Hana blinked staring at the empty field. She looked back down at the letter she held in her hands. It was from the acting Hokage. She was to meet him there for some reason. She wasn't sure why though. Did he have a mission for her? Something he couldn't say in the village? They had sort of met once before. She had been on a mission with him, Ayame, and another jonin. Though Hana hadn't said a word to him and he had done the same to her. She found him even scarier than the cockroach lady. She really didn't want to be there.

She took out some kunai and was planning on throwing them at the nearest tree. She lazily threw the kunai at the target. A small knob on the tree. It was close to the mark in the middle. Perhaps a few centimeters off. She sighed boredom reigned supreme. She had nothing better to do than stand there throwing kunai. All she had to do was wait. Perhaps if someone trained her to fight better she would have more to do. Right now she was no more dangerous than a small kitten. A cute blonde haired, big chested kitten but a kitten nevertheless.

She sighed and began to throw another kunai. Only using one eye as she aimed lazily. "Bored bored bored..." she muttered. Hana sighed growing a bit angry at being so bored. Not knowing what to do now she wondered how sharp her kunai was. Shrugging she lazily and slowly put the blade to her left arm. Making sure not to cut anything but skin Hana slowly began moving the blade up towards her elbow. Leaving a red line. Soon the blood made way to the surface and began spilling out slowly.

Smirking Hana lifted her arms to her mouth and slowly licked the blood off. The coppery taste was both delicious and disgusting. Her tongue wanted more and her stomach felt queasy. Yes this was what happened when Hana was bored. Cutting ones own arms like a knife through butter was interesting to her. The red on the olive skin tone was pretty. Like something on oil and canvas to her. She licked her lips to get the excess blood back on her tongue.

Hana smirked again and watched as more blood trailed down to her fingers. Bright red droplets slowly dripped onto the luscious grass like morning rain. The red on green contrasted nicely. It was almost beautiful in a sick way.

She sighed sadly. If she began to cut herself up there would be nothing left of her. She pulled a white gauze out of her bag coming back to her senses. She pulled it over her small and shallow wound. It didn't hurt much. She made a clean cut so it wouldn't be a problem.

After about forty five minutes of being late, Shihouin finally thought it would be OK to take off towards the training field. He was garbed in a normal attire, not wearing the blacked out Hokage suit like he previously wore and wearing only a traditional Konoha flak jacket and remaining attire. He kept to himself as he moved through the crowed streets, taking the back trails and sticking to dirty trails that few trodden on. His objective today was to put the soup at some good testing and to monitor the abilities and response times of a generic genin.

After showing up about an hour late for Hana, he dropped down from a perch above a branch he'd been moving across, appearing just in front of her as she wrapped her arm up. He noticed trace amounts of blood on the bandaid due to pressure, but didn't question it. Maybe she had been training a bit before the session since he was so late. Without much time for greeting, he stood up and dug into his back pockets as he spoke towards her.

"I've asked for your assistance today in helping me, as I help you. Today you'll be learning some basic combat skills and moves from me. Take it as an honor, I have no room for patience. I remember teaching some Kaguya kid like yourself who couldn't fight. Jeez he was terrible." Unknowingly to her and himself, he was talking about Mitsu. "Anyway, you possess a body capable of withstanding physical attacks. You're very lucky, girl. By focusing your efforts in taijutsu, you can become a specialist if you train hard enough." Shihouin walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder and brought her close.

He hoped she didn't mind. "You'll have to excuse me, this has to be done a certain way." From his nin-pocket he pulled out a needle full of murky liquid. "Grit your teeth." With precision and skill, he carefully maneuvered the tip of the needle around the back of her neck, placing it at her fifth cervical vertebrae. The needles tip had been designed to allow him to get close to this area but not directly in her spinal cord, the fluid would cover the rest of that. However, the fluid itself was painful for a bout a whole second or two as it did it's attaching and moving around. It would feel like molten lava ran through her neck for a flash, and then would subside and go away.

Backing off from her, he gave her a few seconds to adjust to the pain and regain calmness again. "It hurt, but it's not going to hurt any more than that. Today your objective is to simply play copy cat. If you can copy all of my moves you can learn how to fight... At least indirectly." Shihouin put his hands together and assumed a squat, some type of hybrid horse stance what was a bit too low.

