As they moved through the village and past the familiar training grounds they all knew, going further to the edges of the village than they ever had before , they felt the tension leaving their bodies, the sharp edges of the written test leaving their bones. For a moment, they all relaxed, but then they remembered what they were walking into – a new, unknown challenge directed by a proctor who was somehow scarier than the last, in totally different ways.
"So, what do you think it's gonna be?" Naruto asked Sasuke and Sakura. All the Rookie Nine stayed near each other but had huddled around each of their own teams as they traveled.
"Probably not something you can just talk your way out of," Sasuke, remembering how Naruto had jumped up and yelled at the last proctor. Naruto really was prone to speeches, a trait Sasuke found he was actually starting to appreciate, though he wanted no part in it himself.
"How did you end up cheating anyway?" Sakura asked, "Because you talked a big game."
"Why do you think I needed to cheat?" Naruto responded, defensive.
Sakura gave him an incredulous look.
His shoulders sagged, "Well yeah, I guess I had to cheat."
"So, how did you do it?" Sakura asked, curious.
Naruto had a brief flash of Hinata offering her answers, but not taking them, too fearful of what would happen to either of them. And the test, every single question blank, barely getting by so he could face the final question, the only question that mattered, head on.
He grinned at Sakura, "It's a secret."
"He probably didn't answer anything at all," Sasuke said, remembering how utterly frustrated Naruto had looked, "Probably just got by on pure luck, based on that last question."
Naruto shot him a look, "Well not all of us can takes tests as well as you two."
"I had to cheat," Sasuke said, not sure why he was admitting this. It would look like failure on his part, but maybe not, because he had been so clever in his cheating, "Used my eyes to mimic the moves of someone in front of me."
"Really?" Naruto asked, surprise on his face.
Sasuke nodded.
Naruto turned to Sakura, "How did you cheat?"
"On come on," Sasuke said, "you know Sakura was smart enough to figure out those answers on her own."
Sakura's heart skipped and her face flushed. She hadn't expected this when she had become teammates with Sasuke, that he was notice how smart she was, and compliment her on it often. It was definitely something she enjoyed and kept her head spinning late at night, when all she could think about was Sasuke.
"Yeah, that makes sense," Naruto said with a shrug, "Whatever's up next, I'm sure we can handle. That new proctor isn't as scary as she's pretending to be."
"Whatever you say," Sakura said, rolling her eyes at him.
Naruto gave her a sheepish grin. He was pumped they had made it through the first round and knew that they could make it through whatever was coming next, especially since both his teammates seemed like they were in such good moods. Nothing could stop them, at least not in Naruto's mind.
A little further back, Team 8 shared the ways that they had gotten through the test.
"With Akamaru on my side, it was easy. I bet we didn't even get caught once, did we?" Kiba set, petting Akamaru, who was currently resting in the bottom pocket of Kiba's jacket. He yipped in response.
"I'm sure we all got caught at some point," Shino said, remembering how often the sentinels had marked their sheets, "We just didn't get caught enough."
Kiba looked at Shino with a shocked expression, "So you cheated?"
Shino sighed, "Yes."
Kiba chuckled to himself, gloating. Shino shook his head.
"What about you Hinata?" Kiba asked.
"I did okay," Hinata said lightly.
"You didn't have to cheat, did you?" Kiba asked, remembering how smart Hinata was, how like the many things she was great at, she did a good job of hiding it too.
Hinata nodded, eyes downcast. She didn't like them knowing that she didn't have to cheat, didn't want to make them feel bad because of their own lack of answers.
"Good job," Shino said, knowing, just like Kiba, how much Hinata liked to cover up her accomplishments.
"Yeah, we like having a smart girl on the team," Kiba said. Hinata's face flushed and she smiled. She had good teammates; she knew it. They were nicer to her and believed in her more than she felt she deserved. But she was working on that, working on remembering she deserved kindness.
A few paces behind them, Neji stared at the back of Hinata's head. It had been years since he had seen his cousin, but honestly, she looked just as pathetic as she always did. Seeing her here expanded the dark, heavy anger that he always carried with him. The fact that she was fresh out of the academy but participating in the Chunnin exams at the same time as him, well, it just went to show the type of privileges the main family had.
Then again, there had been those rumors. The ones whispered behind the closed doors of the branch family's walls. Whispers they didn't want Neji to hear, whispers that Hinata was no longer the Hyuga heiress, that Hiashi had kicked her out, was training up Hanabi in her stead.
"Neji, did you hear me?" TenTen asked, pulling him out of his glare. TenTen and Lee knew the issues Neji had with his family, couldn't help it when they had been teammates for nearly a year and a half now. There weren't many secrets between the three of them.
"What?" Neji asked.
"TenTen just asked what you think this next portion of the exam is going to be like?" Lee asked, curious about his teammate's answer.
Neji thought about it for a moment, "I'm betting it's some type of survival challenge."
"Why's that?" TenTen asked.
"Well," Neji began, "The Chunnin Exam is meant to test our skills as a ninja, but they're likely to focus on essential skills. Intelligence and cunning were part of the first portion, but surely endurance and survival matter too?"
"You think it will be like a survival battle?" Lee asked, eager for a fight, eager to showed that he belonged and could be strong enough.
Neji shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe, or something like that."
"Well, if it's about endurance, we're the team that can handle it," TenTen said, remembering their shared and individual burdens, everything she knew about them and they knew about her. They'd make it through this.
Not too far for them, Shikamaru couldn't help thinking about the girl who had sat beside him. He turned toward his own teammates, "Did anyone try to cheat off of you two? Or did you see anyone else cheating?"
"No," Ino said, "I just enjoyed watching the other teams get eliminated after we all had our answers."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, leave it to Ino to be vindictive about teams of ninjas she had never even met.
Chouji shrugged his shoulders at him, "I didn't notice anything. Why?"
