Warning: more canon-esque events
Chapter 14
The first time Sakura met the Konohamaru Gang, she had to try really hard not to laugh at their introduction. It was almost like they were playing superhero; it was kind of cute.
What wasn't cute was the little brat asking Naruto if she was his girlfriend. The blond paled and shook his head, "No way man! She's like a sister to me!" Sakura nodded her head sagely, that she was. They were practically family.
"Is it because she's got a big forehead?" Konohamaru asked.
Hokage's grandson or not, the pint-sized brat might not live to see the next hour. Her killing intent might have radiated too strongly because the preschoolers hightailed it in the opposite direction. The genin watched with slight horror as the preschoolers bumped into two perfect strangers as they turned the corner.
Naruto was the first to rush over, Sakura and Sasuke followed. The blond caught Konohamaru by the scarf and pulled him back just before the stranger could make a grab for him. "Hey there!" the blond started, pushing the preschooler behind him, "There's no need to get physical, they're just kids. We were just fooling around."
The girl with the stranger scoffed, "Lay off," she addressed the guy she was with, "You'll only get into trouble for it later."
The guy with the war paint smirked, "Why don't we join in until the stricter ones come around." He took one step forward and brought his hand forward, "Little punks,"
Sasuke shushin'd and caught that wandering hand before it could make contact. Holding it at the wrist, he didn't apply any pressure, but the hold was firm enough to get the point across. "Foreign ninja should behave themselves. We may be hosting you all here for the exams, but we're not pushovers."
Kankuro smirked, "Konoha Genin have backbones after all, but you're still weak." He flicked his fingers but what he had expected to happen didn't.
Sasuke's mouth twitched into a smirk, "Do I need to tout the fact that he's the Hokage's grandson?"
Gritting his teeth he yanked his other hand out of Sasuke's grasp and brought it back to his side. He stepped back and yanked the package off his back, loosening the bandages. Brats were brats after all, daring to get smart with him despite being younger. He was going to teach them a lesson. Behind him, Temari cautioned, "You can't be serious!"
A third voice filtered above them all, "He better not be." Everyone looked up at the newest arrival. A redhead with a giant gourd strapped to his back. "Ga-gaara!" the two Suna shinobi exclaimed.
Kankuro hastily repositioned his luggage on his back, "I, I was just joking around, I promise!" Gaara slid his glance between his siblings, landing on his brother. "You are an embarrassment to the village." He disappeared in a swirl of sand and reappeared between his siblings and the Konoha nin.
He didn't even bother to tilt his head, but his eyes found the blond and he said without much emotion, "I apologize for his antics. He is a fool." The blond couldn't his voice. He looked at Gaara and could feel something was off, something was different about this boy. Something dangerous.
Sakura moved to stand beside her friend, "It's fine. Suna and Konoha are allies after all. It was a misunderstanding." Gaara slid his glance over to the girl. Her hair was pink and her eyes were green, and her forehead a little wide. But he paused and stared at her eyes. They were green like his, they had witnessed death like his.
He tilted his head and heard the voice ringing in his mind, "So you have killed too." Without missing a beat he turned away and walked past his siblings, "Come. This is not why we're here." His siblings obediently followed after him.
They waited until they were out of sight before letting out a breath of relief. Sasuke walked over to his teammates and let out a low whistle. His teammates caught on to the signal, they were being watched by someone else now. And they weren't friendly.
They sent the preschoolers on their way before heading off to the library. They had some scrolls to dig up on all the participating villages.
x
"Nii-san," Sasuke addressed his brother at dinner. Itachi looked up from his rice to give his little brother his undivided attention, "Yes, Sasuke?"
Without skipping a beat, Sasuke asked, "How tight will security be for the Exams?" The older brother blinked, a little surprised by the question. He mulled it over and slid a glance over to their father who nodded.
"To my understanding, there will be more patrols from the Police Force. Most shinobi that haven't already been sent out are being kept close to home," he tilted his head as he studied the teen, "Why do you ask?"
