Chapter 1: The Sun Stands in Attention

Hiten stood between his friends and the other students around him.
He looked at the sun and sighed and mumbled softly."Out of all the days.... They just had to pick the hottest day in months."
Sweat was dripping from his forehead, Hiten always used to avoid standing in the sunlight for to long because he did not like the high temperatures that usually followed with it.

He looked forward to the graduation tests but at the same time feared the consequences should he fail them..

Hina stood next to Hiten and nodded to his words. "It's almost like they did this on purpose," she agreed.
Noticing her posture had slacked off the tiniest bit she straightened her back once again and had to resist the urge to fan herself with her hand. She felt hot and sticky all over, not a very pleasant nor comfortable feeling. Though she knew it was worse for Hiten. Her eyes trailed over the crowd, looking for familiar faces of friends and family, but also focusing on what the jounin were doing.

Meran stood on the other side of Hina and permitted himself to quickly turn towrds her, lower his left eyelid and stick out his tongue towards Hina. After which he would face front again.
His voice could be heard by the two as he softly spoke after.
"It would not surprise me in the slightest if the teachers did." The boy spoke, hardly sweating at all, but this was not because he wasn't hot.
Every now and then, there would be a slight ripple across his body, as the sand that was on there shifted position a little bit, allowing for the cooler grains to get closer to his body and the hotter grains were shifted more to the surface.

It worked... a little...

Meran did not like formalities, but in order to have something on hand, he would study the situation, unlikely that he would discover any secrets, but one would never know. He would have to face one of the jounin walking in right now, so he chooses to study the incoming Jounin one by one. It was good that the jounin seem to come in one by one slowly, allowed him to do a little bit more than he initially expected. In light of the recent situation he not only paid attention to what these jounin could or could not do, but also on their emotional state as well as any special actions they might perform as they enter.
(Investigation roll; Empathy roll; Politics Roll; Subterfuge Roll;Shinobi Codes Roll on the jounin that enter and have entered as long as there is time to do so.)

Akira stood next in line to Meran, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at their little interaction.

She agreed it was a hot day, but there was a good chance a lot more red hot days would come. It was always hot in the desert, she didn't see the point in complaining about the heat. It was as good a day as any in their scorching desert.

The day had finally come, the day she'd been longing for. The day that would determine whether she was worthy. She had no doubt that both she and her friends she was standing next to would make it. This was what all those years of training had been leading up to.

She stood tall and proud and held her chin up high while her stormy grey eyes rested their piercing gaze on the jounin that entered the room one by one, scrutinizing them as much as they scrutinized her.
(Investigation roll on the jounin she's scrutinizing)

As the Academy students all stood there and some of them minded the many Jounin walking in one in particular would eventually catch their attention in that he didn't really catch their attention.
They had never heard of the man before, nor did any of them remember ever seeing him before in the Village, but the other Jounin and the instructors seemed to know him. He was still quite young, easily the youngest among the present Jounin, being around 18 to 20.
He had dark brown markings underneath his eyes and perhaps his most apperant feature was the large scroll he carried on his back.


Unlike with the other Jounin present who's attire somewhat gave away their line of expertise his scroll only gave away that he was capable with time-space and sealing techniques and perhaps even summoning techniques. His cold, discontent and bored eyes stared down the students one by one as he was breathing slowly.

Älright let us begin!" One of the academy teachers announced as another one rang a bell to signify the start as 4 other academy teachers lit 4 torches on the 4 sides of the combat field where the challenges would happen, stepping out of the 20 by 20 meter are would likewise result in failure, and it was more important not to do that than not to get stabbed.

When this was said the Jounin with the dark marks under his eyes and the scroll on his back would step forward with a quick, determined and yet graceful step, making two other Jounin look a bit surprised and in fact even a bit taken back by his reaction speed on the correct moment securing himself the first pick, making one of those two Jounin step back as he took his step just a bit later.

"Gisou no Ranmaru! First Choice." The Academy teacher that announced the start would call out as Ranmaru kept his near emotionless expression stepping forward even more and pacing through everyone before stopping at Meran but not looking in the boy's direction but standing right in front of the Sabaku boy. He would then after a few seconds of pondering let out a little huff before turning to face Meran looking him into the eyes with his empty expression, it'd probably even be a little creepy to most the way he looked. Absolutely nod feedback as to how he felt or what he was thinking yet somehow it felt like he was extracting information out of you from just looking.
The Jounin would nod and without a word walk up to the table and would pick up a ninjato and then step into the marked combat area awaiting Meran's response.
All the students kept silent as did the Jounin and Academy teachers, only the sounds of motion, the wind outside and the four flames could be heard.

