If the tension in the classroom was palpable before, following Ibiki's announcement it was positively suffocating. The remaining examinees collectively held their breath as the intimidating figure's piercing eyes swept over the room. Ichigo's teeth worried into her bottom lip, praying that it was a question that Naruto could answer. He just needs one point! One single point!
"However, there's a catch." A ripple of unease propagated through the already nervous group, making Ibiki sneer exultantly. "If you answer this question wrong, not only will you automatically fail this exam, you will also be barred from taking it ever again. You'll be a Genin for the rest of your miserable life!" All sense of decorum was flung to the wayside as several of them jumped up to shout objections. They bounced off Ibiki harmlessly, and he just clasped his hands behind his back with a jaded look. Someone accused him of breaking the rules, to which he haughtily replied, "I make the rules now. It is irrelevant how past exams were conducted. That being said, there's a buyout clause, if you will. Anyone who chooses to bow out now will fail, but still be allowed to take next season's exam without prejudice."
Slowly, the angry examinees fell back into their seats as the weight of the decision mounted upon their shoulders. Ichigo could feel it too, and she hunched over on the desk as if she were laden with the weight of a hundred stone-filled knapsacks. Her unseeing eyes watched her thumbs twiddle together in furious battle. A Genin for the rest of my life?! I'll never make good on my clan name like that! I'll be even more of a laughingstock! She thought wildly as her canine dug into the soft flesh of her lip, beading red blood as it punctured. The taste of iron flooded her dry tongue with its coming. All the confidence she had mustered up until that moment was threatening to dissolve away, melting like snow under the assault of a burning red sun. Is it a bluff? If it was a bluff, Shikamaru would know…! She thought and peered out of the corners of her eyes at him.
The dark-haired boy was rigid in his chair aside from his leg, which was jumping erratically at frantic speed. He had his hands knitted over his mouth, so she couldn't see his expression, but his wide eyes told the whole story: he was freaking out too. Ichigo's stomach twisted at his unease. If he didn't think it was a bluff, then surely it must be true, right? Whimpering, she looked back at her neatly filled-in exam sheet.
Three out of the four of them had completed the exam. As much as she liked Naruto, there was not a single doubt in her mind that he was sitting in front of a blank sheet. Her silver eyes slowly shifted to his form a few rows below; his hands were back into his already tousled blonde hair, and his nervous sweat was shining in the fluorescent lighting. This tenth question was his only chance, and therefore collectively their only chance, at proceeding onward to the next round. If any of them got the question wrong, that was it. It was over. No second chances.
Ichigo knew it would just crush Naruto. His dream was to become Hokage; how could he ever if he was just a Genin? The rest of them, arguably, could still achieve some semblance of their dreams as Genin, but Naruto's entire meaning for living would be obliterated. Tears brimmed in the corners of Ichigo's eyes just thinking about it. She could never live with herself if she got this question wrong and just snatched his chance of improving his social standing. Her own social standing be damned; Naruto deserved every chance he could get, because there was no reason for his ostracization. He had no sullied name or traitorous parents. He was just Naruto and apparently that was crime enough.
"I can't do it," she simpered pathetically as the tears rolled down her cheeks. Shikamaru stirred and looked at her incredulously.
"Ichigo, you're not dropping out, are you?"
"I can't do it. I can't take his dreams from him." Confused, he followed her gaze down to the fidgeting Naruto. His head snapped back to her, opening his mouth to argue, but she was already in the process of raising her hand. She smiled placidly to no one but herself. It was all right. They still had plenty of chances to earn Chunin rank; they were rookies, after all. There was no shame in self-preservation. It was the logical choice here, to run away to fight another day. She should be selfless for the sake of her friends.
She knew all of that, but why did the thought of forfeiting make her so awfully sick to her stomach?
Her hand halted beside her head as Naruto, painfully slowly, raised a trembling hand. Every one of their graduating class looked at him in acute horror. Naruto had never given up. Ever. For him to voluntarily forfeit the examination meant that the prospect of losing his shot at Hokage scared him out of his wits. Silence hung in the air as he kept his head bowed, fingers shaking violently as he held his hand aloft.
