Neutrino cross section and oscillation measurements depend critically on modeling of hadronic final state interactions (FSI). Often, this is one of the largest components of uncertainty in a measurement. This is because of the difficulty in modeling strong interactions in nuclei in a consistent quantum-mechanical framework. FSI models are most often validated using hadron-nucleus data which introduces further uncertainties. The alternative is to use transparency data where the hadron starts propagating from inside the nucleus and the probability of interaction is measured as a function of hadron energy. This work examines the relationship between the $\pi^+$ and proton total reaction cross section and transparency from a simulation viewpoint.