Team 8
This is both the easiest and hardest part of graduating academy students. Every year, after the jounin-sensei approve their genin teams, separating the potential genin from the actual ones, the genin return for one final assessment with the academy teacher. It’s easy because for the most part, Iruka will be informing each genin of a summary of everything in that is in their student file. All he has to do is be brutally honest with each genin about their strengths and weaknesses.
It’s an easy enough task, the information has been compiled over the entire time they attended the academy, and as their primary instructor for the past year, Iruka has a very good idea of how accurate the information is. The hard part of this discussion comes from the knowledge that if he can’t get through to the kids today, if he can’t get them to take this seriously, if can’t get them to act on the advice that has been painstakingly collected for their benefit, they won’t survive.
When each of the children walk into his office for their consultation, Iruka won’t be talking to academy students. He’ll be talking to genin. Shinobi. If they brush him off, like they’re prone to, they won’t be risking a bad grade, but death.
Iruka sighs, double-checking that each of his files are in order. Normally, Team 7 would be the first team called in, but from the rumours he’s heard about Hatake Kakashi and the fact that the waiting room is one chakra signature short, he feels it’s safe to assume Team 7 will be the last group to undergo their evaluation. He places Teams 7 and 10’s files into his desk, leaving Team 8’s on top and exits his office.
As expected, Hatake isn’t in the room. Team 7 isn’t exactly seated together, Naruto and Sasuke are glaring at each other from opposite sides of the room. Sakura and Ino are seated on either side of Sasuke, too preoccupied with each other to fawn over Sasuke. Chouji and Shikamaru are watching clouds float by outside the window from a corner in the room. Team 8 is seated together. They aren’t talking to each other: Shino is thinking about something, fingers twitching as he debates with himself; Hinata is blushing, alternating between staring at her lap and watching Naruto; Kiba is glaring at Sasuke, absentmindedly petting Akamaru. They’re the only team sitting together, which makes them the team most likely to make chunin.
Asuma and Kurenai are observing their students from the back of the room. They nod at him, straightening up when he steps into the room. He walks to the front of the room and clears his throat, the rough sound causing all of the new genin to instinctively to stop what they’re doing and give him their full attention. “Congratulations, genin,” he begins. “All of you are now officially ninja of Konoha. I want all of you to take a second to look at the others in the room with you. The others here are your comrades. They learned beside you. They practiced with you. They struggled by your side. All of your successes and failures over the past year have been seen by these people. When you begin running C and B-rank missions, you won’t necessarily always be running them with your team; instead, you will be running them with the other people in this room. No matter what situation you’re in, these people will always be your ally, never your enemy.” He pauses here, takes a minute to carefully gauge the reactions of the genin in the room.
It’s about what he expected.
Shikamaru, for all intents and purposes, appears to be sleeping; Chouji is listening to his speech, munching thoughtfully on a mouthful of chips; Ino is taking careful stock of his every word, eyes darting around. Naruto is a barely contained body of energy, requiring an extra stern look to remain quiet; Sasuke, fingers laced together and eyes straight ahead, has zoned out, clearly having deemed the speech irrelevant; Sakura is watching Ino out of the corner of her eye, nervously chewing on her bottom lip. Kiba is more focused on giving Akamaru a belly rub, a large grin spread over his lips, than Iruka’s speech; Hinata is watching him with a worried expression, clenched hands hidden in the sleeves of her baggy jacket; Shino is paying close attention to him, though his attention occasionally darts to his teammates.
Like this, it’s easy to separate the genin who are on their way to excellency and those who won’t begin heading there until they’re faced with a great tragedy. This is his last chance to force those in the second category into the first one.
“Today, will be your final shinobi evaluations,” he continues. “The main difference between previous evaluations and this one is that they will not be one-on-one independent critiques of your strengths and weaknesses; instead, they will be team evaluations. Your strengths and weaknesses will be laid out in front of your teammates. This is because, as of this moment, none of you can be evaluated as individuals. You can only be looked at as a team. The weakness of one of you is a weakness for all of you. The reverse is also true. The strength of one member is the strength of the entire team.”
