A Bitter Reflection (Team Masami, Open)

[Daisuke Hizuhiro]

Daisuke took his first step back on solid ground for what seemed like hours. The trek back from the Oasis proved a difficult one, even with the water they had been given. The sensei's behavior near the end of the encounter was odd, or perhaps, was odd for him. The slight flicker of emotion that the Hizuhiro boy had managed to catch a glint of would be normal in the eyes of a normal human, but clearly Masami Saito had proven himself inhuman.

The inhuman speed, intellect, master of his elements... so this is the power of a full-fledged Jounin. As the second foot on solid ground fell, his mind shifted to his partners, they had proven themself... at least somewhat useful. Shouten showed fierocity that could not be underestimated, lest one get singed as Daisuke did upon his initial conflict with the mass of fire the young ninja had caused. At first, Mizuki had shown little promise at all, though in the end, she collected herself and charged headlong into a fight with a clearly superior opponent, and that showed courage, another trait which one would be foolish to ignore.

Upon the third foot, Daisuke's mind wandered to what they must have thought of him. All of his plans failed, and that was supposed to be his area of expertise. The only truly impressive thing he'd shown was his Lightning Ball jutsu, and even then it was unnecessarily flashy and ultimately ineffective. Eventually dozens more of his footsteps fell, along with the steps of his teammates, and they found themselves in the streets of the great city of the sand. Even though they had been given no further instruction, the Lightning user felt as though there needed to be more said, so he decided to make an attempt at conversation, though he could feel the thirst on his tongue.

"Well, that was interesting..."

As it turns out, whatever intellectual comment started in his head must have taken a detour to stupid town before exiting his mouth, something that happened more often than he'd like to admit. These social situations never have been Daisuke's forte...

[walkerm]

It was good to be back on solid ground. It might have seemed odd, given that she was a sand nin and had lived in the desert her whole life, but Mizuki had not felt quite at ease with the deep sands that sifted in the heart of the desert. There was something... Disquieting about traveling atop terrain that dipped in with every step. Even with the specially-shaped sandals meant to mitigate the effect, one couldn't help but be aware that they were walking on thin earth. More so disturbing was the knowledge that your every next step could lead you straight into a sand pit, and that, due to the nature of the sand, one'd be very hard-pressed to to recognize a sand trap when they saw one. They were, Mizuki supposed, lucky that one (or even all) of them hadn't met such a fate. Given their weakened states and their appalling lack of ability in any case... It wasn't likely that they'd be able to free themselves. Bad way to go, that.

Even worse still would be death by dehydration. At least with sand traps, you were sucked under and suffocated relatively quickly. Dehydration, though... That was just ugly. It was a relief that they were so close to the village; her salivary glands had apparently stopped working, and a dry patch was beginning to appear on her tongue. In the village, there would be water aplenty.

In most environs, a body could go for several days without water - they'd be unpleasant days, but they'd be survivable. In the desert, there was a triple threat of being hot, dry, and windy - and you were lucky if you could survive two whole days without water. And that's if you were already in peak condition from the get-go. Them? not so much. And the first one to go...? Probably that Li kid. Assuming what he'd said about his lack of chakra being true.

Thankfully, they didn't have to worry about that. Much. But if thing's had played out any other feasible way, it was entirely possible that they'd not have survived their trek back. If Masami hadn't given them some water, if the trail had been blown away, if the sun had set and the temperatures chilled... A thousand ifs. A hundred maybes... Thoughts all that she was better off not mulling over.

The other boy, Daisuke, had apparently been thinking as well, and finally he deigned to offer a smidgeon of confabulation; it took her a second to register his words, at which point she snorted inelegantly and muttered, "That's one way of putting it."

[Admin]

Shouten took that first step back into civilization with a bit of excitement in his chest. He hadn't expected to pass considering the fiasco that was the drill. In fact, it seemed that all of them had failed quite miserably. There were so many thoughts floating through the young man's head.

First there was Daisuke. Shouten could not ignore the boy's attempt at leadership. Granted, he had failed to notice Masami's proximity, the point was made. Daisuke was going to attempt to wrestle with Shouten for leadership of the team.

"No. Hell no. I lead or I bitch until I lead."