Sasuke finished his rice and asked his mother for another helping before turning back to Itachi. "Kakashi-sensei said that because of Naruto's status, we would constantly be in danger. I figured opening our village for the exams could invite unwanted trouble. Will you be around?"
Itachi frowned, his little brother certainly had a reason to be concerned. "I will be one of the many watching over the exams, in the shadows."
So ANBU then, Sasuke figured.
Itachi set his bowl down on the table and placed his chopsticks on top, indicating he was done. He thanked his mother for the meal and caught Sasuke's attention. "If you'd like, I can teach you the chakra flare pattern to signal me with, should you face a dangerous foe that you can't escape." His mind went to a dark corner, now that he thought about it, there would be one bastard crazy enough to infiltrate the exams for his goals.
"You have a call pattern?" Sasuke asked curiously. Itachi nodded, "Every ANBU agent has one. Another sort of code when you can't use your fingers or words." And as an afterthought he added, "Kakashi-senpai has one too. Although it might be of much use. Jounin instructors will be placed in a room to watch the progress through the monitors until the end of the second phase."
"Senpai..." Sasuke started connected the dots, "That means Yamato has one too then?"
Itachi nodded, "Yes, he does."
Sasuke agreed to learning Itachi's flare pattern after dinner. He received permission to teach Sakura and Naruto. And then tomorrow, he was going to hunt down Yamato and Kakashi and get them to teach theirs to the genin as well.
He wasn't a worrywart, but he wanted to make sure he had as many options as possible. He would protect his friends. His family.
x
"Get out!" Naruto got kicked out of his own mind for the second time within an hour. Stupid Kyuubi.
He turned to look at Sakura who had been patiently waiting beside him, "What am I doing wrong?"
Sakura smiled gently as she watched him gripe about his current conundrum. "Nothing's wrong, Naruto, you're doing everything right."
"Then why does he keep kicking me out!" he flopped on to the grass and started rolling around in frustration. She laughed lightly at his antics.
"I told you this before when we were kids didn't I? You have a big heart."
He stopped rolling around and sat up to look at her, "So?"
She grinned, "It scares him so he reacts the only way he knows how." Understanding dawned on his face and his expression turned sneaky, "Oh-ho, so that's how it is." He brought her in for a bear hug and then let her go to settle back into a sitting position. Determination renewed, "Thanks Sakura-chan, you're the best." And then he slipped back in.
x
Kakashi entered the Jounin Headquarters. He, like Yamato, had been surprised when his cute genin asked the pair to teach them their flare patterns. He had merely raised an eyebrow and Sasuke quickly explained his concerns.
So the ex-ANBU taught the genin their flare patterns.
Now the scarecrow was inside headquarters to get a look at the security details for the exams. He headed upstairs, past the lounge and straight to an office door at the end of the hall. Knocking once, he entered and found the man in charge actually at his desk.
Kakashi entered and greeted the commander, "Shikaku-san."
The Nara head looked up from his pile of papers at the greeting. "Oh, Kakashi. Great timing. Come and have a look at this." Kakashi made his way over and Shikaku shuffled the papers until the got the right one and smoothed it over the table top. "These are the schedules and patrol groups that have been decided on for the exams. Any thoughts?"
Shikaku knew a good deal about Kakashi's past and his views on having a team of any kind. He knew the scarecrow would be hellbent on protecting what was his to his dying breath if it came down to it.
Kakashi looked the paper over from one end to the other, fully absorbing the details. He pulled another map over, this one showing a wider expanse of the forest surrounding the village. He circled one area, "The patrols need to overlap this area as well." He stopped his circling and drew his finger towards the picture of the village.
"It's behind the mountain on the side with the shrine. Largely overlooked, but it's a blindspot for the village. Nothing really ever happens out there, but we shouldn't take that chance. Shikaku nodded slowly. He would reroute some of the patrols to make sure they made it through that area as well.
