"Come on! They teach number one to everybody in the academy. It's practically a freebie! The answer's B, just write it down, c'mon!"
"Give it a rest, Kushina…" Minato grumbled. "He can't hear you."
Sasuke rubbed his forehead, a headache or worse blossoming in his temple. These two hadn't given him a moment of quiet since the 'exam' had begun.
Which was a problem. He needed concentration—not to actually do the exam, heavens no, but he needed concentration to properly use his Sharingan to cheat on the test. As the makers of the exam had probably intended.
He was still a relative novice with the Sharingan after all. Copying down someone's hand movements in order to emulate their answers was a breeze, but it was considerably more difficult with a feisty redhead shouting only a few meters behind you.
"SHE HAS ALL THE RIGHT ANSWERS! She's giving you the opportunity to cheat off of her! Take it, just take the offer!"
He rubbed his forehead once more.
The time allotted for them to take the test went by faster than he could process. Before long, the heavily disfigured jounin who was overseeing the exam had stepped back up to the front.
His brief spiel about the final question left Sasuke unimpressed.
'Never take the Chunin exams again, huh?' he thought. 'Then I suppose I'll just have to get the question right.'
The Uchiha glanced toward a certain blonde.
'Let's just hope he keeps his nerve.'
However, the way Naruto's teeth were gritted didn't exactly inspire confidence in Sasuke.
Sasuke's fingers tapped on the desk. He waited, stewing with nerves, as team after team filed out of the room when one of their own couldn't stand the pressure anymore.
Sakura held strong; good. Naruto was hanging in there. Sasuke's hand curled into a ball.
Naruto ended up making some stupid outburst—Sasuke ignored most of it. Actually, he was a little peeved; why on Earth would he try to inspire their opponents with the confidence to not forfeit then and there? The less competition, the better. Not that Naruto seemed to realize that.
Then, the penny dropped.
Just by not giving up, they'd passed the first stage of the Chunin Exams.
For the first time in what seemed an eternity, Sasuke smiled. He kept his head down so no one else would see it, but it was there.
Now it was time to worry about the second stage...