(What Meran could find out about this man from his rolls is the following ; He uses some kind of summoning technique or otherwise specializes in weapon use, he clearly follows the shinobi codes down to the letter as he seems to know the ritual motions in perfect, which few people do, and it's not considered shameful not to know them perfectly, but he does. He is obviously good at hiding his emotion for all you can sense from him is determination as far as empathy goes. He has some goal he is set on, more you cannot get out of him.)

(For Akira ; All you find about this guy is about the same as what Meran does when it comes to his attire and abilities.)

Akira watched with tightly contained anticipation as the strange jounin called Ranmaru stepped closer and closer... only to come to a standstill in front of Meran.

Almost...

But she was glad for Meran. He was ready to go and finish this, she knew. And to possibly, and in her opinion most likely, become the first to be deemed worthy in this graduation event was an honor.

When the jounin called Ranmaru picked a ninjato to fight with--one of her personal favorite weapons as well--she wondered what weapon Meran would choose.

She never once looked at Meran though, keeping her posture straight and steady. She didn't need to look at him for him to know she supported him and wished him the best of luck.

Meran's fingers itched as he wanted to write all the information down in his little book. Unfortunately, it would be highly inappropriate to start walking around writing information down. As he was trying to store all the information in a certain section of his mind, he became a bit distracted to his surroundings, but when the bell rang, he came out of his mesmerizing and he jumped into attention. He would not be reprimanded on his manners by his sister tonight!

Meran was intrigued and a bit taken aback by the jounin who seemed to have a certain interest in him. It made him wonder how the Jounin chose their opponent, why would this man stop before him. His hand twitched to reach for his book, but again, this was most certainly not the moment to do that.
He squished his lips together, because the other instinct was to make a joke against Hina.

And that was when the man turned, dead emotionless eyes on Meran and he could do nothing but blink once or twice.. What a weird man...

Meran would make a short bow, as he had heard would be custom to do when accepting a challenge and he would then wait for the Jounin to pick a weapon. After the jounin made his choice, Meran would move up to the table and look at the possible choices that can be found upon the table. He would also start to prepare for the fight. While selecting a weapon, he would use the time to mold chakra, from which he would also lose a little for keeping his special sand in check against his skin.

Meran currently has 1unit in Yoroi (armor) and 6 Units in tate (shield) but he keeps them from freely floating around due to the nature of the ceremony.
(-4 PE + -4 ME -> 16 Chakra... )(-2 Chakra, -1 ME; Sand Control D)

Meran would offcourse stay true to his character and continue to try and uncover secrets from his opponent. (Subterfuge + Speciality) As well as look at the combat field to see if it is at all... Say... Sandy... If there is still time that is..

Hina's eye twitched as Meran's stuck out his tongue at her. Not because she wasn't used to it, but because she couldn't whack him in the back of the head like she wanted to without drawing too much attention.

At the sound of the bell Hina could feel her pulse slightly quicken. It was exciting, after all. When the jounin with the scroll announced he would have first pick and walked over to them she almost held her breath. Would she be picked first? That would be a huge honour. However, he chose Meran. Hina wasn't that surprised really. Meran was, after all, a skilled shinobi, sand user, and son of the Kazekage. She kept her back straight and her face forward, but tried to see everything out of the corner of her eye. Pretty creepy guy. Didn't he have any emotions? He also seemed to almost hesitate before looking Meran in the eye. Why would he so quickly call out that he had a choice if he wasn't sure? Or was he? Her eyes flashed to the other jounin. Others had been about to announce their choices as well. They seemed sure.

Her eyes flashed back to the situation next to her. She was certain Meran would accept. There was no reason not to. And there was every reason to. Sure enough, Meran accepted and walked towards the table with weapons. What would he choose? Hina was looking forward to the fight. Could be an interesting one.

Meran stepped forward and went on to choose his weapon, and the man named Ranmaru went outside to the combat field.

While Meran took his time at the table with weapons, Akira's grey stare settled on the remaining jounin. She wondered if any one of them was giving her their attention... and wondered if she could get any clue about which one of them had perhaps already decided they would pick her.
(Investigation roll on the jounin)

Hiten crossed his arms and stared at the jounin and Meran. He was curious how the jounin would fight against his friend and at the same time was grateful that he was not the first student to fight.

He looked at Akira and Hina nodded, smiled and would then calmly watch the scene that was about to unfold before him.
(Investigation rolls on all the jounin. should the time allow it.)

