I bought a little bunny/The Seven Substitute Shinobi

[classicdrogn]

... an' now I got so many bunnies, I don't know what to do! Please mister, you wanna buy a bunny? (From a Spike Jones song, IIRC)
(since I couldn't find a bunny thread in the past three pages or so that wasn't either a specific setting or co-opted to discuss and develope one of the bunnies)

So... redhead, bright green eyes, floral name... Suppose Lily Evans was Haruno Lily instead? It's at least a hook to hang a HP/Naruto on, if you have a plot to be hung.
- CD
ETA: Also, you know how they say that everyone is the hero in their own mind, be they protagonist or antagonist? Well, I just figured out a possible justification Akatsuki can use - they're capturi8ng these dangerous, insane demon vessels and getting them out of circulation, and whatever their final goal, they certainly believe that the benefits - probably mainly to themselves, granted - outweigh the damage done along the way.
Edit: TitleThat which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Next morning, Harry found himself butt-naked in the other side of town, mouth tasting of lima beans. - from Uzumaki Harry by Shadow Crystal Mage
--
"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]

Potter. Meh.
Still worth seeing, given as who it's coming from, but, just... meh.
Here's one that's been gnawing on me, though:

---

"Beginning today, all of you are real ninja - but you are still merely rookie genin. The hard part has just started. Now, you will soon be assigned duties by the village, so today we will be creating the three-man teams... and each team will have a Jounin as sensei. You will follow that sensei's instructions as you complete the assigned duties." Umino Iruka paused and looked out over his latest class of students, then coughed into his fist quietly and began to read through the list of teams, eventually reaching...
He blinked and shook himself slightly, and tried to figure out why his trained ninja's instincts were insisting that something was off as he read out the next team.
"Team Seven - Kirigishi Katsu, Nara Shikanenai, and Bakusuta Neshan. Team Eight..."
===========

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

[Logan Darklighter]

for the poor sucker who has to teach them. Cruel and unusual punishment indeed. o.O

[classicdrogn]

All these fics where the ninja are hired as bosyguars who can live with the kids, and Naruto ends up in Gryffindor? BUllshit. Yeah, he cas courage, but Naruto's defining traits are loyalty to his precious people and hard work - hufflepuff to the core. Sasuke in Slytherin, now that one's obvious, but Sakura in Ravenclaw is bull, too, when she's devoted to the Uchiha brat to the point where she lets her skills suffer in favor of trying to look attractive. Maybe after the chuunin exams, more likely after the timeskip, but before then? Not a chance. Kabuto, with the sheer balls to be a deep cover spy for years, and probably Choji could go Gryf, while Shikamaru and the Hyuuga genin seem likely Ravenclaws. Tenten could be Slytherin, since the only thing we really know about her personality is that her goal is to be like the famous Tsunade of the San-nin.
Bah... It's not like I'm going to write a Potterfic of any stripe any time soon; wile I can read them if they're divergent enoguh I can't bloody stand re-reading the actual books to get the events straight.
- CDThat which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Next morning, Harry found himself butt-naked in the other side of town, mouth tasting of lima beans. - from Uzumaki Harry by Shadow Crystal Mage
--
"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

[Rieverre]

Tell you what, Nate. If/when TXY gets rolling and actually reaches some decent length, we'll do the spinoff where the three get caught in some sort of weird jutsu/demon/whatever related thingamabob and this happens. But for that we'd need an actual plot, not just a concept.
Ja?
-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/when TXY gets rolling and actually reaches some decent length

---

(winces at the hit) Yes, well, I've been actively trying, but staring at a screen for an hour usually results in a bit of editing on what's already there, and maybe two or three new sentences (and if you can find a post that I didn't go back and edit you'll know why that's not neccessarily as bad as all that) - a couple paragraphs if I'm luckier. Now, starting up classes again, so I'll have homework to be procrastinating on, is more likely to get things flowing, and given how completely apathetic I've been about Bubblegum Disaster for the past year or more, while TXY is fresh... yeah, better not finish that statement.
- CDThat which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Next morning, Harry found himself butt-naked in the other side of town, mouth tasting of lima beans. - from Uzumaki Harry by Shadow Crystal Mage
--
"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]

---

Tell you what, Nate. If/when TXY gets rolling and actually reaches some decent length, we'll do the spinoff where the three get caught in some sort of weird jutsu/demon/whatever related thingamabob and this happens. But for that we'd need an actual plot, not just a concept.
Ja?

