AN: Hiya! Yes, I am updating in a fairly prompt manner… again. This feels kinda weird. And so you know, I'm only doing this right now in a feeble attempt to keep it near the top of the pile so that people will notice it, read it, and then review it. Yes, I am that desperate for reviews.

My thanks to the few, the proud, the reviewers. You answer my occasional questions and make me happy through praise, and I write semi-professional stuff.

Disclaimer: To own Naruto is to not be me.

Chapter 2

Exam 1

The Psychological Nightmare

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" a harsh voice boomed from the front of the room.

Hinata looked in the direction of the voice, and was already scared. He was a big man in a trench coat. His eyes were hard and he had a stern look on his face. Every inch of him screamed intimidating.

"Any unsanctioned fighting is strictly prohibited," he said. "The next one of you who even throws a punch will immediately fail the exams. Do I make myself clear?"

"Sorry," one of the attacking ninja said, in a slightly mocking tone. "Where just really edgy."

"Now then, my name is Ibiki Morino. I am the proctor of the first exam," the proctor said. Then, with a menacing smiled, he added, "And as of now, I'm your worse nightmare."

"A little clichéd if you ask me," Jordan whispered beside her.

"You got something to say, smart guy?" Ibiki asked, looking straight at Jordan.

"Sorry, I was just mentioning that I thought your introduction was a little clichéd," he replied naturally. "You know how many times someone has said that line? I've heard it at least twelve times."

"Real cute, kid," Ibiki said. "Just remember, I can fail you for any reason I see fit. So watch your tongue."

"Got it," he replied with a smile.

"Anyways, the written exam will begin shortly," Ibiki said, his eyes sweeping across the room.

Hinata did the same, and saw what he was looking at. All the Genin were staring at him with one expression or another. Some were less than worried, others were nearly excited. Looking over at Naruto, she noticed that he was stricken with horror. She knew he had never been good at written tests, and for the first exam to be one of those must have been terrifying for him. She then turned to Jordan to see his reaction. He had a mildly surprised smile on his face, or was it amusement? Whatever it was, it was comforting to see him so calm over such an important test.

Everyone was seated randomly by a group of aides and to Hinata's shock and joy, she had been seated next to Naruto. She instantly felt her face go warm with a blush. She had to say something, had to tell him how much faith she had in him, to encourage him to do his best.

Swallowing down the lump in her throat, Hinata looked over to him… and froze. He wasn't even looking at her, and she couldn't bring herself to even get his attention! She turned away quickly, and took in a few deep, but quiet breaths.

"Come on Hinata!" she said to herself, "You've got to do this. He needs to know you're there for him."

She turned her head again to face him, and froze again, but only for an instant. Forcing every ounce of courage she had into the moment, she finally forced out a quiet, but audible, "Naruto?"

He turned to her, and stared at her with his happy blue eyes. "Oh, hi, Hinata!" he said cheerfully, "didn't see you there."

"I uh…" she wavered slightly, "I just wanted to say good luck." Good luck! That was it? That was all she could say to him? She had forced all of her courage into one moment, and all she could say was 'Good luck?' He probably thought she was a complete idiot or something.

Instead of the slightly freaked out 'Good luck to you too,' statement she was expecting, Naruto just smiled confidently, saying, "Ah, you don't have to worry. An ace ninja like me doesn't need luck."

At least he was being confident. Maybe he'd actually done some studying during his training.

There was then a soft 'tap tap' sound on the chalkboard up front. Ibiki was standing there, about to say something.

"I'll now explain the rules of this exam," he said. "I'll only say this once, so no questions, and pay attention. The first thing we should cover is the point structure. Unlike most tests, in this one, you will start with all the points you can possibly get. You therefore, start with a total of ten points. For every question you get wrong, you will lose one point. As long as all of your answers are correct, you keep all of your points. As long as you have at least one point, you pass.

"Now, you will notice that on both sides of the room, there are people observing you. They are my Sentinels, and will be watching you during the test to make sure that you don't cheat. They are extremely sharp and don't miss a thing. If you are caught cheating by a Sentinel, you will lose two points. If you are caught five times, you and your teammates automatically fail, and will be removed from the room.

