Chapter Ten: the Second exam
"Now for the final question!" Ibiki shouted as he looked around the room, "But before I reveal what the tenth question is, let me tell you there's a few more rules for this test, firstly, anyone who gets the question wrong will not only be disqualified immediately along with their teams, but they will also be unable to participate in the Chunnin Exams EVER AGAIN-"
"What the hell? You can't decide that!" A Stone ninja exclaimed as he stood.
"SIT DOWN BOY AND REMEMBER YOU PLACE!" Ibiki shouted, his voice echoing around the enter room, "I get to make the rules, these are my terms. And let me finish my damn sentence GOT IT!" he shouted as he spiked his killing intent at the gennin.
The ninja literally shit himself before slowly sitting down and staying silent, making Kiba – and Akamaru who were sitting right next to the guy – begin to cry and lean away from the smell in disgust.
Ibiki smirked, though on the inside, 'Okay... maybe I overdid it a little...' he thought before shrugging, 'Meh, not my ninja, don't honestly care.'
"And the second new rule!" Ibiki began again, making everyone refocus on him, "Is more of a safety net, a 'sure thing' if you will... Anyone concerned by the first new rule has the opportunity to leave, and try their hand again next time. This last question... you get it wrong, you're a gennin forever, or you can just go to Suna in six months and try your hand there... but remember, if you quit then the rest of your team must leave also." Ibiki said with a sure nod, finalising everything for the gennin left.
Ibiki smirked as the gennin began to get restless, "Silence! If you want to leave just raise your hand. But you only have five minutes to make this decision so make up your mind!"
Not even five seconds later a Hidden Waterfall ninja raised his hand, "I'm out! Noway I'm risking this." he said.
His team followed him out, not looking too bothered by the choice before other teams began to do so again and again.
Shikamaru instantly formed three hand seals, 'NINJA ART: DUAL SHADOW POSESSION JUTSU!'
Naruto froze as his hand had just lifted up from the desk, 'Shikamaru? What the hell?' he thought with a frown, though he noticed Hinata do the same right in front of him, 'Both of us?'
Shikamaru made a scooping motion across his desk to make both of them shuffle their own pens into the middle and pick it up, writing across their folded over sheets three words, 'It's a test!'
Hinata frowned, having picked up her pen upside down and not getting the message, 'Oh well, BYAKUGAN!' she thought, reading the message on both Shikamaru and Naruto's sheets, 'This is part of the test...? oh! This IS the tenth question!' she thought as she sat up straight.
Naruto blinked as he read the words, 'Hey yeah... Ibiki-san said that as long as we were in here he was our God... once he leaves he has no sway, he's bluffing... wow, these other guys sure seem like idiots now.' Naruto thought as he watched the near constant flow of gennin leaving the room.
After three minutes, it seemed no one wanted to move, though the funny thing was, the Rookie nine were all there still, most of them confident in themselves, Kiba and Akamaru passed out at the back of the room from the smell, and Shino had informed his team via messenger insects the same thing Shikamaru had spelled out for his team.
Ibiki chuckled, with a smile on his face, "No one else?" he asked, receiving only silence in return, "Alright then, for the rest of you..." he said before he lifted his head and smiled merrily at the gennin,"You all pass!"
Sakura suddenly stood up, "But what about the last question?!" she exclaimed.
Ibiki laughed, "There isn't one! Or I guess you could say, whether or not you decided to leave was the question if you'd rather think of it that way. My test was about two things, gathering and transferring intelligence and the will to keep pushing and keep going, as a ninja, we must have these skills to-"
SMASH
Most of the gennin recoiled as the window at the front of the room suddenly exploded inwards from Anko Mitarashi suddenly smashing through it while releasing a modified bed sheet which now read: THE SEXY ANKO MITARASHI! PROCTOR FOR THE SECOND EXAMS!
"Anko-nee?!" Naruto asked as he jumped to his feet, "What the hell?! why didn't you tell me you were gonna proctor the exams?!"
"CAUSE that would've been an unfair advantage!" she shouted right back.
Naruto scowled as he jumped onto his table and pointed at Anko's 'poster,' "But that's MY bed sheet!"
Most of the gennin and Chunnin in the room couldn't hold in their laughter while Naruto blushed in embarrassment as Anko grinned while waving the pink bed sheet with little ducks on it, "I know!" she shouted in excitement.
Naruto scowled and fell back into his seat, "I shoulda just quit." he complained as he dropped his head on the table.
##########
"Here we are kiddies!" Anko said as she lead the remaining group of fifteen teams to a small hut in front of a large fence, "This is the Forest of Death and today's challenge: Capture, Defend and Deliver. The Capture," she said as she produced two scrolls marked Heaven and Earth, "Is the other scroll out of this set of two, see? Each team will be given one of them and their goal is to get the other one from another team. Defend, is you defending your own scroll from other teams trying to get it. And Deliver, is when you have at least one scroll of each kind and proceed to the tower in the middle of the forest."
