>>6462235

Things fall back into the usual rhythm after you return home from your mission to the Land of Hot Springs. Nothing but boring D rank missions to be found, and none of them are of any particular note.

You did at least have an exciting story to tell your family over dinner the night you returned, though unfortunately your father was the one who got the most excited about it.

"Wow, I haven't seen Omoi in years. Glad to hear he's doing well. Not as well as Kiba though, haha!" Kon laughed after hearing your story. "I'd like to try and meet up with him again, but it would probably be easiest just to wait until he's in town for the Chunin Exams. Speaking of which, they're just a couple of months away! They should be quite exciting this time around."

You ignored your father's pivot in topic and instead focused on hearing what your mother and sister thought of your trip.

"It sounds like Kiba really had a good idea this time. It's a mission I would have loved to go on when I was a Genin." Tenten told you. "Then again, it's only possible now in this era to have a friendly competition with foreign ninja while on a mission. You really should make sure not to forget how lucky you are to be born now, Akio."

"I didn't know you could go on a ninja mission and make new friends." Sae added her own persective. "This just makes being a ninja sound even better! I can't wait to become a Genin too!"

Since you only had D rank missions for the couple of weeks following your return, you had a decent amount of free time. Time you could spend in a few different ways, mainly training or hanging out. You did have time for both, no need to swing entirely one way or the other. As important as training is, no play makes a dull ninja and all that.

>Write in (Choose who if anyone you would like to learn from or train alongside, as well as a person or people if anyone that you would like to hang out with during this time. They can be the same person or people for both situations if you so choose)

>>6462236
Take Kagari to meet up with the old crew (Rikimatsu, Lee, and Mimi). Karasuba too if she doesn't mind training and fucking around with troublemakers.

>>6462249
This is good

We're back!
>>6462236
>>6462249
+1

>>6462249
yeah i think cross-team training in prep for the exams makes sense. all the characters would want to pass the exam individually, and give a good representation of the village.

>>6462249
This plus train our impact chakra flow
You should really mention the new thread in the old one btw I had no clue it was up

>>6462249

It's been too long since you hung out with your old friends. Maybe you can pull double duty and train with them at the same time, be more efficient. While you're at it, you might as well invite your teammates as well. The Chunin exams are coming up, and you're pretty sure every one of you wants to be in top condition so you can make a good showing. It worth asking, at the very least.

"Sure, that sounds like fun." Kagari agrees. You about expected as much, since Mimi is her closest friend, and she hardly needs an excuse to spend more time with her. You thought that maybe Rikimatsu and Lee might have scared her off, but she's got a bit more grit than that. As long as you and Mimi are present, anyway.

"It's not a bad idea. We'll fall into predictable patterns if we only ever train amongst ourselves. Very well, I'll join you all for this training." Karasuba reasons out her own reasons for agreeing, and this one was a little bit of a surprise. You always got the feeling that she wasn't too fond of Rikimatsu and Lee, but even if that is true, it doesn't seem to be impacting her decision.

You call up the old crew and make plans to get together, which you do on a day when neither of your groups has a mission to go on. Before any training can get done, naturally there's a bit of catching up to do.

"Yo! How's it been, my friend?" Rikimatsu naturally greets you first, slapping the hand you'd outstretched for a high five. "Heard you got to go on a pretty interesting mission. I'm jealous. We did manage to go on one C rank mission, but it wasn't all that eventful. Just worked security for a concert, they wanted ninja guards. Aside from a few rowdy fans, wasn't any more involved than a D rank, truth be told. Lee had fun, at least. Apparently she likes the band."

"Hell yeah, it was sick. Got autographs and everything." Lee insists. "If we weren't gonna get a real mission anyway, at least we got one that was a good time."

You start exchanging your experiences with Rikimatsu and Lee regarding your past mission, letting them know all the neat stuff you got up to and making them quite envious in the process.

As you three talk, your teammates have been chatting away with Mimi, who is of course much easier for them to get along with. They're probably talking about much the same thing, so you doubt you're missing out.

Once you've all had your fill of catching up, it's time to get to training. It takes you back to the Academy to do this again, though it has been scarcely over a month. Starting with some light sparring and working your way up, you are able to see both the progress you've made as well as the others. Their team really is just a taijutsu machine though, you end up really pushing your weapon skills in order to keep up.

You also take this opportunity to try and refine your Impact channeling. You do manage to make some improvement, as you can maintain a more focused charge and for longer, though it still isn't perfect.

>>6462648

Between how much you pushed yourself during your mission and this training, you really feel like your Strength and Stamina have improved a notable amount. You're keeping up better with Rikimatsu in those areas than you ever could before.

You also get to see how your other friends have been developing in this time. Lee is the same as ever, just probably even stronger, but you get to see Mimi and Shiromaru perform a more advanced version of Man-Beast Taijutsu than they could before. Though after seeing Kiba Sensei and Akamaru in action, you know she has a long way to go. Rikimatsu has also started learning Fire Release just like your own teammates, so he'll be even more of a force to be reckoned with now. You'll have to make sure not to fall behind.

One day, after you're all sitting around tired from training, you and Rikimatsu are chilling and talking as usual when the topic of your teachers comes up.

"Hinata Sensei is quite a babe, let me tell ya. I'm even over you getting my preferred teammates." Your friend grins as he imagines his Sensei. "A real beauty. Though I did see something that really threw me for a loop. Sensei's got a tattoo right below her neck, I was able to catch a glimpse of it. I didn't take her for the type, so I was surprised. But even more than that, I didn't get a clear look at it, but I think it might be of a sharingan. I know she married in, but damn. Talk about kinky."

"How is she as an actual teacher, though?" You ask, more interested in the kind of training they're getting.

