DISCLAIMER: (I meant to put this on the last part too!) Some of the text and characters are from Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original manga/anime series are mine.

Recap: Sara and Naruto have graduated from the Ninja Academy, and have successfully protected Tazuna. They now face a more difficult challenge, the Chûnin Exam!

On Your Mark

Sasuke looked up at Lee, "You want to fight me now?"

"Yes," Lee said as he leaped down. "My name is Rock Lee. Among sticklers it is proper etiquette to gives one's name before asking another's."

Sasuke smiled, "Sasuke Uchiha, you knew who I was all along."

Lee said, "I want to test myself against another member of your legendary clan."

Sasuke looked towards Sara, "You faced him already?" Sara only nodded.

Lee ignored the exchange between the two relatives and winked at Sakura.

Sakura said, "No way! Your eyelashes creep me out!" Not to mention the geeky do, plus the caterpillar eyebrows."

Lee blew a kiss towards Sakura, "You're an angel!"

Sakura dodged the kiss, I'm managed to dodge that! Whew!

Sasuke asked Lee, "So, Dog-brow, do you really want to learn what it means to be an Uchiha?"

"Absolutely," Lee answered.

Naruto had been fuming over everybody wanting to face Sasuke, he said, "Hang on. Let me handle Bushy Brow, Sasuke. He'll be toast. Just give me FIVE minutes."

"I have no interest in fighting you," Lee said.

Naruto lunged towards him, "It's always Sasuke this and Sasuke that, till I could just puke!"

Lee easily blocked Naruto's attack and sent Naruto rolling into a wall, knocking him out. Lee looked at Sasuke, "Mark my words, you won't beat me."

Sara zoned out than as she thought of the day before, when Kakashi had given them all their applications, his gaze held that same emotion again. I still can't place it!... Maybe the others are right and it is a…fatherly…look… Nah! Master Kakashi look at me as a daughter? Yeah, that's his worst nightmare more likely! Once she had reassured herself, she focused on the fight and saw that it was over already. She stared at the yellow turtle that seemed to be scolding Lee.

The turtle said, "Well then he's all yours, Master Guy!"

"Ah, the exuberance of youth! You all have so much of it!" Guy said as he appeared on the turtle's back. All of them stared in horror at Guy while Sara tried to hold down her lunch after hearing "the exuberance of youth".

Naruto shouted, "He's got the biggest eyebrows yet! They're almost alive!"

Lee snapped, "Don't talk about Guy-sensei like that!"

"Oh, shut up!" Naruto said. "I can't get over all the freaks that keep popping up!"

Guy said to Lee, who was indignant about Naruto's comment, "Lee…you idiot!" He punched Lee full force.

"Huh!" Squad Seven all shouted in unison.

"Lee…you…you," Guy said tears flowing down his cheeks.

Lee also had tears flowing down his cheeks as he replied, "Sensei…"

"That's enough, Lee," Guy said as he hugged him. "Not one more word."

Lee sniveled, "Sensei…"

Sara stared in horror at them, I'm so glad I beat him!

I got beaten by some touchy feely crybaby! Sasuke thought.

Naruto commented, "Doesn't it give you a warm fuzzy feeling?"

Sara sighed, "Okay, you can try that with Master Kakashi and we'll see how long you live."

Guy turned his attention on Squad Seven after he dealt with Lee, "How is your teacher, Kakashi doing?"

Sasuke asked, "You know Kakashi?"

Guy laughed, "Know him? He and I are arch-rivals." Guy teleported behind them. "The score stands at fifty to forty-nine and I'm winning!"

Sara thought, yeah right! You couldn't beat Master Kakashi unless he let you win!

He's so fast! I don't doubt that he could beat Kakashi! Sasuke thought keeping an eye on Guy.

Guy said to Sasuke as he smiled, "Take pity on Lee's old teacher, I know he started this fight, but please forgive him." Sasuke didn't reply so Guy continued, "You all should head upstairs, Lee you too."

Naruto watched as Lee began winding up his bandage that Lee had tried to use during his fight with Sasuke. Lee wrapped it securely around his hand and then departed. Guy had already disappeared much to everyone's relief. Sara had zoned out again when Lee had begun talking before he left.

Naruto said to Sasuke, "That Bushy Brow beat you easily."

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed."

"Next time, he's dead meat," Sasuke said.

Sara muttered, "If there is a next time."