"No reason," Shikamaru said. But there was a reason, and he glanced back at her, toward the back of the crowd, with her two teammates. He still couldn't put a finger on why he had shared his answers with her, even though he knew it was putting himself and his whole team at risk, especially since they didn't seem to have more instance of cheating outside of their own charade.
Just at the moment, the girl glanced up and caught his gaze. Shikamaru felt his stomach drop and turned away.
Temari was confused for a moment and mostly, wished that kid hadn't looked back at her. She had been glad of the answers he had given her, but she needed their interactions to stop there. Needed all interactions with anyone to stop really. Her objectives were so much beyond that boy and that phony test and the exam and what the Sand village thought she was actually here for.
"Man," Kankuro said as they walked on, "Sure is taking a while; it better be worth it."
"They're probably just taking us to a training ground on the edge of the village," Temari said, "That's how the Leaf Village is set up, their training facilities encircle the village."
"Yeah well I didn't need a geography lesson," Kankuro said.
Temari sighed and remembered that things were only good between her and her brothers when she was quiet, or when she was just let them do what they wanted to do.
"Whatever it is," Gaara said, his voice deep and dark, "I'm antsy."
Chills of fear pushed through both Kankuro and Temari. They knew exactly what it meant for Gaara to be antsy, knew to expect nothing but horror and bloodshed. But then again, that's exactly the reason why they were taking the exams.
"Alright! This is it!" someone shouted at the front of the crowd. Everyone looked up, eyes on Anko, their new proctor. And just beyond her, at the gates that stood beyond her, tall and wide, encircling a dense forest. Some people in the crowd, who had taken the exam a few times, recognized it. Others had never seen it before, despite living in the village their whole lives.
"Luckily for you brats we're nice enough to give you a meal," Anko explained, and saw the rush of relief in the crowd. They had no idea what was coming, "But after that, we'll get right back to the exams."
"So, get in line and grab a meal," Anko explained, gesturing to the small building just outside the tall gates, where some Chunnin stood in front of stacks of bento boxes. "You have an hour to eat and rest. We'll begin at sunset, so I suggest you enjoy your meal."
Anko looked at the crowd, knew exactly how to rile them up, "Because for many of you, it will be your last meal."
That's all it took for all the tension to come back to them all.
Ibiki Moreno was walking across the village, Naruto Uzumaki's test still on his mind. After Anko took the remaining genin away, he and his sentries had cleaned up the room, gathering the tests and returning them to the Hokage to give him a report on how many teams had failed or given up, the stats on who had been caught cheating, and a review of test answers. Even though the genin only needed to stay for the final question to pass the first portion of the exam, how they performed during it mattered to the Hokage, and other Kages who would be choosing to promote genin to chunnin – every minute detail mattered.
As usual, most people had a mix of both correct and incorrect answers on their exams and almost every one of them had been caught cheating, some just once but others upwards of four times, barely making the cut. But there was one genin who hadn't been caught cheating at all, and incidentally, had a completely blank test. A first ever, passing a kid who hadn't even attempted to figure out the initial questions. Then again, it was that same kid who had riled the others up to stay for the final questions.
"Let me guess," the Hokage asked after Ibiki had dismissed his team, and it was just the two of them, "That kid was Naruto Uzumaki?"
Ibiki nodded and was surprised when a smile broke out on the Hokage's face. He chuckled too and said, "So much like his mother, that one."
A memory of Kushina flashed bright and hot across Ibiki's mind, the first time Minato ever introduced her to him, fierce from the start.
"That's the same thing I thought," Ibiki said.
"Though his face, it's all Minato," Hiruzen mused. "Naruto wants to be Hokage, you know?"
"I've heard," Ibiki said, remembering Naruto's outburst. "I bet that want would stretch a lot further if he knew his father was Hokage too."
The Hokage looked at him seriously now, "Naruto Uzumaki will never know who his parents are, it complicates too many things. It's bad enough that Mizuki told him he is the jinchuriki for the Nine-Tails."
Ibiki sighed, all the secrets inside of him tumbling. He carried for much for the Leaf Village, "I wasn't suggesting that sir. More than anyone, I know just how imperative it is that we keep what happened on the night of the Nine-Tailed Fox attack secret. I mean, other than yourself and the council, I'm the only one who knows all the secrets of that night. And I intend to keep it that way."
"Very well," Hiruzen said, "You're dismissed."
Ibiki nodded and left. Now, he was walking through the village while thinking too hard on Naruto Uzumaki. On what a kid with guts like that could do. He was nearing his apartment when he heard a shouting from above.
"2500!" yelled the overlapping voices of a man and woman, familiar to him. He looked up. On the roof of the apartment across the street were four ninjas – Guy, Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma. Guy and Kakashi were both doing push-ups, and based on their expressions, it looked like they had been doing them for a while. Kurenai and Asuma were laughing and cheering them on.
"I'm not stopping until I reach five thousand!" Guy yelled, increasing his speed. Kakashi rolled his eyes at him and increased his speed to match.
Ibiki let out a short chuckle, remembered vaguely about the ways that Guy and Kakashi were known for challenging each other to different feats for no reason. Well, Guy was known for challenging Kakashi, and Kakashi was known for playing along. He turned to finish the walk to his own apartment when he remembered that each of them had teams in the exams, including the rookie teams. And all of them had passed through the second portion of the exam. Ibiki bet they would love to hear an update on that.
He took a few jumps and landed on the roof, all of them taken aback for a moment. Kakashi and Guy stopping mid-push up.
"Don't stop on my account," Ibiki said, "Just thought you'd like to know the status of your teams."
Guy jumped up and ran to Ibiki, a hand landing on his shoulder, "Of course I would!"
Kakashi got up too, slower, and looked toward Guy, "So you concede?"
"Our students are much more important than this, old friend," Guy answered.
Kakashi shrugged his shoulders, "I guess you're right."
"So how did they do?" Kurenai asked; Asuma nodded in agreement.
Ibiki gave them a small smile, "They all passed and are currently heading to the second portion of the exam."
