Quote:
er... sorry?
Meh, I got over it, I just had to listen to the correct playlist one more time. (You'll onte how long it took me to reply in the first place - this due to my rule about being calm before posting anything) In the words of KMFDM,
God damn... the torpedoes/it's time to run away with a side show/full speed... right ahead/don't stop you can sleep when you're dead. It's kind of on the edge of what I'm okay with pulling, and I wouldn't have included it on my own.... but the spin I've already got for it is different enough. No harm done, just, ah, let me know if anything else that gets suggested is directly inspired by something besides the canon and general insanity, 'kay?
I'll edit the ch2 post sometime soon with what's been filled out - as soon as it's worth doing, anyway.
- CD
Edit: corrected lyrics
What, you think Samuel L. Jackson isn't going to survive the zombie apocalypse?
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
> just, ah, let me know if anything else that gets
> suggested is directly inspired by something besides the
> canon and general insanity, 'kay?
Sure, I meant to reference the fic when I mentioned that, but I forgot to.
Although I don't have General Insanity, it's still waiting for promotion. Major Insanity is close enough, I suppose
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Say, Greiver, who's on your Mist genin team besides Ami, and what do they do? I'm going to need another team's worth for the Chuunin Exam, if things go as I'm currently thinking, because one of Neji's ANC team mates will be too injured and Kabuto's lame comerades are lightly penciled in for an unfortunate encounter with the Sand trio while he's off checking on Team 7.
- CD
ETA: 'cause if you don't dissuade me, it's going to be a rare, all-kunoichi team, with Ami for genjutsu/healing, Mako a lightning-focussed ninjutsu specialist, and Mina a taijutsu specialist who fights with chains... (No, none of them are likely to make it to the finals, but they are only cameo characters after all)
ETA2: Case in point:
Hoshigaki Mako, genin kunoichi of the Hidden Mist. Her bloodline limit's secondary traits dealt kind of a rough hand in terms of being a "cute" girl, but she makes the best of it she can... and doesn't do too bad of a job, as you can see - and one bonus is not needing the usual face-covering respirator mask to operate indefinitely underwater. Her goal as a ninja is to remove the stain on her family name from her oldest brother's defection.That which does not kill us...
has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
" It's crazy to try to spell out all the mega-nooks and hyper-crannies of a Borg contrivance." - Doug Drexler
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
Quote:
Hoshigaki Mako
*holds his nose and flees screaming into the night*
And, given that, is Ami-chan a Momoichi?
Ja, -n
===========
===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
Eyes N with vulpine suspicion Is that an "Ugh, phew! This idea stinks!" reaction, or a "Hot but scary but yowza but FEAR but RROWL!" reaction?
And no, Ami is a Mizuno, daughter of the healer-nin who kept Narutoverse-Greiver alive after Zabusa's graduation party, as detailed in the character writup he gave as a Mist jounin. While not neccesarily an explicit fusion as he wrote it, and nothing I'm going to use in a major way, I have no compunctions against using crossover characters as extras, and I need some genin to give a good fight before being outmaneuvered or outfoxed by the rearranged and slightly expanded Konoha genin teams who'll be in the Chuunin Exam.
- CDThat which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
" It's crazy to try to spell out all the mega-nooks and hyper-crannies of a Borg contrivance." - Doug Drexler
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
Quote:
Eyes N with vulpine suspicion Is that an "Ugh, phew! This idea stinks!" reaction, or a "Hot but scary but yowza but FEAR but RROWL!" reaction?
Per Spider Robinson, that, sir, is the highest compliment a pun can receive. ^_^
See?
Quote:
And no, Ami is a Mizuno, daughter of the healer-nin who kept Narutoverse-Greiver alive after Zabusa's graduation party, as detailed in the character writup he gave as a Mist jounin.
Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten that he'd done that.
And, so, yeah. I like the idea of having the Senshi's local dimensional counterparts show up as extras. Especially if one of the Mist's other Genin teams is Usagi-Rei-Hotaru - Dead Last (with a tac-nuke up her sleeve), first in her class (despite being a fire specialist), and the child prodigy (PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER... itty bitty seifuku). They'd have a serious ninjutsu bias, but Usagi should have the willpower to handle basic Genjutsu and the other two can handle themselves in hand-to-hand.
Ja, -n
===========
===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
Go for it, CD. A lot of potential there. Mina's got her chains. Ami'd do well with the senbon and various obfuscation jutsu, I'd imagine. Mako? Umm ... would she just go with standard gear and taijutsu instead of picking a bigass sword? I mean, yeah, focus on electricity ninjutsu, I know, but other than that? *evil chuckle* Or maybe she liked the 'no nonsense' feel she got when she saw Katsu working with his twin hatchets/cleavers and picked something similarly direct for herself?
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm
N: I... hadn't really considered it a pun, more of a reference... but whatever. Rei is likely to be Neji's team mate that is able to fight in the prelims, no sign of the others.
ETA: I didn't know about the name being related to lighting, though.
G: No, no bigass sword - the whole Mist's Seven Swords thing seems to have backfired on them, since we've seen three and they all went missing-nin, and besides, she's trying to make people FORGET her brother, not be like him. (Kind of a more balanced Sasuke - the rest of her family is dead, some at Kisame's hands when they went after him as a missing-nin - and on top of that, clans with bloodline limits are nowhere near as favorably regarded in the Mist as they are in Konoha, if she can't prove to be a useful and loyal shinobi they're perfectly happy to let the freaks die out.)
Anyway, yeah, standard gear and taijutsu, and a couple of raitons - probably a contact-discharge to enhance her own hits and discourage opponents from grappling, and a weaker learning-stage varient of the lightning counterpart of the various dragon attacks (water, electric, ice, earth) that enemy jounin have used. I figure she's got a pretty good chakra reserve, especsially for a kunoichi, but only one or two shots of that one without recourse to soldier pills or a natural electrical storm, since it's as chakra intensive as all the raitons, even for its lower level.
