A/N: *flops* I have too much coursework T.T, but I managed to get this out after a long wait (I'm really sorry about that :( *bows*) Anyways, onwards with the Chuunin examinations! cutiekyoto has created another piece of fanart for me :D Its on deviantart, just click on any of the other beautiful pieces she gave me and browse her gallery to find it. I'm impatiently waiting until my birthday to look xD October 21st is too far away.

The Amazing Reviewers: CookieKrisp (congrats on the first review of the chapter!), lovelyanimeangel, WhisperInTheRain, jenjenjojo1012, animerox023, MyutsuChey3X (congrats on longest review of the chapter! xD)

And added love to cutiekyoto, pretty much my beta-reader, critic, added inspiration and dear friend across the seas :)

TO THE ANON REVIEWER: "isnt dis a naruto and sasuke story. wll i aint seeing any of that ur story is getting preety boring hopefully ur next chapter will be better"

Err, seriously? 14 chapters, 75,703 words in and you haven't worked out this is an OC centric fanfic? Sasauke and Naruto are main characters, not the main couple. Boring? Thanks for the compliment SHEESH. And seriously, please check your review before posting it, bad grammar and spelling combined with rudeness is like nails on a blackboard -.- . Thank you for your feedback though, I apologise for any misunderstandings :) I would have replied to you privately, but it was anonymous, so yeah, sorry 'bout that.

Disclaimer: I do not own original Naruto-verse brilliance. That honour belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I am a meager Naru-tard who likes to write little fanfictions.

Claimer: Kari, Kita, handsome stranger and anything from this fanfic NOT in the original manga or anime are property of one Ookami Tsubasawa.

Eien no Shasai

(The Edited Version)

Chapter 15;

Fukuzatsunamondai

Complicated Questions

There are few answers in comparison to all life's questions.

More often than not, the answers provided do little to ease the curiosity.

-x-

"W...Woah..." Naruto murmured.

"What is this?" Sakura asked.

Kari inwardly recoiled at the sight of countless strangers turning their hard judging eyes on them. There were at least three times as many as there had been outside and their piercing gazes made Kari nervous. Feeling her previously forgotten shy behaviour stir up again, she took a small step closer to Naruto, drawing on his strength. However, if Naruto showed any sign of making a spectacle of himself, she would quickly change tactics and hide behind Sasuke instead. After all, the strangers would much rather look at the handsome and famous Uchiha Sasuke than an odd little girl like her.

Kakashi glanced at their backs as the door closed, smiling fondly as he noticed Kari start to fidget slightly. Her shyness would no doubt make the other competitors underestimate her and hopefully they would mostly overlook her in favour of stronger appearing opponents.

Kari once again discreetly glanced over the many Shinobi before her, careful to avoid eye contact in case they thought she was challenging them. She caught sight of her sempai's and they each returned her glance, Lee with a wave, Tenten with a small smile and Neji with a barely noticeable nod.

"Sasuke-kun! You're late!" a high-pitched voice cried in delight as a platinum blonde launched herself onto Sasuke's back, arms wrapping intimately around his neck. "I haven't seen you in a while so I've been waiting in excitement!"

"Ne?" Kari gasped, eyes widening until they were almost perfect sphere's. "Sasuke has a girlfriend and I was never told?" Kari also took time to step even closer to Naruto, deeming Sasuke the new threat for creating unnecessary attention.

"Get away from Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig!" Sakura quickly insulted, flinging an accusing finger in the girls direction. The girl flipped her platinum blonde ponytail over her shoulder and smirked, ice blue eyes glittering with rivalry.

"Why if it isn't Sakura, big ugly forehead as always," Ino sneered.

"Eh?" Kari mumbled in utter confusion. Ino was of average size so could hardly be referred to as overweight and while slightly bigger than average, Sakura's forehead wasn't all that humungous.

"What did you say?"

