I bought a little bunny/The Seven Substitute Shinobi

[drakensis]

TXY!-Shikanenai
Ninjutsu: 4
Taijutsu: 3.5
Genjutsu: 2
Intelligence: 4
Power: 2.5
Speed: 3.5
Stamina: (physical 3/chakra 4)
Fuuinjutsu: 2
SSS-Shikanenai
Ninjutsu: 4
Taijutsu: 3.5
Genjutsu: 2
Intelligence: 4
Power: 1.5
Speed: 3.0
Stamina: (physical 2/chakra 2)
Fuuinjutsu: 2
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[drakensis]

Because I was starting to lose track of what had been posted here, I've strung the little snippets together.
www.100megsfree4.com/drak...inobi.html
There's a new skit inserted there as well.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[drakensis]

Adult Shikanenai has a proper shirt instead of that mesh, and he has a proper Nara-class pineapple hairdo, adopted after he joined Gai's team because he figured that it was claim family tradition or get a bowl cut.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[Rieverre]

TXY!-Katsu
Ninjutsu: 4.5
Taijutsu: 4
Genjutsu: 3.5
Intelligence: 3.5
Power: 4
Speed: 4
Stamina: (physical 4/chakra 4)
Fuuinjutsu: 3
SSS-Katsu
Ninjutsu: 4.5
Taijutsu: 4
Genjutsu: 3.5
Intelligence: 3.5
Power: 2.5
Speed: 2.5
Stamina: (physical 2.5/chakra 2.5)
Fuuinjutsu: 3

or something like that. I hate stats-work.
Oh, and because I've finally gotten around to watching Mai HiME ... yes, Kiyohime would fit in very well. Umm ... well, aside from the whole 'metallic look' thing.
Speaking of which, Shizuru as the Jinchuuriki? Hehe. She's got moments where she's almost as psycho as snakeface.
SSS-Katsu:

The Mist-genin version has short, somewhat darker hair. Post Fenrir Katsu gained the shaggily longish-haired look and never bothered to do away with it, hence it's included in the Leaf-nin version.
If you strain your imagination, you can say the squiggly wing thing at the bottom of the pants' legs is a Leaf spiral. I added that 'vest' because the longer one looked a little too bulky. In the month between the prelims and the third part of the chunin exam, he loses said vest in favor of a jacket much like the one he'd worn as a jounin, with the hitai-ite as the front latch of its collar.

-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

[classicdrogn]

---

If you strain your imagination, you can say the squiggly wing thing at the bottom of the pants' legs is a Leaf spiral.

---

Actually, it looks a lot like the Hyuuga fireball - if the wide part at the top was clipped down straight toward the center of the spiral instead of meeting the ouside edge, it would be the same. At least, I think it's the Hyuuga clan insignia, I only remember seeing it on wall scrolls there and embroidered in Hinata's kimono in a flashback - it could just be a fire country thing, or an archaic version of the symbol before it was modified to reflect the leaf-floating-over-forehead chakra control excercise Iruka mentions at one point.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"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

[drakensis]

There's a little bar not far from the Academy where the teachers gather when they need to let off a little steam. They can be surprisingly territorial about the bar as being their place. The owner didn't mind - they were steady custom and reasonably unlikely to break the furniture. And very few ninja were willing to contest the teacher's dominance, since it was virtually certain that one of them would remember some blackmail-worthy anecdote about your Academy days.
Jounin-sensei were allowed in as honorary members. These days Kakashi hardly ever had to pay for his drinks when he dropped in there.
This wasn't just because Kurenai Yuuhi had offered a week of neck rubs to anyone who could find out what was under his mask, although hope sprang eternal among some of the younger teachers.
No, it was because after a couple of beers in that particular bar, Hayate Kakashi would spill all, proving that even he, the mighty Sharingan Kakashi, Copy-Ninja of Konoha, had trouble dealing with ninja brats.
It just gave the teachers a warm feeling.
There was a ritual to the process. The whispering when he walked in, decorated with whatever detritius of the day's mission and/or training, as wagers were settled up or made on what he'd have to say. The invitation to pull up a stool and have a drink on one of the younger teachers. The tale of whatever hijinks had entailed in the Academy that day, by that same teacher. The purchase of a round by one of the older teachers. That teacher's tale, taken from the days of their relative youth, usually featuring a well-known or fondly recalled ninja.
And then someone, anyone, would pass Kakashi his third mug (the first two having been steadily emptied despite never being seen near the jounin's face).
"That Kirigishi brat," he sighed. "I just don't know what's going on inside his head."
"Half the time, I think he's so Mist that it's a good job we don't use the old Mist genin exam. We'd have another Demon of the Mist in our midst."
"And sometimes..." he sighed. "When I find out who sold him a copy of Icha-Icha Paradise, I'm going to cut the idiot's heart out. With the handle of a kunai."
Several questions sprang to mind among his audience: why a kunai? How to best punish whoever sold it to a twelve-year-old? Why was Kakashi not happy that his student shared his taste in literature?
Kakashi looked around and then held up one finger. "Because it will hurt more." A second finger. "See point one." Third finger. "Because anytime he wants to avoid a question he just buries his nose in the damn thing and says:" His voice was pitched into an almost perfect imitation of his student. "Well, I _am_ a student of the Copy Ninja Kakashi. You wouldn't believe the things you can pick up from a sensei like that."D for Drakensis
Contagious, rampant insanity isnt against the rules.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[Rieverre]

