A/N: So not my best work. Reenan did what she could but I'm still a little disappointed with myself. I am having some major problems with my computer so I will be sending out to be repaired. I won't be able to get a new chapter up for at least 2 weeks so I hope you all will be patient and bare with me.

Disclaimer: I do not own.

Beta: Reenen Lefey

Chapter 7

And so the Chuunin Exams begin.

Once they had opened the doors to room 301, actually walking through them seemed like a daunting task. The room was huge and completely full of shinobi. They stared in shock at how many there were taking the test.

Out of nowhere there came a squealing sound and Sasuke was tackled from behind, the figure almost knocking him off his feet.

"Sasuke, you're late." The voice was high pitched, loud and right in his ear. Sasuke scowled at the girl clinging to him over his shoulder and contemplated knocking her off his back. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and he knew there was no getting her off him without force.

"I haven't seen you for a while so I've been waiting for you." The girl cooed in Sasuke's ear.

Sakura watched her ex-best friend hanging off Sasuke, her fists clenched tightly and her nails biting into her palms. She was trying to figure out why Sasuke wasn't doing anything to get her off of him and getting pissed with the answers she kept coming up with. She wanted to go over and pull Ino off of him by her ponytail. Finally, Sakura had had enough of watching her rival act like that when she had to restrain herself. Just because she kept herself from hanging off Sasuke like that didn't mean she didn't want to. "Ino, you might want to let go of Sasuke now. He doesn't like being touched like that."

"Well if it isn't Sakura. Big ugly forehead as usual." Ino said with a smirk.

Sakura's teeth ground together at the familiar insult but held her tongue against the retort. Sakura and Ino were trying to glare holes into each other when someone else interrupted the staring contest.

"You guys are taking this stupid test too." Was the lazy drawl, Naruto recognized that voice and looked over to find two more of his old classmates coming up to their group and smiled happily.

"Shika, Chouji! How are you guys? I haven't seen you two in forever."

"Troublesome blonde, how many times do I need to tell you not to call me that," Shikamaru grumbled at him, but without much bite to his tone.

"I'm good Naruto, you?" Chouji shoved another handful of chips in his mouth and waved while munching away.

"Hey, found you. Well now, looks like everyone is assembled." Everyone looked around to find a hooded boy with a white dog perched on his head, flanked by a small girl with short hair and a boy with dark spikey hair and sunglasses.

"Kiba, Hinata, and Shino! Hey long time no see guys." Naruto shouted out at the other team.

"H-hello." Hinata replied back shyly and Shino inclined his head.

"Geez, you guys too." Shikamaru muttered under his breath.

"So I see all 9 of this year's rookie Genin are taking the exam. I wonder how far we'll get, eh Sasuke?" Kiba said, clearly not catching Shikamaru's statement.

"You seem confidant Kiba." Sasuke observed, scoffing at the other boy's arrogance.

"We've done a lot of training. We won't lose to you."

Instead of the outburst everyone expected from Naruto, he started snickering. He glanced over his shoulder at Sasuke and Sakura who were thinking along the same lines. They all highly doubted the others had ever been up against a Jounin or someone as skilled as Haku.

The other rookies gazed at team 7 in noticeable shock. Naruto wasn't yelling, Sasuke wasn't insulting Naruto, and Sakura wasn't hanging off Sasuke or yelling at Naruto. Those weren't the only noticeable changes either. Naruto was standing there without his infamous orange jumpsuit on. Instead he was wearing a dark blue short sleeve tee shirt with an orange Uzumaki on the front, under his tee was a three quarter sleeve mesh shirt, he had on black standard shinobi pants (in a style similar to Kakashi's), and black ninja sandals. He still wore his weapon pouch on his right thigh and his Hitai-Ate on his forehead but now it was tied with black cloth instead of blue.

The overall effect was rather striking in Shikamaru's opinion. Without the orange jumpsuit you could see how slender and toned the blonde actually was, and while he was the same height he had been the last time Shikamaru had seen him, Naruto looked taller Shikamaru wasn't sure if that was due to the new clothing or a new confidence or both, but it looked good on him.

Shikamaru was curious how much stronger team 7 was now. He had heard all about their mission to Wave Country, and the two ninja who had come back with them, from his father. He knew Naruto was friends with one of them. He had seen the two around the village a couple of times. He wondered if Naruto got more training from the two, or if he was just friends with them. Shikamaru decided to put it to the back of him mind for now until he could observe more.

Just then, Naruto yelled out excitedly. "Haku, you made it."

Haku and another walked up to their group. "Of course I did. You doubt me Naruto, I'm hurt." Haku wore a playful pout.

Naruto laughed and shook his head, "Doubt you? Never!"