"Even without Sharingan you can mirror your opponents movements exactly. Follow me." Shihouin performed hand signs at pace she could follow. Rat. Ox. Tiger. Hare. Dragon. Snake. Horse. Ram. Monkey. Rooster. Dog. Boar. He then stood back up normally, and then sat down in the lotus position, expecting her to mirror his movements exactly, in every single way. Once they sat down, he would switch control to her. "Now, do some basic hand signs and stances and count to four. I will mirror you."

Hana was about to greet him politely when he began talking. In person he really did intimidate her. He was probably scarier than any ninja she had ever known. AND he was temporary Hokage... Yeah, Konoha was doomed.

She squeaked as he drew the needle into her. The pain was intense. Even worse than menstrual cramps. She couldn't help but grit her teeth. Not that she did as he said because it was his order but because it was her natural reaction to the pain. She didn't cry out though. He was a panther and she was his prey. No his toy. If she showed signs of weakness she felt as if he would pounce on it.

She wondered what it was that he had given her. She was so confused. She didn't FEEL any different. Did she look different? Was she drunk? Was he a secret rapist?! Did she need to run? No wait, he was Hokage and Ayame had respect for him from what she could see. Perhaps she would trust him a bit more. He seemed to want something from her. But perhaps in his own little way he wanted to help her learn.

Poor naive Hana. She didn't run. She stayed and listened to what he had to say. A smart person would have run. An even smarter person wouldn't have even shown up and would stay away from Shinshou. She got into the stance that he did. It took her a moment of adjusting to do so and then she watched carefully.

She began to copy the hand seals he made. They weren't difficult. Like playing the games she used to play back at the academy. She then stood back up and then sat down in the position he was sitting in. She looked at him expectantly. With curious eyes and her gaze was on him.

Then she thought for a moment. "I guess I'll try a simple jutsu then..." she did the clone jutsu that she learned from the academy and waited for him to copy her.

Shihouin watched her movements and mirrored them exactly. The moment she began to speak, he copied her hand signs to the letter and performed the jutsu as she had performed it. Would she notice that they had performed the same jutsu at the exact same time? Of course she would, but Shihouin wasn't too sure that the little girl would understand why she had done that. Hopefully, she would. "You need to understand why I'm telling you what to do. Count with me. 1, 2, 3, 4. Ok. See how you and I can count at the same time? It's easy isn't it? Basic fighting essentially comes down to being able to watch your opponents movements and react accordingly, or before, or after, or even at the same time. For now, we will focus on hand to hand combat. Go."

Shihouin slipped into a neutral stance. He held his right foot in front of him, his left behind and body angled. His right shoulder and arm led his body while his left one was for pure defense. It would seem as if he was turning his body, but his eyes were locked on her. He waited for her to do whatever she wanted to, spacing himself about 2 meters away from her.

Hana was stunned that he had copied her exactly. She had almost stopped mid hand seal but kept going. Once they were both finished he spoke. She counted with him like asked. She knew how to count and also knew what numbers came after. Of course she could do it.

Really? It was that simple? She just needed to watch him like a hawk. That would be easy enough with someone her own age. Though she wasn't sure about a jonin. Not to mention he was kage level. He WAS taking over the hokage position after all. Hand to hand. She could do that.

Hana was actually did the same stance he did. She was right handed and her right eye was stronger than her left. Of course she would use her left hand as a defense. Though Hana wasn't going to let the jonin get ahead of her. No she ran at him. Her legs were stronger than her arms. So she kicked off with her back leg, which was the left one. She was closer to Shihouin as she did it.

She had covered the two meter distance he kept them at. He hadn't made any sign that he would go first. Though she watched as she flew through the air. Her right leg was aimed at his face. She guessed that he would use his left arm to block or his right arm to attack. She guessed he would grab her leg and pull her down with his right. Though from his stance it was easy to tell the basic and easiest ways he would respond.

Though as a highly intelligent being, Shihouin would most likely respond in an entirely different way than she planned and expected. Then again, he had made it seem earlier, like they were doing the basics. So perhaps he would respond as such.

She was a genin at best, nothing special here. Her bloodline acceled in a single specific area of technique, and she was in no way, shape or form able to use it to his fullest degree. Shihouin wondered how this girl would grow and how she would adapt to the soup she'd injected within her. She should advance at an alarming rate, but not necessarily one aided by speed. Her potential was what he was after, and the ability to take that bloodline and extend it into different areas... He had every right to test it now, but he would wait.

First, he had to learn her. Refocusing himself on the battle at hand he eyed her keenly. It didn't matter what rank she was at... Nor how strong she was. She couldn't make the same mistakes from here on out. She copied his stance, which was not the best thing to do, but Shihouin realized that she was still attempting to mirror him. Good good, she was at least trying.

