"This is so boring," Minamo said to herself as she leaned on her propped hand. Ibiki was explaining the 'oh-so-very-important' rules of the test. She turned to her son that fervently sweated. She gave him a troubled glance wishing that she could help him.

"He's probably not going to get the point of the test, huh?" she said to herself. "Should I tell him? Or should I send him to his doom? That's a hard choice," she thought hard.

"I know he's practically my son. Wait, he is my son and I should, as a good father, assist him. BUT also as a good father, I should allow him to handle his own problems," she contemplated.

She sighed, "Parenting is difficult." Minamo looked at the board that Ibiki was writing on. There listed the rules.

1-Each person starts off with 10 points. The test consists of 10 questions and 1 point is subtracted for each question answered incorrectly.

2-The test is noted on team participation, meaning that passing the test will be determined by combining the team's total score.

3-Those who are caught cheating will be taken 2 points off for each offense

4-Any that will fail, due to any reason, will be unable to pass along with their teammates

Minamo cringed at the last, thinking immediately of Naruto. If he took after Kushina, he probably wasn't the brightest bulb in the world.

"You have one hour," Ibiki stated. "Begin!"

The sound of flipping paper reverberated through the room. Minamo casually flipped her paper over and flinched at the questions.

"What the…" she said scanning the paper, "This is absolutely ridiculous. But I guess it's understandable," she pulled out a case from her pocket and opened it and took out a wooden pen; she began to fiddle with it. She glanced at the stationed examiners and then at her paper, and 'wrote' her first answer.

Minamo smiled to herself as she felt the chakra pulse through the pen. Before the test began, Kabuto distributed the pens. Each pen was connected to the other by a very thin line of chakra and enabled just a single pen to do all the work. Kabuto held that pen but he didn't need to do much either. The guy in front of him did.

Using an advanced technique he developed that one can use to copy another's body. So basically Kabuto copied everything that the guy in front of him was doing and the pens copied whatever Kabuto's pen did. It was practically perfect system.

"Great, now create a diversion," the pen wrote. Minamo set the pen down.

In order for Kabuto to perform the jutsu, a diversion was to be made. Even if it took away the eyes of the proctors for a second, that was all that was needed for him to work his magic.

Minamo didn't tell Abu-chi what she was going to do, but she said it was pure brilliance.

She reached in her pocket and pulled out the deadliest thing a human being could carry into that place.

It was…an apple.

Naruto stopped from his moping of vexing misery and angst and turned to her in wonder. Minamo smirked at him and pulled out a pocket knife from her holster, and began to peel the fruit.

The people around her stopped their activities and stared at her in wonder. Even Sakura paused to gawk at Minamo's bizarre and stupid actions. Yet she kept on peeling; soon enough, all of the proctors had their eyes on her when she finished peeling. Morino kept both of his dark eyes on her.

When done, she admired the perfectly peeled specimen of fruit and pulled out a small plate from her holster set it before her, then put the apple on it. She smiled happily at it.

Sakura felt her brow sweat, "Minamo-san, what are you doing?"

Minamo picked up her pen and started to write again. The proctors lingered their gaze on her for a while, shaking their heads as they did. But after making sure she didn't do anything else, they averted their gaze.

Minamo smirked as she reached the 10th question. She finished. Sighing with relief, she pretended to write more. As she did, she shifted the apple peels towards Naruto, surreptitiously, and gently nudged his elbow. He looked at the peels, and his eyes widened. A message was written on them.

"Naruto if you make any sudden movement or even turn to look at me, I will stuff the apple down your throat and kill you with the knife," was the first part.

Several beads of nervous sweat trickled down his brow.

"This is not a test of your intelligence, there's no need to cheat. It's a test to see if you can get info from other people without getting caught. The guy behind us, got caught,"

At that moment, a kunai zipped past Naruto and Minamo landing on a guy's sheet of paper.

"What the..! What was that for!" he yelled.

The proctor smiled maliciously, "You messed up 5 times. You fail."

Naruto felt his jaw tremble; Minamo was right.

He glanced at the peels again. This time they were closer to him and blank. He frowned, bewildered. Then writing began to appear on the peels.

