Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto whatsoever, except for my fictions.
"Speaking"
'Thinking'
Demon talking
Flashback
Bloodlines and Demons
by chairomori
Chapter Four: Foreshadowings
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"Naruto! Pay attention! The last thing we need is for you to gt lost again," Seirei berated as the Konoha genin were being given directions to the chuunin examination area. "And this time, if you're late, the entire team will be disqualified."
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto dismissed her nagging.
"Don't 'yeah' me! I'm serious! If we're disqualified, not only will this entire trip have been a waste fore us, but we'll have to wait anther six months!" Behind her, Kiba snickered. She whirled around. "And you're just as bad!"
Senshu and Shikamaru glanced at each other. 'Troublesome.' "Well, if you're all done arguing, can I continue?" the chuunin sighed as he waved his packet of information.
"Oh, right! Of course!" she readied herself to absorb the rest of the details.
"Actually, you know what? I just got a great idea. Why don't you do the rest?" Shikamaru shoved the papers into her hands and continued in a bored monotone. "I'm already chuunin so it doesn't really matter to me. And I'm not really itching to compete for anything. See ya."
"But, Hokage-sama assigned this to you! Shouldn't you care about fulfilling your mission to the best of your ability?"
"I really couldn't care less," he said as he left the doorway.
She clenched her fist and growled irascibly. "Naruto, Kiba, Senshu. . . you're going to sit here and listen or I'll cut you all to pieces!" Seirei pulled her katana out and pointed it at them menacingly.
"Aw. . ." Naruto groaned.
A few minutes into reading the flyer aloud, she looked up to see Senshu napping against the lobby wall of the hotel and Naruto and Kiba engaging in what seemed to be an intense staring contest. Her eyebrow twitched. "That's it!" she clenched the papers so hard they crumpled. "Meet me here tomorrow and we'll go as a team." The words made their way out through grinded teeth. With a 'hmpf,' she stormed out to find a quick rouge to the first exam's location alone.
Unbeknownst to her, Kiba, and Senshu, however, was the fact that Naruto had left long ago and had replaced himself with a Kage Bunshin. Currently, he was making his way toward his new find–Cloud's very own Icha Icha Ramen Paradise, which featured a grand total of five exotic flavors of ramen special to Kumogakure. It's owner happened to be a rather perverted man and Icha Icha Paradise fanatic. The fact that Naruto knew the author of his beloved series and provided as a valuable temporary source of income rapidly elevated his position into the man's favorite customer.
"Ah, Naruto, so you're taking the exams tomorrow, eh?" a wrinkled old man met him at the stand's entrance.
"Yup!" the addressee swung himself onto one of the stools eagerly. "I'm gonna blow everyone away! You just watch me Jii-san."
The man chuckled. "That's what most of the genin that come here say. What'll you have today, kid?"
"I'll start off with two bowls of your special spicy seafood combo ramen," he wasted no time in hesitation. "Hey, Jii-san, it sounds like you know a few things about the chuunin exams. You got any secret tips?"
"Heh. I'm not going to help you cheat, kid," he called from the stove, "but I do have a word of warning: Don't be too disappointed when you're knocked off. Cloud's famous for it's rigorous exams. Each stage is designed to test as many aspects as possible so the weak are weeded out first. Many countries prefer to wait the six months for Sand's exams instead of entering ours. 'Course, they're the ones who have more to lose. For example, I hear that Kirigakure hasn't sent a single team. Their excuse is internal affairs, but rumors say their numbers are low. Basically, they can't afford any deaths. Same with Sand. They only sent one team after suffering losses during the invasion five months ago."
"Bah," Naruto scoffed as he eagerly shoveled two newly-made bowls of ramen in his mouth after the man set them before him. After a few grandiose mouthfuls, he paused. "Don't underestimate me, Jii-san. I'm better than I look. Just watch, 'cuz one day, I'm gonna be Hokage! The best you've ever seen. No lousy exam's gonna stop me!" he scarfed the rest of the bowl down and started on the next one. "Can I have a miso next?"
The man shook his head as he prepared another bowl. "That's what they all say, kid. But, it doesn't look like I'll be around long enough to see if you're all talk or not."
"What? You're that old? How do you know you're going to be six feet under tomorrow?"
The man's pruny eyebrow twitched. "That's not what I meant, brat! I mean the Hokage-thing! Though from what I'm seeing now, you're too stupid to ever make it to Hokage."