*laughs* Kami, Drake, that was a bloody brilliant setup.
I salute you.
Oh, and here (mind, I'm down with fever and a headache, so there may be errors):
---
Rolling fields, a shallow valley with what passed for a river squirming its way along its bottom, land off in the distance, just before the treeline, where the livestock would be put out to pasture ... Biigaru Village lay cradled in a bend of the so called river, several bridges leading to its smaller offshot that sat snugly against the outside of the bend's outer bow.
"Not much left," Shikanenai's eyes scanned the ground, catching traces of past movement here and there, the occasional clearer trail as well. "No real struggle after the ox was brought down, though. Looks like whatever did it was either big enough or had enough momentum to take in one pounce."
"Mm," Katsu nodded, standing off to the side. He motioned outwards with one hand, using a kunai to point. "Came from there, I'm guessing. Big paws, good spread, you can barely see any scuffs, much less actual tracks."
"Maaa ... if this were anywhere even close to the border with the Stone, or remotely in that direction," the crouching Leaf-nin mused aloud, not rising from his crouch.
"Their mountain cat summons," Katsu concurred.
"Wrong terrain, wrong direction, wrong ..." 'Nenai shrugged and stood. "And it's too big."
"Besides which," Katsu replaced the kunai in its vest holster. "They wouldn't eat everything, skin, bones ..."
"Well, at least we're closer to finding out what _isn't_ doing it."
"It's a cat," Katsu closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "At the barest basics. That much fits."
"Territorial," Shikanenai added, remembering the rough spread of what the villagers had reported of where the attacks had taken place. The sort of spread that formed as a result _did_ fit. "New territory?"
"Could be. There've been no prior reports of this sort of thing, according to what Neshan dug up from the archives before we left," the Mist expatriate breathed once, deeply, tension leaving his body as his eyes opened again. "A chicken or two missing, then blood in a pen and a pig gone, then an old ox, a few random occurrences in-between, then this."
Shikanenai shook his head slightly at the dismissal of two 'missing' people and one child as a 'random, in-between occurrence', then reconsidered. "Steadily bigger, steadily stronger."
"It's quiet enough to snatch someone in the middle of a village, even if it was night," the paper user continued, bringing what abridged details he'd gotten from the village chief before they'd separated from Kakashi and Neshan to investigate the sites of the attacks while those two would look into the village itself. What was left of those sites, anyway.
"It doesn't have a scent," he heard Katsu add, speaking quietly. Then he fixed Nenai with a brief look. "Trust me on this. And no, you don't want to know."
"Some sort of ... embodied chakra spirit?"
Katsu shook his head. "No. Something physical. That sort of chakra summon would need to feed off chakra, which would leave skin and bones as it forced the prey's body to cannibalize its muscle mass, fat, even some organs."
It was Shikanenai's turn to shoot Katsu a look.
"Ran into some on a mission on the East Continent," Katsu looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Distinctly unpleasant experience ..." he left off with a shrug.
"So, you're saying it's trying to get all the ... mass, it can? Regeneration?"
"Assuming it was injured and chased out of its former territory, not just ... dormant around here. Maybe growth, in that case."
Nenai grimaced. "Too many uncertainties."
"Look on the bright side."
"_You're_ seeing a bright side?" The Nara replied instinctively, then frowned. Katsu _had_ been getting a little less gloomy and moody as they'd made their way from the village, but he'd put it down to the fact that they were moving and too busy to actually pull that sort of thing.
"Mm," Katsu grinned wryly. "At least we're sure it's not the Nibi no Nekomata. Well, unless the villagers are better at hiding an outbreak of sickness and dead men walking."
"And you'd ... smell the stench," Nenai stated rather than asked.
"And I'd smell the stench," nodded Katsu.
---
-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

[Happerry]

Is it the Ninetails regenerating its body?

