Told you I'd be seeing y'all soon. Haha. I've found this story easy to write, I don't kmow why though. Maybe because Naruto is pretty amazing. Anyway, this is my gift to you. Anyway, it's like past midnight and I have a lovely shift for Boxing Day. Gonna be a ton of madness. Working during the Christmas season really gets to you. Instead of the normal background music, we have Christmad carols playing. There aren't many carols, I've noticed. I have heard so many different versions of Let It Snow I hear it in my sleep. Michael Bublè's version is the best. Also, I noticed a line in Silent Night where Baby Jesus is referred to a holy infant, so tender and mild, which reminds me of chicken. I felt bad about comparing a baby to chicken, then my coworker came up to me and said the same thing. Don't get me started on Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. All those other reindeers should be called out on work place harrassment. Santa should notice when his employees are being bullied. Next, the elves would start revolting for their strange working hours. Oh and the Santa Claus is Coming to Town is a little stalkerish. He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake. That does not sit comfortably with me. This happens when you hear carols on repeat for the past two weeks. You start over analysing songs that people never thought about. Damn I should really get to sleep. It's almost 1 AM. Gotta deal with Boxing Day shoppers. I get distracted way too easily like a butterfly or goldfish or whatever. Nighty, y'all.
Happy readings and happy holidays!
Ryoko found herself seated beside the dark haired boy, Sasuke, that she met before. She gave him a smile which he returned with a quizzical look.
"What are you doing here?" he hissed.
"Taking the exam, of course."
"But you don't have a team."
She pointed out the twins. "The Hokage found me one. And since I was born here, hence a citizen, I can take the exam."
"I still can't believe you're a ninja," he mumbled and turned back to Ibiki.
"The first test has a few important rules. I will not accept questions, so listen carefully." Ibiki started. "First rule is you all are given 10 points at the start. The written test consists of 10 questions and each one worth one point. This test is a deduction based one. If you get one problem wrong, you will get one point deducted. Second rule. The pass-fail decision will be determined by your team's total points. There is a reason for this. Just shut up and listen. Now that you know, let's move on to the next rule. If an examiner determines that you cheated or did something similar during the test, each action will cause you to lose two points." A few people gasped at this. "In other words, if you're caught five times you get a zero. Those who try to cheat without thinking carefully will only hurt themselves. You are all trying to become Chunin. If you're a ninja, act like a first rate one. Also, if anyone in the team gets a zero, everyone in that team will fail." She turned around to see Risa give her the thumbs up and to her far left Touya gave her a nod. Feeling reassured, she adjusted her seat and turned back to the examiner.
"The last problem will be given 45 minutes after the test begins. You have an hour for the test. Begin!" At that signal, the examination room was filled with the noise of shuffling paper as everyone flipped their tests over. Ryoko glazed her eyes over the paper and she let out a snort of laughter. This made fighting a league of samurai look easy. She was able to maybe get four or five of them but if Ryoko wanted to further her team's chance she had to get all right. She carefully looked around and saw both Touya and Risa into their exams. She scanned the exam hall and noticed the suspicious actions of the other participants.
"Hakkai," she whispered and felt the small dragon climb up her body.
"Yes, mistress?"
"How about a little expedition?" She whispered the instructions to him and lifted her shirt up so he could slide out. She felt a pair of eyes watching and she saw Sasuke staring at her, expect instead of black she was met with red. "Nice eyes," she whispered but he most likely didn't hear her because he was too preoccupied watching Hakkai drop down onto the ground and blend in with his surroundings. She patiently waited for him to return as she tapped her pen on the table. As she was about to start doodling on her paper, she heard a dull thunk, the sound of a kunai embedding itself into wood. A ninja three rows in front of her stood up.
"What's the meaning of this?!" he yelled in anger. One of the examiners leaned forward and smirked.
"You screwed up five times. You fail." The guy's jaw dropped. "Teammates of his get out of here." And with that, it wasn't long until other participants were caught and failed.
"Number 23, fail."
"Numbers 43 and 27, fail."
"Number 59, fail."
"Numbers 33 and 9, fail."
"Number 41, fail."
"Numbers 35 and 62, fail."
"Mistress." She felt Hakkai crawl up her leg and under her shirt. "I have the answers."
"Are they correct?"
"I compared with several sources and they are the most correct responses." She listened closely as he recited back the answers. Once she was done, she looked up at the clock and noticed that it was almost time for the tenth question.
"Okay," Ibiki suddenly said. "I will now give the 10th problem."But before that, there's one thing I must say." Ibiki continued. "There will be one special rule for this last question." He was interrupted by the door opening and a Suna ninja entered the room, nonchalantly. Ibiki narrowed his eyes as he swaggered back into his seat. "You're lucky. Your puppet show didn't have to go to a waste. Oh, well. Sit down. I will now explain. First, you're all going to choose if you wish to take this tenth problem or not."
"Choose?" Another Suna-nin, this time female, questioned. "So what happens if we don't take the tenth problem?"
"If you choose not to take it, your points will be reduced to zero. And there is the other rule. If you choose to take it and get it wrong… You will lose the privilege to take the Chunin Exam forever."
"What?!" Naruto exclaimed and several other people in the room had the same reaction.
"What kind of dumb ass rule is that?!" The rookie with the puppy asked. "There should be those who have taken the Chunin Exam in the past!"
