girl to fall for tricks like that. If you want to put them off balance, it's best to have something to follow through with." Her advice is laced with sarcasm, yet has a sort of wisdom to it. How often does she gets wooed, or indeed woos other girls, one wonders. "For instance, in this case, one might follow up your line with..." she seems to see how flustered the sensei is and is taken aback herself. "Well you certainly put her off balance..."

Amon taps her foot, thinking. "Do we have a compass? Or a map? I can hardly navigate my way there by memory - I've never visited out destination, after all."

[Bad Situation]

He blanched at the misunderstandings and grumbled at his team's teasing. It seemed as if he was genuinely cursed to deal with difficult women all his life.

"Please do not misunderstand my intentions Cybele-sensei. I did not mean it in the manner in which you seem to be receiving my thanks as. It was strictly a professional thank you between a teacher and her student."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon pouts in response to Yosuke's quick recovery. "So professional. You're no fun."

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

Cybele's look shifts from mainly being flustered to honest relief. "Ah, good. I assumed you got that doll for me. Who gave it to you? Is she pretty?"

Cybele's question is left in the air as your group arrives at the Main Gate to Soragakure.

DM

The Main Gate of Soragakure isn't like that of most other villages. Most hidden villages had an ostentatious and grand gateway clearly intended to strike awe and terror in equal parts. But Soragakure had a simple steel reinforced gate, with extremely spartan defensive barricades, and a secondary steel gate behind it. The Main Gate of Soragakure didn't intend to awe others, but it did intend to protect the village to the best of its ability. The gate's spartan nature combined with Soragakure's floating nature to make the Main Gate an impregnable stronghold. As the only possible way to attack from the ground it needed to be practical, and extremely well defended. Several ninja, mostly mercenaries without the Soragakure headband, stood at attention around the gate at all hours. Today wasn't any different, and the defenders of the gate stood in preparation for any attempt to break through.

The gate stood open even though it was so well defended, because just as it was the only way to attack it was also the only way to get trade through to the village itself. Several merchants and civilians looking to hire ninja traversed the gate quickly and efficiently. Each one went under the careful scrutiny of the village's defenders, and some were taken aside to be questioned. Almost all of them were still allowed entry, but a few had a ninja dispatched from the gate to go with them.

A quartet of ninja standing in front of the gate draw your attention. All four of them seem to be dressed as genin, appear to be teenagers, and wear gray-green uniforms. All four also bear Sunagakure headbands in various places. The dirty-blond haired girl in front seems to be their leader, and she wears her headband as a belt tightly wound around her waist. She stands with a lazy indifference to the whole affair, but wears the faint smile of a content youth. She doesn't seem like a ninja, and has the body type of a civilian who does minor amounts of exercise. Yousuke remembers her from the sweets shop.

Her nearest companion is a young boy not much older than Yousuke. His head is wrapped in tight bandages, and his uniform has several rips and tears in it. He glares roughly at everyone around, and seems to be quite upset about being in Soragakure. He wears a pair of ninja-to strapped across his back, and has the physique of a swordsman. His headband is wrapped tightly around his right bicep. Beside him stands another girl, but she seems much happier than her sword-using teammate. She waves at a small crowd of people nearby, who wave in return, and seems genuinely sad to be leaving. She seems to be crying a little, and certainly seems to have made friends in their short time in Soragakure. Unlike the others, her sleeves and pants are cut very short, and you wouldn't be surprised if you could see her unmentionables on a high kick. She doesn't seem to be armed, except for a pair of throwing needles stuck in the bun her brunette hair is rolled into. Her headband is where it should be.

Their final teammate is a dark-haired young man wearing a set of small black sunglasses. He's got his hands in his pockets, and seems uninterested in the antics of his bubbly teammate or the disgust of his angsty teammate. He, like the leader of their team, doesn't have the physique of a ninja. He slouches a lot, and carries himself as if putting out more than the bare minimum of effort was just too hard. He wears his headband stitched into a gray-green sash that runs across his chest.