"You guys are taking the test too?" a boy drawled as he approached with his larger friend. Kari was momentarily reminded of a pineapple (and Kakashi happily holding said fruit while saying "This Kari, is a pineapple, a fruit which is good for you. You should eat more fruit so this is for you.") as the boy had dark hair tied up his on his head where it spiked out like the leaves of said fruit. He gave off an air of laziness from his posture with his hands shoved into his brown pants, to his voice which came out slow, to his facial expression of sleepy irritation. "Don't die."

"Oh! The baka trio!" Naruto cried and Kari poked him in the cheek and muttered her light scolding while the lazy boy grumbled for Naruto not to call them that.

"Man this sucks," the lazy boy declared, straightening the grey, cropped short-sleeved jacket over his fishnet shirt. He glanced at Kari and rose a sceptical eyebrow. "You are?"

"Kari-chan, dattebayou!" Naruto declared as Kari opened her mouth to reply, throwing an arm possessively over her shoulder and smiled as though bragging about her. "She's our new team-mate."

"Nara Shikamaru," the lazy boy offered. "This is Akimichi Chouji." He motioned to the larger boy beside him who was thrusting potato chips in his mouth with his bandaged hands at an alarming speed. The boy had his hitai-ate tied like a bandanna in comparison to Shikamaru who had it tied on his jacket sleeve. Chouji donned a green jacket over a shirt with what Kari assumed to be his clan symbol, a long white scarf and had red swirls on his bloated cheeks. "The girl fawning over your team-mate is Yamanaka Ino, together we make up Asuma-sensei's Team Ten."

"Nice to meet you," Kari said with a bow.

"Kari-chan! You don't need to be so polite to them," Naruto said frowning at them.

"Sasuke is mine, so bleghhh!" Ino said pulling down the skin under eye and sticking her tongue out at Sakura.

Kari held in a laugh at Sasuke's thoroughly unamused expression and looked over the girl of the team remembering her characteristics. Her outfit somewhat resembled Sasuke's with the arm warmers and her collar. She wore a purple two-piece ninja dress with bandages making up her under-shirt and shorts to hide her stomach and thighs. Her hitai-ate lay across her waist.

"Yatta! Found you!" called a familiar voice over the crowd. Kari's ears twitched under her hitai-ate and she turned to grin at Team Eight as they approached. "Well, well, everyone is assembled," Kiba stated with a wry smirk.

"K-konnichiwa..." Hinata offered with a shy smile as Kari walked over to them.

"Geez, you guys too?" Shikamaru grumbled.

"Looks like all ten Genin rookies of this year are taking the exam," Kiba said, throwing an arm across Kari's shoulders having become comfortable around her since they met. She had only joined a few of their team practices but already felt like a welcome extension to their team. "I wonder how far we will get, eh Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn. You seem confident Kiba," Sasuke remarked with a slight smirk.

"We did a lot of training, we won't lose to the likes of you," Kiba declared cockily.

"Urusai! Sasuke might, but I won't lose to the likes of you!" Naruto cried. Kari quickly stepped close to Shino, one she knew would not make a giant fuss. He turned his shaded gaze in her direction at the sudden breach of personal space, but allowed it, as she wasn't bothersome.

"Sumimasen Naruto-kun, Kiba-kun didn't mean it that way," Hinata said shyly as she poked her fingers together. Kari sighed sadly as Naruto simply gave Hinata a look as though she were a tentacled alien. That could have been the start of a beautiful relationship but no, Naruto is too dense to see the attraction little Hinata has for him.

"Hey you guys, you should be more quiet."

On impulse, Kari stiffened as the stranger approached, eyeing him warily though he appeared unthreatening. Kita glanced up from her place near the corner of the room, she was small enough to be mostly unnoticed and was checking the new ninja and trying to unscramble the mix of scents and record them to memory. Kari had told her to stay hidden and out the way, so she worked on her stealth, weaving silently through the crowd.

"You guys are rookies just out of the academy right? Screaming like school girls, geez...This isn't a picnic."

Judging by his height, he was a couple of years their junior. His thick silver hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, intelligent dark eyes peering through round glasses. His shirt and pants were purple, cropped at shoulder and mid-calf with a t-shirt underneath a large sash tied around his middle to which a weapon pouch was tied. His hitai-ate showed the Konoha symbol upon his forehead.

