I DO NOT OWN NARUTO/ NARUTO SHIPPUDEN
Chapter 13
Naruto and squad '8' were arriving at classroom '301'; they saw Kakashi leaning against the wall, book in hand. "Kakashi-nii-san!" Naruto called out. The other Genin still didn't fully understand their relationship, but neither seemed to mind
"Naruto-kun." The crinkling of his right eye emphasised Kakashi's polite reply. "I see your all here too, that's great to see." Kakashi glanced up, and above the door, there was a clock.
"Do you know where my team is?"
"They met the students of Might Guy's team." Naruto's simple response frightened Kakashi more than it should have. That team was a mess, Kakashi loved Guy like a brother, but seriously those clothes made him ill.
That, on top of a Genin who was so impressionable that he followed in his stead and the other boy who had his fate speech ready for every encounter. The girl was the least insufferable; he felt somewhat sorry for her.
Naruto blinked as his clone's memory came back to him. "Yeah, he got his ass handed to him. That Bushy-brows kid is no joke." Kiba looked surprised at that statement; that kid was a walking female deterrent.
Shino took in that knowledge and thought about it; Hinata knew this as he was on the same team as her cousin. Her father would often discuss that team.
"Indeed, Guy raves on about how proud he is of that boy." Kiba was confused. "How'd you know that we left before they started fighting." He stated. "Yes, we did. I left a clone to watch the fight, y' know gather intel and all that. Lee has only Taijutsu, but he is almost a master with the level he's at."
Kiba smirked, more competition; he would show who the top dog is.
Naruto looked at the other three; it told them that they should be getting inside now. "Good luck, you guys, I look forward to seeing how all the rookies do," Kakashi said with a parting wave; he continued to wait outside for his team.
Pushing the door open, they were met with an intriguing sight.
The entire room met their entrance with murderous glares. The pressure of the multiple people gazing down upon them was too much for poor Hinata. Seeing how scared she was, Naruto gave her a light tap on the shoulder and a warm smile.
She did not forget about the other kids, but it was still reassuring. The two back corners of the room erupted in talking; Naruto identified these two groups as Cloud and Mist. Not the least put-off, he smiled and waved at them. Many of the Cloud Genin infuriated by the boy.
~ With a Cloud Team ~
"Who does he think he is?" an angered girl growled. This girl had a darker complexion than what many in the land of fire were used to. She had long, spiky red hair that continued until the small of her back. Her bright amber eyes contrasted her face; her clothes included a long, short-sleeved dress with frilly edges, a white leather tank top over it. Fishnet stockings and thigh-boots covered her lower half.
"Don't overthink it, Karui." Her teammate admonished. Turning all the anger she had directed at Naruto to the boy who had just spoken. "You are the last one to tell me that, Omoi!" she said as she cracked the boy comically.
The boy had short white hair, his headband on his forehead. He wore a grey jumper with the same white leather tank top, black pants with white tape that crossed at his knees. Black sandals with red shin protectors were strapped to his legs.
Both had their red and white katana's strapped to their backs.
Their final member of the team, who also had his katana on his back, just sighed. He was slightly shorter than the other two, but he was more firmly built; he dressed in the same way as Omoi.
Karui growled once more. "How can he walk into a room like that and just wave?" she verbally questioned. Omoi was unsure of the situation, too, so he answered after pulling himself out of the crater. "Indeed, maybe he does not know of his resemblance to Namikaze?"
Karui refused to believe this. "How can he not? It's like he's a clone of the man for god's sake." Omoi couldn't refute this; the boy did indeed look like the yellow flash, disturbingly so. "And look at the sword on his back!"
Cloud was highly regarded amongst the shinobi nations for their skills and knowledge in Kenjutsu, so that kind of blade would be a talking point. "So, he does have the Executioners Blade, which means he must have beaten Zabuza Momochi. If he beat Zabuza, what chance do we have? We'll fight him; then he might kill us. I'm too young to die!"
"Shut up!"
Another punch landed itself on Omoi's face, this one didn't send him into the wall, but it still hurt. Holding his face, Omoi commented. "Your fists are as fast as ever."
"And they'll keep coming if you don't pipe down!"
The final member decided it would be best to talk now. "Remember why we are here, if you keep causing such a ruckus, we'll draw more attention." Karui, who was now holding Omoi in a tight headlock, looked up and laughed nervously, blushing slightly.
"Look, we need to take out that boy, Namikaze or not. A-sama's orders, and the last thing we need is for the Leaf to have another flash." His teammates relented and untangled themselves.
~ With a Mist Team ~
"So, he does wield the Executioner's Blade." It was a shy statement, the small boy who'd said it was nervous.
"Come on, Chojuro-kun, you have the twin swords, and you've been training for likely much longer than he has." The boy blushed under the praise; Chojuro wasn't used to praise; he was similar to Hinata, low self-confidence.
