A/N- Just a warning, there are a number of new characters listed in this chapter. Most of them are from the actual series including the Uchiha and Sand Ninjas (Minus Dokumi). If you want some background on them, look them up on Narutopedia. [Warning, Google it, do not just type in , or you will be visually scarred x_x ] -Lila
Head or tails, heads or tails, heads or tails (heads or tails)
Are you dumb enough to break the mold
or smart enough to fail?
Oh happy trails happy trails oh happy trails
Can't beat a little bit of envy in your sails
- It's a Disaster (OK GO)
The History of Konoha's Noble Green Beast
CHAPTER 11
"97….98….99…100!" Gai shouted to himself as he finished his morning workout. He gave a long stretch of his arms over his head, enjoying the burning sensation in his abdomen from doing the crunchies. Morning workouts were by far his favorite…there was something about the get up and go sensation that really helped to get him pumped. Babarusu watched Gai intently from his spot in the backyard pond.
"You really should stop there for this morning Gai. You have to be at the exams soon and you don't want to tire yourself out." The turtle warned him.
"I suppose you're right." Gai said.
Gai rolled free from the tree branch he had been hanging upside down from and preformed an elegant summersault before hitting the ground with a gentle thud. He walked over to his is favorite turtle companion and plopped down into a sitting position by the pond.
"Before I go today, I have a present for you." Gai smiled.
The turtle looked up at him with interest. "Oh, what is it?" He asked.
Gai reached into his one leg warmer and pulled out the long piece of material. "I had Misaki-sensei fashion this for you. Now that you've been living with me for so long, I thought it would be best for you to have your own Konoha forehead protector." He said, holding the piece of fabric with the glinting piece of metal out towards him.
"Wow, thank you Gai." Babarusu smiled at the thoughtful gift.
"No problem. Now if I need to summon you during the exams, you'll look even more like a ninja turtle." Gai said with a pump of his fists. "We'll be the most stylish ninjas in the exams this year!"
Babarusu gave a nervous laugh in response. "Oh yes…um, definitely." He replied, giving the green suit a once over.
I still don't understand why he wears that thing.
Gai reached out with the material and attempted to wrap the band around the turtles shell.
"What on earth are you doing Gai?" Babarusu asked as he watched to boy awkwardly try to tie the fabric around him.
"Trying to get this thing around you…but it's too small! I think Misaki made it wrong." The boy frowned.
"Gai, there is no way that would fit around my shell. I've gotten a lot bigger over the last few years." The turtle pointed out. "Remember? I'm too big for you to throw anymore."
Sure enough, Babarusu had nearly quadrupled in size. His shell was getting close to being as high as Gai's knee. "I guess I just didn't notice, spending so much time with you." Gai shrugged.
"We'll don't put that gift to waste, here." Babarusu said stretching out his neck. "I can still wear it."
Gai fashioned the material around his neck and stood back to admire the work.
"So how does it look?" The turtle asked.
"Awesome!" Gai replied with a thumbs up. "You look ready for battle!"
Gai's attention was quickly drawn to his mother that was staring at him from the back door of their home.
"There you are!" she cried, giving him an exasperated look. "What on earth are you doing?"
Gai gave his mother a cheery smile. "Just getting warmed up for this morning, Mother." He replied.
"Well hurry up! You're teammates are waiting out front for you." She chastised and slipped back through the door.
He had been wondering how long it would be until his team would arrived. He'd half expected them to show up early to head for the academy, but had to keep reminding himself that their enthusiasm tended to be a little lower than his own on this sort of thing. Gai turned back to his turtle companion one last time. "Be sure to practice your techniques while I'm gone. We need to be ready for anything." He said.
"You're just harping on me because I haven't gotten Sonic Wave down yet aren't ya?" The turtle growled.
Gai laughed nervously. "No…no…nothing like that. I mean, you've learned lots of other cool techniques…it's just…"
"I'm a shame to my family." The turtle muttered. Babarusu had not yet mastered the sonic waves. He could knock over small objects but it still came out as this horrific screeching noise.
