Fandom The Village Hidden in the Leaves

[AtlannianSpy]

HOTARU HAGANO
SQUAD SEVEN​

"I'm not sure it's that simple Kuren, I don't think it's impossible for any of us t be the imposter just off the basis of that" Hotaru smiled as her brain whirred with potential solutions to the problem before them. She'd wanted something interesting and this was nothing to complain about. Kuren seemed eager to resolve the test quick , for herself Hotaru would have preferred to investigate the implications of this new wrinkle in their dynamic more thoroughly but they did only have five minutes. Kuren wasted no time proving himself with a display of jutsu, true she recognized it as one of his techniques and it certainly would be hard for an imposter to fake his kekkei genkai, but impossible? That was harder to say.

"Let me see..." Hotaru began explaining, holding up fingers to count off the possibilities. "Off the top of my head the real Kuren could be being held somewhere and being forced to use the technique remotely. I don't think you'd be likely to go along with something like that but it might be a situation where if you didn't you or the whole team would automatically fail if you didn't cooperate.If that were the case it would only be a matter of the imposter performing the correct hand seals in sync with the real Kuren performing the technique somewhere else."

"Then there's Tsukiashi," Hotaru put up a second finger and turned towards the other girl. "Don't take this the wrong way but of the three of them you would be the easiest to imitate. You're unpredictable and your style is unique certainly but a skilled enough taijutsu user with knowledge of Inuzuka clan techniques and access to your file could probably pull it off."

"And of course there's me," The third finger went up. "I like to think my brilliance is, in general, inimitable but my techniques could be faked in the same manner as Kuren's with the reluctant cooperation of my real self. Someone able to manipulate other people's chakra could potentially use mine to control my moths."

Surprisingly, Hotaru raised a fourth finger. "We also can't discount the possibility that there are two or zero imposters. This exam is about seeing through deception right? In which case maybe we can't take everything our proctor is saying at face value,"

Finally Hotaru flicked out her thumb as well, so that all five fingers were outstretched. "The final possibility is that we're all under a genjutsu or some other kind of illusion, in which case any sort of technique could be easily imitated." Hotaru stopped talking to briefly perform the gesture associated with a genjutsu kai, but there was no noticeable effect. "That didn't seem to work. But that could mean the genjutsu is too strong to detect, or there is no genjutsu or that I'm the imposter and I'm simply trying to confuse you. In summary we find ourselves in a thorny situation. I think the best solution would be if we all wrote down on paper the answer to the question I've been asking this whole time. We'll show our answers together," Hotaru fished around in her bag and pulled out three pieces of paper and three pens.

Hotaru's explanation had taken a while, too long considering how little time they had to solve this problem so she had decided to multitask. While Hotaru was speaking a moth had landed on top of her head to begin signalling out a message in the code she had taught her teammates during their camping trip. The question was simple, repeat a phrase Hotaru had used once, at a time she was certain the three of them had been alone but was significant enough that they would remember it.

The phrase Hotaru was waiting to hear? ‘An ambush, if discovered and surrounded will repay the intended mischief with interest’

Of course there was a complication. Tsukiashi. While Hotaru had taken the time to teach the Inuzuka girl her code Hotaru wasn't sure how much attention she'd really been paying. It also wasn't that unlikely that Ashi had simply forgotten the phrase Hotaru was talking about or had never registered it in the first place. Knowing what Hotaru did about Tsukiashi's personality it would almost be more suspicious if she answered correctly. Worse an imposter could react a few ways to this test that could plausibly be something Ashi would do. Get all stubborn and huffy and refuse to take part? Ashi might do that, boldly admit that she didn't know or care what Hotaru was talking about? Ashi might do that. Get confused and angry and randomly attack someone? Hotoaru wasn't willing to rule out the possibility that Ashi would do that.

In fact, that might be the key to all of this. While Kuren and Tsukaishi were preoccupied with the paper she had given them Hotaru quickly wove some handselas and in a puff of smoke she transformed into a copy of Ashi.

"Why do we need to bother with any of this? I'm obviously the real Ashi! Don't forget I'm the leader of this squad!" Hotaru, disguised as Ashi asked in a brusque, cocky tone, leaning back and folding her arms over her chest. This was Hotaru's trump card, her Ashi impersonation. Any impersonator would be too cautious about giving themselves away to do much more than yell at her. But the real Ashi, Hotaru was almost certain the real Ashi wouldn't care that they might fail the exam, Hotaru was almost certain she'd react violently to this insult.

loyalwolf
Hanarei

 

[Ganryu]

Mai Sanada - Squad Six​

Mai grumbled as she made her way back to her team. Idiots ruined her entrance... She was going to beat them black and blue later in the exam for it. Strangely the thought of any of them failing didn't even register. As she listened to the exam explanation, she went off on a rant all throughout the smokescreen. Infact, it almost looked like she didn't notice it in the least.

"This exam makes no sense! Takara sensei would be terrible at notes on us, she's always reading during training. She didn't even get out the way of Aiko splashing her and ruining her book. I mean, we can't have the worst sensei here. Did they stalk us for a few weeks before? Cause that's alot of manpower for the hundreds of applicants. Any jutsu would also be way too much effort. Also, there's way too many hiden and Kekkei genkai users here to- resist what?"

Mai was very confused as Aiko began attacking her. Was she the imposter? But why would the imposter choke Mai? Why would-

Logic went out the window as Mai began to choke out a very disturbing occasional note. If one put them together, they might notice they were collective pieces for the tune of '♪happy birthday♪'. She could worry about the test later, they had five minutes... she was just going to relax for a minute....

-black-

 

[Orikanyo]

Hideki Ukita

​

Oh crap.

OH CRAP!

OOOOOOOOOOOH CRAP!!

He was going down again, he knew what was coming, he didn't even have to look at Mai and he knew what she was planning. Ducking his head he awaited the incoming death, water would not save him this time, he was in for yet another choke slam by the young woman. He knew it was coming, it was but a mere factor of time before he.... Wait... Wait a second what was that sound?

Was... somebody whispering happy birthday-

"Holy shit Aiko what did you do?!" Hideki blurted out, looking at the young woman currently choking out Mai. Whom was currently whisked away to lala land. "Just what the hell are you doing? You can't just take out Mai like that.... Unless..." Hideki's hand drew out his ninjato. "Aiko... Did I.. Or did I not pick up a book way back then? When we shopped for sensei?" he asked, taking a defensive position. "Mai didn't change, that means one of two things, you or me. and I sure as hell ain't getting knocked out again. So, answer the question." he knew the answer she should give, he knew fully well. It was not a matter of yes or no, it's the fact that she never saw him buy that book.

"No guessing, answer truthfully."

He wasn't getting knocked out.

Not today.

...

Mai kinda looked cute when shes sleeping, kinda like how the tiger looked when it sleeped in that mission. Though... She certainly didn't snore like that thing did, stealthy predator my ass, thing sounded like a buzzsaw mixed with a elephant.

Ganryu InsaneAsylum

 

[KageYuuki]

Squad 5: Has Haxs
Waving the smoke from her face, Sei’s first instinct was to reach for her pouch. Her fingers tightened around the small packet of antidotes she’d developed. Just a mix of the basics, enough to counter most poisons until she could specifically identify the threat and deal with it. But there were no side effects of the smoke-- at least, none that she could detect. Then the proctor explained the test.

It really didn’t seem like that difficult of a test considering there was only two of them. Sei turned to Yukari. There were only two options, the test assistants had left their team alone since there really wasn’t a way to sub out one of them, or they did replace Yukari and Sei’d just have to figure out how to expose them. Simple enough.