"What d'you know? I'll become Hokage extra fast then. That way, I can laugh in your face! And I'll be sure to ban those nasty books from ever being written. Ero-sennin will have to listen to me once I'm Hokage," he spat out triumphantly.
"Little brat. You'll never be Hokage so I can sleep knowing that'll never happen." He pushed the bowl of Miso toward Naruto and patted a pouch in his apron. "Besides, you'll never be able to truly get rid of these babies!"
The blond looked repulsed. "You keep that in your apron? Is this ramen sanitary? You better not be tainting such a great invention with those dirty books!"
His insult was ignored, however, as the elder tired of teasing him and decided to shift topics. "Tch. Bratling. . . So, have you been scoping out the competition yet, kid?" he received a nod in reply. "What do you make of it?"
"Another miso," Naruto ransacked his brain for an answer. "Well, only a few people seem to be tough competition. The rest are all losers. Especially the Sound genin. The Sand team Managed to wipe out most of 'em before they even got here. Glad I wasn't there."
'So that's what happened to them,' the man processed. "You find anyone strong from around here? I hear one of our more promising teams is entering his year."
Naruto's face darkened. "Yeah. . . I think I found someone."
The owner looked up from the pot of ramen at his customer's sudden change in demeanor. The kid was always bubbly and boastful. What had he found to create such a rapid change?
"It was a boy I bumped into and sort of followed."
The man's attention was quickly alerted. "There are many boys here, kid. Be a little more descriptive," he swallowed a bolus of saliva.
"Well, he looked normal enough, I guess," Naruto began hesitantly. "He's pretty average, has navy blue hair and all that, but. . . I wasn't planning on telling anyone this but . . . when I followed him, I saw him kill off another genin from here so. . . I can't really describe it. Even the Sand, who are merciless don't have that attitude." He thought back to his first meetings with Gaara and the bloodlust he once exhibited and involuntarily shivered. "And then. . . it was weird, but afterwards when he found out I was following him, he was acting different. I dunno. How can someone be all cold and obnoxious, then emotionless, then so casual in such a short period of time? It's so weird!"
The man sighed, suddenly weary. "You sure have a penchant for trouble, don't you kid? The boy you met, did you see a cloaked older man with him?" he continued after another nod. "Then the boy is Shimaru. I didn't know he'd be taking the exams this year. I feel sorry for you kid."
"Huh? Why? Who is this Shimaru?" Naruto suddenly forgot about his ramen.
"You see kid, everyone here, chuunin down, knows never to be seen with the kid, because. . . anyone he sees interest in. . . that person's always the next one dead." Naruto sat rigid, as he remembered the mutilated body of the Cloud genin, Toya. "The cloaked man wasn't around when Shimaru saw you was he?"
Naruto snapped to attention. "No. I don't think so."
"Good. That's probably why you're hear now. Then it seems you have some chance of surviving." A curious expression from the customer urged him on. "You see, it's Ruko, the cloaked man, who gives the orders, and Shimaru who carries them out."
"But then, why does Shimaru follow this Ruko guy's orders? He seems pretty nasty to me!" he pouted in confusion.
"Not so loud kid!" the man hushed and made sure there was no one close enough in proximity to eavesdrop. "If one of Ruko's spies hears us talking about this stuff, it's sure to get us killed. I'm only warning you because I like you. Anyway, why follow orders you ask? Well, what can a simple genin do against a man like Ruko? Around here, he's probably the equivalent of your village's Orochimaru. In fact, some say they've been contacting each other."
"Someone as bad as Orochimaru. . . Is that even possible?" Naruto whispered uncertainly to himself.
"Kid. This is real life. Anything's possible. No matter how nasty of unfair it is." The man laughed bitterly.
"But, if this Ruko is so bad, why don't you or anyone else tell the Raikage to do something about it? The Raikage's the strongest here right?" he questioned.
"That's true, but no one's ever been able to. Anyone who plans to do that usually just disappears. No one's brave enough to even think about it now. Ruko is the Raikage's brother. The Raikage has complete trust in him and won't question what he does–not that he knows any of the things he's done. You say that we're being led by an ignorant, naive ruler being fed false information." Naruto was at a loss for words. "Speechless, huh? Well, you remember my warning kid. Stay way from Shimaru. . .Well, you want anything else?"
"No." Naruto wasn't hungry anymore. "Thanks Jii-san." He only had a few bowls of ramen but made sure to leave a large tip for the man's advice. The unsettling feeling remained in his stomach, even after he left.
