The examinees sat down

Note: I don't own ShonenJump or any of it's franchises.

Note: If you haven't read True Strength Revealed or The Angel and The Demon , you might not understand much of this story.

--

Hanabi Hyuuga sat in front of her mirror brushing her hair, when her husband walked into their room.

" Are you ok?" Neji asked.

" Hmm? Of course I am. Why?" Hanabi asked.

Neji smiled. " Well it's just I saw you brushing in that same position 5 minutes ago."

Hanabi blushed of embarrassment slightly. " Oh, I guess I'm just thinking about how Kato's going to fair in the exams. Do you think we were premature in letting him do this? God knows what kind of freakshows are here from the other villages."

Neji's hands came onto Hanabi's shoulders. " He wasn't going to be a baby forever Hanabi-chan. This is a good age for him to be exposed to new experiences in battle."

" Neji, I don't care how old or strong he gets, he's still my little boy. I know he's strong, but I find myself wondering, just how strong are the opponents he might face? What if one of them turns out to be Toba Uzumaki?" Hanabi said.

Neji then sat down on the bed. " I have faith that Kato is better skilled than the Uzumaki boy, if it comes to that, no doubt Kato will win."

On the streets Konohagakure, Hiashi and Hodaru enjoy a quick snack near the dango shop.

" So, I know your position on Kato. But how do you like Toba Uzumaki's chances?" Hodaru asked.

At first Hiashi's eyes dimmed at the question. " I'm sure just as good as Kato's, but I really couldn't tell you considering I don't know how his training's been."

" His sensei's the Third's grandson, you should take comfort in knowing that." Hodaru countered.

" Hmm, I suppose you're right." Hiashi said.

Hodaru took a good look at Hiashi's expression. " So Hinata is still giving you the cold shoulder after all these years huh?"

" Well….not so harshly these days." Hiashi said.

" Boy, when that woman hold's a grudge, look out." Hodaru said taking the moment in jest.

" Honestly, after what happened 7 years ago, who could blame her?" Hiashi said.

" How long could she possibly stay angry at the Hyuuga clan?" Hodaru asked.

" Hodaru-san…." Hiashi started. " …Over 30 years ago, Cloud ninjas attempted to kidnap Hinata. To this very day, I do not trust a single member of that village. The point being, don't ever underestimate a parent's feelings when it comes to their child."

Back at the testing center, the first step of the Chuunin exam was about to commence…….

" Ok, listen up! I am Ibiki Morino, I am your proctor for this exam. By the time this exam is over I expect nobody to pass."

Most in the classroom were shocked at this announcement.

" Now form an orderly fashion line to pick a number, I expect teams to break apart from each other for reasons that should be obvious. Once you have received your number you will sit in the corresponding seat." Ibiki said. " Once we have successfully seated all of you, we will pass out the written exam."

"(grumble) a written test? This sucks." Toba said as he sat down. " I was hoping there was gonna be more action than this."

As Toba looked around, he saw that numerous shinobi were giving him a deathful glare.

" What's up with the stares?" Toba asked himself.

" You haven't guessed by now?" Said a voice beside him.

Toba turned to his side to see a young man who was maybe a few years older than him with long, black, raven hair with heavy lines under his eyes. Atop his forehead was an Amegakure headband.

" Guessed what?" Toba asked.

" Well…you're Toba Uzumaki right?" The boy asked.

" Yeah."

" The Hokage's son?" He asked with a slight smirk on his face.

" Yeah, so?"

" So? So with that kind of high profile you walked into this classroom with a giant bulls eye on you." The boy quipped.

" Oh…crap." Toba said just realizing what his situation was.

" Yeah, I feel for ya man, seriously. You're probably gonna have a tougher time than most." He said. " I'm Ichiro by the way."

" Oh, um, nice to meet you." Toba said.

" Yeah, to be honest a lot of them think the only reason you were allowed into the exams was because your father used his authority to make it happen." Ichiro said.

" Really, well I guess I'm gonna have to clear up some of the confusion." Toba said.

" Heh, well at least you're optimistic." Ichiro said.

"Now listen very carefully. I am going to go over the rules of the exam, and I have no intention of repeating myself so ears up." Ibiki said as he took out a laser pen. Pulling down the viewing screen, he pointed to the rules being projected.

" How this test will work is, there are 10 questions on the exam, the first 9 will be given in the form of the written questions on the exam. The 10th question will be given 15 minutes before the total time limit is up."

