Chapter Text
Akko picked up the long pair of shinobi-grade shorts she'd been bent over sewing a storage matrix into at the end of her bed for the past hour and a half. She brought the piece fabric closer to her face, her red eyes scanned the recently sewn seal to make sure the stitch was tightly packed and without a thread out of place. When she was certain everything was perfect she sighed in relief and flopped backwards onto her mattress.
After a moment's rest, Akko's satisfaction morphed into joy at what lay ahead for the day. As the excited feelings went from bubbling under the surface to bursting out of her skin, Akko flung herself and the red shorts she had been working on off her bed as she began to bounce and dance around her room in happiness.
"Yatta!" The brunette exclaimed as she giggled to herself while her shorts flailed around in the air.
A knock at her door snapped Akko out of her excitement and she embarrassedly looked over at the time.
"Oh crap! I'll be out in a minute!" Akko shouted while loading shuriken into the seal she made, "Hey before you go! I'm gonna have to skip breakfast, so can I borrow some money to grab something while I'm out?" Akko shouted.
"Sure!" Akko's dad called back as he headed down the hall.
Once Akko's old pouch was empty she pulled her shorts on and checked herself in the mirror while she tied the base of them to her legs with medical tape. She pulled a hairband out of her pocket and used it to tie her signature half ponytail making sure to pull the hair into it she knew would fall in her face otherwise, finally Akko made sure to grab her brush off her dresser to get any knots out of the hair that rested on her upper back, before she quickly fixed up her bangs and put on her red banded hitai-ate over her forehead.
Doing one more check around her room and a pat down on herself to make sure she wasn't missing anything, Akko stretched out her shoulders before running out the door. On her way to the kitchen to grab the ryo off the counter, she spotted her dad, in a similar state of hurriedness.
"Looks like you're not the only one running late." Akko's mom commented from her seat at the table while Akko grabbed the ryo.
"Well I was sewing a storage seal into my shorts. What's up with him?" Akko asked, pointing to her dad who was busy cleaning off his glasses.
"Oh you know, he wanted to see you before you went off to meet with your team. And you know what that means." Akko's mom explained, while she brushed her own brown hair to the side before taking a swig of her coffee.
"He stopped doing everything?" Akko asked as she headed for the door.
"He stopped doing everything." Akko's mom confirmed.
"Hey! Stop bullying me Tomoko!" Akko's dad whined, his red eyes pleading.
Akko laughed at that before she headed for the entrance to slip on her black sandals.
"I would stop if it wasn't so fun to bully you!" Tomoko shot back before a gleam shone in her dark eyes, "Hey Akko wanna hear about the time Akane tried to ask me-" She started but was cut off.
"Wow! Would you look at the time." Akane interrupted, one hand scratched at the back of his red hair while the other adjusted his chuunin vest. "Ah looks like we both gotta get going champ. Hurry up!"
Tomoko was suffering from a laughing fit while Akane tried to rush Akko to her feet for his goodbye hug. When the brunette was standing her dad hugged her then ruffled her hair before he turned to the door.
"Bye girls I'll see you later!" He called out, before rushing out the door.
"He'd better remember to make dinner when he gets home." Tomoko sighed while shaking her head. "Have a good day Akko, I start at noon today so I won't be home until late."
"Okay! Bye mom!" Akko exclaimed while she stepped outside.
The warm sea breeze immediately hit her as she stepped outside, as the early summer sunlight bounced brightly off her white shirt. Akko stood and relished in the heat of the sun for a minute before she took a deep breath and pushed forward into the street. Akko looked down the street toward the Uzukage Tower, and she could just make out the massive blue structure that doubled as the academy that stood as a monument off in the distance barely peeking above the much closer buildings. She idly wondered if her dad would be relegated to archive duty again today, but shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind as she turned to the opposite direction and headed down the road toward the shopping district.