All four sand ninjas seems to be standing around waiting for something or the other.

Cybele

Your jounin points out the quartet of Suna-nin standing at the ready. "Those would be our partners. It seems like the prisoner hasn't arrived yet, so we should go greet them. Best behavior, everyone."

With that said Cybele leads your group toward them. Hinami waves toward Yousuke, then diverts her attention to Cybele. She speaks in a calm, polite, but slightly playful manner. Almost as if she wasn't taking the whole scenario as seriously as Cybele had made it out to be.

"Oh? So they sent the Stone Heart Cybele as a liaison? I'm honored to be in the presence of such a brutal killer." The girl's faint smile never moves, but her words feel more like mocking than true admiration.

"I'm a teacher now. Has the prisoner arrived?" Cybele brushes it off, and the girl just shrugs at your jounin's words. "No", Hinami says with a sigh, "but I was told you'd have her. Sure you haven't killed her yet?" Cybele visibly tenses, but doesn't take the bait. Clearly Hinami has some kind of problem with the purple-haired jounin, and she's trying to goad Cybele into doing or saying something foolish.

Any further fights are stopped when the prisoner arrives. The darkly tanned woman was beautiful in the right light, but her sharp nose and rough features leave something to be desired. She has a light muscle tone, but clearly lacks the dedication of more focused taijutsu users. She's wearing a white-and-black striped jumpsuit, and a headband around her head marked with a series of seals across the metal surface. No hand cuffs or leg cuffs impede the movement of her limbs. Her eyes are unfocused, and her gaze drifts off into the distance as she walks docilely beside the ANBU leading her along. The gray-armored and crow-masked ANBU shoves the woman--likely Yusa--toward Hinami.

The sand-nin grunts a little as Yusa roughly plows into her shoulder-first. Yusa says nothing as Hinami helps her steady herself. Hinami, on the other hand, keeps the same soft smile while muttering under her breath. She pets the unreasonably demure and extremely docile Yusa on the head before turning toward your team. "Are we ready to go?"

[Princess Tracy]

Do those seals sedate her then? I have to say, it is more efficient than dragging her in chains - certainly less risky than her slipping a hand out and performing some half-seal to kill us all when we're distracted.

Out of some odd, peppy instinct, Amon raises her hand and speaks a word of greeting to the prisoner before she has a chance to think better of it. To divert attention away from it, she stands at attention giving a quick salute. "Ready when you are," she says to the girl, thoigh her eyes can't help but quint in thought and perhaps contempt. On the list of things that she wondered would end well, she wondered if Cybelle giving the girl a quick slap was on there. Quite ah, um, nice prisoner there. I wonder how sedated she is, or if it's just that her abilities are sealed and she's lost motivation. I know I feel down when i run out of juice. In test, as they pass through the gate and with the scuttling of feat, when she's sure no one is watching, in the name of holy SCIENCE, she gives the prisoner a pinch on the bum to see if her reflexes are working at all. I don't trust what I don't undertand, and I'm not sure I fully understand these seals. I never took a funinjutsu class in my life!

[zeone3000]

Houshi, being much less informed then his peers, looks at the prisoner with a tilted head, "What are those for?" Then realizes how bad that probably sounded, "I mean, they're obviously working but how are they doing it?"

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Hinami looks at Houshi. "Seems your teacher is worse than I thought." The sand jounin reaches up and parts Yusa's scruffy and unclean black bangs with her hand. Yusa's clearly not been taken care of, and seems to have no drive to take care of herself. Hinami points to the headband partially hidden under Yusa's bangs.

"Sealing technique. She's constantly under the effect of a genjutsu that keeps her docile. She can't speak, can't resist commands from sky ninja, can't use techniques, and can't run."

A hint of disgust creeps into Hinami's voice as she speaks of the technique. "But she still feels pain. An Iwagakure specialty."

