Cosmos Quest (Naruto/Lupin III)

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

You can't-or at least shouldn't- punish people when they fail due to being rolled by superior skill.
Just like you wouldn't blame people for getting speed blitzed by Minato.
Then again, it's entirely possible that it'll be rescinded or decreased after we pass through the next exam; I'm pretty sure Anko knows nothing of our skillset.

Click to shrink...

Big difference between us and Minato. The most relevant being, our prodiguous skill is not a known factor to these examiners. As it is getting rolled by GENIN looks pretty damn bad. We're a relative unknown, they're known enough they were chosen to proctor, and Anko's probably kind of pissed we just subverted the point of her exam and that these two fell for it.

And perhaps more importantly, they demonstrated favoritism and being suckered by us and giving us a hand. They gave us a replacement of their own free will because Ami turned on the waterworks. In light of that I wouldn't pay them either, and I'd be putting them on probation to boot.

Our head is supposed to be S-class thought screened; Itachi had to brute-force it IIRC.

Click to shrink...

No, not like that. Nothing can be taken from our head, but stuff can be put in. That's the loophole at play here; Furiko confirmed it when the scene first came up. It might still be difficult, but the theme was 'you do not steal from a thief.' Apparently slipping something into the hoard works.




I liked the format Furiko used though. Figuring out how the caper went off in some way, plus an expand scene afterwards, was pretty fun.

 

[FurikoMaru]

You can't-or at least shouldn't- punish people when they fail due to being rolled by superior skill.
Just like you wouldn't blame people for getting speed blitzed by Minato.

Click to shrink...

If they'd been more on the ball they would have seen through Ami's acting, and they'd have sent someone with Kiba to make sure he didn't pull a switch with a pre-ripped dummy scroll. They took your hapless-kids-and-their-pets thing at face value, instead of treating you like a team that, in a jounin's opinion, was ready to be promoted.

Though I'm still trying to figure out why Ami felt nothing.

Click to shrink...

Heheheh...

 

[Guile]

I assume that our head-guys worry about Kiba being inside us more than Ami.

They are (mostly) guys, after all.

 

[katreus]

Yes, in retrospect, it was probably helpful that Anko's chuunin proctors were from a completely different pool than Ibiki's... and Ibiki's been quite nice to us. He didn't warn his own chuunin about our plan to switch ourselves in nor, I'm guessing, did he warn Anko and her proctors about us.

Actually, given that we've not been the most flamboyant at least to those outside of our circles, I'm wondering what other teams / Konoha chuunin know about us beyond Yamanaka and probably ok - upgraded to good given 1st exam performance - at genjutsu. Even while cheating through these two exams, I don't think Ino's shown all that much of her abilities.

Well, that's good too. Sometimes, the basic skills are most important (and leaves us with some nice tricks for the preliminary part of the 3rd exam).

 

[FurikoMaru]

[X] Things they would not teach me of in college

You did consider the room next to the library (the vault with its rare books backs onto one of the walls of the room), but when you saw the view over the forest and that private bathroom, you knew Room 88 was the one you wanted.

And how lucky you did, because to your delight, your neighbour across the hall is none other than-

"Anko-chan! Good to see you again!" You grin and blush uncontrollably.

"What the hell do you think you're doing in the jounin quarters?" Anko demands, crossing her arms.

"Mou~ Anko-chan, you can't blame us for taking the best room when Iruka-sensei said we got first pick!"

"He meant first pick of the chuunin rooms downstairs, brat," she says, "and where do you get off calling a superior officer -chan?"

You wave away her offence. "Oh, -san is too cold and formal to use on a lovely young lady like yourself! You're still in the springti- ararararara that's a snake!" D :

"I would not suggest finishing that sentence," Anko advises with a twitchy grimace, hand and reptilian partner entwined upon themselves.

"Fine, fine," you say weakly, inching away from the flicking tongue. Shit that's a mamushi she's actually threatening to kill me holy god her eyes are beautiful what the hell is wrong with me?! "Can we at least keep the room? Y-you're the only jounin here, after all, the space is just going to waste."