Naruto added, "You guys saw his hands, right? Bushy Brow probably gets some sort of mega training day after day….even more than we got."

Sasuke made a fist but than relaxed as he said, "Things are starting to get interesting."

Sakura, Sara, and Naruto smiled. Sara nodded while Sakura said, "Yep!"

Naruto said, "Well, duh! It's the Chûnin Exam!"

Sasuke said to them, "Come on, let's go!"

"Yeah," they all shouted.

As they all walked down the hallway to room 301, a voice said, "Glad you made it after all, Sakura." They all looked at the voice's user.

Kakashi said to them, "You all qualify to apply for this exam."

Sakura asked, "What do you mean?"

"This test can only be taken by three or four man cells," Kakashi stated.

Sakura said, "But…Kakashi-sensei, you said it was our own decision as to whether or not we participated. Were you lying?"

Kakashi said, "Yes and no. I wanted to keep the others from pressuring you into it. Even if you had no desire to enter, one word from Sasuke and you would have entered even if your heart wasn't in it."

Sakura asked, "What would have happened if these three showed up without me."

Kakashi answered, "I would have chewed them out, and none of them would have gotten past this door." Kakashi smiled at all of them, "But that doesn't matter, you're all here and I'm very, very proud of all of you. Now get in there!"

They all moved towards the door, Naruto said, "Look out everybody, cause here we come!"

Kakashi blocked Sara's way, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," Sara said, looking perplexed.

Kakashi looked nervous as he started to say, "I…I…I…"

"Yeah," Sara said, wondering why he was tongue tied. "You what?"

"I…I wanted to wish you good luck!" Kakashi said. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! It shouldn't be so hard to tell her I'm her guardian!

"Okay…" Sara said. "Thanks…I think."

Kakashi said to her as the doors began to shut, "Just come back alive."

"What!" Sara shouted as the doors closed in her face.

The Challengers

Sara stared at the doors, what did he mine by "just come back alive"?... This exam is going to be treacherous; I've no doubt about that now. Sara turned around to face the room. She stared in shock at all of the ninja that stood in front of her. Holy…!

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were no better; they were still recovering from their shock. Sasuke was jolted out of his by Ino tackling him from behind, "Sasuke! How've you been, cutie?" She moved her head as close to Sasuke's as possible, while Sasuke tried to pull away, "I could hardly wait to see you again, it's been too long!"

Sakura snapped, "Ino, you pig, get your hooves off him!"

"Well, hello to you too, Sakura," Ino replied. "Still hoping the mutant forehead look will come into fashion?"

"What did you just say?" Sakura said, enraged.

"Why don't you guys save yourselves the embarrassment of flunking this test? Just leave, all right?" Shikamaru said as he walked up.

Sara said as she walked over to him, "Surely you can't be talking about MY squad?"

Shikamaru said, "Nah, just the other losers that have pretty boy, knuckle head, and bubble gum hair."

"Interesting," Sara said. "That sounds an awful lot like my squad."

"Look," Shikamaru said. "It's not that you, yourself, aren't that great. I mean, you ARE that great, but the rest of your squad is an embarrassment to the Leaf Village."

Sara was about to reply when Naruto interrupted, "Well, if it isn't the three stooges!"

Shikamaru said to him, "I wish you'd stop calling us that! What a pain in the butt you are, Naruto."

"Hey, Sasuke you made it," a new voice said. "Look's like the gang's all here."

Shikamaru muttered, "Including you, unfortunately!"

The new person continued, "So all three newbie squads tried out for this exam. Wonder how far we'll all get. What do you think, Sasuke?"

Sasuke said, "Trying to psych us out by acting all cool, Kiba?"

Kiba replied, "Who's acting? We've been training our butts off! There's no way you guys could beat us!"

"Oh shut up!" Naruto said. "You couldn't even beat me, much less Sasuke or Bright Eyes!"

Hinata said, "I-I'm sorry, Naruto. Kiba didn't mean what he said to sound that way…"

"Bark, woof!" The puppy on top of Kiba's head said, before it leapt at Sara.

"Hey!" Sara exclaimed as the puppy knocked her over and began sniffing her pockets. "Akamaru! I don't have any treats today!" Sara exclaimed as she removed Akamaru from her jean pocket and handed him back to Kiba.

"Sorry about that," Kiba said thoroughly embarrassed.

