Chapter 50

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GunBlade2018: I have been putting quite a bit of thought into how to balance out the substantial power boost Konoha has compared to Canon not just for the second Exam by the Konoha Crush too. Thankfully I've had a few ideas that will hopefully help resolve it.

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The first Exam

The man before the assembled Genin could be considered a giant, he was huge, easily a head taller than the aids accompanying him. The now introduced Morino Ibiki raised a glove-clad hand and pointed at the three Oto nin. "You three. Cut it out or you can return home right now and explain how you got yourselves disqualified before the first test even began," he warned.

Ibiki, as the head of Konoha's T&I department, was one of the individuals pre-warned to keep an eye on anyone wearing the musical symbol Hitai-ate. "Sorry, sir," one of them said, his face obscured by wrappings. "It's our first exams and we're on edge so we got a little carried away," he attempted to justify. It was pretty obvious that his words were utterly insincere.

"Is that so? Then perhaps I ought to make it clear, anyone who engages in fighting not strictly permitted by the exam proctor will be expelled along with the rest of their team – no second chances," he told them. Ibiki's voice was a commanding one, many of the assembled Genin were now sat with backs straight.

"So this is a test for little girly men?" the second of the Oto males arrogantly asked. Ibiki levelled a blank, unimpressed stare at the teenager whose long spiky hair stood tall seemingly in defiance of gravity, 死, the kanji for death ("Shi") imprinted three times over the front of his uniform. The aids behind Ibiki sneered at the bravado.

"I'd watch your tone, boy. There are Kunoichi in this village who'll happily gut you for such a comment," Ibiki said coldly, an image of Anko's evil grin coming to mind as he turned his head bringing one of his aids into his view, the expression on her face blank, her pink hair tied back.

"So if you're done we'll begin the first part of the exams. Everyone is to see one of my aids," as Ibiki spoke the Chūnin split into two groups and lined up on either side of the room. "They will give you a piece of card with a number on it, as some of you will have noticed the desks are also numbered, the number you're given is where you'll sit. When you've all taken your seats we'll hand out the written test and I will explain the rules."

No one moved, all stood or sat stock still, a sight which some of the Chūnin found rather amusing. "Move!" he barked jolting them into action.

Rezano made for the nearest Chūnin and found himself stood in front of someone with pink hair, "Sakura-san?" he said in surprise, she grinned down at him, "I-I didn't know you were helping out."
"And I wasn't until someone called in sick this morning," she answered with a wink before roughly shoving a piece of card into his hand, "Number," she grunted before turning to number another.

It was a rather abrupt and slightly rude interaction but Rezano could understand why, all the Chūnin were supposed to be as intimidating as possible as he took his seat. A test was placed face-down in front of him. In small letters at the top, it said 'Do not turn over until instructed'.

It was nearly five before everyone had been seated and all the tests handed out, despite Ibiki's words on the matter the Chūnin had had to dish out a few smacks around the back of the head to those who refused their seat.

It became quickly apparent to those who were paying attention that cells were being split up across the room. Ibiki wanted them isolated from possible help and make it harder to successfully cheat.

Most of the Genin looked around suspiciously, especially those sat next to Shinobi from rival villages, some likely convinced their neighbours intended to sabotage them. A few, like Rezano, were simply nervous, written tests weren't his strong suit, he could throw shuriken on curved trajectories fairly well but don't ask him to write out the arithmetic calculations behind it. And he had a feeling the questions on the piece of paper before him would be damned difficult.

Meshikamaru was a few rows back and to Rezano's left, he was unsure of exactly where but he knew Sasuke was behind him too. It put him beyond the help of the Nara's immense intellect, to his left was some Ame Kunoichi and to his right was… "Hinata," he quietly said. "Hi, Rezano-kun," she replied, her voice managing to even quieter than his.

"H-how are you feeling?" she politely asked him. "Ok, I guess. How about you?"
"A little nervous," she admitted, her hands in her lap. "Don't worry, you'll be fine, you're more than smart enough for any old test," he reassured her patting a hand atop hers.

It was at that moment Rezano remembered the conversations with Naruto and Tri, the collective advice they'd given regarding the Hyūga sat next to him. He'd yet to act on any of that advice, it had been pushed from his mind in the run-up to the Chūnin Exams, a flicker of guilt crossed his mind.