As Akko made her way out of the neighborhood she grew up in, she couldn't help but sink into old memories from school. "...the Academy rests in the center of the island," Ursula-sensei had said, "Even now as the land reclamation projects extend the area that Getsu makes u-" She had cut off. "Akko, are you even listening?" She had asked the brunette as Akko started signing something to Constanze. After getting called out Akko spoke back. "I was listening! I was just asking Conz how the windmills drained the water." She explained, to which Ursula smiled softly. "That's a good question Akko, you should have just asked it out loud, I'm sure there are others here who would love the answer too." Ursula had explained before clapping her hands together, "Anyways, the windmills-" .
Akko was drawn from her thoughts as she realized the housing district slowly gave way to the shopping district, and she had to refocus on getting her task done before she was too late to the training grounds. Quickening her pace, Akko sped down the full street as much as she could, dodging between the passersby as they headed for work or wherever they needed, Akko finally saw it. As she squeezed through a small group clustered near the entrance, Akko was able to slip into the building. It was a quaint Dango shop, it had a small line forming to the register, which Akko hopped in immediately, and a decent amount of people were already seated enjoying their sweets.
As the line crept forward, Akko was drawn into another set of memories.
Akko bounced in her seat while Ursula-sensei named off three of the brunette's classmates and the name of their jounin sensei. Akko's smile grew larger as did her anticipation, as she listened to her sensei prattle off another set of names, none of which were anyone she knew.
"Who do you hope's on your team?" Amanda, who was sitting next to the brunette, whispered.
"Well, you and Conz are at the top of the list duh." Akko whispered back.
"Ha same, but it's normal to want me, I'm irresistible." Amanda whispered smugly.
"True, but uh, other than that, I'm fine with Jas, Sucy, Lotte, you know, our group." Akko listed off.
"I wouldn't mind Hannah-" Amanda began.
"What?" Akko whispered a little too loudly, to which Ursula cleared her throat while her red eyes scanned the classroom.
When Akko's blue haired teacher went back to the list. Akko turned back to Amanda, the redhead trying to hold back a laugh.
"What did you say?" Akko whispered much quieter this time.
"I said I wouldn't mind Hannah, but I get it, you and her have bad blood-" Amanda whispered, her green eyes trained on their sensei.
"Bad blood?" Akko scoffed, "Now that's an understatement. Hannah hates my guts for some reason. Barbara, Diana, and her are all bonafide assholes in my book." Akko huffed.
"True. She doesn't bother me though so I'd be fine with her, but like, also I'd ride her ass about bugging you if we were teammates so..." Amanda trailed off.
"Thanks." Akko whispered then gave a slight smile.
"Yeah, other than that you're right, there's no-one outside our group I'd wanna have." Amanda conceded.
Suddenly a soft yip sounded from inside Amanda's jacket, and she unzipped it to let her ninken out.
"Hey sorry bud, you know you're on the list of those inside our group." Amanda comforted the dog while scratching behind his ear lightly.
"Man, Getsumaru's so cool, I wish my clan had ninken." Akko pouted.
"Sorry I'm an Inuzuka, I didn't know we became hotter shit in Getsu than the freaking Uzumaki but go off I guess." Amanda teased.
"You know what I mean." Akko grumbled.
"Yeah yeah, didn't you tell me you wanted a ninneko just last week?" Amanda asked.
"Well yeah, but I want whatever I can get, and ninneko are pricey, I'm just hoping to marry into your family and take all the ninken I could ever need at this point." Akko joked.
"Ha. Yeah, by then you'll be a desk chuunin like your folks so have fun with all the training." Amanda teased.
"You know for a fact I'll be Uzukage before I marry, or after… Or... Wait, you know for a fact I'll be Uzukage! Not some lousy desk chuunin." Akko argued.
"Sure sure, I'll put in a good word for you once I take that hat first." Amanda joked.
Akko stuck out her tongue, crossed her arms, and turned pointedly away from Amanda after that last one, while she returned to waiting for her name to be called.
"Blue Team, Amanda O'Neill," Ursula began listing off.