"So basically, we're gonna be fighting each other for the next round?" a waterfall gennin asked.
"Sounds like fun!" A Leaf gennin said.
Anko nodded, "Fun huh?"
The gennin that had shouted out gasped in shock as Anko's kunai cut the skin of his cheek, the woman appearing behind him in a shunshin so fast that most gennin hadn't even noticed.
"Umm...Anko?"
Anko had just been about to lick the blood off the boy's cheek when her 'assistant' stepped up into view atop the scroll booth, making many of the more educated gennin gasp in shock, "I know the wavers exempt them from 'all of the above' INSIDE the exams, but if you do that it's sexual assault OUTSIDE of the exam, so... cut it back." Zabuza said as he stepped out of the hut in a Jonin vest, but it was undone to show off his chest...
'I guess he's proud of his abs?' Naruto thought before looking down at himself, 'Or is it an intimidation thing? Showing that you're physically strong...?' Naruto thought before looking up and shrugging, 'Who cares...'
"Z-z-Zabuza Momochi?!" a Mist gennin exclaimed as the other two stepped back away at the sight of the man.
Zabuza turned and glanced over the gennin, smirking specifically at the Mist gennin, 'Only one team... but from day two onwards they might just be the ones with the advantage...' he thought before feeling someone take his arm from behind.
Zabuza looked down at Anko as the woman gestured to the booth they stood on, "Alrighty! Everyone line up and be ready to get collect your scrolls, cause in twenty minutes I'm opening those gates! Crack to it!" she ordered.
The gennin seemed hesitant to get closer for the most part, but unfortunately for some, others were far too enthusiastic.
"MISS ANKO!" Lee screamed as he blurred to the front of the non-formed line, "I AM READY FOR THIS MOST YOUTHFUL OF EXAMS AND WISH TO HAVE MY SCROLL FIRST!" he shouted.
Anko laughed at Lee's exuberance as his team turned up behind him, prompting the rest to begin to line up after.
Shikamaru sighed, 'Man, this is so easy that it's boring.' he thought before turning to his two team members, "Alright, Hinata, activate your Byakugan and look inside, we'll wait until last. Naruto, you'll be the one to receive the scroll, can you put it in one of your seals?" he asked softly.
Hinata nodded as she stepped behind the two taller boys and silently used her eyes to scan the booth and the gennin passing through, "I see, there's a single Chunnin in there giving out the scrolls and he's just doing all of the Heaven scrolls first. He hasn't given out any Earth scrolls yet." she whispered.
Shikamaru nodded and yawned, "Hey Naruto, did you manage to pick up the scent of any of those guys in the last exams?" he asked with a nod towards the groups that had left the booth before they were directed to head towards one of the forest's gates.
Naruto looked over the group before smirking as his eyes landed on a trio of Waterfall Ninja, "That girl with the brown hair from the hidden waterfall, she was sitting to my left the whole time..." he said as his eyes trailed to the other female member of the team, a girl with green hair, "I've never seen a two-chicks-one-guy team..." Naruto mumbled.
Shikamaru shrugged, "Bound to happen somewhere. Do they have the Heaven scroll?" Shikamaru asked Hinata.
The girl nodded, "Yep, the green haired girl has it in her pocket... but I'm not sure, that girl has almost as much chakra as you Naruto, and a few weird seals on her stomach, left bicep and bottom," Hinata commented before turning to Naruto, "I think you should handle her Naruto-kun."
Naruto glanced at Shikamaru, gaining a nod from the team leader, "Cool, It'll be interesting enough to say the least..." he mumbled as he trailed off, still staring after the green haired girl as he sensed something familiar about her.
"We're up." Shikamaru said as he walked towards the remaining few teams that were lined up.
The trio lined up behind a team of Grass Gennin, waiting silently as Naruto stepped ahead with a curious expression on his face.
The tallest Grass Gennin turned and noticed him, "What do you want?" the tall girl asked him before turning her gaze flickered off then back.
Naruto's nose twitched in recognition, 'Snake Summons...' Naruto thought curiously before shaking his head, "Huh? Nothing dude, just wanna, y'know, do what I came here for." Naruto said with a grin.
The Grass ninja raised a brow at him before smirking slightly, "Yesss, I do believe I agree with you on that." she said with a dark expression before turning to face the front again.
Naruto waited as the line moved forward again with Shikamaru whispering into Naruto's ear, "Did she just hiss?" he asked, earning a nod from Naruto. So he lifted his gaze to Hinata and nodded, the girl's eyes activating once more to look at the weird gennin.