"You're lucky I don't throw you out of the tower right now," the woman hisses softly, closing the gap between you again. "Did you think no one would notice your little scroll-snatch?"

Don'tlookatherchestdon'tlookatherchestdon'tlookatherchest...

[X] ._.; "... um, yeah, a-actually. I mean, officially, no one noticed when my best friend's brother killed his whole family in one night and ran off with the corpses, so I tend to assume 'security' is kind of an optional feature in this town."

[X] "J-j-j-just a second, Anko-chan, I promise I'll be a good girl and keep my hands to myself from now on, so please let us stay~!"

[X] Appeal to her sense of patriotism. "Maa, would you rather the Suna and Kiri teams were the only ones in the finals?"

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

I assume that our head-guys worry about Kiba being inside us more than Ami.

They are (mostly) guys, after all.

Click to shrink...

That was my thought. And update!

The Police, Wrapped Around Your Finger, and I believe I have regained my second Z-Slash.




I'm kind of inclined to say, "I guess I took Ibiki's exam to heart? If you can cheat and not get caught it's fair game. Play by the rules for as long as it favors you, cheat when it doesn't, and don't get caught."

The first one otherwise.

 

[Vindictus]

[X] ._.; "... um, yeah, a-actually. I mean, officially, no one noticed when my best friend's brother killed his whole family in one night and ran off with the corpses, so I tend to assume 'security' is kind of an optional feature in this town."
-->[X] "Also, I heard one of my classmates made Genin by literally breaking into the Hokage tower and holding a sacred scroll hostage or something?"

Yeah, why does the canon lax security seem to only not exist when it's us trying to get by it? It's not fair T_T

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Also, can we keep voting for our training? For Zenigata!

Yeah, why does the canon lax security seem to only not exist when it's us trying to get by it? It's not fair T_T

Click to shrink...

Also, where the hell did these video recorders come from and why is this the first we've heard of it?

 

[Guile]

[X] Damn it, why am I even MORE turned on now? "What do you mean Anko-chan? The Chuunin examiners didn't say anything, I assumed that meant I had tacit permission. Just like when Ibiki caught me in the first exam."

 

[FurikoMaru]

Also, can we keep voting for our training? For Zenigata!

Click to shrink...

You may indeed!The bathroom vote was just so obviously going to win that I got all excited and wanted to write it up. If you'd chosen the kitchen you'd have been near the Hina-Shika-Cho and the Sand Elite, and if you'd chosen the library you'd have been near the OL Trio.

Also, where the hell did these video recorders come from and why is this the first we've heard of it?

Click to shrink...

No one in canon was smart or audacious enough to try anything like you did, so it never came up.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

You may indeed!

Click to shrink...

Could you add a note to the update so people see it more readily?

The bathroom vote was just so obviously going to win that I got all excited and wanted to write it up. If you'd chosen the kitchen you'd have been near the Hina-Shika-Cho and the Sand Elite, and if you'd chosen the library you'd have been near the OL Trio.

Click to shrink...

Damn, coulda done with the Sand Elite fun times.

No one in canon was smart or audacious enough to try anything like you did, so it never came up.

Click to shrink...

No, I mean video cameras. Where are they coming from and why have we never encountered them before?

 

[MrGazzer]

[JK] Blurt out "WHY ARE YOU SO DAMN SEXY!?" out of nervousness look very embarrassed, roll for level embarrassment, then run away.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Could you add a note to the update so people see it more readily?

Click to shrink...

Sure.

No, I mean video cameras. Where are they coming from and why have we never encountered them before?

Click to shrink...

The Forest of Death has surveillance cameras around the tower. That was how they confirmed Gaara's time, remember? They saw the Sand trio entering on the CC. I just figured if they had them there, why not a temporary rig in the scroll hut? It's an international event, after all; you'd think they'd be a bit more cautious than normal. They aren't absolutely everywhere because a) ninja like having privacy and b) they're really expensive.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

The Forest of Death has surveillance cameras around the tower. That was how they confirmed Gaara's time, remember? They saw the Sand trio entering on the CC. I just figured if they had them there, why not a temporary rig in the scroll hut? It's an international event, after all; you'd think they'd be a bit more cautious than normal. They aren't absolutely everywhere because a) ninja like having privacy and b) they're really expensive.