"Too embarrassed of this one to tell them about it?" Hinami looks toward Cybele, and maintains her pleasant smile as she takes the time to mock the other jounin. Cybele just looks away, visibly upset, but she doesn't say anything in response to the accusation Hinami hurls at her.

[Bad Situation]

Where did the Sun-nin get off like this? However, he would handle this respectfully and diplomatically, for the honor of his village. "I do not understand the circumstances of your anger but I will not stand for your mockery of our sensei. This is not the time for such crude displays of pride. There is work to be done and it is at the detriment of my honor should we delay it any further. " Hopefully, the Suna-nin would follow in kind.

"I of course, mean no disrespect to you and your team, Hisawa-san," he added with a clipped bow.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Cybele just reaches out and places a hand on Yousuke's shoulder. She shakes her head as if to say that he shouldn't interfere. It's almost like she wanted to fight her own battles, but she has made no effort to resist the abuse Hinami heaped on her. Hinami herself brings up why.

"Oh, Yousuke." She sighs as she shakes her head slightly. Hinami seems to pity the young swordsman for stepping into something he didn't understand. "Don't dirty yourself by standing up for this scum." Her ever present smile lessens slightly. Not that it actively shrinks, but it grows more transparent and empty as she speaks.

"Me and her go a long ways back, and I got every right to say what I want to you, don't I?" Cybele doesn't respond, nor does she appear to acknowledge Hinami's question. Being ignored causes the suna-nin's anger to flare, and for the first time she drops the smile. "Talk to me you filthy b--" "Not here."

Cybele's firm words cut through whatever Hinami would have said, and the sora-jounin continues on. "Who I am now isn't who I was, but if you want to resolve this then it can wait until we end this mission."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon blushes oddly as the details of the seal are laid out. Her mind is always aflutter with a sick perversion at this sort of technique - the control of another. She does her best to drown it out with conscious though, regaining her composure. Genjutsu, huh? Wonder if I can figure it out? There is that one technique I'd been working on developing, pretty similar in some ways to this. As the argument with Cybele and Hinami becomes more fierce, Amon snaps, slamming her foot down as she interposes herself between her sensei and the annoying girl.

"You are the instigator here, not her, a role that is necessarily vile, and it is hardly becoming of any of us, least of all you. Drop it - for the duration of the mission at least, lest your feud compromise your duty on the basis of false trust. You are both ninja who are respected enough to be in the service, so there is no point to taunts. In fact, for the sake of the sanity of all here who don't care one iota for your grievance, do not talk to my sensei unless it is through the medium of another or critical to this mission - I believe you would do your own psyche some good to not pursue conflict, personally. Now come, there is business afoot. Business."

With that, Amon stomps forward, making to leave the village, stopping a few dozen yards from where she started to see if they were coming. She snaps her fingers, thinking to try the genjutsu out, once again mentally cataloguing everything. "Come, Yusa," she addresses the prisoner with fascination.

[zeone3000]

Houshi rubs the bridge of his nose accompanied by a low sigh, And here I was hoping for a nice, quiet journey between fellow ninjas... Build a bridge over the hatred and find some common ground. Anyone who looks up to him excepting him to come to his sensei's defense, he holds hands up and shakes his head, They are two grown kunoichi, if they can't solve their own problems... How screwed are we then? Either way, he just starts walking behind Yusa.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke bristles at the almost-insult but backs down when he feels Cybele's hand on his shoulders. Thankfully, he manages to subdue his retort in time and huffs, turning away from the Suna team. "It is as you say Cybele-sensei. This can wait until after the mission." Yousuke sags his shoulders in shame, annoyed that his anger had once again gotten the best of him.

"I will have to redouble my discipline before this mission is through."

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Hinami regains her composure during Amon's outburst. She gives the Soragakure kunoichi an amused smirk as she barrels through her tirade. The suna-jounin seems to regard Amon as nothing more than a child sticking her nose into matters far beyond her comprehension. As Amon finishes her long speech, the suna-nin's only response is a shrug. "Done? Good. Children should be open and honest, but sticking their nose in business of their betters isn't healthy for them. Come back in ten years after you've lost some comrades, and then I'll care about your opinion."

