In reply to Tsuna Shiroma (msg # 74):

Sarada chuckled lightly. Shiroma made a point about her mother's temper. It was something to avoid, but she could recall that her mother never once lashed out to that extreme with her. Her mother only seemed to do it with her father or other shinobi who'd piss her off daily. "You have my word, but I might not come back alive if I have to face off by myself," she joked. Having both sides of Shiroma present was pleasantly nice. While some couldn't tell the difference, Sarada knew instantaneously. Believe it or not, she actually loved both of them. "You know, for being bedridden for a year, this is surprisingly easy," she pointed out as she made her way to the closet, opening it and surprised to see her clothes. She had longed to get back into her clothes so she could continue her plans. She had a lot of training to do before she could get back out there though.

Before she did anything else, she turned around to look at Shiroma. "I know once we leave this hospital, everything's going to be different," she said as she walked across the room gracefully, grabbing Shiroma's hand in hers and placing it over her chest. "Professional during missions; in between and shore leave, free game," she explained. Although she knew she didn't have to remind Shiroma of this, it felt nice having to just say it. Her heart beat within her body, Shiroma could likely feel it. Sarada was one to never simply give in to her temptations or her feelings. She had always been a hard ass, never one to give herself weakness until today. Sarada had always been independent and relationships were never her focus because she was content with being aline, but with Shiroma, it was different; new and exciting. She found the person she wanted to fight for and live with once the war was over. "Aishiteru," she whispered as she give Shiroma a light kiss upon her lips before she smiled.

Kotatsu scratched his head with is hand as he used the other to inspect the weight of the blade, the type of blade, and its more refined details. He frowned upon his inspection as Yurei explained about his family's goal upon his return. "This doesn't seem like anything special. Almost has the weight of a kunai knife," he explained. "Yurei, you're more experienced, perhaps you should have it," he stated offering it toward him, before turning to Sakuya. "Or maybe Ms. Sakuya since she's been around Fuma-sensei before?" he questioned and brought it back to himself. "Or me, the blind guy," he teased himself. "Any ideas?" he suggested. There was more to this, however perhaps he was overthinking it. Maybe this wasn't a test after all and it was a simple decision.

"I have not much experience with bladed weapons larger than a kunai, and I'm not exactly too good with taijutsu..." Sakuya admitted, knowing it wouldn't be much help to her possessing a weapon she couldn't properly use, she then looked to Kotatsu as he was examining the weapon by his other senses, "Perhaps it would be best to let Inuzuka-san handle it, since he has the most training with weapons."

In reply to Uchiha Sarada (msg # 76):

Shiroma just smiled as she saw how easy things were being for Sarada glad that she wasn’t being too weakened by her long time in bed.  “Better than the other option I would say.” Seeing as the other option was months of learning to walk again as well as other basics just to regain a portion of what Sarada had been able to do.  Seeing her strong like this warmed Shiroma’s heart...at least emotionally.

It was the next moment that she was sure she warmed her cheeks with blushing as her hand was grabbed and she looked up at Sarada gasping softly.  Her pale white cheeks turning a light pink tinge as she bit her lip blushing deeply. “I was...about to say that as well.”  She looked up at the older Shinobi and couldn’t stop the gasp as her next word so carefully chosen drove into Shiroma like one of her own arrow though with much the opposite temperature. The kissed was met with a hand gently coming up brushing over Sarada’s cheek as Shiroma pressed into the intimate touch showing her own desire for it though still keeping it light and chaste.  A moment to be sure she had breath in her body before she whispered out in joyous response. “Aishiteru,”

Shiroma couldn’t suppress the soft girlish giggle that slipped past her lips as she blushed and let the back of her hand press to her own lips not wanting to let the feeling of Sarada’s warmth slip away.  "We are going to miss these moments on leave when we are on missions.” She looked up at Sarada her eyes the dark stormy blue shot threw with rays of ice blue showing the shared moment with both personalities. Shiroma reached up brushing a crystal of ice from her eye, both returning to the full stormy blue. “I do fear the world will close on us quickly though. I hear missions for teams are being planned again and I suspect ours will be one of them.” Though she was trying her best because she knew it was needed soon, Shiroma's heart was hurting thinking about leaving this moment, she knew how rare they would be.  Such was the life they had both chosen.

