Kazue and Maru walk back to Naruto's place. On the way, they discuss Team Guy.
"Are there any normal people here?" Maru ponders, half-asking half- complaining.
"Talk for yourself." Kazue jokes.
"Gods do not count as mere people." Maru counters.
The joking continues. They don't talk about anything serious until they reach Naruto's home. They decide to spend the rest of the day readying their supplies for the exams. Kazue packs food, organizes and sharpens weapons while Maru runs over his vast variety of techniques. They exchange messages. By time they are ready, it's almost time for dinner. They explore Kohana, looking for a small treat for s.
They run into Shikamaru. "You two are loose?" the chunin asks.
"Yeah. We are going to become Leaf Ninja. The Chunin Exams are tomorrow, and that will kinda be our entry ceremony. Right now we are just looking for something to eat." Kazue says. Again, Maru falls behind his partner, scowl returning to his face and brain automatically analysing the environment. What he's doing is completely different for what his transformed appearance should be doing.
"I'm glad I'm not a procter while that thing is in the exams. That would be such a drag. No offense, of course." Shikamaru says. He starts to move on but then stops to ask," Ah whatever, you're hopelessly lost anyways. Wanna come join me and the gang?" Kazue agrees to come join him and Team Eight to eat out. Even though Shikamaru doesn't strike Maru as hostile at all, he keeps his guard up. Shikamaru leads them to a restaurant in an awkward silence. They get to the restaurant without a problem. They encounter similar resistance as they walk in and take seats next to Team Asuma.
"Hey guys. This is the girl we brought back from yesterday's mission. Her name is Kazue. The little boy is a transformed version of her little demon partner. She's going to become a Leaf Ninja." Shikamaru introduces her.
Kazue bows and says,"Nice to meet you all. My partner's name is Maru." Maru doesn't bow, still distant and wary of the ninja he can't bring himself to trust. Kazue and Maru sit next to Ino.
"Hey I'm Choji Akimichi. Muscle of the team. Always their when you need something smashed." the future head of the clan says happily.
"And I'm Ino Yamanaka." Ino says curtly, watching Maru as if trying to unveil his true appearance.
A waiter shows up not long afterwards and all of them order food. Kazue orders based off Choji's recommendation. While they eat discussion continues, starting with Ino's question,"So, Kazue, do you know when your first mission is?"
Kazue answers," Nope. The Chunin Exams start tomorrow, so that will have me busy for a while."
"You're still a genin?" Choji asks.
"Yeah, I kinda held Maru back a couple years, so I wanted to give him time to catch up." Kazue says.
"Well how long is a couple years?" Ino asks.
"Eleven." She answers, beginning to twiddle her fingers again.
"Eleven! You mean the little guy has only been fighting for four years?" Choji asks, shocked.
"Only three." Kazue corrects, face starting to turn red from embarrassment.
"And you think he'll be fine for the exams?" Ino asks.
Kazue just nods a few times, to overwhelmed to speak anymore.
"Aw guys, lay off her. I'm sure she spent the day training. She'll probably make to the final stage." Shikamaru says.
"Ooh, leaping to her defense. Got a little crush on the newbie?" Choji asks in a sing-song voice.
"No way man. Women are such a drag." Shikamaru answers.
"Amen!" Choji says.
"Hey!" Ino protests.
Team Asuma goes into a friendly bout of bickering. Kazue and Maru remain silent and eat. After a while, Kazue is included on their conversation. They don't talk on any serious matters, and before they know it, it's dark. They all go their separate ways, with Kazue declining an escort back by both Ino and Shikamaru.
As they walk back, Maru rests on Kazue's head. They are both lost in thought, until Kazue starts talking," You can let a few of them in, you know. Everyone here isn't an enemy I think this is going to be a good place for us. Think you could manage?"
Maru answers her solemnly,"It's not going to happen."
"Alright." Kazue says, not willing to push her partner. They remain lost in thought for the rest of the way back. Once they return to Naruto's home, they decide to train. Maru helps Kazue practice her kekkei genkai until they decide to sleep. They decide the floor is a safer bet than Naruto's bed.
The next morning they ready themselves for the day quickly, and head over to the building where the Chunin Exams are to be started. Once they get there, Maru undoes his transformation jutsu, getting many looks from the genin from all villages. Kazue ignores the looks, feigning ignorance. They sign up without issue. Eventually, all of the genin gather in one large room, as well as the attending Kage and the proctors.. A ninja from The Village Hidden in the Rain announces," We'll be doing these exams a bit differently this year. Because so many of you have been here before, and are expected to pass this time and so few overall, we'll be placing you in teams of two. Come get a slip with a number on it. The person with the same number is your partner."
With more than a bit of complaining, the lowest ranking of ninja are reorganized into groups of two.
While this goes on Gaara questions the Hokage,"Was this really necessary?"
Tsunade explains,"Yeah, we only had thirty people in this exam. Counting that new girl I told you about. Everyone is holding people back in fear of the Akatsuki. We're going to rush the exams this time around too."
At first, Gaara just grunts as a response. He didn't have an issue with how they decided to run the exams. Especially after how the one he had hosted ended up. "That girl and her pet you told me about, where are they?" he asks. Tsunade points them out, and Gaara studies both of them.
While the Kage talk among themselves, Kazue and Maru find their partner. It turns out to be a ninja from the Leaf Village. He is as old as Naruto and slightly shorter. His hair is dark,and be had a buzz cut. He's wearing a sleeveless shirt, with a fishnet shirt underneath. He wears unremarkable black pants and regular ninja shoes. He has a sword in a scabbard on his waist. As he realizing he and Kazue are a team he complains,"Of course my teammates would stay together and I would get stuck with the freaks."