Hinata frowned, 'Very powerful, massive chakra reserves... thick skin so probably good at ignoring pain... and that on his arm... a Snake Summoning tattoo...' Hinata observed silently as she waited.
Two minutes later, the Grass team entered the tent and Team 10 immediately stepped backwards and begin waving up to Zabuza and Anko.
The two Jonin sighed in unison before dropping down, "What is it brat?" Zabuza asked Naruto.
"Anko-nee," Naruto began with a serious expression, "Are there any other Snake Summoners?" he asked quietly.
Anko scowled but nodded, "Yeah, my one and only Sensei Orochimaru. I know he hasn't passed the contract on yet because the snakes would tell me so. They won't tell me about the others or anything, just the number of how many there are," Anko said before frowning, "Hey I've told you this already, what gives?"
Naruto's eyes widened as did Hinata's and Shikamaru's, "Umm... so Orochimaru would be around Hokage-sama's level when it comes to chakra levels right?" Hinata asked.
Anko nodded again, and Shikamaru sighed as he summed up what his team had clarified, "Great, Orochimaru the Snake Sannin is in there getting a scroll right now." Shikamaru said with a groan.
Anko stiffened as she stared at Naruto, "If this is a prank..."
"I swear it's not Nee-chan." Naruto said with a worried expression.
Anko and Zabuza looked at each other before he suddenly grabbed her, "Wait a second dammit," Zabuza said as Anko was about to charge in, "If you and I attack him now he could kill numerous village's gennin teams and cause an international incident. You have to calm down and think." Zabuza said, forcing her to listen.
Anko's eyes were bloodshot as she breathed heavily, making Naruto step back in shock as he saw his beloved sister's hidden rage and hatred, 'Anko-nee...'
Anko closed her eyes and nodded, "Zabuza, thank you... I'll continue the exams, but slowly. Zabuza, can you go get Hokage-sama? Inform him that Orochimaru is in the exams hiding as a Grass gennin."
"Shh." Hinata said for a moment.
The group went quiet as they heard the faint sound of the door on the far side of the cabin open, making everyone turn with wide eyes.
Zabuza's eyes narrowed at them, knowing he only had a few seconds, 'These Leaf Ninjas suck at holding their emotions in, so I just need to do something that's more shocking then Orochimaru being in the leaf village...' Zabuza thought.
"Anko-chan," Zabuza began.
Naruto and Anko's eyes shot to him, 'Chan?! he actually acknowledged he cares about her!' Naruto thought in shock.
"I think we should start a real relationship." Zabuza quickly followed up with.
Shikamaru and Hinata turned and stared at Zabuza in apparent shock as Naruto and Anko's jaws hit the ground.
Zabuza sighed as he felt the Grass Team's chakra signatures fade into the distance as they ran off to get the next free gate, 'I can't believe that actually worked.' he thought as he looked into Anko's glazed over eyes, "...Dango."
"Huh what?" Anko asked as she snapped back to focus.
Zabuza chuckled, "Get ready to send them off," Zabuza said before turning to Team 10, "You guys, keep your eyes peeled and if you can: get intel," he said before turning and looking off towards the village, "I'll get the Hokage."
##########
"BEGIN!"
The gates slowly swung open, and Team 10 dove in.
"Got the scent Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, for once in an absolutely no nonsense tone.
Naruto nodded, "Yep, if we cross anything even remotely similar to Orochimaru I'll know." Naruto replied seriously.
Shikamaru nodded as the two boys turned to Hinata, her Byakugan looking around them easily, "Two teams in my immediate vision, but they have the same scrolls as us... they're converging towards us though." she reported.
"ETA?" Shikamaru asked.
"Five minutes maximum."
Naruto spoke up, "I think we should go stealthy with this one guys, any hints on how to handle them?"
Shikamaru and Hinata nodded in agreement, "Let's get some high ground, Naruto, be ready to start us off. I'll hold them still and then Hinata swoops in for the finish." Shikamaru said.
Naruto and Hinata nodded at that before they changed their angle of travel to climb up higher in the tree, taking to the canopy before they paused as Naruto chuckled, "Wouldn't ya know it, there just happens to be a clearing for us." he said with a grin.
"Incoming, let's hide." Hinata said.
##########
Three Sound Gennin stopped as they stepped into the clearing, "We shouldn't be stopping here Dosu." the girl of the three said.
The bandaged male who seemed to respond to the name, "If we can't kill the Uchiha this round we need to be able to fight him again in the next. Meaning that our first priority other then locating him is to find the right scrolls Kin. It needs to be done." Dosu said before turning to the other male, "Any movement Zaku?"
The other male nodded, his palms outstretched as he grinned, "Yep! Three victims are lining up just outside the clearing... and I think I can feel others around as well, but I can't pinpoint them for some reason... they must be very still." Zaku said.