"Here we go." Amanda said while resting her hand on Getsumaru.
"Sucy Manbavaran, and Hannah England." Ursula finished.
"Two outta three good picks, and a real middle of the road choice too." Amanda muttered to Akko.
"Unlucky you." Akko chuckled.
"Your jounin sensei will be Commander Nelson."
"No fuckin' way." Amanda's jaw dropped. "The Commander Nelson? The same Commander Nelson that fought tooth and nail for our Kiri holdings in the second war?" Amanda asked Ursula.
"The one and only." Ursula revealed with a fond smile.
"Pinch me I must be drea- ack!" Amanda was cut off by Getsumaru biting into her hand. "Kami's tits, Getsu what the fuck!"
"Amanda O'Neill! Watch your language!" Ursula ordered as she returned to the list.
"Yes ma'am..." Amanda muttered.
"Now, Green Team will consist of Jasminka Antonenko, Barbara Parker, and..." Ursula paused for a second to take a breath, "Constanze Amalie von Braunschbank-Albrechtsberger. Your sensei will be " She finished.
"Boo! I wanted Conz!" Akko complained while glancing over to the girl in question.
"Onto Red Team. First is Atsuko Kagari," Ursula began.
"Oop, you're up." Amanda said while nudging Akko.
"Lotte Jansson, and finally Diana Cavendish. Your jounin sensei will be Croix Meridies." Ursula finished.
Akko sat there for a moment blank faced while she took in the information, before her eye twitched.
"WAIT WHAT THE FU-"
"I'll take a loaded sweet breakfast crepe and 16 dango to go please." Akko ordered and handed the exact ryo she needed.
The woman behind the counter quickly counted the ryo, before putting it in a lock box. She then reached under the counter to where the sweets rested behind the glass. Akko watched as the woman grabbed her crepe, put it on the counter, then reached back to start collecting the dango.
"Can I keep the crepe separate?" Akko asked while the woman grabbed a storage scroll out to place the order in.
"Of course." The woman said with a smile, before she sealed the dango up and passed the items over the counter to Akko.
"Thank you!" Akko called over her shoulder as she headed for the door.
"Come back any time!" The woman called back.
As Akko snacked on her crepe while speed walking toward the training grounds, she let herself drift back to her thoughts.
"I just want to thank you all for the 8 years we spent together." Ursula-sensei said while tears sparkled in her red eyes. "I just... It's been wonderful really, you're all the first class I'm sending out into the world. I just hope you keep my lessons close to your heart and that you never forget that you can always come and ask me for anything." A couple tears streamed down her face.
The class chorused out a loud 'thank you Ursula-sensei!' before Ursula excused herself when the first jounin started filing in.
Akko sat and watched as the front of the room filled up with very powerful looking shinobi all clad in blue flak jackets as per the Getsugakure custom of important events requiring jounin to dress in their Getsu blues. In a blur of movement the class rapidly lost its occupants until all that remained was Akko's team. That was until one last jounin walked through the door.
"Red team, with me." The lavender haired woman instructed before she led the way out the door.
Akko watched as Diana gracefully got to her feet, and Lotte the same, before she herself leapt out of her seat and made to follow their new sensei. The walk was silent as they passed by the few classrooms on the bottom floor before they made it to the staircase. Without a word Croix began ascending the flights of stairs without breaking her step, her three new students trying to match her pace from behind her.
After they reached the third floor, which was a decidedly more administrative section of the large Uzukage Tower, Croix led them away from the stairs and out onto the balcony that made up the rim of the third floor. The lavender haired woman waltzed to the edge of the balcony before turning to face her students, and crossed her arms.
As the group of three stopped in front of their sensei, Akko was able to get a better look at just who was going to train them. Croix had short, wavy, lavender hair, and wore the muted purple banded, spiraled crescent moon hitai-ate in its typical place above her brow. Her serious green eyes scanned her students, while she wore a confident grin.