Cybele remains quiet all throughout Amon's tirade. She neither speaks for or against her treatment by Hinami, and seems to openly ignore anything the suna-nin says or does to goad her. When Amon leaves Cybele follows her, and so does Yusa when she's beckoned. The purple-haired jounin reaches over to pat Amon on the head. "Don't interfere. I know you want to be a peacekeeper, but it's for the best if you ignore her for now."

Yusa moves to follow Amon without so much as the slightest word. She's sluggish in her movements, and seems ready to stumble at any moment. Hinami and her team follow the Sora-nin, and keep a fair distance between the two groups. Hinami's genin seem eager to engage in conversation with their increasingly distant and temperamental teacher. Your group can overhear snippets of their conversation, and they seem to be talking to her about anything but the mission at hand. Whether that's to take her mind off her personal feud with Cybele or not is yet to be seen.

---

The combined groups of Team Hinami and Team Cybele trek west through the Land of Rivers. There are no stops to rest or relax, but the trip still feels agonizingly slow. Yusa is unable to run or leap, asd so the group has to match Yusa's speed. Unfortunately, the prisoner only has two speeds: A slow stumbling pace, or a fast shambling pace, and neither are particularly quick.

The slow pace further compounds the dark atmosphere between Cybele and Hinami. Whatever Cybele did in the past has clearly irrationally infuriated the sand ninja, and Cybele herself makes no efforts or overtures to defend herself. Your jounin simply allows Hinami to say what she will, and it seems like a matter of time before Hinami starts to get physical. If Cybele truly didn't want to hear it anymore, both Yousuke and Houshi know she could simply disappear as she had in their first meeting. Yet their jounin endures for reasons she won't elaborate, and Hinami merely redirects all inquiries into the matter at Cybele.

Hinami's team, on the other hand, are much more open people. You learn their names: The lazy ninjutsu expert, Ito Sojuro, the brunette kunoichi, Matsuki Yukiko, and the bald swordsman, Shinozaki Shoin. Yukiko is affectionate and friendly with your group, asking questions about who you are, where you're from, your family, and other things. In particular she likes to talk about celebrity gossip and fashion trends. Sojuro talks about himself if asked, but volunteers no information. He seems much more comfortable talking about the weather, politics, go, and foods rather than himself. He's not quite as friendly as Yukiko, but definitely isn't as antisocial as Shoin. The tall boy with a bandage-wrapped but otherwise bald head doesn't speak unless spoken to, and even then he speaks in a blunt and unapologetic manner. He's neither openly hostile nor particularly angry with your team, but he makes it clear that you aren't friends or comrades. He views your team as the enemy, but keeps to the truce enforced by circumstances.

You find out from Yukiko that she's a hand-to-hand taijutsu user. She doesn't say what Sojuro or Shoin does, and changes the subject back to the latest fashion or celebrity gossip.

---

The sun begins to set around eight hours after the group set out from Soragakure. Unlike the ninja present, who have no need of sleep, Yusa is starting to tire and stumbles a lot more than before. Dark clouds begin to circle overhead, and the low pressure in the air warns of an impending rainstorm. Hinami calls for a stop as Yusa, and by proxy the two teams, stumbles into a small village.

"Yusa can't take much more walking without rest, and she'll vomit the drug back up if we try to feed her soldier pills. We're resting here."

Cybele looks at the Suna-nin, and receives a glare in return. She sighs, then reaches into one of the pockets on the breast of her vest. She retrieves a rolled up map, opens it, studies it for a little while, then closes it and her eyes before saying anything.

"Yusa, stop. We've arrived in Kokasou Village." The village in question appears to be quite small. A single large building dominates its center, with a series of three smaller buildings surronding that one, and a ring of much smaller houses compromising the bulk of the village. All the buildings are made of reed, and seem to have been built in another era. The village seems to be asleep, as no one can be seen in the streets but lights are on in several houses. The large building in particular seems to have several lit rooms, and probably houses their village leader.

