Chapter 24

Cheat or Fail: The Ten Questions of Doom!

Relaxing in her designated seat proved to be an impossible task for Amari. Ever since she sat down, a thunderstorm of a migraine awoke within her skull, the bursts of lightning and rumbles of thunder cracked and roared through her skull without restraint, building into a great crescendo of pain. A permanent knot formed between her brow and her eye clamped shut to block out the bright lights of the room to avoid agitating the pain any further.

It hadn't come from nowhere. The side of her skull had become the drilling point for Temari's death glare, consistent and unwavering in her attempt to lobotomize the Nara through thought alone. Her persistence would be impressive if it wasn't so annoying.

In Amari's quite humble and non-biased opinion, whoever came up with this seating arrangement needed a full-power Might Guy punch to the nose. They needed to have their nose fractured and face broken for placing her right next to the Sand kunoichi. Seriously, they couldn't have picked Hinata or Mimi or any random stranger from one of the other Villages? Of everyone here, Temari had to be her seat buddy?

More like seat nemesis.

After this exam was over, she was going to find the person responsible for picking her seat and crush them into itty bitty pieces. Better yet, she would turn them into a pile of ash with a Fire Ball Jutsu for their incompetence. Embers of their first encounter were being rekindled because of this seating arrangement; embers Amari wanted to douse with a Water Style Jutsu so she could avoid conflict with the Sand trio forever. Yet now she had no choice but to sit next to this troublesome girl who apparently held a grudge.

This was such a pain.

Amari sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. Could be worse I suppose. Could be next to one of those Sound ninjas. The freshness of their encounter would have made her situation even more uncomfortable, especially if she ended up seated next to the spiky-haired one. Temari at least kept her mouth shut, so far. He wouldn't have been able to stay quiet; she could tell from their single encounter that his ego was as fragile as glass and his arrogance in a realm of its own. Although, if he did threaten her, at least it'd get out of his system and they could move on. Temari just kept staring and staring and staring and staring.

At this rate, smoke was going to start billowing from her skull.

"Such a drag," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Temari bit out.

"Such a drag," she repeated a little louder. Amari opened her eye and turned a lazy gaze to the Sand kunoichi. "Are you going to glare at me forever or do you have something to say? It's kind of annoying, and rude."

Temari's teal eyes sharpened to match a kunai knives point. "There aren't many rookie Genin who can move as quick and quiet as you." It wasn't a compliment, nor was she congratulating her mother for training her so well. Temari was stating her observation, and clearly working towards more. "But don't think you'll be able to get me with another stunt like that. I've got my eyes on you."

"Mm." There it was. The warning for a future encounter and an acknowledgement of her skills in one little package. How sweet of her. Amari shut her eye again and returned her head back to its natural resting position. "Watch me all you like, you'll only see what I want you to."

The drilling revved up its intensity.

"That's some arrogance you have, Leaf shinobi."

Amari snorted. "Pot meet kettle." Just as she read the spiky-haired Sound shinobi's personality, she got a good read on Temari's between her past encounter and this one. This kunoichi carried herself with the arrogance of a peacock; head always held high, shoulders back and chest out, confidence caused not by her beauty, but her skills and experience as a kunoichi.

Her mention of "rookie Genin" caught Amari's attention as well, not because Temari knew she was a rookie, but the noticeable distance between the words and herself. She must have a year or more of experience than me. If so, it placed her in a similar place as Team Guy; all of them had more battle experience and time to hone her techniques than the rookies, which made them threats to overcome.

"Excuse me?" Temari growled.

Yet, unlike Mimi and Lee, Temari had yet to learn the consequences of overconfidence and arrogance. Pride always comes before the fall.

Amari opened her eye and turned her flat stare to Temari. "When you stop sneering down at everyone like you're so much better than them, then you can talk to me about arrogance, Sand shinobi. Until then," she shut her eye again, "stop instigating me into this childish verbal jousting. You'd think it be beneath you."

"Tch!" The irritated noise was the sound of victory.

Amari couldn't stop the corner of her lip from lifting in amusement. Seems I touched a nerve.

"Wipe that smile off your face!"

Nerve located, now was the time to strike with deadly accuracy. "Nope," Amari responded, smile remaining on her lips. "Now that I know it irritates you, consider it my personal gift to you."

"You're insufferable."

"Your attitude is insufferable. How do your teammates manage?"

"I would ask you the same thing."

"My team? They love how troublesome I am. Can't say the same for your team, can you?"

"Love is irrelevant for shinobi."

Amari snorted in disbelief and shook her head. "You're running away from your humanity, forging yourself into a cold tool to be used and broken at the whims of another."

"All shinobi are tools—"

"No." Amari's eye snapped open and shot a withering glare to Temari. "No, we are not." The firmness of her declaration earned her silence and hardened teal eyes. "No matter how hard we shinobi try, we can never escape our humanity. You can try to ignore the flaws of your goals, you can turn yourself into a demon and kill the kindness in your heart a hundred times over, but you'll never outrun it." Her right hand clenched her left bicep tightly. "One day you'll have to face yourself in a shattered mirror with all your insecurities, your greatest flaws and the pain you harbor laid bare before you."

Just like me, Zabuza and Haku.

Amari closed her eye and turned away again. "For your sake, I hope you have people to guide you away from the darkness when that day comes."