Smiles broke out across their faces in equal measures, each of them tinted with pride and hesitance.
"They passed, but how did they all do statistically?" Asuma said. He used to be part of the planning committee for the Chunnin Exams, so he knew just how much the first portion could matter to final decisions.
"Your team was only caught cheating once, Asuma," Ibiki explained, "They worked together and got the answers quickly. It was actually pretty impressive, not many ninjas have that level of nonverbal communication and understanding."
Asuma nodded, "It's the Ino-Shika-Cho thing, I'm telling you."
"And Kurenai," Ibiki said, turning to her, "the two boys on your team were both caught cheating twice with animal assists. And the Hyuga girl, she didn't appear to cheat at all."
"Hinata's brilliant," Kurenai said, a soft smile on her face, "It doesn't surprise me."
There was something more in Kurenai's expression, something beyond teacherly pride and confidence. If Ibiki had to name it, he would almost call it maternal. Then again, Ibiki knew every secret the Leaf Village had to offer. He knew Hinata Hyuga was no longer the heir to the Hyuga clan and that she was living with Kurenai. No wonder there was additional affection there.
Ibiki remembered then, the way Hinata had acted during the special kunoichi training before graduation, a necessary evil of his job. Hinata had been brave that day, a force to be reckoned with. Kurenai was right to look so proud.
"What about my students?" Guy asked, bouncing on his toes.
"The Hyuga boy was caught once, using his eyes for answers," Ibiki said, "And the other two members worked together, used our watcher mirrors against us to reflect answers to each other. Pretty clever, though my sentinels caught it twice."
"I knew they could do it!" Guy yelled, much louder than was needed for five people standing within close proximity with each other.
"I guess that leaves me," Kakashi said.
"The Uchiha boy also used his eyes to his advantage, only caught once," Ibiki answered, "And the girl, she didn't cheat at all, though she was quite the victim of others cheating off of her. It seems like a lot of people in the room knew who would have the right answers."
"And Naruto?"
Ibiki smiled, "He didn't get caught cheating at all because he didn't answer any questions at all, didn't even attempt it. And you know the last question, the only question that matters, meant to scare them away?"
They all nodded.
"Naruto convinced almost everyone left in the room to stay. When we've done this formatting in the past, we've always lost more than half the room in fear of the final question. But that kid called me out, told me he wasn't giving up no matter what, and well, it seemed to encourage most people in the room to stay on."
Ibiki could see the outlines of a smile under Kakashi's mask, "Yeah that sounds like Naruto. He seems like a babbling idiot most of the time, but somehow, you listen to him and you're convinced to keep going."
"I guess you could call it a skill," Ibiki said, "But more teams means more competition for the next portion."
Kakashi sighed, "Yeah, I'm not sure how much talking is going to get Naruto through five days in the Forest of Death."
"They begin at sunset, don't they?" Guy asked, looking down at the horizon, which was just starting to turn golden with the shallow edges of sundown.
Ibiki nodded at him.
"Hey," Kurenai said, catching the worry on her friends' faces, "We trained them for this. They're gonna be fine."
Asuma smiled at her, "Yeah, you're right."
Ibiki could tell he had said more than enough, knew that they needed to be left alone to distract themselves from worry again, "Well, I'll leave you be."
As he turned to leave, Kakashi followed after him.
"Hey," Kakashi said as Ibiki paused, "If you can, update Iruka Umino on them too. Especially on mine, Kurenai, and Asuma's teams. We're not on the best speaking terms right now, but he deserves to know how his former students are doing."
Ibiki nodded and went off, leaving the four Jounin to count the moments left before sunset, before their students walked into an unknown future.
Naruto grabbed at a second portion of food, but one of the chunnin distributors slapped his hand away, "One box per person!"
"But she said it might be our last meal," Naruto whined, "I wanna stock up!"
The chunnin glared at him, "Does that look like my problem?"
Naruto gulped and backed away. He glanced behind him, where Sasuke and Sakura were already walking off, each with one box in their hand. It wouldn't have killed them to wait for him, some teammates they were. Beside him, Naruto heard someone chuckle.
Naruto turned to see who it was; a boy probably a little bit older than him, tall and slim, with gray hair pulled back into a ponytail and round glassed over dark eyes. A Leaf Village headband was tied across his forehead, but Naruto had never seen him before.
"You're one of the Rookie Nine that's competing, aren't you?" the boy asked.
Naruto raise an eyebrow at him, "Yeah, what's it to ya?"
"Nothing, just impressed is all. Statistically, it was very unlikely that you would make it through, yet here you are," the boy said, "I'm Kabuto, by the way."
Naruto grinned at him, happy to know strangers were impressed by him, "Yeah, well you should expect a lot more. The name is Naruto Uzumaki, remember it."
Kabuto laughed again, a light and clipped thing, "Well, if you want me to lay out the exact odds for you, I could."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, confused.
Kabuto pushed his glasses up his nose, "Well it's all in the numbers, really. You had a very slim chance of passing the first portion of the exam, and that chance only gets slimmer the further the exam goes on. But given that you beat small odds to start with, well some stats would say that actually increases your chance in the following portions. It's fascinating, really."
Naruto just looked at him, perplexed.
Kabuto smiled, "It's simple statistical analysis. I could explain it to while we ate if you wanted to hear more."
Naruto glanced over to where Sasuke and Sakura had been heading and saw that it wasn't just them sitting down, but the rest of the Rookie Nine too.
A few moments before Naruto had glanced over, Ino had spotted Sasuke and Sakura sitting down together. She didn't know where Naruto was, but she didn't like the idea of Sasuke and Sakura getting any sort of alone time together.
"Come on guys, let's go sit over there," Ino said, pushing through the crowd. Shikamaru and Chouji looked at each other and then at Ino, who was making a beeline for Sasuke and Sakura. Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and followed her, with Chouji trailing him.
At the same time this was happening, Kiba was leading Shino and Hinata to a spot, settling down in the shade of some trees. But Hinata noticed, just a few feet over, Neji's two teammates, which meant Neji was soon to follow.
