Cosmos Quest (Naruto/Lupin III)

[Selias]

[X] Oi, what about Hinata? You know, your actual friend? The girl who's really sad and disappointed right now?

 

[delwgun]

[X] Oi, what about Hinata? You know, your actual friend? The girl who's really sad and disappointed right now?

Let's cheer her up with some magic tricks.

 

[The Nobody]

[x] Follow Sakura

Hoping that this does open a Friendship Route. Don't have a hundred gold coins, have a hundred gold friends... Yeah, the proverbs don't translate well.

And even if Sakura doesn't "deserve" to get this far - life seldom asks you what you deserve.

 

[uju32]

*snip*

Click to shrink...

I am not seeing your point.
Choji got in because he was our friend and took the opportunity we offered him, and then Mist punked out.

There is no indication that Sakura would not taken the same opportunity were the positions switched; she's been taking night classes in addition to regular work, which is more of a work ethic than either Choji or Shikamaru have shown.
We have neither seen Sakura fight, nor do we have any idea of her abilities.
She's not in our league, but besides the Suna 3, who is?

And I specifically mentioned Temari because you were using performance in this exam as a benchmark.
By the same rules, she hasn't done much of anything; Gaara was carrying Shigure's umbrella which indicates he did the heavy lifting back in the Forest(like in canon), and her opponent conceded, unlike Kankuro's.

Luck often matters as much as skill.
And these are the Chuunin Exams; it's not about winning, but about HOW you win.
It's entirely possible to lose and still be promoted, or conversely to beat everyone and not pass.

EDIT: Oh, I'm sure a crazy and desperate genin with too much book smarts and too little common sense could manage something spectacularly dangerous. I mean, it took us like 2 minutes to teach Hinata and Chouji reverse-summoning, and that's not even all that crazy, comparatively.

Click to shrink...

This.
She bears watching.
Good thing we have an intelligence network.

Shoot that just gave me an idea. Send Menka after Sakura to keep an eye on her. Discreet and kitties are always comforting in times of distress.

Click to shrink...

Great idea.

 

[nightblade]

[X] Oi, what about Hinata? You know, your actual friend? The girl who's really sad and disappointed right now

 

[1234q1234q]

And I specifically mentioned Temari because you were using performance in this exam as a benchmark.
By the same rules, she hasn't done much of anything; Gaara was carrying Shigure's umbrella which indicates he did the heavy lifting back in the Forest(like in canon), and her opponent conceded, unlike Kankuro's.

Click to shrink...

Go watch the Temari vs Tenten fight. Temari owns Tenten and Tenten is far powerful then Sakura. Furthermore, Temari's opponent did not conceded out of pity. Sakura is not where she is do to her abilities.

This is NOT about luck. The only luck her team has had is being pitiable. If they had faced the forest they would have lost. If she had fought hinata she would have lost.

No the real blame here is on Ino, for helping them. Had that not happened, her teammate would not be a cripple. In tests like these, cheating for others is rarely a good idea.



[X] Oi, what about Hinata? You know, your actual friend? The girl who's really sad and disappointed right now

 

[uju32]

Go watch the Temari vs Tenten fight. Temari owns Tenten and Tenten is far powerful then Sakura. Furthermore, Temari's opponent did not conceded out of pity. Sakura is not where she is do to her abilities.

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This is NOT CANON.
Temari has not demonstrated anything of the sort in this exam.
She has the rep sure, but she has not yet been afforded the opportunity to show it.

And combat ability =/= chuunin.

This is NOT about luck. The only luck her team has had is being pitiable. If they had faced the forest they would have lost. If she had fought hinata she would have lost.

Click to shrink...

Citation needed.

If any team had run into Gaara they would have lost.
If Ino hadn't chosen to help Choji, and thus spook Mist into forfeiting his match, he may well have lost against a Kaguya.
So don't suggest that luck doesn't play a part in who progresses.

Unless you're asserting that the matchups are rigged....

No the real blame here is on Ino, for helping them. Had that not happened, her teammate would not be a cripple. In tests like these, cheating for others is rarely a good idea.

Click to shrink...

Citation needed.
People DIE in the Forest of Death.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Holy crap, Anko turning down booze? Ten years of fanon down the drain.

[X] She's the kind I'd like to flaunt and take to dinner

"Hey."

"I couldn't fight her, Ino-chan," Hinata says softly.

