Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own my hands. Be happy for that much, because if I didn't, this story wouldn't exist.

Chapter five: Preparations and the first exam!

"Aww Natsumi-Sensei! Come on!" Ryo, usually being the best of us to convince Natsumi-Sensei was failing. Just like I had done. And Nori before me. Sensei just completely ignored our talent, and how we were very much ready to take the Chuunin Exam. This was in one week.

"NO! All three of you, it's not that I doubt you, but you have yet to go on a mission alone! This exam is tough, you could be killed! Kasumi, your Taijutsu is amazing, Ryo, your Ninjutsu is wonderful, and Nori, your Genjutsu is almost fool-proof. In this exam however you will be split up! As a team I wouldn't be worried but one-on-one it something different!" She turned around and stared at us.

She had started to become over protective, ever since our first fight, when she first had to deal with serious wounds on us. I mean it was a reason that a shinobi had a relatively low life expectancy, but still, Nori had recovered! There was nothing but a scar left on my left arm, and Ryo said that the poison just had given his immune system a workout.

Still! Still, Natsumi-Sensei refused us to try to become Chuunins. I had long since come up with a sharp comment on the 'You could be killed' but it would be last resort, since it would most probably hurt our Sensei. After another fifteen minutes I lost my patience.

"We are very aware we could die. We are aware why shinobi have low life expectancies. If we weren't, we wouldn't BE shinobi. For you sticking us in Genin status is like that is like insulting us to our face using pretty words. The Chuunin Exams are just testing our abilities; If we are worthy chuunin status. Its main cause is not to kill us. And we are allowed to back out at any point. Even if we fail the exam, we WILL come back to you alive okay?" Towards the end of my tirade my face softened into a smile.

I knew how Natsumi-Sensei felt. Of course I did! Hell, these people were dear to me. Not just Nori and Ryo, but all the friends I had acquired over the years; Sakura, Hinata, Ino to some extent, and Ami. (To see who Ami is refer back to Chapter Three. She is going to have a major part later on.)

In the end I got my way. Or I should say 'we' got our way, because Nori and Ryo had their fair share in everything too.

Natsumi-Sensei had recommended us but warned us that if we died, she would personally come to afterlife pull us painfully back to life, and then torture us some more, before killing us again.

"Remind me never to die…" Nori muttered to Ryo and me.

We chuckled simultaneously. Ryo and I had begun to do that now. Saying things at the same time, finding the words the other couldn't, even finishing each other's sentences. People had started to call us twins. Hadn't it been for our radically different looks strangers would really think we were twins. Over the months, well it was more like a year now; Ryo had colored his hair five times. From red to orange to blue, to green. For now he had bright purple hair and had taken a gold earring in his left ear. It suited him somewhat, but Natsumi-Sensei had refused for him to keep the hoop.

"If it gets caught in something during combat, it would rip open your earlobe." She lectured him. Ryo, who could stand and walk almost normally after taking a kunai in the gut, obviously did not find the idea of getting his earlobe ripped open appetizing. He fainted. After that he has worn a stud-like earring, which was Natsumi-Sensei's gift to him on his thirteenth birthday. It was a shuriken shaped, with a blue stone in the middle.

I myself had refused to get earrings. I just did not find the idea attractive. Not to say I didn't get some. Now it is one of my fondest memories, Nori holding onto my legs, Ryo my arms, and Natsumi-Sensei my head, while the poor woman stood with the needle trying to get even holes in each of my ears. I remember she had the most extraordinary length of hair. The earring-hole-making-woman, that is. Honey brown and down to the floor, even with the fancy knot on top of her head.

Ryo, Nori and I had also noticed something interesting while we had been walking lazily about Konoha on one of our rare days off. Natsumi-Sensei was actually socializing with another Jounin. That is a feat of its own, seeing Natsumi-Sensei's time was carefully sheared between us and missions. However she was talking to Kakashi. Well, yelling is more like it. We only caught tidbits, but it was enough to make us laugh.

"…Always with that perverted book of yours … In front of your students no less… maturity level at 0... What if your dirty ways transfer to the children?" and so on. Quite amusing really.