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"Your names mean 'flaming winged bow,' the hope of our people. You must find the arrow, the key, that will fit your bow and bring us our freedom."
"But Grandma, why can't anyone else do it? There're lotsa people besides us aren't there? Outside here?" a young voice chirped.
"Nonsense! We will bear our burden alone an we will be liberated by our own power. You will not bring shame to our name by thinking such a thing. Where is your pride, child?"
Weapons. . . Pride. . . Shame. . .
Six is the key.
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"Naruto, Kiba, Senshu. . . for the last time, wake up!" Seirei tried to pull the covers off the three boys but was far from strong enough. She glared at the bulky forms under the blankets.
"Go bother someone else. Everyone's probably still asleep anyway!" Kiba's annoyed voice drifted through a thick yellow cover. Beneath it, Akamaru whined in agreement.
"For your information, everyone in Gai-sensei's team was up two hours ago for a last minute warm-up," she retorted.
"That's 'cuz Gai's crazy!" the other two boys remained silent and unmoving.
"Ugh!" she stomped in frustration. "I've never seen anyone as difficult to manage as the boys on this team! Just get up or we'll be late!"
"It's six in the morning! We don't need to be wherever we're supposed to be for another three hours. Give us a break." She could make out Kiba's head force it's way under a pillow.
"Mpf, who let you in our room anyway?" asked Naruto.
"Just get up!" she yelled at them for what seemed to be the hundredth time. . . maybe it was.
"We'd like to, but you see, we went to bed start naked. If you insist though," Senshu insouciantly made to rise.
"Er, no! Wait! I'm leaving now!" she ran out the room and slammed the door behind her, face flushed crimson.
"Heh, good one Senshu," Kiba muttered sleepily.
"No prob. Used that one on my sis all the time when we were younger before she finally found out," his voice faded as he drifted back off to sleep. Naruto just ignored them completely as he struggled to catch up on his rest after a fitful night of nightmares.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Seirei found herself confronted by Hane. "My brother didn't use his lame 'I'm stark naked' excuse again did he?"
"Huh? Again?" Seirei's face darkened angrily in understanding. She turned around and slammed the boys' door open again, Hane dauntlessly following. The boys groaned irritably. Seirei began to scold them but halted at Hane's wave. She watched as the older girl went through a few seals and created a small fire ball on her hand. Hane walked over to each of the beds an allowed a minute piece of flame to hop onto the three lumps.
Senshu, used to his sister's tirades, quickly stated he was awake and, garbed in a baggy T-shirt and shorts, put out the slightly flaming blanket with his hand and dashed to the bathroom. Naruto and Kiba, however, weren't so fortunate. "Akamaru, do you smell smoke?" The small dog wriggled his way off the bed.
"Now that you mention it. . ." Naruto started. He and Kiba got up at once and saw the flames tickling the feet of their beds. "Fire!" They tossed their covers away and got up.
"Um, thanks, Hane," Seirei said.
"Don't thank me. I only did it because I needed to speak to Senshu." She turned and walked away. "Tell him I'm waiting."
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"Hey, hey! Let's stop by the Ramen Paradise stand for a few quick bowls. We can't take the exams on an empty stomach you know." Naruto suggested.
"I guess that's not such a bad idea. . ." his female teammate relented.
"You've got no idea what you're getting us into do you?" Kiba groaned. "We're gonna be stuck there all day now, forget about the exams."
"What'd you say, dog-breath?" Naruto retorted.
"Who're you calling dog-breath, dead-last?"
"Since I beat you, I guess you're worse than dead-last!" Akamaru barked in agreement.
"What? You little! You're not helping!" Kiba cut off his comeback after Naruto skipped off to the ramen stand and left the other three genin in his dust trail.
"He seems to remember the way here easily enough," Seirei commented. "Now why can't he remember anything else?"
Not waiting for his teammates, Naruto arrived at the ramen stand and found the stools empty like they had been the day before. The man didn't have many customers. He chose the middle one and called out to him. "Hey, Jii-san! I'm baaaaack!" Silence answered him. Ignoring the unsettling feeling that once again rose in his stomach, he called out again. "Jii-san? Come on! I'm hungry!" There was no snidely reply. Hesitantly, Naruto propelled himself over the counter. The old man's previous words haunting him. "Jii-san?" he whispered uncertainly.
Around the interior of the stand were stacked bowls and cookware still neatly lined up. It seemed like the old man had just opened; however, besides the open stand, there was no other sign of his presence.