It was a conversation that needed to happen, while it couldn't be now it didn't mean he couldn't set a time for it. "Hey, Hinata-chan. I was wondering, d-d you think we could have a talk? I mean after the exams are over."
"Uh…," she hesitated. She didn't know what he wanted to talk about but her mind was giving her plenty of possibilities, some of which only worsened her already deepening blush.

"U-uh… S-sure," she managed at the second time of asking giving him her best smile. 'Wow, she's really pretty when she smiles like that. Why is she blushing so mu… Oh,' Rezano only then realised he'd left his hand on top of hers. His hand recoiled a little, "Gomen," he formally apologised, blushing a little himself. Both slightly looked away from one another but both secretly admitting to themselves that they enjoyed the hand to hand contact.

"Ok, listen up because I'm only going to explain this once and I won't be repeating it, I also ain't answering any questions. The rules."

Ibiki picked up a piece of white chalk intending to write out the rules as he explained them. "Rule number one. Each and every one of you will start the test with ten points, the test paper before you has ten questions. If you answer a question incorrectly or don't answer it at all then you will lose a point. So get all ten right and you'll finish with a perfect score, get all ten wrong you get zero, get zero then you're out.

"Rule number two. This test is still a team exercise so whether you pass or not is dependent on all three of you retaining as many of your thirty total points as possible.

"Now, listen real closely, this next rule is important," he said tapping the chalk against the blackboard. "Rule number three. If I or any of my aids observe you doing anything that we feel constitutes cheating, we will deduct you and both your teammates two points for six in total."

A good portion of the room now looked nervous, many glancing around, particularly at their teammates. "I'll be looking over your shoulder when you least expect it," Kotetsu menacingly said, a pencil and clipboard in hand ready to jot down any cheaters as he leaned back on his wooden chairs back legs.

Ibiki mentally chuckled, his test was working as intended already, getting into the heads, making them nervous.

"And finally, the fourth and most important rule of all. Remember this is a team based exercise so if just one of you finishes with zero points and fails, all three of you fail," Ibiki revealed with a grin. The air of nervousness in the room spiked as everyone found out they were responsible for more than just themselves. "

'Perfect,' Ibiki noted. "As Chūnin you must be able to pull your own weight. If you are dependent on others to carry you through missions then it's only a matter of time until your ineptitude gets somebody killed. You have one hour. Begin!"

The sounds of paper being handled and pencils being picked up filled the room as the Chūnin Exams officially got underway.

-(*)-

Konoha Jōnin Standby Station

Naruto pouted as the others continued snickering and laughing, especially Kurotsuchi who was very much enjoying the humorous stories Asuma and Kurenai were regaled to her from the blondes younger years.

The tales regaled were accompanied by a backtrack of numbers, "198, 199, 200!" Gai cheered hopping to his feet, his press-ups complete. With barely time to breathe, he started again, "1, 2, 3…" he restarted, moving onto squats.

And while Kurotsuchi might have been listening to the stories but she was watching Gai, 'He's not even short of breath after two hundred press ups…'

"Is that normal?" she asked those around her. "Uh huh, Gai's a workout fanatic."
"Sure, but two hundred press ups and he's fine."
"Two hundred is pretty mundane for Gai," Kakashi said from behind his book. "Mundane? Two hundred is mundane!?" she asked incredulously. "We are talking about a guy who does laps around the entirety of Konoha on his hands just for the hell of it."
"Really?..." she questioned looking at Naruto, he nodded that it was. "One of his Genin usually joins him as well now."
"Does he force the poor kid to join him or something?"
"No, young Lee enjoys putting himself through the millstone just as much. Honestly, the enthusiasm he displays is kind of unnerving."

"Can't say…" he was cut off by a hand covering his mouth, "Naruto!" a loud female voice boomed in his ear. Kurotsuchi just watched on as an admittedly attractive Kunoichi dressed in little more than an open trenchcoat wrapped an arm around Naruto's neck to begin an impromptu wrestling match. She noted Asuma and Kurenai's laughter at the sight so didn't interfere.

"Anko! Let go of me," Naruto grunted as she tried to pull him over the back of the sofa to the floor below. It made for an amusing sight since Naruto was of far greater physical stature than Anko but despite that Naruto was already half over. With one big final pull then a twist Naruto landed on the floor, Anko falling on top of him as they disappeared from view.