"Hmph, what soft-hearted nonsense. I suppose I should have expected it from a Leaf shinobi."

"You've already lost, you know that, right?"

"Lost what?"

"This verbal battle. You lost it when you told me to wipe the smile off my face." Amari shrugged, as if her loss couldn't be helped. "I mean, I get that you Sand shinobi are stubborn, but a true warrior knows when to submit to defeat. Anything less is just unsightly."

Hypocrisy ran deep in her statement, Amari knew that. She of all people couldn't talk about stubbornness or never giving up when she made it a part of her nindo, but she wanted this conversation over with. Temari and her could never agree on their vastly different philosophies, nor could they convince the other to see their way of thinking. Their different upbringings and experiences shaped them into different people; the filters through which they looked at the world were unique to them, the only exception being their shared stubbornness. It wasn't a divide they could bridge or wanted to.

Why bother continuing to argue with one another then? It'd only give her a real migraine and gather the attention of the big, scarred angry bear named Ibiki Morino—someone Amari didn't want to be under the scrutiny of…again.

Besides, she wanted to win the verbal jousting battle to irritate Temari. It was a small bit of entertainment to ease her boredom.

"Grr, why you—"

"I'm going to ignore you now. Wallow in defeat, glare at me, do whatever you want. Just don't speak. You're boring me."

Temari huffed. "Whatever. Like I care."

Oh, she absolutely did. She could act cool as ice cream and pretend she hadn't been trying to win the verbal battle either, but she was. While Amari wanted to irritate her as a way of entertainment, Temari wanted to win out of competitive desire to outwit her newest enemy. Pointing that out, however, would mean acknowledging Temari again and forfeiting the victory—a fact which Temari planned for.

Unfortunately for her, Amari could see through her little game and remained silent, her migraine gone without the incessant glare drilling into her skull.

Another great victory for Amaririsu Yūhi!

Everyone else was still shuffling into their seats. Last time she looked around she noticed Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto had taken their seats, as well as how far apart they all were from one another—an ingenious plan by their proctor. The way they were separated rendered any form of communication for the written exam impossible without telepathy.

No way was that a coincidence.

What remained to be learned was why they separated the teams in such a way, but Amari had a feeling they'd find out soon enough. At the front of the room stood Ibiki, his cold eyes staring deep into the souls of anyone who dared to meet his gaze—another reason Amari kept her eye closed.

Yes she was hiding, but anyone in her position would too! Her little…quarrel with the Sound shinobi earned her his undivided attention several times so far, his eyes remaining locked on her until she began to feel downright uncomfortable, unwelcome and fidgety. Great, I irritated the scariest adult in the room for a childish ego fest. I really am a drag sometimes.

Matching his intimidating presence was, quite frankly, impossible. He carried himself as a seasoned soldier, one who took the pain the darkest parts of the shinobi world gave him and made them apart of his soul. He turned his Will of Fire into a black flame to incinerate those who threatened his home and his comrades, and his tolerance for fools was non-existent. The scars on his face added equal intrigue and intimidation to his already frightening presence.

Gaara's eyes may have seen her as nothing but an obstacle in his way, but Ibiki's eyes saw right into the depths of her soul. In one glance it was as if he could see every secret, every memory, every ounce of pain she carried. And somehow, that made him even more terrifying than the evil she felt in Gaara.

Needless to say, Amari chose the wise path of shutting the curtains on the window to her soul to hide within the shadows of her mind. Here she was safe from his probing eyes; here she could keep her secrets safe and secure from this observant man.

The older shinobis that arrived with Ibiki sat in chairs on the outer sides of the room, their seats positioned in such a way to look down the rows of seats the Genin sat in. It had to be a part of the test. A way to monitor them, perhaps?

But why? The question of the hour she waited patiently for.

As soon as the final person took their seat, the sound of a piece of chalk tapping hard against the chalkboard captured the attention of the entire room. Amari opened her eye and found Ibiki glaring down all the Genin. "Eyes up front everyone! You all best pay attention, for there are a few rules you need to be aware of, and I won't repeat myself or answer any questions."

Harsh, but fair. As the proctor he made the rules, and in battle you didn't have time to half-listen to your superiors. "All right, rule number one is this: the written part of the exam is conducted on a point reduction system," he explained, writing down the first rule on the chalkboard as he did. "Contrary to what some of you people might be used to, you each begin the test with a perfect score of ten points. One point is deducted for every answer you get wrong. So, if you miss three your final score is seven."

Easy enough. A basic rule no one should need further explanation on.

"Rule number two: Teams will pass or fail base on the total scores of all team members."

Oh…Amari frowned. Troublesome.

"What?! You're saying we all get scored as a team?!" Sakura's shrieked.

"Silence!" Ibiki shouted back. Any chance for murmurs of agreement died under his withering glare. "I have my reasons, so shut up and listen! Rule number three," he continued, "the sentinels you see positioned around the room are there to watch you carefully for any signs of cheating." A hint of a smirk played at Ibiki's lips. "And for every incident they spot, they will subtract two points from the culprits score."

Wait, what? Suspicion fueled Amari's being instantly. Cheating was never handled so lightly. A cheater usually ended up getting failed the moment they were caught, yet they planned only to subtract two points per each time they were caught? I wonder…

"Be warned, their eyes are extremely sharp," Ibiki warned them. "If they catch you three times, you will be dismissed before the tests are even scored. Anyone fool enough to be caught cheating by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here."