The flames that were lit in the room made the rest of the area seem a bit darker and drew a lot of everyones attention to themselves with their natural allure.
On the large table Meran would find a kunai, a tanto, a ninjato, nunchaku, a staff, a pack of ninja wire, a shuriken, a senbon, a giant shuriken and an umbrella that was unfilled. All the weapons layed there in neat rows and there was a large number of each of them, however the rules were clear, one weapon, be it a sword or a senbon or a staff, but just one.

There were 3 other Jounin in the room aside from Ranmaru, Meran's older sister Sabaku no Kazenkou, with her bright red hair and dark eyeliner. The girl that ussualy looked so cheerful and happy, even after her father and the village forced her to become the new host of the demon Shukaku was now looking dead serious her eyes scanning over the participants making her own deductions and calculations.



She was wearing her trademark red kimono dress with golden patterns and her two small 'palm fans'.
Among the Jounin present she was possibly the strongest one, concidering her large number of known conquests and victories against some of the world's strongest even before gaining the power of a tailed beast. Her abbilities included the use of sand much like Meran but she was also known for being able to utilize 3 elements, wind, earth and fire. In Suna and especialy among her own Clan she is well known for having developed her own combat style with the sand using dancing motions and her fans to manipulate the sand rather than calculated hand gestures.
This gives her some slight advantage on speed and on avoiding enemy attacks. But with her special sand it all works that much more effective. Naturaly her political loyalty was with the main family as she was part of it. Kazenkou was everything but a powerhungry person. In fact those that would know her just a little better she would even gladly give away the power bestowed upon her by the Village, but she worries that it would fall into wrong hands, especialy with the way things are in the present day.




The other one was Chikamatsu no Souran known to be the strongest puppet master in the Village after Kankuro likewise this man was known to be a follower of the Anti-Konoha support front. The Puppet Master was wearing a large mummy-wrapped coffin on his back with 3 large scrolls attached to it.
Unlike her father who preffered to wear all black Souran was instead wearing a bright orange body costume instead with a few metal plates on it for armor. The costume he was wearing however wasn't just a regular orange, it was a sandy orange that would easily blend in with the desert, the sand and even most the buildings in the village. Where on first sight he might seem rather apperant and present those that had enough Shinobi codes and investigation to go on (luckily for me this is all of you avoiding need of PM's) knew he could make himself near invisible through sheer positioning with ease if he wanted to. Likewise the wraps he was using for his coffin were not a white color, instead likewise being more of a sandy, perchament kind of color to blend in along with him if needed.
Little was known about this puppet master, his puppets and abilities, but this was natural, after-all he was a member of a Hiden Clan (no this is not a typo, secret societies are officialy refered to in Naruto as Hiden Ichizoku (secretive/secret/hidden families) the word Hiden is japanese in this case.) and thus it was among his priorities to keep his secrets well hidden.
Even Hina, being from the same Clan and having seen this man quite a few times, him holding the second position in the Clan to her father at the moment, only knew the name to his generally used formation and technique as being "Orange Secret." Hina also knew it had to do something with traps, fast movement, explosives and a main body supported by smaller puppets. Even she didn't know more of this man.
Unlike Kazenkou who was serious and Ranmaru who was emotionless yet determined, Souran had a smirk on his face having his hands crossed at his chest as he let out a little sigh looking over the aspirant Genin nodding to himself slightly amused at the sight. He was wearing a facemask but his eyes still gave away his emotions.




Last but not least Bikou no Isago who used to study under the council member Baki much like the Kazekage did in his young years. Isago, unlike most others in the Village is a Daimyou sympathiser when it comes to his political outlook and is quite a strong sympathiser at that as the first thing all 4 Genin would remember about him when they saw him would be the multitude of speeches they saw him giving in papers and on TV about the benefits of having the Village ruled by the countries Daimyou rather than a Kage. He is also a known devotee on the road to pacifism and world peace, he understands it is hard to achive, and even impossible in the current state, but he firmly believes it can be achieved eventualy and that the right steps needed to be taken for that, he believes one of these steps to be a political and militairy reformation in the country. As for his abilities it was well known that he was exceptional at the use of wind and at the use of various weapons, but mostly he was known for high combat style where he would utilize wind and a multitude of katana he would have spinning around him and/or his opponent.

Ranmaru stood there with his Ninjato waiting for Meran to take his pick while the other Genin awaited their turn much like the Jounin did.

