Naruto- Secret of the Hidden Beasts

by AnimeGoddess1599

Slight AU. We all know the story of the Nine Tailed Beasts. However, we didn't know about two. We never knew about the two hidden from shinobi knowledge for so long. We didn't know how dangerous these two could be. And now, they've found themselves in the Hidden Leaf. What can the Leaf shinobi do to protect them, and as their sensei, what's Umino Iruka supposed to do to help?

10. Tension in the Chuunin Exams

Me: Chapter 10! Here, the Chuunin Exams are set to begin!

Abbeh: Things are heating up in everyone, tensions rising between all the genin, either rookie or experienced. Which…will come to a boil this chapter.

Disclaimer: Nope. We don't own Naruto

---

Chapter 10: Tensions in the Chuunin Exams

"Hyah!" Phoenix tried a sweep kick, which Sasuke narrowly avoided, trying to rush her. Phoenix grabbed his fist when he tried to hit her, throwing him over her shoulder. Sasuke righted himself at the last moment as Phoenix turned, the two throwing kicks at each other, which made them both stumble at the force of impact. The two righted themselves and went at each other again, Sasuke pulling a kunai, Phoenix grabbing a shuriken. Sasuke threw his kunai, and Phoenix threw her shuriken, the two weapons clashing and falling. Sasuke however, was already a step ahead. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Phoenix quickly pulled out her staff, elongating it and twirling it quickly to blow out the flames. Sasuke tried another kick when the flames distinguished, but Phoenix threw up the end of her staff and caught his foot, flicking it to send him flying. Running, she dashed ahead of his body and swung with her staff, one end connecting with Sasuke's head with a loud thunk!

Sakura had to repeatedly jump back as Arielle came at her with a flurry of punches and kicks. Sakura tried to deliver her own, but Arielle was simply knocking her away with such force that it was throwing her off balance. And Arielle didn't relent, coming at Sakura with such speed that Sakura was having a hard time keeping up with her movements. Arielle got her with one good punch to the jaw that had Sakura's teeth meeting unpleasantly, and her back hitting the ground with enough force to knock the wind out of her. Sluggishly, she tried to throw shuriken, but Arielle whipped out a kunai and easily deflected them all.

Sakura slowly got to her feet, clutching her throbbing jaw. There had to be a way to beat her, there just had to! Arielle's strength was obviously her power, so Sakura needed to wear her out. But, when a punch that would have probably knocked her out came flying towards her, Sakura could only roll out of the way and try to retreat, at least for now. She'd think of a better plan later.

Kas was smashing through Naruto's clones easily, which was making it hard for the boy to think up a plan. Naruto had hoped he could use the clones as a diversion, but Kas just kept chasing him, knocking his clones around like they were nothing. And Kas was getting irritated. These damn clones were pissing him off. He bulldozed through them, chasing after Naruto and trying to land a punch. But Naruto was retreating into masses of his clones and it was seriously pissing Kas off. He knew that clones were Naruto's specialty, and if Naruto was trying to wear him down, it had a minimal chance of working. All he was doing was wasting chakra.

Naruto grinned, seeing Kas slowing down. This was his chance! He charged, like most of his clones were doing, at Kas, who was probably looking for him. Naruto grinned, jumping out of the fray, ready to punch the living daylights of Kas, but Kas grabbed his fist before it could connect. Without batting an eye, Kas delivered an uppercut that shook Naruto's teeth, making all of his clones disperse, and throwing Naruto high into the air before he crashed into a nearby pool. Well, Kas was finished. And another splash indicated Arielle having knocked Sakura into it as well.

Arielle let out a huff, turning. Sakura was predictably easy to take out. And she had seen what Kas did to Naruto, which was humorous to her since Naruto had gone from looking confident to looking horrified in 0.2 seconds flat. Now to see how Phoenix was doing with Sasuke…

Phoenix had Sasuke's hands pinned behind his back, her knee at the small of his back and she pulled him back slightly. "Give up yet?" She questioned.

Sasuke grunted, throwing himself forward. Phoenix went flying forward, throwing out her hands to catch herself. But Sasuke sweep-kicked her this time, knocking her arms out and making her fall onto her stomach. He came at her from the air, but Phoenix quickly got to her hands, pulling off a split and spinning on her hands like she remembered her brother doing before (anyone know Sanji from One Piece? The twirl kick he does was what I was trying to describe. I live that move because it's just so creative and I just love it.). As with her brother, she kicked Sasuke away from her. He grunted, landing on his feet, though he skidded slightly. "Not a chance," he smirked, answering her earlier question.

Phoenix brushed her hair out of her face. How to deal with Sasuke was a bit difficult…oh, wait. There was a way, she just had to be careful how she went about doing it.

She rushed him, throwing herself to the right at the last moment. Sasuke turned to go after her, but she jumped over him, landing behind him and grabbing him. Sasuke flailed his limbs. "What the-get off!"

Phoenix would have to thank Arielle later for teaching her a full-nelson. But first, Phoenix was adding her own twist to it. Crouching slightly, she threw herself backwards into the air, taking Sasuke with her. Pulling one of her legs back, she slammed it into his back a few times, stopping once their descent from the air began. Turning so that Sasuke was facing the ground, Phoenix let him go, and with a twist kick, sent him face-first into the dirt. She landed in a crouch a little ways away from him, sprinting quickly to plant a foot on his back and place a kunai at his neck. "Give up?" She asked again.

Sasuke glared at her from over his shoulder. "N-No," he grunted, trying to wiggle out of her hold. Phoenix pressed her foot down, making sure he couldn't move.

"Give up?" She asked again.

Sasuke continued to glare at her.

Phoenix smirked. "Then we do this the hard way," she shrugged, putting the kunai back. But before Sasuke could react, Phoenix sat on his back and placed both of his arms on her thighs, then reached around his head and put him in a chinlock. She leaned back and pulled his head and torso. "Arielle taught me this," she commented. "Do you like it?"

Sasuke grunted. "Let me go!"

"Give up."

"…"

"Can I take that as surrender?"

"…Damn it," Sasuke hissed. "Fine. I give."

Phoenix released the hold, sheathing her kunai. "Good."

Sasuke grunted, getting to his feet. "Again. Let's do it again."

"Sasuke, we beat you five times already. Can't we take a break?" Phoenix asked. This was getting really annoying…

"No," Sasuke said firmly. "We're doing it again."

"Then go fetch Naruto and Sakura out of the pool," Phoenix said, shrugging.

"No. Forget them. You and me. Right now."

Phoenix raised an eyebrow. "Okay?" She got back into her fighting stance, watching Sasuke do the same. However, he bowed his head for a minute.

"What the-Are you using your Sharingan?!" This was just supposed to be a simple spar (well, then four more happened and…never mind.), not a full-out brawl. Why was Sasuke getting so intense?

"We never agreed to anything. We were just supposed to fight, and that's all," Sasuke pointed out. "Why? Are you scared?"

Phoenix narrowed her eyes. "Fine! Let's do this," she agreed, shutting her eyes.

'Huh? Why did she close her eyes? Isn't she giving Sasuke the advantage here?' Kas thought, watching the battle as he casually leaned against a tree with Arielle. 'Shouldn't she keep them open to fight him?'

'As long as I keep my eyes shut, maybe I can have the advantage,' Phoenix thought to herself. Rest in peace Zabuza, as he was the one who indirectly taught her this. Sure, Sasuke's Sharingan wasn't going to be exactly the same as Kakashi's, she knew that for sure, but the principal should be the same, shouldn't it? "The eyes are windows to the soul," Phoenix murmured to herself. "And a sound soul belongs to a sound body and mind. As long as he can't see my soul, he can't read my mind, and he won't know what my body is doing." Even if she couldn't see him, she still knew he was rushing at her. There was a bright outline of light that was exactly the form of Sasuke rushing towards her. He even had a kunai in his hand. She ran at him as well, jumping up and trying a flying eagle kick. It caught Sasuke by surprise; she only wished she could see the look on his face. She saw him skid on the ground for a little, until he got back to his feet and rushed her again. Phoenix sidestepped him, planting a fist in his gut. She heard him choke, but a hand grabbed her neck, squeezing it tightly as Sasuke forcibly pushed her away from him, the grip on her neck not relenting. Phoenix didn't struggle. When Sasuke threw her, Phoenix flipped back, catching herself on her feet, even if she slid across the ground.

'How the hell is she doing that?' Sasuke pondered. 'She can't see me, so how can she hit me? And how can she avoid my attacks?'

"How is she doing that?" Sakura asked as she slowly limped beside Naruto. "She can't possibly dodge Sasuke, even when he's using the Sharingan!"

"Well, yeah," Naruto mumbled. "But she does have that cool chakra thing, so maybe she can see with her eyes closed."

"Naruto, no one can see with their eyes closed!" Sakura growled, hitting him on the head. "Stop being stupid!"

"OW! Sakura!"

'Naruto may be right,' Kakashi thought to himself as he watched Phoenix was almost effortlessly dodge Sasuke's attack, and then deliver some of her own. It was odd. With the Sharingan, Sasuke should have been better than he normally was, but looking at him now, it was…off-setting. A few of Sasuke's hits were connecting, but overall, Phoenix was beating him. 'She must have gotten that from Zabuza. The Sharingan in most cases is eye-to-eye, so if the eye is blocked, there is a chance the opposing party has the advantage. In this case, somehow, Phoenix, even if she was blinded, could rely on her chakra vision ability, even against a Sharingan, where she can see the chakra output.' He watched Phoenix deliver a powerful roundhouse kick. Sasuke hit the dirt pretty hard, but stubbornly, he got back up and charged.

"Stop," Kakashi commanded, grabbing Phoenix's ankle and Sasuke's wrist. "Both of you are exhausted. It'd be no good for you two to collapse and be put in the hospital, especially with the Chuunin Exams so close. I'm ordering you two to quit now and take a break."

"There you go ordering me around again," Phoenix hissed under her breath, going limp in his grip.

"Tch. Whatever," Sasuke grumbled, also letting himself go limp.

Kakashi let them both go, deeming them tired enough, if the way they both stumbled when he released them was anything to go by.

"Hey Sasuke," Phoenix panted.

"What?" Sasuke looked up, only to get spin kicked in the face. He hit the dirt, hard, and Phoenix planted a foot on his back. "I win," Phoenix smirked, letting him get up and finally opening her eyes.

Kakashi shook his head. Mentally, he called it.

Iruka, who was silent the whole time, walked over to them, and placed a hand on Phoenix's head. "How do you feel?"

"Accomplished," Phoenix said, rubbing her shoulder. "I guess."

Arielle grunted, lightly punching her in the shoulder. Phoenix took it as Arielle being proud of her, and punched her back in response. Kas just grinned and nudged her shoulder lightly, making Phoenix hiss. "Ouch! Watch the shoulder! I hit it wrong when I fell."

"You're getting good with your chakra vision," Iruka commented. "I didn't think you could do it without your sight."

"I did have my sight," Phoenix pointed out. "My chakra sight. For some reason, when I closed my eyes, I could still see him. Well, I could see his chakra signature with my eyes closed I mean." She shrugged. "Anyways, I still beat him."

"You got lucky," Sasuke said, crossing his arms. "I'm still not used to the Sharingan yet. Had we gone again, I could have beaten you."

Phoenix raised an eyebrow. "You came close during our third fight, but other than that, I beat you every time. Why would this one make a difference?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "I would have-"

"Phoenix beat you fair and square," Kakashi said, placing a hand on Sasuke's head. "Yes, you do need to train the Sharingan, but not when you're so tired and not against an ally. Just admit that she won and try again some other time."