" Well what if we're…." A shinobi said raising his hand.

" And there will be no questions!" Ibiki yelled, causing the Genin to slink away.

" Now, you will all start this test with a perfect score of 10 points, for each question you get wrong a point will be deducted from your score."

" This test will be graded based on a group effort, meaning if 1 teammate fails the test, the entire team fails."

The entire classroom was dumbstruck.

Ibiki then gave a sly smile. " And most importantly, cheating of any kind will absolutely not be tolerated."

" Cheating?" Kato said.

" Well that kind of goes without saying." Miki said.

" That's why for this exam we have recruited our finest scouter-nin. They'll be keeping a close eye on you to make sure you don't cheat." Ibiki said. " For every instance you are caught cheating, 2 points will be deducted from your score. And if you are caught 5 times, you get a zero, and the entire team fails."

The entire class seemed tense.

" Anyone caught cheating does not deserve to be in these exams." Ibiki said.

" Well, no pressure then." Toba said shakily as his tense hand accidentally snapped his pencil. " Urr…umm can I get another pencil?" Toba asked.

" Toba you dork." Kisha thought.

A scouter-nin tossed a pencil onto Toba's desk.

Ibiki looked on at Toba.

"Toba Uzumaki….." Ibiki thought.

((((Flashback))))

The 6th Hokage stood before the Jonin responsible for running the Chuunin exams.

" And I want all of you to remember, I don't want any special treatment of any kind given to Toba." Naruto said, suddenly, his foxy grin appeared on his face. " In fact, I wouldn't mind if you were just a bit harder on him than the other candidates."

((((End Flashback))))

" With that being said, you will begin the test……now!" Ibiki said.

The Genin flipped the test papers over and frantically began to work through the problems.

" Shinobi A throws a kunai at 60 miles per hour and Shinobi B throws a kunai opposite of A at 64 miles per hour with a wind of 78 miles per hour, upon impact of which the kunai collide, at what degree will kunais A and B deflect? Ummm nani?" Leiko thought to herself.

" OK….no, next…..no, next…" Toba thought as he skipped through the questions.

" These questions….they seem hard." Ami thought.

" I can't seem to understand any of these questions." Suedo thought.

" I can't believe they expect us to answer these!" Miki thought.

" Screw this, I'm gonna try to find the answers." Chojo thought.

As Toba was biting down on his pencil trying to make sense of the questions, he saw a scouter-nin make a mark on his clipboard.

" Oh man someone just got marked up." Toba thought. " What the hell am I gonna do!?"

A scouter-nin looked across the room, then stood to declare the first failure.

" Number 4, you fail the test! number 12 and 26, you fail the test!"

The class sat stunned.

" Wha- what are you tal-" Number 4 began.

" Don't play dumb. You've been caught cheating enough times to fail." The scouter-nin replied.

" Damn it!" Number 12 said.

" Number 18, you fail. Number 23 and 30, you fail." Another scouter-nin said.

" Nani! That is bullsh-" Number 18 began before being thrown against a wall.

" Let me make this clear to all of you, these nin don't make those kind of mistakes when it comes to this, if they say you fail then they mean it!" Ibiki said.

" Great, so we know they got skill as far as perception goes. We need to figure something out." Kato thought. " But….let's just see how good. Byakugan!" Suddenly, Kato's eyes peered through the student in front of him.

Both Leiko and Suedo saw what Kato was doing and saw he was getting away with it. So they began to follow in fashion. Also aware of Kato's actions was Toba.

" What the hell? I cannot believe Kato's doing that!" Toba then looked around to see the scouter-nins were none the wiser to Kato.

" Well if he can do it…then I can…wait.." Toba looked behind Ibiki and saw there was a folder on the desk behind him. " Oh God, please let me be this lucky… Byakugan!" Toba's suspicions were correct, using his advanced skill of the Byakugan, he discovered that within the contents of the folder was the answer sheet for the test. " Jackpot!" Toba thought as he frantically began writing. " After this I gotta figure out a way to pass it on to the others."

It was then that Toba saw a fly near him, as he was about to shoo it away, he suddenly realized where the fly had come from. He looked over at Shinji. Toba nodded and let the fly examine the test. Moments later, the fly returned to Shinji revealing to him the answers.

" Kisha, I hope you see these." Shinji thought.