---

Un!
Actually, part of what I was thinking was that all three of them basically went from however old they were in their normal lives to being twelve in Iruka's classroom with no warning whatsoever. Even given that this was supposed to be TGNH!Neshan rather than TXY!, he was still as clueless as to what was actually happening as the other two.
As to what that is... well, my first thought is that Team 7 is Missing. Missing to a degree that even a might-as-well-be-a-god can't track them. They're not dead, just... gone. If there's no Team 7, then the bad guys win - and, while the original three can be put back where they should be, if they can be found, there are standins needed in the meantime.
Given what they were facing in canon, and that there are probably other factors already in place that'd make things even worse, those replacements can't be just any random genin off the street.
Ja, -n
===========

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

[Logan Darklighter]

Hrm... that'd be interesting for Katsu... suddenly going from Mist to Leaf nin. Not to mention, you'd have a lot of knowledge - shinobi wise - beyond that of a genin, and at the very least, emotional maturity. And, even if TGNH!Neshan doesn't know what's going on, he knows what basically happens to Team 7. As soon as he figures out whose roles he's playing, he'll have a considerable edge up. It'd be fun to see though -- but going with your previous explanation, sending three people to a dimension - even if each isn't a Hell!Sakura sorta deal - would rather unbalance... so it'd be interesting to see what you three's albatross turns out to be. =P

[Valles]

Well, besides the meta reason (ie, that all three of them are authorial avatars), I figure that, 1, the threat they're supposed to hold the line against is to the entire world rather than just one village, and 2, that Katsu doesn't strike me as the sort to be much of a patriot - that he works for Mist because he is (and his friends are) in Mist, rather than because he cares about the village per se.
The knowledge and emotional maturity thing would be at least half the fun, I think. ^_^ Physically and in chakra, I had been thinking, they're where they were when they were really twelve. Among other things, this means that a simple Katon no Jutsu will put Neshan out for the rest of the week. ^_^
My first thought for the albatross, just in a brainstorming kind of sense, is that Naruto is gone.
Naruto!=Kyuubi. And maybe he's not nearly as strong as he was before he got sealed, but he's also going to make the same mistake twice - oh no, this time he's bringing friends, and not just a few of them.
Well, minions, anyway.
Ja, -n
===========

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

[Rieverre]

---

2, that Katsu doesn't strike me as the sort to be much of a patriot - that he works for Mist because he is (and his friends are) in Mist, rather than because he cares about the village per se.

---

*nod* That's a pretty accurate assessment.

---

The knowledge and emotional maturity thing would be at least half the fun, I think. ^_^ Physically and in chakra, I had been thinking, they're where they were when they were really twelve. Among other things, this means that a simple Katon no Jutsu will put Neshan out for the rest of the week. ^_^

---

And Katsu's going to feel very weird sans scars. Also, stuck in a place he really doesn't know very well, without any idea where he's supposed to, y'know, _live_. Or with whom ... *snicker*
*scene - Katsu and Neshan standing in the streets of Konoha on the next day, with Katsu half-glaring at a liquor store*
Neshan: Look, we're all upset about this, but I doubt drinking yourself into a stupor is going to help ... even if you could get your hands on the alcohol.
Katsu: I probably could. I mean, oi, assassin here? Eh. What's the use ...
Neshan: Yeesh, what's got you so damn constipated today?
Katsu: Remember Mizuno Yuki?
Neshan*blinks*: The medic nin you were being all friendly with when the delegation from the Mist came after ...?
Katsu*nods**hands Neshan a picture from his wallet*: Here's a photo of this 'me' and his mother.
Neshan*looks at photo**winces*: Vey. Okay, you have a point.
Katsu*deadpan*: No, I have issues.

---

Naruto!=Kyuubi. And maybe he's not nearly as strong as he was before he got sealed, but he's also going to make the same mistake twice - oh no, this time he's bringing friends, and not just a few of them.