A selfish thought. An immature thought. Still, it was a pure feeling. Shouten wants to prove himself and the only way to do so would be to lead the team properly. However, underneath the more petty feelings, Shouten did take note of Daisuke's skills. Lightning techniques wouldn't really compliment Fire as much as vice versa, but it was a good combination. Between the two Genin and Masami, they controlled 4 of the 5 Elements. That is a perfection in and of itself. The boy's lightning blast or ball or orb or whatever was on equal footing with Shouten's own Fire Ball Technique. That's a point in his favor.

Then there was Mizuki. She hadn't done much, but it looked like she really wanted to be a Taijutsu user. That could be helpful in the long run. The team could use diversity there as well considering Masami is a fantastic Genjutsu user and it would appear that both he and Daisuke will excel in Ninjutsu. Other than that, it was hard to peg her. Perhaps she would reveal some sort of amazing talent in the next few missions the team went on.

Finally there was Masami.

"Masami-sensei. What was that look in his eye after we finished? He ran off so fast. He's hiding something, and I want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes. Perhaps I should talk to my team mates about this one."

Shouten heard Daisuke and Mizuki talk briefly. He even answered them. The only problem is, his brain failed to ask his mouth to complete the answer. So Shouten's response sounded a lot like silence.

"Yeah, that was interesting alright. If you call being completely embarrassed interesting. We got battered."

Eventually the boy caught up and realized that he wasn't talking. However, he was finished with the topic at hand and wanted to move on.

"Yeah, that was a thing. This is random, but we should head into town and buy some supplies for the next few missions together. I'm not going to force myself onto you guys, but it'd be smart to know what each other is packin. Like I didn't know you were bringing smoke bombs." A quick nod to Daisuke. "And I plan on picking up a sword. I know a bit of swordplay, for future reference."

The poor child was talking a million miles per hour, completely ignorant of the reserved and shellshocked attitude of his team mates. Hopefully they would hear it and just pretend to care for his sake. The conversation also doubled as a test.

"Let's see if Daisuke wants to redirect again."

[Daisuke Hizuhiro]

Daisuke allowed a small chuckle to himself as he witnessed the response Mizuki gave, clearly he wasn't the only one at a loss for words. It put him at ease slightly, to know that he wasn't the only one who must have been put off by this situation. He saw out of his periphreal vision that Shouten had been lagging behind, but he kept his pace so he knew that he wasn't distancing himself on purpose, he must have just been lost in thought, another charicteristic that it seemed was common.

Then the young Li picked up his pace and approached the other two to suggest a trip to a weapon shop. Daisuke stopped to consider this for a moment. Hrm... not a terrible idea, afterall I used quite a few kunai and shuriken in that battle, not to mention a smoke bomb, and along with ruining a perfectly good canteen... Though, perhaps we ought to go find something to drink first... Hrm, a lot of good that would do if I had no canteen to fill..." This inner struggle pained Daisuke, though his face was devoid of the conflict.

Part of him wanted to speak up and suggest an alternative, but he didn't wish to contradict his team members so early, not to mention, the sooner that Shouten went out and got his sword, the sooner they could perhaps get some practice in with the new weapons. Perhaps Mizuki would find something that caught her eye at the shop, indicating another clue as to the skills she could be bringing to the table?

In the end, Daisuke merely replied with eye contact and a stern nod. "As a matter of fact, my parents run a general store, and there's a section of the store specifically for weapons, I'm sure my folks could cut you a deal! ...that is, if that's alright with you, Mizuki."

[walkerm]

Her first thought when Shouten suggested they visit a weapon's shop was, 'Why bother?' She wasn't much of a hand with weapons - oh, sure, she could fling a kunai same as anyone else, and she wasn't too shabby with knifework, but that was about it. She'd never shown much interest in weaponry, and, quite frankly, she sort of looked down on it. Ninjutsu was, she opined, the higher level of fighting. The real rub of it all was that she wasn't particularly advanced in her elemental ninjutsu training, and as a result she had to rely on weapons a little more.

When the Li genin then mentioned that he was handy with a sword, her interest piqued. Swords, she mentally amended, were a mite bit interesting. There was something innately alluring about the idea of wielding a sword - swordsmanship was often compared to dancing - and the idea that something could be both beautiful and deadly attracted.

Daisuke offered something about his parents running a shop and cutting them a deal, and, mildly curious, she nodded her head. "Sounds fine to me. I need to replace some kunai." She also need to stock up on some other things, the girl realized as she considered her stores and just what sort of training she'd be engaging in. Shuriken, and smoke bombs for sure. Daisuke'd made good use of them, and she figured she'd be able to, as well.

