==============================
Chapter 02: The First Exam
==============================
¡§Ohayo everyone.¡¨ Naruto said, grinning at their faces, who would normally be hilarious had the circumstance not been so astonishing. ¡§How are you?¡¨
¡§OHAYO? HOW ARE YOU?¡¨ Sakura screeched angrily, recovering quickly from the surprise of seeing her long-lost teammate. ¡§YOU¡¦VE BEEN MISSING FOR A YEAR, AND NOW YOU COME BACK AND SAY ¡¥Ohayo?¡¦ AND ¡¥How are you¡¦ LIKE YOU¡¦VE NEVER BEEN GONE?¡¨
¡§Hai.¡¨ He said. ¡§And Sakura-chan, your attracting a lot of unwanted attention.¡¨
Hearing his voice and the calm, smooth tone it held made Sakura lose a lot of fire, and miraculously halted her impending rant. He glanced around.
//Everyone's changed.// he thought. And he was right. Their hairs were either longer or shorter, their features were more defined, and their statures were bigger. Of the original Team 07, Sakura¡¦s hair was much shorter, and was styled so that one side was longer than the other. Sasuke was probably the one who changed the least. He had traded in his blue shirt for a black one, but other than that, he remained the same.
¡§Naruto.¡¨ Neji suddenly said, ¡§Where have you been for the last few months?¡¨
¡§I¡¦ll tell anyone who wants to know once the exam is over.¡¨
¡§You¡¦re taking the exam too, Naruto-kun?¡¨ asked Hinata, who, despite what the Main Family used to believe, finally grew a backbone and getting rid of her stammer had been a big help. However, she still could not make her voice go above her whisper, in spite of Kiba¡¦s valiant efforts.
¡§Hai.¡¨
¡§But... it¡¦s a team examination...¡¨
¡§Team?¡¨ he asked vaguely, mentally wondering why everyone kept overlooking the two. ¡§Yea I have a team.¡¨ He nodded towards the set of twins behind him that everyone seemed to notice only after he acknowledged them.
Their faces? Let¡¦s just say they were a little more than stupefied. Team 07¡¦s faces, especially. A ten year girl and a ten year old boy, presumably her brother, seemed like sorry substitutes for the two of them. They would have voiced that, had not the instructors ¡¥puffed¡¦ in at that moment.
¡§QUIET DOWN YOU USELESS BASTARDS!¡¨
Morino Ibiki and a group of instructors suddenly ¡¥puffed¡¦ and appeared at the head of the room surveying the Genins with righteous superiority.
¡§Thank you for waiting.¡¨ He said, ¡§I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the Chuunin Selection Exam¡¦s First Test, which begins approximately... now.¡¨
¡§Instead of your current seating arrangements, you will draw a number from this box, and sit at the number assigned to you. Then we will hand out the exams.¡¨
¡§A paper test?¡¨ For the people who weren¡¦t there last year, this came suddenly, and at once, they were murmuring about ¡¥this wasn¡¦t what they signed up for¡¦.
¡§Do not turn over the tests yet.¡¨ He said as one by one, they seated themselves in the proper seat. ¡§Listen to me closely, there are a lot of rules in this first test, no questions asked. First rule, this is a team test. Each person starts with ten points. Any person caught cheating during the test will have 2 points taken off every time they¡¦re caught. Those who lose all their points will be disqualified along with their teammates.¡¨
//Oh my god.// Naruto thought, slumping forward on his desk, //It¡¦s just the same as last year.// He snickered. //Turns out the Hokage-sama doesn¡¦t have an imagination of any kind. Sad.// He could even mentally play the scene in his head. The Jounins appeal for other ideas, and an unconcerned Tsunade waving her hand, saying ¡§Oh, just use last year¡¦s exam. What¡¦s wrong with that?¡¨
His seat number was 42, which was luckily near the darkest corner of the room and far away from his former friends. //Lucky.// He stifled a yawn and the urge to laugh at the anxious faces of the foreign Nins. //Some people look nervous.// he sing-songed in his head.
//Naruto. You know the plan, right?//
He jumped slightly. //Damn. Kai, I told you to stop doing that.// he mentally scolded. //It¡¦s like I have schizo or something.//
//As long as I¡¦m around, you do. You know what we¡¦re going to do? Akito¡¦s already got it.//
//I know the plan. I¡¦m not stupid anymore.//
//So you were stupid before?//
//Shut up.//
//Hmm. They¡¦re watching you.//
//You don¡¦t have to tell me that.//
//... all those eyes// she pressed, //... boring a hole into your head...//
//You got one twisted sense of humor.// When he received no response, he sighed. She didn¡¦t have to go and remind him. He could feel their eyes on him.
Just then, Ibiki seemed to have finished his lecture on the rules and a Chuunin was passing out the papers. When he received his paper, he glanced at it and grinned.