A boy with silver colored hair and glasses said to them, sounding peeved, "Would you guys just shut up? You three squads of wannabe ninja are all new genin right? You're all wet-behind the ears and runny-nosed! This isn't an Academy field-trip you know."

Ino asked, "Who the heck do you think you are?"

"The name's Kabuto," he replied. "You guys need to open your eyes and be aware of your surroundings."

"Why?" Sakura questioned as she and the others turned around.

Sara's adrenaline rushed forward making her Devil's Eyes activate. All of the ninja in the room were glaring at them.

Kabuto said, "Watch out for the group behind you, they're from the Village Hidden in the Rain, and they have pretty short fuses. Everyone in here's on edge waiting to take on this exam. I thought I'd give you a heads-up before you had the crap beaten out of you."

Sara wasn't sure she trusted Kabuto. She was surprised when Phoenix said to her, I'm glad you feel it too. I'd keep a close eye on him if I were you. He seems a bit too friendly, even for someone from your village.

I know, Sara thought back to him. It's really odd that Phoenix is just as wary as I am, and for him to voice it…

Kabuto continued as he rummaged through his pack, "You'll all probably get clobbered anyway, since you're rookies and all. You guys probably think you know everything." He sighed, "I remember what it was like."

Sakura questioned him, "Kabuto, are you saying that this isn't the first time you've applied…it's your second?"

"Not second, seventh," Kabuto said. "This exam is given twice a year and I'm…going on four years now."

Sakura said sarcastically, "Wow, than you must be a pro as to how things work around here!"

"I guess so," Kabuto replied, missing the sarcasm in her voice.

Naruto also missed the sarcasm, as he said to Kabuto, "All right Kabuto buddy, you're the man!"

"Cute," Kabuto said as he pulled out a card. "The least I can do for you, sweet little newbies, is give you some vital information on what you're in for with these Shinobi Skill Cards."

"Shinobi Skill Cards?" Sakura asked confused.

I'm not sure I like this, Sara thought. It almost feels like cheating…

Kabuto answered Sakura's question, "To put it simply, using my chakra I've burned the information that I've collected on shinobi and their skills into these cards, of course they only respond to my chakra. It took me four years to get this much information and it still isn't complete on some. In all, there are almost 200 cards." Kabuto began spinning a blank card. "These may look blank, but as I said they only respond to my chakra.

"This card here is a combination of map and bar graph in 3D! What kind of intelligence is this?" Ino asked.

Kabuto replied, "It shows how many applicants each village sent to participate in this year's exam."

Sasuke asked, "Do you have cards on individuals as well?"

Kabuto laughed, "Why, are you interested in someone in particular?"

"Yeah," Sasuke said. "Gaara of the Sand…"

Who? Sara wondered.

"…and Rock Lee from the Leaf Village," Sasuke finished.

Kabuto said, "You know their names? That's no fun." He pulled out two cards and laid them on the ground. "First up is Rock Lee. He's a year older than you guys, his mentor is Might Guy and he excels in Taijutsu, he has no other talents worth mentioning. His teammates are Tenten and Neji Hyuga." He turned to the card with a red haired boy on it with "love" tattooed on his forehead. "Next is Gaara…"

So that's Gaara, Sara thought looking at the card. I wouldn't want to meet him in battle.

Kabuto said, "…Not many genin get B-ranked missions! Since he's from the desert I have less information on him, but it seems like he's come back from all of his missions unscathed."

Sara noticed that Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura all looked nervous. They must have met Gaara at some point in time… I'll have to ask them about him.

"All of the hidden villages have sent shinobi this year," Kabuto stated. "I don't know much about that Hidden Sound Village though, since it's a new village, so intelligence is lacking."

Hinata said, "Anybody else besides me suddenly feel outclassed?"

Sakura ignored her and said, "You're saying that everyone here is…"

"Oh yeah," Kabuto said. "Just as good as Gaara and Lee. Elite shinobi in the young ninja world. They have to be since the test is pitiless."

Kakashi was standing outside the room still, he was remembering how hard fought it was to get his genin entered in the exam.

Guy had said, "It's an unforgiving test, Kakashi! You might be rushing them into it! My kids are the best, but even I waited a year just to let them mature. Give your cell some time to build some strength."

Kakashi replied, "What my squad lacks in experience they make up with surprises, Guy. Your squad will eat their dust."

Lord Hokage interrupted them, "Enough! Our next order of business is to consider those genin that have passed their first year!"

