6. The Exams Begin!
"Why does it have to be my house?" Orochimaru grumbled as the four left the school later.
"Because, my mom is expecting a baby and needs quiet, Midori has two baby sisters who need quiet, Jiraiya's landlord said he'll kick him out if he hears another ruckus from him, so that just leaves you. Congrats," Tsunade said, clapping him lightly on the shoulder. Orochimaru groaned, "Fine," he answered in defeat.
"How come we're going to his house to practice?" Jiraiya growled, "I can practice on my own without any help!"
"Your last clone melted into the floor, Jiraiya," Tsunade snapped, "You so can't practice on your own!"
"And you're helping me 'cause…?"
"Who said I was helping you?"
"Then why'd you have me come along!?"
While they argued, Midori chuckled mirthfully, "Boy, they're a noisy pair," she said, glancing at Orochimaru, "You're pretty patient if you can put up with it,"
"Hm," was his only reply.
Midori wasn't too put off by his lack of answers. She was amazed he was talking at all, now. She looked away, listening to Tsunade and Jiraiya bickering. She sighed, "Can you do any Jutsu yet?" she asked him.
"…Not…not really, no," he replied quietly. He refused to look at her.
"You don't need to be nervous around me," she assured him, "And if you don't feel like talking, then it's fine,"
Here, he glanced briefly at her before facing forward again. Midori looked back at Tsunade and Jiraiya still arguing and hummed in dismay, "The way they're going, they'll kill each other long before they get to even take the exams," she remarked.
Orochimaru turned, now watching the argument with narrowed eyes. He looked around the ground at his feet, stooping to pick up a smooth stone. He tossed it up a few times before lobbing it up in an arc toward them. The rock bounced off Jiraiya's head, plopping back on the ground. The fight instantly stopped as the spiky-haired boy registered what just happened. Face reddening in anger, he whirled, "What the heck was that for!? What'd I do to you!?" he bellowed.
Tsunade blinked in confusion, looking over at her two friends before moving quietly away from Jiraiya. She scowled at Orochimaru, "You can tell me why you did that later when we're through practicing," she growled.
Midori, highly baffled, turned to Orochimaru, "Um…why'd you do that?" she asked quietly as Tsunade grabbed Jiraiya to keep him from charging at the other boy.
"To stop them," he answered plainly.
"Um…well yeah, you did. But now they're ticked at you," she pointed out.
He just shrugged and turned around, continuing down the road toward his home. Midori stared after him in bewilderment. Just when she thought she was ready to figure him out, he went and did something like that. She sighed and followed after them at a mild distance.
The little caravan of potential Genin managed to make it to the apartment without any more outbursts. During this time, Tsunade had decided to let go of her irritation of the rock incident in favor of focusing on practicing her Jutsu. She convinced a begrudging Jiraiya to do the same.
Orochimaru let them in, standing in front of the door to hold it open. He closed it and then went inside himself, setting his bag down by theirs against the wall.
"Okay then," Tsunade declared, "Orochimaru, where can we practice?" she asked, hands on her hips and ready to get started.
"The other room is fine," he replied, "It's completely empty and besides, I sleep out here anyway," He gestured to the rolled up bed pallet stacked against the wall by the window.
Midori looked around at her surroundings, humming, "It's nice in here," she said, "A little empty, though," she added somewhat quietly.
"Midori," Tsunade hissed, nudging her.
"I don't mind it either way," Orochimaru replied, heading into the next room. The two girls exchanged glances and followed after him. Jiraiya brought up the rear, still sullen.
The other room, clearly a bedroom he didn't seem to use for anything, was spacious and had a little table sitting in a corner, but was otherwise empty. Tsunade looked around and sighed, "Orochimaru, seriously, you're going with me next week and we're going to find you some furniture, okay?" she said in exasperation.
He either didn't hear or didn't care as he headed to the other side of the room and sat down against the wall, "I suppose we should start, then," he said.
` "Who wants to do the honors?" Tsunade asked.
No one spoke. Midori sat over by the window with her knees folded up, playing with one of her braids. Jiraiya was leaning up against the opposite wall with his arms folded, looking bored, and Orochimaru was sitting at the other wall, slightly distant. Tsunade sighed, "Um…okay, does anyone know it?" she asked, praying that she wasn't going to regret asking.