"No…no…don't get upset, your other techniques are totally awesome, really!" Gia tried to cheer him up.
"It's fine." The turtle pouted. "Get going, your teammates are waiting for you."
"Hai!"
Like a flash, he took off into the house, picking up his backpack in the hallway as he went. He had nearly reached the front door when he felt a rather large hand fall on his shoulder. Gai turned to see his father looking teary-eyed at him.
The older man wiped the pools from under his eyes. "My youthful son, today, you will make our family proud." The man said.
Gai's eyes welled up with tears as well. "Do not worry father! I will not let you down." He replied.
With that, his father wrapped Gai in a tight embrace. "I'm so proud of you!"
"Father!" He cried back.
"Will you hurry up?" came an annoyed male voice through the front door.
"Sorry. I will be right there!" Gai shouted back. He broke free from his father's vice grip hug and gave him one last thumbs up which was gladly returned by the older man.
Gai slid open the front door to find a very annoyed looking Koji and very tired looking Riko waiting on his doorstep.
"What took you so damn long?" Koji growled.
"I didn't take that long." Gai replied with a huff as he slipped his pack over his shoulder.
"Could have fooled me." Koji frowned back at him.
Before Gai could retort he felt an elegant set of fingers place themselves over his mouth as well as Koji's.
"How about we not start like this today, okay?" Riko asked calmly. "If were going to represent Sensei properly, being at each other's throats from the beginning isn't going to look very good now is it?"
The two boys stared at her silently.
Riko was about to pull her hands away when she felt Koji quickly grab her by the wrist and pull his head down into a bow. "I'm so sorry Riko, it will not happen again." He said.
Riko felt her face flushing madly at the sudden gesture and pulled away. "Don't…don't worry about it." She stuttered and took off ahead of the group to hide her blush.
Koji looked across and Gai and gave him an arrogant smirk.
Gai felt his blood boiling again. "You jerk, stop hitting on her!" He hissed softly under his breath so Riko would not hear.
Koji cocked his head to the side. "Or what?" He teased.
"You're just doing that to piss me off! Don't you already have enough girlfriends?" He snapped back.
Koji could not help but chuckle. It was so easy to get under Gai's skin and it just made it more fun to do so. "It's true, I have my pick of the girls, but even so, I'm not going to let some weirdo like you get Riko." He replied.
"Why?" Gai half whined.
"I dunno…I guess I'm just bored." He shrugged.
Gai balled his hands up into fists by his sides and stomped forward. He grabbed Koji by the scruff of his shirt and glared at him. "You are such a—"
"You two aren't fighting again are you?" Riko asked from further a head. Gai instantly let go of Koji's shirt and turned his attention to the girl.
"Riko-chan, who do you like more? Koji or Me?" Gai demanded. He'd settle this once and for all.
The look of horror quickly sprawled over the blonde haired ninja's face. "I uh….what?" She replied.
"Who do you like better?" Gai demanded again. "You must like one of us better!"
Riko scratched her head nervously. "We'll you see, you're both my teammates and I…uh…"
Oh, God save me.
Riko looked around frantically. "Oh, look at the time! We're going to be late! Come on you two let's hurry!"
The two boys watched Riko run ahead on her own.
"She's just avoiding the topic" Gai frowned. "There isn't even a clock around here."
Koji responded with a short laugh. "Just face it Fuzzy Eyebrows, you'll never beat me. Not is taijutsu, genjutsu, popularity…or with girls." The young boy walked ahead leaving the boy that was now vibrating with anger behind him. "I'm someone you just can't beat, so accept your place!"
Misaki was waiting alone in the hallway of the academy for her students to arrive. As confident as she was that her team would be successful, she could not help but feel a little nervous. This was the first team she had ever enlisted in the Chuunin exams…no…this was the first team she had ever been put in charge of. As strong as they were, she could not ignore the churning in her gut that was making her worry. Misaki took in a deep breath and pressed her head against the wall, shutting her eyes tight trying to push the negative thoughts out of her mind. It wasn't that many years ago she'd been in the Chuunin exams herself and she knew just how brutal they could be.
