As the names of those who had passed were read aloud, Ibiki sat in class, hands on the table and back straight as always. The Hyuga heir had a calm, collected expression on his face and appeared almost bored with the current situation - there was certainly no anxiety or doubt there.<br/><br/>The truth was, he already knew all too well who would pass and who wouldn't, as far as skills and achievements went. Any political or financial concerns that might have been part of the equation for letting people attend the school would be weeded out here - actual Genin duties were dangerous and would not be wasted on those who could not handle them.<br/><br/>Obviously, he and his sister were in; as was the Aburame girl, towards whom he briefly leveled a glare as he thought of her. It still nagged at him that she had been able to disguise her true gender from his all-seeing Hyuga eyes for as long as she had. But all three of them had one thing in common: they probably could have skipped straight to this step, right from the beginning. They had learned many things over the last few years, of course. Some techniques, a few fields of education they had not touched before due to age, but particularly teamwork and teamwork with those of very different skillsets, which naturally they could not train for as easily within their highly specialized clans.<br/><br/>The loud-mouthed pair of friends, Miki and Shun, who stuck together like glue . Well, boyfriend and girlfriend now, as Yamanaka had made sure to stake her claim and tell everyone at every opportunity, much to the boy's growing embarrassment. Ibiki thought of such things as distractions at best and a weakness at worst, but their skill and teamwork was passable.<br/><br/>There were Tadaaki and Miyu -- Inuzuka and Nara, to Ibiki -- who seemed to have taken a shining to Aburame. They weren't just tag-alongs. They had genuine skill. The Mori girl, too, but Ibiki had not paid her too much attention. She wasn't loud or annoying like the Yamanaka-Komori pair, nor an exception like the Aburame prodigy.<br/><br/>And Midori, of course. He had seen potential in her from the beginning, but it had really crystalized lately. Especially with Misaki helping her out -- he had volunteered as well but to his growing frustration had been denied by his sister. He still had no clue why Misaki kept blaming him for everything and had grown fed up with it long ago.<br/><br/>Despite Kiko's attempts to lessen the impact of his father's lessons, his annoyance with his sister only fed into the notions of superiority and elitism that the man sought to foster in his son. It was a good thing that he had first encountered Midori when he did -- if they had run into each other for the first time now, he probably would have barely spared her a glance. Now, she was perhaps the sole exception, and he had begun to actually treat Misaki like his bodyguard in public. She was still his sister and he eased up when they were with Midori, both siblings did, but there was always this underlying tension between them.<br/><br/>It was a concerning development to those who considered him friends or hoped for more equal treatment for the branch clan in the future. His father couldn't be more proud, of course, being a traditionalist - and whilst the patriarch at times felt concern for his disavowed daughter, his sense of duty bade him to disregard it.<br/><br/>When their names were finally announced with the third and last team, Ibiki wasn't really surprised -- they were the only ones left over. He had almost expected to be put together with Makoto -- that he and Misaki would be placed together had never been in question considering her assignment, even though there might have been choices that would better complement his skills  -- but it was Midori instead. They were taking personal relations into account for some reason, it seemed, since all teams had somehow incorporated those who had grouped together more closely over the years. This was the only actual surprise about it. He wasn't displeased by any means at the selection - they already worked well together and getting along wouldn't be a problem.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Misaki stared at their teacher with a glare as he read those names. To be fair, she was really only watching him attentively, but her expression had always been and still remained rather intense most of the time. Unlike her brother she had no interest in figuring out who might have made it and who wouldn't -- she only really cared about one name in that list. Just like her brother, she knew fully well both Hyuga twins would be on there, so that was barely an afterthought, until finally the last name was called. Midori's. As their teacher read it, her expression finally eased up a little -- her lips inched into a smile -- a smug one, but still a rare smile.<br/><br/>After all, she had invested quite some time into training with Midori, whom by now she considered a friend. It wouldn't do if she didn't pass as well, even if she had originally considered her a nuisance and decided to help her simply because she couldn't stand watching her stumble around anymore -- that was how she remembered it, anyway. That they were both outcasts and lonely despite being surrounded by 'family' at home and really could use the company wasn't something she liked to acknowledge. It was a weakness and she didn't like to be weak. Ever. There was already enough of a distance in skill between her and her brother that she couldn't afford it -- she had taken extra classes in medical skills and techniques to compensate, had trained like a madwoman with the senbon needles, sometimes together with Midori, to compensate for the relative lack of training she was receiving in the Hyuga techniques compared to Ibiki, but she never felt it was enough.