Despite the boy's small frame, he was fifteen years old. He wore a blue pinstripe shirt and a chest holster with the forehead protector on his chest. He had white and brown camouflage pants, kunai holsters on each thigh.
He had a dual handled weapon on his back, a wide, flat blade with two curved indentations near its base, creating a sort of cross-guard. A short length of cord connects two handles. The sword looks like a flounder fish in shape; the entire blade had been wrapped in bandages.
He wore glasses, ear warmers, had light blue hair and shark-like teeth.
"You'll beat him, Terumi-sama wouldn't have let you participate if she didn't believe in you." The female of his team reassured him.
She had dark black hair and striking black eyes. She was wearing a dark blue tank top, black leggings, and a grey skirt. She wore elbow protectors that ware light blue. She stood a few inches above Chojuro even though they were the same age.
"Thank you, Shio-chan, I hope I can." He said, his head bowed. Shio smiled at the shy boy; for someone with his skills, it was amusing. Their other teammate didn't like his demeanour.
"You shouldn't coddle him like that; he's supposed to be the future of the Swordsmen." Shio frowned; the boy didn't do well with stern words. Ao reassured them that; he would always compare him to what it was like 'In his day.'
"I'm sorry, you're right," Chojuro admitted, hanging his head. Shio growled at the final teammate. "You idiot, think before you speak!" socking him in the gut, Chojuro smiled fondly at her.
"We need to get that blade from him; we'll try convincing him at the start, then we'll talk about buying it. If nothing works, we'll take it by force." The two males of the team nodded.
"So what? We'll try and convince him, Terumi-sama might be in attendance, will she try too?" Chojuro perked up at her mention; she was his inspiration; she believed in him more than anyone else. Mei Terumi, leader of the Rebel Faction in the Hidden Mist.
Bearer of two renowned Kekkei Genkai, the Lava Style, and The Boil style. Her Lava style is the mix of Fire and Earth-style her ability to spit chunks of Lava and acidic mud, the Boil style was the work of Fire and Water styles. Creating a corrosive mist, it rapidly fills enclosed spaces and dissolves most substances.
~ With Naruto ~
"Huh? Not a very friendly reception, one would think that I've done something to piss them off." Naruto said, feigning ignorance. Hinata and Kiba smiled at the boy; he took the intensity out of the air with a single statement.
It was loud enough for all in the room to hear; the back corners just got louder.
"At least it's you guys; I wasn't looking forward to the other squad," Shikamaru said. They all turned to face him. Meanwhile, Ino and Choji were discussing something while the latter was shovelling chips at an unhuman rate.
"Don't worry about them; they should be here soon." Naruto corrected him. "This is gonna be such a drag, not only do we have our teams, but you managed to piss of Cloud too."
"Go big or go home, Shika."
The Nara just sighed at his friend's antics; the boy could be such a pain sometimes. But he would never dig himself a hole that he couldn't get out of, so that meant he had something special in mind.
Just as they moved over to talk more with squad '10', the doors creaked open, and in walked team '7'. Sai was as impassive as ever; Sasuke narrowed eyes, taking in everyone who had focused on them. They were his new challenges.
Sakura couldn't contain her fear; the eyes of everyone in the room felt like they were upon her. "Gee, I guess we're not alone." She kept looking over the crowd; most had lost interest in the new arrivals; they weren't as surprising as the four-person squad that came in before them.
'Oh, man… I had no idea there'd be so much competition.' She thought. 'If being scary looking is one of the tests, they've got me beat.' She was mentally lamenting.
"Sasuke-kun! Where have you been? Boy, you have no idea how much I was hoping you would show up here. I've missed those brooding good looks of yours." Sakura would not have another girl snooping around on her turf.
"Hey, you porker! Back off! he's mine!"
"Miss forehead, they let you in? still got those big frown lines on your billboard brow, I see."
"Leave my forehead out of it!" Ino just pulled a mock face in return, that was until she saw the final member of squad '7' looking at her, somewhat confused. "Your Sai, right?"
"Go on, Sai, give her your best nickname." Sakura interrupted. "Will do Ugly." Sakura was up in arms, only not hitting him because they were in the Chunnin exams. Sai looked back over to Ino; he studied her face for a few seconds before taking in her outfit.
"Hello…"
For some unknown reason, everyone zeroed in on Sai, eagerly awaiting what he would call her. Most didn't know why they cared; Sakura though was waiting on the blatant insult that was going to leave his lips it would be glori-
"Beautiful."
Without a second passing, Ino gained a light dusting of pink on her cheeks; unable to meet his eyes, she averted her gaze. Sakura was furious, she was 'Ugly,' and Ino was 'Beautiful', in what world did that make sense?
