Chapter 10: The First Exam
May 28th, 64 AFL
Team 7 had just completed another day of training when Naruto and Sakura finally decided enough was enough, "Sasuke why don't we go have a spar or get some food as a team, you know," the blonde smiled at his raven haired comrade. Sakura decided to add her own two cents,
"Yeah, please Sasuke, you and Ino haven't hung out with us in over a month now. Ever since we got back from the Land of Waves both of you have been so distant, we just want things to go back to the way they were before, believe it," the pinkette said with concern. Sasuke was walking away but turned his face to reply with a scowl,
"No, you're both weak, annoying and a waste of space. I honestly wish you two would just piss off and leave me alone," the Uchiha barked. He turned down the road toward the training fields, while Sakura could only sigh her baka responded to the Uchiha's rudeness, "Fine be that way, screw you too, believe it!" Naruto replied angrily as his rival disappeared from view.
Sakura grabbed Naruto by the hand diverting the blonde's annoyance and causing his attention to turn to his cherry blossom, "Let's head to Ichiraku's maybe we can come with a plan to get through to him after a light meal," Sakura said while smiling at him. Naruto smiled back as the two made their way to the small restaurant Naruto started to chuckle,
"Oh what may I ask is so funny my baka?" Sakura said with a bit of annoyance in her voice and a vein on her forehead. Naruto looked at her fondly before replying, "So is a small meal thirty bowls between us or fifty, I can't remember Sakura-chan, you know I was never good with numbers,"
Sakura's annoyance slowly shifted into giggles, "Yea fair point it's amazing though, no matter how much I eat, I'm not really gaining weight, I thought for sure I'd get fat but if anything I'm stronger than ever," Sakura said with pride as the couple finally arrived at their destination. As they took their seats Naruto responded,
"That's because ramen makes you strong Sakura-chan, believe it!" the blonde said with pride and a goofy grin and that's when the pair heard a familiar giggle, "Actually Naruto-kun it's probably all going to her chakra network and muscles, wish I had gotten that trait I can barely hold down three bowls," Hinata said with a smile as she sat on the other side of the blonde.
"Hinata-chan it's so good to see you," Naruto said with glee as he gave her a hug and kissed her cheek. "Thank you Naruto-kun but you've come to visit me every day since that incident with those Waterfall nin, I just hope your not neglecting Sakura, you'll let me know right," Hinata said with a blush while sharing a conspiratorial grin with her pink haired counterpart.
Sakura matched her grin as she replied, "He's been attentive enough and he was very very sweet and brave during our first mission," the pinkette gave Naruto a peck on the cheek before she continued, "But I won't lie, I'm glad I finally was able to convince Kurenai sensei to help me with my genjutsu and the extra time he's spent with you helped me manage that," Sakura finished with a smirk.
The Namikaze pair looked at her as Naruto asked with a few noodles in his mouth, "So what did you learn Sakura-chan?" he asked curiously. She smiled at the two mischievously before replying, "You'll just have to wait and see," Sakura replied. Hinata smile suddenly turned into a frown as she realized someone was still missing from their group,
"So Sasuke still isn't going to hangout or train with us?" the Hyuga heiress asked with a pained look. She knew how important Sasuke was to Naruto and Sakura and in months she had trained with him and Ino she had grown quite fond of the pair herself. Both Uzumaki's sunk their heads in sorrow,
"No…" they both replied. Hinata looked at them sadly but only responded with, "I see," The trio finished their order of forty-seven bowls and began wandering the village together Naruto's hands locked with his two soulmates when an odd looking box bumped into him from behind. The trio turned around and Naruto began laughing,
"Ok Konohamaru, I've seen bad disguises but this one definitely takes the cake, believe it!" the blonde said with a smile as he released the two girls and picked up the box, revealing Konohamaru and two other small children, a girl with orange hair and a dopey looking boy with glasses. "Just what I'd expect from my rival boss!" Konohamaru said with pride but as he saw his friend interlock his hand with two beautiful girls he began to snicker. Konohamrau walked up to Naruto and started lightly elbowing him in the chest,
"So boss is that what mastery of pervy ninjutsu looks like, getting two girlfriends I mean," Konohamaru asked with a devilish grin. Naruto began to chuckle but it quickly stopped as he felt not one but two death glares going his way. The blonde fool slowly turned his head to left and met Sakura's demonic eyes, "Pervy!"
'Crap!' Naruto thought as he turned his head to face Hinata's direction. Unfortunately her glare was even scarier with her Byakugan active, "Ninjutsu!" the hyuga princess actually shouted angrily. 'Double crap!' Naruto thought as he turned his head again to face the boy who had revealed his darkest and most dangerous shinobi arts.
"Konohamaru, screw you," were the blondes last words as he was sent flying into the boy by his two loves beautiful fist's. The pair of knuckleheads landed in a wooden fence but Konohamaru was the first to recover, "Kami I thought they were cute but their witches just look at that girl's scary eyes and the other ones wide forehead!"