However, Kisha was way ahead of Shinji, atop her head was Inimaru scouting over the other candidates' tests and communicating the answers to her.

" Good girl." Kisha said.

In the lounge area, the captains passed the time by talking with one another. Some such captains were Konohamaru and Hinata….

" So, they should be well into the written test by now. How does Toba faire in written exams anyway Hinata-chan?" Konohamaru asked.

" (sigh) Not as well as he should, he hates written exams." Hinata said.

" Well it should be no problem. If he figures out he pretty much has to cheat, that Byakugan of his will come in real handy." Konohamaru said.

" Hai."

" So, how about Team 3?" Konohamaru asked.

" I'm sure they're more than capable." Hinata said.

" Well even if they make it past the written part, can you honestly say you like they're chances in the Forest of Death?" Hijo interjected as he walked up.

" Hijo-san." Hinata said courteously. " What ever do you mean?"

" Do you think their teamwork is good enough that they will make it through?" Hijo said. " Especially the Akimichi girl, she may quit just upon sight of the Forest."

" I think you might forget who you're talking to Hijo-san, this is Hinata Uzumaki you're speaking to. She has been training the team for months. She wouldn't let them take the exam if she wasn't sure they could handle it." Konohamaru said.

" Well I can only hope that they don't have to cross paths with my team if they wish to survive." Hijo said.

" Make sure you don't get too full of yourself there Hijo-san." Konohamaru said.

Hijo looked down at the floor and smiled. " I'm just stating my opinion Konohamaru-san." With that Hijio walked away.

" Ahh what does he know? That Hijo, he thinks he's such a great captain. Don't worry Hinata-chan, I'm sure all 3 of them will do well." Konohamaru said.

Hinata then looked down at the floor recalling a certain memory.

((((Flashback))))

Hinata Uzumaki looked around as she walked the Academy schoolyard to see all the youngsters being enrolled today. It was then that she had seen longtime friends that she had not seen for years, Ino and Chouji Akimichi, who had just been back to Konohagakure for a few days.

" Oh, Ino-chan!" Hinata said as she waved to Ino.

"Hinata-chan hi!" Ino said as she and Chouji walked over.

" Oh my goodness, are Inodashi and Chotsu ready for their first day at the academy?" Hinata asked.

" They will be soon enough. Actually…" Ino, Hinata and Chouji looked off to the side and saw that the twin Akimichis were actually mingling well with the other students.

As Hinata turned back she saw a little figure hide behind Chouji's leg.

" Hm? Chouji-kun, who is that behind your leg?" Hinata asked as a smile came to her face. Ino had told her that they had another child while they have been away.

" Oh, this would be our third." Ino said.

The chubby little girl poked her head out from behind Chouji's leg.

Hinata knelt down with her hands on her knees. " Well hello there, my name is Hinata. What's your name?"

The girl only clutched tighter to her father's leg, due to her painfully shy nature. Especially around new people.

" Honey, someone has introduced themselves , what is the polite thing to do?" Chouji said.

The little girl looked up at Hinata. She slowly loosened her grip on her father's leg and stood before her.

" I'm….Ami Akimichi." She said as she respectfully bowed to Hinata.

" Well it is very nice to meet you Ami." Hinata said as she returned the bow. " How old are you Ami?"

After a shy smile and fiddling with her hands, Ami held up 3 fingers.

" 3 years old? Wow, you're very well-mannered for your age." Hinata said smiling. " I have a son that's 3 years old. Maybe you would like to meet him sometime."

Ami blushingly smiled as she nodded yes.

((((End Flashback))))

" There is much more to Ami Akimichi than she lets on." Hinata thought.

Back at the testing center….

Ten-Zhen seemed to be holding his own just barely with the test. Ami seemed to grasp a couple of questions, that was until she heard a tapping, much different from the scrabbling of the dozens of other pencils in the room, as Ami looked ahead, she saw that Miki was tapping the eraser end of her pencil, upon further inspection, Ami saw Miki had her eye cornered back at her.

" Miki-chan..what…" Ami tought.

It was then she saw that Miki was using her pencil to communicate through Morse code. Luckily for them, Ami and Miki had developed a form of Morse code using words they knew, as if they were texting.

Ami picked up her pencil, she had to be very careful not to arouse suspicion. She kept her head down and focused on her paper as she tapped back with the tip of her pencil.