As she kicked off on her left leg he watched her run, preparing his move in accordance to her movements. The distance between them was short, to her advantage it would prevent him from throwing a fireball in her face if he wnated to break his own rule of hand to hand combat only. As she moved, she jumped in the air and began a falling kick with her right leg extended.

Oh come on... He thought to himself. He could easily break her leg and send her flying in the air if he wanted to. Shihouin didn't need time to think. As she came down in the air, he waited until she got a foot above his head to quickly move back two steps. Her body would fall infront of him, and since she was in the air she would have no way to change positions until she hit the ground, stopped and then moved again. Simultaneously while backing up, Shihouin prepared his hand to grab her quickly at the throat with his right, leaving his left one open to defense.

How would she react?

Spoiler:

Hana knew from the beginning he would do something differently. Though this was just too simple. Why didn't she think of it? She would have no way to deal with him or attack him until he grabbed her. She bit her lip as she landed. His big fist curled around her throat like he had prepared for.

Though Hana had tricks up her own sleeves. Well more like under her skin. She whimpered slightly as his hand sqeazed around her neck painfully. Though she formed her collarbone under her skin. It sharpened and Hana forced it out of her skin and straight into his hand. Hopefully he would let her go. Though then again this guy was scary enough. He could probably withstand pain.

Hana made sure to do more than just that though. As she had been forming her bones inside she grabbed his arms almost instantly. It was natural reaction when you were grabbed by the neck to grab the arm that held it. Her bones in her palms were formed as well. They also slid out and into his arm.

As she had been falling earlier she had been preparing her plan. Her right leg bone had been strengthening. It had been gaining a hardness. She had Mitsu to thank for this. From their first training session. He had taught her how to strengthen her bones to levels that reached the hardness of steel. Her leg bone at the moment was as hard as metal. It COULD probably break a bone. Though then again, Shihouin was probably strong enough that it wouldn't break a bone.

Though she had landed before her leg could connect to his head. Once he caught her with his hand she winced and kicked at his right leg. Hoping to jar him enough to let her go. At this moment she was just trying to get free of his grip. But she also had a plan for when he let her go.

He had underestimated her slightly. He assumed that she had kicked, but not really. She had feinted the direct attack and was planning something else. Did she want to get caught in close range? The Kaguya bloodline was thick. At her level, he didn't need to use Sharingan, but he definitely hoped she might have to force him to use it. If she kept up at this level, she might also make him use a few ninjutsu.

As soon as he saw her skin moving underneath his hand, Shihouin removed his hand in a blur, while quickly backing up a meter as he kept his stance ready. If she wanted to she would quickly land, but he watched as her collarbone broke through her skin to hit him. He'd made it out of that, but she was thinking with her head clearly.

"You feinted? You're better than that Mitsu kid! You remind me of myself." He smirked and resumed stance. "Use ninjutsu! It's boring hand to hand, I like ninjutsu better. I may use some or Sharingan if I feel necessarily. Your objective now is to get me to use ninjutsu the best way possible." As he changed the game, he kept his spacing from her, which was now back to two meters. The more he stayed close with her, the more difficult it would be. He kept his body ready and focused his senses onto her.

Maybe there was more to the soup that met the eye. He had planned for it to only activate with a persons bloodline, or to give a person a bloodline if they needed it. He was confused though, was this her ability alone? The soup in her bloodstream wasn't even working yet... He quickly thought to himself. 'Come on Hana. I want you to put a scratch on me.'

Hana had used her collarbone and arms to try to grab him. But the guy was faster than her. He was probably going at a pace a bit faster than normal to himself but she wasn't used to it. He left an after image that led her to believe she had hit him with her bones. She shook her head and backed away as he did the same a few seconds before her. After all he was rather fast.

Hana blinked. She was better than Mitsu? Naw, that couldn't be. He was one of her idols. Though perhaps if she got stronger Mitsu would take her more seriously. Hana's eyebrows narrowed at Shi. Sure she hadn't played fair by the "Hand to hand" combat rule he gave earlier. But she sure as hell couldn't play at the same level as Jonin.

Wait, he wanted to use Sharingan later? Well she hoped she would make him use it as well. That meant something right? If she could force him to use it? At this point she didn't care about her body. She was getting excited at his praise. This hokage level guy, no not just hokage level, he WAS hokage now. He was PRAISING her. It made her feel giddy but Shihouin had this darker level feeling about him.

