Child of the Moon

Intimidation Round

Of course, the yelling resulted in a lot of crazy responses. Mostly from Sakura, who was throttling Naruto, and then awkwardly trying to blow it all off with excessive babbling.

"Yo, Sakura," Aki said, resting her chin on her palm. "Stop talking, you're starting to piss me off."

There was movement, which caught Aki's attention, though judging by the way the other two were acting, it wasn't something she needed to get too worried about.

"Uh, right, sorry... SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING NARUTO!? YOU'RE MAKING EVERYONE MAD?"

"I said shut up!" Aki snapped.

Kabuto was suddenly forced to defend, when three ninja attacked, one of them throwing kunai which he managed to dodge, while the next one moved to take advantage of that. His punch missed, but by Nanami's frown, and the way she winced, there was more to the attack than she could see.

Kabuto seemed fine for a bit, but then his glasses broke, and not long after, he was on the ground, throwing up.

"Kabuto!" Sakura and Naruto ran to his side.

"That punch used sound waves," Aki looked up to see... uh, Mikio... walking over with the rest of his squad.

"That explains why Nanami flinched," Aiyanna murmured, just low enough for Team Kurai, Aki, and Nanami to hear. "We can't hear it, because it's on a frequency that she's better attuned to than us."

"But not one that would set Akamaru off," Aki pointed over her shoulder to the pup, now perched on its owner's head, who wasn't paying them any attention. "Shouldn't we do something? You know, make peace or whatever?"

"Who are you, and what have you done with Aki?" Aiyanna demanded.

"I just want this stupid test to be over," Aki sighed. "I can only take so much fangirl, and you won't even let me touch the hair."

"Uhh... what?" Katsu questioned, tilting his head with a confused look.

"See that guy over there? The one with the boss eyebrows?"

"Yeah?"

"The guy next to him?"

"Yeah?"

"I wanna touch his majestic hair," Aki concluded. "I gotta know if it's as soft as it looks."

"Agreed."

"No!" Aiyanna and Mikio both grabbed Katsu and Aki, effectively stopping them.

"Killjoy!" the two whined.

"But Aki is right," Nanami said. "Competition or not, it wouldn't be fair to leave him at a disadvantage. Especially since this is his seventh attempt."

"Fine," Aiyanna sighed, walking over to the wobbly ninja on the ground.

"Hey, punk," one of the Sound ninja said. "Write this in your little-"

"Shut up," Aiyanna snapped, glaring over her shoulder at him. "Before I tie you to the roof."

"Kinky," Aki snickered to herself.

Katsu and Mikio happened to overhear and had to try to contain their laughter.

"Boys are so lame," Miniko sighed.

"What was that?" the Sound ninja snapped at Aiyanna.

Aiyanna ignored him, and instead did a number of hand signs, ending with a slashing motion. Water gathered around her palms, and she held her hands on either side of Kabuto's face. A bluish glow emanated from her hands, and the water dissipated.

"How's your head?"

"Much better, thank you," he said, smiling.

"Hey, I was talking to you, Leaf brat!" the Sound ninja moved to grab Aiyanna's shoulder, but Aki grabbed his hand and squeezed, forcing him to his knees.

"Look, mate, I was told to play nice with the other kids," she growled. "But if you touch my girl Aiyanna, Imma put you in a body cast, ya know?"

There was a poof of smoke, and an angry voice started yelling from the smoke.

"Alright, you baby faced degenerates, pipe down and listen up!"

The smoke cleared, revealing a bunch of Leaf ninjas. Aki released the Sound ninja's arm and gave him a dark glare as he retreated to his teammates.

"That wasn't necessary, Aki," Aiyanna said softly, showing Aki the kunai she'd picked up.

"Yeah, but don't be putting all your cards on the table before the game even starts, ya know?" Aki answered as the team stood to listen to the ninja with the scars standing front and center of the other Leaf ninja.

"Let's get started," the guy with the scars said. "My name is Ibiki Morino, your proctor, and from this moment... your worst enemy."