Before Kurotsuchi could look over the back Anko scurried back to her feet and with a loud "whoop," hopped over landing where Naruto had just been sat, the fact that there was more than enough space for her to slot in between Naruto and Kakashi wasn't important nor was all the space on the other side of Kurotsuchi.

"I hate you, Anko," Naruto grumbled standing again. She turned her head, her face lit up, "Oh hey Naruto! Why do you look like you've been rolling on the floor?" she asked innocently. "Oh, I don't know, thought I'd see if the floor was comfy at all," he sarcastically replied. "What are you doing that for? There's plenty of space between me and Kakashi."

"Oh I don't know Anko, thought I'd find out if the floor is comfy," he sarcastically replied. "What are you doing that for? The sofa's much comfier and there's loads of room," she said pointing in particular at the free spot next to her. "You could have just sat next to me," she smirked.

"I really do hate you," he repeated but she just laughed at him, "No you don't, you just can't find it in you to hate me, I'm simply too awesome." It was now she looked Kurotsuchi's way spying the Iwagakure design on her Hitai-ate, "Ah, so you're the one Naruto has to follow around like a puppy," she grinned.

Silence… Everyone but Kurotsuchi was waiting for it, even Kakashi peeked over the top of his book. They were all waiting for whatever brazen comment Anko intended to make. But she only extended her hand, "Mitarashi Anko," she said introducing herself. "Kurotsuchi," she replied shaking her hand. That was it, no cheeky comments, no double entendres, nothing. "What?" Anko challenged them all having noticed their silence.

"Nothing, Anko," Kurenai responded. The T&I specialist's face lit up as if she hadn't noticed her old friend, "Kurenai!" she cheered launching herself at Kurenai and giving her a big hug. Naruto hoped back over the sofa putting Kurotsuchi between himself and Anko. Leaning in he spoke, "Anko's one of Konoha's more… unique personalities."

"I hear that!" she squawked indignantly which Naruto snorted at, "Oh please, you know it's true and don't you dare deny it."

-(*)-

Classroom 201

'And the first question is cryptography…' Rezano groaned after turning over his paper only to be greeted by a complex looking cipher, the sounds of pencils etching onto paper quickly filling the room.

'Ok,' he thought, taking a breath, 'I can do ciphers but it'll take a while and just by looking at it I can tell it's a complex one. Let's come back to this cause' I could spend the entire hour trying to figure this out.'

Moving on to question two he read it. 'Ok, what the actual fuck? They expect us to be able to apply the laws of kinetics in scenarios with fluidic circumstances. Yeah… Skipping that one completely.' He could have wasted the entire hour answering this one and still not finish.

He read through question three, 'Jeez, are they all this difficult?' He read through all the questions. 'Well fuck… I'm going to struggle to correctly answer more than three or four in the time limit and what's up with question ten?' The tenth and final question wouldn't be provided until there were only fifteen minutes left.

He took another deep breath, 'ok, let's start with question four, that I can answer.' It was a question on Fūinjutsu and he figured it wouldn't take him longer than a few minutes.

'Thank you Kaa-san,' he mentally cheered as pencil met paper. He'd always complained when Kushina had insisted he and Minusha at least learn rudimentary level Fūinjutsu. 'Okay, identify and repair the fault in the array design.'

Rezano immediately recognised the array design as an explosive tag that had been clearly modified to have a wider blast radius, 'The chakra reservoir is much larger.'

Carefully combing through the arrays he spotted the problem. Explosive tags had a built-in fuse that ignited when activating the chakra held in the reservoir. But the greater amount of chakra meant the fuse would burn faster and that was the fault, the larger reservoir hadn't been accounted for with a longer fuse. 'The faster the fuse burns, the quicker it explodes. If you lit this design it would explode almost immediately…'

He redesigned the fuse timer and quickly moved on to the next question he felt he could answer.

This one was pretty easy for him. 'A Shinobi has a three-foot chain in hand, on the end of which is a standard-issue kunai. The Shinobi spins the chain at two rotations a second, calculate how fast the tip of the kunai is travelling. Show your work.'

His primary weapon was a pair of chain kunai so this was right up his alley. He set to work laying out the mathematic formula and input the variables, he knew the exact weight of a standard-issue kunai and the centrifugal speed generated by spinning three feet of chain. Within just a few minutes he had the answer, doubling checking it he found no problems so with a small grin moved on.