"Um," Hinata said, her voice edgy, "Maybe we should sit with people we know?"
She looked around, eyes landing across the crowd, at the other Rookie Nine.
"We know them," Kiba said, catching where her eyes landed, "But they're still our competition. I think it would be better if we stuck to our own and talked strategy."
"For once, I agree with Kiba," Shino said dully.
Hinata knew they were right, but looked nervously around, saw Neji approaching his team. She looked back at her teammates, "Please?"
Kiba felt a fluttering in his stomach when he saw Hinata's face, so desperate not to be there. It had been happening lately, and he had been trying to shake it off. Shino, too, felt a light pull in his stomach. It was something about when Hinata looking distressed, something they both wanted to protect.
Kiba sighed, "Sure, let's move."
Shino nodded in response. Hinata felt relief wash over her, happy she had such accommodating teammates. As they saw Hinata's anxiety ease, Shino and Kiba both felt the warm spread through them, the feeling they always got when helping Hinata out.
By the time Naruto looked over, the whole crowd was there. If this guy was interested in him being one of the rookies, he bet he'd have a whole field day with all the rookies together.
"Sure," Naruto said, responding to Kabuto's question, and started leading the way.
Everyone was just settling in when Naruto flopped down beside Sasuke. They all looked up in surprise, and then at the guy Naruto had led their way, standing above them.
"This is Kabuto," Naruto said, thrusting a finger in his direction, "He wants to explain something about numbers to us."
"Hi guys," Kabuto said, sitting down. They all looked at him apprehensively, "They're calling you all the Rookie Nine, aren't they?"
"Yeah, why's that matter?" Kiba said, annoyed that there was a stranger there.
Kabuto smirked, "You're all pretty gutsy for being fresh out of the academy."
Ino, just as annoyed that Naruto had brought a stranger over, and even more annoyed that both and he and Naruto sat between her and Sasuke, asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm Kabuto Yakushi," he said, "And like I was telling Naruto, your chances of success are only are only going to get slimmer from here on out."
"What makes you think that?" Sasuke asked, curious about what this guy had to offer. Not that Sasuke would buy it, but he wanted to hear it anyway.
"It's your first time taking the exam, right?" Kabuto asked, looking around the circle.
They all nodded hesitantly.
"Then you don't know how to play the numbers yet," Kabuto said seriously.
"And you do?" Sakura asked
"Well, it's my seventh time taking the exam," Kabuto said.
"How can it be your seventh time?" Shikamaru asked, confused by anyone who would be willing to exert that much effort.
"The exams are held twice a year, at different locations. This is the first time they've been held in the Leaf Village in a long time, but it's my fourth year trying," Kabuto explained.
"So, you not that good then?" Kiba said, with a slight chuckle, "If you've failed six times already."
Kabuto shook his head, "You don't understand. That first portion was child's play, it always is. All it takes to get through it is some dumb luck and guts, which you all have, despite what the numbers might say. But whatever is waiting for us beyond those gates won't be so easy."
Each of them felt a small ripple of fear pass through them and glanced at the dense forest just beyond the gate and then at the slowly setting sun, which would mark the start of the next portion.
"What do the numbers say?" Shino asked, curious, as he always was, about the potential puzzle of figuring things out, especially if it meant their chances in this exam would increase.
Kabuto smirked, "I'd be happy to share my knowledge with my juniors."
He reached into the pouch attached to his side and pulled out a stack of cards. He split the cards into two, turning a third of them face down in a stack, and the other half, he spread out before them. Each card had a name, and numbers, and long lines of information.
"Hey," Chouji said, reaching into his own pouch, "Those look just like the identification cards they gave us."
He held us his own card. A few others pulled theirs out, looking over them and then the cards Kabuto had spread in front of them.
"Close, but these have a lot more information," Kabuto said.
He shuffled through some of the spread cards and pulled on out, "For instance, that guy's name is Yuki Sato."
He nodded to someone sitting a few feet away from them, who was digging into his food, "He's from the Rain Village and this is his fifth time taking the exam. He's 17 years old, has been out of the academy for five years, and has done 48 D-rank missions and 9 C-rank missions. He has no kekkei genkai or specialty clan skills, but is highly proficient in ninjutsu, while ranking average with taijustu and genjutsu."
"Woah!" Naruto said, excitement in his voice, "Do me next!"
"Isn't that a little unfair," Hinata said softly, "That you have all this information?"
"Yeah," Ino said, annoyed, "It seems kinda illegal too."
"It's also dangerous to carry around so much information," Shino stated, imagining all the different ways those cards could be used.
"Well, the cards are encoded with my own chakra. Only I can access them," Kabuto said. He swiped one hand over the cards and with the other, made a sign. The cards that were spread out flashed and then went blank. "And it's not illegal. It's all my own research."
"You did all of this research?" Sakura said, shocked that anyone would have the time for that.
"Yeah, that seems like a lot of work," Shikamaru said, feeling burdened even just hearing about it.
Kabuto pushed his glasses up again, "I take these exams very seriously. They say we have these exams so that we can create camaraderie between nations and boost ninja levels."
"But what they say isn't true?" Sasuke asked, curious now.
Kabuto nodded, "The real point of the exams is to check and track the power of neighboring nations. It's meant to gather information, to track the numbers that matter. And once you know those numbers, you can leverage power however you want."
Naruto had been on board at first, but now he was having trouble following, "That can't be it, they wouldn't hold the exams just to spy on other nations."
"It's exactly it," Kabuto said.
"But we're in an era of peace," Sakura said, exasperated by how bleak this conversation had become.
"Just barely. The last great ninja war was only thirteen years ago, and there are smaller conflicts happening between ninja nations every day. These exams, and every other seemingly cordial event that happens between nations is just laying the strategic groundwork for future conflict."
Everyone felt their stomachs drop for a moment, still too naive to realize that what Kabuto said was very true, only just now questioning what it meant to be a ninja in this world. But one of them had no problem at all believing Kabuto.