Naruto looked at the boy who had proclaimed to battle him for the title of Hokage in shock, he honestly was caught by three emotions, pride in the boys bravery, disappointment in his stupidity and anger at insulting his Hinata-hime and Sakura-hime. These all gave way when Naruto saw even Hinata sigh, he slowly turned his gaze to Sakura,
'yup if she was the nine-tails jinchuuriki we'd be soooo fucking dead right now,' the blonde boy thought. He was snapped out of his trance by Sakura suddenly sprinting full speed toward him and the grandson of the Third. Konohamaru quickly found his feet and began running from the exploding cherry blossom but he quickly crashed into another person wearing a black and baggy full body jumpsuit.
Naruto and Hinata quickly rushed to follow the pair but when they found the boy held by his collar by the unknown person, Naruto shouted, "Let him go you bastard!" "Yea please, it was my fault and I'm sorry but there's no reason to hurt him now put him down," Sakura added. The person who was holding the honorable grandson turned his head to face the trio,
"I just wanted to play with him a little, is that so wrong?" the boy was revealed to be wearing face paint as he replied cheerfully. Naruto's anger grew, "I said let him g…" Hinata waved her hand in front of Naruto to cut him as she started to speak, "You better do as Naruto-kun says, you wouldn't want to be disqualified before the exam begins, right sand nin," Hinata said sternly her glare not leaving the now apparent sand ninja.
The boy matched her glare and looked like he was about to release the boy when he suddenly reared his fist, "Sorry but I hate brats who don't respect their elders," he yelled but before his fist collided it stopped. Suddenly he released the boy and patted his head, "Now go run along now," he said oddly.
Konohamaru eyed him suspiciously but quickly ran over to Naruto and hid behind the blonde. Suddenly the boy stumbled a bit before blurting out, "What the fuck was that, it's like I was trapped inside my own mind?" the boy said a little shaken. "You should know when you're outclassed sand nin," a familiar voice from above said, "That's right now back off," a stern male voice added.
All of the individuals on the ground turned their gaze up to see a beautiful platinum blond and a raven haired boy smiling smugly while standing in a tree. The boy started scowling at Sasuke and Ino but the dirty blonde haired girl with four pigtails standing next to him asked, "What did you do to Kankuro, if I may ask?" Ino smirked then looked to Sasuke before seeing him nod.
"That would be my mind transfer fancy trick, right," Ino replied with a smile. "I see, that's troublesome," the girl suddenly covered her mouth before opening it again with a, "Kami damn it, why can't I stop saying that, what a fucking drag," the girl coverd her mouth again before opening it and finishing with a loud, "Fuck my life!"
Most of the individuals ignored her rant as Kankuro began glaring at the last of the Uchiha clan. He quickly readied the long package on his back ready to reveal his unseen weapon when he suddenly heard a voice and stopped, "Kankuro enough, you're a disgrace to our village and if you piss me off again, I'll kill you," the voice stated calmly.
Everyone turned their heads toward the sound of the voice and the owner was revealed to be a red haired boy with a tattoo on his forehead, he was standing in the same tree as Ino and Sasuke but was on a different branch, "But Gaara…" Kankuro tried to compromise but the boy stopped that dead with the ice in his voice, "Have you forgotten the reason we came here, if you don't shut the fuck up, I'm going to kill you," the boy repeated again calmly.
That was enough for Kankuro to relent, "Ok I'm sorry Gaara," "Yea were really really sorry Gaara," the blonde haired girl on the ground added. "I'm sorry for my teammates," Gaara stated to Sasuke as he disappeared in a swirl and reappeared in between Kankuro and the unknown girl. "And if you keep speaking Temari, I'll kill you as well," Gaara finished as he turned and started leaving, his two teammates closely behind.
"Wait!" Sakura said her curiosity getting the better of her, "It's true we have a treaty with the Sand but you can't just cross the border without permission, what are you doing here?" the pinkette questioned causing Hinata to giggle and all faces to turn to her, "Seriously Sakura you call Naruto-kun your baka but you can be one too sometimes, there obviously here for the chunin exams," Hinata said matter of factly.
"Oh that makes sense, Naruto-kun remind me to kill sensei later for not telling us, ok," Sakura said sweetly albeit a bit angry she was missing important information. Temari looked back at the group and chuckled, "That's right, it's a drag but where here for the exams just like, well I assume some of you are taking," she finished but as the team of sand nin tried to depart, again they were interrupted by Ino and Sasuke suddenly jumping down from the tree they were occupying.
"What's your Name?" Sasuke's question was directed at the redhead of their group. Gaara slowly turned to face the last Uchiha as he replied, "Gaara, Gaara of the Sand," he answered. Sasuke smirked at him before replying, "I'm Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha," he said proudly. Gaara and Sasuke shared an intense stare before the sand nin finally disappeared,
"That wasn't bad teme and you too Ino," Naruto replied honestly and with a foxy grin, "Yea Ino, Sasuke that was amazing, believe it, why don't we go train together," Sakura added hopefully. Ino and Sasuke actually turned and glared at the trio, "Like I said earlier, leave us alone," Sasuke replied flatly and the two Uchiha's made their departure.
