Let's set this ship to sail! We've got to get to the next round, but of course, it's time to dump a whole bunch of motivation on you! And of course, there's someone sneaking about... well, why should I keep you waiting any longer? Anyway, let's go!
Super hero time!
Ex-aid: Naruto, there's a girl in the sand waiting for you!
Naruto: And you've got a killer robot to beat!
Ex-aid: Well let's beat it up with a gekitotsu punch!
Naruto: And I'll be blazing forward with gun and sabre in hand!
E-a + N: Game start! Showtime!
The room froze. The bright smirk that blossomed onto the torture unit's leader definitely didn't belong on a face as scarred as his, but never the less, Ibuki reacted far from how they were expecting.
"I wasn't expecting seventy eight of you lot to remain, but I guess I can't push it any further." The grizzled man gruffly stated, eyes closed as he leant back against the desk behind him. "I do like your determination though! There never really was a tenth question for you to answer; you could almost say that choice you had to make was the tenth question. The objective of the questions before was accomplished, to test your individual ability to gather information."
"Ability to gather information?" Temari parroted, the bandanna wearing man nodding gleefully.
"First, the focus of this test was on the system of determining the pass or failure based on the multiple person groups that was proposed in the first rule. By grading the exam on a group basis, I added the lovely unbearable pressure of dragging down your teammates along with you for your individual failure." Ibiki began, pacing back and forth as he regarded the remaining ninja. "Secondly, the questions on these tests weren't things that any normal genin ninja would have been able to solve… of course, there are those who hold the necessary intellect, but the vast majority don't. So in that case… I imagine that most of you here would've come to this conclusion: 'in order to score points, I'll have to cheat.'"
"You've got to admit, an exam where the sole premise is to pressure everyone into cheating is certainly a fun concept." Naruto remarked casually as he tugged the jacket around him closer to his body. "You were lucky there were other adult participants though; I wonder whether we have the people available had all of the assigned participants been of the same age for your little trick."
The red captain's words had many people puzzled, a lazy finger dictating two people in the sea of genin easily, both of whom gave a little smirk and a wave as soon as they were pointed out.
"Naturally, those who weren't able to find the chunin available in this room like this kid, or foolishly cheated, were disqualified." The torture unit leader continued after a small nod in Naruto's direction. With a slip of the bandana upon his head as he spoke, the people watching were fixated upon Ibiki, both his words… and the horrific appearance that stood before them. "Information, depending on the time and situation… it will be more valuable than life. In a mission or on a battlefield, you will always have to risk your life to fight for it!"
The mess of scars that covered his head made sure not a single strand of hair could ever grow there again, several holes of dubious origin covered over, but never disappearing while the man lived. To think, he had already cut such a fearsome figure with just the scars that arced around his face… adding the mutilation hidden behind such flimsy fabric just made for a nightmare upon two feet. Burn marks were present as well mixing in the cuts, Tenten close to throwing up as she looked to the man; being a weapon user, she could already see just what would be needed in order to cause all of those holes…
"When information is found and the enemy or a third party finds out about it, that information is no longer guaranteed to be correct. Just remember this…" Ibiki warned, the bandana loosely wrapped around his ravaged head once more. "To be given the wrong information can bring a catastrophic blow to your friends and town. That is why, out of necessity, we forced all of you to cheat in order to test your ability to gather information reliably, while filtering out those who were clearly lacking in such ability."
"The last question still doesn't really make any sense though." Temari objected once more, though she was much more controlled in her protest. Throwing his arms out, Ibiki let the smirk return, the joviality returned to his stance.
"This tenth question was the main issue of this first exam, you see." The man stated. "The tenth question was to take on the question or not. Needless to say, it is definitely a painful decision to make. After all, those who chose not to take the question were immediately failed alongside their teammates! Those who chose to answer the question and got it wrong would be robbed of their chance to take the exam forever. Truly, an unfair question. Let's say that you guys did become chunin. the mission is to steal a secret document! You have no idea how many ninja the enemy has, their ability or any armaments they may have. On top of that, there is the risk of an enemy trap. Do you take the mission or not?"
"In a pinch, there are those who would easily want to save their own life rather than risk it and those who waver and give up their chances because they believe that they will get another in its place. I believe that such fools who don't have strong determination have no right to call themselves Chunin!" the scarred man concluded with pride, the sign of a man resolute in his ways. It was good that he finished, for it was only seconds later when he stepped forward on instinct, a great ball bursting through the window before any others could react. Every shard of glass miraculously missed all of the people gathered as lightning quick hands launched two kunai outward, jamming into the ceiling with the fabric in their grasp to release their payload.
