Naruto: Shoton of Konoha

by Arch-Daishou00

: For Stormy Rebel, miss you, Joachim, and thank you: "By the actions of the traitor Mizuki. Naruto awakens a rare Kekkei Genkai. And his path has now changed. And in the darkness awakens an ancient threat more terrifying than the Akatsuki, which only stirs thought of myths from a lost and forgotten age." : huge world expansion story, OC. Co-Author: Etheral-23

9. Chunin exams are here

Chapter 9: Chunin exams are here! First exam start!

The sun was finally peeking over the mountains of Konoha, and was shining directly through a window, and landing on a very special Genin. Naruto rolled over groaning, trying to hide from the sun a few more minutes. He was lying like that for thirty seconds or so, before peeking on the clock; it was showing 7:43 a.m. Naruto rolled his eyes 'of course. The day I decide to sleep in till around eleven I wake up early. Just my luck… Back to bed I guess'. Naruto threw a pillow over his face again, trying to get some more sleep. After what seemed like hours to him, he fluttered an eye open lightly, to look at the ever ticking clock. 7:52 a.m. He threw off the comforter and sat up in bed "fuck this."

Normally he would have been up in the early hours, training his ass off until his team would meet, but since today was everything but normal, he had planned slept in to when the normal citizen would have woken. He could see he would have none that. He sighed and started a mild morning routine: 400 sit-ups, 400 pull-ups, 400 push-ups, and 400 squats. Normally he would have done twice as much, but since today was the day of the exams, he wouldn't want to over exert himself. After he was done he went to the bathroom and did his business. For once he could actually enjoy his shower, instead of rushing through it.

He came out of the steaming bathroom with a towel around the waist, and headed for the kitchen. It took him real self-restraint not to just take one of the ramen cups, but actually making some healthy breakfast. He sighed once again; he knew he needed to eat healthier if he wanted to grow. He set some eggs and bacon over, and headed for his closet.

A few minutes later he was sitting at the table, enjoying his breakfast and the quiet morning. He took a quick look over the apartment; there were a few pieces of clothes here and there, but overall it was rather neat. His eyes went over his picture-wall. A smile crept over his lips; there was one of him and Tenten in the ramen stand, taken by Ayame. He really couldn't believe he had gotten such a good friend.

A bit to the left of that was one of his team and him. Kakashi was in the back, looking 'cool' as ever. In front of him was Sakura, trying to look as cute as possible. To her right Sasuke was standing, looking as broody as he could. The blond showing a confident smile, fearless as to tell the world, 'Bring it on'!

Further to the left of that was one of him and Sakura training. Sakura was throwing one of her mean left hooks at Naruto, whom were bracing himself with a cross-guard. In the background you could see hordes of his Kage Bunshin, training in various subjects.

On top of all the other photos was his ninja registration photo. He frowned a bit 'I'm happy with the photo, but right now I wish I had just let them take a normal one. It doesn't exactly take a genius to figure out that I have some sort of Kekkai Genkai; all they need is one look… No wonder Jiji were hesitant about allowing it. I just hope no one in the exams have found out. It would be nice to have it as an ace. If not… I'll burn that bridge when I reach it.'

He got up from the table and threw the dishes in the wash. Even he wasn't pressed for time he couldn't be bothered with it. He glanced over at the clock; it showed 9:14 a.m. He still had hours before he was supposed to meet his team. He walked towards the door. He knew he couldn't stay in his 'apartment' for so long. He could just as well use the time walking around in the village.

- A few hours later -

Naruto was walking down one of the many streets of Konoha, heading for Ichiraku Ramen. He looked around on the main-road; it was even more crowded than normal. It was the day of the Chunin exams after all, and people from all over the elemental nations had migrated to Konoha during the last weeks, to see what the next generation of shinobi had to offer. Stands were being erected all the way down the road, selling everything from food to charms to betting-coupons. Naruto was currently checking out said stands, and enjoying the lack of glares from the unknowing foreigners.

The whisker-cheek boy took a look at the suns position 'It's about 1:30 p.m. I have to be at the academy at 3 p.m. sharp, and it wouldn't hurt to get there a little earlier and see what kind of Genin we will go up against…'

"Naruto! Hey, Naruto!"

The blond turned around to see who were calling him, and a big smile spread out on his face "Iruka-sensei! Long time, no see, huh?"

The scarred academy instructor ran up to his little-brother figure "Yeah, you can say that again. I haven't seen you since after we had that ramen, after your mission to Nami."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed embarrassedly "Sorry about that Iruka-sensei. I have been kind of busy lately, a lot of mission you know"

Iruka grinned at the blond Genin "Yeah, I know. You're only missing a Doton jutsu know, right?"

The Genin in front of Iruka looked at him questioning "What do you mean?"

"You know, your clothes have been soaked by a Suiton, burned by a Katon, crisped by a Raiton, and sliced by futon. So you're only missing a Doton now, right? I wonder what that would do to your clothes"

Naruto's face got red in embarrassment as he glared at his big-brother figure "Who told you!?"

The scarred Chunin kept grinning at the smaller Konoha-nin "Oh, just an old monkey"

Naruto knew right away who he was referring to "I'm going to kill you Jiji!"