Well, this day was just full of surprises, none of which were all that pleasant. Three of the competing squads had quite effectively made a laughing stock out of the Hidden Leaf with their little entrance and now a smoke bomb had quite literally blown up in her face. Granted, it wasn’t the first time Yukari had been the victim of such a thing. There was a reason she didn't actually make her own smoke bombs. Not after the last few attempts…

The thick cloud of smoke made it impossible to see your hand in front of your face with just normal vision. As much as she hated the clan she was born into, being a member of the Hyuuga had one advantage she couldn't ignore. Chakra surged into her eyes as Yukari watched the chaos unfolding with her byakugan. As the smoke cleared and the test started she turned towards Sei, her eyes seemingly looking right through her. A subtle smirk tugged at her lips, they already had the answer to the test.

It was just a matter of getting Sei to believe her.

“So . . . It seems like the easiest way of handling this is to ask a couple questions. Do you mind?” Sei wondered exactly how much Koma had to tell the instructors before the test began. Would it be safe to just ask about something from a mission or would the actors already be briefed on all of that? In that case, it would be better to ask more personal questions but she hadn’t really spent a lot of down time with her teammate. Something she chided herself for neglecting.

“Who joined us at the hot spring after our first mission?”It seemed like an innocent enough question to start with. If this was an imposter, it might be better to lull them into a sense of security first before bringing in harder questions.

“No one,” Yukari leaned against the desk. “Unless you count that damn furball.”

Sei gave a slight smile. This wasn’t much of a test. “Once upon a time, a young genin wandered into the forests not far from here. She passed through a gate and found a path that led her to the house of someone powerful. Whose house was it and what did they give the genin?” Unless Koma’d reported everything that occurred during their trip into the yokai realm, an imposter wouldn’t know the answer but Sei had a feeling she was speaking with the real Yukari. She just had to be sure.

“Now you're just having fun with it,” Yukari rolled her eyes slightly, relaxing her byakugan when she realized she was still using it. “It was Lady Roku’s house and she gave us these,” she reached up and brushed the magatama earring that hung from her left ear and nodded to the matching the one Sei wore.

Sei nodded. Of course she was; if the rest of the tests were like this, then the Chunin exam was going to be a breeze. She leaned back in her seat. “I guess we messed up their plans since there’s only the two of us.”

Yukari snorted, leaning closer to her teammate before whispering something to her. “Let’s go give our answer to the proctor then, hm?”

Standing, Sei let her teammate lead the way down to the proctor’s desk. As they walked, Sei glanced back over her shoulder at the other teams. She trusted Yukari’s judgment but wondered if they might draw attention to themselves for being the first ones to answer. They reached the proctor before she had time to second guess their decision.

The proctor leaned back into her wheelie chair, resting her elbows on the armrests of the chair, and folding her fingers together before her. It took most, if not all of her will power, not to laugh at the student’s attempts at solving this puzzle.

Ah, but it seems the first contenders come forward now, figures it’d be the Hyuuga’s team. Damn byakugan, she should’ve just used tear gas on the students, but nooooo that wasn’t allowed. “We want to blind the students not make this tear up for an hour!’ pfft, whatever.

She rose an eyebrow towards the young woman who obviously didn’t seem too keen on wearing an actual shirt. "Well? Do you have the answer? Or did you come up to chat?”

“You don't sound very excited to be getting the answer so soon,” Yukari stated before leaning closer and lowering her voice to whisper the answer.

“Hmmm… is that right? Are you certain of your answer?” she asked, a grin spreading across her lips. “This will be your only answer! If you're certain, please leave the exam area through that door. You will know if you passed, or failed.”

Yuuki straightened, nodding. Casting a glance back at Sei she walked out of the classroom.

“I didn’t hear a ‘thank you for the test Ms.Aburame’~!” Ago scorned, wiggling a finger towards the young woman cheekily.

Yukari shrugged as the door closed behind her and Sei. There wasn't much of a test to begin with.

“..Tsk. Snobby brat.”

 

[Hanarei]

​

As the smoke cleared Ashi was left looking a bit puzzled, still holding onto the part of the sleeve Kuren had handed her for her injury. She had done her best to play it off... while still using it to stop the bleeding. Her act of defiance was probably less convincing, particularly with the pouting she had done in response to the instructor who had scolded her along with the other two girls. She wouldn't of gotten in trouble... or hurt if it wasn't cause of those two! At least that was what was running through Ashi's mind as she was suddenly snapped back to attention as the test was finally explained. She looked a bit confused, glancing back at her squad mates.

Ashi watched Kuren's little display of his Fungal release, along with his explanation of how he sought to work through the test. Her head turned to Hotaru as she was quick to speak in some part against the plan as not being a certainty to tell who is the fake. It was with her explanation that the already confused Inuzuka girl had put on a look of sheer bewilderment. Multiple impostors? Zero impostors? Genjutsu? She was given a paper as she looked at it as she saw the moth. The notion of the moth even giving a code had been lost to her in her confused state (granted in truth she had only a vague recollection of half of the 'messages' they had even been taught even if she had). It was then she caught sight of the smoke suddenly seeing another copy of herself. Her eyes blinked as the terrible impersonation of her started. It was then Ashi reacted... not out of rage though.

The confused Ashi looked so overwhelmed as she shook her head, still holding onto the thin material now soaked in a bit of blood, the bleeding seeming to of at least stopped in some part. She lifted her hand up pointing over to Kuren. "Y... you! You could be... doing stuff... illusion... um... faking... that stuff with... mushroom!" She suddenly pointed to Hotaru. "You impersonate me... but... give the paper... it.... both! You are both impostors... no I am... no wait no thats what you want it has to be you both! Arrrraaaah!" She shouted as it seemed as if the confusion had broken her. She suddenly leaped forward, her arms stretched out to grasp both of her teammates tugging them along with herself to the ground.

She paused for a moment, gripping onto them both as a bit of a confused expression was on her face. She suddenly sniffled the air, pausing for a brief second. She shuffled over, leaning over Kuren as she began to sniff the air. The dog girl leaned forward sniffing intently from his face moving down along his body, moving over down sniffing down briefly with her nose close to her body sniffing close to his backside. She suddenly shuffled over moving to Hotaru doing the same, sniffing up the girl's body in a rather awkward fashion keeping up close before pulling back, wiggling her nose.

"Wait... but that smells right... but... I thought it ... the test?" She rambled on vocally to herself as she propped herself up onto her knees in a sitting position. She lifted her arm as she began to sniff at herself seeming still quite confused by at least not completely mentally broken. Her eyes shifting from her arm back down to them, rubbing her chin looking perplex, her head turning to glance over at the test instructor wondering if there was something wrong that she was missing.

loyalwolf AtlannianSpy

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Aiko Uchiha

Aiko's seriousness faded for a moment a second she attempted to recall if Hideki had really bought something at that bookstore. She couldn't remember! She had been too busy reading another book to pay attention to what he was doing. Well, she didn't see him buy anything, so the only answer she felt comfortable with was a no.

"No. You didn't buy a book."

Aiko put her hand on her katana. "Now, prove to me you're the real Hideki. Or else I'll strike you down where you stand." She wasn't serious about striking him down, by it's put pressure on him. If he didn't prove it well enough she'd at least try to stab him.

It may have been better if Mai hadn't lost consciousness. She probably had some secret dirt on Hideki.

Her cold eyes watched as two genin told the proctor their answer, before exiting the classroom. They had no trouble with the test, unlike her. A sharingan would be really helpful right about now.

Orikanyo Ganryu

 

[Ganryu]

Mai Sanada -Squad Six​

Slowly blinking, Mai blinked as the realm of wakefulness came back to greet her. Her head hurt. But in a good kinda hurt. It felt like her neck had been hugged by an anaconda. A nice warm hug. Yawning, she looked around the room. Still chaos. She took back everything she'd said about this test being dumb, this was awesome. It felt like a Tuesday afternoon at the Sanada clan quarry. That was the day Inahime made takoyaki for the whole clan. Whoever had the most points at sparring got a double helping. Mai had only ever gotten it once...