"Well…," Midori said, earning the attention of all three of her classmates, "We all know it, Tsunade—well, except Orochimaru, maybe since he's so new. But to be honest…it's a little nerve-wracking,"
"Midori, you're the best at henge Jutsu," Tsunade countered, "You could probably teach me,"
"But that's why I don't want to do a henge Jutsu for the exam. It's what I'm good at, and I'm not good at clone Jutsu, so I want to practice,"
"But you'll have plenty of time to practice after you graduate," Jiraiya pointed out incredulously.
"I know the clone Jutsu," Orochimaru said suddenly without looking up. All three stared at him; "But you just said you couldn't do any," Jiraiya exclaimed, "You said it on the way over here,"
"I said I hadn't, not that I can't," Orochimaru countered curtly, standing up. He moved into the next room, disappearing from view. Tsunade and Jiraiya watched him go, glancing at each other in confusion.
Finally, he reappeared, carrying a large bowl of water. He set this down in the middle of the room and sighed, straightening up. He left the room again, vanishing for a few minutes. They heard the front door open and shut briefly and heard him struggling to move something. He reappeared, dragging a bag of potting soil. Tsunade's brow quirked, "Uh, Orochimaru, where did you get that?" she exclaimed.
"…Borrowed it," he exclaimed, though that didn't really explain much. He set it down heavily in front of the bowl. Using a knife from the kitchen, he sliced open the top and poured some of the contents into the water. He continued to mix it around, adding more soil as necessary until he had a thick mud mixture. He picked up the now half-empty bag and disappeared one more time. When he came back, he had a clean towel he was drying his hands with as he sat down against the wall, watching them.
Jiraiya eyed the mud in the bowl, frowning, "So we're using this to practice with?"
Orochimaru looked up, "Yeah,"
Tsunade stepped up first, "Okay, guess I'll give it a shot," she declared. She took a deep breath, folded her hands for the sign of the Tiger, "Mud clone Jutsu!"
The mud in the bowl began to expand upward and outward, morphing and warping erratically as it took shape. Tsunade gritted her teeth, concentrating as hard as she could, pouring her Chakra into the formation of the clone.
With a loud squelching sound, the mud in the bowl suddenly collapsed back down, splattering onto the wood floor. Jiraiya smirked and chuckled, "Nice one Tsunade, you'll pass with flying colors," he joked.
"What was that?" she snarled, turning toward him ominously. Jiraiya was quick to change his tune, holding his hands up defensively, "Uh, n-nothing," he exclaimed.
Orochimaru tried it next, holding onto a nearly perfect clone for almost a minute, shocking all three of his classmates into stunned silence. The clone, slightly duller in coloring than the original, looked around at them briefly, glanced at its creator and then promptly melted back into the bowl.
"Dang!" Jiraiya exclaimed in awe, "Where'd ya learn to do that, Chi?"
Orochimaru threw him a savage glare and returned to his seat against the wall. Tsunade sighed. It was more than likely skills he'd learned thus far in the academy built up on basics he'd picked up from a family member.
Midori was finally convinced to try a Henge Jutsu, her apparent specialty. She and Tsunade decided to switch places with one another for their tests. Standing side-by-side, both formed the appropriate hand signs. A puff of smoke erupted forth, shielding them for a moment. As it cleared, the two boys could see that Tsunade was now seemingly standing on the right side instead of the left. However on the other side, 'Midori' had suddenly acquired blond hair and brown eyes. 'Tsunade' glanced over at 'Midori' and sighed, "Tsunade, you're not focusing hard enough. You have to spread the Chakra evenly to all points of your body and maintain it," she explained.
"It's tougher than I thought," the real Tsunade answered, allowing the half-formed Henge to morph back into her natural features. Midori did the same.
For the next hour, all four kids worked tirelessly on practicing the Jutsu they'd use in the exam. Midori decided she'd use her Henge specialty after all. Tsunade and Jiraiya decided to work on the clone and Henge respectively. This left Orochimaru and Midori to assist them since they seemed actually able to perform those simple techniques.
"Now remember, all of your Chakra must be spread evenly. Don't overdo it in any one spot or—that will happen," Midori said, blanching and sighing in dismay as Jiraiya produced a successful Henge of herself that seemed to bear a striking resemblance to a gopher. Across the room, Tsunade, working on her mud clone with Orochimaru, chuckled and shook her head, "Midori is ridiculously good natured," she said, grinning, "She's one of few girls in the school who can put up with Jiraiya,"
"How long have you known her?" Orochimaru asked quietly.
