Gallivanting God

Chapter 6

Naruto stared at the man in front of him. Despite all the information he had read about famous Shinobi in Konoha. This guy never popped up. This caused Naruto to use Analyse on him. This action brought up two separate screens.

The skill "Analyse" has reached Level 30. With this Level Up comes further upgrades to the skill. You can now see more in-depth information about those who you inspect.

Name: Morino Ibiki

Level: 88

Job: Special Jonin

Title: Head of Konoha's ANBU T&I Division

HP: 70,000/70,000

Chakra Capacity: 623,000/623,068

Chakra Control: 91%

STR: 2486
STM: 4593
DEX: 3065
VIT: 6789
INT: 574
WIS: 692
LUK: 50
CHA: 63

Skills:
Henge no Jutsu: LVL. MAX
Bunshin no Jutsu:LVL. MAX
Kawarimi no Jutsu:LVL. MAX
Tree Walking:LVL. MAX
Water Walking:LVL. MAX
Summoning Jutsu:LVL. MAX

Naruto stopped reading the skills at that point, there was a lot of them. So, his Analyse now gave him information on people's jutsu too? So that meant, if he levelled it up even more, he would be able to see people's attributes?

"For deducing an aspect of the Skill Level-Up System, you gain +2 points to WIS and INT."

Naruto was happy for that, but this brought about even more questions for him. Why could he see this Ibiki's stats, but not Kakashi's? What is the deciding factor that lets him see these stats? Is it the level of his analyse skill, or is it his actual value in the world at large? His Level? Naruto quickly snapped himself out of those thoughts. He didn't want to zone out again.

"As the first Proctor of the Chunin Exam, I decide what you all will do. But make no mistake, I am going to thin the herd. Not even half of you are going to make out of this room." The Torture specialist grinned at the now nervous Genin. The scars on his face made him appear ominous. "So, to start things off, I'll tell you that the first exam will be a written Test. This examination will see if you have the necessary knowledge to advance as a Chunin." Some of the teams began to murmur among themselves. If their teams were anything liken Naruto's, then they at least had someone with book smarts on their team. This would be a cinch. "Now, to prevent making this too easy for you. I've already assigned you all specified seats around the room. I will call out your number, and you will move to the spot I designate, understand?"

His tone left no room for disagreement. After another 15 minutes of getting everyone to their new seats, Naruto found himself beside a Genin from Takigakure and Yamanaka Ino. What in God's name did he do to deserve this? Having Sakura on his team was bad enough and now her? Wasn't his luck stat supposed be at 777?

Naruto turned towards his fellow blonde; it'd be better to try get on her good side.

"Hey Ino, 'sup?" Naruto greeted his fellow Genin. Ino looked over towards him, he could see the confusion on her face. Did she not recognise him? It took her a moment, and then a flash of recognition passed over her face.

"Naruto!? I didn't recognise you without that horrendous outfit you always had on." She greeted back in a whispered shout. So that was it. She was too busy fighting with Sakura over Sasuke to notice him. Naruto flashed a smile at her.

"Well y'know, Chunin Exams and all, have to show I'm taking this Shinobi life seriously." Naruto noticed that Ino was subtly checking him out, but he didn't try to bust her. It wasn't bad to be on the receiving end of this kind of thing.

"Y-yeah, gotta try our best!" The Mind-Reader cheered in a small voice. Evidently, she wasn't as serious about being a Shinobi as he was. But it was more serious than Sakura was. Naruto looked back towards the front of the class, where Ibiki was looking over everyone, double checking they were all in place.

"Alright Gnats! This written test is of Chunin Level, which means you're going to have to wrack your brains. Now that being said, there are rules to this test." Ibiki picked up a piece of chalk that was on the blackboard behind him. "These are important rules, so I'm going to write them down to make sure you all see and remember them."

The scarred man turned around and began to write diligently on the blackened surface. "First Rule, you will all start with 10 points. The test is made up of 10 questions and each one is worth 1 point, but… this test uses a subtraction system."