Haku graced him with a sweet smile. "It's been a couple days, how are you? Hello Sasuke and Sakura." He acknowledged. .

"We're doing really good. Come here," Naruto said grabbing Haku by the wrist and pulling him closer to the group. "You have to meet everyone. We all were in the same Genin class in the academy." He told the older boy.

"Everyone this is Haku," He introduced.

The group of rookie ninja eyed the newcomer with undisguised interest. Each of them waved or nodded as Naruto pointed out who was who and their teams to Haku.

Haku bowed deeply to the group. "It is an honor to meet you all."

Once introductions were done Kiba decided to open his big mouth again, but this time he stuck his foot in it. "Ya know Naruto it's rude to drag a girl around like that." he pointed out.

Sakura started giggling, while Sasuke smirked, and Naruto's mouth dropped open. Haku blushed and laughed lightly behind the hand covering his mouth.

Kiba watched the four of them in confusion, going back over what he said to try and see what was so funny.

Naruto dragged his gaze from the top of Haku head to his feet. He tended to forget just how others saw Haku. Even he thought the older boy was a girl the first time he saw him, but at that time Haku had been dressed as a girl so he felt he couldn't really be faulted for that assumption. Haku's appearance hadn't changed all that much since their mission. He even still favored female clothing when he wore civilian clothes.

He had changed his missions and training outfit though. Now that he was a leaf ninja he no longer wore the Kirigakure pinstripe outfit, Hitai-Ate or hunter nin mask. Now he wore a pair of loose beige knee length shorts, a long sleeve light green tee, and his green haori with the white hemline and tied with a brown sash, two items he refused to part with. He still wore the same sandals and painted his nails a green to match his shirt. No longer did he put his hair up in the white bun holder, now he left it down but tied in a tail at the base of his neck with two locks of hair framing his face, the ends bound with metal hair cuffs.

Naruto kind of understood how he could be mistaken for a girl, but Kiba was in for a nasty surprise once Haku stopped laughing.

"I am not a girl," Haku said softly, just loud enough for the group to hear.

"What!" Kiba yelped loudly.

"Hey you guys, you should be a little quieter." a boy with silver hair and large round glasses told them. This was the guy that had been following Haku. He stood next to the lot of them his hip cocked and a hand resting on the weapon pouch there. "You guys are just rookies out of the academy right? Screaming like a bunch of school girls, geez. This isn't a picnic."

"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke asked, annoyed.

"This is Kabuto. I'm on his team for the exams." Haku injected on behalf of his teammate.

"Besides that, look behind you." Kabuto said, a grim smile on his face.

The rookies turned to look over their shoulders to find most of the participants glaring or scowling in their direction. "Those guys behind you," Kabuto pointed out the group of three ninja closest to them, "they are from the hidden Rain Village. They have short tempers. Everyone is nervous about the exam. You should quiet down before you cause a scene. Well, I guess I can't blame you too much if you are all rookies. You remind me of how I used to be."

"Kabuto, right?" Sakura asked, and when he nodded she continued, "So this is your second time?"

"No, my seventh time, this exam is held twice a year so this is my fourth year."

"So you know quite a bit about the exam."

"That's right."

"Impressive." Naruto said, though he was wondering if the exam was really that hard or if Kabuto was just that weak.

"I'll do you guys a favor since you're all rookies. I'll share some info with you all with my nin-info cards." He held up a thick deck of cards.

"Do you have cards with info on individuals?" Sasuke asked intrigued.

"Some guys you wanna know about? Yes, I have info on all participants in the exam, but it's not perfect. Even you guys. Tell me something about the person and I'll tell you what I have on them."

"Gaara from the hidden Sand and Rock Lee from the Leaf."

"Well that's no challenge; you already know their names." Kabuto quickly swiped two cards from the deck and held them up, the backs facing the group. Naruto watched with increasing interest while Sasuke just demanded to see them.

"First up is Rock Lee. Nothing impressive, his Taijutsu has improved over the year, his Sensei is Gai, and he has completed 20 D Rank and 12 C Rank missions. Teammates are Hyuuga Neji and Tenten. Next is Gaara of the Desert. Completed 8 C Rank and 1 B Rank mission, came back from all missions without a scratch. Since he's a newcomer I don't have much info on him. There are a lot of talented Genin from the various hidden villages."

"Makes you lose your confidence," Hinata muttered quietly. Sakura was the only one close enough to hear her.

"So what you're saying is…" Sakura prompted the silver haired teen to continue.

"Everyone here is like Gaara and Lee, the top elite Genin from the various countries."

