Dawn of the First Day

With all three Tōri's within the grove of trees the two clones quickly muffled their fighting into a mock version to make it sound like they were still tumbling around. Moving next to the original they looked to him for instructions as they heard an electric discharge from Sera’s initial counter.

Looking at both clones he shooed them away, nothing was to be gained with them rolling around on the ground and they were better spent aiding the students. Both of them burst through the treeline just as Natsuki’s doton technique began to trap Sera, her assigned clone weaving through five hand seals in half a second to try and save her. This produced the rising head of a stone dragon beneath Sera's hand to help keep her from getting trapped below while the earthen beast sank to its knees as the lumbering creation rose its top half above the swirling earth around it.

Meanwhile, Natsuki’s clone waited for the moment that was needed to see what jutsu the other clone was enacting, choosing to try and counter it with the budding of trees on the rising dragon’s surface. Deep roots began to grow through the creature's body as its structural integrity began to falter with chunks falling off and its movements halting to a mere crawl. The trees wouldn't have any restraining movements, simply growing to slow the beast and provide cover against Sera's archery skills.

Natsuki’s Clone Techs Used:
- Wood Release: Nativity of a Sea of Trees | 10 → 5

Sera’s Clone Techs Used:
- Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon | 10

Sera's Clone: 83 / 103

Natsuki's Clone: 88 / 103

“I give!” Sera shouted as the ground caved in around her. It was at this point that Natsuki began to move back towards the surface. The other clone approaching was a welcome surprise for the exercise, but having the jounin- as incredibly powerful as he was- rush towards his position was probably the second most terrifying thing Natsuki had ever perceived. Acting fast, especially with an Earth and Stone dragon closing in, the boy mirrored the seals and created one of his own, rising up and striking at Sera's Tōri clone's dragon's neck to destroy it and itself? To slow its movements as they tussled? Natsuki wasn't sure how that'd work, especially with the plantlife growing all around and through, it but he just needed a little bit of time.

Poking his head out of the ground, Natsuki shouted as loudly as his body he could muster: "Grab Tōri, get him to the bottom of the cliff, now!"

With that, he'd dive back under, navigating the mess of mangled earth, displaced stone, and gaps of open air until he approached his friend. She would see his face poke from one of the stones, dimly lit by what little light made it down there, as he spoke softly.

"Hey, you doin' okay?" The concern on his face and in his voice would be apparent. While he had made sure to protect her in that controlled chaos, he had never intentionally launched an offensive technique at someone like that.

Spoiler:

The earth crumbled around Sera as what looked like a dragon rose and was destroyed next to her as she was encased in earth. Tree roots that she could only assume were from Tori also erupted around her surrounding area. A feeling of unsettling claustrophobia flowed over her body as she remained still amidst the chaos. Whatever she tried to do to break through the rocks and roots, she worried she would hurt herself or her friends. After a few moments of waiting, Natsuki would poke out of the earth beside her.  Sera would flinch instinctively, but would calm herself in time to prevent an attack in response to the sudden arrival.

“Ah, I’m doing okay.” Sera forced a smile as she lied to her friend. “I think I’d like to get out of here though.”

Sera took a deep breath and began to plan out a new technique that would prevent her from being trapped in a similar scenario in the future.

With the defensive move of Sera’s clone having failed Natsuki seemed to dive off after his teammate, ignoring the objective in favor of his comrade. While issuing an order to the clone under him Natsuki still put its success in jeopardy with his actions, a note the clone that was under Sera would note before turning to the reacting clone at her side but a touch too late.

At the issued command Natsuki’s clone formed the singular hand seal he had seen the Uchiha perform early, slamming one palm to the ground as they prepared the use of the body flicker with his free hand to propel them at an even greater speed thanks to his student’s ingenuity.

A protrusion of earth forcefully jutted out beneath him, simultaneously kicking off of the stumpy, piston-like platform that allowed him to reach above his creator’s grove of trees in a mere moment. With a single seal the clone formed an extending branch of wood that grew from his arm, grabbing Tōri as the two of them plummeted down the cliff towards the mock extraction point.

At that Sera’s clone would attempt to throw a few quickly grown branches but couldn’t keep up with his speed.

Grabbing a branch before landing the two landed gingerly before Tōri motioned with his head towards the top. “Alrighty, carry me back up then. I’m a fragile civilian asset after all.” With rolling eyes the clone walked straight up the wall with Tōri sitting on their chest, curious how the two were getting along after the decisive victory.

Returning to the top of the cliff both clones would poof away returning all memories as he walked up to the two and he studied their expressions to see how that last move had affected them.

“How are we going up here? Let’s maybe have a little sit down.”

