Tales of Team 4 Chapter 2: Chunin Exams! Exam 1, a naruto fanfic

The exams are taken to decide whether or not you are strong enough to move up another level. The Chunin level. Harder missions, more enemies, and splitting up from your team, going on your own missions. Top secret missions all the way to catching a missing dog. Though you could only enter as a three man team, it took a lot of time. Kotori was able to talk Kinuta into taking the exam so they could actually pass. Of course, nobody passes on their first try but there was a chance. The first exam consists of answering 10 questions, all based off of learning survival tactics. The second exam is getting a scroll from another team while being able to keep your own as well. The third exam is head to head combat, and the final is also hand to hand combat. People have died of course, and it is pretty dangerous. Despite that, everybody wanted to do it. Well, everybody that didn't want to do it was guilt-tripped into it. During the Chunin exams, everything that was going on the outside world would pause and allied nations would come together for one big exam.

This year, it was the Leaf and Sand Village together. It was taking place at the Leaf village luckily, but Kotori was way too excited to meet other people from another village. Especially the Sand Village, she loved everybody there. Kotori was more excited to meet people from the Sand village than she was the actual exam itself. Tadashi found her pretty weird for liking other people in other villages more than she liked people from her own.

—

Kotori, Kinuta, and Tadashi were all waiting around for their sensei Mikoto to show up. All 3 of them were becoming bored waiting around, and with the hot sun beating them up, they were tired.

"Let's do something. I'm tired of waiting around here." Kotori said, sitting up from her spot on the freshly trimmed grass. "Let's do something. And by let's do something, I mean we should go and fight people!" She said, sparkles in her eyes with excitement. "It's like, uh, you know, training. But against people. You get it. So I mean we wouldn't be hurting anybody because it's training?" Kotori began to ramble on - like she always does.

"I'm in, but I'm not fighting a girl," Tadashi said, straightening himself up.

"It's not fighting, it's training!" Kotori corrected him.

"What's the difference? You're fighting somebody either way." Tadashi smirked, folding his arms in front of him. Antagonizing people was an activity he was quite fond of.

"The difference is that we don't hurt each other… That much at least." Kotori corrected herself.

"Whatever." groaned Tadashi.

"I think some training would be helpful," Kinuta said after listening for awhile.

Kotori yelled with excitement, jumping up and down excitedly. All three of them headed for the training grounds to get some sparring in before the first part of the exam. Once they finally arrived at the grounds, they needed to figure out who would spar who.

"I have a plan! Whoever wins the first fight is the champion, and has to go against the other two." Kotori said, getting into a fighting stance dramatically.

"Seems Kotori really wants to go, huh?" Tadashi said to Kinuta, who just nodded.

"So who's gonna take me on?" Kotori challenged with a smirk dancing across her face. Kotori waited for a solid minute seeing that nobody was going to step up to the plate. "Well fine then, Kinuta. You fight me. A real challenge."

Kinuta just shrugged and smirked, "Alright," he simply replied standing up to the training grounds.

"Alright!" Kotori said enthusiastically, clapping her hands together. "Tadashi is the ref. First one down loses?" She suggested. Tadashi was personally offended that Kotori didn't consider him a challenge, but it also agreed with his morals of not fighting girls. In return, Tadashi nodded in agreement. Either way, he was going to end up training, so he was going to be patient with himself and his team.

Kotori was already in a fighting stance, staring down Kinuta waiting for the okay to start their friendly fight.

Tadashi took in a deep breath and stepped backward so he wouldn't be in the line of fire. "Go!"

Kotori immediately drew one of her kunai and threw it in the direction of Kinuta, jumping back and making two clones of herself. She was prepared for anything, knowing the sort of strength Kinuta possessed. Though Kinuta was the strongest on the team besides Mikoto, Kotori was still a good sparring partner because of her high stamina and healing abilities.

The kunai went right through Kinuta's body as if it were water. Kinuta's body then turned into a puddle, confusing Kotori.

"Don't be so eager," said Kinuta, behind her. As he said that, he quickly weaved hand signs together. "Water Style: Raging Waves!"

Both of Kotori's clones poofed into thin air, but Kotori herself was nowhere to be found. Instead, a log. Kotori quickly used the time to hide in a tree, making her chakra undetectable. Kotori quickly regained the small amount of chakra she had used for the substitution Jutsu and began to use some of her own ninjutsu.

Jumping out from the tree she had been collecting herself in, she looked right towards Kinuta. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Soon enough, multiple small fireballs began flying towards Kinuta in multiple angles. Even though fire style was weak against water, it still would do some damage.