Kakashi laughed, "That's one hurdle…"

Kakashi looked at the doors apprehensively, I was smug than. Even though my students are utterly fearless they may even be a little uneasy…

Sara watched Naruto, oh no! He's going to say something stupid! I better get ready!

Sakura took Naruto's trembling as a sign that he was scared, I better cheer him up a bit. "Naruto, everything's going to be fi-…"

Naruto shouted, "My name is Naruto Uzamaki! And I'm going to whip all your butts!"

Kakashi smiled as he heard, "You got that?" Come from inside. He knew who it was.

Ino shouted at Sakura, "What's his problem?"

Naruto continued, "Yeah that felt good!"

Sasuke snorted, "Oh, please!"

A boy from the crowd said, "Oh yeah, you little runt?" He lunged at Naruto.

Sara quickly intercepted him, grabbing his wrist, "Touch my teammates," she practically snarled. "And I'll tear you limb from limb."

The guy was staring nervously at his wrist. Sara whipped around and threw him across the room.

Kakashi heard a thud and thought, I hope that wasn't Naruto!

The First Exam Rules

Naruto was smiling happily after his announcement. Shikamaru muttered, "With one sentence he turned a room full of strangers into a room full of enemies."

Sakura grabbed Naruto from behind as she said angrily, "What are you doing?"

"I'm telling the truth," Naruto exclaimed as Sakura dragged him backwards.

Sakura felt all the bloodlust in the room and said, "Oh don't mind him, he's what you call a 'special ed.' ninja!"

Sara and the others were startled when a group of ninja attacked Kabuto; Kabuto easily dodged the punch of one of them. Sara thought grudgingly, he's pretty good… "What the-?" She said aloud as Kabuto glasses broke and he puked on the floor.

"Kabuto!" Sakura exclaimed, worried about him.

Sara listened to the ninja as one that looked like a mummy said, "You aren't much of a shinobi are you? This is your seventh try?"

One with the character "death" written one his shirt said, "Add this to your cards: the three applicants from the Sound Village are not to be messed with!"

A new voice said as a cloud of smoke appeared, "Would you all just shut up!"

Yipes! Sara thought as she stared at the ninja before her. All of them were in a beige uniform except the one in the front. He was wearing a black overcoat and he had two scars on his face. The one in the lead said, "Sorry to have kept you waiting. I'm Ibiki Morino, the proctor of the first part of the Chûnin Exam." He pointed at the Sound ninja, "You, from the Sound Village, there will be no more behavior like that, or else you'll be disqualified."

"Sorry," the one that looked like a mummy said. "We got carried away."

Ibiki snorted, "If that's the case than from this point forward there will be no more fighting without the express permission from the examining officer, if permission is giving there is no fighting that endangers an applicant's life. Any of you who break the rules are disqualified, no ifs, ands, or buts, got it?"

The Sound ninja with "death" on his shirt said, "So it's a test for girly men?"

"However you wish to see it," Ibiki said. "The first part of this exam is about to commence. Turn in your applications and take one of these seating assignment cards and report directly to the seat indicated. When everyone's seated the written part of the test will begin."

Naruto shouted, "A-a written test!"

Poor Naruto, Sara sighed. She moved through the line and got her seat assignment, "One," she muttered to herself as she took her seat. She looked at the chairs that surrounded it which she assumed were for the other officials, "Of all the rotten luck!"

Sara focused her attention on Ibiki as he began to explain the rules, "There are a few big rules that pertain to this exam. I'll write them on the board and explain them all, but no questions, so listen carefully; I will only say this once. Rule One: Each of you has ten points; the test has ten questions each worth one point for each question you get wrong a point is subtracted." Ibiki explained on the board with an example of three questions answered incorrectly equals seven points that the applicant would retain. "Rule Two: This is still a team event, passing or failing is based on how many points your team can retain. The main focus is for each team to have as few point deductions as possible."

Sara sighed, good thing our squad is made of four people, so if Naruto loses all of his points we should still be okay. Sara was shocked to hear Sakura.

Sakura said, "Wait a second, the concept of starting points and deductions was hard to follow but what is this team total you're talking about?"

Ibiki glared at her, "Did you not comprehend the part about no questions? Shut up and listen, you might learn something. This next bit is crucial. Rule Three: If a candidate is caught cheating by a proctor two points are deducted. If you are caught cheating five times by the proctors you fail."

An exam proctor said, "I'll be watching over your shoulders." Sara heard a lot of genin swallow nervously.