Naruto grimaced. After seeing Lee kick Sasuke's ass so thoroughly, all he could think was 'this wasn't going to be easy.' But that had never deterred him before and it certainly wasn't going to now. He had faith that Kakashi knew what he was doing when he nominated them to take the exam.

Naruto looked around at his friends and noted the many nervous or anxious looks, minus Sasuke who would never show that sort of emotion even if he was nervous, and Shikamaru who just looked sleepy like usual. "Come on guys, don't get so down on yourselves. We're the Rookie 9, the best of our year, and do you really think our Sensei's would have nominated us if they didn't think we'd have a chance? We have to do our best and show our Sensei's they weren't wrong to nominate all of us."

The change in the group was clearly noticeable to Haku and Kabuto. They all stood a little straighter and their faces showed more confidence and less doubt. The blonde's absolute faith and unrelenting support of his friends filled Haku with a sense of happiness. He was happy that he and Zabuza had met Naruto and team 7, as well as taking the chance to come here with them. He was happy and he felt right then in that moment, that no matter what happened as long as Naruto was around he would keep being happy.

The man leading the group of Leaf Shinobi was an intimidating person. He towered over most of the ninja who were with him. Not only that, he had a scar spanning the length of his face, diagonally temple to chin. "Thank you for waiting. I am Ibiki Morino, the examiner for the Chuunin Selection Exam first test. To start, just let me say, there will be no fighting without the permission of the examiners. Even if permission is given, killing your opponent will not be tolerated. Those pigs that disobey me will be failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?" He told the room, the threat clear in his voice.

"We will now start the first test in the Chuunin Exam. Instead of your current seating arrangements, you will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you," He held up a white tile with a number on it for the room to see. We will the hand out the exams."

'Well this can't be a good sign' Naruto thought. Paper tests were probably the worst test they could throw at him. He'd never been good with them and he didn't see that changing now. He got his numbered tab and sat in his seat trying not to feel too dejected yet, after all, there could be some trick to it, or it could be easier than he was assuming.

Sakura looked over at her teammate, who had his hands buried in his hair, and felt a pang of sympathy for him. She knew Naruto didn't do very well with paper tests and hoped things worked out. They made it this far, and to fail here would be disheartening. Sasuke was only worried about being held back by his idiot of a teammate.

"Naruto." A voice spoke softly from his left.

He raised his head to see Hinata sitting next to him. He hadn't even noticed that she was there. "Oh, hey Hinata."

"Let's do our best." She said, giving him a shy smile.

"Do not turn your tests over yet." Ibiki ordered. "Listen closely to what I am about to say. There are many important rules to this first test. I'll write them on the board while I explain but questions will not be allowed so listen carefully."

"First rule, you all start off with 10 points. The test is made up of 10 questions and each question is worth one point, but this test uses a subtraction system. If you answer all 10 questions correctly you will keep your 10 points, but if you get 3 questions wrong you will lose 3 points leaving you with 7 points."

"The second rule, this is a team test. Whether you pass or not will be determined by the combined score of your teammates. So each team will compete to see how many points they can hold onto from the initial team total of 30 points."

"The third rule is that during the exam anyone caught by the testing officers doing anything sneaky, namely cheating, will have 2 points subtracted for every offence. Those who lose all their points will be asked to leave."

"The final rule, those that lose all their points during the test and those that don't answer any questions correctly will be failed along with their 2 teammates." After that announcement the room was filled with shuffling bodies and hushed voices.

Naruto winced and slid down in his seat a little. He knew Sakura and Sasuke had their eyes on him, if anyone screwed this up for their team it would be him and he knew it. Sweat started to bead along his hair line as his nerves got the best of him.

"The exam will last one hour. Begin."

Naruto flipped his test over. After skimming through the first few questions he once again buried his hands in his hair and bowed he head. Answering those questions was going to be nearly impossible. He tugged on his hair a little harder, the sharp pain focusing him and he forced his body to relax. He was never going to get through this if he kept panicking, he just needed to think.

Naruto knew what he needed to do. He needed to cheat, but how to do it without being caught? Ninjutsu was out of the question, he didn't have any jutsus that would be helpful. He didn't have a bloodline ability like Sasuke. So what was left? Kakashi had been working on sealing with him but all he had learned so far were basics. While running through the list of seals he knew, he got a surprise in the form of a kunai flying past his head. It was close enough he could smell the steel and hear the whistle as it flew by and imbedded in the desk behind him.

The guy behind Naruto jumped up in shock and yelled. "What the hell was that for?"

"You messed up 5 times. You fail," Said one of the officers. "The two on his team, get out of here. Right now."

Naruto wasn't one to ever give up but he couldn't come up with any good ways to cheat without getting caught, then Hinata said his name again but this time he almost missed it, she spoke so quietly. He tilted his head slightly and looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"You can look at my test if you want." She said, in that same soft barely there voice, and he was a little surprised she didn't stutter once.