Iruka was having a real hard time to not laugh, but was holding in it "Well Naruto, now that I have that out of my system, you want to grab some Ichiraku's?"

Naruto wasn't completely over the tease, but eased the glare "I have already had breakfast, but I guess I could go for a bowl or two. I mean, it is Ichiraku's after all."

- Forty minutes later -

"Ah, that hit the spot!" Naruto said, as he finished slurping the last of the ramen from the bowl, putting it down on the table, before ordering another. Iruka sweat dropped as of now there was eight empty bowls on the table – and none of them was his.

He shook his head lightly while smiling "and here I thought I could leave without an empty wallet for once. Oh well"

Naruto laughed "Sorry 'bout that sensei"

"You know, you don't have to call me sensei anymore"

The blond Uzumaki shrugged "for me you will always be Iruka-sensei. That's not ever going to change, not even when I'm the Godaime Hokage!"

Iruka laughed and ruffled the blond Genin's hair. "Now, now, take one step at a time. You first have to make Chunin, remember?"

The whiskered kid nodded vigorously "Yep. But that isn't going to become a problem" he paused "Iruka-sensei"

The blond had changed his tone rather fast, catching the scarred Chunin off-guard "What is it Naruto?"

"Do you have any advice for the Chunin exams? You must've already taken it, obviously" Naruto asked

Iruka got a nostalgic look on his face "Well, the exam changes each time, though the basics remain the same. I can't help you too much, that wouldn't be fair for the other Genin, but this I can tell you. I'm sure you've heard it before, but 'look underneath-"

"'look underneath the underneath', yeah I've heard it before…" Naruto finished his ninth bowl of ramen, slurping and licking it clean "oh well, I better get going now. If I get there before time, I might have a chance of getting some information on the other Genin"

Iruka nodded approvingly and smiled at Naruto "Good luck"

Naruto jumped down from his chair, and showed Iruka one of his most brilliant smiles "Thanks sensei. Just you wait; I'll become Hokage in no time"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Naruto was walking towards the academy in his own pace – he was after all in good time – when he heard a commotion from one of the café's on the road. Sounded like someone was in a hurry, but Naruto didn't pay much attention to it. That was, until he was just outside the café, and a boy came running towards him and didn't stop. Needless to say, the result was the two boys colliding and landing on the road.

"I-I'm so sorry!" the boy who had bumped into Naruto said while bowing apologizing

Naruto got up smiling and dusted himself off "Hey, no sweat. It was just an accident"

"Kouhei! I told you not to threaten him like that!" it came from inside the restaurant

Naruto looked over the boys shoulder "I know that voice…"

And with that two other figures came out from the café; a boy and a girl. "Well, we wouldn't be late if Zabuza-sensei hadn't disappeared like that. Now we have to find the exam building by ourselves" it came from the boy

The girl sighed "I know, but you know ho-"

"Haku!" Naruto half yelled happily

Haku stopped in midsentence and looked at where the voice had come from. When she saw Naruto a big smiled spread on her face "Naruto-kun!" and ran over to him and gave him a big hug, which he happily returned.

She stepped back blushing, a little embarrassed with her forwardness. Naruto for the first time took a good look at her; she really looked like a girl now. She was wearing the same clothes, but she didn't wrap clothes around to hide her breast, and she wore her hair down. He smiled at her "How have you been? Is Zabuza here too?"

She nodded "Yes he is, but I don't exactly know where he is. As for me, I'm doing rather well. Kiri has really changed, and we were accepted with open arms; they were more than happy to see one of the Seven Swordsmen and the last survivor of Yuki clan return. Mizukage-Sama even let him become a sensei, and put me on his team". She continued like that, with Naruto asking a few question here and there, and answering question himself, until there was a loud cough behind her.

"You mind introducing us Haku?" it came from the elder of the two boys

"Sorry, yes of course" Haku mentally bashed herself for forgetting all about her teammates "Naruto, this is my teammates Ringo Kouhei" she motioned to the elder of the boys "and Kurosuki Chojuru" she motioned to the blue-haired boy, who was bowing.

Naruto nodded to them "nice to meet you, I'm Uzumaki Naruto". Kouhei simply nodded at him, his eyes never leaving the Konoha Genin. Naruto didn't miss it, but let it slide for now.

Chojuru was much friendlier "It's nice to finally meet you Naruto-san. Haku has told us much about you"

Naruto smirked to a slightly blushing Haku "She has now, has she?" he paused "now that we've been introduced, do you mind telling me what all the commotion before was about?"

Haku sighed "As you've probably guessed, we're here for the Chunin exams, but Zabuza-Sama left a little while ago, and we only know the exams are supposed to be hold at the academy. But we have no idea where that is"

The whiskered boy smiled at them "I can take you there. I was on my way there myself. It's no far"

"T-thank you Naruto-san" Chojuru said, bowing yet again, making Naruto sweat drop

'This kid needs some more confidence'. Naruto noticed the suns position, having used way more time than he had planned.

"We better get going if want to get there in time. It's already around half past two" he said as he began walking towards the academy. It was a short trip there; it was only two blocks away.

Haku and her team was walking not far behind him "So, Naruto-san, a-are you and your team participating in the exam too?"