Naruto was compelled to walk further into the stall, ignoring his teammate's calls for him. At the very end lay the door to the storeroom. Naruto slowly twisted the doorknob and creaked the door open. "Jii-san?" There was no one there either. He pushed the door open the rest of the way and entered, scanning the walls. Nothing but ingredients and supplies was seen. Sighing dejectedly, he turned and let out a cry of surprise. Turmoil tore at his chest.
"Jii-san!" To his horror, the elderly man hung on the back of the door, limp. His face was marred with shock and his eyes stared back at him emptily. A clean horizontal line of red dug into his neck and dribbled down in a slow manner.
Naruto's breath hitched in his throat before he finally noticed and forced himself to take in a short series of breaths. He edged closer to the body and shakily held up a finger under the man's nose. No breath. His head began to spin from vertigo. He forced himself to leave the room, flashes of thoughts running through his head. 'Equivalent of Orochimaru. . . sure to get us killed. . . anyone he sees interest in. . . that person's always the next one dead.' He suddenly found himself able to breath again. The old man, he had gotten him killed. He had gotten him involved. Now, he was next. The very thought gave Naruto the impulse to run. To get as far away as possible. He followed it.
Unsuspiciously, he made his way out of the ramen stand and back onto one of Cloud's many roads, body tense and rigid. He whirled around, thinking he saw a blue blur, but found nothing. Every so often, he did this, the nervousness drawing suspicious stares. 'Get a grip on yourself, you're a shinobi!' His mind screamed at him. But he couldn't help knowing he was next. Next.
"Naruto!" The shriek nearly caused him to jump in the air. A brief feeling of relief came when he realized it was only Seirei and the rest of his team. "Where have you been? I thought you wanted to go get some ramen. . . And what's wrong with you? You look a bit pale."
"I-I am?"
"She'd right," Senshu confirmed. "Did something happen?"
"Nothing. I mean yeah–er, no," he stumbled. 'Get a grip on yourself, Naruto! Since when have you let a little fear mess you up?' His fist tightened in determination. 'I can't let them get involved in this mess. . . or they'll be on this guy's list too.' His mind mentally shuddered in remembrance of the man hanging on the door. He took a deep breath and forced himself to grin sheepishly. "I guess I'm just nervous about the exams."
Seirei nodded in understanding. "Yeah. We all are. Why don't we just go get some of that ramen and head over then?"
Naruto felt a pang in his heart as it threatened to leap out from his throat. Guilt nestled in his stomach for leaving the old man there.
"No! Er, the owner isn't there today. How about we go somewhere else?"
"You must be really nervous, Naruto. You're jumping all over the place," Kiba chided ignorantly.
"How about we just have a few snacks I brought?" Seirei gestured at a small pack next to her katana. "I was saving it in case we had another survival exam like the last one in the forest of death, but I suppose it won't hurt to break into it a bit." She handed each of them a small roll of sticky rice filled with mung beans and wrapped in banana leaves. "We can eat these as we walk."
Along the way, they ran into Kakashi's temporary cell and decided to travel together. They arrived at another bland-looking edifice with a fairly large sign stating that the stairs inside would lead to the basement.
"Alright, let's go!" Ikioi cheered enthusiastically and started to rush in.
"Not so fast!" Tenten shouted and roughly pulled his collar. "Byukugan-check, Neji."
"Right," after going through a few quick seals, he activated his Byakugan and scanned the building. "I see a lot of chakra floating around the building. It seems the indoor stairs lead not to the basement but upstairs to the second floor. There is a smaller staircase towards the side that leads downwards." The veins framing his eyes dissolved as he returned to normal vision.
"As we expected," Shino said as he adjusted is glasses.
"Whad'ya mean?" Kiba asked his old teammate.
"You see, we figured the proctors would try to pull another fast one on us like last time, so we decided to have Neji use the Byakugan against anything suspicious, and that sign was really suspicious," Tenten explained. "A ninja must look 'underneath the underneath.'"
"Aw, man. I can't believe we almost fell for that one," Kiba complained. Behind them, a group of Grass genin passed and made for the entry. "You think we should warn them?"
"Negative," Shino pointed out. "This genjutsu was designed to segregate the weaker genin from those of us who are more capable of surviving future stages. If we proceed in your plan, not only would we be aiding the enemy, we would also risk the chance of endangering their lives."
"Tch. Think you're so cool," Kiba muttered.
