Team Tragedy
A Naruto Fanfiction
Author: ElderxChildx6 Co-Author/Editor: EDelta88
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. All rights reserved.
Team Tragedy (c) Me (ElderxChildx6)
Len Hatake (c) Me (ElderxChildx6)
Chapter 13: The Written Test
When Squad Seven entered room 301 for the exam, everyone turned their gaze to look at the three rookies that had shown up. Most of them appearing annoyed or even angry of their arrival. It made no sense...at least at first. When Squad Seven had entered the room, they had been quiet. They didn't make a sound. Other than walking in, they didn't even attempt to draw attention to themselves. What was their problem?
"SASUKE-KUN~!" Ino shouted excitedly as she glomped Sasuke from behind. Earning an annoyed glare from Sasuke as Len snickered at his predicament. "I've missed you so much~! I hope Hatake hasn't been bothering you! You better let me know if she does!"
"I think the only one bothering him, so far, is you, Ino," Shikamaru chimed in as he and Choji entered the room. Causing the rookies to turn their heads to look at them.
"Hey, Shikamaru, Choji!" Naruto greeted as he smirked. "Ready to get beat in the exams?"
Shikamaru closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "Troublesome," he muttered.
"Naruto, be nice to the others who are taking the exams," another female voice cut in. Making everyone look to see Squad Eight entering the room. Hinata smiling politely as she looked at everyone. "None of us know who will pass or fail."
Naruto reached up and scratched the back of his head as he beamed her an apologetic smile. "You're right," he agreed.
"Yeah!" Kiba began with an overconfident smirk. "Because we're totally going to win! We've been training hard, and Hinata has become a beast! There's no way we'll lose!"
Hinata glared at Kiba before she brought her hand up and smacked Kiba on the back of his head hard enough to make Kiba's head tilt forward.
"What did I just say to Naruto, Kiba?" Hinata asked him sternly. Giving her teammate a scowl of disapproval.
"That none of us know who'll win," Kiba said in a soft, whiny tone as he rubbed the back of his head. His expression resembling a kicked puppy.
"And?" Hinata inquired. Crossing her arms as she continued glaring at him.
"To be nice…" Kiba trailed off.
Hinata gave him an approving smile. "Good."
Len blinked as she looked at Hinata. Then proceeded to rub her eyes before she looked back at the young Hyuuga, again. Since when did Hyuuga Hinata stop being so shy and timid? She wondered as she looked at her old classmate with confusion. Seriously, almost anyone who had spent time with her back in the academy could have seen the difference. Hinata held herself taller. Not in the means of she had grown or anything. Her confidence had seemed to be more pronounced. She would flinch, fidget, and stutter whenever anyone had even said "hello" to the girl back when she was in the academy. Now, she was speaking first. Talking to Naruto...even scolding her own teammates! When could that have possibly happened?
"Glad to see you have made it to the exams, Len," Kiba said with a smirk as he stepped closer to her. "I'm sure you'll beat this exam and make it to Chuunin."
Akamaru let out a bark in agreement before he jumped off of Kiba's head towards Len. Which she caught and began petting him. "Nice to see you, too, Akamaru," Len said with a soft chuckle.
Kiba's eye twitched. "Hey, are you trying to steal my pal from me?"
Len rolled her eyes before she looked back at Kiba. "You and I both know that will never happen. Akamaru is your partner, remember? He chose you. Nothing I do will ever make him change his decision on that."
"Then where's my hug?" Kiba demanded as he held his arms out to her. Which earned him another eye roll from the platinum blonde before she stepped closer to him. Akamaru jumped back up onto Kiba's shoulder before Kiba wrapped his arms around Len and gave her a huge bear hug. Len felt like her ribs were about to crack with how tight he was hugging her, but after a few minutes, he released her and she stepped back.
Sasuke watched the two as they interacted. His expression remaining blank of any emotion, However there was a glint of something in his eye. A very brief spark. No one had seemed to notice.
"You know, you guys should be more quiet," a male voice that none of the rookies recognized chimed in. Making them all turn their attention toward the man in question. He had long ash grey hair which he wore in a low ponytail. Round glasses, and the Konoha hitae-ate on his forehead. "This isn't exactly a field trip, you know. You guys are acting like a bunch of school kids."