---

Solid. And amusing, considering some of the things I'd been considering for Katsu's backstory. *zips it*
-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]

oh, hey, good news in terms of getting TXY rolling - I finally got a keyoard that wants to work with my iPaq today! For some reason, even siting in the same place with a laptop and tryiung to write doesn't work as well for me as a PDA, but tappy-screen-keyboards suck much hinder. Maybe the tiny little screen is less psychologically intimidating, or something... but whatever it is, it usually seems to work.
- CD is a happy bunny rancheroThat which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Next morning, Harry found himself butt-naked in the other side of town, mouth tasting of lima beans. - from Uzumaki Harry by Shadow Crystal Mage
--
"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

[katreus]

Naruto!=Kyuubi. And maybe he's not nearly as strong as he was before he got sealed, but he's also going to make the same mistake twice - oh no, this time he's bringing friends, and not just a few of them.

Sounds interesting. It's been done a couple times though -- not so many as more attacking the village but more demons sealed in other people or just more demons in general. If you do this, I'm looking forward to what y'all come up with. What sorta timeline are you looking at for the attack on the village? And what about Akatsuki's mission? Granted, they're power-hungry people, but they don't seem like the kind of people to give their lives up for it (no use having the opportunity to have power at your fingertips if you're dead -_-). This assumes, though, that they're still around in that form since there's no handy Naruto to parade around as potential power locked up in a relatively unskilled boy.
Edit: I fail at all sorts of tags apparently. ;_;

[drakensis]

The thought of Shikanenai being trained by Kakashi, Konohagakure's other most annoying jounin sparked off an explanation for why Kakashi tends to stand on the torii at the bridge he uses as a meeting spot for Team 7, rather than on the brodge itself.
"Ohayo!" Kakashi said, poofing into existence on the bridge.
"Hope we didn't rush you," said one of the two genin waiting for him.
Hmmm, something wrong there, Kakashi thought. One, two... Neshan, Katsu... "Ara... where's Shikanenai?"
At that point he felt a hand latch onto his ankles and with a crash was dragged through the wooden decking to land on the water underneath. And since the water wasn't all that far below the bridge, prompty cracked his head on one of the support beams.
"I don't think the Groundhog Technique Decaptitation is supposed to be used like that," he told boy who melted out of the shadows under the bridge.
Shikanenai grunted something about lazy assholes deserving a bath and swung himself up through the new hole in the decking two seconds before the explosive tags in the water disrupted the water tension that Kakashi's chakra was latching onto.
D for Drakensis

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

[Bob Schroeck]

Just noticed your first post here, tjalorak! Welcome to the forums!

-- Bob
---------
For Jor-El so loved the Earth, he sent his only begotten son...

[Rieverre]