Phoenix grudgingly held out her hand. "We fight again someday?"

"We fight again someday," Sasuke agreed, shaking her hand slowly.

"So…does this mean we can go get ramen now?" Naruto asked, looking around.

Iruka smiled apologetically, ruffling his hair. "I wish we could, but there's still some stuff we need to finish before the Chuunin Exams start. We only had time for this session now. Maybe another time?"

Naruto crossed his arms and pouted. "Aww! Stupid chuunin exams!"

"…Naruto, this morning you were going on and on about how 'awesome' they were going to be. Why the sudden change of heart?" Phoenix asked.

"Well, Iruka-sensei always bought ramen, but these dumb exams are taking that time away from me!" Naruto answered. "I just want to become a chuunin and get it over with."

"Well, I promise that as soon as I'm done, I'll treat everyone for ramen. How does that sound?" Iruka offered. He expected the cheer from Naruto and Sakura trying to get Sasuke to make it into a date, but he was shocked when his team simply shrugged and nodded. Odd. Arielle usually cheered at the thought of food, Kas distanced himself from Arielle so that she wouldn't glomp him, and Phoenix would agree, though she'd have a hand hooked into Arielle's collar to prevent her from glomping Kas. This was not how they normally reacted.

"Then it's settled. I'll come and find you guys when I'm finished. For now, I've got to get going," Iruka smiled softly. "I'll see you guys later."

The two teams watched as Iruka poofed away, Kakashi staring blankly after him. News of their breakup spread fast through the village, most people noticing the emotion in Kakashi's single eye when he thought no one was looking. There was a lot of speculation and rumor as to what exactly happened, but the only two who knew weren't in the mood to talk, nor would they with everything that's happened. It was the unguarded moments like these when one could actually gauge how Kakashi was feeling, something that didn't happen often. But, as if finally noticing the six kids staring at him, he gave a little wave and poofed off as well.

"That was…weird," Sakura said finally.

Phoenix and Sasuke grunted at the same time. "Tch. Whatever," they said in unison.

The other four looked between them in shock, while the two simply stalked off back to the village.

---

"So, what exactly happened to you three?" Naruto asked, poking Arielle's shoulder. "You're all acting weird."

"It's nothing," Phoenix mumbled.

"Are you sure? It seems like you've been in a bad mood for some reason," Sakura pointed out.

"It's nothing," Phoenix repeated. "Just drop it."

"But-ow!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Again kid?" A familiar voice drawled. "Did last time not teach you anything?" Kankuro smirked at the six, Temari rolled her eyes, and Gaara just observed Sasuke, Arielle, and Phoenix intensely.

"You!" Naruto growled. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, walking?" Kankuro replied, rolling his eyes. "What, am I not allowed to?"

"I don't trust you," Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Shut up," Kankuro hissed. "I've no time to mess around with kids." His eyes drifted to Team 13. "Oh, look at who it is."

"Piss off Kankuro," Phoenix snarled.

Kankuro's eyes widened. "What did you just say to me?"

"I said: Piss. Off. Kankuro."

Kankuro growled, lifting her by her shirt. "Don't get cocky you little punk! I was nice enough last time not to do anything to that other short punk!"

"No. Gaara basically told you to piss off and you nearly shit yourself panicking to get him to forgive you," Phoenix said in a bored tone. "Being nice had nothing to do with it."

By now, almost everyone was gaping. Gaara was slightly surprised she was talking like that, Temari was all-out gaping, Naruto's face said it all, Sakura wasn't trying to hold back her surprise anymore, Sasuke's eyes were a bit wide, Kas was holding back a laugh, and Arielle was smirking. Even Kankuro's expression was comical in his shock. "Y-You," he stuttered.

"Put me down," Phoenix basically commanded. "You're getting wrinkles in my shirt."

Kankuro shook his head, glaring at Phoenix. "Are all you punks like this? Who are you to boss me around?"

"I'm pissed right now and would kindly appreciate if you piss off, as I said earlier," Phoenix sighed. "What? Are people from Wind Country this slow?"

"Why you-"

"Put her down Kankuro," Gaara commanded, scowling. "Honestly, can we not take you anywhere without you causing trouble?"

"They always start it!" Kankuro protested, roughly dropping Phoenix to her feet. "They-"

"Shut up," Gaara said, brushing past him. "Let's get going. We didn't come here to waste time."

"Y-Yeah," Kankuro mumbled. "Of course Gaara." He gave another glare to Phoenix and rushed off after Gaara.

"A word of advice," Temari said as Phoenix smoothed out her shirt. "Don't make either of them mad, but especially Gaara. Despite how he acts, he doesn't like people messing with Kankuro."

Phoenix sighed. "I know I overreacted. I'm just in a bad mood and he was the scapegoat."

"I'd keep that temper under wraps," Temari advised. "Else one, or both of them, might snap."

With that cryptic warning, Temari walked after Gaara and Kankuro.

"What's wrong with you?!" Sakura screeched when they were out of earshot. "You saw what they did the other day, why would you provoke him?!"

"Sakura, please shut up. You screeching at me isn't helping my headache," Phoenix said, holding a hand to her head.

"Besides, I doubt Kankuro would have gotten far, not with Gaara there," Kas pointed out.

"And if Gaara wasn't?!"

"I could've taken him," Phoenix muttered.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but you can't act like that around people like them!" Sakura scolded. "What's the matter with you?"

"Your sensei," Kas answered coldly.

"We know Bakashi-sensei can be a bastard sometimes," Naruto said. "But he's not that bad."

"No, it's what he said," Arielle finally spoke up. "He basically said we're going to get ourselves killed. He said Phoenix was too sweet, I was too annoying, and Kas was an emotionally, nosy wreck. That's why our sensei is so pissed at him, and why we're being like this."

It was quiet for a few moments…

"So why are you upset?" Sakura asked.

Arielle narrowed her eyes. "What did you say?"

"Well, I mean, it's the truth isn't it? Arielle, you are loud and annoying, just like Naruto here is, but his tiny brain works every once in a while, where yours doesn't. And Phoenix, you are too sweet. I still don't know why everyone is so impressed with you beating Rikiyo when it was obvious that Arielle and Kas did all the work and had to protect you," Sakura explained with a smug smile. "Kas is about the only normal one out of all of you if we're being honest."

Arielle opened her mouth to say something, but Phoenix took a threatening step towards Sakura. "At least I can hold my own in a fight," she smirked.

Sakura glared at her. "What was that?"

"You say I'm too sweet? At least when I get into a fight, I don't need my other two teammates to come to my rescue all the time. I can fight all my own if I need to, without help, and at least if someone comes up with a plan, I can be an active part of it." She took another step towards Sakura. "And what can you do? Oh yeah! That's right! You can recite the ninja handbook with no effort and you can give a bunch of pre-genin a lecture on chakra. At least I can take someone on hand-to-hand. And win."

"You-You-You!" Sakura was going red in the face. How dare Phoenix say those things?!

"Face it," Phoenix continued. "You just don't want to admit that if you were in the situation that we were in with Rikiyo, he would have killed you. You never could have taken him on by yourself like I did. I didn't have to win, just stall enough for everyone to get back. And you? You would have died. I know you would have. Unlike you, I don't need my other two teammates to come to my rescue. And if I were you, I would shut my mouth now. You talk shit, you get hit."

From her vantage point in a tree, Temari watched the scene from interest. 'Hmm, so that's what's wrong with her. She's pissed off. And normally, she's strong enough without an anger boost. Without one, she's still a force to be reckoned with.' Her eyes drifted to Kas and Arielle. 'Those two must be the same. Maybe…maybe that Uchiha kid really isn't the one we should watch out for. Or maybe this group of genin are just special like that.'

In her musing, she didn't even see shit hit the fan until she heard a loud scream and the sound of rough thuds.

~Mission's Office~

"Hey! Iruka!" Kotetsu called, waving his friend over.

Iruka shifted the papers in his hands slightly, smiling over them at Kotetsu and going over to the Chuunin. "Hey Kotetsu. How have you been?"

Kotetsu shrugged. "Y'know, same as always: I slack off, Izumo has to put me in my place."

Iruka rolled his eyes, setting his papers down on the desk. "I guess old habits die hard." His eyes drifted to where some shinobi were cheering and shouting over by the window. "What's going on over there?"

Kotetsu pushed the stack over a little bit. "Oh, that. See, it was a slow day around here, and something happened out there and they all rushed over. But Izumo couched me for a week and promised he'd extend it if I didn't. So, while they're all placing bets on one thing or another, I'm stuck here doing filing for the Chuunin exams and regulating some of the other missions that go on."

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "What could they possibly be fighting over? And betting for that matter?"

Kotetsu shrugged again. "I dunno. But ask Genma. He was the one who had made a huge bet against all the other shinobi over there."

Iruka shook his head, going over to the window and tapping Genma on the shoulder. "Genma, what's going on?"

Genma turned, the largest grin on his face. "Iruka! Care to place a bet on your girls?"

"Place a bet on my girls?" Iruka repeated in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I have no idea what happened," Genma explained. "All I know is that I heard a scream, and when we went over to the window to see what was wrong, we saw one of your girls fighting with one of Kakashi's girls. Then, one of Asuma's girls came over and I guess she asked what was going on, and it made the other one on your team mad because she jumped on the girl and started attacking. They fought and fought and fought, and now, we all took bets to see who would win." Genma paused. "Actually, everyone was betting against me, but I'm winning. I know because there were four girls out there and now there's only three, two of which are yours."

Iruka really hoped that the pit in his stomach was wrong as he rushed out the mission's office.

~Outside~

"Let me go you bastard!" Phoenix growled, angrily kicking her feet. "Let me go!"

Kakashi tightened his grip on her and Arielle. He had been coming to submit some paper work into the Mission's Office and was watching Iruka (stalking him really) when he happened to see a skirmish below him and he knew he had to intervene. Closer inspection showed that it was actually Sakura and a blonde rookie in a fight with Phoenix and Arielle, which did not bode well. So, being the good jounin that he was, he had to stop them. He may have been too slow, because when he got there, it was only Sakura trying to fight Arielle and Phoenix. He grabbed the two of them and kept them in his hold, trying to sort everything out.

Arielle angrily snapped at his wrist, but he was unable to pay much mind to that as he was concerned with Sakura's condition.

"Bastard!" Phoenix hissed again. "Get the hell off of me!"

Kakashi sighed. While he could do that to avoid getting injured himself, he could also keep hold and take them to Iruka (who he knew was actually coming towards them right now), which seemed like the much better option.

"You two." Iruka said sternly. "Quit it. Now!"

Phoenix and Arielle immediately stopped struggling and went limp in his arms, fearful of incurring Iruka's wrath.

"Kas, over here. Kakashi, put them down. Phoenix. Arielle. Come here. Now."

Kakashi complied, setting the two to the floor. Kas went over to Iruka while Phoenix and Arielle hurried to him. Iruka grabbed the two by their ears and dragged them off without another word, Kas following after them frightfully.

~Bridge~

"Now, would you two," he glared at Phoenix and Arielle, setting them down onto the bridge. "Care to explain why exactly you were in a fight with the other genin girls?"

"They started it," Phoenix murmured, glaring at the ground.

"It doesn't matter who started it. You two were fighting Sakura, a comrade of yours."

"Actually, it was Sakura and Ino," Arielle corrected. "I don't know if they found Ino yet or not."

"What?! What did you do to-"

"Ino pissed her off, so Arielle threw her," Phoenix explained.

"She threw her?" Iruka repeated incredulously.