"I hear there's some... mystical influence over that area as well. Might want to set a Hyuuga on that patrol, just in case."
Shikaku raised an eyebrow but made a note on the papers anyways. He didn't really want to question it. If he remembered correctly, the shrine was headed by Haruno Kizashi, and his daughter was on Kakashi's team. Guess it made sense.
"Was there something that you needed?" the commander asked.
Kakashi smiled behind his mask, "Now that you mention it... would you happen to have files on the participating teams' instructors from the other villages?"
x
Team Seven met up outside the Academy and headed upstairs together. They paused on the second floor when they heard a commotion. Gai's Team was being beat back from the exam door by two Konoha shinobi. They were laughing at the others' miserable attempts to get through forcefully.
"If you can't get through us, you're not even worthy of becoming Chuunin," the left guard said.
Sasuke and Naruto rolled their eyes, they knew those signatures rather well, considering how often they tagged along with Genma. Sakura shrugged and continued up the stairs. Neji had the Byakugan, so they were really downplaying themselves this time around.
At the end of the hall on the third floor, Kakashi waited for them in front of the double doors. "I'm glad you three made it up here. Can't take the Exams unless in a group of three after all," he was really proud of his students, expecting nothing less.
They passed through the doors and everyone in the room looked over as the doors swung shut. Hundreds of pairs of eyes examining the newcomers.
Sakura looked at the mass of bodies. Jeez we're a colourful bunch. They stood out like sore thumbs. At least their attire were common black and greys. With the exception of Naruto's jacket with it's splash of orange.
At the sound of crunching chips, the trio turned and saw Chouji's team leaning against the wall. Actually, Hinata's team was there as well. Team seven walked over to their friends and exchanged greetings.
"Seems like it's been a while since we've all gathered, but here we all are," Kiba grinned, "the Rookie Nine." Ino sighed, "I can't believe you seriously just called us that."
Indignant he raised his voice a little, "What the hell! I thought it was a good name! Right, Akamaru!?" the pup yipped. Sakura chuckled, "It's not fair to consult your nin-ken, you know he doesn't care for things like that."
The friends ribbed Kiba a few more times before another Konoha genin interrupted them.
"My, my, you guys should learn to quiet down," the silver-haired nin said, "This isn't a field trip you know."
Sasuke tensed, this guy gave off nothing but bad vibes. Sakura and Naruto felt it too. And a few others in their group felt it as well. Affronted, Ino gave the older boy a fake smile, "And who would you be?"
The guy pushed his glasses up his face, "Yakushi Kabuto. Take a look around." Team Eight and Ten looked around, but Seven kept their sights on Kabuto. "I thought I'd give you guys a little warning since everyone's really tense. Don't want to get your butt whooped."
He pulled out a stack of cards, "These are my ninja info cards," and then he proceeded to explain and go out of his way to show them how it worked.
Something wasn't adding up at all.
This was his seventh time taking the exam, and probably the first for some other genin in the room, but his cards held too much information.
Sasuke caught Kabuto's attention, "There's two specific people I'm interested in, do you have their information?" The older boy nodded, "It's not perfect, but it's burned and recorded. Do you have their names?"
Sasuke gave him the names Gaara from Suna and Rock Lee from Konoha. Delighted, Kabuto shuffled his cards and pulled out two from the stack. Inserting chakra, the cards lit up with details.
Too many details.
Team Seven was sure this was Lee's first time entering. Kabuto shouldn't have any chance of knowing anything more about Lee other the fact that he was a close combat type, given that he was on Gai's team. Yet the card stated his mission record and stats, along with his teammates faces and Gai's face.
Even Kabuto acknowledged that this was Lee's first time in the Exams.
Team Seven shared a look as Kabuto continued on to Gaara's card next. How did a mere genin access such specific information on all participants? And the cards could only be activated with his chakra. The gears turned in the trio's minds. Spy.
