Disclaimer: The only characters I own are Katoiya, Masahiko, Kenji, Miako, and Hanari. All others belong to our beloved Masashi Kishimoto.

This was it. Today was finally the day that Katoiya and her team were going to enter the Chunin Exams!

She got up with the sun, seeing as she was too excited to sleep in today. She quietly got dressed and snuck past Hanari, who was still asleep, and out into the main room of their hotel suite. Kenji and Miako seemed to still be sleeping as well. She snuck over to the fully stocked kitchen and began preparing eggs and bacon for herself.

"Hm, that smells good. Mind if I have some?" a quiet voice said from behind her as hands rested on her shoulders.

Katoiya jumped, sending the omlette on the spatula flying over her shoulder. As she turned to assess the damage she saw that Masahiko had already caught it on a plate and was turning away smiling.

"You know, I would have accepted a simple yes. You didn't have to throw it at me," he smirked as he grabbed a fork and took a bite.

"Hey! That's mine!" she said.

"Your bacon's burning," he replied smoothly.

She quickly turned off the stove and put the strips on another plate. Then she hurried after her brother. "Come on Masahiko!" she whined. "I need food! I'm nervous!"

"Are you now?" he said after taking another bite. "Last I remembered you were so excited that you were literally bouncing off the walls. Or don't you think you're good enough to make it?"

What? How could he say that? She would totally make it, but that didn't mean that she couldn't be nervous! "What do you mean? I'm totally awesome; especially with a sword thanks to you! I'll get through this easily! Now give me what's left of my omlette," she said, trying to snatch the plate.

He swiftly moved it away. Then he smiled. "That's my girl," he said. "And you didn't even let me distract you. That's good."

"Thanks," Katoiya smiled. "And, my eggs?"

He chuckled. "Here," he said, giving the plate back to her with half an omlette left. She glowered at him and snatched the fork from his hand. Then she dug in. Masahiko got up and grabbed a few more eggs to make for himself.

Katoiya had to admit, it wasn't such a bad thing that he stole it. She didn't even finish her bacon. He ended up eating the rest of that too. That's about when the boys came out.

"Hey, what's up?" Kenji said around a yawn.

"Nothing much," Katoiya said. "We've still got a few hours until the exams start. So after you guys eat do you want to train?" she asked.

"Of course!" Miako said. "I've been training in my sleep!"

They laughed. As soon as the boys had eaten their breakfast they went to gather their things. Katoiya tiptoed into her room to grab her weapons and noticed that the other bed was empty. That was strange. Hanari sensei hadn't even come out of the room since Katoiya had.

She quickly grabbed her weapons pouch and shuriken holster and put them on. She walked out of the room to find the boys talking with her brother. "Has anyone seen Hanari sensei?" she asked. "She's not in our room."

"No," Kenji said.

"How could she just disappear?" Miako added.

"Don't worry about her," Masahiko said. "The senseis need to meet in the morning before the exams anyway. She probably just used the window."

"Okay, if you say so," Miako said.

"Come on guys, let's go. We need to get in as much training as possible. And don't forget our applications," Kenji said.

"Yeah, okay," Katoiya said. She already had hers safely put away with her weapons. The three headed out the door, enthusiastically saying goodbye to the older chunin and running down the hall to leave.

After some asking around they found their way to one of the local training grounds and got down to work. Kenji, being the more meditative of the group jumped atop the middle of three stumps that were in the area and sat down. He usually meditated and other things of the sort before the physical bit of training.

In the meantime, Katoiya and Miako squared off to work on their hand to hand combat. Katoiya drew her sword. Miako returned by pulling out one of his special kunai. His kunai had a range of uses from bursting upon impact with the ground to draining chakra from opponents. Only he could tell which was which, making him a dangerous opponent with weapons. They launched themselves at each other.

Minutes later they both hit the ground, temporarily paralyzed. Kenji had finally joined the battle and took advantage of his team mates' distraction by sending some of his specially coated senbon needles.