Naruto nodded "You bet we are. You better watch out; we're going to graduate this whole thing with top grades". Kouhei scoffed, causing Naruto to raise an eyebrow "You don't believe we can do it, Ringo-san?"

Kouhei shrugged "Why should you. From what Haku said, you're just rookies."

"K-Kouhei, that wasn't nice" Chojuru said lowly as Haku was looking harshly at their teammate

But it didn't seem to affect Naruto "If you keep thinking like that, you're in for a big surprise. By the way Haku" he said, catching her attention "do you mind keeping my… gift a secret from other teams? It would be nice to have an ace."

She nodded "Sure Naruto-kun"

They walked a little further. "Here we are" Naruto said with a smile, his back to the buildings.

"Naruto!" the voice of his teammate called. Naruto turned to look after his pink-haired friend who were running towards him "Naruto, I thought we decided to get here earlier to get some information on the other teams"

Naruto waved at her "Hey Sakura-chan. Sorry for not being here earlier, but look who I ran into" he said as he stepped aside, revealing the Hyoton user.

Sakura's eyebrows rose in recognition "Oh it's you. Haku, right?"

Haku nodded "Hai. And these are my teammates Ringo Kouhei and Kurosuki Chojuru"

The rosette greeted them and turned to Naruto "We should be going now. Sasuke-kun is getting impatient"

Naruto nodded "alright. We'll see you later then"

"S-see you late Naruto-san"

"Yeah, see you Naruto-kun, Sakura-san"

Nothing more was said, as Sakura was towing Naruto after her into the building. A few weeks ago it wouldn't have been a problem for Naruto, but Sakura had gotten a lot stronger. They walked in to a very impatient-looking Sasuke "Where were you dobe? I almost thought you chickened out"

"As if. You're not getting rid of me that easily" Naruto retorted. All he got in return was a scoff as Sasuke started walking towards the stairs. Naruto sighed and followed with Sakura.

They had made it to second floor. Naruto glanced to see if she had noticed what he had. She nodded lightly, only enough for those closest to her to catch on. There was a Genjutsu cast on them as they had walked into the hallway. The question was what it did. Naruto didn't have to look long, as he saw a group of kids standing in front of two others, who were blocking a door to what looked like to be room 301. But they were only on the second floor 'So, the testing starts already now. This must be to weed the weakest out.'

They heard a thud and a gasp from the crowd. They went to look at what was going on: Lee was sitting on the floor; obviously it was him who had made the thud sound, with Tenten kneeling down beside him. It didn't take long for Naruto to figure out that they were doing what he was planning to do; hide their true strength till they needed it.

"You're trying to make Chunin with that kind of skill? Maybe you should just quit" it came from one of the boys who were blocking the door

"You're just kids after all" it then came from the second.

Tenten got up from her kneeling position "please, let us through". She stepped forward to go between them. But they wouldn't have any of that. The one on the right raised his fist to hit her. She squinted, acting like the amateur they were trying to look like. But instead of the slight pain she had expected, she felt a tuck in her arm, and the feeling of spinning in the air. When she opened her eyes she was in Naruto's arms.

He quickly put her down "Hey Ten-chan. been a while, huh?"

She blinked a few times "Naruto? What are you doing here? Wait, are you guys taking the exam too?"

He nodded "Yeah we are. I would have told you, but I haven't been able to find you the last couple of days"

She nodded thoughtfully, then lowered her voice "Why did you 'rescue' me. You have to know that we are just pretending"

"Of course I know, but I just can't stand by and let one of my most precious persons get hurt – no matter if it's just a bruise on the cheek" he replied. She blushed lightly

"Dobe! First you show up this late, and now you're showing off skills? It was your idea not to let the other Genin in on what we can do. And who is this person?" Sasuke hissed

Tenten looked the raven-haired boy up and down, and saw Sakura standing behind him stealing glances. She leaned over to Naruto, having laid two and two together "Sasuke?"

Naruto sighed with closed eyes "Sasuke"

"Well dobe? What do you have to say for yourself?" Sasuke tried again.

Sakura came up beside him "Come on Sasuke, he was just helping a friend"

Both Naruto and Sasuke looked with shock in their faces on Sakura. It took her a few seconds to figure out why; she had just contradicted what Sasuke had said!

Sasuke scoffed, but let it go "Whatever. Let's just get going"

In the meantime another Genin had tried to pass the two. He got a kick in the stomach and landed on his butt harshly. "How cruel" it came from one of the Genin watching.

One of the boy's eyebrow twitched "What did you say? Listen up; we're being kind to you. The Chunin exams are like nothing you have experienced before – it's not just a stroll in the park."

"We have seen Genin who have given up being shinobi, become seriously injured, or even killed in the exams" the other continued

"A Chunin will receive missions where they are the commander. That means they are responsible for any failed missions, or any comrades' death, if it should happen! To think that Genin of your skill level is even trying to enter the exams…" the boy even looked a little disgusted by the notion.

The second boy put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down, and then continued "With that in mind, what's wrong with sifting out those who aren't going to pass anyway? It would spare a lot of people a lot of time."

