"What do you think was going on with that whole scene up on the second floor?" Naruto asked.
"Some sort of genjutsu obviously," Sakura said with a touch of pride. "It wasn't hard to spot." Since Kakashi thought she could best help her team as a genjutsu specialist she had spent a lot of her free time reading up on the subject. She now knew the tell tale signs of how to spot one.
"It's probably some sort of preliminary to the test itself," Sasuke said. "Trying to weed out the really weak teams."
"Pffft, if you can't even figure out what floor you're on that's pretty damn weak. Like that weird looking kid in then green leotard, he was on his knees begging." Naruto's mouth twisted in disgust. He'd done that as a child, begged people for mercy, it never helped. People just saw it as a sign of weakness and were even more cruel. I'll never beg anyone for anything ever again.
"I'm sure he'll be one of the ones weeded out," Sasuke agreed. "The ones we'll be up against will be the real competition."
"Bring it on! I can't wait!" Naruto said.
Sasuke nodded in total agreement and glanced at his two teammates. Physically they looked like they had back in the academy days. Naruto with that bright orange jumpsuit and goofy smile. Sakura with her red dress and long pink hair. Back then he'd thought nothing of either of them. When they'd been assigned to the same team his only worry had been that they would slow him down. The only thing that was on his mind was gaining power as fast as he could.
Hikedo had changed things. There he had seen Naruto's power and his determination to protect someone no matter the risk. He had seen Sakura's courage, though wounded she had not spoken a word of complaint and had not asked for help. She had stood up and done her duty like a real ninja.
He remembered being surrounded by that endless sea of civilian faces and not being afraid. He would never admit it, but the reason he'd been unafraid was because he'd known that Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura were there beside him and would never abandon him.
He wasn't alone anymore.
Outside room 301 Kakashi was waiting.
"Have you come to wish us luck sensei?" Naruto asked.
"That and to remind all of you that it really is very rare for rookie squads to be nominated. If you don't make it don't feel bad and just look on it as valuable experience for the future."
"What are you talking about sensei?" Naruto asked. "There's no way we'll fail!"
"That's right," Sasuke said.
Sakura crossed her arms and frowned. "Don't you believe in us sensei?"
"If I didn't I wouldn't have nominated you." He stood aside and waved them to the door. "Do your best!"
"Right!" Naruto said and led his teammates into room 301.
Kakashi grinned as they stormed in. Good luck kids, I really do believe in you.
XXXXXXXXXX
Having been students here they knew 301 was a large lecture hall. Even so they were caught by surprise at how full it was. Ninja in all sorts of different outfits and with various hitai-ites all looked their way as they entered. Most of them did not look friendly.
"Nice crowd," Naruto mumbled.
"Hn."
"Na… Naruto-kun?"
Naruto looked over to see Hinata there with her team. She was looking at him with a light blush already on her face and pressing her index fingers together.
"Hinata-chan? Your team is in the exams too? Why didn't you say anything?"
"I'm so… sorry I gu… guess I forgot." Having Naruto paying attention to her at once made her both happy and nervous.
Sakura grinned. Now that Naruto had become a good friend to her she wanted him to be happy. She was sure that since Hinata was such a nice girl and really liked him that they would be good together.
Kiba looked at the scene and smirked. "So you don't get any ideas Naruto your girlfriend is on our team not yours. So don't expect her to help you out."
Naruto shot him a confident look. "That's fine I don't need any help, but if you guys need some help feel free to ask."
Everyone there, even Shino, raised a questioning eyebrow at what Naruto had not said.
Naruto-kun didn't say I wasn't his girlfriend. Does that mean he think of me like that? The thought turned her face completely red.
Naruto noticed it, and he knew the reason for it too. He'd picked his words with care and knew exactly what he'd said. Seeing her turn red gave him the perfect excuse to tease the girl just a bit more. It was kind of fun playing these little games with her. Sasuke had never known what he'd missed by just ignoring his fangirls.
Leaning forward he placed a hand on her forehead. "Are you feeling all right Hinata-chan?" He said in a caring tone. "You look kind of flushed."
Naruto-kun is touching me! He's worried about me!
"Aw come on!" Kiba growled as he caught his teammate just before she hit the ground. He sent an angry look at Naruto. "Could you please not do that for the rest of the exams?"
"Sorry," he said innocently. "I guess I don't know my own strength."
"There you are cutie! I've missed you!" A girl cried.
Taken by surprise Sasuke found Ino clutched to his back.
"Where have you been Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked.
"Ino let go of me," he said in a frosty tone.
"Heh, of course Sasuke-kun." She gave him a last squeeze and slid off his back. Spotting Sakura she yanked down her bottom eyelid and stuck her tongue out. "I'm going to make Sasuke-kun mine!"
Sakura looked over at her best friend. But rather than the loud argument Ino expected she just got an annoyed question. "Can't you take this a little more seriously?"