In reply to Tsuna Shiroma (msg # 79):

All Sarada could do was smile. The hot she had felt inside was unimaginable; to know that not just one Shiroma loved her, but surprisingly both of them did. She’d never imagine the secondary would ever give into her own temptation, but She suppose Sarada just had that magic touch. Sarada lightly chuckled as Shiroma giggled. It was like music to her ears before Shiroma had brought her back down from cloud nine, reminding her that these were only going to be rare moments. She nodded her head in agreement. Luckily for them though, Sarada had some more shore leave before she likely found out about her assignment again so she wasn’t going to waste any of it

It had been an interesting moment as she witnessed two personalities melding together in both agreement and bringing them back to reality. Sarada let out a heavy sigh, dreading having to get back to work even after a year off. ”I figured as much,” she agreed. ”We should probably head out then. You need to find out where you’ll be and I need to figure out what grunts I get this time,” she joked. Like two bodies, one soul, Sarada had felt the ache as well in her chest, the sadness overcoming her a bit. ”I’m sure it’ll be a couple of days before we have to return to work again. We’ll just have to take advantage with whatever we have left,” she added before walking back to the closet.

Her clothes were neatly pressed, hanging on hangers, her katana blade placed in in the back vertically, the sheath string broken. Her kunai pouch torn. Her attire definitely has seen better days. She had stripes of the terrible patient robe, throwing it on the floor, her bandages kept on. She began dressing herself, her battle scars on her back and arms became more visible. She just smirked at them as she finished. Putting on her last boot and grabbing her headband and tying it on her forehead tightly as her long raven colored hair flowed down. She glanced at Shiroma. ”So. This Izalith city. I am in need of a tour guide to the academy grounds,” she stated as she extended her hand out towards Shiroma.

In reply to Harusame Sakuya (msg # 78):

Kotatsu nodded in agreement as he tossed the blade towards Yurei. ”Here,” he said. ”Now that that is settled, we need to get ready for our mission,” he stated, the group heading to the armory to pick up their new communicators, stocking up everything their sensei had instructed them to do. In the back of his mind he thought about their Sensei. Something was off and different about her. Fuma had confirmed to them about how she was only an interim, but there had to be more to it he thought. Her simple test had to be more than what she gave him. It had been the obvious choice to give the blade to Yurie, but should have it been given to someone who wasn’t experienced with blades. Her pondered this for quite sometime as he finished packing his own bag and looking at his team. ”It seems we have some time left over. Train or eat?” he asked. Eating one last good meal was a given but he also wanted to touch base with his team too when it came to training. He didn’t know too much about this Yurie kid and Sakuya, well he knew her abilities. He was the mystery genin as he didn’t retain any dark chakra jutsus and wasn’t allowed to tap into his Uchiha bloodline anymore just like his brother Sigmund. He had trained hard though with his mother and Fujii-sensei with learning to cope with a disability.

In reply to Nara Nanami (msg # 68):

Nori had to admit that in the time that she was gone, she had missed having the company of those that she had been close. She had been alone out there with very little interaction with people in her path. It got lonely. Yet at the same time she knew being away was the right thing to do. She had to be away to figure out who she was and where she came from. And there was still that part of her that was even afraid to come here to Izalith. She didn't know what she was going to find beyond those two large gates that led into this place that several people from all around now called home. Now that she was here and in front of Nanami, it was like her past was coming back to her. A past that she wanted to put behind her because of the emotions that it brought up inside her.

"I'm glad you're doing well, Nanami. I can only imagine how much stronger you have gotten since we last saw each other. You were always the level headed one amongst us who saw the most reason. I'm sure that that hasn't changed at all," she said with a small, faint smile. "I don't think any of us are who we used to be after a year has passed. We have changed in our own ways, so the past should be the past and be buried. We should try to get along as the people we are now and not who we used to be."

Nori turned her head and glanced over her shoulder, seeing that Sigmund had disappeared from sight. She pressed her lips into a thin line before she turned her head and looked back at Nanami. "I'm not sure if I have a place here anymore. Izalith...it's not really my home. Not like it is to you and Sigmund and the other people here. I am just...an outsider," she told her truthfully. "There's no real reason for me to stay and be apart of a team that is already broken. I saw the way that you looked and talked to Sigmund just now. I know he's done a lot of things that are beyond repair or forgiving and you have every right to not want him involved in your life, but there's no way a team can function if everyone doesn't work together and be civil towards each other. I think both of us know that very well after everything we've been through, right? You can't carry the weight of the past with you anymore, Nanami. It's not going to do you any good. You...have to learn how to forgive him even if it's not going to be an easy thing to do."

