For anyone wondering, Yashogorou was the name of one of Jiraya's students in his Jiraya the Gallant. That character changes his name to Orochimaru later on, so I thought that would work for the Sound Sensei he hides as.
There were eighty-one people left, and when before they had all been despairing, they were now slowly gaining confidence. Ibiki waited another minute more during which others rose to call out their will to continue.
"All right, settle down. Everyone who's still here," Ibiki said, letting the words hang for a moment. One last time for the panic and anticipation to get to the Genin. "You pass the exam!"
"EH?!" The room was in utter disbelief, but that didn't seem to deter Ibiki.
"What do you mean we pass?" asked Sakura, "What about the tenth question?"
"Oh, I didn't write one," Ibiki smiled his demeanour one of actual joy now, not sadistic amusement. "I figured the accept or reject thing was enough if I bigged it up and made a show."
"Then why did we have to suffer through the other nine if this is the only one that mattered?" Temari demanded. "That was all lead-up to the tenth? Seriously? What a waste of an hour."
"It wasn't a waste," argued Ibiki. "Those questions served a different purpose, to test your skills at spying."
"Our skills at spying?" Naruto questioned looking utterly lost, either because he didn't understand or because Ibiki was now grinning like a child in a sweet shop.
"Yup! Remember the rules at the start? You pass or fail as a three-man cell, and all that pressure I added with the fear of you failing would bring your teammates down too. In the real ninja world, you'll experience that kind of pressure a lot and one of you performing poorly could indeed spell disaster for the whole team," Ibiki explained. "And I purposely made the questions harder than ninja of your level could be expected to solve. That left you with one choice; cheat. I also added in two teams of my own, so you would have amble people to collect answers from." Here three ninja waved their hands, the whole room looking around to see them.
"Where's the other team?" asked Ino. Behind her the exam hall door opened
"Here." The first team to retire from the exam's tenth question stood in the doorway, grinning.
"They hammed it up a bit, but I had them in specifically to quit at that point," Ibiki said, shrugging a shoulder. "I knew that if you saw one team break, the weaker willed among you would fly out the door."
"And as well," Ibiki said, reaching for his headband that doubled as a bandana over his head. "I think now is a good time to show you the consequences of failure. Sloppy cheating gets you thrown out of my exam, because sloppy spying… has severe consequences."
In the deadly silence that followed Ibiki's bandana removal, the man continued, "Not every failure in espionage will cost you your life. You can be valuable to the enemy alive. Have things taken from you little by little, time and again while the lives of you and your comrades have to be weighed up against the lives of the village you love."
He was referring to torture undoubtedly, and had clearly been subjected to it himself, which gave Shikamaru context for Ibiki's facial scars as he and the other participants stared at Ibiki's head. The scars on his face were now accompanied by more scars on his head, carving up the skin there along with burns that changed the shape of Ibiki's crown, too severe to heal. Shikamaru looked over to Choji, whose hand was on his own arm, burns hidden under a thick layer of bandages. The skin was healing but it was entirely possible the discolouration would be permanent like Ibiki's, whose tanned skin was at complete opposites with the angry pink mess the top of his head was. And that was discounting the weird spiral craters that looked to be the work of a drill. How did someone even survive that?
"The information you have is useless if the enemy know you're there. You can't trust it unless you are completely hidden," Ibiki went on, hiding his wounds once more, wanting their full attention on his words. "Listen closely and remember this; if you bring back information from a suspect source or a compromised operation you are doing the enemies' work for them, putting the next team that works based on that information in danger."
Shikamaru paled. He turned to catch Ino's gaze and saw her tense in concern, likely thinking the same as him. They'd failed a mission, was there a team sent out in response? Were they in danger because of that? Itachi-sensei hadn't seemed too worried, but then, his focus had been on getting the three of them back to Konoha safely.
"Alright, but that still doesn't explain what that tenth question was all about," Kankuro frowned.
Ibiki grinned, "Well, the tenth question was the first real question on the exam." While many Genin looked on in confusion, Ibiki turned to look at Shikamaru. "And I think I'm right in believing you understand the full scope of what the point of it was, don't you?"
