Rian's walking down one of the less populated streets, chattering lightly with her teammates, Sakura and Mariko. It's a clear day in Konoha, and they're wondering if they have a new mission, since their sensei was called away to a meeting. There's some speculation over what it could be.
Mariko offhandedly insults Sakura, resulting in a brief chase between the two of them as Sakura tries to punch her teammate. Rian just snickers when Mariko tries to hide behind her.
Shiver and neck-rub. "Well, I'll just have to stick to shuriken and kenjutsu until our resident seal master fixes me up," she says, trying and mostly failing for a light tone.
"That seal's beyond anything I've ever seen, but - I'll try."
And to the Tower, successfully avoiding the traps, even when it means going the long way around.
They are thoroughly bedraggled by the time they get there, but luckily they have a few days to rest. They can't receive medical attention until the exam's confirmed over, but other than the goddamned seal on her friend's neck they don't have any major injuries.
Enough teams make it through the exams for a preliminary round, and Team Seven gathers with the others in the arena.
Five teams made it through - that Sound team, the Sand team, Team Kurenai, Team Gai, and their own Team Sesshi. There'll be seven matches, with one person receiving a pass.
The first fight called is Aburame Shino versus Zaku, which ends decisively in Shino's favor after a short back-and-forth. Then Hinata against Neji, which goes... Rather horribly (Mariko: is now almost as pissed at Neji as she is at the Sound team).
Next Kankurou and Inuzuka Kiba are called down to the ring.
"I'll show you tricks!" Kiba says, as Akamaru jumps to the ground. "Heh. Your team's tough; I'm gonna have to step this up." And he takes out two pills, tossing one to his dog, whose fur turns red after he eats it. A pulse of chakra, and the dog's transformed into an exact copy of Kiba, who grows more bestial.
"Fang over fang!" And they're spinning, moving rapidly to attack Kankurou.
He tosses the bundle on his back aside when Kiba pulls the pills out, but apparently can't get out of the way fast enough before his body is drilled into the wall.
Kankurou's head lolls awkwardly around like he's got a broken neck, before suddenly snapping back upright.
Six limbs suddenly snap around Kiba, locking him in tight. The Transformation Jutsu fades, revealing an ominous carved wood puppet. Its mouth gapes open, and a razor-sharp blade pokes forth.
It shakes out its limbs with a rolling clatter and lunges at the other Kiba, a knife for each hand.
He throws himself to the side, then sniffs and lunges for the bundle, twisting into another attack.
He's fast. Not fast enough.
Another Body Replacement has them twisting right into the puppet again.
Karasu attacks in a flurry. A couple scratches should be enough.
Elieyha would disapprove, but the poison on the blades this time isn't lethal.
He stays down long enough to give the medics a sample of the poison he used before returning to the upper ring.
Heh.
She goes down to the arena opposite her opponent, and thinks - she knows he uses sound waves to disorient his enemies, so she needs to keep out of range of that amplifier gauntlet thing, or have him unable to reach it. Simple enough.
When the match starts, she jumps back, and flings a chakra chain at Dosu. He dodges, but the chain curves around behind him, looping to catch him from behind. He barely notices in time, jumping over the chain - which she then dismisses - before rushing at Mariko, gauntlet at the ready.
She ducks in then rolls to avoid him, just out of his range, slamming her open hand on the ground at he then closes, ink spiraling out from her fingers. A chakra pulse, and the ground heaves, exploding. She curls in on herself, closes her eyes and plugs her ears with chakra, and projects a thick chakra shield from her feet, mostly shielding her from the blast, but still sending her flying. She lets herself sail, then flips at the last second to land on a wall and look for her opponent.
He's gone flying too, skidding across the ground, clearly disoriented. Mariko lashes at him with a chakra chain from either side, successfully wrapping around him, and then yanks him towards her, launching herself at him in the same motion. Her fist collides with his jaw, then her knee with his stomach. He stumbles, recovers, and she body flickers behind him. A brief moment of disorientation, but she recovers first, lashing out to slam a kunai hilt into the base of his neck. He collapses, unconscious.
The match is called in her favor, and medics come to cart Dosu away.
Then -
Tsubasa versus Tenten.
That wasn't an Earth Release. Exploding tag? He didn't see any paper. Did she apply the seal directly to the ground? Impressive.
When the proctor calls the match to start, Tenten jumps back to a good distance, then throws three kunai at Tsubasa, spread out slightly, mostly to test her reflexes.
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