Many of the Genin were confused by this, so the man elaborated. "Basically, if you get all the questions correct, you'll keep your 10 points, but if you miss say, 2 questions, you'll lose 2 points and will have 8, get it?" The man looked out the corner of his eye at the Genins.

"So, if you get all of them wrong, you'll have Zero then. Pretty simple." Naruto mused as he waited for the other rules.

"Second Rule. This is a team Test. Whether you pass or not is dependant on the combined scores of your teammates. Each team here will complete to see how many points they can hold on to from the initial total of 30 Points."

A "thunk" could be heard towards the back of the class, Naruto turned to see Sakura with a large red mark on her forehead with her arm raised. "That table must be made out of metal to survive that." The blonde observed, feeling sorry for the furniture that it had to go through that.

"Wait a second! I don't understand the Initial Point system either, but why is this a team test!?" Sakura questioned passionately.

"Shut up. You don't have the right to question me. There is a reason for this, be quiet and listen." Sakura sunk back down into her seat, her brows furrowing. "Reason?" she idled on that word.

"Ok, and the now the most important rule. The Third rule is that during the exam, anyone caught cheating by these guys." Ibiki paused as around him burst into smoke and people dressed in strict grey military clothing appeared. "Will have 2 points subtracted for every offense. So, there will be some who will lose all their points during the exam and be asked to leave."

"I see… So, there are ways to lose points besides answering incorrectly…" Sakura began to get nervous about this.

"Realise that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As Shinobi's trying to achieve the level of Chunin, be proud ninjas."

Sakura's panic began to increase slightly. "Calm down, yeah, of course we have Naruto, but as long as Sasuke-kun and I do well, even if he gets zero points, we just have to cover for him." As Sakura concluded her thoughts, her panic decreased, assured by her own logic.

"And the final rule… those that lose all their initial points during the test and those that don't answer any questions correctly, will be failed along with their 2 teammates."

Sakura and Sasuke began to panic, whilst Naruto was surprised. This guy was cutthroat, to the point and above all crafty. If the blonde hadn't increased his own intelligence, he'd have been shitting bricks right now.

"Hmm, why can I sense killing intent being directed to me by two people?" Naruto wondered idly as the intent washed over him. Naruto looked over the four rules on the board. There was something about this test he didn't quite understand. Before the blonde had anymore time to ponder, Ibiki declared that they had one hour to finish their papers.

Naruto looked over the questions. Thanks to his increased intelligence and his diligent studying to catch up on his education. Naruto could see that these questions were ones he could solve! "Oh 777 luck stat, I'll never badmouth you again!" At Mach speed, Naruto fired through the questions, shocking both of his teammates and Ino beside him. It took Naruto only 10 minutes to answer all the questions and with that done, Naruto turned his paper over and kicked his feet up.

Ibiki looked over the hall and could see that blonde brat kicked back with his feet up like he was at home. According to the information he pulled, Examinee Number 53, Uzumaki Naruto was the dead last of his year. Although it is not inconceivable to gain intelligence after graduation, it had only been 3 months, that was not enough time to catch up on years' worth of failed education. Despite that, Ibiki couldn't help but be impressed by the blonde.

"Kakashi's star pupil, huh?" Ibiki smirked as his gaze shifted to the others taking the exam. And in a flash 35 minutes went by, as well as dozens of teams quitting or getting caught cheating, leaving 15 minutes left on the exam. Ibiki cleared his throat and stepped forward.

"Now that the trash is out the way, it's time for all you take the 10th question. But, before you take the question, it's time to go over the additional rules for this question." Ibiki turned around dramatically his trench coat fluttering up behind him like a cape. Looking over his shoulder, the man spoke in a harsh voice. "I'll now explain, these are the rules of desperation."

-z-z-z-z-z-

In the Hokage Tower, the three Jonin's of the Rookie Teams were all seen together in the public lounge, chatting and eating. Kakashi let out a sigh.

"It sure is boring without my team around, the missions will have to wait."

"Don't worry, you'll be busy again soon, Kakashi." Sarutobi Asuma replied back. Kakashi managed to make a questioning expression despite only having one eye visible.