They all look uncomfortable. Ninja assessments occur at the beginning and end of every year at the academy. Its purpose is to provide each student with a goal for the year and feedback on how well they did accomplishing it. All the academy students who failed their jounin test have undergone their individual evaluations with additional input from the jounin who administered their test. This has always been a private affair, for obvious reasons; however, the need for privacy is over. There can be no privacy between teammates. A team cannot function without knowing the capabilities and limits of its members.
“Team 8, follow me. You will be the first to begin preparing for your future as ninja.”
Naruto looks ready to revolt while Kiba cheers, leaping to his feet, so Iruka casts a weak auditory genjutsu on him. “You cannot undergo the evaluation without your sensei.” Naruto who has been on the receiving end of many of these, usually when Iruka notices that he’s confused about class material, but refusing to ask questions, doesn’t react much beyond a deepening of his scowl as he slouches into his chair.
Kurenai spares Asuma a small smile before following after her team. There are three chairs in front of his desk, with an additional one behind them. Kiba throws himself into the chair closest to the door, his fingers clutching Akamaru’s fur in an attempt to hide his nerves. There’s a faint buzzing sound from Shino that takes forty-five seconds longer than normal for him to silence, as he settles into the chair farthest to the door. Hinata hasn’t looked up from the ground since he called for her team to follow him, almost wilting in her seat between the boys. He taps his fingers twice on the desk and Hinata looks up at him instinctively. He gives her a soft smile, the same smile he always made sure to give her after a particularly bad grade.
“Now, then,” he starts, pretending not to notice as Kurenai’s presence fades from the room and he loses track of both her and her chair, “I think a good place to begin would be with your class rankings.”
“But we already know those!” Kiba interrupts, a faint tinge of pink to his cheeks that must be the result of the class rank listing him at twenty-five.
Iruka clears his throat and Kiba shuts up, petting Akamaru who pushes his head into his hand. “Those rankings are inaccurate for a variety of reasons. For example, if you’re sick on the day we have a taijutsu test and do poorly, your rank will drop, which isn’t an accurate representation of your skills in regards to your peers.”
Hinata is shrinking into herself, most likely wondering how far she’s dropped from twenty-seven out of thirty students. She’s worrying over nothing. Not only can her rank not drop very far, but her ranking is actually higher than listed not lower. Shino’s head is tilted in curiosity because he must know, after all the times Iruka made him redo exercises to guarantee he knew the full extent of his student’s abilities, that his ranking is higher than listed.
“Shino, you’re actually ranked second in the class.”
Kiba splutters, turning to face Shino, “You’re behind Sasuke? Ino’s going to be pissed when she finds you dropped her down in rank!”
Iruka would correct Kiba about that assumption, but he isn’t here to discuss other teams.
Besides, they’ll find out soon enough.
“Hinata,” he taps his fingers on the desk again and makes sure she’s looking him in the eye before he tells her because really wants to see the look in her eyes when she finds out, “you are ranked fifth in the class.” There’s a moment of confusion in her eyes when she doesn’t comprehend what he’s said. And then it sinks in. Her eyes light up with shock, joy, and disbelief.
“But she bombed every test!” Kiba is staring at her in awe, the slightest bit of hope in his eyes.
Hinata shrinks into herself and Iruka gives a jerk of his head towards her that has Kiba flinching slightly, leaning away from her. Akamaru scrambles out of Kiba’s lap and into Hinata’s, pressing his head into her hand until she obediently begins to pet him. “I told you, Kiba, those test aren’t always the best measure of potential. Not everyone does well in traditional testing situations, so I’ve had to devise other methods to determine ability.” Hinata is still giving him a wide-eyed stare filled with more disbelief that Iruka likes. “Besides, while Hinata never did well on the final tests, she always did fantastic on practice ones.”
“You said those didn’t count towards our grade!” Kiba shouts.
“I lied.” There are other things Iruka had done to make sure he knew the full potential of his students, but those aren’t important right now. “Hinata, I can honestly say you’re one of the most competent students I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.” Hinata blushes, eyes dropping to her lap and Iruka allows it this time. “As for you, Kiba, you’ll be happy to know that you are unofficially ranked tenth in the class.”
Kiba whoops in excitement, Akamaru howling alongside him. “So, my written tests didn’t matter?”
“Your written tests demonstrate that you don’t learn well through lectures and reading and that the best way to check your comprehension on a subject is through an oral examination.” Kiba’s face scrunches up, parsing through what he was just told. His eyes widen in shock the moment he realizes that some of the detentions he received for minor infractions were not punishments, but a chance for Iruka to check how much of class material he understood. “Now, for your assessment, I will begin alphabetically.”