"Yeah, we can all agree the ninja world is full of conflict," Sasuke said bitterly, "But you still haven't told us what the numbers have said about us."
"You're proactive," Kabuto said, eyebrow raised.
"If you're going to be talking so much," Sasuke said, tired of this guy, "Then you should at least make it useful."
"Okay then," Kabuto said, his expression turning serious. He did the same jutsu as before, and the information reappeared on the cards. He shuffled through them, and set out nine in a row, each of them with one of their names on them.
"These cards," he said, gesturing to the third that was still turned over, "Represent those who failed the first portion of the test."
"These," he said, glancing to the nine in a row and the other cards spread out, "Represent those are still in the exam. We began with 153 participants but are now down to 78, that's 26 teams. The next portion of the exam is likely designed to cut those numbers in half, at minimum. Though if trends from the past show anything, those numbers will likely be higher than half. I predict only around 20 or so participants will be left for whatever the third portion entails, perhaps even less. Beyond that, I'd need to do an analysis based on who was left."
"But the nine of you are very interesting," Kabuto said, shuffling the rest of the cards away so only the nine that represented them were left, "At first glance, you look like a normal set of rookie genin, but when you look a little closer, things get more complex."
"First off, there's an anomaly in the missions. You've all performed the average amount of D-rank missions for genins at your level, but it looks like everyone also went on a mission that was initially marked as D-rank, but later classified as much higher. Your missions were later classified as A-rank," Kabuto explained, glancing at Team 8 and Team 10. Then he turned to Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, "And your mission was later ranked as S-rank."
"Yet you all survived," Kabuto said, looking around them, "Survived missions that much stronger ninjas surely would have died on, which suggests you have some formidable skill. And it's not a stretch when you think about it. Two of you have dojustu eyes; five of you have special clan abilities. One team is part a long legacy of strong ninja alliances. Another one of you has the highest test scores the academy has seen in decades, intelligence beyond compare. And one of you can do the multi-shadow clone jutsu technique in mass quantities that even the strongest of ninjas can't achieve."
"Oh, that's me," Naruto said with a sheepish grin.
Kabuto chuckled, and went on, "Statistics from all previous exams show that rookie teams are rarely submitted to the exam and when they are, they almost never pass the first portion of the exam, let alone the second. Based on everything I know, the likelihood of any of you making it through this next portion is so small it shouldn't even be counted. But then there's the theory that every time something unlikely happens, the likelihood of the next unlikely thing increases. The fact that all of you made it through the first portion of the exams means your chances of making it through the next portion could potentially be higher, even if marginally so."
As Kabuto explained, each of them took in what he said, realizing the ways that the ninja world perceived them. It wasn't something they had thought about too deeply, how these numbers and traits and skills would define them, would determine what other ninjas thought their chances were. It was a sudden and strange realization, to understand they were perceived on a larger level.
"So, you're saying we have a higher chance of getting through the next portion?" Chouji said, trying to put the pieces together in his head.
"Only marginally so."
"But not statistically impossible?" Shino asked, having followed the explanation clearly.
"Not statistically impossible, no," Kabuto said, "But very unlikely."
"But still," Shikamaru said, getting strangely interested in it as Kabuto spoke more and more, "It's possible that we could be within those 20 or so ninjas that you think would make it through the next portion?"
"You've been lucky so far," Kabuto said, "So if that keeps up…"
"But you've already said it isn't just luck," Sasuke said, interrupting. The more Kabuto spoke, the more Sasuke saw his potential paths of getting to the very end of this thing, "Your cards list all the different ways we're talented, right?"
Kabuto nodded.
"Yeah, we got Hinata's eyes and mine and Shino's clan abilities, we'll be set," Kiba said. He looked at everyone else, "And you all have whatever it is that he said, I forgot."
"Possibility isn't a sure thing, though," Kabuto said, "You're an interesting set of rookies, for sure, but that doesn't guarantee you'll make it through this next portion of the exam."
"Oh, screw that!" Naruto said, frustrated by Kabuto's lack of belief, but also frustrated by how confusing all the numbers were, "I don't know about everyone else here, but there's no way I'm going to let this next portion take me out. I told you I'm Naruto Uzumaki! And you're gonna remember my name!"
Naruto, as always, was Naruto, and everyone, as always, acted accordingly to it, rolling their eyes and shaking their heads and chuckling in good measures. But then a shadow appeared over them.
"What's going on over here?"
They all looked up, at a female ninja was standing above them. She was tall, with dark hair and eyes, and a mean expression on her face. A Sound Village headband was wrapped around her head.
"Move!" Kabuto yelled, jumping up. There was a flash and a pair of shuriken flashed through the air, hitting the ground and pinning a few of Kabuto's cards to the dirt. The Rookie Nine jumped back, seconds after Kabuto reacted.
They barely saw the girl smile before another Sound Ninja appeared, hunched over and head wrapped almost completely in bandages. He threw a punch at Kabuto, but Kabuto dodged it, quick as lightening. But then, the strangest thing happened, despite avoiding the punch and being out of the guy's distance now, his glasses shattered.
The Rookie Nine were all tense and others in the crowd had started to look up as well, panicked by what was happening.
But Kabuto looked calm, he pulled off his glasses, "So I see, even though I dodged your hit, it's a sound attack, you were able to swipe my glasses."
The Sound Ninja girl giggled, and the bandaged guy looked darkly at Kabuto. The stare-off lasted barely a second before Kabuto fell to the ground, clutching his stomach and coughing up blood.
"What the hell!" Naruto yelled, running to Kabuto.
The other rookies were unsure of what to do, stood in place.
"My sound attack cuts deeper than that," the bandaged guy said, his voice dark and deep, chuckling a little. The fur cape in on his back fluttered as the girl jumped beside him. But then another ninja appeared, jumping between the Rookie Nine. All of them startled as the guy bent down, picking up the cards the shuriken had pierced. For a second, they were worried, knowing it was their own information on the cards that were still out, but then saw that the cards were blank. Somehow, Kabuto had the time to deactivate them before the attack.