For the others - I'm guessing that Katsu would have been willing to teach Ami at least his Mizutsuku no Jutsu? Mina could get along with a mask carried loosely around her neck and pulled up for use (Not a big change for her to use a mask sometimes) but ideally he'd have allowed both of them to accquire it so they all can operate with that improved ability in water - and not so coincidentally not need the damn ugly things. The Makoto picture I was lucky enough to find had a mostly workable outfit already, as far as can be seen, though I imagine the sea-green miniskirt dress was not so short and durable, nor worn over a black body glove/wetsuit in the original, and she keeps her ninja tools hidden in grey leg-mufflers like the orange ones used by Team Explosive Youth for their weights. I'm kind of reluctant to just use a pallette swap on this for the other two, though it could work in the lack of better ideas - any suggestions for outfitting them?
- CDThat which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
" It's crazy to try to spell out all the mega-nooks and hyper-crannies of a Borg contrivance." - Doug Drexler
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
I popped through a few image galleries, loking for civilian-clothes senshi pictures that might be adaptable as kunoichi outfits - I have some possibilities, tyhough color swaps would be adviseable for most of them, and of course they could go on a different girl. Comments?
Rei
Ami 1 2
Mina 1 2 3 4
I think I prefer the second Ami and last Mina, thoguh of course they'd need some more work on coverage and accessories - Rei is pretty good as is, or might have a darker color instead of white...
Ano sa, ano sa, what's this?
Mitarashi Hotaru!?
- CDThat which does not kill us...
has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
" It's crazy to try to spell out all the mega-nooks and hyper-crannies of a Borg contrivance." - Doug Drexler
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
Rei: Yes, yes, yes, and maybe with dark purple instead of white?
Ami: I dunno - I kinda like the first one... maybe the shorts from 2 and the shirt from 1?
Mina: ...naaaaaah. Three, definitely.
Hotaru: Looks like. Oi, Anko! This yours? *anko storms on stage, scowling, and Hotaru perks up and glomps onto her favorite aunt* Yack! What the... Hey, cut that out!
Ja, -n
===========
===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
Rei: I like the way you think - purple for white, and a red insignis sash with buttpack like Gai & Co. Not terribly stealthy in normal lighting, but once it gets darker red and purple turn into brown and grey, which fade in well with shadows. A serious person, who gets irritated about the third member of her and Neji's team (Yuuichiro? He'd probably be a taijutsu/weapon specialist with katana and bokken, which would make them a relatively close analog for original Team Gai, except for...) being such a slacker, and has arguments with Neji about the nature of destiny and whether it can be changed.
Average taijutsu and genjutsu, good theory, good ninjutsu due to good control, but the low sde of average chakra reserves, so she has to be care ful to use more effecient jutsu, or her family spiritualist techniques. Prefers to remain at long range and use a bow, which her main jutsu either enhance or simulate in case she's disarmed or the range is too close - she has a number of specialty arrows for delivering smoke bombs, explosive notes, etc. and can use yet-unnamed jutsus to control the flight path after firing, increase the distance and force, or sheath an arrow in flames. She can of course also form one completely from flames as normal ninjutsu, and has an ability complementary to the Hyuuga jyuuken style to restrict enemies temporarily using specially prepared seal tags. Her obstacle to becoming chuunin is her temper, and a tendency to linear thinking even when it is not roused.
Ami: Well, I should note that I was planning on changing the orange and yellow stripes on the baggier shirt to two shades of blue, but I was actualy thinking the other way around - there's not a lot of fabric there at the crotch of those ultrashorts to be putting faith in during strenuous activity. The big sleeves would give her someplace to hide all the needles and medicines where they're readily available but not visually prominent, like Mako's leg warmers. IF not, maybe she could have a small backpack, around two inches thick and a foot square or so? She's Preparedness Girl, a support specialist with above average genjutsu and rudimentary (meaning middling chuunin-grade) medical jutsu, combined with a large supply of various medicines and the more use-specific ninja tools than most bother carrying, like tags beyond the basic explosive type and trap devices. She's a good marksman with senbon, and can use them to deliver poisons to ememies or even medicines to allies.
Her obstacle as a chuunin is individual combat ability and a slight confidence problem that exsacerbates it, and a very limited chakra reserve, more in line with the usual genin kunoichi than any of the other senshi counterparts. The only ninjutsu she uses beyond the basic three is an ice-type aura that can either turn the kirigakure no jutsu into freezing fog to create poor footing and deaden enemies' senses with chill, or be confined into a tighter area and trap them in a thin shell of ice frozen from moisture in the air. The latter efffect is very draining on her limited reserves, however.
Mina: The knee pads are good, but... the rest is plain, and Mako already has the sea green thing going on. Maybe change the cut of 4's top to be more like 3, and add the pads? Serious in battle but otherwise kind of a ditz, Mina is the taijutsu specialist of her all-kunoichi team. She likes using chains to fight with, occasionally augmented with a very narrow, super-high-pressure suiton jutsu that can cut through many materials like a drill or blade. Probably the best-rounded of her team, and their usual field commander (albiet with Katsu as advisor, backstop, and executive) - if any of them make it to the finals, it'll be Mina. She has no particular obstacle to chuunin status, only bad luck by being paired up against someone from the overpowered main cast will stop her.
Hotaru: How old is Anko, exactly? I figured she was mid to late twentysomething and Hotaru could actually have been her daughter with Snakepants, if either the timeline was fiddled a bit so he was driven off after Sandaime resumed office, the insult of being passed over as hokage not once but twice causing his final break, or if she stayed with him for a year or two befre returning to Konoha, possibly because she didn't want to have a kid around him... Your version of her for TGNH is probably not compatible with that, or she'd probably be more comfartable with the whole Iruka/relationship thing (But maybe not - I eman, can you honestly consider getting taken for a ride by her sensei and used as a brooder for one of his attempts at creating a perfect body to inhabit a successful relationship? Too bad for him it was a female infant, just because he likes little boys doesn't mean he wants to stop being one himself) and being a year or two younger than Naruto would be a decent explanation for why two similarly outcast children didn't run across each other. Her chakra reserve is already phenominal at ten, and due to something the snake-freak did she can absorb or give energy to others with a touch. She could have been a genin already, maybe even chuunin, but the negative attitudes turned her shy and introspective - with the strange exception of a lack of bodily modesty second only to Anko.