[Rieverre]

Ninetails? Nah.
We've pretty much established it's a cat demon/creature of some sort (hence the Nibi no Nekomata crack), and I'd be more than happy to go with Neshan's suggestion and pick a Mughi template for it, at least for how it looks. Maybe make it a minor psychic vampire, which takes in its prey's memories when it consumes them.
Maybe a minor demon or youkai that this edition of the schemer!Kyubi had chased from its normal haunting grounds, tearing up its essence a little? Maybe it really is some sort of rogue (or not so rogue) nin-beast, though it'd have to be a really weird one. Maybe some of the villagers were messing with something they shouldn't have. The only thing the snippet I posted actually establishes is that it isn't a natural big cat.
-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

[Happerry]

Maybe the Kyuubi destroyed its body and it needs the mass for a new one as without a body its spirit is slowly becoming unstable?

[classicdrogn]

One of the endgame bits from the start was that kyuubi was going to stir up a bunch of minions/lesser youkai and send them at Konoha for revenge, so I rather suspect that's where this is going. Of course, I'm just kibbutzing on this one, so my word is hardly law.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"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

[drakensis]

I've been puzzling over how to make the Forest of Death work as a challenge to Team7. After all, with no Sharingan up for grabs it's unlikely that Orochimaru would seek them out. Also, if we go with the sneaking into the classroom bit then Lee hasn't had a chance to challenge anyone to a fight. We can't be that cruel to fuzzy-eyebrows, can we?
What occurs to me is that without Sharingan (unless Orochimaru goes after Itachi) Mr. Bodyswap might try to get hold of Byakugan. After all, Hinata is a relatively easy target - she's one of the less formidable genin in the exam, even with the protection of Kiba and Shino.
So have Orochimaru go after them only to have Team 7 and Team Gai turn up. While they can't actually defeat him, it's not unreasonable for them to divert him long enough for someone to get Hinata away and hide. At which point, with the arrival of more teams, drawn by the noise of the running battle, Orochimaru makes like a tree and leaves (bad-dum!) moving onto phase two of the plan: replacing the Kazekage.
Now in the aftermath of this, Lee could have noticed all sorts of things that could lure him into pitting his explosive power of youth against one of Team7. Katsu using unfamiliar Mist taijutsu, Shikanenai using some weird variant of Dragon-style taijutsu, Neshan being able to briefly go toe-to-toe with a Sannin. So once they get to the tower, before the third round begins, he asks for a sparring match against one of them.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[classicdrogn]

... I'm trying to imagine Hinata with one of Orochimaru's curse seals, and scarily enough, it's working. I mean, just look at Hell Sakura to see how the ache to not be 'the weak one' any more can go wrong...
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"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

[Valles]

A few relevant sources.

---

Chakra-conductive ink was expensive. More, since it lacked blood's connection to its user's chakra, it demanded greater precision to achieve the same results. Given these facts, and given that a pricked finger could be expected to heal in minutes at most, most ninja saw no need to bother with the stuff.
There was, however, one advantage to using it - that being that a properly handled pen could produce far finer lines, and, hence, far more complex results, than the simple smears left behind a fingertip.
In short, ink was an expert's tool, and somehow it didn't surprise Kakashi to learn that Neshan kept three seperate wells of the stuff in his pack.
What he was doing with it, though, would have been a surprise no matter what - not so much because it should be beyond a Genin's ability (the Jounin was well on his way to expecting that), as because it was something he couldn't follow.
"So?"
Neshan frowned at the glowing smears of light hovering above the intricate tracery covering the sheet of paper he'd laid out over the grassy yard where the first of the attacks against humans had occured. "Demon. Not a type I know, thought the pattern has some similarities to a nekomata. Teleportive power, probably quite intelligent. Eats meat but not chakra, so probably something else I can't trace without knowing to look for ahead of time."
"Can you track it?" Both of them had completely forgotten their usual, half-serious quarrels - this was a mission, and a serious one, with no time for personality conflicts.
"...Yes. But I'll need a fresher trail. A few hours, at most." In other words, not until it struck again. "What did you learn from the villagers?"
Kakashi had mostly been monitoring their environment while the younger ninja concentrated on his work, but that hadn't kept him from talking to the people who had gathered to watch. "No one saw or heard anything. There were a few catlike tracks and a scuff mark where the body seemed to have fallen - but otherwise, the victims vanished completely."
"So it either eats fast, or it's taking them with it."
"Can you determine which?"
"Not here. There was an ox lost a few days ago, right? That'll be fresh enough."
"Maa... let's go, then."
"Right."

