Team #1 - A red dawn rises.

It was a cold night, you could really sense the summer was coming to an end. It was September already, the months had gone by as if they were just days. There was not much in terms of summer holidays and the like. Most kids had to prepare for their exams, advanced students had to stay in school to prepare for their second test.

A black shape was seated in the moonlight shadow on top of a high building overlooking the city of Konohagakure. He had watched the exams of his prospected students and was surprised how it had gone. They of course had not noticed him, people usually did not.

He was warned by Uchiha Itachi for this group. Not that they were dangerous, but that they needed special attention. They were good, they had potential, but they needed the right motivation, the right delicate touch. Itachi had joked that it probably would be best that the group would have 3 sensei, one for each student. And the shadow in the moon grinned as he remembered the exams.

He particularly liked the look of the Nomaru girl, she had a personality to match her daring appearance, but it was strange. She went through the motions of showing the range of her abilities, but looked at the Inuzuka kid apologetically before producing a raiton technique.
The boy reacted by holding his eyes shut, as if cued and rocked back and forth until the hairs on his body settled down again. She had to do it to show her abilities, but she did not like having to do so confronting him. At least when she did not do it for fun, but as an order.
How different was this opposed to the stories that the shadow had heard from the sensei that had taught Nomaru 2 months back.

Then there was that Inuzuka kid as well, kind-hearted and full of life. That kid showed some fine teamwork with his canine for someone his age. He would need to come to truly trust, but the Hokage was right placing those two together...

The third was far from out of place in the team, she could be the glue to tie things together. She would be the life of the team. At least if the trio would make it so well through the test as they did through their exams. How would they react?

The shadow stood up and he turned around to prepare the final test.
Only one more hour... Would THEY be ready? Would THEY be on time?
He did not know, they would be tested, it was so long ago that he was here... How would they do this time around?
"We will see!" he spoke before placing the mask back onto his face. Mere moments later, flame consumed him, leaving just ashes softly gliding to the ground.

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The trio would be expected at the lake training ground (training compound 3) at 4 AM. They were instructed to be well rested, sober and ready for action. They had not been told who would meet them or how. Just to be there on time.

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The moon shown bright in the nights' sky. As they arrived the students would find the gate unlocked and hanging ominously in the brackets supporting it. The wind softly blew the gate backwards and forwards a small distance. The squeaking sound supported the ominous feeling. Normally Chuunin and above were only allowed to train in these grounds.

But the way seemed clear and there was a straight path towards the place they were told to meet.
As they approached, the students would see a large lake. On the edge of the lake, a large outcrop of Stone rose from the ground.

On top of it a person was seated on top, bathing in the moonlight. The wind danced through the trees, breaking the moons rays from time to time, casting a shadow over the shadow. Making the form irregular and at times not human like.

However as the student would approach, they would find that the shadow was indeed very human like, though it hides the forms of the body well. As the first student approaches, the shadow would rise to its legs. The most obvious thing about the shadow was that it was wearing a mask to cover its face. All of his cloths were designed to obscure the forms of its body and it was hard to say whether the person behind the mask was male or female.
The Kimono (s)he wore, covered the body loosely, without being debilitating in combat. But it was clear that the sensei wore more practical shinobi clothes beneath the outer layer. The stance betrayed that much, there was something of power in that stance, a solidity that the trio would instantly recognize as a combat hardened veteran.

The only thing that seemed out of place was a sash worn around the waste, while the costume was almost entirely made up out of folds of black clothing, the sash and mask were different.
The sash was white, with a red circle on it, inscribed with the word fire in kanji.
The mask was made to look like a leaf and made it look like the person wearing it was screaming in rage or agony. Click here for an example

The figure had a tool of some sort, which it put down on the ground after which it seemingly ran off on its own... Or was it a rat? It seemed the figure had just used some sort of screwdriver on it, just moments before releasing it... So which was it?  

Once the first student reached it, it would address him or her by name. It spoke with a voice that made it hard to decide whether it was male or female, it sounded really androgynous. But it had a hint of feminism to it, just a hint like it was not completely natural to it. "Welcome ... , You are the first to arrive. Tell me, did you sleep well?"

She, for lack of a better term, would listen to the student's tale and whether it was long or short, she would then proceed to ask a second question. "So what do you expect we will be doing today as a test?"

As the students arrive, she would welcome each and proceed to ask the same questions.
They whole situation seems scripted, as if the conversation was planned ahead of time.

At 03:00 Rikka's alarm went off. She immediately snapped her eyes open and sat up straight in bed. 'I wonder what happened to the cow and the lobster,' she thought as she turned off the alarm. Literally rolling out of bed and on to the floor she wondered how far she could get through the day without using her legs... But that would have to be tested some other day! She had things to do, places to be, people to see! She rolled to the middle of her room and started on her daily stretching-routine.

After she was finished she got up from the floor and got dressed. She put her hair in a sideways ponytail to have it all out of her eyes, put on a colourful green top of flowy fabric and black pants. It looked nice, and it was still practical. She had no idea what the second test would be, but she wanted to wear practical clothing. She also chose her shinobi sandals to go along with the ensemble, and her hooded red raincoat, which was basically her autumn coat. Rikka never really got cold, unless she was tired or hungry, so she only needed protection against any eventual rain.

