Author's note! I just wanted to address a few things, first of all, parings. A reviewer mentioned it, and I realized I hadn't said anything about them. I don't plan to have any pairings, especially not at the beginning. Also, this story is not a yaoi at all. Second thing, the 'Sasuke' chapter. I wrote and posted that chapter in about two hours, and I didn't even think about how much too early I posted it. The main story was, and is a fair bit behind that part. Sorry about that. I will rearrange it to a better place once the main story is farther along. Thanks for reading!

The jonin took his time rejoining the other two observers. Ibiki thought the same as the teacher. Iruka had done well with his perception of the Nara and Uchiha. He had watched the dark haired boy after Naruto had gone inside. Sasuke had been rude and dismissive of anyone who spoke to him. Only a few blushing girls had been brave enough (or silly enough) to approach him after the medi-nin was finished. It didn't sit well with Ibiki. He knew the results of arrogance and pride far too well to not be cautious. A bell was rung to signal the start of the last exam and Ibiki was forced to put aside his thoughts for the moment.

Naruto had loitered in the hallway outside the classroom after leaving Iruka's office. He felt better and worse after his conversation. Admitting to his beloved sensei he had been lying made guilt gnaw at him, but the understanding made him feel lighter and less afraid. Iruka was the teacher in charge of this exam, so he would be able to understand Naruto. Iruka had told him it was somewhat normal to be nervous or afraid at times. It helped him settle his nerves after the stressful morning. But there was no way Naruto was going to go in the classroom and be stared at by all the other students. He saw Iruka bustle up and slide the door open. Naruto slipped in behind him and took up his spot in the back row with only a few glances. Sasuke glared at him and a few of the others gave him curious looks. They couldn't dwell on him though as Iruka called their attention to the front of the room.

"The scores for the matches are as follows…" Naruto sank into his seat and hoped that for once things would go his way. He had passed, with the taijutsu test with three points. He had seven points so far, and eight was the minimum to graduate. He just had to wait out till his turn for the ninjutsu test. This would be the hardest part. He closed his eyes and let his body slump in his chair. In the background he vaguely registered names being called. Time seemed to slow and speed up at the same time. Finally, and far too soon, Iruka called him down. He followed his teacher into a small room off to the side of the main classroom. A long curved table was set up with a wide clear area in front of it. The three jonin were seated on one end of the table, an empty chair next to Inoichi that Iruka took.

"Alright, for this portion of the test, three jutsu, the henge, kawarimi and clone jutsus, must be successfully produced. The quality and ease of the jutsu will be taken into account on the score you receive." The teacher recited, smiling at his nervous student. Naruto was sweating again under the gaze of the four men. He bit at his lip before closing his eyes. The henge was fairly easy, he'd been practicing his own version of it for years. He hastily ran through the few hand signs and a puff of chakra smoke later he was disguised as one of the chunin that guarded the front gates. Every detail was there, spiky black hair and goatee, bandage across his nose, skin tone and height. He'd even managed to make his henge the exact height of his target.

The four men watching were intrigued for different reasons. Iruka found it odd that Naruto out of all the students so far, would be the first to not transform into himself. Shikaku found it odd that the boy knew what Hagane looked like enough to reproduce it so well. Ibiki and Inoichi found the detail to show something of the boy's observation of others. Iruka smiled wider.

"Kotetsu Hagane, excellent." Naruto changed back with a second cloud of greyish purple smoke. Naruto quickly performed the substitution jutsu with a chair off to the side. He switched back as Iruka noted this down on his sheet.

"Good, now there is just the clone jutsu." He remarked. This caused Naruto to shift uneasily. He shot quick glances at the three jonin before looking at his sensei.

"U-um… Is it… I mean can I-" He gulped. Iruka looked up at him patiently.

"Can you what?" Naruto fiddled with the pouch on his leg.

"Do I have to do the academy clone jutsu?" He mumbled. Iruka felt a bit of tension leave him.

"As long as you are able to produce three clones that are not noticeably clones, you can use any clone technique." Naruto nodded jerkily, a wave of relief washing over him.

"'Kay." He took a step back and crossed his index and pointer fingers on each hand. Ibiki surged up in his chair seconds too late to stop the boy.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" He called. A rush of chakra could be felt before a massive cloud of smoke filled the room. Twenty copies of Naruto filled the room now. All of them were solid and exactly like their creator. Iruka could only blink. He'd never seen this jutsu, not to mention this many clones. Ibiki was still standing, a look of shock visible in his dark eyes. Shikaku looked like he wanted to laugh and Inoichi was frowning slightly. The blond man coughed slightly to break the silence.