Smoke erupted from the other end of the room, a booming voice rang out, "Silence you good-for-nothings!" The smoke cleared and Ibiki stood with a group of grey-uniformed ninja behind him. The large man smirked, "Sorry to keep you all waiting. Name's Morino Ibiki, proctor for the first test in the Chuunin Exams."
Naruto rubbed his chin in deep thought. His face looks more gaunt than the last time I saw him. Aging? The man needs some ramen.
Ibiki scanned the crowd, "I'll say this in advance. There will be no fights during the exams without the proctor's permission. Even with it, actions that lead to death are not permitted. If you fuck with me, you're disqualified, got it?"
Sakura cringed in her mind, Did he seriously just refer to himself with -sama? Somebody's got a complex.
Silence met him. "Line up and hand in your application form. You will be given a number plate. Sit at the assigned seat that matches your number. No exceptions. The paper test will be handed out after."
The crowd followed his instruction and everyone was eventually seated with a paper and pencil in front of them. The question side down. Ibiki tapped the chalkboard with his piece of chalk. Everyone looked up. "There are several important rules to this exam. I won't take any questions, so listen up."
After the explanation of the rules, the clock's second hand landed on the dot and he shouted for them to start, "You have one hour, begin!"
Time to think outside the box.
Sakura flipped her sheet over and read through each question. She cursed inwardly, only a select few in the room including herself would ever be able to solve these problems. Already the bar was set ridiculously high.
That's right, ridiculous.
She scanned the rows of people in front of her, recalling the third rule, cheaters caught would be disqualified after five instances. After all, it was two points each. In the roundabout shinobi way, it just meant you had to cheat good enough to not get caught.
And if they were being encouraged to cheat, there had to be plants among the examinees that knew all the answers. Body language was hard to read when it was just everyone's backs, but she noticed some were having an easier time answering the questions. Their necks didn't sweat, they didn't perform any nervous behaviour. Those were most likely the plants, or extremely confident in their answers.
It seemed like almost everyone else had arrived at the same conclusion. She looked down at her paper and then looked up again at the whirl of a thrown kunai.
Naruto barely flinched as it whizzed past him and dug into the test paper of the guy behind him. Kotetsu stood up, "You, you messed up five times," his smile a little cocky, "You and this guy's teammates, clear out." The guy and his cellmates got up and left the room grudgingly. Naruto felt bad for the guy who got caught, his mates were probably going to give him crap as soon as the door closed.
Slowly others were getting called out and the numbers began to dwindle. Some were unwilling to accept their defeat and had to be physically removed.
Sakura stared down at her paper, fingers tapping on her knee. She knew if she answered the questions, Ino would use her Mind Transfer technique to copy the answers. She couldn't risk that, she need to pay attention until the time as up. Sasuke also sat behind her in the rows, so hopefully he would take note of her inaction.
The next thing on her mind was the last question Ibiki would ask. Given how geared up everyone was, there was a really good chance and Sakura would bet ramen on it, that it was an all-or-nothing kind of question. So she scribbled what she need to on the back of the paper and left it question side up, blank.
She felt the instant Ino's chakra invaded her system. Too bad she wouldn't be getting anything out of it. Another moment later she registered Ino pushing herself back out. Sakura let out a quick breath of relief. She was glad Ino didn't stick around to pick through her mind.
At the forty-five minute mark, Ibiki announced he was going to give the last question. And just because he could, he decided to throw in some extra rules.
Psychological warfare, here we go.
x
"Hey Genma-nii," Naruto asked as the trio practiced the water walking exercises, newly taught to them by the tokujo.
Genma's heart clenched a little at that title. "Yeah, what is it kid?" he watched as the three of them walked with different levels of ease. Sakura having it the easiest, naturally.
Naruto was tempting to look at Genma and not his feet, but he was afraid looking away would make his control slip. "When I was a kid, I met this guy at the market. He seemed to know about me, but I'd never seen him before. But he was definitely a shinobi. He was this big guy with a grey trench coat and a bandana covering his head, kind like yours. Two scars on the right side of his face. Have you seen him before?"