(Her background here is the most flexible of these still very flexible stories - she's the one I'm most tempted to include in a more major role later, and would like some degree of compatability between TXY and TGNH if so, though as very loosely related as they are there's certainly room for differences even as major as that.)
Usagi... I just can't see her as a ninja, not one who'd live through her first battle anyway. More likely she's a civilian of some sort, in one of the villiages... a cousin to Tsunade, perhaps, putting her UNGODLY chakra reserves to use with specialty, long term ninjutsu used to foster the rare plants that the family grows, supplying ingredients for many medicines and rare woods for cabinetry and construction. Very nature-goddess, tends to be followed around by cute fuzzy critters and birds attracted by the good vibes she puts out; greenery visibly perks up within the field of her aura and flowers turn to face her. Ino probably knows her, or at least knows of her.
- CDThat which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
" It's crazy to try to spell out all the mega-nooks and hyper-crannies of a Borg contrivance." - Doug Drexler
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
kisame - (n) precipitation resulting from thick fog condensing on leaves in a forest
fukaikiri - (n) thick (dense) fog
gorimuchuu - (n) totally at a loss; lose one's bearings; in a maze; in a fog; all at sea; up in the air; mystified; bewildered
hyoumu - (n) ice fog
kumokasumi - (n) clouds and haze (fog); disappearing; fleeing
kuroikiri - (n) thick fog; (P)
noumu - (n) heavy fog; dense fog; thick fog; (P)
sagiri - (n) mist; fog
umigiri - (n) sea fog
unka - (n) clouds and haze (fog); disappearing; fleeing
kyoka - (n) pine torch; torchlight; firebrand
taimatsu - (n) (pine) torch; flambeau; torchlight
hiya - (n) fire arrow
ikakeru - (v1) to shoot or fire off an arrow
isshi - (n-adv,n) an arrow; (a) retort
kaburaya - (n) arrow to which is attached a turnip-shaped whistle made of hollowed-out wood or deer horn
kasen - (n) fire arrow
ninoya - (n) second arrow
tooya - (n) long-distance arrow (archery)
yabumi - (n) letter affixed to an arrow
yagara - (n) shaft of an arrow
yajirushi -(n) directing arrow; (P)
kiri - (n) drill; auger (different characters from the kiri that is mist/fog)
kurinuku - (io) (v5k) to gouge out; to excavate; to bore; to drill
rissui - (n,vs,n) (1) setting a drill bit (original sense); (2) jam-packed; tightly packed
ugatsu - (v5t) to drill; to bore; to pierce; to put on; to wear; to be true to (nature); to hit (the mark)
Mina: "SUITON! Rissui Ugatsu no Jutsu!" or Ugatsu Rissui... water jam-packed/set as a drill to hit the park and pierce through.
chikudenki - (n) (electric) condensor
den'i - (n) potential (electric)
den'isa - (n) (electric) potential difference
denba - (n) electric field
dengeki - (n) electric shock; (P)
Mako: "RAITON! Denba no Yoroi no Jutsu!" poss: Ryuudengeki, the electric shock dragon. check to see if 'geki' means shock directly, for Denryuugeki, electric+dragon (electric current) + shock - doesn't look like it, unless using the 'chink/gap in armor' interpretation of geki - "electric current in the weak point" - it could work, but sounds like it aims for the naughty bits - the way that sounds coolest is most important, of course...
denkiryou - (n) amount of electric
houdenkan - (n) electric discharge tube (alternate possibility for the thunder dragon would be Ryuuhoudenkan - and I like it best, honestly)
kaden - (n) electric charge
shoudenryoku - (n) conservation of electric power (no Jutsu - absorb lightning)
kirikomitai - (n) shock corps (Hoshigaki Mako desu, Kirigakure no Kirikomitai!)
gyousan - (adj-na,adv,n) large quantity; plenty; abundance; great many
(Gyousan Denkiryou no jutsu! - expands the Denba no Yoroi so even a close graze in taijutsu is dangerous, and grappling her is suicidal)
kaidou - (n) unusually large or strong youth
That which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
" It's crazy to try to spell out all the mega-nooks and hyper-crannies of a Borg contrivance." - Doug Drexler
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
Quote:
She's Preparedness Girl, a support specialist with above average genjutsu and rudimentary (meaning middling chuunin-grade) medical jutsu, combined with a large supply of various medicines and the more use-specific ninja tools than most bother carrying, like tags beyond the basic explosive type and trap devices.
Gee, that last sounds a little familiar... ^_^ Shabon Spray, Shabon Spray Freezing... Aqua Rhapsody comes later, huh?
The downside of floppy clothes for a ninja - or anybody who's going to fight - is that they can get in the way
way too easily. So, I did a google search to try and come up with some other options... and found
this. Her formal-looking dress shirt/vest combo, say, with actual pants, could also work, although you might want to save that for putting her in in a later appearance... (found at the same site:
Captain Rei Hino, NERV Operations Division)
Oh, and the Hino clan has an Inuzuka-esque contract. With ravens. Rei's are named Ojike and Roubai. ^_^
Quote:
Mina: The knee pads are good, but... the rest is plain, and Mako already has the sea green thing going on. Maybe change the cut of 4's top to be more like 3, and add the pads?
Well, Naruto will approve, anyway. ^_^
Quote:
Hotaru: How old is Anko, exactly?
Well, her birthday is October 24th, which makes her fourteen days short of being
exactly twelve years older than Naruto. IOW, she's twenty-four when the series starts.
I had generally been thinking that Snakeface left a bit less than a year before Kyuubi showed up, but now that I think about it, he was tossed out by
Sandaime, which'd mean that either Yondy's tenure was
brutally short, or he actually left after getting passed over a
second time.
Incidentally, since the backstory I'd worked up has Naruto's father as having been a disowned Mitarashi, that'd make him and Hotaru some flavor or other of cousin. ^_^
Quote:
Usagi... I just can't see her as a ninja, not one who'd live through her first battle anyway.
