Kazuma's blue eyes were focused on the lake, as he waited for the arrival of his sisters. The plan was to trap them in the middle of the Lake. Neither Hanabi nor Rin would expect the attack, they would be too busy gossiping and laughing over their clothes. That and there were never any attacks on the lake, just on land. Tonight, it would take all Kazuma had to manipulate the mass amounts of water that he would be dealing with. He could use jutsu to freeze the water over, but he didn't want neither of his sisters picking up on his chakra. After being forced to train with them for the past three years, they knew what his chakra was like, and he didn't want to risk it until the time that he actually struck. Kazuma had figured out how he'd take Hanabi out, and then Rin. It would have to be a back to back attack, or everything would fall apart, but Kazuma had a back up plan in that case. When he heard laughter he pulled a pair of binocular out and peered through them. "They're coming," Kazuma whispered. "They're almost at the center." He looked back at Xantrex. "I'll call if I need help."

Xantrex had followed behind Kazuma as the boy led the way. The blond haired genius already knew the way, but he was going to hang behind for a while. He wanted to make Kazuma feel like this was really his mission, and it was. To be honest, he was glad that Kazuma told him to stay back. Because it showed that the boy, although not with great fighting prowess, wasn't a complete coward. Which was more than Xan could say for himself.

A day before, when he'd gone to put the chakra seals on the bottom of the boat, Xantrex had taken his arm out of it's sling, since it was mostly healed. He wouldn't be able to use it at full capacity in a battle, but that was fine. He wouldn't even need his arm to take on the likes of a couple Snow ninja. ANBU and jonin or not, Xantrex had prepared the area enough before hand so that he would be at a total advantage regardless of what happened. And this was one of the reasons Xantrex considered himself a bit of a coward. Well, a lot of a coward. If he could help it, he'd lay enough traps to ensure victory. A fair fight was never an option if said fight would have the possibility of Xantrex losing.

The Scientist nodded. "I'll activate the seals after you make your first move."

Kazuma nodded and got up. He was ready for this. He'd gone over this plan a million and one times in his head. He could handle this. Kazuma headed down to the edge of the lake. His blue eyes seeing through the darkness. Kneeling down he placed his hands in the water and focused all of his chakra in to his hands. The ice was freezing over more slowly than he expected, he'd have to push himself past what he was used to. He'd been practicing by moving water in large puddles and even in the bath tub, but this was more than he'd bargain for. What did you expect Kazuma, for this to be a walk in the park? The former snow ninja shook his head. The hell with it, he was going all the way. The anger and the distress was enough to help him focus. The manipulation felt better and the ice spread quickly. The girls weren't aware of it until their boat stopped in it's tracks, and even then they were too caught up in conversation. Perspiration fell in little beads from Kazuma's face. "Step one....complete." He stood up and started across the ice. He could hear it crack beneath him, but that didn't bother him. He knew that the ice could hold his weight, but his sisters on the other hand, that was a different story. Kazuma had planned this to the 'T'.

Xantrex watched Kazuma from a distance as his student approached the targets. For that is all the two teen girls were now. Targets. And soon to be experiments. The blond haired scientist wouldn't have minded using both of them as lab rats, honestly. He had no morals, and a small conscience to match. There was hardly anything that could get under his skin. The only one that could match Xantrex's conscience was their 'fearless' leader Deidara. Now, Xan didn't doubt that Dei was fearless, he'd seen the guy in action too many times to make such a stupid call. If the guy lacked anything at all, it was fear and a heart.

Kazuma seemed to have been using all he had to freeze the lake over. Xantrex gave an almost irritated sigh. There was no doubt in his mind that he'd have to step in before Kazuma ended up dead, if his sisters would even go that far. Either way, he'd have to step in. And now that Kazuma's first move was made, now it was time for Xantrex to give a little hand. It would have to be done before the girls got off the boat, otherwise it could affect the entire area, and that, that was not part of the plan. Putting his hands together in a single handsign, Xantrex slowly released the seals on the boat as it slowed to a stop. If this worked right, those two would be like frogs in boiling water. Wouldn't realize their chakra was gone until it was too late. Wouldn't realize that it had been drained slowly out of them. And that was what the plan was.