However, this is my team…they are strong…there is nothing to worry about.
Misaki was brought from her thoughts by the sound of happy yelling.
"Sensei!" Gai shouted as they approached her in the hall. She gave them a cheerful smile.
"Good morning you three. I'm glad you all made it." She said.
"Of course Sensei, we wouldn't miss this for the world, right team?" Gai said looking back at his teammates. Koji smirked at him and rolled his eyes while Riko gave a small smile in response.
"We'll I'm glad to see you're excited. Today is certainly a big day for the three of you." She replied. "I just hope you have remembered all the training that I've given you. Work hard and I'm sure you will do just fine."
"Thank you Sensei!" They replied.
Misaki remained silent for a few moments, trying to drag out the time before letting them pass her into the next room. The moment they walked in there, there was no changing it. They would be on their own and she would have to trust that they would be alright.
"Sensei? Are you okay?" Riko asked.
Misaki gave her a nervous laugh in response. "I'm fine. Really. Just…good luck you three." She said. She stepped aside and let them pass through the doors. Part of her mind screamed at her to grab them by the scruff of their shirts and drag them out of the academy, but what kind of teacher would she be if she gave into those thoughts?
They will never grow if I keep coddling them.
The students walked passed her, trying to appear as confident as possible. Deep down inside, they were just as nervous as Misaki though.
They looked around the room in awe.
"There are so many students!" Riko whispered to her team.
The boys nodded in response.
The small classroom was littered with Genin teams from all the villages. A large number of them were from Konoha, but it was clear to see there were also a number of foreign visitors. It was hard to pick them all out, but the three students recognized a couple of the head protectors: Moon, Cloud, Rain, Grass, Waterfall…and Sand.
"There are Sand ninjas here?" Riko whispered.
Koji nodded, also looking concerned. "I'm just as surprise as you are." He murmured.
Gai looked at his teammates with confusion. "What's the problem?" He asked.
Koji shook his head. "Of course, Fuzzy Eyebrows wouldn't keep up on the political problems of our world." He half sighed.
"Just shut up and tell me." Gai replied with a frown.
Riko interjected quickly. "During the second great shinobi war, there were a number of shinobi villages that were involved in the fighting. Most of the fighting involved the Grass, Rock, Rain, Leaf and the Sand. We were fortunate enough to have a treaty with the Grass and Rain at the time. That allowed us to keep the Sand and Rock ninjas at bay. Since then, the villages have managed to come to an agreement, and for the most part, there is peace. However, the story goes that Lady Tsunade of the renowned Three Sannin killed a number of ninjas that were important to some of the higher ranked members of the sand village along with saving a number of our own ninjas that would have perished otherwise and so the bitterness is still there."
"So then, why are they here if they still hate us?" Gai asked.
"Part of the reason they do the Chuunin exams together like this is to try and promote a sort of peace, but to be honest, the tension is so thick in this room right now, it feels like another war could break out any second." Koji commented.
Riko continued. "The Sand and Leaf are trying to make amends, so that is why you see them here now. As for the Rock, they still hold some strong negative feelings towards us and that's why you don't see any of them here." She explained.
"I see…these exams can get pretty dangerous then." Gai commented.
"Events like these can be the very cause of wars." Koji added.
Gai looked over at the team of sand ninjas. There didn't seem to be anything particularly special about them. It was a normal team like theirs: two boys and one girl.
The girl's hair was tied in a high ponytail on the top of her head that spilled out into a long braid ending at her lower back. It had a distinct blue tinge to it and her pale skin made the contrast even more severe. The one boy actually had an almost soft and friendly demeanor about him. His eyes were gentle and his shaggy blonde hair only softened his appearance. The last boy looked rather angry. His one eye was obscured by dark black hair that hung over his face. His visible eye was narrow and he looked ready to rip a hole in the first person that dared to speak with him.