Is he…asking us to cheat?

"If you want to be considered shinobi then show us what exceptional shinobi you can be."

Hmm. He didn't say it plainly, yet the way he spoke of their ability to cheat without getting caught…An excellent shinobi could gather the right information needed even under the most scrupulous eyes. If they were meant to cheat then that meant the questions would be tougher than she thought.

Yet if we are meant to cheat, then who would we cheat off? He hadn't written the answers on the board, and none of the Genin in here would already be in possession of the answers. For him to actually want them to cheat there needed to be someone to cheat off in the first place.

But…there wasn't any. Right?

"One more thing. If any teammate should get a zero and fail the test, then the entire team fails."

…

…

…

Crap.

That did not improve their chances whatsoever. Naruto didn't do written exams. No one called him a knucklehead for his vast textbook knowledge. Damn. Amari bit her bottom lip. How the hell are we going to pass? Before that bombshell she only worried about her, Sasuke and Sakura scoring high enough to get them to the next stage, but that wouldn't matter if Naruto earned a zero. If the questions are tough, Naruto won't stand a chance.

"The final question won't be given out until fifteen minutes before the end of the testing period. You will have one hour total. Begin," he stated.

Amari turned her paper over and read the first question. Well, actually it wasn't much of a question. This first one is a code. If I can find a key, I can solve it. They wouldn't give them a code with no real pattern to discern. By transcribing enough of it, she could use the key gained from it to solve the rest of it. She sighed inwardly. The problem is it could take me up to an hour to figure it out. Code cracking has never been my greatest strength. I don't have that kind of time.

Next question then.

Line B in the diagram indicates the trajectory of a shuriken thrown at enemy C by ninja A seated on top of a tree seven meters tall. Describe and formulate the trajectory required if C was positioned at D, E and F. Also predict the possible range of the shuriken and explain how you arrived at your answer?

"What the hell?" she muttered quietly.

These questions…No average Genin would be able to answer them in an hour. Even those with genius level intellect like Shikamaru would struggle to answer them. Though Shika's greatest struggle will be lifting up his pencil first. The material given to them was meant for Chūnin or higher to solve in such a timeframe. Given another two hours, I may be able to figure out the answer. But in this time frame I'll only be able to answer a single question. You're asking us to explain principles of uncertainty in the midst of a battle.

Feeling panic begin to rise, Amari quickly sifted through the other questions and came to a startling conclusion. The further she went down, the harder the questions became.

Kami…

No way. No way could she answer these ten questions in an hour. Give her a weekend of long nights and she would be able to fill out the paper, granted she'd hate every moment of it and need a little help to answer them all, but she'd get it done. But in this time frame? They can't seriously expect a normal Genin to answer these questions. The only way to solve it in the timeframe would be…to…

"Anyone fool enough to be caught cheating by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here."

Amari's eye bulged in realization. That's it!

It wasn't about not cheating; it was about not getting caught cheating. Ibiki placed them in a situation where cheating, or information gathering, was the only way to pass his test. But for that to be possible, the answers needed to already be in the room. Which meant…They have shinobi in here with the answers. Doubtful it was the sentinels. They were too far away for anyone without the Byakugan to see what was on their papers. Meaning among the Genin here are planted shinobi who have the answers…And I've been wasting time trying to solve these questions when I should have been looking for who was writing the most.

Closing her right eye, Amari moved her left hand into half of the Tiger handseal and focused on pooling chakra into her left eye. Byakugan! Her vision shifted into inverted black and white with the activation of the dōjutsu. She dropped her left hand and opened her right eye to not appear conspicuous before beginning her sweep of the rows in search of a planted shinobi.

Empty page after empty page worried her as much as the stumped Genin also struggling to answer these questions. Come on, there has to be someone. Or her false sense of hope was telling her there had to be someone. Further and further she searched, the pages remaining blank for shinobi like Mimi, Neji, Gaara and Sasuke as with every other shinobi as they each realized the same fact: this test was really hard.

Found you! Amari sighed in relief and visibly relaxed upon finding a shinobi near the front of the room with the first three questions filled in and the fourth almost already done. Before copying him she checked his work, ensuring she wasn't about to copy some idiot but found his answers to be incredibly accurate. Too accurate for a Genin.

Phew! I almost gave up hope there. Amari leaned her head onto her left hand and took on a bored expression as she proceeded to copy every word.

Writing the words verbatim took time, nearly thirty minutes to be exact. During that time countless people were tossed out. The more proud and arrogant couldn't stand the fact they had been caught too many times by the sentinels; their aggressive protests led to a few sentinels getting physical to snuff out the fight before it began through dominant strength no Genin could hope to match.

The few physical altercations drove home their no tolerance policy for debating their decisions. Thankfully none of the sentinels had caught onto her nor had Sasuke, Sakura or Naruto been caught cheating.

Her work done, she began to examine her teammates work. Sasuke caught onto the game as well judging on his filled out paper and the chakra pooled into his eyes, and it seemed Sakura was still penciling in the last answer using only her brain. Way too much work and stress there.

Still, she'd have to congratulate her later for doing so well on her own without a dōjutsu to rely on or other means to cheat.

Last she looked to was Naruto; his entire paper remained blank and his body language revealed he was freaking the hell out. Tension tightened every muscle, his foot tapped rapidly against the floor and his pencil was on the verge of snapping in his white knuckle grip.