Neither Hanabi nor Rin realized they had been drained of their chakra. When the boat stopped they didn't take notice. However, when a feeling of cold came over them they looked up. "We're home already?" Rin said curiously. She stood up and looked at the ice. "Hanabi, be o-" She was cut off as a spike shot up from the water, knocking her off the boat. Hanabi was immediatly up with a kunai in her hand, but was distracted by the sudden crack in the ice. Rin had fell through. "Rin!! Rin!!" Kazuma shook his head. They had no idea it was him. It was almost too brilliant for even him. Hanabi knew better to get onto the ice, but Kazuma was ready for that as well. "Hey Hanabi," he called as he got within visible distance of his sister. Hanabi looked startled. "Kazu? What are you doing here? Is this some kind of joke," she said as she started to laugh. "Oh wow, and to think I thought we were under attack." He voice rang across the laugh as she continued to laugh until she was crying. "Rin gave you three days max, that's one more than I did. When Dad told us you'd run away, it was comical." Kazuma simply shrugged. "So, did you and mom plan this. I mean, you can't pull something like this off by yourself." Kazuma only nodded in agreement. "Geez Little Kazu, you really had me going there." Kazuma smiled. "It was fun while it lasted." He hadn't even finished the sentence before several blades of ice shot splintered the wooden boat in two, catching Hanabi in the cross-fire. She too fell into the broken ice. "Underestimating people gets you killed." He smirked and started across the ice. Neither of his sisters were dead, Rin was stunned, and Hanabi was badly injured, but the fight had only just begun.

All Xantrex could do was watch with a plain expression on his face as Kazuma easily got the one up on his sisters, pulling one down into the water. Watched, as his student kept a cool head at the taunts and insults of the older sibling that was still on the boat. As she spoke, Xantrex couldn't help but to wonder if Kazuma's humiliated father, or the boy's calm-nerved mother told either of his sisters what the man who would be teaching their brothers looked like. Or even if Kazuma had gotten a teacher. They had to wonder how their father had gotten injured like that, right? Xantrex stopped a moment and let his mind wander. How badly had he actually injured Kazuma's father? He couldn't quite remember. Not that it mattered, but had it been bad enough to make the two girls wonder? Then again, the man was a ninja, chances are the big oaf would blame his injuries on a mission. Xantrex's mind was brought back to the fight when he heard the remaining girl laughing hysterically. What had he missed? And more importantly, why wasn't Kazuma shutting her up? That laugh was annoying. Xantrex sat down with a sigh when ice blades cut the boat in two. Maybe he wouldn't be needed in this fight after all. That was all fine and dandy. At least now he could watch his student in action. While wounded no less. That was even better than getting to see him fighting at full strength. Although, Xantrex had considerably evened the odds for the boy. Now all there was to do was wait.

Rin swam out of the water and reached up onto one of the halves of the boat. She was coughing up water as she did. "Why can't I use jutsu," she questioned Kazuma who was looking at the shattered boat and not her. Rin frowned. "Kazuma, what are you doing? You just destroyed our boat and all of our clothes we just boat, what is your problem. Just because you ran away for a few days doesn't mean you're all powerful..." Kazuma turned to his sister. "I know, but I'm fed up with your crap. I'm not just some kid that you can push around." He raised his hand and the ice underneath Rin started to turn into snow. The eldest sister quickly tried to get away from the changing ice, but didn't have to worry because soon Hanabi was there with a kunai in hand. She came up from behind Kazuma and slashed his shoulder with no mercy. "This joke is over Kazuma."

So Kazuma's sisters still didn't believe that he was serious about taking them on. That was all right though. Hopefully they'd believe him soon enough. Blinking gold eyes when the one sister slashed at his student's shoulder, he stayed seated, though was now intently watching the battle. How would Kazuma fare with two wounds of such an intensity? He wondered. Of course, he wasn't going to get up yet, no no. Kazuma had wanted to do this on his own. Only if he felt that his student might be in innate danger of dying, would he intervene. After all, this had been Kazuma's mission to kill his sisters. And Xantrex was still wary of using his arm, as it may've been. So no. He wasn't getting up just yet.

Kazuma had not anticipated Hanabi to be so violent. When the kunai cut through his shoulder, he stumbled forward with a small gasp. He had to remember that Xantrex was watching, so he had to stay calm. Standing up straight, while holding his shoulder, he looked to Hanabi. "Fine," he said. "Just stop trying to kill me." Rin climbed onto the ice with a small snicker. "Wow Kazuma, you're such a baby. One flesh wound and you go crying in defeat." She said as she pulled her hair into a nice little ponytail. "How about you go back to wherever you ran off to." Hanabi joined in with no hesitation. "Poor Kazuma, he thought we'd go easy on him because he wanted to joke around, oh please, we're ninja and sisters. You threaten us, we're going to attack."