"Has anyone tried to go over and talk to them?" Gai asked.
"Who would want to?" Asuma said, as he approached from behind them. "We know all we need to. They're sand ninjas and no one wants them here."
"Asuma-kun." Koji replied in surprise. "I didn't realize you were enrolled in the exams this time."
Asuma gave him a shrug and a smile. "Had to do it eventually, mind you I would have rather done it a year when those Sand Ninjas weren't around. They've caused enough trouble for this village." He pointed at the girl. "That one's name is Dokumi, the blonde guy is Yashamaru and the angry looking one is Yura."
"How do you know that?" Gai asked.
Asuma shrugged. "I got bored the other day and noticed a stack of ninja profiles on my dad's desk. I started looking through them." He said. He leaned in a bit closer to share the next part. "Take my advice, from what I could understand in the files, it's just better if you stay away from those three. They won't hesitate to kill leaf ninjas and they have some pretty powerful skills."
The aura of worry that fell over the group was palatable, but fortunately, was broken by the sound of a cheerful female voice approaching.
"Oi! Riko-chan!" Cried out the happy girl. Riko turned to see Rin running up excitedly to her.
"Rin-chan! You were registered as well?" Riko asked excitedly.
Rin gave her a nod. "We almost didn't get in, because we didn't have a full team, but we were lucky to pick someone up last minute." She smiled.
"That's right. Kakashi is already a Chuunin so he can't be on your team." Riko said, a slight sadness in her voice.
And I was kind of hoping to see him too.
Rin gave a shy smile. "It's okay. Our new teammate is very strong and we work quite well together." She explained.
"Who is it?" Riko asked.
Rin turned and pointed in the direction of a young boy standing over the in the corner talking with Obito. He looked about their age. His hair was dark black and hung frame-like around his face. If his dark coal colored eyes did not give away his heritage, the marker on his back certainly did.
"Another Uchiha? You are in the exams with two Uchihas?" Riko said stunned.
Rin gave a shy nod. "Yes, his name is Uchiha Tekka. He's a cousin of Obito's." She explained.
"I don't get it…what's the big deal? He's just related to Obito." Gai shrugged.
"Do you know anything at all you moron? Obito is about as friendly as they get in the Uchiha clan." Koji hissed.
"That's not true…Tekka-san is a very nice person." Rin tried to defend him.
Koji gave a sigh. "I understand you're attempting to defend him, but you know as well as everyone else the arrogance of that clan."
Riko looked down at her feet nervously and Koji turned his attention to Gai.
"You need to understand that there are levels, and divisions…even in this village." Koji explained calmly. "Some clans are revered for their power and with that power comes a certain level of respect. The Uchiha clan's…the Uchiha clan likely even out ranks my own family." Koji sighed, scratching at his head in frustration. "And they are pretty aware of their status as well."
"Shhhh. They're coming over." Riko hissed, keeping her head down.
The young Uchiha's approached quietly. The look of placid calm on Tekka's face kind of creeped Gai out. It the a sort of serene look you'd expect from an angelic figure, yet the powerful energy rolling off of him was a total contrast to his face.
"He…hello Tekka-san." Rin stuttered nervously.
The young boy looked over at her with a mild smile. On any other face it would have look insincere, yet the smile suited him for some strange reason.
"Hello Rin-san." The boy replied politely.
"This is another team of Konoha ninja's that will be in the exams today." Rin explained. "This is Koji-san, Riko-san and Gai-san."
"Why so formal Rin-chan!" Gai laughed, giving the girl a pat on the back. He stuck out his hand. "Hello Tekka-chan, I am Maito Gai. It's nice to meet you!"
The others stood in silent awe at the social taboo.
So Ignorant
So Brash
Moron
Tekka stared at his hand silently and then finally stuck out his own. "Nice to meet you as well. You are very different aren't you?" He said, looking the boy up and down.
Gai replied with a smile, not fully understanding the meaning of Tekka's words. Riko, terrified of what was happening quickly grabbed Gai by the shoulders and ushered him away.