Kenji liked to work with plants and the stealth aspect of ninja. These senbon were coated with a very light poison that paralyzed the recipient for about a minute. They were mainly for medical purposes to keep his patients still. Yes, Kenji was also a medic; a basic one at least.

He jumped from the trees and removed the needles from the others' necks. "You two really need to work on observing your surroundings when you're fighting," he said.

They sat up, rubbing their necks. "That was a cheap shot Kenji," Miako said.

"It was an open shot Miako, and I took it. If you two were my enemies I wouldn't hesitate to take a shot like that," he replied, helping his comrades to their feet.

Katoiya wobbled and walked in a few circles to get used to her limbs again. Once she was, she resheathed her sword and walked back to the other two. They were arguing over Kenji's morality. It was ironic since Miako was usually on the other end of this argument.

"Guys, guys! Come on, we need to train. I'm pretty sure that we're not being tested on our debating skills," she said.

"Fine," Miako said reluctantly.

They got back to their training, each focusing on their most powerful tactics first and then moving on to the areas they needed work on. They were feeling on top of their game by the time they had to leave.

The group made its way back into town and stopped at a dango shop before heading to the exam building. Kenji led the way up the stairs followed by Miako and Katoiya. They had gotten there a little early, so there was no one else in the halls as they made their way to room 301. There were two boys standing outside the room when they got there.

"Hey, planning on taking the Chunin Exams huh?" the one on the left said.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Miako said around the skewer left in his mouth from the dango.

"First you gotta take the preliminaries," the spikey haired boy on the right said.

"Preliminaries?" Kenji asked. "There was nothing mentioned about preliminaries."

"This is the unofficial preliminaries," the first one said. "We're just weeding out those of you that are unfit to become chunin."

Katoiya couldn't believe it. Did these boys think they were that stupid? She saw through their trick the second that the trio had entered the hallway. She had only stayed to see what they would do. Seeing that they had nothing particularly interesting to say, she turned on her heel and continued down the hallway.

"Katoiya?" Kenji asked, still holding his hand in front of Miako as a precaution.

"Come on guys. We've got nothing to do here," she said.

Miako stepped back, still scowling and Kenji smiled lazily as he turned to follow her.

"And where are you going?" the spikey haired boy asked.

"Your genjutsu's pathetic," Katoiya said, not bothering to turn. "We're going up a floor to the real room 301."

Miako ran to catch up to the others. As they turned a corner to the next stairwell Katoiya noticed the two boys smirking at them. Whoever they were, they were obviously working for the proctors of the exams.

Down the next hall they found the exam room. They entered to find that there was actually a rather large group of people. In an attempt to avoid making a scene the three walked into a corner of the room and sat down.

A few minutes later three more people walked in. Katoiya looked up. It was Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Apparently Kakashi had gotten them to enroll after all.

"Sasuke! You're late!" a blonde girl squealed, jumping on his back. "I haven't seen you for a while," she cooed.

He just looked annoyed. And who could blame him?

"Get away from Sasuke! Ino-pig!" Sakura yelled.

"Why if it isn't Sakura..." the blonde girl said. "Big ugly forehead as always..."

"What did you say?" Sakura shrieked.

"You guys are taking this stupid test too?" a tired voice said, causing Katoiya to look over to a bored looking boy wearing a fishnet shirt with his hair pulled up, and a chubby boy eating chips whose headband looked like he pulled on underwear over his head. "What a drag," the thinner of the two sighed.

"Sasuke is mine!" the blonde girl said, giving Sakura a stink eye.

"Yahoo!" another voice yelled. "Found you!" This time a wild boy in a parka with red marks on his face walked up with a puppy on his head. With him was a boy with bushy hair who was wearing dark glasses and a shirt that covered most of his face, and a girl with pupil-less lavender eyes who was wearing a coat. The girl seemed very shy and dependant on her team mates. "H...Hello..." she whispered.

"Well well, everyone is assembled," the wild boy said.

"Geeze...You guys too?" the bored skinny boy said.

"I see..." the wild boy said. "All rookie nine are taking the exam. I wonder how far we'll get. Eh, Saskue?"