A quick flashback of her decking her father played in her head.

Shaking it off as oxygen deprivation, she looked at her teammates about to kill eachother. An intense feeling of jealousy spread through Mai. She slapped the desk under hard enough that it was more felt than heard across the room. How DARE they fight without her!

"Alright, screw this. I wanna fight things, this test is boring. This seriously's not that hard. Takara-sensei sucks at paying attention, what files could they even have on us? Id doubt she'd even get my hair color right if it didn't get stuck in her book. Now, I've already taken dare... why don't we play truth?

Hideki... why don't you describe for me my sexy, sexy swimsuit at the hotsprings?"

Mai put her fingers to her lips, and pushed her hips out slightly in a slight provactive look. Mostly just to mess with him. Actually completely just to mess with him. If Mai could describe Hideki in one phrase it was easy. As for Aiko....

"Double truth. Hey, Aiko, how ya feeling about having Takara-sensei as your step-mom. I mean, the way Hideki tells me your dad flirts with her... I mean, I can help with the wedding. The Sanada are great wedding planners!"

Mai instinctively moved between the two.

 

[Orikanyo]

Hideki Ukita
Squad 6
​

"...Tsk..." Hideki spat, not literally as that would be rude to do inside, seems she failed the test... or was to prideful to actually admit she didn't see anything. He thought she was smart enough to not stick to yes or no, as such perhaps this might not be Aiko, the biggest tell would be if she had ice release. Gotta think outside the box when it comes to this type of test.

Think....

"...Wait a fucking minute.." The young man started to think on this, outside the box. Find the liar, while technically, if they were all together with no imposter, Aiko would be the liar with what she said; he doesn't think this is the way forwards. hes gotta think with the mentality of the proctor, snickering and smirking from the area that used to hold her desk. What would be the biggest kick in the head to find out at the end of this exam? What could sow confusion more than the possibility of betrayal?

Laying the thought is all that is needed, and people fill in the blanks themselves.

If Aiko could use ice release.. This would confirm his thoughts.

"Aiko, ice release. Show us it and I think I'll have the answer to the tes- Eh?' His words were interrupted by the sudden recovery of Mai, whom took no time bringing up that damn swimsuit again, that damn summer dress style swim suit that she keeps talking about, he has enough trouble getting it outta his head alone much less in the middle of class- Shit.

The young man sat down in his desk once more and leaned forwards, crossing his fingers together. "If I remember, the swimsuit was an excellent choice, a summer dress style made of hydrophobic materials to keep the dress in a constantly flowing as opposed to being water logged, the swimsuit did remarkably well in showing one's asset's. Aiko's was a one piece if I remember, accentuating your fit body and making you look quite cute." the young man gave a summary of his decision back then, shuffling a might bit closer to the desk.

"As I was saying, I might have the answer to this, if Aiko can use ice shuriken."

 

[loyalwolf]

Kurēn listened to what Hotaru had to say and Kurēn was getting rather annoyed by his teammate. She seemed to be taking this as game or experiment. Kurēn found it impossible to perfectly recreate Hotaru’s personality, even for a master impersonator. On top of that she showed the ability to control her moths. Sending a message, he remembered from the first mission they went on together.

‘An ambush, if discovered and surrounded will repay the intended mischief with interest’

Kurēn gave a small smirk, and he was pretty sure that Hotaru was not someone else. Now he casts his gaze on Ashi and the girl looked completely confused. Kurēn felt bad for the girl, that was until he was wrestled to the ground.

He pretty sure no one else could annoy him as much as his teammate, making him think that no one was the imposter. That’s when Ashi began to sniff both him and Hotaru. Once she stated her finding, that cemented Kurēn’s answer.

“I believe thanks to Ashi, we know the answer to this question. Now let’s get out of this crowded room.” Kurēn knew he wasn’t an imposter so that left two choices. Hotaru had proven herself with her ability to control her moths and he message from their first mission. That left Ashi, who just admitted that both mine and Hotaru scent were normal. Something an imposter wouldn’t do, even if they did perfectly impersonate Ashi persona.

With a cold face as he approached the proctor and look back at his team to make sure they agree. He whispered there answer to her and didn’t even hesitate to confirm it was their final choice. He then began to walk out of the room. “Thank you Ashi. Without you who know how long it would have taken us to finishes this test. Same goes to you Hotaru.”

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Aiko Uchiha

"It sounds like I didn't strangle you hard enough, idiot."

Mai just had to wake up at the worst time. She was just about to cut up this fake Hideki, when she interrupted with some foolishness about Takara becoming her step mother. Aiko didn't need a stepmother, and her father better keep his fishy fingers away from sensei! That girl really knew how to piss her off.

Aiko's knuckles whitened, and she let go of her katana. She had to let it go, and not lose her cool in front of all the other genin. Aiko exhaled deeply, her breath condensing in the air. Mai is a idiot, so she should expect her to say things like that. Then Hideki had to go and start describing those damn swimsuits again, reminding her about how embarrassing that time was. A few nearby genin had stopped to listen in on Hideki's description, and proceeded to give both Mai and Aiko inappropriate looks.

Had someone opened a window, letting in a cold breeze? No, it was just Aiko. Before Hideki had even finished, Aiko was forming ice shuriken in her hands. Just as Hideki finished his sentence, she let them fly. Numerous little ice stars flying right at him.

She wasn't done yet. Mai couldn't be allowed to get off so easily. Aiko was forming more shuriken just as she let the first batch fly, and sent these new ice shuriken flying at Mai! Luckily, they weren't thrown very precisely, and should be easy to dodge, even for a genin.

 

[Ganryu]

Mai Sanada - Squad Six
​

"Wait, you could have choked harder!? Hahaha, today is the best day."

Mai laughed as both of them got riled up. They were too easy to read. She felt flattered again at Hideki's description. It was a great thing she'd not let it go. She would eventually.... when she could a better story to make fun of him for.

Aiko's reaction was even better, she was turning white at the knuckles. That was a good thing. Mai turned around to taunt Hideki a bit more when she felt several thuds land across her. She forgot what she was about to say as she turned back around, and found herself a pincushion. This was going to be fun to explain. Her mother had given a relieved sigh this morning that the paper test proooobably wasn't going to be dangerous. Mai shrugged and started to pick them out, bleeding all over the classroom. They were definitely Ice, cold to the touch. Well, she was right to walk between Aiko and Hideki, she proooobably should have remembered why she'd stood there though.

"Well, don't know what's going on, but seems they missed our group when they were abducting everyone. That's definitely the Hideki and Aiko I know and love! Hey, guys, wanna grab something tonight on me? I'll pay for good luck like this. Let's go report to the proctor."

Mai hummed to herself as she walked to the front desk.... or what remained of it. If she was casual, maybe the Aburame woman wouldn't notice? Mai suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Hey guys, maybe we should mess with Takara-sensei and tell her we failed first?"

 

[Orikanyo]

Hideki Ukita.

Ago aburame

(ori is to lazy to color)
​

"Aiko, good to see you weren't taken. That however confirms my suspicions on the matter-" Well, his words seemed to have met nothing but air as Mai straight up stated the answer he was going to give. He felt smart for a minute, just a minute but it seems Mai can even shatter moments of pride as well, among other things. "..Right... So.." he took a moment to look the now bleeding young woman over from his seat. "Lets... Go talk with the proctor." the young man sighed, standing up and starting to walk over.

He stopped just past Aiko. "At Least you didn't kill anybody, we would've failed right then and there. Doesn't matter how angry you get, don't risk the whole mission." before he continued down towards the older-(*Slap*) incredibly youthful woman.

"Well look at you missy! Got a bit cut up there huh?" the jovial woman asked Mai, a snicker breaking through her grin. "And the little ice queen is a hot head huh? Who would've thunk." the snickering continued as she leaned back in her chair. "We have the answer-" Hideki started before he got interrupted by the woman. "Oh Mr.Swimsuit specialist has the answer eh? Well come on then, let's hear it." the young man was taken aback by the fact she heard that, but swallowed it regardless to keep the ball rolling.

