Entrance to Room 301
Team 7 arrived before the doors to find their Sensei waiting for them.
"Glad to see you all decided to come." Kakashi stated. "Now you can formerly register for the Chunin Exams."
Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Genin can only take the exams if their full team registers." Kakashi replied. "That is the way it has always been."
Hinata looked at her feet. "So, if I had decided not to come, then Naruto, Daichi, and Sasuke wouldn't have been able to register… even though they are three Genin. Why didn't you tell us?"
"I didn't want anyone to feel like they had to participate." Kakashi explained. "I won't lie. Your team is filled with potential, and with four members, you'll be targeted by the other teams. As such, I wanted each of you to participate because you wanted to."
Sasuke nodded. "I see."
Kakashi gave his Genin an eye smile. "I'm proud of you four. Couldn't have asked for a better team." He stepped aside. "Good luck."
"We won't let you down Sensei. Believe it!" Naruto declared.
Sasuke and Daichi opened the double doors before Team Seven entered together.
Testing Room
The room was filled with Genin, and they were looking at Team Seven as the doors closed behind them. Honestly, it made Hinata nervous, but no way was she considering turning back. She was here and determined to pass.
"Guess we're not alone." Naruto commented.
Hinata added, "There are a lot of them."
"A lot of potential in one room." Daichi stated.
Sasuke smirked. "A room of competitors to take down."
Ino came up to the group going for a hug on Sasuke. Fortunately, Daichi noticed this, so he pushed Sasuke back causing Ino to fall flat on her face.
"Daichi!" Ino angrily exclaimed.
"I'm just helping my teammate." Daichi yawned. "After all, he doesn't like fan girls."
Sasuke was grateful for what Daichi was doing.
"You're so rude Daichi!" Ino angrily exclaimed.
"I think I'm a nice guy. Though I suppose I am rude to fan girls." Daichi shrugged. "What can I say? They get on my nerves. I see no reason why Sasuke should be subjected to them."
Fortunately, Choji and Shikamaru appeared. The Nara heir was the only one who changed from his group. He now had a tanto sheathed on his back and a kunai hung from his neck. Choji was munching on some chips.
"Oh, it's you guys." Shikamaru stated with his hands in his pockets. "I had a feeling this would be a drag, but I had no idea it'd be this lame."
"So, all three stooges are here." Naruto commented.
Shikamaru was angry. "You know what pipsqueak!" He quickly gave into his lazy attitude. "Ah, forget it. You're not worth the time."
"Sasuke!" Sakura happily called out.
This time, Daichi put his arms up in front of Sasuke resulting in Sakura stopping a few inches from them. Shikamaru may have changed in appearance a little but compared to Sakura he might as well have not changed at all.
Sakura still had fair skin, green eyes, and wore her forehead protector like a head band, but her pink hair was now shoulder length. Her attire consisted of sleeveless top as red as Kurnai's outfit, with white pants.
"Hey Sakura." Naruto smiled upon looking at her. "Wow, you look good."
Sakura gave the Uzumaki an icy stare. "Naruto, it's never going to happen. I'm not interested in you, I never have been interested in you, and I never will be interested in you. You'd be better off looking for someone else because I don't like you."
"Ice cold." Shikamaru could help but think that. "She's really taking after the Ice Queen of Konoha."
Naruto suddenly felt sad and leaned against a wall. "She was so direct."
Hinata walked over and patted his back. "Naruto, it's okay."
"She didn't hit him or get mad, so I can't fault her for that." Daichi contemplated seriously. "I mean, Naruto is hurting, but isn't it better to know he has no chance with her then spend years pinning after her?"
Sakura smiled at the Uchiha. "It's so nice to see you again Sasuke."
"Back off Forehead." Ino stated angrily as she walked up to Sakura. "You think just because you got some new look, he'll notice you more?"
Sakura became angry as usual. "It's more than you have Ino-pig." She crossed her arms and smiled. "How's your ninja training gone? I assure you I'm not the same girl from the academy."
"Oh please, you're still the same old forehead, and we all know it. Just as we all know you were all book smarts and no practical application. What could you have possible learned in 6 months to change that?" Ino asked.
"I learned plenty from Kurenai Sensei." Sakura pointed at Daichi. "After all, my current goal in coming here is to defeat Daichi." She looked at him seriously. "That's not to get Sasuke's attention. My Sensei made me realize that I really want to defeat you."
"What am I Sakura, chopped liver?" Ino asked.
Sakura crossed her arms with an icy stare. "You might as well be." She nodded. "You didn't learn a thing from what Daichi told us. You know what, I will say he was right. If we put half the effort we used on fawning over Sasuke into our training, we'd actually grow."
Daichi decided to step in. "I didn't think I'd ever get a compliment from you Sakura."
Sakura looked at him. "As I said, Kurenai Sensei's taught me a lot. Helped me come to many realizations." She pointed at him. "Make no mistake because you're the candidate I most want to defeat."
Ino clenched her fist. "Sakura gets a new outfit, and suddenly she thinks she's better than me!? I'll show her."
Shikamaru sighed. "What a drag. This whole exam is going to be troublesome."