Just as quickly as the guy appeared between them, he jumped up again and joined the other two, who were obviously his teammates.
"You gonna tell us how to unlock these little cards?" he said, his voice frustrated.
Kabuto seemed to be recovering, and Naruto helped him up.
"They only respond to my chakra," Kabuto said, his voice was weak.
"Oh," the girl said haughtily, cracking her knuckles, "We can arrange that."
With a sharp yell and a puff of smoke, Anko, their proctor, was suddenly there, standing between the Sound ninjas and Kabuto.
"Now, now, now," Anko said, her voice full of humor, "I can appreciate a good fight as much as anyone, but I think I made it very clear that right now, we're resting. You can save that fighting for the next portion of the exam."
The Sound ninjas said nothing, just glared at her.
"If you have a problem with that, you're gonna have to go through me," Anko bit harshly. Without saying anything, the Sound ninjas dispersed. Anko grinned as they left.
"You!" she said, turning to Kabuto, "Go back to your own team, and stop showing off those fucking cards. You're just begging to make yourself a target."
Kabuto nodded, gathered up his cards, gave the Rookie Nine a defeated look, and disappeared into the crowd.
"And you," Anko said, looking at Naruto, who was watching Kabuto disappear, "They probably wouldn't have even noticed that idiot's cards if you hadn't been such a loudmouth. I suggest you keep quiet and eat your food."
"But—" Naruto began, but quieted when he felt a harsh pinch at his cheek. He raised his hands, feeling a small cut, blood seeping down his face.
Anko looked at his cheek with a smile on her far. It had been her, and he hadn't even seen her move. "Now, I think I've made myself clear."
Naruto gulped and scurried to where the rest of the Rookie Nine were standing.
"We only have about fifteen minutes until sunset!" Anko shouted, loud enough for the whole crowd to hear, "I expect no more disturbances until then!"
She disappeared in a puff of smoke and the genin all looked around, trying to see where she had landed. After a moment, when they still couldn't find her, they turned back to their food and mumbled conversations.
It was a lot of take in for the Rookie Nine – the harsh proctor who seemed to have no qualms about hurting them, the sudden attack from the Sound Village ninjas, and Kabuto, who had sent their head jumbling with numbers. They ate their food in silence, thinking about it all.
What they didn't know was just how closely Fate and Chance were watching them, had watched the whole interaction with Kabuto. Fate rolled her eyes at the many different times Kabuto insisted the Rookie Nine wouldn't make it through, didn't know how often the least likely thing was the Fated thing. Chance was amused by it, by this boy whose own path was determined so much by Chance's musings, trying to figure out the chances of others. The numbers mattered, Fate and Chance knew, but they also knew they themselves mattered more.
As promised, Anko called them to attention fifteen minutes later, the last flecks of sunlight streaming over her face. In the shallow dark that began creeping in, the forest behind the tall gates looked worse than ever, the trees taller than anyone had ever seen, the shadows darker than eyes would take, and what sounded like an undercurrent of whispers began to dance in the wind.
"Welcome to the location of your second test," Anko said, a wicked smile on her face, "It's the 44th Battle Training Zone, also known as the Forest of Death."
Just as Anko said it, a harsh wind blew threw the air, carrying whispers and cold that creeped into the crowd's bones. There was a mummering throughout the genin, the forest that had seemed so unimposing during their meal suddenly looked so vicious.
"Soon enough, you're all gonna find out why we call it that," Anko said, enjoying the tension she was stirring up.
"If you remember, when you turned in your paperwork this morning, it included a consent form. Some of you may not make it out of this forest, and if you're standing here, that means you've already given us permission to put you at the risk. There's no backing out now. The easy way out began and ended with Ibiki's last question."
A ripple of fear moved through the crowd. The day's events had felt so long and dragging, and even though they had only turned in their forms and officially started the Chunnin Exams just a few hours before, it felt like ages ago. They could hardly remember signing a consent form.
"The second portion of the exam is designed to tax every one of your survival skills," Anko said.
Lee and TenTen looked at Neji, whose lips turned up in a small smile. He had been right in his predication about survival skills.
"The terrain of the 44th Battle Training Zone if full of a thick forest and a deep river. There are also wild animals, both edible and poisonous vegetation, and a huge variety of hidden traps. At the center is a locked lookout tower, located exactly 10 miles from each of the 44 entrances that follow the perimeter of the gate."
"You'll be spending the next five days within the expanse of this terrain and will participate in an anything goes battle to get your hands on these scrolls," Anko explained, holding out too scrolls, one with a kanji for heaven and another with a kanji for earth.
"When you say anything goes," the Sound Village girl from earlier spoke up, "You actually mean anything?"
Anko chuckled, "I thought you would be interested in that. Why do you think we got you to sign the consent forms?"
The mummering in the crowd stirred up, everyone suddenly realizing that it meant. Anyone standing beside them was now their enemy. They would have to survive five days surrounded by those who wanted to kill them.
"Quiet!" Anko shouted, with a laugh still in her voice, "We haven't even gotten to the fun part yet."
"You'll be fighting for both a Heaven scroll and Earth scroll. In order to successfully complete this portion of the exam your entire team will need to be present at the tower with both scrolls by the end of the five days."
"Before you begin, half of you will be given an Earth scroll, while the other half will be given a Heaven scroll. Altogether, there will be 26 teams participating in this portion of the exam, with the intention of going after the scroll you don't have. This means, at minimum, at least half of you standing here will fail the next portion of the exam. Though, I bet you'll make it more fun than that," Anko finished, a smile on her face.
The Rookie Nine remembered what Kabuto had said, how the next portion of the exam was likely designed to take out half of the remaining teams at minimum. He was right, and he was probably right about everything he said too.