Slung over her shoulders was a light blue cloak with a popped collar, it was clipped together with the symbol of Getsu on a golden clasp over her heart. Underneath the cloak she wore the standard Getsugakure jounin flak jacket, it was a similar shade of blue to her cloak, and had two orange Uzumaki spiral clips pinning the padded shoulder armor to the jacket itself.
Croix wore detached white sleeves along her forearms, and had on a sleeveless black jounin undershirt. Her pants were also standard issue black and were wrapped around her ankles with white medical tape. On her thigh rested a tan pouch, most likely for kunai or shuriken. To finish off her look, she wore red, shinobi grade sandals.
As Akko took in her sensei, standing in front of the Getsu skyline, she felt a wave of hope flow over her. As her smile grew, Croix made to speak.
“How about we all introduce ourselves?” She asked.
When none of her students objected she straightened her posture and took a breath in.
“I guess I’ll start.” She began, “My name is Croix Meridies, my favorite food is ramen. I dislike when people pick favorites in professional environments. I have made a hobby out of training, and my dream is to see that you all become great shinobi.”
When Croix was finished, Akko watched as the lavender haired woman looked at each of her students individually before she finally turned toward her.
“Now how about you go?” She asked.
“Alright!” Akko cheered, “My name is Atsuko Kagari, but you can call me Akko! I love pickled plums, and hate bullies!” Akko pointedly glared at Diana before continuing.
“I enjoy learning fuuinjutsu with my dad, and I dream of one day becoming the Uzukage!” Akko finished.
“I’d love to see what you can do with your seals, and I will try my best to train you in your pursuit of becoming Uzukage.” Croix said with a smile. “Now, how about you blondie?” She asked Diana.
“My name is Diana Cavendish. I enjoy a good cup of tea, and am not fond of people being falsely accused of anything.” Her blue eyes slipped to Akko for a brief moment.
“I love reading, especially when what I read can help me become a better shinobi. As for my dream, I hope to one day become a great medic-nin, and possibly even Uzukage.” Diana finished standing a little straighter near the end.
“I’ll help as much as I can, but iryojutsu is not my strong suit.” Croix offered.
“Thank you.” Diana said then bowed her head.
“Glasses, you’re up.” Croix said while turning to Lotte.
“H-Hai!” Lotte shouted nervously. “I-I mean…”
“Hey it’s okay to be nervous, just take your time.” Croix instructed.
“Hai…” Lotte mumbled before taking a deep breath to steady herself. “My name is Lotte Jansson, my favorite food is Hapansilakka pie, a desert from my home country.” Lotte explains, then takes another moment to breathe.
“I don’t dislike a lot of things, but I think I dislike all the things you guys said. I enjoy reading, my favorite series is Nightfall, and my dream is to become an academy instructor one day.” Lotte announced.
“I’ve never read Nightfall, I might have to give it a shot since so many people like it.” Croix said, “And I’m assuming your old sensei has something to do with your dream?”
“Yeah…” Lotte muttered.
“Well!” Croix began with a clap. “You are all a diverse group, from your files I learned that you,” She pointed to Diana.
“Were top of your class, but you refused to work with others, and you.” She pointed at Akko, “Even with your potential you slacked off too much and were right near the bottom.” She then turned toward Lotte.
“Your sensei told me you could have been a top student too, if not for your nervousness during tests.” Croix revealed.
“All of you have your upsides and downsides, and I’d love to teach you, but…” Croix trailed off.
“What do you mean but!? We passed the stinking graduation exam already!” Akko shouted, trying and failing to keep her nerves from her voice.
“Akko’s right, there shouldn’t be a but…” Diana muttered half to herself.
“Can we not become shinobi?” Lotte asked, her eyes starting to water.
When Croix saw Lotte’s face she quickly turned away and cleared her throat.
“Look, I get it, you all passed your old instructor’s exam, but there’s still one problem.” She paused for dramatic effect. “You haven’t passed the real genin test.” Croix announced.