"Why is that?"

"I heard that Examiner for the First Test, is Morino Ibiki." Kakashi couldn't help the tension rolling across his face.

"So that sadist is proctoring this year?" Kakashi would have been more worried if he had not had faith in his students abilities. Sakura was the brains of the group, Sasuke was the firepower and Naruto was the pillar of the team. Kurenai who was sitting on the same bench as Asuma, grew curious.

"That Sadist?" She queried.

"You're a new Jonin Kurenai, so you probably don't know." Asuma supplied.

"Who is he?" The Beauty pried.

"A pro." Asuma responded curtly.

"A pro? Of what?"

Taking a drag of his cigarette, Asuma blew it out before replying.

"Torture and Interrogation." Kurenai couldn't stop the alarm that spread throughout her mind at that information. "Those brats must be crumbling at his mental torture, a product of his perfected interrogation techniques."

"First, for the 10th question you must decide whether you will take it or not."

"Choose?! What happens if we choose not to!?" Temari of the Sand was the first one to voice her question.

"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero, you'll fail along with your teammates!" Ibiki flooded them with killing intent as his gaze hardened into that of an icy dagger. Outrage and panic began to rise among the remaining participants.

"What does that mean!?"

"Then of course we will decide to take the question!"

Ibiki let out a breath before collecting himself.

"And now, the other rule. If you choose to take it and answer incorrectly… that person will lose the right to take the Chunin Selection Exams again!" Silence rained over the classroom, before Kiba shouted, outraged.

"WHAT KIND OF STUPID RULE IS THAT!? THERE ARE GUYS WHO HAVE TAKEN THE EXAM BEFORE!"

The low chuckles of Morino Ibiki reverberated around the classroom, chilling people to their bones.

"You guys were unlucky. This year, it's my rules. But I am giving you a way out. Those that aren't confident can choose not to take it and try again next year."

Everyone understood the ramifications brought before them. You could either leave and try again at the next Chunin Exams, or you could take the final question, risk getting it wrong, and losing your right to take part in the Chunin Selections Exams for the rest of your life. A feeling of dread encompassed everyone except Naruto. The blonde watched as Ibiki called for those who wanted to leave to raise their hand. The blonde had to give the man his respects. This guy understood the human mind. He was truly a professional at Torture and Investigation. People began to drop out in large droves. From the 48 teams that were present when the 10th question began, there were now 23 teams.

Naruto observed his teammates, Sasuke was as collected as he could be, but Sakura was who worried Naruto. Yes, she had resolved herself to take this exam, but Naruto felt like she was the most empathetic of the group. Would she sacrifice herself to give either himself or Sasuke the chance to compete again?

"I have no problems with this exam, it doesn't matter all that much, I know I've passed this portion! But, what about Naruto? I know his academics were nowhere near up to scruff?"

"But Naruto's changed recently, I know you've taken notice of it. You just choose to ignore it. Even this whole time during the exam, you saw him, he finished the test, whether he cheated or not, he is not the same old Naruto." Inner Sakura argued with herself.

"Well, I guess he has changed, but the pressure has gotten to Naruto before. On our first mission, when the Demon Brothers attacked us, he froze up! What's not to stop that from happening here!?"

"if you know that much, then you also know that Naruto created his Nindo on that mission too. To never go back on his unbending words! That's the Naruto we're dealing with now! Even when those from the Sand were trying to hurt Konohamaru, who was it that handled the situation!? It was Naruto! In that calm and collected manner, everything was solved by him! Instead of worrying about your false perceptions of him, Sakura, open your eyes and fully watch who Naruto is so you can understand him!"

Sakura's inner-self's words had hit home. For maybe the first time in a while, she listened to her Inner-voice. Her hand that she was about to raise was lowered back down to her lap. Looking towards Naruto again, she noticed he was looking towards her. The blonde grinned at her and she smiled back with a fiery determination behind her eyes. Over the course of the next 2 minutes another three had dropped out leaving twenty teams left. Ibiki had not been wrong at the start. Less than half of the 51 original teams were here.

