Doomed. That was rather a better description.
Number One looked around at the cradle. 108 lives about to end. 108 per ship, and on one there was a fatal error in the drive system.
Very fatal as the ship was still going entirely too fast and would impact the shallows of a coastline on the world of blue and greens that had been the target.
It looked like there were three ships which had crashed but most likely held survivors. They'd managed to bleed off some of their velocity. One ship was heading for a deep-water crash.
It appeared that the time they'd spent in transit had been enough for a common flaw in the ship's programming or a component to compound itself.
"Do you want to live? Would you be my friend?"
Number One looked up. Senses a bit more subtle than human average probed the space. "If there is a chance for me to save them - then yes!"
There were two of them, Number One decided. The young boy who had made the offer, but there were glimpses of another being as it did something.
Then things shifted abruptly.
As they were now, only the first really stood a chance to survive. That was, IF he simply pulled them across now. As they were, there was one adult with eight embryos and ninety-nine fertilized eggs.
So he just had to advance development a bit. Add the sort of skills and knowledge they'd have in a more regular setting, including the local language.
Some would have to be fit in a bit more in some respects. Technomancy wasn't exactly going to be useful unless they had access to equipment to make the sorts of things they could then access.
Still, there was certainly the possibility of things getting stirred up a bit.
Wait. What? All of them had to agree to be his friend to be summoned, which required that age acceleration and developmental copying, but he'd hardly expected HER to agree to that condition.
Well, he liked to be surprised. This certainly qualified.
A few substitutions for those who just didn't want a friend at all, there were enough sources.
Most of whom wouldn't regularly associate with Naruto anyway. Just normal societal behavior would have them drift away in a few short years.
But some would remain. How many remained to be seen.
"Well, this is interesting," said the Hokage.
"Interesting?" asked Koharu Utatane. "One hundred and eight new citizens? Most of whom have kekkei genkai?"
"I like it," said Homura Mitokado.
"You aren't thinking this through," said Koharu.
"No, you're just reacting," said Homura. "What's the age range here?"
"Miya is the oldest, approximately twenty-four years old," said the Hokage. "The next group of nine are about thirteen years of age. The remainder are between twelve and six years of age."
"They should be caged and made use of for the benefit of the village," said Koharu. "This many kekkei genkai could seriously tip the balance of power. Other villages will attempt to steal them away or kill them. Locking them away will keep them safe and allow us to create entirely new clans."
"Did we become Kumogakure when I wasn't looking?" asked the Hokage. "Because that certainly sounds like a Kumo decision."
"Letting them run loose and chase after that boy," grumped Koharu.
"They're kids," noted Homura. "It may become kunoichi fighting over a guy later, but it isn't like that doesn't happen with that Uchiha boy anyway."
"They haven't spent any time in the Academy, having just arrived," said Koharu. "They must spend at least a year in the Academy to graduate as genin."
"That would be a great pity, as a number of them seem quite talented," said the Hokage. "Perhaps a placement test?"
"Good idea," said Homura. "We certainly don't need to field a large number of ninja at present, so there's no need to be hasty with any of this."
A laughing Naruto ran past the tower, pursued by a large of number of young girls.
"It's lively," said Homura. There was something about watching the children laughing and playing that made him feel younger - just the tiniest bit.
"It gives them the chance to be whatever it is they want to be," said the Hokage. "That would be for the best, wouldn't it?"
"I disagree," said Koharu. "This is just male foolishness."
"I wasn't asking you," said Hiruzen Sarutobi. "I was asking - Karasuba isn't it?"
"Eh?" asked Koharu before a shadow materialized and started leaking Killing Intent. Not only 'Killing' but 'Hurtful Intent' seemed to be present.
"You detected me? Interesting," said Karasuba.
"I believe you could do VERY well on certain missions," said the Hokage. "I believe your conversation with Ibiki revealed you might really enjoy that sort of thing."
"Oh?" asked Karasuba, the thirteen year old licked her lips. "Do tell."
"'Placement tests'?" asked Sakura Haruno.
"It's troublesome," sighed Shikamaru.
"Eat my dust, forehead! This is a new chance for me to rise to the top of the class!" declared Ino.
Iruka shook his head. "Actually, these tests were developed with the assistance of some new refugees to Konoha, and initial response from the research indicated it might be useful in general use."
"I don't understand, what do you mean, Iruka-sensei?" asked Sakura.
One of the new girls held up her hand. "May I?"
"Go ahead, Matsu-chan," indicated Iruka.
Matsu adjusted her glasses. "When we sekirei joined the village last week, Miya-chan and some of the others got together with the several of the teachers and members of the elite ninja. From the existing jonin-sensei, we got a list of things they wished that their genin had learned in the Academy. From field operatives, things that THEY wished had been covered or taught earlier. From the Hokage's office, we went over old records and things that were taught in earlier classes. We put together with those teachers a set of tests that would show exactly what was needed for an individual to be ready AFTER graduation to survive and do well - not only what you most needed to learn but what your talents actually are."
"Like I said - 'troublesome'," said Shikamaru.
