Team 9!! It's time to relax? To Fuyu's!

[Tensei Kaori]

Hanae giggled, pleased at her teammates' praise. "That's not all, though," she answered. "I can't think of much to demonstrate it, but the Byakugan also gives me penetrating and telescopic vision. But the most deadly ability of the Byakugan," she explained, gesturing to the dummy, "is the ability to see the body's chakra circulatory system. That allows the Hyuuga to use the Gentle Fist Style, which targets that system and the internal organs around which it flows. The basic Gentle fist strikes look like this."

She turned, delivering a few mock blows to the dummy's surface. They were soft, but had they landed on a real person, they would have been potent nonetheless. "Gentle Fist techniques typically land with about that much force," she explained. "They don't need any more than that, because the user forces chakra through their palms into the target's body. That's what makes Gentle Fist so dangerous - the damage is done internally.

"Well," she said, rocking back and forth on her heels, "that's all I have for now. I'm learning other Hyuuga techniques that are more advanced, but I haven't gotten far enough in my training to even begin to demonstrate them."

[Hatake Hiroshi]

"That's ok, Hanae-chan!" Mitsuko chimed. "We'll get to see all your other amazing Hyuuga techniques soon!

"Um. I guess I can go next," she continued, shrugging her shoulders. Taking a couple of steps back, she faced both of her teammates. "I created this technique on my own during the Academy. But... before I show you, there are a couple of important things you need to remember... One, don't make any sudden movements. Two, remain quiet until I say it ok. And most importantly, stay calm... Don't worry... I won't let her hurt you..."

She paused for a moment. "Are you ready?"

[UchihaJyounochi]

Fuyu tried to calm himself. Mitsuko sounded serious, and he didn't feel like getting injured today. After a moment, Fuyu nodded.

[Tensei Kaori]

Hanae's amazement at Mitsuko-chan's creating her own jutsu at such a young age was temporarily overwhelmed by nervousness. Just what kind of jutsu was this?

Nodding with a nervous smile, Hanae answered. "Calm, quiet, and still!" she echoed. "I'm ready, Mitsuko-chan!"

[Hatake Hiroshi]

Noticing that her comrades were obviously very nervous, she gave them a reassuring smile before closing her eyes and forming several hand seals.

"Raikou Nijuushin no jutsu!" she chanted, her eyes shooting open. The daylight dimmed to an eerie grey, and everything went quiet. Lowering her hands back down to her sides, she glanced over at her teammates. "Remember," she whispered, "stay calm... "

Suddenly, a glowing spectral form appeared between Hanae and Fuyu, its brow furrowed, its lips curled into a wide, almost evil grin as it lifted its hands towards the two young genins' throats.

"Yamiko! Stop!" Mistuko commanded, taking a step forward and knocking the form's hands away. The form tilted its head to one side as it lowered its hands. "These are our friends," she continued.

"Friends?" the form repeated in a crackly, high-pitched voice, leaning in close to its creator. "We don't have any friends!"

"Yes, we do," the Yanagawa insisted. "They're on my team, and you'll be seeing a lot of them, so you better get used to it, Yamiko."

The ghostly form shot quick glances at the Hyuuga and the Hyouri then looked back at Mitsuko. "Whatever you say," she half-hissed, narrowing her glowing eyes.

"Guys... this is Yamiko... my lightning doppelganger..." Looking over her shoulders at her teammates, she gave them each a nod. "Why don't you introduce yourselves?"

[Tensei Kaori]

Hanae couldn't help but gasp softly when Mitsuko-chan brought out her self-created jutsu. It was all she could do to not succumb to temptation and take a closer look with Byakugan. Just what was it, exactly? It had the same shape as Mitsuko-chan, but its features were indistinct and, more eerily, it was glowing.

And it had its hands raised to Fuyu's and her throats.

Stay calm stay calm stay calm stay calm! Hanae reminded herself as her eyes went wide. Mitsuko-chan said she wouldn't hurt us!

