Fandom Naruto: Our Ninja Way

[BeyondDandy]

Naruto: Our Ninja Way

The Shinobi world has been making monumental changes in the last couple of years, turmoil rising as tension between the Five Great Nations builds. A peace-seeking Konoha has dug themselves deep into the root of this increasing pandemonium. With hopes of expanding their parliamentary ideals to the rest of the world, Konoha has spread itself thin - spending all of its resources in an attempt of creating a nonpartisan world government. Its efforts, despite extensive, have not yet succeeded at the level the Hokage and his counsel had hoped for. In an attempt to put immediate halt to the seeming divide caused by their intervention, Konoha started its International Genin Initiative - a program to bring Genin from all over the globe together and work towards achieving Konoha’s goal of unison and peace.

International Genin Initiave: Day 1

“Today you rise to the occasion and become Shinobi of new. You are tasked with bringing unity to the Land of Fire and to every nation your feet may cross. You are the next generation’s hope. You are the future of the Shinobi World. I’ll now turn it over to Mr. Taniguchi who will go over everything you need to know before you head out on your first assignment. I appreciate your time. Good luck!”

With a wink and half-smile, Semaki Akinoue - The Hokage - headed towards the stairs of the Hokage estate after finishing her hour long speech about what the Genin would expect in their travels under the IGI (International Genin Initiative). As she started her descent from the rooftop, Rinne and his colleagues bowed in respect to their leader, turning back to their pupils shortly after. With his signature smile, Rinne glanced over all of the new ninja as he cleared his throat. “Ahem….”

“Welcome to day one of the International Genin Initiative. My name is Rinne Taniguchi. My peers behind me are Yamamoto Kazuya and Midori Yamanaka. We are your superiors in this program and have been tasked with your training and development as a ninja. As you may have already noticed, you do not all wear a Leaf headband. Some of you have come from across the globe to be here on your own accord or have been hand selected by our Hokage. Our goal moving forward is to unite the Five Great Nations, so please put your personal vendettas aside.” Rinne paused as he turned his back on the small ninja and faced the giant Hokage Rock that towered behind him.

“If you want to be a part of history you must leave selflessness behind. From this day on you are a unit, no longer ninja, but Shinobi. Your life is as valuable as the person’s next to you. You are inheritors of the Will of Fire. Hope of our ancestors, people and future generations….” he turned around to face the young Genin again. “....But anyways, let’s get you teamed up so we can get out of here.” Pulling out a folder from his back pocket, Rinne started reading it’s contents and grouping the Genin together under their new team leaders.

“Team 9, led by Yamamoto Kazuya. Daihiko Akimichi. Indakki Taiyo. Sheena Fubuki. Team 4, led by Midori Yamanaka. Issho Hyuga. Mako Levatine and Yuki Shion. Team 5, led by yours truly. Kusayanagi Yayaka. Hiromi Uchiha. Luna Kusaki. These are your teams and cannot be changed. We will be embarking on our first assignment tomorrow morning as a group. We will brief you on what to expect and what the mission holds in the morning, so prepare yourself mentally. You will get the rest of the day to gather any belongings you would like to bring on this journey, but please only pack essentials. Accommodations have been prepared for those of you that would like to spend the night here in the left building downstairs.”

Rinne turned back to his fellow Jonin. “Anything either of you would like to add?”

“With that, Team 5, come, gather around. I’d like to properly introduce myself. My name is Rinne Taniguchi as you heard me say already…..” the nerves immediately started to kick in as he was faced with his worst enemy - little women. Their gaze burned right through his soul for some reason. The big bad samurai felt swordless in the presence of his nemesis. “Ahem…”

“My name is Rinne Taniguchi. I was raised in Konoha by a pair of awesome rice farmers. Like you I pride myself in being a Shinobi. This life is very difficult, but very rewarding. You have decided to put others before yourself and that is the greatest thing a human being can do. Anyway, I love chocolate and am okay at Shogi. I’d love to play sometime with any of you willing to take me on. But, enough about me, please, tell me about yourself and……..let me know what you thought of your teammate at first glance. Be honest.”​