"In Shikamaru-san's case," indicated Matsu, "he needs to actually put forth some effort and pay attention - because this test would then allow him to be in less troublesome situations and classes in the future. Heck, if he did well enough - he might get a pass in order to sleep in some classes."
"Hmmm?" asked a mildly interested Shikamaru.
"Testing is in four stages," explained Iruka. "Physical will be tomorrow, so be sure to eat a good breakfast. Mental will be two days from now. What's on the third day is secret. Fourth day is a simulated mission."
There was a stir of interest at that last. Sasuke in particular lost his dismissive attitude and smirked, certain of how well he would do and that his class standing would be intact.
"Okay, taijutsu. Pair up. One to each circle. Instructors will grade you on overall performance. Ring one, Choji Akimichi versus Uzume. Ring two, Sasuke Uchiha versus Benitsubasa. Ring three, Naruto Uzumaki versus Kaho. No weapons, no ninjutsu, strictly taijutsu."
Iruka waited, keeping an eye on the various matches until he saw everyone was ready. "Unison sign - begin!"
The beginning of the day had started off with calisthenics, running, a timed agility course, and target practice. Lunch had been followed by deadweight carries, chakra examination by a sensor, and now the taijutsu test.
"I will respect you, Naruto-sama, by not holding back!"
"That's just how I want it!" declared Naruto.
"You are faster than that, Naruto-sama! Fight me with everything you have!" said Kaho before her foot caught Naruto in the side of his head.
"Ung," said Naruto before shrugging it off and coming at her in earnest.
"Stop," said the referee, one of the instructors he'd never met before. "Uzumaki. Flailing away wildly won't score well. Use the taijutsu you've been taught."
"This IS what I've been taught," complained Naruto.
"Don't worry, sensei," said Kaho. "My sisters and I shall improve his skills when things have settled down some."
The referee glanced at Kaho, then around before settling his gaze back to Naruto. "Uzumaki, I'm not sure if I should pity you or envy you. So I'll just declare this Kaho's win and suggest you pay attention to their lessons in the future."
Sasuke had started out confident in his skills. Some pink-haired wannabe kunoichi who'd just started the Academy versus him? A year younger and at least four inches shorter? Easy match.
Her casual block of his attack, and the replying palmstrike that threw him out of the ring dissuaded him from that notion.
"Wait, that's it?" asked Benitsubasa. "I thought you were supposed to be something major, but you ain't nothing."
Sasuke rolled back to his feet, suppressing the brief flare of pain from the impact site of his right shoulder.
"Don't dismiss me so lightly," practically growled Sasuke as he entered the ring and settled down to try again.
"Try to give me a little fight at least," said Benitsubasa, her expression of disgust remaining.
Sasuke vowed, he didn't know when or where or how, but he was going to wipe that expression off her face.
"You're pretty good," said Choji, shrugging off another kick.
"You can take a hit pretty good too, but you aren't fast enough to land one on me," said Uzume.
"Tie then," said their instructor. "Weapons are the next testing phase. You might think about what you want to try while waiting for everyone to finish."
"Yosh!" said the girl. "Number 48, Kujika!"
"Uhm, right," said Sakura Haruno, settling into her stance.
"This'll be fun!" declared Kujika. "Hey, hey! Which is better, left or right?"
Sakura just attacked, throwing a punch.
"Both!" declared Kujika, slapping aside the strike and then elbow-smashing Sakura's face in a blur of motion.
Mitsuki pointed down. "Uhm. I take it this is what they call a 'glass jaw'?"
The instructor leaned over, picked up Ino's arm, then let it go. There was no effort to stop it or keep the limp hand from impacting her own face. "Yup. Definitely needs to work on her avoidance and blocking."
"Maybe she's just really really weak," offered Mitsuki. "Come on. Tell me that SOMEONE around here is going to challenge me. And I'm not even a Close Range type!"
Tallying up the physical scores was something that normally would be done by the chunin teachers. In this case, however, it was given to jonin. Specifically from those in the village who were on the roster to be jonin-sensei in a few months.
"Interesting," said Kurenai Yuhi. It hadn't taken long before her own curiosity regarding the process, and a check of the various samples of handwriting, before she'd ended up being the one to write the report.
"So the 'temporary instructors' were mainly from T&I," said Asuma Sarutobi. "You can tell which ones. They're the ones with the most details."
"Not done yet?" asked Kakashi Hatake.
"Haven't you finished that book yet?" asked Kurenai.
"Not yet," said Kakashi.
"Total scores are on the board," said Kurenai. "Overall score, followed by taijutsu score, overall strength, overall speed."
"I have serious doubts about all this," said Kakashi.
"The Hokage has taken a 'wait and see' attitude on it," said Asuma, not referencing his father as such - as that decision had been made entirely by his father's good-of-the-village mode. Which he had had several arguments about and regarding over the years.
"I wonder how the mental tests are going to go?" asked Kurenai. That was more her area of specialty after all.
Sakura smiled, her pencil moving almost on its own. A written exam? This was MUCH more like it in her opinion. NOT getting kicked out of the ring by some weird girl she'd never seen before.
Who'd been so chipper during the whole thing.