Naruto and Sakura sunk their heads in confusion and sadness at the fact that their best friends now seemed to completely hate them. What they didn't know, was that as soon as the two Uchiha found a private area Ino had collapsed in tears into Sasuke's shirt. "I'm sorry Ino," Sasuke stated honestly. Ino looked up to him and shook her tears away,
"No it's better this way if we got any closer than we already did, we both know what you would have to do eventually and I refuse to let that happen," Sasuke looked at her sympathetically before embracing her and holding her closely, "I know thank you Ino for understanding and keeping my darkest secret," Ino still had liquid in her eyes but she was blushing, when she leaned up and kissed his right cheek. Sasuke just smiled as they got up and headed toward the training field ready for another hard day of training, unbeknownst to the couple they were being watched by unfriendly eyes.
May 30th, 64 AFL
Team 7 were up early in the morning for team meetings as usual and as usual their sensei had been roughly three hours late, "Where the hell have you been!" Naruto and Sakura screamed at their sensei when he finally did arrive. Kakashi looked at them fondly but decided it was best to skip the usual excuse and get on to the good news,
"Alright I was actually planning on surprising you three but since you all already found out about the exam anyway, here are your permission slips," Kakashi finished as he handed his team three forms. Naruto and Sakura shared a grin and turned their attention to Sasuke and were able to detect the smallest smile on his lips before he saw their eyes and quickly turned away scowling.
The Uzumaki's could only sigh as Kakashi started to speak again, "Since all three of you begged I assume all of you are more than ready and willing so, be at the academy first thing in the morning and don't be late and if you suddenly feel if the pressure is too much for you, it's ok to quit there's always next year," the jonin finished.
Sasuke scowled at him but Naruto only grinned, "Please we're gonna pass easily, then Oji-san will see how strong I am and he'll finally hand the Hokage title to me, believe it!" the blonde stated loudly to his teammates. Sakura smiled while Sasuke slowly disappeared behind a corner leaving his friends to their own devices.
"You know it's never gonna be that easy my baka," Sakura said while giving him a soft love tap to his cranium and then grabbing his hand. The pair made their way to Naruto's apartment to read over their permission slips and prepare for the exam that would begin tomorrow.
June 1st, 64 AFL
Early the next morning Naruto and Sakura arrived at the academy seeing their brooding teammate waiting for them, "Hey teme you ready," Naruto said with a grin. "Yea Sasuke were totally going to become chunin, Cha!" Sakura agreed while slamming her fist up into the air. Sasuke just looked at the pair before scoffing and heading towards the academy,
"Come on dobes, I already know that" he replied flatly. Naruto and Sakura looked at each other and shared a frown but walked up to both sides of the Uchiha letting him lead the charge. The three quickly entered a hallway they thought to be the right one but Sakura pulled both of her boys ears to her mouth as she whispered,
"It's a genjutsu, were only on the second floor, let's keep moving," she stated confidently. Naruto nodded with a smile and gave her a peck on the cheek while Sasuke only grunted and the three proceeded to the third floor. Unfortunately for them the trio's path was quickly blocked by a boy with bushy eyebrows and green spandex. There was also a brown haired girl styled into two buns standing too his right, on his left was someone Naruto had come to know and grow a disdain towards ever since his relationship with his Hinata-chan began, Neji Hyuga.
"So Uzumaki-san this is your teammate Sasuke Uchiha that I've heard so much about," Neji said smugly. Naruto and Sakura scowled at Neji with disdain, they knew how he treated Hinata and it was worse than the majority of the other members of her clan. "Fuck off Neji we don't have time for you and your destiny bull crap today, come on let's go guys," Naruto said as he grabbed Sakura's hand and began leading her to the exam room but when Sasuke didn't follow the pair stopped.
"Sasuke Uchiha my name is Rock Lee, I'd like to test my skills against you and your legendary clan, if you don't mind," the boy in green asked. Sasuke smirked, "Sure why not, let's go," Sasuke said and turned down the hall towards the sparring area. Naruto and Sakura started chuckling as Lee began following the last Uchiha he turned to face the pair giving them a curious look,
"What's so funny?" Lee asked. Naruto stopped chuckling and looked at his new acquaintance with a smile, "It's just your screwed bushy brows," Neji and Tenten chuckled themselves while Lee gave a classic nice guy poise, "If your so sure then come and see," he grinned and the two teams made their way to sparring area together. Naruto and Sakura took a seat on Sasuke's side while Lee's team took a side on his,
"You think Sasuke will be ok Naruto, they seem awfully confident," Sakura asked her baka. Naruto looked at Neji then the two preparing to spar before facing Sakura, "I've never sparred with Neji, he said I wasn't worth it, freakin prick, but I do know he's the strongest on his team, so honestly I have no idea how strong Lee is, we'll just have to see for ourselves," Naruto stated and then blurted out angrily,
"What the hell teme you just accept a fight with someone you don't even know but whenever I ask you just tell me to screw off!" he growled out angrily. Sasuke turned to his teammate, "Because your a waste of my time," he stated turned to his opponent once again. "Damn you teme!" Naruto growled out once again but it was quickly replaced with purs from Sakura petting his whiskered cheeks.
