He will cheerfully keep talking! "There's also this great ice cream place, owners are super nice and sometimes give me an extra scoop if I look sad at them..." He gives the name and location, "And then this tea shop - I'm not really into tea but Sasuke likes it, and their bubble tea's not bad - "

Also featured: a bistro that has good food but the owners are dicks (Sasuke scared them into behaving), an awesome place to get curry (they have a buffet and don't mind if you like never talk the whole time), which food stalls are good, Ichiraku's is super the best though...

When she finishes the bowl, she sets it down with a clink, interrupting his flow.

"You talk too much," she says.

"I've been told that! Sorry about running my mouth."

"An insincere apology is an insult to both parties."

"Eh, I do mean it. Shouldn't be annoying people. Something to work on!"

She stares at the boy silently for a moment. He is very strange. They do know who she is here, she's seen the natives give her the same looks and careful wide berth she gets at Suna. He is either foolish or playing a dangerous game. She doesn't like fools, or people playing games with her. The Kazekage isn't here, but killing him now might still be more trouble than it's worth.

'Fool' might be borne out by how he's completely ignoring the nasty looks people are shooting him.

He smiles at her again and turns to his food as it arrives (the owner here is just as friendly, to both her and him).

She orders another bowl for herself.

It is good ramen.

Best ramen!

He seems to be done bothering her at least, instead turning his chatter to the owner and owner's daughter.

When she finishes, she pays with exact change and leaves without a word.

He nods at her as she leaves, then goes back to his meal.

He doesn't really mention the encounter to his team, doesn't feel important, though he does keep a vague eye out for her again.

He might catch a glimpse of her in some of the restaurants he mentioned on further evenings.

He'll smile if they happen to meet each other but won't go out of his way to bother her.

Of course, he's also busy with training - after getting the ranged wind technique and the chameleon technique down it's time for backup strategies versus Neji and full coordination with Chihiro.

Effective backup strategies are important. It would be a shame if their choreography went to waste.

Seriously! It'll be embarrassing if Neji ends up fighting Sasuke.

He's been talking with Hinata about the Gentle Fist; she says it's possible to unblock tenketsu they've blocked, more quickly than it happens on its own, but she thinks it needs a lot of chakra or a lot of control? And Naruto hasn't managed it yet, even just after having her poke his arm while they talk. Figuring that out, and maybe more speed to avoid him, and more ranged options, might be good... He's also not sure Neji's going to think of looking down immediately, and Hinata said she's not automatically aware of her up-down peripheral vision, so hiding underground might be a strategy.

That is a good idea. Verticality is useful for stealth; humans do not naturally consider looking up and down for threats.

Cool! Does she know a technique for doing that? He can bug Kakashi-sensei if not.

A basic earth-walking technique should be possible to learn, even without an earth affinity.

He'll get to that, then. Thanks!

Is there anything he can help her with?

She believes she has her preparations well in hand.

Cool!

And back to training.

The day of the final exam creeps up on them quickly. Before they know it, it's the big day.

He's gotten the long ranged wind technique, the chameleon technique, the hiding in the earth technique, and a bunch of techniques to help with mobility - he's practiced speed a lot, that'll help play keep-away with Neji, and some wind techniques to break falls and deflect blows, though his control's still shaky on the deflection. He hasn't mastered the rasengan, but he got the water balloon to pop after observing how the more spiraling wind techniques work. He's still on the 'force' part now.

He's there on time, grinning and excited and trying to tamp down on it a bit.

Sugira's gotten the chidori, though he can only use it two times if he's being cautious or using a lot of other chakra, three times if he's willing to drop himself dangerously low. He should possibly consider ever working on his chakra reserves and control, apparently immersing himself in arcana isn't good for them. He's also improved his chakra speed, some, but not by as much as he probably could've.

The rest of his attention has gone to arcana. He can now cast his most basic spells stilled and silent, and he finished three spells (the lightning bolt he'd used against Orochimaru, Blink - which flickers him randomly in and out of the ethereal plane - and an extremely basic first level healing spell). He's working on mastering more spells to the point he doesn't need a spell-book for them, but it's slow going.

It's slightly ridiculous how much being able to cheat with the sharingan has sped up his learning.

The final exam is held in a circular arena. The center space is mostly open, but there is a small stand of trees on one edge that might provide a little cover. The spectator stands are about thirty feet above the arena floor, leaving plenty of room for safety. The contestants line up facing the Hokage's box. Next to him sits the Kazekage. The same proctor from before explains that the rules here will be the same as for the prelims, death or surrender. However, if he determines the fight is over, he will step in and stop it.