After breakfast with her parents, they didn't eat but were already up to wave their daughter goodbye, she left the house. Her parents had wished her good luck and told her to be careful. Rikka walked across the dark streets, the only light was coming from the moon and the occasional lamp post. She thought about the instructions. "Well rested, sober, and ready for action." Well rested she did, she went to bed very early. Ready for action, she totally was. But.. sober..? What did that even mean? "Don't drink?" Of course they would be sober, they were kids! Perhaps they had meant "sober clothing", and she should have skipped all the colours.. She would have to ask the sensei. She wondered who her sensei would be. The instructions hadn't said anything.

The streets were deserted. The wind blew through the treetops. Not quite hard, but clearly present. When she reached training compound 3, a place where she had never been before, she noticed the gate was open. Did that mean she had to enter? She looked around. There was no one else here. Perhaps she was the first of the students, but the sensei already had to be there, right? And since they weren't here that had to mean she had to continue onward.

The gate creaked as she pulled it open. 'Whoa. This is almost spooky.' Inside the training compound there was a straight path leading inwards. Obviously, she followed the path until she got to a lake with some rocks on one side. Rikka scanned the area and saw a person, or was it?, no, it was, sitting on the rocks. She walked up to the person, which she assumed would have to be her sensei, who rose.

The white-haired girl took in the sight of her supposed sensei. 'Who.. is this..?' She could barely make out if it was a man or a woman. And what was up with the mask? Were they not allowed to know who their sensei was, perhaps? Her eye fell on the kanji for fire. Perhaps their sensei was a fire user? That would be great, she could learn so much from them then! But.. why would anyone display their elemental affinity that openly to enemies..? That completely took away the element of surprise. Perhaps it was just "fire" as in Fire Country. More questions to be asked. As the tool (rat?) scurried off she tried to see what it was.

When she had reached the masked person they greeted her. "Welcome Uchiha Rikka. You are the first to arrive. Tell me, did you sleep well?" The voice didn't really clarify the gender-question either, but they didn't sound unpleasant.
"Good morning, sensei," was she already supposed to call this person sensei? Whatever, she was gonna opt for it anyway. "Yes, I slept well, thank you."
"So what do you expect we will be doing today as a test?"

Rikka looked at the sensei. Clearly very skilled in combat. They were in a training compound. But if they were going to do something combat-wise.. why so early? Rikka was a morning person, but not everyone was. Unless they had to finish a task before sunrise?
"I think... Hmm... Maybe something combat-related? But I think not in the "go in there and hit something" way. With more tactics, if that makes sense?" She looked up at the bright moon and then back at the leaf-mask. "Or perhaps finish a task before sunrise?"


(I'd like a couple of rolls, if I may, since Rikka is really concentrating on figuring out information about this person, and seeing if she can see what the tool is when it runs away.
Focusing on if she recognises the voice, the clothes, or the mask. Also, is it a man or woman? If maybe she's ever heard something about this person or a clan who uses leaf masks.
Subterfuge E, Shinobi Codes E, Politics D, Investigation D, Deduction D
Seeing the tool/robot/rat/thingy would be.. well, I'd say "give me a perception roll", but I'm not sure if it works that way here. But I'm guessing one or two of the above options.)

"NRAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
Hakabakashii woke up panting and heaving, sweat soaking his body. Hasuki opened his eyes, and made a worried face. Hakabakashii frantically tried to take in his surroundings and calm down. He looked around, squinting to make his eyes adjust to the darkness. Grass... Trees... Forest. Good.
He looked to his left and saw the worried look on Hasuki's face. It took him a couple of seconds to realise that his dog was not the bad guy anymore, but simply his comrade again. The dog slowly walked up to him, climbed on top of him and buried its snout in Hakabakashii's neck. Hakabakashii instinctively brought his hand up to pet Hasuki, stroking him from the base of the neck down to the tail. He let out a sigh and said: "Morning buddy." He slowly got up, gently pushing Hasuki off of him, and sat up. Damn. That was brutal. He had been having the same dream regularly ever since his day out with Rikka: his dog eating her and everyone he loved. He knew damn well what the dreams meant, but he forced himself to push them out of his head.

The boy looked up, and saw a giant tree covering his camp site, and blocking the largest portion of the still dark sky. A few metres away from him, an immaterial border seperated dry grass from wet, the giant oak giving him cover from the rain. Some twenty metres further raindrops pattered away at the surface of a small lake, co-existing with the chirps of birds all around him in a natural symphony. He closed his eyes, taking up the smells around him. He breathed out slowly, and took a look at his site. The fire had gone out hours ago, a small stream of smoke escaping from the embers. He got up and kicked some sand over it, just in case. He checked his watch: 1:46. He did not think he would be going back to sleep anytime soon, so he decided to just get up and make the most of his time before taking off.

He pulled off his wet and stinky clothes until he was wearing naught but briefs, folded his clothes on top of a rock, and walked off toward the lake. He shuddered when entering the rain, but shrugged it off, walking off towards the water. When he reached the waterside, he spread his arms wide and gently shifted his centre of gravity forward, slowly falling into the water. He allowed the water to take him for a second, simply floating underwater limply, before climbing back to the surface and starting his swim. Behind him, he heard Hasuki jump in with a splash, and they both set off toward the other side of the lake.