The girl – Kin – sighed, "Of course there are other people around, it's an exam. Just focus on these guys okay?"
##########
Three Rain ninjas paused and ducked into the shrubbery, "Who are they?" the only one of the three with both eyes showing mumbled to himself.
His team-mates, both of whom were wearing matching outfits other then the number of eyes shown, ducked quickly next to the leader of the team, "Sound ninjas, I saw them during the first round." the one eyed Rain ninja said before all three of them formed hand seals together.
"NINJA ART: HAZE CLONE TECHNIQUE!"
##########
Dosu's ear twitched when he heard a muffled declaration, one words making it clearly to his ears, 'A Technique? Well then, let's begin.' he thought as he walked forward into the clearing.
"Dosu!" Kin whispered after him.
"Protocol three, cover my flanks." Dosu ordered as he limped into the clearing...
##########
"So that guy is called Dosu?" Shikamaru whispered to Naruto, the boy having heard the whispering even across the large distance between their position above the Sound Ninja.
Naruto nodded as he kept his eyes on Dosu, though Hinata grasped their attention as she mumbled, "Genjutsu..."
The trio focused on the two people now in the clearing, one in yellow pyjamas and the other being Dosu's hunched over frame.
Naruto grinned, "Here they go..."
Dosu charged forward, phasing straight through the single enemy before suddenly he faded from view, revealing ten more behind him facing Dosu before they stepped out to flank him from every position. Every time he looked away from one, the others seemed to multiply. But for some reason, the Sound ninja seemed not to be worried.
"SENBON BARRAGE!"
"DECAPITATING AIRWAVES!"
Dosu leapt forward as all of the clones to his sides were dispelled or affected by his team-mates launching their attacks, but Dosu slid through an illusion and sent his fist towards what appeared to be a normal tree.
But at the moment of impact, the 'tree' dropped the illusion to show two Rain gennin standing on the other's shoulders, "Now Mubi!" the blinded one shouted.
Out of nowhere, the Haze Clones reappeared and started a head on charge at Dosu, but to the surprise of the Rain ninja, the gennin closed his eyes and let the first two illusions hit him harmlessly, though on the third he spun and raised his arm, using his gauntlet to block a kunai, "Heard that coming. No illusions will work on a Sound ninja!" Dosu declared proudly.
Shikamaru frowned in uncertainty, 'This one gennin is managing to hold off an entire team... I get that his team is supporting him with distance attacks but still... if we want to ensure our victory against them, we should weaken them now.' he thought before he began to crawl forward along the branch to tap Naruto's shoulder.
The blonde turned and the two of them communicated silently, Shikamaru pointing down towards Dosu's team-mates before running a thumb over his throat. Naruto nodded and began to move quietly over towards them as the battle raged on beneath them. The Rain ninjas landing their first blow only take a more severe one in return; a light cut to the cheek, against a deafening injury.
Shikamaru waved to Hinata, the girl nodded from side on as her Byakugan picked up his movements, he pointed towards the rain ninjas, the easiest target for Hinata since she was seeing through their Genjutsu and Ninjutsu to know exactly where her enemies where REALLY hiding.
The two shared a nod, then they went on their way.
##########
Dosu ducked under the punch of a real ninja before he lashed out, being cut off by a series of clones before he got to the one he swore was real... only for his fist to sink through it anyway, 'Damn! How are they swapping so quickly? With all the noise his damn team is making by running around and launching shuriken at me it's quite distracting.' Dosu thought as he shrugged, "Screw it, Zaku! Kin! Let's finish this!"
Dosu charged forward, expecting a gale to be shooting past him any second...
….and then he froze.
"What the hell?!" Dosu exclaimed.
"Dammit!"
Dosu turned to look behind him, seeing the Rain ninja was caught as well and noticing from the angle what it was that had the two of them, "A Shadow?" Dosu exclaimed in shock.
"Shadow Possession success." Shikamaru said as he walked into the clearing, making the two ninja walk towards one another, "Too easy."
##########
"Another wave!" Kin exclaimed as she launched some senbon.
Zaku raised his arms, "DECAPITATING AIRWAVES!" he shouted as he moved to launch his jutsu from his hands.
Just as Zaku's jutsu left his hands, Naruto landed right in his peripheral vision, slashing upwards at the boy's arms and lopping them off in a bloody slash before using the momentum to throw all of his weight into a kick that launched the screaming Zaku through the air and into Kin.
Naruto grinned on his landing as he rolled his wrists, a handful of kunai slipping into his grip that he launched as fast as he could, "SHADOW KUNAI CLONE JUTSU!" He exclaimed as his weapons maimed and stabbed into Kin's face, neck, chest and stomach and Zaku twice in the stomach.