Hatake Kakashi didn't know if he should be happy or annoyed as they escorted the bridge builder along. He'd been giving himself headaches, trying to understand what was going on in the minds of these kids, ever since the Bell Test.
Annoyed would be an option, because he hadn't yet managed the feat.
Happy would be an option, because they relatively quiet as they walked.
The Nara would have appeared similar to his brother of the recent Ino-Shika-Cho reincarnation genin team, but, as Kakashi had - much to his chagrin - found out, he responded to things with the sort of temper he'd have likened to that of the Yamanaka girl ... except that, where she used a tongue that was perhaps sharper than most of the best kunai forged in Konoha, he preferred more direct means of making his displeasure known. Liked to use excessive amounts of explosive notes. Which hurt.
Bakusuta Neshan ... good control and technique, poor reserves, and made up for it with weapons. Lost of weapons. And explosive notes. Lots of explosive notes. More than the Nara. Did he mention how much those hurt yet? Currently, he was loaded down with several scroll rolls, and while Kakashi would have normally looked at that more than a little oddly, he'd taken a peek at what the boy had been putting on them ... and while the Copy-Ninja wasn't a seal specialist, he had trained under the Yondaime, who'd in turn trained under Jiraiya ... some of the seals he'd seen the kid using had made him blink and reach for a reasearch book other than his beloved Icha Icha.
And Kirigishi just plain felt _off_. While his knowledge of Suitons could be explained away by the fact that his mother was an Mist-nukenin who'd sought out shelter in Konhagakure, the sort of killer instinct he'd shown during the Test ...
"Five minute break," Kirigishi Katsu said, cracking his neck, and stopping when his foot splashed a bit of a water from a puddle on the side of the road. "I need to take a piss."
And then he'd act like that.
Kakashi sighed, shrugged, and scanned the treeline with what looked like a casual motion, noting the positioning of the puddle without as much as a glance. Well, at least the boredom would likely stop.
A few minutes later the kid was back and they were walking again, when the noise of water being shifted reached them.
There was a whistle of air, and a sound that didn't quite fit into ...
*splorch* went Katsu, a formless mass of water falling to the ground where he'd been walking not a moment earlier.
Kakashi and the others spun around.
*crack* went the kunai that had penetrated into a Mist-nin's skull via ear canal, driven by Katsu's hand. The other hand was reaching the Mist-nin's armored glove, which had a razor-chain connecting said Mist-nin to the _second_ Mist-nin, who was currently in the air.
*ching* went the chain as Katsu's hand moved _something_ on the armored glove that made said chain go taut, after which the Leaf-genin yanked the spastic body of the kunai-lobotomized Mist-nin back and around, pulling the airborne one off course as well.
The Mist-nin rolled with the impact as best he could ... and stopped dead, or nearly so, when he was caught by Shikanenai's Shadow Bind, and a naginata (where the hell did _that_ come from?) held to his throat by Neshan.
The whole affair took less than three seconds.
"Well," Katsu said, twisting the kunai sticking out of the dead Mist-nin's ear with an audible wet sound. "I think our pay-grade just went up a notch, ne, Hatake-san?"
***snip***
---
Yes, Katsu would not be taking the dislocation very well, or very calmly. The typical Leaf low level missions weren't exactly helping. He's also a former Mist-nin specializing in assassination, so his knowledge of the Demon Brothers' favored tactics is justified.
-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

[Foxboy]

So for this AU team seven, Neshan takes Sakura's role, and Katsu is the team's Sasuke. This should make our remaining author-avatar ninja very nervous...
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[katreus]

Thanks Bob. ^^ Although I've been here awhile... I just never registered. o.O
Shikanei as Naruto... the mind boggles. At least he seems he'll cause as much, er, trouble as Naruto, even if his tastes run to explosion tags and not pranks.

[classicdrogn]

But to a practising ninja, isn't an explosive tag just as good as a prank? Sure, they sting a bit, but if they're arranged right you can bounce around in the air for quite some time riding the shockwaves. Tag jumping is fun!
- CD is insane
ETA: Though I do think that rather than particularly emulating one or another of the original Team 7 it's just a matter of how their reactions have aligned in these instances. Of course, I may be wrong, since noe of the avatars involved are mine. ('Course, if you DID see mine he would probably have to be cast as a youkai, because even Narutoverse special bloodlines don't get that far from the human norm.)
ETA2: If you guys come up with a title you want to use for this, I'll edit the one that shows in the forum index, btw.That which does not kill us... has made its last mistake.
SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Next morning, Harry found himself butt-naked in the other side of town, mouth tasting of lima beans. - from Uzumaki Harry by Shadow Crystal Mage
--
"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]

Well, there's an extent to which Shikanenai parallels Naruto - he knows Kage Bushin (he didn't when he was really a genin, but hey, shadow-techniques and Nara go together like roaches and Aburame, so he sure as hell knew it before he made chunin). On the other hand, he's NOT as noisy.
-----------------------------------------------------
There was a carefully hidden surge of chakra and flicker of movement that kakashi spotted only out of the corner of his eye. "Everyone duck!" he shouted and the ninja scattered, Neshan dragging Tazuna behind him by the collar.
Their reaction was just in time as a whirling length of steel - less a sword than a six foot long razor blade - flashed through the air where they had been standing, scattering a cloud of smoke that had replaced Shikanenai. When the cloud was gone, the Nara genin lay in two seperate halves on the ground.
"Sorry, but you appear to be the Sharingan Kakashi," said the grey-clad ninja standing on one of the trees. "The old man is mine."
A few moments later
"Hehe, wearing forehead protectors and acting like real ninja," the Mist-nin sneered. "But you know what? A real ninja is someone who has survived numerous brushes with death. Basically... once you're good enough to be listed in my handbook, then you can start calling yourself - whargh!"
Zabuza was cut off by a mighty splash as both the water he was standing on and the globe of water around Kakashi were shattered by a dozen small simultaneous explosions. As he plunged into the water, he felt the press of feet against his sword and Nara Shikanenai vaulted up out of the water, throught Kakashi's broken prison, kicked off from the sword's blade and tore open a waterproof pocket in his jacket to produce a wad of paper. "Kakkuuki-no-Gami," he cried out, flowing chakra through the paper.
"A real ninja knows to keep a low enough profile not to wind up in anyone's handbook!" he shouted as his improvised paper glider carried him and a surprised looking Konoha-jounin towards the shore and Zabuza disappeared from sight beneath the water.
D for Drakensis