With the hare hand seal he placed his hand on the ground and produced three little juts of earth as Natsuki had displayed earlier. “I think I’m getting the hang of this. It’s a slick thing you came up with, Natsuki.”

Trained:
- Sudden Rock Jut (C-Rank Custom) | 345 / 200

Techniques Used:
- Sudden Rock Jut x 3 | 15

Natsuki’s Clone Techs Used:
- Sudden Rock Jut | 5
- Body Flicker | 5

Sera’s Clone Techs Used:
- Wood Release: Cutting Technique | 10 → 5

Natsuki’s Clone’s Stat Changes:
- Speed: C → A (for jump)

Chakra: 244 / 320

Natsuki took a moment to observe the rocks surrounding Sera. They were dense and they were many, and Natsuki didn't exactly have a method to retrieve her that he would call elegant. "Alright, hold on," he started, his face disappearing into the rock once more. Just as quickly, he'd return, the look of concern on Sera's face apparent. "I'm going to get you out of here."

Feeling the lay of the stones around him, Natsuki began to form several pointed stone spears that pushed under the stones immediately above Sera, leaving her "plenty" of room in her claustrophobic chamber. These would be the supports. Next came another set, this time to push. pebbles, dirt, and emerging rays of sunshine would rain down on the young kunoichi as the boulders began to shift out of the way in lieu of thick stone protrusions.

This new cross hatching of stone, holding back that which buried Sera, would double as a crude and irregular ladder for which she could escape. He would reappear at the top of this hole, crouched low as he reached a hand down. "Don't worry, you're safe!"

“How are we going up here? Let’s maybe have a little sit down.”

He would keep his eyes on Sera until she was out, even as Tōri approached and made a seat for each of them.

“I think I’m getting the hang of this. It’s a slick thing you came up with, Natsuki.”

Spoiler:

Reassurance from a teammate allowed Sera to catch her breath and relax a bit, and so when earth spears shot up around her, she didn’t freak out. Some dirt got in her hair as the ceiling opened up above her and she chuckled at the silliness of the situation. Earth was a pretty cool element to have control over, but not so much to be stuck in. Natsuki had made her what looked to be a bit of a shoddy ladder out of dirt, which Sera would smile and nod at, but would instead walk up the side of the hole using chakra on the soles of her feet. As she got to the top she would grab Natsuki’s hand, thankful for the assistance, but not necessarily trusting the ladder. "Thanks!" Once she had climbed out, Tori would address the group and create some earth chairs for them to sit on. Sera gladly grabbed a seat and would look over to her team. “Alright. Let’s discuss!” she would say, back to her chipper self.

As Tōri approached he could see Sera deftly composing herself but looking somewhat rattled from the experience, or perhaps he was projecting his own first experience being yoinked and stuffed underground. It was certainly an unsettling experience, regardless of one's sensitivity to enclosed spaces.

What really cued him in was Natsuki’s attention to his teammate, the lad seemed to never miss a beat to any compliment paid his way. Watching Sera take a seat he would follow in fashion, the girl either putting up a brave front or truly unfazed.

“Natsuki, that was some good intuition there. Having a teammate with doton to get out of tight spots is a handy thing indeed.” Not intending the pun he hoped it would go unnoticed before continuing.

“Now, putting your comrades and loyalty to them above the mission. You'll find differing opinions on this matter, both officially and unofficially. How do you think this scenario might have played out were this not an exercise?” His demeanor would be serious, but not overly so as to indicate a sense of disapproval.

"Thanks!" Natsuki nodded with a nervous smile, helping Sera out of the hole. “Alright. Let’s discuss!”

The young Uchiha, his long hair notably standing on end and littered with some dirt and debris from a combination of traveling underground and his prior shock, will scratch at the back of his head as he took his seat as well.

“Natsuki, that was some good intuition there. Having a teammate with doton to get out of tight spots is a handy thing indeed.” The boy allowed a slight smile to this response, though it wasn't to last. “Now, putting your comrades and loyalty to them above the mission. You'll find differing opinions on this matter, both officially and unofficially. How do you think this scenario might have played out were this not an exercise?”

His smile quickly faded as he furrowed his brow. "Wait, what?" He was a little taken aback. It was true that he sort of coasted through mission related shenanigans at the academy, and the stakes of walking puppies were quite low, but was the implication that they were meant to be expendable? "If this were not an exercise, I'd fail the mission to save your lives in a heartbeat." He turned to Sera with a concerned look before giving it right back to Tōri. "Wouldn't you?!"

Even from a practical standpoint, how important could one mission be compared to the many that would go uncompleted by a dwindling supply of shinobi- but what about the humanitarian perspective?!