"So, Naruto was right; you are here. Your all such a drag…"
"Well, well, so it looks like the whole gang is back together again. Yep, here we all are the ten rookies, this is gonna be fun, at least for those of us good enough to make the cut."
He leveled himself with Sasuke and Naruto.
"Right… Naruto, Sasuke."
Neither rose to the challenge; Kiba wasn't a threat; he wasn't their targets. Sasuke had held his smirk since the end of the battle with Lee.
"Kiba, careful you don't get overconfident." The Uchiha advised, though, it was clear that he wasn't serious.
"Just wait, we're gonna blow you guys away. We've been training like crazy."
"I'd hope so; I'd hate for you all you be even less of a challenge now then you were back in the academy." Sasuke shot back.
While Choji was inhaling his chips, he noticed that Akamaru, who was perched on top of Kiba's head had grown. 'Akamaru's looking plumper… juicier' he mentally drooled, slowly walking to Kiba; the Aburame heir cut him off.
"What do you want? What's wrong?" Choji then followed Shino's gaze, looking towards the floor, he saw a beetle scurrying towards Shino. "thought maybe you hadn't seen it, didn't want you stepping on it."
"Why? You save it for lunch?" Before Shino could retort, Naruto and Kiba heard a scuffling of feet.
"Hey guys, you might want to try keeping it down a little. I mean no offense, but you're the ten rookies, right? Fresh out of the academy?" Naruto eyed him suspiciously, he had barely seen the boy around, and he felt like he recognised most in the village.
"I wouldn't want to go making a spectacle of yourselves, just cool it; this isn't a class field trip." Naruto didn't like being looked down upon by others. "Who are you?" This man in front of him looked to be close to twenty years old.
"I'm Kabuto Yakushi, but really, look around you, you've made quite an impression. Though you did that before the exams, didn't you, Naruto-kun?" Some of the rookies looked up fearfully, Naruto's eyes didn't leave this, 'Kabuto.' The other Genin were too busy looking around the room to notice what he said at the end.
"See those guys, they're from the Rain village, very touchy, they all are. And over there, they're from the Hidden Cloud, also known for their tempers. This exam makes everyone tense, and you don't want to rub them the wrong way now." Sakura nodded in agreement; it was undoubtedly a frightening sight.
"You can't help it; I mean, how could you know how things work? You're just rookies. You remind me of myself a while back." Sakura had regained her composure, stripping her gaze away from the crowd to the boy she asked. "Kabuto… is that your name?"
"Yeah?"
"This isn't the first time you've taken the exam?"
"No, it's…my seventh." The Genin were rocked, especially Naruto; he'd felt the chakra reserves Kabuto had; they were on par with most Jonin. That isn't typically enough to base skill off, but still, something just wasn't adding up.
"Well, they're held twice a year, so this will be my fourth year." Sakura was surprised; this guy had been in it so long.
"Wow, a veteran. You must really be an expert by now." She stated.
"Yeah, sort of." He admitted.
"Does that mean you have information that your willing to share?" Naruto asked. "I see, straight to the point. I do indeed have some information, with my-" kabuto proceeded to reach into his pouch and withdrew a stack of orange backed cards.
"-Ninja-info cards." He stated proudly.
"What information do they have, is it villages or contestants?" Kabuto was a little on edge on the inside; he couldn't help but get the feeling that Naruto didn't believe him. If he was given away at any point, that could spell serious problems.
"Both actually, what do you want to know? Who do you want to know about?"
Shikamaru was intrigued. "What's our competition like? The number of teams from the other villages?"
Kabuto smiled, starting it off quickly. He pulled the top card of the deck off the top and placed it on the ground; Naruto thought he saw something. "Chakra encoded cards; they only react to yours; I'm guessing, wouldn't want just anyone to see what's on them." The blond Jinchuuriki stated.
"Correct," Kabuto replied. He placed his finger on the card and began to spin it, raising his hand to a half-ram seal, he pumped a small amount into the card. Naruto felt how precise that was, for someone to have Jonin level reserves and medical level control and not have passed in four years of trying, this was just more confusing.
With a small amount of smoke, the card began to show a map; it was on the Ninja world. It showed the number of teams from each village.
Thirty from the Sand, twenty-one from the Rain, fifteen from the Grass, twelve from the Waterfall, seventy-two from the Leaf, three from the Sound, and finally eight from the Cloud.
"Do you have individual information?" Naruto had already asked this question, but he was dying to know about some of the competitors.
"I might." Kabuto just shrugged. "You have someone special in mind?"
"I do. Gaara of the Desert, Rock Lee of the Leaf and Neji Hyuga of the Leaf."
"Well, I can't promise that my information is complete or perfect, but I reckon I've got more than enough on them, and to know their names, that takes all the fun out of it."
Holding the three cards in front of his face, he murmured. "Here they are."