Sakura glared at Sasuke before frowning, 'What the fuck is going on with you Sasuke, why are you acting like this?' the pinkette thought more in concern than in anger. Sasuke just huffed before turning to face Lee, "So you want to fight me even knowing who I am, you're even dumber than the dobes behind me," Lee smiled before getting into a fighting stance,
"You should know only Neji is stronger than me among all of the Leaf's genin," Lee replied. Sasuke gave a cocky grin, "You won't last five minutes against me," Sasuke stated and suddenly charged Lee full force. The last Uchiha tried a kick to the midsection but Lee dodged it easily and responded with a kick of his own, "Leaf Hurricane!" he shouted. Sasuke was too slow to dodge without his sharingan active so he tried to block but Lee's attack came too fast for the last Uchiha, breaking through his guard and landing a devastating blow to his face knocking him back but Sasuke landed on his hands and flipped himself backward so he was on his feet again.
'Damn him, how did he get through my guard?' the Uchiha thought angrily but then suddenly smirked, "Fine you want to face the power of Uchiha, then allow me to show you our kekkei genkai, Sharingan!" suddenly Sasuke's black pupils turned red and his eyes in total had five tomoe between them.
"Alright Sasuke now use your sharingan to kick his ass!" Naruto shouted still trying to get through to his friend. "Yeah, no one can beat you now, believe it," Sakura added. Sasuke smirked while facing away from his friends but redirected his attention to his opponent. "Now your mine," Sasuke charged Lee with his sharingan this time but Lee managed to dodge Sasuke's strike again landing another brutal kick on the last Uchiha, although he was able to able to soften the blow by getting one of his arms up to cover his face. The force of Lee's blow sent Sasuke's several feet in the air with Lee quickly chasing him down by jumping and landing another kick to Sasuke's midsection,
"I hate kekkei genkai's because there something you're born with, people think that if they have that they are already an expert ninja. But me, I trained my ass off everyday to get to where I am now and the difference in our strength is apparent, to say it simply my flames of hard-work outweigh your natural gifts. Allow me to show you just how much," Lee said as he appeared behind Sasuke but before he could execute his unknown attack Lee heard his sensei's voice,
"Enough Lee what have I told you about that jutsu," the man was dressed in a matching jumpsuit to Lee's and had even bushier eyebrows stated before gazing at Team 7 with a grin. Sasuke landed on his feet and slowly made his way back to his teammates, "It was a good fight," Sakura said trying to console him but he just scowled at her causing the pinkette to frown. Naruto looked at the two before their team's attention was redirected by the unknown man's shouting,
"Lee, you Idiot!" while punching his younger twin in the face causing him to fly a few feet before landing on the ground. Lee immediately recovered and began pleading with his sensei, "Please Gai senesi I'm so sorry," Lee cried into his teacher's jumpsuit. Gai quickly embraced his student before releasing him and saying, "It's ok Lee but this transgression can't go unpunished, after the exam I want you to do five hundred laps around the practice arena,"
"Yes Gai sensei!" Lee responded, adding a salute for dramatic effect. Gai once again turned his attention to Team 7 who were eyeing him oddly, the bushy browed sensei grinned before asking, "So how's Kakashi?" "You know sensei?" Naruto asked in curiosity. Gai chuckled before answering, "Know him…" Gai suddenly disappeared and before Team 7 could blink the man was behind them,
"He's my rival," Gai replied proudly. "And just so you know I'm stronger than your sensei too," Gai suddenly turned to his team, "You three head up to exam room!" Lee, Neji and Tenten all nodded before heading back upstairs to the third floor. Gai faced Kakashi's three genin again before shouting,
"Do your best and keep you're flames of youth burning!" and with that the odd sensei disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto turned to Sasuke before scowling at him, "He's got a point you know we used to train all the time together but you've been avoiding us like we're a disease," the blonde stated matter a factly and then continued as Sasuke began staring at his teammate with a scowl of his own,
"I'll kill him next time!" the Uchiha growled out. Naruto chuckled, "Yeah right, that's not what I saw and besides you fought him, you saw his hands," "Naruto I think you made your point," Sakura said before placing a hand on the blondes shoulders asking him nicely to stop. Naruto looked at Sakura and she was surprised to see a frown on her baka's face,
"I'm not saying Sasuke's weak but that bushy browed freak probably train's his ass off twenty-four seven, even harder than we do, Sakura-chan," Sakura looked at both of her boys with worry until both Uzumaki's heard Sasuke's chuckle for the first time in weeks,
"The chunin exams huh, things are finally starting to get interesting around this dump," Sasuke stated. Sakura and Naruto shared a grin as Sasuke turned back to his teammates, "Naruto, Sakura, let's do this," Sasuke stated with determination, "Believe it!" Naruto stated happily. Sakura took Naruto's hand and suddenly grabbed Sasuke's before he could stop her and held it tighter than necessary actually causing the last Uchiha to wince but there was no way he was getting out of this.
"Come on boys let's go or we'll be late," she stated happily leading her two teammates to the exam room while humming sweetly. The trio made their way to the third floor and were surprised to find their sensei standing at the door to the test area, "Good you're all here but since you three all requested the permission forms anyway I kinda figured you would be," Kakashi said honestly and then continued,
"I'm very proud of all three of you, you've all come along way in the last few months and I believe in you, now good luck," the jonin finished while opening the door for them. Team 7 shared a smile as they entered the room the future Hokage stating proudly, "Here we go were going to be chunin, believe it!"