In all honestly, Kazuma was a hurt by that. What did they mean they were sisters, he was their brother! Kazuma bowed his head and followed his sisters off the ice. He didn't have enough chakra to stop them anyway. He avoided looking in the direction of Xantrex as his sisters continued to complain about how they had bought all those clothes and now they had nothing. "Will you guys get over yourselves," he mumbled. That made both of them turn around. "What did you say," Rin asked. Kazuma looked at her with a frown. "I said shut up. All you do is complain about clothes and shoes when you should be worried about other stuff. At least I have a reason to complain. To complain about how my sisters treat me like crap, how my sensei won't register me for the Chuunin Exams, how my father thinks I'll never amount to anything! Just because you guys have natural born skills doesn't mean you have the right to belittle me. You think I don't try to make myself a better ninja, well I do. You think I don't hurt, well I do. You're the worst sisters anyone could ever ask for!"

Rin looked to Hanabi and then to Kazuma. In one fluid motion, both of his sisters pushed him into the water an through the ice. "Complain about the cold you're going to catch," Hanabi called to him. "Come on Rin, he'll be home later, if he doesn't go crying about how the fall injured him."

Xantrex watched in silence. He would be lying if he said he wasn't a bit irritated by those girls' demeanor towards their brother. He'd never had siblings, but that was just wrong. Not that the mad scientist had a conscience, or any identifiable code of right and wrong, but seeing them push Kazuma around like that made him want to come out of his little hiding spot and kill them both brutally. As the two walked away, the blond shinobi looked towards the lake, waiting for Kazuma to come out. If the kid didn't surface in less than thirty seconds, he was going to take both sisters down himself and get it over with. This wasn't just about Kazuma completing a mission from Deidara. This was also about saving his own ass and getting someone to experiment on for the super soldier project.

The water was freezing cold to Kazuma, so it must have been freezing cold to his sisters earlier when he'd knocked them in. After what seemed like a lifetime of thinking under the water, he swam up and climbed out. "Hanabi!" He called. The younger sister turned and looked at him. "Oh you came out," she said with a grumble. "What do you want?" Kazuma came a small cough. "How much water did you take in," he asked. Hanabi gave a sniffle. "Enough to kill me you prick. You take jokes too far!" Kazuma smiled happily. "I say the same thing about you guys all the time," Kazuma said as he stood up and stretch. Both Rin and Hanabi rolled there eyes, but Hanabi stopped short. "I don't feel so hot," she said. Kazuma stopped stretching. "Feeling kind of cool?" Hanabi nodded reluctantly. "Icy like?" Hanabi nodded again. Kazuma shrugged. "Maybe the water's getting to you." Hanabi frowned. "You're so stupid."

Kazuma gave another shrug and then started towards the girls. "I'm stupid, but you don't realize that you're freezing over from the inside out. Have been since you hit the water. And to think you called me weak." Rin spoke next. "What are you talking about Kazuma! Didn't we just say you play too much." Kazuma gave a short laugh. "And did I not just say that I've grown up. I'm not that little kid you used to pick on anymore." Both kids started laughing. "You leave for a little over a weak and think you're reborn, don't make us laugh," Rin snickered. Kazuma smirked. "Then let me show you." The tone of his voice made both of his sisters chuckle, they clearly weren't taking him serious.

Kazuma didn't have much chakra left, the freezing of the lake had drained him, but he had just enough to take Hanabi out, especially with his ability to manipulate water. He'd planned this from the start, minus being cut and pushed into the water. He didn't think he'd come out unscathed anyway. Clenching one fist, he pointed to Hanabi and then pulled his arm back. His sister suddenly jerked forward, a look of confusion crossing her face. Rin quickly started for Kazuma, wanting to put a stop to his game. The blue haired boy looked at the ground in front of his sister and turned the ice to snow, hindering her movements for a brief moment before the snow formed upwards into an ice wall, which quickly surrounded her. "Kazuma! Kazuma you little punk, let me out! Let me out," Rin screamed angrily.