 

[sheesh]

Yamamoto kept his eyes closed the entire time his peer Rinne spoke, with his chin slightly pointed down and his hands hanging in his pockets. Unflinching, he shook his head in response to the prospect of having anything more to add. He let out a soft huff, reminiscent of a sigh before he approached his assigned team much in the same way Rinne did. Taking after his example, he opened his mouth to speak, presumably to introduce himself, but after freezing in a position with his mouth open for a few moments, he closed his mouth slowly. He looked at the three Genin - Daihiko, Indakki, and and Sheena.

He had been able to read what he could about his team just a few hours prior to the twelve of them meeting. He knew exactly what he was getting, yet he felt a sense of expecting something...more. He took a quick glance over at Rinne's team - the only outstanding thing was their resident Uchiha. Since she wasn't in his team he had absolutely no idea what her capabilities were. He was aware that the coveted Sharigan, unlike the Byakugan, wasn't available from birth and instead had to be awakened - in which the event itself was quite rare. Most Uchiha Shinobi often died before, or simply couldn't awaken their Sharigan at any point in their ninja career. He followed the same motion upon looking at Midori's team. They too had one of the three great dōjutsu in their Hyuga. Not to say that the hallmark of a great ninja came from whatever ability their eyes held.

But most of the time that ability helped in the whole being a "great ninja" thing.

He reminisced about his time reviewing his team's information, sitting in a park with three folders. He recalled how the creases on the folder were fresh, and the folder itself lacked any kind of wear and tear. He could only assume that all Genin's folders looked as such, the folders being new just as the young adolescents were to being ninja. His thoughts back then came to him almost immediately, word for word. He looked to the sky absently, as if he had completely forgotten his team stood in front of him while he rummaged through his memories. 'Daihiko, son of Ietaka Akimichi. His father clearly has a name for himself, though I've never met him personally. At the very least I - no, everyone knows about his abilities.' He let out another puff of air as he mentally glossed over the fact that he was severely lacking something that Daihiko's father had. He averted his eyes from the sky, pinning them to Daihiko's own eyes. He stared directly into them, as if searching for a way to see right through them right into Daihiko's being.

'I can't tell if he's ever had an original thought, or if he's ever had a thought to begin with.' He quickly took in his appearance, his eyes flicking to the ground at Daihiko's feet then back up to his face. 'Even if I hadn't heard his name, I probably would've been able to tell he was an Akimichi regardless...Not too many other clans have similar trademark hair such as theirs.' For a moment, he felt like he could've deduced something about Daihiko without even having asked a single question. In his eyes, he could tell the young Akimichi was sharper then Yamamoto thought, catching a flash of intelligence, of sharpened and honed wit.

Indakki Taiyo. Yamamoto cocked his head to the left, then to the right after looking at Indakki for just a moment, his face unflinching and refusing to betray any of his thoughts. He took his hands out of his pockets and opened his left hand, using his right to grab each individual finger at the knuckles, and bending them slightly just until they popped. He did this idly while he thought: 'I'm not entirely sure if I have nothing to worry about or if I need to actually watch out for him. I'd hate to have to request a replacement without even getting to know all of them, but...' He took in his rough exterior, his body language immediately betraying the very concept of his personality.

Again, he turned his head to set his dark eyes upon his last subordinate, Sheena Fubuki Immediately he could tell there was at least and inkling of similarities between the former Indakki's personality and the young lady he was analyzing. However, he got the feeling that there were more differences than similarities. Looking at her headband, he took in that she was from the Village Hidden in the Clouds. He recalled having a few 'incidents' with that very village's Anbu, and recalled even more instances where his own team had to cover up that they had even "interacted" with each other. Even the Hokage couldn't deny the presence of their shinobi within the Hidden Leaf's borders, and a lot of the time whenever shinobi were sent to investigate, things went far from right very quickly. He spoke quietly to himself, beginning to comment on the matter: "Funny. I..." His voice trailed off as he came to the realization he had just been staring at them individually without saying a single word.

