Team Matches
When Kushina-sensei had mentioned to her team during ramen, that she would find them another team to bother , not Sen, not Chihiro and certainly not Izumi could have expected to be faced with Team Minato on a quiet Sunday.
"Since both of our teams needs to work on our skills for the upcoming Chuunin exams, we thought it would be best to do that together." explained a smiling Minato to all six Genins.
"Right," drawled Sen, scowling as she rolled her eyes, "that's what you say to cover up the fact that you and Kushina-sensei just want to spend time together while training your teams."
Both senseis blushed at that, refusing to meet each other's gaze.
"But Sen," the words left Izumi's lips in a slight whine, "who wouldn't want that to do that, that's so romantic !"
" I wouldn't."
"That's because Sen wouldn't even train someone in the first place." commented Chihiro.
" Exactly . You get me, chubs."
Chihiro looked a little proud at that.
"I think this is exciting." said Rin, as delighted as ever.
Obito quickly agreed. "Let's kick their butts!"
"More like you will get your butt kicked." muttered Kakashi under his breath, but not quiet enough for his dark-haired teammate to not hear.
The Uchiha spun around, an annoyed expression clear on his features. "I heard that, Bakashi !"
Izumi snorted at the nickname. " Bakashi ?"
"It's a nickname I made up for him." Obito pointed over to the silver-haired boy, who in turn glared. "Do you like it, Izumi?"
She giggled. "Very much so."
Kakashi felt a little offended at that, his lips tugging downward. She gave him a grin in response.
"Now, all of you," Minato-sensei clapped his hands together in order to gain the attention of the six Genin. "The plan is to do some individual sparing first and then work in teams."
"That way, you can train both now, y'know !" added the over-excited Kushina.
"We've assigned you a sparring partner from the other team randomly ," The blonde man put an emphasis on the last word. "In the order now mentioned, you will spar with one another."
Izumi felt nervous at that. Despite having sparred with many people beside Kakashi, such as various members of her own clan, the thought of having to spar with everyone watching left her nerves tingling. She pushed the feeling away and straightened her posture, readying herself. I can do this .
"Now, the sparring partners," In her hand, Kushina held a little paper where the names were written down. "Obito against Izumi. Sen against Kakashi and lastly, Chihiro against Rin."
Obito and Izumi glanced at each other, grinning. Then they reached out to give each other a fist bump in acknowledgement, determination gleaming in their eyes.
"I'm so going to win this." proclaimed Obito loudly.
Izumi allowed for a smirk to tug at her lips. " As if ."
The pair made their way to the designated fighting area on the training ground, taking a stance opposite of each other. They leveled each other with a playful glare, giddy smiles having overtaken their serious expressions already. Izumi fidgeted as she waited for either sensei to let out a starting signal, hands twitching in anticipation.
Kushina-sensei raised her hand slowly, only to then drop it down in a quick motion. "Go ."
The first to make a move was Izumi. She rushed towards the boy, drawing a kunai from her back pocket as she did. Careful not to injure him, she raised it to meet his own. In a loud clang , the two weapons met, leaving their wielders face to face. For a moment they merely held eye contact, black and blue, before Izumi kicked at his shin. She had presumed that he would dodge, but he didn't. Obito jumped back in pain, an embarrassed expression rushing alongside a blush onto his face. His leg wobbled a little, but he kept his stability.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Very quickly, he formed the hand sign and took a deep breath, allowing for a fireball to rush towards his sparring partner.
Today was not the day Izumi would get fried by one of his fireballs. Quickly, she opened the flask strapped to her hip to excess the water. "Mud Release: Muddy Water Wall." As soon as both of her hands made contact with the ground, it turned into mud that shot upwards, protecting her from the fire. With a fluid motion of her dominant forward, the wall turned into a wave of muddy water rushing towards Obito.
With a wave of mud rushing towards him, Obito had no choice but to force chakra into his feet to climb up one of the trees. On top of the branch, he was able to avoid the wave of mud coming his way. The mud clashed against the tree before hardening.
What Obito forgot to consider was that now Izumi had a direct way to him. As fast as she could, she ran to him, throwing a kunai to throw him off of his train of thought. Her kunai embedded in the trunk of the tree, making the Genin jump. She focused her chakra into her hand to amplify her strength before Izumi landed a direct hit to the tree, shaking it. Like a cat running from its owner, the Uchiha cleverly stayed on the tree.
The second miscalculation was made by Izumi. From his position on the branch high above, he allowed himself to drop just a little, hanging onto the tree by the soles of his feet.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" From his position above Izumi, he was at an advantage. The ball of fire rushed towards her quickly, leaving her with only the option to jump aside. A few meters away, she landed on her feet, body feeling hot from the sudden increase of heat.
Izumi decided that she had enough of his hiding. "Mud Style: Mud Hit." From the palms of her hands, mud sprayed out and hit Obito's side, pushing him off of the branch. The mud hardened around him, leaving the Uchiha unable to move.
"The win goes to Izumi." announced Minato, already on his way to help his student out of his mud prison.
In excitement, the brunette pumped her fist into the air, letting out a yell. At the motion she quickly noticed air rushing towards a part of her arm where now the material was burnt . She gasped at that. He burned a hole through her clothing.
"Good match." Obito held out his hand to her, a wry smile on his face.
She smiled back at him. "Great match I would say," Izumi grabbed his hand tightly, shaking it. "Had you not been on the tree, I think I would have had a much harder time."
He removed his hand from hers to rub at his neck sheepishly. "I shouldn't have done that."