"On your sheets, you will notice there are nine questions. You have one hour to finish all of them. After the first forty minutes, a tenth question will be passed out. Now then, show us what fine shinobi you are. Begin the test."

Jordan flipped his paper over casually, and ran a lazy eye across the questions. Upon looking at it, his suspicions were confirmed. He then ran that same lazy eye around the room. He was looking for someone who was a likely opportunist, someone who would cooperate if he made the right offer. From what he could tell, there was no one in the room who fit the bill. So, he decided to look for the next best thing, someone he could rely on. Again, no one appeared fit the profile.

He made one final sweep, and noticed Hinata was sitting just three rows ahead and two to his right. He thought about it for a moment, and then remembered rule thirty eight. "If you can't go with what you know or trust, go with what you barely know or trust."

Pulling out a pre-folded piece of paper from one of his pouches, he took careful aim, and flicked it. The paper soared quickly through the air, and landed in Hinata's left pocket.

Allowing himself a brief smile of satisfaction, Jordan went on to the next stage in his plan. Quickly performing a series of handsigns, he pointed all of his fingers at Hinata and in his mind thought the words, "Willing Puppet Jutsu."

Hinata flipped her test over at the same time as all of the other students, and looked over the first question. It was some kind of advanced code that she'd never even seen before, and didn't even know where to begin to decrypt it. Looking over the other questions, she realized they were all even more difficult than the first one.

She then felt very strange all of a sudden. It was like her skin was crawling. It gave her the creeps, like someone who meant to kill her was watching her. The next thing she knew, she had this nearly uncontrollable urge to reach into her left pocket. She obeyed the feeling and was shocked to find a piece of paper, just sitting there. How had it gotten there? What was it doing in her pocket?

As she was asking herself this, she didn't even notice that she was unfolding it. When she finally did, she saw letters forming on it.

I suggest you find a discreet way to look at this paper; the Sentinels have already penned you for looking at it. Tug your right earlobe when you're ready.

Thinking as quickly as her mind would allow under the circumstances, Hinata hid the paper under her test. Afterwards, she performed a quick flurry of handsigns, and called on her Biakugan. After then focusing on the paper, she tugged her earlobe. Letters instantly began scrolling onto the paper.

I'm impressed. You thought of that very quickly. Now, I am going to give you an offer. But first, allow me to explain the real exam to you.

As you've probably already noticed, the questions of the exam are outrageously difficult. I'd say it borders on impossible for anyone in this room to really know the answers. But look around; everyone is writing down answers like they're freakin' geniuses. They may have realized the truth also, or it may just be desperation settling in early, but most of the exam takers have already started cheating.

That's the true exam. That's what we are here for. This isn't a test of knowledge, but one of information gathering. Odds are that there are a few people in this room who were planted by the proctor, disguised as people like us. But unlike us, they already know the answers to these questions. Our task is to get those answers from them or from someone else in the most discreet way we can.

The Sentinels also have a hidden purpose to them. Sure, they are here to try and catch us in the act, but that's just the obvious excuse. They are also there to intimidate us. They are there to scare us out of cheating. If they are successful, we start to go down a very fast and slippery path.

First we would try to answer the questions on our own. Once we realize that we don't know the answers, we start to squirm. We realize that we have to cheat to get the answers, but we know that if we screw up, they'll catch us. And the clock keeps ticking. It falls into a situation of damned if we don't damned if we do, and we do nothing. It's a psychological nightmare.

If you understood that, please tap you left foot once. If not, tap your right.

It had all been explained so fast, but Hinata understood. She tapped her left foot. More words scrolled onto the paper.

Good, now to explain a few things. If it's any consultation, my skin is crawling too. Sorry about that, it's a side effect of my 'Willing Puppet Jutsu.' It basically forces one of us to mirror the other's movements, and chakra flow. The urges you felt when you grabbed the paper; that was the jutsu. However, it can work either way. Meaning I can force you to move, or you can force me to move.