The trio entered the room together and were surprised by the vast amount of other participants, "Wow, there's a lot of other people here huh guys," Sakura stated. Suddenly Sasuke felt a tap on his shoulder, he slowly turned around to find Ino grinning at him, "Glad to see you Sasuke-kun," Ino stated sweetly.
Sasuke actually showed a sincere smile causing Sakura and Naruto to share a grin even if they couldn't get through to their friend at least someone could make him genuinely smile, "Hey Ino, it's good to see you too," he replied in a slightly softer tone than usual.
"So Ino says you've improved Naruto, troublesome," a familiar voice said. Naruto turned his head to see two of his old friends that he used to ditch class with at the academy, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi. Naruto smiled at his old friends before walking over, "Yeah Shikamaru, I'm super strong now, believe it!" the blonde replied a little cockily.
"There you guys are!" a new voice suddenly barked out, Teams 7 and 10 turned their heads to see three familiar faces, Kiba, Shino and Hinata. "Looks like the rookie 9 are together again," Kiba chuckled while walking up to his friends. "Sakura, Naruto-kun!" Hinata stated aloud and quickly wrapped her pink haired friend in a hug before releasing her and embracing her Naruto-kun and adding a kiss on the cheek,
"It's good to see you Hinata-hime," Naruto said while looking at the Hyuga princess affectionately and then looked around to glance at the rest of his classmates, "It's good to see all of you, believe it," the blonde said happily. Kiba smirked before trying to take a jab at his friend, "Naruto I don't care how strong Hinata says you've gotten I'm still going to beat you if it comes to that,"
Naruto actually glared at his friend before replying, "I hope you've gotten stronger for Hinata-hime's sake at least," he turned to his sweet moonlight and pecked her three times on both cheeks, "If you need me at anytime Hinata-hime just let me know and we'll come to help ok," the blonde stated affectionately and Hinata could only smile.
"Well you two are as cute as I remember," another familiar voice said, Hinata turned her head and saw Fu appear out of the crowd and walk up to the rookie 9. "Hey Hinata, Naruto no long time no see," Fu said innocently enough. "Hi Fu-san it's good to see you again," Hinata replied while Naruto looked at her oddly before asking,
"Who are you again?" Hinata and Fu fell over backwards but Hinata got to her feet first as she sighed, "Naruto-kun, Fu-san is the one I told you about, you know the one who was kind to me when I was kidnapped by those waterfall nin a little over a month ago," "Oh right thanks that means a lot to us, believe it!" Fu got back to her feet and nodded politely,
"Don't mention it, I'm sorry I got sucked into that crappy mission but it did give me the opportunity to…" Fu glanced over Shino's way before finishing, "You know what we can continue this later, ok see ya," the blue haired girl said before scooting over to Shino and engaging in small talk. Suddenly Naruto's attention was diverted by a gray haired boy with glasses approaching the group,
"You're causing quite the buzz, you know it's rare to have rookies at the exams and you're the first in five years," the boy stated to the group. Ino scowled at the boy before asking, "And who are you supposed to be?" The boy smiled a devilish grin before replying,
"Kabuto, you should really watch out everyone's on edge waiting for the exam to begin, you rookies have it so easy thinking you know everything," "So this is your second time at least?" Sakura questioned. Kabuto chuckled, "Close, Seventh," he replied calmly. "Maybe I can offer you a little help with…" Kabuto suddenly pulled out several stacks of blank paper, "My Ninja Info Cards," he said smugly.
"Those contain information about other shinobi?" Sasuke questioned while scowling at him, he knew exactly who this was because of the memories he had received from Karin, the day their seals were set but he decided to play the gray haired pricks game and then maybe torture him for information after the exam officially started. "Yes," Kabuto replied, "Do you have anyone in mind?"
"Gaara of the Sand, Rock Lee, and Karin Uzumaki," Sasuke said calmly while glaring at him. Naruto and Sakura looked at him puzzled as to who this Karin Uzumaki was and how she was related to Naruto's mother but they decided to reserve their questions for later, maybe Kabuto's card would satisfy their curiosity.
Kabuto smiled evilly before pulling up the first card, "Rock Lee husband of Tenten Lee, he's a year older than your group and currently has twenty D-ranks and two C-ranks, he's a taijutsu specialist and his sensei is Might Gai, this is first time as well and is teammates are Tenten Lee and Neji Hyuga," Kabuto finished.
Naruto began chuckling causing all eyes to turn to him, "What, my baka is so funny?" Sakura questioned, "Just pull up my card when your done with Sauske's request, ok Kaubto,"
Sasuke glared at him before Kabuto chuckled himself, "Ok Naruto-kun, let's see, next is Gaara of the Sand, he's the same age as you, D-ranks unknown, holy shit, eight C-ranks and one B-rank as a genin and what's crazier it's says he's never had a scratch on him. Shikamaru sighed,
"What a drag, he's a monster, how troublesome," he said not really feeling like dying today way too much effort. Kabuto looked through his cards before smiling and looking toward Sasuke, "Sorry Sasuke-kun but it appears I don't have a card for Karin Uzumaki," Kabuto said feigning sympathy.