Sasuke stepped forward "That's a sound argument, but I will pass." He paused a second "And undo the Genjutsu field, it's rather annoying, I want to go to the third floor". Naruto sighed once again 'you just had to point that out, huh Sasuke?' They're kind of right; if these Genin can't discover such a low level Genjutsu, then they don't have what it takes to become Chunin.

The other Genin had other thoughts running through their heads. They had no idea what he was talking about; they were on the third floor. You could see it by the room number; it was 301, not 201.

The two boys seemed disappointed that their trick hadn't fooled everyone "So you noticed"

It was Sakura who spoke up "Of course we noticed it. You don't expect to fool everyone with a low-level Genjutsu like that, do you? We are only on the second floor"

As soon as she said it the boys released the Genjutsu. No reason to keep a jutsu up which fools no-one. The first boys' posture changed; whereas before it was just taunting, this said that he had no problem with getting into a fight. The boy smirked "You're pretty good, but that won't be enough" he said and took off. Sasuke was never one to say no to a fight and took off as well. Their kicks were just about to hit the other when a green blur stopped them; Lee. Sasuke eyes shot open in surprise 'He's fast. And he is different from the person who was just hit moments ago'.

Neji came over to the group, having stood with lee before "You two broke your promise". He looked at Lee "It was you who didn't want to draw attention by doing something that stands out."

Lee didn't answer but just took a look at Sakura. Tenten sighed "Sakura again? I think she has made it pretty clear that she isn't interested"

Neji looked Sasuke over "Hey you there. Identify yourself"

Sasuke didn't look fazed by Neji's attitude "You're supposed to introduce yourself, first you know". With that the two Genin started a game of wits, trying to get the other to tell their name first.

Naruto leaned to Tenten "So, Neji?"

She nodded "Neji"

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto, let's go. We need to be there soon" Sakura said. Naruto bid Tenten and Lee farewell, and walked with Sakura and Sasuke up the stairs.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

They reached the third floor not long after, to find Kakashi standing in front of the doors to the examination room. He looked his team in the eyes; each of them was filled with determination, even Sakura's, a look more and more common in her eyes. He clapped his book closed "Good, you've all showed up. You can now enter the Chunin exams"

Naruto didn't miss how he had said it "And what would have happened if only two or one of us had showed?"

"You wouldn't be able to enter. You can only enter the Chunin exams in teams of three. Some exceptions are made, but none of you are qualified for them. But none of that matters now; you have all showed, and you can enter. Good luck" he said and stepped aside.

They stepped inside and were shocked at what they saw. There must have been more than a hundred Genin staring at them right now, or more like glaring. Naruto looked at Sakura whom showed real nerves. He gently tapped her on the arm to get her attention; they looked at each other and nodded. It seemed to help her. She looked back at them 'They all look so strong. And as Naruto said; we are just rookies. They all have more experience than we'.

"Sasuke-kun, you're late!" a seducing voice sounded, bringing all three out of their respective thoughts. Ino jumped at Sasuke hugging him, and making sure her assets were firmly pressed against his back "I've been eagerly waiting for you, ever since I heard that you would be participating in the exams too. It has been such a long time since I've seen you!"

Sakura was glaring right at Ino, who hadn't even had the decency to notice Naruto or Sakura "Get away from Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig!"

Ino responded with a just a deadly glare "oh my, it's you, Sakura. Your forehead is as wide as ever, and you're still… What the hell happened to you!?"

First Naruto was confused at the response. He took a quick glance at Sakura; she looked as pretty as always, or what? He took a closer look; she did look different than in the academy. She wasn't as skinny as before, not that she was fat, but she had muscles now. Not bulging muscles, but you could see she had trained. Sakura just scoffed "It's called training, Ino-pig. Maybe you should try it sometimes?" Ino just stuck her tongue out at Sakura, still clinging to Sasuke.

"What, are you three going to take this troublesome exam too?" a new voice sounded. Naruto immediately recognized it as Shikamaru, heir to the Nara clan.

"What? You don't think we can do it, Shika?" Naruto responded

Shikamaru sighed, mumbling something that sounded like 'troublesome blond'. Beside him stood Chouji munching on a bag of chips.

"Yeah, I found the whole pack" half yelled another voice. Naruto turned to see Kiba and his team standing behind him "So I see that everyone is here."

"Hello…" Hinata said in a very low voice. Naruto noticed and look her directly in her eyes, until she blushed and looked away. Last there was Shino, just standing there, not letting any emotion show.

"What? So you made it too? Troublesome…" it came from Shikamaru

Kiba grinned "I see, so all the nine Genin rookies are going to take the exam. We will rock it!" Naruto cringed lightly; Kiba was speaking really loud, catching the attention of the whole room. They would get enough attention as it was, just by being the only rookies this year, they didn't need to seem dump too.

"Dog-breath, keep your voice down! You're drawing unwanted attention to us!" Naruto hissed. The other rookies looked at him like he had grown a second head; he had actually said something that made sense.

But Kiba wasn't convinced "yeah right, as if you could figure something like that out, dead-last"

Naruto glared at Kiba; he had always picked on Naruto in the academy, and it didn't seem like that had changed "If you keep thinking like that, you won't last long". There was a silence as the two glared at each other.