Meran waited no longer, for him the pick was quite easy as he reached for the ninwire.

After picking it up the boy proceeded to take his stance opposite Ranmaru. He again made a bow, to show he was ready and he waited for the fight to begin.
As he bows, he opens the pack of ninwire and seems to be stowing it away in his garments, but infact he places it in his sand, still all around his body.

(-2 chakra -1ME, Sand Control D

total by the start of the fight:

16 Chakra
Full ME,
Full PE,
6 Units of Sand in Tate (shield)
1 unit of Sand in Yoroi (armor)
Special Sand 6 AC)

Let's do this!

Hiten looked at Ranmaru and wondered how the fight would start. 'So ninwire versus Ninjato.. This will be interesting to watch.' He wondered what opponents he would be facing and looked around for sources of water.

Hina smirked at Meran's choice of ninja wire. 'No surprises there, cousin,' she thought. While Meran and Ranmaru of the Gisou walked towards the arena where they would be fighting Hina looked back at the other jounin.

Kazenkou. Meran's older sister and her cousin. She looked kind of serious. Very different from the spread in the magazine Hina had gotten the other day. She did her utmost best, but couldn't entirely stop herself from blushing a little bit. It had been weird, seeing her cousin like that and knowing that the entire country would see her like that as well. Hina wondered is she would ever do something like that.

To distract herself out of her blush she focused on one of the other jounin. Bikou no Isago. She remembered seeing him on the TV, giving long speeches. He wanted to get rid of the Kazekage and "achieve world peace". 'Oh please,' Hina mentally rolled her eyes, 'Join a beauty pageant.' As long as there are people in the world, there can't be world peace. Homo homini lupus, dude. She didn't agree with his means, getting rid of the Kazekage wouldn't help that much, in her opinion. And she also thought he was naive and idealistic. But she could, at least, respect him for trying.

Last. Souran. Of her own clan. With his large coffin and 3 scrolls. Hina felt the weight of Chouchou on her back. (Chouchou currently had her legs wrapped around Hina's arms and her head turned 180 degrees, like a backpack. Not hindering Hina's movements while being easily accessible.) It felt tiny in comparison. She'd seen him in the compound a couple of times, when he needed to discuss things with her dad. She wasn't sure if she really liked him, not having had enough interaction with him. But she was pretty sure he didn't like her. Maybe not her personally, but more what she was. She remembered this one time when he had just been talking to her dad and he walked past her on his way out. He had sneered down at her. She had stuck out her tongue at his retrieving back. It was amazing how much emotion was visible on his face, even with the face mask. Worst. Shinobi. Ever. Very much the opposite of Ranmaru.

Speaking of which. It seemed like the fight was about to start.

Hiten would find a glass of water on a small table near the Jounin and Academy students, there was also a closed waterbottle or three on a chair near that same table.

As Meran and Ranmaru went underway and both entered the combat zone Kazenkou would be the second one to step foreward she would walk pass Akira glancing in the direction of the girl slightly with a smile, it seemed that Kazenkou has made her pick...but then the Sabaku heir would look back at the other Jounin, Souran in particular before she would cough displeased into one of her fists and sigh walking further and stopping in front of Chikamatsu no Hina and giving the girl a firm nod.
The Sand princess seemed somewhat displeased and nervous having made her choice.
The look in her eyes clearly showed that she didn't pick Hina as her priority and first choice, not that she disliked the girl, but something about Souran made her reconcider her choice and go for Hina instead.
"Do you wish to suceed at being a Shinobi?" She would ask the Chikamatsu girl, some irony in her voice she tried to hide. She would await the short answer from Hina as expected according to the procedures of the ritual and would then follow with two more questions.
"Why do you wish to be a Shinobi?"
"What is more important to you, Clan or Village?"

Akira's eyes followed Meran's sister as she stepped forward and began walking. The feeling crept up on her that this was it, she would be next. The way Kazenkou purposefully stepped onwards, coming closer towards her...

When Kazenkou was in front of her she could see the barest hint of a smile and they locked eyes. She inwardly smiled as well, because while it was an honor to be picked by any one of the jounin, she considered it an especial honor to be chosen by Meran's sister, a member of the Sabaku clan and successor of the title of Kazekage.

But alas, the moment passed and Kazenkou went on to stop in front of Hina. Akira made sure not a hint of disappointment was shown on her face.

But she did feel that way. Now the two remaining jounin were the Chikamatsu whom she didn't know much about other than that he was an exceptional shinobi, and the man she knew from his speeches: Bikou no Isago.

