Zakary's Genin Exam

Zakary had a small breakfast, and headed out to training. He even had an aura of nonchalance created by his gait and posture. It wasn't like he woke up on the wrong side of the bed, but he certainly didn't wake up on the best. As he approached the door, he turned the knob, opened it an inch and practically stumbled backwards into the door. Zakary could easily keep his balance, but this was by far the way requiring the least effort. Nor was the importance of the exam lost on him, but he couldn't possibly give the appearance of caring. Maybe he'd feel better after a round of messing with someone.

The pen in her grasp fell with a soft click as the proctor's entire frame jolted from her seat, her fourth scare in the last hour. She had found the red rose on her desk that morning and against her better judgement, picked it up, only to realize that it wasn't red, merely sticky. The young woman had nearly fainted as the smell of fresh blood mingled with the scent of a white rose had permeated her senses and even now, the queasy feeling was everpresent.

Loking at her register, she noted that there was only one student attempting the genin exam today. Maybe she could take the rest of the day off after this candidate? Go home, take a sleeping pill and some tea.

Try and forget that there was a psycho out there who dipped roses in blood and used the same blood as his ink to send cryptic messages.

Her vision swam for a moment as she tried to keep the tears and the horror at bay. After a moment however, the redhead composed herself and called out in a semi steady vouce.

"Come in, please stand at the center of the room and perform the two primary jutsu you've learned. Take your time."

As Zakary stumbled in, he noticed something was a bit off with the proctor, which slightly bothered him. Unfortunately, he had a distinct lack of determination to find out what or to try and mess with her. Though he did think he could alleviate the stress a bit. Already, he started to scheme as to how.

He performed his handseals, Ram, Snake, Tiger, and made a clone of himself. "Clone Jutsu. Simple enough, but good for creative things. The real power of the jutsu is in the user innovation and ingenious thinking. Distractions, pranks, stand ins at some social event, routines. Or, if you are a ninja, you can use it for some remarkable lies, the distractions I mentioned previously, or anything you can think of. It's very flexible, as all E rank jutsu are. Or at least, should be." Zakary weaved a few more handseals, Dog, Boar, and Ram, so as to perform his transformation. He closed his eyes for half a second, devising a transformation. Normally, he wouldn't put thought into it, but he wanted to do something that could cheer up the proctor and wake himself up. Something a bit more intricate. A jester should do very nicely, one if cool and peaceful tones. After all, he only sought to brighten up the atmosphere and from there the proctor's mood. Zakary transformed into a short man with the attire imagined of a court jester, dressed in blues and greens, this including his makeup of swirled and fanciful shapes and designs. Zakary was also careful to make sure it was a funnier kind rather than a frightening one. Not that he thought he could scare her even if he tried. Or maybe anyone could? The most irritating, or rather, difficult thing about making someone happy was having no idea what was wrong, and therefore having no idea how to solve the problem. "Transformation. Cheer up a bit, teach." He had the clone transform into a similar figure, but with a color scheme of reds and yellows. Zakary would do a somersault over the clone, who would do a roll under Zakary. He released the clone, danced a small jig for a few seconds and bowed. After releasing the transformation, he brought his head back up. "Transformation is similar to clone jutsu. It takes a constant amount of chakra to maintain and can be easily broken through stress, but its real similarities lie in usage. It is weak, pathetic in most uses and inferior to many jutsu. But with ingenuity and critical thinking, you can do amazing things that can impact many people. Shinobi can use it to infiltrate, lie, and generally deceive. Much of its effectiveness is in general deceptive actions, but certain jutsu utilize it for an offensive purpose, such as Shadow Shuriken. I think that's what it is called. That is a difference between it and Clone jutsu. Clones can be told apart from real people by their distinct lack of shadows. They have some use in distractions, but only minimal. Transformations can mimic anyone the person can really imagine." Zakary had rehearsed a bit of the speech, but he was playing most of it by ear. This was about where his foresight ended, and he had very little idea what to do next. "I also learned substitution, but it is not one of the two. Personally, I believe that it is one of the best jutsu anyone can learn. It grants one the ability to avoid any attack the person can perceive and act on, just a simple sign. If you master it, it's real potency is present. Without a single seal, you can substitute away from an attack. I can demonstrate, actually." Zakary took out his ponytail holder, fitted on his finger and thumb in the shape of a mock gun, and walked towards the wall. Again, he was playing it by ear, but he was doing fairly well. He shot the band at the wall, and it bounced off, very slowly, towards him. It was very easy for him to substitute out of the way with the speed at which it was traveling. He only substituted just to the side so as to catch his band, and started to tie his ponytail back up. "As I said, quite the technique for getting out of the way. I almost don't see the point in me explaining it since you know, but I suppose it is a test of my knowledge. Every shinobi or kunoichi, Genin, Chuunin, Jounin, or ninja should know substitution because of its uses."  Zakary knew he'd accomplished one of his goals, the one involving sufficiently stimulating himself to wake up well. He had no idea if he had accomplished his second, which was cheering up the proctor. Hopefully he had. The color drained from his face as another thought went running through his mind. He had immediately decided that he would be humorous, but what if that failed him? If he failed, he concluded, he wouldn't be upset because it could have made someone happy. He could try again some other time.
Word Count: 853

Bowmp.

The proctor let out a small smile at the boy's attempts to cheer her up. Perhaps there was hope in the new generation. "Well done, young ninja," the redhead praised, managing to find a congratulatory smile for the candidate despite her current situation. "You are now a shinobi of the Leaf. Go forth and protect your village... make the people safe," she added, giving him the well deserved headband.

(Genin status approved, you get 15 stats and a free spec)