Naruto…Amari inhaled a calming breath and deactivated her Byakugan to conserve every drop of chakra she had. There wasn't a rule against helping your teammates. Let's just hope my Shadow Possession works at this distance. Calm and focused, Amari thinned and stretched her shadow along the desks, using how the light hit the room to jump from shadow to shadow so she could reach Naruto. The distance between them was far, which increased the strain on her and made it visible on her face, but she kept stretching her shadow to her friend.

At this distance, Naruto will be able to break my hold easily. I'll have to act fast.

When she captured him, she felt her friend begin to struggle but held on as tightly as possible to pen Amaruto back in action on her own paper and his.

The struggling halted.

Let's do this, Naruto.

Ibiki stared at the crowd of Genin shinobi before him. Those unfocused on their tests withered under his gaze—as expected of young shinobi in the face of a seasoned veteran like him. They would find no sympathy from Ibiki. Shinobi had a duty to their village, and the rank of Chūnin required more than fancy jutsus and cocky attitudes. Leading a squad of shinobi was no game; the lives of their comrades were always on the line, the future of their homes could be at stake on an important mission.

Those already thrown out still lacked key traits of a Chūnin. Many still here also lacked those key traits, but their subtlety was commendable if the sentinels had yet to catch them. There would be missions where they were neck-deep in enemy territory seeking key information, their task requiring them to collect it without anyone ever knowing they were there. One single slip-up would be mission failure.

To fail such a mission could lead to the death your entire squad or an entire platoon of shinobi, all because of one mistake. One mistake on a mission could lead to your own torture, and if the captured shinobi wasn't strong enough, the torture could lead to sensitive information falling into the hands of an enemy.

Three strikes was a generous gift in this exam, even if none of them realized it.

A few of these young shinobi caught his attention; that blue-haired kunoichi of the Leaf being one of his main interests. His first impression of her was not good. He sensed her killing intent, saw the blades to the two punks who started the fight; it was unbecoming of a shinobi to act on pure emotion like that, even more so to use killing intent so freely.

Of course she earned a small point for standing up for her comrades. Loyalty to an allied shinobi, even one who was a complete stranger, proved she cared deeply for the Leaf. A good trait to have, but that only went so far. He expected her to be one of the more brash and arrogant rookies; her actions hinted she might be the hot-blooded type who reacted without thinking and let emotions cloud her judgement.

Ibiki's first impression wasn't entirely wrong, but it wasn't one hundred percent accurate either. The child kept to herself, save for the small verbal quarrel with the Sand kunoichi. But again she was instigated first.

"No matter how hard we shinobi try, we can never escape our humanity. You can try to ignore the flaws of your goals, you can turn yourself into a demon and kill the kindness in your heart a hundred times over, but you'll never outrun it." Her right hand stiffened, clenching her left bicep tightly—the arm that bore scars by her wrist. "One day you'll have to face yourself in a shattered mirror with all your insecurities, your greatest flaws and the pain you harbor laid bare before you."

That earned her a second examination. Wisdom like that in a child so young did not come without pain. True wisdom never came without pain. The covered eye, the scars he noticed at her wrist, this child of the Leaf had experienced something truly traumatic at an early age, perhaps on her first mission as a shinobi. The foolish arrogance of young shinobi had been shattered in her already. She witnessed the reality of shinobi life in some way; perhaps not the entire picture, but just enough for it to sink in.

She wasn't recycling the teachings of her Sensei. That girl was speaking from experience.

She might not realize it or agree, but what she experienced put her ahead of her peers.

From there he continued to analyze her. She started by trying to solve the questions on her own but came upon the true purpose of the test far quicker than her peers. After a single one-handed handseal, she filled out her paper as if she knew all the answers. She even took the first thirty minutes to fill out her paper instead of rushing through.

Whoever she was, she knew how to stay focused on her objective without revealing exactly what she was doing. One small walk to examine the sentinels monitoring her revealed not a single strike on her record.

Impressive.

Her newest course of action intrigued Ibiki. He had seen her finish her test, knew there wasn't a single question unanswered, yet she sat tracing over her words. To any untrained eye it would appear to be a way to pass time. Ibiki could not be fooled so easily. His eyes may have been drawn to her actions many times, but he hadn't been blind to the other test takers.

The blond, orange jacket Leaf boy had been in a panic since he realized the difficulty of the test and his inability to cheat without being caught. Ibiki, of course, noticed the Hyūga girl's attempt to help him. It was a commendable act he couldn't punish, and the boy showed great honor in denying her help to keep a fellow comrade safe. Nevertheless, Ibiki couldn't deny there was a great foolishness in his decision. By denying her help, he saved her, and in doing so risked himself and his team.

Then again, honor and foolishness were usually two sides of the same coin. In a battle scenario, this boy might have instead chosen he and his team would hold the line to buy the injured time to retreat and fight another day. His gambit may pay off; it may lead to the death of his team. Regardless of how it ended, among the Leaf his team would be regarded as heroes.

Ibiki couldn't punish him. Not yet anyways.

Luckily for the boy, he had a competent leader to rely on. He now sat filling in his questions with a determined look on his face without cheating whatsoever. Watching him perfectly mirror the blue-haired child at the back of the room filled in the blanks on what was truly going on here.