Helping out in preparing their gear, Sakuya made sure to prepare their medical supplies as well. She requested for additional bandages for the team according to Fuma-sensei's order. With how many unknown variables they were going to deal with it was prudent to have enough medical supplies to keep the team in good condition.

"A quick training could help us touch base with what everyone is capable of," Sakuya spoke up when Kotatsu asked about whether they go train or have something to eat, "But something quick and decisive - anything too strenuous would affect how we perform during the mission."

"That, and it might still give us time for a meal to discuss things over," she suggested with a smile as she looked from Kotatsu to Yurie, "What do you think?"

In reply to Harusame Sakuya (msg # 83):

Kotatsu smirked, knowing a quick spar was going to be give him an idea how he faired against his comrades since returning to civilian life. "All right. Now that we are good to go, and since training is on everyone's mind, how about a good spar against each other? I'll finally be able to get to test out my new arsenal of ninjutsu," he teased them both as he slung his bag over his shoulder. "After our spar, one last good meal before we head out? Fuma-sensei is definitely going to test us so we need to be ready for anything," he added as he turned to both of them. "One more thing," he paused before putting his hand out. "I know what everyone is saying about me. I know I'm not everyone's favorite person right now. After everything that has happened, I promise to make this right and I need you two to trust me when I say I am truly sorry and I pledge my life to the both of you," he uttered, his tone dropping as he bowed his head before them. He knew his crimes, the mistakes, and the damages he made. He was one of the main reasons why this war turned the way that it did and he was going to pledge his life to make it all right. He wanted to be at the front lines to fight to his last dying breath.

>>>>Delta Squad Mission Thread>>>>
This message was last edited by the player at 08:03, Wed 11 Aug 2021.

In reply to Yamada Nori (msg # 82):

"You are very wrong Nori. I was naïve, foolish, thought I was stronger than I was. I nearly broke on that island. While I don't know how I will react to Sigmund when I meet him again, as we didn't actually speak yet (That was internal monologue.). I have spent the last year searching, for a meaning. Any reason to continue this path. Among them was you. While we were all very emotional on that island. You were the reason I was able to keep it together. I spent the last year gathering intelligence, and wiping out our enemy. You could say, I have become a very efficient assassin. I mastered my dragons. So they are very strong now. Even though part of me hates Sigmund. That one day where he was normal and nice gives me a little hope that he can change, and that I can change as well."

Nanami would tap the center of Nori's head, and giggle a little. It was a sign of  bond would be the best way to put it. Hearing Nori call herself an outsider, she would shake her head.

"I was adopted into the Nara clan, I do love my parents. I have no place of origin. Another thing I have been searching for. I am more of an outsider than you. Also if I am going to fight, I want your swords right next to me. We could easily become the most unstoppable force in the city. So if for no other reason but me. I want you to stay."   

In reply to Uchiha Sarada (msg # 80):

Shiroma smiled slightly and nodded, “Yes we should take advantage of every moment we have.” She didn’t move to help specifically knowing enough about Sarada to know that helping would have upset her.  As it was she was there to led support when it was needed and to let the princess of the country do as she wanted otherwise. Not to get in her why by helping but to be there when she needed it and to let her figure it out otherwise.  She did turn away as Sarada changed, before turning to help with the boots before standing back up and smiling.

“Well I don’t know everything about the place yet but I’m still learning.   We will start and see how you feel.  first step is the door to this room, then we can try down the hall and to the front door of the building.”  She smiled “Unless you prefer out the window? To be fair it does seem a bit more your style.” There was a new slightly sassy streak to Shirima that was showing itself.

In reply to Tsuna Shiroma (msg # 86):

She had chuckled lightly. "Been here a whole year and you haven't explored this city? I suppose we will be spending a lot of shore time together then, Ms. Tsuna," she winked as she made her way to the window. Sarada had smirked; it was as if Shiroma knew her all too well. "You seem to know myself all too well. But I like it. Let's go," she instructed as she opened the window, sliding it to the right, the fresh air and ocean breeze could be felt against her skin. Memories began flooding her mind from the beach. Same smell; salt water, fire, destruction. She had remained frozen for a split second before blinking her eyes. She shook off the feeling, but she was almost positive Shiroma's more attentive half likely noticed this.