"Hey Shino, she's over here!" Kiba called out having tracked Sakura's voice.
Shino joined the Inuzuka. "Sakura, I believe I asked you and Kiba not to wander off." He looked at Sasuke. "I suppose you just couldn't help yourself in this instance." He put his hands in his pockets. "Still, you could have brought Kiba and I over as well."
Sakura sighed, "Sorry Shino."
Kiba had walked up to the group. "What do you know? Looks like the whole gang's back together again."
"I should have figured you guys would be here as well." Shikamaru sighed. "Man, everyone's here for this stupid thing."
"Yep, here we are. The 10 Rookies." Kiba laughed. "This is going to be fun. At least, for the few who can make the cut, right Daichi and Sasuke?"
Sasuke said, "Don't get overconfident."
Kiba said, "Just you wait. We'll blow you all away. We've been training like crazy." He looked at Sakura. "Sakura's been going at it more than I've ever seen her train before." He looked at Daichi. "Thanks for that. She hasn't slowed us down at all."
All this talk from Kiba had reinvigorated Naruto. "What do you think we've been doing? You don't know what training means."
Daichi took a deep breath. "Okay, look we're all rookies among a big pond, so let's at least endeavor to get along with one another."
A young man with onyx eyes, black rimmed circular glasses, and ash-grey hair in a ponytail approached the group. His attire consisted of a dark purple shirt with a high collar, a white under-shirt, and purple pants with a white cloth waistband. He had a Konoha forehead protector.
This fellow Leaf Genin said, "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. I wouldn't go making a spectacle of yourselves. Just cool it. This isn't a class field trip."
"Well. who asked you!?" Ino shouted. "Who are you!?"
"I'm Kabuto Yakushi, but really, look around you." Kabuto stated. "You've all made quite the impression."
The Rookies found that every other Genin's eyes were on them.
Kabuto nodded to some Rain Shinobi. "See those guys. They're from the Rain Village. Very touchy. They all are. This exam makes everyone tense, and you don't want to rub them the wrong way. You can't help it. I mean how could you know how things work? You're just rookies."
"Kabuto, it sounds like this isn't you first time taking the exam." Sakura stated.
"No, it's my… seventh." Kabuto noticed the looks the rookies gave him. "They're held twice a year, so this will be my 4th year.
"So, you're a veteran. You must have some inside info you could give us rookies." Daichi inquired.
"Lucky you." Kabuto smiled. "You're asking the right person." He pulled out a large deck of cards. "These are my Ninja Info Cards."
Sakura asked, "What are those?"
"It's hard to explain, but these cards have been Chakra encoded with everything I've learned over my past 6 attempts." Kabuto knelt on the ground. "I've got more than 200 of them, so I haven't been completely wasting my time. Let's start with just an example of what I have."
A map appeared on the card with several of the Hidden Village's symbols.
"What's that?" Hinata questioned.
Kabuto said, "It shows the geographical distribution of all the candidates who've come to take the exam, what villages they come from, and how many from each village. According to my info, there are 157 candidates, including us, here to take the exams.
Why do you guys think they come here to take the exam together at the same time? It's to foster friendship between nations of course. International brotherhood. That's true enough as far as it goes."
Sasuke said, "But there's another reason?"
Kabuto nodded "You see, this way they can carefully regulate the total number of Shinobi that end up in a village. This maintains the balance of power."
Naruto attempted to understand the information. "Oh yeah… the balance of power."
Shikamaru said, "The balance of power. Big deal, it's all a drag."
Kabuto made the card blank again. "It is a big deal. If the balance of power isn't maintained, one nation could end up with more Shinobi then their neighbors and attack. They try to maintain the status. Makes sense… I suppose.
"Those cards have any info on candidates taking the exam?" Sasuke asked.
Daichi nodded. "I'm wondering that myself."
Sakura said, "Count me in."
"You have someone special in mind?" Kabuto asked with a smirk.
Sasuke said, "I might."
Daichi said, "I certainly do."
"Same." Sakura stated.
Kabuto said, "Well, I can't guarantee my information is complete or perfect, but I have something on just about everyone. Including you guys of course. Tell me what you can about them and we'll see what I have."
Sasuke said, "Rock Lee of The Leaf Village and Gaara of the desert."
Daichi said, "Kanja Yagumi of the Mist Village and Sakura Haruno of the Leaf Village."
"Daichi Ryu of the Leaf Village." Sakura finished.
"5 people. I suppose that's a little fun, but knowing their names makes this less of a challenge." Kabuto took five cards from his deck. "Here they are."
"Show them to us." Sasuke stated.
"Okay." Kabuto nodded. "first up is Rock Lee. Looks like he's about a year older than you guys. Mission experience is 11 C ranks and 20 D ranks. Squad leader is Guy. In the last 12 months his Taijutsu has radically improved, but Genjutsu and Ninjutsu are lacking.
Last year he received lots of attention as a Genin, but for some reason chose not to participate in the Chunin Exams. This will be his first time as a candidate, same as you guys. His teammates are Tenten and Neji Hyuga"
Naruto didn't visibly show it, but he was angry. "Neji Hyuga."