"Pft," Sasuke smirked. "You seem confident, Kiba."

"We did a lot of training. We won't lose to you," Kiba said.

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled out, pointing at Kiba. "Sasuke might, but I won't lose to the likes of you!"

Katoiya rolled her eyes and she heard Miako snicker under his breath. Thankfully, all of the yelling covered it up. If they got attention turned to them it wouldn't do them much good. It was better for them to stay in the background and observe what they were up against.

So far, even though she thought Naruto was a nice guy and Sasuke was a jerk, she also sized up Sasuke to be a worthy opponent and Naruto...Well he really didn't seem like he would be too difficult to defeat.

"Sorry, Naruto...Kiba didn't mean it that way," the shy girl said.

Naruto turned to her confused. He really was dense.

Kenji tapped Katoiya and pointed past the group of Leaf genin. There was an older teen walking toward them. He was wearing glasses and he had his white hair pulled back into a ponytail. His headband indicated that he was also from the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Hey you guys, you should be more quiet," he said, walking up to the nine kids. "You guys are rookies just out of the academy right? Screaming like school girls. Geeze...This isn't a picnic," he said.

"Who do you think you are?" the annoying blonde girl asked.

"I'm Kabuto," the newcomer introduced himself. "But instead of that, look behind you."

The rookies turned around to find the entire rest of the room staring at them. There were a couple of teams in particular that were looking at them that seemed to be really pissed off. This was exactly why Katoiya knew it was better to keep it quiet and just observe. It was even better that they were in one of the most unassuming areas of the room.

"Those guys behind you are from the Hidden Rain. They have short tempers," Kabuto said. "Everyone is nervous about the exam, quiet down before you cause a scene. Well, I can't blame you. You're clueless rookies. You remind me of how I used to be."

"Kabuto, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"So this is your second time?" she asked.

"No, this is my seventh time," he said.

Katoiya blanched. She looked over to her team mates. They didn't seem to be doing much better. This guy had taken this test six times and failed every one of them. Maybe this wouldn't be as easy as she had convinced herself of. Masahiko even said that Taaru had died taking the exams. She swallowed and turned her attention back to the conversation.

Kabuto had taken out a deck of cards. Listening to his explaination, she learned that they were ninja info cards that he inscribed with chakra so that they could only be read with his chakra signature. They had maps and charts and people. Hopefully there wouldn't be any info on them.

Sasuke wanted info on Rock Lee of the Leaf and Gaara of the Sand. Katoiya shivered thinking of the bloodlust surrounding the Sand genin. When she heard that he had returned from every one of his missions without a single scratch, it made him all the scarier. Even Naruto, who was so confident, was shaking now.

Sakura patted him on the back. "Hey Naruto, don't get so down," she said.

Then, all of a sudden Naruto jumped up and pointed out at the rest of the genin. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki! And I'm not losing to any of you! You got that!" he yelled.

The room went silent. Everyone was glaring at Naruto, including Miako. Katoiya and Kenji would be too, but they were both too calm for that. Not to mention the green haired girl's curiosity.

Sakura was choking Naruto out and apologizing for his stupidity when a few ninja with music notes on their headbands jumped out. One of them threw some kunai toward Kabuto who dodged.

Another one of them appeared right in front of him. The unnamed ninja took a swipe, which Kabuto also dodged with quick reflexes. However, his glasses broke. That was strange...He wasn't even hit. Then he doubled over and vomited. What just happened?

"How pathetic," the one that threw the punch said. "Especially because, aren't you a four year veteran?"

"Write this down on your cards," the other boy said. "The three Hidden Sound ninja, definite future chunin."

"Quiet down you worthless brats!" a deep, gravelly voice yelled as smoke started to fill the room.

When the smoke cleared a group of ninja from the Leaf were standing there. In the front of the group was a rather intimidating man with a few scars on his face wearing a trenchcoat and his headband on a dewrag. He smirked, but it definitely wasn't the friendly kind.

"Thanks for waiting. I am Ibiki Morino, the examiner for the Chunin Selection Exam's first test," he said.

