Ibiki looked at the classroom with satisfaction. Twenty-one remaining genins. Seven teams, three of which hailed from Konoha. The first part of the exam, which he had proctored, had eliminated eighty-six per cent of the contenders. A good score and the opportunity for the second stage to eliminate at least half of what was left, meaning there would be a maximum of three teams to compete in the last stage.
Of course, the three rookie teams of Konoha had passed his test, just as planned. He hadn't accidentally revealed anything to Naruto, he wasn't that old. The goal was to eliminate as many foreign teams and keep as many Konoha genins in the race as possible while keeping the actual level of the competitors low.
Newbie genins had a tendency to kill less, whereas experienced teams - whose members were already chuunin at least in level - wouldn't blink at the act. It was Konoha's way to limit stupid bloodshed.
The chuunin exams were, however, a PR stunt and a proxy war. If the clan heirs who had just made genin could somehow pass, then all the better: it was good publicity. Homeground advantage was rightly exploited by every village. The last time Konoha had sent a team to a foreign exam, none had passed the first stage. They were shinobi after all.
It meant the team from Suna that was left would have been expulsed under normal circumstances but unfortunately, the circumstances weren't normal and didn't allow for it.
He was in the middle of a little speech about the importance of information when suddenly, one window exploded in a shower of glass and two kunai pinned a banner to the blackboard behind him.
"The sexy and single Mitarashi Anko," Ibiki read in a mumble as a shadow burst from the shattered window. "You're early, Anko," admonished the head of T&I. Just as planned.
"What?!" The purple-haired woman exclaimed. She looked outside at the sun and made a goofy face. "No, I'm right on time. You took too long with your test Ibiki! And what is that? Twenty-one genins? That's still way too much!"
"Well, it's an interesting batch this time," tempered Ibiki, schooling his features. The genins left suddenly felt confident.
"Pah, you tell me," Anko rolled her eyes before she grinned savagely. "My test will at least halve that anyway. Nothing like a battle-royal in the Forest of Death to trim the numbers down. Follow me, maggots!" She barked.
The genins paled, their newfound confidence abandoning them. Ibiki smirked. Just as planned.
Leaving the genins in the care of Anko, Ibiki hid his grey coat under a transformation jutsu and hurried to the T&I building. He stopped for a second to look at one of the outfits displayed at the front.
The cover business for T&I was a mildly successful tailor and there was this kimono he was thinking of as a present for Naruto.
It was blue and orange and the kid would need some formal wear at some point. Shaking his head, Ibiki entered the shop, gave his accreditation to the clerk and entered fitting room number three where he opened a secret door with a bit of blood and chakra.
Quickly navigating the maze of the underground bunker, he entered the analysis room.
"Latest estimate Mawashi," he barked.
A man in grey fatigues, wearing glasses and with his hair covered by his headband, saluted. "Yes, Morino-san. Most likely mean of infiltration is the escort of VIPs invited for the last part of the exam. We know for a fact that Sound and Sand have infiltrated the retinue of the head of various commercial and industrial corporations like Isugi Incorporated, the Hitade Consortium and Gamei. Given the number of invitations transmitted and the profile of the VIPs , Sand and Sound could infiltrate between a hundred and three hundred of their shinobi in the village if we don't take care of them."
While companies hired Konoha ninjas for their day-to-day business, their CEO - or at least those megalomaniac enough - liked to pay a private guard much like the Twelve Guardians Shinobi of the Daimyo.
The Daimyo and Konoha allowed it - to a reasonable extent - because it was simply an opportunity to plant men in the close circle of those people, who held money and influence.
"We let them come," answered Ibiki. "We have prepared a magnificent bear trap and they'll have their head right in-between the jaws." He said with a dark smile. "Authorized traffic will be greatly reduced and we'll have a few Hyuuga monitoring the gates for the month, to avoid any unwanted guests."
"We'll have them all monitored as best as we can then. Most of them will be forced to be in the arena but with ANBU dispatched at our border, some will slip our surveillance." Another man, wearing the same grey fatigues, his brown hair falling over his headband in two bangs, said worriedly.
Ibiki waved his hand. "We'll have the number to track them, Shimon" he assured. "Don't worry about it." He immediately warned. "Clearance level for the defence plan is ultima."
The assembled shinobi nodded and didn't discuss the matter further.