"Fine!" Sasuke huffed in annoyance, he knew Kabuto was lying but couldn't do shit about it yet… "Just pull up the dobes card, I want to see what he was bragging about," Sasuke stated angry and annoyed. Kabuto grinned before pulling out Naruto's card,
"Alright, Naruto Uzumaki, husband of Sakura Haruno Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga Uzumaki, sensei is Kakashi Hatake, teammates Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno Uzumaki," Kabuto looked at him before nodding,
"Not bad twenty-five D-ranks as a genin and two C-ranks," While the rest of the rookie nine looked at him astonished, minus Sakura and Hinata. Sasuke looked at him angrily before shouting, "How!?" Naruto thought is friend would be impressed but he just sighed,
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu combined with my Transformation Jutsu, I would send clones of us too Oji-san's office to pick up an extra mission every now and again and since I was impersonating you and Sakura-chan I assume you got rewarded for those missions too, how did you not notice the extra ryo going into your pay, Sakura did you know," the blonde replied.
Sasuke's anger dispersed a little, he was wondering why extra ryo was going into his account but he had just said fuck it, he wasn't complaining. The last Uchiha sighed before asking, "And what about the other C-rank obviously the Land of Waves counted as a C-rank because it was billed that way but how in the hell did you get another mission that was that dangerous without me?" he questioned.
Naruto looked over to Hinata before turning to face him, "Since I saved Hinata alone and technically prevented the Byakugan from being stolen, Oji-san decided to classify it as a solo C-rank for me, although that may have been so I could get the extra ryo," the blonde admitted.
Sasuke huffed, "Whatever dobe, thanks for the ryo but I didn't ask for your help," "Damn ungrateful teme," Naruto growled out but Hinata and Sakura just appeared next to him and began their tactic of calming the hyperactive ninja down slowly petting his whiskered cheeks until the blonde's face appeared to be in a state of utter bliss.
Sakura looked to Kabuto as she continued to comfort her soulmate and smirked, "So everyone here is like Gaara then, elite shinobi, Sasuke, Naruto-kun this is your chance to get a whole lot stronger, believe it! The pinkette stated happily. Naruto regained his senses at Sakura's words and slowly walked a few steps forward before pointing to everyone in the room and shouting as loud as his twelve year old lungs could screech,
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and these are my friends the rookie nin…" the blonde stopped abruptly as he saw Fu cuddling next to Shino's side rubbing her head up and down his shoulder, while the boy stood their with an unreadable expression thanks to his shades and ridiculously over-sized collar but the slightest hint of red on his cheeks,
"OK then let me start over, my name is Naruto Uzumaki and these are friends the rookie 10 and were all going to kick your asses, believe it!" the blonde wailed happily and confidently. Hinata and Sakura smiled at the blonde while the others in the group smirked in approval Ino whispered into Sakura's ear,
"Your bakas' going to get us all killed but I actually agree with him," she said while wearing a cocky grin. Sakura suddenly realized Ino had engaged in conversation for the first time in weeks and tried desperately to get what information she could out of the former gossip queen,
"Hey Ino do you know who Karin Uzumaki is, the person Sasuke was curious about I mean?" she asked but knew she made a mistake when Ino's smile turned into a glare, "No," she replied flatly, "Oh," was the cherry blossoms response as she hung her head down. Ino kept herself together but on the inside she was dying, she hated seeing Sakura this upset, "I'm sorry Sakura but just drop it ok it's none of your business worry about how your baka just made himself the biggest target here," the platinum blonde replied with far less malice in her voice. Sakura looked up at her and then to Naruto,
"Shit, you're right," she stated and ran over to her baka's side to try and calm him down again. In the group of shinobi residing in the room, three ninja from Otogakure snickered, "They'll get what's coming to them soon enough," a boy with bandages covering his face said to his two teameates. They shared an evil grin before everyone in the rooms attention was diverted by the arrival of the proctors. At the front was a tall man with several scars covering his face,
"My name Morino Ibiki and I'll be your head proctor for the first exam and just so all of you know, there will be no fighting unless you are instructed and the taking of any life will result in you and your teams immediate failure. Any of you little scumbags that think to defy my order will have hell to pay!" he barked out.
The genin in the room all looked at with Ibiki in mix of fear and interest as he continued, "Now get ready it's time to start the written test," the scary instructor finished. Sasuke and Sakura both turned to Naruto who was actually thinking the same thing, 'Crap!'
A few minutes later Team 7 along with the other participants were sorted into different seats scattered around a classroom. Naruto was happy his Hinata-chan had been assigned a seat next to him but inside he was shitting bricks. The blonde had never excelled at written work and even with Sakura drilling information into his head constantly now, the baka's poor brain didn't function like that. Naruto was suddenly torn from his thoughts by Hinata's words,
"Don't worry Naruto-kun if worst comes to worst you can cheat off of me, ok," Hinata stated sweetly. Naruto smiled before giving her hand a tight squeeze, "No Hinata-hime I'm not a cheater and I would never want you and your team to get in trouble for my sake," the blonde replied honestly. The Naimkaze's conversation was suddenly interrupted by Ibik's shouting,
"Alright listen up and no questions, Rule 1 you all start with 10 points, for each question you answer wrong we will subtract one point from your total score, Rule 2 if one teammate fails all three fail," All three members of Team 7 slammed their heads down to their desks and shared a team a groan, it would've been cute if they weren't so screwed.