"It's part survival and part endurance, a grueling test to measure how well you perform behind enemy lines," Anko explained, "But I also encourage you to imagine it as a test of creativity too. As I said, anything goes."
Most in the crowd were felt more and more tense by the moment. While their last proctor, Ibiki, had been intimidating, at least he seemed good intentioned. But this proctor, well, she seemed to be outright encouraging chaos. And for those in the crowd who weren't scared of it, for those who delighted in the thrill of anything goes, it was inspiring.
"Of course, there are some ways to get disqualified," Anko said.
"The first is simple, if all three members can't make it to the Tower with both scrolls by the end of five days, you're disqualified. If a team loses a member, or if a member becomes incapacitated and cannot continue, you're disqualified too. So, remember that you're not just protecting your own ass out there, but also your teammates' asses."
"But most importantly, none of you – and I mean absolutely none of you – may look at the contents of the scroll until you've reached the tower," Anko explained. "There are times when ninjas will be asked to carry secret documents. The scroll rule is to test your integrity."
Naruto rolled his eyes. He was scared, sure, but he also knew that he and Sakura and Sasuke could survive this. But he couldn't stand the way the new proctor was being so haughty.
"Doesn't sound too hard to me," Naruto murmured, hoping on Sasuke and Sakura could hear. But they were close enough to the front of the crowd and Anko had sharp enough ears that she caught it too.
She looked over at Naruto, sending a glare his way. It was the same loudmouth as earlier, the kid dressed in bright orange. And hmm, the whole team, she recognized them as Kakashi's team. Of course, it would be his team, with that Nine-Tailed fox brat, and the little Uchiha, and that brainiac girl. They all probably thought they were something special.
"You're a tough guy, huh?" Anko said in Naruto's direction.
Naruto gulped, realizing the proctor had heard him. Sasuke and Sakura shook their heads, wondering if there was a single adult Naruto didn't annoy.
"Yeah, I can handle whatever you throw at me," Naruto yelled, trying to put on some bravado. This proctor annoyed him, but also scared him too.
Anko laughed. This kid made it too easy, "Yeah, like you handled that kunai I threw at you earlier."
Naruto's face dropped, remembering the burning, shallow cut still on his cheek.
"Let me tell you something, kid," Anko said when Naruto looked up again, "Tough guys like you always end up spilling their blood all over this forest. I suggest you stop the talk and save all the energy for your next five days."
"You're jus—" Naruto began, annoyed by how easily she was riling him up.
"I don't want to hear it," Anko said, interrupting him, "Unless you want me to mark up that other cheek."
Naruto let out a frustrated sigh and gritted his teeth. Sakura and Sasuke shot him glares, looks that he recognized as them telling him to be quiet.
"Anyway," Anko started, loud enough for the rest of the crowd to hear, "Just like we were kind enough to give you a final meal, we're not sending you in there completely empty handed. Each team will receive a backpack with a few basic survival supplies. The backpack will also contain your team's scroll. After you've picked up a backpack, go to your team's assigned entrance – which you can find on the fifth line of your identification card – and we'll let you in. You have ten minutes."
As she said this, the last trickles of daylight left the sky, the sun completely taken by the horizon. A dark shadow flushed over the forest and across the awaiting genin, haunted whispers and fear and excitement and everything else suddenly working its way back into their bones.
At first there was a rush to pick up the backpacks and scrolls, but the line was sorted through quickly.
Hinata had volunteered to grab her team's scrolls and supplies when she saw that Naruto was grabbing his for his team.
"Hi, Naruto," she said softly, as he fell in step beside her.
"Oh, hi Hinata," Naruto said, not realizing who it was until he saw the flash of Hinata's silverly eyes, "Can you believe how scary this proctor is?"
The line moved forward. Hinata and Naruto moved along with it.
Hinata glanced around, making sure Anko was far away, "Yeah, she's a bit much. I'm sorry she cut your face like that."
Naruto shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to remember it, "Doesn't hurt that much."
Hinata smiled at that and Naruto felt a fluttering in his stomach. At least someone seemed to think he was impressive. They reached the front of the line, each of them grabbing a pack.
Naruto turned around, "Well, um, I hope I don't see you out there."
Hinata was confused for a second and then she realized what Naruto was saying, what he meant. She felt her cheeks burn red, "Yeah, well, I hope I don't see you either, Naruto. But good luck, okay?"
Naruto nodded and turned to go, walking briskly toward Sasuke and Sakura. Hinata watched him from a moment and then turned to go herself but bumped into someone as she turned around.
The person let out a sigh of frustration and Hinata felt her stomach drop, Neji's glare boring into her. It had been a few years since she last saw him, but the resentment on his face was still the same.
"He..he…hello Neji," Hinata said, her voice a frantic nervous stutter.
Neji looked her up and down, considering her. She looked as meek as ever and that annoyed him to no end.
"I heard your father kicked you out," Neji said coldly, "Decided you were too weak to lead the clan, decided that your little sister, who's barely grown out of babyhood, would be a better leader instead."
Hinata felt a cold wrench in her stomach. Of course, Neji knew because everyone in the branch family knew, and the shame of it spilled over Hinata, just as it had been, again and again, every day since her father kicked her out months ago. But then she tried to remind herself that this was better, about the progress she had made, about how happy and light and free she felt in every moment now, compared to what once was.
"Hanabi is eight years old," Hinata said, voice still shaky, "but she's talented. She'll make a good leader someday."
Neji shook his head, looking at her with disdain. He hated her so much, so absolutely. She didn't even have to look into his eyes to feel it radiating off of him.
"I don't understand the main branch," Neji spat, "They're rather have a child leading than someone with actual talent, all for the sake of legacy."
"And you," he huffed. The tone of his voice made Hinata shrink in on herself, her stomach feeling tighter and tighter.
"You're just a miserable as always, acting like you've been beaten when you've ben treated like a princess your whole life. It's pathetic, it's—"
"Hey!" a harsh call cut Neji off.
He and Hinata looked up to see where the voice had come from. It was the Sand Village girl, the one with the fan strapped to her back.