He pointed to the group of genin that were around the tables in the room. "Hidden Sound ninja, stop doing as you please before the exam," he said. "Do you want to fail already?"

"I apologize," said the Sound ninja with the fur on his back, "This is our first time. We got a little carried away..."

"Here's a good opportunity to say this," the man said. "There will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated. Those that disobey me will be failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

Katoiya had the urge to snap to attention and answer him though he clearly didn't demand it. She and her team mates stayed crouched in the corner. Kenji, who was normally calm was actually paling.

Miako's expression was a mix of fear and confident determination if that was possible. He enjoyed his fighting. Hopefully he wouldn't do anything stupid to get into one. He shifted to get up, but Katoiya held up her hand to stop him. He stopped and the three continued to listen.

"We will now start the first test in the Chunin Exam," Ibiki said. "Instead of your current seating arrangements you will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you," he continued, holding up small squares with numbers on them. "We will then hand out the exams."

"What?" Naruto yelled, making Katoiya jump. "A paper test?"

Apparently that wasn't what he was expecting, and by the sound of it he wasn't prepared. She wasn't expecting it either and her team looked as surprised as she did. None of them had thought to study anything. They had all thought it would be a test of skill rather than knowledge.

As the other genin started lining up, the group stood and found their places in line. When it came to them, Kenji took his number first. Then Katoiya, followed by Miako.

She was in seat 14. Miako had 12 and Kenji was sitting in seat 48. They each made their ways to the numbered seats and sat down. Between Katoiya and Miako was a Stone ninja. He looked pretty pissed. She had no idea why, but she was going to stay away from him.

Then the exams were placed in front of them, face down. Once everyone was seated and had their exams Ibiki spoke over the crowd.

"Do not turn your tests over," he said. "Listen closely to what I'm about to say. There are many important rules to this first test. I'll write it on the board while I explain, but questions will not be allowed so listen carefully."

He began writing on the board as he explained each of the rules in turn. "The first rule. You will all start off with ten points. The test is made up of ten questions and each one is worth a point. But, this test uses a subtraction system. Basically, if you answer all the questions correctly, you keep your ten points. But say if you miss three questions...you lose three points and will have seven."

Answer the questions and do it correctly. That seemed simple enough.

"The second rule," Ibiki continued. "This is a team test. Whether you pass or not will be determined by the combined score of your team mates. So, each team will compete to see how many points they can hold on to to form the initial team total of thirty."

"Wait a second!" Sakura said, raising her hand into the air. "I don't understand this initial points system either, but why is it a team test?"

"Shut up," Ibiki said. "You don't have the right to question me. There is a reason for this. Be quiet and listen."

Miako glared over at Sakura. If Katoiya could read minds she knew he would be thinking something about how the proctor had clearly stated that nobody was to ask any questions. And he was right. He said no questions and she blatently disobeyed him. What an idiot.

"Okay," Ibiki said, snapping Katoiya from her thoughts. "And now the most important rule. The third rule is that during the exam...Anyone caught by the proctors cheating will have two points subtracted for every offense. If anyone is caught cheating five times they will lose all of their points and be dismissed."

"We'll have our eyes on you guys," one of the men sitting around the room said.

"Realize that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As shinobi trying to achieve the level of chunin, be proud ninja," Ibiki said.

"And the final rule. Those that lose all of their initial points during the test and those that don't answer any questions correctly will be failed along with their two team mates. You will not be allowed to ever return."

A feeling of shock and terror went through the room. Some teams were looking around nervously. They obviously had some team mates that weren't all that bright.

Katoiya noticed that Sasuke and Sakura were glaring in Naruto's direction. Apparently her initial impression of him was right.

She shot a sharp look at Miako, who was looking at Kenji and getting one from him as well. Even though Miako wasn't stupid, he had this tendency to look for help to avoid anything less that perfection. He didn't like to seem anyting less. He set his mouth in a firm line and he nodded.

"The exam will last one hour," Ibiki said. "Begin!"