As Konoha's Team 7 stepped into the waiting room for their first exam, it soon became apparent that they were in for a tougher time than they had thought. A lot of the potentials turned and gave them menacing looks, but the three could tell that if they were stooping to such measures, these Genin weren't worth much. It was the ones that appeared bored or uninterested that worried Team Naruto.

After months of working with their 'student teacher', Sasuke and Sakura had picked up on a subtle method of sensing ability within ninja. Admittedly, it wasn't perfect, but it usually was a good gauge of an approximate amount of strength. Using even just a small amount of this ability at all a time allowed them to distinguish between various types of Ninjutsu and was useful for seeing through Genjutsu. So it was with no small surprise that they sensed several teams other than those Team 7 was familiar with that held no small amount of power.

Near the center was a team from what seemed to be Sunagakure; a boy wearing Kabuki face paint, a blonde girl with a gigantic fan strapped to her back, and a small boy with a gourd on his back who looked as if he hadn't slept in years. Surprisingly to Sasuke and Sakura, they could tell that the little one was the strongest of them.

Another powerful team looked to be from Mist; as was typical of Mist Shinobi, all three team members used blades. One of them, a boy, was tall and had white hair; he looked somewhat surly and his demeanor reminded Team 7 of Sasuke before his days with Naruto and Sakura. The girl with them, a blonde, carried a massive battle axe and wore high heeled white boots. The one who seemed to be their leader, and who emanated the most power, was small but had an aura of menace around him. The small boy's hair was blue, unusual even for the ninja world, and was dressed in a bizarre garment made of crimson; his weapons were two twin-bladed swords. His emerald eyes scanned the crowd as if a predator was trying to decide who the most satisfying prey to go after was and even Naruto was unnerved by him.

Sasuke noticed one nin from Kumogakure who seemed to stand out as well; although his teammates didn't seem special, the one in front had a manic grin on his face. Although one often saw strange looks on ninja, this one was especially odd looking with hair the color of midnight with a white streak in the middle looking as if he had just been shocked by a bolt of lightning. The boy didn't seem to notice him though, but the Kumo nin was pointedly looking at the backside of one of the older kunoichi. A team from Grass looked pointedly Sasuke's way, and though he didn't sense a strong power from them, something seemed... off about them and made sure to keep an eye on them as well.

Possibly the strangest of them all though was a small, white-haired Genin who wore a dark green flak jacket similar to those worn by Chuunin, a pair of combat boots and oddly, a pair of beige khakis. What made Naruto gasp however, was that the boy sported sunglasses and looked like a spitting image of his guardian, Muhi Tatsu.

Out of nowhere, Naruto abruptly felt a small body glomp him and a squeal being let out.

"Naruto-kun! Why didn't you tell us you were here?"

Yamanaka Ino hugged the student teacher affectionately and a wee bit uncomfortable, Naruto gently lowered her away.

"We just got here Ino-chan; scoping out the competition and all that."

"Well you should make sure not to count us out!"

Team eight had come up as well, and Naruto gave his friends a warm smile. Hinata was still a bit shy, and quietly asked how he was.

"Hinata-chan, we just saw each other yesterday. I'm still fine!" Naruto chuckled.

As Hinata blushed, a taller Genin who wore glasses approached them.

"Hey you little rookies should be more careful! Geez, screaming like a bunch of schoolgirls..." the tall boy muttered.

"Who are you to say that?" Sakura said irritated.

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto, an exam veteran. I wouldn't go around being too much louder if I were you; those guys from Hidden Rain have nasty tempers."

In fact, said Genin were glaring at the new 'Rookie Nine' in menacingly; most of the rookies though just looked bored at this display and looked away.

Kabuto smiled in a disarming fashion. "Since I'm feeling especially charitable today, I think I'll help out you cute rookies." The bespectacled boy took out a pack of what seemed to be blank cards and spread a few in a single hand.

"These are my nin-info cards. They contain information on nearly every participant in these exams, lovingly compiled by yours truly. I just put some Chakra into the card, and the info you desire is shown!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed but didn't say anything. Sasuke stepped forward though, and so did Kiba.

"Do you have any information on Sabaku no Gaara?" Kiba asked.

"Or Rock Lee?" Sasuke said.

"Oh, you know their names, that'll make it a lot easier!" With a flourish, Kabuto took his cards and picked one seemingly at random. Gathering a small amount of Chakra to his fingertip, Kabuto placed it upon the card and images and symbols appeared as if by magic.

"Rock Lee of Konoha; Teammates are TenTen and Hyuuga Neji, sensei is Maito Gai. Mission history is thirty two D-rank missions, five C-rank. His Ninjutsu and Genjutsu are nothing special, but his Taijutsu is through the roof." Kabuto detailed.