“Real genin test?” All three of her students chorused.
“Yep. Meet me tomorrow at eight, at training grounds 26, and I’ll explain it in more detail then. For now, head home, rest, and pack for a C-Rank mission, your test will include survival training.” Croix revealed.
When Akko arrived at training grounds 26, she saw that Diana and Lotte were already standing and making light conversation with one another. As Akko approached she saw that they were both dressed similar to her, light clothing, t-shirts and shorts.
Diana's outfit was made up of a baby blue shirt, long black shinobi shorts tied to her legs with medical tape, and she had a kunai pouch attached to her upper thigh. In a bout of of uniqueness, she wore what looked like steel shoulder armor, and her dark blue banded hitai-ate around her neck. Her long, wavy, platinum blonde hair was in a full ponytail, in a move that made sure to keep any hair away from her eyes.
Lotte's wardrobe was made up of a lighter shade of blue shirt than Diana's, and long yellow-orange shorts in the same style they all had theirs in. She wore her blue banded hitai-ate on top of her head, it easily rested on top of her short, orange hair, and she had a similar pouch to Diana's but it was attached to her waist like a belt with the pack behind her.
Akko smiled at the fact she wasn't the only one wearing what was essentially just her taijutsu clothes from the academy. When she was about to close the distance she decided to announce herself.
"Hey guys." Akko greeted. "Where's Croix-sensei?"
"Hi Akko." Lotte replied, and when all Diana did was turn to acknowledge Akko, Lotte sighed. "Croix-sensei hasn't shown up yet."
Akko decided to ignore Diana's slight, and instead looked around the field they were standing in. There wasn't anything of note around her, the only thing that stood out about this training grounds was the large forest that made up the bulk of it. When Akko realized her arrival caused all conversation to dry up she groaned.
"Sorry for interrupting you guys when I arrived, but hey, before Croix-sensei gets here we should do some stretches." She suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea." Diana said, before walking a few paces away to stretch in peace.
Akko sighed, then turned toward Lotte. The orange haired girl gave her a weak smile.
"Sorry Akko, it looks like she isn't ready to become friends yet... But look on the bright side, at least without Barbara and Hannah here you aren't getting picked on." Lotte tried.
"Getting picked on, getting ignored. What's the difference really? Each one just gets on my nerves." Akko muttered angrily before she and Lotte took a couple paces away from one another to start their own stretches.
By the time the three of them had finished a full set of stretches from the academy each, Croix finally arrived at the training grounds.
"Yo." Croix greeted coolly with a two finger salute.
"Morning Croix-sensei!" Akko called out, Lotte and Diana giving their own greeting each.
"Good to see you all here, I hope you heeded my warning and packed for a C-rank." Croix said.
"The only one who arrived without a bag today was Akko." Diana announced then pointed with her thumb toward a tree where Lotte and Diana's bags were sitting.
"Akko?" Croix asked, turning to the brunette.
"Sheesh way to be a teacher's pet..." Akko muttered. "I have my gear, don't worry." Akko announced while pulling a scroll out from her back pocket.
"Everything's in there?" Croix asked.
"Everything but my shuriken." Akko revealed, then reached for the seal she added to her pant leg, and called from it a handful of shuriken before sending them back.
"Impressive." Croix said with a whistle.
Akko beamed at her sensei's praise and followed as she motioned for the three to get closer. Once they were lined up in front of Croix, the lavender haired woman straightened up and put her hands behind her back, before she began to pace.
"Your test today is simple. All you have to do is impress me. I have the approval of the Uzukage to take on any number of students. Whether it be just one, or a thousand. I have that liberty." Croix explained, "Long story short brats, whoever impresses me gets to be on my team, whoever doesn't, well they get sent back to the academy." Croix finished.
Her students held her gaze as she turned to each of them, and she smirked.
"Your objective is to subdue me, or impress me enough in trying. Mark my words, you're going to have to come at me with the intent to kill if you wish to subdue me. Nothing's off limits-" Just as the words left Croix's mouth, she was forced to leap out of the way of a volley of shuriken.