Click to shrink...

Point taken, and I suppose the expensive part explains why Ino hasn't encountered them during her misspent youth. Although I would think that museum she stole obscene amounts of jewelry from qualifies....but eh, I'm nitpicking a setting with holes you can drive a truck through.

 

[Selias]

[X] "J-j-j-just a second, Anko-chan, I promise I'll be a good girl and keep my hands to myself from now on, so please let us stay~!"

Just to be clear, the part about us keeping our hands to ourselves is a blatant lie, right? Or at least, it only applies to Anko?

 

[uju32]

[X] Things they would not teach me of in college

Click to shrink...

Aww, Hymn got this first.

You did consider the room next to the library (the vault with its rare books backs onto one of the walls of the room), but when you saw the view over the forest and that private bathroom, you knew Room 88 was the one you wanted.

Click to shrink...

88?
CRAZY 88?
Hmm.

And how lucky you did, because to your delight, your neighbour across the hall is none other than-
"Anko-chan! Good to see you again!" You grin and blush uncontrollably.

Click to shrink...

*shakes head*
Where's Ami? Someone needs to smash you in the gut again.

You wave away her offence. "Oh, -san is too cold and formal to use on a lovely young lady like yourself! You're still in the springti- ararararara that's a snake!" D :
"I would not suggest finishing that sentence," Anko advises with a twitchy grimace, hand and reptilian partner entwined upon themselves.

Click to shrink...

Bad memories Anko?
Of green spandex perhaps?
Has Gai the Magnificent used that line on you?

"Fine, fine," you say weakly, inching away from the flicking tongue. Shit that's a mamushi she's actually threatening to kill me holy god her eyes are beautiful what the hell is wrong with me?! "Can we at least keep the room? Y-you're the only jounin here, after all, the space is just going to waste."
"You're lucky I don't throw you out of the tower right now," the woman hisses softly, closing the gap between you again. "Did you think no one would notice your little scroll-snatch?"
Don'tlookatherchestdon'tlookatherchestdon'tlookatherchest...

Click to shrink...

Noted that she didn't actually threaten to throw us out.
Psywar eh?
With a Yamanaka?
*shakes head*
Anko-chan, are you sure you want to do this?

[X] ._.; "... um, yeah, a-actually. I mean, officially, no one noticed when my best friend's brother killed his whole family in one night and ran off with the corpses, so I tend to assume 'security' is kind of an optional feature in this town."
[X] "J-j-j-just a second, Anko-chan, I promise I'll be a good girl and keep my hands to myself from now on, so please let us stay~!"
[X] Appeal to her sense of patriotism. "Maa, would you rather the Suna and Kiri teams were the only ones in the finals?"

Click to shrink...

Begin as you mean to go on.

I'll point out Furiko's comment on how lady teachers/superiors are wont to regard junior females who try for special treatment.
Anko has little inkling of what our reputation or abilities are; one of the disadvantages of subtlety is that you don't get much respect.
As far as she's concerned, we might well be a daddy's girl who seems to have skated by on charm and the gullibility of men.
And this is still part of the exam, so it's part of her duty to shake and test the contestants.
And there is may be a little hurt pride at us getting around her security.
Just a little.

In conclusion, promising to be a good girl is probably the worst thing we could do here.
And appealing to her sense of patriotism when she has no idea what our capabilities are is almost as bad.
We want respect? We're gonna have to show we can play at least as rough as she is when we choose to.
So stand your ground.

PS And no citing the Ibiki incident; we don't go snitching about every incident where we got even tacit help just because someone applies a little pressure.
What kind of ninja does that to her accomplices?


[X] ._.; "... um, yeah, a-actually. I mean, officially, no one noticed when my best friend's brother killed his whole family in one night and ran off with the corpses, so I tend to assume 'security' is kind of an optional feature in this town."
-->[X]"Besides, isn't this exam as much about initiative and planning as it is about the ability to beat other people's faces in?