It was irritating. Really, really irritating. Next time they encountered Saito-sensei, Mizuki vowed, she'd be asking him to help her train her ninjutsu. But until then...

She blinked and looked at Daisuke. Since it was his parent's shop, she figured he'd be the one to lead the way. Though, before they did that, there was a much more immediate and rather pressing matter that had to be tended to. "We should probably stop for water, first thing's first."

[Admin]

The young Li was quite surprised. Both Mizuki and Daisuke agreed with his idea. Though there was no reason they wouldn't. It was a sound plan. It even worked out well for them considering Daisuke mentioned his family business. As always, Shouten's mind wandered. His head danced with images of the most lavish weapons. Daisuke's parents were able to wield ten swords at once or perhaps an axe as big as a building. They were craftsmen of the highest degree.

Then the Shiga kid went and snapped him back to reality.

"We should probably stop for water, first thing's first."

"Don't worry, Mizuki, I thought of that. I'm sure we all thought of that, but we can't go get water. Daisuke broke his canteen trying to injure Saito-sensei. I figured it would be most fair if we all got water together. He deserves it as much as you or I. Back to business! Daisuke, lead the way to the Masters of all Weaponry!"

He meant his parents, but whatever. They were synonymous in the Genin's mind. He couldn't help but hope that they would be able to craft a sword for him that would slay any foe. One with special powers and characteristics. Perhaps one that took the shape of water or one that could cut the wind to shreds. The boy's imagination ran rampant. He saw himself among a mountain of shinobi, Masami Saito laying prominently at the top. There, at the top, was Shouten Li. His foot placed firmly on the backs of all those he had defeated. His name would echo throughout all of time.

Reality again. Why couldn't it go away? Shouten's throat was dry. He had been chakra exhausted not too long ago and the lived in a desert. Daisuke had better hurry, or he would die. No exaggerations, he would die. Why weren't they moving already? After all, in Shouten's mind, he was already the greatest ninja in the world. Or wait...had they moved? The poor child was always too wrapped up in his mind for his own good.

[Daisuke Hizuhiro]

After the three more or less had reached an agreement, they headed toward the Hizuhiro's shop, which wasn't too far from where they were in the city. Eventually they arrived, and were greeted by the smiling faces of Hikari and Kouza Hizuhiro. "Daisuke! How was meeting your sensei today?" The remark was met with three odd but uniform looks, expressing both confusion and intrigue. At least, that's what Daisuke figured as he wore his own.

"It was a blast... we used up some of our supplies in the first test, and figured we could come back here and restock."

"Oh, well, you know your way around son, just bring the stuff up front when you're ready."

"So anyway, over there you've got your weapons and stuff, there's a couple swords." Shouten quickly meandered over to the direction mentioned, and struck up conversation with Kouza. Daisuke thought he heard something about a lightning blade before he shut the two from his mind. Dreamer... He walked along the aisles picking up some usual things, explosive tags, kunai, shuriken, a new canteen (which he generously filled behind the counter, and motioned for his comrades to do the same), a few smoke bombs, and then his eyes rested on one of the fuuma shuriken.

If he could learn how to use it properly, it could be an invaluable addition to his list of strengths, perhaps prove his worth to the team. He snatched it from it's spot and added it to his purchase, folding it up and hooking it to the back of his belt. He looked over and saw Mizuki grazing over the common items as well, but eventually they all paid up at a discounted rate, and left.

"Well, even though we got a bit of a drink, we had a long day in the desert, i suggest we drink what we have from our canteens on the way to the well, it's not far from here, to make sure we're plenty hydrated, and in the meantime we can have a little talk about our new sensei..." Not even waiting for his teammate's reply he began the march to the nearest well at a slow pace. Afterall, there was plenty to talk about...

[walkerm]

She snorted at the receding form of Daisuke Hizuhiro, the noise upgrading into a slight huff that wasn't quite a scoff. She toyed with the idea of heading off in the opposite direction toward a different well - they didn't have to go everywhere he chose to go, after all - but after a moment's hesitation, she, too, followed in line. She took the boy's advice and pulled out her canteen, taking small sips of lukewarm water.