When Croix landed, she leaned backwards to dodge another volley. Using her momentum, she propelled herself into a backwards walkover, but when she saw yet another volley getting readied by her assailant, she pushed off the ground and flung herself above the incoming projectiles. While in the air, she noticed her attacker waited for her to land before she even attempted to go for another handful. Before Croix landed she pulled a clock out from her own pouch and held it up.
"You didn't even let me start your time kid." Croix admonished.
Akko looked between Croix and the clock a couple times before she held her head in defeat. Just as she was about to apologize Croix spoke up again.
"But I admire your initiative. In a real fight you shouldn't wait for your opponent to strike first, that's a good way to get yourself killed in one hit." Croix instructed, "But don't rush in all willy nilly just because I told you to strike first, keep your distance, gauge your opponent, and try to read them faster than they can read you. In other words, keep your cards close to your chest, but try to act fast and get the upper hand." Croix finished.
When Croix realized all their eyes were trained on her, taking in the knowledge as best they could, she shook her head and sighed.
"Anyways enough with the lectures. Your time starts now." Croix announced, then shunshin'd into the forest.
As Akko raced behind Diana with Lotte bringing up the rear, she made sure to continue to look out for signs of her sensei. As much as she trusted Diana to want to get to Croix as fast as possible, she also wanted to be doubly sure Diana didn't plan on leading them out to the middle of nowhere, knock them out, and claim a solitary spot with Croix. So Akko paid close attention to every chakra burn on a branch Croix must have hopped on, any snapped twig she could have hit, and most importantly, the trail of chakra she left in her wake.
Eventually Diana hopped down onto the forest floor to investigate something, and Akko wearily followed behind, signing to Lotte to approach slowly. When the three arrived at whatever caught Diana's attention, they were greeted by the sight of three sets of footprints all heading in separate directions. Akko smiled when she recalled her sensei's words from the day before "I dislike when people pick favorites..." at least she wasn't kidding.
Akko closed her eyes to focus on sending her chakra out over the paths of the three sets of footprints, as she followed their trails she noticed something was off about them. They're not the same as Croix's chakra from earlier, they must be some kind of bunshin... Just as she was about to relay the message to her teammates, Diana turned away from the footprints and toward Akko and Lotte.
"I think we should split up. Each of us should take a set, and follow them." Diana suggested.
"I was about to say the same thing." Akko agreed, then turned to Lotte for her answer.
"If you think it's for the best, then I have no argument." Lotte surrendered.
Seemingly content with that answer, Diana nodded, then stood back to let one of them choose a path first. Diana must've caught on that they were bunshin. Figures. Akko decided to pick first, and took off in the direction of the middle tracks, as she leapt back into the trees she turned her head to see what the others picked and watched as Lotte and Diana headed in opposite directions of one another Lotte to the right and Diana to the left.
As Akko leapt between the trees following the new trail she tried to flex her chakra out further around her in an attempt to find the real Croix, or at least a sent of her, but to no avail. Eventually the tree line in front of her started thinning, and before she knew it, Akko found herself leaping from the trees into a large clearing. As the brunette scanned the clearing, both with her eyes and her chakra, she found her mark. Hiding underneath the ground in the middle of the clearing was the Croix bunshin. And now that Akko could sense the thing itself instead of its chakra trail, she realized it was in fact a mizu bunshin.
Quickly cobbling together a plan, Akko decided to carefully walk toward the center of the clearing, as she neared the mizu bunshin her nerves were all on edge. Stepping just out of range of her opponent, Akko observed the two footsteps that lay isolated in the very center of the clearing. Taking another scan of the clearing, Akko began to walk in a circular path around the very edge of the bunshin's reach, making sure to keep her senses on it as she kept scanning the tree line. Her breathing was a little erratic as she knew she would have to fight the clone sooner or later and just as she began to close in on her starting point in the circle the mizu bunshin started moving toward her.
