Konoha's Dream Team! Let's go, Team Taro!

[Tensei Kaori]

"Do you need help?" asked Eiji eagerly. "What'd you forget?"

[Kiri]

Clearing his throat, Taro found that the innocent question was a lot harder to answer than it should have been.

"My... my, uh...." he trailed off, shaking his head. Sighing, he knew there was nothing for it. He would have to come clean. "In the excitement of everything, I forgot that it was my daughter there with me...."

A dismal expression settled on his face. Maybe he wasn't responsible enough to mentor a team after all.

[Tensei Kaori]

"Don't be sad, Sensei!" Hideko urged compassionately, showing an unusual amount of enthusiasm. "Yeah! Yeah!" Daichi agreed. "One time our parents forgot Eiji at the training grounds! They wouldn't even listen when Hideko and I threw a fit over it."

"That was pleasant," Eiji grumbled sarcastically. "But!" he continued, his sudden grinning face a near one-eighty from his previous expression. "I got over it. It was actually kinda cool.... having the run of things all by myself."

"Which is why we don't leave him alone whenever we can help it," Hideko finished - jokingly - with a wink.

"If you think it's bad to forget one kid, imagine forgetting one when you know perfectly well you dropped three off and should be picking up the same amount. So...."

"Do you want us to just wait here?"

"Or are we coming with you?"

"We await your orders, Sensei!"

[Kiri]

Relief washed over him at his students' compassionate responses, and the bright smile returned to his face. He did feel a bit sorry for Eiji, though. He couldn't even imagine trying to keep up with these three energetic genin as kids, either.

"Well!" he said. "We might as well go together. We're a team now, after all," he finished with a wink.

[Tensei Kaori]

"We're ready to go, Sensei!" the three chimed together.

[Kiri]

"Let's go, then!" Taro replied, heading off. He avoided moving too quickly at first to make sure the genin could keep up, as well as to gauge how quickly they would be able to travel.

[Tensei Kaori]

"Off we go!" Daichi cheered energetically as they followed behind Sensei, though in truth he was doing his best to maintain a careful pace. Even with the nourishment they'd had, one never knew how long one would spend searching for something, and it wasn't good to overdo things in the beginning. "See?" Eiji asked with a friendly nudge at his sister. "Aren't you glad you had some of that cookie, Hideko-chan?"

"Yeah," the kunoichi replied softly with a nod before speaking up. "So, Sensei! What does your daughter look like? What's her name?"

[Kiri]

Taro smiled. "You saw her earlier," he said. "The little girl with blonde hair. She seems to be quite the actress!" he added with a laugh. "Her name is Nadameru."

With each word he spoke of the girl, his face glowed with happiness and pride.

[Tensei Kaori]

"Eiji!" Hideko gasped. "She's the one you..." "Yeah! Yeah!" nodded Daichi, who then laughed. "Let's hope she doesn't mistake you for a kidnapper," he teased. Eiji just stuck out his tongue at his brother. "I know just what to do!" he announced, and took a deep breath.

"Uh-oh...." Hideko murmured.

"Sensei!" Daichi called hurriedly. "Cover your ears, before it's too late!" The two elder siblings did just that, and just in time, for the youngest had begun to yell.

"NA-DA-ME-RU-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" Eiji shouted at the top of his lungs. "WHERE ARE YOUUUU? NADAMERU-CHAAAAAAN!"

[Kiri]

Taking heed to Daichi's warning, Taro clamped his hands over his ears just in time to avoid being deafened by Eiji's hollering. His eyes were wide as he stared at the genin. If Nada was anywhere within ten miles of Konoha, she probably knew that someone was looking for her. As did everyone else.

[Tensei Kaori]

Finally Eiji's hollering ceased, the Genin forced to take a break in order to rest his voice. Tentatively, his two siblings lowered their hands.

"Are you done?" asked Hideko.

"Nope!" was the cheerful reply.

"It might be for the best," Daichi suggested, "At least for now. Besides, do you really think she'll answer just anyone? If anyone does any calling, it should be Taro-sensei. Let's just look."

"Fine," agreed a suddenly sullen Eiji as the three turned their attention back to looking.

[Kiri]

Nadameru blinked at the sound of some loud boy calling her name. He continued for quite a while, and when he finally went silent, the sounds echoed in the clearing for several moments afterward. Frightened by the fact that a stranger was looking for her, the girl ducked into the foliage to hide. Huddling in the bushes, she hugged her knees to her chest and rested her forehead against them, sighing.

"'Tousan~," she wimpered, "where are you?"

*******

Taro chuckled slightly at Eiji and his siblings, shaking his head and beginning to scout around as the group reached the training grounds.

"Nada-chan!" he called out, trying to sense if she was anywhere nearby. "Naaaaada-chan! Wheeeeere aaaaare yoooooou?" He frowned when there was no response. "Nada! It's 'tousan! Nada-chan!"

He was really starting to get worried.

[Tensei Kaori]

"Let's split up," Daichi suggested. "We'll find her easier that way."

Hideko nodded. "But remember, we're strangers. So we should report back to Taro-sensei instead of trying to bring her with us. We don't want to scare her."

"Right!" Eiji agreed.

"Let's go!" the three cheered, and split up to search among the trees.

[Kiri]

As she crouched in the cover of the bushes, Nada listened. She thought she heard her father calling her name, but it was hard to be sure. Maybe she was just imagining it.

The sound of movement nearby startled her, and she shrank back even further into her hiding spot. The boy who appeared looked familiar... it was the boy who had "rescued" her before! Surely he would be able to take her to her papa.

Peeking out of the foliage, she wondered if he would notice her right away.

OoC: It's actually Daichi, but since they look so much alike, poor Nada is confusing him for Eiji. XD

(and Kiri confused them too ^_^)

[Tensei Kaori]

..... There! Movement! Wondering, Daichi backtracked to a patch of foliage he'd already passed by - only to come face-to-face with the girl who had to be Taro-sensei's daughter. Not wanting to scare her, he kept his distance and gave her a friendly smile.

"Hi!" he said in the usual musical tones of a Tensei Clan member. "You don't see many girls hiding in the bushes around here. Are you lost?"