 

[FurikoMaru]

Point taken, and I suppose the expensive part explains why Ino hasn't encountered them during her misspent youth. Although I would think that museum she stole obscene amounts of jewelry from qualifies....but eh, I'm nitpicking a setting with holes you can drive a truck through.

Click to shrink...

As always when viewing jewellery under glass, you feel a stab of pity for the gems. They were made what they are to bring joy to a wearer, and now before they've even worn out, here they are, in a box, where they'll never be worn again. It sounds terribly lonely.

And, if a particular blind spot you noticed in the security coverage is now short a pair of emerald earrings, a diamond choker, and a white jade engagement pendant from the Warring Clan era, well... there's a reason it's called a blind spot. ^_^;

Click to shrink...

Looking back on it, I guess I could have made that more explicit.

 

[uju32]

Point taken, and I suppose the expensive part explains why Ino hasn't encountered them during her misspent youth. Although I would think that museum she stole obscene amounts of jewelry from qualifies....but eh, I'm nitpicking a setting with holes you can drive a truck through.

Click to shrink...

It did.
If you read that update again, you'll notice that the handful of jewelry Ino stole was in a security/camera blindspot.
She cased that joint pretty well.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Looking back on it, I guess I could have made that more explicit.

Click to shrink...

It did.
If you read that update again, you'll notice that the handful of jewelry Ino stole was in a security/camera blindspot.
She cased that joint pretty well.

Click to shrink...

Whoops. My bad for letting that slip by me.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Guys! Guys! Hymn wrote me a snippet via PM! This is ace! ;D I've never inspired fanworks before!

 

[hunter09]

[X] ._.; "... um, yeah, a-actually. I mean, officially, no one noticed when my best friend's brother killed his whole family in one night and ran off with the corpses, so I tend to assume 'security' is kind of an optional feature in this town."
-->[X] "Also, I heard one of my classmates made Genin by literally breaking into the Hokage tower and holding a sacred scroll hostage or something?"

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

It was the day of the finals. Your first grand entrance into the shinobi world in which you blow away the competition and offer a prelude to your meteoritic rise to fame and glory.

And you have the misfortune to paired up against a certain nigh-invulnerable red headed (natural, so say the cats on the street) bastard from Suna that's no-selling everything you've got because you've never thought you'd need to be able to punch through a mobile fortress wall! Seriously, that looked armor was every bit as detailed as your masks, how the hell were you supposed to know it was fake?

You've been dodging for your life and while you're pretty damn good at it you don't even want to imagine how much chakra you'd have to use just to animate one of those sand limbs.

This just wasn't fair.

And you are aware of the irony thankyouverymuch peanut gallery now shut up.

Your eye twitched. "Don't you ever get tired?!"

"No," said a smiling Gaara as another arm made of sand swung towards the blonde. "Never." And was dodged easily, but there were five more following. "Why, are you jealous? I imagine your boyfriend is."

"Okay, A. Sasuke's not my boyfriend, B. if you got that from almost any Konoha girl 13 and under you've got shitty sources, and C. I can go all day and night!"

"Now that I'd like to see."

Well there was only one appropriate response to that.

"Pbbbbbbbbbt!"

A nice, wet raspberry.

"In your dreams you insomniac! Yes, yes, I'm sure your a beast in a sack and hung like a tanuki. Size isn't everything, it's the motion on the ocean~"

He tilted his head. "True," he conceded. "But I don't exactly lack in advantages there either." And at this half a dozen arms made come-hither signs in your direction.

You paused. Almost long enough for Gaara to catch you. "Okay, wow. If that actually works in Suna, then you have got to have the most hardcore kunoichi on the planet. How you people haven't taken over the Elemental Nations is beyond me, because any woman that's turned on by the prospect of sand in her vagina is beyond insane. I tip my hat to your village," and even pulled a fine dapper hat out of a storage seal for the occasion," and am making a note to hit up your sister before she leaves."

