The Beggining of the Black Blooded Aprentices

Vash would appear out of the mist, followed by a young girl. His pace would be relaxed, not wanting to waste any of his energy, or the girl's. He would step under an overhanging next to the entrance to the old facility, the rain pouring over the roof's edges. Drying his shirt and hair would take a few moments, but he had some time to kill as he waited for his two young friends to, one, catch up, and two, show up. Looking at the sky, Vash would sigh lightly.

"It sure is wet tonight.... Maybe I should've held back a little this morning."

Maomi followed after Vash. She had only just met him and felt an attraction toward him. He almost felt like a father, while her father felt like a son. How she missed her days as a child, quickly learning under her parent's eye. All they could do is tell her what to do. They couldn't show her anything, but she still missed it. Now she was going to get real training.

She stepped under the overhanging, removing the barrowed jacket. Her hair was soaked, causing the bit of hair over her eye to move out of her face. This revealed a small scar over her eye she had gotten as a genin. She immediately dried it the best she could and moved the peice back. She really didn't want to have to explain that. She heard the man sigh and listened to his words. "I really don't mind the rain. It can many times make things easier." She was very curious what he meant by 'should've held back this morning', but she kept the feeling to herself. She was sure everything would become clear in time.

Vash would look at her, watching her dry her self off. The scar would raise a question in him, but he would quiet it down, deciding she would tell him if she felt like it. He would stretch, leaning against the wall. The other Chunnin was taking to long, he should have been here first. He remembered coming here as a child for his own training. It was always raining then too.

"Before we start, I do have some questions if you don't mind."

He would run his hand through his hair, sliding against the wall into a sitting position on the floor. Waiting for her response with his eyes closed, breathing in the sweet smell of the rain.

She looked to him. "I don't mind, it's only natural for you to want to know more about me." She stretched out and leaned against the wall, putting her left foot on the wall. "I'm sure I'm very curious about you." She gave a small wink and flashed a smile. As usual, her blue hair flashed off her tanned skin. People always thout it odd that she was so tan when she lived in Kiri her whole life. She couldn't even explain it herself. She just tried to ignore it.

She leaned back and enjoyed the sound of rain. She loved it to rain. That's probably why she liked Kiri so much. It was always wet.

He would exhale slowly, his breath becoming visible. Lightning would strike the ground close to them, but unlike most people he would enjoy the momentary heat and bright light. He would breath in the smell of the burnt ground, the air still feeling charged around them.

"I have three questions. Then you can ask me three questions. Number one, What type of fighter are you? Close-range, mid-range, or long-range? What Is your favorite thing in the world? If you could change one thing around you, what would it be?"

He would take a pakage off cigarets out of a pocket, lighting one and begining to smoke.

Maomi looked at him. "I've really never thought about my fighting style, I suppose it would be a mixture really. I strategize a lot and use whatever is best for the situation. One thing I do know is that I do not speak at all when I'm fighting. I try my best to keep my face emotionless, as to not give away any intents." She thought about the next question for awhile. "Well, if I had to chose my favorite thing it would probably have to be my family. They mean everything to me." The last one was very hard, she didn't want him to think badly of her. "Well, if I could change something, it would have to be to bring my dad out of his trance. He's been that way since Mom committed suicide about a year ago." She was having trouble holding back the emotion.

Then, came her questions. "Why do people seem to be scared of you? I noticed everybody's reaction in the restaurant. Secondly, why are you being so nice to me? Everybody who's ever known me has never been this kind and we just met. Finally, what did you mean by I should've held back this morning?" She didn't completely expect him to answer that final one, but what the heck, her curiosity was killing her inside.

Vash would listen to her answers calmly, understanding why she felt the way she did about her family. Waiting for her questions, he would watch the smoke from his cigarete lazily waft with the breeze, curling in on itself before dissapearing with the wind. Sometimes he wanted to be like smoke. After she asked her questions, he would take another cigarete out, the first had died by then, and light it. He would think for a few moments before he would answer.