As a last ditch effort, Zaku raised his feet, "PRESSURIZED AIRWAVES!" he shouted as he was pushed back through the air into Kin's corpse again.
Naruto's eyes widened as Zaku's sandals were blasted off by two more blasts of wind chakra, making Naruto arc his claws forward into a point, cutting the jutsu around him before using the substitution with Kin's body, stabbing his claws into Zaku's chest and twisting through the air to slam him face-first into the ground, definitely dead.
Naruto stood up and grinned, "Done and dusted." he said before turning and jogging into the clearing.
##########
Hinata landed with a calm breath behind the hiding Rain ninja, her fingers jabbing out to jab him twice in the back of the head, 'One down.' She thought as she began to form hand seals.
Seeing through the Genjutsu easily, Hinata used her Steam Propulsion to shoot out of hiding and slam a double palm strike to his lungs from behind.
Hinata turned to look at Shikamaru and his captives as Naruto came out from the other side, "The other boy has their scroll, this one has the Rain ninjas' scroll." Hinata said as she casually reached into the frozen gennin's pouch and took out the earth scroll.
"Hey! Give that back!" the Rain ninja shouted as he struggled to move, watching helplessly as Hinata walked past him and shared a high five with Naruto before she moved off into the bushes behind him and Naruto came to a stop behind the two captive ninjas.
"We done with them?" Naruto asked Shikamaru.
The boy frowned at Naruto, not too happy at the thought of killing... yet unable to deny it's effectiveness, "Yeah, do it."
Dosu and Mubi's eyes widened as Naruto stepped between them, letting them see his claws as they shined in the sunlight, "Have a nice afterlife." Naruto commented before slashing through each of them.
Shikamaru disconnected his shadow from the two corpses, letting them fall to the ground dead, "Alright, let's get moving quickly." Shikamaru said.
Hinata walked out of the bushes with two stuffed to the brim ninja pouches and the two scrolls she had collected from the teams, "Ready to go." Hinata said as she placed the items on the ground in a pile.
Naruto and Shikamaru quickly took the headbands from the remaining corpses as well as their ninja pouches, taking anything significant before adding them to the pile. Hinata threw on the last object – Dosu's Sound Gauntlet – before Naruto swept his cloak over it, sealing it all away in his Storage Seal.
"From now on, we look only for Heaven scroll users, anyone else we avoid, kill, ignore or surrender a single scroll to." Shikamaru said as he leapt up into the trees, climbing to the top of the canopy with his team right on his tail.
##########
Night time
##########
"Goodnight Guys." Naruto said as he took his place on the tree branch, squatting in the shaded underside of the tallest branch, looking down at Shikamaru and Hinata as the two of them tied their legs to the branch beneath them to sleep.
"Hmm." Shikamaru grunted, wanting to get to sleep sooner since he was the one who had to keep watch in six hours.
"Goodnight Naruto-kun, Shika-kun." Hinata said before laying back, using her ninja pouch as a pillow.
Naruto sat in silence as the last of the sun set and the light began to fade completely, '...This gets real boring really quick.' he thought with a sigh as he closed his eyes and sat sideways on the tree, trying to practice the wind sensing skill that Asuma had taught him.
Naruto made a Boar hand seal, letting his chakra flow out of his body and pulse around the whole tree, all the way down to the normal sized trees and the ground below.
Naruto smirked, feeling the wind flow through the forest calmly, 'I can feel it... all of it.' he thought calmly as he felt the wind brush up against another source of heat.
Naruto opened his eyes and looked to the east, spotting tiny wisps of smoke, 'Some idiots have a fire going... if they aren't careful...'
Naruto's eyes narrowed as he scowled, hearing in the distance the screaming of someone before the scream was abruptly cut off, 'Thought so.' Naruto thought with a sigh.
As it got darker, Naruto stayed on alert. Nothing approached them other then a few bugs... 'Wait a sec!' Naruto thought as he quickly captured an insect in his hand and looked at it, 'Okay, never mind, not Kikaichu.'
Naruto sighed again before he looked towards the tower and his eyes widened, 'THAT's why he was with Anko-nee?' Naruto thought as he saw large volumes of Mist begin to pour down from the highest point of the tower and in to the surrounding forest.
Naruto grinned as the mist poured everywhere, slowly entrenching the forest, 'This gives us more of a chance to find someone as well as let Zabuza travel throughout the whole training area undetected, awesome.' Naruto thought with a smirk.
Naruto sat and waited, keeping watch vigilantly.
#########
"It's morning you two." Hinata said as she landed on the branch between her two team-mates.
Shikamaru groaned as he sat up, glancing at the morning sun peaking over the massive mist clouds, "Oh man, I thought the mist would've faded by now." he complained, not having seen it's activation.