Len looked at this new addition to their group for a moment. Giving him a once over. All and all, he seemed harmless.
"Hey, kid," a rather harmless sounding male voice said in Len's mind. "I was wondering if you could help me? I lost my puppy."
…
Nope, Len thought as she looked at the stranger before her. Don't trust him.
She turned her attention to Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto was looking at the stranger before them with a suspicious glare. Sasuke seemed suspicious, as well. When they both looked to their female teammate, they both gave her a curt nod. Indicating that they picked up on it, as well.
No shinobi was harmless… None of them.
"Who do you think you are?!" Ino growled as she glared at the stranger before all of them.
"I am Yakushi Kabuto," the stranger introduced.
Animaru quickly rushed through the village. Carefully concealed by both his henge and the lion's mask. Specifically looking for Kakashi. He had a good idea where his uncle was. The cenotaph in Training Ground Three. Kakashi always went there whenever he had the time to himself to do so. So if he was anywhere, that was more than likely where he would be.
Once Animaru made it to the training grounds in question, sure enough, there Kakashi was. Standing in front of the memorial stone. His hands in his pockets. His single onyx eye staring at two names in particular that were carved onto it. Animaru joined his uncle.
"We have a problem," Animaru proceeded to tell him.
"And what would that be?" Kakashi inquired.
"Yakushi Kabuto, former member of ROOT and traitor to Konoha, is participating in the Chuunin Exams," Animaru informed him.
Kakashi's eye widened as he turned to his nephew. "Are you sure?"
"I'm more than sure," Animaru said in a serious tone. "Danzo helped me because I wasn't actually a traitor to Konoha, remember? I've been apart of ROOT since that night, six years ago. I've read the file that concerns Kabuto. In fact, the only reason I'm not going to Danzo about this is because the ROOT report on Yakushi Kabuto states that Danzo had him killed when Kabuto was still gennin rank. How a gennin can still be alive leaves me to question Danzo…"
Kakashi rolled his eye at his nephew. "I could've told you that one," he said in dry sarcasm. "Oh, wait...I did." he glared over at Animaru.
"In any case, the proctors and higher ups need to be informed," Animaru stated. "I'm going back to keep an eye on Len." With that, he turned and began to leave the training grounds.
"You do realize that once she enters the second stage of the exam...you won't be able to follow her to protect her until she passes the said second stage, right?" Kakashi asked as he watched his nephew.
Animaru paused for a moment. His back still facing his uncle. "...I am aware." He then proceeded to shunshin out of Kakashi's sight. After a moment of Kakashi staring at where his nephew had been standing, he closed his eye as he sighed heavily.
"Well, I better report to the Hokage about this…" he mumbled to himself.
"Let's see...his full name is Sabaku no Gaara," Kabuto began as he looked at his ninja info card about the individual in question that Sasuke had asked him to look up. "He's in one of ten teams from Sunagakure participating in the exams this year. Mission experience, eight C-Rank missions and… woah! One B-Rank mission as gennin! He's taking the exam for the first time, so that's really all I have on him. However, it seems that he has returned from all of his missions unharmed."
Len looked over to Sasuke and Naruto, who in turn looked back at her. All of them sharing the same thought…
How in the world could he access mission and medical records of a foreign ninja who was taking the exam for the first time?
Len certainly did not feel comfortable about this situation, at all. If this guy knew that much about a foreigner taking the exam for the first time, what did he have on her or her team? This situation seemed even more bleak. She needed to find a way to destroy those info cards. In the wrong hands, those cards were dangerous. And she certainly did not trust Kabuto with information on her.
"Well, thanks for the help, Yakushi," Len said with a fake smile. "And good luck with the exams."
"Thanks," Kabuto said with a smile of his own. "I have high hopes for this year."
After a few minutes, Kabuto's smile suddenly disappears. He quickly dodges two kunai that stick into the floor where he had been standing. The moment Kabuto avoided the attack, a gennin with bandages mostly covering his head and wearing a straw raincoat appeared behind Kabuto and swung his metal arm at him.
Len noticed the music note-like symbol on the gennin's hitae-ate. Which meant that the gennin was from Oto. A hidden village that had recently been established in Rice Country.