She didn't like that man Isago. He was a Daimyou sympathizer and wanted to see him in charge of the village. Akira did not share his sentiment. The Daimyou certainly knew enough of politics--but he knew nothing of fights and war. How could a man with no experience on the battlefield, pampered by servants and living in the protection of his guards, lead the village's military power?

Kazenkou asked Hina her questions, and while Akira kept her gaze straight ahead, eyeing the two remaining jounin, she listened attentively to Hina's answers.

Hina's attention snapped to Kazenkou the moment she started moving. She walked over to their little group in the line. Again, close to Hina. Would she be second? No, it seemed Kazenkou had taken a liking to Akira instead. But, wait a second, she didn't pick Akira? Hina followed Kazenkou's gaze back to the other jounin. Souran. Kazenkou walked further and stopped.. in front of Hina! Hina's eyes flashed back to Souran for the briefest of moments, trying to gauge his reaction, before looking straight into Kazenkou's eyes. Was Kazenkou doing what Hina thought she was doing? Her heart was racing. She nodded back in a greeting. Kazenkou wasn't happy about her choice. It seemed.. like a mercy choice. Hina wasn't her first pick. Akira was. Hina only got picked so someone else (coughSourancough) wouldn't kick the snot out of her. Hina's heart slightly sank. She really appreciated the gesture by her cousin. But she'd rather lose with dignity than win because of mercy. Hopefully she was wrong in her assumptions. She made a mental note to ask Kazenkou about this later.

"Do you wish to succeed at being a shinobi?" One of the corners of Hina's mouth slightly quirked upwards, immediately being forced down into a serious look again. It was a rhetorical question.
"Yes. I do." she replied. Short and clear, like she was taught.

"Why do you wish to be a shinobi?"
"To serve and protect Sunagakure, my village. It is my duty." she said, without missing a beat.

"What is more important to you, clan or village?" Bit more tricky, that one.
"Both are equally important to me. Sunagakure needs the clans, but the clans also need Sunagakure." In her eyes, it was the truth. She wasn't sure if she could ever choose between them, should her clan decide to leave the village or something. But she doubted that she would ever have to. In the end, she was on the side of family. And in that sense the entire village, including the clan, was equally important to her. It was basically the side that was "wrong" or would force her to choose that would loose her loyalty.
She wasn't sure if her short answer conveyed all that, but then again, if they wanted her to be super precise, they shouldn't have asked for short answers.

As Hina looked over at Souran the moment Kazenkou had picked the Chikamatsu girl she would be able to see his eyes narrow slightly from his being displeased as he balded his fists.
Kazenkou would let out a light chuckle and nod to Hina with a small smile.
"Because they are and should be like one and the same if we ever wish to reach true prosperity and power to stand strong on our own." She added to the Chikamatsu girl's last reply.

Before glancing back at Souran giving the Jounin a cocky smirk as she spoke softly only loud enough for her and Hina, and perhaps those directly next to them to hear.
"You seem to hold wisdom beyond some of our Jounin. I say that is a good sign." The redheaded girl spoke, she was only 18 but already both a Jounin and a Jinshuriki, and so far she was known as the best one among the Shukaku Jinshuriki as during her time there has never been an outburst.

Nodding to Hina Kazenkou would then proceed to the table and pick up the umbrella before taking her spot in the next combat zone and awaited for the aspirant Genin to make her move.

As she did, Souran could no longer content himself and stepped foreward causing a sigh from Isago who held to his pacifist beliefs didn't feel like contending with the seemingly riled up fellow Jounin. Souran growled and mummbled something underneath his breath before he went from student to student asking them questions, only one question per student it seemed and he moved on, but eventually he would stop and nod to the genin that answered him, being on the other side of the line and thus it wasn't loud enough to be heard what it was he asked them.
Walking to the table Souran took the tanto and then continued to his position the student following him with a tanto of his own.
As the aspirant Genin would enter the battlefield and strike out at the Jounin Souran would dodge the approaching student with great ease and tap him on the back of his head with the hilt of the sword teasing and a bit demeaning before dodging yet another strike which he would follow up with a kick to the acedemy student's chin sending him flying out of the combat area.
Souran growled, clearly the anger he projected on the student wasn't meant for the student , something else was upsetting him. He would stike the tanto into the ground despite it's unsharp end before sitting down.
The student pouted and sobbed shamed and defeated as he slowly climbed up, that battle was over so quickly and he was already getting the shame stamp on him as Souran huffed closing his eyes and just sat there with a pissed off attitude, liking it even less to see the boy sob at this.
Walking up kneeling and taking the weapon out of the ground to carry it back to the table before leaving, his shoulders hanging the Genin could be heard softly sniffeling as he walked through the door. Many students had a bit of a sad face, feeling for the boy, some smirked as less competition was left for them to face. But most really felt the hurt and shame together with the boy, worried they might end up sharing his fate.
Souran then jumped up and glanced back over his shoulders looking for a new candidate already causing the first few he looked at to turn pale and worried.