"For the first question, I would ask that you wait until tonight's training is compleate. When it is, I will tell you why they act afraid. For the second question...... I know how you feel, I can sympathize with your pain. When i was your age, I had wished someone would appear to help me. The third question, i cannot say what i was doing other than I was on an important mission, I got in a fight and that fight resulted in this storm. Do theses answers please you, or do you want an elaboration on one?"

Yami finally arrived. He had said nothing, he knew he was more or less late and he didn't want to interrupt any conversation they were having. He took off his cloak and tossed it aside revealing his brown skin to the two. His cloak was wet so he had no other choice. He didn't like wearing wet clothes much because it stuck to his body. He looked between the two and opened his mouth to say something but decided he wouldn't speak unless he was addressed by one of them.

He stood off to the side hoping he didn't throw them off with whatever they had been talking about before he arrived and he began getting comfortable while thinking. He thought of what they would be doing at that day and he wondered if he remained quiet and let them speak would he hear anything about it.

Maomi shook her head. "No, that's actually better than I expected." She smiled at him as the other man came. She watched as he took off his cloak, revealing brown skin. At least she didn't feel completely out of place now. He looked around the same age as her, but she didn't recongnise him. That may have been caused by the fact that she started the academy late. She tended to mostly know people younger than her, and they were creul. She looked back to Vash. "I'm guessing he's the other one who will be joining us." She inquired. She was, in fact, quite sure of it. Who else would be her in the middle of a giat rain storm, but you never know. That's always one thing she remembers though, people are unpredictable. You can never try to judge them before you know them. That was many of the genin's mistake during her chuunin exams, they underestimated her.

Vash would blow smoke out, once again watching it curl around, then twisting up on itself and dissapearing. He would notice the other Chunnin approach them, sitting while he and Maomi finished their talk. Lightning would flash through the sky again, and when it's light would fade a Raven would have appeared on Vash's outstretched hand. The Raven would caw at them, dropping a large key out of it's beak. He would catch the key and stroke the Raven, a gentle look on his face.

"Thank you my friend."

Then turning two the two young Chunnin, he would begin to talk.

"Yes Maomi, he will be joining us. Why dont you two introduce yourselves and then we can begin."

The Raven would fly away, the sound of his wings lost to the howling wind.

Yami looked towards them and nodded to Maomi and quickly looked at and then away from Vash. He bit his lip wondering how he should start and then just decided to go along with the flow. "Well first of all, my name is Yami." He looked down, once more biting his lip. He wasn't used to this kind of thing, he usually managed to avoid people for they were usually so boring to him, he couldn't bare it and he couldn't understand how nothing seems to entertain him. Either way, he soon picked his head back up and looked at them. "Yami Naito."

Maomi watched the lighting, admiring it. She always loved storms. She then looked curiously at the raven. She didn't have the slightest idea what the key would be for. She smiled at the one who was known as Yami. He seemed nervous and truthfully she was, too. She hadn't really met many people, having taken care of her family. The only ones who ever really knew her were her teammates and her sensei, but even they barely knew her. She brought her mind back to the current situation. "I'm Maomi Michi." She gave a slight nod while saying this. "It's an honor to meet you." Her voice was soft, but could be eisily heard.

The rain would start coming down harder with large chunks of hail smahing into the ground. Vash would quietly listen to them introduce themselves. They were nervouse, he would decide that being nervouse might help them tonight. As they would finish their introduction, he would slowly stand up, putting out a third cigarete. He would take the key and run it across an empty patch of wall, the key making the grating sound of running across metal. A door would shimmer into existance where he had run the key, rusted and black with age. He would open the door slowly, being carefull not to take it of the hinges. On the other side of the door would be the underground facility.

"This is where we will be training tonight, are you both ready? Leave all of your weapons here. I will give you a dagger when you enter, no ninjutsu, no genjutsu, and no taijutsu. This is just training to hone you senses and wills to live."