"Thank you for speaking with us, but we should really get prepared. Bye now!" She said in a lyrical voice as she shoved Gai along.
Koji followed quickly behind the pair. Gai gave them a puzzled look. "What's the big deal? Ow!" He said as Koji swatted him up the backside of his head.
"You really are an idiot." Koji sighed.
"You can't just talk to an Uchiha like that!" Riko chastised.
"Why not?" Gai pouted in confusion. "He's just a kid."
"He's not just a kid. Gai, you need to understand that they are clans that you just don't want to mess with." Riko tried to explain.
"Unless you want to end up dead." Koji added.
"But wait a second…I see you hanging out with Obito all the time!" Gai pointed an accusing finger at Koji.
Koji shook his head. "Your pea brain wouldn't understand…but Obito is different. Just, for the sake of your team do not talk to that boy anymore. You're liable to make idiots out of all of us."
Gai crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "I still don't see what the big deal is." He muttered. At this rate, he'd never understand the kids in this village.
The room's noisy bustle began to die down as that sound as a loud whistle rang through the air. The collection of students hushed and stared up at the front room as a tall, rough looking man leaned over a podium at the front with a tired and unamused look on his face.
"Such noisy, troublesome students." He muttered. "Everyone come to the front and take a token. This is your assigned seat. We will start once everyone is settled."
The students quickly filed into the desks according to the tokens effectively splitting up all the teams. Once everyone was settled in, the man stood upright and approached the front line of desks.
"Hello everyone. My name is Nara Shikaku; I am the first round examiner. Today, you are under my rules. Breaking any rules I dictate will result in immediate removal from the exams, understood?"
"Man, this guy is kinda scary…look at those scars on his face." Gai whispered to Asuma who was sitting next to him.
"Did you say something?" The tired man at the front asked, turning in Gai's direction.
"No, nothing." He said with a cheery smile.
"Good, now onto the test for today. My assistants will be handing out the examination papers. You are not to turn them over until I instruct you to do so. You will be given 40 minute to complete to nine questions listed. That should be more than enough time. There will be a tenth question at the end of the 40 minutes, which I will give you orally." Shikaku directed the students' attention to the men and women lining the walls. "These people here will be keeping an eye on you to make sure you are not cheating. Anyone caught cheating will have marks deducted from their test. Get caught too many times and you will be removed from the exam room as will their entire team. You will all fail and have to try again next year. Any questions?"
The room of students remained silent.
"Good. You may begin." He said. The man then went over to the corner and slumped down in to chair. His body posture only said one thing…I don't want to be here.
Gai flipped over the piece of paper and examined the questions.
Okay, it's just like the tests at school. Too bad I didn't know about this before or I would have studied.
He read over the first question and frowned.
I have no idea what the answer is to this.
He looked over the next question.
Sweet mother of Hokage these are hard!
He continued to read the questions, getting progressively more frustrated with each passing second. He couldn't answer any of them! This wasn't good at all.
Meanwhile, in their respective seats, Koji and Riko weren't having much luck either.
This is ridiculous. No Genin would know the answer to this! Riko thought.
Why were we not properly prepared for this? Koji wondered.
The three ninjas were panicking, yet did their best to stay calm. They briefly scanned the room and realized that the other ninjas were furiously writing away.
Riko scratched her head. This makes no sense. None of the questions on here are at a Genin level and yet people are writing away like mad. What are we missing?
She scanned the room again and noticed out of the corner of her eye that the boy to her right was in fact cheating.
I guess he must be desperate…no…wait…
Riko's mind drifted back to the test Misaki had given them the other day. It had seemed a little odd and tacked on to their normal workout. The test had been to communicate a message without getting caught. There had been no explanation for it, they had just done it. Yet now it made perfect sense. They were supposed to cheat! Riko spied Koji out of the corner of her eye, the look on his face indicating he'd figured it out as well. He was using is Byakugan as subtly as he good and clearly picking up the answers in front of him. It made Riko a little envious she didn't have that kind of ability.