The genin tense up again and the faint buzzing sound returns. Shino isn’t quite able to fully silence it, though he manages to lower it two decibels. “Shino, you are one of the most talented shinobi in your class. You’re smart, agile, and cunning. Your greatest assets are your observation skills and your patience. They allow you to wait for the best opportunity and strike. You’re also very decisive, willing to make decisions and follow through on them. Furthermore, you’re adaptable and flexible. If you notice a strategy isn’t working out, you’re willing to abandon it after a few attempts to salvage it and try something new.
“You are well-rounded in the three shinobi arts. While that is a good thing, your kikaichu are vulnerable during taijutsu and ninjutsu attacks. I’m not saying to slack off on your taijutsu training or avoid ninjutsu fight, but you are going to have to figure out a way to get through them with minimal loss to your hive. My recommendation is to pick up a couple earth jutsu as they act as a good shield to soak up damage and to learn a taijutsu style based strongly in dodging and acrobatics. Your chakra control is also very good making you a potential candidate for a medical jutsu, genjutsu, or ninjutsu specialty. Your chakra reserves are slightly above average.
“Your primary weaknesses are you’re need for secrecy and your communication skills. There have been many instances during team exercises where you stumbled across vital information, but did not share it with your teammates. You can’t do that anymore, Shino.” He pauses, takes a deep breath because this is the moment. Either he gets through to Shino now or Shino will have to learn the hard way the consequences for keeping information from his team. “You can keep secrets from everyone else, but not your team. There are ways to convey information to your team without informing others of your actions, such as this.” He captures Shino in the same auditory genjutsu he had used on Naruto. “I’m using an auditory genjutsu on you. Currently, you are the only person who can hear me."
“Such as what?” Kiba is staring back and forth between them, confused.
“I’m using a genjutsu on Shino,” Iruka explains, fine-tuning the technique enough that Shino is able to hear both inside and outside the technique. To Shino, he adds, “As you can see it’s possible to become proficient enough in this jutsu to convey thoughts to someone while maintaining a conversation with someone outside of it.” He cancels the jutsu, smiles at the way Shino’s eyebrows have raised slightly in interest. “If you can figure out a way to convey the information you hoard to your teammates without letting others around you onto the fact, you can turn your greatest weakness into a strength.” He opens Team 8’s file, skimming through Shino’s to make sure he hasn’t forgotten anything important. “Now, your lack of communication skills means you are not a competent leader and when you take on a support role, your teammates are often confused as to what you’re doing because you haven’t explained to them what you’re planning. I don’t need to explain why that’s a problem, do I?” Shino shakes his head and Iruka nods, putting one copy of Shino’s papers down on the corner of his desk, the other has a single sheet of his handwritten notes and a book attached to them by a paperclip, which he offers to Shino. “If you’re interested, I’ve written out the steps for the jutsu I used down. The book has information on different ways to pass information around undetected. It’s a library book, so you can return it to the library instead of dropping it off with me.”
Shino reaches for them and Iruka can barely make out the smile on his lips, hidden by his jacket collar, “I am interested.” The original copy of Shino’s file vanishes from his desk between one blink and the next.
“Well, alright, then. Hinata, you’re up next.” He taps his fingers on his desk, giving her a reassuring smile once he has her attention. “Hinata, you are persistent, dedicated, and hard-working. You never stop trying until you get it right. These traits are some of your greatest assets. Furthermore, you have a keen eye for detail and are very good at reading people and sussing out their motivations. Because of this, you excel at conflict resolution and de-escalation. Your teamwork is very good and you can always be relied on to complete your part of any assignment, often even helping your teammates to complete their portion as well.
“Your taijutsu is excellent, your ninjutsu skills are very good, and your genjutsu skills are above average. You have a tendency to over rely on taijutsu, even when a situation would be better solved by a better method. I would highly recommend learning long distance ninjutsu that can be used in situations where taijutsu is not an option. Your chakra control is excellent and your chakra reserves are the same. You have the options to specialize in taijutsu, genjutsu, medical jutsu, or ninjutsu.