Yami jumped, though it wasn't exaggerated to the point that any of them would notice when unless they closely observed. He looked at Maomi a bit more then he turned to Vash clearly confused. He opened his mouth to question but then reconsidered. He decided not to but shortly after the words blurted out of his mouth. "But why?" He looked down, feeling defeated after speaking because he had decided not to ask but he pushed his embarrassment to the side and sighed. "A dagger isn't exactly my ideal weapon is all I mean." He looked at Maomi. "What about you?" He bit his lip before continuing, I mean unless it has any special properties a dagger isn't exactly useful.. so why?"

Maomi was very surprised by the door suddenly appearing, but she really didn't show it. She had to stay calm. By what Vash was saying, there was a chance that she might not live, but she had to live. There wasn't anyone else who could take care of her father, and she truthfully believed that she was the only thing keeping him from following in her mother's footsteps. She looked to Yami. "Well, I must say the dagger is not my weapon of choice, but I'll have to make due. I can't die just yet. There's someone who needs me." She smiled gentle before dropping all her weapons, which really were just kunai and shuriken. She nodded to Vash. She knew this was going to be much harder than she's used to. The chuunin wasn't sure about her senses, but she knew her will to live could probably outlast anybody else's.

She thought back to a very time she was faced with death. It was her last mission as a genin. Her team was assigned to a simple escort mission. It wasn't really supposed to be anything too special, just mostly bandits, but it really turned into something more. It was a trap, and the one they were escorting was a part of it. They had thought Kiri had sent different shinobi. Her team was attacked. Her team fought them off the best they could, using strategy to the best of their ability, but they were overtaken. Her teammates died along with her sensei. She was sure she was now facing death, too. She was surrounded by shinobi, surely over her level, but she wasn't going down without a fight. She was low on chakra, so she realized she really couldn't use jutsu. If she did that, she would surely go down. She fought the best she could with only kunai, shuriken, and her own body. That's when they cut her across her eye. Her mind raced a million miles an hour. She needed to get out. Her parents needed her. She fought off the shinobi until she could find an opening for escape. She ran the fastest she had ever to the village. She was trailed pretty much the whole way, but they ceased when she arrived inside the village gates, she guessed because they didn't want to be attacked by the village. Pretty much immediately after arriving, she passed out from both physical and chakra exhaustion.

A shiver ran down her spine at the memory as she followed Vash into the training area. She had to do this.

Vash would smile at them walking into the facility. It was just as he remembered it, though the door was a little more beat up now. The floor of this room would be covered in faded colorfull chalk drawings left there by his younger sister. He would turn to the two, his wrists snapping outwards, two daggers would sink into the stone by their feet. The dagger would have intracate carvings on the handles, a whole in the broad side of the blades near the hilt, obviously there for decoration. Vash would put a hand on one of their shoulders each.

"Try not to die you two."

Vash would walk between them to the door, walking out and closing it beghind him, the door dissapearing.

Yami reluctantly dropped his weapons, the only weapons he's ever done training with. He proceeded inside sighing. He followed Vash inside. He looked at the colorful chalk drawings and kept them in his mine. He's never seen anything like hit. He had a pretty black and white childhood. Putting the drawings in a corner of his mind for the time being, he knelt down and picked up his dagger. He looked at the design and admired it. It was nothing like the sword his father had died by. It had been plain, even the blade was dulled. He had never imagined such designs could exist on a weapon used for killing. His staff was a different story. Staff users ordinarily didn't kill. But, his staff had special properties that allowed him to easily pierce whatever he wanted. Remembering his father's death reminded him of the emptiness known as boredom. He wondered if Vash would be able to fill that hole in his heart with this training. He wondered if the other two in the facility would be able to entertain him unlike everyone else.

He positioned the dagger in his hand in a way in which he would be able to fight with it. He looked at Maomi and nodded shyly. "Good luck." He watched Vash leave the facility and wondered what would happen now.

Maomi looked around the facility. There was chalk drawing all around, obviously done by a child. She stayed clam as the dagger fell in front of her feet. She admired its design. It was nothing like she had ever seen. She held it in her hand. It was light and felt natural in her hand. She spun it once in her hand, getting used to its feel. She made a small slashing motion then smiled. Maybe she could handle this weapon. "Don't die." The jonin told them and she wasn't planning on it. She'd survived too much to die now.