As the three of them sat on the recently created earth chairs, Sera could feel a bit of tension in the air. Tori asked both of them what their opinion on prioritizing comrades over the mission was. Natsuki’s instinct was to reply that his comrades were more important and that he would fail the mission in order to save his friends. Sera smiled as she heard his response, happy to know that she would have someone that had her back when things got tough. Her swordsman friend looked over to her to gauge her response, looking a bit concerned that someone would even consider prioritizing the mission. She would take a deep breath and try to fully understand the question beyond just its surface level.

“I one hundred percent agree that I would prioritize the lives of my comrades.” Sera would say as she nodded in congruence with Natsuki.

“However.” she would continue with a serious look on her face. “There could be times where prioritizing the mission would result in helping more comrades overall.” It was hard to talk about, and the words got caught in her throat a bit, but she would try and communicate what she was feeling accurately to her team. “What if we were put in a situation where we would need to abandon a teammate, but it would result in the whole village being saved? Or the reverse? If saving a teammate resulted in the village and our families being killed? I think it might not always be so easy.” She would sigh and look to her teammates for a response. Sera didn’t like to get super serious with these types of things and preferred to keep it light, but it was important to have these discussions.

As expected, the free-willed Natsuki stood in firm opposition to this notion with a look that seemed to plead for reassurance to his viewpoint. While Tōri wanted to hold a serious exterior, the immediacy with which the lad declared his stance melted the jōnin’s composure enough for a warm smile to crack through. Wanting to wait until hearing from both he would offer a sympathetic look with the budding smile in place of a response to young Natuski for the moment.

Sera was able to see through to the true question at hand, no doubt her capacity to comprehend such things expanded by the close brush with the calamitous bijū not so long ago. With but a hint of faltering she was able to voice the different avenues this scenario could be encountered and their varied outcomes.

“It certainly is no easy thing, but having intuition like yours will make these situations navigable. You both display good instincts and that’s exactly what I advocate for over blindly following orders.” Taking a moment to gather himself, he tried not to dwell on his sensei’s untimely passing and that corny phrase his mentor would always tell his team that he'd later learned was something of a mantra amongst leaf jōnin.

I won’t allow my comrades to die.

“If you spend as long a time as I have as a shinobi you’ll lose friends along the way. I won’t make you a promise I can’t guarantee and say I won’t allow my comrades to die. But I can assure you that I will put my life on the line every time to make sure my comrades and the leaf live on.” Looking between the two at the mention of comrades his expression turned more compassionate than serious, not wanting to make the tone feel overly dour.

A pit formed in Natsuki's stomach as Sera spoke. Of course, she was right. How many people died in the struggle against that beast. How many comrades fell that day? And how many lives were saved as a result of their sacrifice? Was his own life saved that day? Would he ever be able to know?

Thinking about that night, Natsuki's vision suddenly sharpened as a tinge of pain came over him. "Tss-ah," he flinched softly, reflexively facing downward and bringing his hand up to his eyes. He wiped away what he thought might have been some dirt that dislodged from his hair. But it wasn't. It was horror made manifest, and it was unpleasant. The sensation quickly dissipated, and he returned his black eyes to Tori who continued to speak.

Still filled with unease, especially after that calamitous night, Natsuki nodded in solemn understanding at his words. He shifted slightly, hoping the discomfort he was feeling was from the stone chair, but it wasn't. It was cowardice- a desire to never engage in something that could risk his or his friends' lives... but Sera was right.

"But... doesn't that scare you?"

Their teacher seemed to empathize with both hers and Natsuki’s points of view and shared his own view on the matter. Blindly following orders might be something that higher-ups in the government beyond shinobi control might want, but they should advocate for themselves to help their friends. Like Sera had mentioned, it won’t always be an easy decision, but taking steps towards saving your loved ones was always the right move. Tori made a declaration that he would risk his life to protect his comrades to which Sera would nod her head in congruence. Natsuki would make a pained noise and reach up to his eye before looking back up at the two of them. As he reacted in pain, Sera reached out and put a hand on his shoulder for comfort. The kind swordsman asked if the thought of risking their lives scared them, obviously not keen on the idea himself.

Sera’s face would soften at the question and she would smile at her new friend as she answered. “Of course I’m scared Natsuki. I’m scared that I could go into battle and lose a limb, or break all my bones, or even lose my life in the process. But I’m also afraid of losing my family, friends, and loved ones.” Sera would look over to Tori, understanding some of the message behind this conversation before she turned back to Natsuki. “I’m the most afraid of losing the people important to me when I had the opportunity to stop it. How much regret would we feel if we lost someone we knew because we didn’t act? I don’t know how I could handle that.”