An hour later, wet from both his swim and the rain, he jammed the key into the lock of his crack shack and stepped in. He took off his wet clothes and tossed them into the laundry bin from a distance, dried his hair with a towel, then proceeded to put on another set of clothes. He put on a coat with a hood to protect his hair from the rain, and threw on some simple jeans. At this time, Hasuki thought it was a good idea to shed the moist from his fur. Hakabakashii recoiled, shouting: "Hasuki, dammit!" before catching himself. It was the middle of the night, after all. He picked up his instructions again and, biting down on an apple he had picked up, quickly read it again. Sober, ready for action and well rested. Well, at least I tick two of those three boxes. He quickly pondered a possible hidden meaning behind those words, then decided whatever meaning that would be was too obvious to be interesting, and walked out the door.

Looking at the gate hanging limply from its hinges, Hakabakashii shuddered due to the sense of creepiness it evoked. Every horror movie ever tells me to just turn around and go back now. But alas, his instructions were clear. A shinobi must let go of fear, he recited to himself. He took a deep breath, then pushed past the fence. While walking along the path beyond the gate, he considered the possibility of the meeting point being a trap or setup, something to test their anticipation. He decided to play it safe and take in his surroundings, look for possible exit strategies, and give the area a quick smell scan. He sensed that Rikka and Nomaru were already at the lake, which surprised him. He thought Nomaru would probably late, so the fact that he was the 'late' one, even though he was on time, bothered him a little. He also sensed a third presence, but he had difficulty getting a read off of it. Roll for getting a read. I have investigation C, Tracking (smell?) D, and subterfuge D if it's relevant. He looked down at his canine companion and said: "You smell that too, don't you?" Seperate roll for Hasuki? Pwetty pwease? Hasuki's information will stay with him, since he can't communicate it to his companion.

When he arrived at the lake, he was about to greet his companions when the shadowy figure looked at him straight and welcomed him. Hakabakashii was too taken aback to greet his teammates, instead forcing himself to respond to the... man? Woman? Whatever? "Define "well"." he retorted.
"So what do you expect we will be doing today as a test?" He pondered this for a few seconds. "Probably some hipstery mashup of physical, mental and emotional examination. I expect a test in which we are forced to be strong, level-headed and free of intervening emotions."
He looked to his side and added: "Also: hey guys."

Roll results:

Rikka: Info about woman/man thingy person sensei...
Empathy to find out real emotions the sensei is trying to hide: 1 Succes (3 dice) ((vs 8 successes))
You sense the sensei is excited about something, but you are not sure what.
Subterfuge to find out what she is trying to hide about him/herself: 0 Succes (2 dice) (( 5 successes))
You do not find out a lot about the sensei. She manages to hide everything you see.
Info about the tool:
Investigation to find out more about the tool: 2 successes (5 dice)
You find out that it is indeed a rat, with something tied to its back
Technology to find out what is tied to it. 2 successes (4 dice)
You do not know its function, but it seemed like it was used to track the rat. it had various LEDs that blinked and a small dish swivelling around.

Nomaru:
Subterfuge To find out more about the sensei: 2 successes (5 dice) ((5 successes))
You find out that the sensei is definitely hiding something. You know it to be the gender and any physical form/age. For all Nomaru knew, it could be her grandmother.

Hakabakashi:
Subterfuge to find out more about the sensei: 1 succes (3 dice) ((5 successes))
You find out little about the sensei, the person is hiding something, but you are not sure what.

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As described previously the trio would find the sensei be somewhat of a mystery. Form was not found. Though Nomaru would look VERY closely, the clothing was loose enough to hide any form of possible breasts that might or might not have been there. What the trio could deduce is that the sensei was, if she was in fact a woman, she did not have a big cup size. The voice could go both ways as well and even the smell did not hint very much in either direction.

As they all gave their answers, the sensei listened closely, seemingly absorbing their words... or possibly not paying enough attention. When the kids started to ask questions, she seemed to wake from some sort of a daze. as if her attention was indeed divided wrongly.

She did answer though, with the voice that was high for a man, but low for a woman. It could be either a man or a woman, but the one thing the kids knew... It was different than the previous voice that asked questions. It was similar enough though, but the accents were just slightly different. As if the personality behind the voice was slightly different as well. This voice was sharper, full of attention of detail, but most of all seemed harder, less tolerant, but with joy in it as well. But it was hidden beneath layers of experience of a colder world. However, the words came from the same person's lips.
"Who am I, that is a good question. Answer me this riddle and I'll give you an honest answer. " The masked sensei smiled, reminiscing something before continuing to speak.

When it spoke again, the voice was as different to the previous two, as they were to eachother. It could be the same voice, but it was off somehow. They trio would not have noticed this if the sensei had not spoken 3 times so differently right after each other, but still, it was the sensei that had spoken... "What is once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in a thousand years?"

At this time Nomaru would do her check for genjutsu and she would find there was nothing wrong with the world as she sees it. The person before them wasn't some sort of genjutsu trick..
Hasuki would also find out something from his own efforts of sniffing out answers. It however was not as expected. The dog would find out more than he could possibly relay to his owner. But as far as smells go Hasuki would know it was bad. In the direct surrounding there were 40 possible threats present. This does not mean humans, but somehow Hasuki smelled that the shadow was not the only shadow hiding something withing 15m. around them.

"By the way..." the sensei continued in her original voice "Who said I am your sensei..." With that, the mask dropped to the ground, and the rest of the body seemed to be absorbed into the shadows. Moonlight lid up the mask and Nomaru felt her neck hairs stand on end.