She looked to Yami as Vash left. "Good luck to you, too." Her mind then wandered to the possibilities of this training. It excited her as much as scared her.

Vash would sigh as he closed the door, he was going to enjoy seeing how this played out. His Sensei had put him through this, but times were harsher then in this village. He hoped that the two would make it untill morning when he would come find them.

A door would appear on the wall opposite the one that the two had come in, a cold draft blowing through the room. The door would open slowly, the rust on it showed by the creaking sound as it swung open. On the other side of the door would be a long tunnle that angled downwards. A few feet into that tunnle, there was a fork in the road. The sign on the wall said in faded text

"Left for the Grove, Right for the Catacombs."

The two would have to choose for themselves which path to take.

Yami had sighed as he prepared. He wondered what was going to happen and this apparently answered his question. The new door that was revealed annoyed him with the creaking sound it had made. He didn't make it clear that the sound annoyed him but he did suck his teeth and advance forward. He entered into the tunnel and walked down. He saw the faded text and sighed. "Grove or the catacomb?" He went right heading for the catacomb. He took his time progressing inside of the tunnel. He wasn't too eager to rush into any kind of fight especially since his teacher thought he might die. Of course he hadn't expected his teacher to be underestimating him and Maomi.

Maomi watched as another door appeared. She cringed a bit at the creaking sound. " Well, this place could use some work." She mubled, following Yami in. She looked at the sign. She wasn't sure what would await either way, but she did know it wouldn't be easy. She decided to stay with Yami. She caught up to him. "I think it's best to stay together. There's no telling what could be coming." She looked around, watching for anything suspicious, looking to find some clues as to what would happen. Somehow, she never doubted she would survive this training. It was never her way to look at the worst. She had to believe she was coming out again or she wouldn't.

The catacombs would open up before them, they would get a momentary glance from above the catacombs, it would be like a labyrinth, with endless twists and turns. A shadow would seem to leap from wall to wall before dissapearing into the shadows. They could feel something move past behind them, but whatever it was would be gone if they turned to look. A mysterious dark laughter coming from withing the walls of the labyrinth. The shadows above would lengthen, creaking noises coming from the pipes running through the walls. Several large rats would his at them from corners, only their red eyes visible in the shadows.

Yami walked alongside Maomi. The catacombs didn't really creep him out as one might think. As a matter of fact, he wouldn't have minded if it wasn't for the creaking of the pipes. The creaking had annoyed him to no end. Other than that, he had not been scared or bothered by anything else. He looked at Maomi to see how she had been holding up. He could learn a lot about her by observing her and this seemed like the way to go since he hadn't known much about her in the first place. He would have asked her about herself but he had a feeling he would be interrupted by creaking or the laughter. Either of the two would really annoy him so he just decided to observe her quietly and wait for whatever to happen inside of the catacombs to happen.

Maomi walked through the pathways, keeping her appearence calm. Truthfully, this place both scared and excited her. She loved new things. She showed none of these feelings outwardly, though. The one thing she was always best at was hiding her emotions. She could show no fear, no hesitation, no anticipation. She had to seem as clam as possible. There would be no cockiness. She was not going to give up. She was going to get out of here. She could not let anything distract her. She just needed to analyze the situation and find out what the best plan of action would be. She had a feeling there would be some quick thinking here, something she was fairly good at.

The creaking in the walls would continue, but the laughter would stop. The rats would run as the two passed them. No matter where they would look, there would be tall walls and cobwebs. Black walls that stretched higher than even most shinobi could jump, the surfaces of them so slick it would be almost impossible to climb. The two would feel a cool breeze pass between them and then the inside shoulders on both of their shirts would fall appart. Looking on the top of the wall they could see a tall man compleatly dressed in black, a white mask over his face, a dagger in his hand.

"Welcome to my playground."