Better Equipped

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.

Italics: All thoughts will now be in italics because the brackets won't display for some odd reason.

Chapter 9 - The Chuunin Exam: Written Test?!

The last of the Genin had finally been seated. Ibiki announced the rules of the written exam in a very cryptic way. Each Genin nodded their heads to show they were listening. Eighty percent of the people present actually understood the real meaning of the exam. Ibiki also mentioned that the tenth question would be given in the last ten minutes.

Unlike the original series, Naruto sat away from Hinata this time. Since they are in the same group, they were arranged to sit far away. Sitting next to him was Tenten.

I didn't expect that she would be arranged to sit next to me. It must be my lucky day or something. I should introduce myself to her.

"Hi there," Naruto greeted. "Looks like you're from the Leaf also. My name's Naruto."

Tenten looked at the blond boy sitting next to her. He was kinda short but had amazing eyes. She wondered why the bottom half of his face was covered with a mask. Might be an injury, she thought.

"Hi, My name's Tenten. Is this your first time taking the exam?"

"Yeah, I'm actually a new Genin. You look familiar; aren't you on the team that's taught by Maito Gai?" In reality, he never met her before today but he wanted the conversation to continue.

"That's right. Ah, have we met?"

"Not really. I know your sensei though. I'm from Hatake Kakashi's team. It seems that both our teachers are rivals. Or at least that's what Gai believes. Don't know why Gai even picked Kakashi as his rival though. Sure, sensei is a genius but he is also really lazy and unmotivated at times." Now that I mention this, he's just like Shikamaru at times, he thought to himself.

"Gai should've chose some other person instead like Asuma. At least the rivalry would be more competitive…maybe."

Tenten giggled at her new friend's logic. Gai sensei does mention from time to time about his rival. She had always wondered how the other sensei's students felt about this, and now she knew.

"So, your teammates are that guy with the bowl cut hair style wearing that green body suit and that other guy from the Hyuuga Clan?"

"That's right." Tenten gave him a confused look. "How did you know that?"

"It wasn't hard not to notice since you were the last team to arrive. I also have a Hyuuga in my team so I have experience in telling who is from that clan. Nothing to brag about, of course, since anyone can tell by their pale eyes. Say, maybe after the exam we could-"

"You have one hour to complete this exam!" Ibiki yelled. "Begin!"

Damn you, Ibiki! Guess I can ask her out another time. I'm still young so, no hurries. A mind of a mid twenty year old being stuck in a twelve year old body really sucks at times.

A few minutes past and Naruto still didn't pick up his pencil.

So this test is an hour long, huh? I have to keep myself occupied somehow. Guess I can focus on the second exam portion. If I remember correctly, the Naruto in the original series passed with a blank paper because everyone who stays for the tenth question automatically pass. Orochimaru will show himself in the next exam. He'll try to give Sasuke that curse seal. I'll need to stop that from happening.

The Chuunin Examiners were perplexed that Naruto didn't even pick up his pencil yet. Then they thought that he might be waiting for the right moment to use some spying technique and cheat off someone. All the kid was doing was staring down at his test and it looked like he was starting to doze off. That shouldn't happen of course, sense sleeping during the exam is very stupid.

Sakura was reading through the exam questions. To her surprise, many of the questions on it were very complex. She and Naruto could probably answer the questions because it involves book smarts and experience. Everyone else she knew shouldn't be able to. Then she theorized that half the people in the room shouldn't be able to either. Putting her hands together, she prayed that Sasuke and Ino don't do something stupid like cheating. Sasuke is smart enough to know that but she wasn't too sure about Ino.

"Stupid Ino-Pig!" Inner Sakura yelled. "Don't mess things up for Sasuke-kun and me!"

Sasuke sweat dropped. He couldn't answer a single one of these questions. His psychiatrist said that he shouldn't get mad so easily. He thought back about his past. He doesn't remember that his brother was this smart. Of course he didn't know every detail about his brother or else he might have been able to stop the clan's massacre. I need to cheat, he thought.

It looks like everyone in the room has started to use their jutsu to cheat. Let's see, in the series, Tenten, who is next to me, attached some strings to the mirrors on the ceiling. Judging by the way her fingers are moving right now, she's staying in character. She moves the mirrors so that Lee can see the answers too. Neji and Hinata will have no problem with their Byakugan. Akamaru should be relaying the answers to Kiba. I also remembered that Sasuke used his Sharingan to copy the movement of one of the hidden Chuunins. Sakura was able to do the test just fine without cheating and Ino used the Shintenshin to read all of Sakura's answers off her paper. The Sound-Nins use the sound frequencies that give off from writing the answers. It's like they are Superman or something. Gaara used his Third Eye jutsu while his brother used that doll to collect the answers and give it to his cute sister later on.

