Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter Fifteen
"I'm Ibiki Morino, the proctor for this exam," the man states, "And from here on..your worst enemy."
Ibiki points in the direction of the Rookie Nine and the Sound Team, "You! The Sound Team! Knock it off! Who told you could fight?! You want to be failed before you've even begun!"
"Sorry sir," the leader of the three says, "I guess were bit a jumpy."
"Hmph," Ibiki smirks, "I'm gonna tell you all this now, combat is forbidden and if you do fight another candidate your immediately disqualified!" He states.
"Now, if we're ready, we'll preceed to the first round of the Exams, hand over your paperwork, in return you'll each be given a number, that number will determine where you'll sit for the written test, which will start once your all seated," Ibiki announces, holding a paper up with the number one on it.
Hinata looks over at Naruto, the blonds eyes were wide, 'Naruto-kun doesn't do well on written tests...he might choke,' Hinata thinks, 'I'm sure he'll do well though, he is the future Hokage after all.'
Hinata looks around the classroom, sentinels were seated along the walls, and were watching everyone, Ibiki stood at the front, looking over the classroom.
Hinata glances to her left at the orange clad ninja next to her, 'I'm surprised they let us sit next to each other, even if we're not on the same team we are still good friends, this might be a good thing though. I may be able to help Naruto-kun.'
"Eyes up front!" Everyone looks to Ibiki who taps his chalk against the board, "Listen up, I'm going to go over some rules for the exam, there are no questions allowed."
'No questions?' Hinata thinks, 'That's weird..'
"Rule number is this, the written part of the exam is conducted on a point reduction system. Contrary to what your used to, you'll all start with a perfect score of ten," Ibiki begins, "One point will be deducted for each question you get wrong, so if you get three wrong that's a seven."
'And if I get ten wrong that's a zero,' Naruto thinks.
"Rule number two, teams will pass or fail on the total scores of all three members," Ibiki says.
"Wait a minute!" Sakura yells, "Your saying we all get scored as a team!"
"Silence! I have my reasons," Ibiki states, "Rule number three, the sentinels you see positioned around the room are there to watch you carefully for any signs of cheating, and for every incident your caught they will deduct two points from your score."
"Huh?!"
"Be warned, their eyes are extremely sharp, and if they catch you five times you'll be dismissed before the test is even scored...anyone fool enough to be caught by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here," Ibiki says.
"I've got my eye on you guys," one of the sentinels says with a smirk.
"If you want to be considered Shinobi, then show us what exceptional Shinobi you can be," Ibiki says, "One more thing...if any candidate happens to get a zero, their entire team will fail."
"The final question won't be given out until the last fifteen minutes of the testing period..you'll have one hour total..Begin!"
Hinata signs her name quickly before placing her pencil down and looking over the questions, 'These are difficult questions..I'm sure only a handful of the candidates in the room can answer these,' Hinata thinks, 'Sakura-san won't have a problem, but I can't say the same for Naruto-kun.'
Naruto glances at the sentinels and sees one of them mark something down, 'Already?! It's barely been ten minutes since the test started!' The blond glances at Hinata, the Hyuuga seemed to be in deep thought, 'I wonder if she'll be able to answer these questions.'
Hinata glances around the room, 'Kiba-kun and Shino-kun..I'm sure they'll find a way, but it seems the only way to pass this test...is to cheat. Come to think of it, Ibiki mentioned cheating a lot, and only two points per incident? Usually your kicked out as soon as your caught...does he want us to cheat?? That makes sense, the sentinels, the strange rules..Ibiki is daring us to cheat..so in other words..this is a test of our infomation gathering skills.'
Hinata looks down at her paper again, focusing on her chakra, 'Byakugan!' Hinata feels the veins protrude on the sides of her face, she skims over all the tests in the room, and finds a Genin with an already filled out test on his desk, 'So they planted some Chunin among us..this test is sneaky, and I'm sure the others have already figured it out.'
