A/N: Hey guys, sorry this took so long. I've been struggling with... some issues I have.
Chapter 25: Exam! The First Proctor!
"Are you sure you have everything, Naruto-kun?"
"Yes, Oba-chan."
"Food, weapons, seals?"
"I've got everything, Oba-chan."
"But what if..."
"Oba-chan, I'm pretty sure I can take whatever the Chuunin Exams can dish out. And shouldn't you be harassing Tou-chan some more? He's trying to sneak out the door behind you right now, by the way," Naruto said calmly as he ate his oatmeal. A loud curse followed by a bang and a whine followed his words as his aunt dragged her older brother to the table to eat by his ear.
"Oh no, Aniki. You are going to sit right here and eat what I cook you. You are not sneaking off to eat at a restaurant with Kurenai-san."
"But siiiiiiiis," Asuma whined childishly as a bowl of oatmeal was set in front of him. He turned away from pouting at his sister to glaring at his son. "I blame you for this." Naruto shrugged nonchalantly.
"Shouldn't have tried hiding it, tou-chan." the rest of the meal went by in relative silence, before the blonde pushed away his bowl and rose, popping his back.
"I've got t o meet Sasuke and Sakura at he Academy entrance. I'll see you all later! Tou-chan, you might want to hurry so Ino doesn't gripe!" As he left the front door, Konohamaru and Kasi's calls of good luck followed in his wake. His short walk through the compound to the gate was filled with the members of the Sarutobi clan wishing him luck today, and his silent nods of thanks. He stepped foot outside the gate, and took to the rooftops, making it to the Academy in short order.
"Hey Naruto."
"Hey Sasuke. Kakashi and Jozun not here yet?" Sasuke shook his head in denial just as Sakura and Jozun walked up.
"Yo!" the jounin stated with a grin, raising one hand in greeting. "Kakashi got called out on a mission, so it's just me today." Naruto nodded assent, then turned to his teammates.
"You two ready?" he got dual nods of determination. "then let's go." with that he threw the doors open and walked in, flanked on either side by the two Genin. He didn't see two blurs appear next to Jozun.
"Drat," Haku snapped her fingers in annoyance. "I was hoping to see him before he went inside."
"You seem awfully obsessed with the Gaki," Zabuza quipped as he glared mild daggers after the blond.
"I wanted to wish him luck, what's wrong with that?"
"You wouldn't be so disappointed if that was all you wanted," Jozun said with a grin. Haku turned bright red and sputtered an incoherent denial. "So, you have the hots for him, eh? Can't really blame you, at least a third of the female population of the village feels the same." Haku blushed brighter as the other two Jounin walked away laughing.
With Team Seven
"Wow, we got here fairly early, but there's still this huge crowd," Sasuke stated with a bit of awe, and a frown. "But wait..."
"Yes, this is only the second floor," Naruto cut him off quietly. "It's another layer of the exam. You to go on ahead to the third floor, I want to see something." the two nodded and slipped around the side of the crowd, climbing the stairs quickly as the blonde strolled through the crowd, the Genin subconsciously making way for his powerful presence. He almost had to laugh when he got to the front of the crowd.
"Of course it's Kotetsu and Izumo," he chuckled to himself.
"Let us through!" one Genin called from the crowd. A Henge'd Kotetsu smirked and flapped his hand dismissively.
"Think of this as us doing you a favor. These exams are tough, and most of you won't make it."
"Yeah," Izumo said calmly. "If you can't make it past us, then you should probably just turn around and go home." Naruto sensed Teams Eight and Ten discreetly slip around the crowd and up the stairs, and he grinned, then stepped out from the gathering, turning towards the stairs in full view of everyone.
"Keep up the good work, Izumo. Kotetsu," he waved over his shoulder without looking back. He heard them choke slightly at the sight of him, but the reaction of the Genin was far funnier to him.
"What an idiot. Why is going to the roof?"
"He must not want to be in the Exam."
"Loser."
Naruto made it as far as the sparring well when he was stopped.
"You there! I wish to challenge you!" he couldn't hide his foxy grin as he turned to see none other than Rock Lee.
"Hey Lee, how's Gai doing?" the green-clad boy looked surprised, his thick eyebrows shooting into his bowl-cut hair.
"You know Gai-sensei? And how do you know my name?"
