"Hn," indicated Sasuke, confident.
Naruto's Ring faded into invisibility and he stepped up to one wall. "Exam's on the third floor, right?"
"Naruto!" exclaimed Sakura. "We're supposed to turn our applications over to Kakashi-sensei first. He's in there somewhere."
"Oh," said Naruto, disappointed.
"You just wanted to enter in some dramatic fashion," pointed out Sakura. "Ninja should be quiet and not draw attention to themselves by fitting into the shadows."
Sasuke and Naruto both stared at Sakura for a moment, wondering what kind of ninja she was talking about because that sure didn't describe any of the ninja they'd run into so far.
"Where did that come from?" asked Sasuke finally.
"I've been re-reading several books on the subject," said Sakura. "After all, this test IS to see if we're ready to become chunin."
"Right," said Sasuke, dismissing this and decided to just go ahead and bull through. He was aware of his team trailing behind him as he entered the building.
They were quickly aware that SOMETHING was up though. Several foreign teams edged away from them, looking especially guarded as Team 7 passed.
Sasuke at first thought it was about him, he being the Last Uchiha after all. Then he thought it might have been the dobe, the idiot having somehow given away that he had that blue advantage of his. When he heard the phrase "Pink Hannya" the second time, he glanced at Sakura and considered asking.
"What's a 'hannya' anyway?" asked Naruto, scowling. He hadn't caught the 'pink' part of that title.
"They're not talking about you," said Sasuke.
"No?" asked Naruto, perking up slightly.
Sakura had the grace to look moderately embarassed at least. Also annoyed and somewhat prepared for violence.
"Genjutsu," said Naruto, leading them past some altercation in front of a room.
"Obviously," said Sasuke.
"Of course," agreed Sakura.
Up another flight of stairs, and there was Kakashi Hatake.
"Doing this without that ring of yours?" asked Kakashi.
"Invisible," said Naruto, the Ring briefly shimmering in place on one hand.
"Well, that's a most hopeful sign," said Kakashi. "You're actually thinking ahead. Good job."
"Your confidence in me is underwhelming, Kakashi-sensei," grumped Naruto.
"Well, go ahead and hand me your applications, then go in," said Kakashi. "Last word of advice: try not to die."
"Good advice," said Sakura.
"Yes, the paperwork I'd have to fill out would be terrible," said Kakashi as he took the forms.
"That was the Pink Hannya," said a genin from Kusagakure, having spied on a dialogue between a Suna genin and an Oto genin.
"Supposedly she puts on an act of innocence to keep people off-balance, then she reveals that she's some ax-crazy," said a genin from Oto, wondering how the Kusa genin had that intel.
"Not that crazy ninja are all that uncommon," noted another genin from Kusa.
"I wasn't saying there was anything wrong with that," offered the Oto genin. "Just means that on that team, the most harmless looking one is the most dangerous. Interesting strategy. If you didn't know better, you'd dismiss her as being inconsequential and concentrate on that Uchiha kid."
"Good point," offered one of the other Oto genin in the small crowd. Hitting the hannya first was probably the best strategy, keep her from unleashing whatever jutsu she had.
Neji frowned slightly, going over the details he'd observed from the pink-haired girl. He'd thought she was just a weak and not very serious genin. How could you take someone with bubblegum-pink hair seriously? Yet apparently the girl had a reputation already.
He'd have to keep an eye on her. With a name like 'Pink Hannya' - she might be a genjutsu expert and that would be a problem for his team. Not for him, obviously, but his team might be at a disadvantage against such.
Scan completed.
Candidates: 153.
Teams: 51.
Proctors: 12.
Chakra levels vary from feeble to extremely high.
"Huh," said Naruto softly relaying the information his Power Ring was relaying silently to him. "So some of these guys have really high chakra levels? Maybe some aren't really genin then?"
Sakura and Sasuke glanced at Naruto, considered that he'd been able to pull up a map of Wave Country and highlight hidden patrols, and then began examining their fellow participants a bit more closely.
Sasuke frowned as he considered how to ask Naruto which ones had the high chakra levels. Also how Naruto could reply without giving away the advantage to others.
"So I see you guys made it here too. How troublesome."
"SASUKE-KUN!" GLOMP!
"GET. OFF," Sasuke practically growled at the kunoichi draping herself over him.
Sakura grabbed Ino and began trying to pull her rival off of Sasuke.