//Ready?//
//Ready.//
==============================
Sakura, Sasuke, Ino, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Neji, Lee, Ten-Ten, Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, were indeed keeping a close eye on the recently returned Naruto. Some were watching him because they were not prepared for his return. Others were, because they had witnessed his power before, and they wanted to see how he would cheat this time around.
But he did nothing that seemed the slightest bit relevant. As a matter of fact, he turned the test paper over, folded his arms on the table, and went to sleep.
//That¡¦s his way of cheating?// Sasuke thought as he activated his Sharingan. //Unless of course he¡¦s counting on the last question again. But this time, there is no last question.// he realized, scanning his test paper. //What are you doing?//
After a good 35 minutes of sleep, Naruto suddenly snapped up, and instantly, all 12 pairs of eyes were on him. Out of the corner of her eye, Hinata could see his teammate, the girl, glaring at him. He stretched, rubbed his head while turned his paper over, wrote all the answers down quickly, turned it over, folded his arms, and went back to sleep.
//What... method of cheating is that?//
Personally, Ino wondered if perhaps someone had used Shintenshi No Jutsu. But when she looked at his two teammates, they were still awake, and did not show the aftereffects of the Shintenshi.
So how did they cheat?
Hinata was probably the only one who noticed... but his female teammate stopped glaring at him.
==============================
¡§This is the end of your test.¡¨ Came the sudden booming voice that jolted the boy out of his slumber. ¡§There is one more question left.¡¨ He continued, ignoring the onslaught of moans and groans from the remaining Genins. ¡§You must choose now. If you decide to take it, then...¡¨
He mentally groaned. //No... not this again.//
//Hey, Kai.// he thought.
//What.//
//Tell Akito that---//
//Already did.//
//Now see, you have got to stop reading people¡¦s minds like that. It¡¦s freaky.//
//I¡¦ll keep that in mind.// He sighed as the Genins who could not take the strain backed out one by one. //Ibiki got better.// He grimaced. //I already know what the final question is, and I can still feel that strain. If any other Genins make it past this point, they deserve to be Chuunin.//
And soon, only 20 teams of the original 46 remained. In fact, Naruto almost expected Anko to burst through the door at any moment.
And the door did swing open at that very moment. However, the Examiner was not Anko.
It was...
============================================================
Funny thing: If you use MS Word, and look up Morino Ibiki on spell-check, it¡¦ll say Moron Ibis. ^^
Questions or comments: icy_cloud359@kuririnmail.com
-Yume
Chapter 02: The First Exam
==============================
¡§Ohayo everyone.¡¨ Naruto said, grinning at their faces, who would normally be hilarious had the circumstance not been so astonishing. ¡§How are you?¡¨
¡§OHAYO? HOW ARE YOU?¡¨ Sakura screeched angrily, recovering quickly from the surprise of seeing her long-lost teammate. ¡§YOU¡¦VE BEEN MISSING FOR A YEAR, AND NOW YOU COME BACK AND SAY ¡¥Ohayo?¡¦ AND ¡¥How are you¡¦ LIKE YOU¡¦VE NEVER BEEN GONE?¡¨
¡§Hai.¡¨ He said. ¡§And Sakura-chan, your attracting a lot of unwanted attention.¡¨
Hearing his voice and the calm, smooth tone it held made Sakura lose a lot of fire, and miraculously halted her impending rant. He glanced around.
//Everyone's changed.// he thought. And he was right. Their hairs were either longer or shorter, their features were more defined, and their statures were bigger. Of the original Team 07, Sakura¡¦s hair was much shorter, and was styled so that one side was longer than the other. Sasuke was probably the one who changed the least. He had traded in his blue shirt for a black one, but other than that, he remained the same.
¡§Naruto.¡¨ Neji suddenly said, ¡§Where have you been for the last few months?¡¨
¡§I¡¦ll tell anyone who wants to know once the exam is over.¡¨
¡§You¡¦re taking the exam too, Naruto-kun?¡¨ asked Hinata, who, despite what the Main Family used to believe, finally grew a backbone and getting rid of her stammer had been a big help. However, she still could not make her voice go above her whisper, in spite of Kiba¡¦s valiant efforts.
¡§Hai.¡¨
¡§But... it¡¦s a team examination...¡¨
¡§Team?¡¨ he asked vaguely, mentally wondering why everyone kept overlooking the two. ¡§Yea I have a team.¡¨ He nodded towards the set of twins behind him that everyone seemed to notice only after he acknowledged them.
Their faces? Let¡¦s just say they were a little more than stupefied. Team 07¡¦s faces, especially. A ten year girl and a ten year old boy, presumably her brother, seemed like sorry substitutes for the two of them. They would have voiced that, had not the instructors ¡¥puffed¡¦ in at that moment.
¡§QUIET DOWN YOU USELESS BASTARDS!¡¨
Morino Ibiki and a group of instructors suddenly ¡¥puffed¡¦ and appeared at the head of the room surveying the Genins with righteous superiority.