Would you have expected her to make it past her first
youma, either?
Anyway, you
are right - the idea of the animated version of Tsukino Usagi as a successful badass ninja is absurd.
But,
that's why it's funny.
More seriously, given how well she gets under people's skins
without training, she could make a truly
scary interrogator or spy-type. True, her sincerity is what makes that whole schtick work, but the fact that she's manipulating your feelings and loyalties doesn't, in and of itself, mean that she's not
also trying to help you as best she can.
Ja, -n
===========
===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
I'm not strongly opposed to Ami having the tank top, it just means she needs a bigger tool pouch than usual, like I said. That Rei picture's jacket looks about the same degree of sleeve looseness as the the sweater top you didn't like, though very nice otherwise - it shows she can look good in purple, at least. Maybe her post-timeskip look? Or were you proposing it as an Ami outfit, with some color shifting? And yes, Aqua Rhapsody comes later, when she breaks her weak combat/poor confidence cycle (and has had some more time to grow her chakra) along with mizu bunshin. (smirk Can you say, Aqua Illusion? I knew you could...)
I kind of want to put Mako up against Sasuke in the prelims, because except for the lack of a demon to draw chakra from (meaning she can run out, and quickly if pushed) she's basically an electric version of Naruto - on the other hand, that would mean having him a lot less restricted than canon, or he'd get pwned. 'Course, it might not be such a bad thing if he did get himself cut down to size BECAUSE of the curse seal and side effects thereof... (Anko: "Why do you think I ain't a normal Jounin, boy? This curse seal... it either makes you weak, or turns you into a pupet for that bastard.") Meh. That's too far away to plan now, and I haven't even really seen where he'll be at that point yet - and until the Sasuke/Orochimaru arc shakes out, who knows how it'll be handled.
Rei's ravens - I was thinking about them, but didn't want to make her too overpowered, when she's already equal parts Green Arrow, Sailor Mars, and Keiya Tenpu'in, and still a genin. Ravens too... actually, as a long range specialist that might work, since they'd be more spotters and communications than combatants per se. Most ninja could hit a bird witha kunai if they want to, so having them fluttering around in a fight would be a bad idea. Okay, they're in. She's got the Mighty Mighty B0wz0r, so her strength is good, but speed probably a little low.
Hotaru - if Anko is 24, roll her back one more year to nine, and say Anko left with Daddy dearest at first because she was a teenager who thoguht she was in love, and returned when she realized she was a tool being used and didn't want to subject a kid to that. The little firefly can already wall and water walk, and while she hasn't had any real instruction in offensive jutsu (just her drain touch and how to turn it on and off) she's figured out how to make a glowing blob of chakra to put in her lamp collection on her own, a varient of her healing hands ability - the control exercises she was put on early because her mom realised with the amount of chakra she was developing so young, she'd never get a handle on it if she WASN'T started early. In other words, she's only an academy student and already her ninjutsu is better than Kabuto's team mate Akado Yoroi. Do you see why I want to drop those losers?
Usagi can be a ninja, if you really like the idea, but I don't have a role for her as such - that's not a problem, per se, there's at least one more genin team from Neji's year we'll never see - but I like the idea of her being all Snow White in Nidaime's arbor/orchard, too. Well, I suppose she could be Neji and Rei's other team mate, but Usagi and Badly Injured go together even worse than Usagi and Ninja Badass. Of course, it could be that she got therough the forest fine but tripped and gave herself a concussion inside the tower...
- CDThat which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
" It's crazy to try to spell out all the mega-nooks and hyper-crannies of a Borg contrivance." - Doug Drexler
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
I was bored. Ignore the errors and typoes. This was done on the spot.
---
Silence. It hung in the moisture heavy air like a heavy curtain, with not even the sounds of the forest interrupting. It was as if even the trees were holding their breath.
And it did little against the rising nervous tension.
The waiting was worst, to her anyway. Battle itself, even a losing one, with emotions riding the adrenal high, was preferable.
She ran through a short meditation excercise, which let at least some of the tension melt away into an alert preparedness, but the cold sweat on the back of her neck and ...
... very carefully, and taking great pains not to tense or startle, she stuck the tip of her tongue out to taste the air, and noting the small cloud of fog as she breathed out ...
And _then_ she moved, leaping forward and down off the treebranch she'd been perched on, through the barely visible freeze of the modified basic Kirigakure.
The faint *thunkthunkthunk* of senbon needles piercing into wood only spurred her to move faster. She contorted her body into a spin, lashing out with one arm.
The voluminous sleeves of her tiger-striped waistcoat billowed as one discharged a length of chain, terminating in a sickle. Its short, curved blade bit deeply into a tree behind and to the side of the one she'd been perched on, yanking her away from her pervious trajectory just in time to get her out of the way of another flurry of senbon.
She brought her legs around, arresting what would have been a potentially painful impact against another tree, and slamming a sickle that had sprung into her _other_ hand from the appropriate sleeve into the wood.
Tension. It was up again, and there was no more sound audible, other than her breath and the blood thudding its way through her temples.
Her eyes scanned the tree-line, not neccessarily limiting their search area to the line above her previous perch, despite the fact that this was where the angle of the senbon's flight paths indicated her assailant had struck from.
After all, it was basic tactics for snipers to move after pretty much every unsuccessfull attack.
She heard no movement, though ...
Alright, so maybe her opponent was trying to play with her mind and _hadn't_ moved ...
There _was_ a sound, though, on the edge of her consciousness ... nagging to be noticed.
The gentle lapping of barely disturbed water.
From below, where a small pond into which the roots of that particular tree dipped sat.
A whistling, just as the extended chain the sickle of which was buried into the tree a ways off shuddered with impact and weight, a slender form clad in hues of dark blue intermingled with dark green having landed on said chain.
*Speed!* her instincts screamed at her, and she shrugged and twisted the appropriate shoulder in just the right way, causing the straps of one of her chain launchers/winches to come undone with a snap, and the device to come shooting out of her sleeve. The other released its lock on the chain as her hand let go of its sickle, leaving her to drop down as a trio of kunai shot through where her head had been not a moment ago, and slammed into the tree beside where the sickle was lodged.