Naruto sat up with a yawn, cutting his way free of the ropes that tied him to the branch so that he didn't fall in his sleep, "Zabuza-sensei activated it last night, I don't think it's going anywhere."
"Makes sense," Shikamaru said with a yawn, "The moment people would've gotten used to the idea of this forest and the many dangers in it, they would've set up camp and rested. Now with this mist, there's almost no way anyone will be able to tell what's within a meter of them, only what might be in the general area."
"Most?" Naruto asked.
Shikamaru nodded, "You think you're good enough with the Silent Killing yet? Cause right now I'm all but useless, Hinata's eyes and your skills are what's going to get us through at this point." Shikamaru said as he sat up and looked around, seeing at most the greenish haze of the canopy underneath the Mist, "But I think I have an idea, Hinata, the teams with the heaven scrolls were basically all sent to that side right?" Shikamaru asked.
Hinata nodded, "Yes, when we first got the scrolls they had to take a left and go to any of those gates while we went right with the other Earth Scroll recipients."
Shikamaru smirked, "Meaning we'll be more likely to clash with them closer to the tower..." he theorized before nodding, "Alright, Naruto, Hinata, guide us through the forest and take us directly to the tower, we're gonna make a traps and funnel a team into them from the other side so all we have to do is pick up the scroll and go inside." Shikamaru suggested.
Naruto and Hinata nodded, Hinata stepping next to Naruto and Shikamaru next to her as all three of them formed hand seals, Hinata's Byakugan activating, Shikamaru's shadow connecting to hers and Naruto sending out his chakra in undetectable waves.
Naruto had his eyes closed as he turned to Hinata, "Ready?" he asked as his claws slid out.
Hinata nodded, Shikamaru copying her movement exactly, "Ready."
Shikamaru smirked, "Alright, basic arrowhead formation, Naruto, show us the way." he said before they leapt off.
##########
One Day Later
##########
"Targets spotted." Hinata reported.
Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath before frowning, "That's not their blood I can smell on them." he commented.
Shikamaru nodded, "Weapons of choice?" he asked.
The trio crouched in obvious view as if unaware of the team circling them, meanwhile, Hinata got all the intelligence they needed on the trio, "Two with swords; male and female, the other is a medic I think, going from his medical kit and lack of weapon. Female has the scroll."
Shikamaru smirked, "Alright, Naruto, you'll be up first, after initial contact, we'll go for strategy two." he said, having come up with six different ways the situation was most likely to plan out.
Naruto and Hinata nodded before Hinata stood and stretched, pushing out her chest as Naruto leaned back, his claw cutting an invisible wire that made a flurry of shuriken shoot from behind Hinata and to the group's left, forcing the two swordsmen to jump out while the medic stayed in hiding.
The male slashed his blade through the air at head height, cutting Naruto's head off only to fall in the net trap underneath him while Naruto dispelled in a plume of smoke. The real Naruto leapt up from his place at the bottom of the trap, stabbing into and tearing his target in two.
Shikamaru pulled out his Tanto and spun, parrying the strike of the girl before stepping into her personal space and landing an elbow to her sternum before his blade cut her hand, making her reflexively let go of the sword before he rested his blade at her neck, "Scroll, now." he demanded.
Hinata smirked as she threw a flurry of senbon into the bushes, but the hidden medic wasn't worried since they went nowhere near her. But he only had time to stand up and reach for his shuriken before a bunch of ninja wires suddenly tightened around him, yanking him into the clearing and hoisting him into the air to be caught against a tree.
The girl of the team glanced away from Shikamaru for a moment, earning a tiny knick on her neck from his blade, "Any movement other then your hand moving to your pouch to give me your Heaven Scroll will result in your immediate death, so," he said as he moved her own blade up to press tightly against her skin, "Scroll, now!"
##########
"Geez man, did you know she wet herself?" Naruto asked as the three of them walked away from the two unconscious gennin, blocking his nose in disgust.
Shikamaru casually twirled their one heaven scroll between his fingers, "I do now. And guess what? I don't care. We're done with two days to go. Now we can go to the tower and Naruto... destroy our spare earth scrolls.
Naruto nodded as Hinata led them out of the shrubbery and into direct view of one of the doors of the tower, "Let's do it."
##########
BAM
Shikamaru's Shadow shot into the room, ready to grip whoever it was waiting for them inside... only to find a safe and empty room, "Clear." Hinata's voice rang out before the three gennin of team 10 entered the room.
Naruto sniffed out the room, "Hasn't been for long, I smell a fresh scent, an unfamiliar one, but one nonetheless."
Hinata nodded, "Male outside the room, ANBU by the looks of it, hmm, that's weird, he's got a hammer and a few nails for some reason."