"Yeah, Gai is a friend of my Dad's. And we had a few academy classes together when the grades mixed. My name's Sarutobi Naruto." Lee gave a glinting grin and a thumbs up as he struck the standard 'nice-guy' pose. "But I don't really have time to spar with you. I've got to catch up with my team, so I'll see you in the Exam, ne?" Naruto waved over his shoulder lazily as he walked away. Within moments, he stood before Sasuke and Sakura, the door leading to exam room before them.
"Well, Naruto?"
"Small disturbance. Don't worry about it. Now, what say we make an impression with our entrance?"
"And draw attention to ourselves?" Sakura asked with clear irritation. Naruto shook his head with a smirk.
"Draw attention to me. I can almost guarantee no-one in there will be able to even touch me, and they'll basically ignore you two. So, on that note..." Naruto faced the door and focused on it for a moment.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Inside the exam room
"Oh boy..." Kiba sighed as he heard the shout. He and the other Rookie Nine that were already inside immediately hit the deck, their hands covering their heads and their faces pressed into the ground. The door blasted off the hinges and plowed over a few of the slower-moving Genin, finally burying itself in the wall opposite the entryway.
In the hidden Proctor cubby
Multiple sweatdrops appeared in the dark.
"Stupid... gah! Why is he always so damn flashy!"
"Wouldn't be Naruto otherwise, man."
"True..."
With Naruto
Naruto strolled right in, his hands behind his head calmly, whistling slightly. He stopped when he felt the pitiful KI of the Genin amassed before him. He smirked.
Wrong game to play with me, Kiddies. With that thought, he released a wave of his own KI over the crowd, and a few people vomited, while others looked ready to faint.
"I'll say it once!" Naruto said calmly, his voice carrying in the silence. "You all are my BITCHES." Everyone within a foot-wide radius took a massive step back to get away from the psychotic blond before them. Except for one red-head, who walked right up to him with a sigh and a shake of the head.
"Naruto..."
"Oh hey, Gaara. What's up?"
"Nothing much, you just almost crushed Temari with your door stunt." Naruto looked sheepish for a moment.
"My bad." he then turned to the crowd who were watching him for some indication of something. "Can I help you?" everyone quickly went back to their own conversations, sweating slightly. The rest of the Rookie Nine quickly came over to talk to Naruto and his team.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata started in a dangerous voice. "Was that really necessary?"
"Are you saying you wanted them to stay focused on all of you instead of just me Hinata-chan?"
"Naruto-san is right, Hinata," Shino said in monotone as he adjusted his glasses. "That's because if he had not made a flashy entrance, all of us, being Rookies fresh out the Academy, would still have massive targets painted on our backs."
"Yeah," Choji put in around his mouthful of chips. "I heard a group from Kiri saying we'd be easy prey or something." Naruto's brow crinkled.
"Kiri?" Choji nodded as if it didn't matter. "Kirigakure is here?"
"That's what he said isn't it?" Ino said with slight annoyance. Naruto sat down, his legs crossed, an obvious thinking face on.
"So even Kiri came... that means all five of the Major Nations are here, along with a few of the smaller nations...hmmm..."
"That's right!" came a cheery voice. As a silver-haired teen came up to the group with a smile, which turned into a frown upon seeing Naruto. "Uzumaki," he hissed disdainfully.
"Yakushi!" Naruto snapped to a light combat stance with a snarl. "What are you doing here? Planning on dropping out right at the start of the third round again? Another failure on the tally board?" visible lightning appeared between the two as they glared at each other.
"Not this time, Uzumaki, this time I'm going all the way just for a chance to kick your ass."
"Fat chance, Four-eyes. You couldn't hit the broad side of the Hokage Monument if you tried."
"Loser."
"Failure."
"Idiot."
"No-talent jackass." the teen's face turned bright red in rage at that.
"No-talent!?"
"You heard me," Naruto replied with a smug smirk. "How else could you fail the Chuunin Exams six times?"
"How do you know about those?!"
"My Jiji is the Hokage you fucking idiot." Just as Naruto and the teen only identified as 'Yakushi' were about to come to blows, Sasuke stepped between them, discreetly pushing Naruto back as best he could.
"Hi, I'm..."
"Uchiha Sasuke. I'm Yakushi Kabuto, nice to meet you." Almost everyone had to sweatdrop at the 180 Kabuto's demeanor had taken as soon as it was someone other than Naruto in his face.
"How do you know my name?"
"I collect intel on everyone competing in the Chuunin Exams. Some more willingly than others," he said, shooting another glare at Naruto "I store it all on these Shinobi Info Cards tuned to my Chakra." The blond stormed up.