"Threw her," Kas nodded. "Like a ragdoll. And it looked like she got some distance."

Iruka shook his head. "Why did you do that? And please tell me the truth."

He didn't get an answer, they just stared blankly at him.

"Are you alright? Please tell me you're not still thinking about what Kakashi-sensei said." Iruka hoped they weren't going to give up because of this. They were talented, they were strong, and they honestly surprised him at times. They weren't perfect, no one was, but they were still extraordinary in their own little ways.

"Come on," he pleaded, sitting in front of them. "Don't tell me you took that to heart. Kakashi doesn't know what he's talking about. He doesn't know you like I do." He looked at Kas. "Kasutieru, listen to me. I know you have a big heart under that rough exterior. You don't look or act like you care, but I know you do, especially when someone you care about is threatened. You explode on people who aren't doing right. You use your rage to fight. That not only makes you a great fighter, but a good enough person to stand up for someone who either won't, or who can't. You're a better person than most."

Kas's lips twitched slightly. He was obviously fighting back a smile.

"Phoenix," he turned to the oddly saddened girl. "Please. Smile for us."

Phoenix crossed her arms, turning her head to the side so she wasn't looking at him.

"Phoenix," Iruka pleaded. "Please? I know so many people, a certain Inuzuka boy included, that love to see your smile."

Phoenix couldn't help it. Although small, she did manage to crack a smile that in turn caused Iruka, Arielle, and Kas to smile as well.

"See? Phoenix, you have a beautiful smile. It doesn't matter if you're sweet or innocent, you still have such a different personality when you go on missions. You hardly ever smile when we do, unless you're acting. That, and you can be mean when you want to. In fact, you change masks so much it's scary at times. But at the end of the day, you still grace us with a smile."

Phoenix's smiled widened.

"And Arielle, where do I begin?" Iruka ruffled her hair. "Arielle, you make things fun. You just have a lot of energy, so you love to move around. It's something we can't help because that's just you. And loud? Arielle, you can be as quiet as ANBU when you want to be. You always used to sneak off in class and I would never even know until I finally decided to see why everything was too quiet. Yes, you do get hungry, but your metabolism is much higher than average, so of course you need to eat more often than normal."

Arielle grinned slightly.

Iruka stood. "Don't let what he said get you down. All three of you are amazing. I know you three the best, and I know how you really are, and those genin amaze me. I like what I see, on duty and off. You three are great genin, and while it's biased, I think you're the greatest rookie genin out there." He smiled at all three of them. "Kakashi doesn't even know you personally. He just sees what he thinks describes you, and while he always talks about that whole 'underneath the underneath' crap, sometimes, he fails to look underneath people. And that's exactly what happened here. I want you three to take the Chuunin Exams anyways, and just do your best. Can you promise me you'll do at least that?"

With bright smiles, the three agreed.

"Good," Iruka nodded, pulling papers out of his pockets. "Here. These are your applications. If you three are adamant on taking the Chuunin Exams, fill these out. Then, in a few days, get to the school by 3 PM, room 301. Do you think you can remember that?"

"I can," Phoenix said. "I'll remind Arielle, since she'll forget."

Iruka laughed. "Okay. You do that."

~The Day of the Chuunin Exams~

Arielle and Phoenix didn't converse as they normally did in the mornings, getting dressed in silence. Breakfast was eaten in the same fashion, and they packed their gear in a quiet atmosphere. Even the time they spent preparing their weapons and them having a small little spar in the house as they waited for 3:00 to roll around was a bit more tense than usual.

"Phoenix?" Arielle said as they were fixing their headbands. "Can I ask you something?"

Phoenix just nodded, tying her father's old Yugakure headband around her neck and sliding it under her shirt. Her Konoha headband sat over it, the metals warm and cool against her skin. "Is something wrong?"

Arielle sighed, strapping a holster to her thigh. "Listen…I don't think we should trust anyone today. Honestly, we should only depend on each other, and Kas. That's it."

"That wasn't a question," Phoenix teased gently.

"I know," Arielle agreed. "I mean, if it comes down to anything against any of our friends, would you be able to go against them?"

"…I would," Phoenix said after a minute. "Although, I wouldn't be able to kill anyone. But a fight…I'd do it."

"Even against me? Or Kas?"

"Honestly, I'd give it my all, but there would still be a part of me that's holding back," Phoenix answered honestly.

Arielle sighed, turning Phoenix to face her. "Phoenix, listen closely. Do not give anyone benefit of the doubt. Do not hold back on anyone. Phoenix, you're a great fighter. That's what I want from you. I want you to fight. I don't care who it is. If it comes to a fight, you'd better thoroughly kick ass. Destroy whoever you have to fight. Even if it's me, even if it's Kas, if it's Kiba, or if it's Naruto. If we have to fight one another in this thing, fight. If you hold back, it'd be hard to me to forgive you."

Phoenix laughed. "The same goes for you, though I know you wouldn't hesitate to kick my ass, or Kas's for that matter. But still, give it your all. And…" she sighed. "Arielle, I'm telling you now: if you have to fight Gaara, Temari, or Kankuro, or anything involving one of them-"

"I'm not going to give up," Arielle growled, clenching her fist.

Phoenix held up her hands. "I'm not telling you to do that. Just…be careful. Gaara seems like the type to kill for fun, just like Zabuza did. He's not different from us, yet he's a totally different person. And I've peeked at him with my chakra vision. There's so much! With the chakra he has, plus the murderous intent I could practically taste coming from him, Gaara isn't one to be trifled with. If you fight him, and I know you won't care if you do, take caution. Don't let him close to you, don't let him touch you, keep your distance, but if that doesn't work, stay in close."

Arielle laughed this time. "I was actually going to warn you about Sasuke."

"Sasuke?"

"Sasuke might not, but he might, try to hurt you. Really hurt you. I say that because of when we were fighting Team 7 about a week ago, the way he was looking at you…he was pissed. I know he was. And that Sharingan. He'll use it against you. Yes, I understand that your chakra vision can help, but you haven't put it to its fullest potential. You need to work on that throughout the entire exams, and perfect it after them. And if something happens and you have to go against Sasuke, break his arms or his legs or snap his neck-"

"I told you I wouldn't kill."

"Or something. But don't let him touch you. Don't let him near you. Keep him on his toes. Keep him dodging your hits again. Don't let him have a chance to use his Sharingan. Just fight him, and knock him out before he can do anything."

Phoenix set her shoulders. "I can only try," she finally said.

Arielle wrapped her arms around her, hugging the smaller girl, and Phoenix hugged back, both of them holding on for a moment before pulling back and laughing.

"Let's go," Arielle smiled. "We've got exams to take."

"That's the first time you've been excited for an exam," Phoenix joked, making the two laugh as they stepped out into the sunlight.

Kas raised an eyebrow at them as they walked out in giggles, but he paid no attention to their mindless laughs; they'd tell him later regardless. "So, are you two ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," Phoenix admitted.

"LET'S KICK SOME ASS!" Arielle shouted, running off.

Phoenix laughed, running after her, and Kas could only laugh as well and follow after his two crazy teammates.

~Academy~

"What the heck is going on?" Kas asked, looking at the people gathered in the hall. "Why are they all crowded here?"

"Move!" Arielle shouted, pushing people out of her way. "Get out my way!"

Phoenix rolled her eyes. "Well, let's go," she said, following after Arielle.

"Did anyone realize that we're on the second floor?" Kas whispered to Phoenix.

Phoenix shrugged, watching as an older looking Chuunin smack a girl to the floor (why did he look suspiciously like Kotetsu-san?) and he spouted off nonsense about it being too difficult and something about a kindness. The kindness was probably trying to hint that they were at the wrong door if anything.

"Hey!" One of them called, running up to them as they began climbing a different set of stairs down the hall. "Where are you three going?"

"Piss off," Arielle glared at him over his shoulder, and continued to walk.

Phoenix shrugged, walking after her.

Kas smirked. "Bye Izumo-san!" he called over his shoulder. And while he was walking, he missed the shocked look on the genin's face. What could he say? All the times in the mission office, one is bound to recognize faces, no matter how young they look.

~Upstairs~

"Well, this is it," Kas murmured. "The Chuunin Exams, just past those doors."

"We have no idea what's going to happen, but apparently, we might die," Arielle said.

"Wait!" Phoenix grabbed both their arms. "Before we do, come with me."

She forcibly dragged them into one of the larger training rooms.

"Phoenix, what are you-"

Phoenix turned, letting go of Kas. "Fight me," she said to Arielle.

Arielle gasped. "W-What did you just say?"

"Fight me," Phoenix repeated. "Now. Before we go into the exams."

Arielle grinned. "I have waited so long for those words. Someone tape this moment! It may not come around again!"

Kas raised an eyebrow. "Oookay…Phoenix, why exactly do you want to fight Arielle?"

"Because she'll be the hardest to fight if it comes to that," Phoenix explained. "She's like my sister, so I won't fight my hardest. But at least now I can try and get rid of that compassion if we fight now." She grinned. "So fight me Arielle."

Arielle charged her. "You asked for it!"

Phoenix ducked under the kick aim towards her head, spinning and throwing her leg out to knock Arielle off balance. Arielle fell, but caught herself on her palms at the last second and sprang back up. Phoenix aimed a sucker punch at her, catching her on the jaw with her other hand, the one that wasn't faking the hit, and sent Arielle flying back. Arielle turned in mid-air, planting her feet flat against the wall and pushing off, using her momentum to charge at Phoenix. Phoenix threw up her forearm and blocked the kick, forcing Arielle back. Arielle grunted, lifting her other foot and trying another kick. Phoenix ducked low to the ground, following up with an uppercut that sent Arielle away from her. Arielle skidded on the floor, quickly charging and planting a knee in Phoenix's stomach. Phoenix grunted, clutching her hurt stomach, but she pressed on, doing a combination of flips and twists Arielle had a hard time following. Arielle growled, whipping around and trying to slap Phoenix, but the other girl grabbed her arm and pulled, sending Arielle over her head and crashing to the floor. Arielle rolled out of the way before Phoenix could slam her foot down, and Phoenix's foot went through the floor. Arielle grinned, aiming a punch at Phoenix's face. Phoenix threw up her other leg, trying to at least counter it, but before their punches could connect, a hand grabbed her ankle and another grabbed Arielle's fist.

"What the-why is there a guy in my punch?" Arielle asked, staring at the pale kid.

"Who are you?" Phoenix asked, trying to take her foot back.

The kid observed all three of them. "Which one of you is Kurimuzon Phoenix?" He asked instead.

Kas raised an eyebrow. "It's obvious that Phoenix is a girl's name. Do I really look like I could be Phoenix?"

"Can you let go of my fist?" Arielle asked, trying to jerk her arm back.

"Answer me question. Who is Phoenix?" The kid repeated.

"I am," Phoenix answered. "You're holding my foot."

Ah," the kid said, releasing his hold on them. "I've heard much about you. Things that have impressed me, and it takes a lot to do that."

"Who are you?" Phoenix asked. "And what have you heard about me?"

"By now, everyone has heard about your fight against that foreign jounin. Someone in T&I couldn't keep their mouth shut. It just so happened that one day, my sensei was telling us that a mere rookie had taken on a jounin," he explained.

"And, what does that have to do with me?" Phoenix raised an eyebrow. "Besides, I didn't even beat him by myself. It took some help from-"

"I don't like the fact that a rookie took on a jounin," he interrupted. "I don't like that you've been talked about so much because you fought him. And you beat him. I've challenged jounin before, but I haven't been able to come close to winning. And yet, someone like you comes around and suddenly you're better than me?" The kid smirked. "You interest me, Kurimuzon Phoenix."