From the corners of her eyes, Akira noticed Meran had started his battle, though he himself couldn't be seen very well because of the cloud of sand around him.

Hina had answered her questions smoothly and Kazenkou seemed pleased. However, Akira's keen observant eyes saw one person who definitely didn't like what was going on. The burly Chikamatsu couldn't keep himself in check and lost his temper as he picked a boy and fought him.

Akira felt resentment at the man though she didn't show it, her expression remained focused and eyes fierce and intense. Her resentment wasn't all that much because the boy had lost an opportunity to become genin. She didn't care about the boy.

It was the man, Chikamatsu no Souran. How childish, venting his anger on someone much weaker than him.

She sincerely hoped he wouldn't become her sensei. Apparently he had wanted to pick Hina to spar with and Kazenkou beat him to it. If he reacted this upset and uncontrolled to such a trivial matter, that promised very little for her if he should become her teacher.

Hina would give a small smile at Kazenkou's words. And couldn't help but glow with pride as she got the compliment from her cousin. Though, at that moment, it didn't feel like getting a compliment from family, but more like getting a compliment from one of the strongest shinobi of the village.

Hina followed after Kazenkou towards the table, noticing how Souran was really angry. Had he really wanted to fight her that bad? She however chose to block him out and ignore his actions and the sounds of him practically, there is no other word for it, giving the boy a beating that would follow. It was time to focus on her own thing. Kazenkou opted for the umbrella. When Hina reached the table she quickly listed the weapons.

A kunai, a tanto, a ninjato, nunchaku, a staff, a pack of ninja wire, a shuriken, a senbon, a giant shuriken and the umbrella, which was empty.
She quickly analysed Kazenkou's weapon. The umbrella. It was empty, so no senbon, shuriken or kunai barrage. It could be used to deflect attacks. Also, good to conceal your moves behind. Tricky.
She picked up the kunai, put it in her pack, where she would be able to easily reach it, and followed Kazenkou towards the arena, while getting ready for the battle by molding her chakra. (4PE + 4ME = 16 Chakra in pool. I'm new to this, so bear with me if I get it wrong. )

She used her chakra strings to get Chouchou on her back to unlock her finger with each other, unwind her legs from around Hina's shoulders and put her on the side, just outside the arena. Still somewhere where she would be able to see the puppet, if someone were to try and mess with it. Always keep your puppets in sight, her dad taught her. (I'm guessing -2 chakra, Puppet control, lvl D? So 14 chakra in pool.) She stepped inside the arena. Confident. Determined.

Hiten counted the number of genin that failed the test and wondered what weapon he would pick.
He could go for his favorite weapon the small senbon needle. Or go for the staff.. Hiten liked both and eyed the table intensely hoping for a sign that would make his choice to come easier.
He looked at Akira and whispered.. "Is it just me or are they saving us for last?"

Having seen Hina take a kunai and walking away with Kazenkou, Akira wished her a silent mental good luck.

Hiten was standing near to her and at a given moment she heard him whisper.
"Is it just me or are they saving us for last?"
She didn't turn her head, she didn't even look back at him. She showed no outward appearance of even having heard him. But she did hear, and she responded with a soft, even whisper.
"Our turn will come soon enough. Keep your back straight. Focus."
Stormy grey eyes stared straight ahead, proud and fierce. It wouldn't take much longer, she was sure.

Isago would step forward next, being the last Jounin to yet make his choice. He walked passed the Genin much like Souran did earlier asking them questions quietly. He would eventually stop in front of Hiten and give the boy a side-way glance as he asked his questions.

"What is more important, peace or prosperity?"

"Village, Country or your kind, which is the most important?"

"Is kindness....needed in a war?"

He asked his questions patiently waiting and carefully listening to each of his short replies.

Tcha, Akira thought to herself. You see, Hiten? That didn't take long.

So she would be the last one among her friends to be kept waiting. She didn't sigh, but she was eager to be picked herself. Seeing Hina having entered into battle and Meran just having finished it... made her itch to prove herself as well.