Well, look at that Musubi NOW. She was so lost she was... she was even more lost than NARUTO!
"Frikkin' great," grumbled Naruto. A written test. Math. Geography. Cryptography.
How the heck was he supposed to do well on this kind of crap?
Well, it looked like the notes that Matsu had given him would have to be used after all.
Matsu smirked as Naruto-tan began using the notes she'd made for him. It would have been a lot easier if the file system used here was computerized, but she'd adapted and begun memorizing various jutsu used for spying.
And having learned such things, one had to practice them after all. It wasn't enough to simply know how to do a technique, you had to be able to pull it out in all sorts of circumstances. Right? Right!
She had to make up for her abyssal performance yesterday.
Hinata let her bangs cover her eyes as she used her Byakugan.
She had done quite well yesterday against the glasses-wearing girl during the taijutsu section, and her second match had been against Ino Yamanaka. The latter had obviously not been at her usual level, still feeling the effects of her previous match.
She had done somewhat less well in the agility course and speed trials.
Then she'd fought Katsuragi and hadn't done quite so well.
First was this written test, then there would be hand-signs and chakra manipulation, a test involving genjutsu - the details of which she was not familiar with, and finally the end of the day was something called Resistance Testing.
She'd only investigated on the most basic level, if they REALLY hadn't wanted anyone to know they'd have hidden the schedule better than having it right there on the front of a proctor's clipboard after all.
She had to do better, the prestige of the Yamanaka clan was at stake. After her humiliation the previous day she would excel today, for mental challenges were the dominion of the Yamanaka clan!
First the written test, now this. Hand-signs and chakra manipulation. She could ace this easily, but apparently the exercise involved a long sequence at the end of which a spike of chakra had to be maintained.
Still, this was child's play for one of her clan.
She just had to worry about the other parts of today's testing because she knew she had these two aced!
Sasuke sat down in the chair, elbows resting on the table, not sure what was going on but confident that he'd do well. The loss of the previous day had obviously been a fluke.
The woman who entered was one he was unfamiliar with. On seeing her red eyes, for a moment he had thought of his clan's Sharingan eyes before he noticed the lack of markings.
"So, are you ready to begin?" asked the woman, taking a seat opposite him.
"Let's get this over with," said Sasuke.
"Fine," said the woman, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
Sasuke displayed some irritation at whatever delay was going on. Some insect buzzed his right ear, drawing a distracted swat.
He opened his mouth, preparing to say something about how he was waiting, but then everything shifted.
Yahan frowned at the chunin who'd apparently decided to read some book rather than give her the test.
Chunin from the vest, but something is off on the appearance. What is it?
His shadow. The shadow doesn't have the bandana covering his hair, is larger than the light would allow for, and - something else. Not important.
Some flying insect? Nothing was here a moment ago. No openings that I see. How did it get in? Genjutsu. Now, let's see. What am I supposed to do? Dispel the genjutsu or point out the errors?
"KAI!"
Tsukiumi sniffed at these ridiculous tests. When one talked about "Suiton" techniques, she was supreme - and she should be passed immediately upon the strength of that!
Now there was some mystery test after that ridiculous bit of illusions. How dare these monkeys judge HER by THEIR ridiculous standards?
"Very well," the chunin said. "Pass."
"Wait, what?" asked Tsukiumi.
"Well, that was a bust," said Kakashi Hatake as the various jonin got together at the end of the day.
"Which part?" asked Asuma.
"Killing Intent Resistance," clarified Kakashi.
"Ah, I got one that was so exhausted and twitchy that she actually fell asleep while I was ramping things up," admitted Shigeru.
"Mine was so busy with an internal dialogue she apparently never noticed," said Mikuru. "If I'd brought it up to level six, it would have worked but since we were restricted to 'what chunin should be able to produce' - not so much."
"Oh? I'd forgotten about that," said Kakashi. "I went to nine before deciding it wasn't working."
There was a brief silence and more than a few odd looks being given Kakashi before Kurenai Yuhi finally spoke up. The numbers weren't anything official after all. Just a rough number used as a reference like the pain scale, and like that one-to-ten range was pretty subjective. "'Nine'? That should be enough to cause an Academy student to die from intent alone. Why go that far?"
"She just seemed amused," said Kakashi with a slight shrug.
"Who'd you get?" asked Asuma.
"Hatae, I think her name was," Kakashi mumbled as he put most of his attention into the book in his hands.
"Yes, there's a few where they seem to take such things in stride," said Mikuru. "Others are more typical of their age group and such."
"Do you suppose the Hokage was intending for us to get a feel for this group of soon-to-graduate students in case we DO end up with genin to train?" asked Asuma.
"Of course," responded Kurenai.
There were a few other muttered agreements following that.
"So, who would you want on a team?" asked Asuma of Kurenai.
The fourth day was chakra. Techniques known, with various clan techniques being critiqued by the clan representitives. Speed of pulling off the technique, situational and environment awareness, and chakra/stamina observed. How long could a technique like henge be kept running? How easy was it for a student to switch from one to another? How fast could they assess the situation changing?
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(Posted Mon, 28 Apr 2014 17:01)
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