It made Hana want to be slightly bad. She at least had a bit of an advantage so far. He had backed away a second before, that meant that he was avoiding her Kaguya techniques. So if she got close enough she could use those. Or she could fight farther away with her ninjutsu and her weaponry.

If their skills were even then Hana probably would have an advantage with being able to fight both short and long range. As soon as she could visibly see that he moved and not his after image Hana began her handseals.
She prepared her water whip. She was watching Shihouin for three seconds as she did the handseals. She prepared herself mentally to either dodge whatever he threw at her.

Once she was finished she aimed the water whip at him. Though that wasn't just it either. As the whip that was connected to her left hand sailed towards him she pulled a few kunai from her pocket and added them to the mix. She put them into the water and moved the water's flow so it flowed towards Shi as well. Forcing the kunai to quickly move at him through the water. Hana hoped both would hit him. Though if he dodged the water whip she hoped the kunai would go at him next, while he was off balanced from the dodge.

Once the kunai were added she prepared to flick the whip in case he did move. Preparing her third move in case he somehow dealt with the other two before it.

As she began to form hand signs, he jumped back, keeping his foot low to the ground to allow him to move just in case she attacked. It took her about three seconds to do so, but it gave him enough time to increase the 2 meter gap to about 4 meters. As he watched the water whip come towards his position, he simply backed up further to about five meters to deal with its range and dodge the technique in its entirety.

Luckily for him the kunai were easy to dodge by simply side steppign them. As he side stepped out of their range by a meter, he drew his own and threw two aimed at her. Seeing no wired behind her own kunai, he threw his between her feet and the other between her eyes. He didn't know how she would react to that, but it would be important to his next move. He kept his senses and hands ready, preparing his plan.

Hana's plans didn't work. He avoided them so easily. She groaned in frustration as he threw his own weapons at her. She pulled her kunai out as she watched his own hands reach down for his weapons. They moved at almost the same time. Shi a bit faster than Hana by about a second.

She threw her kunai at his with her right hand. She aimed her first one at the one that was most dangerous. Her head. Then it took her another second to pull another out. She aimed and fired it at the remaining kunai headed for her. Once all four kunai from both ninja were in the air she flicked her water whip and aimed for his face coming from her left.

Though as she did so she quickly took a few steps towards him. The kunai were in the middle of the field. So if there were any paper bombs attached to his they wouldn't harm her. She hoped to gain two meters closer to him. Giving her water whip more speed and less distance.

Though this time she did the same attack. Though she used her bones in her left hand to make another kunai to sail through the water whip. This one was aimed at his neck. As it went soaring towards him Hana was prepared to use her next jutsu. Once the kunai left the water realm of her water whip she would then stop the water jutsu and use another.

The whip wasn't very affective against him. She used her next hand signs and did her mist jutsu.

Spoiler:

She was realizing that using that level of Suiton was useless at that range. Normally someone would just give up and try another technique, but this girl was persistent in her efforts. Instead of dealing with the kunai with her water whip, which would have been a better option, she decided to keep her offense and defense together. Smart, but Shihouin couldn't help but assume that this was all luck.

He didn't know how to actually class her talent. Was she doing this by luck or gaining skill? He couldn't clearly judge her at this point, but he did know that she was dragging this on. Had it been him at that level, he would have used a different set of tactics. He had Sharingan though, so all the rules didn't apply to him.

As she countered him, she used her own kunai in conjunction with the water whip after moving. They were shuffling now, moving back and forth to keep their distance. The added speed and accuracy from the kunai inside of the water would make it hard for someone else to deal with but Shihouin would simply side step them by two feet and move to the side while keeping his stance.

Using the hidden mist huh? He could see beyond this level of jutsu with his Sharingan. He leaned in figuratively with all of his senses and waited for her to make her move.

The mist quickly appeared. Hana had to use a bit more of her chakra than usual to make it appear so fast and so thick. Though she knew that some Sharingan users couldn't use their eyes to see her. So she was sure he would have to use a different way to find her in the mist.

She threw two more Kunai at him once she finished. She then waited for him to come at her. She prepared her next jutsu as she waited. She had no idea what he was going to do but with her next jutsu she would be prepared. The bone slipped out of her arm and she formed it to be that of a sword. She then hardened it to be as strong as steel.

She waited. If he came at her with a throwing weapon of some kind she would be able to deflect it from her face with the sword. It was in front of her in defensive position. She bit her lip. If he came straight at her and attacked she could hit him back with her sword or deflect it. If he used jutsu, well she was sure she could have find some way to deal with it.