"What do you mean?" Ino retorted. "When it comes to Sasuke–kun I'm always serious."
"I was talking about the Chunin exams you should be serious about that!" Sakura snapped. "Could you at least pretend to be a ninja for awhile?"
"What did you say forehead girl?!"
"Yara, yara, are you being troublesome again Ino?" A lazy boy approached with a fat one munching on some chips.
"Shut up you lazy jerk!" Ino shouted.
"What? They let you guys in too?" Naruto asked. "Man Kakashi-sensei said it was hard for rookie squads to get in here."
"I guess he was lying," Sasuke said.
"Yeah," Naruto agreed.
"Hey! You kids need to settle down! This isn't recess you know!" A silver haired boy with glasses and a leaf hitai-ite approached them.
The three rookies all turned to face him. The instant Naruto caught his scent he stiffened; there was something about it that reeked of danger. "Who the hell are you?" Naruto asked sharply.
Surprised by the sudden hostility the teen raised his hands and smiled at them. "Hey now no need for the harsh looks. My name is Kabuto and I'm just looking out for my fellow leaf ninja."
"Thanks we don't need your help."
"Now, now, no need to be like that. I can tell you're all rookies here. I just wanted to tell you to be a little more discrete, it's not a good idea to draw a whole lot of attention to yourselves. People are always tense when the exams start, you don't want to heighten the atmosphere with a public shouting match."
"Have you been here before Kabuto-san?" Sakura asked.
"This is my seventh time," he said.
"Then you can tell us what to expect?" Sakura asked.
"Hell," Kabuto said pleasantly. "The form of the tests change from exam to exam, but what never changes is that you will have to face some brutal competition from people who will do anything to advance. And since you're all children you can expect to be targeted by other teams."
"Well aren't you a load of sunshine?" Naruto said.
Kabuto shrugged. "That's what you can expect; you're better off knowing the truth from the start. If my words scare you, you should go ahead and quit right now."
"Yeah right," Naruto said. "I'm going to win this competition no matter what it takes. Me Uzumaki Naruto!"
"And what makes a little kid like you think he can win out against such powerful ninja?"
"Because of what I am," Naruto said.
"Which is?"
"If you're from this village you should already know," Naruto lowered his voice so only Kabuto would hear.
Interesting, Kabuto thought. His mission was to scout Sasuke and learn all he could about him. But his teammate was turning out to be rather intriguing as well.
There was a large puff of smoke and a dozen new arrivals appeared.
"All right you worthless bastards," one of them yelled out. "I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the Chunin selection exam's first test. He paused and let everyone quiet down. "Thank you for waiting; we will now start the first test of the Chunin exam. Each of you come forward and draw a numbered lot. Sit in the seat corresponding to that number. Once you are all seated we will hand out the tests."
"Aw you have got to be kidding me! A written test?" Of all his nightmare scenarios this one had never even occurred to him. He had built up his body, learned jutsus in the real world and in his sleep, improved his taijustu with endless sparring sessions with hundreds of clones. What he had not done was study and book learning since his escape from the academy.
As he sat down he noticed that by some quirk Hinata was sitting right next to him. The girl shyly nodded to him. "Lets do our be… best Naruto-kun."
"Yeah Hinata-chan," he said. He noticed the light blush coloring her cheeks and the way she focused her eyes on the desk in front of her. He thought the way she acted around him absolutely adorable. He'd never had any girl pay him any attention. Having a cute girl like Hinata crushing on him was kind of nice. He momentarily wondered about Sasuke's sexual preference. How could any normal guy not enjoy having a pretty girl chasing him?
"All right you maggots listen up!" Ibiki shouted. "I'm about to explain the rules to your test. Leave the test face down until I tell you to begin. Listen carefully as I won't repeat myself and I won't answer any questions."
He took a piece of chalk and began to write the rules down on the chalkboard as he explained them. "First rule; you guys will all start off with ten points. The test is made up of ten questions and each one is worth a point. For each wrong answer you lose a point. Second rule; this is a team test. Whether you pass or fail will be determined by the combined scores of your teammates. Third rule; anyone caught by my assistants cheating will have two points subtracted for each offense. And the final rule; those that lose all their initial points during the test will be failed along with their two teammates."
So if I get a zero I fail?! Naruto thought with mounting panic.
"The test will last one hour. I want you to show us what extraordinary ninja you can be. Begin!"
Through the room was the sound of papers being flipped over and pencils being pressed down.
Okay, I need to relax, I know I'm not book smart but Sakura and Sasuke both are. Since this is a team event if they both do well it should be enough to get us through. All I have to do is not get a zero. I just need to answer one question right. How hard could that be?
He looked at the first question. It involved cryptography. Did we even cover this in the academy? He looked at the second question. It involved angles and distances and possible wind velocities. He looked at the third question. It was filled with math problems that had more letters than numbers. Scanning down the exam he saw all nine problems equally impossible to decipher. The tenth question was left blank except for a note stating it would not be given until there were only fifteen minutes left.