This paper you're reading is being affected by my 'Invisible Pen Jutsu.' Basically it turns my chakra into ink, and writes down my verbal thoughts onto the paper. It makes for good, discreet communication in situations like this.

Now for the offer I mentioned. Since I don't have any discreet ways to directly cheat, I want you to do it for me. You find the answers, write them down on your paper, and I mirror your movements and get the answers. When we've gotten all of the answers, we cutoff the jutsu, and let time run out. Easy, right?

And don't worry, I know that it sounds like a one-way deal, but here's my end. Before the next exam, I'll provide you with either a service or an item that will prove to be useful during the exam. If you use whatever it is well, it could give you a definite edge in the next exam. That is, of course, provided that we both make it to the next exam.

Any questions?

Hinata thought about the mysterious offer for a moment. If this person was being sincere, she and her squad could make it through the exams that much easier. But if he was lying… what was the worse that could happen, aside from there being one more squad in the next exam? But she did have a few questions.

'Who are you?' she wrote on the bottom of her exam sheet.

You'll know, soon enough.

'What exactly are you offering me?'

Whatever I think will be most advantageous to you. It'll depend greatly on what the exam is.

'Why tell me all of this?'

If I hadn't, you may have realized I had you under a jutsu. I didn't want to risk you trying to undo it. You may have gotten caught while trying to figure it out. If that had happened, there would be a chance that I'd get caught too.

'Why should I trust you?'

Why shouldn't you trust me? If you don't have anymore questions and wish to accept my offer, scratch your left eyebrow. If you don't want to accept my offer, just breath on your hands to undo the Willing Puppet Jutsu.

Hinata thought for another minute. The gains could potentially outweigh the losses, and it wasn't like there would be any great price to pay if he or she double crossed her. She scratched her eyebrow and went straight to work finding the answers.

There was only one row of test-takers ahead of her, but fortunately one of them appeared to know what he was doing. Looking over his answers briefly, she decided that they made the most sense, so she started copying them down.

When she was completely done, she remembered that Naruto was sitting next to her. She glanced briefly over to his paper and saw that it was just as her mystery partner had said; Naruto was practically squirming in his seat. It was terrible. His entire body was shaking, and his face looked panicked. It was eating her up from the inside to see him like this. She had to do something.

"Na-" was as far as she got, when she had the urge to shut her mouth and look down at her paper. It was her partner, she knew it before the words came onto the paper beneath her test.

Are you crazy? Were you really about to offer him your answers?

Hinata nodded.

Look, if you had done that, you'd have been penned instantly. You'd be guaranteed an auto-fail if you were to just say, 'Hey, look at my answers.' Do you really want that?

'No,' she wrote, 'but, I want to help him.'

That's all well and good, but if you do it like that, your only helping him fail along with yourself and your team. Think about the consequences before you act.

'Then, could you help him?' she asked.

No. I don't have anything to gain from it. Besides, what good would it do him? Let's say, I give him the answers. I put him under my jutsu, and give him the answers. How did he earn those answers? He didn't know them, and he didn't find them for himself, he didn't even make contact with someone who could provide the answers. It would be like paying a worker for not doing his job. It's just not the thing to do. He has to do something for it. And he's in no condition to come halfway.

'Then I've got to do something.'

No, you're under the impression that you have to do something, when in reality, doing nothing is a perfectly acceptable thing. If he were a member of your team, I'd agree with you, but he isn't. Rule number one: Look after your own first. Anyone else is secondary. Help the secondary only if it doesn't hurt your own, or if it is your mission objective.

'What if he just looks at my answers? Would I be okay then?'

It's a risk, a big risk. I'd expect the Sentinels would know of your collaboration, and just pen you along with him.

'Is it definite?'

No, but it's very likely.

'Why do you even care about what I do?'

I don't. I'm just telling you to be careful.

'Why?'