Shikamaru sighed, "You two are spending too much time looking for some secret, it's pretty obvious what we're to do now." he said as he took out the Heaven scroll.
Naruto took out the last earth scroll, trusting Shikamaru enough that he had no hesitation in opening it alongside the Naara.
Smoke began to come from the scrolls, so Shikamaru threw his away, prompting Naruto to do the same.
POOF
"Good to know," Asuma said as he exhaled his own plume of smoke from the chakra smoke surrounding him, "Looks like I win the bet thanks to you three, so," he said as he pulled out three bentos, "How about one last good meal before you have to stay on this tower's cafeteria crap?" he offered with a grin.
The trio smiled at Asuma, though it was Hinata who spoke next, "So, when's the next test Sensei?"
##########
"You mean we'll have to cancel the exams early?" Hayate asked the Hokage.
Hiruzen shook his head, "We don't have to, but it is clearly the best option. With all of the Earth Scrolls now used or destroyed, no more teams can pass the exam. So rather then let Orochimaru run around for a few days like he probably expected we can cut his time and thus whatever plan he has short." Hiruzen clarified.
Hayate sighed and looked between Anko, Zabuza and Ibiki, "And I'm clearly outvoted – cough cough – fair enough... so, shall I announce it? or..."
Hiruzen turned to Zabuza, "Cancel your mist throughout the night Zabuza-san, in the morning Hayate and Anko can make the announcement and Ibiki, can I give a few ANBU to you to sweep the forest for any potential stragglers?"
Ibiki nodded, "Can be done in twelve hours from top to bottom. Want me to start after the announcement?"
Hiruzen nodded, "Yes, but have the teams ready to leave at the exact moment of the announcement, not time wasted and if we happen to run in to Orochimaru... well, the team I'll send you will be able to handle it."
Ibiki raised a brow but shrugged, trusting in the Hokage's decision, "I'll take my leave then, set out our course for the sweep." he said before leaving by the Hokage's door.
Hiruzen turned to Anko and Zabuza, "You two get in position to end the exams, Hayate, the speaker system will be yours from sunset. Say what you need, just make it clear that the exams have closed only because the parameters have been met."
Hayate and Anko nodded, ""Hai Hokage-sama.""
Hiruzen looked at Zabuza for a response, but the Demon of the Mist's expression, "Is there something wrong with my orders?"
Zabuza nodded, "Yeah. You know as well as I do that I could've tracked him down with my mist concealing me, why didn't you order me to do that?" he asked.
Hiruzen raised a brow at Zabuza, "It's fairly obvious... if you were to attack him you would die, and you make Anko and Naruto happy."
Zabuza stared at the Hokage in silent shock, "You're risking all of this... for their happiness?" Zabuza asked in awe.
Hiruzen smiled and nodded, "Without a moment's hesitation. Every single person in this village is equal and they are all worth everything to me," he said as he stood and patted Zabuza's shoulder as he walked past, "That means you to now Zabuza. You are my family, and so are they." he said before walking towards the door and leaving.
Hayate followed after him, though once the door closed, Anko moved up behind Zabuza to hug him from behind, "What's wrong?"
After no response, Anko turned Zabuza to face her, the woman's eyes widening at the tears in his as Zabuza turned to look at the door the Hokage had left through, "How... how can he say that? I tried to... I was an enemy..."
Anko smiled, "So was I remember?" she said, receiving a shocked look from Zabuza, "I abandoned the village with Orochimaru and the Hokage took me back immediately and even let me stay in his house for the first few months." Anko explained before turning Zabuza to look at her.
"But I... He knows my reputation right? I've probably killed more then Orochimaru." Zabuza mumbled.
"And you're forgiven," she said, "Trust me and trust him. Because if he has that much faith in you so soon then you know he's probably got plans for you."
Zabuza smiled and glanced over the Hokage's desk, "Yeah... and after that one little speech, I'd probably go along with whatever plan he tells me to..." he mumbled before turning Anko and kissing her forehead, "And I guess that means you and Naruto as well...alright then."
##########
The Next Day – Sunset
##########
"I thought they said at sunset?" Naruto asked, tapping his foot impatiently as he stared out the window of the one small room his team was to share for the duration.
Shikamaru smirked, "Yeah, after that announcement this morning they said the test officially ends now, but there'll still be a slight variable of us actually being told Naruto, give it five minutes."
Naruto stood with a frown, his foot tapping continuously as he kept staring out the window. Hinata smiled at him from her place mediating on her bed, "Naruto-kun, come and join in on my breathing exercises." she said.
Naruto turned to Hinata, about to say no when he remembered that Asuma actually had told him to join her as often as he could, "Fine Hina-chan."