"What do they say?" Naruto didn't want to show his impatience, but this guy was making it hard.
"Okay, first up is Rock Lee. It looks like he's about a year older than you guys. Mission experience, eleven c-ranks, and twenty d-ranks, His squad leader is Guy; in the last twelve months, his Taijutsu has radically improved. His other skills are pretty shaky, last year, he got a lot of attention as a genin, but for some reason, he chose not to participate in the Chunnin exam. This'll his first time as a candidate, same as you guys; his teammates are Tenten and Neji Hyuga."
"Okay, now for his teammate, Neji Hyuga. Like Lee, he is one year older than you, same mission record; his Taijutsu has not improved as much as Lee's though it is still superior. Like most Hyuga, he is a user of the Gentle fist, Nin and Genjutsu are also not recorded as special though that is to be expected of a Hyuga."
"Final one, Gaara of the Desert. Mission experience, eight c-ranks and… get this, one B-rank as a Genin. There's not a lot more information on this guy, he was a rookie from another land originally, but there is this: He's survived every mission without getting a scratch on him."
Shikamaru couldn't hold his shock. "This dude's done a B-rank as a Genin? And has never even been injured?" Naruto tried his best to keep his friend calm.
"Shika, we did a B-rank, too, don't you remember that?" Shikamaru accepted that, whether the reason for them on the mission was extreme or not. Reverting to the card map, he looked upon the crowd of Genin. "From the looks of it, they've all sent exceptionally skilled candidates to the exam this time around. Of course, the Hidden Sound Village is small; it sprang up recently, no one knows anything about it. Those guys are a mystery."
One of the Sound Genin Squads did not take to nicely to Kabuto's words.
"Well, you get the point, the competition is going to be intense this year."
"What do you have on Naruto Uzumaki?"
Naruto looked to Sasuke; he understood it, the boy wanted answers on his targets, which meant he was one of them. "To ask that right next to him, I'm impressed." He began to pull the card out of the deck, pushing chakra into it. Once the image appeared, the card disappeared, everyone heard Naruto hum.
Looking at him, he was suddenly studying the card. 'Fast' was all they could think; Naruto finished reading the card and looked up, giving Kabuto as questioning glare. Naruto began to read the card aloud.
"Naruto Uzumaki, 12 years old, he has completed ten d-ranks and one b-rank mission. His skills greatly improved after graduating from the academy; Taijutsu is on par with a medium Jonin. His Ninjutsu says the only recorded Techniques are the Shadow Clone and Summoning, for which he holds the Toad contract. His Genjutsu is lacking but still above average. The wielder of The Executioner's Blade, after defeating Zabuza Momochi. He is the apprentice of Jiraiya of the Sanin."
Naruto looked up to Kabuto. His Summoning wasn't widely known; how could Kabuto know about it?
"You heard what he said about the Hidden Sound Village?" one of their Genin said. "He called us little, a mystery."
"I heard." Was the only reply Dosu gave; this was the same boy seated in the tree during Naruto's confrontation with Gaara.
"I say, we teach this guy some manners." The team's female offered; they all seemed irked by Kabuto's lack of respect.
"Yeah, time to clear up some of the mystery for him." Dosu returned. "Update his information, let him know that, you insult the sound shinobi, you better be ready for the consequences."
"You ready?"
"Let's do it."
After the last word was spoken the trio leapt through the crowd, everyone saw the commotion and watched on in interest. A confrontation just before the exam could be intriguing.
Kankuro was eager to get into the action; he loosened the object's strappings on his back. Just as he did that, he felt a raised arm stop him from continuing, looking at its owner, Gaara wasn't even looking at him. No, he was watching for what happened with a blank stare.
Dosu pulled the sleeve that hung long past his hand on his right arm up, preparing to hit Kabuto. The other boy ran distraction, jumping into the air, he flung two kunai at Kabuto's feet, Kabuto leapt backward, sliding to a stop.
At that point, Dosu appeared, his arm cocked, the muscles began to engage, but before he could bring his fist past his shoulder, he was slapped by the Executioner's Blade.
Dosu didn't come near the ground; he impacted the wall at the same height he was previously standing at. Everyone had tracked Dosu's movements until he left a human-sized dent in the wall; they looked to the blond who'd already strapped the blade on his back and was walking to Kabuto.
Once he helped the fellow Leaf shinobi up, suspicious or not, he turned to the attacker. Naruto flooded the room with fear as he oozed a desire to kill the sound Genin, all in attendance cowered, minus a few.
"You're the same rats that were spying on us a week ago, know this: you may attack our shinobi in the exams, that's just part of it. But, if you so much as look the wrong way at one of our shinobi outside of the exams, I will force you to crawl back with your chin once I've broken every bone in your and cut rest off. Don't screw with me."