When Hakabakashii arrived Nomaru said the same as to Rikka: an awkward, distant 'Hi.' At least she tried to interact, which felt like a real achievement to her.

Then the thing started talking again. This thing, this fucking... thing. Nomaru started to get extremely annoyed, just by it being it. The moment when Nomaru wanted to give the answer to the easiest riddle in human history Nomaru said:'A riddle, are you fu-...' she fell silent, mainly because she already knew the answer, but also because she wanted to behave. Beside, she was still figuring out whether it was genjutsu and that distracted her a bit. There was no genjutsu, she was sure about that.

And whatever happened next gave her goosebumps. She felt a cold running up her spine and looked at the person dissapearing. "OH FOR FUCKS SAKE!" Nomaru yelled into the shadows. "Your answer... IS THE FUCKING LETTER M, YOU!"
Great. I fucked it up again... Now fucking what... Nomaru was irritated, extremely.

Oh, crap. I'm gonna hate this bitch.
Hakabakashii had always been a kind of give-it-to-me-straight guy, and hated being toyed with. This person - whom he believed to be a woman for no apparent reason at all - had raised being cryptic and vague to an entirely new level of aggrevation. Aaaaand she's gone. Fantastic. He figured she (he?) would be all about deceit and subversion, so he made a mental note to be weary of that. He also noticed that Hasuki had been growling silently for a short while now, and looking around. "What is it buddy...?" Was it possible that the dog couldn't smell her (him?) as well either? He closed his eyes, breathed out slowly, then sucked in as much air as possible through his nose. Roll for Hakabakashii for trying to figure out the sensei(?)'s location. Tracking D. I'm assuming a possibility of him figuring out that they are surrounded as well?

I can't write further than this, since I need that dice roll to continue.

She greeted Nomaru and Hakabakashii when they greeted her. She'd read the previous day that they would be in a team together. She had been really happy to see that Hakabakashii and her would be in the same team, since they had already started building up a friendship, or so it felt to her at least. When she'd seen that Nomaru would be in her team she at first felt a little.. negative about it. When she had gotten her set of clothes back from Nomaru (unwashed and still damp inside a plastic bag) she had just emptied the bag in the clothes hamper, without checking. And apparently Nomaru had forgotten a pack of cigarettes in her pants. Yeah... Not so great. Her parents had freaked, dragged her to the hospital to get her lungs checked, and grounded her for a whole month. Not just because of the cigarettes. She had already been grounded because she had come home late the day before. She definitely didn't want any more of those episodes.
But she had decided not to dwell on the negativity of what that one day with Nomaru had brought her. She wasn't the person to hold on to grudges. Besides, she and Nomaru were in a team now, it would benefit them all if they could work together on friendly terms. She would just have to check her pockets from now on if she ever borrowed Nomaru clothes again.

As for the present. The person had answered Nomaru's question with a question, or rather, a riddle. Involuntarily, Rikka got a song stuck in her head. She started swaying back and fort almost unnoticeably before she mentally slapped herself and tried to force the song from her head. Which was hard. Really hard. She was sure she would have to play this song later if she wanted to get any sleep that night.

In the meantime the person had disappeared with the words "By the way... Who said I am your sensei..." and Nomaru had answered the riddle. 'Near a tree by a river there's a hole in the ground...' She hummed a little. 'No! Focus! This is your test!' She forced herself to think about the rat she had seen run off earlier, and the satellite dish. Or antenna. Or something. And flashy LED-lights. That, in combination with Nomaru's yelling and the ominousness of the disappearing person, falling mask, and wind still blowing through the trees, effectively pulled her focus back to the situation at hand.

"Looks like we're getting this party started." She murmured with a faint grin. She wasn't afraid. This was only a test. They would never do anything to actually harm them for real. That would be absurd. She started moulding chakra to fill her chakra pool, ready if anything would attack them, and started moving closer to the other three. She looked at Hakabakashii and Hasuki. Apparently Hasuki was.. picking up on something, she guessed? (Can't think about chakra now. :(What is it. 20? Maybe? Also, she's really intently checking her surroundings, on the lookout for danger. I guess rolls? Not sure if those are extra or "standard" though.)

As Nomaru had her teen tantrum, she felt energized, herself! 'Fuck this shit,' she mumbled to herself as she walked towards the stone and grabbed the mask from the ground to take a good look at it. There might have been a clue in there, or something. 'Snowwhite, Dog Boy, Dog, come here!' Nomaru spoke calmly, without any bad intentions. She just honestly forgot the names of her teammates, still looking at the mask. She grabbed a can of Energy Drink and a cigarette from her bag and sat down on the stone and looked at her teammates, but at the same time she seemed to look through them.

'Something I figured from the last exam I did was teamwork and that kind of bullshit. Expect the worst to happen, they don't go easy on you.' Her voice was still a bit distant, as if she was more talking to the air than to the others, but at least she tried to give it a go. Mainly because she wanted to go home as soon as possible. She lit the cigarette and just wanted to continue with her story, so she did. 'Last Genin exam that dick ass Uchiha Sora gave me a bruise the size of a football by kicking me in the stomach. I passed out, woke up in my own puke to figure I was trapped in some tarded Genjutsu. One of my other teammates had ran off for some idiotic reason and that was a fucking pain in the ass... After that he fucking told me I was doing this for his fucking entertainment... and I would have fucking passed anyway, no mater the outcome... But whatever, that's in the past. I just mainly want to tell you guys it's way bigger than we might think, and it can hurt.

