(An attempt at) Making Amends.

[Toboe]

“Shirio…”

“Yes, Tsunade-sama?”

“I understand that the past couple of weeks have been tough on you.” She paused for a moment, observing the genin’s reaction to her mentioning of recent events. It wasn’t easy for him; that was for certain. “But nevertheless, the village needs all the shinobi it can get.”

“You’re going to reassign me, aren’t you, Ma’am?” Shirio understood completely the situation they were in. Despite him being just a genin, every bit counted in desperate times.

“Yes, that is exactly why I called you here.” The kage replied with a nod. Sliding a folder across the desk towards Shirio, she flipped it open to reveal the pages inside. “Shirio, you’re being assigned to Team Six.”

Taking a step towards the open folder, he glanced down expecting to see pictures of his new teammates or some sort of information pertaining to Team Six, but that isn’t what he saw. “Ma’am…? I don’t quite understand what I am looking at.”

“You’re an Inuzuka. Your skill set is something that the team will find beneficial in the near future.”

“Ahaha… I see, so that is how it is?”

“Yes, that is how it is. You’re not being given a choice in this matter. There are other teams with openings, but I am choosing this once specifically. Your new sensei and fellow teammates all have a bloodline. Their abilities are something I’d like to keep secret from outsiders. Shirio, your job is to be there eyes, ears and nose. I don’t want so much as a squirrel sneaking up on you without you knowing. You were at the top of your class in tracking and observation. I have full confidence in your abilities; but there is one thing I must know before I sign this paper.”

Shirio looked up from the folder to Tsunade, he knew what was coming next. Ever since the death of his team he has been interrogated and questioned to find out if there was foul play involved. The current environment made many suspicious and paranoid, they couldn’t be to blame. “And what might that be, Tsunade-sama?”

“Can you handle it? Can I trust that you won’t put your past in the way of the assignment? This is very important.” Tsunade clasped her hands together and rested her chin on them, looking at the genin with an unblinking gaze.

“The past won’t get in the way. You can count on me, Hokage-sama.”

“Very well, Shirio. You may leave. I will have your new Sensei notified of your status and you will….”

Shirio opened his eyes and looked up at the drab ceiling of his bedroom, rays of light of the early morning sun just making it over the bottom of the windowsill. A dream? No, he had been awake for hours, the throbbing pain in his arm and chest making it difficult to rest nowadays. Off in the corner of his room his canine partner was snoring away on his bed. It had felt odd for him to be awake before the dog. Quietly he made his way out of his room and out through the front door. The smell of the early morning dew hung heavily in the air, blown about by a cool breeze that rushed by him and rustled his hair. It was a nice morning; a pleasant start to a long needed day off.

Of course his conscience had started to catch up with him as he got dressed moments later. His mind drifted back to earlier that week. Koji sure did seem like a jerk, but perhaps that was brought on by Shirio’s own actions. That particular thought had crossed his mind on several occasions over the following days after their meeting; but it wasn’t until now that he felt like doing something about it. Maybe he could try to make amends for his childish behavior. Pulling his shirt down over his head and slipping on his sandals, he had made up his mind. If things were to work out with this team, he had to do the mature thing and go over there right then and apologize. “Shiromaru, I am going out for a bit! Be back after lunch!” With his departure announced, Shirio left his house and headed off towards the Hyuuga clan estate.

It felt odd to be in this part of the village. It wasn’t often that the young Inuzuka had to venture into this area, only once or twice for very low rank kiddy missions. Chased a cat through her during one of those. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he walked on, doing his best to keep to himself. The Hyuuga, the few he had met, weren’t the friendliest of sorts, but they were respectful enough. First impressions of Koji made him an exception. He was mean and disrespectful. Checking a small piece of notebook paper, Shirio checked over the address he had gotten. Yeah, this was the right place. Stuffing it back into his pocket, he reached out and knocked on the door. “Oi, Koji! You home?! We need to talk.” Perhaps making his presence known right away wasn’t the best thing to do, but quiet was something the genin was not. Aside from that, Koji might not answer if he didn’t know who it was. Could make any chances after all.

[Sabaku]

Morning was a misty haze, a slight chill, a breeze through the open windows and a smudge of long shadow on the floorboards. It was quiet, in comparison with the noise that came later, as the village woke and stirred to settle into its daily routines. For that reason, Koji habitually woke early, before the others who lived on the nearby grounds. Whenever possible, he left the compound entirely, sometimes even before dawn, setting out for his favorite part of the training grounds, or, if he found them occupied, wandering the outskirts of the village. Anywhere that wasn't here was preferable. He hated the Hyuuga residences, the distasteful looks that fell on him before they could avert their eyes or, almost worse, the deliberate avoidance, as though his very presence was an offense. Most days, he didn't come back until late evening, in an effort to spend as much time away as possible.

His usual wanderings weren't an option now.

