The wooden table rocked from the kick, and the corners of the scroll rustled in the wind.
Nara Shikamaru was the first to step up and sign. He dragged his feet over to the table, glanced at the blood-red heading, and picked up the pen with an air of resignation. "What a drag..."
The instant his pen crossed the scroll, a faint ripple of chakra seemed to flash past. His brow twitched almost imperceptibly, but he said nothing. After signing, he stepped aside and stared blankly at the forest entrance, his hands in his pockets.
"Hey, Dead Last! What are you dragging your feet for?"
Sasuke shot Naruto, who was still hesitating, a cold glance and stepped forward first. The knuckles of his pen hand were sharply defined, and his signature cut across the paper like a blade. Before the ink had dried, he turned toward the forest, the hem of his black coat brushing the grass and stirring a gust.
"Wait for me, Sasuke!"
Provoked, Naruto immediately followed. He grabbed the pen and scrawled a crooked name. He pressed his handprint down so hard that he nearly punched through the scroll.
Haruno Sakura followed close behind. Her fingertips still trembled as she signed, but the moment her pen touched down, her gaze began to steady.
Kabuto Yakushi approached with his two teammates. He smiled as he signed the scroll, his movements calm and unhurried, yet quietly committed something to memory as his eyes swept over the Konoha 12's signatures.
The Otogakure trio seemed especially impatient. Zaku snatched the pen and slashed several glaring ink marks across the paper. Dosu and their other teammate followed suit. Once all three had signed, they plunged into the dense forest without looking back, the eyes beneath the bandages brimming with undisguised hostility.
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