---

For as long as that took to write, it's embarrassingly short. Arg.
Ja, -n
(ETA: Annoying typo corrected.)
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[classicdrogn]

Another worthy source in fanfic crossover form.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"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

[drakensis]

---

... I'm trying to imagine Hinata with one of Orochimaru's curse seals, and scarily enough, it's working. I mean, just look at Hell Sakura to see how the ache to not be 'the weak one' any more can go wrong...

---

Hmm, yeah. If we go with that I'd be thinking that she obediently doesn't use the seal when she's fighting Neji. And thus get's beat down even worse, with him mocking her savagely for not using byakugan as the fact that she can't safely do so is classified.
Well, she's tried being a good girl, and see where that got her?
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[classicdrogn]

Well, among other things, unless he somehow actively discourages/insults her, an angry, "bad girl" Hinata would be likely to stop hiding aorund the corner from any crush she might have, thoguh I'm not sure if the "hopelss crushing" thing was switched to Neshan-on-Hina or (unrealized) both ways in the SSS timeline. Either way, he could damn sure give better support than Sakura to Sasuke, where she was still trying the same unsuccessful emotional tactics that had annoyed him for the past several years, while Neshan has an adult attitude and could hold out hope of properly controlling or even removing the seal.
Depending on when in TXY you guys are pulled from, (Like, right around the Chuunin finals) he might have already figured out how to do it for TXY-Sasuke, though for plot purposes it's going to be a slow cure - a counterseal that disentangles the curse gradually from its ties to the bearer's chakra system to prevent another possibly-lethal shock, only slightly better at holding back the curse activation than Kakashi's and unable to remove one that's been used too much, or in place too long.
And now I want to go find a picture of Hinata doing her scowly-Byakugan-active face, and add on the Heaven Seal flame tattoos. Not gonna... not gonna... ack! My fingers are slipping! No!
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"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

[drakensis]

Shikanenai hummed a happy tune as he leant on the rail that was all that stood between him and plunging headfirst into the Chuunin Exam's arena. Notionally he was supposed to be waiting for his match on a balcony set aside for contest. Like most rules he encountered, however, Shikanenai was treating that expectation as the merest of guidelines, easily set aside should the need arise.
A few yards along the rail stood Shikamaru, who, having lost his own preliminary match was in fact more or less where he should be - the three of them were standing between the rail and the rank of frontrow seats reserved for the genin who had failed to secure a place in the finals.
Three?
Yes, for between the two Nara boys stood another genin, this one not looking at all her usual meek self.
Hyuuga Hinata looked down at the arena where Neshan and Neji were about to engage in one of the spectacles of chakra-driven carnage that most of the audience had come to see.
Almost idly she tested the restraint of the dual shadow-binding that the two shinobi had laid upon her. Nope. She still couldn't move, although the black markings of Orochimaru's curse seal still rose and fell up and down her neck towards her pale face.
"If you let me go, I promise that I'll only maim him severely?" she offered grudgingly, eyes still fixed on her cousin.
"Is that a promise in the same sense of your promise to prevent either of us from ever siring another generation of the Nara clan if we didn't let you go an hour ago?" Shikanenai asked absently.
Hinata growled softly and from well behind her, Ino and Kiba cowered behind the mass of Chouji. Shikamaru was severely tempted to join them. Bloodline heiresses with cursed chakra-boosting seals were so troublesome...
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[classicdrogn]

"I promise..."
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"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

[Sweno]