"Why would you risk yourself like that Hinata?"

"Because I want to see you make it through. The 9 of us are the only rookies here and we need to stick together." She told him, her face downcast.

He smiled brightly when she looked his way again. "Hinata, you don't understand…" He couldn't risk getting Hinata in trouble. It went against his ninja code. If only there was a way that didn't require her to do anything at all.

He froze as a thought occurred to him, and he suddenly wanted to slap himself in the face at the same time as jump up in his excitement. He settled for bouncing his leg giddily, and counted the steps off on one hand. Four. Even if the proctors saw everything he could still get one point. Sasuke and Sakura were smart enough to manage the rest. He didn't know how he missed it earlier but this would work. "Hinata, if you really want to let me copy you just don't react."

Hinata frowned, confused at what Naruto was doing and his change of attitude all of a sudden.

He carefully arranged his legs so they hid his hands from view under the table and ran through a set of signs he'd known for years. A quick substitution jutsu later, minus the henge, no sense in making unnecessary smoke, and he was looking down at Hinata's paper. He erased her name, flipped it over and drew a Copy seal on the back. Then he reversed the justu.

Hinata blinked when she found herself staring down at Naruto's paper. She briefly wondered what he was up to and if she was meant to rewrite her answers, but decided to have faith in him and wait for further instructions. Her faith was rewarded when her own paper was returned a few seconds later.

Naruto drew a similar seal on the back of his own paper. The two seals were a set pair, connected. Kopī to Haichi seals. Jounin were taught this set of seals when they make their rank. The seals were used during missions where you needed to take info from a scroll or important piece of paperwork but couldn't take the info itself.

The copy seal was placed on whatever it was you wanted to copy and the placement seal was put on something for the copy to be transferred to. You infuse the placement seal with a little chakra and it was done. Once the copying was finished both seals disappeared and left no trace behind. And the best part was both seals were simple in design and took no time at all for him use.

Hinata watched out of the corner of her eye as her writing appeared on Naruto's page. She was amazed that he knew something so advanced.

When he was finished he instructed Hinata to rewrite her name on her test and he did the same. Naruto looked at the clock and found they had 15 minutes left before they would find out what question 10 was.

Naruto and Hinata listened as number after number was called and teams were failed, some having to be forcefully removed from the room. At the 45 minute mark Ibiki called attention to himself.

"Now we will begin question 10. Before we get to it though, there are a few more added rules: the rules of desperation. First for the 10th question you must decide if you will take it."

"Choose? What happens if we choose not to?" The blonde from the Sand Village called out.

"If you choose not to your points will be reduced to zero and you fail along with your two teammates." There was a lot of commotion and yelling but Ibiki just spoke over everyone. "Now the other rules. If you choose to take it and answer incorrectly that person will lose the right to ever take the Chuunin Exam again."

The yelling increased in volume. One person was heard above the others asking about the Genin who had taken the exam before.

"You guys were unlucky. This year it's my rules. But I'm giving you a way out. Those that aren't confidant can choose not to take it and try again next year. Now let's begin. Those that do not want to take it raise your hand and once your number has been confirmed you can leave."

It was a lose/lose situation and Naruto was well aware he may not be able to answer the question. In fact it was more than likely he would get it wrong but he knew he wouldn't raise his hand. If he did that it would not only fail himself but also Sasuke and Sakura, he wouldn't be the reason they couldn't go on. At least if he went ahead and tried for the 10th question it would only be his neck he was risking.

"I'll ask one more time. Your life is riding on this decision, this is your last chance to quit." Ibiki looked around the room and when no one else stood to leave he decided not to keep stretching it out anymore. "Good decision. Now everyone remaining…I congratulate you on passing the first test."

"We passed." Sakura said, her voice filled with disbelief. "What about the 10th question?"

"There never was such a thing. Or you could say those two choices were question 10."

Naruto basically tuned out the rest of the yelling. They passed the first test and it could only get better now. He tuned back in when Ibiki wished them luck and a dark blur broke through the window.

A woman landed in front of Ibiki who was shaking his head in exasperation. "You guys this is no time to be celebrating." She yelled at the remaining Genin. "I am the examiner for the second test, Anko Mitarashi. Now let's go, follow me." She paused and counted the remaining Genin and then turned to Ibiki. "78! Ibiki you left 26 teams. The test was too easy this time." She said angrily.

"This time there are a lot of outstanding ones." He replied.

"Bah, that's fine. I'll cut them in half in the second test." She turned back to the participants, hearing the murmurs of dissent. "I'll explain everything once we change places, now follow me.