'Here I was trying to keep pace with Rinne, but I got off track. Nonetheless...'

"Hello everyone. Daihiko, Indakki, Sheena. As you know, my name is Yamamoto Kazuya." He stopped completely, as to give the impression he was done speaking entirely. He adjusted his sleeves before clearing his throat and beginning to speak once again. "I was raised in cabin only a few miles outside of the village. I've been a member of the Hidden Leaf's Anbu for 10 years of my career." He looked at the ground, quite clearly trying to find the words to introduce himself to the extent that Rinne was doing for his team. "I took after my father in the way that we both have an aptitude for making things. These three scrolls I carry?" He turned to the left slightly and raised his left arm to give a better visual. Sure enough, there were three summoning scrolls hanging from his flak vest. He turned to face them fully once more, clearing his throat. "They're puppets I made. I'd let you see them now, but there's probably a better time and place for that."

He looked at his own feet once more, and after a moment brought his left hand up to his face, covering it entirely until the shape of his hand shrunk to pinch the bridge of his nose while he furrowed his brow, the overall expression looking as if Yamamoto had just been struck with a terrible headache. "As you can see, I'm not much of a talker, and I don't really intend to be one anytime soon: so for all intents and purposes, if you don't have to talk to me - don't." He looked up once more, then idly off to the side clearly considering if there was anything else he needed to say. The corner of his mouth tugging ever so slightly to form a smile, he straightened, as if satisfied with his own abysmal effort to talk to his team. His posture slouched again slightly after considering that maybe they would like to talk regardless. Emphatically, Yamamoto knew he couldn't just completely analyze someone's entire personality just by looking them up and down like he was trying to take measurements for a dress.

"I guess this is the part where you...tell me about yourselves." He placed a hand on his chin, then put both of them back in his pockets. "Ready when you guys are...Of course, if none of you have anything to say that'll be fine too."

 

[Sei Shonagon]

Kusayanagi Yayaka​

The village of Konohagakure was the lukewarm earth underneath her feet to the vibrant sky of banners, lining her sight in winding streets of rows of stalls. It was the steady rhythm of chatter occasionally peaking in falsettos of laughter on her eardrums and the brushing of shoulders while navigating the pulsating crowd. It was her hand, occasionally dispersing the inked night of her robe to run along the edges of the wooden tables. Hip descending shortly after in a bump that destabilized the stacked apples on top. The still disguised hand sneaking one of the falling fruits away under the cover while the other earnestly presented the owner with the second apple that had fallen. Perhaps still reeling from the hastiness of the incident, the man delayed accepting it and instead stared at the disguised figure with knitted brows. A single equally stubborn lavender eye staring back with a gleam of deviltry from under the hood until he grabbed the apple. Some belated 'sorry' and 'thank you' later, they both moved on as if nothing had happened. The robed figure disappearing into the waves of the crowd as the merchant continued with his day, one less apple rich.

This was Konohagakure, and this was her life now.

Climbing up on one of the many ruddy roofs dotting the grassy hills and its thick foliage, the girl settled down on the edge with a soft thud. Hand bringing the red apple to parted lips and teeth carving out a bite next as she watched the streets below. An elderly man, a family of three, a lone woman, a child, all oblivious of the eye which observed them from above as they hurried to and fro. She stayed for a while, legs comfortably dangling off the last row of tiles until deciding that nothing was out of the ordinary and moved on. Light feet making short work of the pathing over the city in smooth jumps and vaults, gaze not even looking ahead but down at the people below as she did. Only coming to a halt once she stood hovering above the city gate. "...25 seconds, that's faster than yesterday." She breathed out, the slightly exalted rising and faltering of her chest quickly evening out into silence once again when the guards switched out each other.

