She isn't sure what kind of test determines personal compatibility. Maybe Sesshi-sensei wants to see if their skills are up to her standards in a live situation?

She choruses "Yes, sensei," with the other two, then waits to be dismissed. Once Sesshi-sensei has left, she turns to her team. "I suspect this will be a mock mission. It would make sense, as a way to determine if we can work together."

"A proper shinobi can work with any assigned teammate."

"Yeah, but, do you want to get stuck on a team with someone like Fu?" Who is older than the three, and frequently mean to the younger kids. She doesn't know where he ended up.

Sai doesn't have an answer, so Tetsuma nods. "We should go over what supplies we have, maybe practice together some - we haven't had much opportunity for group training." So far they've usually been assigned to missions tagging along with an older operative. She's aware Satomi's had some solo missions, but she doesn't know the details.

"That works for me."

And they're off.

The next day she's gathered the puppies and given them their instructions, and Chamaru has roped a few of the adult dogs not currently on missions into helping. (Her clan finds new genin greatly amusing.)

Team Seven had had wonderful expressions at this 'mission.' She doubts her new team will be so amusing, they're a bit repressed, but there's nothing like puppy therapy to bring a kid out of their shell.

The three genin arrive dutifully at the front gate to the compound, precisely on time. Sesshi meets them there, waving them in. "Feel free to come in anytime, too, the gate's more to keep the puppies from wandering." Which includes both the ones with four and two legs.

"Now, for the test. Your mission is simple: twenty puppies are not where they're supposed to be. Your task is to gather them in the kennels and have all twenty together by noontime, without giving them any reason to complain."

The genin stare blankly at her.

"Well? Get to it, time's ticking down. I'll be watching, but not participating."

"So..." she starts as Sesshi-sensei walks off. "Sai, can you make ink animals to scout the forest?"

Sai nods.

"The forest also currently has a lot of greenery, they might be interacting with that, I can try to sense for suspicious movement patterns?" She waits for Satomi to nod at her, then falls into meditation. This part of Konoha is as familiar as any other, and quickly she gets a sense for the rhythm of the place.

Gradually, she thinks she can feel the puppies, and some footfalls that are likely adults, though not all of them.

She opens her eyes and relays the location information to her team.

That makes this a lot easier.

Satomi has Sai send out birds and mice of ink to search for the puppies in the locations Tetsuma's indicated, confirming several.

"Alright. I think we should approach the first one together, and perhaps Tetsuma can make a simple cage with wood manipulation..." The other two nod, and they all set out.

Tetsuma turns out to have a natural affinity for dogs, picking up instinctively when the puppy is about to bolt or try to be playful.

Sai turns out to have the exact opposite of an affinity. He isn't mean to the puppy; it nevertheless takes an instant dislike to him. The feeling's mutual, after it grabs his paintbrush and runs off with it.

Still, Tetsuma's able to coax the puppy into her arms after a few minutes of intense running around and playing.

"This one seems to like chasing things," she comments, idly scratching behind the puppy's ears. Sai is clearly working very hard not to show an expression. "Maybe you could get some of the other puppies to chase your mice?"

"...I can try," he says, and prepares more mice.

The mice turn out to be a resounding success, leading to several puppies barreling into Sai. He trips in his haste not to step on one, and is promptly treated to a face-full of kisses from a very wriggly bunch of puppies.

Tetsuma cracks a small, barely-there smile as Sai tries to calmly remove the dogs.

"That's five... Now for the other fifteen," Satomi points out. "C'mon, let's get these guys back to the kennels."

They do, securing the dogs with what Tetsuma tentatively identifies as maybe toys, then head back out.

Getting the next three dogs is a bit of a headache, but not too bad - but when they return, the kennel doors are wide open, and the first five puppies are gone.

"What - " Tetsuma starts, then goes to look around for puppies. She finds one, sleeping on top of a chew-bone, but the other four are nowhere to be seen.

"We need to set a guard this time," she says.

"I'll stay; you're good with them, Tetsuma, and Sai's ink animals are effective bait."

"Understood," she says, then heads out with Sai.

Between the two of them, they're able to corral a few more puppies, and Tetsuma's slowly getting better at identifying what movement patterns equal dog.