"Okay…understand that I'm already spoken for, and I don't really think you're my type," Phoenix said honestly. "That, and I still have no idea who you are."

The smirk came back. "Neji. Hyuuga Neji. How old are you?"

Phoenix narrowed her eyes. "I'm only 12. What's it matter to you?"

"As I thought," Neji murmured to himself.

"Hey! White-eyes!" Arielle called. "You and me! Fight me!"

Neji laughed. "Me? Fight you? You wouldn't be a challenge. I'm interested in your friend here."

"What the-oh, so Sasuke can do it, and everyone wants to do it! This kid does it, and apparently, that's a thing too! But when I do it, I get ignored!" Arielle ranted. "Truly this is an injustice!"

Neji rolled his eyes. "You're one of my rivals now Kurimuzon Phoenix. If we meet in battle…well, I expect you to do your best. I guarantee, I won't be holding back. I only hope you use more strength then you did with that pitiful kick. I know you were holding back even then too."

'How did he-he knew I was holding back, just from grabbing my ankle! His chakra is…strange. Concentrated. I've never seen anyone who could do that, who could concentrate their chakra so well to specific points. And I know it isn't his full potential, simply because he was masking it. And very well, since we didn't even notice him until just now,' Phoenix thought. 'Great. First Sasuke, then Gaara, and now this Hyuuga kid? That name is alarming. Hyuuga…I feel like I know that name…'

"You said you were Hyuuga Neji?" Phoenix asked, him finally releasing her. "Why does your name sound familiar?"

"I'd love to amaze you with the story, but I've already broken enough of my promises." Neji began to walk away. "Be prepared if we meet again."

"…Who the heck was he?" Kas asked once Neji walked out the room. "And what did he mean he broke enough promises?"

"I don't know," Phoenix answered. "But I'm worried. I wanted to stay under the radar for the Chuunin Exams, but it looks like I can't do that. Someone at T&I spilled what happened, or Ibiki-san dropped his notes. That's the only way Neji could have known that."

"But why does he only want you?" Arielle asked. "I mean, we were all there."

"Ibiki-san must have written down what I told him, meaning that whoever spilled must have figured out that I was the one who solved the 'mystery,'" Phoenix put air quotes up. "Of that imposter. Ibiki-san told me I'm considered a prodigy, so Neji may be intimidated by that. He's probably older than us too."

"Still, he may see all of us as rivals," Kas pointed out. "I mean, we all took on Rikiyo; Phoenix just had a bigger part. Looks like we all might not be under the radar anymore."

"…I want to fight him," Arielle said suddenly. "I want to fight that guy."

Phoenix and Kas face-palmed. "Let's go."

---

"What the-why is there a giant turtle here?" Kas asked as soon as they crossed the threshold.

"Who's the guy in the jumpsuit?" Phoenix asked.

"What the hell is he doing to Sasuke?" Arielle asked.

"That was my other question," Kas murmured, seeing the jumpsuit kid kneeling by the turtle.

"And his eyebrows," Arielle breathed. "I want to feel them."

Phoenix hit her in the side. "Whoever he is, he sure did a number on Sasuke," Phoenix observed.

"Lee! That move is forbidden!" The turtle was saying.

"…That turtle can talk?" Arielle said in awe.

"He must be a summon," Kas explained. "They can't all talk, but I know my brother's panther can talk, and he's a summon."

"Wait, your brother can summon panthers?!" Arielle hissed. "Can you?!"

Kas shrugged. "Maybe. I didn't sign the contract or anything, but it might not even get passed down to me."

"I'm sorry," Eyebrows apologized to the turtle. "I got carried away."

The turtle must have done or said something, because Eyebrows was spewing excuses and apologies, looking terrified.

"Um, this day is getting weird," Arielle murmured. "I mean, what's next? Is the turtle going to transform into a prince or something?"

"…Did-Did you just make a parallel to that story about the girl and the frog?" Phoenix asked.

"You fool!" The turtle yelled, surprising them all. "Did you think that excuse would work?! You should know very well what it means for a ninja to expose his move."

"Sir!" Eyebrows agreed.

"Are you prepared to face the consequences?" The turtle asked.

"Sir," the kid mumbled sadly.

"Gai-sensei, please take care of the rest," the turtle said.

There was a puff of smoke from the turtle's back, a man appearing in a strange pose. He was wearing a green jumpsuit, with his jounin vest over it, and his hitai-ate around his waist. His eyebrows were even bigger than the kid's, his hair the same bowl cut. "You guys are in the spring time of your life, aren't you?!"

"Huh?" Kas's eyebrow twitched.

"What?" Phoenix tried to stop her mouth from dropping open.

"Dafuq?" Arielle was so confused right now.

"Hey Lee," the man greeted, his smile twinkling.

"I-Is that his father?" Phoenix asked, watching Lee, she guessed his name was, and Naruto yell at each other.

"Maybe," Kas shrugged.

"Cut it out Lee," this 'Gai-sensei' chided, making Lee pause and turn. "Sir," Lee nodded.

"You…" Gai began, rearing his fist back. "Idiot!" He shouted, punching Lee clear across the face.

"Holy shit!"

"What the heck?!"

"Again, dafuq?!"

Gai-sensei walked over to the fallen Lee, shaking his head disapprovingly. He knelt on one knee, still shaking his head. "Lee…you…you," he began.

"Sensei?" Lee whimpered.

Gai was…crying?! "Lee," he repeated.

"Sensei," Lee also repeated, also crying.

"It's okay Lee," Gai whispered. "Don't say anymore."

"…Anyone else see the sunset?" Arielle asked.

"Sensei!" Lee yelled, running into Gai's arms.

"…Anyone notice the wave crashing against the shore?" Kas asked.

"Yes, this is youth," Gai was murmuring.

"Sensei!"

"…Screw it. I was not ready for today," Phoenix said finally, shaking her head.

"I don't think any of us really were," Arielle agreed.

"As weird as it sounds, this would be romantic if it wasn't so pedophilic and weird," Kas pointed out.

"And if it wasn't incest either," Arielle added.

(A/N: I actually did think that Gai and Lee were father and son and saw their relationship as incest until everything was cleared up later on. However, I think everyone would think that about those two, and Team 13 is no different.)

"Screw it. Let's go. We might be late to the exams," Phoenix put a hand to her head, rubbing her temple. "Let's get out of here."

~Room 301~

"Look at all the genin here," Phoenix breathed, seeing a large amount of the genin stare them down. Arielle glared back, and most of them shrunk away from her deadly look. Others just sneered and looked away.

"Yeah," Kas agreed. "Some of these kids don't even look like genin. They look older."

"True, but we have to consider that maybe, some of these kids failed the chuunin exams elsewhere. They could be genin much older than us by now, maybe by five or six years, and they still may have failed."

"…Are these exams really that hard?" Arielle asked. "If everyone else here is older than us, other than the other rookie, does this mean we're in over our heads."

"No way," Kas decided. "We can't be; we decided to take these, and there's no backing out now."

Phoenix began to glare at someone. "I just wish these bastards would stop staring so hard."

Arielle chuckled. "We haven't even started yet and you've already said a bad word."

Phoenix shrugged. "Well, you haven't declared to fight anyone yet so-"

"Oh no," Arielle shook her head. "I'll destroy all of them!"

Phoenix rolled her eyes.

"So, you made it," someone said from their right. "I was hoping you didn't back out at the last second."

The three turned, seeing Neji, Lee, and a girl they didn't know standing behind them. Neji was smirking, Lee looked determined, and that last female looked polite enough.

"You don't scare me Neji," Phoenix shot back. "And what would possibly scare us from taking the Chuunin Exams?"

"Simple. Everyone here is older than you, and more experienced. And they don't look like they'd take it easy on you," Neji explained.

Arielle huffed. "Do you know how many of them took on a jounin?"

Neji flinched subtly. "Many of them could have taken on hundreds of them; I wouldn't know. But if I had to guess, I would say all of them have, save for other rookies here."

"You're not intimidating us Neji," Phoenix said, taking a step towards him. "Frankly, I couldn't care less about the jounin they've taken on. All I care about is becoming a chuunin. If I have to cut down every single person in here, I will."

Neji gave a small laugh. "Good luck. You'll need it." (Insert hair-flip) He smirked at them and walked off, his two teammates following him.

"I was so scared he was about to call your bluff," Kas said finally. "You've got guts Phoenix."

"He's just trying to psych us out," Phoenix explained. "It won't work, as long as we don't let it."

Arielle looked towards the door. "And look who arrived finally."

Kas and Phoenix turned, seeing a tense looking Team 7 surveying the room. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke surprisingly, looked fearful as all the genin from before started to stare them down. However, the moment was broken when a blonde blur attached itself to Sasuke, who looked on in annoyance.

"Uh oh. Blondie's here," Phoenix warned, placing a hand on Arielle's shoulder. "Arielle, don't you dare go over there."

Arielle held up her hands. "I won't do anything." She looked again. "And look, Shikamaru and Choji are here as well."

"I guess whole genin teams have to participate," Kas guessed.

"Yeah, because what are the chances of Blondie taking the exams alone?" Arielle joked.

"Do you think the others are here?" Kas asked.

Phoenix looked down, feeling something pawing at her leg. She smiled when Akamaru looked up at her, barking excitedly. She picked the small pooch up, laughing when he started licking her face. "I think they might all be here."

"Hey! We found you all!" Someone called.

Akamaru jumped out of her arms, padding over to Kiba and jumping into his jacket, scrambling to sit in his customary position onto his head. Hinata and Shino followed quietly behind him, Hinata blushing slightly. Phoenix looked at Arielle and Kas, who shrugged and made their way over to Team 7 as well.

"Oh great, you three are here as well?" Shikamaru asked, monotone. "And you guys?"

Ino started glaring at Arielle. "Thief."

"Blondie," Arielle retorted.

Kas sighed. "And it begins," he muttered under his breath.

"I see, so all twelve rookie genin made it in," Kiba said. "How far do you think we can make it Sasuke?"

Sasuke smirked. "You seem confident Kiba."

"And why wouldn't we be? We trained like hell for this. We won't lose to you."

"Hey, shut up!" Naruto growled, drawing attention to himself. "And putting Sasuke aside, I won't lose to you!"

Hinata blushed, playing with her fingers. "Um, Naruto-kun? Kiba-kun didn't mean it that way," she mumbled.

Arielle wasn't sure what happened, but one minute, Choji was taking a step towards Kiba, and the next, Shino had stopped him, looking at the ground.

"What?" Choji mumbled irritably.

Shino just watched a tiny bug scuttle across the floor, in Choji's path. "Don't step on it," Shino said quietly. He didn't need to see Choji's expression to know what he was thinking.

"You're going to eat it?" Choji asked. He has eaten bugs before but…well, spiders were gross!

Kas rolled his eyes. 'Shino always had an interest in bugs. He never let us crush one when we were little, not ever. Maybe he's an insect activist or something?'

'Does this mean that this is a competition?' Phoenix thought to herself. 'Are we being pitted against our friends to become chuunin? Does that mean only one of us can become chuunin?'

'I am going to fight everyone here and win.' Arielle grinned, cracking her knuckles. 'Nothing is gonna stop me from becoming a chuunin.'

"Hey, rookies," someone called, making them all turn. "You should quiet down a little."

Arielle immediately narrowed her eyes. 'Who the heck is this?' She already didn't trust him. Something about him was off.

"So, you must be the twelve rookies how just graduated from the Academy?" The newcomer guessed. "You're all fooling around with those cute faces. Geez…this isn't a field trip."