"-Did you hear? Apparently, another group of reconnaissance shinobi was found dead yesterday." The first man declared with a shudder.
"Dead as in murdered?" Inquired the second while spinning his kunai leisurely on the index finger.
The first man shrugged, "There's no official verdict yet, but that's what they believe. There was no evidence of a wildlife attack, after all. -Actually, no traces at all except a prick on their skin".
"Poison, huh?" The second sighed, putting his hands behind his head.
"Probably." Nodded the first, following with a sigh of his own.

The conversation died out, and she turned on her heel. No one there to see what kind of expression she made as she headed for the Hokage office. Any hints of it already wiped clean as she joined the rest of the youths that had converged in front of the building.

"My name is Rinne Taniguchi. I was raised in Konoha by a pair of awesome rice farmers. Like you I pride myself in being a Shinobi. This life is very difficult, but very rewarding. You have decided to put others before yourself and that is the greatest thing a human being can do. Anyway, I love chocolate and am okay at Shogi. I’d love to play sometime with any of you willing to take me on. But, enough about me, please, tell me about yourself and……..let me know what you thought of your teammate at first glance. Be honest.”

Uncovering her face from the hood, a cheeky smile was revealed along with a lone crinkled lavender eye. The other half covered by a black bandage and the unruly strands of her charcoal fringe.

"I'm Yayaka! My favorite things are money, sleep, and food." She beamed, nodding her head in turn to her teammates to give her impression. "Shorter than Yayaka." Beginning with the pastel haired and then onto the dark-haired girl "-Taller than Yayaka". Pointing unabashedly at their Sensei at the end "Bland!".

 

[Bloody_Death]

Luna Kusaki
​

It was another nice morning in Konoha. The sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky. The day was starting as it usually does, except for one thing. She wasn't just a student anymore. She was a ninja. And that came with a mountain of changes. The main one was her new home. Not long after she graduated she was deemed well off enough to live in the village on her own. She was given a small apartment for herself to move in and it was pretty nice. Though she wasn't sure how she felt. The orphanage wasn't a bad place, far from it actually, but she wasn't sure if she liked it there. It just kinda felt like she existed. Just kinda felt indifferent to everyone there. They didn't bother her and she didn't bother them so when she finally did have to leave the other kids and adults there it wasn't all too bad. Actually, she was convinced that half of them didn't even know she was there. Which wasn't surprising to her.

There was a big ceremony today. For all the genin, not just from Konoha, but from all of the five of the ninja nations. It was quite intriguing to get the chance to see or meet people her age from different places. Not to mention there's the fact that she'll be put onto a team with a bunch of people she probably hasn't met before. That was definitely nerve-wracking. What if she said or did something that offered someone? Or was she just worrying too much? Maybe she was but she did want to make a positive first impression on the people she'll most likely be working with for the majority of her ninja career. She shook her head at these troubling thoughts and decided to just eat her and get going. She popped a few frozen buns into the steamer and packed her things in her bag and got ready to go. She grabbed her food and headed out the door. As she walked she looked around at all the people she passed. They were all heading in the same direction as her. Seemed like today was a bit bigger of a deal than she expected. So she walked among the crowd while munching on her little steamed bun.

Luna found a nice place to stay away from the crowd when the Hokage went on her long speech and well...it was a speech. She can't say that she enjoyed it but it was informative. Knowing what and where they would be going in their travels in advance was nice. But soon another group of people started talking. It seemed she'd be assigned one of them to be her sensei and wondered which one they would get. As the names of her sensei and teammates were announced she can't say she recognized any of the names. Though she can't say she really knew anyone.

When they were called to meet with their groups Luna slowly but surely began slipping her way through the crowd and towards where her team was meeting up. As she arrived she looked between the three other people. Her teammates seemed to be all girls like her. Which was kinda surprising. She wondered if any of the other teams were mixed or not. She snapped out of her thoughts when her sensei started introducing himself. He seemed like a pretty nice guy. Though now, the time was drawing near where she had to introduce herself. What things did she like again? How many things about herself should she say? Wait- she can't recall her own name!