"20 Teams left huh. Not bad, alright then. For those of you who stayed here despite everything against you. You all pass!" Ibiki Morino, the man known to interrogate every criminal since his tenure in ANBU and succeed, smiled. A genuine smile, that somehow, despite all his scars, fit his face. Shock filled the entire room. Everyone did not expect to pass that.

"W-wait, what about the Tenth question!?" Temari demanded.

"There was no tenth question." The man grinned, before settling back into "interrogation mode". "Or rather, to take it or not to take it, that was the tenth question." Many did not understand, but for Naruto, who wasn't worried in the slightest about any of this test, took it all in with a clear head.
"Oh, so it was more of a question of our resolve or something? Right? Like, if we were prepared to take the risks?" Naruto questioned the proctor, attracting everyone's focus to the answer. Naruto himself just wanted to clear it up so he understood the purpose, he wasn't trying to help anyone else.

"Correct. How can you even think of becoming a Chunin Captain, if you aren't prepared to risk it all for your mission, or your comrades." Ibiki undid the bandana on his head, causing Naruto and many others to gasp. The mans head was entirely scar-ridden. Burnt Screws, lashes, drilling. All the remnants of intense physical torture. "No matter the consequence to you, information is key. It can make or break a nation." The blonde looked towards Ibiki's gloved hands, thinking the damage must be even worse under there. "Do you all understand at least somewhat now? How can you even think of being a Chunin Captain, who risk their lives in the field, if you're too afraid to risk your shinobi career here. They're both the same choices in principle."

Everyone looked at Ibiki, understanding and clarity coming to them. Some of them felt idiotic for wanting to give up before. To risk your career is what you did as a Shinobi on any mission – except D-Ranks – so why would they hesitate about doing it here.

"That concludes the first test, the second proctor will be along shortly." Ibiki and all his invigilators left the room, leaving the Chunin hopefuls in relative silence. For five minutes. That was until the window to the right of the classroom shattered, a black silhouette barrelling through the open space of the classroom. A few of the Genin by the window had to shield themselves from the shattered glass straying near them. In under a second, the black silhouette became a banner pinned up by 4 perfectly placed Kunai. The banner simply read.

"Mitarashi Anko, 2nd Proctor of the Chunin Selection Exams."

"Alright, listen up fuckers! Quit your dillydallying, I'm gonna make you all regret staying here for this exam! The name's Mitarashi Anko, so you better be ready!" The now named Anko, called out with gusto, akin to that of the perception people have of Naruto. Whilst the entrance was great and all, it felt really awkward.

"You know you're five minutes late, right?" One of the remaining Genin made her aware of the fact. Anko couldn't help the bead of sweat that dripped down her forehead at that, nor the slight dusting of embarrassed blush on her cheeks.

"O-oh, that so? Well, it doesn't matter all that much, follow me to the place of the second portion of the exams!"

And follow they did, the remaining sixty participants were now all outside Training Ground 44.

"Also known, as the Forest of Death." Anko introduced the second exams location to them with excitement. Many of the participants saw the forest and the gloomy atmosphere that encompassed it, the feeling of dread welling up within them.

"You'll soon find out why it's called the 'Forest of Death'." Anko stated seriously as she gave a hawk eye over the competition. Naruto couldn't take her seriously after her blunder in the classroom, it only felt natural to want to make fun of her.

"You'll soon find oouutt whyyyy it's called the Foooorest of Deaathhh." Naruto parroted her mockingly. The blonde straightened himself up, pointing his right index finger towards the proctor. "I ain't afraid of this little garden! Let's get this show on the road!"

Anko smiled at him gently. "Yeah, you're spirited kid." The moment she finished saying that, a Kunai was produced from the sleeve of her trench coat, and she flung it towards Naruto. The blonde had already started reacting the moment she had it in hand. Palming one of his own, the blades contacted each other, the force of their collision breaking the Kunais into pieces. Anko looked at the blonde with surprise, whilst he grinned fiercely at her.