Ibiki continued, "If you aspire to be chûnin than you'd better start acting like you already are."

There's a hidden meaning within that sentence… I just can't figure it out yet… Sara thought.

Ibiki added to his rules, "If for any reason a person loses all ten points, his teammates also fail."

What? Was all Squad Seven could think, while Naruto sank in his seat to avoid the death glares all of his teammates were giving him.

To Each His Own

Ibiki said, "You have one hour, starting…NOW!"

Sara stared at the paper in front of her, Question 1: Decode the following and cipher and summarize its meaning. Simple enough, She decoded the cipher and summarized it. Okay, Question Two: The Parabola marked B represents the greatest effective distance the enemy shinobi, A could throw a shuriken from the top of a 23.3 foot tall tree. Calculate the specific…Let's just say Sara understood that one too. Let's see, Question Three is a bit hard… Okay Question Four is hard… I can't answer five…Crap! What do I do? Arrrgghh! She slammed her head against the desk. Her gaze drifted to the person next to her who was writing away. Well, well! What do we have here? I'm not normally one to cheat…but…I'll make an exception! But there's the proctors… Sara looked at all of the proctors than glanced at the rules. She suddenly had an epiphany, they want us to cheat!

Meanwhile, as Sara had her epiphany Naruto was panicking, I can't answer anything on this test! I'm screwed! The others are gonna kill me if I fail! What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?

Sasuke smiled, I don't know a single answer on this test; and what's with the tenth question, This question will not be provided until forty-five minutes into the exam. At that time, please answer the proctor's question to the best of your ability.Sasuke glanced at the proctors, they're like cats watching mice. They're waiting for us to cheat. Those rats!

Sakura was easily answering her questions, but she glanced at the board anyway, these rules make it clear that we're competing against each other. Only the teams with the most points will pass… I just wish I knew where the cut-off was. She glanced back down at her quiz, even Sasuke and Sara must be having trouble answering these…I hope Naruto's doing okay. Sakura was surprised when a boy next to her got up.

He said, "You know the thing I keep wondering…" Everyone in the room turned their attention to him, even Sara. "How many teams do you intend to pass," he finished addressing Ibiki.

Ibiki laughed, "That's for us to know. Plus it won't help you any, unless you want to fail."

The boy sat down quickly stuttering, "I-I'm sorry…"

Sakura sighed. She began estimating how many teams may pass, Arrggh! This is useless, no matter how many teams they pass things remain the same. Our squad has to retain as many points as possible! She glanced at the board again. The way things are set up it almost FORCES you to cheat. I just hope the others don't do just that.

Sara, of course, was trying to figure out how to do just that. Damn it! Why did I have to be surrounded by proctors? This is stupid! I've never had to think of ways to cheat until now! She glanced at the guy next to her, who was still writing away. Hang on! I can make it look like I'm thinking by putting my head on my arms, than I can straight up with a "eureka" look on my face. I can glance at this guy's paper using my Devil's Eyes and none of the proctors will be able to tell since I've had them up this whole time! She lowered her head onto her arms and began to memorize question five. After a few seconds she raised her head with a "eureka" look and began writing the answer.

The proctor that was closest to her thought, interesting, it appears that she figured out the answer without cheating…

Sasuke was also cheating, he was copying a guy who was writing as fast as Sara's, if not faster.

Within a few minutes, Sara had all nine questions answered. She flipped her paper over so no one else could copy it.

Naruto, meanwhile, was still panicking. He glanced at the clock, five to five! I'm running out of time! If I don't cheat I'm dead!

At 5:15, Ibiki said, "Here it comes, the tenth question."

Naruto glanced at his blank paper. I'm risking it all on this question!

Mr. Big Shot, ha! Sasuke thought as he watched Naruto.

Sakura was the calmest, one more mountain to climb.

We can do this! Sara thought her nerves on end.

Ibiki continued, "I'm adding one more rule, before I give you the last question." Everyone in the room swallowed nervously. "This rule is absolute…"

Meanwhile, in a jônin relaxation building, three jônin were sitting talking. One of them was having problems focusing on the conversation.

Kakashi said, "I get the strangest feeling that our students are having a hard time."

Asuma asked, "Is this like the feeling you got in your leg when you fell out of that tree four years ago?"

"Sort of," Kakashi replied. "Except this time it's more based on emotion, not physical pain."

Kurenai said, "Kakashi, you are the strangest person I've met."