Mokona puu-puus sympathetically, patting one of the hands that holds him.

"I know," you say. Taking hold of the railing, you lean backward, stretching out your shoulders and arms. "Will your dad be upset with you?"

She smiles bleakly at that. "When is Father not upset with me, Ino?"

"... in all fairness, I think his face does that on its own."

She laughs, despite her dark mood.

"Still," you say, "there are a couple of ways you could spin this that'd make it acceptable to him, I think. We could brainstorm-"

"Ino-chan," Hinata says, giving you a real smile. "Thank you, but..." She takes a deep breath, and continues: "I don't want to give my father an 'acceptable' answer. I want to give him my actual reason for doing what I did."

You blink. "... and that is...?"

She plays with her fingers nervously. "They work in the basement of the hospital. All day long they organize the records of who's been skipping their appointments, and whose children have had chicken pox, and who paid for what, and who needs which prescriptions when, and who's got allergies, and all kinds of things that the hospital eventually needs to know and needs to be able to find out right away when they need to know them. They're always working hard to keep things running smoothly, because they know people's lives depend on them, and they're proud of what they do. Sayuri-san said she's been there since before we were born, even. She was working overtime when the Kyuubi attacked, and instead of staying where she was, where it was safe, she went upstairs and helped the medics move everyone down into the basement shelter."

Hinata squeezes Mokona.

"But no one cares about that, and no one cares that Sagiso-san upgraded the entire filing system herself into three separate levels of security when their direct superior kept putting off doing it. No one says Sakura-san's a prodigy for working full time and still making top of the introductory iryo classes. And none of that will stop the hospital giving the job of Head of Archives and Data Management to someone with no training who's just going to leave in a year when a more 'important' position opens up."

She bites her lip. "I can't change the rules of how someone becomes a chuunin, and I can't keep Sakura-san safe from whatever opponents she's going to face, but... I can do this." Hinata turns to you with a fearfully determined look on her face, chakra jingling with uncertainty. "They're strong. And they should at least have the chance to make everyone acknowledge their strength. Shouldn't they?"

[X] "... yeah."

[X] "Does that mean you're going to oversee her training for the finals?"

[X] Write-in?

 

[Selias]

[X] "... yeah."

 

[nightblade]

[X] "... yeah."

 

[FurikoMaru]

On an unrelated note, I now crave fanfic from this universe:

Lady-Kisame is a babe.

 

[delwgun]

[X] "...Yeah. But still i worry you may have sent her to a realy tough position for the finals, tough it was your own decision to do that so i dont see anything wrong with it."

 

[Guile]

And I love Gaara's expression.

[X] Aw, come here you big softie. Hugs!

 

[Disminded]

Lady-Kisame is a babe.

Click to shrink...

I like the Itachi's Addams Family quote.

[X] "... yeah."

 

[Vindictus]

... Is it wrong that between the pigtails and the 'No chocolate' thing Fem-Gaara reminds me almost too much of Etna?

Hmm. Etna Reincarnation Quest? 'In which Laharl goes 'Nope' at traitors'...

 

[Jack Trade]

[X] "... yeah."

 

[Unclouded]

[X] "... yeah...
->[X] "... Hinata? When you become Hokage, can I borrow the hat for costume parties?"

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

[X] "Does that mean you're going to oversee her training for the finals?"

I know I'm being on the killjoy side her, and maybe we should let Hinata enjoy her moment. Let the votes fall where they may. But this does need to be addressed. Maybe it shouldn't be Hinata doing it, not much to pass on, but Sakura in't anywhere close to ready to make a splash on the international stage.

EDIT:

[X] "... yeah."

Beats other top contender.

 

[1234q1234q]

uju32, looking back at your post, there is nothing really that should have upset me. But it did when I started this, and since it is done, I may as well post it.

Citation needed.
People DIE in the Forest of Death.

Click to shrink...

Yes people can and do die, but this is Ino's fault.

All quotes are from FurikoMaru or are FurikoMaru's response with the included quote.

If you take the slow way, you might run into monsters, or dangerous opponents, possibly both. If you book it for the tower, you won't meet monsters, but if you set up camp outside the tower to pick off people as they come in, you might meet dangerous opponents. The safest option is to swipe a scroll and make for the tower as fast as you can; you might meet some minor opponents, but otherwise you won't be in any danger and you'll get extra training time.