"When did you run into a guy like this Sasuke?" Sakura asked. "He looks a little creepy with those eyebrows and that spandex too!"

Sasuke looked a little embarrassed. "Kakashi… recommended him to me for Taijutsu sparring. Naruto-sensei did say we should look for many different partners after all." Sasuke said with a smirk.

As Naruto groaned, Kabuto went on. "Sabaku no Gaara; teammates are Temari and Kankuro, sensei is Baki. D-rank missions unknown, twelve C-rank missions and one B-rank. He is known for coming back from all of his missions without a scratch."

Kiba's eyes widened in alarm, Hinata looked a little intimidated and even Shino raised a brow in surprise.

Naruto gave a piercing glance to Kabuto. "Would you happen to have any information on the azure-haired boy from Mist? Or the lone Genin wearing the flak jacket from Konoha?"

Kabuto gave a start, but soon resumed his smile. "Let me see…"

Kabuto shuffled through his cards and gave a triumphant look. "Here we are. The boy from Mist is called Tri-Edge; his real name is unknown. His teammates are Haseo and Ryoko, and their instructor is Helba. They have done no D-rank missions, twenty C-rank, four B-rank and one A-rank. His Kenjutsu is supposedly near Jounin level, and his other stats are unknown. He is also said to possess a powerful bloodline."

When even Sasuke began to look unsettled at this news, Naruto motioned for Kabuto to go on.

"The second one is Muhi Ryu; his teammates and sensei are now dead and he is taking this exam by himself. He has accomplished 8 D-rank missions and 1 C-rank. Everything else about him is unknown. Might he be related to you, Naruto-san?" Kabuto asked.

Naruto's mouth thinned. "I don't know… but I'm going to find out."

Kabuto gave a nod. "Mist, Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Rock, Cloud, Waterfall. Each a powerful Shinobi village, they have all brought their elite Genin to participate in this exam and it will be difficult to overcome them all; well, with the possible exception of the newly formed Hidden Sound. They have barely enough Shinobi to qualify as a village at all."

It seemed as if the team from Sound hadn't taken kindly to Kabuto's statement and narrowed their eyes with killing intent. Before they could do anything though, a voice broke through the silence Kabuto's information had made with its impression upon the Genin.

"You know Kabuto-san, it isn't nice to learn things about people without asking them about it first."

Muhi Ryu had walked lazily with hands behind his head, a grin affixed to his face.

"You seem to have an awful lot of information for just a Genin Kabuto-san. How many times did you say you- oh, hold on."

In what seemed a blink of the eye, Ryu had disappeared in a burst of speed. The next instant he was back.

"Sorry about that. I had to deal with a few pests."

To both the Genin's and Kabuto's own unfeigned shock, the three members of Team Sound were now laid against a section of the room's wall, the foundation heavily cracked. Apparently, Ryu had stopped an attack from all three in mere seconds.

"Now as I was saying Kabuto-san, how many times did you say you have taken this exam?" Ryu asked.

Seemingly in a daze, Kabuto answered sheepishly. "This is my seventh time. I'm afraid I'm not very good at this."

"Oh? Surviving a dangerous exam like this is quite an accomplishment, especially seven times. Why have you always failed? One would think with all that battle experience, you'd be a worthy Chuunin."

Kabuto began to sweat just a little. "I always am too exhausted to continue in the third exam. I'm sorry Ryu-san, but I don't really like to talk about my failures."

Ryu waved at him as if to say the matter was forgotten. "All right then. Just remember…"

Ryu used another burst of speed appearing right in front of Kabuto with a menacing smirk.

"I know who you are… spy!" He whispered.

Kabuto desperately attempted to keep his cool, the only sign of his surprise a slight widening of the eyes. In the meantime, the Rookie Nine and the other Genin teams were looking at the now cheerful Ryu with a mixture of fear and apprehension.

"Naruto… are you sure this guy isn't related to Tatsu-san?" Chouji asked.

"I'm beginning to wonder that myself…"

The sudden quiet only lasted a few seconds as the doors slammed open loudly. A large surly looking man and a group of similarly dressed people came out.

"All right you worthless bastards! I'm Morino Ibiki, the first examiner! Follow me so we can begin!"

Ibiki glanced to his right.

"Oi! What happened to the team from Otogakure! You bastards weren't supposed to fight in here!" Ibiki yelled.

"Ah sorry Ibiki-sensei!" Ryu called out loudly. "They were getting rowdy, so I stopped them before a nasty fight could break out."

Ibiki looked at the sunglasses wearing boy and gave a sneer.

"Well don't let it happen again! If you pull another stunt in here like that, you're immediately disqualified!"