"The hell are you?" Arielle growled. "None of us asked for a pep talk."

"Who are you to be talking to us like that?!" Ino agreed.

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto," he said. "Look around you."

They all did, shocked. Everywhere, there were genin giving them dirty looks, glaring, or smirking. Headbands of different countries glinted off their foreheads, arms, or legs. Each of them looked meaner than the last.

'All this chakra,' Phoenix silently swallowed. 'Fire users, water users, one of them has a chakra like Rikiyo had. A storm user? And then more of them. Some have big chakra, some have little, but it's all…angry. At us?'

The rookie turned, seeing a special set of genin giving them the dirtiest looks.

'Water chakra,' Phoenix guessed. 'A band of water users, and another storm user.'

"The ones behind you are from the Hidden Rain Village. They all have nasty tempers," Kabuto explained. Everyone is tense since its right before the exams. They don't like cocky people." He then smirked. "I guess it can't be helped though, since you're all rookie genin who don't know anything."

"Three of them are proficient water users," Phoenix spoke up, surprising them all. "One of them uses storm, though he isn't very good at it, and one has small reserves, but uses a lot of scrolls."

Kabuto didn't let his surprise show. "Oh? You can tell that from a glance?"

"She has a way of sizing people up by just looking at them," Kas explained. "It's a gift she has."

"Still, cockiness like that will get you killed here," Kabuto said. "You all remind me of the old me."

"Kabuto-san, was it?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah."

"So, this must be your second time?"

"No. It's my seventh," he answered with a sheepish smile.

That shocked them all, though no one really said anything. Seven times, and Kabuto was still a genin?

"This exam only happens twice every year, and this is my fourth year," Kabuto enlightened.

"That means you know a lot about the exams, right?" Sakura asked, hope in her voice.

"Yeah," Kabuto answered.

"So, you must be an expert Kabuto-san!" Naruto agreed.

Shikamaru eyed Kabuto suspiciously. "But he hasn't passed it," he pointed out.

Kabuto laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, that's true."

Shikamaru sighed. "Is the Chuunin Exam that difficult? This is getting even more troublesome."

"What bothers me is that even after six other times, you still failed," Kas spoke up. "If you're such an expert, why are you still here?"

"Considering that you aren't just leading us on right now," Phoenix added. "Maybe to help your own gain? You must put false hope into the new genin, just to crush it later on in the Exams. It would explain a lot."

Kabuto narrowed his eyes. "I didn't have to be nice to a bunch of rookie," he growled. "I could have walked away and let you guys get picked on by the older kids."

"Then why did you?" Arielle asked. "Why the sudden niceness?"

"Weren't you listening?!" Ino yelled. "He said we reminded him of when he was a rookie."

"Right," Arielle agreed slowly.

"Anyways, maybe I should give my cute underclassmen some information then," he grinned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a deck of orange cards, which he fanned out in his hands. "With these cognition cards," Kabuto finished.

"Cognition cards?" Sakura repeated.

"In simple terms, it's a card that has information burned into it using my chakra," Kabuto explained, setting the deck on the floor. "I've collected information on this exam for the past four years. I have about 200 cards in total." He picked one up off of the top and placed it face down. "It looks white, but to get information from the card-" he started to spin it. "It's made so that you can't view it without my chakra." He focused his chakra, and then the card puffed out smoke, now showing a map of the nations and the genin from each country. "This one shows the total number of examinees and countries participating. It also has the number of participants from each hidden village." He looked up at all of them. "Tell me, why do you think we do the Chuunin Exams together?" When no one answered, he continued. "First, it's to deepen the friendly relationships with the other countries. Next, it's to heighten the level of the ninja. That's what they say."

"That's what they say?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes. The real purpose is to confirm the level of the ninja in each adjacent country to try and balance out the power," Kabuto was grinning when he said this.

"Power? Balance?" It was Naruto who was confused this time. What did power and balance have to do with anything?

"And why do we have to go through such a troublesome task?" Shikamaru asked.

"If they don't do that, the weak countries will be invaded and dominated by the strong ones," Kabuto answered. "So they need to check and restrain each other's powers." He shrugged. "It's just my guess though."

"It's a showcase," Phoenix mumbled to herself. "They just want us to see what they can do so no one even thinks about taking over. If they can prove they can stand up to the stronger countries, the stronger ones won't try to attack seeing as there are so many of the stronger shinobi in those weaker villages."

"Are there any cards there that have detailed personal information?" Sasuke asked him, taking a step forward.

"Sure," Kabuto nodded, smirking. "Is there someone who interests you?"

"Yeah," Sasuke answered.

Kabuto shuffled the white card into his deck. "The information of this exam's examinees are not perfect, but I've burned and saved them. I even have information on the twelve of you as well."

"Creep," Arielle muttered.

"Tell me whatever you know about the people you know that interest you," Kabuto offered. "I can look it up for you."

"Gaara of the Hidden Sand Village, and Rock Lee from Konoha," Sasuke said immediately.

"I knew it," Kas hissed. "He wants a crack at Gaara," he whispered to his teammates.

"Should we tell him about Temari's warning?" Phoenix whispered back.

"No," Arielle shook her head. "Let him figure it out for himself."

"Oh, you know their names?" Kabuto said in surprise. "Then this won't take much time." He quickly shuffled out two cards and quickly held them in his hands. "Here we go." He put one on the floor. "First, let's start with Rock Lee."

The card spun like it did the last time, then filled out with information. "He's a year older than you. Mission experience, 20 D-Rank, and 11 C-Rank. The squad leader is Gai. His hand-to-hand combat skills have increased dramatically this past year, but his other skills are terrible. He got everyone's attention last year as a skilled rookie genin, but he didn't take the Chuunin Exams. This is his first time taking it, like you," Kabuto explained, pointing at areas on the card. "His team is composed of TenTen and Hyuuga Neji."

Arielle was the only one who caught Hinata's flinch at Neji's name.

Kabuto set down another card. "Now, let's see Gaara of the desert. Mission experience, eight C-rank ones and…This is amazing! He did a B-Rank mission as a genin! He's a foreign ninja and it's his first time taking the exams, so I don't have any more information on him. But," he pushed his glasses up. "It seems that he has returned from all of his missions unharmed."

"He did a B-Rank as a genin and came back unharmed?" Shikamaru said in amazement.

Kabuto pulled out another card, this one another map. "Konoha, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, and Sound. This year, many talented genin from these hidden villages have come here to take the exam. The Hidden Sound Village is a village of a small country that was just made recently, so I don't have much information on them." Kabuto began to gather his cards. "Either way, all of them are powerful hidden villages."

"I-I'm starting to lose confidence," Hinata mumbled.

"What a time to say that now!" Ino yelled at her, making Hinata jump.

"It'll be alright Hinata. Why fight a rookie genin when you can fight an experienced genin?" Arielle asked. "They might start with the bigger fish first. Take out the greater of the genin evils and wipe out the wimps for an easy win. It's a simple battle plan."

"Right…It's not only Lee or Gaara," Kabuto was saying. "All the people here are top elites chosen from each country. This isn't that easy."

Kas clenched his fist. "Wonderful. Now, we can only-"

"MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO!" Naruto shouted suddenly, pointing into the crowd. "I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE YO ANY OF YOU! GOT THAT?!"

Phoenix face-palmed. "Damn it Naruto," she growled. "Now everyone is going to want a crack at us."

Kabuto smirked. "If that's everything-"

Phoenix tossed a kunai at him, pinning the cloth at the bottom of his pants to the floor. "Wait just a damn minute Kabuto. You aren't going anywhere."

Kabuto chuckled. "You want information on someone too?"

"No, but I want to know why you have my card," she shot back.

"I don't have your card," Kabuto said in confusion. "You saw the cards I took-"

Phoenix grabbed the cards before he could put them away, tossing away four. In her hand, she had two. "Sasuke wasn't as discreet as he thought. I saw him when he gestured to Arielle and I, just like I saw you draw two cards when you were pulling Lee and Gaara's." She stepped on his hand when he reached for the deck.

"Phoenix, understand that out of all the genin, you and your friend interest me the most-"Kabuto began.

"Yeah screw that," Phoenix interrupted. "Sasuke-kun, if you wanted to know something, you should have asked." Her eyes settled on Kabuto. "A lot of people would kill to have information like that. It doesn't matter if it's only genin; any shinobi of another village would love to hear about who they could possibly meet in the future. And yes, I am in fact implying that this could be seen as treason. Six times as taking these and you still haven't passed? Just for information?" She scoffed. "I don't appreciate someone like you having my information, though these are cute little cards." She smiled, though everyone could detect the evilness in it as she picked up fallen cards that Kabuto hastily dropped. "And clever too."

And then she lit them on fire.

"My cards-ow!" Kabuto tried to jerk back his hand that was getting crushed under her foot. "Sorry," she said. "My fingers slipped."

Kabuto glared at her. "How do we know you aren't a traitor? You wear that old Yugakure headband after all."

Phoenix put a hand to her neck. "So?"

"So? Everyone knows Yugakure was weak, so they turned to making profit from tourism. Who's to say that they aren't planning an uprising and trying to take over the bigger countries? You could be a spy for that weak place. You could be hording information on your friends so that everyone back in your old village and selling it to them. Why are you so quick to point fingers?"

Phoenix's eyes blazed. "How dare you?" She hissed, stomping on his hand as hard as she could. There was a sickening crunch that everyone gathered back there heard, and it made them all cringe. Phoenix growled, rearing her foot back and kicking him in the stomach as hard as she could. It took the combined strength of Kas, Shikamaru, Shino, Kiba, Naruto, Sasuke, and Arielle to stop her from hitting him again. Kabuto had coughed up blood from that one kick and was clutching his chest.

"Y-You broke my rib!" Kabuto hissed.

Phoenix tried to break out of the hold on her. "You bastard! Don't you accuse me of anything! Yugakure of Konohagakure, I'm loyal to both, and I would never sell out either of them. At least I don't pry into people like you do!" She managed to break out and kick Kabuto across the face, but was quickly restrained. "You just made an enemy out of me Yakushi Kabuto. And that's something you shouldn't have done." She glared at the shinobi looking at her. "Let what I did to him be a warning to all of you!"

Some of the others flinched and turned back nervously while others just smirked wider. Some even cheered a bit. The Rain genin just rolled their eyes and turned away, muttering to themselves.

Kas felt movement under his feet and knelt down, placing a palm on the ground. 'What's this? I feel…vibrations. Movement. One…two…three-there are three people. There are three of them coming towards us. But where?' He felt another pulse, getting closer. It was…to the left now. Then another to his right. The third was following the path of first one, coming in from the left. He stood, clenching his fists. This was about to boil down into a fight.

Then suddenly, someone threw two kunai at Kabuto, who easily dodged them. He got to his feet as a bigger genin with bandages on most of his face other than his right eye began to stand in front of him. His fist was vibrating as he swung it towards Kabuto. Kabuto smirked as he easily dodged it though, even with a broken rib; the punch was too slow.

'There's chakra in the air,' Phoenix observed. 'Where he was hitting. It doesn't have a color though. It's just there.'

'That punch wasn't meant to hit,' Arielle realized. 'I don't know what is what meant for, but it wasn't meant to connect.'

Then, the glass of Kabuto's glasses broke, crumbling in front of his eyes. "I see," Kabuto murmured. "So that's what kind of attack it was." The shards fell to the floor as Kabuto removed the frames. They were useless now.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked. "You definitely dodged it. Why did your glass…" he trailed off, trying to put the pieces together.