She momentarily spied the blue-and-green suited kunoichi, swinging towards some possible point of rebound on her own discarded chain, and flung a spread of manriki along the expected path of the swing. Not that she expected the 11inch long throwing chains would hit, but they'd possibly slow her opponent down just a bit.
Her eyes widened when she remembered she was heading down ... towards the _pond_ ...
... which erupted as yet another kunoichi, this one in a sleek black bodysuit, launched herself upwards from between the submerged tree-roots, propelling herself upwards along the treetrunk by virtue of her shuko adorned hands.
They met with a clash, hastily drawn manriki manaing to turn aside a handclaw assisted palmstrike, before the explosion notes on the three kunai stuck in the tree around the sickle above obliterated a hefty chunk of bark and wood.
Thereby letting the sickle fall away, the chain slacken, and its wielder, already unbalanced by the bodysuit clad kunoichi, plummet and hit the surface of the pond.
Which was promptly hit by a raiton from the still airborne kunoichi.
"Gotcha!" Hoshigaki Mako cried, landing lightly at the edge of the pond, grinning in a way that had her look even more like a shark than she already did thanks to her heritage.
The weighted chain that shot from the water, slammed into her stomach with enough force to make her keel over, gasping, was not expected.
A bedraggled, somewhat frazzled blonde kunoichi dragged herself from the pond, trying to get back on her feet ... then froze.
It was the faintest of touches, but she knew the feeling of a point of a senbon needle at the nape of her neck well enough by now ...
"Sorry, Mina-chan. You lose this one," Mizuno Ami, Mist genin and medic-nin in training, said.
---
*snip*
Training session ... *sweatdrops* I just wrote a Naruto-fic segment. Vey.
Ahem.
I'm imagining Mina in a black/rust colored bodystocking, long sleeved, but only down to just above the knees. Kneepads (armored). Low heeled ankle boots. Loose waistcoat/short kimono w/wide sleeves with twin chain launchers/winches - something like what I remember those two Mist nin at the beginning of the Wave country arc having - with a variety of attachments (a weight at the end, a sickle/kama, a short double edged blade, etc.). For thrown weapons, she uses kunai and manriki.
The waistcoat/kimono thingy is tiger-striped orange.
The 'lotsandlotsofweapons' thing I have her pulling can be attributed to a Blade of the Immortal OD on my part.
Mako - go with the bodysuit/wetsuit, then, and a variety of garments to wear over that. Shades of green. For some reason, I see her with a collapsible Yari.
Ami - actually, I was thinking more along the lines of an outfit resembling Katsu's plain functionality-over-looks fatigues, only trimmed with shades of blue and (less so) green over the plain grey. Maybe with either shorts or a short sleeved vest.
... right.
-Griever
who is trying very hard to concentrate on MS ... and not start writing a Katsu/Zabuza Chuunin exam meeting. Really.
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm
Quote:
That Rei picture's jacket looks about the same degree of sleeve looseness as the the sweater top you didn't like, though very nice otherwise - it shows she can look good in purple, at least. Maybe her post-timeskip look? Or were you proposing it as an Ami outfit, with some color shifting?
*vague waveoff* No, no - I was just commenting on the resemblance is all.
If Akatsuki
has moved out early because of Naruto's early graduation, then we'd get to see some really interesting reactions when the Leaf-nin first caught sight of Mako-chan. ^_^
Quote:
Of course, it could be that she got therough the forest fine but tripped and gave herself a concussion inside the tower...
Now, now... she's not
that bad. Quite.
Anyway, a large part of my reasoning and/or motivation for putting her in harms way is that, well, the senshi are a unit, a
team, and just... don't really seem
right without Usagi-chan there for the others to orbit around. *shrug* If nothing else, she's always got her family's hereditary ninjutsu (aka, Serenity-mode) to fall back on... and she's
much better at those than she is at conventional ninja skills.
Rei and Hotaru sound very good, and I'd like to say that the ravens might just still be only fledgelings and hence not up to much, and that ditching the other two traitiors is good riddance to bad rubbish. ^_^
Ja, -n
===========
===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
Good stuff! It's in! And for outfits - it's YOUR team, after all. For the chain launcher thingies, you mean the Demon Brothers? Theirs was more of an irregular razor ribbon sort of thing IIRC, but a chain would probably be better - it would take more than a kunai to break, anyway.
A non-tournement segment to insert into the chuunin exams would be welcome, to say the least. I may like writing fight scenes, but one after the next after the next is a drag to read, let alone write, and I have even more fighters making it in than the original.
- CD
ETA: Also, if you write just another paragraph or two of Katsu telling them that they've been nominated for the chuunin exam in Konaha in a few weeks, that could be thier intro to the story, when the time comes - and I'd want to run any Katsu sequences by you anyway.That which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
" It's crazy to try to spell out all the mega-nooks and hyper-crannies of a Borg contrivance." - Doug Drexler
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
N: I think Akatsuki is more on a schedule than doing things when they notice people - I mean, they surely know of Naruto from at least the time Itchy-kun joins up, and more likely before that. That said, it would be an opportunity for Mako to note that there is no Kisame in the Hoshgaki register, but it's true that the clanless former Mist nukenin by that name has bloodline abilities resembling the Hoshigaki.
...and you do realise you're proposing Morino Usagi with that psy-ops talent, right? As for hereditary jutsu, examples? There's no Cheeserock for her here... Ninja-Usagi is going to have to be your baby, at least in development, because I just can't get my head around it. Relations between Leaf and Mist are going to have to improve significantly for them all to work together, too, you know...
- CDThat which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
" It's crazy to try to spell out all the mega-nooks and hyper-crannies of a Borg contrivance." - Doug Drexler
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
Hereditary Jutsu? To steal from the live action a bit...(just offering input, mind)
Highly stressful situations cause her bloodline limit to invoke, awakening her protector 'personality', who, like Usagi, is competent in her skills. But... unlike Usagi... this personality is utterly ruthless and shows no mercy to her enemies. Which is something that can most definitely be said of Live Action Serenity-mode. Cold, and utterly unforgiving. And several grades more powerful, too, but I don't know how that would translate, unless you stole the main plot behind Naruto and had something sealed in Usagi....