"As if!" He roared suddenly and jumped out of his seat to violently slam his hand down on the desk. Ichigo and Shikamaru both jumped at the thunderous slap that accompanied the action. Fuming, Naruto pointed a finger at Ibiki; his back was to her, but Ichigo just knew he was wearing that confident twisting smirk below his blazing blue eyes. "You think you can scare me? Huh? So what if I'm a Genin forever? I'm still gonna be Hokage, and that's a fact! So bring on your tenth question! Bring on a hundred questions! I'm passing this stupid test and there ain't nothin' you can do to stop me!"
He crossed his arms with a dignified huff before slamming his rump back into the chair and tipping his nose up at the proctor. The air continued to ring with his words long after they had tumbled out of his mouth, and everyone in the room reeled in their aftershocks. It was absurd. It was suicidal. It was asinine. There was no reason to take him seriously.
Yet, try as she may, Ichigo couldn't help but burst out into snorting giggles.
"Ahaha! I'm sorry!" she snickered as her teammates and fellow rookies looked at her incredulously. "I promise, I'm not- fufufu- that was a good speech, ahaha, but man! You were so serious!" she howled as she pressed her forehead into her arm and slammed her fist on the desk a couple of times. Really, there was no need to laugh in this situation, but the sense of relief and determination that his words had inspired in her just made her stupidly giddy for some reason.
"Of course I'm serious!" Naruto griped at her with a pout. "I'm takin' the question even if I get it wrong! To hell with that guy!" he added with an accusatory point at Ibiki. The man's eyebrow twitched upward at his gesture, but his expression betrayed no hint of his feelings about it. The room began to rumble with insults, calling Naruto a fool and a show-off. After a few minutes of trying to suppress her giggles, Ichigo sat up with a long sigh and wiped at her teary eyes with the heels of her palms.
"You're a lunatic, Ichigo," Shikamaru groused beside her.
"Maybe so," she smiled in amusement beside him, "but then again, I'm on the same team as Konoha's number-one knucklehead ninja, so I suppose I can't help but be a little crazy too, y'know?" The chair scraped against the floor as she stood up and primly jammed her fists into her hips and puffed out her chest. "And as his teammate, I can't let Naruto jump into the fray alone! Bring on the question! You're gonna wish you'd made it harder," she grinned devilishly at Ibiki.
"M-me too!" Sakura cried and jumped up, holding her hands to her chest. "I-I doubted there for a second, but… We're a team, and teams stick together. Even if we're Genin forever, that isn't the end of the world! Right, Sasuke?" she asked with a meeker tone, obviously hoping she didn't anger him by jumping on the crazy train. Sasuke snorted and gave her a pointed side-eye.
"You're all too loud," he criticized, and Sakura's body sagged miserably. She looked up hopefully when he smirked and gave Ibiki a challenging head-nod. "They're idiots, but they're my idiots. It's only fair that I dive right on into Hell with them."
"Sasuke~!" the three of them squealed in delight from their respective areas of the room, delighted he was actually joining in on their ridiculousness for once. He leaned back in his chair with a pleased look, balancing it on two legs and propping his feet up on the desk in a clear show of disregard for Ibiki's authority. "Come on, then. We haven't got all day. Or do more of you chumps want to jump ship because his bluff's got you scared?"
"Hey!" Kiba shouted angrily from an area behind her. Ichigo looked up to see him leaning over his desk with a wolfish scowl. "Stop acting all high-and-mighty, you four, like you just weren't about to piss your pants!" he accused and slammed a fist down on the desk. "Shino, Hinata, no way are we letting this team of lame-o's show us up! We're taking the question, period!" Shino shrugged in indifference and Hinata squeaked obediently beside Naruto, flushing and pushing the tips of her index fingers together.
"Shikamaruuuuu!" Ino yowled down, making the boy twitch at the high pitch of her voice. "Choji, you too! You boys bow out and I'll make ya regret you were ever born!"
"You already do," he grumbled and slouched down, but Ichigo caught the faintest hint of a smile on his lips.
The energy in the room had shifted drastically. Once again the rookies were making themselves known, but rather than attracting glares of derision, the older examinees were gawking at them in nothing short of inspired awe. Choruses of agreement began to ring out through the room, and Ibiki's critical gaze swept across the still-sizeable crowd.
"Is that it, then? All of you are hell-bent on following this clown into absolute uncertainty?"
"Hey, nothing in life is certain," Ichigo challenged with a sardonic wave of her hand. She then made a crushing motion with her fist. "You take what you can and make do! You push forward despite all odds! Isn't that what it means to be a ninja?" His beady eyes stared intently at her for a moment before he actually cracked a smile and nodded sagely.