"Wow. Reminds me of those Academy days," said Kiba, looking over the scene as he walked up with his team.
"Yo," said Naruto, smiling and waving at Hinata. The Ring had said that whatever her problem was - he could help overcome it through being friendly so he was aiming for that.
"Eep," managed Hinata before smiling shyly back while poking her forefingers together.
Breakdown of high chakra readings among test participants
Jinchuriki: 1 (unstable)
High Jonin level: 2
Jonin level: 7
Special Jonin level: 13
Chunin level: 73
Low Chunin level: 42
Genin level: 15
Naruto frowned. What the heck did that stuff mean? He'd have to ask later when there wasn't a lot of people around.
"You guys ought to be more quiet," said a guy with glasses as he approached. "Don't you know where you are?"
"In the Chunin Exams," said Naruto, trying to keep his voice low. Which wasn't as effective as he wanted. "With one hundred fifty three competing, from four different villages. Most of 'em have high chakra levels and there's at least one of 'em who's unstable. Most of 'em are hostile."
"Uhm, yes," said the glasses-wearer. "Look around you though. You see why calling attention to yourself just makes yourself a target?"
"Aren't you going to get off of me?" asked Sasuke to Ino.
"Nope!" chirped Ino.
"Shannaro!" declared Sakura, sending a fist into Ino's face and loosening the Yamanaka's grip.
Sasuke did a substitution as soon as he felt the grip slacken, managing to exchange himself with Kiba.
"EWWWWWW! Sasuke that was MEAN!" complained Ino as she leapt off. "Now I've got to spray myself for fleas!"
Kiba growled, not surprising anyone at all.
"You guys should take a quieter approach," advised the glasses-wearing ninja. "Take a word of advice from someone who's been through this before."
"You've been through this before? It's troublesome enough just this once," complained Shikamaru.
"Most genin have to go through at least two exams before being promoted," noted the glasses-wearer.
"Excuse me, you obviously know who we are," said Shikamaru. "And you are?"
"Kabuto Yakushi, Konohagakure medic-nin. This is my 7th time taking this test," began Kabuto.
"What? 'Seven'?" asked Kiba. "Man, you must suck."
"What a pain," said Shikamaru. "And you're offering to help us - why?"
"Well, we're from the same village and you guys kind of remind me of how my team was the first time around," offered Kabuto. "In fact, I'll even let you look at my Ninja Info Cards."
"'Ninja Info Cards'?" asked Shikamaru, sounding a little suspicious.
"What are those?" asked Sakura.
Naruto read off the information his Ring was giving him. "Fuuinjutsu on regular cardstock, coded to his chakra using a chakra-sensitive ink in five colors. By using his chakra in a specific pattern, he basically bridges a gap in the ink's structure to make the information visible again."
If a frog in a top-hat had started dancing on a desktop while singing about a 'ragtime gal', he would have been stared at only slightly less than Naruto was being stared at.
"Uhm, right, good guess," said Kabuto. "Well..."
"I take it from the name that those are cards containing information on ninja," said Shikamaru, who managed to sigh in a tired manner at the end of that before continuing. "Which means we should ask about a known individual to judge how accurate the information is. How tiring."
"Ah, yes, that would be prudent, I suppose" admitted Kabuto, wondering what happened to his established script.
"Okay," said Naruto, brightening as he prepared to say something.
"What do they say about the Pink Hannya?" asked a blonde kunoichi from Suna, having gotten close enough to overhear.
"The wha?" asked Kiba.
"I haven't had the chance to revise that one since I came into some updated intel," admitted Kabuto.
"Who's the 'Pink Hannya'... Forehead?" asked Ino as the only one in the entire room who had ANYTHING in that shade was her former friend/rival.
"Yes," said Kabuto, using a finger to push his glasses into place. "Surprising that one so young and inexperienced has managed to make such a reputation for herself, while maintaining a cover of being some silly and incompetent genin."
"Erk," said Sakura, wanting to belt this guy but also realizing that the looks of respect she'd been getting were keeping her from being the target of outright hostility.
"What about that guy?" asked Naruto pointing to a redhead.
"Gaara?" asked the Suna kunoichi.
"Gaara of the Sands," said Kabuto, glad that things were finally back on track. He charged one of the cards, revealing the information inscribed on it.
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(Posted Sun, 04 Aug 2013 17:23)
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