"A couple of months. She and I were paired on a mock mission Sarutobi-Sensei had us do, hunting down random articles in the school. Like I said, she's a bit of a ditz, but she's really nice. And she seems to have finally gotten over her fear of you," she said with a shrug. Orochimaru didn't seem to care either way as he focused again on the task at hand, "Do you think you want to try again?" he asked.
"Sure. Okay," she said, taking a breath and forming the Tiger sign, "Here goes!"
Much more quickly, the clone formed almost immediately, copying her stance on the floor. Tsunade gritted her teeth, willing the clone to hold its shape while Orochimaru examined it. He walked around it in a circle while it watched, waiting for the verdict. He frowned, "Almost perfect. The coloring is a little off," he said, turning back to Tsunade. She sighed, allowing the clone to disintegrate back into mud in the bowl.
"Dang it, this is harder than I thought," she said, sighing, "I wonder if I'll be ready in time,"
"You will," he said, "In the meantime, we should probably rest. You're running low on Chakra,"
"Good plan. Hey you two," she called over to Midori and Jiraiya, who was in the middle of a Henge attempt that looked like a cross between a rag doll and a ferret, "We're taking five,"
"Finally," Jiraiya exclaimed, allowing the Jutsu to dissolve. He flopped down on the floor with a groan "I'm beat,"
Midori sighed, "You're beat? I had to stand here and watch myself get twisted around like a noodle for the past half-hour," she grumbled, "You're just not getting the hang of it, Jiraiya,"
"What do ya want from me? I'm trying my best here!"
"Maybe the clone Jutsu would be better," Tsunade suggested, "After our break, I'll practice on my own for a bit. Orochimaru, would you help him?"
While he looked less than pleased, her friend nodded his consent. She grinned, "Great. Well, if you'll let me borrow your kitchen for a bit, I'll make us all something to drink,"
She went to stand up, wobbled and then fell back down again, eyes wide in surprise, "Huh?"
"I've got it," Orochimaru said, heading out ahead of her.
"What just happened?" Tsunade asked.
"You ran low on Chakra," Midori said, "You're overworking yourself. Try to take it easy,"
Tsunade rubbed her head and groaned, "Ow…,"
"You all right?" Jiraiya asked.
"Yeah, I'm just tired,"
She looked out through the doorway and was surprised to see Orochimaru standing out there, motioning for her to come over there. She stood up and headed into the next room, "Hey, what's up?"
He handed her a package of crackers and then turned away to rummage through one of the cabinets. She eyed the package curiously, "What's this for?"
"I said you're low on Chakra. You need to eat that," he told her without looking at her. She raised an eyebrow in surprise and shrugged, opening the package and nibbling on one of the crackers absently.
"So, you think we'll be ready in time?" she mumbled.
"Possibly," he replied. She glanced briefly at him and sat down at the counter. She sighed lightly, "Yeah, maybe. You're ready for sure…," she said mostly to herself.
"Hm?" he asked, turning back to look at her.
"Nothing. Just going over some stuff,"
"So what happens after the exams?"
"What do you mean what happens?"
Facing away from her, he searched through another cabinet, shifting items around, "What happens when we graduate?" he rephrased.
"Well, we'd be placed in different teams to begin training in the field," she explained, eating another cracker. She had to admit, they were doing the trick. She was already feeling more energized. However, her eyes widened as she realized what he'd just said.
When 'we' graduate, she repeated in her head. And then she'd explained on her own what happens. And all the while he continued to rifle through the cabinets, never once taking anything out. She smirked wryly as she realized that in his own, weird little way, he was reassuring her that he believed she would do just fine.
As she watched him fidget about the kitchen, it occurred to her that in the short span he'd been in the village, a mere two weeks by this point, he'd already changed dramatically. He not only spoke and interacted with others, his entire outlook had changed. He seemed more…determined, now. Definitely less mousy, at least around her, Sarutobi, and even Jiraiya. He was getting better with Midori, too. She folded her hands under her chin and hummed, frowning. Their class wasn't very big; only about fifteen students. That means that five theoretical teams would spring from their class alone, assuming everyone passed the exams at the same time. She had little faith in Jiraiya, but she wondered if she and Midori would both pass. Or heck, she wondered if she and Orochimaru would both pass. If they did, would they be separated into different teams? Even though their time had been short so far, to Tsunade, it already felt like years since she'd met him.
"Hey," she said, "Orochimaru…,"
"Hm?" he glanced up, "What?"
"If we both pass, we might end up on separate teams. But you know, maybe that wouldn't be so bad,"
He blinked slowly, once again staring right through her in the midst of his thoughts. He turned and moved over to the counter, folding his arms atop it and sighing, "Not everyone will pass," he stated flatly, "But not everyone will fail, either. We should just try to pass," he mumbled.