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

[katreus]

Shades of The Paper! Now you need paper kunai that slice through steel.

[Valles]

"Oi, Neshan," came a voice from their left as the three entered the crowded waiting room. "You're doing this troublesome thing, too?"
That was odd... "Natch. Your brother didn't tell you already?"
Shikamaru snorted. "I thought that you or Katsu'd've had more sense."
"Heh. I take a lot of killing - and Katsu's been in a snit since graduation. Speaking of which-"
"Katsu-kun!" cheered a feminine voice behind them.
Shikanenai snickered and slid in between his twin and his long-haired team mate as the last member of their team scowled and began attempting to dissuade the attentions of an overly-affectionate blonde octopus, aka Yamanaki Ino. "Bets he decks her?"
Neshan slid a five en note out of his sleeve. "He won't - it'd attract too much attention."
"You're on."
"That's mean, you know," the lady's remaining teammate interjected from over their shoulders.
The twins traded a glance and rolled their eyes, and the other adjusted his glasses and shrugged. "He's never had the heart to actually go and break hers before now, and nothing less has slowed her down. She won't care, and he won't care, so there's no reason not to just kick back and enjoy the absurdity of the situation."
"I-it's still mean," a soft voice insisted, joining the conversation.
Neshan turned and faced her, with a slight blush crossing his cheeks involuntarily as he saw that Hinata had left her jacket open rather than zipping it closed over the lightweight, silk-and-netting shirt she customarily wore underneath it. What made the reprimand worse, of course, was that she was quite correct, and he knew it. "Ahh..."
"Oi, Hinata!" someone exclaimed - nearly yelled - from some distance away. "What are you doing talking to that stuck-up bastard?"
The Hyuuga heiress flinched, and the boy she had been talking to rounded on the interloper so quickly his braid swung out and almost wrapped itself around his arm when he stopped. "Whatever she wants to!" he snapped. "You don't own her, Koinu-chan, so stop trying to make her heel!"
"Heel?!" Kiba choked, and snarled and lunged before Shino's restraining hand on his shoulder brought him up short.
"Stop it!" Hinata protested, stepping in between both of the glaring Genin. "I don't need protected from anyone!"
"You guys shouldn't be so noisy, you know," an ironic voice tossed in from near the door. When they turned to face the speaker, he nodded at one group of ninja from Hidden Rain. "Everybody's nervous about the exam. Those guys in particular have short tempers - bugging them like that could cause some real problems for you."
"Ah, but how much of threat could such a noisy, unprofessional ninja as would make this kind of ruckus be?" Neshan shot back with a smile and silken tone that was somehow far more menacing than his earlier agression had been. "Wouldn't it be better to concentrate on the more serious, more controlled opposition?"
The ninja by the door chuckled and stood fully rather than leaning against the wall as he had been. As he came closer it became apparent that he was quite a bit older than the nine former classmates, with all but a fraction of his full adult reach and strength. "So you're trying to look like someone too innocent to be a threat? Wouldn't that just make you more of a target, as someone who could be taken out easily?"
"Maa... Yakushi Kabuto, Medi-nin, Genin rank. Graduated year Sixty-One, Konoha date, attending for the seventh time, in company with Akadou Yoroi and Tsurugi Misumi - why don't you tell me?"
Kabuto laughed. "I guess we'll see, then."