As she walked away from the store, slightly poorer and laden with dangerous, pointy objects, Mizuki considered her teammate's parents. They had seemed nice enough, cheerful and sane and, well, normal. And they were both alive. It was kind of surprising, given the violent world they lived in. Chances were... They were civilians. Suddenly, surprisingly, Mizuki felt a pang of jealousy. She wondered, what would the word be like if her parents had been civilians instead of shinobi; would she be pursuing this mad life of a shinobi? Who knew...

It didn't take her long to realize where they were headed, and once she did, her pace quickened. The sooner they got there, the sooner they could stop moving, and the sooner she could sit down and ease some of the burden on her aching muscles. She made a bit of a game of it, trying to catch up to Daisuke, trying to stay ahead of Shouten. And before she knew it, there they were, walking into one of the many small squares of Sunagakure. And smack-dab in the center was a simple well.

[Admin]

Though they were moving, and even drinking, Shouten was ignoring the world around him. He wanted to purchase a sword. The sword he received was beautiful. It felt great in his hand and he couldn't wait for the first opportunity to use it. The shine told Shouten that the blade was not used previously. To the boy it was amazing in countless ways.

He hated everything about it.

Instead of happiness, Shouten instead flashed back. He recalled the last time a father handed him a sword. Jealousy washed over the boy. Why was Daisuke allowed a loving father when Shouten's own was ripped from him. The boy didn't often dwell on his father's murder, but it was hard not to when the memory was invoked. Ling Li, delivered from this Earth by fire, unceremoniously slain in battle. His passing left Shouten in possession of the Sword of Li Souls. At that moment, Shouten rubbed his hand over his ninja pouch. He felt the scroll containing the weapon in his hand. Now was not the time for sorrow, though. Now was a time of contemplation. Daisuke had brought up an excellent point. They needed to discuss Masami Saito.

"He was arrogant. That much is certain. He felt the unnecessary need to belittle us at every turn. He needed to assert his strength by battering us. I think I'm bleeding in my chest. Then, in those final moments, everything changed."

Shouten wasn't speaking, once again. It really was a nasty habit. He realized that once the water hit the back of his throat. He couldn't speak clearly and drink water at the same time. A small smile crossed his face and he sped up to catch up to his team mates. They had passed him once he began to daydream.

"I think the first thing we should discuss is that end bit. Yeah, he's a dick. Yeah, he's a great ninja. We should probably work our way to discussing his skills, but damn all that. The thing that won't stop playing in my head is the final moments I could attempt to look at him. That look he gave you, Shiga. Something in him snapped. I saw it in his eyes. Do you guys know anything about his past? Maybe a lost kid?"

A million miles per hour voice again. The kid only had one way of speaking. When you think so much, it's only natural that all of your words come out so quickly. The team would just have to get used to it.

[Daisuke Hizuhiro]

Daisuke continued along at the pace he decided to set, eventually the two followed along and they arrived at the well. Mizuki was being oddly silent the whole way, and continued to be so when they chose a spot to settle into. Shouten, on the other hand it seemed, had plenty to say.

Something in him snapped. I saw it in his eyes.

Daisuke had seen it too, for only a brief moment. Something happened within Masami's head to make him realize he was being so, well... downright crazy. He held a deathmatch between three academy graduates where he controlled everything, it was sick really. Had he realized how harsh he was being toward the end? And if so, what triggered it? And what of the odd behavior by dispelling his clones so quickly and taking the fight himself? The whole situation reeked of funny business.

"Well, perhaps he had realized how much of a hardass he was being, and it donned on him that we did actually show enough as fresh academy graduates to impress him."

Do you guys know anything about his past? Maybe a lost kid?

Daisuke had read up on Masami slightly before being whisked off to meet the bastard. All he could dig up was that the man had previously had a 3-man team of Genin, but Daisuke hadn't found any details on how it had ended. "He used to be on another team... that's all I know."

[walkerm]

They seemed to think that something had 'broken' inside their sensei, the both of them did. Mizuki appraised them, left eyebrow raised as she considered the matter. She hadn't seen any such thing, herself, and, quite frankly, the girl doubted if they'd ever truly encountered heartbreak. Daisuke had a pretty decent life, from all appearances - both of his parents were still alive, and he had a good relationship with them. Lucky bastard. As for Shouten... Coming from a clan and constantly being surrounded by friends and family had its perks, and that was all Mizuki had to say on the matter.