Taking control of your teammate's body to help him achieve the mission parameters. Ibiki wasn't one for smiling under normal circumstances, but he let his lips quirk up at the sight. An interesting approach. Of course without her unique ability to control his body, he'd be doomed. But she has the ability to do so and chose to be diligent enough to bring everyone home while achieving her mission. That will earn you the trust and respect of your squad, as you have no doubt gained already.

If he were to return to his example of the boy's team holding the line for the injured to escape against impossible odds, the battle would have hung in a precarious place. Members of their team may gain a few wounds, nothing incapacitating but enough to slow them down. It would be as hope seemed lost this girl would take the lead and bring her team together with a unique plan that would push their enemies back.

The end of the battle was in sight, but they still had one hill to overcome left. One enemy he knew would crush many of the remaining students here.

Fifteen minutes were left and far too many Genin still sat among them. Of them all, this blue-haired girl was the first one Ibiki saw as a Chūnin possibility. As long as she and her team survive the main event, then it is quite possible she could very well go to the end of this.

His smirk became sadistic. That's if she can survive the main event first.

"All right. Listen up!" Ibiki garnered the attention of every Genin in the room. "This is the tenth and final question. But before I give you the question, there are more rules you need to be aware of."

The door leading into the room opened and revealed the puppet user from the Sand Village walking back in, guided by a "sentinel" who had taken him to the bathroom. I'll give him credit. His impersonation of a sentinel is good, but if he believes he got away clean then he is wrong. "Ah, you made it just in time. I hope you found your trip to the bathroom enlightening."

The Sand Genin stiffened visibly at the emphasis put into his word. "Well, take your seat," Ibiki ordered. The kid performed admirably. For now he would get a free pass to join the main event.

After the boy took his seat Ibiki took a step towards the window to look out at the village. "These rules are unique to question ten. Listen carefully." He flicked his eye to look at the crop of Genin, dropping his voice to a deadlier and sadistic tone. "And try not to let them frighten you."

No one backed down yet, but he could see the fear beginning to take root in the majority. The redhead from the Sand didn't flinch—another shinobi who intrigued him—and neither did the blue-haired Leaf kunoichi. She had already relinquished control of her teammate and now sat relaxed, seemingly bored with the situation. A good ruse, but one he saw straight through. He possessed every ounce of her attention; every word he spoke was analyzed for hidden meanings.

The upward twitch of his lips couldn't be fought. Let's see how she handles this.

"Very well then. Each of you are free to choose not to be given the final question. It's your decision." The shock took immediately to all of the other Genin, even the blue-haired girl's teammates, but the girl herself merely furrowed her brow. She didn't snap at the bait so easily. Watching and waiting to learn all the details before jumping to a conclusion. In the field that can save lives and stop allies from falling into enemy hands.

Ibiki was really starting to like the promise this girl showed.

"Whoa! What's the catch? Let's say we don't want to do it, what happens then?" the Sand kunoichi questioned. Unlike her calmer counterpart, she snapped at the bait placed.

Ibiki took pleasure in the amount of Genin he had eating out of the palm of his hand. So innocent and naïve they all were. His smile grew.

Now things got fun!

"If you chose not to take the tenth question then regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero. In other words, you fail. That means, of course, your teammates fail as well."

The murmurs among the crowd kept his smile in place. He had successfully infiltrated the safest, and sometimes most fragile, places for all shinobi: their minds. Now he would see who could take this kind of pressure. Those who couldn't would be weeded out.

Ignorantly they believed it was the only "catch" to the final question. No one would choose to fail, right?

Their naiveté made delivering the next half so much sweeter. "Not so fast, you didn't let me finish. If you do accept the question but you do not answer it correctly you will not only fail…You personally will be barred from taking the Chūnin Exam ever again!"

Their startled gasps and shouts of protest were too sweet not to savor.

Meanwhile

"It's quiet without the rookies around. Hmm, I almost miss them," Kakashi said.

Kurenai hummed in amusement and smiled at her comrade and friend. He liked to act aloof, but she could tell his team was growing on him. Who he had become after the Nine-Tails attack on the Leaf compared to now were as different as ice and fire. His skills were still there, the serious attitude in combat remained, but Kakashi was far warmer than he had been before meeting Amari and passing Team Seven.

Case and point, he was here relaxing with her and Asuma, musing over the silence of absent rookies instead of remaining in silent solitude.

Still, she couldn't deny the validity of his statement. It was quiet without the rookies around, and though she did miss having them around, she couldn't deny she too enjoyed their current peaceful lack of responsibility. Their duties as teachers and elite shinobi didn't leave much time for simple relaxation like this, so they learned to savor the moments when they came.

"Don't worry. Chances are they will be back sooner than you think," Asuma said.

Both Kakashi and Kurenai looked to the bearded man in shared confusion. "Why's that?" the Copy Ninja asked.

"I heard that their first examiner is Ibiki."

Ibiki? Kurenai didn't recognize the name but judging on the sudden grave expression on Kakashi's face, it didn't bode well for the Genin.

"Great," he drawled. "Sticking them with that sadist right off the bat."

"Huh? What sadist?" Kurenai questioned.

Asuma chuckled. "I forgot you're a new Jōnin, Kurenai, otherwise you wouldn't have to ask that."

She furrowed her brow. "So I'm ignorant. Who is he?"

"Ibiki is what you might call a…specialist," Kakashi started.