Cybele points toward one of the larger buildings off to the side of the largest one. A sign hangs in front of the door, but it's impossible read in the dark. The only clue to its purpose is the shape of the sign: A big candle held inside a candlestick. "That's likely an inn. We'll house Yusa there, but those soldier pills will make it impossible to sleep."

Hinami crosses her arms as she turns a mirthless smile toward Cybele's team. "We'll watch her today. Your team can have tomorrow, then we'll trade off one more time before we arrive in Sunagakure." Hinami then turns to her genin and sends them toward the inn. The sand jounin follows them without saying another word to Cybele or looking back at her for confirmation.

Your jounin sighs, then looks toward your group. "In that case, you're free to do as you will until tomorrow morning. We'll be leaving at five AM sharp." She turns to Yusa, and asks the prisoner to follow her. She follows Hinami toward the inn in order to put Yusa to bed.

[Princess Tracy]

Hinami regains her composure during Amon's outburst. She gives the Soragakure kunoichi an amused smirk as she barrels through her tirade. The suna-jounin seems to regard Amon as nothing more than a child sticking her nose into matters far beyond her comprehension. As Amon finishes her long speech, the suna-nin's only response is a shrug. "Done? Good. Children should be open and honest, but sticking their nose in business of their betters isn't healthy for them. Come back in ten years after you've lost some comrades, and then I'll care about your opinion."

Cybele remains quiet all throughout Amon's tirade. So neither speaks for or against her treatment by Hinami, and seems to openly ignore anything the suna-nin says or does to goad her. When Amon leaves Cybele follows her, and so does Yusa when she's beckoned. The purple-haired jounin reaches over to pat Amon on the head. "Don't interfere. I know you want to be a peacekeeper, but it's for the best if you ignore her for now."

Yusa moves to follow Amon without so much as the slightest word. She's sluggish in her movements, and seems ready to stumble at any moment. Hinami and her team follow the Sora-nin, and keep a fair distance between the two groups. Hinami's genin seem eager to engage in conversation with their increasingly distant and temperamental teacher. Your group can overhear snippets of their conversation, and they seem to be talking to her about anything but the mission at hand. Whether that's to take her mind off her personal feud with Cybele or not is yet to be seen.

"Lose comrades!? I'll show you lost comrades, you loathsome..." before she can stoop to Hinami's level, Cybele pats Amon on the head, making her blush oddly from surprise and stifled anger. With a deep breath she regains her senses. "Using fallen comrades as ammo in a feud is so lowly..." she whispers to her sensei. "As if I've been a ninja for two years and not lost anyone." She holds up her mutilated hand. "This was the least of my losses, by a long shot," she says, her eyes misting in painful reminiscence. She falls silent for a while, wondering where her her sensei stands compared to her.

[everything else that happened]

...
en route
...

Amon behaves nicely enough to the other Genin, finding even 'the bald one' agreeable enough and wondering silently how they could bare working for such a shrew. Eventually she draws the conclusion Hinami must not normally be like this, lest her attitude eke into her subordinates. She does her best to keep Cybele's advice and ignore the other woman.

...
In town
...

"Wish I had a watch," Amon comments as the other team pulls away, her cheerful mood returning. "Maybe I could build one before we set out. Well I could try, but where would I get the materials? I don't know if I even brought the right tools for small devices like that. Well, if that doesn't pan out... hey, you two." She turns to her team-mates. "Want to do something mildly productive and exchange techniques? I have some cool abilities my last team shared that you could probably learn before we complete this journey. Like, do you know how to walk on water yet? I'll trade that technique for some basic taijutsu if you want - I need to brush up my skills with that discipline badly. I'll give a bigger technique in exchange for something more powerful though. Ooh, maybe sensei has something cool to teach us?" she turns to Cybele, her eyes twinkling hopefully. "Pretty please, sensei? If you're not doing anything? I'm kind of not very good at sensing things, is there a technique to compensate for that I could learn before we have to do guard duty? I know I certainly don't have much better to do in this town overnight."