"I will kill you and Hinata if you do anything rash,"

Naruto froze, he felt a slight jab on his thigh, and he looked down to see Minamo holding a small knife to the side of his leg. Her other hand held the apple she was eating. She gave him a glare.

She meant business.

Naruto slightly nodded, and the knife disappeared. During the next couple of minutes more people got caught, and Naruto pretended to write his answers down. Hinata looked at him in worry.

"Naruto-ku…"

"Hinata, no," Naruto murmured quietly, his eyes not leaving his paper.

Hinata could see the sweat trickle down his face. "Don't worry about great ninjas,"

Hinata smiled and looked back at her test.

"Now it's time for the 10th question," Ibiki stated.

Minamo instantly droned out. Nothing came to her ears, and she just merely looked outside the window while finishing her apple.

She knew Ibiki's way of thinking by heart, in her past life, she helped out many of the kids at the Academy, Ibiki was one of them. Even though he stood out as a menacing and burly guy, Ibiki was probably the sweetest guy Minamo ever knew. She didn't need to listen, or merely didn't care.

"But he can torture to death with his questions," Minamo smiled. "It's not a wonder he's the Interrogation and Torture Captain. Congrats, Kiki-kun,"

Naruto gasped with fret and fear. Minamo turned to him in question.

"What kind of stupid rule is that!?" a genin rookie shouted from behind them, "There are guys here who taken the exam before!"

Ibiki chuckled. "You guys are unlucky, because this year, this test goes by my rules," he said; so evilly, Minamo began to doubt if it was the same Ibiki she knew.

"But I'm giving you a way out," he said, "Those who don't want to take the task can leave, and try again next year."

"Harsh," Minamo shook her head. She turned to Naruto to see him sweating furiously, obviously battling with the pros and cons of the situation.

"Those who wish not to take it raise their hand," Ibiki informed.

The tension rose and after a moment of pressuring silence

"I won't take it," a guy that sat to the side of Minamo.

He apologized to his teammates and they left. Others followed suit. Minamo figured out what they were doing.

"Kiki's being really cruel," she muttered, fiddling with the apple peels. Naruto began to tremble.

She placed a comforting hand on his shaking shoulder.

"It'll be alright," she said with a smile. Naruto cautiously nodded. Then he did something Minamo didn't expect.

Naruto raised his hand, still trembling, high into the air. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Don't underestimate me!" Naruto shouted, slamming his hand on the table. "I'm not going to run away! I'll take that chance. Even if I'll be a genin forever, I'll become Hokage anyway, so I don't care!"

Minamo smirked, "Kushina, I sure hope you're happy with your child. He's got guts."

Morino Ibiki frowned, "I'll ask you again. Your life depends on this single decision, and it's your last chance to quit."

Naruto glared back, "I follow my unbending ways," he said proudly. "That is my 'Way of the Ninja'!"

"That's deep, kid. But rash," she smiled at him.

The tension suddenly lifted from the room, everyone turned to him as if he saved them from their deaths. Minamo saw Ibiki smirk.

"Congratulations then, you all in this room passed the test,"


"You follow the kids, I'll find us a scroll," Kabuto informed Minamo as they lounged about the gate of the 44th training center, or famously known as the Forest of Death.

Minamo nodded, gazing leisurely at the clear sky above her.

Several clouds littered the pure and flawless sea of blue. Minamo could keep her eyes off of it.

The signal suddenly rang and the gates opened, the genin rushed in.

Team Kabuto slowly made their way to a dense area of forest. Then they waited.

"Now," Kabuto ordered, the others nodded and went their separate ways.

Once she was out of the range, Minamo brought her hands together.

"With that tag on him, I'll find them easily," she smiled.

During the first exam, Minamo attached a small tag on Naruto which was infused with her chakra.

It was simply a measure to track him.

She evaporated into thin air. The next moment, she was standing behind a tree where she could easily spy the Naruto's team. But she got caught.

The young Uchiha swerved around suddenly, throwing a kunai in her direction. She quickly dodged it, stepping from her hiding spot. She threw her hands up.

"It's just me!" she shouted.