"Oh?" They weren't uncommon. A Tokubetsu Jōnin, or Special Jōnin, specialized in a single specific area of skill rather than having the all-around skills of normal Jōnin. But even though they were common, she couldn't deny the knot of dread forming in her gut. "What is he a specialist in?" Kurenai asked while looking between her fellow Jōnin.

Asuma exhaled smoke from his cigarette before turning to her with a smirk. "Interrogation. Torture." Kurenai's eyes widened as she let out a gasp of surprise. "Of course he won't be using physical torture during the test—he won't need to. That's not really his thing anyways. Ibiki prefers to work on people's minds, not their bodies."

He placed his cigarette back between his lips. "He's famous for it. Everyone knows about the head of the Anbu Torture and Interrogation Force for the Hidden Leaf Village, Ibiki Morino." He exhaled his smoke again. "You see Ibiki is a master of interrogation because he understands how the human mind works. He knows exactly where to probe to uncover your greatest weaknesses. The thing is he is so good at his job that he doesn't have to use physical torture. He just messes up your mind so bad you torture yourself."

Kurenai's mood plummeted instantly. If he targeted Hinata or Amari, they wouldn't stand a chance in hell against him. A man like Ibiki could break them without much effort if Asuma wasn't exaggerating.

Kurenai sighed. Please stay strong you two.

"Now then, if you're ready I will give the tenth and final question. Those who don't want to take it, raise your hand. Your number will be recorded and you are free to go," Ibiki said.

Tension fell over the room. Sweat built on the brows of some of the individuals, and then one person finally raised their hand to give up.

Ibiki did not smile.

Seeing even one shinobi crack under the pressure of what appeared to be an impossible decision reminded him of why he created this question. Chūnin faced this kind of decision on a daily basis. This question was meant to weed out anyone still in the room who could not take the pressure before they were in charge of a squad of shinobi.

Being the leader of a squad wasn't about how strong you were or who could yell the loudest orders, leaders weren't those who cracked if something went awry. If any shinobi were to be faced with this kind of decision out in the field, they couldn't back out and quit. You planned, you prepared and you went through with the mission knowing very well that it could cost you your life and the lives of your team, but you wouldn't back away.

You would stand fast and finish your mission to bring home your team. And if you weren't able to save them all then you got back on your feet and you did everything in your power to ensure it never happened again. Quitting or running away wasn't an option for leaders. Even when everything went wrong, a leader remained calm as they fought to the bitter end to fulfill their mission and protect their team.

One person. All it took was one person caving beneath the pressure for a large bulk of Genin to raise their hands and give up. One by one their numbers were called, one by one those not meant to be Chūnin shuffled out of the room, heads hung in shame or features bewildered by the stress they were put under. An expected result of his tactic. Fear was poison. Without a leader to encourage these subordinates, they cracked under the pressure and ran away from their duties as shinobi.

It was yet another reason they weren't ready for the promotion.

A Chūnin could be given a solo mission or end up separated from their team in enemy territory. Had any of these Genin leaving been put into such situation like that, well, let's say death would be the least of their fears.

As the numbers dwindled, Ibiki returned his watchful eyes to the blue-haired girl again. He could tell she was confident in her own abilities to answer the question but her eye kept darting over to her blond-haired teammate, worry ever present in the onyx mirror to her soul. She understood what raising her hand meant, yet she seemed to be struggling with forcing her comrade through the possibility of never becoming more than Genin for the rest of his life.

The amount of care for the fate of her comrade's life rather than her own was unexpected. Most young Genin could care for their team yet put their own ambitions before them constantly. This girl, however, did not. Her own fate did not seem to matter to her as long as she was able to protect her teammates in whatever way she could.

She's fighting with herself, I can see it, Ibiki noted. The internal war being waged was visible not only in her eye, but her tense body language. She needs to make the decision and she needs to make it fast.

Suddenly the girl picked up her pencil and stared through the people being dismissed, clearly focusing on whatever she used to take control of her teammates body the first time. Soon they began mirror writing again. Ibiki couldn't help but admire the determination this girl had to stoke the fire in her teammate's heart again.

Any good leader could do it. All it took was a few words or a speech and they could bring back all the confidence their men had lost.

As Genin after Genin walked out, the blue-haired ninja put her pencil down only to then stare down at her paper with a saddened stare. Guilt, Ibiki thought. But for telling him to raise his hand, failing your whole team or for trying to get him to stay in this?

The blond boy raised his hand slowly and his blue-haired partner appeared to be stunned at his motion. Then his hand slammed back onto his desk, a fierce look taking over this features as he glared right at Ibiki. "Don't you dare underestimate me! I don't quit and I don't run! You can talk tough all you want but you guys aren't going to scare me off! No way! I don't care if I do get stuck as a Genin for the rest of my life." The boy stood up in defiance. "I'll still be Hokage someday!"

He sat back down and crossed his arms over his chest. Behind him, his blue-haired teammate grinned in glee as if everything she hoped for had come true, the Hyūga girl too smiled, encouraged by his display to lower her hand out of sight. I'll have to see what she wrote down on his paper after I take the tests. We may already have Chūnin among us. "This decision could change your life," he informed, his voice steady and firm. "If for any reason you would rather quit, now is your last chance."

The blond simply stared Ibiki down with his smile still in place. "No way. I never go back on my word, that's the way of the ninja."