"It'll take more than that, to scare me Proctor!" Anko quickly deduced that she liked the kids' guts. Its not everyday a Chunin hopeful can react to her speed, even if it was a lazy throw. Grinning widely, Anko reached into one of the deep pockets of her coat.

"Now… the fuck are they… before we start the Second Exam… ah there they are… I've got something to pass out!" Anko had been rummaging about her coat the entire time trying to find the stack of paper she had in hand. "You lot are gonna sign these agreement forms." To make her point she rapped them with her left hands knuckles.

"What?" Kiba questioned, with a stupid look on his face. Anko blushed again she smiled so wide her eyes shut.

"Well, there'll be deaths in this one, and if I don't have you guys sign them, it will all be my responsibility." Some of the Genin made to get the forms, before Anko held her hand out stopping them in their tracks. "I'm gonna explain the second test, then you can sign it afterwards. After that, you'll check in that booth behind me." The purple haired pyscho jutted her thumb behind her, to the rather simple looking stand. Anko walked up to one of the Genin handing the stack of papers to them to pass around.

"Okay! Time to explain the second test! Simply put… you will attempt the ultimate survival."

The lazier members of the Genin, namely, Shikamaru cursed his fate. "Fuck… Survival… too troublesome." The Nara Heir lamented his fate. Anko took out, what looked like a map, from somewhere.

"First, let's have a look at the area." She held the map closer to the Genin. "Around Training Field 44, are 44 locked gates. The forests, a river, and a tower in the centre. From the gates to the tower is 10km/6 miles." The Genin looked at the forest behind them, whilst the distance wasn't that far, especially for Shinobi like themselves, they knew from the first exam, there was more to this. "During your stay, you will be tasked with completing an objective. Using the variety of weapons and Jutsu at your disposal, you will compete in a no rules, scroll battle."

"Scroll?" A Genin from The Hidden Waterfall called out.

"Yeah, you're gonna fight over these bad boys." Anko then extracted a dark blue and a white scroll. Each with differing Kanji on them. The white had the lettering for Heaven, whilst the blue had Earth on it. "You're gonna fight over these, as there are 60 people here, which makes 20 teams, half will get 10 "Heaven" Scrolls, the other will get 10 "Earth" scrolls. To pass, your team must make it to the tower, with both scrolls."

Many worked out the deduction that half of their current numbers would fall. They all readied themselves, things were getting serious. "But there's a time limit." Anko snickered menacingly. "The test will last 120 hours, that's exactly five days."

"Five Days!?"

"What about Dinner!?" Choji shouted his most obvious concern. Anko sighed.

"You're on your own, the forest is full of food, just watch out for man-eating beads, poisonous insects, poisonous plants… I think there's bears too, not sure on that one." The Genin all paled. "I'll tell you this now, 10 teams passing is not likely. As the days go on, the goal will become farther, the time you have to rest will lessen, and being surrounded on all sides by people who want to kill you, will make you lose sleep!"

Some of the rookies started to look more sheepish. This was an entirely different level than what they expected. "Not only, will some fail by losing the scroll, but some will die from the environment. Now I'll talk about what will disqualify you." What Anko thought was a seamless transition was not, as many of the Genins couldn't help but feel the forced nature of it. "First rule, those that don't make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit. Second, those who lose a teammate or those who have killed a teammate. Third Rule, once you're in, there's no backing out, you're in there for the five days. Last Rule. You must not look inside the scroll until you get to the tower." She finished her explanation darkly, many did not want to ask about the consequence of opening it, as they felt this woman was psychotic.

"Oh one more thing, a Chunin will be asked to handle classified information. This is to test your trustworthiness. That's it for the explanations. Hand in your forms to get your scroll, then choose a gate." Anko let out a sight of relief, she didn't want to mess up her big explanation. She felt proud of herself. She looked over the kids again, seeing them all going up to the booth. "Oh yeah, a tip for you lot." They looked at her questioningly. "Don't die."