Once the hidden mist had block both of their sights Shihouin silently moved over to a position two meters to his left, which put him in a place to dodge any type of attack based upon his previous position. The Kirigakure jutsu was a special technique, used by assassins to provide optimum cover. However, Shihouin was skilled in the art of tracking, and as a tracker he could smell, hear and sense her to a good enough degree. The abilities at Jounin and a massive amount of training at a young age had afforded him these priceless abilities.

What was she going to do? He could use ninjutsu and force her on to the defensive, but Shihouin wanted the young girl to actually do that to him. There was several things she could do if she just thought about it. If she realized that her advantage was the fact that he could sense only her, she could come up with a plan. In this mist, without Sharingan and only his senses, Shihouin could not tell the difference between a bunshin and her. She could back away and leave a clone out to fight him, while she kept the mist away. If he attacked a clone, then she could use that opening to attack him from cover.

It was all apart of her mind. She had more than enough tools to make him go on the defensive and at least force him to use a quick technique like shadow clone. She had to think with all of her cards on the table, and realize every single option. If she didn't, then she would fail. If she did, then she would be so much more valuable to him, and to the village itself. Shihouin kept his stance steady and kept his body ready as he prepared his next move, waiting for her to decide what she would do.

Hana sighed after waiting a few moments. Apparently he wasn't going to attack her. She needed to come up with something else. She wanted to force him to use his Sharingan. It was her goal. Even if he was super scary she wanted to be praised by him.

Her eyes narrowed. She would have to get on the offensive again. If he wasn't going to attack. He was just toying with her. Though it was obvious he wanted to see what she could do. He had only done half assed attacks so far. He was watching and waiting like a shark.

She did her water clone jutsu. There were six clones in all. Three of them rushed off into the mist to search for him. One headed to his exact spot. The other two went about three meters to the left and right respectively. Hana's other three followed them though stayed behind in the mist about five meters behind the others. That way they would be ready for the next attack once they found his location. Hana herself already had her bone sword out.

She was still in the defensive as she quietly creeped towards Shi's previous spot, thought she didnt know he had moved. She was behind two waves of clones. So she had a bit of protection not to mention she was still in the defensive position. If he used weapons or hand to hand she would know and could both block quickly. Either way he wouldn't be able to use either of those techniques against her.

If he used clones like she herself did then she would be able to fight them off with her clones or just slash them with her sword. But she wouldn't be caught off guard because she would still have her left hand. If he came at her after sending in clones he would have to think again. Because she would send kunai right back at him while he thought she was off guard and momentarily weak.

If he came at her with ninjutsu, then she would be prepared with the jutsu she had in mind. Or she could dodge. It wouldn't be too hard once the clones found his position. He had no idea what clone she was following. Of the second wave there were three. He had four choices once the first three attacked. At least she hoped he didnt know where she was. She was guesstimating at this point.

The sound of too many footsteps and the feel of something big coming his way altered him the moment the girl started using ninjutsu. Luckily he had been relatively still and not focusing on manipulating chakra, which made sensing other opponents so easy. He had a few ways out of this technique, but there was only one he could really use. He could cheat and use his Sharingan for a second, without her noticing. She wouldn't be aware of it, and he could dodge everything. But if she realized it, she'd be able to call him on it.

Using clones in conjunction with the mist was a good idea, but being limited to only hand to hand combat meant he had to take on all of the clones by himself. Dealing with clones in hand to hand combat at a close range like this was reckelss. She could be setting up a water prison trap, because she was close enough to pull it off. Shihouin wondered did she realize that plan as well...

He could go two directions, but at the end of the day he felt like they would only stretch out the battle more. Had this been a real fight and thinks went more smoother, any ninja would use ninjutsu right now. Dealing with taijutsu was risky, and they could simply avoid the entire technique with one jutsu. He retired from his stance. "You win little girl."

Hana stopped and blinked. Her clones were so close but they stopped as well. She won? Did she hear the Hokage correctly? Seriously? This must have been a dream. Or a nightmare... No a dream because she had so much fun even if the Hokage was the scariest man she had ever met.

She gasped and just stared at him for about ten seconds. She was constantly blinking and even rubbed her eyes twice. The mist was disappearing now. She controlled the chakra to make it stop. For a moment she wondered if it was just a trap. But then again, he didn't pull any jutsu on her. Even though she broke the rules from the start.