"I… I had to accept," Shikamaru said quietly. "If my teammates knew the risks, what being stuck a Genin for life meant… I couldn't take that away. If they were willing to put their futures on the line," he said, his voice gaining strength, "Then I would do everything in my power to make sure they got the right answer."
"Ah, that is all very true," acknowledged Ibiki, "But you're thinking too small. It isn't just about you or your teammates, it's about the village. The choice was deliberately dangerous and difficult to reflect those you'll be receiving from now on. What kind of ninja can go about in life only accepting the easy and safe missions? Not a very good one."
"Let's assume for a moment you all go on successfully to become Chuunin," Ibiki postulated, "You are assigned to steal a vital enemy document, knowing nothing about the skills, deployment, or military preparedness of your foe. You may have to cross land that has been heavily mined and set with traps. Now, do you accept your mission?" he challenged, "Or do you reject it – rather than place your own life, or the lives of your companions – in jeopardy? Could any Chuunin get away with only taking on the safe jobs? Absolutely not!" Ibiki raised his voice, swept his hand out to the side. "This is the talent we most value in commander of a Chuunin cell! I want ninja brave enough to risk their lives, not cowards who just want to live another day. In my opinion," he continued with gusto, "those kinds of people, only able to make weak and easy decisions don't deserve to be Chuunin at all!"
"By choosing accept, you answered the almost insolvable tenth question correctly," he smiled, "You agreed to become the kind of ninja I would trust with my life, and I'll pray that that strength endures through the next tests. But for now, part one of the Chuunin exams is concluded-," Ibiki looked about to say more, but cut himself off, head snapping to the window.
Shikamaru looked over just in time to see a whirling black mass smash through the window, two kunai shooting out. Shikamaru flapped for a kunai to defend himself. Only, no attack was incoming.
The kunai the black thing had thrown turned out to be attached to fabric, and were now lodged into the ceiling behind a purple haired woman, who looked very pleased with herself, while Ibiki didn't look threated so much as irritated. Risking a look around, everyone seemed just as confused as Shikamaru, and Ino didn't look like she recognised the new woman. So probably not Interrogation Division.
"None of you are in a position to celebrate!" the woman roared, drawing attention back to her and the sign behind her back.
"Newly arrived second chief… examiner officer…Mitarashi Anko?" Shikamaru read slowly, moving his head around to see the message.
"For an examiner, you'd think she'd put on some clothes," Choji commented, staring at Anko, who, bar a long pale trench coat and tan skirt, was dressed in ninja mesh undershirt and shorts.
"Maybe she gets in fights a lot?" suggested Shikamaru, noting the leg armour.
"She reminds me of Naruto," Sakura muttered, her voice carrying in the near silent room.
"Time's a wasting people! Let's go!"
Naruto's eye twitched as he blinked at Anko in dismay. "I am not that weird," he grumbled, "Right Hinata?"
"She… really killed the mood," Hinata said softly. Which Shikamaru guessed counted as support.
"Give me a break," Ibiki mumbled. "Your timing is the absolute worst!"
"What are you talking about!" Anko cried, flushing in presumed embarrassment at Ibiki, "You passed twenty-six teams, that's seventy-eight people. It's not my fault you're going soft!"
Ibiki raised his chin, "This year we have exceptional candidates. I think some of them actually get what it means to be a Chuunin."
"Yeah right, I'll do your job properly and cut these guys down by half. There's no way that many are ready for the jump in responsibility," Anko grinned and turned back to the Genin. "I'm giddy at just the thought of pulling the rug out from under you guys. Come on, get up, I'll explain the next part of the exam on location! No dilly-dallying!"
Groaning, Shikamaru put his kunai in his pouch and went to follow the other ninja as they followed Anko out of the broken window. "This place has doors you know," he grumbled.
"Hey, Shikamaru?"
"Huh? Oh, Naruto. What's up?" Shikamaru asked, turning to look at the blonde.
"Why'd you help me in the exam? I'm not on your team," he said frowning. "Were you trying to sabotage me?"
"What? Why would I do that?" Shikamaru asked, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "You're my friend Naruto and I didn't think Sasuke or Sakura had a way of getting information to you. They were too far away. And even if Hinata let you copy off of her or something, you're not exactly subtle about anything, so I figured I could help. And I knew all of the answers, so it wasn't like I was worried about losing you points."
