Disclaimer – Kishimoto owns Naruto and the characters therein.
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Memories Of Others
Chapter 26
Test Of A Genin
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Naruto watched the screens along with the other invigilators, his attention on the corner where Hinata and the other members of the Rookie Nine (as they were being called) had congregated.
"Naruto, clones." Ibiki commanded and Naruto glanced round. Including himself, there were an even dozen to be transported and he wasn't going to be part of a transport ring himself, meaning that all the clones were going to dissipate during the process.
"Taiju Kage Bunshin!"
The room almost seemed to shrink as the number of bodies in the room quadrupled, the newly-created clones shifting around until they were all in position.
"Wait for my mark and remember to jump in formation." Ibiki stated, his eyes fixed on the screens. On the screen, Naruto saw the silver-haired genin who had been showing his friends something start to turn, then Ibiki nodded.
"They're starting to get nervous… hiraishin now!"
Naruto blinked as the world seemed to simply switch from the monitor room to the examination hall. Although his gaze was mostly blocked by virtue of being at the back of the goup, there was nothing wrong with his hearing and he hid a smirk as Ibiki gave his first command.
"Settle down."
The noise in the room plummeted to near-silence.
"My name is Morino Ibiki. Some of you have already heard of me. None of you have ever met me professionally before today. If you had, you would not be here now."
Naruto was astonished. The room had seemed to be quiet before, now it was almost singing with silence. Although he wasn't sure, he thought he could hear the heartbeat of the man beside him.
"My assistants will tell you where to sit. You will go there without complaint and be seated. There will be no complaints or questions until I tell you otherwise."
The group of invigilators split up and Naruto, remembering his special briefing by Ibiki, ghosted backwards until he was standing in the corner, his eyes darting around the hall until he spotted Hinata. His fiancee was looking slightly worried, but she was drawing on an inner reserve to maintain her composure as she sat at her designated desk.
Ibiki waited motionless at the front of the stage, his lack of motion so pronounced that Naruto was wondering if he had somehow replaced himself with a statue, then he raised his head.
"The first stage of the Chunin Exams starts now." He said. "There is a test in front of you. If any of you have turned it over without instruction, you fail."
No-one moved and Ibiki nodded slowly.
"Good. This test comprises of ten questions. Nine of them are on the sheets in front of you, the tenth will be provided in fifty minutes time. This test lasts one hour and you will pass or fail as teams. Each team starts with ten points, two points will be subtracted every time one of you is caught cheating. Lose all your points and you are out of the exam.
"Turn over your papers and begin."
Naruto unsealed his clipboard from the one-use storage seal on his belt and pulled a pencil from his sleeve. For a long moment, he let his gaze rest on Hinata, who was bent over her desk and writing an answer to the first question, then he turned his attention to the rest of the candidates, looking for any sign of cheating that even a civilian wouldn't be expected to miss.
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Ibiki watched Naruto out of the corner of his eye as the young genin's gaze swept over the examinees. The son of the Yondaime was showing a surprising level of professionalism that Ibiki wouldn't have expected had he simply been going by the Academy records. Although he had been looking at his fiancee for a while, it hadn't impacted appreciably with the performance of his duty and as a former prankster, Naruto had a good idea of what to look out for.
"Number seventeen!" One of the examiners called out. "That was your fifth cheat, you and your team are out!"
"What!" The genin in question screeched as she rose in her seat, her forehead glinting with the Hitai-ate of Kusagakure. "You can't be seri…"
Her complaint was cut short by a trio of Henged Narute-clones looking just like Ibiki striding past him to surround her before all four vanished in a flash of light. Ibiki glanced at Naruto, whose fingers twitched in one of the varient codes.
Training Field Five. Ever Genin There. Hold Until Release.
Although the syntax was slightly mangled, Ibiki had no trouble decoding it.
"Numbers one-fourteen and seventy-two, you will make your way to Training Field Five as that is where I sent your team-mate." He said, taking the credit for Naruto's actions. "Anyone else want to make a complaint? If so, I will send them to wait under the gaze of Maruboshi Kosuke until their team collects them."
The hall was totally silent and Ibiki gave a cruel smirk even as his hands, clasped behind his back, wriggled to send a message back to Naruto.
Well done, repeat if needed. Next new plan, warn me first.
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Naruto managed not to blush with embarrassment at Ibiki's gentle reproach, then he turned his gaze back to the genin being tested.
In another life, he might have been amongst them.
Which would have sucked, considering how it was only due to Hinata that he could now read properly.
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"Alright." Ibiki growled, looking out at the assembled genin. Over the last three-quarters of an hour, their numbers had been winnowed by a full quarter, most of whom had chosen to leave quietly rather than have Ibiki transport them out. "It is time for the tenth question, so put your pencils down for now.