And straight away he hit an obstacle. 'Those were the only two questions I could quickly answer…' That made him nervous, 'Two isn't enough, Meshikamaru's more than smart enough to answer these but right now Sasuke would only have to be caught cheating once for me to reach zero points.'

He looked up at the clock, 'Twenty five minutes gone. Am I really going to have to put all my eggs in the question ten basket?' It was a big risk but the questions that remain didn't fill him with much optimism. 'I don't have long enough for questions one or two but maybe I do for seven… Okay let's go for it, I'll work on seven but immediately switch to ten when we get it.'

He just hoped Sasuke didn't get caught cheating.

As for the young Uchiha, he was eyeing up some of the Chūnin around the room. He made eye contact with one of them, he gave them a scowl, they just grinned back, waving a pencil around.

'These rats, almost all of us can't answer these questions, they're expecting us to cheat.' And looked around the room he could see he wasn't the only one to have reached that conclusion, some of the other Genin were already acting a little strangely.

'Wonder how many have already been caught cheating?' he wondered. Almost as if on cue one of the Chūnin rose from their seat. "Number 28, you're done. Take your teammates and leave," they ordered. Genin number 28 was utterly gob-smacked, "B-but… what? How did you?"

"Leave!" the Chūnin snapped. Without another word three Genin rose from their seats and were escorted from the room, one looked dejected, the other two slightly annoyed.

The dismissal of a first Genin cell allowed the nervousness to return, they were being caught cheating and their strikes tallied.

'Just look at how they set up the test. It's not a test to get as many points as possible, it's all about keeping enough to not get disqualified. It's why we started with ten points instead of zero, they expect us… no, want us to cheat. They aren't testing our knowledge, but our ability to gather knowledge covertly.

And right now around the room, there was a gluttony of cheating.

Gaara had formed a hand-seal in full view of the Chūnin and Ibiki but they couldn't mark him down as cheating unless they could confirm how exactly he was cheating. Unseen by everyone particles of sand slowly drifted across the room. It would take a little time but Sabaku no Gaara would soon have the answers.

Akamaru, from his higher vantage point atop Kiba's head, was scanning around the room then quietly yapping and barking Kiba the answers.

Shino, likewise, was utilising his companions from the animal kingdom. A small group of insects, mainly bees covertly flew around the room. Upon finding the answers they would return and fly in patterns denoting numbers and letters, literally spelling out the answers for him.

Their final cell member Hinata was able to answer a number of the questions. She had put together that cheating was required but was too nervous to activate her Byakugan, it was simply too obvious, right?

Tenten had somehow managed to attach a series of mirrors to the ceiling around a light fixture that was sunken into the ceiling and not get caught. Attached to each of the mirrors was an incredibly fine strand of wire, pulling on the wire allowed her to manipulate what reflected back off the mirrors surfaces. She was also keeping an eye on Lee a few rows in front of her, 'Come on Lee, if you can see it make the signal…'

Lee looked up and spotted the mirrors around the large light bulb. He loosened the knot holding his Hitai-ate to his forehead and retied it, that was the signal Tenten was waiting for, he'd seen her mirrors. 'Good, now I can get us both the answers,' Tenten thought in relief.

Meanwhile, Neji didn't have the same reservations and concerns as Hinata in using his Byakugan. He removed his Hitai-ate and untied his hair pretending to scratch his scalp and forehead when instead he was using his hair to hide the pronounced veins around his eyes as he searched around the room for answers. Picking out one Genin in particular who was fervently scribbling down answers he began to copy them.

The sound trio all made use of sound waves. The rooms relative quiet allowed them to listen to the sound of pencils against paper, each letter or number made a distinctive sound. From this catalogue of unique sounds, they could copy answers from others.

Ino's method of cheating was far more invasive, with a grin on her face she formed a hand seal under the desk, 'It's a good thing I don't have to aim at my target with my hands anymore, at least not at this range.' Without wasting another moment she used her families signature technique, the ability to cast her consciousness into the minds of others assuming temporary control of them. Her target, Meshikamaru.

With her consciousness gone her body entered a coma-like state. She startled the Genin sat next to her when her head hit the desk with a thud.