She broke out of her panicky thoughts when one of her teammates started speaking. Yayaka? She seemed kinda...she didn't know. She just seemed like a person? Was that considered a rude thing to say? When she suddenly got pointed at she flinched but simply nodded when she got called shorter. She actually was the shortest one here. She couldn't say she was surprised but at the same time, she had a little bit of hope that she wouldn't Seemed like that worry was all in vain. When her teammate addressed their sensei as bland she couldn't help but give a small snort then quickly covering her mouth.

"Ah- sorry. Um. Well-" She gave a small sigh after her little stammer and rubbed her head. "My name is Luna. Things that I like is...sweets. Yeah, those are pretty nice. Astronomy is always nice too." She spoke with a small hum before crossing her arms. "I don't like seafood though. Or really hot places." She gave a sigh then glanced to her teammates. First impressions? Did she have to say them? "Then for impressions...um. Her...bandage is black? And that makes it...black. Yeah." She gave a small nod to Yayaka then turned to the taller girl who she assumed was Hiromi. "Then for you..." She crossed her arms. "Uh. Your hair is long. Though...I guess both of you have long hair." She gave a sheepish chuckle then looked to her sensei. She wasn't sure what to say. "Um. I think rice is pretty good. Though, guess that's different than growing rice. Sorry, that was bad..." She glanced away from the group as she was done with her sorry excuse of an introduction. Hopefully, she didn't make too bad of a first impression. Introductions just weren't her thing.

 

[Kameron Esters-]

Midori Yamanaka couldn't help but feel giddy inside. She was finally leading a team of her own! Sure, she wasn't granted the rank of Jonin due to the state of the economy being dire for shinobi but she didn't mind it much. It was still a great honor. So who all was on her team again? Midori took out a sli of paper from her vest pouch and unwrapped it to look at their names: Issho hyuga, Mako Levatine, and Yuki Shion.
Issho Hyuga was a troublesome lad in terms of relations or interactions. Being a clan of stoics and all. Strictstoics at that. And having the best taijutsu techniques to date aswell as having the most precise eyes on the planet. He'll be an excellent shinobi in time with the right guidance

Mako Levatine. The Fisher Boy. Reminds her a whole lot of Zaki....Well the more bearable parts of him. He's got a kind heart, having seening him share his catches with the strays in the village. A sweet lad though it seems he doesn't particularly have the the drive to be a shinobi. He'll have to adapt quickly then

Yuki Shion. A genin from the Land of Water. Shows about as much promise as Issho being rather decisive and having sarcasm that could match her own. She seems tohave a rather cold and reclusive nature to her. No doubt because of the Kirigakure training regime... Hopefully she'll know that she can take it easy with everyone here but somethings just can't be undone...

"Okay, this should be manageable." Midori tells herself as she looks to her three genin right in front of her. She puts the paper away and put it back in her pouch again, then claps her hands together "Well! Let me be the first to introduce myself! I'm Midori Yamanaka and I will be your sensei for the forseeable future! I enjoy walks, have no real aspirations outside my job, aaaaanddd...I suppose I'm people's person...Until I'm not...And someone winds up in a stretcher or a grave....But anyway, what call can you tell me about yourselves?"
Lunawolf1 BurningDaisies sheesh

 

[Lunawolf1]

Spoiler: Sheena Fubuki

Sitting there listening to the announcement, the purple haired kunoichi sighed some. She had no idea why she was asked to even come here as she was doing fine in her own village, well, besides in her own clans’ point of view. To them, she was just a waste of space. Shrugging, she started to space out some lost in thought. She was getting very bored and just wanted to get in some training. If she was going to show the other genin not to mess with her, she needed to do it sometime. Heck, maybe if she proved she was stronger then the others, words of her power might reach back to her own village and maybe finally someone in her family would acknowledge her. Doubtful honestly but one could hope so right? Realizing she had nearly spaced out for the entire introductions, she managed to hear something about her being on a team with Daihiko Akimichi and someone named Indakki Taiyo. Having no idea what they looked like, Sheena sighed some as she got up and stretched. The sooner they finished being introduced to their teams, the sooner she could challenge them to a spar and the sooner she could prove she was better than them.