[Bad Situation]

Rather than leave to his own devices, Yousuke decided to approach Cybele. He did not particularly trust her yet, but she definitely didn't deserve the treatment she had faced at the hands of Hinami. Also, she was their teacher. Perhaps she had something worthwhile she could teach them. Though he had been practicing his taijutsu as per his grandfather's desires his skill in the ninjutsu department was surely falling behind.

He follows Cybele and Hinami a respectable distance behind and to her right, waiting for a chance to ask questions.

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

Cybele shakes her head at Amon. "I'd be happy to give you pointers, but I have nothing to teach you."

[Princess Tracy]

"What?" Amon asks, taken aback. "No way, I can tell just looking at you - you're, like, a mature, sexy-spectacular, awesome jounin-ranked kunoichi, you must know dozens of cool techniques, at least a few have to be at our level." She pouts, making puppy dog eyes and batting her eyes at the older kunoichi. "I could trade you for something - my old jounin taught me this cool technique that i bet even YOU don't know, sensei." She edges closer, her clenched hands at her chin like the paws of a cat as she invades Cybele's personal space a little too much, trying to come across as cute while begging. "Pwetty pwease, sensei? Amon-chan will do whatever she can for Cybele-sensei's supa-cool techniques!"

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

The older woman just sighs. Normally, the praise heaped upon her would crack her calm facade and send the poor jounin into flustered hysterics. Tonight her focus is much tighter. Whether because of Hinami's constant abuse since leaving Soragakure, or some other unknown experience, Cybele speaks in a calm manner and tone as she responds to Amon's desires.

"I'm a special jounin, Amon. Do you know what that means?" She continues on without letting Amon answer. "It means that I have jounin-level skill in one area, but not jounin-level skill overall."

"I'm specialized, and it isn't in a specific area of jutsu." Cybele crosses her arms over her chest, putting an imaginary distance between herself and her genin. "I have jounin-level ability in silent killing. I can hide even when you're staring right at me. I can mimic the movements of a target and hide myself in his or her blind spot for hours at a time."

Her purple hair bounces and sways as the older woman shakes her head at Amon. "There's no chance you can replicate my technique, even if I wanted to teach you how to. As for ninjutsu: My natural chakra is Earth and Wind based, which makes me incompatible with your Lightning-based chakra. The sealing techniques and genjutsu I know aren't for children. At most I could teach you how to train your body."

[Bad Situation]

Hearing what he wanted to hear, Yousuke steps in. "Then can you teach me Cybele-sensei?" If her reason for not teaching Amon was only due to elemental incompatibility then he was in luck. Wind happened to be his only element at the moment he was looking for more ninjutsu to add to his repertoire. "I too am a wind element nor would I say no to any physical conditioning you have in mind."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon's eyes widen in fascination as Cybele tells of her ability, a stealth operative, stifling a 'SO COOL' comment before it leaves her lips at one point, being a complete geek for any legendary-level ninja skills. "It's true I'm not very good at stealth... I'll have to work on that if I want to be nearly as cool as sensei." The last comment gets to her though, shaking her a bit. "Sensei, I'm not a child you know... I may be a lot younger than you and a lot weaker, but I'm not that innocent that I can qualify as a child. Like I said before..." she holds up her hand, the one missing fingers, in mimicry of when they left the village all those hours ago.

Amon bows her head, whispering so only Cybele can hear her, whimpering a little despite her protests to being called a child. "I've lost a lot more than just this. The future of a promising, honourable shinobi, the life of honest teacher and the trust of..." she gulps, but not out of some distant romance "...the trust of a lover. And I almost lost my chance to keep being a ninja, because i was too weak to support myself, let alone anyone else. I don't want to keep being a child." She pauses, looking a little wounded as she glances to the side. "I don't know why I tell you this, except, I guess... It's been so long since I've met anyone that might understand loss, save for one man. But then, he officially doesn't exist. So I just thought sensei might understand what it means to keep trying to be better to avoid more senseless death. No one takes my duties seriously except me..."