Tsunade frowned, "You okay?" she asked.
He didn't answer. Not even a mild gesture. Tsunade could see he was suppressing his anxiety. Truth was, she understood. She was honestly worried about him being on a separate team. Maybe he was worried about her as well.
"You're right," she said in the end, "All we can do is pass and hope for the best,"
He smiled dryly and nodded, "Do you feel any better?"
"Actually, yeah. These did it," she said, holding up the wrapper, "I think I'm ready to practice some more. And you said you'd help Jiraiya once we finished our break," she grinned at him.
"Do I have to?" he sighed in dismay. Tsunade jumped off the chair and grabbed his arm, "Of course you do. Jiraiya's annoying, but he deserves the same chances we do,"
For the next few hours, the four managed to gain surprising mastery over the Henge and clone Jutsu, at the cost of a fair amount of Chakra. By the time evening rolled around, both Midori and Tsunade were leaned up against one another by the window, thoroughly exhausted. Jiraiya was sprawled on the floor a few feet away, and even Orochimaru seemed drained. He sighed, "Progress…," he mumbled.
"You think…so?" Tsunade answered quietly, "Dang it…I can't even move,"
"I'm kinda starting to…think we overdid it," Midori muttered, "Hey…Jiraiya, you okay?"
"…mmph…," the spiky-haired boy grumbled into the floor.
"We're gonna have to get home," Tsunade said, heaving herself up, "It's pretty late,"
"Yeah," her friend agreed, "I didn't get a chance to tell mom I'd be out so late. She's probably worried,"
Tsunade forced herself to stand up and looked over at Jiraiya, "Wow he's really out," she muttered.
"Well, he has worked the hardest of all of us today," Midori said quietly in the kid's defense, "And now, his clone Jutsu isn't half-bad,"
"Hey," Tsunade said to him, moving over and gently shaking his shoulder, "Jiraiya, wake up!"
However, she could tell from the deep circles under his eyes that he wasn't so much sleeping as he was completely passed out. She sighed, "Now what are we gonna do?"
To her right, Orochimaru got up and moved out of the room. Tsunade watched him go, noting from how slowly he walked that he was just as tired as they were. She attempted to pull Jiraiya up, but quickly gave in, sitting back and folding her arms, "We have to wake him up somehow," she said to Midori.
Quiet footfalls made her turn around and her eyes widened in surprise when Orochimaru reappeared carrying a blanket. He stepped around them and draped the blanket over Jiraiya before stepping back, "He's not going to wake up, Tsunade. Just leave him for now," he said quietly, turning and heading for the doorway.
"Uh…," she started to say, looking first at Midori and then at Jiraiya sound asleep on the floor. They followed after him silently. Tsunade glanced over at her friend standing by the counter, watching them. His eyes were glassy and somewhat dull. He was clearly exhausted. Tsunade smiled gratefully, "Thanks so much," she said, "I think we're all ready for the exams. Oh, and thanks for putting him up for the night," she added with a quick glance to the other room. He didn't say anything; just nodded his response.
The two girls headed for the door and Midori turned around, "Thanks again for helping us today. Me, especially. I owe ya, okay?" she said, chuckling.
Tsunade yawned and opened the door, "Get some rest. We'll see you guys in class, tomorrow,"
She shut the door behind them, and Orochimaru turned slowly, heading over to the front window. He closed the curtains to block out the moonlight streaming in and pulled down the other blanket from the bed pallet. He was too tired to set it up properly and just curled up in the corner, laying down and cocooning himself in the blanket with a sigh. However, he quickly realized that preciously needed sleep was going to be a little harder to snare tonight as the sound of Jiraiya's snoring in the other room met his ears. It wasn't very loud but then, his apartment wasn't very big and the village wasn't very noisy. Orochimaru opened one eye, glaring in that direction before groaning in frustration and burying himself even deeper into the blanket.
It was going to be a long night.
/ooo/
"Agh! Where am I? This isn't my room! Agh! This isn't my blanket! What the heck? AGH!"
Thud!
Orochimaru slowly opened his eyes at the sound of something heavy smacking to the floor in the other room. Still buried in his perfectly warm blanket, he was reluctant to leave it, still being exhausted.