Ibiki gazed upon all the Genin in the room. Smiles were on just about every single one of their faces. Hmm, remarkable. That little outburst has given the others some backbone. He's inspired them into staying. He walked forward, eyes roaming around the room as he counted the remaining Genin. Eighty-six left. More than I expected but I don't see anyone wavering. I think that's it.

He let his stare fall onto his sentinels who gave him nods of approval. Ibiki nodded back. That boy inspired everyone here, but I wonder. He flicked his eyes over to the blue-haired ninja. Is she the one who inspired him to stay? Did she give him the courage to not back down, thus causing him to inspire the others?

"Well then, I admire your determination, if nothing else. For those of you remaining there is only one thing left to do and that's for me to tell you…" Ibiki smiled genuinely at the group. "You have all passed the first exam!"

Unlike the rest of the room, Amari was not shocked by Ibiki's words. She would admit, it had been a gamble from the start, but Kakashi's training to always look underneath the underneath helped immensely to understand Ibiki's real game.

From the very beginning the test had been about seeing through deception. It started with the ridiculously hard questions no Genin, save a handful, would have been able to answer. Asking them to cheat, planting shinobi in the room with the answers so they could, everything about the test required them to see through the illusions Ibiki casted around his true intentions. That meant his last question had to be the decision to leave or stay.

Of course it still was a gamble. A change of wording could have easily meant leaving was the correct answer while staying was incorrect. Luckily her gamble paid off and now they could all move on to the next part of the Exam.

"Where's the tenth question?!" Sakura asked in confusion.

Well, as soon as everyone else caught up that is.

Ibiki didn't even try to hide his laughter or the grin on his face. "There wasn't one, at least not a written one! Your choice to stay was the answer to the tenth question."

"Wait a second!" Temari jumped in. Amari groaned at the second interruption. Couldn't they just stop questioning the man? He passed them, wasn't that enough? "So the other nine questions were just a waste of time? Is that what you're saying?"

"No no, not at all. Quite the opposite," Ibiki answered before explaining the purpose of the other nine questions. As Amari learned, the first nine questions was about being placed in one of the most adverse situations and finding a way to gather information without getting caught. Add on the fact that everything you did or failed to do was graded on a team basis guaranteed your ability to handle pressure was tested.

In this scenario, Naruto would have failed without her intervention. The difficulty of the test was purposeful in the point of demanding cheating, yet that wouldn't have done any of them good if there was no one to cheat from. For that reason he planted shinobi among the room to cheat off of. And those who couldn't cheat off them specifically had to cheat off whoever could gather information from the planted shinobi.

Those who were caught at it were failed for one specific reason: better not to cheat then to cheat sloppily and get caught.

"Information…" Ibiki untied his ninja headband and revealed the top of his bald head to the group. Amari's eye widened at the sight of scars; burn marks, puncture wounds and other scars she didn't want to know the origin of marred almost every inch of his skull. "It can be the most valuable weapon in battle. How well you gather information will determine if a mission is a failure or successful. There will be times you have to risk your life to get it."

"His head…" she muttered. Silently she brought her hand to her mesh covered arm. She had thought her scars were bad, but his…What he endured…It's horrible.

"You must carefully consider the source of your information. Intelligence gathered from an enemy isn't always entirely accurate. Always bear this in mind." His stare somehow became more serious than it already had been. "Disinformation can be worse than no information at all. It can lead to the death of comrades or the loss of an entire village."

His point made, he tied his bandana back on to hide his scars.

"I'm still not getting what the whole tenth question thing was about," Temari said.

"You're not? The tenth question was the main point of the whole exam. Surely you can see that," Ibiki said.

Amari sighed and rested her head on her hand again as a bored look took over her features. The goal was to test them as individuals and as a squad by giving them two difficult choices.

On one hand you skipped the question, thus playing it safe but causing you and your team to fail the exam. On the other you took a risk on your own ability to answer the question, knowing if you screwed up you wouldn't ever be anything more than a Genin.

The decision they were given was a no-win situation whether you screwed up or chose to skip it, but it was the sort of situation Chūnin faced every day.

"Let me give you a hypothetical mission," Ibiki started. "Let's say you have to steal a document from an enemy stronghold. You have no idea how many ninja they have there or how heavily armed they are. Even worse you have reason to believe they are expecting you, that you may very well be walking blindly into a trap.

"Now do you have the option of taking a pass on this insane mission, saying my comrades and I would rather save our own necks to live to fight another day? Can you choose to avoid danger? No," Ibiki stated firmly. "There will be many missions that will seem almost suicidal if you think about them, but you don't think about them. You think only of the goal and achieving it through courage and discipline. These are the qualities required of a Chūnin squad leader. Those who choose the safer of two paths, those whose determination falters in the face of adversity, those who would put their comrades lives in jeopardy by worrying about their own, those who would save their own necks at the price of sacred honor will never be Chūnin—at least as long as I'm here."

Amari couldn't say if she was Chūnin material yet and there were still another two stages of this test to go, but one thing she knew for certain was she would never put her life before her team. She didn't believe in risking their lives for her own; she didn't have the ability to let them die for her.

One friend had already sacrificed his life for her, and he would be the last to do it so long as she held breath in her body. No matter how hard someone would beat her down, she would never stop getting back up in order to protect those she cared for. No matter how impossible an enemy appeared she would stand ready and give her own life if she had to as long as it spared her friends.