"I hope you ain't celebrating just yet! A feminine voice declared, an arm swinging out in front of the now revealed banner of purple. "I am the second exam's proctor, Anko Mitarashi!" the beige jacket wasn't enough to hide her flesh when it was open, revealing the fishnet underneath that really exposed everything but the bare essentials. Most likely, it didn't even do that, considering the extra band of brown that tied around her waist. Purple hair was tied up over a triumphant face as a fist was raised; not time for slacking.
"It's time to move on to the second stage! All of you, follow me!" the kunoichi ordered, agreat amount of exuberance in her actions. It was probably that which made no one react, Ibiki giving a small scoff as he whispered to the woman.
"Read the atmosphere." He gently scolded, a small choking noise escaping Anko.
"Seventy eight? Ibiki! You really let twenty six teams slide by!?" the purple haired woman scolded in return, though it did little to pull from his smile. "I suppose that the first exam was a little too easy this time around."
"It seems like this time, there are a lot of excellent candidates." The tortured man corrected, a sharp laugh escaping Anko as Naruto became iron in his seat, as did many others as suddenly, a great pressure bore down upon them all, a snake poised at their neck.
"Well don't worry about that… I'll drop more than half of them in the second exam!" Anko promised with a punch to her palm, a sinister cackle escaping her lips. "I've gotta say… I'm getting excited now. I'll give you the details of what you're going to do tomorrow! We'll be changing locations from here, so make sure to get the information from your Jonin leader about the location and the time! Or maybe you can use those abilities of yours that you just had tested… You're all dismissed!"
Watching that strange group walk out of the classroom, Temari wasn't certain what to think of them. The sand village inhabitant had seen many a strange character, but never the likes of the one who was clearly the leader of them. He reeked of absolute stupidity with the brightest red you could imagine, the sort that would blend into absolutely nothing and be luminous enough to act as a bleeding night light, but the show he put on in the test certainly didn't give the same impression.
Of course, there was the way he decided to put on a speech in front of the proctor and everyone else during the final question. That would've been… admirable, in its own way, but it was what he said before he made it that really interested the blonde girl.
"I made sure to wait until those who would only end up getting hurt had left before doing this, but that sort of ploy won't work on us!"
Naturally, it could all be a ploy to make himself appear tougher than he truly was, but with the way he was holding himself, Temari wasn't so sure that was the answer. And then there was the whole trick he did without the knowledge being shared with his companions that had them all sitting together in what appeared to be a random sorting. Did he affect the table numbers without any of the chunin on guard knowing or was there some sort of secret system to the organising that she wasn't aware of? Being from Konoha would certainly make knowing of such a thing easier, but the others that had come from the village had no idea either.
She didn't notice the way that she had found herself following along behind them until she was surrounded, a Hyuuga with their famed Byakugan blazing behind her and the very same red coated boy she had been focused on right in front, tickling her chest with a sword.
"You're that Temari girl we met before." Naruto remarked with a small smile. "It's nice to see you again. Care to explain why you were following us?"
"Oh, I guess I was just in deep thought or something." Yeah, there was no holding back the small wince that came at her cringy answer. It was clear to the female blonde that Naruto recognised how weak that sounded as well, but it appeared he wasn't going to act on it, a small blessing at least.
"Sure, the sort of deep thinking that has you following someone without meaning to. I get the same sort of thing all of the time." Naruto remarked in reply, lowering the sword. Resting against the navel however could potentially be much worse that the breast bone. "Still, don't you want to be getting back to your teammates? I'm sure they're missing you right now and I don't want to have to fight a search crew because of a little misunderstanding."
Temari couldn't help the little laugh that escaped at that thought. The moment that Gaara started calling search crews to try and find his sister was the moment she probably would be most likely to run further; it meant that he had decided to get rid of her. Kankuro just didn't care where she went either.
"I highly doubt that. I swear, they're the most irresponsible brothers I could have…" Temari muttered, a hand resting on the great iron slab that rested upon her back. Oh, how much she wished that Kankuro was here right now. Sometimes, his presence was just enough to warrant getting hit and the way he did the exam wasn't how they planned it; he was cutting it too damn close.
"Oh, so you're siblings then? Even that redhead boy… Gaara?" Naruto asked, fully resting his sword. A small nod near imperceptible to Temari having the others all relax, save for Tenten, who let the chain in her hand rest lazily in a palm ready to be clenched. It did make sense that at least one of them would be still cautious about her presence in a place that definitely seemed like their training area – which would be the place where they test a good majority of their new techniques and tactics.
"Yep. Although sometimes I think Kankuro forgets that." Temari sighed. "He spends all his time messing about, even when he's meant to be taking his work seriously!"