Nomaru fell silent, she looked at the moon and took a big hit of her cigarette after she lit it and after looking at the mask she passed it to something else. And I want to know what you guys have got so far... When I arrived I saw a ratty thing, sort of? Couldn't figure out much else. What have you guys got? And I'm especially looking at you and your dog,' she looked at Hakabakashii. 'What did your Inuzuka Super Sense get?' Nomaru knew more about the Inuzuka Clan then she wanted to, but had to be stuck with it. Yukari could smell sweaty feet from a mile away, something the girl used to hate. 'And white girl, what did you get? You arrived like half a minute before me I'm guessing?'

Rolls: Investigation C on the mask for any possible hidden clues.

Nomaru seemed to be taking the lead on this one. Hakabakashii didn't care, and was mainly frustrated by the fact that his smell hadn't picked up on anything. Also, Hasuki's behaviour bothered him. The dog couldn't stop growling, and kept looking around frantically as if something was really, really wrong. He was beginning to feel like he wasn't as in shape as he wanted to be on this test. Maybe he should have spent some more time actually training or preparing for this crap? Nomaru's speech didn't really help either. He could have seen it coming though: no way would any sensei go pussy on them. They were young, but they were also in training for one of the hardest and most dangerous occupations in the world.

When Nomaru expressed the significance of his and Hasuki's smell, he felt himself slowly break apart. Being confronted with the importance of his abilities for the team, and it not working at the moment made him feel the most useless sack of crap in the universe. "Rat? What Rat? Anyway, I got nothing. But for some reason Hasuki is flipping out. I think we should be very, very weary. It may be possible that there is something in the air, or we're about to be trapped, or we're surrounded, or... I don't know." He bent down to Hasuki. "What on earth is the problem buddy?" This was getting real ominous, real fast, and Hakabakashii wasn't sure he would be able to respond to it as much as he was used to. He was flexible, but he needed to know what was going on first.

As the trio talked of what to do, Hasuki did something thet Hakabakashi would not expect. The dog would place himself between him and the two girls and took a defensive posture against them and right when Nomaru took the mask from the ground, the dog started to growl towards her. Baring his teeth and all.

Meanwhile Hakabakashi would feel hatred and fear boiling up from the dog, who was staring at the other duo. As the dog backed up slowly away from them, making sure to stay between Hakabakashi and the girls.

Nomaru would find the mask to seemingly be ordinary. Though a small tingle ran through her hand as she touched it. The longer she touched the mask, the intenser the feelings became. She would hear whispers, barely audible and somehow she knew, that if she put on the mask, she could hear them properly.

"So you know your riddles..." a bodyless voice spoke, it seemed to come from every direction at once..
"I'll give you your answers as promised" it boomed
"Some call me a demon..."
"Some call me a beast..."
"However, I am always a shadow..."
"Some have learned to fear me..."
"They shiver at the mere mention of my name..."
"But I am here to test you..."
"Do you have what it takes?"

Rikka watched with alert eyes as Nomaru started walking towards the fallen mask. She started following after Nomaru, walking close up to her. "Snowwhite!" All the other words fell away. It was like she was struck by lightning, rooted to the ground. Her eyes widened and she stared at Nomaru.

'How.. How did she.. Has she..' Her mind had become dangerously numb, icy coldness seeping into her veins. Her eyes stared straight ahead of her, not seeing anything. Had Nomaru talked to the Uchiha children? Fleeting memories flashed before her eyes. Taunting, sadistic, voices of children singing out to her. "Hey, snowwhite! Where are your dwarves?" The young white-haired Uchiha tried to shy away from the cruel tone of the children. "..bullshit. Expect the worst to happen." Nomaru's voice rang out. Loud whispers, "Apparently she tried looking in a mirror once, but she's so white it couldn't catch her reflection." "..dick ass Uchiha Sora" "Hey, Snowwhite! The hunter asked us to cut out your heart for him, because he doesn't want to touch you." The children twirled a kunai around their fingers while laughing at her. "I passed out, woke up in my own puke.." They threw an apple at her and told her to go "choke on that and die". "I just mainly want to tell you guys it's way bigger than we might think, and it can hurt."

Rikka stared at the black-haired girl, wishing so much that she had black hair as well. 'It already has.' She hadn't noticed that tears had started streaming down her face and dripping to the ground. One hand was clutched to her chest and the other wrapped around her waist as she tried to quench the physical pain she was feeling, cutting through her like an icy knife.

She had thought that she would be rid of all this.. this.. bullying. All the name-calling and taunting. The mental and physical abuse. Everything would be better after she left the academy. She wouldn't have to see the other Uchiha children every day anymore. But.. it wasn't going to be better. Her life would be spiralling downward. She would now have to be in a team with someone who hated her. Who would throw apples at her, ask her where her dwarves were, and threaten to cut her heart out. Who would call her Snowwhite.

She had finally found her voice and asked the girl, "How.. how did you know..?" Her voice, even though found, was shaky, croaking and unsteady. She bit back a sob. "Did.. they talk to you? Did.. they tell you to.. to call me that..?" She wrapped her arms tighter around herself and closed her eyes as she drew in a shaky breath. It was a miracle that she still was standing.