So maybe he was just a scary guy with weird tastes and just plain scary altogether? With just a hint of honor. Perhaps, after all who would choose a Hokage that would be evil? Or at least not look out for the village? Then again this was the guy that was probably her worst fear. Her body told her he was her natural enemy.

She would have to try to get to know this hokage more... He was hard to figure out. She wouldn't trust him until she knew for sure she could. Once the mist disappeared Hana one by one made the clones disappear. They liquified and the water entered the grass and earth. Hana walked closer to him. She then bowed her head with her eyes still on him.

One thing she didn't want to do was take her eyes off him. Just in case he did try something. "Thank you Hokage-sama. For teachng me. I had fun and learned a lot. I ah... that stuff you gave me. Whatever it was I won't let you down." She stood back up and nodded at him. She also waited for a reply. She wasnt' sure what he would say.

Mitsu was training by his lonesome, as usual when he heard a sudden hissing sound coming from behind. Mitsu got on the defensive immediately and turned around to see a black cobra facing him. Mitsu was ready to move if it decided to strike, but instead it regurgitated a small scroll and left. Mitsu was somewhat confused and picked up the scroll, opening it. Inside it read that the hokage was summoning his presence at a certain area, and the time was close to what it was now. Mitsu got a bit excited about it, maybe he would be able to discuss the blood matter he had been asked about in their last encounter. Mitsu suddenly got a spring in his step and launched off into the trees with a burst of speed, quickly heading off to the enclosed location.

Soon Mitsu was there and he could see the hokage standing there with who appeared to be...Hana!? Why was Hana speaking with the hokage Mitsu was confused, and was out of earshot and only saw lips move. Mitsu walked up and bowed, as he always has done with the hokage, whoever it was at the time. "You called me here sir?"

Shihouin kindly smiled back, even though it felt fake for him. Everything was moving swiftly now, but she wasn't done. She had much, much more to go and things were just getting started. "What makes you so interesting is that stuff I put into you hasn't worked yet. You did this all on your own. Even though you didn't use your bloodline much, you fought with your brain which is more important. You're going to grow. I sense that you'll grow beyond Ayame herself... If you promise to try hard for me." Shihouin smiled towards her again, and hoped that she would believe him. He was serious, he felt that she could be stronger than Ayame if she trained and worked for it.

Mitsu soon arrived just as planned. Shihouin quickly smirked to himself. He remembered this kid. "Good good, you arrived as I needed you to." Motioning over towards his position, he moved the needle from his hand and placed his other hand on shoulder and brought him close. "This is the way I have to give you this shot. Your blood isn't needed anymore." He poured the white, murky liquid into his high spine, which would run through his back like molten lava for a searing second. He might scream out in pain, but it would be over before that. By the time he would realize he was hurt, it would cool off and he'd return back to normal.

Shihouin walked back over Hana's position and placed a hand on her shoulder. He grabbed both of his nin pouches and placed it in her hands, leaning over to whisper in her ear, under Mitsu's ability to eavesdrop, keeping the combo private. "There are shuriken, senbon, kunai, small shuriken that can fit in your hand, exploding pouches, exploding tags, smoke bombs, flash bombs, five sets of makibishi, some other stuff and some wire. Take these and use them instead of your normal tools. I want you to fight as if you are going to kill him, wait until the very last second to actually, not kill him. Show me what you got, and I'll reward you handsomely." He backed up away from her and looked at the both of them, speaking so they both could hear him.

"Mitsu! It's good that you came! I have a task for you." His eyes glared towards Hana in a look of confirmation and pride in her abilities for a split second.


"Start!"

Hana grinned at the praise. Sure she was his little toy but she was benefiting too. She didn't mind. She was learning so much. He even said she could surpass her idol, Ayame! She would continue to do whatever Shi told her. If she was to grow stronger she would do it.

Mitsu then came and bowed to the Hokage. He wasn't just wonderful but he was polite to the Hokage as well. Another plus for him. She blushed slightly. She also watched as he was given the same shot. What would it do? Shi said it hadn't even started working yet.

Hana held the ninja pouches in her hand and looked up at him quizzically. She listened to what he had to say. Hurt Mitsu?! Was he crazy?! Not only did Hana adore Mitsu but he was a chunin. Definitely stronger than herself. Sure she had won the earlier fight. But the Hokage pretty much had two hands tied behind his back. He could have probably defeated her with just his skill if it were completely serious.