"Well what's the point in growing up if you can't be childish sometimes?" the red captain retorted, flicking the blade back and forth like a child in a forest, forming a walking stick out of a branch. "You don't have to always be working. You'll ruin a good face with that sort of attitude."
"Heh, is that a compliment?" Temari teased, leaning forward just a little. No one said she couldn't have fun with the people; Naruto technically encouraged it, in a way of sorts and with the ay her shirt worked, it would only show a bit, not enough to really go anywhere. "You know, you're going to have to try harder if you want to get onto my level."
"Your saying this when you were the one who was following us like some sort of love struck puppy?" Tenten interjected, Temari freezing on the spot as Naruto let out a laugh, a held out hand receiving a high five without question.
"Like I said, I wasn't trying to!" the Sand village blonde repeated, a small vein appearing upon her forehead as she saw the bun haired girl laughing at her expense. "I was trying to follow Kankuro and must've gotten the feet I was following mixed up."
"…I won't comment how the shoes and trouser me and Kankuro are wearing are different, because I think you've had enough from us for now." The red captain declared, earning a small pout from Temari, a smirk upon his face despite her best efforts. "So, are you planning on sticking with us, or returning to your brothers? We're just going to be doing a little bit of a spar, so having a foreign eye in both cases might be a nice addition."
Now that threw her for a loop. Temari had overlook a variety of ninja from over villages, but never after being asked. Usually there was a few foolish passer-bys that decided that training in a secluded part of the hidden sand village would prevent the rest of the local shinobi from seeing them; because the locals clearly wouldn't be the ones who used the secluded areas. They probably just trained in the middle of the village! Being invited to see them was a completely different beast though, for the same reasons that Temari was a little surprised she was still in the training area they had brought her to. To spar would be to show secrets, even by accident, and a lot could be gleamed from even a training stance. Then there was the idea that a drop of blood could be spilled and hundreds of secrets could be found in a single drop of blood…
"Wait, you're willing to spar even with me here?" Temari questioned, looking to the others. The one dressed in green was on his feet in seconds, stretching off with all of te eagerness of a puppy told he was about to go no a walk, the other girls sat around merely watching with interest clear in their eyes. While a dark side of Temari's mind wanted to join in the sparring, merely for the chance to see if she could defeat the others and try to retrieve the Hyuuga, but the more rational side reminded herself of the situation she was in right now, with four other capable fighters right next to her.
"Of course! I will not deny anyone a spar, regardless of village affiliation!" Lee exuberantly answered, jumping into his fighting stance with a bright toothy smile. "I am Rock Lee, and if Naruto allows it, I shall be your opponent!"
"Lee, you could at least wait until I've introduced everyone. As the one who's been challenged, then she should at least be given the curtesy of choosing her opponent." Naruto sighed, but the blond didn't even try to hide the smirk that sprung up upon his own face. "These two girls here are Hinata Hyuuga and Haku. I'm sure you already knew she was a Hyuuga though and as a loyal Konoha ninja I have to warn you; any attempt to capture her will be met with equal force."
"That's only fair. I suppose I'll pick… you then." Lee's groan of disappointment was loud as the slab of metal was pointed towards Naruto, folded arms already coming undone as his hands folded from the bottom to the appropriate position on the sword in his hands, flicking it up to the right orientation as the others backed away.
"Sure, but I warn you, I won't be doing anything other than use this sabre." Naruto agreed, only to leap away from a sudden strike from a kunai, a smirking Temari suddenly in his previous place.
"That's good. It just means I get to learn more about you than you do me. You can't change now!" the sandy blonde cheered, stabbing forth into what she hoped would be a small amount of the boy's flesh, only to hear the metallic ringing of a sword meeting a duller blade. A shove had the kunai snapped to the side, leaving Temari open until she wasn't. a hand was all that was needed to hold back the sword by slamming into the other blunt side, leaving just enough leeway for her to spin out of the way, another stab with the kunai just avoiding the skin of his neck as the sword flashed, turning in mid-flight.
Another slash had Temari sliding back to hold back the piercing strike from the sabre, a small grin appearing upon her face as she blocked the attack. With a sword like Naruto had, it wasn't wise to do a stabbing attack, for the edge didn't lend itself to piercing - with a flick, the horizontal blade was moved aside, leaving the blunt side facing Temari as she moved forward, sure in her victory. It was only when cold metal met her cheek when the girl was made aware of the strange other weapon in Naruto's hand, clear laughter in his voice.
"We're shinobi. We naturally lie."
And that's what we've got for you! next time, it's time to enter the forest and that means more fighting and forms to use! Who will appear!? Of course, there's someone special waiting in the background and let's face it, you know who's going to appear!