Kazue's mood instantly turns sour, though Maru, already focused, isn't fazed. Maru's mind works at maximum speed, judging other teams based off how well they work together, confidence, skill they've shown off, etc. However, Maru focuses on his new teammate.
Kazue's face begins to form a glare as she speaks in an equally rude tone,"Introductions normally go something along the lines of hmmm, I dunno saying your name? For example: I'm Kazue, and this is Maru. You may want to take notes."
"I'm Okotte Haisha. Try not to stab me in the back, foreigner" Kazue's teammate says nonchalantly.
Kazue ignores him, but sits down next to him. Maru sits on Maru's other side, giving Okotte a death glare. Okotte sees it, and returns it, even though he can't match the rage in Maru's eyes. Both shinobi and Digimon are able to restrain themselves, for now.
Their patience isn't tested for long. A procter leads them away from the Kage, sensei, and other proctors, not counting the dozen proctors who follow them.
For the first stage of their exam, they are put through a test akin to the first stage of three years ago. The prospective chunin are spread randomly in rows of five, and given nine hard questions. They are told that both team members must score at least five, or both of them fail. They are told the same rules for cheating as three years ago. The extra proctors watch the test-takers from the left and right of the room.
Kazue is able to answer two of the questions by herself, and Maru knows both of those and one more. Maru draws the correct answer in the air, and Kazue just copies it onto her paper. After a lot of thinking and problem-solving mostly Maru's side, they are able to figure out one more.
Maru speaks at a tone that Kazue is barely able to hear, despite the fact that he speaks into her ear,"There are at least five new people here. I don't know who, but fifteen teams do not need seven columns."
Kazue responds at an equally low voice, but Maru's superior ears pick it up,"Go act a fool and get some answers while you're at it."
"I was thinking the same thing." Maru says with a grin.
Maru starts his wingless flight, flipping into the air and not coming down. While he does so he declares,"This is boring!" He changes his voice his serious, no-nonsense tone to one that is a complete inverse.
Maru cross his legs as if meditating, not dropping the littlest bit from the air. Over his open palms, small red and pink fire appears. The two flames spin around Maru, distracting some of the test takers. When everyone gets tired of him and returns to their tests, he flies back to a random ninja's desk. The Digimon whispers his victim's ear as loud as he can," No no no no. The answer to number one is 5E. 5E! It's not that hard!" Everyone knows that 5E doesn't make sense as an answer for the first question, yet Maru keeps it up for a few minutes. Then, he goes to another random person each time, it ends up being a kunoichi. Again, he whispers so the whole room can hear. 'Hey, you know that boy right there?" he points to the shinobi he was just messing with and continues,"he says he likes you. He says your eyes look like stars and that he could just get lost in your hair." He then goes to another kunoichi. This time, he says nothing, and just plays with the girl's two ponytails. After a couple minutes of that, the Digimon decides to go bother someone else.
That someone else happens to be Okotte. Maru lays over the Haisha's desk as if he was trying to seduce the shinobi. "Hey there sexy." Maru purrs, not even bothering to whisper. Okotte flips the grip he has on his pencil and attempts to stab Maru. One of Maru's pink and red fire appears, shortening the pencil to annoyingly small and unearthly fire eating lead until what's write able is barely flat. Maru also singes his paper before the Digimon takes his leave, leaving the answers to all of the questions, just hard to read and upside down. Then, Maru returns to a silently giggling Kazue.
"You're the best." Kazue whispers.
"You're just now figuring that out?" Maru asks, smiling. Maru draws in the air as if he was directing music. Flames dance in the air in the form of answers. By time Maru is finished, Kazue has nine answers.
"Two of em are wrong, but it looks good." Maru says.
Kazue tries to figure out the last couple questions, while Maru pretends to nap next to the main procter. The time runs out, and they announce a final, whole team passes or whole team fails. A total of ten genin cop out.
The question is asked," Hypothetical situation- You and your team is out on the field. The enemy comes, and takes one of your members hostage. You know you and your remaining members can finish your mission, and you also know you and your remaining members can rescue your teammate. You're not sure if you can do both. What do you do? Write your answer on the back of your paper."
Their is a collective murmur amongst the genin, and then they write their answers. Kazue writes Teammates come first. Divide forces if available. The main proctor walks around, picking up each paper individually, reading the back and saying,"Pass." Kazue and Okotte exchange glares until the procter passes Okotte. Everyone passes, but a few genin get glares from the procter.
Once the test giver returns to the front of the room, he announces," Congratulations, all of you pass. If you noticed, there were five procters disguised as genins in the test. Three of them had wrong answers, and two had correct ones. Phase 2 of the test starts tomorrow. It's a three day part. You'll be given a Heaven or Earth scroll. And you have to find whatever scroll you don't have and get to the tower in the center of the Forest of Death. If your partner can't continue during any part of the exam, then you and your partner will be disqualified. If you and your partner aren't in the center with at least one Earth and at least one Heaven scroll, you fail. Tomorrow morning you'll be given a scroll and start in a predetermined entrance to the forest. Be their at six o'clock. Rest until tomorrow."
Each genin team is given a location on the map to memorize, then dismissed. Okotte goes to his genin teammates. Kazue ends up returning to the field she sparred against Team Guy in. Team Guy isn't there. They spend the afternoon laughing at Maru's antics, then they train. When it comes time for Kazue to practice her kekkei genkai, Maru has a few shadow clones attack her while she uses it to evade. After few hours, they return to Naruto's, they eat and sleep. The next morning, they wake appropriately early are completely prepared for the test's beginning.