Ten-Zhen angled his eyes over to the girls, it seemed they needed a little help as well, luckily, using a special mirror trick much like his mother used back then, Ten-Zhen managed to copy Toba's test answers. After writing the answrs down on his own test, Ten-Zhen pulled out a tiny device he had made. What it seemed to be was a capsule ball with tread on it. After writing down the answers, Ten-Zhen wrapped up the paper and placed it in the ball.

As he dropped the ball to the floor, it began rolling towards Ami's seat. Suddenly Ami felt the capsule hit her foot. As she angled her eyes downward she saw the ball bouncing against her foot. She looked around as she reached down very quick and snatched the ball up before anyone could notice.

She popped it open and found a tightly packed note inside. She opened it to see the answers. She looked back at Ten-Zhen with shock in her eyes. Ten-Zhen merely replied with a nod. Ami realized even though this technically was cheating, she had no choice but to use the advantage. She began writing down the answers.

" Wait…Miki-chan and I won't have enough time to go through the answers through Morse. I may have to do something." Ami thought.

Ami then began tapping with her pencil. Letting Miki know she is going to use the Yamanaka Mind Transfer Technique, the only Yamanaka technique she knows.

Miki nodded at her, then readied herself for the transfer.

Ami then placed her hands together and transferred her conscious into Miki.

" Alright, I did it. Now I have to write these answers down fast, there's no telling how long I have." Ami thought as she quickly putdown the answers.

Ichiro seemed to be getting the answers perfectly, it seemed he did not even have to cheat.

Though other Genin were being continually thrown out, the 9, the Kusagakure Akimichi and the Iwagakure team were still in it.

" Ok, pencils down, it's time for the 10th question." Ibiki said.

" Even if I miss this 10th one, I still get like a 90. That's an A-. That'll pass." Toba thought.

" Now, there are a few conditions with the 10th question. The first one is, that if you get it wrong, regardless of your current score, you fail the exam." Ibiki said.

" Wha- WHAT'D HE SAY!?" Leiko said.

The students were all stunned.

" Pipe down!" Ibiki said. " Now, these are your options. You can choose not to answer the 10th question if you so choose."

" Hmph." Chojo said. " This is just like what my father once warned me about. Well I won't be fooled. "

" Not…to answer it." Toba said.

" If you choose not to answer it however, you will fail the test, but you will be able to take the exams again in 6 months."

" Well, I guess we have to answer it, what other choice do we have?" Miki said.

" However…" Ibiki said. " You will be forced to compete with your teammates to answer the 10th question. The one with the best answer will proceed, however, the 2 teammates that scored lower will have their numbers recorded, and will never be allowed to take the Chuunin Exams again!"

" What the…You can't do that!" Kisha yelled.

" Silence! I am the proctor of this exam, I'm fully within my rights to do this. Now, if you choose not to answer you may leave, better luck next year." Ibiki said.

" Hmph." Chojo said as he got up from his desk. He calmly walked out. Believing he must know something, his teammates followed.

Toba was looking down at the table. " So..even if I win, Kisha and Shinji will never become Chuunin? They'll be Genin forever." Toba thought long how hard life would be for his teammates, regardless of how skilled they got and how strong they were, they would never advance.

" I could always do this in another 6 months, but I can't do that to them." Toba thought.

" Miki-chan is my best friend, I couldn't do that to her." Ami thought.

Ami then stood up from her desk, shocking her teammates. She walked out the door with her head hung low.

" Ami-chan…" Miki said. " Well I'm not gonna do it if you quit. Ami-chan wait up!" she said getting up from her desk.

" Oh no, I'm not gonna be the asshole here. I'm coming too." Ten-Zhen said.

Toba then got up from his desk. " Guys, I'm sorry." Toba said.

" Don't be, we're coming too." Kisha said. Inimaru barked in compliance.

" I guess it wouldn't be much fun without you guys to make it interesting." Shinji said.

Ichiro and his teammates were already on their way out.

" Guys, I won't be a part of this." Kato said. " One of you should stay and maintain a shot at becoming Chuunin."

" Ok, I will." Suedo said.

" Suedo!" Leiko shouted.

" Relax, I'm just kidding." Suedo said getting up from his chair.

Along with the new Rookie 9, other students got up to leave.

" These are not easy decisions to make. But you have the next exam to look forward to." Ibiki said to the students as they left.

Toba let out a sigh of depression. " And here I told my folks I was gonna ace this thing."

