Chapter 7
'Italics': thoughts.
(Sadako's POV)
The sound of scribbling filled the room.
'These questions.. they are way beyond the genin level. Half of the candidates won't be able to get more than 3 of these correct. I just hope my team knows what this test is about'
I glanced around, making sure that the invigilators don't think I'm cheating. They know what they are doing but it never hurts taking precautions, does it? I glanced around. Quite a few of them had realized the true motive of the test and had started cheating, the shinobi way.
I can't cheat in here.
I can't cheat in here at all.
I can't cheat in here otherwise I'm dead.
I sighed and looked at the questions. They were not very difficult but they weren't exactly easy either. I looked at how others were getting their answers.
Sasuke was using his sharingan. The hyuga kids were probably using the byakugan...Is that an eye there? Oh god! ...The cute girl with the buns had somehow attached glass to the ceiling. Wow, people here really know what they are doing.
I looked at my test paper. First question: Decode the following and summarize its meaning...A question from Cryptography...Kamisama this might take a little time. I started writing the answer, keeping an eye on my teammates. They seemed to be doing pretty well so there was nothing to worry about. Alright back to me, the minimum I need to score is a point and a maximum is..well of course a perfect, which is almost impossible...but I can hope for the best.
I kept on writing the answers, occasionally glancing at the clock, keeping a track of time. We had to finish the 9 questions in 45 minutes as the last question will be provided 15 minutes before the exam ends, which gave us 5 minutes per question 'Which is good enough considering the other tests that have a minute per question'
I noticed Naruto, his hands on his head, very tempted to pull out his hair in frustration. Poor guy, He must be having a hard time getting his answers.
I realized my mind has been wandering off a bit too much so I tried to concentrate. It's not like me to zone out during exams. Come on Sadako, Focus.
'I have answered 8 of these questions. I hope that's good enough.'
Forty five minuts had passed by now. I guess they will provide the tenth question any minute. Sure, soon enough proctor Ibiki spoke
"Alright, Get ready for the 10th question! But before we get to the question, I'm adding a new rule and remember the rule is absolute. First, you must choose whether to accept or reject the question"
"What happens if someone chooses not to answer the question" the blond girl, Temari asked
"If you reject the question and don't even try to answer it you will lose all your points and fail, and so will your teammates"
"Then why would anyone refuse to answer?!" the candidates started shouting
"Because of the other rule"
"The other rule? What's the other rule?" My teammate, Itsuki asked
"If you try to answer the question but end up getting it wrong, you will not be allowed to apply for the exams, ever again"
"But there are people here who have already given this exam once!"
"Then curse your bad luck because I wasn't making the rules back then. I am now. Take a failing grade and try again later, answer the question wrong and get stuck being a genin forever. Anyone who has doubts would be smart enough to reject the tenth question"
'Talk about a no win situation. Heads I win, Tails you lose. This is seriously messed up.'
"Those who don't wish to answer the tenth question should raise their hands. One their number is confirmed, they will be asked to leave the room"
Slowly, the room got emptier as one by one, the candidates started leaving.
'Don't raise your hand Itsuki kun, Kazue kun. This is our final question. Please don't'
I looked up and saw something that has me stare at it in shock. Naruto had raised his hand up in the air. This can't be true...right? Naruto doesn't look like someone who'd give up that easily. I didn't really know him but still I thought he wouldn't be someone who'd give up.
I was right. Naruto slammed his hand on the desk and shouted
"Don't underestimate me! I don't quit and I won't run. I will accept your tenth question even if I remain a genin for the rest of my life. I will become hokage. Your stupid questions won't stop me"
'You did it, Naruto. You rock. You have given them the answer they wanted' I realized I wasn't the only one smiling in the room. Naruto had given the other candidates the push they needed to be able to make up their mind to answer the last question.
"Are you sure you don't want to quit? If you answer wrong you know what will happen." Proctor Ibiki asked again
"I already told you and my answer remains the same" he replied.
"Hmm..Well then, all seventy eight of you still here, you have all passed the exam"
'I knew it! I knew this was the tenth question'
I guess only some of had realised that this was the tenth question because most of the candidates were looking extremely confused. The girl Sakura though voiced the question
"What do you mean by that? What about the tenth question?"
"This was the tenth question."
"If we were to pass based on our answer of the tenth question, what was the point of having us answer the first nine?"