As she began to climb through the window and turning around, she got to see the city. It was magnificent. She was actually in shock. It was bigger than Konoha had ever been and it was on an island. She was amazed at the fact they managed to build a city so quickly within a year, but she reminded herself that many, many villages and other capitals had fallen and this was the only stronghold they had left. She was sadden to know Konoha was no longer standing, but Izalith would have to be her new home....for now.

She turned around and glanced at Shiroma before she pushed herself off the window seal and onto the next roof next door. She almost tripped as her legs were getting use to the landing and working them out again. "Man this feels great. Let's get to those academy grounds," she said as she began running again. It felt nice; her legs stayed at her pace, her body was actually recovered as far as anybody knew. She was glad Shiroma suggested this; going through the hospital was likely going to be a pain as news had already spread of her awakening. She was their Hime, royalty, a celebrity with a high reputation. She sometimes had wished she was just ordinary, but it wasn't something she could chamge. She shook her head again. She needed to stay out of her head; she had been doing that for a year now. It was time to take advantage of the now.

She knew Shiroma wasn't far behind her as they continued to push themselves lightly off the roof tops of some of the tallest buildings, apartment complexes, even clans' courtyards. Eventually they made their way to a giant building with glass windows and a courtyard. She was positive this was the academy grounds as she noticed many young genin wondering around with senseis. She stopped waiting for Shiroma as she scanned the grounds. She noticed a red haired girl who looked like Nori and a black, raven colored head with her. She knew those faces anywhere: Nori and Nanami. "Looks like today's going to be a reunion," she commented. "When's the last time you spoke to them?" she asked curiously.

   Sigmund had packed his belongings, relieved he'd be able to leave Izalith finally, but anxious that he'd be stuck with a team where he wasn't wanted. He shook his head as he folded several sets of clothing, a blanket, some food and bandages, and several kunai knives. He had picked up his communicator before coming back to his estate. He closed and tied his bag tightly before scanning the room for his headband. He walked to his dresser, grasping it in his hands, the headband of the Land of Storms, or at least that's what they use to be called. When he had briefly joined forces with the other side, he remembered his darker side had put an 'X' over the symbol. He never did get it replaced as he felt he still didn't belong here. He had thoughts about running away, never wanting to be found by either side of the war. His mother had managed to stay hidden for a long time, why not him?

   He had shook his head and placed the headband into his pocket. With one last glance, he headed towards his window, before hearing a knock on his door. With that, he jumped down out of the window, landing on his feet and body flickered away from their estate. His mother running to the window seeing him vanish.

   Sigmund made his way back to the training grounds where he saw most of it had been cleared out of genin and their superiors. He had stopped not too far from a silver-haired girl and what appeared to be Lady Sarada. He was surprised she was here; she just woke up from her coma and she was up already? Leave it to an Uchiha to be ready for battle. He smirked at the thought. He remained silent and motionless, seeing if anything interesting would happen before he made yet another appearance.

Making her way back to the city under new orders to meet with the princess, Sakuya was out of breath by the time she arrived at the academy's training grounds. She was taking a few deep breaths to recover from the run before looking up to see if her teammates were also there.

She quickly recognized Lady Sarada... and accompanied by Shiroma. It looked like she would be together with capable individuals. She mustered up her courage to approach the princess and Shiroma in order to introduce herself.

"G-good day...!" the younger genin greeted with a slightly nervous voice, offering a bow to the two before continuing to introduce herself, "I-I'm Harusame Sakuya, just transferred to Team Alpha this morning! It... it's good to see you well, Hime-sama! A-also to you, Tsuna-san!"

In reply to Nara Nanami (msg # 85):

Nori listened carefully as Nanami spoke of what she had gone through on that island a year ago and how much she had changed since then. She could tell by her posture and her presence that she had, indeed, grown stronger than the girl that she had once known. While a year wasn't a very long time about of time to be apart, it was long enough for their all their lives to change. "I think there are certain things about ourselves back then that we wished we could have changed or things that could have been done differently, but there's nothing we can do about that now. All we can do now is move forward and learn from our mistakes, right?" she said. "If we are going to do this, we are going to have to do better this time, Nanami. Sigmund is apart of this time and we will all have to work together if we don't want to fail. I think after everything that we all have gone through, none of us want that to happen again. We can't afford to."