Lucky for her, she did have one ability she could use to her advantage. As carefully as she could she pulled out a thin trip wire and spun it on her fingers. She had to figure out a way to get it to Koji without being detected. She gingerly tied small pebbles to the ends of a pair of wires, giving them some weight.
"You!" shouted one of the examiners.
Riko felt her blood run cold as the man pointed in her direction. She froze in mid tie only turning her head to look at the examiner.
"No not you, the one next to you. That's three cheats, you're out. Take you're team with you." The man ordered.
The young boy that she had noticed cheating earlier from the rain village stood up with his head hung and proceeded to leave with the rest of his team in tow. Riko sighed with relief.
Too close.
She looked down at Gai who still looked frustrated.
Come on Gai…Cheat! Riko thought to herself, as if by some miracle she would develop telepathy.
She then peered over at Koji again, trying to make it look like she was still writing away. How was she supposed to get the string to him? Just then, another two examiners cried out, drawing the attention of people in the room.
Now's my chance. She thought. In two swift moves, she pulled a thin blow tube out of her pocket and slipped the end of the weighted wire inside. Discretely as possible, she blew in the direction of Koji, reloaded and blew in the direction of Gai. Both shots were successful and she managed to hit them in the neck. The boys flinched at the pricking sensation of the wire tip hitting them. Koji casually pulled the wire under the table out of sight, aware of what Riko had done. Gai also hid the wire, but was a tad concerned Riko might get caught for her actions. None of the examiners called out, indicating either she had gotten away with it, or still had some points let. Then pulsing message could finally be felt in his hand.
Cheat was the only word she passed on.
Trying to act as relaxed as possible, Gai kept the wire pulled tight in his hand, trying to avoid rubbing it on any other students that were between him and Riko. He waited patiently and after a few more minutes, a second message came through, giving him the answers to the first two questions.
Their system was perfect, Koji collected the data using his eye technique and Riko passed along the message. Any time another group of students was forced to leave they dropped the wire slack to prevent the students from tripping or uncovering them and then went back to passing the message again once they left. Within the 40 minutes, they managed to finish the questions just as Shikaku stepped back up to the front.
"Alright, pencils down." The man ordered. "Time for the last question."
The student placed down their pencils and stared at the man in front of them.
"Before I ask this question, I will give you a chance to leave. Those that leave will be given the chance to take the test again next year, those that stay, must answer the question. Failure to answer correctly from any of teammate will result in a fail of your entire team, and you will not be allowed to take this test again for at least another 5 years." He said.
"Five Years? That's ridiculous!" Cried out one of the students.
"Those are the rules. So decide. Will you take the question or not?" Shikaku asked.
After a few moments, one of the students finally stood up. "I would like to resign for this year." The student said.
Kurenai looked over in shock. "Jin-kun." She said.
Aburame Jin looked over at her with sad eyes. "I'm sorry Kurenai, I didn't want to drag you down with me, but I just don't feel prepared to take this question. We can try in half a year when the exams come back." He said.
Kurenai looked on the verge of crying, but stood up with her head down. "I…I understand." She said and followed her teammates out. Her friends watched in utter shock as she left the room.
"I can't believe Kurenai is out." Rin half whispered to Riko, who was sitting in front of her. Riko did not turn around but gave a silent nod. The worry was starting to tug at her gut and looking forward was the only thing stopping her from standing up herself.
Some of the other students filed out as well, too afraid to take on the question. Gai, Riko and Koji stilled remained with the other teams in the classroom.
"So many still here, I'm going to have to be harder on you students next year." Shikaku sighed.
"Very well, here is the question; I want you to list three things that represent your team. They can be anything, objects, words, pictures…but only three. I will pass you if all of your teammates have at least list one thing the same. The other questions are not going to be considered. All this comes down to whether or not you and your team know each other."
"If it all just came down to one stupid question, what was the point of the other stuff?" A frustrated student asked.
"To test your stealth, but now we will test your understanding of one another. So hurry up and write it down, you have 10 minutes." He replied.