Genma almost choked on his senbon, what the hell was Ibiki doing in the market, first of all, and making conversation with midget, impressionable, Naruto. He could have made the boy piss his pants with his mean look alone!
Genma removed the senbon and coughed to clear his throat. "Ugh, there's only one guy in the village with that description," Sasuke and Sakura turned to show their interest, "Morino Ibiki."
"Snoring in the forest?" the raven asked curiously and Genma choked back a laugh. "Kids, don't be misled by his name, it's almost like wolf in sheep's clothing!"
Sakura cocked her head to the side, "So, he's a big, bad wolf?" Genma grinned, "Yeah, he is. Head of Torture and Interrogation. A real pro. He was on a genin team with Hayate, if you remember him Sakura-chan." The girl nodded.
"So like what, he's the king of mindfucks?" Naruto's face contorted in confusion.
"First of all, kids like you shouldn't know words like that, and even if you did, at least wait until you're a genin to use 'em," someone had to be the responsible adult here, "Second of all, it's not just that, it's psychological torture. He messes with your mind so badly that you'd sooner spill it all on a silver platter if it meant stopping your descent into insanity."
"Hm..." Naruto pondered and his attention slipped and so did his feet, "Ah!" he shouted before he sunk into the water.
x
"Those who don't want to answer the last question, raise your hands."
The guy next to Naruto raised his hand and the Chuunin examiners called out his number as well as his teams and had them walk out. Others started raising their hands as well and the examiners continued to call them out.
Once the numbers dropped by half, Naruto decided it was time to cause a scene. He slowly raised his hand into the air, catching the attention of the examiners and then slammed it down on the table as he got up.
"Don't underestimate me! I won't run away! I'll take your damn question! Even if I stay Genin forever, I will become a Hokage no matter what it takes! I'm not scared!"
He sat back down defiantly and crossed his arms over his chest. Everyone else in the room looked at the blond in awe and suddenly gained courage again.
"I'll ask again, this is a life-changing moment, you can still quit" Ibiki stated. Naruto looked at Ibiki, his grin fox-like, "I don't go back on my word, it's my ninja way."
The proctor took a step forward. Kid's got guts. Hasn't changed at all, still has a way with words. Seventy-eight participants, it's not likely to drop further no matter what I do. He exchanged nods with the fellow chuunin.
He turned back to the genin remaining, "I see your determination, then for all the remaining participants, for this first test..." he tried to draw it out because he liked to mess with their minds even to the end, "you've all passed!"
Now it was Sakura's turn to make a scene, she got up and slammed her hands on the table, "What do you mean we passed? What about the tenth question?"
Ibiki went on to explain the purpose of the first nine as well as the last question. He pulled the bandana off his head, "Of course the idiots who got caught obviously cheating were disqualified. That's because information, situation and timing depending, can be more valuable that life. On the battlefield or a mission, you'll always have to risk your life to fight for it!"
The genin remaining gasped at the scars and holes all over Ibiki's head. Signs of physical torture.
He retied his bandana over his head. "Remember this, wrong information can cause death to you and your team. Hence why we tested your ability to gather the correct information. Of course, the tenth question was the main issue of the exam." He explained the reason behind the tenth question, and it bled into a speech about the qualities needed to be a chuunin.
"You've all gotten through the first gate, with this the exam is done. I wish you all well."
The windows shattered and kunai attached to a giant blanket were thrown at the ceiling and floors. It unfurled to reveal giant writing as well as a woman with short purple hair shouting, "You guys! This isn't the time to be celebrating," she had one hand in her pocket, the other thrust out sideways in a grand entrance, "I'm the proctor for the second exam, Mitarashi Anko! Let's move on to the next stage! Follow me!"
Everyone stared at her, bug-eyed. Ibiki came out halfway behind the giant tarp, "Read the atmosphere you dunce."
Flustered, she tried to amend the situation as she looked at the crowd, "Twenty-six teams Ibiki? Surely you're slipping. I'll be sure to drop it by more than half in the next portion."