However in this time, as my relations with Natsumi-Sensei, Ryo, and Nori had improved significantly, the level of communication with Sakura and the other girls had dropped. I hardly have time to talk to my own mother anymore either. Speaking of which, these days Shizune and Mom had started to pack a little here and there, thinking I wouldn't notice. Well they would have a good vacation if they went.

The training had also increased significantly. So had our weights. We all wore weights. Mine were twice as heavy as the others, though since I specialized in Taijutsu. The weights were hidden, the ones on the legs by my pants obviously, the ones on my hands under gloves and sweat bands, all according to season. The one around my neck however, came in a necklace, a simple leather string with a blue stone like a egg, and within it was a material Natsumi-Sensei refused to name that was extremely heavy. All three had that one. It took a while to understand why we needed weights around the neck.

Natsumi sensei told us after a week, when we had started to get used to the weight.

Flashback: Five months and two days.

"Natsumi-Sensei! Why do we need weights around the neck?" I asked with a somewhat pissed expression. My neck was aching like crazy.

"It is not a weight Kasumi." She said seriously.

"Here!" she pulled out her own egg like necklace. However hers was glowing slightly.

"Gather chakra in this. Whatever chakra you have left after a day, gather it right before you go to sleep. You are to use this chakra only in EMERGENCY situations. Understand? You too Nori and Ryo. You may come down now." She said tilting her head to look up in the tree Ryo and Nori were hiding in. They nodded and so did I. Then Nori asked the obvious.

"What is the effect of this stored chakra then?"

End Flashback.

I gripped my necklace as I walked along, on my way home and grinned. 'Yes,' I thought. 'I'm ready for this.'

The day we, bein me, Nori, and Ryo, arrived at the entrance to the academy, where we had to officially 'enter' the Chuunin Exam; we spotted Natsumi-Sensei pacing back and forth. As she spotted us she nodded.

"Good luck. My threat still stands. Return alive. Ryo I n-need to speak to you for a s-second." I almost laughed. Our sensei was more nervous than her students. Nori shrugged and pushed me, who was trying to listen in on Sensei and Ryo's conversation through the door. The sadly, sound proof door. I glared at him.

A few minutes later Ryo entered looking ten times happier. He was even whistling. As we were nearing the classroom where we had to turn in our applications, Nori froze for a millisecond before continuing up the stairs.

"You guys felt it too?" He said almost soundlessly, and we didn't even bother to nod. We had just entered a Genjutsu. As I stuck my head through the doorway I saw a whole lot of people gathering at the end of the hall, obviously fooled by the Genjutsu.

"Um, guys? Shouldn't we tell them…?" I didn't get longer, as I saw who was approaching from the cluster of people.

"Sakura-Chan!" I shouted happily, waving. Sakura was holding the hands of Sasuke and Naruto wearing a happy face. It always felt nice when Sakura was in a good mood. She really knew the art of lightening up a room. Or in this case, a corridor.

"Kasumi!" She answered and held up a hand, letting go of Naruto's, to wave back. I smiled. Either the people down there was going to fail for not giving in the applications, due to one of Sakura's Genjutsu, or they had just been warned, and were most likely thankful.

Ryo grew impatient and dragged me by the wrist the rest of the way. Afterwards we entered a room full of other Genin, (hopefully) soon Chuunin. I went down to the front of the classroom and sat down on the last available sitting spot on the front. I crossed my arms and legs and looked around the room. I noted the other Konoha Genin there and a smile crossed my face as I waved to Hinata. She was with her team and heading towards Sakura's team which were being noisy in the back. She raised her hand shyly.

"Idiots." I said lowly. Nori had sat down on the table in front of me, facing Ryo whom was standing next to me. They both nodded. The other Genin were starting to get annoyed, and if they didn't shut their trap soon, they would be attacked. They were too, but the one taking the blow was a boy I couldn't see because I guy from Suna was blocking my view with a bandaged object he was carrying. Some hair was sticking up from an opening.

My first reaction was the obvious one. 'Aww he plays with dollies'. Then the serious one. I had it from Natsumi-Sensei that objects could cover the weak points of a user, thus making it more troublesome to defeat the person.

Otherwise I was sizing up the people I was going to fight against. After finding out who to be afraid of I listed who I would be able to beat.