Kabuto dodged the gennin's attack much quicker than his previous display in speed let on. He smiled triumphantly to himself for a split second before his smile vanished and his glasses shattered. Followed shortly by him falling to his knees and proceeding to throw up.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Naruto practically shouted. "He totally dodged that!"
"Naruto," Len mumbled. "Calm down. I'll explain it later, since you clearly missed it."
"For a veteran shinobi who's taken this exam four times, I thought you'd be more of a challenge," the one with the metal arm said. Appearing mildly amused.
And shouldn't you have been smart to not show off like that before the exams even start? Sasuke and Len both thought as they stared at the Oto shinobi with the metal arm. Did he seriously think most wouldn't pick up on that?
"Write this down in your stupid cards: 'Otogakure shinobi: definitely chuunin'," the Oto nin with spiky hair ordered arrogantly.
Sasuke glanced at the boy's hands and noticed a whole in his palm. Possibly an opening to a tube? Sasuke nudged Len to get her attention before he nodded his head in the other Oto nin's direction. Len looked at the spiky-haired boy and noticed the same thing Sasuke did. Noting the openings in the boy's palms.
Suddenly, a cloud of smoke erupted in the room. Startling many of the ninja in different ways. Some screamed. Most, however, pulled out their weapons for an attack. Squads Seven and Eight in particular took a defensive stance. Their hands on their shuriken holsters, ready to strike if needed.
"Quiet down! You worthless bastards!" a voice shouted from within the cloud. When the smoke dissipated, a tall man wearing a long black cloak and a bandana-style hitae-ate stood at point with several chuunin standing behind him. Naruto, Sasuke, and Len noticing two of the chuunin standing behind the taller man looked strikingly similar to the two gennin they had spotted weeding out the gennin that couldn't even see through the genjutsu they had used.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," the tall man began. "I am the proctor of the first test to the Chuunin Selection Exams, Morino Ibiki."
Len smirked as she looked at Ibiki.
"Turn in your applications, take a number tag and sit where that number tells you," Ibiki explained. "Once everyone is sitting at their designated spot, we will pass out the papers for the written exam."
Naruto turned his head to look at Len from over his shoulder. Len's navy gaze met Naruto's and she simply nodded once. Naruto nodded in return and then faced forward, again. Waiting for his turn to have his application taken. Len looks over her shoulder at Sasuke, who gives her the same look Naruto as the raven-haired boy looked back at her.
Again, Len simply nodded. A sense of understanding washed over Sasuke before he gave her a nod in return. They both looked back to Ibiki.
Once they had gotten their numbers, they each took their respected places where their numbers matched where they'd sit. Naruto was sitting next to Hinata in the front row. Sasuke was sitting in the third row closer to the right end of the row. One unknown ninja from Kusa to his left. Sasuke couldn't help but glare at who was to his right. After all, Axl was visibly shaking in terror over the fact that he was seated next to Sasuke for the written exam. Len was sitting in the sixth row more in the middle. Kiba sitting to her right and an unknown ninja from Taki to her left.
As soon as all the gennin were seated, Ibiki clicked a piece of chalk against the chalkboard to get everyone's attention. He then went on to explain the rules of the test. Each squad had ten points to start. There were ten questions and each one was worth one point. If a question was missed, one point would be subtracted. The tests were also done as a team. Whether the squads passed or not was determined by the overall score of the squad.
Of course, protests sounded, but Ibiki immediately shut them up before continuing. The last rule was that if anyone was caught cheating, two points would be deducted from that person's score for every attempt that was noticed. And if anyone in their squad gets a zero, the entire squad will get zero and will be asked to leave and try their luck again, next time the Chuunin Selection Exams are held. The last question would be given forty-five minutes after the test began.
Len smirked again, as she leaned back in her chair. Her arms folded against her chest. Naruto and Sasuke also smirked while listening to Ibiki.
Len had guessed right. The first part of the exam was the gennin being tested on information gathering and how well it could be done without being noticed.
When Ibiki told them to start, everyone flipped their tests over and immediately began working. Len studied the test that was sitting in front of her. They were being tested on information gathering, however some of these questions she could accomplish on her own, without resorting to cheating. Working the math of the point system in her head, she deduced that the questions she already knew the answers to were enough to keep her team from being disqualified. Deciding that this was the best approach, Len began working on the questions she knew. The first question she knew was deciphering a cryptogram.