"Hai hai!" Ryu exclaimed cheerfully. Ibiki put his hand to his forehead in exasperation, and motioned for the examiners to get started. They all went around the room passing out papers with various numbers to the exam participants; the examiners motioned and told the participants to make their way into the next room and many began shuffling forward in a huddled mass.

As the various examinees settled down and sat into their assigned seats, most sat down nervously in anticipation. A few others, like Naruto and Sakura however, began looking at the questions and gained questioning looks on their faces. Ibiki stepped in front of the black board and opened his mouth to speak.

"Listen up, this shall be the only time I will explain how this first of the Chuunin exams will work." Ibiki rumbled

"This test is a written test, as you have probably noticed. The grading system will be explained shortly," Ibiki said as he turned to face the board. He began to speak again as he wrote the summarized version on the board.

"This test's grading system is based on a basis of penalization. You all start off with ten points and each question that you get wrong will result in a subtraction of a point. Those who have no points are automatically disqualified. However, there is a catch." The people in the room were slightly confused by the grading system. There was something behind it. The Genin waited patiently as Ibiki continued.

"The catch is," Ibiki continued, "that cheating in any way shape or form will result in the automatic subtraction of two points from your score. That means that there is a chance that you will be disqualified before your test is graded. If you want to be Chuunin you must act like Shinobi! Those who cheat unwisely will be punished! Also, one more thing, if one member of a team fails, the other two members automatically fail as well."

Ibiki suppressed a smirk as he saw the panicked reactions of various examinees. He was surprised however, to see that several of the Genin only had pensive looks on their faces, rather than fear. Ibiki gave the one hour time limit, and the Genin soon went to work.

Naruto began to look at his test paper, going through each question.

Question 1: If a Shinobi throws a Kunai at point A into a dead person's skull, would it have just as much affect on a ghost as a living target?

Question 4: What was missing-nin Uchiha Itachi's favorite food?

Question 8: Do you think legendary Sannin Tsunade's breast size is real? Why? Explain your answer and show your work.

As Naruto looked at the bizarre questions, he slowly came to two realizations. The first was that no Genin could possibly answer all of these questions. The second was that whoever had wrote this test was a total nutjob.

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Muhi Tatsu gave a sudden sneeze.

"What the..? I never get sick, it's impossible. Hmm… kid must be talking about me again. Well, just wait until he gets home!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

For some reason, Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by a shiver running up his spine. He shook it off and resumed his train of thought.

Act like Shinobi… must not get caught cheating… That's it! It's obvious, this is an information gathering mission in which we help teammates too! We have to conceal our cheating methods to gather information, like in a real information gathering mission!

Excitedly, Naruto clasped his hands together and seemed like he was beginning to meditate, similar to his posture on the day he had 'changed' Sakura. A dark purple aura was beginning to manifest itself around him, and both examinees and examiners alike were befuddled at his posture. After about five minutes, the aura began to subside and Naruto seemed to have woken up from a trance. As if given a sudden jolt to his system, Naruto quickly and methodically began writing down answers. He finished and gave a smug smile; despite the examiner's best efforts, they hadn't actually seen him cheat so they couldn't penalize him. Naruto began to glance around, looking to see who else had understood the solution.

Thankfully, it looked as if his teammates had understood quite well. Sakura had evidently already finished, and was now attaching Chakra strings to Sasuke. As she pulled on his arms, one would see the two moving simultaneously at an almost impossible rate.

In the meantime, Hinata and her cousin Neji were using their clan's vaunted Byakugan to see through people and observe test answers. Tenten used a handy ability of Chakra strings and mirrors to get the answers to both her and her teammate Rock Lee. The red-haired boy from sand seemed to have formed an 'eye' out of sand and was looking over answers. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji were using their family skills to copy and obtain information, and Shino and Kiba used their respective familiars and companions alike.

The boy known as Tri-Edge used an ability similar to Gaara's; a nearly invisible blue sphere of light came out of his body and hovered over test papers, and after a few minutes it came back while Tri-Edge began writing down answers. The Kumo-nin Sasuke had observed earlier was rubbing his temples feverishly; after several moments, his face lit up with comprehension and he also began writing.

Muhi Ryu on the other hand, hadn't written anything down at all and seemed to be asleep. However, Naruto could tell that wasn't the case and began to curiously notice that Ryu made subtle hand gestures which caused fellow examinees to yelp, trip, fall and stumble, often resulting in a penalization. In fact, this happened so often that almost half the examinees were cut; Ryu obviously was no mere Genin and Naruto resolved to find out more about the mysterious boy.

Naruto glanced curiously at the paper, reading the line that read, "The tenth question will be given forty five minutes into the exam."

Bored, he flipped his paper over and took out a manga to read.