She pulls back, suddenly shaking herself. "Whoa, ha ha," she remarks, putting on a facade of her usual light-heartedness. "Where'd that come from? Must be the Soldier Pill talking, those always did a number on me after the first few hours, ha ha! Well, sensei you should know telling me you won't teach me something because I'm a child just makes me want to learn it more" The last statement rang definitely true enough.

"You, Yosuke, Houshi," she remarks, turning on the shinobi as she holds up her cane. Tugging it, she reveals her walking can to in fact be the sheath and blade of an ornate yet functional sword. "Why don't you teach me some interesting way to use this thing and I'll teach you, oh, let's say, how to dispel genjutsu techniques. Deal?" If not stopped, Amon begins scouting out a decent spot just outside of town, preferably near a body of water, to begin training, away from the path. "Although, sensei, if that's the case, if you're a great stealth operative," she remarks, turning as she makes to walk away. "Why did you walk in plain sight the whole way? Having a jounin, even a special jounin, guarding the group from the shadows, particularly consideirng our slow pace, would have been a more effective strategic use for your talents than another hand by Yusa's side."

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

The team's jounin grimaces. She had forgotten that Yousuke was Wind-natured, and her own reasoning caught her. She couldn't refuse to train him, but there wasn't a way to keep her secret much longer. A soft smile creeps onto the jounin's lips as she formulates a plan.

"It'd be rude to teach you something that the others couldn't participate in, so we'll have a group training session."

When Amon talks about why Cybele had been in the open, the jounin doesn't respond at first. A soft smile graces the jounin's lips as she seems to contemplate how to respond. A few seconds after Amon finishes, Cybele just shrugs as if to brush off the question. Then she steps to the side. Behind her stands... herself. Another Cybele is hidden within the jounin's own shadow. The second woman mirrors the exact stance of the first, and sounds just like her as she speaks.

"It was easier to use my clone", the "clone" says, "to make it look as if I was in the open." With you now looking directly at her, your jounin reverts to her more common personality. A light blush overtakes her, and she adjusts her glasses.

"B-Besides, if I hadn't been visible, then the sand ninja would have gotten suspicious. I-It was easier this way." She probably just didn't want to hear Hinami's not-so-subtle jabs anymore, and started switching places with her clone at some point.

Cybele's clone explodes in a burst of smoke. Once the smoke clears you notice that the original is the only one left. "Well, I'll teach you Yousuke. We'll have to train outside the village, since we don't want to bother the natives." The clone's disappearance seemed to have allowed Cybele to regain her composure, and she speaks plainly to Yousuke. She then turns to Amon.

"Amon, Houshi; You'll both need to do some self-study if I'm teaching him. I'm pretty sure you can find some private space over on the other side of the village."

[Princess Tracy]

At Cybele's little display of her mastery, Amon's flair finally and truthfully returns. She clasps her hands together, her knees bending and hips waving to and fro in fascinated excitement. "HA, I knew it! I figured something was up when you just stood in the open an let yourself be insulted, in addition to the general strategic overlooking it would take. That's just awesome, sensei!" She bursts out laughing. "If nothing else I think you can teach me something for strategies; Cybele's 12 step lessons To Sound Transportation of Prisoners While Avoiding Annoying Hags! Ah, spending the rest of the night knowing someone else is getting your special training is almost worth it for that one reveal. God, I love being right, sometimes!"

"Come, Houshi," she orders, finding some rough terrain away from the village's line of sight or earshot. As she leaves, she says "We'll meet back here at quarter to 5 then, deal?"

Once alone with Houshi, she starts flexing, preparing herself for a much needed workout. "So, want to exchange techniques? What are you decent with? I'll assume Taijutsu from that nice weapon you have there, whihc I'm quite lacking in so a pointer wouldn't go amiss. I have a fair few techniques in chakra control and genjutsu I could teach you, but my specialisation is ninjutsu. What say you, would you care to exchange training o train by yourself?"