Does it matter? Maybe I just don't want you to fail. Or maybe just want to see my end of the deal complete. If you're careless, you will automatically fail, and I won't be able to keep my end of the deal.

I'm just saying that you have to be careful. I'm not going to help him, because he can't earn my help. Do what you're going to do. Just make sure you're being careful. I'm going to cut off the jutsu now. If I need help for the last question, I'll reestablish contact. If not, just fold up this paper and take it with you. I'll ask for it back when we speak next, just before the next exam. See ya.

Before Hinata could do anything to stop it, she raised her hands to her mouth and breathed on them. The crawling feeling left her skin, and she was no longer connected to whoever that had been.

She looked back over to Naruto. He was still shaking in his seat. The feeling telling her to help him washed over her again. She just had to. But she also needed to be careful about it. Whoever she had been helping had made his or her point clearly. But what could she do other than offer him her answers.

"N… Naruto," she whispered.

"Huh?" he looked over to her, coming out of his panic.

"If… if you want, I'll let you… look at my answers," she said.

He seemed to consider this seriously for a moment, but he was suspicious at the same time. "How do I know you're not trying to get me caught?" he asked suspiciously.

She wasn't expecting this! Her mind instantly rushed into a panic! She'd been hoping he'd just say thanks and start looking at it! But here he was, asking for a reason! What should she say? What could she say? She couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth, that she liked him! If she could have, she would have months ago! Then, she had it!

"I was… thinking… that it'd be nice for us… to stay together," she stumbled over her words. At least it wasn't a total lie. "You know… us rookies."

"Oh! Well, I guess that makes sense," he replied, that bright smile on his face. "Thanks a lot!"

Hinata smiled, and shifted her paper slightly so he could have a better view. Jordan watched with mild interest of her choice of action, and disgust at Naruto's lack of subtlety. He was practically drooling over the answers, like a dog getting its first steak in weeks. He was just starting to look over the first answer, when a kunai went flying centimeters from hitting his nose. It landed with muffled thud, piercing through the paper of the guy right behind him.

"What was that for?" he asked angrily.

"That was for cheating," the Sentinel who had thrown the kunai said. "You and your team can go now."

The guy was eventually dragged out of the room, screaming that he hadn't cheated. His teammates had at least had the dignity to walk out quietly. Jordan looked at the clock. "Fifteen minutes in, and the first group is out," he smiled. "There won't be a whole lot of us left by the end."

He then looked back to Hinata and Naruto. Naruto was clearly shaken, and Hinata was still urging to cheat off of her. He put up some obvious bravado this time, saying something about not wanting her to get into trouble. After hearing it, she started blushing like mad and was trying to hide it.

"Great," he thought. "I tell her to be careful and stay out of trouble, and she ignores me! He says basically the same thing to her, and her face gets like a tomato! And he's not even being honest! He's not even able to man up to the fact that he's scared as hell and admit it, and she's ready to fall at his feet! …Lucky bastard.

"Wait, a minute… Why in hell's name am I getting so worked up about this? I meditated today; I should be able to control this! Stay calm… breathe… Focus on the moment, the importance of the exam, the mission. Gather what information you can, figure out how good they are. I'll deal with this problem later."

The rest of the exam went off like clockwork. People wrote down the answers, regardless of how they got them, those who were already done sat around quietly, and every couple of minutes or so, someone would screw up five times and be forced to leave. Naruto stayed quiet and unmoving and Hinata did the same. The only difference was that Hinata had a full sheet of answers, and Naruto only had his name on his.

Jordan smiled to himself, happy to take in what everyone was doing at his own leisure. He heard a dog barking off to one side. It was that dog of Kiba's, Akamaru. He would bark a little, and Kiba would say something like "good work, boy," and write down a portion of an answer.

Shino was mumbling something to his finger. Jordan had known the instant he'd seen him that Shino was a bit weird, but talking to your finger was just too weird. Niles was closer though, so he'd just ask him about it later.

Off in another area, that black haired kid who had walked in with Naruto was writing down his answers at a rapid pace, but he wasn't looking down. No one wrote at his pace without looking down, not even the guy in front of him… "So that's it."