"Be quiet," Kazuma snapped. The ground underneath Rin started to form small holes, making water come through the ice and surround her. He had no intentions of drowning her. He was just making her shit up so he could concentrate on getting rid of Hanabi. He turned to his other sister who was standing frozen in place. "Hanabi," Kazuma had lowered his voice excessively as he walked to his sister. "You've been a pain in the butt since I can remember, but that doesn't change the fact that we're family," he said. "That is why I'm going to apologize for being a hindrance to the family. I may not be able to prove that I am a good ninja in the village, but where I've been and where I'm going, I'll become somebody. Unfortunately, I have to take you life in the process. It won't be in vain though, that much, I promise." Kazuma put his hand on his sisters shoulder. She was visibly shaking. "May life be peaceful where you're going." Hanabi said nothing, but the look in her eyes expressed humor. That more less pissed Kazuma off. He stepped back, turned, and started towards Rin. He didn't want to see his sister die, no matter how cruel she'd been to him.

Hanabi was chuckling lightly, but it ceased as the water that had been freezing over internally became her death in a variety of spikes that exited her body, giving her a quick death. Kazuma ignored Rin's screams and curses as she watched her sister and best friend die. Kazuma quickly filled the rest of Rin's ice prison with water and froze it over. He then sat on the ground with a sigh, he was tired. Rubbing his arm he didn't look towards Hanabi. He didn't want to see what he'd done. Kazuma gave another sigh. Was this really worth it?

(Nice post kid.)

Xantrex was nearly about to get up when Kazuma resurfaced. Instead, he just sat back down and watched. He wanted to see if the boy would look his sister in the eye as he killed her. It didn't seem like it. Though the way in which Kazuma executed the one made him grin, his gold eyes shining in amusement. Now, Xantrex didn't have a lust for blood, and nor was he a sadist, but the way the spikes of ice suddenly shot forth from her body was something the blond scientist could appreciate as a form of art, in one way or another.

Once he saw that Kazuma had frozen his other sister over, Xantrex finally pushed himself to his feet, starting over when the boy sat on the ground. He'd give him a rest while preparing to transport the remaining sister. He wondered if the girl would be like a frog, and just sit there until thawed out, or if the freezing cold and lack of oxygen would stop her heart after several minutes. The thought made him chuckle. "Nicely done," he told his student, glancing over towards the sister of whose body was pierced like that of an inside out iron maiden. The ice was already melting from the warmth of the blood seeping out. "Take a rest, I'll finish things up," he said, kneeling down in front of the block of ice and taking out several blank tags, as well as a small brush before he began writing on the tags.

(thanks.)

Nicely done? He'd just killed his sister! Instead of commenting, the blue haired boy only looked at the water, it was starting to defrost. Kazuma wasn't sure if he wanted this anymore, but what could he do? He had killed his sister and Rin had witnessed it. He couldn't go back home and even if he wanted to go home, he could never face his parents. Kazuma bowed his head. He was seriously exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sleep. Now my parents have no one. I'm leaving, Hanabi is dead, and Rin...she's going to become a tool. Kazuma swallowed. He felt bad for his mother, she would be lonely. Am I no better than my sisters?

Rin may have been frozen, but there was small holes in the ice for her to breath. Even so, she was very much immobilized, and she could here as well. In her mind, she was screaming and crying, how could Kazuma kill Hanabi? On the other hand, she was wondering why was an Akatsuki approaching them? When she saw that Kazuma held no reaction to the blond, she began to panic? Had Kazuma joined them? This must be a joke, Kazuma was weak and useless, why would the Akatsuki want him? Rin wished that she could use her jutsu, if so, she'd break free and find someone to help her and quickly too!

Xantrex hadn't really expected a response from the boy. After all, what could he say? 'Thanks, I hope you enjoyed watching me brutally murder my own sister and glaciating the other?' Yeah, right. He'd expected silence. So the silence from the boy was returned with silence from Xantrex as he worked on two types of tags: one, chakra seals. If the girl were to regain her chakra during transport, and try to use it, it could've done one of two things. One, she could've broken free of the ice and attacked either of them. That wasn't what Xantrex was worried about though. The second consequence would've been that she could've dismembered herself while being transported. Which was where the second type of tags came in. Shadow transport. He'd only tried it with living objects aside from himself a couple times, and they'd all turned out successful. And all of them had been capable of moving during transportation, so he wasn't worried about a block of ice.