Spoiler

Show

Yes, I know Houshi has CCD, but Amon doesn't. if nothing else it should be a decent icebreaker.

[Bad Situation]

Before Yousuke moves to follow Cybele he glances at Amon and regards her calmly before shaking his head and cryptically responding, "The blade of the Konpaku style is is a blade forged in the heat of battle, borne by men and women who die by the sword."

With that said and done, Yousuke followed at his sensei's heels, like an overeager dog.

[ZeroNumerous]

Yousuke

Yousuke follows Cybele out of earshot and sight range of the village. The duo head into a small clearing, but they aren't alone. Yousuke and Cybele find a suna-genin--the bald swordboy Shinozaki Shoin--standing at the ready. His arms are crossed and he's glaring at the intruders. He doesn't seem to have been training at all. Shoin looks toward Yousuke directly, and doesn't seem to address or notice Cybele at all. "What're you doing here? Don't you have guard duty tonight?"

Amon and Houshi

Amon and Houshi head off on their own in a seemingly random direction. They arrive in a small clearing, but they aren't alone. A pair are already in the clearing, and they seem incredibly close together. They seem to ignore the approach of Amon and Houshi. Since neither sora-genin is terribly stealthy, you can infer that they're just too busy to notice. As the sora-genin get closer they discover that the pair are two suna-genin--Yukiko and Sojuro--and they seem to be making out. It's not terribly odd to see, but it's strange that those genin aren't guarding Yusa.

[Bad Situation]

Realizing that Cybele was not going to make an appearance, Yousuke decided to take the first word, "Hinami-san told us that your team would be watching the rebel today and that our own was free to do as we pleased." This sounded remarkably fishy, no doubt Cybele was suspecting something too. "Then I believe the more appropriate question is, what are you doing away from your post?" he asked distrustfully.

[Princess Tracy]

"W-What the..." Amon fades out of her conversation with Houshi as they draw close enough to see the genin. "Normally I wouldn't begrudge a couple of kids getting frisky on their offtime, but tonight they're supposed to...!"

Think, think, Amon... if these two are here, that means there is a maximum of two people guarding Yusa of the expected eight, meaning our defences will never be weaker than they are right now, but there's more than that. This is well outside the boundaries of the village or anywhere near they agreed to guard her - she insisted on taking the guard duty, right? But there's a diferent between a couple of youngsters slipping in a quick snog in another room and them being WELL outside anywhere serviceable to their duty and at their liesure... in other words, their duty in their minds is already sufficient, but what could convince them of such a ludicrous notion? Did their jounin dismiss them? What honest intentions could she possibly bring to bear being alone with the prisoner - for if these two are dismissed, why not the other one. Is this some kind of trick? A genjutsu? Perhaps some delusion genjutsu is upon them? Wait, in that case, at what point were my perceptions influenced? When we made those arrangements, is it possible that both teams were told the other would guard Yusa? Perhaps they are not there but there is ambush for us...? Hinami is the only one in that group who can use Yusa's genjutsu to order her if I'm correct. Forget it, step 1 is doing everything in my power to clear these perceptions!

Step 1: Amon performs the Genjutsu Kai technique at the cost of 2 points of her 6 points of temporary chakra from the soldier pill, targeting herself
Dispel Check (1d20+7)[17]
Step 2: She scans the area with her Sense Chakra ability for the better part of a mnute, just long enough to detect any genjutsu tampering hopefully, if there is any (though knowing whatever genjutsu has occured has already taken effect)

Amon stomps her foot, readying her guard, her hand grasping the hilt of her sword hard. "Yukiko, what on earth are you doing out here!? I don't care what you do with Soujiro on your spare time, but you're on guard duty, are you NOT?! Where is Hinami? Where is Yusa?! TELL ME!" Her voice is furious, having just made a thousand deductions and possible conclusions, and none of them as simple as two kids fooling around. "Who is watching Yusa!?"