Click to shrink...

[X] Walk This Way
You nearly facepalm. "Lee-sempai, we're ninja." After a moment's thought, you try another tack: "The proctors probably set this obstacle up to keep people who genuinely aren't qualified to be chuunin safe from the rigours of the exam. If we tell everyone, those people are the ones most likely to get picked off by foreign competitors, and it'll be our fault."

Click to shrink...

[X] Mother, mother... there's too many of you cryin'...

"What's the situation?" you ask your teacher in a low voice.

"The Sound girl misjudged Sayuri's speed and resilience based on the data points provided by the rest of your fights and the fact that she made it through the forest." Asuma's tone isn't accusatory, but it's obvious that he knows or at least suspects what you did. "She threw out a diversionary tag that a normal genin would have leapt away from, right into a trap, but Sayuri hit it head-on."

"I'm sorry, sensei; I promise my next fight will go better," you hear Kuyo say.

... it's my fault.

Lupin sighs. ... yeah. It is. I could tell you Sayuri is a grown woman and she's responsible for her own decisions, but we both know you wouldn't believe me. But Ino, a lot of things are going to be your fault sooner or later. That's just part of being an adult. So if you really want to be a ninja, you're going to have to get used to feeling guilty.

You bite your lip. ... I guess it's better I helped her get through the Forest, in a way. I mean, here she can get full medical treatment; out there she could have died.

There's a feeling like a pat on the back. Yeah. There's that at least.

Click to shrink...

As for their general competence have a wall of quotes.

"Oh, we find ways to stay fit," Sayuri says cheerfully. "I used to be on active duty until I met my husband, and I can still carry him under one arm and our two sons under the other." She pats Sakura on the shoulder. "Sakura-chan here's been taking night classes in iryo-ninjutsu for over a year; she's smart as a whip, so you three better watch out!" She winks at you as Sakura blushes at the praise and stammers out a token protest.

It's strange, talking so casually with someone who wears a hitai-ate about their personal business; it's like you've wandered into a civilian costume party by accident.

Click to shrink...

Gossiping personal details in a room of ninja they will have to fight.

"The Kage and other leaders of villages participating in the exams have agreed to abide by the assessment of the proctors," Ibiki counters. "This agreement is renewed every time the exams are held; those who promote genin against the recommendations of the shinobi administering the tests are not invited to the next exam."

That's the big punishment? you wonder. Well, it's no big deal; even if we answer wrong we can still get field promotions. The exam isn't the only way to climb the ladder.

Ami looks less optimistic. Sagiso looks downright terrified.

Click to shrink...

Poor emotional control and openly showing fear.

The office ladies are collectively shocked to hear that the little redhaired boy is one of the most dangerous people in the exam; Sayuri looks particularly troubled. Team Gai and the Hina-Shika-Cho are unfazed, no surprises there, but Neji's eyes widen when you mention Houzuki Suigetsu's name.

Click to shrink...

Stunning lack of observation skill and threat assessment.

also, your office workers don't need to be able to protect your secrets, thats what guards are for. (also, chunin level office workers would never be privy to anything too dangerous or valuable)

Click to shrink...

Your naïveté is astounding.

Click to shrink...

This is a test of their skills, they will not be passed without proving them selves to the Judges. So far they have failed to do so in the the forest and preliminaries.

Finally and most damning.

Survivor's Guilt nothing, Sakura's essentially coasted into the finals on charity, luck, and pity.

I'm gonna be entirely honest, Sakura really does not deserve to be there. I'm sure Furiko's gonna have Sakura pull out some big badass moment that vindicates Sakura and her personal plot arc to prove herself or something instead of getting chumped on an international stage, but seriously, going by her displayed performance that we're aware of Sakura did not deserve the free ride she got.

And since I'm getting, "Why didn't you people pick Hinata vibes," what with only Hinata's line being the only one to get more than a name to it, I'd just like to point out that the past posts didn't have a single bit about Hinata's emotions save for her presumably being one of the Konoha ninja with varying intensities of anger. For a girl that's sad and disappointed this is the first we've heard about it.

Click to shrink...

Oh, you're absolutely correct. She doesn't deserve it.

Click to shrink...

As for Temari, here is her performance in the first test.