Why? Why did she have to have this breakdown now? She would fail her test. She would bring shame to her parents. Her eyes sprung open as she came to a realisation. She would have to go back to the academy. "Oh gods.." she whispered. Had they planned this all along? Were they deliberately trying to sabotage her exam? Her left arm, wrapped around her waist, flew up to her hair. Her white, disgusting, discoloured, hair. She didn't want to go back. She started hyperventilating and murmuring "No, no, no, no." Shaking her head. She didn't want to go back. She had to pass this exam! She had to become a genin and be part of a team. One bully would be better than a whole classroom. Why was she failing this right now?!

Nomaru felt shivers running down her spine with the mask in her hand and just when she was about to put it on the dog got more aggressive and the white girl... started crying. 'Well fuck...' Nomaru thought out loud and just stashed the mask in her bag. It was too big, but at least it fitted sort of. It wouldn't fall out immediately.

She was pretty sure the dog boy could take care of his dog, so she just walked up to the white girl, not sure if this was part of the test or actually something she had told them. 'Hey white girl... are you alright?' Suddenly another shiver ran down her spine. This girl was the whitest girl she had ever seen, ever... She had to think back at what she really said, but then it hit her. Snowwhite... White girl... FUCK! SHE'S BULLIED A LOT! It reminded Nomaru a lot of her own episode in where she would get really offended if people called her short. Then there was this episode where she was just kissing random guys and suddenly she was "the easiest girl in Konoha." A slut, a whore, Koui-chan! The cheapest girl in town. Kissing with guys gossips turned into gossips about her sleeping with everyone. Yukari would just punch anyone in the face who talked shit about her, but still... It hurts a lot, she knew that much. It didn't bother her anymore but she understood how the girl could feel. 'Did I say something wrong? Did who tell me to call you what? Snowwhite? White girl?'

To her own surprise Nomaru would kneel down in front of Rikka and put her arms around her, pressing her closely to her. She hated people crying like this. It was honest, she was hurt... How... Nomaru felt like she had done something really bad, like murder a puppy in front of a child. She was almost surprised by her own behavior and sure, she felt her usual annoyance but the sooner this girl was back to her senses and the sooner Dog Boy would get his fucking dog to calm down, the faster they could continue with this shitty thing. At least: that's what she told herself.
'I'm sorry, I'm bad with names... I always give people silly nicknames... Like I used to have this... friend... Nabe. I called him Snugglebutt. Hey... Please stop crying. Nobody told me to call you anything...'

For some reason, suddenly Rikka started shaking and acting weird. Although Hakabakashii was worried about her, he was more occupied with trying to figure out what was wrong with Hasuki. It seemed as though Nomaru was already trying to calm Rikka down, so he left that in her hands. Hasuki was growling and whipping his head everywhere, and Hakabakashii was worried that he was possessed or something. Just as it seemed as if Rikka was going to be okay, Hasuki started growling louder and leapt forward, forming a barrier between him and the girls. "Hasuki... What are you-" The dog started snarling, borderline aggressive, and Hakabakashii felt a knot of dread and panic form in his entire body. Something wasn't right. He could have written it off as his dog sensing something a minute ago, but now it seemed as if something was... off about his dog.

"Hasuki, stop it! Please!" Hasuki started barking and continued his snarl. "What are you doing!?" Even to the girls this was hard to ignore. His dog was getting more aggressive than he had ever seen him. This is bad. This is really really really bad. "Girls...?" he started, slowly extending his arm, palm forward, toward the girls, as a stay-back signal, "Stay calm, and stay back. He is protecting me. I don't know why, but something about you is making him aggressive. Just stay back." To Hasuki: "Come on buddy, you know Rikka don't you? She's a friend. Come on, snap out of it!" Suddenly, a realisation emerged in his head. He dropped his arms limply at his sides as he said, staring: "Oh shit... I think he may be genjutsu'd." He snapped back, raised his arm again, and continued. "Ok. Ok ok ok. Ok, eh... Just... stay back. I've never seen him like this, and I don't know what he'll do. Just... Don't come close, and DON'T. TOUCH HIM. Just... wait. See what happens. And if need be, I'll take him out myself. Got it!?" he concluded with a shout, more angry at what he might have to do than anything else. "Just... do you know anything about genjutsu?" What the FUCK is going on!??!? He frantically tried to figure out what was happening, throwing another smell scan in there just to be sure. (Animal Ken B, Investigation C, Tracking D.)

"Did I say something wrong? Did who tell me to call you that? Snowwhite? White girl?" Her female teammate knelt down in front of her and put her arms around Rikka. Rikka hadn't noticed how close she was until she actually put her arms around Rikka. At first she didn't know what to do. This girl had called her snowwhite, and now she was.. comforting her? Confusion washed through her, but she couldn't deny that she felt comforted by the hug. The girl felt sincere. Rikka started to calm down as she leaned into the girl.
"Snow.." she coughed to get rid of the rasp in her voice. "Snowwhite. I don't.. like that name." Clearly that was a huge understatement, but she felt that it would get the message through. She didn't want to tell Nomaru that it was the other Uchiha kids bullying her. It would feel like she was ratting her own clan out, and she had always been taught that the clan was important and that you couldn't damage the clan's reputation.