"Huh?! You knew all that?" Naruto screeched. "I couldn't figure out a single answer."
"Yeah I figured. Wait. Was that what had you moving all weird? You thought I was trying to knock your team out of the exam?" Shikamaru was torn between hurt and offense at the thought.
"A little bit. Sasuke was saying we shouldn't go easy on you guys," Naruto explained as they followed the group. "That Itachi-sensei had probably told you to destroy us."
"Des…troy you?" Shikamaru blinked. "No, he hasn't mentioned you guys at all actually. I mean except you."
"Huh? The hell is he talking about me for?!"
"Well you do live in the same apartment block. You used to hang out together right?"
Naruto hummed in thought. "Well. I mean not like every day, but yeah. He'd buy me ramen sometimes when Iruka-sensei was busy with other stuff and he's got my spare key 'cause I've been locked out of my place more than once."
"And he knows you snore like a bear."
"Do not!"
"Have you heard yourself snore?"
"Well… no…"
"You sound like something large and dying," Shikamaru told him. "Bear is a complement compared to some animals I can think of."
Naruto pouted, but a smile soon worked its way onto his face. "I'm glad I can count on you, Shikamaru. I got all worried about nothing huh?"
"Heh, yeah. You better return the favour though," Shikamaru smiled. "If my hide needs saving, I hope you've got my back."
Naruto grinned wider and shot Shikamaru a thumbs up. "Believe it!" Turning his attention back to the group of ninja in front of them, Naruto's eyes widened. "Woah. Look at that!"
They landed one side of wire fencing several metres tall, behind which lay a huge, dark, imposing forest. Trees were as wide as buildings and even the smaller roots and vines were thickier than Shikamaru's whole body.
"This is the location of the next exam?" Shikamaru wondered, looking at the signs on the wire fence that clearly read 'danger' and 'keep out'. "Are we even allowed in this area?"
"Welcome to the stage for the second test. This is Practice Arena 44. Also known as the Forest Of Death," Anko introduced, stressing the death part more than was probably necessary. "And soon, you'll find out just why it's called the Forest of Death."
Gravitating back to his team, Shikamaru could hear Choji mumble, "This place looks creepy."
Naruto frowned, hands on his hips and shoved his ass out, saying in a mocking tone, "Soon you'll find out why it's called the Forest of Death." He jabbed a finger at Anko. "You think that scares me! There's nothing I'm afraid of!"
"Yeah, except written tests," Ino muttered.
"Oho~. A spirited one." Anko smiled ominously and Shikamaru paled. Not good.
"Naruto!" he yelled in warning, a kunai already flying from Anko's hand. Then she was gone faster than Shikamaru could track, reappearing behind Naruto.
"S-so fast…" Ino remarked, her eyes wide as saucers.
"Kids like you are killed quickly," Anko chuckled, her tongue coming out to lap at the blood dripping from a cut on Naruto's cheek. "Spraying that red blood I love so~."
Anko tensed, then swung around like a coiled spring, another kunai in hand meeting the tongue of a Grass ninja, but not cutting them.
"Here's your kunai," the ninja said, his voice giving Shikamaru chills.
"Why thank you," Anko smiled, her finger slipping into the loop at the kunai hilt. Naruto's face was still in her hand and the poor blonde looked about to have a heart attack. "But you know," she added harshly, "You shouldn't sneak up behind me. Unless you want to die?"
"No," replied the ninja, "I just get excited when I see blood. Plus, you cut my hair when you threw that kunai. That wasn't very nice."
Choji frowned, "Are all the examiners crazy?"
"Forget the examiners, what's up with that creepy grass ninja?" Shikamaru replied.
"And the killing intent," Ino added softly. Both boys turned to her with eyebrows raised. "You can't feel it?" They shook their heads. "She flashed some when she threw the kunai at Naruto. Then when the grass ninja appeared. We should definitely keep away from his team," she added, barely above a whisper, "I can feel something dark washing off of that guy."
"Ah, sorry about that," Anko apologised, appearing not to have heard Ino. The grass ninja also seemed oblivious as he went back to his team. "It looks like there's a lot of blood thirsty people this year. That should make this fun. Everyone! Before we start the test, I need you to sign these!" Anko called out loudly, going to the stall beside the wire fence where Shikamaru could see three ninja sat at a desk, one of whom passed Anko a stack of forms.