However, remembering that today started the Genin exams, he sighed and forced himself to leave the blanket, sitting up stiffly. Sleeping on the floor wasn't exactly good for him, he realized. On hindsight, taking five minutes to set up his bed probably shouldn't have been such an issue. He brushed his hair from his eyes and glanced over to the doorway leading to the other room. It seemed Jiraiya was awake, now lying face down on the floor where he'd fallen halfway through the exit.
"Good morning...," Orochimaru greeted stoically. Jiraiya's head snapped up in alarm, his eyes wide. It was clear he was still half-asleep, "Y-You!" he gasped, "What the heck're you doing in my apartment!?"
"This is my apartment," the dark-haired boy answered, shuffling out from the blanket and beginning to fold it up, "You passed out last night so I let you sleep over,"
"Passed out?" Jiraiya muttered, crossing his eyes as he tried to remember, "What was I doing? Right, I was training. But wait, that means...crap! We overslept!" he exclaimed.
Orochimaru however, remained calm. He got up and looked outside, noticing that his neighbor downstairs was shooing her chickens out of their coop in the backyard. The rooster was nowhere in sight. He guessed that they'd only overslept by ten minutes at the most.
"Calm down, we're fine," he grumbled as he passed Jiraiya, "We aren't going to be late,"
"How can you be so calm about it?" Jiraiya demanded to know as he got to his feet, "There's no clock in here,"
"My neighbor's rooster always crows at the same time. We missed him, but she always takes her chickens out at the same time every morning," he explained, "It's only been about ten minutes,"
"Oh," Jiraiya muttered, "Well, since you were nice enough to put me up for the night, I'll make us something to eat," he grinned.
He faltered when Orochimaru glared at him from off to the side, "W-What?" he stammered.
However, his reluctant host said nothing on the matter and went into the next room to change, shutting the door. Jiraiya shrugged and went to see what he could find for breakfast. So Orochimaru wasn't entirely social; he seemed nice enough. Jiraiya figured the least he could do was cook breakfast.
However, when he looked inside the refrigerator, his face fell, "Oh man, Tsunade wasn't kidding the other day; looks like all he really can afford is eggs or rice," he muttered, "It's a wonder he hasn't gotten totally sick of 'em by this point,"
He knew there wasn't much time so he decided to make a couple of eggs for that reason, as well as the fact that he knew as much about cooking as he did advanced Ninjutsu. He could at least fry an egg, right? How hard could that be?
Having replaced his clothes from the day before with new a new set, Orochimaru folded the other set up and promptly jumped out of his skin when the smoke detector started blaring out of nowhere. He looked up at the door with a dry expression on his face, his ears ringing from the shrill beeping. He sighed and shuffled out, finding Jiraiya flailing about in a cloud of smoke hovering stagnantly in the kitchen. He moved forward wordlessly and flipped a switch on the wall behind the stove, turning on the vent and then glaring at Jiraiya. The kid's stark white hair was now a few different shades of gray as he fanned the clearing smoke from his face, grinning sheepishly, "Eh heh, uh, sorry 'bout that, Chi," he said, "I guess cooking really isn't my bag,"
Orochimaru glanced at the pan smoldering on the stove. The couple of eggs in it were nearly burned to a crisp. Jiraiya had to be given props for at least attempting to use cooking oil in the pan to keep the eggs from sticking. However, he must have remembered it after cracking the eggs and added it to the pan while it was much too hot.
Jiraiya sighed heavily, "Yeah, so that didn't turn out so well,"
He watched as Orochimaru scraped the inedible mess into the trash can, rinsing the pan out and then setting it back on the stove. He fetched two more eggs and cracked them into the pan, wordlessly snatching the spatula from Jiraiya as he started a second attempt. Jiraiya watched, hands in his pockets, "So where'd you learn how to take care of yourself like this?" he asked, trying to avoid adding any elephants to the room.
"Watching," he replied quietly. He was now facing completely away from Jiraiya and the spiky-haired kid couldn't clearly see what he was doing. Every now and then he'd heard a scraping sound until finally, he turned off the burner, bent his head to make sure the flame had gone out, and then turned toward the counter. He scraped a completed egg onto a plate and slid it toward his guest while putting the other onto another plate for himself. He filled the pan with water, took a couple of pairs of disposable chopsticks out of the drawer, and went around to the other side of the counter, sitting down with a sigh.
Jiraiya looked from him to the plate and then picked it up, moving to take a seat as well at the end of the counter a couple of feet away.
"So," he said, grinning, "What's my score?"
Orochimaru eyed him incredulously, "What?"
"I know I'm terrible at cooking, but I at least attempted it, right? What's my grade?" he cackled.