"Well, Kakashi used to be able to feel the emotions and physical pain of another person," Asuma said. "I'm shocked it's come back," Asuma added giving a meaningful glance to Kakashi.

Kakashi wasn't paying attention, instead he changed the subject, "With our students are gone, things sure are dull. I mean it's not like we can go on missions or anything."

Kurenai and Asuma both shot him aggravated looks. Asuma sighed when Kakashi ignored him, again. He said, "Don't worry, they'll be back soon."

"Why?" Kakashi asked, worried.

Asuma continued, happy to finally get his friend to come back to earth, "Word is that the proctor is Ibiki."

"That sadist?" Kakashi said. "Why did it have to be Ibiki?" He muttered more softly, "That explains her anxiety."

"What was that?" Asuma asked.

"Nothing," Kakashi replied.

Kurenai asked, "Sadist?"

Asuma answered, "Kurenai, you're new to our ranks so you have no way of knowing."

"Why? What's he like?" Kurenai asked.

"He's a pro," Asuma said.

Kurenai asked, "A pro? At what?"

"Torture and interrogation," Asuma said. "Ibiki Morino, Torture and Interrogation Corps Jônin leader."

Kakashi sighed, will they even make it past the first exam?

Back to Squad Seven, Ibiki continued, "First you must choose, whether to accept or reject the tenth question!"

A girl with blond hair tied into four spiky pigtails shouted, "Choose? What happens if someone doesn't accept the question?"

Ibiki said, "I was getting there. If you reject the question you lose all your points immediately, you fail and so do your teammates."

One person shouted, "What?"

Another shouted, "Why would anyone reject the question then?"

Ibiki said, "Because of the other rule."

Another rule? Sara thought nervously. How many rules are there?

"If you try to answer the question and you get it wrong, then you will never be allowed to take this exam again. Not ever." Ibiki finished.

Kiba shouted while Akamaru barked like crazy. "You can't be serious! There are people here who've taken this exam more than once!"

Ibiki chuckled, "I wasn't the proctor than, but I am now. I've been up front with all of you, now you have to decide. You can take a failing grade and try again later, huh? Anyone who has doubts would be smart to reject the question right now, come back and reapply next year, and the year after that."

Sakura thought nervously, this is a no-win situation! Heads we win, tails we lose.

Ibiki said, "Those who wish to decline the tenth question speak now. Once your number has been confirmed you will be allowed to leave the room with your teammates."

Slowly people began to raise their hands and leave the room. Sakura watched them all and began to think of what would happen if Naruto failed. I can't let you ruin your chances Naruto. I would be fine and so would Sara and Sasuke, but you…you deserve the chance to become Hokage. She began to raise her hand, but stopped as she watched Naruto's go into the air.

Sasuke glared at Naruto's back, you fool!

Sara glanced Naruto's way and did a double take as she watched his hand go into the air. She looked around wildly for something to throw at him and grabbed her pencil, she threw it at him and missed.

"Hey!" The proctor nearest her said angrily.

Sara ignored him, Naruto, no! You can't do this, not to yourself or us!

Back at where the jônin were talking, Asuma said, "That Ibiki understands what makes the human heart tick. It's what makes him so terrible. He uses his insights mercilessly to manipulate his foes, and even though those kids won't be experiencing any physical torture, they're sure to be experiencing something…"

Naruto slammed his hand onto his desk, "Never underestimate me! I don't back down, and I won't run! I'll accept your stupid question! Even if I become a genin for the rest of my life, I'll still become Hokage! Believe it!"

Sasuke smirked, he never even gave us a thought, but he certainly does have guts.

Sara sighed, I'm gonna strangle him later for scaring me half to death!

Ibiki said, "I'll ask one last time, quit now while you still have the chance."

Naruto replied, "I never go back on my word, that's my shinobi way!"

Sara smiled, Naruto… you are something else!

Ibiki said after a few seconds passed, "Good call. All of you that are still here have just passed the first exam!"

Hunh! Squad Seven thought.

The Talents We Test For

"All seventy-eight of you that are still here, have passed the examine," Ibiki repeated when no one shouted with joy.

Sakura asked, feeling confused, "What do you mean, 'passed'? We haven't even answered the tenth question."

Ibiki smiled, startling all of them, "There was no tenth question beyond the concept of 'accept or reject'."

The one blond haired girl shouted, "Hey! Then why did we have to suffer through those other nine questions? That was a waste of time!"