"The fact we are fighting Orochimaru means we should be prepared to fight snake summon. All scenarios we could envision had them," said Mawashi. "The problem is, we haven't figured out how they will be summoned."
"A simple clone of his would suffice," concurred Shimon, "but if we consider that Hokage-sama will keep him busy, then it'll probably be some sort of kinjutsu."
"No use banging our heads against the wall. The strategic bureau will have a quick response team at the ready constituted of shinobi capable of dealing with the summons. Anything else?"
"From what we know about Suna's tactics, we are looking into scenarios including mass use of poison and puppets," informed Mawashi. "It doesn't really fit though because we would catch the puppets before their entry in the village proper, even if they were in pieces."
"Be wary of anything," warned Ibiki. "A puppet can be of any size and of any shape. As for poison, there will be a momentary ban on all imported chemicals starting in five days."
"There is still the Naka river we haven't properly factored, Ibiki-san." A man in grey uniform, with his head - save his mouth - entirely masked by bandages, remarked. "The dam is as secure as always and near Konoha proper, the harrows are obviously in place to prevent swimmers from going in but Suna-nins are known for Fuuton manipulation. They would make short work of them and possibly infiltrate at least fifty more ninjas."
"They aren't really good swimmers Tonbo. Naval warfare is Kiri's turf."
"Doesn't keep them from trying. Better safe than sorry and the strategic bureau is worried about it!" Tonbo protested.
"Tonbo is right," cut Ibiki. "I want the harrows trapped with water-resistant explosive tags and some ninja wires nets."
Tonbo saluted. "On it Morino-san."
"Anything else?"
Mawashi tapped his chin thoughtfully before he eventually shook his head. "No, Morino-san. We'll obviously let you know if we can think of anything else but I think it's in the hand of the strategic bureau now."
Ibiki nodded in acknowledgement. "You did good work," he commented with a smile before his features hardened. "Don't relax. The worst is still to come."
"Yes, taicho!"
The five days of the second parts of the chuunin exams were excruciating for Naruto. In spite of the Hokage's warning, the blond couldn't help but worry for his friends stuck in a dangerous forest with a dangerous individual. The fact Anko was with them did little to assuage his fears. On the contrary, he couldn't help but contemplate how several people precious to him were in danger and he could do nothing about it.
He still did his best efforts to practice his tai- and kenjutsu, a dozen clones going through the routines of his martial arts.
While the clones worked well and worried a little, he could worry a lot and work a little. That was one of the many good points about being able to so totally split his attention.
The only thing that gave him solace was the fact Sakura had apparently heeded his council and presented herself to the hospital before throwing herself with abandon in the study of iryo-jutsu.
The pink-haired girl shone in her new environment. Naruto was convinced that judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree was retarded and that everyone had their own talent but this was ridiculous. In five days, Sakura had done the work normally made in ten and she was not stopping anytime soon. All that without shadow clone. Her learning curve was simply astounding as far as medicine went. Between her ability to memorize information with a single read, a genuine interest in healing practices and her newfound work ethic, she was progressing fast.
Obviously, it meant she could barely follow kenjutsu practice anymore and she had large bags under her eyes but Naruto thought it didn't matter. Better do what she was good at and get better at it given shit was about to hit the fan. Many could fight and destroy, very few could heal and fix. Sakura would be needed and be useful in her own way.
Naruto tore himself from his thoughts and forced them back into focus. His role was to fight and destroy. He couldn't do that if he was distracted so he pushed his worries down, down and down in the same place he used to push his anger and resentment and fears and he swung his chokuto.
On the end of the fifth day of the second exam, the results finally came in: two teams had made it to the final, the one from Suna and Team Gai. Naruto thanked whoever was high up and down low for the fact that none of the members rookie teams were severely wounded. Team Kurenai had had an unfortunate encounter with one of the bears of the forest - saving a red-haired girl from Kusagakure in the process, he would have to check on her - and Team Asuma had exhausted themselves fighting against a team from Amegakure. A double knock-out which basically meant elimination. The last team, hailing from Amegakure too, had simply failed to achieve the objective.
In a month time, the third and last part of the exams would take place; a tournament in front of the Kage, the smaller villages' representatives and countless businessmen.
In a month time, they would be at war.
AN: Welcome, stranger. Can I interest you in leaving a review?