[center][img]http://i59.tinypic.com/wvpkww.jpg[/img][/center]

[i]Except I also happen to be older than you.[/i]

Of course, whatever response Haruka had wished to give to his fellow chunin was dashed the moment she ran off to deal with their feuding genin tagalongs. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand as he watched Aoi disappear out of the room. Everyone was so excitable these days, never taking the time to simply relax and handle things at a slower pace. Ah well, it wasn't really that much of a problem anyway, more just his own personal tastes speaking.

"[color=007236]The possibility has crossed my mind,[/color]" he began in response to Daiki, but like the other male ninja, he too was distracted by Aoi's loud exclamations from downstairs. Something was happening. With a slight frown, the green-haired chunin followed after his compatriot, leaving the room and descending the stairs to regroup with the rest of the group.

The pale-looking man.

Chakra strings.

Chakra strings either meant puppeteers or -

Something was definitely wrong here. Pale skin, lifeless eyes, the chakra strings. This was an incredibly obvious puppet. Whoever was responsible had either known that they would know that something was wrong, or incompetent. His senses told him to believe in the former. To be capable of silencing an entire village ... this was no longer something strange; deliberate action had definitely been involved. And there was either one person or a group responsible.

And this puppet was evidence.

Haruka kept his mouth shut.

The others were speaking already. No need to add his thoughts when they were already being dealt with.