As soon as she was done deciphering the cryptogram, Len began answering her remaining questions using the code from that said question so no one could cheat off of her.
Sasuke used his Sharingan and began copying down the answers he saw from a gennin a few seats down. Assuming he was actually a chuunin in disguise since he seemed to know the answer to every question. Much to the same manner as Len, Sasuke also wrote his answers in the code from the cryptogram question. He certainly wasn't going to give Axl the upper hand and cheat off of him. Oh no. He had something...special planned for the boy, Sure, what he had planned Sasuke needed to have Axl pass the written test, first, but he wasn't going to be the one that allowed Axl advance to the next stage of the exam.
Naruto looked over the questions of the exam before he flashed a toothy grin and looked up at Ibiki, which in turn caused Ibiki to stare at the boy intimidatingly. Naruto recognized the questions on the test, meaning he already knew the answers. They were copied from the 1,001 Pieces of Ridiculous Trivia You will Never need to Know. Ibiki got these questions straight from that book, so Naruto already knew the answers. Naruto gave Ibiki a thumbs-up, which caused Ibiki to look at him with puzzlement before the blond boy looked back to his test and happily began writing down the answers.
Hinata used her Byakugan during the exam. Able to see everyone's tests, she noticed that Naruto wasn't cheating off of anyone. She smirked as she honed in on Naruto's test. Copying down the exact coded script he was writing.
And they all thought Naruto was dumb, Hinata thought as she copied his answers.
As the test went on, several people got called out and were asked to leave. Some having to practically be dragged out either due to them protesting the entire time or because of mysterious laughing fits that prevented them from walking out, on their own. Those that remained were smart about their cheating methods. To Sasuke's surprise, Axl - and respectively his team - managed to not get themselves disqualified.
Once Len had finished all of the questions she could answer, herself, she put down a note in code for Ibiki's eyes, only.
Ibiki-sensei, there is a Konoha gennin named Yakushi Kabuto with more information than he should have for the exam. You should look into it.
Once she finished her message, She flipped her test over so no one could read it and attempt to decipher not only her answers, but her message to Ibiki, as well.
A few more people get shuriken thrown at their tests and their teams disqualified. Close to the end of the first forty-five minutes, Kankuro raises his hand.
"What?" A chuunin asked.
"Bathroom," Kankuro replied sheepishly as he rose to his feet. The chuunin in question meets Kankuro at the end of the row he was sitting at and proceeds to cuff him before escorting him out of the exam room.
Len had to credit the boy. He certainly wasn't stupid. No way Ibiki didn't notice how lifeless that chuunin's eyes were, however. She was going to laugh when he came back from the bathroom.
And right on que, at the forty-five minute mark, Ibiki shouted, "Okay! I will now give the tenth question!
"But before that, there is one thing I must say… there will be a special rule for the tenth question," Ibiki added in an ominous tone and gave everyone a dark look that made almost everyone in the room cringe.
The tension in the room was broken, however, when the door to the exam room screeched open and Kankuro returned with his puppet. Len smirked as Ibiki's intense gaze shifted to Kankuro. Which seemed to make the Suna nin in question practically freeze in his tracks.
"You're lucky," Ibiki told him in a dark chuckle. "Your little puppet show didn't go to waste."
Kankuro visibly paled. Len brought her fist in front of her mouth as she chuckled softly in amusement. Seeing the Suna nin practically piss himself at Ibiki seeing through his trick was just too amusing.
"Oh well… Sit down," Ibiki ordered harshly.
Kankuro quickly complied and returned to his seat.
"I will now explain...these are the rules of desperation." Ibiki let out a subtle burst of killing intent. "First, you must decide whether to take this question or not."
"Choose? What happens if we choose not to?" Temari demanded.
Ibiki let out another ominous chuckle before answering. "If you do that, your points will be reduced to zero and you will fail along with your teammates."
Hearing a rather loud Thud! off behind her, Len looked over her shoulder to see Shikamaru directly behind her with his head on the desk. Putting two and two together, Len smirked. Shikamaru was disappointed to find out that he technically could have passed simply by taking a nap and not writing down a single answer.