The long battle imposed by Akemi-sensei had left him sore and battered, but it wasn't the physical that trapped him in his rooms. Avoiding his team seemed like the best course of action at the moment. Ayana never failed to grate on his nerves, with her inability to perform the simplest of tasks, and Shirio...the boy sighed even as he thought about it. Shirio was quite possibly the worst possible choice to add to their team. Was the Hokage really so dull-witted that she couldn't recognize the conflict that would stir up? They were far from effective before, but now...

He didn't even want to think about chuunin exams.

And he didn't have to. A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts; he barely had time to turn toward the sound in confusion, wondering who would be wanting him, before a too-loud voice answered the question. Well then. So much for avoidance.

The genin sighed again as he stood. Hardly how he wanted to spend a day off. Nonetheless, he went to the door, fixing his guest with a look of all too plain disapproval the moment it swung far enough open. Irritation was in the faint downward slant of his brows, impatience in the slight narrowing of his eyes.

"What do you want? I know we don't have a mission today."

[Toboe]

Shirio could instantly feel the irritation that Koji had as soon as soon as he opened the door. Taking a step back to give Koji his space, the Inuzuka wasted no more time in stating his reason for being there. “Koji, I stopped by to apologize for the other day. I feel that we got off on the wrong foot because of me, so I came over to make it up to ya. I’ll treat you to lunch or something… Maybe we can learn to like each other” Shirio propped himself up and sat on a nearby railing, nervously scratching his neck.

“Akemi sensei expects that you and I resolve this issue between us so we can perform as a team. With the chuunin exams coming up and more importantly missions we’re going to be assigned, you and I can’t be arguing all the time. We gotta fix this. So what do ya say? How about we start over?” Shirio was hoping that his attempt to fix this relationship with his teammate would work out. Teams quickly fall apart in combat when there is no trust between its members. People die when any single member puts themselves above the rest. Shirio trusted in himself that he would never do such a thing, but he wasn’t so sure about Koji.

[Sabaku]

Koji watched the other genin for a moment before dropping his eyes to the ground below, a gesture that was anything but conceding. Did he really think it was that easy, playing the perfect team? That only worked when all the members were on equal grounds. Taking a step out, he leaned against the door frame, folding his arms. "You're stronger than Ayana, I'll give you that, but I'll be blunt. I don't want to work with you - either of you. That's not going to change because of anything Akemi-sensei says." He shifted a little so that he faced the wall more than the boy. "If that means I'm going to be on my own in the exams, that's fine with me."

He didn't mind being challenged, but he hated the feeling of being restricted. They'd never pass together - Shirio's level was, perhaps, passable enough to keep Koji in the exams, but Ayana would almost certainly guarantee failure. He knew very little about Sunagakure's exams, admittedly, but regardless of the nature, taking them on alone was preferable by far to failing by default. At least failure would be by his own merits, if it came to that.

"You don't want to fight, fine. But don't expect any more than that."

He turned to go back inside, but the outright dismissal was prevented, unexpectedly, as a tiny thing landed quite suddenly on the wall in front of him. It scrambled its multiple legs several times until it caught its balance, let out a high, squeaky sigh of relief, then twisted its little body around until its many eyes were fixed on the genin, who recognized it immediately - and fixed it with a look of complete distaste. "Hey, don't be that way!" The spider had a distinct pout in its high little voice; it waved one leg at him disapprovingly, then with a hmph turned toward Shirio instead. "Kemi says it's a mission! The Hokage's sending teams to check on the villages outside town. Meet at the gate."

[Toboe]

Shirio felt like he was slapped in the face. Coming all the way over to this part of the village only to be told that he isn't wanted was not what he had in mind when he imagined how this would go. He furrowed his eyebrows as he listened to Koji go on, what the heck was his problem? "Uhhh... I see..." He slowly shook his head while kicking over a stone. "You... have issues... It isn't the matter of wanting to work with us or not. You HAVE to in order to pass any form of exam we will be given. Teamwork is an essential shinobi skill that should have been pounded into that thick head of yours at the academy." The Inuzuka stuffed his hands into his pockets and let out a long and annoyed sigh. So it wasn't their argument that had been the root of Koji's behavior, it was just Koji.

Shirio didn't feel very well about the future, with the chuunin exams coming up and any missions between now and then; any lack of teamwork could make the difference between a pass and failure, or even in some cases, severe injury or death. He didn't want to see another teammate die; glancing towards Koji he decided to always have his back, no matter how he was treated by him. "Well, I guess that is all. I'll talk to you la...." His voice trailed off as a small spider made it's presence known. It talked! Shirio's eyes widened slightly as it spoke to Koji; must have been Akemi Sensei's summon.

"A mission!?" He exclaimed, surprised from the sudden assignment. Today was suppose to have been a day off. Guess shinboi really don't have any guaranteed down time. "You got it my little friend! I'll be there after I run home to get my gear." The genin gave the little spider a quick salute before turning off to head home, pausing for a moment mid-step. "Ah, Koji, I will warn you. If your stubbornness gets in the way of our mission; causes any unnecessary danger for any of us, I will kick your ass. I held back before because we're comrades, but recklessness that endangers the life of others is inexcusable...." With that said, he disappeared around a corner and headed home.