It didn't really matter to Naruto if they used the cheating techniques like in the series. As long as his team passed, he was satisfied enough. Naruto picked up the pencil with his right hand and started to write.

This caught the Chuunin Examiners' attention. Those who were supposed to keep an eye on him were interested to see what he was going to do. He seemed to be waiting for something before starting. To their disappointment, it looked like the short blond ninja of the Leaf wrote a few words and dropped his pencil down again.

Almost forgot to write down my name, Naruto thought. He closed his eyes and felt high usage of chakra in the room. The time was almost up for the first half of this exam and Naruto was glad that it was almost over. He then continued to think about Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Sasuke. Things were really going to heat up soon.

He hadn't heard word from Jiraiya or Tsunade. The last time he saw Tsunade was when he went on that training trip with Jiraiya, when he was ten. He had learned a lot from those two. Having one of them around early in the war would surely help. It would really help prevent the Third from getting killed by Orochimaru.

Before the Chuunin Exam started, he made a request to the Hokage to look for Jiraiya and Tsunade. Jiraiya should be in Konoha in two weeks by the Hot Springs District so looking for him is easy. Tsunade on the other hand was somewhere hanging out at the gambling places. He needed at least one of them, if not both, to be present.

Naruto tried to stop thinking about the whole subject. It wouldn't be good if he fried his brain about things that he couldn't control. Ever since he got to this world, into this body, he had been trying to control his fate and the people around him. It was hard not to since he knew what was going to happen in the future. It would be plain stupid if he didn't prepare himself for it. This world was actually a cool place and he sure didn't want to die. Naruto at least wanted to get married in this life, which he missed out on with the other. The best thing for him to do right now was to relax. With the free time he had right now, he should be thinking about what to write in his current book.

Naruto breathed in deeply.

Tenten has a wonderful scent!

Tenten was distracted by her fellow Leaf-nin sitting next to her. He had been breathing in deeply for quite some time. She was thinking that maybe he was really nervous and was trying to calm down. Either that or he was doing some jutsu that requires breathing deeply.

"You should be finishing off answering the questions now," Ibiki stated. "In another five minutes, we will be going over the tenth question." He surveyed the room intently. Every examinee seemed to be working and concentrating hard. Except…

Why am I short? I drink milk everyday and actually eat right unlike the original Naruto. Maybe having Kyuubi sealed within me has something to do with it. Thinking about it again, I'm even shorter than Hinata and she is the shortest girl that I know. Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and Temari are all tall. This totally sucks. Grow damn it…grow…grow…grow...!

Ino stared at her blank paper. Although she was considered smart, this kind of test makes you rely more on book smarts which is more in Sakura's alley. The only people who can answer these questions are Sakura and Naruto, she thought. She was waiting until either one of them was finished then take over their body and memorize the answers. After that, she would transfer back into her body and write the answers on her paper. Unfortunately, Ino didn't keep a close eye on Naruto and thought he was finished because he sat still with his pencil down. "Shintenshin no Jutsu," Ino whispered.

Sakura was secretly watching Naruto soon after she read through the questions of the written exam. She considered Naruto a rival in the brains department. She wasn't really good with jutsus so Sakura concentrated on studying instead. It blows her mind that Naruto is as smart as her and excellent with jutsus. Deep down, she yearns to be like him sense he is very talented. However, she was still confused about whether to be stronger for the sake of her own, or to impress Sasuke. Suddenly, she saw Naruto make a weird reaction that was unexpected. She was trying to make sense on why Naruto grabbed his paper in shock with his eyes bulging out.

Ino who is in Naruto's body is completely paralyzed in shock.

Oh my god! Naruto's paper is blank! He's supposed to be as smart as Sakura, right? I should have used the Mind Body Switch jutsu on Sakura instead. It'll take me awhile to use the jutsu again and time is something I don't have! Sasuke and Sakura are going to kill me!

All eyes in the room were on Ibiki after the five minutes were up.

"Now, you must decide if you want to take the tenth question. If you decide 'no', you will get zero points in total and you and your team will fail. If you decide 'yes', you will take the test but if you manage to not answer the tenth and last question correctly, you are forever disallowed to take the Chuunin Exam. If you do decide on 'no', you are welcome to take the exam again next time."

As predicted, most of the examinees complained but Ibiki made it clear that this rule will not change.

"Let's make this super clear. Those of you who wish to quit now, please raise your hand."