She folded her arms. "I think you might be slashing at smoke." Really, interpreting facial expressions was an imprecise art at best, and it was just as likely that they were projecting their desires onto the man. But, then again, where there's smoke, there's fire... "For all you know, he did that on purpose." Testing them, always testing. In the back of her head, a small part of her wondered if perhaps their Sensei had used Genjutsu on them at any point. He was known for being a specialist in it, after all...

[Admin]

"He used to be on another team... that's all I know."

That settled it for Shouten. The pieces fit so well. Damn what Mizuki had said. There was no other proper answer for Masami's actions. Nobody could be that good an actor. Besides, what would he be playing at? The kids were too beat to hell to react much, and he didn't stick around to see them for that matter.

"Hrm...I don't think that's it, Mizuki. I think Daisuke's on to something. He had a team previously. How often do Jounin just up and switch teams? I mean, they have to be ninja for at least a year before we graduated. What could make him leave his team after spending a year with them?"

Shouten was asking a rhetorical question. He knew exactly what would cause a Jounin to make such a change. It was a rarity for the normally pensive boy, but at this stage in the conversation, he was speaking purely from impulse. The boy glanced over at each of his team mates separately. He wanted this reveal to be as grandiose as possible. Okay, maybe he wasn't speaking PURELY from impulse.

"I think....that Saito-sensei's previous team was killed in action. Perhaps only one or two of them, but I'm fairly certain it was all of them. People don't just up and switch teams. At least...I don't think."

I think. Those two little words make all the difference. The difference being that Shouten did not truly have any doubts about his assumption. After all, in his own reality, Masami Saito had not had any students before Daisuke, Mizuki, and himself. This was a shocking twist that could only be solved with a shocking answer. The Li child did not want to appear stupid, however. By simply adding "I think" he is free to state his opinion and not be judged on it. After all, none of them truly know the answer.

Shouten glanced over at Daisuke. He had purchased quite a few weapons back in the shop. Perhaps the team would be seeing a lot more thrown canteens and strategies like that. Shouten made a mental note to bring up their individual skills once again. He wanted absolute clarity. He wanted to spar with each of them. He wanted....to stop aching. His brain recalled that he was in immense physical pain. It would be best to wait a few days.

Then Shouten glanced over at Mizuki. What was so special about the Shiga child? Was Masami showing favoritism so quickly? After all, if Shouten was right, and all 3 Genin died, why did he only react so incredibly to Mizuki?

"We're going to have to interrogate him."

[Daisuke Hizuhiro]

Daisuke dipped his canteen into the well one last time, sealing it tightly as he listened to Mizuki and Shouten speak. It seemed that the Shiga girl thought that he and Shouten were being too rash, making something out of nothing. That's perfectly possible. Daisuke admitted to himself. But there just had to be something going on behind the scenes here, it all went down too oddly.

It seemed Shouten would be disregarding Mizuki outright, as he went on to suspect a potentially horrible past of Masami-sensei's. It would make sense, if he indeed had lost his previous Genin team, the reason for his necessity for them to "learn to survive on their own," pitting each other against one another. Also the reason for his last minute mercy, perhaps Mizuki reminded Masami of a previous student in that moment?

And yet again, Daisuke had to remind his mind that just because it made sense, that didn't make it true. In the end, it's all just idle speculation until they have another conversation with the man himself, and Daisuke looked forward to the encounter. He would need to learn more about this man before he put his trust, and more importanty, his life into this man's hands.

"I don't know... we really can't be sure of anything until we talk to him ourselves. Maybe we should seek him out? He wouldn't have left the village..."

[walkerm]

Well, she'd said her piece, and they'd casually dismissed it without so much as a sniff of curiosity. Interesting. And telling. They were clearly very much in love with their own theories. Granted, it was curious, Masami-sensei's sudden retreat from battle was. And granted, Mizuki wouldn't mind knowing why he'd chosen to end it the way he had. But she couldn't help but feel a tad miffed that they'd just blown her thoughts off. Nevertheless... She found her irritation warring with her curiosity - it was an interesting line of thought they had, this idea of Masami Saito, the Mirage of the Desert, a great and feared shinobi warrior of the Land of Wind, being affected by something as common as emotions, and trauma. Mind-boggling, but fascinating.