"She seems fine. She's really good at Taijutsu, so we get most of our work done there." Rikimatsu explains. "You've probably noticed that we've all gotten even better at that. She also likes to emphasize the basics, says it'll serve us to have a strong foundation. Another way of saying she doesn't want to actually teach us anything cool yet. What about you guys? How's your teacher so far?"

You think about your opinion of Kiba Sensei.

>A. He's a pretty cool guy, he's already proven that we can rely on him

>B. To tell you the truth, he hasn't even tried to teach us anything yet

>C. I think we need some more time before we can really tell how good of a teacher he is

>D. Write-in

>>6462613
You're right, I should have done that. I'll do it now, just in case. I also have to remember to get the old thread archived before it falls off

>>6462649
>B. To tell you the truth, he hasn't even tried to teach us anything yet

>>6462649
>B. To tell you the truth, he hasn't even tried to teach us anything yet

>>6462649
He offered me one on one training but other than that it seems like his focus is to get us to grow through mission work and make sure we don't die.

>>6462649
>A. He's a pretty cool guy, he's already proven that we can rely on him
I figure, you know, we can say we don't want to be babied and brush any perceived neglect off.

>>6462668
>>6462714

You haven't really had any problems with Kiba Sensei as a person, he's always been the same likable guy you've always known since as far back as you can remember. But he's not just that guy anymore, he's your teacher. And he has been sorely lacking in that role so far.

"To be completely honest... He hasn't even tried to teach us a single thing." You sigh, only more disappointed to have to acknowledge it out loud. "He's basically just our squad leader and that's it. Maybe he just wants us to learn on our own."

"It's possible that he just doesn't see his skillset lining up well with ours as students." Karasuba sits next to you and joins the conversation. "If that's the case, then I'd rather he left us to our own devices than try to force us in a direction that won't mesh well with our talents."

"I don't know, did you guys try asking him?" Rikimatsu suggests. "Maybe he's just absentminded and hasn't thought about it."

"You know dad would totally drop everything to give you some training if you asked for it, come on." Mimi also makes her way into your discussion. "He's been spending a lot of time at home training the next batch of pups, which is important too. Akamaru is retired now, but dad still has half his career left, so he needs a new partner pretty soon."

This is the first you're hearing about that. Though you suppose this is just another one of those big clan things that you thankfully don't have to deal with, since you're not in one.

"Don't take that the wrong way though, he wouldn't take a position as a sensei if he wasn't willing to make time for you guys!" Mimi goes on, vouching for her father. "You know you can rely on him, just give him a chance!"

You and Karasuba exchange a glance. You can both tell that you're thinking the same thing. It's only fair to Kiba Sensei to give him an actual shot.

You have a D rank mission scheduled for the next day, so once you guys finish picking up litter, you breach the topic with your teacher.

"Sensei, are you going to do any teaching, or are you more of a hands off type?" You put it bluntly for him. "Rikimatsu's team is getting instruction from their teacher, but we haven't gotten anything yet."

"Ah... Yeah, that's fair. I've been slacking on that. Sorry, guys. That's just negligence on my part." Kiba admits, scratching the back of his head and looking apologetic. "Even Kakashi Sensei had taught us that by now, so you guys should be able to handle it easily..."

Your teacher walks over to a nearby tree and walks up it, then looks down at the three of you.

"I'm clearing my afternoon, we're gonna train right now. The old standby, walking up walls. Well, trees in this case." Kiba grins. "My team had done this training by now, so I know all three of you talented kids will pull it off pretty quick. Just focus your chakra in your feet, find the right intensity, keep it steady and you'll be good. Should be pretty quick, let's see it."

>>6462994

The three of you do as you're told, and while it takes a while to find the right balance, you do manage to start walking up a tree in a matter of minutes. It's hard to concentrate chakra in the feet, but you have so much experience molding chakra by now that you manage to pull it off without too much trouble.

It seems to be even easier for the girls, as they have special eyes and can actually watch their chakra as they practice, making far more effective adjustments as needed. Quite a nice bonus for them.

Naturally, you having to do things the hard way means you take the longest to get it down, but Kiba Sensei is there the whole time to give you tips. Since the others were doing fine on their own, he focused on you. Telling you exactly when you started using too much chakra and were about to damage the tree and lose your footing, as well as the best way to carry yourself accounting for the new orientation of gravity. It really helped, and you managed to climb to the top of a tree not long after your teammates.

By the time the training is over, the sun has gone down. But you feel like you made a bunch of progress all at once. Like this, you could just walk on the side of the Hokage Monument instead of repelling.

"Very nice, kids. You've all pretty much got it in a single afternoon. I knew you were crazy talented." Your teacher praises you. "Took us all a few days of practice to nail it, even Sasuke the prodigy. But like I said, you've all got a couple more weeks under your belt by now, and that can make all the difference."

The three of you slump down and rest for a bit, tired but proud of yourselves.

"See, I can help train you guys, I know what I'm doing." Kiba insists. "We can move to water walking next, that should be fun. And likely necessary for our next mission. I've signed you guys up to participate in this year's Leaf-Mist joint training exercise. They always ask for a Genin team, so I made sure to get in there and sign us up as soon as I could. I haven't been able to find another good C rank, but this should be plenty enough to keep you guys interested."

As you finish catching your breath, you think over this assignment.

>A. Sounds like fun, we get to travel and meet new people again

>B. A training exercise? This one's even more of a softball than the other mission

>C. I'll trust your judgement Sensei, you know what you're doing after all

>D. Write-in

>>6462996
>A. Sounds like fun, we get to travel and meet new people again

>>6462996
>A. Sounds like fun, we get to travel and meet new people again