"Be aware, the rules have just changed. Fail to answer the tenth question correctly and not only will you be removed from this exam, you will be barred from taking the chunin exam ever again."
The genin stared at him, then several started to protest loudly before Ibiki held up one hand for silence.
"Those of you who believe that you are not ready to take this final question, you may leave without prejudice and will be allowed to take the exam again in the future. Those who choose to stay and get it wrong…"
From Naruto's position, he could only see a small fraction of Ibiki's gloating smirk, but it was enough to make him shiver.
"I'm out." One of the older genin said and Naruto blinked. He recognised him, and he was no genin!
Ibiki had placed several chunin amongst the genin, but why?
"I'm out as well." Another said and if that had been the signal, genin after genin declared that they were leaving, often with their team-mates snarling at them. Within five minutes, only fifteen teams remained in the room, one of which was Hinata's team, to Naruto's gratification.
"Anyone else want to keep their career safe?" Ibiki asked and all the genin simply looked at him. "Then… congratulations, you all pass."
For a long moment, the silence of shock seemed to echo through the room, then it was broken by Kiba.
"What? But you never asked the question!"
"I did." Ibiki countered. "The decision as to whether you would stay and risk your future or leave to play it safe was the tenth question. Because at times, information is more important than life and on missions and on the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it."
Ibiki reached up and pulled off the bandana he was wearing, revealing that the top of his head was covered in puckered scars and several small holes.
"Important information in your hands can be a powerful weapon for your comrades and the village. A weapon that you will need to protect, no matter the cost.
"The ability to be courageous and survive any hardship, those are the abilities needed to become a chunin. Those who can't put their destinies on the line, those who cling to the uncertain future of 'there's always next year' and walk away from their chance, those pieces of trash who can only make such cowardly choices do not deserve to become chunin!"
Naruto felt his heart tighten inside him as he considered whether he had the mental fortitude to withstand the torture that Ibiki had obviously undergone in the past. Even as he thought about it, Ibiki replaced his bandana.
"As it is, you have…" He began, only to be interrupted by a window exploding inwards. The projectile that had smashed through the glass pane blurred and resolved into a woman wearing mesh armour, a miniskirt, sandals and a trenchcoat while the darkness that had surrounded her was revealed to be a banner that she had used to shield herself from the glass fragments before throwing it so that the kunai at the top corners dug into the ceiling, spreading the banner. From Naruto's viewpoint, he could just make out the writing on it.
The sexy and single Proctor of the Second Exam
Mitarashi Anko
"Listen up, scrubs!" She shouted, her eyes flicking over the remaining genin. "You've had it easy until now, but now is where the fun really starts! This is where you start shedding blood and running the risk of death!"
"You're early, Anko." Ibiki remarked as he stepped round the banner and Anko deflated slightly.
"Yeah, yeah." She grumbled. "I could see you were trying to find something else to say, so I decided to help you out and… wow. Only fifteen teams? Not bad."
"A few more and the second stage would have been made redundant." Ibiki commented and Anko glared at him.
"Hey, the ramen brat and I spent ages setting it up and getting the backup plans in place." She groused, then she turned to smirk at the wary genin.
"So, you've all passed the first stage, well now you have to survive the second! It's a survival test lasting five days, so I hope you can grab your gear and get to Training Area 44 within the hour. If you're even one second late, you're out! What are you still doing here? Move!"
Naruto twitched, only for Ibiki to somehow shift to behind him without even seeming to move and putting a hand on his shoulder.
"You'll have to let your girlfriend do this without your help." Ibiki whispered to him. "Helping her now would cause her to question her skills for the rest of her life, wondering if her career was advancing only because of you and not anything that she did."
Naruto sighed and gave a reluctant nod as Hinata led her team out of the window, an action that several of the other teams promptly imitated.
"I know, it's just… I owe her so much… I've learned so much from her… reading, writing, chakra control and usage… what love is and the difference between love and a simple crush…"
"It's like she's your better half?" Ibiki supplied as Naruto fumbled for an explanation. "Then the best you can do for her is to trust her skill and ability."
"I do." Naruto protested and Ibiki smirked down at him.
"Not quite. You have some idea of what she is going up against and so you worry that she may not quite be good enough. But what does your heart say?"
Naruto relaxed. "That she'll do awesomely."
"Then keep that in mind. And if you tell anyone that we had this talk…"
Ibiki trailed off and Naruto shrank away from the ghoul-like glare before he could prevent it.
"How did you get so good at that look?"
"I worked alongside a younger chunin named Tenzo for a while." Ibiki admitted. "He was naturally gifted at doing what we call The Glare. It's still better than mine."
"Brrrrr." Naruto shivered. "In that case, I hope that I never have it directed at me."
"It is rather effective." Ibiki admitted. "Now I'd suggest heading over to the monitor room. Your clones will be very useful there."