The group of eight followed Neji's lead until they reached a dimly lit staircase that led downward, at which point, he lessened his pace until he trailed the group alongside the only blonde there. "Naruto."
He looked up from his daze. "Huh?"
"You are troubled," the prodigy stated.
"It's nothing," Naruto sighed.
Neji frowned. "Very well then." He continued to walk at Naruto's pace. He wouldn't pursue the topic further if he wasn't ready.
Behind the doors of the basement, the genin found a much smaller number of teams than were at the previous exams. More experienced than before, the present remnants of the rookie nine followed the slightly elder genin to a few seat and waited for the exam to begin, instead of standing at the entrance. After a few more teams entered, Lee, Sasuke, Hane, and Uwayaku emerged, all but the former expressing negative countenances. Senshu waved his sister over, causing the entire group to follow.
"Why so late?" he asked.
She slumped down in a seat next to him before answering crossly. "That thick-brow freak of a sensei kept us waiting until after he preached some nonsense about 'the power of youth,'" she was sure to add a heavy sarcastic emphasis on the last few words. "What an idiot."
"Blasphemy!" Lee roared at her. "Never doubt Gai-sensei or the flames of youth! He is the greatest sensei in all the five great countries!" He wrapped up the charade with a determined fist pump in the air.
"Uh, Lee. You're kind of attracting a bit of unwanted attention," Tenten coughed. Her eyes shifted to a couple neighboring Sound teams that survived the attack on their comrades, giving Lee the hint. They were glaring at them. She scoffed. "Why don't they try to burn a hole in Sand's head instead? They're the ones that killed the other Sound genin, not us."
"True, but we and Sand are allies, not to mention their enemy," Neji stated. "However, these genin seem weak. I doubt they will advance to the final round."
"I wouldn't be so quick to judge if I were you," a cocky voice rose a from a few seats away, "because I doubt you'll even make it past the second round. Not with me around."
Neji narrowed his eyes at Uwayaku, who purposefully tapped his forehead. "Are you. . . challenging me?"
"No. I'd rather save it for a time where I can thoroughly wipe the floor with you without consequences. If there's anything left that is," he smirked arrogantly.
'What a pompous loser,' Tenten frowned in disapproval. 'If I get the chance, I'll be showing him who wipes the floor with whom.'
All other trash talk and thoughts were set aside after a woman and several chuunin burst through the doors. The chuunin lined up against both sides of the room while the woman kicked the doors shut and slid a bolt over them. She wore her blond hair in a low ponytail and a heavy amount of make-up. A few of the older male genin swooned as she walked past them. Any charm they saw in her quickly vanished, however, once she gazed at them coldly.
"It seems many of you have passed the preliminary test and found your way here. That won't do. Instructions for part one of the first phase will begin as soon as you are in the proper seating arrangements. Head to one of the chuunin for your seats," she wasted no time in small talk. "Oh, and, you can call me Yugido. I'll be your proctor during this phase." She grinned coldly.
As Naruto lined up withe the others, he caught a glimpse of blue hair and shivered. 'Anyone but him. Anyone but him.' He mentally chanted. He got his assigned seat, row B number 26, and went to his seat. 'Please, please, please, anyone but him.' He sat down and sighed when he saw a rain shinobi on his left. So far, the right seat was vacant. He shut his eyes tightly and continued chanting in his head. 'Please, please. . .' A scraping of a chair alerted him that seat B-27 was now occupied. He cracked his eyes open and traced the bottom of the figure up to the face. "You!" he pointed.
"Is there. . . something wrong?" It was Gaara, laconic self and all, staring dully back at Naruto. 'That settles it. I'm surrounded by the paranoid.'
"Nope," Naruto grinned in relief. 'Close one!'
"Wow. And I thought you were weird yesterday. Do you always greet people by yelling?" A voice came from behind him.
Naruto froze and slowly turned to face the owner of the voice. 'Oh sh-' Yes. It was him in all his glory, complete with the mask. He let out a slight 'Eep' causing Gaara to lift a nonexistent eyebrow.
"See what I mean? Always so dramatic. I'm not that intimidating am I?" Shimaru smirked behind the mask.
"Hah! I'm not scared of you!" Naruto pointed a steady finger at him while his legs trembled in his seat.
"Naruto. . ." Gaara started.
He turned. "Wha-" A chalkboard eraser came flying at him and whacked the side of his head, sending snickers across the room. "-oh."
"You with the blonde hair! Shut up!" the proctor shouted.