"I'll give you the details tomorrow. We'll be changing locations so ask your jounin instructor for the time and place to meet up. That's it. Dismissed!"
Then why did you show up today and now? Sakura questioned the mentality of this woman.
Everyone filed out and the chuunin lagged behind, but Ibiki sent them home for the day and kicked Anko out as well, muttering about being overly eager for a first-timer. He picked up the clipboard that held the list of genin by teams as well as their corresponding seat numbers.
Ibiki will admit it, he was a little peculiar. He started gathering the papers by the teams. When he got around to the Konoha genin section, he picked up Team Seven's first, starting with Naruto's.
Hm? He huffed a laugh. Never thought I'd see the day someone passed with a blank test. For the heck of it he turned it over, expecting to see doodles. And he did find one in the bottom corner. 'Yakushi'.
Curious he moved on to the next paper in the group, Sakura's. Same thing, blank sheet. He turned it over. 'Kabuto'.
He moved on to the last sheet, Sasuke's and found another blank and turned it over. 'Spy.'
His fist tightened on the papers in his other hand. He had questions that needed answers like last week.
x
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura called out as they neared the scarecrow at the usual bridge. The man gave his usual smile, "I see you three passed. I've been told the details for the next test."
Naruto keeping up his happy demeanour, jogged up to the man and wrapped his hands around the jounin's wrist, "That's great sensei!" He gave the man a tug and tapped on the underside of his arm. We need to talk without onlookers. Now. Sasuke's eyes darted to the trees and down at the water.
Catching the signals, Kakashi remained at ease, "Why don't we celebrate with some training. First one to the shrine without flash-stepping gets to choose dinner?" The trio agreed and sped off before Kakashi could even tell them to begin. Doesn't matter, he'd end up winning anyways.
The team made it up the steps of the shrine but took the fork and entered the dojo instead. Naruto pulled seals out of his pouch and Kakashi slapped them on to the walls and activated them.
"What happened?" Kakashi asked as he turned to face his genin.
"There's this guy in the exams, he's a Konoha genin. His name is Yakushi Kabuto," Naruto started.
"He's got these ninja information cards that activates with his chakra. He's been in the exam seven times, including this one, and it's a thick pile with information on most of the participants and the amount of ninja from each village participating," Sakura continued.
"But he even has cards on people who are entering for the first time, which he should have if he didn't know about participants until they entered the room. But he has cards on newcomers like Rock Lee and it lists his attributes and his mission record!" Sasuke finished.
"Please tell me you see the problem with this," Sakura hoped they made sense.
Kakashi's lone eye narrowed, "Yes, I do see it, very clearly in fact. What is a genin doing with information that should only be found in official records and not accessible to low-rank shinobi." It was a rhetorical question, obviously.
"We think he's a spy. Why else would he have stolen official records on cards that only activate with his chakra," Sasuke continued.
Kakashi nodded, "I will take this to the Hokage immediately. Have you told anyone else?"
Sakura answered, "We tried to tell Ibiki-san with our test papers, but I'm not sure if he's going to get it." The scarecrow nodded again, "It must likely would have. We'll take care of it. Continue to act normal so you don't raise suspicion." The trio returned the nods.
"Good. The next proctor is Mitarashi Anko, and I bet you've already met her," the genin nodded, "I can already see how it happened. She's a good shinobi, deep down, a little messed up on the surface, though. To this day I'm still not sure if it's an act or not, but you can trust her. If you sense anything else abnormal, make sure you tell her before the next test begins. The next location is a place you're all familiar with."
He paused to build suspense but his kids weren't falling for it. He sighed, "It's training ground 44, the Forest of Death. Be there at 0900." He looked at the seals, "Now then, how about we take these down and go grab some ramen. It might be your last for a while after all."
Naruto whooped with joy.
x
Author's Note: Team 7 are such cheeky little shits already. Also, I never really like Kabuto.