Shikamaru smirked as he watched Naruto sit back-to-back with Hinata and begin meditation with her, 'It'll only be a few minutes more...' he thought as he yawned and looked down at his Tanto, cleaning the flat part of the blade with his bed sheets.
It's not like they had to use them again...
…
Fifteen minutes later, both Naruto and Hinata jolted as they sensed incoming chakra.
POOF
Shikamaru raised his head as Asuma arrived in a plume of smoke, "Hey guys, you ready?"
Naruto and Hinata stood with a surprising calmness as Hinata smirked and Naruto nodded, "Born ready." Naruto answered.
Asuma chuckled and glanced at Shikamaru, "By the way, you have to try. If not, you're getting D-rank missions for the next three years for twenty hours a day. So no quitting unless it's absolutely necessary."
Shikamaru sighed as he stood behind his team-mates, "This is such a drag." he complained before they followed Asuma out the door.
##########
"Congratulations one and all! You've all made it into the third exams!" The Hokage shouted enthusiastically.
Naruto smirked as he glanced around, 'Looks like Asuma-sensei was right! Kakashi is going to have to pay up!' Naruto thought.
Indeed, only four teams made it through to the finals; Neji's team, Shino's team and the Sand team that they had run in to just before the exams began. Along with Naruto, Hinata and Shino, that made a total of twelve candidates.
"Now as for the details of the exam, Hayate here will explain it to you." Hiruzen said before looking over to the sickly Jonin that walked to the forefront of the assembled gennin.
Hayate nodded to the gennin respectfully, "Congratulations to all of you for finishing the second exam – cough cough – originally the exam was going to go for a couple more days, but since there is no way for anyone else to pass then we're going to move ahead anyway." Hayate began before clearing his throat, "One month from now at the Exhibition Stadium, you will be facing each other under the watchful – cough cough – watchful gaze of the Kazekage, Hokage and many other nobles from across the lands. These matches will take place in a tournament format, and the people in each of the starting matches will be chosen now." Hayate said as he gestured back towards Anko.
The woman stepped forward with a box, holding it out to the Sand team first, "Just shout out your name and the number you have received."
"Gaara, 5."
"Temari, 12."
"Kankuro, 8."
"Naruto, 2."
"Shikamaru, 10."
"Hinata, 3."
"Lee, 6!"
"Neji, 4."
"Tenten, 1."
"Choji, 9."
"Sakura, 11."
"Shino, 7."
Hayate nodded as he took note of all of the contestants on a white board, he flipped it around to show the tournament set up, "Alright everyone, take a close look and try to remember what's happened in these last exams. In one month, this tournament will be the third and final exam of Konoha's Chunnin exams."
Naruto nodded as he glanced over at Tenten, the girl smirking at him confidently, 'I have no idea how she fights... but Shika knows her way more then either of them have let on, so if he gives me basic information I can come up with some kind of plan... after that it's either Neji or Hina... jeez, I still don't know away to beat the Gentle Fist.'
Hinata frowned slightly before looking over to her cousin, who was glaring hard at her, 'Neji... what's gotten in to you?' she thought in obvious concern.
Shikamaru and Choji shared a familiar smile, 'Cool, at least this way no matter who wins there'll be no hard feelings.'
Asuma glanced at the chart then at his student's opponents, 'Well... guess I know exactly what each of them will need... Naruto will be the one that struggles here though.' Asuma thought with a confident nod.
##########
"AAAAHHHHHH!"
Kakashi stood over Sasuke frowning, 'Great, just when I thought my biggest concern was over them passing, Sasuke and Kiba get hit with Curse Marks...' he thought as he glanced over to Kiba.
Genma was standing over Kiba with a matching frown, though luckily, the two of them didn't have to wait any more since Hiruzen had just entered the room along with a Shadow Clone, "Alright, I'll seal these off with my strongest barrier seal. Kakashi, wait outside for your students, Genma, I'm sure he'd appreciate the help."
Genma shrugged, "Sure, I'll wait around with ya." he said before the two Jonin moved out of the room.
The Hokage and his clone formed a quick series of hand seals before slamming their hands on the two boys' backs, making a large sealing array form and then move to wrap around their respective seals.
"HOKAGE'S TECHNIQUE: SEALING ART: FAITH OF THE FALLEN!"
##########
Chapter End.
Helloooooo, here's the next chapter, I hope ya'll enjoy it :)
for anyone who couldn't work out the math: TEAM 7 JUST BARELY MADE IT LAST TIME, THIS TIME THE EXAMS ENDED EARLIER (And with no sound team giving them the scroll the moment they lost to Sasuke, team 7 had no chance to catch up... but, Kiba and Akamaru managed to help Sasuke once, getting a curse seal on Kiba by mistake)
Anyways, happy end-of-the-year and all that, cya later, Alky out!