The scowl that had developed vanished as he gave the grimacing Kabuto a warm smile. "Sorry about that, people can be a bit annoying, can't they?" he chuckled, and with that, the ominous feeling was gone, and everyone who'd held their breath released a collective sigh.
A puff of smoke interrupted what would have been kabuto's thank you. "Alright, you baby-faced degenerates! Pipe down and listen up!" When the smoke cleared, a group of older ninja wearing trench coats came into view. The one in the front was holding his left hand up in a half-ram seal; scars marred his face, his headbands acting as a bandanna, covering the top of his head.
"It's time to begin; I'm Ibiki Morino, your proctor, and from this moment… your worst enemy." Naruto didn't outwardly react, but his mind was working in overdrive. Anko had told him many times that Ibiki Morino was the head of Torture and Interrogation and specialised in mental torture. He could make someone give up without even speaking a word; he knew the ins and outs of the human mind.
"First." He held out a hand, counting on his fingers. "You candidates from the Sound and Leaf knock it off, who told you, you could fight? You want to be failed before we've even begun?"
"I won't apologise for what I did," Naruto stated calmly. Ibiki smirked. 'This kid knows, we'll see how he does.' He thought, turning to face the other Genin. "I'll say this once, so listen up, there will be no combat between candidates, no attacking each other without the permission of your proctor, and even then, the use of fatal force is strictly prohibited. Anyone who even thinks of messing with me will be disqualified immediately. Got it?"
The sound Genin who ran distraction for Dosu, flung his head back to look at Ibiki. "No fatal force? That's no fun." He proclaimed.
"Now, if we're ready, we'll proceed to the first stage of the Chunnin exam. Hand over your paperwork; in return, you'll each be given a number, each number will determine where you will sit. We'll start the written test once you're all seated."
Every followed Ibiki's direction and gave their papers in and received their numbers. Spilling into the classroom, everyone took their seats; Naruto found himself between Temari and Omoi, though his name was still unknown to him.
"Temari-chan, good to see you again." He said to the Sand princess. "Good to see you to Naruto-san, that was quite a performance you put on before." She joked.
"Yeah, it probably was the smartest thing, was it?" Temari giggled; the boy just seemed so easy to talk to. Omoi looked at the interaction with surprise, the two, though from different, seemed to get along quite well. They were broken out of their thoughts by the sharp tapping of chalk against a blackboard.
"Everyone, eye's front. There are a few rules that you need to be aware of, and I won't answer any questions, so you better pay attention the first time around. Alright, rule number one is this: the written part of an exam is conducted with a point reduction system, contrary to what some of you may be used to, you all begin the test with a perfect score of ten points. One point will be deducted for every answer you get wrong, so if you miss three, your score will be seven."
"Rule number two: teams will pass or fail based on total scores of all three members."
The room gasped in a chorus; it seemed that every team had someone who might let them down. Hinata looked worried, Kiba and Naruto were no good at these, but when she looked at the two, she noticed that neither looked disturbed in the slightest.
"Rule number three: the sentinels you see positioned around the room-" Gesturing to the trench coat clad ninja that had circled the Genin. "-are there to watch you carefully for any signs of cheating, and for every incidence, they spot they will subtract two points from the culprits score."
The participants seemed confused by this. 'Two points? Why is it only two points? We could cheat four times…. And… still…' The answer hit Naruto quite early, luckily for him; otherwise, he would be stewing on getting all his teammates failing the exam.
"Be warned, their eyes are extremely sharp, and if they catch you five times, you'll be dismissed before the tests are even scored." Most were worried about even breathing, lest they lose their team points and have them fail.
"Anyone fool enough to be caught cheating by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here."
A Chunnin that Naruto recognised as one of the regular gate guards, Kotetsu spoke up. "I've got my eye on you guys."
"If you want to be considered shinobi, then show us what exceptional shinobi can be."
The Genin were trying to calm themselves down when Ibiki finished. "One more thing, if any candidate should get a zero and fail the test, then the entire team fails," Ibiki spoke with a tone that meant business; he was truly living up to his reputation.
Hinata once again looked worried, though she also noticed that while Kiba had begun to wince in fear, Naruto had remained calm.
"The final question won't be given until fifteen minutes before the end of the testing period. You'll have one-hour total." All eyes left the imposing man and zeroed in on the clock, and it's sudden ringing.
"Begin!"
All Genin attached themselves to their respective test papers and began to answer the questions. The monotonous scraping and tapping of a pencil on paper echoed throughout the room, applying more pressure to those who struggled.
Two people hadn't moved; Naruto and Gaara still were focused on the proctor. Naruto had decided that he would just grab someone else's test halfway through, no need to hide it; they would only dock him two points. Gaara had chosen to begin his test, the cork on his gourd loosened, and a handful of sand escaped.