Her technique suppressed Meshikamaru's consciousness to the Nara's subconscious, only those with wickedly good willpower could throw off this Jutsu. With a gleeful cackle, she began memorising her answers. After she was done she would repeat the technique on Shikamaru to give him the answers. He would then, in turn, use his families signature Jutsu to get the answers to Choji.

As Asuma's Genin went about obtaining the answers Kankuro made his move. Standing he raised his hand. "What?" one of the Chūnin asked him. "I need to go to the bathroom," he said with a straight face. He was handcuffed and escorted by one of the Chūnin aids. 'Hehe, they never noticed that there was one more Chūnin than there should be.'

He had disguised his puppet 'scarecrow' as one of them and while he was in the bathroom it would hand over the answers which he'd memorise and write down on a scrap of paper.

Meanwhile, more and more teams were being weeded out. One became two, then four, eight. "Number 43, Number 27. You both fail," – that made thirteen.

Gaara's sand, formerly drifting across the room, began coalescing into a sphere beneath another Genin in the space between their body and the desk, a few grains of sand got into his eyes forcing him to close his eyelids and try to rub the sand out of them. He too soon had the answers.

Ibiki had spent the duration of the test stood unmoving at the front of the classroom silently watching the Genin, none held his gaze. As he scanned across the room a fourteenth cell was eliminated but these three put up a fight. Sasuke, having already picked out his target, used the distraction to activate his Sharingan. Mimicking the pencil strokes he quickly had enough answers to pass.

With a smug grin, he de-activated his Sharingan, his task done.

Matters had been greatly simpler for Meshikamaru who'd been able to answer seven of the questions with little trouble. Although right now she was rather put out at the moment and plotting a way to get back at Ino.

"Ok then, forty-five minutes have elapsed. I will now give you the tenth question-," he stopped as Kankuro re-entered the room. "Ah, good timing, if you're done playing with your dolls why don't you take your seat?" Kankuro managed to maintain his cool demeanour but inside was sweating, maybe he hadn't been as subtle as he'd thought.

As he walked back towards his seat Temari moved her hand to the edge of the desk and as her brother walked past he slipped a piece of paper into her hand.

"Now, as I was saying," he started up again as Kankuro sat back down, "The tenth question. For this question alone, I'm adding a new rule and this rule is absolute. But first, you must choose, choose whether you wish to take the question or not."
"Choose? Why would we possibly choose not to?" Temari shouted.

Ibiki's facial features hardened, "Because if you decide to reject the final question then you will forfeit all your points and fail immediately – and yes your teammates fail along with you."
"So why would we not choose to take the question?" several shouted. "Because… If you answer incorrectly, not only will you immediately fail but you will forever be barred from attending another Chūnin Exams."

Silence… Absolute silence then an explosion of noise as a wave of disgruntled shouting and completing erupted for the assembled Genin. Many were angry but many also looked terrified, 'Perfect,' Ibiki thought.

"You can't be serious!" Kiba shouted, "We already know there are Genin here who've competed in multiple exams in the past!" Ibiki just grinned, "Then consider yourselves exceptionally unlucky that I'm the one setting the rules this time around." The angry shouting continued and Ibiki just chuckled, his task of sewing doubt and emotion into them had worked wonderfully.

"Anyone with doubts should just leave right now, come back next time and hope the rules aren't as punishing." The silence returned, 'Now, let's see how many break…'

It took only a matter of seconds for the first to lose their nerve. Quickly standing and raising their hand, "I-I quit," he stuttered with no small amount of fear in his voice, a second quickly followed. Those two and their teammates departed, whispered apologies passing between them.

'This whole thing feels off…' Rezano thought, 'To hold back someone a Jōnin level Shinobi as a Genin is nonsensical. No, I think he's bluffing. And I'm gonna call him on it!' he firmly decided.

His paper tiger threat had gotten rid of six teams so far. 'Let's see if I can get rid of a few more before Anko arrives. She'll give me some grief with the number still left.' Even Ibiki tried to avoid being the brunt of Anko's mannerisms. Looking around his eyes homed in on the Hokage's son, 'The perfect target.'

"You willing to take the risk, boy?" Ibiki asked him, most of the Genin turned to face Rezano who played it cool. "Huh? Did you say something Ibiki-san?"
"Mm, are you sure you want to take the tenth question? It would be very embarrassing if the son of the Hokage was made to be a Genin his entire career."