Canonically, Kankuro and Gaara each only had to make one cheating attempt to get the answers, and Temari's angry words about the tenth question making the rest of the test a waste of time indicate to me, at least, that she didn't get the point of the test until it was explained, which indicates by extension that she didn't think the test was too difficult to be anything other than an information-gathering evaluation, further indicating that she could answer a majority of the questions without cheating.

Click to shrink...

"Oh, yes. Of course. The tenth question is, 'Do you want to pass this test?'" Ibiki says, deadpan.

Temari looks pissed. "So the other nine questions were completely pointless?!"

Click to shrink...

Here are her abilities. Everything that is not in italics is good enough information to be treated as fact.

Shall I just itemize everything you know about your likely opponents, then?

Italics are for things you're just sure enough about to keep in mind but not sure enough about to treat as fact.
Temari:

- uses fan techniques to boost her Wind jutsu

- can fly/glide on that fan for short distances?

- has a band. Sings contralto. They play what we would consider '70s rock with some metal influences, though they occasionally do bluesier stuff to showcase Temari's voice. Four piece with her on vocals, Gaara on guitar, some chick named Ponzu on bass, and a puppet of Kankuro's design on drums

- highly protective of her family

- very much a combat-build nin; not so hot at politics, codebreaking, infiltration, etc. - the ninja-y parts of ninja-ing

- reputedly quite skilled at on-the-fly analysis of an opponent's strengths and weaknesses

- has a couple of B and A-rank Fuuton techniques but lacks the necessary reserves to spam them constantly; will most likely stick to C-rank jutsu unless she perceives her opponent to be capable of defeating her shortly

- holds a summoning contract with at least one large weasel, possibly more

- she gives nice headpets but she stops too quickly

Click to shrink...

And here is the lead up to her preliminarily fight/concession.

You suspect the boy on the team is a chuunin already, sent to chaperone the girls; this is the first (overt, at least) move Oto has made towards associating itself diplomatically with the wider shinobi world, so it'd make sense that they'd want to both bring their A-game and take some precautions. If they're looking for allies they have to look strong, but not like they're looking to stomp all over everyone. It's the same delicate balance as a job interview.

Click to shrink...

"What about you?" you ask Temari, ignoring your other-self's indignant defensiveness for the moment.

"The auntie over there," she replies, nodding at Sayuri. "A quick win to take me into training for the finals with no injuries. After that, who knows?"

Wow. Harsh.

Gaara gestures expansively. "Ah, poor Temari; you've got no appreciation for-"

"No. I don't," Temari cuts him off. "I didn't come here to play around, I came here to get promoted."

"Temari vs Ira!"

"I withdraw," the Sound boy says in a clear but quiet voice.

Temari frowns. "... that doesn't mean I didn't come here to fight," she says peevishly to the air.

And my suspicions of him already being a chuunin are almost completely confirmed. Why else would he travel all this way just to resign? We must be hammering out some kind of alliance with Oto.

Iwa's gonna be pissed.

Click to shrink...

 

[FurikoMaru]

Oh, don't be stupid. Sayuri had every opportunity to back out of this exam and she didn't. You're telling me the privilege-blind teenager who tried to do a good deed is at fault for what an adult does? Go try and tell Sayuri that. She may not be combat-chuunin material, but I'm betting she can still beat some sense into your civilian* ass even without her legs.

Lupin and Ino think it's their fault because technically it is and that's good enough for their hero complex to kick in.

* I mean, as far as I know. We're all civilians on the internet, in the same way we're all kinda average-looking guys on the internet.

 

[Guile]

And we still don't know who the monster in the forest was, except it wasn't Orochimaru. Spending five days in there is no guarantee of safety.

 

[uju32]

Holy crap, Anko turning down booze? Ten years of fanon down the drain.

Click to shrink...

Pfft.
True Fans know that Anko's tipple is tea.


Because seriously, you would expect the lady with a Curse Seal on her neck to be wary of mood altering substances.

[X] She's the kind I'd like to flaunt and take to dinner

Click to shrink...

Tom Jones - She's A Lady.

"I know," you say. Taking hold of the railing, you lean backward, stretching out your shoulders and arms. "Will your dad be upset with you?"
She smiles bleakly at that. "When is Father not upset with me, Ino?"

Click to shrink...

Ouch.
Someone's home life didn't improve very much, did it?
I suspect Mokona is going to be an even bigger boon psychologically than it is combatwise.