"Show me the number of Genin Teams from each country."
"What, no 'please'?"
"You're lucky I'm putting any stock in something you made at all, so don't push it Yakushi. But if you can't do it, I shouldn't be surprised, should I?" Naruto said nonchalantly as he turned around with a shrug, causing Kabuto to growl with annoyance. He then quickly whipped out a single card and channeled Chakra into it.
"Here. There's ten teams from each of the Big Five, five from Kusa, three from Ame, one from Taki, and one from Oto."
"One hundred and eighty Genin?" Naruto said quietly, thinking out loud. "What's that old codger thinking?"
"Have you got intel on specific people?" Gaara asked suddenly, appearing in the group. Kabuto nodded. "Kurotsuchi of Iwa, Samui of Kumo, Chojuro of Kiri, Fu of Taki, and Karin of Kusa, please."
"Knowing their names takes all the fun out of it," Kabuto grumbled as he whipped out five cards and channeled Chakra through them. "Let's see... Kurotsuchi, Granddaughter of the third Tsuchikage, Taijutsu is above Average, Kenjutsu is almost non-existant, as is Genjutsu. But her Ninjutsu is off the Charts. Oh, she also has Lava Release! Her Teammates are both Civilian Born and he Jounin-sensei is named Akatsuchi." Naruto looked at the card, then at the crowd, finding the girl quickly. They leveled blank stares at each other, sizing up the competition. Then they nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Samui of Kumo," Kabuto continued. "Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Kenjutsu are all fairly strong, and Genjutsu is above average. Her Teammates are Twins- Omoi and Karui, and her Sensei is named Kirabi." Naruto glanced quickly at the girl, and noticed her developing bust was large for her age.
Kit, Kirabi was the name of the Hachibi's Jinchuuriki in the Third War. I remember Minato telling Kushina about it.
Thanks, Kurama.
"Chojuro of Kiri... hmm... his Kenjutsu seems to be his only skill aside from some Ninjutsu. Ahh, that's why. He's technically a member of the Seven Mist Swordsman." Naruto stiffened at the mention of that group. Zabuza wouldn't be happy. "His teammates are also Civilians and his Sensei is named Ao."
"Fu of Taki," Kabuto said with a slight gleam. "Oh... interesting."
"What's interesting?" Gaara asked.
"She willingly admits to being the Jinchuuriki of the Nanabi, because apparently she has full control over it." Naruto and Gaara stiffened imperceptibly, their eyes flicking to meet. "Her Nin, and Taijutsu are incredible, but her Genjutsu is non-existent."
"And Finally Karin of Kusa. Full name is Uzumaki Karin, and she's apparently a sensory and medic type. Her Ninjutsu is okay, and her Genjutsu is good, but her Taijutsu is weak."
"Wait... Uzumaki?" Naruto said slowly. Kabuto nodded with a frown, then made the connection, and he smirked.
"I wouldn't hold out hope you're related. You were just given the name so you had one, in remembrance of a great Kunoichi." Naruto snorted.
"Shows what you know," he muttered under his breath. Then he blurred through some handseals after biting his thumb. Hatsu appeared in a small puff of smoke.
"Wha? Naru-nii? Who are all these people?"
"We're in the Chuunin Exams, Hatsu. But focus!" the bird snapped to attention. "I need you to fly to Ame at fastest speed and find the tallest tower, you'll find Nagato there. When you find him, tell him The waves will crash at their appointed time, and none can change the flow of Eddies. He'll know what it means." the Osprey nodded, then flew out the window Naruto opened for him. "I wouldn't try that if I were you," the blond said without looking, feeling a trio of Ame Genin trying to sneak up and hold him hostage.
"Who are you, and why are you contacting Pain-sama? What business have you with a god?" Naruto turned around and lounged against the wall.
"That is none of your business."
"Yes it is, he is our leader."
"And his business has nothing to do with you. Get lost." the Genin stormed away while Kabuto stared at Naruto in confusion.
"When did you get a summoning Contract?" Naruto smirked.
"None of your business, Yakushi." Kabuto frowned even more, but turned back to the larger group.
With Karin and her team
Why was he so interested in me? And he has the Uzumaki contract Kaa-san told me about... could we be related? Karin thought as she shifted her glasses on the bridge of her nose.
Back with the Rookie Nine and Kabuto
"Any other surprises Uzumaki?" Kabuto nearly snarled.
"You'll just have to see, won't you Yakushi?" Naruto snapped back. Kabuto growled and turned back to Gaara.