Jordan got it now. Putting the kid under his Willing Puppet Jutsu, he saw the world as the kid saw it. Chakra was flowing all over the place in lines and waves, he noticed strings hanging from the ceiling, and everything seemed broken down so precisely. With this kind of vision, Jordan could easily copy, or memorize any of the techniques being used in the room.

He cut off the connection quickly, not wanting the kid to follow the chakra lines between them. He had to admit, the kid had an impressive technique there, maybe as useful as Hinata's. But her sight technique had been different. It was like seeing through everything, and knowing how and where to strike also.

As the time winded down, the only thing that happened outside of the routine of pencil scratches and removals came when one guy had to go to the bathroom. It was a trick, of course. His escort was nothing but a puppet. Jordan had seen him bring it out around the halfway point. It didn't matter all that much to him. He already knew puppet control jutsus and could even perform some ventriloquism over long distance. Instead of thinking about how the puppet might have recorded the information the guy was going to retrieve, Jordan took the time to sample other people's jutsus through the Willing Puppet. They all had their uses, and he committed them all to memory. The clan leaders would be very pleased with this kind of intelligence.

The forty minutes ended and Ibiki stepped up to the front again. "Before I handout the final question, I have one more thing to tell you-"

He was stopped short as the guy who'd gone to the bathroom came back in. "I trust you found your break… enlightening," he said knowingly. The guy's face showed a hint of controlled frustration, but he covered it up quickly as he walked down to his seat, slipping a roll of paper onto the desk of his teammate.

"As I was saying," he began again, "I have one announcement to make before I pass out the final question. Anyone who gets the tenth question wrong will fail the test, regardless of how you did on the other nine."

"You're joking, right?" the pink haired girl on Jordan's right asked.

"No, I'm not," Ibiki replied calmly. "Furthermore, if you fail to answer the tenth question correctly you will never be permitted to take the Chunin Exams again. Never, as in you'll be Genin for the rest of your lives."

"You can't do that!" the girl yelled at him.

"I can, and I am doing that," he said. "If you don't think you can handle the final question, but still want a chance to retake the exams, you can leave now and try again next year. Just raise your hand, and your name and number and those of your squadmates will be marked down. I'll give you a moment to decide."

Almost instantly, hands started to rise. Numbers were called off, and more than half of the people who hadn't been caught already left the room. Hinata knew she wasn't going to leave. She had a way to find the answers, and whoever she'd been working with would probably try to help her out. Besides, it'd disappoint Kiba and Shino. And even Jordan seemed pleased that she was here. She didn't know why, but it did mean something to her.

She wasn't even concerned about the tenth question. She was, however, concerned for Naruto. He still didn't have a single answer on his paper, and she had no doubt the tenth question would be even harder than all of the others. If he didn't know any of those answers, how would he know the answer to the tenth question?

That was why she was so relieved to see him raise his hand in defeat, and so anguished when he slammed it down on the desk. "I don't care," he said, sounding more determined than she'd ever heard him before, "I don't care if I get stuck as a Genin! I'll still become Hokage!"

She had to admire him, of course, but what good would his determination do him if he couldn't even answer one question? But she noticed something else happening around her. As Naruto had spoken his words, people stopped leaving. Had he inspired them to stay? Or did they just not want to get shown up? Whatever the reason, everyone who heard Naruto say that he would stay were also staying.

"Well then, looks like the rest of you decided to stay," Ibiki observed. Then, putting on a very uncharacteristic smile, he said, "You all pass. Congratulations."

AN: This chapter is officially over. And holy hell folks, this is the longest thing I've ever written for something not related to school! HUZZAH FOR ME! Now, please review. I'm begging you people. I'm typing on my knees here, seriously. This is a really hard floor too. My last chapter only got a single review, I'm almost ashamed of that! Besides, if you don't tell me what you thought, how can I know if I'm doing well or not? I need to know! And I still need a better title. I'll update again sooner or later, how soon depends on how many reviews I get. Laters!