"…Pathetic,"
Jiraiya ground his teeth in irritation, "Do ya have to be so blunt all the time?" he snapped.
"Just eat your breakfast. We're running late as it is,"
Jiraiya fought every instinct screaming at him to keep arguing, focusing on eating. The rest of the meal was finished in silence.
The exam loomed ahead.
/ooo/
"I can't believe how late you guys are," Tsunade admonished when the boys finally showed up. Orochimaru glanced somewhat apathetically at Jiraiya who was kneeling on the ground, gasping for air. Both boys were somewhat winded, having had to take to the rooftops to gain even a hope of arriving on time.
Midori stood nearby, silently watching. She jumped when Tsunade clapped her on the shoulder and grinned, "Well all right, it's the big day, right? Hey, Orochimaru, this moron didn't keep you up the whole night, did he?"
Orochimaru resisted the urge to mention that Jiraiya was a bit of a restless sleeper to put it mildly, a bad combination for someone like himself, who was a light sleeper. He shook his head in reply, "No," he said simply.
The four of them made their way inside, Tsunade dragging the exhausted Jiraiya behind her and snapping at him to walk straight. She finally let go of him and he flopped down on the road with a groan. Orochimaru and Midori both stared down at him in bewilderment as he finally picked himself up with a sigh and stretched, "Okay, okay, big day, yeah," he muttered, "See you in there, Chi!"
Midori frowned, "'Chi'? Is he talking to you?" she asked the dark-haired kid beside her. His expression was contorted in severe irritation, "Yes," he bit out, "It seems I have a complicated name,"
Midori giggled, "Okay, so your name is a bit unusual, but he'll get it one of these days," she said, laughing.
She waved, "Well, good luck today," she said, "See you in there!"
She hurried off after Tsunade. Jiraiya hung back with a hefty sigh, watching them go into the academy, chatting about the upcoming exam, "Man, she's in a weird mood today, eh Chi?"
"Please stop calling me that,"
"And Midori's acting weird, too. But then again, from what I hear, she's only in the academy 'cause of her dad, so it's no wonder she's acting like that,"
"Huh?"
"What? You didn't know? Yeah, her dad's in ANBU or something,"
"If he is, then how do you know about it?" Orochimaru grumbled, heading inside. Jiraiya followed after him, "Look, I've never met her dad, all right? The point is that she's here under family pressure to graduate,"
"And what about you?"
Jiraiya frowned, "What about me? Why am I in the academy?" he asked, "Well, same reason you are, Chi. No parents, so we're both wards of the village. We got no choice but to become Shinobi,"
He shoved his hands in his pockets, training his eyes forward. Orochimaru stared at him a moment before looking away silently.
Most of the students were inside already and both boys made it to the classroom minutes before class began. They parted ways and took their seats, waiting for Sarutobi to come in. Orochimaru set his bag down and folded his arms on the desk with a sigh. He jumped slightly when he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned at the same time Tsunade had when Midori tapped her as well. The other girl grinned brightly, "Hey you two," she whispered, "Pass or fail, I made a special celebratory lunch for all of us when the exam is over,"
"Cool," Tsunade said, beaming, "That'll be nice. But we're definitely gonna pass, right Orochimaru?"
He nodded once in affirmation and then looked over at Midori, "You'll do fine," he said.
Midori, clearly surprised that he'd spoken to her first, blinked and then grinned, "Well, duh. After all, I got personal tutoring from the two smartest kids in class," she said, giggling. She looked up suddenly and hissed through her teeth, sitting back in her seat as the Hokage came in. Everyone immediately faced forward and Sarutobi smirked wryly, "Ah, if only we could have the Genin exam every day, then I wouldn't have so much trouble quieting you all down all the time," he said, chuckling, "Now then, for those of you who signed up to take the exam today, I'm going to call your names and you'll be excused from class to do any last chance training you might wish to accomplish. The exam will take place after school. For those of you not participating, today is going to count as an in-service day, so it's half schedule. Does everyone understand?"
Most everyone nodded with a few mumbling their agreement. Sarutobi nodded, "Now then, Kuma Lee, Shinji Nara, Yukari Yamanaka, Saeka Hikari, Midori Yoshida, Tsunade Senju and…Jiraiya and Orochimaru," Sarutobi finished with an oddly confused look at the end. Tsunade quirked an eyebrow and turned to her silent friend, "Hey, what is your last name anyway?" she asked quietly.