"I'm sorry, I'm bad with names..." The black-haired girl soothed her. "I always give people silly nicknames... Like, I used to have this.. friend.. Nabe. I called him Snugglebutt. Hey.. please stop crying." Rikka let out a small hiccup of laughter. Snugglebutt. "Nobody told me to call you anything..." Rikka looked up to the girl who had her arms around her and she believed her. She wondered how she'd come up with the name Snowwhite, but, then again, you didn't really have to be a genius to do that.

"I believe you. I'm sorry I overreacted and almost ruined the test for us." She wiped the tears out of her eyes with her hands. "Thank you." She said, sincerely. She was about to ask the girl something, but all of a sudden she heard growling behind her. She stood up, Nomaru had let go of her, and turned around quickly, seeing Hasuki standing there.
Hakabakashii seemed to start to panic as Hasuki showed aggressive behaviour, towards her and Nomaru! 'Well, she thought dryly, 'I've had my moment of panic. It's only fair that he should get his as well.'

She wiped away the last stray tear as she focused on the situation at hand. They had their test. Hasuki was acting weird. Hakabakashii was starting to panic.
"Hakabakashii-san. Calm down. We will help you. Everything is going to be fine." She sniffled a little, the last remnants of her breakdown. She had to focus now. She focused on Hasuki, trying to figure out what was wrong.
"Do you have anything?" she asked Nomaru, standing next to her.

(Rawls! Genjutsu skill 3, but that doesn't do anything, right? Animal Ken E, Empathy D, Genjutsu C, Subterfuge E, Investigation D.
She checks for any genjutsu cast on Hasuki, on the area, trying to locate it if it is there. She also uses animal ken and empathy to figure out more information as to why Hasuki might be behaving the way he does. And subterfuge and investigation (which maybe should be a C?) to find out general things, any things out of the ordinary about Hasuki, the area, or other things.)

As the girls try and check Hasuki for a genjutsu, they would find that it was hard to come near. In fact, Rikka would notice she would come close to being bitten. It was Hakabakashi's connection and knowledge of animals, that allowed the girls to come close enough to test it...

He could however not prevent Hasuki to launch at Nomaru when she touched the mask. Only Rikka actually succeeded in touching Hasuki, enough to notice that the dog was indeed affected by a genjutsu.

As Rikka laid her hand on the dog, she would notice a strange energy. Though it was like a chakra system, like she had herself, the dog's was trembling a bit, where hers was flowing. It was hard to describe, but it did not feel natural.

"Alright. Let's do this." She very carefully started to approach the growling dog. Trying to make sure not to make too sudden movements. "Take it easy, Hasuki. It's me, Rikka. You know me." She tried to soothe the dog, but he was wild and didn't seem to listen. She stretched a hand out to Hasuki to test if he was under a genjutsu and-
"Whoa!" She quickly pulled her hand back and jumped to the side, very narrowly avoiding being bitten by Hasuki.
"Hakabakashi-san, do you think you could maybe.. secure Hasuki? We need to be able to get close to him to check for genjutsu."

What the hell is going on!?
In a flash, Hasuki had launched himself at Nomaru, biting down hard on her arm. Nomaru was slamming Hasuki down on the ground and kicking him, anything to get him off. For a second, deep and violent hatred bubbled up inside him toward Nomaru. Oh no you don't!
Hakabakashii sprinted toward Nomaru, barking: "Nomaru! Quit it! NOW!" and launched himself on top of his dog. Hasuki let go of Nomaru's arm, but only to try and snap at him, almost biting his ear off. Hakabakashii hooked one arm under the dog's chin, and with his other pressed the dog's face down against the ground. "Now, dammit! NOW!" he screamed, trying to keep his dog subdued. Were dogs supposed to be this strong? For some reason it seemed as if all brakes were cut on his dog; they had to get rid of this problem as soon as possible, or Hakabakashii was afraid Hasuki would hurt himself.

Hasuki shot past her and straight for Nomaru. Before Rikka had been able to do anything the dog had bitten down on Nomaru's hand, who kicked the dog away. Hakabakashii was obviously not too happy about this, she knew the bond he had with his dog.

"Now, dammit! NOW!" Rikka flashed towards the dog, wasting no time in putting her hand to the little body.
"His chakra-flow is disrupted," she informed the others. This meant he was under a genjutsu indeed. She executed kai.

Honestly, I'm really assuming here that that means the dog is under genjutsu, but I can't know for sure, since I haven't attended ninja academy. I was always playing hooky. However, Rikka would know. And I don't know how kai works. But Rikka would know.
Also, perhaps Nomaru's kick would've pulled Hasuki out of the genjutsu? Physical pain?

Physical pain (as in damage in HP) would release. However a kick could still miss. I still need to make a roll for it. As said in private chat, yes Hasuki is under a genjutsu, So either a HP of damage or a successful kai would do the trick...

Hasuki would dodge the attempt to kick him, but the intend of Nomaru was still visible. As he lands he would distrust Nomaru deeply and still growl and attempt to bite again. However Haka would successfully subdue the dog, making it rather easy for Rikka to perform her kai. HOWEVER! Before the genjutsu is lifted, hakabakashi could see the pain of betrayal in hasuki's eyes as he pins the dog down.

As the kai is performed, Haka would feel shivers down his own spine, as if a bucket of cold water is dropped over him. Hasuki is confused and scared, but no longer to a point where the dog is frightened enough to attack. He however has good memory of Nomaru trying to kick him.. (please resume control of Hasuki)

As Nomaru joins the other three once more, but she and Haka would hear whispers coming from the mask. Both were tempted by it, to put it on. Should rikka come in contact with the mask, she would hear it as well. As well as feel the urge to put it on.