Hinata begins writing down the answers, and as soon as she finishes, she deactivates her Byakugan, she hears Akamaru quietly barking, 'Kiba-kun placed Akamaru on his head so Akamaru can give him answers..and I'm sure Shino-kun is using his bugs to gather information. Our team will pass for sure, this test is easy for us.'
Naruto mentally freaks out next to her, he glances around the room and sees Hinata's test was filled out, 'Already??? We're fifteen minutes in! She couldn't have written down all the answers in such a short amount of time unless she cheated!' Naruto thinks.
Hinata looks over at him and catches Naruto's eyes, she gives him a small smile before returning to look at the front of the room.
Sakura smirks as she continues to power through the test, 'Naruto...you better not blow this for us!' She thinks, and suddenly gasps as Ino takes over her body using the Mind Transfer Jutsu
Ino falls forward on her desk, as Sakura picks up her own test and starts scanning over it, 'Thanks for letting me hang out in your soul for awhile Forehead-Girl, even if it's a little cramped. I gotta memorize these questions quickly and than pass them on to Choji and Shikamaru! No doubt they already know what I'm doing.'
Neji deactivates his Byakugan, 'Good job Hinata, I see you figured it out as well,' Neji thinks, having looked over her test and saw all the answers filled out, 'She must've spotted the Chunin near the front with all the answers on his test as well.'
Sasuke uses his Sharingan to copy the movements of the Genin in front of him, 'I hit the jackpot with this guy, cmon Naruto, you can figure this out.'
Tenten adjusts the mirrors above her as she copies off one of the Genin behind her, 'Lee, adjust your head band when you can see the mirrors.'
Lee takes his headband and ties it around his forehead, 'Message received Tenten.'
Hinata watches the clock, 'All I have to worry about now is the final question,' she glances at Naruto again, who seemed to be having a meltdown, 'Naruto-kun definitely noticed I cheated..but he's to worried about being caught to try..'
A kunai flies between Hinata and Naruto and lands on the test of the Genin behind the Hyuuga, "You! Five times and your out," a sentinel states.
"W-What!" The Genin stutters, "Wheres the proof I cheated!!" He yells.
"You were caught five times," the Chunin repeats, "Now get your team and get out. You failed."
Slowly but surely the other sentinels called out numbers, and many teams of Genin were disqualified.
'Teams are dropping like flies now,' Kiba thinks, 'Twenty minutes left too. Thanks to Akamaru I only have a few more questions left, better focus on that and finish.'
Shino holds out his finger as his beetle lands on it, 'Both Kiba and Hinata have realized the true test by now..we won't have any trouble moving onto the next round of the Exams.'
'Hmph, now that we've weeded out most of the hopeless cases, fifteen minutes to go, time for the main event,' Ibiki thinks, "Alright! Listen up! Time for the tenth question!"
'It's all or nothing now,' Naruto thinks.
"But before I give you the question, there are some more rules you need to be aware of," Ibiki announces.
The door creaks as it opens and a Sand Shinobi enters along with the sentinel in charge of him, "Huh?"
"Just in time for the tenth question," Ibiki says, "I hope you found your trip to the bathroom enlightening."
The Sand Shinobi's eyes narrow, 'He's seen through the Crows disquise! He's on to us.'
"Take your seat," Ibiki says.
He returns to his seat, passing on a cheat sheet to one of his teammates along the way, and Ibiki continues once he's seated.
"Now listen up, these rules are unique to the tenth question," Ibiki states, "So try not to let them frighten you."
Naruto gulps, 'If even the rules are frightening..then what's the question?'
"Very well then, rule number one, each of you has the choice of doing the tenth question, it's up to you if you choose to take it or not," Ibiki announces.
'Free to choose?' Hinata thinks.
"Woah! So what's the catch! Let's say I choose not to take it, what happens then?" A blond Sand Shinobi from the back demands.
