The Hokage whipped his staff through an elaborate pattern, then tightened and twisted a grip. There was a click as what looked like a six-inch leaf-shaped blade slid into place on one end.
"Hmmm," said the Hokage. "Not bad."
"Is that from the forge of..." Gai tried to remember the name of the redheaded girl.
"Thorra Runehammer," said the Hokage, doing something with the grip that caused the blade to retract.
"So you know of the girl making weapons," said Gai.
"I had to approve her permits," said the Hokage. "I also have three requests for purchase of her wares from members of the ANBU."
"Ah," said Gai.
"I'm going to put this through its paces," said the Hokage. "Best way to judge how useful her wares actually are."
"So that is, indeed, one of her wares," said Maito Gai.
"Yes," said the Hokage. "Which supposedly has runes to enhance its durability, to keep the blade and mechanism from getting fouled, and to be resistant to flame."
"Oh," said Gai.
Smiling a little, the Hokage hefted the spear. "Well, if you have to report something - come along. I want to see this for myself."
Shikimaru Nara was actually very intelligent, it was just getting him to apply that intellect that was troublesome.
Uzumaki was the class clown and Dead Last. That is no longer the case. What a pain.
Naruto Uzumaki had become less clownish, which was unfortunate as he had been the Dead Last - which was a position his mother would become quite vocal about if Shikamaru himself ended up there.
So, near the bottom - but not the absolute last. Otherwise he'd catch hell at home. Nothing to stand out and draw undue attention to himself, which was a perfectly shinobi attitude to take. Let other people like the Uchiha excel at something and become primary targets, thank you very much.
That Viera seems destined for the dread position of Dead Last. Clumsy, not as smart as the other Viera, and hopeless at the Substitution technique. Her Transformation needs work too, usually all she changes is her clothing.
Shikamaru's eyes flicked to the other members of the class. Class makeup has shifted. Roughly three quarters of the class are girls now. Team selection will likely gender flip from the usual ratio, going to two kunoichi with a male member. Either that or switch it around so that a couple of female-only teams are formed and try to maintain the old setup.
Shikamaru sighed, wishing he could watch the clouds from here. There's always been a 'rookie of the year' and a 'top kunoichi' position, but this year the rookie might be a kunoichi herself. Kara's new here but she's been acing every test they throw at her. Ryuuko isn't far behind, though she has to use a ninjutsu to throw kunai. Rivalries are so troublesome. Let's see, they're likely to form the three man teams...
Shikamaru idly began assembling the teams based on his expectations for the upcoming tests.
"Good balance, nice edge, durable enough," said the Hokage after putting the spear through a few paces.
"It seems serviceable," agreed Gai.
"Gai, I was going to send for you anyway," said the Hokage, accepting a towel from an ANBU as he handed the spear off.
"For weapons testing? I generally make do with straight taijutsu," protested Gai.
"No, that's not it," said the Hokage. "My understanding is that your team would be particularly good at certain missions."
"Guard duty?" asked Rock Lee the next morning.
"That's right, normally it would be unheard of for fresh genin to get a C-Rank mission like this," agreed Gai. "Yet, our team has some unique qualifications in that regard."
Neji sniffed.
"Yes, it's true that your Byakugan can scan for contraband and transformations," said Gai, inclining his head towards the Hyuga genius. "The cinch for this though is Tenten."
"Me?" asked Tenten.
"With your weapon, you can tell when someone is lying in your presence," said Gai. "While Lee or Neji asks questions, you can be quietly assessing their responses and be able to signal when they try to deceive us."
"Oh," said Tenten, nodding. That did make a certain degree of sense.
She was aware of Neji's careful study, as well as Rock Lee grinning and giving her a thumb's up. However, it appeared she would not be in Konoha when the remainder of the "Harem" was trying to graduate the Academy. Which was a pity, as she'd unexpectedly found that she actually relished the "big sister" role and attention it brought.
It was odd, but then again - they were ninja. Odd was normal.
"Jabe?"
"Raffalo. You seem to be adapting well."
"Well, plumbing's plumbing. Awfully primitive but that remains."
"Ah. True," said the sentient tree. "Likewise they need gardeners and such here. My talents are well suited for that."
"So neither of us are going to be ninja, means whatever going's on - we're not even spectators," pointed out Raffalo.
"We all contribute," Jabe told the blue-skinned girl. "Even if we can't help the lad any other way - we can help where and when we can. It's not the work of a single tree to be the forest."
Thordra held the weapon briefly, then placed it on the table. "I'm a little surprised. I thought you were one of Sasuke's fangirls."
"Naruto used to be loud and annoying while Sasuke was cool and talented. Naruto changed, and I noticed that all I seemed to do was annoy Sasuke," said the girl. "Joining this group has a chance of improving my ninja skills."
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(Posted Sat, 08 Sep 2012 16:26)
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