He leaned in and whispered the answer. "Alright, get going through those doors. You'll know if you passed or not. just don't kill each other on the way out... Man thats alot of blood, best get your friend patched up." she tossed pulled open one of the more intact drawers of her desk and tossed a box of bandaids at Aiko. "You caused it, you fix it. Now, get going." he waved the group on, before continuing to watch the other exam takers.

Hideki sighed, feeling tired from the whole ordeal, he hoped what they had gathered was correct as he walked towards the door.

"...Hopefully Yuuki didn't hear that..."

 

[Ganryu]

Chuunin Exam 1

A Bundle of Nonsense​

Spoiler: Team 3

Koutaku waited patiently, ignoring the world around him until the proctor began talking. Koutaku’s eyes remained closed throughout the speech, then the smoke began. He smelled it, rather than saw it, but did not move; his muscles instead tensing up in case he needed to move.


As the smoke began to clear, he finally opened his eyes and looked at his teammates. The proctor continued on, he heard every word, but he was already surveying them. He’d heard dragging and suppressed voices. Glancing around he looked for signs of any damage or scuff marks to their surroundings, there were none. He narrowed his eyes.


That was odd. Absolutely no signs of struggle at all, yet the proctor was claiming that people had been taken. Didn’t add up.


Koutaku extracted three explosive tags, pulled a small amount of chakra from them, and then placed one on his arm. He glanced at Kaida and Kiyoshi, holding out the explosive tags.


“Just, trust me on this one,” Koutaku said. He had a feeling that Kaida would go along with it and Kiyoshi might, but also could very well refuse. If there was an imposter they would try to go along with whatever they all said while being totally contrary to certain things related to the test. More likely, though, was that the test was a screen for another test. It was really a test of their deductive skills, team cohesion, and trust. If he were a genin that’s how he would do it.


He’d make the situation convincing, but wouldn’t actually change anything. Additionally, if you removed one teammate from a team, you wouldn’t be testing them as well, which meant that they would pass purely on the merit of their team. This went against the very purpose of the chuunin exams. All things considered, he was fairly sure he knew the answer.


“An explosive tag?!” Kiyoshi’s eyebrow twitched as his face took on an exasperated expression.


The blonde was quick to shake his head in protest. No way was he gonna place an explosive tag on his arm, he’d need those for the next part of the test. That’s if they passed. Jeez, he might have to put the tag on his arm.


“If you were really Koutaku, you’d know that I wouldn’t put that tag on my arm. But you’d also know that I’d put it on anyway… but if I put it on anyway how does this solve whether or not you’re Koutaku?!”


Kiyoshi quite literally freaked out before he calmed himself and began really thinking hard about what he had just said. He started counting his thesis on his fingers.


Kaida stared at what looked like Koutaku, surprised at his plan. It was absolutely mad.


Then she started thinking. The lack of scuff marks. Kidnapping without visible struggle? Difficult, but possible.

The sound of people being dragged? Easy sound to replicate, and made the first clue more questionable.


The thing that made this situation feel off to Kaida? Something her father had once said when she said that she didn't want to be part of a genin squad, back when she was nine.


‘Kiddo, I know you want to be the big hero that can take on the world by herself, but let me ask you something: If you fight alone, who will watch your back? Who will heal you? Who will cover you while you make handseals for a powerful jutsu? The answer is nobody. The reason shinobi work in teams is because while it only takes one person to start a war, it takes many people to stop one. So when you are on a team, trust in them. Not mindlessly, but always be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.’


Kaida stopped overthinking the situation. She carefully took the explosive tag and placed it on her right foot. She then looked Koutaku in the eye.


“I trust you, Koutaku.”


She then looked to Kiyoshi.


“Kiyoshi, I don't know you, but I'm fairly sure you know Koutaku. Will you trust him?”


Koutaku smiled a bit at Kiyoshi, then leaned close, whispering near his ear so no one else would hear him. “If I were an imposter, I’d have no reason to do this,” he said and then pulled away. He offered the tag again.


Kiyoshi paled considerably, why the hell was Koutaku so close to him and why was he whispering?


“I don’t know what you’re getting at, I’d think a jonin would have the brains to try his best to deflect any possibility of them being the imposter. It isn’t too far fetched that they would suggest a plan!”


He was thinking really hard about every small detail that he knew about his friend. It wasn’t much since he had a very hard time remembering. But he wasn’t going to give up now!


“Kaida was onto something, she and I don’t know each other at all, so instead of asking if we can trust each other. We should be asking why wouldn’t we trust each other!”


He had to be on the verge of something now. Right?


Koutaku looked slightly confused, but smiled, “Alright, so why wouldn’t you trust one another then?”



“Because it’s the point of the test, it’s meant to put us on edge. We’re supposed to be wary of our teammates and test them to see if they are who they say they are. Why not prove who they aren’t?”


It was at this point that Kiyoshi really began to hatch an idea, and he was hoping the others would catch on too. He clasped his hands together in a seal and transformed into a spitting image of Koutaku.


In response, Koutaku flicked Kiyoshi in the forehead, which would immediately dispel the transformation. “The problem with that is almost any impact disrupts transformation.” He sighed a bit, “Additionally, if you’re coming up with a plan, then you’re breaking your own logic. You said the imposter would be the most likely to come up with a plan. So by doing so yourself, that makes you the imposter as much as I would be.”


He gave him a blank look, “You see the problem there?”


“No, cause you gave me the answer,” Kiyoshi smirked wildly as he sat back in his chair. He honestly felt like this test was gonna blast by now.


“What...are you talking about Kiyoshi?” Koutaku was frowning again.


“I can’t be the imposter, you flicked away the transformation jutsu I used. If I was the imposter, I wouldn’t be looking the way I do now! That knocks it down from three to two!”


He held up his thumb and pointer finger to express what he meant.


Kaida facepalmed. “Kiyoshi...you know what, fine. Koutaku, thump me.”


She then proceeded to flick the tip of Koutaku’s nose rather harshly, and then leaned forward somewhat so that Koutaku could reach her more easily.


Koutaku sighed and complied, flicking Kaida back. He’d had a whole thing too, but now it was kinda ruined.


“See? No one had to get blown up!”


Kiyoshi’s smirk was wide and he leaned back into his chair. On the surface he was trying hard not to show his growing discomfort. A bead of sweat began to run down his forehead.


What if we did the test wrong?! I don’t wanna be on the only team to fail!


Pinching the bridge of his nose, Koutaku realized they were not back to zero. He was fairly sure he knew the correct answer, even without the explosive tag or transformation test. The transformation test, though, was pointless on him, mostly because he had a technique that would allow him to remain transformed after impacts.


Sighing, he glanced between his two teammates. “First of all, we have other tests to pass. Why would I blow you up Kiyoshi? Secondly, even if I did, you’d heal from it pretty easily given a bit of time. Doesn’t matter now though. Now that I’ve told you that, the trust test is pointless. Thanks.” Grumbling, Koutaku stood up, “I’m gonna go tell the procter our answer.”


Kaida smiled. “Kiyoshi, maybe after these exams you, me, and Koutaku could hang out, talk...try and have some fun?”


She legitimately wanted to get to know her teammates, and what better way than hanging out?


“I don’t hang out, I train to put it bluntly. But if you want, I can find the time to invite you guys to the best ramen shop in town, but I ain’t paying for your meals!”


Kiyoshi opened his eyes and turned his attention towards Kaida. He placed his hands behind his head as he spoke.


Koutaku stopped where he was and smiled a bit, “Sounds like a plan. Be right back,” he then walked off, heading for the procter. When he arrived before them, he gestured for them to lean down. When they did he whispered to them, “There are no imposters.”