"Rule 3, If a proctor catches any of you cheating we'll subtract two points from each member of that person's teams total score. If you really want to become chunin start acting like it," Ibiki smirked and added, "Oh and if one person should fail all members of that team automatically fail as well,"
Team 7 once again slammed their heads into their individual desks again and silently echoed, "Crap!" "You have one hour, now start!" Ibik suddenly announced. Sasuke and Sakura began working frantically while the blonde knucklehead kept his composure he was shitting bricks on the inside.
As he read over the test he was only able to answer two of the questions before all three members of Team 7 realized at the same time, 'They want us to cheat,' they determined with varying reactions.
Sasuke suddenly activated his sharingan and started copying as many others as possible by the stroke of their pens. Sakura was able to answer all of the questions on the test but was in deep worry for her baka. Naruto just sat there grinning like the fool he was,
'Well I'm screwed,' he thought, he actually couldn't believe his helplessness. As the other testing genin starting using their shinobi arts, only Sakura and Hinata were able to answer all of the questions on the test honestly albeit difficulty. As soon as Ino saw her rival drop her pen and start staring in concern at Naruto-baka she snickered,
'I always did love that big beautiful brain of yours forehead, now let me put it to good use, Mind Transfer Jutsu!' Ino suddenly collapsed face first into her desk as her consciousness invaded Sakura's mind. Unfortunately for Ino she was greeted by an unexpected presence,
"Um, who the hell are you?" Ino asked the figure that appeared to be Sakura but was definitely not the Sakura she always knew. Inner Sakura smirked, "I've been working on my genjutsu pig and the results show, now I don't care if you steal my answers but you better pass them to my sweet Naru-kun or you'll regret it, believe it!" she yelled out angrily.
'Wow, whatever this personality is, she's got it bad, no wonder Sakura has to keep her suppressed,' Ino thought, she looked at the other version of Sakura who was tapping her foot and glaring at her in annoyance. Ino sighed before replying, "That's more than fair, now give me control forehead!" Ino said.
Inner Sakura smirked before vanishing and letting Ino take full control and allowing her to memorize her answers. Ino completed the task quickly and passed the answers on to her teammates and Naruto-baka which resulted in the blonde knucklehead blinking twice at the now filled out exam paper and smirking,
"Well guess I'm smarter than I thought, believe it!" he said aloud and with a cocky grin causing Ino and inner Sakura to slam their heads into their desks in frustration at the Uzumaki's ignorance. Several teams began dropping like flies, failure to the right and to the left but the rookie 10 stood strong and soon the exam only had fifteen minutes remaining.
"Alright you worms, it's time for the tenth question, and just so you know, I'll be adding a new rule," Ibiki smiled before finishing, "If you refuse the question you and your teammates will automatically fail but if you accept the question and get it wrong, you will never be permitted to enter the chunin exams again!" Ibiki finished sternly.
"That's insane!" Kiba barked, "Their are dozens of applicants here who have taken the exams more than once," the boy tried reasoning with the terrifying proctor. Ibiki stared at the Inuzuka coldly before replying, "Tough shit, I wasn't the proctor for those other exams and I make the rules. If you don't have the guts to continue then I suggest you and your team get the fuck out right now!"
Kiba whimpered a bit before slumping down in his seat. "Alright now if you choose to reject the question raise your hand, once your number has been accounted for you may leave," Several other genin began raising their hands and them along with their teammates were ejected from the room. Hinata glanced at her Naruto-kun's paper and saw it completely filled out, she looked to his face to see that look of determination he was always wearing but deep in her gut, she felt something wasn't right.
Hinata immediately turned around to see a distraught cherry blossom with her hand at half mast, the two soulmates of Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze stared at each other actually glaring at the other for the first time, "What about his dream?" Sakura lipped to Hinata.
Hinata's glare only intensified as she lipped back, "Enough Sakura, he's our husband, not our son, stop treating him like a child and trust him to make his own decisions, please," the Hyuga princess replied.
Sakura's glared hardened for just a second before she relented with a huff and a small smile, "Ok" Sakura said back causing Hinata to smile and turn back forward to face the proctor. Other teams continued to give up and soon the son of the Fourth was getting extremely pissed off,
"What the hell is wrong with all of you!" he barked out glancing around the rest of the room, "Are you really that scared of this balled prick, well screw you," the blonde flipped off Ibiki shocking everyone in the room,
"I don't run and I don't hide, so don't you dare underestimate me or any of my comrades, we're going all the way, believe it!" Naruto shouted and then continued, "I will not be stuck a genin forever, I will become Hokage someday and I refuse to let a teme like you scare me!" the future Hokage stated with determination as he calmed down a little and allowed Hinata to rub his whiskered cheeks.
The rest of the room looked at the blonde with various expressions but they all decided the same thing, they were seeing this through to the end. Ibiki actually grinned at the blonde before asking everyone in the class, "Are you sure this is your last chance?" he asked the genin. Naruto looked at the proctor again with a cocky grin,
"Sorry but I never go back on my word, it's my way of the ninja, believe it!" Ibiki looked at the blonde again before realizing that his words had inspired the others to stay, "Alright everyone who's still here congratulations, you just passed the first exam," Everyone in the room looked at Ibiki shocked but it was Sakura to get her questions in first,
"What!, what do you mean we passed? Where's the tenth question?" the pinkette asked in confusion. Ibiki began laughing, "There was no tenth question at least not a written one," he said with a smile.