Oh boy! Now I get to find out if Luffy manages to defeat Rob Lucci or not!

So engrossed in his manga, Naruto almost didn't hear Ibiki beginning to speak again. Thankfully, he read quickly and put the manga away just as the tenth question began.

"Now, before we start the tenth question, there a few special rules we will now enforce. The first is that you have a choice as to whether or not you wish to take the question."

Several teams became confused, and Ibiki continued in order to explain.

"This is because if you fail this question, not only are you and your team disqualified, but you can never become a Chuunin either. If you wish to leave now, go ahead. It is probably a wise decision, and you shall have another chance next time."

Gasps of shock and outrage were sent through the audience, Ibiki looking impassive.

Several teams panicked and decided to quit. A depressing and anxious atmosphere set upon the audience. Naruto was pleased to see that his students seemed anxious still, but none moved to give up.

"I ask again. If you wish to go, please do. If not, you can try your luck."

Again, no one motioned to give up. Ibiki gave a tense sigh.

"All right then… congratulations on passing!"

A chorus of 'Huh?' rang out through the group of examinees. Finally, Lee spoke up with a loud, demanding voice.

"What do you mean we pass! What's the tenth question!"

Naruto spoke up. "There never was a tenth question. This test was meant to test us on two very important aspects of Chuunin responsibility. The first, as many of you found out, was to test a ninja's information gathering skills. In a mission, information can mean the difference between life and death."

Annoyed that this kid had interrupted him, Ibiki opened his mouth to speak…

"The second part was-" he got out.

"A simple leap of faith." But was interrupted again by Muhi Ryu. "The decision to stay or leave was your tenth question; mainly, that question was… do you have the balls to move forward?"

Ibiki smirked. "Not quite as crude as I would have put it, but correct. The ability to act is essential to a Shinobi. A Chuunin can never hesitate when it comes to solving a dilemma and must put themselves into a situation blindly."

"All they can do then is to trust in their own power." Ryu finished. "To stand in the face of the unknown and have courage, the courage to succeed."

"Those who hesitate and always think 'I'll try again next time' will never get anywhere, always procrastinating." Naruto added. "Those people aren't worthy to become Chuunin."

Ibiki looked slightly disgruntled but pleased. "You two took the whole speech I had prepared. The first test is now…over! I wish you all further luck in the exams!"

A faint buzz began near Naruto's head and Ryu's ears began to twitch. All of the students went wide eyed as the black window breaker fluttered open and threw two kunai into the ceiling, pinning the black object, which is really a cloth, to the ceiling of the classroom. The figure started speaking in a demanding voice.

"I am Mitarashi Anko! I am your second examiner for the chuunin exams! Everyone follow me!"

People stared wide-eyed at the sight before them. All except Ryu, who even through his sunglasses looked to be appraising Anko as if she were a piece of meat. He even licked his lips.

"Kinda jumping the gun, eh Anko?" Ibiki asked. Anko only answered him with a disgruntled expression. Trying to distract herself, Anko looked at the crowd.

"30 teams? Ibiki, you left too many!"

Ibiki shrugged. "There were a lot of good ones this year; there would have been more, but someone sought to eliminate some of the competition."

Anko quickly composed herself and gave a terrifying smile to the Genin.

"Well it doesn't matter I guess. I'm going to cut them down to less than a fourth!"

Ryu yawned loudly and Anko gave him a look that could strip paint with its intensity. In a controlled tone of voice, she told them to meet her outside for information on the next exam, to be held tomorrow.

Ibiki stayed back, collecting papers. As he came across the two papers of the particularly outspoken Genin, he grew pensive.

Muhi Naruto. Muhi Ryu. I've never heard of any Muhi clan before, but I have a feeling they're going to become big in the future…

A/N: Hey again everyone! I'm finally back on the writing scene officially, and hope as many of you as possible will review. I'm mainly just happy that many of you encouraged me to continue as I didn't think I had so many loyal fans! 

For those of you who e-mailed me regarding what would end up happening in the story… well, that's not how things are going to happen anymore. Due to constructive criticism, as well as finally learning exactly what Akatsuki is trying to do, I've decided on some big changes in the overall story, one of which you can see here as the inclusion of different Chuunin exam opponents and events. Some will become quite important as things go on.

To answer any oncoming questions, no, Ryu is NOT Tatsu as a child, he's… something else. And to anyone who recognizes the Mist team, Kudos to you!

Finally, the questions I made up for the paper test were sort of a commentary on the original questions; who in the eff would care what exact angle and amount of positioning went into a kunai? You basically just have to throw and aim well, math isn't supposed to be a factor! And Itachi's fav. Food question is a tribute to all the fanfic authors who make out Itachi to have a Pocky addiction, as I've always felt that was rather funny.

Peace!