The Nindō Effect

3-Day One of Training

Talking with her new team left Akemi trembling subtly. Without a doubt, that was the most that she had ever spoken to anybody at one time. But, what surprised her was that none of them seemed to hate her, in fact none of them really knew her.

That would be a good thing. Akemi would finally be able to show people that she actually has a personality. Not that she doubted the fact, but she had had such little interaction with others that the opportunity to interact with others simultaneously set her heart on fire and spawned millions of butterflies in her stomach.

Arriving back to her small apartment, she set out her clothes for the next day carefully and gazed at herself in her foggy mirror. Akemi's green eyes were as bright as the leaves on the trees that surrounded the village, her hair as deep brown as their trunks, with a frame as sturdy as an ancient tree. Akemi was tall for her age, but still was shorter that Lee and Neji by about 2 inches.

Akemi, willing herself to calm down, felt the anticipation for the next day rising like an unbeatable tide. 'C'mon brain, sleep isn't an option. I must be strong for my trials tomorrow! Surely they have planned assessments for me to find my skill levels. I can only perform well if I am physically well.'

It seemed, though, that Akemi's body was still restless, so she decided to rise from her cot and do some Chakra practice to wear herself out. She had gone quite far in her studies of ninjitsu, and decided to practice some of her transformation techniques. Soon enough, she found her tiredness welling up, willing herself to go to bed and drift away, collapsed on the ground, just shy of her cot.
—
The birds pecking at Akemi's face were a harsh wake up call in the morning, but she had trained them to wake her up about a half-hour before dawn years ago. Akemi outfitted herself in her ninja-combat gear, which consisted of a black sports bra, a mesh top, blue cargo pants, and her genin headband. With her hair fastened in a secure braid, her lunch packed, and her weapons tucked all over her body and in her cargo pants, she set off. (outfit pictured above)

As she walked toward the training grounds about 2 hours early, Akemi wrung her hands over and over, running her fingertips over the coarse bandages that covered her hands. Under her bandages, she hid her hands from being easily cut, but also from wandering eyes that might see scars from her Anbu torture sessions.

She swiftly arrived and decided to investigate the area. Akemi could vaguely recollect the basic geography of the space, but she was to go up against her new teammates in their element. She had to be sure that she was as familiar with the terrain as they might be.

To do this efficiently, Akemi created alternate shadow clones, allowing her to cover more ground. One clone stood lookout for her teammates so she could dispel the jutsu before they arrived. If her comrades saw her abilities before she fought them, they could devise a strategy against her easily. That was one advantage that Akemi had over her new team. She had made it a point to covertly spy on all the genin above her and was well aware of the abilities and specialties of her comrades.

While she was not as fast as Lee, she found a basic attack pattern that made his jutsu easier to dodge, in theory. Neji had the Byakugan, but while she noticed that he needed a few seconds to get his surroundings and perform the jutsu. If Akemi was just fast enough to strike within that time frame, she could even the playing field just a little. Tenten, while not weak, was the easiest for Akemi to devise a strategy against. Tenten relied so heavily on her weapons, so a genjutsu seemed appropriate.

While Akemi pondered this and scoured the area, she heard a specific whistle tone that signified her teammates coming. She quickly dispelled the jutsu and stood attentively until they had all arrived.

As Gai, Tenten, Neji and Lee spotted Akemi, they took in her combat attire, particularly her cargo pants. They were the same blue as the shoes that most ninja wore and had around 4 pockets on each leg.