“Your greatest weakness is your lack of confidence.” Hinata flinches, eyes dropping down to her lap, and Iruka taps the table again, refusing to continue until she looks back up. “You have a habit of not speaking up, even when you are correct. You second guess yourself, even when you are correct. You falter at the smallest mistake, even when it’s not important. You don’t do well under pressure because you lack faith in yourself and that is unacceptable.” She drops his gaze again and Iruka taps the table. This is his moment to get through to her, to prevent her from learning to trust herself after she faces the consequences of not doing so. “I recommend you visit the Seduction Corps for acting lessons.”
“Wait-What?” Kiba says what Iruka knows all three of them are thinking.
“The Seduction Corps is a branch of the Espionage Division, which is part of the Information Network. Because every person is attracted to a different type of person, those in the Seduction Corps are capable of mimicking any personality type. Training with the Seduction Corps is a requirement for anyone undertaking a long-term undercover mission. I want you to go to the Seduction Corps and learn how to pretend to be confident. Hopefully, it won’t take you long to fall victim to the most dangerous aspect of undercover work.”
“The most dangerous—Iruka-sensei, what are you planning?” Kiba is puffing up, body language aggressive as he sub-consciously moves closer to Hinata, ready to place himself between her and Iruka in a second.
It’s a good sign. Something that speaks well to the potential of this team. “Do you know what the danger of long-term undercover work is?” The three of them stare at him blankly for a moment, but Iruka can see the light in their eyes the second they remember. Shino tilts his head enough that he can watch Hinata from the corner of his eye, while Kiba stares at her blatantly, jaw dropped.
Hinata doesn’t answer him, too unconfident in her answer to say anything even though she’s arrived at the correct answer. Iruka taps on the desk and Hinata lets out a small breath, as she straightens her back and looks at him. “They begin to believe their own lies.”
“Precisely.” He pulls Hinata’s file out of the folder and scans it one final time, before placing the original where Shino’s file had disappeared from and handing Hinata a copy of her own.
“You have the potential to be an outstanding shinobi, Hinata. I firmly believe that you can do anything you put your mind to. Unfortunately, that’s not enough. In order for you to reach your full potential, you’re going to have to stop holding yourself back.” Hinata takes the file from him, clutching it to her chest. “If you decide to take me up on my advice, I’ve attached a permission slip to your file, granting you access to the lessons provided by the Seduction Corps. The first one will be tomorrow at 19:00, if you decide to go, all you have to do is show up and hand over the form.” This is his last chance to get through to her. “I believe in you, Hinata, and I think it’s time you believed in yourself.”
Hinata nods, tears glistening in her eyes, “Yes, Iruka-sensei.” He doesn’t know if he got through to her, if she’ll go to the lessons that she so desperately needs. He hopes so, there are no words to explain how much Iruka hopes she takes his advice, how much he hopes they’ll all take his advice. This is the first class of graduating students Iruka has ever been the primary teacher for. These are the first genin he has ever sent out into the ninja ranks and he wants them to survive. No matter how unrealistic, Iruka wants every single one of his students to survive the first two years, the years with the highest mortality rate for genin, out in the field.
After the genin walk out of this building, there will be nothing more Iruka can do for them. So, he has to pour everything into these final moments.
Kurenai has already taken Hinata’s file by the time Iruka has turned to Kiba. “Ready, Kiba?”
“Hell yeah, Iruka-sensei! Lay it on me!”
“Kiba, you are driven, energetic, and focused. Any time a challenge is laid in front of you, you work tirelessly to complete it. You are undeniably the best at teamwork and cooperation in your class.” Kiba is prepared to launch into cheers and Iruka gives him a look to quiet him before he begins. “Your communication skills are superb and even when you strongly disagree with your teammates, you are known to put that aside and work for the benefit of everyone. This is easily your greatest asset.
“Your taijutsu and ninjutsu are both very good and your genjutsu is average. When in combat, you tend to get frazzled without Akamaru available to back you up. This is an issue for two reasons, Akamaru might not always be available to help you tag team your opponents and Akamaru is currently too small and fragile for some fights.” Akamaru immediately perks up, barking in disagreement, but Kiba whistles once, rubbing the top of his head to quiet him down. “I have a few different recommendations to deal with this: earth jutsu to protect Akamaru; wind ninjutsu, which can be used to keep enemies away from Akamaru or send him to safety; or genjutsu to hide Akamaru’s presence. Your chakra control is average and your chakra reserves are above average. Your options for the basic specialties are currently taijutsu or ninjutsu. If you would like to explore genjutsu or medical jutsu, you will need to refine your chakra control, which is something I recommend you do regardless.