Orochimaru got the weirdest expression on his face then and motioned her closer. He leaned forward and whispered something quietly in her ear. Tsunade blinked and looked back at him, "Okay, that's a weird surname," she said. Orochimaru shrugged.
"You may all go and practice for the exam," Sarutobi said, "The exam begins as soon as classes let out around noon, today. Dismissed,"
Tsunade grabbed Orochimaru's arm, "C'mon you guys, lets' go,"
All of the participants secluded themselves in separate areas to concentrate. Tsunade, Midori, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru wound up in a shaded area near the front entrance by the old swing. For an hour or so, they all practiced the various Jutsu they'd worked on the night before. By this point, Jiraiya's clones were starting to actually resemble a human being. Orochimaru proved that the Henge Jutsu came fairly easily to him as he seamlessly assumed Jiraiya's appearance for a moment before reverting back. Tsunade and Midori were unable to stifle the giggles at Jiraiya's irritated expression. That same expression transferred to Orochimaru when Jiraiya attempted the same thing. The result was a completely albino version of the dark-haired boy. To make matters even weirder, Jiraiya successfully managed to copy whatever Orochimaru attempted to do or say, creating an oddly hilarious spectacle that had both girls in stitches.
Finally, Tsunade flopped down on the grass with a sigh, giggling, "Okay, I kinda doubt we're gonna get much else done you guys," she said breathlessly.
Sitting on the swing, Orochimaru sighed, "No thanks to Jiraiya," he grumbled with a pointed glare at the other boy. Jiraiya just grinned, "What? You don't think that was funny, Chi?"
"Stop calling me that!"
"Knock it off," Tsunade growled, "It's going to be time for the exams, soon,"
Everyone fell silent. That was true; the exams were now closer than ever before.
"Hard to believe," Tsunade mumbled, gazing up through the branches of the tree above her, "We could all become official shinobi today,"
She glanced at Midori dozing a few feet away, facing away from her.
Orochimaru hummed, slowly pushing himself back and forth on the swing, "Are you ready?" he asked her.
"Dunno. You?"
He just shook his head. Sitting up against the trunk, Jiraiya scowled, "Man, you guys are depressing," he grumbled, "We're gonna do fine,"
They all jumped when the doors suddenly opened at the building and one of the teachers stepped outside, "Hey, you four, lets' go! It's time!" he called.
Orochimaru was the first to stand up and looked at each of them, waiting for them to move. Tsunade sat up, staring at him for a moment. She was honestly surprised at how calm and collected he seemed now. It was such a far cry from how countenance on his first day in the village.
Jiraiya stood up as well, grinning, "Here's where all that training pays off," he declared, "C'mon Tsunade, hurry up!"
Tsunade shifted and shook Midori awake before standing up, "Guess it's time to go,"
The students participating in the Genin exam all lined up outside one of the classroom doors. Sarutobi and a few other teachers hovered close by. Sarutobi addressed them firmly, "Now then, each of you will be tested separately and you may use either a Henge Jutsu, or a clone Jutsu. Henge will judged on accuracy based on a one minute time limit, clones will be judged on both accuracy and stability. I wish you all the best of luck. Now, who would like to go first?"
At first, no one moved. Orochimaru sighed and prepared to step forward when movement to his right made him pause. Midori stepped out of the group, her face set in grim determination, "Sensei, I'd like to go first," she declared.
The Hokage nodded his approval and stepped aside to allow her in. The others followed him in and the door was shut behind them.
"Huh," Tsunade muttered, "Never thought Midori would volunteer to be first. She doesn't even want to be a shinobi, so I wonder what brought this on?"
The hallway was dead silent. Everyone either sat or stood quietly against the wall, waiting their turn. Voices could be heard on the other side of the wall, but it was difficult to pick anything out. Once, Jiraiya had attempted to sneak forward and listen in, only for Sarutobi to call out "I certainly hope we don't have any eavesdroppers out there,"
The spiky-haired kid quickly backed away, chuckling sheepishly.
Finally, the door slid open and Midori stepped out, visibly wobbly. She shut the door behind her and let out a heavy sigh before looking up to her anxious friend and smiling broadly, "No homework for me," she laughed. Tsunade hugged her tightly, "Congratulations!" she exclaimed.
Sarutobi appeared at the door again and looked out, "Now then, who's next?"
Orochimaru stood up, his face darkening in concentration. He stepped forward, "I am,"
The Hokage nodded, "Very good. Right this way, then," he said, stepping back to allow him through.
