Chapter 355: Winter Glass and First Sparks
The indoor training field was one of Malik's newest constructions — an enormous dome of reinforced crystal and chakra-woven glass, large enough to house a small army and strong enough to contain it.
Outside, the late winter wind swept across the mountain slopes, bending the pines and hissing through the stone terraces that surrounded the mansion grounds. Inside, though, the air was calm — warmer than it should've been, yet not so warm as to make anyone forget the season.
The floor was sand and polished stone. Shallow pools ringed the space, fed by tiny waterfalls that tumbled from sculpted basins. Frost still traced the edges of the upper panels, thin veins of white spiderwebbing across the glass, filtering sunlight into soft silver.
It was quiet — for now.
That quiet would not last.
The First Arrival: Isaribi
Isaribi arrived early. Not intentionally — she wasn't used to being first anywhere.
The great sliding door whispered open at her touch, letting in a draft that smelled faintly of snow and cedar. She stepped through cautiously, her reflection gliding along the smooth floor ahead of her.
The dome's light caught the faint shimmer of her hair — no longer the dull, briny purple of her Kaima days, but softer, healthier, glinting lavender at the edges. Her skin was smooth and evenly toned again, the last of the scaling gone thanks to Malik's spellwork and Tsunade's precise chakra grafting. She still kept the yellow sash from her old tunic, though — tied now like a scarf at her waist, a reminder of where she'd come from.
She rubbed her arms as she looked around. The space was empty, echoing, and too clean. Her instincts twitched; she'd spent so long hiding in damp caverns and broken ship hulls that this much light felt suspicious.
"...Am I early?" she murmured to herself.
Her voice echoed back, soft and small.
She was still getting used to her new schedule, her new life. Malik had told her that she'd been chosen for a new team — something special, something "hybrid," he'd said. He'd spoken with that calm, sure tone that made her believe him. Still, she had no idea what she was walking into.
She set down the small pack she'd brought — mostly water flasks, a towel, and a few scrolls of notes Tsunade had given her on aquatic chakra control. She exhaled, looking up at the glass ceiling. Snowflakes were tapping faintly against it, melting before they could cling.
The sound of a door sliding open behind her made her flinch.
The Second Arrival: Sai
"...You're early," said a smooth, neutral voice.
Isaribi turned quickly, her instincts prickling before her brain caught up. The man standing in the doorway wasn't tall, but something about him felt tall — straight posture, perfect stillness, and that unsettling calm that seemed unnatural in a place meant for motion.
Sai stepped inside without waiting for an invitation, the faint swish of his black jacket whispering against his sides. His eyes — dark, unreadable — took her in with the detached curiosity of someone studying a subject rather than meeting a teammate.
"I—uh," Isaribi began, straightening. "You're with the team too, right?"
He tilted his head, a faint, polite smile on his lips. "Correct. You're Isaribi — the one who used to live underwater."
She blinked. "Used to," she said quickly, a bit more defensive than she meant to sound.
He nodded, completely unbothered. "Fascinating. Malik told me about you. He said you have remarkable adaptability."
He opened a small sketchbook, flipping it open to a clean page. "Do you mind if I draw you?"
"What?!" Isaribi's face went bright red. "Now? No! Why—why would you—?"
Sai tilted his head again, as if genuinely confused. "I like to document my teammates. It helps me remember their shapes and mannerisms. My memory for faces is poor."
She crossed her arms. "You don't have to make it sound weird."
"Was it weird?" he asked, still in that soft, expressionless tone that made it impossible to tell if he was joking.
Isaribi groaned, sitting on a bench near the wall. "You're worse than Malik."
"Thank you," Sai said pleasantly, still sketching.
"Not a compliment."
He looked up, smiled wider — not convincingly, but earnestly trying. "Understood."
The Third Arrival: Karin
The next voice that entered the dome was not quiet. It came before the door even finished sliding open.
"Ugh, why is it always cold when I show up somewhere? Do people forget what insulation is?"
Karin Uzumaki swept into the room with a kind of effortless volume — her chakra signature flaring bright red before she even crossed the threshold. She carried herself like someone perpetually unimpressed with her surroundings but secretly delighted to have an audience.
Her red hair was gathered up in a high, messy ponytail that brushed her shoulder blades, her glasses slightly fogged from the chill. She wore her standard light-purple jacket zipped halfway up, exposing a mesh underlayer, and carried a clipboard tucked under one arm.
She stopped mid-step when she saw the others.
"...Oh," she said, pushing her glasses up her nose. "It's you two."