"Aw man," Naruto muttered to himself, embarrassed.
'I don't know him,' his teammates thought in unison.
'So, your name is Naruto, huh?' Shimaru stored the thought for later use.
"Alright. Listen up because I'll only say this once! Part one consists of a five question exam. You must answer at least one question correctly or your entire team fails. Also, no cheating will be tolerated. If we see anyone using any jutsu or bloodlimits even once, the entire team will be disqualified. This test is to measure your intelligence and nothing else. You'll need brains to make it to chuunin." She allowed a slight pause for the papers to be passed out. "I expect complete silence. No questions or breaks will be permitted. You have twenty minutes. Begin!"
Naruto stared at his test. Truth be told, it didn't look that bad. The five questions were far simpler than Ibiki's, testing knowledge on geography or basic regulations. But. . . he couldn't concentrate. He felt self-conscious, knowing Shimaru, who had probably killed the ramen owner was behind him. His skin tingled with insecurity. 'Calm down, Naruto,' he told himself. 'Try to focus on the first question. . .'
Neji glared at his exam sheet as if trying to burn a hole in it. Gripping his pencil tightly, he pressed its tip hard onto the paper and began to answer the questions, angrily leaving dark chicken scratches on the paper. 'Stupid Uwayaku. Stupid main branch. . . except for Hinata-sama. Stupid curse seal. Stupid proctor. Stupid exam. Stupid. . .' He stopped his mental rant of self-pity when he noticed some of his illegible writing make even lesser sense. Curious, he wrote the kanji for 'five' on the corner, and after a few moments of waiting, saw it had shifted into the character for 'four.' He began to activate he Byakugan, when he remembered it wasn't allowed. He returned to mental angst. 'Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. . .'
Meanwhile, Naruto released a sigh of relief at his completed exam. Unfortunately, it was only slightly more legible that Neji's due to trying to write with a trembling hand. He felt like every move he made was being observed and recorded. Maybe it was paranoia. Maybe it wasn't. Trying to shift his mind from his unease, he glanced to see if Gaara had finished. 'What the. . .? His exam is blank! Could it be. . . aw man!' He'd fallen for both of the examiner's tricks, he'd realized. Using a bit of chakra he sent from his hand to the paper, he managed to dispel whatever genjutsu was around it, making it bland like Gaara's.
His Sand neighbor glanced at him from the corner of his eye. 'He just figured it out. . . How did he ever beat me?' He pitied himself a bit more. 'Yes,' he repeated in his head, 'I'm surrounded by paranoid, unintelligent, insane people. . . I will conclude my theory that I am the only sane person here after a few more observations.'
You are so not sane brat! You want blood! Shukaku protested.
'And all of my slightly dysfunctional thoughts and actions are due to Shukaku's influence,' he made a scapegoat of Shukaku.
You've got to be kidding brat!
'No, I'm not. I am dead-serious, perfectly sane, and self-controlled.'
. . . You just keep telling yourself that.
Naruto wondered what Gaara was thinking about as he watched him stare off into space. Whatever it was, it seemed intense. He looked at a clock in the corner and saw there were only a few minutes left.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the room, a bug was busily scurrying across the floor and onto a table inconspicuously. It finally stopped when it reached its destination, an exam paper, and began releasing all it's chakra into it.
Ikioi opened his eyes just in time to notice it. 'Hey!' He tried to blow it off the exam, but it wouldn't budge. He raised his index finger and thumb to flick it off when he realized his completed exam had just turned blank. 'Huh?' Wearily, the bug flew to the floor and crawled off towards Shino, leaving the perplexed boy. 'I don't get it. . .'
"Put your pencils down, twenty minute have passed." Yugido ordered. Her eyes quickly scanned the papers on the genin's desks before calling out a few numbers. "Everyone I've just called failed! Report your name to one of the chuunin and leave."
There were cries of protest. A random rain ninja yelled at her angrily. "But I know I answered every question correctly! You can't do this!"
She glared at him coldly. "Are you questioning my authority?" she asked dangerously. A frightened shake of his head followed. "Good. Now hurry up and get our. I'm feeling impatient today." Afer they left, she faced the remaining genin. "Congratulations. You passed part one of the first phase by realizing there was a genjutsu that distorted the information you placed on your exam. As a chuunin, while on scouting or reconnaissance missions you must keep in mind that bringing back nothing is better than bringing back specious information."
"Ha ha! I so knew that!" Naruto grinned aloud. He had a reputation to maintain.