Several gennin shouted at Ibiki, then. "What does that mean?! Of course we'll take the final question, then!"
"And now for the other rule…" Ibiki went on. "If you choose to take the last question and answer incorrectly, you will be banned from ever taking the Chuunin Exam, again."
"What kind of rule is that?!" Kiba shouted as he stood up. "There are people here who have taken the exam before!" Akamaru barked angrily on Kiba's shoulder.
Ibiki laughed malevolently. "You're unlucky," he told the Beast Tamer. "For this exam, I make the rules. But you have a way out. You can just choose not to take the risk and try again next year." He surveyed the room with a dark look. "Now, raise your hand if you do not wish to continue."
Len, Naruto, and Sasuke watch as teams start eliminating themselves. Several of these said teams being from other countries. Sasuke shook his head as he watched the foreign squads leave. Didn't they know that Ibiki from Konoha didn't have the authority to ban them from taking the exam?
Naruto put his hands together behind his head as he leaned back in his seat. Smirking as he looked up at Ibiki. Causing their proctor to look down at the blond boy in question.
After a few minutes of staring, Ibiki gives Naruto a faint smirk before it's suddenly gone again and he looks at the rest of the room. "For everyone still remaining…" he trailed off once all the squads that had given up were no longer in the room.
The entire room goes scarily quiet. Anyone could have heard a pin drop as they anxiously waited for the final question… Well, everyone except for Naruto waited anxiously. His confidence practically radiated off of the boy.
"...Congratulations on passing the first test." Ibiki grinned at everyone. Taking in everyone's dumbfounded expressions.
"Wait, what?" a gennin asked. "What about the tenth question."
"You deciding to stay was the answer to the tenth question," Ibiki told the gennin.
"So then, were the other nine questions just a waste of time?" Temari shouted.
"Oh, no. The other nine held a purpose," Ibiki began as he looked out the window for a few moments. He then looked back to the entire class as they patiently waited for him to explain. "They were to test your ability to surreptitiously gather strategic intelligence under the most adverse circumstances."
"Oh, well that clears up everything," Temari said sarcastically.
Ibiki went on to explain that his objective was to test them not only as individuals, but as a team. How well they functioned as a team was part of that testing. The questions were designed to be difficult, too difficult for the average gennin to answer on their own. As such, chuunin disguised as gennin were placed to give the actual participants of the exam someone to cheat from.
"Information…" Ibiki trailed off as he removed the bandana from his head to reveal the ugly scars that were underneath. The scar on the left side of his face seemed to originate from the ones on his head. "It can be the most valuable weapon in battle. How well you gather intelligence can determine whether a mission's a failure or a success. There will be times you'll have to risk your life to get it."
"Man, what a mess," Sasuke said as he looked at Ibiki's scars, puncture wounds...burn marks. They were reminence of being tortured for whatever information he had. One day, anyone or everyone in this room would get them, somewhere...anywhere on their body. It was only a matter of "when".
"Of course you must weigh your source of information," Ibiki went on as he returned the bandana to his head to once again hide the majority of his scarring. "Information gathered from an enemy is not necessarily accurate… Always bear this in mind."
"Okay...but that still doesn't explain the purpose of the tenth question," a gennin with red hair - the Kusa nin that was sitting next to Sasuke - stated.
Ibiki smirked. "It doesn't?" he inquired. "It was the main point of the whole exam. Surely you see that."
"Sure," Len remarked with a smirk. "But apparently, you need to explain it, anyway. Since the rest of the room seems to be confused."
"As I said before, the goal was to test you not only as individuals but as part of a squad." Ibiki answered. "The final question gave you two choices, both difficult. You could choose to play it safe and skip the question, though it meant that both you and your fellow squad members would be failed. Or you could try and answer it, knowing if you got it wrong, you would lose your chance of ever being Chuunin. It was a no-win situation. But just the sort Chuunin have to face almost every day.
"For example," Ibiki went on, "let me give you a hypothetical mission. To steal a document from an enemy stronghold. You have no idea how many shinobi the enemy has, or how heavily armed they are. Furthermore, you have reason to believe that the enemy expects you, that you might very well be walking blindly into a trap. Now, do you have the option of taking a pass on this insane mission or say, 'My comrades and I would rather live to fight another day?' Can you choose to avoid danger?"