"It must have hit his nose," Shikamaru guessed. He scoffed. "That's what happens for trying to look cool."

Kabuto froze, falling to his knees and vomiting harshly.

"He threw up!" Naruto yelled.

"Kabuto-san," Sakura worried.

Kas smirked. 'So that what it was. I felt vibrations the whole time. The hit had power behind it, even if it didn't hit. Those nin really live up to their village name.'

Arielle wasn't sure what happened, but she had a good clue. Her ears were hurting (sometimes having good hearing was a bitch) badly ever since the mummy swung his fist. 'Sound ninja? That must a purely sound. Something so high-pitched that we couldn't hear it.'

Phoenix was shaking her head. 'That attack…it was on much higher frequency and pitch than we can hear normally. A frequency that maybe only dogs can hear, or someone with good hearing. And adding chakra to it made it even more powerful.'

Kabuto kept vomiting, clutching his stomach as one of the other sound nin, the shorter male (even though the mummy was slouching) chuckled. Naruto and Sakura went over to him, helping him to kneel.

"You're not as good as I thought for a veteran who took the exam four years running," Mummy sneered.

"Write this in your cards," the other male said. "The three from the Hidden Sound Village will definitely become Chuunins."

Everyone who was watching the exchange became either tense, or confused. They all knew that Kabuto should have dodged that attack. Why he vomited, only a select few knew. The ones who didn't just couldn't figure it out.

Suddenly, there was a large cloud of smoke at the front of the room. "Quiet down you punks!" A rough voice growled.

All attention was drawn to the front of the room. In the front of the room stood Morino Ibiki, Kotetsu and Izumo, and a myriad of other ninja were all standing there, sizing them up. And worst of all, Ibiki had a wicked smirk. "Sorry to keep you waiting," Ibiki said. "I am the examiner of the 1st test of the Chuunin Selection Exam, Morino Ibiki." He pointed to the back where the altercation was going down. "You three! From the Hidden Sound Village! Don't think you can do anything you want before the exam. Do you want to fail before we even begin?"

"I'm sorry. I was excited," Mummy apologized with fake sincerity. "This is my first exam."

Ibiki smirked, then frowned. "This is a good chance to say this…You are not allowed to fight each other during the exams unless given permission by the examiners."

"You already broke that rule Phoenix," Kas whispered to her. Phoenix simply shrugged. Kabuto had it coming.

"Even if the permission is given," Ibiki continued. "You are not allowed to kill each other. Pigs who go against me will fail immediately. Understood?" His tone left no room for argument.

The other sound nin just smirked. "This exam seems too soft and easy."

All the shinobi at the front of the room smirked, except for Ibiki, who looked deadly serious.

"…HI IBI-KUN!" Arielle shouted, waving at him from the back of the room.

Ibiki rolled his eyes. "You address me as Morino-san or Ibiki-san. Never refer to me as 'Ibi-kun'." He turned his attention back to all the genin. "We will now begin the first exam of the Chuunin Selection Exam. Turn in your applications, take one of these number tags, and sit where the number tells you to. Then we will pass out the papers for the written exam."

"Written?!" Arielle hissed to Phoenix.

"I guess we have to know some stuff to be considered for chuunin. Like about history and missions and protocols and stuff."

"Well, geniuses like you will be fine!" Arielle snapped. "But what about us other idiots?!"

~Seating~

Phoenix took her seat, between a male with orange hair and a lollipop in his mouth and Sakura. While she wasn't really concerned, she was worried about Arielle. Arielle was about six rows behind her, sitting between a bulky male and Ino. She could feel the glares between Ino and Arielle from all the way up here, and it was scaring her. She was about to throw something to get them to stop, but looking behind her and to the left showed that Kas was unfortunately beside Gaara, the two in another heated glaring contest. Sakura was giving her a dirty look, but Phoenix simply flicked her off and looked straight ahead. She was nowhere near anyone else she knew; they were all in different spots around the room. She couldn't see where Shikamaru was, she had a good guess as to where Sasuke was, she could see Neji from her spot and she could also see Naruto panicking two rows ahead of her. Kankuro was smirking near the back, only a few rows away from Kiba. Hinata was next to Naruto, she had no idea where Choji was, and Eyebrows/Lee was behind her, in the same section as Shino, but nowhere near his row.

"This first exam has a few important rules," Ibiki began at the chalkboard. I'm not answering any questions, so listen carefully. All of you are given ten points to begin with," Ibiki said, writing on the chalkboard. "The written exam consists of 10 questions, and each is worth one point. This is a deduction based test. If you get a problem wrong, you will get one point deducted. If you get three problems wrong, your points will be reduced to 7. The second rule, the pass-fail decision will be determined by your team's total points."

'Pass-fail decision?' Phoenix bit her lip. 'I have a bad feeling about this.'

"Shut up!" Ibiki shouted at Sakura, startling Phoenix out of her thoughts. "There is a reason for this. Just shut up and listen."

When Sakura shut her mouth, Ibiki turned back to the board. "Now that you know, let's move on to the next rule. If an examiner determines that you cheated or do something similar during the test, each action will cause you to lose two points."

'Wait, just two?' Kas repeated mentally, casting a glance at the shinobi at his right. 'Why only two? Shouldn't we just fail?'

'So they want us to cheat,' Phoenix realized. 'That's their game. Usually when you cheat the first time, you get thrown out, but here, they're only giving you five chances. And if you mess up, you aren't ready. Not yet. Clever Ibiki-san. Very clever.'

"In other words, there will be people forced to leave this place without their test being graded," Ibiki kept going. "Those who try to cheat without thinking carefully will only hurt themselves."

'Translation: cheat carefully. You're being watched by jounin and chuunin. Act like you can handle them.'

"We'll check you at any time," Kotetsu was smirking.

Ibiki was as well. "You are all trying to become chuunin. If you are a ninja, act like a first rate one," Ibiki finished.

'Chuunin can do infiltration and information gathering. As chuunin, we need to be able to do that. If we can't, why even bother being Chuunin.'

"Also, if anyone on a team gets a zero, everyone on that team will fail," Ibiki mentioned.

Phoenix clenched her teeth. 'We have to help each other pass. Solve the problem, or find someone who's already done theirs, cheat, and pass the answers on. That should be fairly easy. Arielle has her shadow, I have my projection, and Kas has his genjutsu skills. We can do this.'

"The last problem will be given 45 minutes after the exam begins. You have one hour for the exam. Begin!"

Phoenix looked down at her test. The sixth problem, she could solve already. Math was her strong suit. 'The parabola, B, represents a shuriken's maximum throwing distance of the enemy ninja, A, from a height of seven meters. Figure out the trait of the enemy ninja that can be observed from the ellipse formed by the shuriken, and figure out the maximum throwing distance on flat ground. Explain your reasoning. An ellipse…that's a Conic. But without anything to go by, it's all speculation. If I can't make a circle with this, I can't find the intersecting lines or the endpoints, and therefore, I can't really tell anything about the enemy. Then if so, it all boils down to speculation, physical analysis, and indefinite condition. Like if the enemy moves. In the problem, we can only consider if the enemy is standing still.' But now that she thought about it, Math was Arielle's worst. She sneaked a glace over at Arielle, who was writing an answer down already. 'Maybe she's solved one of the other problems. Like this geography one, or the deciphering message.'

Kas looked at problem four. 'You are stranded in an enemy's territory, three miles away from any sunlight. You have no sense of direction nor way to tell where you are. You're suspended in the air 27 feet above the ground with your arms bound. You cannot see. The only thing you have to go by is a rhythmic tapping in a 4/4 count that quickly switches to a 6/8 count, and then a 3/4 count in rapid succession. The knocks are all in rapid succession, both diminutive and sharp. There are a total of twelve notes, and five extra ones that you are unsure of if you are really hearing them. The code is obviously for a way out, but you must first decipher it. What is the code telling you?' Kas blinked. 'Wait, what? A 6/8 count to a…damn it! I don't know.' He sighed soundlessly. 'Alright, remember Kain's lessons.'

'Decipher this message,' Arielle read, seeing a huge block of letters and numbers. 'Hmm…Something about the number of enemy within a five mile radius and location, but that's all I know. These other problems…oh fuck! A math problem! And I don't have Phoenix to count on! Unless…' she smirked, forming quick hand seals. 'Secret Art: Shadow Sneak.'

Instead of morphing into her shadow, she sent it carefully up the room, using the shadow of other people to get to Phoenix. She quickly tapped on Phoenix's leg three times and let her shadow retreat back to her.

Phoenix felt the tapping and continued writing, forming her own seals with one hand under the table. 'Secret Flame Art: Astral Spirit Projection.'

Phoenix let her body continue to write mindlessly as her projection left her. There was a guy to her left, someone who was easily finishing his test. He was already on the ninth question. Phoenix scanned his answers quickly, gauging her chakra. She had enough to maintain things for Kas if he needed the answers as well.

Phoenix let her consciousness float near Arielle's body. She reached over and took Arielle's hand, writing down he answers for four through six quickly. Arielle jolted. 'Phoenix?'

'Yeah. It's me. I found a guy that was almost done and took his answers.' She was shocked she could hear Arielle's thoughts.

'You…You're cheating?!'

'We're supposed to,' Phoenix told her. 'Now quick!'

Arielle nodded, letting the tension drain from her hand. She let Phoenix write for her, at least to six. The rest she could figure out on her own. All she had to do was-

A kunai went flying through the air, landing on a test for someone who was sitting behind Naruto. "What's the meaning of this?!" The kid shouted, standing.

Kotetsu was smirking. "You messed up five times. You fail."

"What…?" The kid seemed upset…and surprised.

"Damn," Arielle whispered quietly. "I guess some people aren't as good as I thought they would be."

'Do you think it's weird that while everyone is looking, my body is still writing?!' Phoenix panicked.

"You should be fine," Arielle murmured. "There are some people still testing. Just relax."

Kotetsu pointed at the cheater. "Teammates of his, get out of here! Right now."

"Those are some of our genin," Arielle breathed. "From our village."

'The other village's genin, if they figured it out, will probably start to think wrong of us,' Phoenix said.

His two teammates took everything with pride, simply getting up and walking out without another word. They didn't even look at their failed teammate, just left. The one who got caught looked after them sadly, then slowly walked out after them, beginning to spout apologies.

"Number 23, fail," an examiner called out.

"Number 43 and 27, fail," Kotetsu said.

"Nooooooooooooo!" one kid was getting dragged, protesting heavily, out of the room, shouting and struggling like a child. Someone, who must have either been his teammate, stood angrily, slamming his palm onto the table. "Hey man! Do you have any proof that I cheated five times?! Are you really able to watch over this many people?!"

"Idiot," Kas muttered, shaking his head. "You just gave yourself away. You admitted that you did in fact cheat five times."

The chuunin the genin was sassing elbowed him in the neck, and hard, slamming him against the wall before anyone could blink. The speed was the thing that scared some of the genin the most. "Listen up," the chuunin smirked. "We are Chuunins that were chose for this exam. Elites so to say. We won't miss a single thing you do." He shoved is hand into his pocket and released the kid, watching him slump to the floor. "My strength is the proof."

'Damn. They could have caught us doing our jutsu!'

"They didn't," Arielle whispered. "I was watching. They didn't seem to mark us, which is okay. I think Sebby is doing fine too. You should get back to your body though. It might draw suspicion. If Kas has a plan, just be alert."

'Got it.'

Phoenix easily returned to her body, looking down at her paper. She was writing down random scribbles that looked somewhat like writing. It could pass as her being confused. First, she just had to get rid of it and focus on her test and try to get it right.