"You! Shut up again before I disqualify you and your team!"
"Yeesh, she needs to lighten up," he whispered to Gaara.
The sand-nin gave him a look that said, 'Please do me a favor and don't speak to me in public,' causing him to pout.
"Now, the second half of the exam will consist of a group decision. You have exactly two minutes to meet with your teams before I give you the second half. Take your exam papers with you and start moving!" Yugido yelled.
There was a scuffling of chairs as a slightly reduced number of genin gathered into their four man cells. Then, they looked to their proctor for further instructions.
Sure they were ready, Yugido began. "As a chuunin, you will be given many dangerous missions and it is your duty to fulfill them to the best of your capabilities. On some of these missions, sacrifices must be made to complete the objective. This second part will determine your ability to handle yourselves in the event that such circumstances will occur. To move onto the second phase of the exam, you are to drop one person from your team." Surprise rang around the room. She waited for it to calm before continuing. "That's not all. Flip your exam papers over and you will see a colored dot on the back. Red stands for the leader of the group, black for the injured, yellow for those depleted of chakra, and green for those still able to fight."
Naruto did as instructed and found a red dot. He looked at the others and saw Seirei had a yellow, Kiba had a black, and Senshu had a green.
"You see, you are to pretend that each of your cells have been sent on a dangerous mission to collect data on your enemy's position. On your way, you encounter an A-ranked shinobi blocking your path, not allowing you to move forward or backward. The only way to move is to sacrifice a member of your team while the others escape. You are to write a brief essay on who your team will drop and why. The remaining three on the team will pass or fail depending of the quality of their answer." She paused a bit in thought. "Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that since in such a situation, your teammate will most likely die, whoever your team sacrifices will never be able to advance to the chuunin level."
"What? That's bull! You're as bad as that last examiner in the Leaf!" shouted an older genin.
To everyone's surprise, the examiner laughed. "You won't be getting any higher mark by complimenting me. If you have any complaints, write it down on your essay, because I don't want to hear it, or it you want, you can give your number to the chuunin and leave, then try to become a chuunin again during the next exams. Other than that, you have fifteen minutes to discuss this with your team. Take in mind that in a real life scenario, you would have even less. Once you are finished, form a line and give your essays to me. I'll be grading them on the spot. Alright, time begins now!"
Immediately, the sound of disagreement rose as the teams began to argue amongst themselves.
"I don't like this," Kiba muttered.
"Yeah, how do they expect us to drop one of our own?" Seirei said.
Senshu sighed. "Let's just concentrate on the 'status' first. Kiba's injured. Seirei, you're out of chakra. So basically, in this situation, it would probably Naruto or myself who'd stay behind. I don't really care about this exam, but you should know my sis by now. She'd kill me if I dropped."
Naruto clenched his fist tightly. 'This isn't right. . . it's just like the last exam, but which direction are we supposed to choose? In a real situation, if we sacrificed a member, we could move forward, but at the cost of our comrade's life? No way!' He faced his teammates in determination. "No way. . . As leader, there's no way I'm going to sacrifice any of up," he whispered to them, as if telling it to himself. His eyes hardened. "Not a chance."
"But, Naruto, the rules say-" Seirei started.
"Forget what the rules say! Kakashi-sensei always said that 'those who don't follow the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends, are worse than trash.' All of us are getting through this or we all fail together!" At the confidant nods of his teammates, he began scrawling something on his exam sheet.
A few meters away, Gaara was writing something else on his sheet without consulting the others. Fuu leaned over to read it and sweatdropped.
Meanwhile, Shino, 'leader' of his cell was taking the move tactical approach. "If we were to truly expel one member, I would be tempted to recommend Ikioi for attempting to harm my kikai bug." This earned him a horrified 'what!' from his teammate and nods of approval from Tenten. "However, we agreed earlier to display extra precaution in the midst of these exams; therefore, as leader, I suggest we use out limited time to exam possible alternative motives before creating out final decision."
Neji, Tenten, and Ikioi nodded in agreement.
Team Gai wasn't faring as well however. . .
"No, you!" Uwayaku snarled at Sasuke who glared back.
"I say we just get rid of both of you," Hane sniffed. "You're both as useless as the other."
"Why don't we get rid of you?" Sasuke scoffed.
"Enough!" Lee shouted. "I am leader so you must listen to me!"
Uwayaku turned to him. "I have a better idea! Since you're leader, be noble and sacrifice yourself for the rest of the team. We'd all be happy to get rid of you!"