The student stared at their sheets with confusion. What were they supposed to write…
Konoha? No, that's too obvious, what about the number 3…no…We all like Ramen don't we? This is so hard! Gai whined to himself.
That's when he felt it…the gentle tugging of the wire. He had been so wrapped up in thought; he'd forgotten it was in his hand. He listened to the message pulsing in his hand; Riko was trying to unify their answers.
Let's put down our first-
Snap
Gai turned his head slightly in horror and realized that the angry sand ninja he'd noticed earlier had pulled out a kunai and severed the wire linking him to Riko. The grin on his face was almost as sickening as the one Koji always gave him.
He looked back at his paper.
First what? First what? He thought frantically. He took a deep breath and looked down at his paper with determination. The first of something that has three answers that represents our team…
"2 minutes!" The man at the front shouted. Gai felt his heart pounding in his chest. 5 years…5 more years before he would be able to take the test again. He would be 16 by then! No…he couldn't lose now…there was no way. He wrote down the only thing he could think of.
"Times up! Group together with your team and come to the front now, but do not look at your papers." He ordered. The students did as they were asked.
Gai felt his heart pounding as he watched the teacher work his way down the line. The man simply collected the papers, looked them over, stared back at the group and moved on to the next one. He didn't say a word to anyone. The man finally stood before Gai and his team. Gai swallowed back his nerves and they all handed in their papers. Being the last group in line had been absolute torture.
The many looked over the sheets with a frown. "Well I'll be damned." He said.
The students looked at him curiously.
"You actually managed to all write the same three things. You must have cheated." He commented.
"But…b..but we didn't cheat!" Gai demanded. He pointed roughly at the dark haired sand ninja down the line. "That boy destroyed our method of cheating before we could-" Riko cut him off with her hand laughing nervously.
The older man chuckled back at them. "I'm not going to condemn you for cheating. That was all part of the exercise. You cheated well enough not to be caught and that was the first part of this test. However, if what you say is true, that makes this even more impressive. I've never seen a team successfully right down the same three answers all together. Frankly, your answer makes absolute sense and is the best answer possible. I've just never seen it before."
Gai peered over the paper and sure enough, they all wrote the same answers:
Koji
Riko
Gai
was scrawled on each of their papers.
"I've only done this test a few times, and I have to say, those are the smartest answers I've ever gotten back. Congratulations, you pass." He said.
The three smiled happily at the man, holding back shouting for fear that he might change his mind.
The brief smile on the man's face quickly returned to a frown. "Don't think you passed because of your answers to this question. You passed the moment you decided to stay for the last question."
The students in the line all gaped at the man.
"But…but why did you make us do this finally test than?" Obito jumped in, a little confused.
The man smiled and gave a shrug. "I was just curious what you would write, that and it's always fun to let you little rookies sweat it out a little bit."
"That was mean!" The group shouted back at him.
"Oh, stop whining and just be happy you passed." He shot back.
Before anything else could be said, the doors to the examination room flew open with a violent swing. The students looked at the back of the room as a confident looking ninja swaggered up to the front of the examination room.
"Hello everyone. I hope Skikaku-kun took good care of you." The woman said. She glanced casually around the room counting the number of students.
"18 teams? Not too bad Shikaku-kun, you must have given them a good scare." She teased.
"I just did my job. I'm glad I can finally go home now." The man sighed, walking passed her and heading out the door.
The woman turned her attention back to the class, hopping up on one of the desks and using it as a seat. "Hello everyone! My name is Uzumaki Kushina. I am the second round examiner. Be prepared, the next test is much worse than this one was. In fact, it might even kill you." She smiled wickedly.
Many of the student's eyes widened with fear. Rin leaned over to Riko and whispered. "Minato-sensei's girlfriend can be scary." She said.
END OF CHAPTER 11
Of course Naruto's mom would have run the second round of exams…she's just so perfect for it. Now it is time to see how the teams duke it out. Reviews always welcome!