'Wait, that kid is the Hokage's son!?' Temari thought recognising him from that whole thing with the kid running into Kankuro. "No, not really. I think you're bluffing," Rezano replied. Ibiki silently laughed, 'Kid's got nerve, I'll give him that. Wonder how he'll deal with Anko though? Her friendship with his brothers means she'll surely single him out. Bah, he seems to have helped strengthen the resolve of some of the others as well. Tsch, this is as many as I'm going to get.'

"Alright then. If everyone left is going to take the question then…"

-(*)-

Jōnin Standby Station

Anko looked up at a clock hung on the wall and realised the time, "Well, it's been fun kiddies, "she said throwing an arm over both Naruto and Kurotsuchi's shoulders, "But I need to get going," she added.

After releasing Kurenai from her vice-grip like hug earlier she'd again managed to get herself between the two young Jōnin, probably because she thought it annoyed Naruto, which to an extent was true. He'd hadn't bothered moving for a third time because she'd probably do it a third time.

"Anything interesting?" Kurotsuchi asked a little nervously, she just hadn't gotten used to Anko, there was absolutely no one like her back in Iwagakure. "Oh yeah, pretty important too," she said with a sniff.

"Even Anko has responsibilities," Kakashi said sarcastically. Anko fixed him with a stern glare, "You're going the right way for a smack around the head scarecrow."
"Guess I'll see you all around," she said taking a few steps before stopping again and turning back around, her face now plastered with a grin. "As for you two," she said pointing a finger at Naruto and Kurotsuchi, "Behave yourselves… And don't do anything I wouldn't," she laughed before yanking open one of the sliding doors and jumped out.

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, Kakashi's head shook along with him, Kurotsuchi looked truly weirded out while Asuma, Kurenai and Gai giggled away like a bunch of school children. "Yeah you two, no misbehaving now," Kurenai teased. Naruto's response was to throw a cushion at her.

"Oh my, Naruto. I never pegged you as someone who enjoyed pillow fights."
"No, ah, *Sigh*," Naruto simply gave up, burying his head in his hands. Kurenai and Asuma now leaning on each other cackling away, Gai at least gave him a sympathetic smile.

A few seconds later his face reappeared and he fixed Kurenai with a stare, "You are as bad as Anko is," he accused. Kurenai just laughed a little more, "Of course, we've known each other for years and I learnt from the best."

The sole Iwa Shinobi amongst them had remained silent up till now, she was still staring at the open shutter that acted as one of the large rooms windows. "What just happened?" she asked nobody in particular. "You've just met Mitarashi Anko," Asuma joked.

"She should come with a warning sign," Naruto sighed. "Our dear Anko certainly has an exuberant way of displaying her youth," Gai said. Slowly everyone's heads, including Kakashi's, turned to face the Taijutsu master. "What? Gai questioned them all, "What…? Is there something on my face?"

"So… I take it she's always like that then?"
"Oh yeah, she's normally far blunter than today though," Asuma replied to Kurotsuchi's question. "Definitely come with a warning sign," Naruto repeated quietly. "And does she normally use so many…"
"Double Entendres? Yeah."

"I also couldn't help but notice most of them were directed at you," she said to Naruto. "Yeah, that's normal too…"
"Do I want to know why?" Kurenai tried to provide an answer, "It's because… Anko's made it her… goal to get Naruto to blush… at least once." Her explanation was broken up by intermittent laughter. "Why?"
"Because she overheard Tri-kun saying that nothing made me blush. So she's been trying ever since."

Kurotsuchi sighed, "Konoha's weird," she muttered, there was absolutely nobody that came close to the personality of Anko. "Don't suppose any of you know what this important thing she needed to do was? Do I need to worry about my Genin or anything?"
"Uh…," was the collective reply.

-(*)-

Classroom 301

"Alright then. If everyone left is going to take the question then… You pass."

'Kami, I love that silence,' Ibiki laughed to himself. If a pin were dropped at the opposite end of the room he'd have heard it with little issue.

"Ha. Ha. Haha!" Meshikamaru laughed as the anti-climax sank in, leaning back in her chair she brought her palm up to her face. Some of the Chūnin chuckled too as they viewed the sight of dozens of Genin with baffled expressions on their faces, "Huh?" many uttered in confusion.

