Scan ready.
Naruto took a deep breath, calming himself. He was the Blue Lantern, he could do this with the scanning abilities of his Power Ring. Which was invisible so he could keep it with him but still follow the directions of keeping it secret.
"Turn the papers over and begin in the manner of excellent shinobi," said Ibiki Morino from the front of the room.
Analysis of first question. Calculation of speeds and angles are as follows-
Naruto quickly jotted down the answer, then included the additions about wind speed and possible gravitic anomalies. Not that he understood what such things meant, but it sounded smart at least.
Cryptography. The cipher is a simple substitution with an ascending variable based on the number of words preceding the current one. Message is as follows -
Naruto grinned as he wrote everything down, feeling a surge of confidence he hadn't had when 'written test' was mentioned. He could do this!
Hinata paused as she became aware that Naruto was writing away quickly and more confidently. What had happened to Naruto? She had observed him for a very long time, but her expectation would have been that he would have been lost on a written exam.
She could practically feel confidence radiating off of him. That was always one of the things she liked about Naruto though. Unlike the cold hide-your-feelings dignity-is-job-one of her family, Naruto was always enthusiastic and free with his emotions. Whatever he was feeling - you could tell immediately with Naruto!
She waited until he was working on the ninth question before tilting her head forward so that her bangs covered her eyes, then held her hands under the table so she could do the quick handsigns to activate her bloodline.
Then she looked over four nearly-completed tests before focussing on Naruto's test. She quickly began copying his, smiling at the thought that she'd considered offering him to cheat off of her. Now she was cheating off of him. Naruto had a tendency to surprise people, even her who knew him so well.
Sakura gaped for a moment at the sight of Naruto sitting there, writing away as if the test was so simple he could have done it with his eyes closed.
Some of these questions were hard even for her!
Of course, she quickly realized it had to be that ring of his - feeding him the answers.
The gaping gave way to a smile. She didn't have to worry about Sasuke failing this test of course. And she was able to handle it - no problem! Without having to worry about Naruto doing something stupid, she could concentrate on the test herself.
Ino noticed that Sakura was scribbling away, only pausing long enough to look at Naruto.
Naruto, the class clown and dead-last, who was writing away at the test like it was no problem?! What the hell?! He had to be cheating somehow - but how?
Curiosity got the better of her, and she went through her hand signs. "Mind Body Switch Technique."
Intercept
Blue. She was lost in a world of brilliant sapphire, with no up or down, nothing but an endless maze of brilliant blue crystalline walls.
Ino realized she wasn't going anywhere, so tried to end the technique and return to her body.
The blue walls remained around her.
"Oh hell," said Ino, realizing that something was seriously wrong but having no idea what.
Shikamaru frowned as he noticed that Ino had used her possession technique, but was spending a lot of time slumped in place at her desk.
He just knew this was going to be troublesome.
.Initial analysis of Intruder complete.
.Intruder identified as marginally allied competitor.
.Analysis of cultural morals and legal structure indicate nonlethal parameters preferred.
.Leaking of nonmission-sensitive data into environment has provided further access of Intruder's memories and thought patterns.
.Intruder identified as Yamanaka Ino.
.Intruder's current mental shielding is rated Feeble.
.Response selected.
The expressions. It didn't matter where he went, or what he did. It was always the same thing.
Please.
Hate. Disgust. Turning away.
Please don't.
"Why didn't they just kill it at birth?"
Look at me!
Those eyes that stared at him but didn't see him.
Please, look at me!
"Monster."
Please.
"Demon."
Why do you hate me?!
"Should be dead!"
Why?
"Disgusting filth! Get out of my shop!"
Won't someone?
"It's THAT thing again."
Please. Someone?
"Ignore it. Maybe it'll go off and die somewhere on its own."
Can't someone? Anyone?
"It's not like it's human or something. Just kick it out of your way."
Can't anyone see ME?
"I'd have strangled it in the crib if it was up to me."
Those eyes that don't see me, you see something else. And you hate it.
"Oh, it's just That Thing."
I didn't do anything!
"I feel unclean just seeing that thing walking around."
I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I'm not a 'thing'!