As everyone had gotten their scrolls, it had cemented the fact there would be killing in this portion of the exam. That was what the form had represented. Signing your life away to the cause. Many of the teams were wondering who they should go after. All the ones from the foreign lands sought to avoid the Team with the blonde in the kimono. However, The Rookie Konoha teams had not seen Naruto's display to the Genin. Even when he blindsided the Genin from sound, they thought he gotten lucky.

As such, both Team's 10 and 8 had decided to strike the team they believed to have the weakest links, Sakura and Naruto of Team 7. However, Team 7 themselves were having their own strategy meeting.

"So, who should we got after for the other scroll?" Sasuke brought up the question.

"Hmm, maybe we should go for one of the minor villages?" Sakura gave the suggestion.

"We don't know much about them, not to mention the fact, we could be Third-Partied by another Team at a moments notice." Naruto countered Sakura's point. The pinkette looked towards Naruto and remembered something.

"Oh wait, what about that team from Sound! The one with the guy Naruto knocked out!" Sasuke and Naruto looked towards the pinkette surprised, was she actually acknowledging something the blonde did?

"That seems like a good idea." Sasuke agreed.

"Nah, it's not worth it on them. I got a really bad feeling from that thing on the guys arm when he made to attack us, if his team is there, and they coordinate, it could turn out really bad for us, ya know?" His two teammates looked at him, frustration beginning to build. "But I've got the perfect target for us to go after." Sakura and Sasuke urged him to go on. "Team 10."

Sasuke's eyes widened before smirking at Naruto. This was definitely not the old Naruto; he had grown since their time in Wave. Sakura was shaken to the core.

"But they're our allies of the same village!? Why would we do that?" That naïve side of Sakura showed itself again. Sasuke was the one who spoke up next.

"I agree with Naruto's idea. We have information on their abilities already, and if our interaction in the classroom is anything to go by, Kiba and the rest still see Naruto as the weakest link." Naruto looked towards Sasuke with shock. That Uchiha bastard was actually acknowledging the change in him? Admitting Naruto had changed? That was something Naruto had never expected. Maybe the Last Uchiha wasn't just a ball of bundled up pride after all.

Sakura looked between her two allies, calming herself, she decided it was for the better of it. They were right, that proctor, Anko, had said that once you get in the forest, everyone is an enemy. Steeling her determination, Sakura looked between her team again, all sharing the same resolve to go through with the idea.

"Then it's agreed upon, we'll hunt Team 10 first. I'd say we go after Team 8 if Shikamaru and his team don't have the scroll we need." This time there was no backlash from the idea Naruto presented. Instead, Sakura brought up a valid point.

"But how are we going to find them? We don't even know which gate they're starting at?"

"I didn't tell you guys before, but you don't need to worry, when they went before us I kept track of them. I'm a Sensor. Shikamaru's team is only 2km away from us, whilst Team 8 is 4km away." Sasuke and Sakura stored that vital information into their head. Also taking deep notice of the fact that Naruto hadn't told them before that he was a Sensor Ninja. Maybe he was hiding other things from them too. The Chunin guarding the gate looked at his watch, and as it hit 6pm, he unlocked it and opened it. At the same time, Anko called the start of the exam.

"The Second Test of the Chunin Selections Exams begins now!"

With that, the gates were flung open, and all the Genin threw themselves into the Forest of Death.

AN: Done another one. Man this chapter was just talkity talk the whole time. I really feel like I didn't do enough of a good job getting people's reactions down. Either way, it's done, next is the Forest of Death. Do you know what that means? Combat! This is also where the changes are going to happen too. Like you've read Team 10 are going to be attacked! Maybe even Team 8 too?

Personally, I've been looking forward to the forest of Death. I love combat scenes and I really want to have a go at writing one that i'm actually going to publish for once. As for what to expect, Naruto's combat prowess with his new skills. Some Sasuke fights. Sakura fighting. And well, obviously O-Man is going to show up too. But like I've said before, changes will be happening.Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading. Can't really be bothered replying to some of those "reviews" I got, cause i realised one of them is a troll, you'll see him if you read them.

Adios.