Long chapter. Sets up a rivelry for the rest of the story... that is if you hadn't relised it already.

Chapter 20: The First Exam

The exams started the next day. We knew nothing of them. There was a welcome party by the Hokage after the welcome feast. There were rumors going around that even the Kazekage was going to be here for the feast and maybe even through all three exams. Maemi thought it would defiantly be a treat to see Gaara-Sama as well.

As the time got closer for the feast Maemi and everyone began to get ready. Jiro and Maemi were kicked out of the room for a while as Michiko and Aneko got ready. When they were ready Jiro and Maemi went in.

The feast was a formal welcome. A show of peace between the villages and the participants were intended to be well dressed. Michiko and Aneko were in formal kimonos. Michiko's was a light pink with cherry blossom flowers sewed on. Aneko's was an olive green with light green clouds designs.

Maemi's and Jiro's men kimonos I forget what their called… were laid out nicely on their beds. Jiro's was black with white tigers designs on it. Maemi's was a dark blue with gold and silver dragon designs on it. They dressed quickly since they were already left. They changed their shoes into the traditional sandals and went out to the balcony with the girls.

"My don't you two look handsome," Aneko said.

"And for the two of you, that's not very easy to do," Michiko joked.

The four of them walked to the town hall were the ballroom had been converted into a large, beautiful dinning room. Their, team Aneko went to their assigned table and sat down. It was another half hour before everyone was seated and waiting for the Hokage.

Everyone stood in unison as two people in kage clothes walked up to the stage. One was defiantly Naruto-Sama, the other must be Gaara-Sama. They both took off their hats. Naruto's blond hair could be seen vibrantly and so could Garaa's reddish-brown hair.

Naruto-Sama walked up to the mike first. "It has been years since the Chuunin exams have been held here in the Leaf village, too long if you ask me. Enjoy this last minute of peace between the villages, for tomorrow that peace may no longer be here. For tomorrow starts the exams. I took my first exam here in Leaf and it was no walk in the park. Take every step carefully and you just might make it out alive. With that I wish you all good luck!" Naruto-Sama finished.

Garaa-Sama walked up next. "Very good words Naruto but he's only kidding. A good quarter of you should live." Garaa laughed slightly, enjoying this moment of messing with the Genin's minds. "But seriously, good luck to you all tomorrow."

As the two Kages walked off the stage and too their seats, everyone sat down. Waiters came and handed us our menus as the feast began.

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Maemi slept well that night. A full belly put him right to sleep. He woke up bright and early the next day. Ready for the exams. He was excited, ready, and annoyed that the rest of his team was still asleep. He went outside and watched the village from the balcony. After awhile, Michiko opened the door. Still in her nightgown she rubbed her eyes lazily.

"Locked yourself out?" She asked.

"… yes…" Maemi said bluntly. Michiko smiled and let him back inside. Jiro and Aneko were just waking up as well. They got ready for their exam and went to the assigned Academy were the test was being held.

There were a lot of Genin attending this Chuunin exam and they had to be split into two classrooms. As they were being divided into their classroom, Maemi finally got a glimpse of one of the Earth Ninjas. He was muscular, but not bulky. One his left hand was a very large Gauntlet that seemed to be made of clay, yet moved with his hand with ease. Their village symbol was hard for him to explain. It was two, slanted rectangles, one higher then the other. A line went from the side of the rectangle were it faced the other rectangle and went across the length of the rectangle, then went up slightly. To Maemi, this was a very odd and confusing symbol.

He had caught the glimpse of the Earth ninja as he and his team were being moved to one classroom, Maemi and his team were moved to the other. He sighed slightly, not being able to study the Earth ninjas a bit more. When he and his team walked into their classroom he sucked in a silent gasp as he saw the Mist ninjas off in a corner. No Earth but still got the Mist. Oh well.

Once everyone was in we took our seats by our teammates. We waited a few minutes for our instructor to come in. The doors suddenly opened and everyone looked towards the back of the room. Kiba-San walked down the stairs to the front of the class room.

