*short bit of interaction during/after the pre-chunin exam classroom scene Nathan posted a while back*
---
"Is this really neccessary?" Katsu spoke in a mildly exasperated tone of voice, trying to navigate his way to one of the seats still open after the wave of genin had flowed into the exam room around him and the rest of the Rookie Nine. A task made difficult by the unexpected encumberance of his right arm.
"But Katsu-kun! We haven't seen each other in the longest time," Yamanaka Ino pouted. "I just wanted to catch up with you, since you were gone for so long!"
"That's been known to happen, what with the shinobi thing and all," he replied blandly, giving up on trying to move into the thong of prospective chunin. A few of those who'd bothered to watch were snickering.
'Well, if nothing else, it's good cover,' he grumbled in his mind. 'Who'd take me seriously after seeing this?'
"Oooh! You were on a mission! Was it exciting? I bet it wasn't as boring as the D-ranks Asuma-sensei had us taking most of the time, since you were out of the Village and ..." the blonde girl enthused in a way that could have been called 'bouncy' in a few years' time. Well, her ponytail bounced.
Katsu considered. Drew on previous experience. Reconsidered. Gave her a look that actually managed to stop her from talking.
"We went out, people died - some pretty messily, others not so much - we got the job done, we came back. End of story," he said curtly.
"Eheh ..." Ino chuckled awkwardly. "Umm ... you're joking, right Katsu-kun?"
"Look around you, Yamanaka. Everybody here has the training, the means, and the talent neccessary to kill a person. Some already have. There are shinobi from other villages here, and those won't hesitate to get you out of the way of their promotion, one way or another, if you give them the chance. This isn't an Academy tournament or a training excercise. In a way, the later parts of the exam are supposed to be as close to wartime conditions as a genin or chunin is likely to encounter in times of peace."
"Don't you think I know that?!" she exclaimed, ignoring for the first time who she was talking to in favor of responding to what was being said.
"No."
"Why, you ...!"
The grip her hands had on his arm was starting to become mildly uncomfortable when he saw her pause, blink, and blush in embarassment.
"Katsu-kun, I meant ... I mean, I didn't ..."
"I'll make you a deal," he told her, cutting her explanation off. "If you can take this exam seriously, make it past the written part, and you're still alive after the next one, I'll help you with some training before the last bit comes around."
Ino froze, considering ... then, with reluctance, unclamped from around his arm, a serious expression on her face.
"Alright," she said in an uncharacteristically quiet tone of voice. Then something seemed to occur to her. "Katsu-kun, you know what will be on theexam?"
"Well," he began, feinging nonchalance and reaching for something inside his vest. "I _am_ a student of the great Copy Ninja Kakashi ..."
Off to the side, Kabuto cocked his head in puzzlement as a series of muffled thumps seemed to echo through a wall, from the outside of the classroom.
Neshan and Nenai both stiffled chuckles.
In the hallway, the eavesdropping Kakashi was trying to get rid of a sudden headache by virtue of introducing his head to said wall a few times.
---
I'd _meant_ to do a bit of the Orochimaru vs Team Kakashi/Team Gai/Team Kurenai fight in the Forest of Death, but this came out instead.
Go figure.
-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
---
"Is this really neccessary?" Katsu spoke in a mildly exasperated tone of voice, trying to navigate his way to one of the seats still open after the wave of genin had flowed into the exam room around him and the rest of the Rookie Nine. A task made difficult by the unexpected encumberance of his right arm.
"But Katsu-kun! We haven't seen each other in the longest time," Yamanaka Ino pouted. "I just wanted to catch up with you, since you were gone for so long!"
"That's been known to happen, what with the shinobi thing and all," he replied blandly, giving up on trying to move into the thong of prospective chunin. A few of those who'd bothered to watch were snickering.
'Well, if nothing else, it's good cover,' he grumbled in his mind. 'Who'd take me seriously after seeing this?'
"Oooh! You were on a mission! Was it exciting? I bet it wasn't as boring as the D-ranks Asuma-sensei had us taking most of the time, since you were out of the Village and ..." the blonde girl enthused in a way that could have been called 'bouncy' in a few years' time. Well, her ponytail bounced.
Katsu considered. Drew on previous experience. Reconsidered. Gave her a look that actually managed to stop her from talking.
"We went out, people died - some pretty messily, others not so much - we got the job done, we came back. End of story," he said curtly.
"Eheh ..." Ino chuckled awkwardly. "Umm ... you're joking, right Katsu-kun?"
"Look around you, Yamanaka. Everybody here has the training, the means, and the talent neccessary to kill a person. Some already have. There are shinobi from other villages here, and those won't hesitate to get you out of the way of their promotion, one way or another, if you give them the chance. This isn't an Academy tournament or a training excercise. In a way, the later parts of the exam are supposed to be as close to wartime conditions as a genin or chunin is likely to encounter in times of peace."
"Don't you think I know that?!" she exclaimed, ignoring for the first time who she was talking to in favor of responding to what was being said.
"No."
"Why, you ...!"
The grip her hands had on his arm was starting to become mildly uncomfortable when he saw her pause, blink, and blush in embarassment.
"Katsu-kun, I meant ... I mean, I didn't ..."
"I'll make you a deal," he told her, cutting her explanation off. "If you can take this exam seriously, make it past the written part, and you're still alive after the next one, I'll help you with some training before the last bit comes around."
Ino froze, considering ... then, with reluctance, unclamped from around his arm, a serious expression on her face.
"Alright," she said in an uncharacteristically quiet tone of voice. Then something seemed to occur to her. "Katsu-kun, you know what will be on theexam?"
"Well," he began, feinging nonchalance and reaching for something inside his vest. "I _am_ a student of the great Copy Ninja Kakashi ..."
Off to the side, Kabuto cocked his head in puzzlement as a series of muffled thumps seemed to echo through a wall, from the outside of the classroom.
Neshan and Nenai both stiffled chuckles.
In the hallway, the eavesdropping Kakashi was trying to get rid of a sudden headache by virtue of introducing his head to said wall a few times.
---
I'd _meant_ to do a bit of the Orochimaru vs Team Kakashi/Team Gai/Team Kurenai fight in the Forest of Death, but this came out instead.
Go figure.
-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