 

[Orikanyo]

Ago Aburame
(Short post in response to team 3, should've mentioned me on Discord so I could get this into the post above yo.)

​

"If that's your final answer, head on through those doors. You will know if you passed." she sighed, looking like she really needed a coffee at this point. did she really have to wait for ALL these genin teams to be done? She'd be here for... well... a few more minutes actually. She forgot about that time limit, how long had it been? the woman waved off the students before her as they moved towards the doors before rummaging around in her pocket for her stop watch. She did remember to start it right?

....

.......

Where was here stop watch?

She looked down towards her desk and saw the stopwatch, cracked and broken underneath a dirty mark of footwear upon her destroyed desk...

....

Whelp.

"...Five minutes until the end of the exam!" he called out to the remaining groups, keeping poised and totally not slightly freaking out.

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Squad 4: By Any Means Necessary

​

While Squad 4 may have caused a bit of a scene putting the Kiri genin in their place, the three idiots that barged into the classroom and smashed the proctor’s desk easily upstaged them. There was no looking away as the buffoons essentially painted targets on their teams. Yuuki could only watch them in dumbstruck silence.

Yuuki couldn’t help but cough slightly at the sudden cloud of smoke, the genin reflexively drawing a kunai in one hand and a tag in the other. Though the chaos didn’t really begin until after the smoke cleared and the proctor gave her explanation on the situation. Squad 6 had attacked each other near instantly. But it was a team from Suna that was the first to draw blood. “Me next!” the green haired kunoichi chirped, holding the bloodied kunai out to her mortified teammate.

"Well… shit," he glanced at his teammates...

Who he’d only started working with a few weeks ago...

This was definitely going to suck.

An awkward silence permeated the air between the the three genin. Nagisa cradled her head in her hands, staring down at the desk and the burnt remains of the smoke bomb that had been concealed there. She was trying to think but she was also trying to keep her face, in particular her slowly reddening cheeks, hidden from her teammates. Almost as soon the proctor had explained the idea of the test Nagisa had thought of a potential solution or maybe been reminded of it...


Five years ago...


"Nagisa I'm lower on blasting powder than I should be, you haven't been messing around with them without supervision have you?"

In an odd, cave like room lit with torches two figures conversed, a short, fat man with an impressive beard sat at a rough desk and a skinny little girl in a rough shirt. Neither of them appeared to be enjoying the dialogue, the old man looked exasperated and the girl defensive and angry.

"I didn't touch your stupid things! Who cares about that stuff anyw-What are you doing!" The girl broke off her sentence as the old man suddenly licked his thumb then rubbed it against her cheek before withdrawing it and giving it another lick.

"You lying brat!" He said, giving her a smack on the head hard enough to startle her. "You're going to blow those thieving fingers off at this rate!"

"Nyargh! What'd you do that for!?" The girl rubbed at her head, glaring reproachfully at the old man but not denying the charge.

"Cause you stole from me. Again," said the man simply, turning back to his desk to focus on what he had been working on earlier, a collection of complex and erratic machinery parts of uncertain purpose. "For that you can go chop another load of firewood."

"Not that! Why'd you lick me you weird old man!?" Snapped the girl, mostly hoping to stall for time before she had to go perform her punishment.

"Chemical explosions, like the one that went off in your face when you messed around with my blasting powder, usually leaves behind a residue that can be detected most reliably through taste. Your tongue, like any part of your body is designed to help you survive. Poisons, disease, chemicals, often you can distinguish these things more accurately with taste then you can see or smell them." Despite his earlier frustration the irritation melted out of the man's voice as he explained, his tone that of a passionate hobbyist explaining his craft. "Now go chop that wood and maybe I'll show you how to use this stuff without it blowing up in your face hmm?"


In the present Nagisa lowered a hand to rub her thumb against the burnt mark where the smoke bomb had gone off, then raised her thumb to her lips to gingerly taste it. The familiar, acrid taste of chemical explosive cut through the dirty taste of the smoke. The residue was definitely there, but it was faint and this was right next to where the bomb had gone off. If she was going to detect the residue elsewhere her thumb probably wouldn't cut it. Nagisa's face burned as she stared down at the desk. Was she seriously considering this? Sure being a shinobi was meant to have its risks but this was too much! There were other people in the room! And in the first place would they even go along with this?

The sounds of animated discussion wafted over from the other groups as they compared histories, showed off unique techniques or probed each other's personalities for discrepancies. This was in stark contrast to the silence that permeated squad 4's table. Nagisa grit her teeth. They were at a disadvantage compared to the teams that had been together since the the start, if they wanted to keep up then they'd have to do something drastic. Besides no matter how embarrassing this was going to be in the end losing in the very first stage of the exam would be way worse.

Steeling her nerve, Nagisa lifted her gaze to lock eyes with her teammates, her steely expression at odds with her still red cheeks. "Alright listen up," she said, in a low, dangerous voice. "I have an idea that might work but before I try it let's get one thing straight. I'm going to do this and then we never speak of it again," Nagisa glared at them. "If you so much as think about this after we're done here then I can't be held accountable for my actions, tell anyone about this and you will end up with a kunai somewhere you definitely don't want one. Understand?"

Nagisa waited another beat to make sure they had got the message and then, glancing around to make sure that nobody else was watching she grabbed the front of Katsumi's shirt, pulled her closer and leaned in, her lips brushing against the other girl's cheek.

Katsumi was already in shock. She had nearly fallen out of her chair when the smoke bombs went off, and when the proctor explained the test, Katsumi had no idea what to do! If one of her teammates was an imposter, she'd have no way of knowing. She didn't know them well enough to pick out anything distinguishing. They were totally going to fail.

Luckily, Nagisa had a plan. However, while she was explaining, Katsumi’s attention was drawn to another squad who had one member strangling the other.

Instinctively, Katsumi took a step back when Nagisa grabbed her shirt. What was she doing? Was she going to strangle her like that other squad? Fortunately, it was quite the opposite. Katsumi nudged Nagisa away, and looked at her in shock.

“W-w-what're you doing!” Katsumi asked, glancing around to see if anyone saw what just happened. She covered her head with her arms as she let out soft sniffles.

“I d-didn't know you felt that way Nagisa… I'm sorry but I-I-I j-just don't feel the same way…” Katsumi could barely get out the last few words as she broke down in tears, confusion, embarrassment, and guilt all falling from her eyes.

Yuuki… well… could only watch on in silence as Nagisa suddenly kissed their teammate. Just… what the hell was going on?

"What are you talking about you idiot?" Nagisa snapped, looking mortified. "I'm trying to solve this thing, pay attention!" Nagisa licked her lips and concentrated for a few second, looking thoughtful. Just as she'd suspected there were traces of the acrid, gunpowder taste on her tongue. "Okay you're clear," Nagisa said to Katsumi. "When that smokebomb went off in your face it left explosive residue all over you. It's too mixed in with the smoke to see or smell but I can pick it out with taste. If there wasn't any on your face it would mean you weren't there when the smokebomb went off."

Nagisa finished her explanation and then looked pointedly at Yuuki next, her expression an odd mixture of determination and something else. "You next, if there's no residue on your face then you're the imposter,"

“Fine, fine,” Yuuki leaned against the desks, it really wasn’t a bad idea on Nagisa’s part. But it was better than choking out one of your teammates or stabbing the other. Noticing movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned to watch the first team walk down to the proctor before leaving the room. “Looks like those two girls from - Squad 5 I think? - are already done. Surprised they even let them in the exam without a full team.”

He looked back at Nagisa, “Anyway, let’s get a move on, she didn’t exactly give us a bunch of time here.”

"I'm gonna! Shut up," Nagisa replied hotly. She drew forwards, seemed to hesitate for a moment then leaned further and grabbed Yuuki's collar the same way she had with Katsumi and brushed her lips against his cheek. However for some reason this time Nagisa's eyes were screwed tightly shut and she ended up bumping her forehead into his temple. Nagisa withdrew sharply and scrupulously avoided eye contact as she tried to process the the chemicals she was tasting.