“Your greatest weakness is your recklessness and impatience. You are liable to lose sight of everything else once your goal comes into sight. During class exercise, this usually resulted in you getting caught in an obvious trap. This flaw can be rectified if you listen to both of your teammates.” Iruka pauses here, wonders how he should word this next bit, and then he remembers he’s talking to Kiba. There’s no point dancing around this, Kiba will benefit from the unfiltered truth. “When I assembled this team, I did it with the assumption that you would fill the role of team leader.”
Kiba’s mouth drops, he’s staring in shock and Akamaru barks something at him that has his mouth snapping shut with a click. “You thought I would be the leader?” Iruka understands where the shock comes from. Kiba’s written tests and his delinquent habits usually resulted in the other teachers assigning leader positions to other members in his group. Iruka has never bothered to assign a leadership position, too interested in how the team dynamics would work without his interference, as a result Kiba’s low rank often meant the rest of his group refused to follow his lead.
But Kiba has the best teamwork skills for a reason. He worked with them regardless of the fact that his ideas where ignored or dismissed.
“I did. Neither Shino nor Hinata have the communication skills or the teamwork skills to take the leader position. However, they are both more patient and observant than you. It will be your job, Kiba, to make sure everyone on your team understands what your team is doing. It will be your job to make sure everyone’s opinion is heard and everyone’s input is known to each other. And if you’re doing all that, then there’s no way you can’t be considered the leader.” Kiba looks excited, hopeful, and worried all at the same time. “It won’t be easy and there will be times when you disagree with every word they say, but as their leader it will be your job to come to a resolution for those disagreements.” Iruka pulls out Kiba’s file, leaving Kurenai’s copy in the same spot as before. Like Shino’s, there’s a book here for Kiba alongside his academy assessment. “You won’t be able to dismiss them without trying to understand what they’re saying.”
“I wouldn’t do that!” Kiba snarls, the tinge of bitterness clinging to his words.
“I know,” Iruka smiles, after he finishes skimming Kiba’s file, “that’s why I assigned you to this team. Shino will be the first to notice someone acting suspiciously, Hinata will tell you why, and it will be you who makes sure everyone decides on a course of action.” He hands Kiba his file, trying to keep his smile at a reasonable size instead of the grin it wants to stretch into when Kiba ignores his assessment and examines the book.
Kiba willingly inspecting a book! This is a sign that something’s gotten through to Kiba, Iruka isn’t positive what exactly Kiba’s taken from this discussion, but it’s enough to make Iruka feel at ease letting the boy into the ninja ranks.
“The book is on the fundamentals of leadership, I hope you take the time to read it. It’s a library book, so you can drop it off when you're done with it.”
“Of course, I’m going to read it, Iruka-sensei!” Kiba is flipping through the book and as much as it pains Iruka to stop him, this assessment isn’t finished, yet.
“Okay, then we can move onto the team evaluation.” All three blink, staring at him confused.
“Wasn’t that the team evaluation?” Kiba asks, head tilted in the same confused manner as Akamaru.
“No, those were individual assessments. Your team evaluation will explain the concept I had when I put you all together in a group. For example, all three of you will end up specialized in tracking.”
“We will?”
“Yes, Kiba, you will. You’re a strong tracking and scouting team, designed to be able locate any target regardless of distance. For short distances, where the enemy is hiding in the area, Hinata, your Byakugan will be able to find them instantly. For longer distances where they’re out of her sight, Kiba, you and Akamaru can track their scent. And for instances where there is no scent trail, Shino, I know your kikaichu can be relied on to aid in your search.
“With two strong taijutsu users on the team, you’ll be able to herd your enemies into any trap you set up. In sudden combat situations, Kiba, you and Akamaru can act as a distraction, keeping the enemy’s attention on you. From there, Shino, you should be able to neutralize them with a single strike, you might want to learn some long-range ninjutsu for that. Which means, Hinata, it will be your job to ensure that no one sneaks up on your team and provide backup for Kiba should he and Akamaru become overwhelmed. Is everyone following me, so far?”