I'm happily geeking out over all this new content to read, but I'm having a hard time keeping track of what happens in one verse and what happens in another.
To my knowledge we have:
TNGH: www.fanfiction.net/s/2650795/1/
SSS: this thread (or parts of it)
Some sort of Sailor Moon / Naurto cross worldbuilding exercise (mainly based @ plotbunny at crunchtime)
Team Explosive Youth (TXY: I forget where this is)
anybody want to help me straighten this out in my head (or in this case on 'paper')?-Terry
------
"in comes a man in cameo with a american flag, because american flags float around in the wilderness." - Mike Keon
Please Remember: People are stupid... Programers are people.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

[Valles]

Welp...
Team Explosive Youth is the story of Shinobi Team Six - Maito Gai, Rock Lee, Uzumaki Naruto, and Maito Rikou, stet? Various avatar characters of denizens of these here boards we're talking on are scheduled to appear as background characters, including the local dimensional counterpart of the poor soul who got drafted to save a universe a couple over (that being the one where TGNH happens). Some of the other background/secondary characters scheduled for the later parts of TXY are DCs of the sailor senshi, and all of these planned minor-role types have been nagging at CD's muse - and everyone else's - for larger parts to play.
SSS is a sort of tongue-in-cheek take on what happens when you yank the three avatarial characters in TXY out of their native venue and feed them some fountain of youth water before dropping them smack dab in place of the canon Team 7.
That help?
Ja, -n
(Picturing Hinata's Curse Seal as looking like a particularly dramatic and decorative piece of pattern-welded steel, lord only knows why.)
((ETA: Specifically, the one shown here and used to illustrate this article.))
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[classicdrogn]

To put it another way... TGNH came first, then some bunnies pounced me and with considerable encouracgement I started TXY. In the course of getting it started, a local dimensional counterpart of Nathan's avatar in TGNH was created in TXY to be a second stringer, and then Greiver made a suggestion and I gave him a similar avatar spot, and things kind of snowballed from there, and then bunny herd #3 overtook Nathan and Griever and Drakensis and all of their avatars as shown in TXY planning got pulled to SSS. Because I am an obsessive freak about continuity, I'm trying very hard to keep the parts of TXY's world and backstory that aren't deliberately different in relative sync with TGNH, toguh there is no direct relationship otherwise.
RE Hinata's curse seal - I agree that the pattern on that blade would make for a striking one, but I don't think I'm up to drawing something that intricate ayself... If you want to give it a try, the base image I used is from vol9, ch80, p6, and is from the chuunin exam finals preliminary round - I erased some of the grime & blood her face and shrunk the chin, but the curse seal bits are copied form Sasuke when he woke up and disjointed Zaku's shoulders.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"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

[Sweno]

Thanks for straightening things out.
The most confusing bit had to be that I knew they were interconnected in some fashion, but the genealogy escaped me.-Terry
------
"in comes a man in cameo with a american flag, because american flags float around in the wilderness." - Mike Keon
Please Remember: People are stupid... Programers are people.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

[drakensis]