<br/><br/>So, even now, she was still angry at her brother. She had come to understand that her situation wasn't his fault, that he had never really had a choice in the matter, but it still sat wrong with her that he received all the attention, all the praise.<br/><br/>Hence their little group of three -- now actually<em>Team</em>three, for the foreseeable future, was an odd gathering of tension, uncertainty and -- nonetheless -- friendship. Even if she didn't like to show it. Especially not towards Ibiki. But with Midori around she could relax her guard a little without feeling like she was giving up.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>The years had come and gone and while they were identical twins, the beginnings of puberty had made them more easy to tell apart. Misaki had gained some slight female curves -- not a lot, she was still slim and her chest was barely larger than Midori's -- and her robes now incorporated some slightly fancier designs. On some occasions, when she wasn't on bodyguard duty (where being mistaken for her brother at a distance was advantageous), she also liked to put some rouge on her lips, though she never put anything beneath her eyes or on her lids. Perhaps makeup didn't agree with her eye techniques.<br/><br/>Ibiki, on the other hand, had put on more muscle than her -- his jaw was a little stronger, as were his eyebrows -- few would mistake him for a girl, though for disguise purposes he could pull it off as long as he remained quiet. This was the greatest change and difference between them, sex aside: their voices. His had gotten deep for his age and would probably grow similar to the intimidating tone of his father soon enough, whereas Misaki's was much lighter. Her manner of speaking wasn't exactly feminine, but her voice clearly was.<br/><br/>Thus, when their new Jounin instructor came in, it was unlikely that he would confuse them -- unlike in the beginning of classes, when it happened more than a few times.<br/><br/>As soon as the odd-looking man with red-ish hair entered, Misaki stood up from her table and stepped over to Midori's instead, where she propped herself against the right front corner and crossed her arms in front of her. She was clearly appraising their new and future teacher while he talked.<br/><br/>Ibiki remained seated -- his table was right in front of Midori's anyway, so there wasn't really any need to move to make things easier on the man. He was also studying this 'Kobayashi Ryuu', but with more of a curious expression than the nigh-defiance Misaki liked to employ (which stood in an odd contrast to her very professional conduct when it came to missions, training and all manner of duties).<br/><br/>Neither of them responded to the greeting, of course. Not until they were individually acknowledged. She briefly released her defensive posture to indicate a formal bow -- right hand closed into a fist, embraced by the left to accompany it -- and began to speak. "Instructor," she greeted the man. "Hyuga Misaki, of the Hyuga branch family. Age twelve. I specialize in the Hyuga family techniques, the Byakugan and Juuken open palm combat. To compensate for my lack of advanced training, I have studied medical skills and throwing needles."<br/><br/>She kept it curt. Professional. Listing her skills without going into greater detail about them. How exactly the family techniques worked and the real specifics were still a clan secret, after all, even if the current age moved towards a more open attitude and at least the extent of their practical uses would grow more commonly known with every passing year.<br/><br/>She paused, then glanced towards her brother. "Hyuga Ibiki. My brother, same age, of the main clan. Heir to the Hyuga techniques." The words tasted bad on her tongue, but she still continued to list them without apparent emotion. "More skilled at them than I am, with knowledge of advanced techniques. No additional skills outside the clan techniques and the standard curriculum, but excels at both. I am assigned as his bodyguard by order of the clan head. No notable weaknesses to exploit outside of inexperience and young age. If I was to target him, I would require backup to wear him down, or use poison traps."  She was tempted to say something about his excessive pride, or add a small barb, but pushed the thought away. Instead, she continued, with Midori.<br/><br/>For a moment as she considered her words and the damage they might do to her relationship with the shy girl and hesitated, a brief moment. But she had always placed her duties above all else -- and answering her superior to her best ability was one of those.<br/><br/>"Yuhara Midori. Child of a traveling merchant, raised here by her uncle and aunt of the same but settled profession. One infant brother. Highly intelligent, but too introspective. Professional conduct beyond the other civilian recruits. Compensates for weak taijutsu with throwing techniques, with which she is well above average, and is good at keeping her distance." She mulled the addition over for a moment, then continued: "She is very attached to her pet, which would be my first target if I had to go after her."<br/><br/>"We practiced outside class to improve on her foundations and taijutsu, so we are familiar with our respective combat movement and should work well together," she finished on a more positive note -- or so she thought, anyway. When she glanced back again at Midori she looked like she regretted her cold assessment a little -- anyone else would probably have missed it, but reading the subtleties of their very subdued displays of emotion was something that came with the territory of being a friend to the twins.<br/><br/>Her gaze then returned to the Jounin, waiting to see if he wanted her to expound on anything or if he was satisfied with what she had shared.<br/>