And indeed, Mitsuko-chan was true to her word, knocking the... thing's hands away and introducing its intended targets as friends and teammates, not enemies.

"Guys... this is Yamiko... my lightning doppelganger..." she said at last. "Why don't you introduce yourselves?"

Hanae tried to speak, but the first word she uttered came out completely silent. Trying again, she found her voice and spoke.

"My name is Hyuuga Hanae, Yamiko-san," she said with a polite bow, her voice gaining more confidence as found her original fears quickly replaced with curiosity and amazement. "It's nice to meet you. I hope we can work well together as a team."

[Hatake Hiroshi]

Yamiko grinned crookedly. "A Hyuuga, eh?" she said as she lifted her chin and stared over her nose down at Hanae. The glowing clone held the haunting gaze for a silent moment before jerking her attention to Fuyu. Lunging forward, she came practically nose to nose with the young Hyouri. "And what about you?"

[UchihaJyounochi]

Fuyu tried not to flinch as the spectre lunged towards him, stopping just short of actually touching his skin. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck begin to prickle. There was something eerily mystical about the being that now stared him down.

Fuyu fumbled over responses in his head. It was a simple question, that demanded a simple answer. He couldn't quite grasp why he was so fearful of Mitsuko's jutsu, she said it wouldn't harm them.

Taking a deep breath, Fuyu finally formulated a response.

"My name is Hyouri Fuyu" he said with a slight quiver to his voice, "it is a, pleasure, to meet you Yamiko-san. I too hope we can work together as a team."

[Hatake Hiroshi]

Yamiko's lips curled into an almost sinister grin as she replied. "Of course," she mumbled, standing up straight and crossing her arms across her chest. She shot another quick glance at Hanae before looking back at Mitsuko. "Well, if you don't need me for anything else...."

Mitsuko nodded and clapped her hands together, dismissing the ghostly Yamiko. The sky returned to its normal shade of azure blue and the rays of sunshine went back to peeking through the wispy clouds and warming the air around them. The Yanagawa looked back at her new teammates. "See? I told you I wouldn't let her hurt you," she said happily, attempting to mask her tiredness with a smile. Summoning Yamiko took a lot out of her. Hopefully when the time came to show Miyoko-sensei, she could handle it. "It's your turn now, Fuyu-kun."

[UchihaJyounochi]

Fuyu could feel the hairs on the back of his neck settle as the jutsu faded and the spectre left. He felt himself more at ease, and finally fully snapped back to reality when he heard his teammate speak again.

"Well," Fuyu shuffled his feet a bit, "don't expect it to be as impressive as either of you two." It was finally his turn to demonstrate what he could do. He felt pretty nervous, especially after seeing what both of his teammates could do.

"Well, here I go." Fuyu took a deep breath, and began to mold chakra and focus it into his hands. He pictured a small red flower in his mind, and started to focus all of his thoughts on that flower. After a moment, he imagined the flower bursting into bloom, and performed the required hand seals.

" Doton – Doro Kanraku no Jutsu " Fuyu slammed his right hand to the ground, and switched his focus immediately to the dummy.

In a matter of moments, the ground around the base of the dummy began to shift from its solid state to a dense mud, and the dummy's feet began to sink into the pool of mud.

"And now, to follow that up." He slammed his left hand to the ground, " Doton – Doro Shikori no Justu "

The pool of mud immediately hardened around the dummies feet.

"Thats my most basic combination. The goal is that the opponents mobilization will either be neutralized, or hindered enough to follow up with ranged weapon attack, taijutsu, or offensive ninjutsu."

[Tensei Kaori]

"Wow!" Hanae exclaimed. "That's awesome, Fuyu-kun! That's a great combination!"

[Hatake Hiroshi]

"Amazing!" sang Mitsuko, "that's amazing, Fuyu-kun!" She flashed a smile at him. "So clever!"

[Tensei Kaori]

"Did it take you long to learn that?" Hanae asked, curious.

((OoC: Woo, one-liners! Just trying to revive the thread. ^^))