Kas sighed, scratching his head. What was he to do? He wasn't as smart as most of the people in here, and it would be too hard to figure out on his own. He needed to heat, but how? Sighing, he looked up briefly, but a glint caught his eyes. What was that? A-was that a mirror? What was a mirror doing…wait a minutes. He could work with that. Just a small little genjutsu and…

"Success," Kas said to himself. He was able to cast a genjutsu that inverted the way the mirror looked to everyone else, but to him, it was tilted to where he could see everything clearly if he just tilted his head back just a bit, enough to where it looked a little like he was looking up at the ceiling and praying or something. He didn't know, but he had answers to the exam above him. Now all he had to do was find a way to shift the mirror around without anyone paying attention to him. 'Earth Style: Mini Decapitation Skill.' Focusing chakra into his leg, he pushed it out through his foot into the floor, aiming it above him. The small chunk or rock that would normally helped to decapitate someone was now near the mirror, and if Kas focused hard enough, he could angle it the way he needed.

'What is Ino doing?' Arielle thought to herself, seeing Ino staring at Sakura, who was rows ahead of them. But her attention was drawn to Phoenix as well, and that was scaring her. Was Ino going to try and cheat off of Phoenix and Sakura?! Oh heck no!

Discreetly, Arielle stomped on Ino's foot under the table, which made Ino hiss. The blonde gave Arielle a glare as she made a quick seal. Arielle wasn't sure she trusted it, but kinda liked it when Ino's head hit the table really hard. Hah! Blondie deserved it!

Phoenix gave Sakura a weird look as Sakura openly gasped and froze, and then started smirking. Phoenix couldn't figure it out. Did Sakura finally realize what this game was all about? Or was it something different, something involving her test? If that was the case, Phoenix could understand why Sakura was hurriedly checking over her answers. But-that didn't really make sense either!

Giving her a strange look, Phoenix jabbed Sakura as hard as she could in her neck as hard as she could when an examiner called out, "Number 59, fail. Number 33 and 9, fail." Sakura didn't react, simply rubbed her neck and nearly hit her head on the desk.

"13 teams already," Arielle whispered to herself. "And still so many more."

"Number 41, fail. Number 35 and 62, fail."

"Make that 14 teams, three of which were from the Leaf." Arielle sighed soundlessly. "This is getting intense."

"Excuse me."

Arielle rolled her eyes. "I see Kankuro is still here."

"I have to take a piss," Kankuro said. "May I go?"

It was allowed, though Kankuro was cuffed and chained as he went to the bathroom.

'Okay, so he obviously has a plan for this. Kankuro can't just randomly need to piss all of a sudden. He had to have some way of getting information,' Arielle thought to herself. 'If anything, maybe he planted a trap, or he has some sort of connection to the examiner. But that doesn't make sense!'

She took a glance at the clock. She had time, and she only had two questions she didn't answer yet. But they were so hard! If only she had a way-was that Sebby?!

Arielle took a closer look at the ceiling, being careful to look nonchalant. If she drew too much suspicion, she'd get caught for sure! But that was Kas up there! And he smirked at her through the reflection from the panel thing on the ceiling and winked. Then, the view switched to a test paper!

Arielle grinned. Kas always came through.

Phoenix bit her lip. One question left. Why was number right so hard?! Damn it! She had gotten through the first few, why was this one such a pain?! 'Ugh, I hate not being able to figure something out,' she growled to herself. 'How the heck does one go about solving this?!' She took a look around. She could get the answers from Sakura easy, since the pinkette had her guard lowered enough to where she wasn't even trying to cover her answers. All Phoenix really had to do was take a peek. But that would be too easy. No, she had to do this right.

There was a glare coming from the lights, enough to where she could bounce a light off of it. She just needed the right surface…

She glanced at her Yugakure headband. The metal was shiny enough to where she could do it. Pulling it out, she carefully aimed the glare onto the edge and began fiddling with it, pretending to be nervous, but really, she was shining the light in Sakura's face, making the girl cringe and try to cover her eyes against the light. Phoenix grinned, carefully copying the answer. Did she feel bad about it? No way.

---

"Okay, I will now give the 10th problem!" Ibiki shouted, surprising the room.

Arielle clenched her pencil. 'This is it.'

Kas bit his lip. 'It took long enough, but we're here. The 10th problem.'

'I really hope we can figure this one out,' Phoenix fretted.

"But before that, there's only one thing I must say," Ibiki said grimly. "There will be one special rule for this last one question."

Then, the door opened and Kankuro sauntered in, though he looked confused when he saw how serious everyone looked. Ibiki stared him down. "You're lucky," he said to Kankuro. "Your puppet show didn't have to go to waste."

At Kankuro's shocked look, Kas became confused. 'Puppet show?'

"Oh well," Ibiki shrugged. "Sit down."

He waited until Kankuro was seated to continue. "I will now explain." He walked towards the window, looking out. "A hopeless rule."

~With Iruka~

Iruka sighed, leaning back in his chair. It wasn't working. He had been trying to distract himself from thinking about his team taking the exams, but he just couldn't help it. He was worried since he knew a bit about them from what Kotetsu told him. Ibiki was the one proctoring the exam, and that was where the worry came in. He could still remember that day.

~Flashback~

"You can come out here now. They don't even know you're here," Iruka called.

It was silent for a moment before Ibiki silently emerged from the trees. Even though the sun was blaring down on them, he was still in his dark overcoat and bandana. "I thought they would see me," he said once he reached Iruka.

"They're too involved in training. They won't notice if a hurricane is coming…actually, since they make hurricanes, I would be careful."

Ibiki chuckled. "I'm surprised. With how they noticed the imposter, you'd think they'd notice a comrade."

"Not when training is this intense." Iruka took his eyes off his team. "What exactly are you here for?"

"Your team is interesting. They showed no signs of mental stress under my interrogation, saw through a high-level jutsu, and defeated a high-level jounin by themselves. They also were able to break into T&I, steal tactical gear, and get out without getting captured, also fooling even Hatake Kakashi in their quest to get the truth. And I've never met genin like them."

Iruka nodded slowly. "So, what does that mean?"

"They're special. They're different. They're…good. I didn't think they would be so good. And I came to tell you that I offered them positions in T&I when they made chuunin."

"Wha-"

"Understand that their talents may be wasted if we let them be. They may not get the proper training they need being regular chuunin, but they all want something to do with T&I and with ANBU, and since I'm starting my recruitment early, I've got my eye on them."

Iruka wasn't sure he liked that tone of voice.

"I won't hurt them…physically. But, understand that I love my job. I love what I do. And…I am going to thoroughly enjoy taking my time picking them apart, breaking them." Ibiki smirked. "I'll see you around."

Iruka stared after him. "What just happened?"

~Flashback End~

He could only trust that Ibiki wouldn't be especially hard on them, and really hoped that she didn't take a liking to them either.

~301~

"First, you are all going to choose if you'd like to take this tenth problem or not," Ibiki explained. "If you choose not to take it, your points will be reduced to zero." He smirked. "In other words, you'll fail. And your other two teammates will fail along with you." He waited until the protests died down. "And here is the other rule: if you choose to take it and you get it wrong, you'll lose the privilege to take the Chuunin Exams forever!"

'Screw that,' Kas thought to himself. 'No way would I give up. Not here. And especially not with Arielle and Phoenix wanting to take this so badly.'

'As if,' Phoenix laced her fingers together, calmly watching Ibiki. 'We've trained too hard for this exam. One more question won't kill us.'

'Kas and Phoenix are part of this decision too, and I'm not ruining this for them. Take your best shot Ibi-kun.'

"What kind of dumb rule is that?!" Kiba shouted, jumping to his feet. "There shouldn't be those here who have taken the Chuunin Exam in the past!"

'He has a point,' Arielle agreed silently. 'How would someone like Kabuto be here for his seventh time then?'

Amazingly, Ibiki chuckled, which soon turned into full-blown laughter. "You were unlucky," he smirked. "This year, I am the rule."

'So he makes the decisions,' Kas finished.

"That is why I gave you the option of quitting," Ibiki continued. "Those who are not confident can choose not to take it, and take the exam next year, or the year after that."

Kiba shot Phoenix a look, one she caught and knew exactly what he meant. 'What kind of guy is he?' was the question he was silently asking. There was also a bit of fear there, but whether for herself or for him, she didn't know. But she had a personal experience with Ibiki, and knew that he was not someone she would want to meet on the battlefield, nor ever again at T&I. 'Watch yourself,' was the message Phoenix sent back. Kiba gave a single nod and sat back down, looking back to Ibiki.

When no one said anything else, Ibiki's gaze raked over all of them. "Let us begin. Those who will not be taking the tenth question, raise your hands. After we confirm your numbers, we will have you leave."

Kas wasn't worried. He wasn't going to raise his hand, and he knew that Arielle and Phoenix wouldn't either. This was something they all wanted. They were in this together, and that's how they would stay.

Arielle didn't have to think about keeping her hand down. Unless it was another math question, they were screwed (unless she could cheat again) but she knew she would give it her all to make sure they all passed.

Phoenix was waiting for it. She really wanted to get this over with. Whatever the question, she was ready for it.

At first, no one said or raised a hand. But slowly, one genin put his hand up, looking guilty as his two teammates began protesting his decision. "Sorry guys," he said sheepishly. "I quit! I won't take it!"

"Number 50, fail," Izumo called out. "Number 130 and Number 111, fail along with him."

"Me too!" Someone else called. "I give up!"

And just like that, hands everywhere began to shoot up, but to Arielle's relief, none of them were her teammate's hands. And it wasn't the hands of the other rookies either. That was good. They were all in this together. They could-oh no.

She recognized that orange sleeve that was slowly raising into the air. 'Naruto no!' If he quit now, he wouldn't become Hokage! And he worked so hard!

'Naruto, put your hand down!' Phoenix wanted to shout at him. But that wasn't her call. But he wanted to be Hokage! He couldn't just give up now! He promised he wouldn't!

'I guess Naruto couldn't take it,' Kas shook his head. He was really hoping the blonde would see everything through.

To everyone's surprise, he slammed his hand down onto the desk. "Screw you!" He shouted at Ibiki. "I'm not going to run away! I'll take this problem! Even if I become a genin forever, I'm going to become a Hokage no matter what anyways." He stood to his feet. "I'm not scared!" Triumphantly, Naruto sat back in his chair, determined.

'I knew you weren't going to ass out on us,' Arielle grinned.

'There's the Naruto we all know and love,' Phoenix smiled at the blonde.

'Tch. I knew he was messing with us.' Kas was smirking though. Naruto did have a habit of making things interesting.

"I will ask one more time," Ibiki said once Naruto had settled down. "This is a choice that will impact your life. If you want to quit, now is your chance."

"I'm not giving up yet," Naruto declared. "And I don't go back on my word. That's my ninja way!"

"Take your best shot Ibi-kun," Arielle smirked, putting her feet up on the desk. "We can take it."

Ibiki began to walk forward. 'The kid was able to wipe out everyone's uncertainty. There are 81 students left, much more than I expected. No point now in waiting any longer.' The other proctors were nodding at him, and Ibiki knew it was final. "Nice determination. For the first exam, everyone here…" he paused for (slightly) dramatic effect. "Passed!"

"What?!"

"Wait?! What's the meaning of that?!" Sakura shouted, standing. "We pass already? What about the tenth question?!"

Ibiki laughed, a genuine smile on his face. "There was no such thing to begin with. Or, you can call the two-choice question the tenth question."

"Hey!" Temari yelled. "So what were those previous nine problems?! It was all a waste of time?!" Did they not even have to do those?!