I found the first list much larger than the second. For a moment I was unsure of in which I should place Sakura. Sure, her Taijutsu was weak, but her Genjutsu could be strong as hell, and her IQ far exceeded mine.

At last an examiner appeared, giving the people in the back a speech. He presented himself as Morino Ibiki. The first exam was going to be a paper test. Oh joy. I whispered to Ryo that if he failed, he should prepare to die. Then we had to pick a piece of paper with a number. I ended up almost at the left end of the third row from the back. On one side was a blond girl from Suna, who looked like she had stuck her finger in an electric socket. On the right was a guy from leaf, in disgusting green spandex. Even I had to react to bad fashion taste. Ryo ended a row behind Naruto and Hinata. Nori was beside Sakura. We were spread completely. On every row on either side, chuunin were placed to monitor us. We were explained the rules, which I did notice encouraged cheating.

After a few moments of consideration I realized the questions were pass what a Genin could answer. Thus they had placed someone with the answers somewhere. Which means answers would be spread in a matter of minutes. I leaned back to take a little nap and wait for the person beside me to finish. Soon names were called out. Some just left while others fought for their right to stay.

When there was fifteen minutes left, I sat up and smiled. Time for action. I looked around. I noticed the mirrors in the ceiling. A girl called from Kohona, but not from one of the Rookie Teams, were directing mirrors for someone else around most probably the guy next to me. This sat fine with me as I saw her paper, thus the answer. The guy next to me had a better view but I could see four of the five questions which meant I wouldn't fail.

I copied them down, wrote my name and leaned back. This left the guy left for the person behind me full view of the answers his pencil started scratch desperately and I leaned forwards when I heard the poor guy finish one of the questions.

By now over half of the people there had been failed. None of the other Rookies had, I couldn't help but notice.

Soon came the time for the tenth question. I was shocked. Never be a Chuunin? But I kept my arm stubbornly down. I knew Ryo would the same but Nori… I looked towards him. He was struggling, that I noticed.

Not too far away the jounin teachers were sitting around waiting for the exam to finish. Asuma and Kakashi were talking gravely about the examiner called Morino Ibiki.

"Kurenai, Natsumi, you two are new jounin, you wouldn't know… but Morino Ibiki is skilled in interrogation and torture, a pro actually, in both physical and mental interrogation and torture. Right now I expect the kids are going through his skills of interrogation."

Natsumi got up and started to pace a disturbed expression on her face. Kakashi couldn't help but notice she was playing around with an egg shaped necklace.

"Natsumi…" Kurenai started and looked worried upon her best friend.

"I'm sure our students are fine! Knowing you, you have probably warned them and trained them for anything and everything that will come up on this exam." Kurenai said. Not that Kurenai wasn't worried herself, but her team was strong.

Natsumi sat down but started fidgeting.

Suddenly I saw Naruto start to lift his hand. Oh no… I closed my eyes a second, not wanting to see his expression. What I heard however, was his hand slamming down, and him giving the examiner a speech on how he never gave up, as that was his way of the ninja. I smiled. Naruto seemed to have grown, if not in maturity, in personality.

This seemed to lighten Nori several fold. I breathed out and silently thanked Naruto's noisiness.

"Now for you left:" Morino Ibiki started, everyone took a deep breath:

"You pass!"

After that all went in a blur of happiness. Of course there were a few arguments about this exam, and it became obvious it was the work of a genius. Then he showed us his head which made me instantly lose any appetite I had. Screw holes, burn marks, deep scars after gashes, and all the result of torture. Apparently this guy knew what he was talking about.

Suddenly the windows were crashed; a huge banner was pinned to the floor with kunai. In front was a woman in a ridiculously short skirt, and with a netting top, with a huge coat over. Her hair was sat up in a fashion that would make even Shizune lift an eyebrow.

"I am Mitarashi Anko! Your next examiner! Everyone follow me!" Morino Ibiki poked his head out behind the banner and muttered something that sounded like "bad timing."

Anko looked distastefully at him. "You showed them your head, didn't you." It was more of a statement than a question, so he refrained from answering. Anko counted us, and told Ibiki he was losing his grip, since there were so many left.

Turns out this crazy woman was our next examiner. Hallelujah.