"I need you all to sign these wavers," she explained, holding the documents high so everyone could see.
"Eh? Why?" asked Naruto, holding his hands out for one anyway.
"Well, you see. People are probably going to die in this test, so if you guys don't sign these forms saying you understand the risks and are okay with possibly dying…" Anko started in a happy tone that didn't at all befit the subject matter, "That means I'm responsible for your deaths. I'll explain the test, but you can't begin until you've signed these and handed them into the booth behind me."
"I don't like the sound of this one," Shikamaru mumbled, eyeing Anko warily as she went about handing the forms.
"Yeah, can't believe I'm saying this, but I think we should read the fine print before getting ourselves into something crazy," Choji said squinting at his form.
Once everyone had a waver, Anko raised her voice to gather everyone's attention once more. "Alright, now I'll explain what you guys have to do here. In layman's terms, this is a survival exercise."
Choji groaned. Ino quickly elbowed him in the side. "Shhh!"
"This area, Practice Arena 44 is so numbered because it has forty-four locked gates, one of which you can see here behind me," Anko explained, pulling out a scroll with a map of the arena on it. "A tower lies in the centre and a river flows through the middle. All other land is forest. The distance from the gates to the tower is about ten kilometres."
"So looking at that, we can either travel in a straight line or follow the river," Ino noted.
"Assuming the tower is the goal," Shikamaru agreed.
"During the test, you will have to complete a single task," Anko said, rolling the map away and pulling out two more scrolls, sealed with bands. "Using any method available to you, you will compete in a no rules scroll battle." She shifted her hands so the characters on the scrolls could be seen. A white scroll bearing the character for heaven, and a black scroll bearing the character for earth. "You will fight over these 'heaven' and 'earth' scrolls. Each team will be given one of the two types of scroll from the booth once you hand your correctly filled in wavers. The other type you will have to take from another team. There are twenty-six teams here, so thirteen will be given a 'Heaven Scroll' and the other thirteen will receive an 'Earth Scroll'. To pass this test, your team must acquire one of each kind of scroll and reach the tower."
Choji raised his eyebrow, "Half?"
"Anko did say she was going to get rid of half of us at the first exam hall," Shino noted from behind them.
Choji jumped, "When the hell did you get there?!"
"I've been here the whole time… Did you not notice me?"
"NO!"
"That plus the bloodthirsty guys Anko mentioned means at best half of us pass," Shikamaru said, trying not to give away that he also hadn't noticed Shino.
"There is also a time limit on this test," Anko called. "This second exam will last one hundred and twenty hours. That's five days exactly."
"F-five days?" Ino balked.
"EH? What about dinner?" Choji demanded.
"You're on your own," Anko shrugged dismissively. "There's food in the forest you can gather, just mind out for poisonous fungai, plants, berries, insects, man-eating beasts…"
"Yeah, forget it, we're quitting," Choji deadpanned.
"And as some of you have noticed, thirteen passing teams is unlikely. As the days go on, you'll have less time to rest between travelling and trying to find teams with a scroll different to your own. The distance you'll have to cover will seem impossible if you leave it too long," Anko told them, "And it isn't just the other ninja you have to worry about, the forest is crawling with all manner of things that will try to kill you too. You probably won't get much sleep. Some might even die from the harsh conditions and inability to gather your own food or treat wounds."
Ino and Shikamaru caught gazes as they looked at Choji's arm. If they went ahead, their usual formations wouldn't be viable. Choji was already vulnerable to infection and there wasn't any certainty they could treat anything to Itachi-sensei's skill level.
"It's five days. Nothing too bad should happen in that time," Shikamaru said, as much to convince himself as to convince his team.
Anko continued, "Now, let's talk about what will disqualify you."
"Eh, more rules?!" Naruto sagged.
"First, those who don't make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit," Anko said raising one finger, "Second, those who complete the task without a full team, be they lost in the forest or dead, I need all three of you at the tower or it's a fail. Also as a rule, there will be no quitting once you begin until the five days are over. The final way to be disqualified is if you look inside either scroll before reaching the tower," Anko declared. "I expressly forbid you from looking at the contents of the scrolls before reaching the tower."