"Yep, no joke, you all pass."
"What do you mean passed? When? How? What about the tenth question?" Temari shouted. The first genuine smile crossed Ibiki's face, "Simply put, there was no tenth question – Not beyond the 'Accept or Reject' element."
"Mendokusē," Shikamaru muttered with a facepalm, his twin's laughter still circulating around the classroom.

Temari seemed to have assumed the unofficial role of spokesperson for every confused Genin as she again shouted, "Wait, so only whether we accepted or rejected the 'tenth question' mattered?" Ibiki nodded. "So what was the point of the test paper then?"

Ibiki chuckled quietly, he raised his hands towards his head as he explained, "Yes, whether you did well on the test or not is irrelevant, that's true. Because ultimately that's not what we were testing you on. Many of you will have noticed that the questions we'd given you are beyond what is to be expected of a regular Genin." He finished untying his Hitai-ate, placing it on the desk in front of him.

"We were instead testing your ability to spy. The rules combined with the difficulty of the questions left most of you with little choice but to cheat. To ensure you had someone to cheat off of we inserted a few Chūnin amongst you." He began untying his black bandanna as the now revealed Chūnin raised their hands.

"But the test did serve another purpose of getting rid of those who couldn't cheat without being caught." He finished untying his bandanna. "Because there are repercussions for those caught for espionage. Removing his bandanna there was a sharp intake of breath, Ibiki's bald scalp and forehead was littered with past injuries.

One of the long vertical scars on his face continued up past his temple before cutting back at nearly a 90° angle across his forehead. There was more scar tissue than skin, whether from cuts or burns it was difficult to tell.

But as Ibiki bowed his head forward the greatest injuries came into view. Atop his head was a series of shallow circular holes, they were the wounds left behind by screws. Sasuke internally winced a little, Ibiki had clearly been tortured in the past. "Incorrect actions have consequences, as you can see," he said before putting his bandana and Hitai-ate back on.

"So what was the point of the tenth question at all? why not just settle for just catching us cheating?" Again it was Temari who put the question. "The tenth question, a choice between two options, both were difficult decisions with serious consequences. Either drop out and try again next time or put your career progression on the line and take the question. It was a simple but nasty question as was its purpose.

"Those who aren't ready to become Chūnin quit and walked out the door. Those who are willing to put it all on the line possess the right mindset to become Chūnin, you were willing to accept the consequences should you have failed the tenth question so you pass my Exam."

Rezano groaned aloud, "Well that's annoying. And here's me spending the entire test worrying over whether I had enough points to account for Sasuke getting caught cheating," he admitted much to the mirth of the Rookie Nine. Except for the aforementioned Sasuke who growled his response, "You're hardly an intellectual mastermind yourself, Baka."

Rezano brushed off his retort with a dismissive wave of his hand, "Whatever. So what happens now Ibiki-san?"
"Now you wait for your next Proctor's arrival which should be…"

*SMASH*

-(*)-

"What possessed you to make her the Proctor for the second Exam?" Kurotsuchi asked with her head in her hands. "You can blame Tou-san for that," Naruto replied with a wry smile. "Am I going to have any Genin left to take home afterwards?"

…

"Thanks, guys, thanks for making me feel better," she sighed. The others shared sheepish smiles amongst each other. "Do you at least know what the second Exam is?" she asked hopefully.

…

"Oh for fuck's sake…" she muttered under her breath.

-(*)-

The classroom had been silent as they listened to Ibiki explain the intricacies of the first Exam, that silence was now shattered, literally. One of the wide windows along one wall overlooking nearby buildings and Academy training grounds imploded inwards. Those in the room, Genin and Chūnin alike cover their faces with their arms as they were showered with shards of glass. 'Well timed as always Anko…' Ibiki heaved a sigh.

Flying into the classroom shrouded in a hail of glass fragments was what appeared to be a large black ball. Spinning wildly through the air the ball's shape seemed to distort, two kunai shot out from it lodging in the ceiling just in front of Ibiki. 'Oh spare me the theatrics,' Ibiki griped as a large fabric banner unfolded mere inches from his nose held up by the two kunai.

The fabric was completely black in colour, a series of letters were stitched onto the front. They read 'Newly arrived Second Exam Proctor: Mitarashi Anko.'