Hakabakashii almost couldn't handle Hasuki's strength, and his own strength almost vanished completely when he saw the fear in the dog's eyes. Not necessarily the fear toward what was happening, but toward him. His eyes screamed "Why are you doing this to me!?" and it broke his heart in several places. He knew the dog was apparently under the influence of genjutsu, and that the dog honestly didn't know what he was doing wrong, just that his friend was restraining him, but it still hurt like hell to see that in his eyes. When the dog finally calmed down, Habakabashii sat down on his knees, and stroked the dog's head. "Hey, buddy... You ok? I'm sorry... I'm sorry." He lightly put his forehead against the forehead of his dog, and thanked everything that things turned out ok. He looked to his side, and gave Rikka a thanking smile. "Thanks Rikka, I owe you one..." His fear subsided, and his limbs felt like jelly. Untill he looked up and saw Nomaru standing there, that is. At that moment a chill punched its way through his spine, and made him feel like he had been standing in the snow for an hour. This only added to his annoyance, and multiplied the anger he felt toward Nomaru.

He stood up and walked over, hatred, anger, aggression, fear, depression, memories and every other bad thing ever bubbling up in every cell in his body, taking him over and clouding his vision. "And YOU!" he exclaimed, pushing Nomaru's shoulders with both hands. "If I EVER-" - another push - "-see you trying to kick my dog again, I will FUCKING MURDER YOU!" A feral growl escaped his throat before he added: "AM I CLEAR!?"

Hasuki lay on the ground, staring at the dirt. He had no idea what had happened, but he could remember bits and pieces. He could mostly remember violent hatred toward Nomaru, and a strange and evil scent coming from somehwere around her. He couldn't place it, and his memory was foggy, but there was something about Nomaru that wasn't right. He didn't know what though. All he knew was that it scared the hell out of him. As he looked up, he saw his friend storming toward Nomaru, and screaming something about her kicking him. Ooooh crap. The dog got up and ran over.

Hakabakashii was about to shout some more, or possibly punch or spit or kick or scream or cry, when suddenly Hasuki stood before him and started barking at him. What are you- he thought, but suddenly, the dog turned 180 degrees and started barking at Nomaru. He did this two or three times, when Hakabakashii realised something he hadn't seen Hasuki do in his life. He's mediating. He's fucking mediating. At that moment, he could hear whispers coming from the mask Nomaru was holding. We have better things to do. Thanks buddy. He let out a small laugh. "Damn, my dog is smarter than I am it seems..." He wiped the tears of anger from his face and added: "We can't fight amongst ourselves. I'm sorry for pushing you, Nomaru, but you better believe I meant every single word I said." He looked down at the mask and said: "So... what do we do with it? Do we... put it on?" It looked like it would fit nicely on his face, and he felt like hiding his face anyway. Everything in his brain screamed that it was a trap, to not put it on, to leave it, bury it, burn it, lock it away, but a tiny fragment in the back of his brain was curious to see what would happen if he put it on.

Rikka almost felt a sort of calm come over her when she noticed the kai taking effect on the pup. "Thanks Rikka, I owe you one..." She smiled back. "You're welcome. Teammate." She looked at the little dog. He seemed tired. 'Boy, do I know how you feel,' she thought. The drama of her breakdown combined with the stress of Hasuki being under the influence was tiring. She was about to ask the dog if he was okay, however, the drama and stress wasn't over yet.

"And YOU! If I EVER see you trying to kick my dog again, I will FUCKING MURDER YOU!" "Fuck you!" "AM I CLEAR!?"[/b] Rikka stared, she severely disliked people fighting. But she could understand both sides. She got up and went to stand in between the two, next to Hasuki.

"That's enough, you two!" Her voice sounded strict. She knew the bond between Hakabakashii and Hasuki, but Hakabakashii threatening to kill Nomaru slightly scared her anyway. But she was sure he wouldn't really. Not really. It was just a figure of speech, and he was angry. "You both have a side to the story and you both have legitimate reasons for acting they way you act, but right now, we've got a test to finish." She liked Hakabakashii, and Nomaru had acted nice to her, so she thought there was more to the girl than just her hard exterior. She didn't want them to fight. Also, working together as a team would be so much easier if they at least would be on speaking terms. Hakabakashii apologised, sort of, and Nomaru basically wished them to fail the test. The comment about the clan stung, but Rikka ignored it. Nomaru had shown not two minutes ago that she did care, and she was just upset right now.

"I'm not sure if putting on that mask is the best idea." She stared at the mask, and thought about the rat that had run off. "But it might be the only one we have right now. Unless we want to chase after that rat I saw running away with some sort of transmitter device earlier. The sensei was doing something to the device, I think, and then let the rat run off." She looked at the other two, still a serious look on her face. "I don't know if we can trace the rat. That would have to be something you decide, Hakabakashii-san." She looked at the mask again, still not sure if she wanted anyone to put on that mask, but still.. She got an idea and tried to check if maybe the genjutsu was linked to the mask, since he had launched at Nomaru specifically, who had been holding the mask.

(I'm not sure if I've already rolled for this, if I have, just leave it be and Rikka doesn't find out additional information. But a genjutsu check on the mask. Genjutsu can be linked to objects, right?)