"Hey you guys" yet another voice called. They turned to see an older silver-haired Genin walking their way "You should keep quiet. You're drawing attention to yourself"

"See?" Naruto said to Kiba. He only got a glare in response.

The silver-haired looked at the rookie 9 "I'm Yakushi Kabuto. You must be the nine rookies that just graduated from the academy a few months ago, correct? You're all fooling around with those cute faces… Geez, this isn't a field trip"

"And why should we trust you? As you just said; this isn't a field trip. Don't trust anyone, and don't expect to be trusted" Naruto said, again getting looks from his old class-mates

Kabuto smiled "You're right, but I'm also a Konoha Genin" he said, tapping his hitai-ate as proof "I just thought I would give you some advice, since this is your first exam. But if that isn't enough, take a look around"

And so they did; almost every team were looking their way, listening intently at what they were saying. Naruto caught glimpse of Haku and her team, and nodded at them, the same with Tenten. Then he saw a team from Kumo, or more exactly, one of the Genin. She was tall, probably three years older than him. They got into eye-contact, and a sort of trance just started. Naruto was memorized by the eyes, or more likely the look in her eyes. It was as they had known each other for years. He also felt that same familiarity, he had felt with that Gaara guy.

"…to. Naruto! There you are" Sakura said, hitting him a bit on the shoulder to get his attention.

He blinked a few times and looked at his female teammate "huh? Something wrong, Sakura?"

Sakura looked at him "You just spaced out. Did something happen?"

Naruto shook his head, trying to get it back on track "No, nothing happened. Sorry"

Sakura turned back to Kabuto. "Kabuto-san, was it?" she asked, receiving a nod "is this your second time, then?"

"No. It's my seventh time" the rookies were stunned. "These exams only take place twice every year, and it's my fourth year."

"That would mean you know a lot about the exams, right?" Sakura asked

"Right" Kabuto smiled

Shikamaru wasn't so convinced "but he hasn't passed yet. He can't be that good"

"Or it means that the exams are harder than you think" he retorted, resulting in another 'troublesome' from Shikamaru.

"But as I said, I'm here to help you" he took out a set of cards "all the times I have been in these exams I have gathered information on the different Genin teams, and the Genin themselves. Just ask for anyone you want to know something about, and I'll tell you"

Sasuke weren't going to let free information slide by "then show me Gaara of Suna, Rock Lee of Konoha, and… Uzumaki Naruto, also of Konoha". Naruto send him a quick glare 'great, if Kabuto knows just a little of my skills, it's not going to stay a secret much longer. It doesn't seem like there isn't one team who's not listening in'.

"Oh, you know their names" Kabuto said, almost sounding disappointed "then this won't take much time". There was dead-silence in the room while he took the three cards, only the sound of Chouji munching his chips remained. "Here we go. First let's see Rock Lee: He's one year older than you guys. Mission experience; 30 D-rank and 19 C-rank ones. The squad leader is Maito Gai, the green beast of Konoha, his teammates are Higarashi Tenten, weapon-master, and Hyuuga Neji, prodigy of his clan". Hinata tensed up at the mention of her cousin, making Naruto frown. Was she afraid of going up against her own family? He brushed it off. Kabuto continued "his Taijutsu skills have increased dramatically this past year since he graduated, but his other skills are close to none existent. He got everyone's attention last year as a skilled rookie Genin, but he didn't take the Chunin exams. This is his first time taking it, like you."

"Next let's see Gaara of the Desert; he is the same age as you guys. Mission experience; eight C-rank ones and… This is amazing! He did a B-rank mission as a Genin. I don't know how many D-rank he did, as this is his first time taking the exams, and he isn't from Konoha. And the same reason is why I can't tell you his skills. I don't know his squad leaders name either, but his teammates are his siblings; Kankuro and Temari. They are all the children of the current Kazekage, Yondaime Kazekage-Sama. There is one more thing I should tell you, though it's just a rumor. It seems that he has returned from all of his missions unharmed."

The rookies were again stunned. "He did a B-rank mission as a Genin, and completed it unharmed?"

"And last, let's see Uzumaki Naruto; he is the same age as you, as you very well know. Mission experience; wow, 21 D-rank, 5 C-rank and… 2 A-rank ones, in only the few months since you graduated." For the third time in less than half an hour, Naruto received disbelieving looks from the other rookies. Kabuto continued "The squad leader is Hatake Kakashi, also known as Sharingan no Kakashi; his teammates are Uchiha Sasuke, the last loyal Uchiha, and Haruno Sakura, the top Kunoichi of her year. He himself graduated as the dead-last. His Genjutsu skills are below average, he is only able to dispel them, not cast them. This is because of his enormous Kage-level chakra reserves. His Taijutsu is above average, but nothing to take note off, and his Ninjutsu is well over average, using his Kekkai Genkai, Shoton." This time he got even more disbelieving looks, even from his own team. He paid no attention to it, only glaring at the person who had revealed close to all of his skills to the whole room.

"Why thank you Kabuto. Why don't you say it a little louder? I'm not sure the Kusa team in the other end of the room heard it!" the blond Genin said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"No, we heard it" it came from the other end of the room, making Naruto and the other rookies sweat drop.