"If you choose not to take the tenth question, regardless of your answers to the other nine, you get a zero, in other words you fail, and that means. of course, both your teammates fail as well," the remaining Genin burst into murmurs, "Quiet! You didn't let me finish, if you decide to take the final question and get it wrong, you'll not only fail..but you'll be banned from taking the Chunin Exams ever again!"
"Hey that's bull! That's bogus man! What kind of ridiculous rule is that! There are plenty of Genin here who've taken the Exams before!" Kiba yells as he stands up, Akamaru barking in agreement.
Ibiki starts to laugh, "I guess your just...unlucky, I wasn't making the rules before, but I am now. Of course if you don't want to take it, you don't have too. If your not feeling confident, then you can always come back and take it next year."
Hinata's eyes narrow, 'You can either choose not to answer the tenth question and fail and take it next year, or you can choose to take the final question and chance it on whether or not you'll be banned from the Exams ever again. That's a tough choice..but I'm staying, I'll leave if either Kiba-kun or Shino-kun decide to, but I doubt that'll happen.'
"Now then, if your ready, the tenth or final question..those who don't want to take it raise your hand, your number will be recorded and then your free to go," Ibiki announces.
'What can the question be? If I fail, I'll become a Genin for the rest of my life the way things are going! But I can't just skip it! Then we all fail! I can't do that to the others!' Naruto thinks.
'I'm good, but what about Naruto? I don't think he'll be able to handle it. Go on Naruto! Raise your hand, we'll be okay,' Sakura thinks.
A pencil drops and a Genin stands up, "I-I can't do it..I'm sorry."
"Number Fifty! Fail! That means number thirty and thirty-six as well," a sentinel states.
The Genin who quit apologizes as he leaves the room with his teammates, and then more Genin give up as well.
Sakura watches Naruto closely, 'Why isn't he raising his hand? Hokage, Hokage, Hokage, he has a one track mind, that dream is all he's got. It would kill him to have it taken away from him. But he's to stubborn to raise his hand,' she thinks, 'I can't let you do it to yourself Naruto.'
Sakura starts to raise her hand but drops it and gasps when she sees Naruto slowly raise his hand.
Naruto grits his teeth as he raises his hand in the air, and then he suddenly slams his hand down shocking everybody.
"Don't underestimate me! I don't quit and I don't run! You can act all tough all you want! But you won't scare me off! No way! I don't care if I do get stuck as a Genin for the rest of my life...I'll still be Hokage someday!" Naruto yells and sits down.
"This decision is one that can change your life, if for any reason you decide to quit, nows your last chance," Ibiki states.
"No way! I don't go back on my word, that's my ninja way!" Naruto says.
'Remarkable, that little outburst has given the rest of them some backbone and now their staying..hm, 78 left, more than I expected,' Ibiki thinks, 'But I don't see anyone wavering, so that's it.'
"Well then, I admire your determination if anything else. For those of you remaining there's only one thing for me to tell you..and that's, that you all pass the first round of the Exams," Ibiki says.
Silence falls over the room.
"Wait what?! What do you mean we pass!" Sakura yells, "Where's the tenth question!"
"Ha, there never was one! Not a written one at least, actually your decision to stay was the answer to the tenth question!"
"Wait a minute!" The Sand Shinobi from before says, "Are you saying the other nine questions were just a waste time?!"
"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," Ibiki says.
"Oh, well that explains everything," the blond girl says.
"Let me explain, you see my objective was to test you all not only as individuals but as a team. And on 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," Ibiki explains.
Naruto nods, "Yeah, I figured it was something like that, that's why I kept my cool," The Uzumaki states.
'Yeah right,' Sakura thinks.
Hinata giggles, "Of course Naruto-kun."
"The first nine questions on the test were difficult, and as you may have guessed, too difficult for any Genin to solve. I imagine most of you quickly came to that conclusion, that you have to cheat to have any chance of passing. In fact, the test was designed to encourage cheating, it almost demanded it! Of course it would've done you little good unless you had someone to cheat from. So I had two Chunin who already knew the answers sit in with you," Ibiki explains.
'The answers were right in front me!' Naruto thinks incredulously.