"This hand of mine glows with an awesome power. Its burning grip tells me to defeat you....
Shining FINGER!" -Domon Kashuu, Mobile Fighter G Gundam
*next scene after snippage*
"Mouuuuu, that was sad," a bedraggled Mina complained, drenched waistcoat draped over one shoulder, revealing the criss-crossing straps and buckles over a rust colored bodysuit that covered her from her neck to just above her knees. The usual collection of weapons she tended to carry via those straps hung from the other shoulder, and her hands were busy with trying to bring the chain launcher/winch she'd discarded during the excercise back into working order.
Beside her, her teammates walked ... or rather, one was supporting the other, who was trying not to flinch.
Mizuno Ami's mother was one of the Mist's most talented medic nins, and the blue-haired gennin had picked up a thing or two by default. Especially since the other person living there sometimes came back in the sort of shape that made certain she no longer got queasy at the sight of blood.
Ami's hands were weaving chakra threads an inch or two from her teammate's bruised abdomen, helping her body with its already prodigal robustness to heal the bruising and dulling the worst of the pain in the meanwhile.
Hoshigaki Mako briefly considered telling her to ignore it, and that's she'd had worse growing up and had learned to deal without any medical jutsu. There were reasons beyond practicality for which she nearly constantly wore the neck to toe wetsuit. She weighed that against having to deal with a her friend (though the concept was a relatively new one to her) in a despondent mood. Then dropped the matter and let Ami do her thing.
And listened to Mina complain, though she'd been with the team long enough to know that it was little more than a token gesture on the blonde's part.
"Why is it that you complain at only having lasted twenty minutes at this excercise, and praise your teammates when they manage half that?" the voice came from the opposite side of one of the trees they'd just walked by, and, for the first time in a while, did not make them jump.
For someone who claimed to favor the direct approach whenever possible, their Jounin sensei was remarkably good at the whole sneaking-about-undetected thing.
Though maybe because they were all too tired to care. They'd been doing control drills all day, finishing up with what the person speaking had called 'evade and escape practice' but what they'd come to call 'the grind-run'. Each of them went through it once a week - having the two other kunoichi try and track and subdue her while not being allowed to use any jutsus other than the most basic ones, to simulate the chakra-exhaustion that was usually suffered during a retreat.
Mina was usually the one to last longest at this, though whether it was because her skill with the various weapons on her person and sheer luck, or just because she plain refused to 'die' was anyone's guess.
They walked the rest of the way to their usual rest area, a small glade where several of the huge trees that filled the forest had been toppled sometime in the past, in silence.
"You did well today," the Jounin called Katsu said, after they'd seated themselves on one of the fallen trees. Tallish, at an inch or two over six feet, and clad in grey fatigues and high collared jacket, hitai-ite sewn into the front of said high collar as part of the latch. What was visible of his skin - that being the face - was criss-crossed with scars. "Mina, you especially."
"Wha ...? Me? But I lost, sensei," the blonde frowned.
"Mako."
"Hai, sensei?"
"On those occasions when you and Ami lost against Mina, what was the reason?"
"Attrition," the shark-skinned girl responded almost instantly. "With most of my jutsus being so chakra intensive, and Ami's reserves being what they are ..." she trailed off, looking at her teammate. The blue-haired kunoichi shrugged in response, as if to say 'don't worry about it' and continued in lieu of Mako.
"Also, Mina's weapons and technique are versatile enough to deal with, or at least let her avoid, some of our ninjutsu," Ami waited a moment, saw the blonde preen, and smiled sweetly. "And Mina-chan's skull is just too thick for most genjutsu to affect."
"Yeah, and my head's just ... Oi!" the blonde flushed with what was partially anger and partially embarassment. Unusually for a kunoichi, she had no talent for anything but the most basic genjutsu, and even those went poorly most of the time. The flipside was that she seemed to have some form of natural resistence to them as well. Still, it was a bit of a sore spot with her.
"Thank you, _Mizuno-kun_," Mina huffed, turning her head away in mock irritation. Then she sighed, dropping the act. "Ami's wins were usually through traps, and Mako's ..."
The last Hoshigaki looked down, aware that she was the one with the least so called 'wins' in her account, most of them because she'd simply overpowered her teammates with brute strength.
"Hoshigaki-san," the Jounin said, making her look up. He almost never used their family names. "You specialize in ninjutsu, so this was always harder on you than on your teammates. Despite that, you managed to steadily improve in both taijutsu, armed and not, and stealth. This is a fact."
"Mina," he turned to the blonde, dropping back to speaking casually again. "You went through most of your twenty minutes today undetected, against people who _know_ you and what you can do. Compared to nearly all the times prior, when you were forced to use hit and fade tactics to wear down your pursuers? Your taijutsu was already very well rounded and polished when you started on this team, but your stealth skills _have_ improved greatly."
"Ami," he said. Paused. Frowned. Fidgeted slightly. Shrugged. Grinned. "Good job." And that seemed to be enough.
"Now, there is another thing we need to talk about," he said, once again composed. The change in mood, while not unprecedented, got their attention. "In a few weeks, the Chuunin exam is going to be held in the Fire Country, the Hidden Leaf Village. The Mizukage and the Elders want our team to take part."
Suddenly, an oppressive silence loomed over them. Mizuno Ami broke it.
"You were going to sign us up for it anyway, weren't you?" she asked.
"You're certainly at a level where it would do you good to spread your wings a little," Katsu nodded. "If nothing else, I believe you have what it takes to not _die_ in it."
"Sempai, you said the 'kage and the Council want us to go," Mako stated. Flatly.
Katsu looked at her, then at Mina, and finally at Ami. Then he nodded. "They want us to fail."
"_WHAT_?!"
"Mina!" the Jounin did not _quite_ shout.