...crap

“You pass as well,” Nagisa said reluctantly, after a few seconds had passed. Both of them had been present for the explosion, so who was the imposter? Was it possible that the examiners had anticipated this and set off smoke bombs in their own faces? Or was something else going on? Nagisa sighed loudly. She’d just licked both her teammates and they still weren’t done with this stupid test.

Yuuki only nodded slightly, his gaze elsewhere. It wasn’t too hard to notice the flush to his face. This would have been so much easier if he’d been able to see his teammate’s chakra. The Sharingan allowed for one to see the color and flow of someone’s chakra, being able to recognize his own teammate’s would have been much easier. The possibility of someone being able to mimic such things not even crossing the genin’s mind.

“This test is just turning into one big pain…” he muttered, sitting cross-legged on the desk. Yuuki found himself mulling over the proctor’s words at the beginning of the test. A ninja must see through each lie, each illusion, each deception, to see underneath the underneath…. We had gained in depth reports upon your mannerisms, your fears, what you enjoy, what you have done. You profiles are ours, and your sensei left nothing to our imagination, we know you, top to bottom. Your task, is to find the liar, the trickster![/COLOR]

There was a faint chance of Nagisa being the fake, that possibility hadn’t escaped him. Though that made the whole licking thing that much more weird. A loud crash could be heard as a pair of Kiri genin tackled their teammate. “I’m not a fake!” The pinned shinobi cried out.

Trying - and failing - to tune out the chaos, Yuuki looked back at his teammates. Katsumi was still crying. “Why can’t I shake the feeling that proctor down there just wanted to raise hell with everyone?” He kept his voice low, but the two would still be able to hear him over the arguing participants. A ninja must see through each lie, each illusion, each deception, to see underneath the underneath…. find the liar,
“What did she say our goal was again?”

Katsumi had calmed down a bit after Nagisa explained what she had done, but she couldn't stop sniffling and eye rubbing.

“She said to find the l-liar…” Katsumi said, repeating what she had heard. Did Yuuki forget what we were supposed to do? He was too smart to just forget things like that, he had to be coming up with something. Katsumi sat up a bit straighter in her desk, having finished pulling herself together.

“Why do you ask?”

“So what’s stopping our proctor from being the liar?” Yuuki worked to keep his voice low but still be understood amidst the chaos unfolding around them. He rested his chin on the palm of his hand, “I mean, no matter how we look at it, there’s always a ‘what if?’ to every potential test. What’s stopping an imposter from setting off one of the smoke bombs close enough to pass Nagisa’s little test? Or - and just thinking this makes things even more awkward - who says Nagisa isn’t an imposter?”

The Uchiha shook his head with an annoyed huff, “Let’s face it, our team kinda got fucked over with this whole test.”

Nagisa sighed and shifted in her seat as she reached into one of her many pockets to withdraw a kunai and place it on the table between them. It was a perfectly ordinary kunai, the only distinguishing feature being a small, rust colored speck right on the tip.

“It’s the kunai I was poking that idiot from the mist with, I left a scratch on his neck and drew a little blood. It was hidden in my hand so I don’t think anyone who wasn’t close by could have seen what I was doing. The blood’s also dry so I didn’t just poke myself right now,”

Nagisa shrugged. “Just like the residue it wouldn’t be impossible to fake if our imposter had a real eye for detail but it is starting to feel unlikely,” Nagisa leaned back slightly in her seat to catch a glance at the proctor. The woman seemed amused but nothing about her expression or those annoying glasses really gave anything away.

“Assuming we aren’t all under some kind of genjutsu, you would need however many ninjas there are teams here. ALL of them need to be somehow capable of imitating whatever abilities the examinees have, including the foreign teams and people with unique abilities. In the first place would foreign villages really be okay with sending that much information about their people? Even if they were okay with it and you did have dozens of ninja able to do that reliably would you be happy to divert them all from teaching or missions or security to pull this off? And if this is a genjutsu it’s a complicated one. They put us in pretty much the perfect mindset to undermine it, getting us to question things, to produce hidden knowledge or secret techniques. Katsumi, wouldn’t it be pretty hard to replicate all that stuff perfectly in real time?”

Nagisa laced her fingers behind her head, looking thoughtful. “This all might be wishful thinking though. Yuuki’s right, we got fucked over on this test so of course a solution where we aren’t at as much of a disadvantage is appealing. But whatever, we’re running out of time and if we don’t pick something then we lose anyway,”

Katsumi looked at her teammates and at the proctor nervously. Would they really fail the first test in the chuunin exams? Yuuki had an interesting idea about the proctor being the liar, but why would she try and trick everyone like that? That'd be terrible!

“W-well… I don't like Yuuki’s idea about the proctor lying… but I don't have anything special to show… so I think we should try that...” Katsumi mumbled, barely audible. There was no way they'd be able to find the imposter amongst themselves. “I mean… I don't really know though… you guys are smarter than me…”

It was next to impossible to hear Katsumi as she nearly mumbled everything under her breath. Not to mention the Inuzuka girl was yelling about something and Yuuki was pretty sure Squad 6 was literally trying to kill each other.

...And was Hideki talking about swimsuits?

“I’m calling bullshit on that last part, Katsumi.” Yuuki lightly swatted her on the back of the head as he got off the desk. “Whatever, at this point it’s pretty much our only shot.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he started for the main aisle. “Regardless of how it goes, we should see about getting lunch or something after this. I should have enough left over from our last couple missions.” He paused after going down the first step to look back at them. “You coming or not?”

“You can call bullshit on your half, I’m definitely smarter than both of you,” said Nagisa, pushing herself up from the desk and looking pointedly at Katsumi until she was sure the other girl was following as well. “Let’s just get this over with and we can worry about lunch afterwards. If you're buying I guess I'll tag along or whatever,”

The three of them navigated carefully through the chaos towards the proctor’s desk. The five minute deadline had really shifted things into high gear for the remaining teams, everyone seemed to be shouting at each other or outright fighting. It looked like most of the Konoha teams were already done though, Nagisa wasn’t really sure if that was reassuring or not though. Soon the team stopped right in front of the proctor’s desk. Did they really have to whisper the answer in her ear? After everything that had happened Nagisa didn’t really want to get in anyone else’s personal space today but when nobody else moved she sighed softly and leaned over the desk.

[COLOR=ORANGERED“There’s no imposter,”[/COLOR] she whispered into the woman’s ear. “Which would make you the liar wouldn’t it?”

Nagisa straightened up. “Can we go now?”

Ago tsked as she waggled a finger in front of the young woman’s face. “You know it is very rude to call somebody a liar you know. Especially after tasting thing faces, do you often do that with your teammates? Honestly I wonder if you chose that approach if you wanted an excuse to lick your teammates~!” a laughed came from the woman as she cover her mouth slightly with a free hand.

“Could’ve just drew your finger across their face to collect residue you know, even the little puppy girl didn’t go that far. But I guess that’s what happens when you have a cute boy in your squad.” she sighed, shaking her head.[/COLOR]

“Kids and their hormones… HEY! YOU THREE! Remember what I said about killing each other!” she started yelling at a trio of Kiri ninjas, before sitting back down. “Alright, get through those doors yada yada you’ll know if you’ve passed blah blah. Man I need a coffee.”


KageYuuki
InsaneAsylum
Orikanyo

 

[Ganryu]

R Roleplay

-That Evening-

The day began to end, with it the first exam. Amazingly, each of the squads from the Hidden Leaf had passed. Unsurprisingly, their largest rival was the Hidden Mist. One of the leading teams holding quite a grudge against a certain Squad 4 for earlier actions. The sun just began to set as each team set itself aside for celebration. The jonin had collectively decided to let them have this moment uninterrupted in whatever they chose to do. Some had chosen to celebrate it playing games, most had decided on a hearty meal, others, perhaps, making retributions, but it was a day they had earned.