"It was to test your spying skills. The rule: you pass as a three man cell was to pressurise you all with the fear that anything you do wrong is going to bring your teammates down with you"
Proctor Ibiki went on and on with his speech, though he seemed like a completely different person now. He told us that those who cheated in a clumsy way, failed. He untied the cloth on his forehead to show us the proof of how some missions can cost us more than just our lives. It was horrible to look at. There were burn marks, punctures, long slash marks... signs of torture.
The first part of the exam was finally over. I wonder how much time we will get before the―oh well never mind. A woman had made a splendid entry by crashing the glass and made a huge announcement
"Alright kiddos, no time to be celebrating. I'm the proctor for the second exam, Mitarashi Anko. Now, follow me."
We did as she told us to. We followed her to a forest, with a fence with sign 'NO TRESPASSING' blocking us from going any further.
"This is the arena for your second exams. Training grounds 44, also known as the forest of death. And you're about to find out why they call it so"
"You're about to find out why they call it so~~" naruto mimicked her, in a sing-song voice "Like that's gonna scare us!"
'Oh Naruto, you don't mimic teachers like that'
They ended up making quite a scene, with the proctor warning Naruto that people like him are first to get eliminated and a grass ninja returning our proctor's kunai back to her with her long tongue. Gross. That nin, though, is someone we might wanna avoid.
"Alright kiddos, before the second exam starts, you are gonna have to fill this consent form" Anko san said handing out the forms to everyone. "We don't want to be held responsible for any deaths that might occur, now do we? First, I'll explain what is in the second exam, then you can sign your forms with your teammates and bring them to that hut for submission. Now about the exam, in simple words it's a survival test. Let's start with the topography of this ground"
She started explaining about the topography, reminding us occasionally about the man eating animals, deadly insects and the poisonous plants. Our second exam was comparatively harder than the first. There would be two scrolls, the 'heaven' and the 'earth', and to pass we need to have both the scrolls. Thirteen teams would be given the earth scroll and the other thirteen would carry the heaven scroll. We will have to get the other scroll by any means necessary but also have to be very careful not to let any of our teammates die.
After obtaining both the scrolls we had to reach the tower that was in the centre of the forest, around ten kilometres inside the forest. We were also strictly forbidden to look at the contents of the scroll.
They asked the teams to come in the hut one by one. They had also covered the front of the hut with a black cloth so that others don't get to know which team has which scroll.
"Hey Sadako, don't you think you should tie your hair. What if it tangles or gets stuck in a branch during a fight?" Ryu said.
"Yeah Sadako, you should tie it. Wait I have an extra hair tie, you can braid your hair if you want" Nanami chan, Ryu kun's teammate said handing me a hair tie.
"Thanks. I think I will tie it, Anyways, I'm glad that both our teams are doing just fine in the exams. Hopefully we pass this test, this one sounds a bit tougher than the previous one" I said, a little worried. I was having a weird feeling. Shinobi instincts in a new place, I guess.
"Heh, our perfecto Sadako is worried for once" Ryu kun started teasing me "I never thought I would see this day in my life"
"Ryu if you say another word, I swear I'll kill you" I said, while trying to braid my hair.
"Alright sorry. By the way, you seem to be struggling with making a braid" Ryu pointed out, with a teasing tone. I swear if he does that once again, he's dead.
"Lack of practice" I said simply
"How so? You braid Kanna's hair all the time" he said.
"Lack of practice of braiding my own hair, dear Ryu kun"
"Oh okay... want me to braid it for you?" he volunteered
"What?!"
"Aww...isn't that awfully sweet of Ryuichi to do that" Both of our teams started teasing.
'There they go again' I rolled my eyes and handed the hair tie to Ryu. Might as well get some benefit. He started braiding my hair and I looked around in the meantime. I saw Sasuke sitting by a tree, looking around too. He looked at me and then Ryu braiding my hair.
'Did I saw his eye twitch? Oh Sasuke you haven't changed a lot'
When Ryu finished braiding, both our teams went to collect our respective scrolls. After collecting the scrolls we had to reach the gate number we were assigned to enter the forest. Each team was given a different gate number.
"Alright kids, be prepared. The second part of the exams.. Begins"
Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry for the delay, been a little busy. Anyways here's the new chapter. Btw Isn't Ryu a sweetie ;)