But Kabuto wasn't done "It also seems like he has an incredible healing-rate. He heals from scratches within minutes, broken bones within a day, and he doesn't seem to get sick." Naruto looked at the older Genin in front of him with disbelief. How did this person, who he had never met, know all of his secrets? Well, all but one. Even if he did, he wouldn't be stupid enough to reveal it. That's what he thought, until Kabuto was about to make one of his worst fears come true "it is thought the reason for his healing-rate is because-"

Naruto's eyes shot open in fear, before he let instinct take over. He grabbed Kabuto before he could finish the sentence, and slammed him into the wall. Crystals quickly formed around his wrist and legs, sticking him to the wall, while two smaller crystal blades formed close to his throat, inches from killing him. Many from the room looked surprised and shocked at the development, none more than the rookies. Sakura was probably the one who were most surprised; she had trained and hung out, and actually liked it, with him for months, and never once had he pulled something like this off. Normally Ino would have scolded Naruto by now, but she was mesmerized by the crystals at Naruto's command, as many others in the room.

Naruto, with his hand still pressing Kabuto to the wall, took the card out of the silver-haired Genin's hand and read it. He knew about the Kyuubi. 'But how? He can't be more than seven-teen. He wasn't old enough to be there, or have been told, when it happened.' He leaned close into Kabuto to whisper in his ear "You might as well thank me, Kabuto-san. I have just saved you for a very uncomfortable death. What you were about to reveal is an S-rank secret. I don't know how you found out, but I'll make sure the Hokage himself knows of it."

The sand siblings were standing halfway through the room, but they had a clear view. Temari stared at the crystal, the clockwork in her head churning "I knew it"

Kabuto turned to his sister "You knew what?"

"You don't notice anything, do you?" she scolded lightly "That is the Genin we ran into a week ago"

Kabuto didn't like being scolded like that from his big-sister "Well, it is a little difficult to notice stuff when you have your head stuffed into the road!" he hissed back.

Temari sighed "When he handled you" she got a glare from Kankuro "he seemed to summon a kunai out of thin air. I have been trying to figure out how he did it. He must have used his Kekkai Genkai… We should watch out for him"

"We don't need to do such things. If he crossed my path, mother will be happy to swim in his blood" Gaara said while looking hungrily at the blond Genin from Konoha.

Team Gai were already sitting at a writing table. Neji looked interested for a second but dropped it "Tenten, isn't that your friend?"

Tenten tore her eyes away from the scene; she was just as surprised as Sakura, to look at her teammate "Yes, he is".

"Did you know about his Kekkai Genkai?" Neji asked in an emotionless voice

She hesitated "Yes, I did"

Neji shot her a glare "And why didn't you think it was necessary to tell us?"

"Because he is my friend, and I promised I wouldn't talk about it, until it was public knowledge… which I guess it is now" she responded, not wavering a second.

The Hyuuga prodigy was about to retort when Lee intervened "Neji, calm down. While she maybe should have told us, given the circumstances, she didn't because of a friend. That is the best excuse you could have". Neji scoffed, but let it slide, as he retracted into his emotionless shell again. Tenten mouthed a 'thank you' to Lee, who nodded at her.

In another place in the room the only Kumo team stood. "You think this is what Raikage-Sama was talking about? He said that while this is a diplomatic mission, we needed to look out, because there had been rumors about Konoha getting a new Kekkai Genkai?" Karui whispered to her two teammates.

Omoi, who was serious for once, responded "I think we can be pretty sure about that. And he looks like he has some degree of control over it. What do you think Yugito?"

The third member was still staring at the whiskered kid from Konoha 'What is it about him? There is something…'

"Yugito-chan? Are you there?" Karui asked

Yugito blinked "Yeah, I think we can be sure it's him. We need to report it to Samui when we can".

Back with Naruto and Kabuto, the silver-haired Genin gulped "I guess I'll give you my thanks."

"I guess so" he responded with a glare. He stepped back, and with an unseen command, the crystal shattered. He then held the card up for Kabuto to see, then crystallized it and shattered it as well "you won't need this anymore."

A smoke-cloud expanded in the far end of the room "Quiet down you punks!" drawing the attention from the rookies. Little by little the cloud dispersed to reveal a bunch of Konoha shinobi. The front most seemed to be one who had spoken up "Sorry to keep you waiting. I am the examiner of the first test of the Chunin exams, Morino Ibiki." He pointed directly at Naruto "You from Konoha, don't think you can do anything you want before the exam. Do you want to be failed before it even starts?"

Naruto bowed "I'm sorry Morino-san, it won't happen again"

Ibiki didn't let show he heard it "this is a good chance to say this… You are not allowed to fight each other during the exam, unless given permission by the examiners. And if the permission is given, you can't kill each other, unless that has been expressed as well by the examiner. Anyone who doesn't follow the rules of the exams will fail immediately, understood?" No one contradicted him "The first part of the Chunin exams will began. Turn in your applications, and take one of these tags. Sit where the number tells you to. Then we will pass out the papers for the written exam."