Sai gave a polite nod. "Karin."
"Ugh, don't say my name like that. It's like being complimented by a corpse."
"I've been told my tone is calming," Sai said sincerely.
Karin glared. "Whoever told you that was lying."
Isaribi tried not to laugh, failing miserably. "You two know each other?"
"Unfortunately," Karin said immediately.
"We trained together briefly," Sai added. "She threatened to stab me."
Karin gave a mock shrug. "You were asking for it."
Isaribi blinked. "Oh… wow."
"Don't worry," Karin said, tossing her ponytail. "I'm sure we'll all get along just fine. Assuming no one here says anything stupid."
"I don't say stupid things," Sai said in that same neutral tone.
"That's what makes it worse!" Karin shot back.
Isaribi looked between them helplessly. "...This is going to be a long day."
The Fourth Arrival: Anko Mitarashi
They heard her before they saw her — the faint click of boots echoing down the hall, steady and sharp.
The door slid open.
Anko stepped inside like she was stepping onto a stage she already owned.
The trench coat was there, of course — tan, slightly rumpled, the purple lining catching the light as she walked. Her mesh bodysuit glimmered faintly under it, metal threads catching the warm glow of the lanterns. Her hair, violet-black, spiked in its familiar fan-tail behind her head. Her snake fang pendant swayed like a clock pendulum against her collarbone.
She stopped just inside the threshold, hands in her pockets, eyes sweeping across the three of them. Sai looked up briefly and nodded. Karin rolled her eyes. Isaribi, somehow, looked both relieved and more nervous.
"Good," Anko said after a pause. "At least no one's dead yet."
Her voice carried the same lazy authority as always — half amusement, half command. She stepped forward, boots leaving faint prints of melted frost.
"Alright, kids," she said, stopping near the center of the dome. "I'm Mitarashi Anko, your team leader — by Malik's decree, Tsunade's reluctant approval, and my own bad luck."
Karin raised an eyebrow. "Team leader? Huh. Didn't peg you as the patient type."
Anko smirked. "I'm not."
Isaribi gave a small bow. "I-it's good to meet you properly, Anko-sensei."
"'Sensei,' huh?" Anko said, half to herself. "Haven't heard that in a while."
Her tone softened just enough to make the title sound earned. "Relax, kid. You're fine. We have history so you can just call me Anko."
Then she looked to Sai. "And you — no sketching anyone unless they say yes. Got it?"
Sai blinked, genuinely surprised. "You knew?"
"I've met you," Anko said flatly. "And you're holding a brush."
"...Fair," Sai admitted, tucking his scroll back into his pack.
Karin leaned against a pillar. "So this is the squad? Fish girl, emotionless doodler, and me?"
"Congratulations," Anko said dryly. "You've identified the cast."
Karin frowned. "And what exactly is this team supposed to do?"
"Whatever needs doing," Anko said. "We're not a search-and-destroy group. We're not an infiltration unit. We're something in between — a tool for the jobs no one else wants to take but everyone wants done."
Sai tilted his head. "That sounds… ambiguous."
"It's supposed to," Anko said. "You'll get used to it."
She turned slowly, scanning them one by one. Her tone, for the first time, turned serious. "Malik handpicked each of you. That means he sees something in you. I'm here to make sure you see it too — before someone else does and uses it against you."
That silenced them. Even Karin's usual smirk faltered for a moment.
Anko broke the weight with a half-smile. "We'll start simple. I want to see how you move, how you think, and how you argue — because I guarantee you're going to do plenty of that."
Karin muttered, "Already started."
"Good," Anko said. "Means we're ahead of schedule."
She walked past them toward the edge of the training floor. "Stretch, warm up, and try not to kill each other. We've got a few weeks before our first mission, but if you make me regret taking this job before lunch, I'll make you spar me instead of each other."
That got a reaction — a mix of groans and nervous laughter.
Even Sai's polite smile seemed to twitch.
Anko leaned against the wall, watching them. For all her sarcasm, there was a flicker of something softer behind her eyes — pride, maybe, or recognition. The three of them were so different it was almost comedic. A scientist's experiment, a war orphan's precision, and a survivor's stubborn hope.
Her team.
Her team.
The words felt strange in her head, but not unpleasant.
She hadn't realized how much she'd missed this — the noise, the tension, the spark of potential before the storm.
Outside, the snow was finally starting to melt.
Inside, Anko folded her arms and smiled faintly.
"Alright," she murmured under her breath. "Let's see what we can make out of you."