"Indeed. Very well, then- you all pass."
If Ichigo had to pick a noise to accompany that moment, it would have to be a great glass wall shattering to a million little pieces.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaa-?!"
Ibiki was laughing riotously, even holding his stomach with his head craned back, at their collective disbelief.
"You pass!" he repeated jovially before holding his arms out in a congratulatory manner. "You all officially pass on to the next round. The decision to take the question- as the white-haired one so kindly put it, pushing forward despite the odds and consequences of failure- was the tenth question." Ichigo chuckled sheepishly and scratched at her cheek as her words were once again referenced by the proctor. "If you were too cowardly to face punishment of failure, then you are too cowardly to be promoted to Chunin and serve the Land of Fire. It's that simple." He sighed contentedly and then started undoing the knot of his bandana. "I am sure all of you realized the point of the exam, as well," he smirked as he pulled the cloth away from his head. Disgusted hisses and "oohs" undulated through the crowd as he did.
The crown of his head was irreparably marred, criss-crossed with bulging scar tissue and puckered with indentations from what looked like a drill. It was an ugly and gut-wrenching sight to behold. "An important skill for a shinobi is information-gathering. Many of you will have to travel deep behind enemy lines to secure precious intel, and this is what happens if you cannot do so efficiently and secretly." After a moment of letting the gravity of the wounds sink in, he replaced the cloth to his head. "Remember this lesson, for it may safe your life one day. Now then, allow me to tell you about the next ph-"
A few of the girls screamed shrilly as the window on his left side shattered and a giant ball of cloth barged in. It landed in front of him before unfurling, revealing a woman within. She pinned the cloth to the ceiling with kunai and allowed it to flap down, revealing an inscription crudely drawn in paint announcing the second phase of the exam.
"All right, you maggots! Follow me!"
You could hear the crickets chirping in the grass outside. "What? Why are you all staring at me? Wait a sec- Ibiki! Why did you pass so many of them?! You're too easy!" she complained, whirling on the man who was just barely visible behind the painted curtain.
"Anko… You're early. I haven't yet explained the second exam to them yet."
"Oh," she frowned and looked back to them. "Whatever. All of you, file out behind me. I'll escort you to the next exam site and will explain the rules in detail. Now, move out!" The woman went as quickly as she had come, dashing out of the classroom door to speed down the hall. Ichigo stepped up onto the desk, feeling Hotaru claw up her mesh shirt to poke his head out of the neckline and pant excitedly, but stopped to glance at Shikamaru.
"I'm glad all the rookies passed! See ya in the next round," she smiled and went to jump to where her teammates were gathered below. She stopped when he caught the loose sleeve of her shirt, and she looked at him questioningly.
"You've really changed a lot in these last few weeks," he said. His expression was complicated, but a blush rose to her cheeks at the implication that he was mildly happy about it. "You used to just… let things happen to you, without fighting back. You used to doubt yourself all the time. What happened?" Smiling, Ichigo glanced down at her teammates.
"Hurry up, loser!" Sasuke called impatiently.
"Ichigo, Ichigo! Did you get all the questions? I'm sure you did! You're smart!" Sakura trilled delightedly.
"Hey-heyyyy, what's takin' you so long? Let's get to the next round already!" Naruto whined and stamped his feet. She had to giggle at their raucous enthusiasm. No doubt about it, her crazy self sure fit right in. Amused, she looked at the inquisitive Shikamaru.
"I found some reasons to finally fight back, that's all. It's a lot easier to do when you've got someone in your corner. You… should know that better than anyone, Shikamaru," she said. His eyebrows shot up, and then he gave her a soft look.
"Yeah. I guess I should." He let go of her sleeve and shoved his hands into his pockets. "You owe me one, by the way. Don't be surprised if I collect in the next phase."
"Keeping score? Really?" she teased and stuck out her tongue. "All right, then. I'll save you if you have to come running to me for help!" she joked with a little wave before jumping over the set of tables to land next to Naruto. Hotaru's tail thumped against her belly as it wagged ferociously, because Sakura began cheerfully scratching the top of his head. It must have felt so good to him that he ignored how she was cooing and calling him cute. Ichigo tossed another glance at Shikamaru as he joined up with Ino and Choji to start tromping down the steps.
Took me long enough, but I finally took your advice, Shikamaru.