Seemingly at the mention of the bijū event Natsuki looked to react in discomfort, causing Tōri to worry he’d upset the lad too far before he quickly recovered and posed the simple but honest question. Just as Natsuki had rushed to Sera’s aid in their exercise, so too did the girl rush to help Natsuki in his own time of need with an answer sounding straight from the heart.

Nodding in agreement to her words he would add with the same sentiment; “And don’t think for a second that us higher-up shinobi are immune to such fears. We might be good at wearing masks but these things affect everyone in their own ways.” His own mask would falter a bit as he recalled the powerlessness he felt in the recent incident.

A small flock of birds flew overhead as the three sat in their earthen chairs, the forest around them almost seemed to let out a sigh of relief as its inhabitants seemed to sense the pause in chakra-laden craziness being thrown around by moving around more freely once more.

Natsuki's eyes fell to the ground before them, shifting from one nondescript portion of earth to the next in rapid succession as his mind wandered.

Was I taught this reality at the academy? Did I sleep through it? Is this something a fucking child could be expected to understand?! He knew that becoming a shinobi was to become a soldier, but he had somehow convinced himself that just doing the odd jobs was enough... But Sera was right... Could he rest easy, lounging in the damp and cool morning grass, knowing that things like Chomei could literally just appear one day? Could he live with himself if he lazed about, remaining someone who could not protect the people he cared about only for them to be lost?

Tori was strong- stronger than anyone Natsuki had ever seen before- but he too has felt fear. Natsuki saw it plainly on his face; in fact, he still had fears. How could he be afraid? And, if he is... What hope do I have?

But, ironically, that weight lifted as his periphery saw Sera's hand- he suddenly felt it pushing down on his shoulder like a warm blanket on a winter's night. All at once, he released his tension with a heavy exhalation, but he did not say anything.

He would let the silence linger, unsure of what to say. There was so much he was happy to leave unconsidered; but, now, he could not unsee what he had seen. At least, it seemed, he had friends.

Silence consumed their surroundings as the three shinobi sat and contemplated the dire extremes of what could occur on a mission. Natsuki seemed like he was in his head the most about it, while Tori appeared like he had come to terms with it long ago. Sera sat in an in-between state of recognizing the possibilities, while having never encountered them herself. She would stand up and give herself a little shake, trying to reset herself physically and mentally. With a renewed grin, she would reach down to help Natsuki up as well and then turn to their teacher. “There’s nowhere to go, but forward right? The only thing we can do is to keep preparing ourselves for the future. What’s next?” She attempted to reassure her friend and ask her sensei for guidance simultaneously. The previous exercise had been tiring, but it was mostly mentally tiring for her. Realistically she could continue to practice.

It was Sera who broke through the thick atmosphere that was settling around them, prompting an agreeing nod in return as he too stood up.

“Indeed Sera. The day is still young, I’m sure the two of you have some more surprises in store for me yet. Let us take a small break though before continuing. Natsuki I think you might like this in particular. I’d found this food cart in the marketplace that sells dango on a stick the other day that made me think of you. Let’s enjoy a treat on me, then we can walk back leisurely and decide what to get into next, unless you’re craving more okonomiyaki Natsuki?” He’d offer a small chuckle after ribbing the lad’s love of the fried food on the go that he was sure he’d seen him munching on earlier.

After deliberating on their snack break they would have off before deciding their next course of action.

“There’s nowhere to go, but forward right?”

Sera did have a way with words, and a wisdom he couldn't have expected from one so cheerful. Once more, she was right. Natsuki would have to make some major changes if he were to continue to exist in this world. His mind shifted in focus to Sera and Tori- and then briefly to his family, but very quickly back to Sera and Tori. Is this what having people you care about feels like?

Tori's suggestion of leaving it there for the day was most welcome to the young Uchiha. He too could probably keep going for a spell, but he was emotionally drained. At their combined efforts, Natsuki would crack a slight smirk. "No, dango sounds perfect." Like he had helped her out of the pit, so too would Sera help him; he took her hand and rose to his feet, renewed himself.

"Let's go."

Tori agreed with her sentiment that there was still room to do more in the day, but that maybe it would be good to take a break. Sera would nod and smile with relief. She hadn’t realized it, but eating some food and leaving the training grounds for a bit would probably be good for her mental health. Natsuki looked like he had a lot to think about as well and so Sera would agree wholeheartedly. “That sounds great. I could use a little refueling!” she laughed and followed after her teammates. She had trained in the past with other shinobi while training in the academy, but this was the first time that she felt confident she could call them teammates. It was a nice feeling.

[Exit Thread]