"Good morning. I see you're all sitting with your squads… if you would all be so kind as to stand and find a new seat, AWAY from your squads," He stated, stressing the word 'away.' Reluctantly; Maemi, Michiko, and Jiro stood with the rest of the room and moved to new seats. Maemi could feel someone sit next to him, but didn't bother to look, he was more concerned with where Michiko and Jiro were.

"Hello little steel nin," a familiar voice said. Maemi's head jerked to the genin beside him to see it was Neko. Maemi didn't know what it was. But something was different in the air. There was something about Neko that he couldn't tell before. Something about her presence that was aggravating him. Maemi had to suppress the Gobi from emerging in the classroom. All because of Neko. Something about Neko that Maemi didn't know. He then noticed her eyes. One eye was dark, nearly black in color. The other eye was very light.

"You're a merger of two clans. Two powerful and noble clans." Maemi said. Neko looked upset, as if Maemi saying this resurfaced unwanted memories.

"That I am steel nin. That's all you'll know too," Neko said, returning to her calm, neutral state.

"Good. Now then," Kiba-san started, "You will all be given an exam with ten questions on it. You have one hour to completed it and must not cheat. If I or one of the other Jounin with me catches you cheating three times, you and your team are disqualified. The test begins as soon as you receive the exam."

The two other Jounin walked up the steps, passing out the tests. Maemi was still finding it hard to concentrate on anything. When he got the test his eyes widened. How the hell was he going to answer these. These questions were all above his level of knowledge. When Maemi got down to the last question he was curious.

'Question 10 will be given with ten minutes remaining.' was all it said. Maemi went back up to question one. He read it a couple times. The only thing he could do was B.S. his way through.

Minutes felt like hours and days. One by one teams were being picked off. Jiro was even caught once trying to cheat. It felt like an eternity when fifty minutes were up and the tenth question was given by Kiba.

"Well now. Fifty minutes in and already almost half of you are gone thanks to cheating. Now then. For the tenth question there are a new set of rules. You can chose to take it or not. If you chose to not take the question, you fail as well as your team. IF you do take the tenth question and answer it incorrectly… well lets just say I hope you enjoy being a Genin since you'll never be allowed at a Chuunin exam again. Remember, if you choice to not take the last question you can take the exam again next year. Chose wisely young genin." Kiba-san explained.

It was an eerie silence in the room. A pin drop could be heard with ease. One hand rose, then another, and a third. A total of six teams were giving up. Maemi thought of giving up, but knew Michiko and Jiro would kill him if he did.

"Is that all? The rest of you feel confident enough to receive the last question?" Kiba-san asked. No one moved. No sign of acknowledgement or anything. "Very well then. You all pass."

There was a gasp from the genin. We all pass? But what about question 10? Maemi thought. One of the leaf ninjas raised his hand.

"Kiba-san, why did we all pass? I thought you said Question ten would be really hard." He asked.

"There was no tenth question. As the Jounin who gave me my first Chuunin exam 'You could say that those two choices were the tenth question.'" Kiba-san said with a smile.

"So then what was the purpose of the other nine? Were they pointless?" A sand ninja asked.

"Of coarse they weren't pointless. It was to test your ability of information gathering. The test questions were purposely above your skill level. The questions encouraged you to cheat. We even had a couple Chuunin mixed into the classroom to help you guys out. If you were sloppy at cheating, you failed and would have to train some more. Now then. The other classroom should be done by now, lets get out of here and on to the second exam."

Maemi waited at the door for Michiko and Jiro. He felt a lot more calmer now that he was away from Neko. As they went outside Aneko was waiting for them. She seemed nervous. When she saw them walk out of the academy she rushed towards them.

"I found out something about Neko," Aneko said.

"I know. She's the daughter of two noble clans from mist. She had the whole two colored eye thing going on." Maemi said.

"There's more too it. She's also a Jinchuuriki. She has the Shibi sealed inside her. The four tailed cat demon."

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For those of you that didn't see it coming, here's the biggest hint I had. Neko is Japanese for cat. Cats and dogs don't like each other. Maemi has the dog demon in him, Neko has the cat demon in her. TA-DA!