Naruto got in line to turn in his application. He got number 53; he wasn't sitting anywhere near his teammates 'Well, I guess that's clear why. We can't sit next to the people we are in teams with.' He looked to his right side to find Hinata 'at least there is one person I know nearby.' He looked on his desk; there was his paper turned over, the backside facing up, a pencil, an eraser and a pencil-sharpener. He sighed; while he had gotten smarter, he still hated written exams.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Ibiki tapped a charcoal on the blackboard "This first exam has a few important rules. I will not accept any questions, so listen carefully…" he let it sink in as he started writing on the blackboard "First rule is you all are given 10 points at the start. The written exam consists of 10 questions, and each is worth one point; the test is a deduction based test. If you get one problem wrong, you will get one point deducted. So, if you get three problems wrong, your points will be reduced to seven…" He let the Genin in the room think about it for a few seconds "Second rule; the pass-fail decision will be determined by your team's total points." Just at that moment, Sakura was so relieved that she wasn't on the team with the old Naruto. Ibiki didn't stop "Third rule; if an examiner determines that you have cheated, or done something similar during the test, the action will cause you to lose two points… In other words, there will be people who will be forced to leave this place without their test being graded. Those who try to cheat without thinking carefully first, will only hurt themselves and their teams." He paused again "You are trying to become Chunin, so start acting like one… And last; if anyone in the team gets a zero, everyone on that team will fail." Yes, Sakura was really happy she wasn't on the team with the old Naruto. "The last problem will be given 45 minutes after the exam begins. You have one hour for the exam. Begin!"

The room was filled with the sound of papers turning, before falling dead silent. Naruto looked at the paper in front of him, and after he read the questions, got a little worried. Out of the nine questions, he thought that he maybe would be able to answer on three. He looked around him, to see horror filled faces. He turned his attention back to his paper 'Ok, question three: 'How far, and how fast, can you throw a standard kunai, not using any chakra of any kind, based on Kimrai's Law of air currents?' I know I have read this somewhere before…'

Thirty-five minutes had passed. There had already been fourteen teams who had been caught cheating. Naruto had only two solved problems, with one of them being a guess at best 'How is anyone able to answer these questions!? These are not for Genin-level shinobi. Sakura or Shikamaru might be able to answer them all, but she is a freak of nature in that department and Shika's a damn lazy genius… You just can't answer these questions without cheating! Okay Naruto, calm down. What was it Ibiki said? 'Those who try to cheat without thinking first'…' he thought about it for a minute or two 'that is it! He wants us to cheat! Of course, it all makes sense now; he must be testing out ability to gather information within limited time. The question now is how do I cheat without getting caught?' As Naruto had come to that conclusion, he looked around in the room. Just as he had thought, people were cheating; the Hyuuga had their Byakugan activated, Sasuke had his Sharingan activated, Tenten was using mirrors. 'Mirrors… Maybe, just maybe, will it work'.

He looked around to see if any of the examiners were looking his way; none was. Very subtle he made the ram seal under the table. He closed his eyes to concentrate. Very slowly little mirrors appeared around the room; one on his table, one on the ceiling above his table, and around the room. Now he wanted to see Sakura's test; she was the one he trusted the most to have the right answers. He was sure there were Chunin, or maybe even Jounin, in here, with the right answers, but he didn't know who they were. So he went with Sakura. Very carefully he turned the different mirrors, until he could see Sakura in the mirror on the table. He turned the last mirror a bit more, and there. He could now see her test, and as he thought, she was now finishing her solution on the last of her questions. He quickly wrote down the answers, and very carefully broke the crystal mirrors down, little by little, to avoid making noise. With that done, he waited the last minutes until the tenth question was revealed.

A few minutes later, Ibiki grinned. He was standing the exact same spot, as when he had told the rules of the exam. Naruto thought he was scary as hell, but he had some talent. Ibiki spoke up "looks like we've already dropped the incompetent ones. I will now give the problem, since 45 minutes have already have passed. So listen up! This is the tenth and final problem!" The room was dead-silent, all awaiting the last problem "But before I do, there's one thing I must say… There will be one special rule for this last question."

Just as he was about to tell the rule, the door opened, and in walked Kankuro and a guard. Ibiki smirked "you're lucky. Your puppet show didn't have to go to a waste." Shock was written all over his face; he hadn't expected anyone to know about his Karasu puppet. Ibiki closed his eyes "Oh well, sit down." Kankuro walked to his seat, discreetly dropping a piece of rolled up paper on his sisters table, and sat down.

"I will now explain" Ibiki continued. "This is a hopeless rule… First, you are all going to choose if you wish to take this tenth problem or not." That caught everyone's attentions.

It was Temari of Suna who spoke up "Choose? So what happens if we don't take the tenth problem?"

"If you choose not to take it" Ibiki replied "your points will be reduced to zero. In other words; you and your team will fail." A lot of murmur caused through the room "And here is the other rule". The room fell silent again "If you choose to take it, and you get it wrong, you will lose the privilege to take the Chunin exams forever!"

Kiba couldn't take it anymore. He had held in an outburst for way to long "What the hell!? There should be those here who have taken the exams in the past!"