Sasuke and Hane agreed, causing Lee to become dejected for a few moments. "No! I shall not give in! The flames of youth that burns brightly within me will never allow me to fail. Yosh!"
"Deal with it, Lee! We all picked you, three to one," Sasuke said.
"Never!" Lee yelled almost hysterically. "I will never submit to this. I will go on!" In large letters, he hastily wrote the sentences in lightning speed before they could stop him and ran toward the instructor speedily, handing her the paper.
She took it without looking and instead gazed at the clock. "Aright everyone, it's about fifteen minutes now. If you haven't turned in your essay, then you fail. Meanwhile, I'll tell you which teams passed of failed after examining them." She smirked at them tense in anticipation, then looked at the paper she just received.
'NO ONE CAN EVER PUT OUT THE FLAMES OF YOUTH! THEY SHALL FOREVER BURN BRIGHTLY WITHIN US! YOSH! WE SHALL ALL RISE TO VICTORY!'
Yugido suppressed her eye from twitching. "Aguni Hane, Hyuuga Uwayaku, Rock Lee, and Uchiha Sasuke of Konoha," she called.
"Oh! That's us! That's us!" Lee waved his hands wildly.
"I can see that," she grumbled. "Pass."
"Whoo hoo!" Lee grinned
'I can't believed they accepted that lame answer,' Sasuke thought. 'I guess it's another one of those dumb teamwork exams.'
Yugido skimmed through the other papers.
'Minako, because she'd weak. . .' "Fail."
'As leader, I'd valiantly sacrifice. . .' "Fail."
'If you don't pass all of us, I'll squish you.' ". . ." She looked up from the paper to the sand team and met Gaara's eyes, as if interlocking them in a staring competition while giving him a 'don't-mess-with-me' glare. "Pass."
She went through a few more before she landed on. . .
'We'll force our way in if it's the last thing we do! Don't think you scare us, you old hag! We're gonna be chuunin whether you like it or not!'
This time, her eye did twitch. Was she ever this weird and rude as a genin? She pitied their jounin instructors. "Which one of you four wrote this?" She queried.
"Me!" Naruto raised his hand proudly.
'Figures.' She glared at him. "Do I look old to you?. . . No? Good. Call me an 'old hag' again and not only will I disqualify you, I'll personally kick you from here back to Konoha. . . Pass."
"Yeah! What'd I tell you guys?" he yelled at his teammates.
"Not so loud, Naruto. You're hurting Akamaru's and my ears!" Kiba complained.
After completing the grading, Yugido watched the remaining genin chatter excitedly amongst themselves. 'Only eleven teams remain.' She quickly called for their attention. "Well, since you passed, I assume you understand what we were looking for. Loyalty and faith. In times of war or depression, there are many shinobi who desert their villages and comrades. In Kumogakure, we are attempting to keep this number to a minimum, but I doubt you'll want to know all the details. They're boring."
"Yugido-san!" One of the chuunin reprimanded.
"What? We're running a bit late," she looked at the clock. "Anyway, congratulations. The next exam will begin when the next examiner arrives which should be. . ." The longer hand ticked to twelve, "now."
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A/N: Well there's chapter four, hoped you liked. It's going to be my last chapter before school begins tomorrow! Still haven't memorized my science tables yet. . . uh oh. I don't know when chapter five will be out. The end was kind of sucky because I really rushed to get this chapter out before I'm filled to the neck with school work. And I got the exam idea from the rescue Sasuke arc, where the genin split up and got the ---- beat out of them. Also, sorry if Naruto's attitude seemed kind or weird. I was trying to depict what most people would do if they were to be face-to-face with death.
Oh yes, I also have one thing to say about flames. If you're going to do it, I mention this in my profile, make them as constructive as you can, please. I recently received by first flame ever, and it wasn't even for any of my stories but for myself. Anyway, jake kion called me a whore, asshole, slut, bitch, and that I can't ever write a good story, to sum it up quickly. I really doubt that's constructive criticism since no one here knows anything about me except what I choose to tell them. Anyway, anyone suffering from boredom that's been to my profile knows what happened, and that there'll be a parody/humor fic coming out when I have time that's dedicated jake-kun for inspiring me.
Hmm. Except for the fact that I think I may have seen the real-life version of Deidara this morning (seriously, blonde hair, same length, couldn't tell it he/she was male/female. . . does it get any closer?), that's it! Anyway, please. . .
Review!