"Hahaha! Oh come on! I wasn't fooled for a second! You'd have to be a complete doofus not to know! Right Hinata!" Naruto says, Hinata giggles again as she turns to him.
'Incredible..so all this time he didn't even know?' Sasuke thinks with a sweat drop.
"Those who were caught at it failed, better not to cheat than to cheat clumsily," Ibiki pulls off his bandana, "Information, it can be your most valuable information in battle..how well you gather intelligence can determine whether the mission is a failure or a success."
"They'll be times you have to risk your life to get it!" He states.
'What happened to his head? The pain he must've endured..' Hinata thinks, looking at the scars and burns.
"Of course you must always consider the source of your information, intelligence gathered from the enemy is not always accurate. Always bare this in mind, disinformation can be worse than no information at all, it can lead to the death of comrades and even the destruction of villages. That's why I put you in the position that you had to gather accurate intelligence, to cheat in order to survive! And that's why those who weren't good enough at it were weeded out, leaving the rest of you."
"Okay...but I'm still not getting what the tenth question was all about," the Sand Shinobi states.
"Not getting it? The tenth question was what this entire exam is all about! Surely you see that?"
"Ugh, sure, but explain it anyways," Sakura says.
"As I said before, the goal was to test you not only as an individual but as an entire squad. The tenth question gave you two choices, both difficult. You could choose to play it safe and skip the question, though it meant your entire team would be failed. Or you could try and answer it, knowing if you got it wrong, you could lose the chance to become Chunin, either way it was a no win situation," Ibiki says, "But it's the same choice Chunin have to face everyday."
"Let me give you a hypothetical situation. A mission to steal a document from an enemy strong hold. You have no idea how many ninja the enemy has, or how armed they are. Furthermore you have reason to believe the enemy expects you, that you might be walking into a trap. Now you have the chance to skip out on this mission, and you and your comrades live to fight another day. Can you choose to avoid danger? No! There will be many mission that almost seem suicidal. You do not think about it, you only focus on the goal. Achieving it through courage and discipline. These are the qualities required of a Chunin squad leader. Those who choose the safe path, those whose determination falters in the face of adversity, those who put their comrades lives in jeopardy and only worrying about their own...those who would save their own necks at the price of sacred honor. Will never be able to call themselves Chunin As long as I am here! As forthe rest of you, you've passed through the first gate, and this part of the Chunin selection Exam is finished."
Suddenly a shadow crashes through the window and throws two shuriken, pinning up a banner and a woman with purple hair and eyes stands up with a smirk, "Heads up boys and girls! This is no time to be celebrating! I'll be your next proctor! Anko Mitarashi!"
"Your early, again," Ibiki says, Anko blushes in embarrassment.
"All these kids passed? Ibiki, your getting soft, your test wasn't hard enough," Anko states.
"Or it could that it's a stronger bunch of candidates this year," Ibiki says.
"Well they sure don't look it, trust me, before I'm done with them, more than half of them will be eliminated!" Anko grins, "This'll be fun."
'More than half?' Hinata thinks.
"Alright listen up maggots, the real test starts tomorrow morning, I'll let your squad leaders know where you need to be, until then, goodbye!" Anko states.
To be continued...
AN: The next chapters won't be to the book like these past two have been lol. I just didn't want to get anything wrong. Next chapter the second round of the Chunin Exams begins...I wonder what'll happen.
To CrazyChimera: The writing portion is definitely not the most interesting, but I didn't want to skip over it and rush the Exams like I've done in previous stories I've written but never posted. Thank you for the review and confidence booster! I hope I've done this chapter justice and that you enjoy it!
To LB Cat: Thank you for the review and I hope you continue to enjoy Altered!
To Guest: Thank you for reviewing and I'm glad you like the story and I hope you continue to enjoy Altered! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
A special thank you to Drakon LightShield for favoriting Altered I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Don't forget to leave your thoughts by reviewing and don't forget to Favorite and Follow!
I'll see y'all next chapter! Bye!