Aw crap I'm completely screwed! All he could do was stare blankly at the sheet in front of him. He would have to hope and pray that he could somehow answer that last question.
In the meanwhile Hinata was flying through the test without any apparent difficulty. He considered looking over at her paper for a quick glimpse. He was dissuaded when one of the instructors sitting to the side loudly announced a student had cheated five times. Ibiki loudly told him and his two teammates to leave. Other teams soon followed.
If he was caught cheating just once he would lose two points. If he did managed to answer the tenth question it wouldn't do him any good as he'd have a grand total of negative one in that case. He decided he was better off risking everything on getting that question right.
But then about twenty minutes into the test Hinata covered her mouth and spoke in a very low whisper. "Naruto, you can copy if you want."
He had to fight to keep the look of hope off his face. Pretending to yawn he whispered back. "Thanks, just let me see for a few seconds."
Without an outward sign she lifted her left arm and slid her test towards him. He glanced at it, anything he saw even once he remembered. Just a couple seconds and he looked away covering his mouth again. "Okay, thanks."
She quickly covered up her test again and he began filling out the answers with a gleeful smile. It seemed that having a girlfriend could be useful in all sorts of ways.
XXXXXXXXXX
The crowd thinned noticeably as team after team, was ejected for cheating.
"All right!" Ibiki spoke. "Fifteen minutes left, I will now give you the tenth question."
Naruto didn't care. He was willing to bet most of the answers Hinata had given him were correct. Whether he got this last question or not didn't matter.
"But before I get to that I'll need to mention two additional rules that will apply. First you will need to decide whether or not to take it."
"What?" Some blonde girl with a Suna Hitai-ite asked. "Why would we not take it?"
"Because of the last rule. Should you answer the question and get it wrong you and your teammates will never be allowed to take the exam again!"
Not surprisingly the entire room burst into loud shouts and angry demands.
"You can't do that!" Kiba shouted. "There are others here who have taken the exams before!"
"It's just your rotten luck you got me this time. As proctor my word is absolute! Anyone who answers wrong will be permanently barred from ever taking this exam again!" He paused to allow that time to sink in. he saw nervous looks pass between teammates. "On the other hand, anyone who rejects the tenth question will automatically fail along with his teammates. However you will remain eligible to take the exams again in six shirt months. So please consider carefully how much you are willing to risk on this one question, not only your future but the futures of your teammates as well."
Almost immediately someone stood up and announced he was rejecting the tenth question. He and his teammates were summarily failed and forced to walk out. Three more teams followed in quick succession.
Naruto leaned back and pretended to yawn covering up his mouth. "Will you help me again?"
Hinata covered her mouth and answered. "Yes."
With that Naruto sat there and waited, there was no way in hell he was going to give up.
Ibiki watched as team after team left. "Anyone else? Whether or not you spend the rest of your lives as Genin rides on this." He waited for a full minute but no one else raised a hand. "Very well then, all of you who are still in this room… have just passed the first test."
There was another loud ruckus followed by an explanation. Naruto tuned it out, the test was over and he had passed. That was all he needed to hear. Turning to Hinata he gave her a relieved smile. "Thanks Hinata-chan, you really saved me."
"Oh, it… it was nothing."
"No, you were putting not only yourself but your teammates at risk just to help me. That really means a lot to me. You took a huge chance, just for me."
Her heart beat was picking up and she could feel her face getting hot. "I… I would do an… anything for you Naruto-kun."
"Anything?" he asked with an amused note in his voice.
Her face got even darker. She couldn't find her voice but she nodded her head up and down.
Leaning forward in his seat he put his lips to her ear and whispered. "That's why I like you so much Hinata-chan."
She let out a tiny little, 'eek' and slumped unconscious into her seat.
I love doing that to her, Naruto thought as she carefully placed her hands in her lap.
The little scene did not go unnoticed. "Hey Naruto!" Kiba shouted. "What the hell did you say to her?"
Naruto smiled and wagged a finger at him. "It's a S-E-C-R-E-T."
"Look out!" Someone shouted.
A glass window shattered as a form burst into the room. A kunoichi in a trench coat, mini skirt and fishnet stood in front of a banner that read, 'Proctor of the Second Test.'
"All right idiots enough celebrating! I am the proctor for the second test of this exam! Mitarashi Anko! Now follow me!"
The applicants remained seated blankly staring back.
"You really do have the worst timing Anko," Ibiki told her.
"Hmph!" She did a quick head count of those in front of her. "Sixty?! Ibiki you left twenty teams? You went way too easy on them!"
"What can I say? We had some exceptional candidates this time."
"Ha! I'll cut their numbers down by at least half! All right all of you get up and follow me; we're going directly to the start of the second stage."
"Where's that?" A squat rain ninja asked.
Anko grinned wolfishly. "Special training ground number forty four, better known as the Forest of Death."