She was about to decline when she remembered how he praised her and how much stronger she had become. Did she want to give all that up now? Not to mention she would show Mitsu her cowardice. She didn't want that. She didn't care about the reward. She wanted to test her own abilities. Mitsu was strong. She could learn even MORE from this battle. Especially since they were from the same clan.

She doubted she would get close to killing him but she would do her best. She would go at him like Shi told her to. "Mitsu I'm sorry for what I'm about to do..." she mumbled and she threw a smoke bomb down on the ground in front of them. About a meter in front of where Mitsu was. She then grabbed two shuriken and threw them at him a split second after Shi told her to start.

As the shuriken were sailing through the air, only about two meters away from Mitsu, they weren't too far apart, she backed away. She ran backwards and continued to throw the shuriken straight at him. Hoping he would dodge so she could continue the onslaught of shuriken throwing. She didn't even care if the Hokage got in the way. She was supposed to go at Mitsu like she was to kill him.

She knew that Mitsu had all the clan jutsu, which meant she couldn't get too close. Knowing the Taijutsu techniques he could and probably would use. If she could keep him at a distance she may be able to win.

Mitsu was confused by Shi's sudden 'friendlyness' because from what he knew of Shi, he wasn't the physical contact kind of guy. And then suddenly he felt this searing pain flow down his spine for an instant. Mitsu arched his back slightly and his face cringed a bit, most of what would have been his reaction restrained. Shi obviously did something and it wasn't until he walked over to Hana that he noticed a needle. So, I guess this is what I get instead of giving my blood

Shi handed her two ninja tool pouches and said something to her, but Mitsu couldn't quite hear. Out of respect Mitsu didn't try to pry. Suddenly Shi spoke as if something was going to happen. He heard Hana mumble a 'sorry' along with other words, but when Shi said start, There was a smoke bomb heading for him. Mitsu jumped back out of the smoke bomb's range, about 6 meters and caught the shuiken coming out right after. He sidestepped one foot to dodge and noticed others were coming. Mitsu started to move accordingly to dodge and knew he had to retaliate. He was confused as to exactly what had been going on, but he had assumed Shi had told her to fight him.

Mitsu knew if he just kept dodging he wouldn't be able to get close. Taijutsu was his forte, range, not so much. At least not until he was able to figure his bow out. Even then it would have it's disadvantages. So Mitsu used his head. He quickly made a bushin while hiding in the path of the smoke and it went off to Hana's line of site. It would do everything it could to dodge all of her shuriken and kunai, while running around to get Hana to turn with him. With this distraction, Mitsu ran in the opposite direction a few seconds after Hana would focus on his clone. Mitsu ran to her back, then started to close in on her from her blind spot. He also continued to move in the direction she was turning to stay in her blind spot. His goal was to get closer, and considering they were only a few meters apart to begin with, it wouldn't be long. Mitsu reached into his pouch and pulled out a smoke bomb and readied it.

Hana followed Mitsu just as planned. After a few seconds of his running she was able to predict where he was going next. He was dodging her attacks. So she could lead him where she wanted him. He was running to her right so she just threw a kunai at where she predicted he would be a second later.

She then assumed he would either stop, dodge it some way, like jumping over it or ducking. She couldn't keep playing ring-around-the-rosies all day. She then prepared her next jutsu. After about four seconds after his running and her throwing kunai at him. She prepared her handseals for her next jutsu.

She rushed the Mitsu she thought was the real one. Knowing she couldn't get too close to him but knowing her water whip wouldn't do much damage unless she was closer. So as she did her jutsu she rushed "Mitsu". She was only about four meters away from the one she thought was real. She grinned and finished her jutsu. The water whip went flying towards "Mitsu."

She hoped that while he was busy trying to dodge the next shuriken she could use the whip on him.

The Mitsu clone was running and dodging just as planned. Hitting him was hard to happen with a gennin throwing them. He knew Hana had to be close ranged as well, all kaguyas were. But the bushin didn't expect her to rush with a jutsu while he dodged. Or rather, if that had actually happened.

While "Mitsu" was distracting her, is as all too easy for the genuine Mitsu to keep going from her blind spot. Mitsu noticed that she had prepared a jutsu and he pulled out a kunai knife, placing his smoke bomb in his pouch. As he ran up to her, his arm moved infront of her, his fingers on his left hand pressing against the location of her heart, and he placed the kunai on her throat. "There is a kunai at your throat, and I my fingers are over your heart. If you disable my arm against your throat, I can easily fire my finger bullets into your heart. If you stop my left arm, I can slit your throat. I'm sorry to say it Hana, but this little match the Hokage put up is through. I do admit though, you did a very good job for a starting go."