---

I tried to continue the fight scene, at first, but it didn't feel like I had enough data on Katsu and 'nenai's combat styles to make a serious go at it.
Ah, well.
Ja, -n
===========

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

[WengFook]

CD said:

---

Lily Evans was Haruno Lily instead?

---

Avada Kedavra No Jutsu!
was the first thing that popped into my mind affter reading that.. bleh.. I somehow remain sceptical that this crossover could be pulled off :S _______________________________
"We few, we happy few. We band of buggered"
_________________________________
Take Your Candle, Go Light Your World.

[drakensis]

Shikanenai can make paper kunai but he usually carries perfectly normal metal ones on the grounds that they don't burn in fire or dissolve in water.
As far as his combat style goes, he's old school ninja. If he can avoid a fight, he does. If he has to fight it's either overwhelm the other guy as fast and decisively as he can, or if he's up against someone more skilled, feint, play dead, decieve, until he get's an opening.
His taijutsu is on the low end of average for a Chunin, and it's only that good because Gai pushed him, but he's much better with weapons. His genjutsu isn't great, his ninjutsu is good - he's not jounin level and his range of jutsu is low, but what he has he can use well. Of course, drop him back to 12 years old and his chakra resrves drop, plus he loses a lot of physical conditioning which hurts his taijutsu.
D for Drakensis

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

[Rieverre]

Katsu tries to not get involved in a match of taijutsu, since the soft techniques he uses are pretty distinctively bastardized from what the Kaiou clan of Kirigakure came up with. Counters, joint locks, etc., with the 'bastardized' coming from the fact that the Kaiou clan's 'sixth sense' (they hide it well, but in general the bloodline is at least minorly precognitive - they have a superior danger sense, and can see a split second or so ahead in combat) lets them use it far more effectively. He compensates by fighting dirty, mixing in a lot of elbows, knees, and so on, in blows that are rarely meant to be less than crippling.
Now that he's back to that age (and at 12 he's a year younger than he'd been when he made genin -13-, thanks to Zabuza's little rampage the effects of which had him in recovery for a few months) he's got to work on building up physically to be able to effectively use those knees, elbows, etc.
Initially, he figured he'd make up for it by using kunai and maybe climbing claws in exchange. After the Demon Brothers, he shrugged that aside and picked up one of their chain gauntlets instead. Since he'd been fond of using a kusari-gama before he picked up the Havoc and Malice cleavers, and he doesn't have the strength and stamina to use similar weapons yet, he's settled for a variation of the old favorite. After all, Mina had to learn the chain from somewhere.
His boiling and freezing ninjutsu, not to mention the dehydration one, would have to be used sparingly, if at all, because of his drop in reserves. Mizutsuku and Reiketsukan are more control than they are intensity. Kirigakure and Mizu Bushin would be somewhere in-between.
Chances are, he carries a few smoke and flash bombs along.
Also, he wouldn't let useful equipment lie around, so he's probably insisted they take the Demon Brothers' breathing masks if they're going to Wave.
-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

[Valles]

---

Also, he wouldn't let useful equipment lie around, so he's probably insisted they take the Demon Brothers' breathing masks if they're going to Wave.

---

And of course Kakashi is just like, 'what are you thinking' and Neshan and 'nanai, since both of them know he's actually a Mist-nin anyway, are like, 'well, of course he wants to bring those'. Heh.
Neshan, I'll make clear, is, at this point in his career, basically one step short of being in Rock Lee's position - he's got just about enough chakra to do the wall-walking and other funky movement tricks at need. The gate-binding trick requires a fairly extensive network of tattooed seals, so that's not present, and without having had years of prep time he'll only have a sharply limited number of non-explosive notes available at any one point.
OTOH, he does have some of them, as well as a random scattering of all sorts of things that'd be seal-or-tool-based anyway, and his physical conditioning would be notable on a chuunin, because he has to rely on it so much - although at this point, the chakra-strength trick he taught Sakura won't have had time to make a difference. So, despite his attitude and natural habits, he's probably the most melee-focused in the squad, and will likely run out of ammunition before an opponent runs out of chakra.
Of course, what he can do with enough leadup time is... ^_^
Ja, -n
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"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."