Her dream did matter to her, but not as much as the people who she cared for…Because without them her dream wouldn't matter. If there was no one to share in her triumphs or be there for her when she failed to help her get back on her feet, then what would it matter?

And if I didn't get to witness their triumphs and help them get back on their feet what would be the sense in doing anything? It's because of the people around me that I want to succeed. I don't care for precious honor or believing my dream is the only thing that matters. It's my precious people who give me my strength; it's those people that give anyone their strength.

No matter what I will protect them, and I know no matter what they will protect me. That's what it means to be a Leaf shinobi. Her gaze trailed over Sakura, Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, and Shikamaru. Because without them I never would have gotten this far. She thought of the other people who were precious to her, people like her mother, Kakashi, Itachi, Ryu and her Kasai, to name a few. Because a life without knowing them wouldn't be a life worth living.

Family is more than a blood relation. It's those who you would do anything for to see them happy, to see them laugh and smile, to make sure no one ever harmed them. Love makes that bond more real than a mere blood relation can give, just as it did for me and Mom. She smiled blissfully. As it does for how I feel about the rest of them.

"You have passed through the first gate. I hereby declare this portion of the Chūnin Exam completed. There is nothing left but for me to wish you all good luck," Ibiki finished.

Naruto, ever the knucklehead, stood up and started cheering for his success. Amari couldn't help but giggle softly to herself.

"What a nuisance," Temari scoffed.

"You're a real drag, you know that?" Amari shot back lazily.

A sudden surge of chakra snapped Amari to attention. Her eye shot over to the window and caught the shadow of a giant ball shaped object hurtling right at the room. The glass shattered on impact and out of it came a woman, who threw two kunai to attach a large cloth to the ceiling, blocking Ibiki from view. The woman that appeared out of it wore a Leaf headband.

Hm. Amari retracted her hand from her ninja tool box. Guess we're not about to fight.

The fair skinned woman wore a tan overcoat and a fitted mesh body suit that went down to her thighs. Besides that she wore an orange mini-skirt, black ninja sandals, grey shin guards and a necklace. Her light brown eyes scanned the room as a wide grin split her lips. Her dark violet hair was pulled back into a short, spiky fanned-ponytail.

…I can't believe she's wearing a mesh body suit, was all Amari could think. The coat and skirt did cover her up well, but it was still kind of…revealing. Nothing inappropriate could be seen, thankfully, but she definitely wasn't hiding the curves of her body.

"Heads up boys and girls, this is no time to be celebrating! I'll be your next proctor, Anko Mitarashi. Are you ready for the second test?"

Uhh. Was it really all going to happen this fast?

Anko pumped her fist into the air. "Good! Now let's go! Follow me!"

Silence followed. No one quite knew what to make of her, though the Nara could see a bit of the same hyperactive tendencies of a certain knucklehead in this woman.

Ibiki pulled back the cloth to look at her. "You're early, again," he informed.

Anko's cheeks immediately tinted pink in embarrassment. "Are all you Leaf shinobi this insane?" Temari questioned. It was probably meant as an insult, yet it came off more confused than anything else.

"Are all you Sand shinobi sticks in the mud?" she asked in return. "Crazy as she seems, I'd bet she's fun to be around. Probably."

"You have a strange idea of fun."

"Are you sure you even know what the definition of fun is?"

"I don't know. Are you sure you understand what it means to be a shinobi?"

Ah, back to this again. Amari turned her flat and lazy gaze to Temari. "I've seen what walking the path of a tool did to two shinobi who held far greater emotional and physical strength than you possess. I saw the emptiness that path promised and chose to find my own path, to follow my own ninja way and be more than a tool. You can sneer down at me all you like, you can call me naïve and insult me—I don't care. But at least I've chosen a path that keeps me true to myself. All you're doing is walking the path someone else told you to walk."

"All right you maggots!" Anko raised her voice, cutting off any retort Temari might have given. "You've had it easy so far, but! Things are going to be different starting first thing in the morning. I'll let your squad leaders know where you're to meet me. Dismissed!"

I wonder if the others are up for a team dinner.

Ibiki walked along the desks, picking up the test papers left on the desks now that the Genin and sentinels were dismissed. After moving through many of the rows, he finally reached the blond-haired boy's paper. Since the test he wondered what exactly the blue-haired Leaf shinobi wrote down on it to get him to press on, or if it even was her words.

He picked up the paper and looked to top of the page where extra writing was.

Amaruto is back in action.

Likely a combination of their names but the Jōnin knew what it served as. It was a code of a sort that only they or their team knew, allowing her to communicate that it was her in control of his body so he wouldn't fight against it.

An intelligent move. Having a code only you and the people close to you knew was a great way to spot an imposter. Under that line of writing was what made Ibiki smile.

Don't give up. No matter what happens, we are in this together and I will not let you fail. Trust in yourself, Naruto. We can do this. I promise.

Ibiki moved to where the blue-haired girl had sat and picked up her paper to see her name. Amaririsu Yūhi and Naruto Uzumaki. He smiled to himself. I've got a good feeling about those two. Even if the boy is a funny one.

A/N: Super sorry for the delay! Life's been kind of hectic but I'll still be doing my best to get a chapter out each week on Friday. Hopefully nothing will delay me again. Anyway, thank you all for reading and have a merry Christmas, a happy holidays or just a good day!