Author's Notes.

Hello welcome back. Been a bit since the last chapter. This chapter was a bit difficult to write. I like the first exam as a concept but it was really hard to write and have it be interesting with Kei already knowing the details because of his mission. The next phases will hopefully be better, and full of action that you guys will hopefully like. Now onto the things you should know to clear any confusion

Ibiki is around the same age as Kakashi (slightly older) so I figure he's not going to be head of Torture & Interrogation just yet so I had somebody else proctor the first exam.

Orochimaru is here as well as the Hidden Sound. I couldn't find out any exact dates of the Hidden Sounds creation so I assumed it would exist at the current point in time.

I hope you guys like what I did with Kei's view on the "characters". I see in a lot of fanfics that the MC sees the characters as just that, characters, but I figured it would be different for a few reasons. Reason #1, a good story get's you attached to the characters so for a fan of Naruto, I would think they'd have some sort of emotional connection with the characters. Reason #2 is that I figure meeting the characters would be like meeting the actor for a movie, sure you know them as the character they play but it's not like they exist on some different plane of existence. It's hard to see someone as just a character on a screen when you see them do normal people things that make them seem more human.

I've also decided that other than Konoha (Hidden Leaf Village) I will be calling the shinobi villages by their non-japanese name, so Suna will be Hidden sand, and so on. It's just easier for me this way.

Also, for the people who are complaining about me "nerfing" the Tenseigan, I'd like to once again bring up the fact that Yamato has woodstyle and is much weaker than Hashirama. In Naruto strength comes from more than just kekkei genkai, it comes from skill, ability, chakra levels, physical strength, experience, etc. Just because Kei has the Tenseigan doesn't mean he automatically has massive chakra levels or insane fighting skills, especially when the Tenseigan's main abilities are all massive chakra attacks. I will, at some point, give him full access to all of the Tenseigan's abilities, but that doesn't mean he'll be OP. Kakashi used the Mangekyo sharingan very rarely because of how tolling it is for him to use it, and same with Gai and the 8 gates. I made the MC as strong as he is because I think it makes the most sense and will frankly be better this way, an OP character doesn't mean a good character. And if you still have problems with him being so "weak" I'd like to remind you, Kei is MY original character and I can do whatever I want with him. Now if I go and weaken a preexisting character, feel free to call me out on it all you want.

That's all for now. Feedback is always welcome.

I don't own Naruto.

Please Enjoy.

Chapter 14

Orochimaru. One of the first major villains in Naruto. An S-class missing-nin obsessed with immortality and the sharingan. He's also the man responsible for my body's previous host's… absence.

Honestly, I don't think much of Orochimaru. Don't get me wrong, he's a horrible person who performs experiments on live humans without a care and should probably die a horrible painful death, but I've never actually met the guy. To me he's still just a character from a story, and the things he does have less impact because of that.

Ever since my arrival in this world, I never really looked at people, like Kakashi and Gai, as characters. Sure I originally knew them as such, but after meeting them, running into Kakashi at the bookstore, having a conversation with Gai about taijutsu, I can't see them as just characters. They're people just as much as I am, they have hobbies and interests, and they go shopping for groceries, the only thing separating them from a normal person is that their groceries often include dangerous weapons and poisons.

Of course, for the characters I have yet to meet, they're still just that, characters, and that's the case for Orochimaru. Until now, that is.

"Wow," Suzu breathed out, "There's a lot of people."

We were currently waiting in the exam hall, waiting for the first test to start and there were, in fact, a lot of people. Lots of different shinobi from different villages, and each had their own unique chakra signatures, some were big, others were smaller, and there were some that had odd looks to them, probably kekkei genkai. But in all this I was focusing on one presence in particular, a normal looking shinobi wearing a Hidden Waterfall forehead protector, but I could see his chakra clear as day and it was drawing all my attention.

His chakra was, for lack of a better word, horrible. I could see how twisted, how bloodstained it was. I had seen twisted people before, and I had seen S-ranks before, but none of them compared to this.

My mind went through the people this could possibly be, surely I'd know of someone with chakra like that, but my body already knew, it trembled with emotion, with rage and fear towards this man, towards Orochimaru. He wasn't just an evil character, an antagonist, he was a person, an incredibly dangerous person.

"-san, Kei-san!" I glanced back at Suzu. She and Shisui were looking at me now, Suzu looked annoyed, but Shisui was giving me a serious look, he knows something is wrong, he can see it even without the sharingan.

"Sorry, what?" I asked. Suzu sighed in annoyance.

"The first test is starting soon," she handed me a slip of paper, "we need to take our seats." I nodded while taking the slip and we split up to take our seats, although I could see Shisui was still glancing between me and where, or rather who, I was looking at.

If Orochimaru's here then there's probably a reason. Master of infiltration or not, coming to Konoha is too big a risk for something as simple as a visit, he's got to be after something. The question is whether he's after something to do with the chunin exams or simply using it as an opportunity to get in.

I listed possible objectives in my mind. He could be after a forbidden jutsu kept in Konoha, or maybe coming for research or supplies he left here. He could also be after the sharingan, and if that's the case then I'll need to keep close to Shisui.

"Ahem," I was brought out of my thoughts by someone clearing their throat. I turned my attention to the person standing at the front, the current head of the Torture & Interrogation Division. "Alright listen up! For the first exam there are some rules you need to know, so listen closely!"

I had already been briefed on the first test. Like most years, it's a written test composed of ten practical questions that are difficult but not impossible with nine being on the test paper and the tenth being given out by the proctor. We'll be marked on our answers like a normal test but there will also be various other factors. The only real rule is that if you're caught looking at somebody else's test three times you're out.

"If you understand that's good, cause I won't be saying this again. Begin!"

But as expected of the first exam, that wasn't all there was to this test. Roughly half the questions were asking what the examinee would do faced with situations a ninja might encounter. The real purpose of these questions is to steal info on your opponents.

Without moving my head, I looked around the room, pretty easy with the Tenseigan. Just from looking at these answers I got a good idea of some of the other examinee's skill sets. At least, those naïve enough to answer seriously.

A lot of examinees caught on to the real purpose of these questions. Darui answered the questions with valid answers but nothing he would personally do, Shisui would answer the questions with vague one sentence answers usually being something like, "I'd blow them away with my awesome ninjutsu!" and the other more experienced examinees did similar things.

I also noticed people using various techniques to look at the sheets of other examinees. Various scouting ninjutsu, some genjutsu to get others to expose their tests, and some more creative ones like adjusting the reflection in the window with chakra.

I finished rather quickly, hard not to when I already knew the answers, so I started working on my mission.

In order to best prevent any problems during the exams I have to be aware of those most likely to cause them. Orochimaru is, of course, at the top of that list. I'll have to report his presence to the council, but we probably won't be able to do anything until the second phase.

The next on the list would be Orochimaru's lackeys from the Hidden Sound. Even without Orochimaru giving orders they are likely to cause problems, Hidden Sound shinobi are incredibly unstable, most of them being people who went to Orochimaru willingly to gain strength through his experiments making their abilities dangerous, and their personalities even more so.

The Hidden Cloud is also on the list due to their shameless nature and habit of causing trouble with Konoha, although with Darui being their main representative I doubt they'll cause too much trouble, he'd probably think causing problems would be dull.

I looked around, about a third of the examinees had been eliminated, the remainder consisted of those who were particularly stealthy, or those who didn't try to gather information at all and are thus at a disadvantage for the next tests.

"All right!" The head of T&I said, I think he said his name was Yami or something. "It's time for the tenth and final question."

Time for the real test to start.