"... eep ... um, what?" the blonde blushed. Beside her, Ami was paler than usual, and Mako's fingers were digging into the wood of the tree-trunk they were sitting on.
"A great many things that they would have rather seen dead and buried have been ... reminding them of their continued existence lately," Katsu started.
"Wave country," Mina said. There was no need to say anything more on that matter, since while it was far from official news, gossip traveled very fast. Gossip of things such as the reappearance of the Devil of the Hidden Mist was particularly quick to arrive at said village. Especially when said nukenin openly surrenders/cooperates with another Hidden Village.
"With me, it's that I'm a reminder of something they'd rather not have thrust in their face every time they see mine," Katsu's thumb ran across one of the white scar lines on his face. "Mako is in a similar situation, though perhaps less awkward since I managed to become Jounin."
The girl in question nodded.
"I'm clanless," Mina said bluntly.
"You're also profilic, and the best at taijutsu in your year," Katsu, clanless himself, replied. Mina nodded at that. This, in conjunction with the fact that she had little tolerance for people who seemed to think they were entitled to superior treatment because of blood ... made things awkward.
"And then there's Ami."
"Me?" the blue-haired kunoichi asked, blinking. "Well, mom's ... I mean, my father, he wasn't Mist, and abandoned my mother, but what else is there?"
"Ami," Katsu sighed. Deeply. "That isn't the sole reason for your mother being estranged from the rest of her family."
Mizuno Ami looked at him. Weighed her options.
"Tell me."
"Before your mother decided to become a medic-nin, before your father was killed," a look of pure disbelief adorned Ami's face. "Your mother was being groomed to be the Mizuno clan's next Mistress of Assassins."
"... well," she started, in a strangled tone of voice, her mind already putting the pieces together. "Well. That ... certain explains some things. Yes."
The clearing was quiet for the next half hour.
"So," Mina started.
"So?" Mako asked.
"So," Ami, still paler than usual, but with a determined look in her eyes. "Chuunin exam."
Katsu nodded.
"They want us to die," Mako stated.
Katsu nodded.
"Sensei?" Mina asked.
"What have I been training you for?" Katsu asked. "The first rule. Tell me."
Mina looked at Mako looked at Ami looked at Mina. Gazes met. They nodded.
"Survive to live. Live to survive."
"Good girls."
---
*sweatdrops* I didn't mean to! It just ... sort of happened. Damnit, CD, this is all your faul ... *looks back a few pages* *rereads* Damnit. Nobody to blame but myself. *sigh*
Oh well. Such is life. On with the show?
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm
Definitely, definitely on with the show, though Zabusa turning up isn't the only thing to do with Mist on that mission - no, after he quickly joins his niece and brother-in-law, the Leaf traitor Aoi, Mist-nin in good standing, was hired by Gatou (at a much higher rate than nukein can command) to assasinate Tazuna, so the Leaf pests would LEAVE... and he failed... and Gatou got killed before paying the complete fee for the mission. Aoi did escape, but lost Raiken in the process, and the chakra-armor he got form Gatou was also damaged beyond continued field useability - directly attributable to Zabusa.
They don't seem to have much luck with swordsmen...
- CDThat which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
" It's crazy to try to spell out all the mega-nooks and hyper-crannies of a Borg contrivance." - Doug Drexler
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
*and now for something more chuunin*
"You!"
"Me."
The bout in the arena below raged on ... but to those up on that level and in that section of the stands it seemed muted.
Momoichi Zabuza was suddenly acutely aware that he was still a 'guest' of the Leaf, and as such, as a show of good will, had given his sword to the Hokage for safekeeping.
The nagging in the back of his mind as he'd watched the Gennin teams that had managed to get past the first and second stage of the Chuunin exam suddenly crystallized, clear as day.
"So, what do you call yourself these days?"
The Mist-nin unlatched the hitai-ite that held his jacket's collar together. A long scar ran from hairline to jaw on the left side of his face, making it seem like he had a permanent grimace that was neither smirk nor snarl but something in-between. Another ran along the opposite side of his face, from nose to the jawline, just below the ear. Yet another lay across that brow. A score of smaller, partially faded ones was scattered across the remaining expanse of exposed skin.
"Katsu. It fits."
"You're then next of the Mizukage's pet assassins to come after me, then?"
"No."
"Oh? Out for some vengance of your own?"
"Actually, I think the old bastard wants us to kill one-another, and the Leaf to finish my students after that," Katsu relatched the jacket's collar. "Believe me or not, but I'm not here for anything as simple as revenge."
"When has revenge ever been simple?" the former member of the Seven Swords of the Hidden Mist asked rethorically. "Enough of this crap. What do you want?"
"I still owe you, 'Devil of the Hidden Mist'," Katsu's eyes narrowed. "Do something for me, and I'll consider us ... somewhat even."
"I don't work for the Mist," the masked swordsman snorted.
"Not for the Mist, call it a ... personal recompense," retorted the Mist-nin. He turned, looking at Zabuza over one shoulder. "Walk with me."
The nukenin hesitated, weighed his options, and followed the grey garbed man into the bowels of the arena.
They walked in silence, each on edge and both well aware of that, until they stopped.
Katsu knocked on the plain door, cocked his head to the side, then made to enter.
"Hold it," the other man said, voice coldly calm. "Here. Now. What do you want."
"I want you to meet one of my students," the scar-faced shinobi's eyes narrowed in what Zabuza supposed was a wry smile. The door opened.
Momoichi Zabuza was not a man easily startled or surprised.
He'd seen the Mist-nin team this 'Katsu' had supposedly taught - a full kunoichi team was unusual in and of itself. One taijutsu and weapons artist that looked far too vivacious for a Mist-gennin. One medic-nin ... one _Mizuno_ medic-nin, and he knew what that meant, even if his sources of information said that there had been some sort of split in their ranks.
And one generalist with a focus on taijutsu, who was swathed in bandaged, head to toe, underneath a black bodystocking.
Who had rid herself of the bandages now, and was staring at him with an intense, amber-eyed gaze.
"This, is Hoshigaki Mako," the Mist-jounin said. "I need you to teach her how to fight one of the Seven Swordsmen. For obvious reasons."