Naruto started to get really scared, when Ibiki started laughing lightly. Chills ran down his back, and he swore he saw the Shinigami behind Ibiki. "You were unlucky" he finally said "This year I am the one making the rules. That is why I gave you the option of quitting. Those who are not confident, can choose not to take it, and just take the exam later this year, or the exam after that…" Naruto looked around finding worried faces everywhere. He looked at Sasuke and Sakura; he was relieved that they didn't seem to want to quit. But he caught sight of Hinata, doing something with her fingers, and the terrified look in her eyes. He looked back at Ibiki "Let us begin. Those who do not want to receive the tenth problem, raise your hands. After we confirm your numbers, we will have you leave."

First no one raised their hands. Just as Naruto was beginning to think no one would, the person on his left rose from his seat "I… I… I won't take the question!"

"Number 50, fail" it sounded from one of the examiners. "Number 130 and 111, fail along with him". And with that, the dam was open. More and more raised their hands, quitting. Slowly, one by one, the room thinned out. Naruto didn't have a problem with it, that is, until Hinata started to raise her hand. What could he do?

He quickly formulated a plan, and started to raise his hand, surprising both his teammates. He then slammed it into the table "You know what? Fuck you baldy! I'm not going to run away! I'll take the problem! Even if I become a Genin forever, I'm going to become the Hokage, no matter what! I'm not scared!" he sat down again. He winched mentally; he knew this was how he used to talk all the time. He really had to go and apologize to Iruka when he could; even he couldn't be around a person yelling all the time. But his plan had worked: Hinata, and everyone else thinking about quitting, now only had confidence left.

"I will ask one more time" Ibiki said "this is the choice that will impact your life. If you want to quit, now is the chance."

Naruto leaned back in his chair, looking straight into Ibiki's eyes "I am not going back on my word. That's my way of the ninja."

Ibiki smiled 'What a kid. He wiped out everyone's uncertainty. 84 students, eh? There's more left than I expected… Looks like there's no point in waiting any longer'. He glanced over at the other examiners; they all nodded to him. He took a deep breath "Nice determination. Then… For the first exam, everyone here… Passes!"

Everyone was stunned. Sakura couldn't stop herself anymore "wait, what's the meaning of that? We pass already? What about the tenth problem?"

Ibiki showed a big smile, making everyone get goose bumps "there was no such thing to begin with. Or you can call the two-choice question the tenth problem."

"Hey!" everyone turned their attention to Temari "So what were those previous nine problems?! It was all a waste!"

"No it was not" the scarred examiner replied "The nine problems accomplished their purpose: to test each individual's information gathering skills. First, this test's purpose lies in the first rule… Your pass-fail decision is based on your three person teams. By giving the idea, we have given you an unprecedented amount of pressure, to try and not be a nuisance to your team… But these test problems cannot be solved by your average Genin. So, most of the people here must have come to the conclusion 'I have to cheat to get points'. In other words, this exam assumed that everyone was going to cheat. So, we snuck two Chunin in, who knew the answers, to be targets of cheating."

Two people raised their hands "But those who cheated like a fool failed, of course. Why?" Ibiki untied his bandana, to show his scalp full of scars. "Information can have greater value than life at times and in missions and battlefields… Information is contested with the lives of people." People took a good look, before he tied his bandana on again "The information that an enemy gets after being noticed by a third person, will not necessarily be accurate. Remember this: getting incorrect information can cause great damage to your teammates, and village. So, we made you all gather information in the form of cheating. We kicked out those who were lacking in that field. That's what went on."

Temari had followed this far, but she still had one problem "But I still can't agree to that on the last problem…"

"But this tenth problem was the main problem of the first exam." Ibiki saw the confused looks on many, but a knowing look at Naruto "let me explain. The tenth question was a 'take or not take' choice. Needless to say, it was a painful two-choice problem. Those who did not take it, failed with their teams. If you chose to take it, and could not answer it, your right to ever taking the exam would be taken away… It was a very insincere problem."

"I still don't get it" it came from Temari.

This time Naruto spoke up "it's rather simple, really. When you become Chunin, you will get missions with you as captain. Thus it will be you who are responsible, and you are the one to make the decision. Let's say you get a mission, where you are against innumerable odds; you can choose to go, even when the odds are against you, and save your village, but risking you and your team's life. Or, you can choose not to go, but risk your whole village"

Realization struck everyone in the room. Ibiki nodded "You are correct. Just because your life and the lives of your teammates may be in danger, are you able to avoid dangerous missions? The answer is no! There are missions that carry heavy risks, but cannot be avoided. The ability to show your courage to your teammates when needed and the ability to get through a bad situation… That is what we look for in a Chunin, a squad leader. Those who cannot bet their fate in a critical situation, those who give up when given the chance, because there is a tomorrow, a next week, a next year, and let their minds sway over an uncertain future… Fools who only carry a light determination like that have no right to become a Chunin. That is what I believe." He looked over the crowd, who were sucking up every word, "I am saying that you here who have chosen to take the tenth problem, gave the right answer for a difficult question. You can deal with the difficulties you will face; you have broken through the entrance. The first exam of the Chunin selection ends now! I wish you luck."

No longer than three seconds later did a ball of cloth crash through the window. A hand threw two kunai to the ceiling, revealing a banner that said 'Second examiner, sexy and dangerous Mitarashi Anko, is here!' In front of it stood a very provoking-clothed woman with purple hair "Everyone, there's no time to be happy. I am the second examiner, Mitarashi Anko! Let's go to the next exam!"