Covering his left eye with opposite his hand, the sand that had escaped reformed itself into an eye, his third eye surveyed the classroom. When he spotted Temari answering the questions, the eye moved towards her; Temari noticed it's presence and thought it best not to argue should he decide to kill her.
'The opening of the third eye, invisibly linked to the optic nerve.'
Hinata worked through the questions; she knew how to answer this; on top of that, she had her Byakugan. Shino, too, learned what he needed to answer this and his clan insects; it would be a walk in the park for them.
Seeing Gaara forming the eye, Kankuro began. 'Seems like Gaara's figured it out, okay Crow, I'm counting on you.'
Naruto looked over to the boy on his right; he and his fellow Cloud shinobi had been reflecting the invading light onto the wall; using morse code, they distributed the answers.
Turning his head, Naruto heard a thud and a yelp. He saw a boy standing, with a kunai pining his paper to his desk. "What the? What was that all about?" The boy called. Kotetsu, the Chunnin who'd spoken before, eyed him up. "Five strikes and you're out." Pointing at him and his teammates. "You just failed the test."
"Wh-what that can't be!"
"You and your teammates will leave the room immediately." He and his teammates left the room, their heads firmly tucked between their shoulders. It was then that another Chunnin stood up.
"Candidate number twenty-three, fail, number twenty-seven and forty-three, fail!"
Everyone caught from that point on had their protests, demanding proof, feigning ignorance, and claiming innocence. The reactions and the fact that they were caught more than deemed them unfit for a role as a Chunnin.
Seeing that thirty minutes had passed, Naruto stood up; hearing the sliding chair, everyone turned to face him. He'd picked up his paper and made his way to Sakura, and she didn't move; she was that confused. He pulled the piece from underneath her and began copying the answers onto his sheet.
No one could believe their eyes; this boy, without shame, had cheated, not even trying to hide it, just strolling up and taking someone else's answers. Once Naruto had completed taking her answers, he gave the paper back to her with a warm smile.
As he made his way back to his seat, all they heard was the lone sound of a pencil writing on a board. A sentinel had noted down his cheating; Ibiki couldn't decide whether to smirk or to frown; this kid had seen right through him. For someone to outright know that it would be a ploy meant he either was incredibly intelligent or was aware of his tactics.
Naruto brought the completed paper to his seat, giving Temari and Omoi small waves; no one could believe it. 'How can they allow this?' was the chorus of thoughts in the classroom, Naruto had blatantly cheated, and they hadn't done anything about it.
As Gaara's third eye studied the paper of another Genin, Kankuro raised his hand. "Ah 's'cuze me?" The sentinel nearest him looked up. "What is it?"
"Gotta use the can, sorry." He sheepishly admitted. The sentinel stood up and cuffed Kankuro, holding a rope that was attached to the handcuffs. Without looking back, the sentinel advised him. "We go with you to make sure you aren't up to anything."
"That's perfectly understandable." Kankuro agreed with a cheerful nod. As they arrived at the toilets, Kankuro was around a vision blocker, should the situation become more awkward.
'Security's pretty tight around here; these sentinels aren't quite as eagle-eyed as everybody thinks.' The boy thought to himself. 'Afterall, they haven't even noticed there's one more sentinel then there used to be. Right crow?' Looking closer at the sentinel that was holding the rope connected to Kankuro, there was a crack with the end of a barrel exposed in the place of his left eye.
Ibiki watched on; the Genin were quite restless; clearly, some were struggling with the questions. Unsurprising, Ibiki wasn't sure if some of his division could answer them. 'Now that we've weeded out most of the hopeless cases, fifteen minutes to go. Time for the main event.'
"Alright, listen up!" Ibiki bellowed. "Here's the tenth and final question." Ibiki let the statement sink in; he noticed many relaxed, likely a few of them were waiting on this question, some might not have answered any. "But, before I give you the question, there are some more rules that you need to be aware of."
Just as Ibiki was going to continue, Kankuro re-joined the classroom, a stupid grin plastered in his features. The proctor looked at the boy incredulously; he might sneak past the sentinels but not him. The black-clad boy, seeing the look he was receiving, allowed some fear to creep in.
"Ah, made it just in time. I hope you found your trip to the bathroom… enlightening." Ibiki finished with a smirk. All three of the sand-trio widened their eyes slightly. 'Another person saw through the crow's disguise. They're onto us.'
"Well, take your seat."
Kankuro obeyed and seated himself back down. Once again, slipping past the sentinels, he dropped a small roll of paper on Temari's desk; this did not go unnoticed by Ibiki and Naruto. 'Ingrained teamwork.' They both thought.
"These rules are unique to question ten, listen carefully. Try not to let them frighten you." Giving them a cold stare, he bore into the minds of the Genin.