"Next we have Kanja Yagumi from the Mist Village." Kabuto stated. "To my knowledge, this will be the first time, in a long while. that a Mist Team competes in a Chunin Exams held in the Leaf Village. Apparently, there was successful rebellion which saw the former Kage replaced.
Her right eye is always covered leading many to assume she's got an eye blood limit. Likely taken during the Third Ninja war and given to her for some reason. Her team is also the only Mist team here.
She carries a sword like the now captured Demon of the Mist, Zabuza. She's been on 10 D ranks, 6 C ranks, 3 B ranks, and 1 A rank. Get this, she's a Rookie just like you guys. Unfortunately, I currently don't have any info on her teammates."
Kabuto did the third card. "Then Sakura Haruno. Back at the academy, she wasn't anything special outside or a large Chakra pool. In fact, it's on the level of most male Shinobi. An oddity since Kunochi are just biologically meant to have less.
Now that she's a Genin, her skills have rapidly increased. Genjutsu and Ninjutsu are through the roof and her Taijutsu is passable. Teammates are Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame. Sensei is Kurenai Yuhi. She's been on 20 D ranks and 1 C rank.
"Then, Daichi Ryu of the Leaf." Kabuto stated. "Last known Fusion Clan member; however, the clan has always been small. Grandfather and father died before they birthed more than one son. Been on 30 D ranks and 1 C rank turned A rank.
Teams full of potential. Besides himself, there's Hinata Hyuga and Sasuke Uchiha. The last teammate, Naruto Uzumaki, doesn't seem to hold the team back as many predicted. Their Sensei is Kakashi Hatake."
Kabuto did the last card. "Now for Gaara of the Desert. He's been on 8 C ranks and 1 B rank. There's not much information on the guy. He's a rookie from the Hidden Sand. Get this, he's survived every mission without getting so much as a scratch."
Shikamaru reacted with surprise. "He's done a B rank as a Genin and never been injured!?"
Naruto asked, "What's the deal with this guy?"
Daichi thought, "There are some exceptional Genin here. I wouldn't mind fighting any of them. Even Sakura is sounding like an appealing challenge. Though that Genjutsu would be a major problem."
Kabuto pulled out the map and, as he spoke, the symbols began to appear. "Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Sound, and Mist. From the looks of it, they've all sent exceptional candidates to the exams this time around.
Of course, the Sound Village is small. It sprang up recently, and no one knows anything about it. Those guys are a mystery." He put the cards back into the deck. "You get the point. The competition is going to be fierce this year."
Hinata nodded. "Really intense, but I have confidence in my teammates."
Ino asked "Do you… really think it's going to be tougher this time?"
"Oh yeah." Kabuto nodded "The past 6 Chunin Exams have nothing on this one. I've never seen a crop of candidates with as much potential as this bunch. Yep, we've got our work cut out for us."
Naruto turned towards the crowd of Genin and proudly proclaimed, "My name's Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to beat everyone of ya! Believe it!"
Ino shouted at his team, "Hey, what's that idiot try to do!? Is he trying to get us killed!? Tell him to keep his mouth shut!"
The rest of Team Seven merrily smiled.
"Yeah, I feel way better now." Naruto happily proclaimed.
Kiba put his hands over his mouth. "Could you say that a little louder? Didn't quite catch it."
Shikamaru said, "You moron. Are you trying to get everybody in the whole place to hate our guts or what?"
Daichi decided to add fuel to the fire. "Hey, listen up. Naruto Uzumaki is a member of Team Seven, so you'll have to come after the whole team. We'll be ready to take you down.
Ino hung her head. "Those two are idiots!"
The crowd was staring harder than before at the Rookies. At that moment, the Sound Ninja made their move. They threw kunai at Kabuto who managed to slide back; however, the bandaged wrapped Genin ran in coming to stand before the older Genin.
Daichi noticed that his arm began to vibrate. The fusion member grabbed Kabuto by the collar and pulled him back. Kabuto seem confused until his glasses cracked allowing him to understand what happened. Everyone was looking at the little skirmish that had erupted.
Daichi had caught onto the trick. "So, that arm of yours must use sound to cause various effects in your opponent. It's a good trick, but maybe you shouldn't uncover your arm until you're just about to make your move."
Kabuto smiled. "Thank you Daichi. I didn't quite realize the danger that attack could have posed and would have only gotten out of range of the physical blow."
Dosu looked at the Fusion member. "Your good boy, but we still have to teach that cocky Leaf Ninja a lesson."
Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke joined Daichi. The Fusion member held the handle of his sword while his teammates were reaching for their kunai. The three sound Shinobi prepared to strike as well. This left the rest of the rookies wondering what they should do.
Just as tensions were running high, smoke filled the room and a voice shouted, "Alright you baby-faced degenerates! Pipe down and listen up!"
Leaf Ninja were standing behind a large, imposing man with a darker version of the standard uniform of the Intelligence Division, along with a black trench coat and gloves. He wore his forehead protector in a bandanna style.
His arrival caused everyone in the room to stop what they were doing "It's time to begin. I'm Ibiki Morino, and I'll be your proctor for this exam. From this moment forward, I'm your worst enemy."