"If I were you I would watch who I associate with. Some Leaf Shinobi are.. shall we say; suspect."
"Ah, he finally admits it!" Naruto said with a his hands wide as if it were raining Ramen. "He finally admits he's suspicious!"
"I was talking about you, you moron!"
"Oh really? Because I'm not the one who's under ANBU Surveillance!" Kabuto looked both surprised and skeptical, but was visibly shocked when two ANBU appeared next to Naruto, quite visibly angry. The purple-haired cat-masked ANBU spoke.
"Goddamnit, Uzumaki! You aren't supposed to alert people about our presence!"
"Oh, come on Neko-chan! You're here watching the Chuunin Exams for Jiji! I couldn't pass up the chance! I mean look at that assholes' face! He really thought you were here for him! Even you have to admit that's funny!" The brown-haired Sparrow smothered a chuckle, drawing the blond's attention.
"I haven't forgotten you or Hawk, Sparrow," Naruto said menacingly with narrowed eyes. The ANBU fidgeted as he felt Neko glaring at him from behind her mask.
"And just what is it Uzumaki would remember, Sparrow?"
"Well, see, uh... that is..."
"Pop Quiz!" Naruto suddenly said brightly as he unzipped his jacket and shrugged it off, revealing his bare torso, to the horror of everyone within sight range. "Who knows what happens when Fire Chakra is Channeled through a Kunai laced with flammable poison?" not a soul spoke as they bore witness to Naruto's chest and back. Scars covered every inch of flesh until the shoulders, where a shirt would hide them. Slash marks, stab scars, and burn scars marred the tan flesh of Naruto's torso, and his back appeared to have been the most offended region. It appeared to everyone as though someone had taken a whip to him while it was burning. Naruto stood tall as he dropped his dark orange jacket and crossed his arms, causing his pectorals and biceps to ripple. His glare leveled on the ANBU before him, his rage fluctuating his Chakra and causing the Genjutsu placed over his Eyes to dispel, revealing the Rinnegan in all it's glory.
"Oh my god..." Ino whispered as she covered her mouth in horror. Hinata, Kiba, Choji, and Sakura all ran to the nearest trash can and emptied the contents of their stomachs into it. Naruto continued to glare at Sparrow even as he felt every eye in the room turn to him in curiosity, and then away from him in horror and repulsion.
With the Oto Team
"Holy fucking shit!" the taller male Genin said as he stared openly at the Blond who'd earlier made a flashy entrance. "Dosu, he looks more fucked up than you!"
"I noticed, Zaku. Kin, your thoughts?"
"If he's alive after whatever caused that, he's obviously tough. I'm not sure even going near him is a good idea."
"Agreed," both of her teammates said quietly.
With Karin
The red-head had to do everything possible to avoid vomiting. Even if this person were a complete stranger, this would be horrifying. The possibility of him being family made it so much worse. She wanted to look away, but couldn't tear her eyes from the gruesome scars covering his body.
With the Proctors
"Kami... what kind of hell did he go through?! Do you see the drill marks around his kidneys? Ibiki, did you know about this?"
Morino Ibiki, the most physically scarred person in Konoha, or so he thought, and an expert in Torture and Interrogation shook his head, obviously greatly disturbed.
Back with Naruto
"So, Sparrow, since I know at least two other ANBU Teams are recording this whole thing and getting the info to Hokage-jiji, I don't think you'll be in the force for much longer. Consider yourself lucky I kept this a secret for as long as I did, you piece of shit. Your punishment would have been much worse if I hadn't lied to Hokage-sama all those years ago."
"Why would you lie for him?!" Sasuke almost screamed, visibly shaken by the gruesome sight.
"Because," Naruto said calmly. "I didn't know any better. I didn't know not everyone was out to get me. I thought every single person in the Village, Hokage-jiji included, wanted me dead. I thought they'd get rewarded. I wouldn't give them the fucking satisfaction. So I told Hiruzen that some Rogue Shinobi had gotten in and Sparrow and Hawk had saved me before they killed me." Neko finally snapped and lunged at Sparrow, tackling him to the ground and wrapping her hands around his neck.
"YOU! PIECE! OF! SHIT!" she screamed, each word punctuated by her slamming his head into the floor violently. "To think I actually respected you for that! He was FOUR FUCKING YEARS OLD YOU BASTARD!" she seemed ready to kill the man in cold blood before three more ANBU became visible and restrained her, although everyone could tell they did it very reluctantly. Sparrow sat up, rubbing his throat and coughing, when a large puff of smoke appeared in the front of the room.