"There was no waste, those questions had a purpose. They tested your information gathering skills. We purposely made the test so you WOULD cheat; most of you figured that out. We even place some chûnin that knew all of the answers in amongst you."

What? Aw man! Naruto thought feeling stupid. He quickly covered his idiocy by saying, "It was OBVIOUS! Any idiot could tell."

Except, Sara thought, the idiot that just spoke…

Sasuke stared at Naruto's back, he really had no clue…

Ibiki continued, "Anyone who cheated in an obvious manner was eliminated. Because there may be circumstances where being caught in espionage can cost you more than your life. You pay in ways that can be taken from you little by little, time and time again, when many lives hang in the balance." Ibiki removed his headband to reveal burn scars, punctures, and long slash marks.

Sara thought, shuddering slightly, that looks worse than Master Kakashi's back! And that's saying something!

"The information you obtain can't be trusted if you can't keep your presence a secret from the enemy," Ibiki stated. "Learn that and learn it well. If you bring back unreliable information you're doing your enemies work for them, putting those you serve in danger. That's why we forced you to use your espionage skills to cheat. It was the quickest way to weed out students that are not ready to be chûnin."

"Okay," the blond haired girl said. "But what was the deal with the tenth question?"

Ibiki put his headband back on before he said, "The tenth question was the real test. It was a choice between two impossible options. Either reject the question and try again later, or accept and face an uncertain future… Why did I present them? Let's suppose you all go on to successfully become chûnin. You're assigned a dangerous shinobi mission in enemy territory. Now do you accept or reject the mission? Rather than risk your life or your comrades do you really think chûnin get away with taking the safe jobs? Of course not! There will always be missions you cannot decline." Naruto and the others were finally smiling. "A ninja must demonstrate valor that inspires those around him, helping all to overcome their fear. THAT is what we value most in a chûnin commander. Those who can't gamble with their own fate are weaklings. In my opinion they don't belong in the ranks of the chûnin! By choosing to accept you all answered the insoluble tenth question correctly. If you keep up that spirit you can probably conquer all of the many doubts and difficulties you'll face. You've all passed, the first part of the exam has concluded, I'll pray you fight the good fight!"

"You do that!" Naruto exclaimed, "Go pray!"

Everyone in the room had just relaxed, when a big, black mass flew into the room.

Sara ducked since she was the closest to the window the black mass came through, besides the proctor. Shit! When the glass had finally settled she glanced up. Whoever that was needs to learn some manners! They're worse than Naruto!

A kunoichi with a tan colored coat on said, "None of you are in any position to celebrate."

Sara thought sarcastically, right. Because I always celebrate anything good with glass falling on me!

The kunoichi continued, "I'm the Second Exam Officer, Anko Mitarashi! Times a wastin', so follow me!"

Everyone in the room stared at Anko like she was insane, which they all thought she was.

Ibiki came out from behind her black banner and muttered to her, "Can't you sense the mood in here?"

Sakura said to no one in particular, "This new officer reminds me of Naruto."

Anko mentally counted all of the remaining students in the room before she said, "Seventy-eight of you are still here, you are losing your touch, Ibiki. You went way too easy on them."

Ibiki said, "This year we have applicants of exceptional caliber."

Anko snorted, "I'll cut down the number by half before the next test is done."

Sakura thought horrified, cut us down…by half?

"Ooh! I get charged up just thinking about it! I'll explain everything in detail as soon as we get to our next locations, so follow me!" Anko said, sounding a hair evil.

They finally arrived at the next location, a forest surrounded by barbed wire fences. All of the applicants swallowed nervously. Anko smiled as she said, "This is the area for the Second Exam, Training Ground 44, otherwise known as, The Forest of Death!"

The Second Exam

Sakura commented, as she stared at the forest, "It looks pretty creepy, doesn't it?"

Anko laughed, having heard Sakura, she responded, "You're about to find out firsthand why they call it 'The Forest of Death'!"

Naruto, having a fat head from Ibiki's praise, said acting like Anko, " 'You're about to find out why they call it 'The Forest of Death'!' Like that's going to scare us. You're trying to psych us out and I'm not gonna fall for it!"

Anko grinned at him, "Oh really? You're pretty cocky, huh?" She threw a kunai at him and it grazed his cheek, she teleported quickly behind him before anyone could react. "You're the kind that always dies first. Spilling all that rich, luscious, lovely, red blood."