(OOC Note: Slice of life post incoming, this is the only one I will insist is incredibly important. Normally I really don't care. Whoever posts first in a team gets to decide where their team is at. We just need a quick round, don't worry too much. )

-----------------------

Meanwhile 1
In the lives of Random NPC's.
------------------------

Sighing heavily to himself, the mist jonin Hanyo Moto looked over his three genin. For a jonin, he was.... oddly plain looking. He honestly could not have stood out in a crowd. His facemask looked like 1000 others and left no distinguishing features.

"Too flashy is what I want to say. There was absolutely no reason to go around starting fights. Its not like it mattered if you passed or not. Still, if you're going to start a fight, make sure you get to see all their abilities. How strong is there lava user? We didn't even get to see a sign of it."

The three bowed there head as they heard the same sermon for the millionth time. Though, none of the three rolled their eyes. They were too nervous. The hotel room they had come to call home was in an odd condition. Every single item of use, and the beds were moved out the way. In the middle of the room, a large and complex seal stood.

"Now, if you run into the genin again, I want you to get info out of them. The exams no longer matter, but a sharingan user? Lord Reiji will want to hear about that. Hmm... I have to admit, I'm nervous as well. The Mizukage being involved means this battle is going to be quick and decisive. Do NOT, under any circumstance go near the man. He is given the title 'the Stingray' for a reason. Anyways, I'm going to check the anchored summoning seal one last time. Prepare yourselves..."

 

[Ganryu]

Mai Sanada - Squad Six
​

"Yeah, mum was pretty mad. She patched me right up though. I mean, compared to what I normally go through, that was just a few stings. I remember one time I ruptured a kidney! She's a really good medic nin at this point. She said I shouldn't do any severe training tonight, something about 'if I heal this, you'll never $@#!'ing learn' so I was free to go to .... this? What is 'karaoke' anyways?"

Mai was chipper as ever. If anything, injury only seemed to animate Mai. She was a bit excited she didn't have to be bored tonight. To be honest, she did have a few other training she could do.... like all the ones from Takara-sensei. Letting Takara-sensei know she was literate was by far the worst mistake Mai had made in the 13 years of her life. Hanging out with her squad was a good excuse. It was building trust, team bondage.... bonding. That was the word.

Mai heard the little shack before she saw it. It made her pause for a minute.

"Hey, Hideki, how do you find all these places? I heard from Aiko about the arcade, and this isn't a place I'd normally hit up. Granted, I don't get out much."

She shrugged, and poked at her bandages.

 

[KageYuuki]

Yuuki Uchiha: An Attempted Dinner
Yuuki glanced around the crowded restaurant from the table he and his teammates had barely managed to claim. They probably should have waited a little before heading to the small barbeque place, but they'd managed to get a spot by some manner of luck. Most of the other patrons were just regular villagers, a rowdy group of construction workers sat off in the far corner.

He glanced back at his teammates, Katsumi had been easy enough to talk into going along. She seemed more than willing to join in. Nagisa... didn't seem interested until she found out Yuuki was buying the team dinner. It was going to be a little bit before the meat and vegetables would be brought over for them to cook.

May as well try to find some way to kill the time other than sitting awkwardly. "So... uh, thoughts on the exams so far?" Really? That was the best he could come up with?

Fuck it, roll with it.

"At least the other two parts are supposed to be a little more straightforward from what I've heard."

AtlannianSpy InsaneAsylum

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Nagisa Kanazawa
-Squad Four-​

"Just to be clear, we have no choice but to pass now," said Nagisa, slumping back into the worn leather of her chair. "There's NO WAY I'm doing any of that a second time. Whatever they throw at us we're gonna pass if it kills us, I just hope they use a different proctor for the next stages, that lady rubbed me the wrong way,"

With that Nagisa lapsed into silence although not one that was particularly cold. Nagisa had accepted Yuuki's invitation without really thinking about it and later the thought that he might take them somewhere fancy had occurred to her. After all weren't the Uchiha's a bigshot clan? Wasn't Yuuki's dad the Hokage? It would make sense if he wanted to go somewhere high class. Somewhere where she'd be stared at for wearing her normal clothes or keeping her arms wrapped. Screw that.

This place with its crowds of clocking out workers and unvarnished decor was way more Nagisa's speed. Besides as good as a free meal was it would be a drag if Yuuki spent too much on this little outing. Now that she thought about he had definitely mentioned paying for this with money from his missions. Would his parents not cover something like this? Or did he just not want to rely on them for this? That was sort of respectable, there was nothing worse than owing people. As it was Nagisa would have to pay him back at some point already, maybe once they passed the rest of their exams...

KageYuuki
InsaneAsylum

Hotaru Hagano
-Squad Seven-

Domestic Science​

The Hagano residence was an aging wood, three bedroom affair closing in on the outskirts of town. It wasn't the fanciest building around but space rather than aesthetics was the primary concern of both mother and daughter, both needed plenty of room for their experiments and neither of them cared much for appearances. Usually the Hagano's were quiet neighbors who kept to themselves but tonight the house was uncharacteristically lively. For the first time since the Hagano's had taken ownership of the house five years ago they were having guests.

"Ah, you made it!" Hotaru answered the door to find her squadmates standing there expectantly. After they'd passed the first test discussion had turned to the prospect of celebrating and Hotaru had suddenly volunteered to have everyone over for dinner.

"Come in, put your stuff where ever, mind the books though," she said, ushering them inside as warmth and aromatic spices wafted out from behind her, Hotaru waited until everyone was inside then closed the door behind them.

The interior of the house was warm and cozy if somewhat eclectic. Everything was very clean but the furniture had been chosen and arranged seemingly at random, or at least by someone entirely concerned with function rather than any sense of decoration or theme and just as Hotaru had warned there ware books everywhere. Every room they passed as Hotaru lead them through a narrow hallway had at least one filled up book shelf and there were stacks of books on tables, chairs and even the floor as well. A cursory glance at the titles would reveal them as textbooks or manuals mostly, in biology, medicine and physics, a few seemed to deal with subjects like martial arts or ninjutsu but all of them looked highly technical.

"Moooooommm they're here!" Hotaru called as they reached the foot of a stair case. For a while there was no response except for the clattering of a typewriter that had been creeping down the stairs all the while. Then the typewriter stopped and a woman clad in a labcoat appeared at the top of them. Wakaba Hagano looked eerily like her daughter. Taller, paler and her hair was pulled back in a severe bun but otherwise it was like looking at an older Hotaru, especially in the bright, wide eyes full of alert curiosity.

"I'll be down in five minutes," said Wakaba in a clipped, precise voice. "I want to finish recording these results,"

With that Wakaba disappeared from view again and Hotaru shrugged helplessly. "There's no helping it when she gets like this, we might as well start," she said, gesturing towards two small tables that had been pushed together to make room for everyone. "Sit down and I'll get the food, everyone likes curry right?"

Hanarei
loyalwolf

 

[Orikanyo]

Hideki Ukita
Squad 6


​

Hideki, once again, for likely the three hundredth time this year, sighed. Mai was okay, as usual, and telling him another story of which she nearly died in. How did her mother do it? How did she manage to stay sane throughout all this time?

Maybe she didn't.

Maybe she was already insane?

Maybe she was three steps away from cracking.

Maybe she is staying sane because she is the sole reason the Sanada clan hasn't died out.

A solemn duty of stupidity and blood.

He would pray for that woman, but he knew that she was in a situation no god could touch.

None could help her.

She was in a hell of forever applying bandages and stitching wounds.

He could only hope in her next life she could find a simple and peaceful existence.

Or perhaps this was a punishment for her last life?

Who knew.

