"What? Did they declare war?" asked his grand-daughter Kurotsuchi.
"No, they already confirmed the details they were able to get from those they captured," said Onoki, waving the point off. "They know that having that..."
"Abomination? Unfair advantage? Monster?" asked Kurotsuchi.
"Oh, please, spare me," said Onoki, glancing up at his much taller subordinate. "That sort of thing is what the Jashinites and Serifites and Death-Seekers refer to him as. THAT is a child who happens to have some power, but it has limits and weaknesses much as a jinchuriki has. More in some ways."
"Grandfather, there are so many conflicting stories, how can you tell where the truth is?" asked the young kunoichi.
"There are ways," said Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage. "For one thing, anything coming from the faiths of Jashin or Serifi should immediately be flagged as 'suspect' - if they've got an adherent who isn't crazy I've never heard of 'em. Death-seekers are pretty much the same way. Then there are loyalists to either a non-affiliated nation or to our way of life who will make things up just to weigh arguments in their favor. We're ninja though - we're supposed to figure out the hidden stuff."
"So what is this 'god of nakama' supposed to be? What are his weaknesses?" asked Kurotsuchi.
"Ah, after you've made chunin, ask again," said Onoki. "In the meantime we can use the boy's talents."
"How?" asked Kurotsuchi.
"Hmph," said Onoki, considering his grandchild for a moment and then changing the direction he was walking. "Come along. I'll show you."
"So what should we do about team sorting?" asked Iruka. "They really want to recreate the Ino-Shiki-Cho grouping for that synergy, but Shikimaru is the lowest scorer on the tests. Normally the dead-last is paired with the Rookie Of The Year and Top Kunoichi."
"Which would make the team: Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuga, and Shikimaru Nara," said Suzume, adjusting her glasses.
"So what?" asked Mizuki. "What can we do? That's what it's got to be."
"How about if we use the second best grouping?" asked Suzume.
Daikoku Funeno cleared his throat. "That would be for kunoichi - Sakura Haruno, who barely was edged out of the top slot by Hyuga-san. Second to Uchiha was Shino Aburame, though Kiba Inuzuka scored higher in taijutsu."
"How about this lineup?" asked Mizuki after a few minutes of writing things out. "It gives the ones that want a hanafuda hand what they want."
"You put Sasuke Uchiha on a team with two fangirls, you have something against him?" asked Iruka.
Suzume took the paper, frowned at it, then made a couple of changes.
"Will that work?" asked Daikoku.
"Meh," said Mizuki. "At least nobody on a team is likely to kill off the rest of their team. Maim, maybe."
Iruka-sensei was listing off the teams, which she knew would determine their future until chunin at least. Actually, what kind of team you ended up on would actually influence how well you did for the rest of your shinobi life. A good team provided life-long friends, got the better missions, and could become legends in their own right. A bad team could get killed off early in their career.
She knew all that. It didn't mean she didn't selfishly hope that she would get certain individuals on HER team.
"Team Seven, your jonin-sensei will be Kakashi Hatake. Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno."
Sakura blinked for a moment as her inclusion in the team. Her reaction was:
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(Posted Fri, 30 Mar 2012 02:40)
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