¡§Thank you for waiting.¡¨ He said, ¡§I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the Chuunin Selection Exam¡¦s First Test, which begins approximately... now.¡¨
¡§Instead of your current seating arrangements, you will draw a number from this box, and sit at the number assigned to you. Then we will hand out the exams.¡¨
¡§A paper test?¡¨ For the people who weren¡¦t there last year, this came suddenly, and at once, they were murmuring about ¡¥this wasn¡¦t what they signed up for¡¦.
¡§Do not turn over the tests yet.¡¨ He said as one by one, they seated themselves in the proper seat. ¡§Listen to me closely, there are a lot of rules in this first test, no questions asked. First rule, this is a team test. Each person starts with ten points. Any person caught cheating during the test will have 2 points taken off every time they¡¦re caught. Those who lose all their points will be disqualified along with their teammates.¡¨
//Oh my god.// Naruto thought, slumping forward on his desk, //It¡¦s just the same as last year.// He snickered. //Turns out the Hokage-sama doesn¡¦t have an imagination of any kind. Sad.// He could even mentally play the scene in his head. The Jounins appeal for other ideas, and an unconcerned Tsunade waving her hand, saying ¡§Oh, just use last year¡¦s exam. What¡¦s wrong with that?¡¨
His seat number was 42, which was luckily near the darkest corner of the room and far away from his former friends. //Lucky.// He stifled a yawn and the urge to laugh at the anxious faces of the foreign Nins. //Some people look nervous.// he sing-songed in his head.
//Naruto. You know the plan, right?//
He jumped slightly. //Damn. Kai, I told you to stop doing that.// he mentally scolded. //It¡¦s like I have schizo or something.//
//As long as I¡¦m around, you do. You know what we¡¦re going to do? Akito¡¦s already got it.//
//I know the plan. I¡¦m not stupid anymore.//
//So you were stupid before?//
//Shut up.//
//Hmm. They¡¦re watching you.//
//You don¡¦t have to tell me that.//
//... all those eyes// she pressed, //... boring a hole into your head...//
//You got one twisted sense of humor.// When he received no response, he sighed. She didn¡¦t have to go and remind him. He could feel their eyes on him.
Just then, Ibiki seemed to have finished his lecture on the rules and a Chuunin was passing out the papers. When he received his paper, he glanced at it and grinned.
//Ready?//
//Ready.//
==============================
Sakura, Sasuke, Ino, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Neji, Lee, Ten-Ten, Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, were indeed keeping a close eye on the recently returned Naruto. Some were watching him because they were not prepared for his return. Others were, because they had witnessed his power before, and they wanted to see how he would cheat this time around.
But he did nothing that seemed the slightest bit relevant. As a matter of fact, he turned the test paper over, folded his arms on the table, and went to sleep.
//That¡¦s his way of cheating?// Sasuke thought as he activated his Sharingan. //Unless of course he¡¦s counting on the last question again. But this time, there is no last question.// he realized, scanning his test paper. //What are you doing?//
After a good 35 minutes of sleep, Naruto suddenly snapped up, and instantly, all 12 pairs of eyes were on him. Out of the corner of her eye, Hinata could see his teammate, the girl, glaring at him. He stretched, rubbed his head while turned his paper over, wrote all the answers down quickly, turned it over, folded his arms, and went back to sleep.
//What... method of cheating is that?//
Personally, Ino wondered if perhaps someone had used Shintenshi No Jutsu. But when she looked at his two teammates, they were still awake, and did not show the aftereffects of the Shintenshi.
So how did they cheat?
Hinata was probably the only one who noticed... but his female teammate stopped glaring at him.
==============================
¡§This is the end of your test.¡¨ Came the sudden booming voice that jolted the boy out of his slumber. ¡§There is one more question left.¡¨ He continued, ignoring the onslaught of moans and groans from the remaining Genins. ¡§You must choose now. If you decide to take it, then...¡¨
He mentally groaned. //No... not this again.//
//Hey, Kai.// he thought.
//What.//
//Tell Akito that---//
//Already did.//
//Now see, you have got to stop reading people¡¦s minds like that. It¡¦s freaky.//
//I¡¦ll keep that in mind.// He sighed as the Genins who could not take the strain backed out one by one. //Ibiki got better.// He grimaced. //I already know what the final question is, and I can still feel that strain. If any other Genins make it past this point, they deserve to be Chuunin.//
And soon, only 20 teams of the original 46 remained. In fact, Naruto almost expected Anko to burst through the door at any moment.
And the door did swing open at that very moment. However, the Examiner was not Anko.
It was...
============================================================
Funny thing: If you use MS Word, and look up Morino Ibiki on spell-check, it¡¦ll say Moron Ibis. ^^
Questions or comments: icy_cloud359@kuririnmail.com
-Yume