Mizuki had always assumed that, the older she got, the less she would be affected by the hurts and woes of her life. She'd figured that, when you grew up, you learned how to deal with your problems, and they were no longer problems. People died, people got hurt, people betrayed, and that was that. Moving forward. Ever and always, putting aside emotions, past attachments, for the sake of doing the job they were trained to do. And for someone like Masami, who was reknowned enough to be considered on par in terms of repute with the likes of the Copy Ninja and the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist (to name a few), it seemed unthinkable that he would be troubled by something so mundane.

Still... As interesting a line of thought as it was, the boys were both missing a very important point. Which is why, when Daisuke mentioned asking outright of Masami his exact motives for something (Because... right... he was totally going to just tell them something. Because he'd just been so forthcoming thus far), Mizuki snorted and unfolded her arms. "I agree. Only way to know what the man's thinking is to ask the man himself. And-" She widened her stance ever so slightly and casually placed her hands on her hips, "-as interesting as this is, I can't help but wonder how important his motives really aren't. Shouldn't we be taking a look at our performance? Digging at the dirty, nitty-gritty details of where we went wrong - aside from the obvious." That last was spoken with just the barest hint of sarcasm - just the barest hint of how irritated she was to have lost, even if it was against a jounin, and furthermore, just how very aggravated she was to have been pitted against a jounin in the first place.

She knew where she'd start. Lack of skill. Boom. She (and, to be frank, they) were all so untrained. Undisciplined. Masami's demonstration of what kind of skill was needed to excel in the shinobi world had been... Educational, to say the least. Another word for it would have been humiliating. They'd gotten thoroughly trounced, and it would have been depressing if she hadn't been so peeved on the matter. Another problem they had... Communication. There was a rather offsetting lack of unity, a troubling theme of the genin team's inability to coordinate. Which, to be fair, really couldn't be expected right off the bat (they'd only just teamed up), but all the same, it was a great disappointment to the young girl. A part of her had expected that, once teamed up, everyone would just automatically get each other, and things would be peachy-keen. Alas, it seemed that that particular bit of Not-Happening was left out of the non-existent Genin's Manual that someone really ought to write - which was a pity; it was always nice to have someone to blame your problems and failures on.

[Admin]

Maybe we should seek him out?

"I dunno, Dai. He took off like a bat out of hell. If Masami-sensei doesn't wish to be found, he won't be. Plain as that."

Shouten's mind danced with the idea of Masami hiding. With his skill, he could be anywhere. Hell, with the right jutsu, he could be right under them right now. Shouten shifted his stance awkwardly. He even tapped his feet a few times against the ground.

Shouldn't we be taking a look at our performance?

Mizuki's words struck a chord. Perhaps it would be best to go over the fight again. All Shouten could think of was the pain he endured at the end, but there were some cute highlights. Despite Mizuki's point, they had already gone over their strengths with each other. What could reiterating them do? Still, everyone is owed their opinion.

"Even if it's stupid."

"Fair enough, Mizuki. I guess I should go first? Before I say anything else, I wanna apologize. That was sort of a boneheaded move throwing out a plan while Masami was there. Sometimes I'm so deep in my head that I don't pay attention to what's going on around it. Beyond that failure though, I think I did alright. As you both saw, another apology for that by the way, I can utilize two main fire techniques. My Great Fireball has got decent range on it and is a bit of a one hit-one kill move."

Shouten was speaking very quickly and in a bit of a hushed tone. It wasn't normal for a ninja to go around blathering about his skills. Doesn't hurt to keep those NOT on his team in the dark.

"My other move, the Phoenix Flower, can be directed in different directions and is more for softening an opponent up for a finishing blow. Other than that, I've got some Academy jutsu. I'm beating a dead horse when I say this, but I'm handy with a sword as well."

Now for the young boy's least favorite part. Time to peel that ego back one hundred times. Time to humble the Deep Thought Shinobi.

"Well, if I can toss some blame around, we did a lot of screwing around originally. No thanks to Masami-sensei, who began to fight by pitching us all against each other. Had he not done that, we wouldn't have wasted so much chakra originally. Speaking of chakra, there's one of my deficiencies. I don't have a whole lot, so those fire jutsu aren't something I can just chuck out. Then there was my sucky plan. We should probably sit down, one day that's not now, and just think up the different scenarios we could end up in. That way we're all following the same plan, but wordlessly. Where else did we screw up?"

Shouten had a few choice words for where his team mates screwed up, but it might have been rude to point them out. After all, they had done him the courtesy of not calling out his flaws.