"Minamo-san!" Sakura shouted in relief and shock.

Minamo waved stiffly. She turned to Naruto, who pouted with a cold frown.

"No 'Hello'? Or even a 'Yo'? What kind of person are you who treats the person who saved them twice like this?" she smirked.

"Person, what person?" he asked, as if unknowing.

Before Minamo could say anything Sasuke interrupted, "Did you listen on our conversation? And where's the rest of your team?" he asked.

"No, I just got here and we are all meeting up at the tower."

"You must be trust them a lot, and certain that they won't die," he said with a frosty glare.

"Of course," she said, "They're my team after all," she grinned.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, his gaze grew colder. Minamo patted the Uchiha on the head.

"You really don't trust anyone do you?" she smiled.

He huffed and shoved her off of him, then Minamo noticed a bamboo shoot in the middle of the clearing. Instantly, she knew it was Orochimaru, taking the guise of a Grass-nin.

"Maybe we should leave," she suggested.

Sasuke caught her drift. He noticed the bamboo shoot long before and nodded to his teammates. Confused, they left the clearing.

"You have a good eye, there, Sasuke-kun," Minamo dared whisper under the tense ambiance.

The Uchiha responded with a subtle yet cold glare.

"Frosty and chilling, but good," she joked.

"Why are you following us?" he asked, more so seethed.

Naruto and Sakura stopped and looked behind to face them.

"I have no scroll, if that's what you're asking," she responded.

"That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking as to why you're following us," he said bluntly and bitterly. "We have no reason to trust you,"

"Just because I trust you guys, right?" she stuffed her hands in her pocket and let out a sigh.

"I'm here to help you guys, what the heck, I even saved your butts from the Sand-nin. That's not enough for you to trust me?" she asked.

"…" he made no response.

"I trust her," Naruto abruptly said. He smirked slightly with color appearing on his cheeks. "She did help us before, and she helped me in the exam. And I…"

Before Naruto could finish his surprisingly well speech, a gargantuan snake appeared before them.

It hissed for a millisecond and immediately lunged.

"Scram!" Minamo shouted, the ninja quickly disappeared just in time.

The snake's head impacted with the forest ground. It quickly recovered and searched for its next target. Several kunai immediately impaled the serpent, and the tags on them exploded.

Sasuke, from his vantage point could see Minamo as she threw another set of tagged kunai and shuriken at the humorously large snake. He followed suit.

Looping thread through the centers of some shuriken, threw them at the trunks of the trees that surrounded the hissing snake.

Securing them, he pulled hard on the thread having all of the shuriken fly towards his reptile opponent.

Minamo saw this and quickly muttered a jutsu, setting sparks of lighting through the thread.

The snake roared in pain as it slowly and painfully went to its death.

Minamo smirked as smoke hissed from the burning corpse.

"Good teamwork," she smiled as she bounded up to Sasuke.

The boy took a glance at her and instantly frowned.

Suddenly he had a kunai up to her throat, "What's the password?!" he ordered, pressing the tip of the blade in the skin of her neck.

"What are you talking about?! We didn't talk about a password!?" she cried, tilting her head back, eyeing the knife.

"Yes we did," another Minamo said, coming up from behind Sasuke. "…While we were walking away from your eavesdropping scenario. You're one of the Grass-nin, aren't you?" she murmured, readying a kunai in her hand.

The 1st Minamo's eyes widened.

Sasuke then whipped the kunai away from the 1st Minamo's neck and flung it at the second one.

"Actually we didn't talk about a password," Sasuke sneered, as the 2nd Minamo transformed back into one of the Grass ninja. "We talked about how to draw you out,"

"Apparently it worked," Minamo chuckled, massaging her throat as she took a stance behind Sasuke.

"Apparently so," the ninja hissed, laughingly yet evilly.

Suddenly a vicious killing intent spurred from the shinobi. The sudden furiousness and force rendered the two immobile, as images of the deaths appeared agonizingly in their minds.

"But you two will die anyway,"


Reviews are greatly appreciated.

The next chapter will be up by, if not sooner, the 12th of December.

I do not own Naruto but I do have possession of this plot.