Upon finishing the tags, he placed them in varying spots on the block of ice, not surprised that they weren't immediately taking to the damp surface. So, he had to use his chakra to fuse the seals to the ice. The whole process of writing and sealing the tags took about ten minutes, but only because Xantrex hadn't been hurrying along. There wasn't anyone around, and he was sure there'd be no need to hurry anyways. "You about ready to go?" He then looked to the body of the other sister and paused. "Hm. I should take care of that mess," he said casually, walking over in front of it. "No use in causing an unwanted tail." Without bothering to ask if Kazuma wanted to do anything before he disposed of the body, Xantrex pulled out a scroll and knelt down, swiping a small bit of Hanabi's blood onto his finger before opening the scroll and putting the girl's blood on it and doing a jutsu with the scroll in hand, taking several steps back as he threw the scroll down onto the body. In the next instant, an eerie feeling and a chilled wind passed over the area as shadowy tendrils passed around Kazuma and Xantrex from the surrounding area and covered the body, which seemed to melt into the ground under the darkness.

After all was done, Xantrex picked up the scroll, rewrapping it, and putting it away, dusting his hands lightly. "There we go." He looked over his shoulder at Kazuma. "We should leave."

Kazuma felt that it was taking forever for Xantrex to finish up. When his mentor spoke about Hanabi, Kazuma nearly turned but stopped. He didn't want to know what Xantrex meant by 'clean up the mess.' When the blond said it was time to go, Kazuma stood up. His blue eyes empty as he saw that Hanabi was gone. What had Xantrex done with her? That empty chill, was that the cause of his sister's disappearances. Kazuma was tempted to ask, but chose not to. He didn't want to seem like he cared, though he was sure it was apparent. Following Xantrex, Kazuma walked with his head bowed. I'm a murderer.

Xantrex looked towards Kazuma as the kid followed him. He'd get over the one girl's death in a few days. The other one, however...well, if this experiment turned out a success, then the guilt of that one would be with him for quite a while. Xantrex would worry about the long-term guilt when it came. Short term guilt wasn't something he cared for. But then he remembered Jaymaru, and how pissed she'd been at him for stabbing the kid. Rolling his eyes lightly, he pushed the thought aside. He didn't care what she thought. What he cared about was productivity. And since no lack of productivity would come until the next day, Xantrex was fine with letting Kazuma sulk for a bit.

He waited until they'd walked a bit before having done anything about the body, starting a jutsu. He had to be careful with this. If he wasn't, and someone had figured out his jutsu over the years, his chakra could be used to trace the shadows to the Akatsuki hideout. He'd thought of that, so instead of transporting the thing all in one go, Xantrex used a jutsu to keep the block of ice within half a mile of themselves at all times. Sure, it was using a good bit of chakra, but that was nothing to fret over.

Rin was still mentally cursing her younger brother and the Akatsuki he was with. If she wasn't mistaken, that guy was Xantrex. He was a scientist. She put two and two together, was he training Kazuma? What was her brother thinking! Xantrex was only using him and he'd soon dispose of the genin. She hated Kazuma for what he had done, but they would both die for nothing if she didn't do something.

Kazuma, being only twelve was about ready to cry as he remember Hanabi's last moments. His sister had laughed at him and he had killed her. He tried not to sniffle or wipe his eyes as he walked. He'd even taken to walking a few steps behind Xantrex instead of beside him. The guy did say he wasn't going to be handing out acts of kindness like before.

Xantrex walked in silence until they got to the hideout, letting Kazuma sniffle and cry. Despite what people might've been starting to think, Xantrex understood that Kazuma was a kid. Usually someone would only just be making the rank of genin. But things had changed. They were letting children into the Academy at the ages of three and four and letting them graduate to genin at the age of six. It was sickening. It meant that by the age of ten, children could be taking on enemy ninja three times their age or more at the rank of chuunin.

When the block of ice holding Kazuma's sister appeared from the last shadow in front of the hideout, Xantrex turned to the child. "I'll be keeping her in my lab. I don't want you getting ideas about letting her go." He paused. "And you shouldn't have to look at her until we get things going," he added. "I'll get things set up. In the mean time, you go to bed," he told the kid, doing a jutsu in which the block of ice disappeared in the shadow again, and Xantrex himself started into the hideout.