"Karaoke is basicly you singing along to a song, you get points depending on how well you do and basically it's just a bunch of fun making an ass of yourself in front of your friends. Less problematic because everyone gets a turn. Grown ups usually get drunk before it, or after it to forget, more likely both cases." Hideki explained as he usually would to their favorite masochistic friend. Absent mindedly, perhaps out of practice, Hideki slapped mai's hand away from her bandages.

"We need to relax after the first test, or at least so Sensei said after I went to tell her we passed the first test. She didn't seem to focused, head in a book." he explained, before walking towards the building. "Hey Aiko... Lets not get kicked outta this one already?"

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Aiko Uchiha​

"Karaoke is stupid. It's not like I'm actually going to do any singing."

Of all the things that they could have gone to do to celebrate, they had gone to do 'karaoke'. Why couldn't they have simply gone to get a nice meal, or went to get a nice ice bath.

After such an obnoxious test, she needed one. That test wasn't a time she'd like to remember.

After the karaoke, Aiko planned on heading to the compound to tell the other Uchiha she was moving on in the exams. They'd probably think she was pretty cool for that. Hopefully. Then she'd go home, receive praise from her father, and then go to sleep. Simple. All that stood in the way of it all was this karaoke. If she could just make it through this without Mai or Hideki making her sing...

Aiko couldn't remember the last time she had used her voice musically. She'd probably sound like a cheese grater on concrete.

Katsumi Nonoba​

Despite having successfully passed the first test, Katsumi was terribly downcast. It wasn't because she had been bullied by that Mist genin before the test, or that she had forgotten to eat breakfast and was starving to death right now.

It was because she had been useless.

She hadn't provided a single good idea when her teammates were having trouble, yet they managed to figure things out without her. Did they even need her on the squad?

Like Nagisa said, they had no choice but to pass the exam. Katsumi would have more chances to prove she wasn't useless the farther they progressed. Hopefully the next test wouldn't be too difficult...

Katsumi stared at the ground as her teammates spoke. The bellowing laugh of a construction worker jolting her out of her trance. "I-I'll try not to be as useless next time... Just d-don't c-count on me too much." Katsumi said as her stomach growled loudly.

 

[loyalwolf]

Kurēn Kinoko
​

Kuren was a little nervous going to someone else’s residence for dinner. He had never wanted to or been invited to someone’s home so he was out of his element. He dressed in his formal monsuke that was a pale green color that really played up his white hair and his leaf green eyes. When he arrived at the home, he was struck with the difference between Hotaru’s and his own home. He wondered what his teammate would think if they were invited to his home complex. On the inside, it felt warm and inviting something that kuren didn’t expect when it came to Hotaru. Either way he let the slightest smile appear on his face as he moved through the home.

In his hand, he carried a small basket covered with a rag to keep what he had on the inside safe. It felt very rude to not contribute to the dinner so kuren decided to make dessert for all of them to enjoy. “I hope you both don’t mind, but since we are celebrating, I decide to make one of my favorite deserts. They are round pastries, almost like mini-individual cakes. Also, I tried to make the fillings a variety of different flavors based on what we each like to eat.” Kuren began to ramble, feeling a little nervous about sharing something that was special to him. “The fillings include: coffee, chocolate, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and even ham”

He lifted the rag on top of the basket to show his teammate and show how the small pastries were decorated. Etched into the crust, it appears to be a tree with a mushroom at its base and a dog sitting on the mushroom. Finally, there appeared to be a moth on top of the dog's head. Though kuren still had his stoic face, it appeared to have a pink tint to it now. He placed the basket on the table and grabbed a seat. Waiting patiently for the curry and hoping that Hotaru could cook. Kuren was generally happy that his team managed to pass the first test. Kuren found it odd how thing have changed since their first meeting and believe that together as a team they could pass these exams. ” Anyway, I think we did good in the first test. I believe that we are the dark horses of these exams, judging by the other ninjas. From what I observed there are some strong individual ninjas, but I doubt they have the synergy that our team possess. So, I believe if we capitalize on our teamwork, then we can come out on top.”

 

[KageYuuki]

Yuuki Uchiha: Squad 4
"Yeah... Don't blame you there," The Uchiha shifted slightly, avoiding Nagisa's gaze as she brought up the test they'd just gone through. "Though if anything, at least the first exam changes every year?" He added with a half-hearted shrug. At Katsumi's mumblings, Yuuki quietly sighed before looking between her and Nagisa.

What could he possibly say? It wasn't like she'd done all that much during the test itself, so that was out of the window... "I mean you are the only one out of the three of us that can use medical ninjutsu," Yuuki offered. "The second test is always survival so that'll be pretty invaluable. Gods help any idiot you punch too." He knew he sure as hell didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of those.

AtlannianSpy InsaneAsylum

 

[Ganryu]

Mai Sanada - Squad Six​

Mai held her finger to her lips through the explanation thinking about it. Wasn't exactly her cup of tea, but, not like she could do anything else at the moment. That, and had secretly been thinking about what being an heir meant. It probably meant she had to have something sexy about her that would help people vote for her. Afterall, strength was only half of it. Well, she could try singing.

"Huh. I don't know any songs. I gotta try it. Also, Aiko, what'cha mean ya ain't singing? I mean, I bet you voice is cute! And I ain't never done this, I think I need some help. Ya do owe me for pin cushioning me. Teach me one song and I'll call it even!"

Mai let out another hearty laugh following the guilt trip. To be honest, it wasn't like she even cared about the shuriken cuts. But messing with Aiko? Too fun to pass up. Now, now she was going to have fun. Not like anyone they knew was going to be there, Mai might as well have fun abusing Aiko. She was just a bit sad she didn't have any ammo on Hideki. Wait....

"So Hideki, why would you worry about getting thrown out? I mean, is it normal to get thrown out of fun places? You should try being a model citizen like myself."

 

[Hanarei]

Location: Hagano residence​

Ashi been staring with Kuren at the door keeping relatively quiet. The rather feisty girl had acted a bit more rebellious then normal standing at the door. She was still left puzzled by the whole exam... while knowing the answer now it had still left an air of confusion thinking back upon it. She really had made the situation far more over complicated in her head... granted it was spurned on unintentionally by her team mates. Ashi had been surprised when Hotaru offered to celebrate by having supper at her place. She had accepted it keeping up a strong front being dismissive of it over-all. Truthfully she was excited to be offered to come over to eat, though she would never admit it. Her more rebellious 'tough girl' act was her own way of over exaggerating it to hide that she was exited to be invited somewhere to eat by someone.


"Bout time making us wait!" She spoke with her head turned and her arms crossed, a light glow on her cheeks she tried to suppress as best she could. Stepping inside she couldn't help but glance around, curiously eyeing up the mess of books all over the place. When it came to things in the world, Ashi and books were one of the most polar opposite things in the world you could get. She wasn't much of the reading type, never mind the type of literature around the house was something Ashi likely would never even remotely be able to grasp. To her it was all general junk uselessly clogging up a home. It wasn't as if she could speak much about it herself though, Ashi's own room was far from the cleanest there was. She rarely cleaned up things herself making it comfortable for herself and the mess left behind from it be damned.

Ashi peeked her head up hearing the voice of what she assumed to be Kuren's mom, her head leaning down sniffing at one of the books. She shuffled forward following her into the makeshift table, not thinking much at all about it. She looked at Hotaru as she questioned if curry was alright. She pointed her finger out attempting to keep up her tough act. "Only if its Mild.. c... cause it tastes better I can take spicy! Also it should have meat, and none of that vegi only stuff!" She spoke up before sitting down crossing her arms perhaps looking for unintentionally grumpy then actually tough as she wanted to. Truthfully she would eat whatever she was given, grateful what it was... though she did hope it did have meat... and ideally wasn't spicy. She was terrible with spicy foods though she would do her best to hide it, likely very poorly.

AtlannianSpy loyalwolf