Ibiki chuckled. "You were unlucky. This year, I make the rules. That's why I gave you the option of quitting. Those who are not confident can choose not to take it and take the Exam another time. Let us begin. Those who are not taking this tenth question, raise your hands. After we confirm your numbers, we will have you leave." Ryoko turned to see Touya and Risa and they gave her a comforting nod. A ninja in the front raised his hand.
"Number 50, fail. Numbers 130 and 111 fail along with him."
"Me too!" Another person said standing up and soon the room was emptying as more people walked out. In the end, not many teams were left. When it seemed no one else would leave, another hand was raised.
"Naruto?" Ryoko muttered and Sasuke beside her looked moderately surprised. Naruto raised his hand and slammed it on the desk, a loud bang echoed through the hall.
"Screw you! I'm not going to run away!" He shouted. "I'll take this problem! Even if I stay as a Genin forever, I'm going to become a Hokage no matter what! We're not scared!" Crossing his arms over his chest, Naruto sat down again.
"I will ask one more time." Ibiki smirked at that inspirational outburst, "This is the choice that will impact your life. If you want to quit, now is the chance."
"I'm not going to take back my words." Naruto said with determination. "That's my Ninja Way!" Everyone seemed to get inspired by Naruto's words, and no one else raised their hands to quit.
Ibiki nodded. "Good decision. For the first test, everyone here… passes!"The sound of several pencils dropped. Everyone stared at Ibiki with wide eyes.
Someone stood up. "Wait! What's the meaning of that? We pass already? What about the tenth question?"
Ibiki laughed. "There was no such thing to begin with. Or you can call the two-choice question the tenth question."
"Hey!" That female Suna ninja complained. "So were those previous nine problems?! It was all a waste!"
"No, it's not. The nine problems accomplished their purpose. The purpose to test each one's individual's information gathering skills."
She frowned. "Information gathering skills?"
"First, this test's purpose lies in the first rule. Your pass-fail decision is based on your teams. By giving that idea, we have given you an unprecedented amount of pressure to try and not be a nuisance to your team."
"Yes, yes, I was kind of sensing that in this test." Naruto nodded seriously.
"I highly doubt that," Hakkai muttered and Ryoko giggled.
"But these test problems cannot be solved by you, Genins. So, most of the people here must've come to the conclusion that you had to cheat to get points. In other words, this test assumed that everyone was going to cheat. So, we snuck in a few Chunin who knew the answers to be targets of cheating. But those who just cheated like a fool failed, of course." Ibiki continued. "Information can have a greater value than life at times, and in missions and battlefields information is contested with the lives of people. The information that an enemy gets after being noticed by a third person will not necessarily be accurate. Remember this. Getting incorrect information can cause great damage to your teammates and village. So, we made you all gather information in the form of cheating. We kicked out those who were lacking in that field. That's what went on."
"But I still can't agree to that last question…" The sand shinobi insisted.
"But this tenth question was the main question of the first phase. The tenth question was a "take or not take" choice. Needless to say, it was a painful two-choice problem. Those who did not take it failed with their teams. If you chose to take it and could not answer it, your right to take the exam would have been taken away forever. It was a very insincere problem. Those who cannot bet their fate in a critical situation, those who give up when given the chance because there is a next year, and let their minds sway over an uncertain future… fools that carry a light determination like that have no right to become Chunin. I'm saying that you here who have chosen to take it gave the right answer for the difficult tenth question. You can deal with the difficulties you will face. You have broken through the entrance. The first phase of the Chunin Exam ends now. I wish you all the best." Just when the intense atmosphere had finally disappeared and everyone let out a sigh of relief, someone crashed in the room through window. Kunai were thrown into the wall, lifting a big red flag with and a purple haired woman stood before them.
"Heads up, kids! This is no time to be celebrating!" she announced. "I'm going to be your next examiner! Anko Mitarashi!" She glared fiercely at everyone, "Ready for the second test?!" She raised her fist in the air. "Good! Then let's go! Follow me!"Nobody moved, for they were still too stunned to even comprehend what had just happened.
"You're early…again" Ibiki said, coming out from behind the flag. Anko blushed in embarrassment before look before examining the room.
"78? Ibiki, you let 26 teams pass? The first phase must have been too soft!"
"It looks like there are a lot of excellent students this time."
"Oh, well… I'm going to make more than half of the teams fail the next phase."
"Fail more than half?" Hakkai muttered. "Intriguing..." And Ryoko rolled her eyes while Anko smirked evilly.
"I will explain the details tomorrow. We will go somewhere else, so ask your Jounin teachers about the rally point and time. This is all. Dismissed!" They got up and left and as she approached the door, she was jumped on.
"Well done, Ryo!" Risa gave her a squeeze and Touya patted her shoulder.
"For a first timer, you kept your cool."
"Yeah, but that was really... challenging," she said, honestly.
"It's only going to get harder than that." The twins ushered her out where she came face to face with Naruto.
"Hey, Ryo! Did you do the Chunin Exams?!" he gasped. "Wait you're a ninja?"
"Sorry, kid. We got some secret training to do." Risa winked, pushed Naruto out of the way and dragged Ryoko after her.
Reviews and favourites would be very much appreciated, thank you. I hope to see y'all back in a month.