Ibiki paused for a moment to let the hypothetical situation sink in. After a moment, Len spoke up. "No. There will be several missions that will seem almost suicidal, but we are shinobi. We need to think only about the goal, and of achieving it through courage and discipline."
Ibiki smiled at Len and nodded. "These are the qualities required of a Chuunin squad leader. Those who choose the safer of two paths, those whose determination falters in the face of adversity, those who would put their comrades lives in jeopardy by worrying about their own, those who would save their own necks at the price of sacred honor will never be able to call themselves Chuunin at least as long as I'm here.
"As for the rest of you," Ibiki continued, "you have successfully answered the ten questions I put to you. You have earned the right to continue on to the next step."
Just then, Ibiki shifts his gaze to the window with his eyes narrowed. A few seconds later, something crashes through the window with the force of a small bomb. Making all the excited gennin that had passed the first part of the exam jump and quickly take their battle stances. Kunai bury themselves into the ceiling to reveal…
...A banner?
"Heads up, boys and girls," A woman said sarcastically. She had spiky purple hair and was wearing a tan trench coat. Under the trench coat was what appeared to be a full body suit of chainmail that left nothing to the imagination. "This is no time to be celebrating. I'm your next proctor, Mitarashi Anko."
No...really? Sasuke thought sarcastically. I would never have guessed. The banner behind you clearly doesn't say your name or the fact that you're the proctor for the second part of the exam. Nope. Not at all.
Len's eyes narrowed as she looked at Anko. She knew Anko fairly well. Much like Ibiki. However, unlike Ibiki where her uncle had told her about him, Anko would frequently visit Kakashi. So she knew from personal experience just how Anko's mind worked.
This...might get a little difficult, Len thought as she looked at Anko.
[OMAKE]
Flashback
-Shortly After the Rookie Gennin had Left for their Exams-
Kakashi looked to Kurenai. "So...what have you done to The Little Hyuuga?" he asked the Jounin leader of Squad Eight. Sitting with her and Asuma at a small seating area. One that conveniently had an ash tray for Asuma to flick his cigarette ash into whenever he so needed.
Kurenai blinked as she looked at the silver-haired jounin in question. "What do you mean?" she shot back.
"My niece told me all about how The Little Hyuuga was like during the academy," Kakashi informed her. "That girl was too shy to say one word to anyone. And now she suddenly has all the confidence in the world and doesn't even seem to flinch when someone so much as looks at her. What did you do?"
Kurenai gave Kakashi a sinister smirk. "The beautiful thing is...I've done absolutely nothing."
And for once, Kakashi was confronted by the strange, rare sensation of not knowing what was going on.
End of Flashback
A/N: Hello, everyone! Been a while! Suffice it to say, I am no longer pregnant. I now have a beautiful baby girl. I have since moved out of the place I was staying and have moved into an apartment with my boyfriend. We're still job hunting, so things are still a bit chaotic and thus updates will still be very few and far between. I have a daughter to think about and I need money coming in so that I can take care of her. So please be patient. At any rate, I hope you enjoy the chapter.^^ And have a wonderful day.
Also, due to the fact that my boyfriend and I feel that there is something missing to this story - as well as grammar errors that I really don't feel like going back and fixing since I'm already so far into this story - we are actually going to be doing a revamp to Team Tragedy. Not saying that this story is bad or anything. In fact you'll probably be seeing some of these same chapters in the revamp simply because they are good chapters. We just feel the story is lacking something and so we are going to rework it from the ground up. Fixing as we go along. I don't know when we will be starting this initial revamp, but please be aware that this is going to happen, soon. I will probably do one more chapter update to notify ALL followers that the revamp will be underway and then this version will no longer be updated. Thank you, and hopefully you all continue to follow Team Tragedy.^^
Updated On: 9/2/16
Unfortunately, FF has stopped me from announcing a way you can tip me to help me out so that I can update faster and more frequently. So if you would like to know how you can help by becoming my patron, please email me at elderxchildx6 . I will email you the link so that you can become my patron. Thank you.