There’s a chorus of agreement and Iruka pauses to gather his thoughts. “Tracking and scouting teams often need to capture their targets, as such you will need non-lethal ways to defeat your opponents. Hinata, your Gentle Fist style is perfect for this; however, on the off chance that your incapacitated, your team will need a second member capable of fulfilling this role. Shino, because your kikaichu can be relied to help you deal with neutralizing poison, I recommend you take up a poison specialty. Furthermore, if you’re studying poisons, you might as well look into medical ninjutsu. You don’t need to be a medic, but someone on your team should be proficient in dealing with injuries, both yours and your targets.
“Kiba, during transportation of your prisoner, Hinata will be the first to notice an ambush, as such her hands will need to be free so she can intervene at a moment’s notice. If Shino’s is covering the role of the medic, then he needs to conserve as much of his strength as possible, which means that the one on transport duty will be you. Your going to need to build up your physical strength as much as possible to guarantee that you can carry anyone regardless of whether or not you have chakra to boost your abilities.
“Your team lacks long-range attacks and small area affect damage. I’ll leave it up to you to decide how to deal with that. One or two ninjutsu each would be the solution I recommend.” There’s one more file here, a collection of Iruka’s entire thought process while he put this team together. He puts one copy down on the empty on the desk and hands the remaining three to each of the genin. “That’s everything I have for you. I will be posting the unofficial class ranking after I finish speaking with the other teams, so if you’re interested in how you actually compared to the rest of your peers, you’re welcome to stick around to view it.” He stands up, stretching his back and gives the genin a smile. “It’s been a pleasure to work with you and I would wish you all luck, but quite frankly, I don’t believe any of you need it.”
The three genin are smiling at him, Hinata and Kiba tearing up slightly. Akamaru leaps from Hinata’s lap, clambering up to Iruka’s chest and licking his face, tail wagging furiously.
“Honestly,” Kurenai says, sitting beside Kiba in the extra chair that she'd apparently moved without giving any indication, despite being in Iruka's direct line of sight, “I think I’m jealous.”
Kiba who had yelped and jumped out of his seat, instinctively placing himself between Kurenai and Iruka, relaxes from his defensive stance. “Jealous of what?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such an in-depth assessment before.”
“Iruka-sensei has always been more thorough with his advice than the other academy teachers,” Shino informs her.
“Thorough?” Iruka is baffled. He doesn’t consider what he just did as thorough. Most of it was just a summary of their academy files.
“The team assessment I went through when I became a genin basically boiled down to you have good chakra control and your bad at taijutsu. Learn either genjutsu or medical jutsu and improve your taijutsu to the bare minimum. I certainly did not get a file on myself nor an explanation of how my team was put together.”
“That’s not particularly helpful!” Iruka snaps, horrified at the idea of sending any genin out with such little information about how to improve themselves and survive in the harsh world of ninja.
“No,” Kurenai agrees, watching him with an inscrutable look in her eyes, “it was not.” She stands, not a sound to be heard despite the way her kimono swirls around her, “I will make good use of this information,” she promises and exits the room.
Kiba takes off after her, throwing one more grin and wave Iruka’s way, and Shino follows him after a polite bow. “I’m gonna stick around to see the rankings, what about you, Shino?”
Hinata stands from her desk, still clutching her file tightly to her chest. “Iruka-sensei?”
“Yes, Hinata?”
“I’m going to take the lessons.” She tells him and Iruka feels his heart skip a beat. “I want to—I want to make sure that—that I don’t let you down because—because you’re the only one who—who—” She cuts herself off, some of the tears from earlier finally falling.
Iruka closes the distance between them, wraps one arm around her shoulders and pulls her close, letting her cry into his abdomen. This isn’t the first time he’s had to comfort her while she’s upset like this, but he hopes the day when she no longer needs this sort of comfort comes soon. “Hinata, so long as you do your best, you will never let me down.” He pulls back, wipes some of the tears from her face. “All I ask is for you to do your best. That’s more than enough for me.”
“But—”
“Hinata, I have faith in you. Now you just need to have faith in yourself.” He pats her on the head and waits for her finish brushing the rest of her tears away. After a minute of slow breathing, Hinata gives him a soft smile and exits the room. Iruka takes a deep breath and then follows her.
One down, two more to go.