The students all waited in the hallway with a scouter-nin accompanying them.

" Wait here, and someone will open the doors to let you out." The scouter-nin said pointing to the exit doors. He then walked away.

" What…do we do now?" Ami said.

" We have no choice, we just train hard and hope to do it again next time. Geez, my father was right. This exam will mess with your head." Kisha said.

20 minutes passed as the candidates waited in the hallway. Suddenly the exit doors swung open.

Before the Genin stood a man with slicked back brown hair and glasses. He wore black clothing under faded gray body armor. At first the students didn't know what to make of this.

" I am Udon, your second proctor, congratulations you have all passed the first stage of the exam." Udon said.

Nearly the entire group stood bug-eyed.

" I'm sorry, did you say…pass?" Kato said.

" That's right."

" Oh my God." Miki said.

" But wait the first proctor said we failed if we left the room." Toba said.

" Correct, that's what he said. Allow me to explain." Udon said going through the procedure.

" The first 9 questions of the exam were a test of your skills in gathering information. You may have noticed that the questions were nearly impossible for any Genin to answer."

The group all agreed.

" So ask yourself, why if you were caught cheating, would we only mark 2 points off your score, rather than just throw you out right there on the spot?" Udon asked.

" I see…" Kato said.

" Exactly, a ninja must always be ready to gather information. Even under extreme pressure and circumstances. You were all put in a situation that demanded that you gather information, in other words cheat without getting caught."

" Hmm, that makes sense" Toba nodded. " Knew it the whole time."

" No you didn't!" Kisha and Shinji said at the same time. Causing Toba to give a beady-eyed glare at them.

" Ok, that much I understand, but what was the point of the last question?" Miki said.

" Now that was the icing on the cake. As teammates, you will face greater threats as your careers progress. This was a test to see if you were willing to sacrifice your teammates in order to attain higher status. Those people, we have no use for." Udon said.

" Nani?" The group said.

(((Flashback)))

" Nani!?" The entire class said.

" That's right. You all fail!" Ibiki said.

" Wait! We were gonna answer the last question!" A Genin said.

" That's right, and you were ready to throw your teammates to the dogs for it! As far as I'm concerned, none of you deserve to be Chuunin!" Ibiki said.

" You can't do this old man!" A Genin yelled.

Suddenly, that same Genin went flying through the classroom doors.

" Who the hell are you calling old man? Now all of you get the hell out of my sight!" Ibiki said.

((((End Flashback))))

"I don't care how strong any of you are. In the end teammates depend on each other, as ninja you must be ready to put your life on the line for any of your teammates. Those who abandon them are not worth being called ninja." Udon said.

" Really?" Ami said.

" But, by being here, you've proven that you put your teammates ahead of yourself. So I say congratulations." Udon said.

" we…We passed…" Ami said before being glomped by her best friend as they jumped up and down.

" We passed! We passed!" Miki said.

" Oh God, I can't believe it!" Toba said.

" Hey!!" Udon said, causing all celebrations to stop instantly.

" Hate to break up the party, but you're nowhere near being done. That was merely the first stage of the exam." Udon said.

" First stage!? What the Hell!?" Toba said.

" Now, your second stage will begin tomorrow. I want everyone to meet at the forest station at 7 am tomorrow. I want you to bring supplies to last for a week. If you don't that's your problem, because we don't supply you with anything." Udon said.

" And one more thing…..make sure, you kiss your loved ones goodbye…..just in case." He said with a smile on his face. Doing a fine job of freaking out some of the Genin.

" Dismissed!" Udon said.

As the Genin exited, Udon held a hand up to Toba and his teammates.

" Team 8. Konohamaru's your squad captain, correct?" Udon asked.

" He is sir!" Toba said.

" Fine, just make sure you do one thing for me." Udon said.

" Yes proctor!" Toba said. (Toba's a little scared of Udon.)

" Tell Konohamaru Sarutobi to stay the Hell away from my field. "Udon said. " Dismissed!"

Team 8 walked away wondering what that was all about.

--

Next Time.

Toba: The name itself doesn't exactly bring about confidence.

Hinata: Just remember to work together well with your team, if you use your abilities together wisely, you can make it through. Now get yourself ready, we have company coming over.

Toba: Next time! Fight through the Forest of Death!

--

More coming……… Unless you want an Uzumaki Uppercut, you'll give me a review, a good one (shakes fist)