"So you just made us suffer through nine other questions for nothing, what a fucking drag, damn it!" Temari suddenly announced as the dirty blonde with pigtails suddenly slammed her head into the desk. Ino burst out in laughter, "I found her Shikamaru-kun," Ino teased her Nara teammate.
Shikamrau just sighed, "Great she's scary and angry, just like I thought, how troublesome," he huffed in annoyance. Temari shot daggers at the boy who was apparently her soulmate, she had learned what had happened to her a few months prior with that ball of chakra that had suddenly appeared and chased her down. Ibiki's voice suddenly gathered everyone's attention,
"There was no waste, those questions were designed to see how well you could gather information without being detected," he explained. "Our spying?" Temari asked, "Yes you see gathering information is an essential skill that all chunin require so we made the test so difficult that you would be forced to cheat, in order to do that we had to ensure you had someone to cheat off of so we had two chunin who already knew all the answers sit in with you," the proctor pointed over to two men sitting in the middle of the exam room who just waved to the genin around the room.
Ibiki suddenly removed his hat revealing several burn marks and scars covering his scalp, "This is what happens when you fail to gather info effectively, better to not gather intel at all then gather it poorly. Shinobi who do that do not have the qualifications to become chunin, they cause missions to fail, people to die, and eventually the loss of that person's own life. Always remember if you bring information back that the enemy knows you've obtained your just making their job that much easier and putting the ones you serve in severe danger," Ibiki finally finished.
"So you wanted to test our spying abilities, how troublesome," Temari winced but continued, "So what was the deal with the tenth question then?" she asked. Ibiki laughed again, "The tenth question was the entire point of the exam," he said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world but when he saw the confused faces of the genin he sighed,
"Allow me to explain, the tenth question provided you with two choices both hard and unfair, think of it this way your presented a job where you and your team have to enter unknown territory and put your life as well as your comrades lives on the line, do you accept the mission or reject it. The choice is obvious to any chunin, they accept the mission because they know there are no safe missions, every time you leave your village you put your life on the line. No matter the danger, risk, or the hardships you face a chunin demonstrates heart, passion, bravery, and a personality that inspires everyone around them, helping everyone to overcome their fears. That is the value we care about most when selecting new chunin while those who won't gamble with their own fate are weaklings and have no place in the rank. By choosing to accept you immediately answered correctly and as long as you keep that spirit, I have little doubt you will be on your way to advancement," Ibiki smiled before announcing once again,
"Congratulations, like I said before, you've all passed the first exam," Suddenly the window on the left side of classroom shattered and before the genin could blick a woman with purple hair tied into a ponytail and wearing a scandalous outfit, at least for a shinobi appeared in front of Ibiki,
"Don't think it's time to celebrate you worms, it's my turn to have fun with you," the woman stated sternly, "My name is Anko Mitarashi, proctor of the second exam, now let's get moving next stop the forest of death!" Anko quickly surveyed the room,
"Ibiki you passed twenty-seven teams what kind of easy bullshit were you giving these kids?" Anko asked feigning annoyance. She chuckled again before looking at the group of genin with a sadistic smile, "Don't worry by the time I'm done, more than half of them will be eliminated," she stated happily.
AN: Well I got through the first exam like I promised lol, this chapter took a bit longer than I thought but I think it turned out pretty well, Yes I changed the date of the exams to june 1st instead of july really beacuse it was to long a wait for Naruto and Sakura to not say something to Sasuke for being distant
Introduced all of team guy at once and yeah Leeten honestly like Nejiten more but for plot reasons mainly it had to be this way, Naruto already knows Neji and they already have a disdain for each other so I can't have Neji happy just yet lol, but I promise he will find love and who knows what the future holds for him but I promise he will have a satisfying story
Temari has Shikamaru's ticks but unlike Sakura still has not accepted them yet.
Didn't bother covering the jonin discussing the exams or how the other teams passed basically happened the same way as in the original with the exception on Naruto getting help
If your wondering why Sakura and Hinata are fine wearing the Uzumaki symbol it's beacuse they could give a shit the only thing that's really important to them is keeping Naruto's father's identity a secret and yes Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata and Sakura are all in their cloaks and that is why Kabuto had the information on Naruto's soulmates but not Hinata's real last name.
Sakura had no idea of the conversation that her inner and Ino had so she assumed her baka was still screwed and was even more concerned because dammit my Naruto has to become hokage and I want to be wife of the hokage, cha! and yea Sakura's fan girl mode had to go somewhere and her inner was an easy choice, she's as deep as Hinata but outer Sakura will never admit it lol
Ino and Sasuke both know of the nine-tails and yes she did meet him before filling out Naruto's paper but the they both just ignored the other before Ino took control and it was an uneventful meeting, not worth mentioning, maybe in a flashback explaining what she saw to Sasuke.
The forest of death is going to be a nightmare but I think I've planned everything out right and it should go smoothly and I'll try to cover all of the events in one chapter but again we will see.Thank you and hope you enjoyed