Nori soon felt the top of her head tapped by the hand of the girl in front of her, causing her to close one eye and bring up a hand to soothe down the hair that had come out of place. Nanami had seemed fairly confident in not just herself, but her abilities, too, if she had felt this strongly about her staying. She was still unsure if it was the right thing to do. "Nanami, I think there are things in both of our pasts that are more similar than you think. I think one day when it is a better time we should talk about it," she told her. "Until then, I suppose it wouldn't be such a bad thing to do this one mission. Maybe not so much for you, but for me to close out that part of my past and let it rest." Now that she had said it, there was no turning back. She turned her head and looked over in the direction of voices she had heard in the not too far off distance. There was Shiroma, Sakuya, Lady Sanada and...Sigmund. She pressed her lips together at the sight of them, her green eyes reflected from the sun that was shining high above their heads. A sudden feeling of butterflies began to fill her stomach. She wasn't sure what was going to happen this time around, but how much worse could they possibly get?

In reply to Harusame Sakuya (msg # 89):

Sarada had heard the light footsteps around her as she and Shiroma were approached by a younger girl. She recognized the face and as she introduced herself, she gave a slight smile. She had been with Master Fujii on the beach a year ago. "Sakuya, I remember you. You were with Master Fujii's group with that Kondo fellow," she confirmed. The girl had matured some and seeing as how she was here, she said she had been transferred. Sarada had no knowledge of the sorts. She was curious as to who else was here, but as she peered ahead, Sigmund could be spotted in the far distance.

A reunion it seemed. She sighed, dreading the tension they all would have with each other. Shiroma and Sakuya likely didn't get involved with that drama, but Sarada knew she would have to put her foot down on this one too. "Thank you, Sakuya. Let's join the others and get things rolling, shall we?" she stated as she glanced at Shiroma, a small smile before her face turned serious and she walked on. She threw her hand in the air, motioning for them all to gather around her so she could began her first task as their sensei.

Nori let her eyes drift over to just behind Sarada as she walked towards her and Nanami and let them shift to look at Sigmund standing not too far in the distance. It seemed like he was trying to delibreately keep his distance and interact with them only when he had to, but she could certainly understand why he would want to. It wasn't as if any of them stayed in contact with one another and the details of what happened that night were still a blur. All she knew when she woke up was that her friends were gone and she was alone. A lot had happened in that year long journey that had led up to this moment, but in some weird sense, she had never really felt like she was alone. It always felt like someone or something was watching over her and keeping her safe. Yet every time she woke up from her dreams, she was alone. Now she was here. Nanami was here. Lady Sarada was here. Shiroma and Sakuya were here. And Sigmund...how should she act around him? There were these feelings that were still hidden deep within her. When she looked at him like this, she felt this sense of longing and ache to go towards him yet her feet remained planted on the ground.

Nori's green eyes softened at Sigmund before she saw Lady Sarada motioning them all to come towards her. The last time she had seen her, things had been a little on edge but with the time that had passed, she wanted to just wipe the slate clean and start over. She turned her head and looked over at Nanami. "I guess this is it," she simply said before she started to make her way towards Sarada, flipping her cape in the wind. Once she got close enough, she stopped and gave her a small bow of her head out of respect. "Sensei, it's been a long time. I'm glad to see you're well."

"Understood, Hime-sama!" Sakuya managed a reply as she followed after their team leader to meet the rest of the team. Upon recognizing one of the genin present at the training grounds she couldn't help how a chill ran down her back, feeling like her hair stood on their ends. Sigmund was also there with them, did it mean he was also part of the team?

"G-good morning, Uchiha-san...!" she managed to put together an awkward greeting even if it she was scared of Sigmund. Trying to get over what happened the year before was a big hurdle she had been working on getting over. At least now she could manage not to run away at the sight of him, but staying calm with him around was still a long way to go.

Seeing Nori and Nanami in particular helped her collect some composure, enough to at least keep herself from visibly trembling.