~ With the Overlooking Jonin Sensei ~
"It's quiet without our Genin around; I miss 'em," Kakashi told the other three. Kakashi, Jiraiya, Kurenai, and Asuma were seated with Jonin, including those from other villages. "Don't worry; chances are they'll be back again sooner than you think," Asuma replied.
"Who's that?" The silver-haired Jonin replied. "I heard that their first examiner this year is Ibiki." The gruff Jonin answered.
"Then, we've got nothing to worry about!" Jiraiya exclaimed, giving Asuma a massive slap to the back. "What do you mean by that?" Kakashi realised how slim his team's chances would be if they'd been put against Ibiki, so Jiraiya said it confused him.
"The kid won't back down against Ibiki, and if he hasn't seen through the ruse already, he'll persevere with grit alone and just drag everyone with him." he proudly stated. "That sadist doesn't stand a chance."
"Huh? What sadist?" Kurenai asked to which Asuma chuckled. "Forgot you're a new Jonin Kurenai-chan. Otherwise, you wouldn't have to ask that."
She frowned at him, then shrugged. "So, I'm ignorant, who is he?"
"How do you not know him? He's Anko's superior, head of T&I." Jiraiya joked, and Kurenai almost slapped herself for being so forgetful. She'd heard Anko rave about how good he was and how he could break anyone, without fail.
Asuma glanced over his shoulder. "He's a master in interrogation and torture, of course, it won't be physical, that's not really his thing anyway. He works on people's minds, not body's."
~ With the Genin ~
The Genin weren't making a noise, anxiously waiting for their proctor to continue, many were worried about the question if the rules alone could scare them.
Seeing that all appeared ready for him to speak, he began. "Very well then, rule number one: each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question, it's your decision."
All of the Genin couldn't believe this revelation; why would they choose not to take the question. Temari was the first to voice her confusion. "Woah, so what's the catch? Let's say we don't want to do it, what happens then?"
Not missing a beat, Ibiki retorted. "If you choose not to take the tenth question regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero. In other words, you fail, and that means, of course, both your teammates fail as well."
That left a stunned classroom; none could see the benefit of not taking the final question; many of the other, more mentally and tactically adept, identified it as a way out of the tenth question.
Ibiki was inspecting the tiles as he spoke, it was not loud, but it garnered all in the room's attention. "Not so fast, you didn't let me finish."
By now, the effect of more rules had worn off; people just accepted that the plethora of rules was custom. "If you do accept the question but answer it incorrectly, you will not only fail." He took a deep breath, then raised his head.
"You will be barred from taking the Chunnin exam ever again!"
When the room quieted down, everyone looked at each other; this was unbelievable. Kiba couldn't believe this; how could they take the futures of another ninja away like that? "Hey, that's bull man! That's ridiculous! What kind of bogus rule is that? There's lots of people who have taken the test before!" The Inuzuka shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at the proctor, Akamaru barked in agreement.
Ibiki laughed at the boy's protests; this was always fun. "I guess you're just unlucky." The proctor started. "I wasn't making the rules before; I am now. Of course, if you don't want to take it, you don't have to." His coarse voice carried through the room,
The admission caused a few of the candidates to reel back in surprise. "If you're not feeling confident, by all means, skip it. You can come back and try again next year."
Seeing the looks of fear and contemplation on the majority of the Genin's faces, he laughed again. Some faces hardened with resolve; others seemed to fall apart in fear.
"Now then, if you're ready, the tenth and final question, those who don't want to take it, raise your hand. Your number will be recorded, and then you're free to go."
Many were unsure of what to do, would this particular exam be worth their careers. And for one, he deemed it an unnecessary risk. The tap of a pencil falling on a desk drew everyone in. "Aw... I'm out. That's it; I'm out, I just can't do it, I'm sorry." The man appeared to be distraught in his decision.
"Number fifty, fail! Number one, thirty, number one, ten. that means you're out too." The sentinel known as Izumo called out.
"Gennai, Inaho, I'm sorry, guys. I'm sorry." This admission seemed to open the floodgates as team after team joined them. Seeing one person give in seemed to make it easier in everyone else's eyes.
Naruto surveyed the room from his seat; he kept running his eyes over every contestant until he saw something, he believed impossible.
Kiba had raised his hand; his head hung between his shoulders.
He wouldn't let the boy do this to himself; his right arm began to move.
~ With the Jonin Sensei's ~
"You see this guy, Ibiki. He's a master of interrogation because he understands how the human mind works. He knows just where to probe to uncover your weaknesses. The thing is he's so good at his job; he doesn't use physical torture; he doesn't need to."
Tearing his gaze away from the floor to look at the other Jonin Asuma continued. "He just messes up your head so bad; you torture yourself."
