Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 16: The First Exam

They were all gathered in a classroom, waiting for the first exam to start. Naruto was being loud as always, attracting unwanted attention. He was, fortunately, stopped by an older genin wearing glasses. Yakushi Kabuto. Yuki thought to herself. She had data on him from the Hokage. He wasn't an outstanding ninja according to the information, but, in person, Yuki could sense that he was more than he appeared to be. As she was looking from a distance at the 9 rookies and Kabuto, she caught Sasuke glancing over at her and asking Kabuto to provide some information about her. Kabuto had these cards that had gathered information about their strengths and abilities.

"Well, surprisingly, even though she's from the Leaf, I've got almost nothing."

"Seriously?" asked Shikamaru, suddenly interested.

He seemed to have remembered her from his childhood. He looked in her direction and smiled.

"Yes. I just know her age. She should have graduated with you guys, but you all say that she didn't. I would keep an eye out for her. People who are so mysterious are definitely to watch out for."

The 9 rookies nodded. They then asked about the Sound ninjas. Those foreign ninjas also interested Yuki. They were the main reason for her to be part of this exam, after all.

"Nothing much." said Kabuto. "They are a new village. From what I know, there really isn't much..."

Before he could finish, one of the three Sound ninja rushed towards him and attacked him:

"We'll give you something to put on those stupid cards of yours."

Kabuto clearly dodged the attack, but his glasses cracked and his ear was bleeding. Sound. Kabuto most likely suffered from an injury of his eardrums. They were perforated by the strength of the sound or the pressure created by that attack. Yuki took a closer look at the three Sound ninjas. They were standing there confidently, unafraid of the attention they have now attracted.

"Fighting isn't allowed in this classroom." said a deep voice from the front of the class.

Morino Ibiki. Yuki looked over at him. He was known to be one of the best, if not the best, interrogator in Konoha's history. His methods are known to be ruthless, but of high efficacy. She couldn't help but smirk a little. She was in for a show. He spotted her from a distance. He also smirked. It wasn't the first time that they met.

"My name is Morino Ibiki. I'll be the main proctor for this first exam. You've all been assigned seats. Get to them and I'll explain further."

The room was silenced at those words and the genins moved along quickly to find their seats. Yuki was sitting next to a familiar face, Neji. He looked at her, but did not smile.

"First exam is a written test consisting of 10 questions. You have an hour. Here are the rules: the total score of your team will determine whether you pass this round of not. If one team member gets zero, the whole team is disqualified. If a team member is caught cheating more than 5 times, the whole team is disqualified. No talking, no fighting allowed. Ah, and the 10th question will only be given to you 15 minutes before the end." said Ibiki sternly.

The papers were getting distributed. Yuki was looking around her as the papers were circulating. Sakura seemed confident. Naruto was fidgeting. Sasuke was calm. Shikamaru was yawning. Gaara still didn't have any expressions. Lee was fired up. Tenten was looking at Lee worriedly. Neji, who was beside her, was also calm. Her own teammates gave her a thumbs up. They had planned ahead for a written exam. They were far from being the smartest people, but they were counting on Yuki to help them through this exam.

"The hour starts now." Ibiki announced.

Everyone turned their sheet of paper around. The questions weren't easy. Yuki did not find them difficult. They were all questions she had encountered in her readings, but they were far above the level of what a genin would have to know. She grinned. The whole point of this exam was to test their ability to gather information. Simple, yet it won't be easy to gather information with all the chuunins proctoring the exam at the moment. It was a true test. She began the exam and finished within the first 10 minutes. It was now time for her to share these answer to her teammates. Sending discreet messages was part of an ANBU's daily work. She simply had to use a jutsu that would transform her own answers into something mobile and allow it to reach her teammates and they would print onto their own papers that way. Twenty minutes into the exam and all three of them were done. Yuki looked around her carefully. A few genins have been caught cheating already. A little over half of the numbers of genins were left. Neji also finished the exam as he undid his Byakugan. He most likely copied her answers. She looked over at Naruto. He was in complete panic mode. He didn't seem to have written a single thing nor did he understand that he had to cheat in order to succeed. The 45 minutes were up.

"Here's the 10th question. Ah, but before we give it to you, I would like to give you all an option. You can choose to leave now and retry for the exam next year. I won't be the proctor and the questions will most likely be easier. If you choose to get the 10th question, you must answer it right, because if you don't, you get 0 on this test and you won't be allowed to ever take the Chuunin exam again." announced Ibiki as he laughed evilly a little.

Many gasped. They started looking around. Some were stuck in a dilemma. Some started to stand up and leave after apologizing to their teammates. Yuki smiled. If she wasn't wrong, this was the tenth question.

"I'll take on your 10th question!" yelled a loud voice.

"Oh?" said Ibiki as everyone looked over at the genin who courageously stood up. "You don't seem to be the brightest cookie around here, but you want to take on this last question? What if you fail?"

"Then let me be a genin forever! But you know what? I will still become the Hokage! Believe it!" he yelled confidently.

"Well said, Naruto." murmured Yuki, more than pleased with that answer.

"Did you say something, kid?" asked Ibiki as he pointed at Yuki.

"Just some words of encouragement from Sun Tzu: If the mind is willing, the flesh could go on and on without many things. Genin, Chuunin... They are all but a mundane title..."

"If you really want to be ninja, be it regardless of your status." continued Shikamaru.

"Work hard for it, fight for it, keep on fighting for it!" said Lee enthusiastically.

"Be it despite of the tiredness, sufferance." completed Neji.

"Huh?" said Naruto as he looked at the four of them in utter confusion. "I just meant I would become the Hokage no matter what happens..."

Ibiki smiled and said:

"I guess nobody else will leave now."

"Bring on the 10th question!" yelled Naruto.

"Here it is... Everybody in this room... passes."

All the Chuunins started clapping.

"That was the tenth question." said Ibiki with a smile.

End of Chapter 16

Short filler chapter

xoxox

Krystal