And stood before the banner was a woman on her mid-twenties wearing a very revealing outfit. A see-through form-fitting mesh bodysuit stretched from neck to mid-thigh. All that protected her modesty was a long trenchcoat, completely unbuttoned, a miniskirt and metal-plated shin-guard greaves completed her minimalist outfit.

And it went down about as well as you'd expect it to in a room full of teenage boys, there were blushes and nosebleeds aplenty.

"The Proctor of the Second Exam, the incredible Mitarashi Anko, has arrived!" the woman cheered loudly with a fist raised above her head.

…

"Way to bring down the mood, Anko…" Ibiki muttered leaning around from behind her banner. Anko's arrival was near the antithesis of Ibiki's serious explanation. She shot him a bristled look, both were members of T&I which Ibiki was the Jōnin Commander of Konoha's T&I corp. And despite being her boss even he trod carefully around Anko.

"Oh no," Rezano said quietly. "Rezano-kun?" Hinata said trying to get his attention, "What's the matter?"
"I know her and… we're done for, I am convinced she's slightly mad." She turned to face him, she'd heard and she grinned, "Gaki!" she said cheerfully, "You actually passed, that's great! Now you can be my chew toy," she said childishly clapping her hands.

'Oh yay, lucky me,' he groaned, "Was there no one else they could entrust the second Exam to?" he said boldly, Ibiki just caught the snort of laughter as Anko tilted her head to the side, her grin widening. "Oh look, the little cub's grown claws," she said mockingly.

'Gaki wants to play, huh? Oh, you're gonna regret that.' The game now in play between them was simple, whoever lost their composure first, lost. 'Sadly I don't have much time to play with him right now and see how sharp his claws are, I have to be responsible after all.'

"I gotta admit, Gaki. I'm surprised you passed the first Exam since I didn't have you down as a cheater."
"And cheat I didn't," he retorted. The rest of the room watched on with varying levels of interest ranging from fascinated to utterly disinterested.

"Is that so? Trying to play it rather cool, ain'tcha, Gaki?" *THUD* No one was fast enough to respond, not amongst the Genin at least. Anko's arm was little more than a blur as a kunai streaked through the air, shooting between Genin and slamming into the desk just behind Rezano.

Hinata practically jumped out of her seat, Rezano sat unmoved, frozen in place, he only blinked – once, twice then he felt a slight stinging pain in his cheek. He raised his hand and ran the back of his index and middle fingers against the stinging sensation. Pulling his hand back his fingers were stained red.

"What the fuck, Anko? Seriously?" he growled at her.

Only she wasn't present before her banner anymore, he tensed as something made Hinata shuffle away, he could sense a presence behind him. "Still feeling cocky, Gaki?" Anko gently asked him, her head resting on his shoulder.

She'd already retrieved her kunai and brought it up towards Rezano's face, he tried to pull away but she restrained him, he grew concerned she intended to deepen the cut but instead she gently placed the widest part of the kunai's blade against the skin just beneath the cut. The blood still freely seeping from the wound ran down the kunai, pooled at the weapons tip where it dripped onto the desk below.

"You not gonna answer?" she whispered in his ear, again he said nothing, he was thoroughly creeped out. "Guess I win then, Gaki," she giggled before shunshining back to the spot before her banner. Rezano turned his head slightly to face Hinata, she tried to give him a supportive smile but it was clear she was as creeped out as he was.

"Now that that's dealt with I can answer… Ibiki, why are there still so many? I thought you said your Exam was difficult?" Anko counted 96 Genin in front of her, "How did you pass 32 teams?" The giant of a man just shrugged his shoulders, "Seems we have a talented bunch this time around, they're good cheaters."

"Heh, no matter, I'll get rid of most of them before the third Exam," she grinned, the way she said it unnerved many. "Well let's see who makes a good survivor, Genin follow me!" she finished with a shout before jumping back out the window she'd broken. A steady stream of Genin followed her out, a batch of the Chūnin accompanying them to keep the peace.

Now the classroom was empty, save Ibiki who began collecting up the test papers. Where ever he stepped his sandals came down on glass, the cracking noise grating at his ears, 'Thanks Anko… Cleaning this up is going to be a real pain.'

He reached the table where Rezano had been sat, drops of blood were drying atop the wooden desk, one or two had splattered on his test paper. "A curious kid, will be one to keep an eye on."

-(*)-

End Chapter