Panicked, Akko leaped backwards, making certain to remain out of the bunshin's range. The clone kept advancing, getting faster as Akko retreated faster, until finally it seemed to have enough. When the clone launched itself from underground, then threw itself toward Akko, the brunette was forced to duck a right hook, and narrowly dodged the follow-up that was a knee to her face. Her dodge was a little less than graceful, her landing on her back and all, but she was at least unscathed.
When the clone recovered from the miss, and turned toward Akko once more, the brunette was ready. Rolling out of the way of a punch, and then hopping above a sweeping kick, Akko flashed through her hand seals Ram, Snake, Tiger before casting her jutsu.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" She called out.
In a large puff of smoke Akko became obscured and the Croix-bunshin looked on in guarded shock at the technique a genin had just thrown out. When the smoke cleared, standing where Akko once stood was now a pair of Akkos.
"Had to even the playing field, Croix-bunshin-sensei." Akko joked, and her and her clone both chuckled lightly at it while scratching the backs of their heads.
"What makes you think I'm not the original?" The Croix-bunshin asked.
"Easy. You're chakra feels different. And once I sensed you underneath the ground, I was able to narrow down that you were a mizu bunshin, Ursula-sensei showed us the technique as an alternative to the standard bunshin jutsu." Akko explained.
"Really now? Well then I guess you'll just have to waste your energy on me while your teammates fight and woo the real Croix." The bunshin mocked.
"This'll be over before you can say Getsugakure! Don't think for a second I'll lose to the likes of some bunshin!" Akko shouted, then reached for her shuriken seal while her kage bunshin rushed at Croix's mizu bunshin.
The Croix-bunshin dodged the Akko-bunshin's flurry of hits easily, but was surprised to see that the Akko-bunshin wasn't just suiciding to stall Croix, and actually attempted to dodge every attack just like Akko herself would. Eventually one of Croix-bunshin's attack chains led into Akko-bunshin backwards walkovering into a side hop, to which the original Akko launched her volley of shuriken at Croix before advancing rapidly along with Akko-bunshin for some close quarters combat.
Croix easily dodged the shuriken but found herself on the backfoot as she was forced to dodge a series of coordinated strikes by the two Akkos. Croix dodged an uppercut from Akko-bunshin, only to immediately need to leap away from a roundhouse kick from Akko. As she continued to dodge the onslaught, Croix-bunshin found the trees at the edge of the clearing getting ever closer. Suddenly the Akkos both smiled, and before Croix-bunshin could ask what it was about, a third Akko erupted from behind her, and slammed her foot into the side of her head, exploding it into a splash of water before the rest of the body liquified.
Once the Croix-bunshin was taken care of, Akko nodded to her two clones and they all set off toward the starting point.
Akko and her clones emerged from the trees just as her other two teammates did, and standing right where they first met today was Croix. Akko sent out her chakra to feel if this Croix was real, and when she confirmed it, she rapidly signed to Lotte in Getsu Shinobi Sign Language. "Surround target, secure objective." Lotte's response was a nod, and when Akko looked to Diana, she received a second nod. The brunette sighed in relief when she learned Diana could understand the Sign Language, then she took a deep breath the calm her nerves, then signed "Advance".
The three Akkos and two other genin began to circle around Croix, chucking kunai and shuriken alike at her position and at some of the positions they'd rather her not go, Akko and her clones were the first to arrive at their positions, followed after by Diana, and then Lotte. When Akko signed "Encirclement complete, advance" the five rushed at Croix. As they made it to the halfway mark Akko chucked a load of shuriken at Croix's feet, causing the woman to leap into the air. The distance closed even more and Akko threw another cluster of shuriken at Croix, followed closely by Lotte and Diana doing the same. When Croix dodged those, the distance between her and her students was nearly completely closed.