Oh, he's trying so hard not to laugh at that in front of his family. Well to hell with that, time to go for broke a drag a chuckle out of him if it kills you!

Well, no, not kill, maybe maim. Lightly. You've got a few more boys and girls to work through before this exam is done and wow when did your head become so dirty because there is no excuse for this or what you're about to say.

"You know, I gotta ask, is that why your sister always looks so grumpy? Missin' the comforts on the homeland and here you are a walking sand dune and isn't that the most awkward thing ever? Cause I mean I can see myself missing the trees but sand? That's a whole new level of cast-iron bitch. We'll have to make it official, the new international standard to compare all kunoichi against is a Suna-born woman."

Open sesame! The sand dam breaks, laughter spills forth and....now he couldn't seem to stop chuckling? Maybe it'll slow him down it's not slowing yikes. "You know, I've never had an opportunity to play the protective brother for my sister before. She also gets to them first. And having occasion to defend her honor is just unheard of. This...this is new. Am I supposed to threaten you to stay away from her or make sure anyone who wants to date her has to prove themselves to me first? Or should I be saying she's not quite as depraved as you say she is?"

You can just barely hear a strangled scream above you.

"Well, I think pummeling the person applies in all three instances." And another half dozen arms joined him.

Yeah. Totally not fair.

 

[Vindictus]

snip

Click to shrink...

Can't reply, to busy choking down insane laughter

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Can't reply, to busy choking down insane laughter

Click to shrink...

I'm just disappointed ninja matches being what they are I couldn't slide in a crack about the ref has to be blind to miss that foul, and then remember that yes we did blind the ref. Oops.

EDIT: I really should sit on everything I write for 24 hours before posting because good stuff pops into my mind or mediocre becomes good. Ah well. Edits made, few extra jokes.

Always good to know I entertained my audience, even if I am borrowing Furiko's for a spell.

 

[Unclouded]

Changed my vote for the training to Zenegata. Edited my previous post.

[X] ._.; "... um, yeah, a-actually. I mean, officially, no one noticed when my best friend's brother killed his whole family in one night and ran off with the corpses, so I tend to assume 'security' is kind of an optional feature in this town."
-->[X]"Besides, isn't this exam as much about initiative and planning as it is about the ability to beat other people's faces in?

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

I'm surprised more people aren't voting for a Lupin construct, given Furiko promised something fun if it happened.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Well, at any rate, you have a lot of free time to fill in the next few days. (Pick two.)

[9] You have this idea about converting storage seals to hold chakra in reserve until you need it. Let's see if that's feasible...

[5] Shintenshin. Hey, are you the clan heir or not? Get it up and running.

[6] Work on your Sasuke army. (Choose up to two.)

-> [5] What's say you add some more... 'exotic' predators to the mix?
--> [5] One of each
--> [1] Multiples (Lupin!)
-> [1] Figure out if you can leak your mental static into a memory palace and subject people to it intentionally.
-> [4] Write in: We need some kind of construct that's really good at chasing people down. Sort of like the Konoha police, except even more annoyingly single-minded in the pursuit. And for some reason, you're remembering that pin from Tanzaku Gai...

[1] Make a genjutsu of your own, you lazy brat. (Write in subject to GM approval.)

These are the leaders of the pack as they currently stand, but voting is still open on these as opposed to the room-vote.

 

[uju32]

I'm surprised more people aren't voting for a Lupin construct, given Furiko promised something fun if it happened.

Click to shrink...

Missed it.
I guess I might as well switch.

[X]Lupin.

(Will edit original vote).

 

[Vindictus]

[X] Shintenshin. Hey, are you the clan heir or not? Get it up and running

Come on. Think about the synergy here- What if, instead of jumping ourselves we alter this to send one of our mental constructs into our opponent? Or leave an 'Outpost', a small copy of our Palace of Mind?

 

[Ephemeral_Dreamer]

[X] You have this idea about converting storage seals to hold chakra in reserve until you need it. Let's see if that's feasible...

[X] Shintenshin. Hey, are you the clan heir or not? Get it up and running.