"Ino-chan," Hinata says, giving you a real smile. "Thank you, but..." She takes a deep breath, and continues: "I don't want to give my father an 'acceptable' answer. I want to give him my actual reason for doing what I did."

Click to shrink...

Oh dear.
Whatever happened to the devious mindset we were doing our best to inculcate all through Academy?
Mokona is a Bad Influence.

[X] "... yeah."
[X] "Does that mean you're going to oversee her training for the finals?"
[X] Write-in?

Click to shrink...

We can't in good conscience nudge her towards Sakura, not after Choji's comments about our outsize influence on her decisions.
And I suspect she has training needs as well, both alone and with Choji.
And there would be a good chance that Sakura wouldn't accept the help in the first place because teenager.

On the other hand, her teaching Sakura might earn her brownie points on connecting with the commoners.
Or would, if we had any idea how her father would react; I do not subscribe to the asshole Hiashi school of thought, but I don't know what politics and pressures are in play.

Sakura will need a teacher though, someone better than a genin, and she would probably learn better from an adult.
I'd suggest Anko, being female and competent, but she was a proctor, so conflict of interest.
Kurenai has a student in the finals, Asuma has two as does Gai.

Perhaps Ebisu?
He does have the skillset necessary, as well as being the only special jounin named with a memory palace like Sakura, but we have no leverage with him.
Quite the opposite IIRC, given that we pranked him.
And our knowledge is OOC.

This is probably gonna be one of the times we ask Daddy for advice.
And help.

 

[uju32]

One more point, from an OOC perspective.
It occurs to me that born in the last fifteen years are at least four candidates for Kage.

-Konohamaru
The Traditional candidate.
Grandson of a Kage, from a clan allied to three other powerful clans.
Wants the job, but is youngest of the lot.

-Ino
Heir to a clan, allied to three others by ties of blood.
Mercurial, brilliant. Good relationships with the heirs of major clans.
Best friend of the Uchiha heir.
Does not want the job.

-Naruto
Son of a Kage.
Jinchuuriki.
Power in a can. Works at social relations, but is at disadvantage due to upbringing and teammates(Shino and Sasuke? Really? With Kakashi as jounin? Someone really didn't think that through.)
Want job???

And now add Hinata.
Diplomacy candidate; insight to the strivings of the lesser and non-clan ninja.
Good relations with the major clans.
And holder of a fuckoff scary Contract, which is in itself enough to make her a possible future prospect.
Want job????

Give it ten years and this might be an interesting race.

 

[Selias]

Pfft.
True Fans know that Anko's tipple is tea.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, Kurenai is the alcoholic.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Diplomacy candidate; insight to the strivings of the lesser and non-clan ninja.
Good relations with the major clans.
And holder of a fuckoff scary Contract, which is in itself enough to make her a possible future prospect.
Want job????

Give it ten years and this might be an interesting race.

Click to shrink...

One of the rejected possible votes for this update was

[X] "... Hinata? When you become Hokage, can I borrow the hat for costume parties?"

O

 

[Silversun17]

Anko loves tea ceremony if i remember right.

 

[uju32]

Yeah, Kurenai is the alcoholic.

Click to shrink...

And Anko is the designated driver, who gets to tuck her in after bar crawls

One of the rejected possible votes for this update was
[X] "... Hinata? When you become Hokage, can I borrow the hat for costume parties?"

O

Click to shrink...

..............
...........

[X] "... Hinata? When you become Hokage, can I borrow the hat for costume parties?"
Voted.
If for no other reason that I haven't seen Hinata stutter in a while.
>

 

[Guile]

As I recall, Konohamaru is actually a pretty great ninja. The Sarutobi have naturally high chakra reserves, which is what allowed a damn nine year old to learn Shadow Clone and Rasengan.

By 12 he had Fire Release jutsu, Shadow Shuriken, and presumably monkey summons.

One of the rejected possible votes for this update was

[X] "... Hinata? When you become Hokage, can I borrow the hat for costume parties?"

O

Click to shrink...

One of the other three might be Hokage, but that Hat is ours.

 

[Scia]

We even declared out Hat stealing ways while we where a baby but it seems age has mellowed Ino out after all lollipops died.

 

[Vindictus]

[X] "... Hinata? When you become Hokage, can I borrow the hat for costume parties?"

Best vote.