"No, it's not," Ibiki answered. "The nine questions accomplished their purpose. The purpose to test each individual's information gathering skills."

"I knew it," Phoenix said to herself.

"Information gathering skills?" Temari repeated.

"First," Ibiki explained. "This test's purpose lies in the first rule. Your pass-fail decision is based on your three person teams. By giving that idea, we have given you an unprecedented amount of pressure to try and not be a nuisance to your team."

'So in failing, we'd bring everyone down.' Arielle was glad this test was about cheating. She was good at that.

"But these test problems cannot be solved by you genins," Ibiki continued. "So, most of the people here must have come to the conclusion, 'I have to cheat to get points.'. In other words, this exam assumed that everyone was going to cheat. So, we snuck in two chuunin who knew the answers to be the targets of the cheating." The two named waved a bit, and Phoenix was happy to realize she indeed had cheated off of the one closest to her.

"But, those who just cheated like a fool failed, of course," Ibiki gave a small shrug, taking off his bandana. Everyone gaped in surprise. "Why?" He asked, as if he wasn't revealing a horrendous secret. "Information can have greater value than life at times, and in missions and battlefields. Information is contested with the lives of people."

Kas was going to be sick. The scars on Ibiki's head were horrifying. The fact that someone had done that to him…it was just sickening.

"Torture," Phoenix whispered in shock. "Those are scars from torture."

"The information that an enemy gets after being noticed by a third person will not necessarily be accurate," Ibiki said as he tied his bandana back on. "Remember this: getting incorrect information can cause a great damage to your teammates and village. So, we made you all gather information in the form of cheating. We kicked out those who were lacking in that field. That's what went on."

"But I still can't agree to that last question," Temari murmured.

"But this tenth question was the main question of this first exam. Let me explain. The tenth question was a 'take-or-not-take' choice. Needless to say, it was a painful two-choice problem. Those who did not take it failed with their team. If you chose not to take it, and could not answer it, your right to take the exam would have been taken away forever." He narrowed his eyes. "It was a very insincere problem." He began to 'pace' in front of the blackboard. "How about this two-choice problem…let's assume that you have become a Chuunin. Your mission is to capture a secret document. The number of enemy ninja, their abilities, and ornaments are unknown. And there may be traps that the enemy ninja have set up. Now, will you accept this mission or not? Just because your life and the lives of your teammates may be in danger, are you able to avoid dangerous missions? The answer is…"

His gaze snapped back to them.

"No. There are missions that carry heavy risks, but cannot be avoided. The ability to show your courage to your teammates when needed, and the ability to get through a bad situation…that's what we look for in a Chuunin, a squad leader."

Phoenix bit her lip. What happened with Rikiyo was still fresh in her mind. How Kas and Arielle fell, almost died because she didn't plan ahead, because she couldn't be a squad leader. She wasn't ready for it, she couldn't help. It wasn't information gathering, but it was still enough to make it just as dangerous. She knew nothing going into the battle, and she nearly let her friends get killed. That wasn't how she was supposed to lead. She wasn't supposed to let her teammates die. She wasn't even a chuunin yet and she already had to face something like that, and she almost let her teammates die. Was she really a squad leader? Was she really ready?

"Those who cannot bet their fate in a critical situation, those who give up when given the chance because there is a next year, and let their minds sway over an uncertain future, fools who only carry a light determination like that have no right to become a Chuunin. That is what I believe." Again, he looked at all of the genin, who were taking his words to heart. "I am saying that you here who have chosen to take it gave the right answer for the difficult tenth question. You can deal with the difficulties you will face. You have broken through the entrance. The First Exam of the Chuunin Selection ends now. I wish you luck."

"Alright! Wish us luck!" Naruto shouted happily. He began to cheer and shout in joy and whoop happily in his chair, making a fool of himself.

'What an interesting guy,' Ibiki thought to himself, turning to the window. She should be coming any minute now…

Any minute now…

Any minute now…

Any min-damn it! Where was she?!

---

"Well," Arielle said, standing. "Since that's over," she turned in Gaara's direction. "You and me Red! Right now! Fight me!"

Gaara gave her a short look and turned away. "Tch."

"What bitch?! I'm talking to you!" Arielle shouted angrily, glaring at him. "I will smack you with my dick!"

"I doubt you even have one," Gaara shot back, fully turning to her. "And besides, it wouldn't be worth it."

Kas narrowed his eyes. "Tch." What did Gaara know anyways? They only met twice now, and Gaara couldn't have evaluated her that fast. Arielle was way worthy of fighting!

"You're not even worth fighting," Gaara continued. "You're barely a ninja. Your face easily shows your emotions. Like now. I can tell you want to attack me, to slam my head against this desk, but you can't touch me. You're not worth it. But enlighten me. Why should I fight you?"

Arielle narrowed her eyes as well. That was how Red was gonna play? Then let the games begin. 'Secret Art: Shadow Sneak.'

Temari saw something moving towards Gaara. That girl wasn't about to hurt him!

Kankuro stood. No way. No way was she hitting Gaara.

Phoenix saw it. A fight was about to break out. She needed to stop it.

Gaara's eyes widened as an inky black…thing, tentacle, whatever, shot towards him. His defense didn't even stop it. It didn't pierce him directly, but he felt it, the very tip pushing through his defense.

Before Ibiki could stop them, the matter was already resolved. Somehow, Phoenix had the heel of her foot against Kankuro's neck, who was attacking from the front of Arielle, and had grabbed Temari's forearm, who was attacking from the side. But she was looking directly into Arielle's eyes.

"Stop," Phoenix commanded softly, so softly Ibiki doubted she really said anything.

"Arielle, you know better. Gaara was just trying to provoke you. Ibiki-san said no fighting unless we were told, and we weren't told. Gaara's trying to get you disqualified." Her gaze shifted from Kankuro to Temari. "We're all here to become Chuunin, aren't we? If you two attack Arielle, you'll be disqualified, and Arielle, if you attack Gaara, you will as well. And we did all of this for nothing."

Ibiki watched carefully as a black shape slithered back to Arielle. What she did exactly, he didn't know. But he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. It was…odd, but he'd know eventually.

"Fighting right now won't solve anything, we'll just get in trouble. And who wants to face that humiliation? Arielle, don't let Gaara get to you so soon. After all, he did in fact admit you interested him. Temari, Kankuro, do you really want to upset Gaara by getting disqualified?" There was a pause where no one said anything. "I thought so," Phoenix answered her own question. "When Ibiki-san says so, don't hold back Arielle. But for now, while it's prohibited, don't touch him."

Kankuro was shocked. H-How did she even-it was so fast!

Temari hissed under her breath. She couldn't believe it. Someone had blocked her so easily, and that was shocking. Especially the fact that whatever that darkness was almost hurt Gaara. It would have hurt Gaara.

What the heck was Team 13?

Ibiki sighed soundlessly. Where was-

Something large crashed through the window, sending glass flying everywhere. Ibiki didn't flinch, not even when a woman jumped though, throwing two kunai up at the ceiling with cloth tied to them. Striking a cool pose, she grinned at the stunned genin.

Ibiki rolled his eyes. 'Geez, she's late. And missed the fun.'

"WASSUP BITCHES?!" The woman shouted. "Everybody, there is not time to be happy! I am the Second Examiner, Mitarashi Anko! Let's get to the exam! Follow me!"

There was a shocked silence, the genin staring confused at Anko, who didn't notice how the genin were reacting.

"…she's my spirit ninja. I like her," Arielle grinned.

Ibiki felt his eye twitch. "Grasp the atmosphere. You feel it? Besides, you kind of just missed the fun. Back there," he nodded to Arielle, Phoenix, Kankuro, and Temari. "You missed a lot actually."

"Damn it!" Anko was blushing in embarrassment. "How do I always miss things?! And what up with the room?!" She turned to the genin, doing a quick count. "27? Ibiki, you let 27 teams pass? The First Exam must have been too soft!"

Ibiki shrugged. "It looks like there are a lot of excellent students this time."

"Oh well," Anko smirked at the genin. "I'm going to make more than half of the teams fail in the next exam."

"Well fuck," Arielle cursed.

"I'm getting excited," Anko said lowly. "I'll explain the details tomorrow. We will go somewhere else, so ask your Jounin teachers about the rally point and time. That is all! Dismissed!"

"Hell yeah!" Arielle cheered. "Let's get the fuck outta here!"

Phoenix slowly lowered her limbs, taking the glares given to her in stride. She didn't care. She wasn't about to let them hurt her teammate.

Kas could just see the irritated look on Gaara's face and had to wonder exactly why he had a look like that. He wasn't that mad about the taunt, was he? Or was it a deeper meaning?

He was honestly scared to find out.

~Later~

"I don't believe this," Kankuro grumbled. "Un-fucking-believable." He paced around the table of their temporary residence, clenching his teeth and growling. "How?!" He shouted to no one in particular. "How did she do that?!"

Temari rolled her eyes and scoffed. And she was just as pissed as Kankuro, if not more so. "Which one are you referring to?"

"Does it matter?" Kankuro kicked his chair. "It doesn't fucking matter. How could she have gotten me?! I didn't even see her move! One minute, I fucking stood, fucking stood, and all of a sudden, there's a foot on my neck. No one is that fast! No one! I didn't even blink! But there she was! And her fucking foot was at my throat; she would have snapped my neck if she wanted to! Damn that chick! That fucking Phoenix!"

"She was so fast," Temari agreed. "And that other one, the white streaked one. I forgot her name, but what the hell was that thing she summoned? I didn't even see it until it had already made its way to Gaara."

"It almost broke your defense!" Kankuro said incredulously. "It was a mere inch away from your armor, and it looked like she would have been able to break through! If that fucking Phoenix hadn't told her to stop-"

Kankuro didn't get to finish as Gaara slammed his fist into the table, causing the wood to splinter and the whole thing to spilt down the middle. The two halves creaked before falling apart, landing on the floor with heavy thuds. "…I underestimated her. Yukiokami Arielle."

Kankuro's eyes were wide in fear. "A-Are you okay Gaara?"

"Shut up. I'm fine. I told you, I underestimated Yukiokami Arielle. But rest assured I won't let it happen again."

Temari was a bit better at hiding her fear, but some still showed. "What are you going to do?"

Gaara didn't even notice the small splinters of wood in his flesh. Then again, they were already healing. "Don't worry about it. I'll make her pay for embarrassing me, and Kurimuzon Phoenix will get hers as well."

Temari and Kankuro didn't miss the singular 'me', and not the plural 'us'. But they were used to it. Gaara often referred to situations as a single, not as a whole. It was always him against the world, almost like Temari and Kankuro were the unnecessary baggage that he was towing along.

~The Next Day~

"Where are we?" Kas asked.

"Whoa," Phoenix breathed.

"Meh. Whatever. Yay trees." Arielle shrugged.

"This is where the Second Exam will take place," Anko said, standing by gates that said 'Forbidden Area'. "The 44th training area…also known as the Forest of Death."

"Forest…of Death!" Arielle repeated dramatically.

"Arielle!"

---

END

Me: Chapter 10. Honestly, I made up a couple of test questions because they only tell you the one. So those other two were completely made up. If they weren't any good, sorry about that.

Abbeh: Anyways, the next chapter is the Forest of Death. And while it should be action packed following the story of Team 7, it'll be following Team 13. So, no conflict with Orochimaru, but conflict in other ways. This chapter was pretty weird of course, but let us know how you think.

Me: Don't you mean what you think?

Abbeh: I know what I said!

Both: UNTIL NEXT TIME!