Zabuza shook himself out of the shark-skin induced stupor.
"Couldn't _you_ do that, or did you foget everything you've ever learned somehow?" the nukenin asked.
"Ah," Katsu smiled, this time over the rim of the hitai-ite latch. "But I want her to survive and _win_."
*snippage*
---
*headdesk**headdesk**headdesk* Damn you people. I didn't even like Naruto very much. Don't. Didn't. Don't.
Yes, I know Zabu didn't have his bigass sword at graduation, and that he got it later. It's meant to be a sarcastic aside.
-Griever
caution, runaway muse!
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm
I cheated on this - much of it was already written for TGNH, but frankly, I suspect he'd just keep giving pretty much the same speech every year anyway, so...
"Good afternoon, Hokage-sama. I believe that that's my responsibilty?"
"Quite so. Go ahead."
The man who had dropped from the ceiling bowed slightly, then turned to face the assembled Genin in a swirl of dark fabric. Facing them, he was younger than they'd expected - noticably younger than any Jounin any of them had seen before. After studying them for a moment, he adjusted his glasses and began. "My name," he said, voice low but carrying, "is Bakusuta Neshan. I hold the rank of Special Jounin for the Hidden Village of the Leaf, and I have been assigned to act as head proctor for the third test of this Chuunin exam."
He paused a moment, to guage their reactions, then took a deep breath and went on. "The first test, as most of you have doubtless realized, was designed to test your ability to perceive nonverbal cues and gather information covertly... as well as, of course, your knowledge of academic ninja theory. The second test evaluated your teamwork, your ability to react to and deal with a hostile environment - including intelligent threats - and most of all, your self-discipline in the face of temptation.
"This test... evaluates your ability to control the impression you present to others, as well as your ability in individual combat. Accordingly, elimination is now individual, rather than by teams."
There was a collective sigh of relief, and he went on. "The relevance of Hokage-sama's explanation to your experience - which I know many of you were wondering about - is that your village's prospective clients will be watching your performance in this third test, and deciding where to place their custom on the basis of what they see. You will be performing before the eyes of the world, and everything you do will reflect on your village on a whole. In a very real sense, your homes' fortunes for the next six months rest with you... so winning, while always the first priority, is no longer your only one.
"Unfortunately, Chuunin Exam regulations stipulate that the entirety of the third test take place within not longer than half a day - with a minimum of one half hour allowed for each fight. Those who are quick on their math will observe that there are too many people here to allow that to happen. Accordingly, we will be holding an elimination round, to narrow the field."
The tension in the air ratcheted up several notches, and he grinned. "Each of you should take one of these slips," and he produced a sheaf of small sheets of paper about the size of a standard explosion note, "and write your name on it. Hokage-sama will then draw them in pairs from a mixed basket, ensuring an absence of favoritism in your match ups. Do not," he warned, "attempt to influence your own or others matchups in any way - interfering with the selection process will result in your disqualification."
And then its just a matter of actually writing the fights...
Ja, -n
===========
===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
Greiver, Nathan, more great stuff - the thing that has me so excited, thoguh, is that it just suddenly came to me ow to do Ninja Usagi without stealing Naruto or Sakura's shticks - and this keeps her Tsukino, not Morino - Her family has summoning contracts with their own ancestors.
Contact a particular ancestral spirit whose contract is not currently in use with the help of a medium, get them to agree to help a particular youngster, then sign, mold some chakra and do the technique - the spirit is summoned into the kid's body, for a maximum time determined by how much chakra is initially used, or as little time as they want to be there. There's a degree of shared memory both ways - what's happened in the last few minutes, but not how and only vaguely why - so while there's a momentary disorientation it's not to bad, and hey presto, instant jounin or elite!
Of course, the body's chakra reserve and conditioning are still the same, and the young nin is still obligated to improve their own ability so they can continue the tradition, so ancestors won't stick around if it's not a real combat situation, and one beyond the summoner's ability to handle - something the ancestors are generally quite qualified to determine, since they're chosen for their experience after all.
Usagi has ye-gods-huge chakra reserves, so her great aunt Serenity can pull off some showstopper ninjutsu, but her physical conditioning is kind of sad, and just to make things worse she's hit a growth spurt that came on in the past week so she's suddenly really klutsy. Whether or not Auntie is letter her call on her for the chuunin exam after the first test (it's supposed to be a test for USAGI, after all, not a jounin with decades of experience - the first test being exempt because the whole point is to realise you need to cheat and not get caught) depends on wther I need her or not, and whether I need her to win.
- CDThat which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
" It's crazy to try to spell out all the mega-nooks and hyper-crannies of a Borg contrivance." - Doug Drexler
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
Quote:
Greiver, Nathan, more great stuff - the thing that has me so excited, though, is that it just suddenly came to me how to do Ninja Usagi without stealing Naruto or Sakura's shticks - and this keeps her Tsukino, not Morino - Her family has summoning contracts with their own ancestors.
...
*jaw on floor, gobsmacked*
...
...oh
FUCK yeah.
Quote:
Whether or not Auntie is letting her call on her for the chuunin exam after the first test (it's supposed to be a test for USAGI, after all, not a jounin with decades of experience - the first test being exempt because the whole point is to realise you need to cheat and not get caught) depends on wther I need her or not, and whether I need her to win.
In Serenity's place, I'd be inclined to permit it - after all, Kuchiyose no Jutsu is kosher, as is Kage Bunshin, and they're both built around the principle of subbing a heavier/more expendible hitter in for the primary ninja. The usual 'within
your abilities' limitation would still apply, of course, but otherwise, the posession trick is a standard part of the Tsukino arsenal, just like, oh, the Nara clan's Kagemane.
But you're quite correct - what
Serenity thinks of the matter will depend on what the plot demands.
(Personally, BTW, I think that the first test is actually about whether or not the kids can pick up the subtle clues and/or cues that Ibiki or another examiner will scatter throughout their directions, but even bringing Sere up in the first place would mean that Usagi got
enough of the message, so...)
Ja, -n
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"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."