Izumi let out a laugh, shaking her head. "You shouldn't have."
"Next up, Sen and Kakashi."
The raven-haired and brunette made their way to the sidelines, joining their remaining teammate, who greeted them joyfully. Izumi sat down beside Chihiro, who gave her broad smile.
"You did so well out there, Izumi!"
"Thanks, Chi!"
His gaze was fixated on Sen, who was sparring with Kakashi. Her lazy movements were a huge contrast to the quick and sharp ones of the silver-haired. It was obvious that one of them was more motivated than the other. What stood out the most to Izumi was the fact that Chihiro's cheeks were tinted pink.
Izumi's lips tugged up into a knowing smirk. "I see."
Chihiro was startled, turning his head towards his friend immediately. "S-see what?"
"You have a crush, that is so adorable." She giggled, making sure only he would hear her words.
"W-what?" His green eyes were wide in shock. Apparently, she had hit some nerve.
"On Sen, I mean."
The tint on his cheeks darkened, indicating that she was right.
"I won't tell her, Chihiro," Izumi placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's not my place, I just said that it's adorable."
He let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
"I forfeit." Sen stood on the training ground with a bored expression, hand raised into the air. Her shadow was connected to Kakashi and wrapped around his ankles tightly, keeping him in place.
"You forfeit?" The silver-haired look incredulous, attempting to comprehend her thought process.
"This is a bore."
Kushina let out a huff, frowning at her student's antics. Minato meanwhile chuckled at her reaction. "The win goes to Kakashi."
"Impressive little students you two have there." A man who was unfamiliar to the Genin appeared at the training ground. He had a long, white mane of hair reminiscent of the one of a lion and red stripes going down each of his cheeks. His features were drawn into a cocky smirk, body taut as a bow while he approached.
"Jiriaya?" Minato was visibly surprised at the sight of his sensei.
What was their connection?
"Jiraya?" All the Genin echoed back, confused at the sight of the peculiar man. It was obvious that not even one recognized him.
"No Jiraiya, stay away from my three precious Genin!" Never before had they seen their sensei look anything but excited. The woman wore a murderous look, glaring at the white-haired man. In a quick motion, she pushed all three of her students behind her, as though to protect them from his influence.
"My my, Kushina. If anyone had told me you have taken on a Genin team, I wouldn't have believed it." said Jiraiya, obviously finding some humor in the situation.
"Oh, don't you dare corrupt them-"
Minato gently placed a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "Now now, Kushina," He gave her a gentle smile to calm her down. "I don't think sensei will corrupt your students or mine."
Kushina grumbled something along the lines of ' I wouldn't be so sure of that '.
The white-haired man chuckled. "I was in the neighborhood and wanted to visit my student, is that so wrong of me?"
" Yes ," answered Sen, who had begun to glare at the man. "Who even are you?"
He stood proudly at the question, striking a dramatic pose. Izumi guessed that it was supposed to give him a cooler appearance. "I am Jiraiya, the great toad sage of Mount Myoboku."
"Never heard of you." deadpanned the Nara, unimpressed.
The man looked dejected, sending his former student a sad look.
Minato chuckled. "He's one of the Sannin ."
The Legendary Sannin were three of Konoha's strongest Shinobi, a deadlock which had a huge influence on the Second Shinobi War. They are renowned, whispered to be the greatest of their time. Their feats were untouchable , there was no one like the three Sannin.
Five of the six Genin nodded in recognition, as they have heard of the Sannin at least once. Obito on the other hand completely missed the point, letting out a loud noise of confusion.
" Idiot ." mumbled Sen, sending the raven-haired boy an annoyed glare.
Kakashi agreed immediately, crossing his arms over his chest in disdain. " Definitely ."
Obito pointed dramatically at the two of them. "I heard that!"
Sen raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like I care?"
Not at all . Izumi giggled at the interaction.
Chihiro and Rin merely watched the interaction, not involving themselves in it.
While the Genin chose to insult each other, the three senseis meanwhile have trailed off to a more secluded part of the training ground, talking among themselves. Their voices were inaudible for the students and their body language was unreadable, giving nothing away.
"Well, I care." countered Obito, face contorted into an offended expression.
"And I don't."
If possible, the raven-haired boy looked even more offended.
" You -" He sputtered, cutting himself off while wildly motioning with his hand.
"Come on, Obito," Rin placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, gently guiding him away from Sen. "Let me take a look at your injuries, okay?"
His face turned red immediately, though he pretended not to notice, allowing himself to be guided away by the brunette.
Sen snickered quietly. "I correct: lovesick idiot."
"It's adorable." Izumi sighed. Her eyes wandered over to Chihiro, though she quickly averted her gaze before anyone could notice.
Kakashi looked at his friend with curiosity lingering in his my gaze. "What is?"
Izumi waved him off, not wanting to spill her friend's secret. "Ah, nothing ."
He frowned at the reply, but quickly composed himself again. "You fought pretty well."
She turned to him, absolutely delighted. "Thank you!" Sheepishly, she rubbed the back of her neck. "There are things I could have done better, but that only means I can improve in the future!"
Kakashi found her optimism endearing. "Improvement is always good."
"I know. And maybe one day, I'll be your equal. You better watch out, Kashi." Izumi leaned over to him, giving him a determined look.
The silver-haired pushed against her body with his hand, chuckling quietly. "You can try."
"I will try and succeed. You'll see." Yamanaka Izumi was not one to give up.
"I'll be glad to watch." Hatake Kakashi wasn't either, but sometimes he could give in.