Luckily, Ino managed to get out of Naruto's body just in time for her body to rest and be able to perform her family trademark jutsu again. She went into Sakura's body and got the answers she needed. That was one of the most terrifying experience she ever faced. She was that close to having Sasuke mad at her for failing the team, and having Sakura getting a boost about herself and using this situation to get closer with her future boyfriend. Naruto on the other hand, was confused how he could doze off during an important time.

As the minutes flew by, more people decided to quit because they couldn't take the pressure. Seeing that there were no more quitters, Ibiki announced that they passed.

"Information can be very useful and whoever has it has the advantage of winning. That is the purpose of the first part of this exam. As for the second, being a Chuunin means that you know that you can't always avoid danger. Chuunins need to have courage to survive through any hardship. That is what you really need to become a ninja. Those who decided not to take the exam because they could always 'take it the next' time are not fit to have the Chuunin title. This is my belief as I wish it is yours. The first Exam of the Chuunin Selection is now completed. I wish you all luck on the next exam."

Ibiki can be a very cool guy every once in awhile. The scars on his head are really nasty though. Poor guy. Guess I'll need to train harder to make sure that I will never be in one of those positions. With the first exam finished, Anko should appear any minute now. I'll leave Ibiki a little present so he won't get bored during the examination.

Naruto turn towards Tenten. "Congratulations on passing this exam."

The young kunoichi smiled at Naruto. "Thank you and congratulations to you too. How long did it take for you to find those hidden Chuunins?"

I didn't try to find them at all actually. Guess she was too busy to notice my exam is blank. She can't tell that I didn't do anything anymore since all our exam papers are flipped backwards.

"It didn't take me that long. It must have been tough for you to attach chakra strings onto the mirrors, to look at the hidden Chuunin's paper. Plus, relaying them to your teammate with the thick eyebrows."

This astonishes Tenten. "You actually caught on what I was doing?" After seeing Naruto's nod, she exhaled heavily. "Looks like I need more work on that. Anyway, it wasn't too difficult to control the mirrors. Neji, my teammate from the Hyuuga Clan has the Byakugan so I don't need to worry about him. As for Rock Lee, he's not quite good with ninjutsu so I need to help him out."

"Hey, let's get together after…"

The window shattered and Mitarashi Anko appeared. After her dynamic entrance, Naruto was the only one who actually clapped and praised her.

Sure, she interrupted me asking Tenten out but it was a good entrance.

"There are twenty teams left," Anko calculated. "Just about right, I guess."

"The outstanding ones stayed, while the weaklings left." Ibiki stated.

"I'll cut more than half of them off in the next exam. Ah, I'm getting really excited about this. I'll explain everything to you all after we arrive to next area where the second part of the exam is held."

Ibiki was alone in the room while everyone else left for the second part of the exam. Even the Chuunins left with Anko. He walked around the room and collected the papers. He finally made it to Naruto's paper.

Someone actually passes the test with a blank paper. What an interesting guy this Uzumaki Naruto.

He then read the only sentence that was written on the exam. It was below the line where the examinee fills out their name.

Yakushi Kabuto of the Leaf is a Sound-Nin spy. He's at Jounin level. Be extremely cautious!

Ibiki gripped the paper hard in his hand. It looks like they had a spy in their midst. A spy Orochimaru sent in to observe the Leaf. He met Naruto before and knew he was an intelligent boy and doesn't doubt his word.

I need to speak with the Hokage about this.

Author's Notes:

Thanks for the review!

I want to thank Masiyuu for helping me proofread this chapter. I got this bad habit of reading over my own work only after I post it up. When I do catch my own errors, I would be too lazy to fix it sometimes.

A lot of readers are wondering about the pairing in this fanfiction. I think it's still too early in the story to have any real pairings. You just have to wait and see what is going to happen. But it probably won't be a Naruto and Hinata pairing which will be explained later in the story. However I might change my mind depending on the direction the story is going. Hopefully I'll be able to make it fun and entertaining for all the readers.

Does anyone know why the and brackets doesn't show up anymore? I used italics on this fic to separate the thoughts from the other paragraphs so it would be easier to read. It's probably going to be like that from now on so I hope everyone will be use to it.

I got a question about Anko. I looked at her bio and it says she's about 24 years old. However, she was trained by Orochimaru when she was little so shouldn't she be as old as Naruto's father? She should be somewhere in her 30s right? Plus, Orochimaru should be the same age as Jiraiya when he taught the 4th which means the 4th and Anko should be around the same age. So, Anko is old enough to be Naruto's mom right?