She whipped around, kunai in hand as a ninja with a very long tongue held out Anko's first kunai knife, "Your kunai knife, madam. I believe you dropped it."

"Gee, thanks," Anko said while Naruto was staring at the other ninja's tongue. Anko glared at her, "Don't stand behind me radiating bloodlust, unless you're in a hurry to die."

The ninja said, "I'll try to keep it under control. But the sight of blood makes me really crazy, and I was already fired up from losing a strand of my precious hair."

Sakura thought watching the whole thing, we've got a real nutcase proctoring this exam…

Sara was trying to focus on the events occurring in front of her, but Phoenix held her attention. He said, I can easily rip them apart for you, why don't you let me?

Because, she responded. I can't believe anything you say.

Phoenix screeched, just you wait, I have an ace in the hole that you don't know about!

Sara shuddered. That was something that worried her. If Phoenix ever get's loose…I don't want to even think about the destruction he'd cause…

Anko commented as the ninja walked back to her team, "We've got a lot of hot-blooded teams on our hands this time. Should be fun."

Naruto thought, we're hot-blooded and she's blood thirsty!

Anko said to the applicants, "Before we begin I need you all to fill out these consent forms. You wouldn't want little me getting in trouble if you die now would you?"

Yes, Sara thought.

"Before I hand these out though," Anko continued. "I'll explain the rules for this exam. Then you guys can sign the forms. With the other two or three members of your cell, take the forms to the hut behind you and submit them. Got that?" Anko handed out all the consent forms. "Now about the exam, to put it simply… It's a no-holds-barred survival test. We'll start with the topography of the grounds. I'll explain the rest in a bit." She pulled out a map of the area, "Training Ground 44 is bordered by a circular perimeter interrupted at regular intervals by forty-four locked gates. There are forests, a river, and a tower in center of the area about ten kilometers from the gates. In this area you're going to undergo a survival test, during the course of that test you may use whatever tools and jutsu you have at your disposal, it's a kind of fight-to-the-death version of 'capture the flag' or in this case, 'capture the scroll'."

"Scroll?" Some people in the crowd asked.

"There's a Heaven scroll," Anko said. "And an Earth scroll. You're objective is to acquire both. There are seventy-eight of you here, or twenty-six teams. Thirteen teams will have a Heaven's scroll while the other thirteen will have an Earth's scroll, but you need both to pass. So your objective is to get both scrolls, hold onto them, and bring them to the tower."

Sakura said, "In other words, half of us will fail."

"You bet!" Anko said cheerfully. "You also have a time limit. You have five days to complete this task."

"Five days?" Ino exclaimed.

Choji shouted, "What are we supposed to do for food?"

Anko replied, "That's your problem. The forests are full of nature's bounty, of course there are man-eating animals, deadly insects, and poisonous plants. There's no way that thirteen teams will pass. As time shortens your struggles will become harder and harder, and less recovery time for injuries or mistakes. You'll also need to sleep with one eye open since you'll be surrounded by enemies." She said more cheerfully, "Let's talk about the rules. The first one is obvious; those that fail to reach the tower in the time limit fail. Second, any team that loses a member whether to death or severe injury fails. Third, under no circumstances can you leave the forest before time is up. Fourth, you are forbidden to look at the scrolls until you're inside the tower."

Naruto asked, "What happens if we sneak a peek?"

"That's for those who look to know!" Anko replied. "When you're chûnin there will be times you're entrusted with top-secret documents, so consider this a test of your trustworthiness. That's all the explanation you get. We'll trade one scroll for every three or four consent forms. When you've got yours, pick a gate from which you wish to start, everyone will begin at the same time. One more piece of advice, don't die!"

As everyone began to head towards the hut, Sasuke muttered to the others, "It's smart to keep us in the dark on their part. That way we don't know who has which scroll."

"Yeah," Sara said. "But it means there's the risk of more encounters than we want."

Sakura pointed out, "But, we don't know who will be carrying the scroll either."

"Right!" Naruto said, "It just means we'll have to be even more determined to pass!"

Squad Seven filed into the hut and gave the proctors there consent forms; they in turn received a Heaven's scroll which Sasuke decided to take.

Once everyone was at the gates they wanted to start from (Squad Seven at Gate 12) Anko shouted, "Part Two of the Chûnin Exam begins... Now!"

"All right!" Naruto shouted, "Let's go!"