Using the waves he just threw at Kotori's clones, Kinuta tries to block the fireballs with a shield of water.

While Kinuta was distracted by blocking her fire jutsu, Kotori used this time to make clones of herself, running as fast as she could to throw multiple punches. As her punches land, she hears Kinuta grunt in pain. Knowing this fight wasn't supposed to be taken seriously, Kotori stopped the attack and jumped backward defusing her clones. As the dust cleared, all Kotori saw was a puddle of water.

"Why'd you stop?" Asked the Team 4 mentor, Mikoto Hyuga, sitting on the side of the battlefield.

Kotori heard her Sensei's voice and immediately looked over towards the direction she heard him coming from. "Mikoto-sensei! I only stopped because I personally didn't want to hurt him. Yknow, it's just training. Not life and death… Yknow?"

Kinuta materialized next to Kotori. "Thanks for caring, but I was okay." He said to Kotori.

"Just don't do that during the third part of the exams, okay?" Mikoto told Kotori. "Other than that, you guys fought well. Now, it's getting late and the first part of the exams start tomorrow so you guys need to get some rest." Mikoto said to all three members of Team 4.

Kotori nodded as Tadashi joined the group, standing on the other side of Kotori with a saddened look. "But I never got the chance to fight. I want to fight, man." He said to Mikoto.

"You won't need to fight for another few days, the first part of the exams are written. We can train tomorrow after the first part." Mikoto said ruffling Tadashi's hair with his hand.

Tadashi frowned but nodded. "Deal." He said, before turning away from the group. "Well, I've got a curfew to make, so I'll see you three tomorrow."

"See ya, Tadashi," Kinuta said, walking towards Mikoto. "Goodnight, Kotori. Make it home safely, okay?" Kinuta said turning back to Kotori.

Kotori faced Kinuta and smiled. "I won't." She said with a wink. "I'll see you around. Nighty, night Kinuta."

Kinuta smirked and walked after Mikoto, who had already started to walk towards their home. Once they got there, Kinuta instantly went to his bed and fell asleep, without even changing into night clothes.

Kotori lived further away from everybody else. Not having her own home, she took her time getting home. She had stopped by multiple stores buying things such as tea and ramen. She enjoyed the nightlife of Konoha, causing herself to become a night owl. Once she had finally gotten to her home early next morning, she crashed in the comfort of her pillows and blankets.

—

Today was the first part of the written part of the exam. Not the most action packed thing, but it was still important. Team 4 met at their usual spot in the city; a Dango shop. For the exciting days to come, Mikoto was treating the 3. All of them sat around the table eating away at their multi-colored treats enjoying themselves.

Mikoto looked at all 3 of them and smiled slightly, proud of his students. "Are you guys ready for the exams?" He asked staring at them all.

Kinuta nodded and kept eating the treat Mikoto had bought him. "I just want to get them over with and become a Chunin already." He said, rolling his eyes. "I can't wait for better missions. It's pretty boring around here."

Kotori squinted and hit Kinuta on the top of the head in a sort of forceful manner. "Get excited! Don't be like that."

Kinuta growled and rolled his eyes. "Don't hit me like that. It hurts." He said, turning towards Kotori in his chair and flicking a piece of Dango at the red haired Uzumaki.

Kotori took a drink of her green tea, but before she was able to do what she planned to do, Tadashi stopped her. "Now now, let's not act like 3-year-olds, okay? I don't want to be banned from another dango shop." He said, awkwardly smiling.

"She started it," Kinuta said jokingly, smirking at Kotori.

Kotori smiled raising one of her fists. "You wanna go?" She challenged jokingly. She was almost cut off by Kinuta nearly tackling her out of her seat. Before anything could get out of hand they heard the village clock strike noon, signifying that the students need to be in class for exams.

Tadashi quickly stood up quickly and moved aside. "Thanks for the dangos Mikoto-sensei. Wish us luck." He said, Kotori and Kinuta soon following shortly behind.

All three Shinobi walk into the exam room at the same time. As they were walking, they happened to run into friends of Kotori, Team 1. Kotori smiled, "Be right back guys." She said before jogging to catch up to Aiko, one of the members. Aiko was a part of the Inuzuka clan. She had very distinctive red "fang" marks of her each cheeks. She had an odd hairstyle, one that Kotori would never attempt to do. The top was short, but under was long enough to have a braid. She dressed casually. A gray hoodie with some blue shorts. She was an inspiration to Kotori, excluding the one year age difference. "Hi, Aiko!" Kotori greeted. "Hello Jun, Hideo, and of course Saya." She continued leaning down to pet Saya, Aiko's Weimaraner.