   It had seemed the team was in for a ride as their newest recruit showed up. He had just see this girl with his brother not too long ago. She was the other medical Shinobi in training. He also remembered she had those powerful water chains, a technique he’d love to experiment with his bones. She had approached him and he was shocked. He blinked a couple of times as his heart raced and she managed to tell him good morning. Out of all the individuals, Sakuya always seemed to be kind to everyone despite their history. Sigmund was grateful for this moment. He had in crossed his arms and gave a slight bow to her. ”Harusame-san, good morning. I look forward to working with you,” he greeted. He knew he had to make an effort even if they were all forced to be around him.

   Lady Sarada had gathered them around and it seemed this was going to be their squad. Shiroma, the ice Queen, Sakuya the Graceful, Nanami of the Wind, and Nori the Mysterious one. He had felt Nori glance at him several times, whether it was by accident or on purpose he’d never know. They had something going on in the air a year ago, but once Izalith appeared she had disappeared and not once kept in contact with him. Whatever he believed was there, was nonexistent and he came to terms with that in his isolation.

   He pushed all those thoughts and feeling behind. He ensured he’d keep them locked away for good. He grabbed his bag and took a place next to Sakuya but more in the back. He didn’t any to make anybody feel uncomfortable as he did.

Once everyone was gathered, she had swiftly walked past them and looked on the board. She wanted to confirm her her team before she began anything. She saw her name in red and the others right below her. She came back to the group seconds later and turned to them, arms crossed and looking at the team before her. “Thank you Nori. I am glad to be back on my feet again,” she commented before glancing at them again. ”So we have quite the reunion here so with that said,” she started as she crossed her arms. ”What happened last year was a cluster fuck. Not only did we almost fail our mission but we took casualties, we severed ties with each other, and we lost Konoha,” she recapped. ”Now today we have to return to that land and uncover something we missed the first time,” she continued as her voice sounded more serious. ”From here on out, nobody is allowed to hate each other. Each one of you was placed on this squad for a reason and if we hate each other, we are already on the path to failure once again.”

She remained quiet for a moment and stopped in her tracks, facing them once again. ”I don’t know about the rest of you however I do not plan to have a failed mission on my track record and neither of you want to start that trend. So to prevent such failure, I am entrusting Tsuna Shiroma to be your team lead. While I am assigned as your sensei, Shiroma will be my secondary as none of you have proved to me that you can lead well,” she paused and sighed. ”Your first lesson is to squash your differences and put the past behind you. While some of you may not want to participate in this, you all will be required to make amends before we even begin our mission, this includes you too Shiroma. Once you have completed this objective, I have more in store for you,” she announced.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:17, Sat 04 Sept 2021.

   Sigmund had listened to their Hime’s words, but it seemed to have just flown over him. He wanted to roll his eyes but he didn’t; it would’ve been something his younger self might’ve done. He was ready to move past his challenges and past, but were his squad ready to do the same? He knew they all feared him; perhaps it was something he could embrace, or perhaps not. He had already apologized once and countless times before in various letters, notes, and even the Tsubaki column that he was actually embarrassed about. He was ready to leave Izalith. He glanced over at them as Lady Sarada finished her speech. She always seemed to amazed him; she was someone she looked up to. She had accomplished so much in so little time and their age at that!

   He let his eyes low and towards the ground, the silence growing between them all. He wondered who would be the first to break the ice. He hadn’t wanted to take this task particularly but he might have to suck up what little pride he had left if nobody said anything to each other. He was sure they were all friends and on very good terms; their sensei’s speech seemed to mainly point him out without really saying anything.

Sakuya listened intently to what the princess had to tell them, nodding in agreement and showing a determine expression on her face. They would need to rely on each other for this mission and it would do no good to cling to fears and insecurities when their lives were on the line.

"I'll put what I learned to good use and make sure everyone comes back in good shape!" she then assured the others in an attempt to cheer everyone up. Now wasn't the time for everyone to feel anxious towards each other!

Nanami would nod as she listened to everybody. Her eyes never meeting Sigmunds once. It would take him broaching the topic of forgiveness or teamwork if they were going to make amends. Though Nanami had been working as an intelligence ninja, and an assassin at times. It was not as simple as Sarada was wanting it to be. Hate may be a strong word in her mind. But she didn't know how to interact with Sigmund. The many she killed while away on missions and finding herself. Part of her psyche was imagining they were him. But then the other part of her mind wanted that one day back. The day that Sigmund seemed normal. So she herself was ultimately lost in which direction she was willing to go.