"That's enough!" Morino Ibiki roared over the noise. "Uzumaki! Put your fucking Jacket back on! Lizard!" said ANBU became visible. "Remove Sparrow and take him to a cell, I'll be talking with him after this exam. Lizard saluted and vanished with Sparrow. "The rest of you, find a seat, and for fucks' sake, ANBU get out of here!" all the ANBU vanished as the Genin found seats as the Proctors took their registration papers and gave them tiles with numbers without much organization.
"Uzumaki, was that entirely necessary?" Ibiki asked, gritting his teeth.
"Sorry, Morino. I couldn't stop myself once I saw him." Ibiki sighed and gestured to the only remaining open seat.
"Whatever. Sit down and we'll get started." Naruto took his seat, re-zipping his hoodie and covering the scars, to the relief of everyone present. Ibiki then began speaking.
"The written test will commence shortly, but first I'll explain the rules. Each person starts with ten points. For each question you get wrong, a point is subtracted. Every time you're caught cheating, two are taken away."
Ahh, he's going with the impossible situation. My guess is when I flip this test over, they'll be questions no Genin could answer. So we have to successfully spy- or cheat in this case- without getting caught.
Didn't he try something similar when you had to get your psych eval for your Chuunin Promotion the first time?
Yeah. Ibiki was the only one Jiji trusted with the knowledge of my Shinobi status, so he did all my evals. Oral reports only, cause if it went down on paper, there'd be a trail, which would defeat the purpose of a 'Shadow Shinobi'.
Hmm. I never understood why you weren't officially registered until this year.
Peace time, Jinchuuriki, Civilian idiocy.
Ahh, that whole schpiel.
Yep. Naruto flipped over his paper when he heard Morino say 'start' and smirked when he saw the questions. Like I thought. No Genin could answer these, unless it's Shika and possibly Haruno.
The pink banshee is scribbling on her paper.
I noticed. Welp... The blond jinchuuriki blazed through the test with the speed and knowledge only a seasoned Shinobi could. He flipped it over to cover his answers and idly drew a quick seal to prevent the Byakugan from seeing through the paper, seeing as Hinata was sitting right next to him, and Neji, her older cousin, was somewhere behind and to the left of him. Then, he started idly flipping his pencil in the air and catching it on one finger, resting his chin on his other hand with a bored sigh.
"Uzumaki, what are you doing?" Ibiki suddenly asked with a hard glare.
"Waiting for the tenth question," came the monotone reply as Naruto flipped his pencil once more.
"It's only been twenty minutes."
"Yeah, I know."
"There's no possible way you could have answered those questions so fast." Ibiki had to put on a show, didn't he?"
"I answered the ones I knew, decided to not try the rest." Ibiki's eyebrow twitched at Naruto's nonchalant attitude.
"So you're going to willingly lose points?" Naruto shrugged as if it didn't matter.
"You said yourself that we only fail if our points reach zero." another eye twitch. Naruto sent a nearly imperceptible smirk at the test proctor, acknowledging that Ibiki was losing in a battle of mind games. Ibiki smothered an annoyed groan as he had to concede. Naruto sensed a few small chakra pulses from various points in the room as Hinata and Neji actived their Dojutsu, trying to see his answers. He noticed a few grains of sand floating about, nearly invisible they were so small. He brushed them away with a grin. And he gently picked up a small beetle the at tried crawling under his paper.
He raised the Kikachu on the tip of his finger so he knew Shino saw it, and he could practically feel all the annoyance in the room increase as he thwarted every attempt at cheating off his paper.
When Shikamaru's shadow connected to his and tried forcing his hand to flip the test, presumably so a mirror set up on the ceiling could catch the answers and reflect it, he simply pulsed his chakra just enough to break the jutsu. He heard Izumo, now himself and un-henged, lean to Kotetsu and whisper to him.
"Is it considered cheating if he pulses his chakra but doesn't move?"
"Probably not."
"Shit." Naruto openly smirked at the pair, who scowled in response.
When he felt Ino's Mind Body Switch Jutsu hit him, he wasn't bothered. He felt Kurama roar at the girl, and she quickly vacated his mind, shuddering slightly, obviously unsure of what the hell had just happened. The minutes ticked by as Naruto repelled attemtp after attempt at using him, most were not quite so eloquent as his friends' attempts had been, and more than a few people were called out. Finally, the clock reached the ten-minute mark and Ibiki called for pencils down.