Satomi, meanwhile, is being faced with a problem.

A very large problem in the form of several adult dogs who're now starting to crowd her.

She doesn't think she's supposed to hurt them too bad, either.

The problem is that she's an assassination specialist, with no way to contact her team.

They're heading back, Tetsuma cradling another two puppies in her arms, when she senses the disturbance Satomi-wards.

"There's a problem," she tells Sai, then picks up speed. She slows down as she comes nearer, creeping in and spotting the dogs lunging at her teammate.

Her hands are full with puppy, but - "Keep these guys amused real quick, alright?" And she sets them down - Sai makes an ink squirrel for them to play with - and claps her hands before slamming them on the forest floor. The kennels are on plain dirt, not concrete, so she's able to coax roots up to trip up the dogs - who promptly turn their attention towards Tetsuma and Sai.

A wall of vines forms rapidly between them, moving to wrap around one dog who tries to climb over it. That's one secured, now for the other three - 

Sai sends an ink lion to wrestle with one, while Tetsuma trips up the other two, and Satomi falls back to guard the kennels, eyes open for an opening to grab the two new puppies.

Another few minutes, and Tetsuma has all four adult dogs wrapped up. She sighs, then picks up the puppies and carries them over to her teammate.

They have a total of seven, now, with thirteen left to go.

"I'm now a bit leery of leaving you behind, in case more problems show up..." Tetsuma says, eyeing the adult dogs.

"Leave me with an ink lion and I'll be fine."

"Alright..."

They set out again, trying to work faster this time. Tetsuma curses herself for still not having figured out the wood clone, that'd make this whole affair go so much quicker, but wishes are for children, so.

Nothing catastrophic happens while they're rounding up the rest of the puppies - more dogs come and break the other adults free, but Tetsuma had been listening for their approach through the plants and was able to respond much faster than last time.

The last puppy is corralled mere minutes before the alarm goes off.

The team gathers in the kennels, exhausted, dirty, and sticky with dog slobber, to wait for their sensei.

Who applauds them when the alarm goes off. "You guys did really well," she says. "Most teams don't keep their cool that well, or aren't gentle enough with the puppies. Taking advantage of their natural instincts and giving them something to play with was clever; they would've been less cooperative otherwise. I'd say you guys pass with flying colors." Her most recent team had been faster, but Mariko's presence was somewhat cheating. And they hadn't been nearly as good with the dogs. "The test wasn't to see if you guys got within the time limit - most can't - but to test your adaptability, teamwork, and strategic skills."

They all relax. Satomi doesn't smile at her team, her training's too ingrained, but this is definitely a smiling sort of feeling in her chest.

"What now?"

"First, we're getting lunch together, then we'll train for the rest of today. Get a feel for each other - you guys have some rough edges on fighting in a group. Tomorrow we'll start our D-ranks. They're tedious, and I suspect you guys don't need the practice turning in reports as much as most teams do, but the sooner we're done with them the sooner we'll qualify for C-ranks."

That's met with some relief, and quite frankly Tetsuma doesn't mind a while of just getting to focus on developing her techniques before they start on serious missions.

She's relieved they decided to report to the Hokage; this is a pretty good outcome, all things considered.

A bit over a month into the start of her apprenticeship at the hospital, she goes to find Mariko, starting with her apartment (not there) then moving to the riverside where Jiraiya likes to spy on women.

Mariko's there, notes spread around her, newly purchased calculator balanced in her lap - and she's over there, too, sparring with yet another Mariko - and two more are having an argument over Laplace transforms.

The sparring hers stop and one walks over to Sakura when she comes within sight range. "Hey, Sakura, how've you been?"

(It's the main body, sending a clone to talk to her teammate feels weird.)

"Good. We're still on the theory a lot - there's a lot of reading to do, I'm jealous of your clones - but we finally got to some of the chakra control exercises today. I had an idea for an eventual seal I wanted to run by you, more to see if it's possible..." She waits for a 'hm' from Mariko, then: "I was reading about the history of medical techniques, and Tsunade had the ability to heal a massive number of people at once, using her summons. Would that be possible by attaching seals to someone?"