"Why?" asked Choji.
"A Chuunin will be asked to handle confidential information. This is a test of trust, if you look at the scrolls, then why should I risk my life for you if we're on a team when I know you can't even be trusted to take a note from A to B without being nosy?" Anko reasoned. "Anyway, that's enough talking. Exchange your three forms for a scroll then you'll be assigned a gate to start from. If possible, try not to die."
"So… what do you want to do?" Ino asked as the Genin around them shuffled away into teams to sit and read their wavers. By the gate, the ninja at desk was pulling a curtain across to hide which scroll each team was given.
"Huh? Why're you asking me?" Shikamaru frowned. He looked to Choji, "Were you serious about quitting there?"
Choji frowned. "I mean, a little. Dying without food would really suck."
Shikamaru sighed. "Well, let's read through these forms, see if there's anything in here that might tell us what we're in for…"
It occurred to Itachi that his team had been gone longer than an hour, but no one had come to inform he, Kakashi or Kurenai how their team had done. Figuring he could get away with wandering off, Itachi made to go to the bathroom and instead slipped off to room 301.
Sensing only one chakra inside, Itachi let himself in. Ibiki was collecting exam papers, and there were no Genin to be seen.
"Hmm? Oh, it's you," Ibiki huffed, looking up at Itachi. "The second test will be underway soon, the Sensei will also be moved in the next hour, so you should probably head back to the Staff Tower."
"So… my team passed?" Itachi wondered.
"Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino right?" At a nod from Itachi, Ibiki nodded. "They did. That Nara kid is creepy smart like his father, he didn't need to gather the answers, and the only cheating he did was to pass the answers to two boys."
"Two boys?" Itachi blinked in confusion, "So he helped someone else?"
"Yeah, Uzumaki Naruto. A curious kid in himself. He has an ego the size of the village."
"Considering his parents, I'd almost assume it's genetic."
Ibiki raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You knew them?"
"My mother was close to his, and they were pregnant around the same time," Itachi shrugged. "I was too young to be left alone back then and ended up meeting them a few times. His father gave me a kunai."
"Damn, I'd be jealous if he were still around," Ibiki chuckled. "Powerful guy to know. But then, maybe he'd have kicked your butt five years ago."
Itachi gave a hollow laugh. "Oh I'm far more scared of Naruto's mother than his father. She would have beat me half to death and he would have put the pieces in a wheelchair and talked sense into me."
It was Ibiki's turn to laugh, which he did with gusto, leaning on the desk he'd been picking a test paper up from. "Now I don't doubt that," he chuckled, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "She had a temper as fiery as her hair. The next test is the Forest of Death. If you hurry out, you might be able to grab some snacks for the next five days instead of eating ration bars."
Itachi tilted his head to one side. "The sensei aren't allowed to go about their days?"
"You're all basically on mission standby I'm afraid." Itachi groaned. He might never have complained about it in ANBU, but he was older now, had gotten used to not living on ration packs. And he could be a little more expressive since he didn't have any reputation to uphold.
When Itachi got back to the Staff Tower, a small bag of shopping in hand it seemed he was just in time as a small team of fuuinjutsu specialists were waiting for him and the other Sensei of passing teams. "Are you all here now? We have the recorded gate your teams are starting from in the Forest of Death and will be applying seals that teleport you to them should they open the sleeves in the tower as directed. If they open them early invigilators will appear instead and knock them out before removing them from the training area."
"Gate twenty-seven huh?" Itachi remarked.
"Oh? You're able to read the sealing script?" the ninja writing on his forearm asked.
"Not much, only the easier stuff. I wanted to go to Uzushiogakure when I was younger to learn more," Itachi explained.
"It was destroyed during the Third Ninja War, so I'm not sure what there is to be learned from ruins."
"Me neither, so I haven't been. Maybe one day." Itachi mused, shifting to let a ninja from Kiri take his place.
"If you all have your seals, please follow me to the standby area!" the head of the sealing squad called several minutes later. Reluctantly Itachi followed the other Jonin. At worst he'd be stuck with Kakashi and Kurenai for five days. Lips quirking into a small smile, Itachi thought of how confidently his team had walked into the first exam. He figured if those three could keep that energy and walk towards death with a grin, then he could definitely handle five days of prying.