"It's time for the tenth question!"
"About time!" Naruto crowed. "I was about to start playing cards!"
"No you weren't," Sasuke called from his spot. Naruto lened backwards and looked at the Uchiha upside down.
"You never know, I could have been."
"What stakes?" Kotetsu suddenly asked. Naruto grinned and shot Sasuke a smug look.
"Two hundred buy-in."
"Enough!" Ibiki roared just as Kotetsu appeared ready to answer. "Moving on! Before I gove you the tenth question, you each have to decide whether or not to take it!"
"What do you mean?" Kiba called out.
"If you don't take the tenth question, your points drop to zero, and you and your team fail."
"Then why wouldn't we take it?!" Temari called out in an angry voice. Ibiki smirked evilly.
"Because," he said, raising a gloved hand. "If you accept the question, and get it wrong, then you can never take the Chuunin exams again and will be stuck as a Genin for the rest of your life!" Ibiki said as Naruto appeared under him with a flashlight and a gong, casting the man's face in shadow and giving the gong an ominous ring as Ibiki finished his statement. "Uzumaki, get back to your seat!" Naruto guffawed heartily as he obeyed. "Goddamnit I thought you were done with the pranks!"
"That wasn't a prank," Naruto said simply. He gestured at the crowd of Genin, most of whom were quaking. "It was atmospheric enhancement." Ibiki sighed and ran his hands down his face.
"How can that be the case if there are people here who have taken the Chuunin exams before?" Temari again asked, giving Naruto a weird look.
"You just had the bad luck to get me as the proctor this time," Ibiki answered with a grim smirk as Naruto once again threw most of his face into shadow with a flashlight, enhanced by Kotetsu turning off the room lights this time, followed by another ominous gong ring. "GODDAMNIT UZUMAKI! SIT DOWN OR I'LL FAIL YOU RIGHT NOW!" he roared as he slammed a fist over Naruto's head, looking for all the world like Iruka back in the Academy. Naruto returned to his seat, rubbing his head and grumbling under his breath. Ibiki waited a few minutes while several people raised their hands and failed, keeping his glare on Naruto to make sure he stayed in his seat.
Naruto for his part was resting his hands behind his head and leaning back in his chair with his feet on the table, humming merrily to himself, as though he were at home and not in an exam, after having mentally scarred several people multiple times since he showed up. Several people noticed his not-so-subtle relaxation and seemed to take ques from the blond who had caused so much havoc.
"No-one else?" Ibiki asked. His answer was silence. He broke into a grin. "Then congratulations, you all pass!" as he threw his hands out wide,a Naruto appeared on either side of him, popping confetti guns with large grins and striking silly poses. Ibiki growled as he bashed both over the head, one with each fist, dispelling the shadow clones.
"UZUMAKI!" he began chasing the blond around the room, shouting curses and threats of painful torture and strangling as Naruto ran around the room in circles, laughing hysterically as he stayed just out of reach. Kotetsu and Izumo sighed and decided to explain the test for the confused Genin.
"There was no tenth question beyond accepting to take it or not," Izumo said as he stepped back to avoid being barreled over by the still-running duo.
"As Chuunin, there will be missions you might not come back from- getting it wrong and staying Genin forever- bu that doesn't mean you can deny them for safer missions later," Kotetsu supplied before anyone could ask questions. "There might not be another chance."
"Then the other nine questions were pointless?" Kurotsuchi piped up for the first time that day.
"No, they were to test your spying aptitude," Izumo explained. "Chuunins are expected to undergo infiltration missions, and failure through not being good at it can lead to..."
"Things like you saw earlier," Kotetsu finished, gesturing at Naruto as he continued to run from Ibiki.
"He failed an ifiltration mission?" Karin asked angrily.
"No, but the results could be similar. Ibiki would show you what I mean if he wasn't... preoccupied."
"You two sure seem to know an awful lot about being Chuunins," Sasuke said with a wry grin. The two stiffened and turned mechanically toward the Uchiha.
"That's because they're the Eternal Chuunins!" Naruto crowed as he ran. Izumo and Kotetsu both went bright cherry red and joined Ibiki in chasing the blond, all three shouting death threats. As he cackled loudly. This continued until Naruto shot back toward them and slid under their legs, confusing them.
"Wha?" Ibiki started, only to be interrupted as the window the ttrio was in front of shattered inward and they all got caught by a flying tarp, becoming entangled as it stuck to the ceiling.