"Good luck, Chi!" Jiraiya called. Orochimaru threw him a savage sidelong glare before the door was shut. Jiraiya blinked a few times and shuddered, "Oh well, that was a cold one," he exclaimed.
"If you called him by his actual name, then maybe he wouldn't do that, idiot," Tsunade grumbled. Jiraiya stomped over, "Who're you calling an idiot?"
"You! Is your skull too thick to understand that?"
"Take that back!'
"Make me!"
"Keep it down out there!" the Hokage shouted, shutting both of them up. They continued to glower angrily at one another until the door finally opened again and Orochimaru came back out. He sighed lightly and headed back over to the wall. Tsunade eyed him expectantly, "Well?" she pried.
"I suppose I'm not coming back here, anymore?" he replied cryptically. Jiraiya groaned, "Jeez, can ya be any more vague, Chi? Did ya pass or not!?"
"Yes," he said simply. Jiraiya stalked over and grabbed him by the collar, "That's not an answer!" he yelled.
Behind them, Sarutobi cleared his throat, catching their attention, "Well, who would like to go next, then?"
"Me," Tsunade replied. She turned to Jiraiya and stuck her tongue out, ducking inside the classroom and shutting the door before he could retaliate. He fumed for a moment, muttering under his breath and then stomped back over to the wall with the others. He pushed Orochimaru to the side slightly, "Move over," he grumbled, reclaiming his place at the wall.
"Are you going to go next?" the dark-haired boy asked, glancing at his wayward companion. Jiraiya shrugged, "Tch, I dunno. Maybe. So c'mon, seriously, did you pass or not?"
"I passed," he answered plainly.
"You don't seem too excited," Jiraiya remarked, raising an eyebrow.
"Should I be?" Orochimaru asked, looking over at him.
"Well sure. Not everyone passes on their very first attempt. What kinda Jutsu did you use?"
"Clone,"
Jiraiya looked skyward, "Maybe I'll do the same," he mumbled mostly to himself.
After a little while, Tsunade finally came out of the classroom. Her face was expressionless as she strode over to them. She eyed each of them in turn and then smirked at Jiraiya, "Pressure's on, you little weirdo," she teased.
Jiraiya froze up, swallowing hard. He glanced at Orochimaru who nodded him forward, his face blank. The Village Madness faced the open door and clenched his fists, striding in with his head held high. He glanced back and offered a thumb's up before shutting the door behind him.
Tsunade stood beside Orochimaru, watching the door quietly. She sighed, causing him to look at her curiously. She noticed and chuckled, "It's nothing, I'm fine. We'll probably get to find out what teams we'll be on in the next couple of days. We'll probably end up in separate groups, though…," she mumbled, trailing off, " Hey, Orochimaru,"
"Hm?"
However, instead of replying, Tsunade snickered madly all of a sudden, shaking her head, "You haven't responded like that in weeks," she joked, " Don't tell me you're actually worried about Jiraiya,"
He faced forward again, arms folded. His eyes were serious. Tsunade blinked a few times and then shrugged, falling silent, "I'm looking forward to that lunch Midori mentioned," she said.
Finally, after what felt like forever, the door slid open and Jiraiya stumbled out, collapsing on the floor with a groan. Sarutobi followed him and sighed, "Who's next?" he said.
Tsunade hurried forward and grabbed Jiraiya's arm, dragging him off to the side. Orochimaru followed her and watched as she started poking him, "Well, what's the verdict you little weirdo?" she asked.
"Ughfasht," Jiraiya muttered into the floor.
"Huh?"
He raised his head and sighed, "I passed," he grumbled, "Just barely,"
Tsunade grinned, straightening up, "Well how about that? We all made it," she declared, "I think Midori went back to the front area already so lets' go find her,"
"Hey," Jiraiya exclaimed, struggling to sit up, "Can I come? Huh? Please?"
The blond-haired girl sighed heavily, placing her hands on her hips, "Fine, Jiraiya, but you make one creepy comment to me like you did the other day and you're gonna get it,"
He laughed and got to his feet, hurrying after them, "Hey, thanks a lot!"
As they were making their way down the hall, one of the other teachers came around the corner and about plowed into them. He screeched to a halt and stepped back, "Woah, sorry guys!" he exclaimed. He blinked and peered more closely at them, "Hey, are you Tsunade Senju?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah, that's me," Tsunade replied, stepping closer, "What's up?"
"I was sent by the hospital. They wanted to inform you that your mother's gone into labor. You're supposed to go with me, right away!"