Gatoh sneered. "It's a good job I never planned to pay you anything, Zabusa... you and your apprentice are both useless!"
Zabusa snarled and pulled out a kunai but before he could do anything, a shadow crept out from beneath the bridge, where even muted by the mist, the sun still cast deep shadows, and seized at his ankles.
"What!" the shipping magnate gasped. "I can't move!"
Eerie laughter came from behind him and a shadowy shape appeared at the unfinished end of the bridge, almost featureless, a gray shape whose edges were blurred by the mists. "What evil lurks in the hearts of men?" boomed the spectre. "The Shadow knows..." he laughed, advancing upon the frozen Gatoh, who was slolwy forced to turn his head until he could see the figure out of the corner of his eye.
"Protect me!" Gatoh screamed at his men, who wavered between attacking the ninja at one end of the bridge or the weird enitity at the other. None of them recognised the ninja sign for 'hurry' sketched by one hand of the new arrival.
Neshan and Katsu charged, naginata and gauntlet ripping into the front rank of the thugs. A moment later, Zabusa and Kakashi came to some mutual agreement and followed the genin, kunai flashing in their hands. Kakashi fought coolly, efficiently keeping the thugs from the backs of the younger ninja as they crashed through the crowd; but Zabusa was recklessness incarnate, bleeding from a dozen wounds as he overtook them and headed for his target. "Gatoh!" he howled. "I'm coming for you!"
"Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea," gloated the spectre that had almost reached Gatoh. It flicked it's hand and a long scythe of some pale material materialised in it's hand. One of the thugs drive a spear at it, but a moment later his head was bouncing along the bridge as his body collapsed to the floor.
The spectre laughed again and one of the thugs ran to the side of the bridge and jumped off it, hoping that the water would be more hospitable. Others followed him, abandoning Gatoh to his fate and their comrades to the mercy of the ninja.
From beneath the bridge, hanging by his feet from one of the pylons, Shikanenai restrained his chuckles at the sight of Gatoh's men splashing towards the shore or their boats, completely demoralised. He couldn't really spare the attention after all, maintaining the shadow binding on Gatoh and the Kage Bushin that was menacing the man with an origami weapon was demanding a lot of his concentration.
----------------------------------------------------
Shikanenai looked at his opponent and then shrugged. "I'm going to give you a chance to surrender now," he said in a clear voice, "While you still have your dignity. Because I warn you now - I've already won this battle."
His opponent snorted. "You've got a big head, leaf-nin. But you're way out of your league."
The spiky-haired ninja smirked. "Okay then - how about we settle this with a simple wager? If you meet my challenge, I'll concede. If you fail... well, I don't think that you'll be in any condition to continue. But if you want to fight it out then I'll humour you."
The Sand-nin hesitated, looking for the trap. "What's your challenge?" he asked.
"Henge no jutsu," Shikanenai said. "I bet that you can't use a henge to disguise yourself as me."
"What!?"
Shikanenai raised his eyebrows. "Want me to repeat myself? Having trouble hearing me under that get-up of yours?"
"Hah!" Kankuro snorted. "You can't even dream of how good my henge is! We'll be so alike your own mother could't tell the difference!" His hands flickered through the seals and ninja smoke began to form around him, only to dissipate as a sudden sensation stripped away his concentration. "What the - !?" he yelped incredulously. In desperation, the ninja removed his wraps, revealing that the 'Kankuro' who faced Shikanenai was merely a puppet and that it was the the bundle on the puppet's back that was the Kazekage's eldest son. He clutched at his belly in a panic and then fell to his knees. "Oh gods, oh gods," he gasped before decorating the floor with his breakfast. "What did you do to me, you bastard!?"
Not far from the two boys, Shiranui Genma sniffed the air and grimaced. Whatever Shikanenai had done, it was evident that Kankuro had done his pants.
There was a gurgling sound from Kankuro's belly and a horrified expression crossed his face. "Stop it!"
"You know what to say," Shikanenai replied evenly. "Just two little words." He tilted his head to one side and examined the boy smugly. "You might want to hurry..."
"I SURRENDER!" Kankuro shouted. "I quit! Just stop it!"
Shikanenai glanced at Genma, who nodded. "Please do," requested the jounin. "It's quite unpleasent."
"Maa..." Shikanenai sighed and made a mental note to thank Katsu for the nose plugs. "Listen, Kankuro. Do a Horse seal and channel a little chakra. That should sort you out."
Groaning and twitching, trying to ignore what was happening to him, Kankuro complied. Almost immediately, the sensations began to fade away, although he was still faced with the consequences. No longer distracted by his situation, it only took him a few minutes to deduce how Shikanenai had achieved the effect. "You utter bastard," he gasped. "I wouldn't have believed that even a Leaf-nin would sink to it."
"Now, now," Shikanenai said. "I wouldn't suggest that you try to channel any of your chakra for a couple of hours. And you'd probably better not have any solid foods today either."
Genma looked dubious, the crowd above them muttering uncertainly. "That is a bit low," he observed. "You're supposed to fight him, you know."
Shikanenai shrugged. "We were given a month to prepare," he said reasonably. "Sneaking a chakra-sensitive drug into his breakfast this morning struck me as a very effective form of preparation. It wasn't easy either, I can assure you."
The muttering from above seemed split between anger at the failure of the fight to involve actual fighting and amusement at the plight of the Sand-nin. A ripple of chuckles was spreading as Genma shurgged and upheld the victory.
Up on the highest balcony, the Kazekage turned to look at the Hokage. "That's an interesting approach..." he murmured, his face impossible to read behind its veil. The Hokage simply grunted and tugged the brim of his hat lower over his face.
"Weak," muttered Gaara of the Desert from his place among the other finalists.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[Rieverre]

*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