Tadashi sighed as he watched from a short distance with Kinuta. "I don't like Aiko." He admitted. "Do you?"

"I could care less as long as she doesn't get in our way," Kinuta said dryly, pushing his hair back up onto his headband to keep it out of his eyes, all while keeping his eyes in Kotori and her friends.

Tadashi shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right. She just seems like a trouble maker. Kotori hangs out with her a lot. She'll probably gain some of her qualities. It could affect our teamwork."

Kinuta just scoffed at the thought of that. "That would be what Kotori would do."

"Indeed it is. We should catch up to her though because I think we both know she won't wait up for us."

"Right," Kinuta nodded, starting to catch up with Kotori. Tadashi following behind.

Kotori was talking with Aiko about the exam until Kinuta and Tadashi caught up. "Hello again. We're talking about the exams. Aiko has given me personal information about the exams. Wanna hear?"

"Isn't that cheating?" Kinuta said. "If you get caught who knows what will happen? Also, what if it's not even true?"

"Nah. It's not answers or anything. But if it's not even like, the truth, then it'll be a real shame." She responded. "It's actually about the type of ninja participating this year. Their Jutsu and stuff. Would you consider it cheating if we knew about the people going into the exam?"

"I'm not sure…" Kinuta trailed off. After a few seconds, he just shrugged."Sure, let's hear it."

Tadashi covered his ears. "I don't wanna hear it, just in case. I have nothing to do with this." He said, walking ahead of them.

Kotori shrugged, then began to give the information that she was just told. "So the sand people are coming here, y'know? Well, one of these guys apparently has this super special genjutsu that's very violent. The female sand ninja is a weapons specialist or something and she controls them without chakra strings-" Before Kotori could continue with her sentence, Hideo interrupted by speaking up. "Hey now, don't say all this too loudly. Especially outside of the testing room." He said pointing towards the door.

Kotori chuckled nervously. "Yeah. That would be smart." She said opening the testing room door and bumping into somebody, stumbling back a bit.

"Oops sorry. Didn't see ya there…" She awkwardly said rubbing the back of her head out of instinct. Team 1 and the rest of team 4 moved around Kotori and the unknown, black haired ninja quickly out of intimidation.

"Don't say sorry, it's okay." The man replied with a kind smile. "I'm Nori. Who might you be?" He asked, a smile remaining on his face. "Kotori Uzumaki." She answered with a smile. "That's a pretty name. Probably matches your looks."

Kotori quickly lit up like a flame and grinned.

"I only said probably because I can't see." He chuckled, pointing to the wrap around his eyes.

"Oh it's okay! A compliment is a compliment. So, what village are you from?" Kotori asked curiously.

"Sunagakure. Sand Village for short."

Kotori held in her shrieking and clapped her hands together with a large grin. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

Kinuta walked up beside Kotori, looking a bit fretted. "It's almost time for the exam, we should go. Now."

Kotori nodded, getting back into her somewhat 'calm' state. "Well Nori, see you soon. Good luck on the exam." She said, holding in a chuckle from her blind joke and walked away with Kinuta to their team's spot. Tadashi soon joined them. As they were walking, Kotori noticed Kinuta seemed tense. She looked at Tadashi questioningly. Tadashi simply shrugged and kept walking. Once they reached the table Kotori quickly sat down and glanced back over to Kinuta.

"You alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine… just nervous" The brown haired Shinobi responded hesitantly, playing with a water drop on the table.

"You'll be fine." Kotori assured giving Kinuta a pat on the back as the instructor walked in.

The female instructor slammed the pile of papers in the desk to get everybody to stop talking and pay attention.

"Alright, hello! My name is Hellon and I will be your instructor for the first exam!" She yelled with a semi-evil smile. "Hope you all studied because this is gonna be a doozy! Let me explain everything before I pass these PACKETS out." She paused, quickly taking in a deep breath. "Number one! Do not ask me questions. Asking me questions automatically makes you incapable of being a strong shinobi! Number two! NO CHEATING. If you cheat you will never be able to take the Chunnin exams again. If you think you're going to be able to cheat without getting caught you are stupid. I see and hear everything." She shouted, making sure the back of the room could hear her perfectly. Also, to be a bit more scary.

"I will now pass out the tests and your pencils. You will have one hour exactly to do the exam. Good luck." Hellon said, making clones of herself to make the process of passing things out go faster.

Once everybody had gotten their tests, she started the timer. "Start!"