"Someone should just dispose of it, and good riddance."
I'll make people acknowledge me!
"You must stay away from That Boy!"
Ino broke contact with the wall, breathing heavily even though she knew that this was just her mental projection. Whatever these odd crystal barriers were, they had memories from Naruto's past.
For that matter, why DID everyone hate the goofball? Yeah, she'd met rocks that had a better personality and more mental capacity, but hadn't Naruto been hated before he started pranking and doing other stupid tricks?
Shaking her head, Ino tried another path to see if it would lead out of the maze. She was aware of it when a trailing foot brushed against a blue crystal wall.
"I'm just saying, if you keep serving that demon brat - you'll be losing business."
Naruto crouched lower behind the stack of garbage.
"You've said your piece. Now get out."
"You don't care if 'Ichiraku Ramen' goes under, or your business meets some unfortunate accidents?"
"You think you intimidate me just because you're a ninja and I'm not? You delivered your message but I don't think you understand something. You try smearing me with rumors, or sabotaging my business, or anything like that - I know who to report and who to report TO. Ichiraku's will serve any reasonable customer who comes here and doesn't make a fuss. That includes Naruto Uzumaki!"
Naruto felt something wet trickling down one cheek and wondered what that was from.
"Your business will suffer, old man."
"My business has been here for years, and will be here years from now. I serve quality food, make my noodles myself, and am not afraid. Anyone easily cowed shouldn't operate a business in a ninja village. Now go on. I have customers to prepare for."
Naruto snuck away again, trying to fight the smile off his face and losing.
What had THAT been?
Ino wasn't sure. Wasn't Ichiraku's some ramen bar? Why had an ANBU been trying to convince the proprietor to stop serving a particular customer?
She didn't understand, but-
Oh crap! The test!
"-and I'm gonna TAKE that tenth question, and if I fail and you say I can't become a chunin, then I'll be the first genin to become Hokage! And then I'll fire your ass for making such lame ass rules!"
Ibiki noticed that one of the girls in the background, the Yamanaka, was drooling on herself. Everyone else seemed to have regained their nerve. "Nobody else going to spare themselves and quit now?"
"I never give up! That's my ninja way!"
"Fine. You guys pass," said Ibiki.
Ino Yamanaka snored very loudly.
Ibiki cocked his head at that. I have to rethink this test. Otherwise someone who fainted from the stress manages to pass it, and that just isn't right.
CRASH!
"ARRIVING!"
"Waitaminute!" yelled the Suna kunoichi. "What do you mean 'pass'? Do you mean someone so lame they passed out during the test passed?!" She pointed at the snoring Ino. "And who the hell is this?!"
The woman in the mesh and trenchcoat combination frowned at her. "You saying there's something wrong with the way I dress?"
"No," said Temari. "Kunoichi using sex appeal to distract male opponents is an old and established tactic. But you managed to put a shard of glass into one of the genin in the first row."
"Oh," said Anko. "Well if you were going to let something like that bother you, you shouldn't be in the test."
"The people giving the test shouldn't be trying to kill the people taking the test," protested Temari. "That's OUR job."
"Ah, good point," said Anko, nodding. "Well, I'm Anko Mitarashi, and I'll be the proctor for the... Is that kunoichi over there ASLEEP?"
"Looks like it," said Ibiki, thinking that maybe his initial assessment was wrong. Seating arrangement said that was a Yamanaka, so she might have run into a problem with her jutsu. Got bounced off a particularly strong shield and end up floating around the room. Hadn't that happened to Inoichi once several years ago?
Anko stared at Ino, then at Ibiki, then back to Ino.
One of the more silly looking kunoichi in the back held up a marker. "Let's doodle on her!"
Anko fixed the marker-wielding kunoichi with a particularly venomous glare. She was going to be getting the nastiest of the gates assigned to her. Even worse than the sleeper.
"GAH!" yelped Ino, jumping up. "Seven. Warring States Period. Clan Restoration Act? Ramen?"
"I take it back," said Anko, sounding slightly amused as the Yamanaka stared wildly around herself. "I think you managed to break her."
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(Posted Sat, 17 Aug 2013 16:56)
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