"Well, this is unusual. Tell me Naruto, where did you learn this jutsu?"

"Uh, I saw an ANBU do it once. I- I had so much trouble with the Academy jutsu, so I tried this one. It work so…" He wondered if he'd screwed up. Something was wrong, for sure. The interrogator was very stoic, and for him to have that look of shock…

"You decided to try an ANBU technique!?" Iruka squeaked, half in outrage half in amazement.

"Yeah… Is that bad?" The boy self consciously asked. Ibiki slow sat back down.

"That is one of several jutsu contained in a forbidden scroll of the village." He slowly replied. "It creates solid, corporeal clones capable of semi-independent action. It is forbidden because of the massive amount of chakra needed to produce even one of them. Many ninja destroyed their chakra paths attempting it." Iruka blanched upon hearing this. He scuttled around the table to Naruto.

"Are you alright? Are you feeling dizzy or nauseous?" Naruto just looked between the four of them, wide eyed.

"I'm fine," he absently muttered, "Am I in trouble for using this jutsu, since it's forbidden?" He seemed to shrink in on himself a bit. Shikaku answered this time in his lazy drawl.

"Na, it's fine. The only reason it isn't allowed is because it can harm the person using it. But clearly you are fine." He shrugged. "You wouldn't happen to know which ANBU you saw it from?" Naruto was caught off guard by the strange question.

"It was a dog ANBU." Shikaku chuckled a bit.

"Yup sounds like the Hound alright." Iruka pet Naruto's head a moment longer before taking his seat.

"Well… I guess this is all. You can dispel the clones now." Naruto nodded and reached out for his chakra. What wasn't used for the clones came rushing back as they disappeared.

"Am-am I done now?"

"Oh, yeah." Iruka distractedly stood and handed him one of the headbands from the table. Naruto took it with a shaking hand.

"You did excellently in the last three exams. I think you would have been good on the first too." The boy blushed. Iruka smiled at him and walked him to the door. Naruto hurried back to his seat and tried to shrink out of sight. Iruka watched him for a moment, before calling the next name of his list.

Twenty minutes passed and Naruto was clammy and picking at his fingernails. He hadn't been able to ignore the few glances and whispers directed at him. He tried to focus on analyzing his results for today, but he couldn't. Ibiki was also worrying him. The dark man was frightening. It almost seemed like he could see through anything. Naruto wasn't sure where he stood with the him. Was he another one of those who disliked him, or was he just strict? He'd seemed truly shocked when Naruto had used the shadow clone jutsu. Why? Was it really that bad of a jutsu? He wanted to yell and pull his hair out! All these questions were running endless circles in his head. He had passed though. That was most important right now. He had passed, but what team would he end up on?

How were they being put together this year? He knew in the past the test scores had been used. The highest, lowest and the best academically were usually placed together. He knew he would have ended up with Sasuke- who hated him, and Sakura- a civilian girl who was obsessed with Sasuke. But now, he had no idea. There was no way to logic through the numerous combinations without knowing how the three Jonin were planning things. With Sasuke and Sakura he would never have even made it past D rank missions for sure. How could you work together with someone who hated you, and another person who was only going to oogle their team mate? That didn't help him feel any better about the possibilities. He was still anxious and unsure of what was going to happen. Today had been way too much attention for him. Ibiki and Shikaku were too focused on him. Iruka would be now as well. The Hokage might even ask to speak to him…. Oh, god! What if he was sent back to the academy for being deceptive-!

"Ok, that's the end of the exams." Iruka, bless him, interrupted his panicked mental rant. "Those of you who passed should be here tomorrow at eight to be assigned to teams. Dismissed." Naruto caught the heavy look the teacher gave him. He knew from past experience that Iruka wanted to talk to him. Nartuo sighed but stayed put as the rest of the students rushed out. He didn't really want to have to talk, but he understood why Iruka would expect it. He reluctantly joined Iruka once the room had emptied.

"So Naruto, how about we go get some ramen and have a conversation?" Iruka smiled at him. Naruto smiled tentatively back. At least he doesn't seem mad. Maybe it will be good to talk. Iruka-sensei always understood the pranks after all…