Akko was the first to enter taijutsu range with Croix, wanting to end it quickly she attempted to sweep the woman's legs out from under her with a low kick, which Croix jumped over. Then the first of Akko's bunshin arrived, attempting an uppercut on Croix while she was still in the air, but Croix caught the clone by its wrist and lifted it off the ground. When the second bunshin arrived Croix dispatched them both by chucking the first bunshin at the second. By the time Diana arrived within taijutsu range, Croix had landed on the ground, she dodged a picturesque academy taijutsu styled punch, and had to duck under a roundhouse kick from Akko.
When Lotte arrived, Croix had to step back from a left hook from Akko, throw herself to the floor to dodge a leaping roundhouse from Diana, then roll to the side to get away when Lotte's heel slammed right where her head was a moment ago. She threw herself to her feet to dodge Diana's follow up sweeping low kick, leapt out of the way of Akko's jab, and narrowly bent away from Lotte's spinning back heel kick. As the three readied their next attacks, Croix unclasped her cloak and threw it into the air. Unsure what was coming next the genin stalled for a moment too long, and Croix flashed through a set of hand seals Rat, Ox, Dragon, Dog, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Bird.
"Fuuinton! Nise Kongo Fuusa no Jutsu!" Croix cast.
Suddenly the spiral on the back of Croix's flak jacket launched off, and out of her back came eight silver chains. Before the three genin could react, the chains shot from their position behind Croix toward them. Akko attempted in vain to dodge the three that shot toward her, but the first wrapped around her legs, followed closely by the second around her waist, and the third around her arms and torso. Sufficiently captured, Akko was raised into the air alongside Lotte and Diana. Each having three and two chains respectively.
Croix reeled them in closer to her, and pulled out the clock from her pouch. She tossed the clock into the air before she pulled out a kunai and launched it into the device.
"Time's up." Croix announced.
The three watched on in terror as she pulled them closer and closer slowly.
"You know what that means?" Croix asked.
When none of them spoke up, Croix's face was warped by a sinister smile.
"That means you all..." Croix began slowly, her smile growing darker.
Akko felt a wave of sadness fall over her, overtaking the initial fear as she realized what was about to happen. We failed...
"You all... Passed!" Croix announced, releasing the three genin from her hold and retracting her chains.
Wait what?
"We'll meet up again tomorrow for training at 7am sharp, after that we'll do at least one D-rank mission, leave your bags with me, and Akko, I'd like to take the scroll you packed." Croix instructed then held her hand out to Akko.
"Wait what?" Akko asked dumbly.
"Your scroll? The supplies for the C-rank I told you to pack? I wanted to review what you all thought was necessary and come back tomorrow with a list of what was and wasn't necessary." Croix explained, "You did pack those right? You didn't lie to me earlier right?" Croix asked.
"Huh? No!" Akko shouted, then cleared her throat, "I mean, no, I didn't lie to you, here's the scroll." Akko reached into her back pocket and grabbed the scroll.
"Croix-sensei, I think we're all a little confused but... We passed?" Diana asked.
"Of course you passed, individually you all took out one of my clones and together you had me on the backfoot, I couldn't do anything but dodge, and I wouldn't have been able to pull out my trump card if I were any rank lower than Jounin, let alone an elite jounin." Croix explained, "You all impressed me, you were able to silently communicate a plan, and then you were able to stay out of each other's way while you executed it. You more than deserve a pass, but that's all I can give you for now."
"Ah." Akko noted, before she faceplanted into the ground.
Taking a deep breath, Akko rolled over, and stared at the sky a wide smile on her face.
"Thanks Croix-sensei." Akko said.
"There's no need to thank me Akko, you three earned it." Croix replied.
"No I mean, thanks for... I guess, being so awesome. That was ally really cool." Akko clarified.
"Ah. Well then, I guess you're welcome." Croix said with a smile of her own.
Cast Jutsu List:
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu - Shadow Clone Technique
Fuuinton: Nise Kongo Fuusa no Jutsu - Sealing Style: False Adamantine Sealing Chains Technique