Mitsu was sure she would be upset for losing. But he had her back against the wall with no way out excluding Kawamiri. And considering it was an empty field, she had nowhere to go. He held his position in case she did try anything, but to place in a level of seriousness, he did have the kunai blade on her skin and he had finger pointed finger bones pointing from his hands onto her chest. Mitsu was actually surprized on how fast he was able to resolve this though. But he would have to make it up for her, ending it so quickly like that.

Hana gasped. She'd gotten cocky with the Hokage's praise. She hadn't been careful around Mitsu. Using a clone was fairly simple. She should have seen through it and perhaps used a flash bomb instead of a smoke bomb. That way she could have blinded him. She sighed and stopped herself from continuing.

That was in the past. Mitsu had beaten her fair and square. She admired him even more now. Though she felt guilty for letting Shi down. She'd been beaten so easily. She felt like crying. Though of course she held that feeling deep down inside. She wouldn't show any weakness to Mitsu.

She had learned a lot with this battle too. She would start using more well thought out attacks and also use her stronger attacks. Weapons had so many uses but didn't deal all that much damage. Not to mention they were easy to dodge. She needed to make traps. She needed to make her enemies the puppets and have them walk into her traps like Mitsu had just done to her.

Hana kept her head high though. She took a deep breath and said, "You won Mitsu. Thank you for the spar." With that she waited for him to let her go. Then she would turn to the Hokage and bow. Without meeting his eyes. Still ashamed at being beaten so easily.

"I'll do better next time Hokage-sama," she told him and bit her lip till it bled when she was finished speaking. She was angry at herself. Angry that she couldn't even make Mitsu flinch or even worried. She just wanted to scream out her frustrations.

A couple of moves here, a few moves there, some feints and bag of tea with chips and you could call it a snack. The battle that passed before his eyes as he backed up to watch it had lasted no longer than it took to munch slowly on half a lunch. Shihouin watched a dismayed look, his mouth lingered open a bit as he looked back and forth at the young ninja fight on good terms. He was far from being surprised in the sense that he was amazed by either one of them, but he was astonished at this failure. The very experiment he had been growing a little close to had failed, which he expected her to pass with flying colors.

It was too late now. Anyone else would have trashed her like a rag doll. The 'serum' in her was worth a couple Daimyo's head if developed correctly, and he couldn't just kill the both of them off. He knew for a fact that this girl had more potential in her than Ayame did, and he understood wholeheartedly his words and ate them with vigor. This girl, however was letting her morals and feelings get in the way of her ability. He could see it plainly on her face. For some reason, she did not fee like fighting him at 100%.

Mitsu had done well though, and better than he expected. He hoped that he would continue to follow him faithfully. For this, he would be rewarded. "I expected something different from you Mitsu. You showed me good ability. I don't have to train you as much as I thought I would. Your reward will be soon coming. You can leave for the time being. I know you probably wanted to do more with me today, but I've seen that you only need to work on a few things which we could attend to later. If you want to do something for me, go bother Ayame Akira. You can do it obviously, like ask her for training or pester her and buy time. She's going to be mad when she finds out that I was near you two, and she won't realize that what I'm doing is a good thing." Shihouin would wait until Mitsu was gone from the vicinity or had any questions before talking to Hana privately.

Once he was gone, Shihouin moved up to Hana and squatted his tall long body down to her face level. He moved his hand up to her check and rubbed the blood from her chin off and forced her head up to look into his eyes. He meant well for her, and wanted her to succeed. There was no use in causing pain and tearing up at a loss. "You failed and it hurts." He pat her on the shoulder for a second before removing his hand. "There's no reason to get bent out of shape. I could tell you had some type of feeling for him. However, failure is not tolerated. I'm going to push you beyond Kaguya, beyond ninja, beyond 'Hana'. If you don't understand, don't worry about it. For now, I want you to go on a mission. C Rank." He reached in his pocket and pulled out an empty doctors needle in protective plastic. "I need you to go to the Hyuuga dojo and collect the blood of someone from the main branch." He handed her two slips, both with signatures and important information written all over them. "First you need to pick up a medic ninja and then head there. One of these is for a medic to come along with you and the other is my official stamp of Hokage, so the Hyuuga don't freak out." He stood up, making sure she had the materials.

"I expect a lot from you."

His body flickered and the sound of a log falling in front of her hit the ground with a dead thump. He was gone, leaving her to her mission.