~ With the Genin ~
Reaching into his pouch, he gripped a typical kunai. Throwing it as fast as he could, aiming to make a small cut in Kiba's index finger. His aim was spot-on, whizzing past the Inuzuka, leaving a cut just as intended it embedded itself in the wall, right next to a sentinel's head. The man just gave an annoyed look to Naruto.
"What the?" Kiba's head whipped around to see Naruto starring at him intently. "What the hell?"
"I won't let you do something you would later regret, Kiba. Think about it like this, what kind of leader would you be if you're not willing to put your life on the line for the mission. That's the entire point, isn't it?"
The final question was directed at Ibiki though the boy didn't look at him. 'Again!' the proctor mentally raged, to not lose face, he just smirked. "This decision is one that could change your life. If, for any reason, you would rather quit, now's your last chance."
'Remarkable, that little outburst has given the others some backbone. He's inspired them into staying, seventy-eight left—more than I expected. But I don't see anyone wavering; I think that's it.'
Ibiki strolled to the middle, showing that he was going to speak once more. "Well then, I admire your determination, if nothing else. For those of you remaining, there's only one thing left to do, and that's for me to tell you..."
"Have all passed the first exam!" he said with a proud smile.
While confusion in the forefront of everyone's mind. For Naruto, it was fear; he'd sensed a very familiar chakra signature. Not ready to face her, he ducked underneath the table, so only his hair was visible.
Sakura spoke up. "Hold on, what just happened? What do you mean we passed? Where's the tenth question?" Ibiki's smile formed into a smirk, then into full-blown laughter. "There never was one," he admitted.
"Blondie hit the nail on the head. Your decision to stay was the answer to the first question." Hearing a shuffling next to him, Temari stood up, enraged. "Wait for a second, so the other nine questions were just a waste of time. Is that what you're saying?"
"No, no, not at all. Quite the opposite, the first nine questions had an important overriding purpose. To test your ability to surreptitiously gather strategic intelligence under the most adverse circumstances."
Temari looked on incredulously, still not quite believing him. "Oh... well, that clears up everything."
"Let me explain, you see, my objective was to test you not only as individuals but as a team and how well you function as a part of that team. That's why the test was scored on a team basis, so you'd know that everything you did or failed to do would directly affect your teammates."
"I wanted to see how you'd handle the pressure," Kiba smirked; he would have been screwed had Naruto not intervened; he would thank him later.
"The first nine questions on the test were difficult, in fact, as you may have realised. Too difficult for any genin to be expected to solve." To which there was a wave of unanimous nods.
"I imagine most of you quickly came to that conclusion that you'd have to cheat if you have any chance of passing. The fact is that the test is designed to encourage cheating; it almost demanded it."
They all thought back to their attempts at gathering the knowledge.
"Of course, it would have done you little good unless you had someone to cheat from. So, I disguised two Chunnin who already knew the answers and had them sit in with you."
Many looked at one boy who'd slammed his head down on his desk once seeing where the Chunnin were placed. The boy was muttering things like: 'The answers were in front of me the whole time.' Chojuro and Shio looked sympathetically at their teammate.
"Those who were caught at it failed, better to cheat than to cheat clumsily."
Ibiki continued to explain the details of the exam, showing that information could be worth dying for. He unwrapped his bandanna and showed the scars that covered his head, proof of survival of interrogation. When Temari once again asked the point of the final question, he answered.
"As I said before, the goal was to test you, not only as individuals but as part of a squad. The final question gave you two choices, both difficult. Chose to play it safe and skip the question, though it meant that both you and your teammates would be failed, or you could try and answer it, knowing if you got it wrong, you would lose your chance of ever being Chunnin."
"It was a no-win situation," Ibiki said while narrowing his eyes. "But just the sort that Chunnin have to face every day." Continuing to depict a situation where the pressure they were just placed under would occur, he finished.
"You have successfully answered the ten questions I put to you. You have earned the right to continue on to the next step; you have passed through the first gate. I hereby declare this part of the Chunnin exams completed. There's nothing left but to wish you all good luck."
Naruto, at this point, was shaking, his eyes were wide. Temari looked down and raised an eyebrow. If this boy wasn't scared of a homicidal Jinchuuriki, what would scare him?
Ibiki also noticed this; the boy who just proclaimed putting your life on the line was curled up in a ball. Hearing a small whistling, he looked to his right; an object was speeding at the window.
A cloth ball flew into the classroom, hitting the window, unraveling itself, and a figure appeared inside. Attached to the corners, two kunai flew away, pining up the banner. All in attendance started in shock as the female who appeared looked up.
"Heads up, boys and girls! This is no time to be celebrating. I'll be your next proctor, Anko Mitarashi!"
LUCKILY THE SECOND EXAM WILL BE MORE DIFFERENT, NARUTO WILL USE HIS HISTORY OF HIM TRAINING THERE TO HIS ADVANTAGE.