She was giving Neji a deep glare – "Could you move the line along instead of continuing whatever tortured thing you were going on about?"
Neji rolled his eyes at her and pushed past Hinata, deciding it wasn't his problem.
Temari turned back to Hinata. There was something about this girl, a weird recognition she felt. She remembered feeling it too, hours earlier, when Kankuro almost started a fight before the exams, the looks she and the girl shared. It was like she understood her somehow.
"You always let him talk to you like that?" Temari asked.
Hinata felt the same thing that Temari did, some deep-down feeling that this girl, as harsh as she was, understood Hinata, "Actually, we don't usually talk at all."
"Well next time he talks to you like that, I suggest you beat his ass," Temari said, knowing this was easier said than done. Knowing just how much fear ruled over her own life, how it had every thing to do with the two strangers who had caught her just before she left for the exam, how she was burying her fear every second, because every second that passed was a moment closer to what she hoped would be a final moment.
Hinata didn't really know how to respond to that, but knew that she wanted to please this girl, that there was a strange part of her that wanted this girl to have faith in her.
"Okay, I will," Hinata said, not knowing the irony that this statement would later prove.
Hinata nodded and left, and Temari collected her team's backpack. The rest of the line dispersed quickly and soon; all the teams were standing in front of their assigned gates.
At entrance twenty-six, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino were all breathing shallowly, nerves running rampant as they waited for the gates to open. A mere ten feet away from them was entrance twenty-seven, where the three ninjas from the Sand Village stood. Shikamaru glanced at the girl again, noticing the way she seemed to stand apart from her teammates, like her own constellation. His stomach fluttered.
But there was something else in his stomach too, a burrowing feeling of darkness and malice, like he and his teammates were on the precipice of something horrible.
"Hey guys," Shikamaru said, catching his teammates' attention, "As soon as we get in, let's get as far away from them as possible."
He raised his eyebrows in the direction of the Sand ninjas. Ino and Chouji understood and nodded.
At entrance twenty-seven, Temari was still thinking about the brief snippet of conversation with that girl, at what she herself was planning on doing at the end of this. This portion of the exam was just another obstacle to make it through to that ending. And based on the expression on Gaara'a face, the dark hunger she saw stirring between his eyes, it wasn't going to be an easy one. She'd need to brace herself for it all.
Wrapped around the curve of the perimeter, at entrance forty, Hinata, Shino, and Kiba were making a plan. Shino's dad had apparently helped contribute to this training ground a few years ago by breeding a special species of poisonous slugs. The idea was to find them and use them to their advantage, trap a team with a Heaven scroll to pair alongside their own Earth scroll.
"But what if the team that falls into one of our traps are our friends?" Hinata asked, her mind on Naruto and even on the Sand village girl who had just shown her a bit of kindness.
"We don't have friends in here," Shino said, his voice serious.
"If we're going to pass this," Kiba said, "You, Me, Shino, and Akamaru are the only ones that matter."
Hinata fought against the sinking feeling in her gut, she knew they were right, "Okay."
Far away from them, at entrance ten, TenTen and Rock Lee were planning strategies. Neji was suspiciously quiet, considering he was usually the most involved in their strategic planning, the natural leader of their squad.
"What's up?" TenTen asked, noticing the silence.
"Nothing," Neji said tersely.
"You know, if something's wrong, you can tell us," Lee said brightly, "We can only work best as a team when we're open and honest with each other. And considering we're about to face a task that involves a lot of teamwork—"
Neji interrupted him, his eyes flashing as he activated his Byakugan, "Please, this will be child's play."
The whole forest lit up for him, its network of chakras and dangers and the burning life forces of all the other teams stationed around them. His eyes told him the forest's secrets, and he knew they would be fine.
Near the original entrance, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto stood, ready to go. Somehow, they ended up at entrance one and this made Naruto more amped. He was bouncing up and down, antsy for the gates to open.
"Naruto, calm down," Sasuke said, "You can't just go rushing in there however you want. We need strategy just as much as strength to survive these next few days."
"Oh please, this is gonna be easy," Naruto said. He was a little scared, but since talking to Hinata in the line, he had started to feel more and more excited. This wasn't a written test. This was fighting and guts and everything else he felt like he excelled in. "The way I see it, we get a scroll tonight, find the tower, and then camp out by there for the rest of the time."
"Naruto, didn't you hear the proctor?" Sakura said, "Anything goes, that means they'll probably be teams who go to the tower first, and hide, waiting for teams with both scrolls to show up."
Sasuke hadn't even considered that and he was struck, like he had been a lot lately, but just how smart Sakura was.
"Oh, you really think people are gonna do that?" Naruto asked, confused.
"This portion of the exam has basically no rules. To strategize, you need to think about how all the things that you would normally think of as rules will be broken," Sakura said, having already thought of a variety of different scenarios where people would push the anything goes rule to its limits.
"Exactly," Sasuke said, having thought of a few scenarios himself, "We don't want to be involved in the potential chaos that could involve. Our best strategy would be getting an Earth scroll to match our Heaven scroll off a weak team as quickly as we can, because the weakest teams will all likely be disqualified within the first few hours or so. Then, once we've secured the right scroll, hide out until the five days are over."
Sakura nodded and smiled, just a little, "Good plan, Sasuke."
The plan sounded boring to Naruto, but then again, sometimes boring was safe, "Sure, I guess that's what we'll do."
Thiers weren't the only conversations happening. All around the perimeter of the Forest of Death, hearts were pounding, and anxieties were risings. Some teams were excited, thinking of all the different ways they could disqualify other opponents. Teams were making plans and imagining everything that would happen over the next five days.
Of course, none of their imaginations could actually capture what would happen next. The next five days belong to the strands of Fate, Chance, Space, Time, Life, and Death. And it was a complex pattern, more so than any Chunnin Exam had ever been. And it was starting in 3, 2, 1…
The entrances opened, and everyone ran.