Putting her hands in her pockets, she walked over to her sensei and looked at them. He seemed… honestly kind of lackluster. It was interesting that he used puppets but what else did he have going for him? Ignoring him as he began to introduce himself to the three, the cloud kunoichi started to size up her teammates. The bigger one in the belly section seemed to be from the hidden leaf. Thinking about the clans from the leaf she learned about on the trip here, she assumed he must be an Akimichi. Not sure what they were known for, she assumed he must be weak and slow with his larger form. She could easily take him out using her own speed against him. Perhaps he would prove her wrong once they started to train. Honestly, she was looking forward to it.

After sizing him up, she proceeded to look at her other teammate. He seemed at first glance that he might prove more of a fight. He seemed to have a heavy weapon on his back that she assumed was something he was proficient with. He would probably have some reach onto him making him seem interesting enough. The thing she had to figure out though was the kind of jutsu her teammates used as that could change how she saw them. Shrugging, she realized nobody had seemed to pipe up when asked to describe themselves. Sighing, the purple haired girl looked at her sensei and decided to at least pretend like she cared to be there.

“Well, I guess I will start. I am Sheena Fubuki from the hidden cloud village. I rather not share what I specialize in since I believe actions speak louder then words. If you must know something about me, then you can find out during training.” With her introduction done, she started spacing out again planning out her training routine. As soon as this was over, she was going to find some place to train.

Spoiler: Mako Levatine

Yawning some, the white-haired male sat there with his eyes closed. Mastering the art of listening while taking a nap, Mako had a smile on his face. He was not dreaming or even in a heavy sleep but he was lost in thought. Having skipped lunch, he was imagining going somewhere after this and trying some local food. He could not wait to try all of these foods as he hoped there was some good sweets and fish to try. The mellow fellow was even hoping to find a place to fish.

Quickly coming back to reality, he realized he had almost missed hearing what team he was on. Having a loud yawn, he was not paying any attention to people that may have been looking at him when he did that as he got up. Making sure his fishing rod was on his back as well as his harpoon, he got up and started to walk over to his sensei. If it was not for the fact this he was hungry, he had a feeling he would of slept through the whole introduction ceremony. He totally did that on purpose to make sure he was paying attention to the ceremony and not just because he literally slept in before the event and slept through breakfast. As soon as he stood next to his teammates, he could not help but let out one final yawn before he shook his head waking himself up a bit more. Man, he just was feeling really mellow right now.

Putting his hands behind his head, the tired shinobi soon listened to the sensei introduce herself. She seemed like she had some good energy but may not be someone you wanted to mess with. Especially when she said something about someone being in a stretcher or grave. A grave might be a bit much, but a stretcher meant he would be in the hospital and took take all the naps he wanted. Even if hospital food were so so, at least he could take all the naps he wanted. But then he realized that if he were in the hospital, he would not be able to fish! He started to have a self-induced freak out mentally that lasted all but 2 seconds before he became mellow again. Why sweat the small stuff when you could just go with the flow? Chuckling to himself, he soon realized they needed to introduce themselves and decided he may as well start.

“Well, guess I will start.” As soon as he said that, he started to yawning and soon found himself leaning back in the air using his legs to help support him. “I am known as Mako Levatine. My hobbies include fishing, sleeping, and petting stray cats. I use water style jutsu and honestly just like to take it easy and go with the flow. Whatever happens you just let it flow.” Yawning once more, he soon heard his stomach growl loudly as he lost his balance and fell backwards onto his back. Laughing about that, Mako soon put his hands behind his head and grinned at the others. He could not wait to see what his teammates were like.