"I don't hate Sigmund, but I have learned how to do things my way. I'll listen to the orders from Tsuna, and you Sensei. I agree with you, last year was the fuck up to end all fuckups. Everything was against us from the onset. But my rationale of what happened won't change what happened. I've changed and gotten stronger. I didn't know who I was during that mission, or even before the mission. I was like a lost lamb. It took going through hell to find myself. I have trained myself into being able to switch off my irrational emotions when needed. We won't have a repeat of last year."

She would bow to everyone. Her body language showed it was more of an apology for how badly she had acted during the mission.

Sarada had nodded her head, respecting Nanami's honesty. "I don't expect you all to forgive and forget. Something as traumatic as last year will never go away," she explained as she crossed her arms, staring at each of them slowly. "I'll never expect any of you to forget. I won't expect you all to say you love each other," she paused. "Hell, I don't expect any of you to be friends, but while we are on missions, you will protect each other," she began.

"You will fight together and we will accomplish so much more. Today, as your sensei, I am asking you to put it behind you right now. This will not be the only time you'll ever experience betrayal, heartbreak, death, or even friendship. Nobody is forcing you to be here. You all can turn in your headbands right now and walk away and never see each other again," she said harshly before uncrossing her arms and putting her hand out as a peace offering. "Or we can learn to heal, work together, and fight together as a whole and help end this war. I understand this isn't something you all should've experienced and I'd like to personally apologize to each and every one of you for failing you last year," she whispered. "But as shinobi, we will learn from our mistakes and tackle what we lost last year."

While she knew they likely would never be friends with each other, as long as they were assigned to her squad, they would learn to work together and trust each other again. It had been a long year that she had been absent and it was going to take work again like before, but Sarada was truly confident that they all could overcome this. She would personally see to it that this mission was a success this time.

Nori lifted her head up and stared into Sarada's eyes once she had approached them and began to speak. She wanted them to make amends with each other before they went out on this mission that would take them back to where the source of where everything had began. It wasn't something that she was looking forward to and she knew that if she wanted to, she could turn back right now and never look back. But she felt like now...if she did that, she would truly lose everything. Her eyes drifted over from Shiroma, Sakuya, Nanami, and finally to Sigmund, who had been keeping his own distance away from the group but was close enough in ear shot. With the way things ended last year, she was left abandoned in the woods with no one around her. She had been lost. Confused. No one but the voice in her head. Everything was a blur back then, but all she knew was that she was left alone. Even in the time that she was gone, no one had come to look for her to bring her back to this place. Time had moved on. There was no connection to this place called Izalith even though she had links to her past standing all around her in this moment. If this was the time to say something, she was going to take it.

"Izalith isn't my home and I don't belong," she began to say after Sarada had finished speaking. "I have no obligation to be here like you said, sensei. I could very well turn my back on this place right now and walk out of those gates without any regrets. However, while I may not have a connection to this place, I have a connection to all of you. Whether it was as a mentor...a comrade...a friend...or my world...all of you have effected my life in some way. I could never forget that and turn my back on all of you." It was as she was naming off those connection, she looked from Sarada, to Shiroma, to Sakuya, to Nanami, and finally, to Sigmund; her eyes staying on him for a few lingering moments before she blinked and looked back to Sarada. "After what happened last year, I woke up abandoned in an empty forest without any recollection of what happened. Over time, everything came in in flashes. Sometimes nightmares that haunted my dreams at night. I was in search of something that I had lost long before I was even born. I was in search of my real home. The place where I truly belonged," she said as she reached up and grabbed the pendant draped around her neck. It was round with the engraving of a blue wave rolling into the ocean below. "I wanted to find the person that left me this pendant. My...mother. I had to go. I knew if I didn't, I would never get the answers I needed and I was tired of not knowing who I was. I had to find the pieces of my life that were missing. But in this process, I have changed in a lot more ways that any of you will have expected me to and I'm sure, in time, all of you will come to see it. I am still searching and looking for who I am, but I have also not forgotten my past. It's apart of who I am. I also don't plan to fail this mission, but I trust that depends on the effort everyone present is willing to make to help it succeed. In saying that, I know I don't need to have any worries. I put my trust in all of your hands and I'm confident we will get it done."

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GM EDIT:

Group has moved to their mission thread. >>>>>>>
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:39, Thu 25 Nov 2021.