"Who do you think you are?" Ino snapped, detaching herself from Sasuke to put her hands on her hips to glare at the stranger.

"I'm Kabuto, but instead of looking at me, direct your attention behind you."

Kari shuddered slightly noticing the less than friendly looks from a group of older ninja behind them. Four vertical lines were engraved in a row upon their hitai-ate plates.

"Those guys are from Amegakure, they have short tempers," Kabuto said lightly with a small smile."Everyone is nervous about the exam, don't go causing a scene. Well, I can't blame you really, you're clueless rookies. I used to be like that once."

"Kabuto-san, right?" Sakura asked uncertainly. "So this is your second time?"

"Nope, my seventh actually. This exam is held twice a year so this is my fourth year."

"Wow, so you must know a lot about the exam," Sakura said hopefully, wondering whether this friendly veteran was willing to share pointers.

"Hehe, then I'll share some info with you cute rookies. With these nin-info cards," Kabuto said, pulling out a hand of cards. "They're basically cards with info burned onto them with Chakra. I have four years worth of info here and over two hundred cards. They look blank, but to open the info on these cards..." he placed a card on the ground and twirled it with his finger. "You can't view them unless I use my Chakra. For example..." His Chakra flared and in a small puff of smoke the blank card had turned into a mixture of a graph and a map. Kari's eyebrows furrowed as she frowned in confusion. "This is the number of those taking the exam and the breakdown of what country they're from."

Kari's eyes shifted from trying to understand the different coloured shapes that were the different countries and onto the statistics on the side.

Leaf – 88 participants

Rain – 21 participants

Sand – 30 participants

Waterfall – 6 participants

Grass – 6 participants

Oto – 6 participants

"Do you have cards with info on individuals?" Sasuke asked.

"There are some guys you are worried about?" Kabuto asked with a chuckle. "Of course, all the info on this exams participants isn't perfect but I do have it. Even of you guys..." Kabuto paused and glanced at Kari. "Except you? How strange... Are you from a civilian family? A non-ninja village? Perhaps an orphan?" Sasuke cleared his throat, directing the attention back to his previous question. "Say something about these guys and I'll have a look."

"Gaara no Sunagakure and Rock Lee no Konohagakure."

"Oh you know their names? This should be easy then." he whipped out a car and Sasuke stared at it intensely, desperate for the knowledge it held. "Okay, first is Rock Lee. He's a year older than you guys. Mission history; D-Rank – 20 completed, C-Rank – 12 completed. His sensei is Gai. His Taijutsu has drastically improved in this year though the rest is nothing special. Last year he gained attention as a talented new Genin but did not take the exam. Like you guys, this is his first time. His team-mates are Hyuuga Neji and Tenten.

"Next is Subaku no Gaara. Mission history; C-Rank – 8 and B-Rank – 1. Wow, a B-rank as a Genin. Since he's a newcomer from a foreign country I don't have much info, but it seems he returned from all his missions without even a scratch."

Kari inwardly sighed remembering the state she'd returned in from the mission in Nami no kuni. She could use some of Gaara's physical-harm-avoidance skill. Sasuke's gaze was intense on Gaara's picture and Kari had the feeling Sasuke had targeted a new rival.

"Konoha, Suna, Ame, Kusa, Taki, Oto... Many outstanding Genin from the various hidden villages are here to take the exam. Well, Otogakure is a small village just created last year so there isn't much info, but the rest of the villages are filled with talented youngsters."

"So basically," Sakura began. "All the people here are..."

"Yeah, they're the top elite Genin like Lee and Gaara." Kabuto verified. "This isn't going to be easy."

Kari glanced to the side and saw Naruto shaking slightly. She paled and stepped closer to Shino so their arms were touching. The Aburame raised an eyebrow at her peculiar behaviour.

"Hey Naruto, don't get so down," Sakura said as she tried to reassure her team-mate. Kari's eyes widened, realising that as soon as Sakura did that, Naruto would blow.

"Hey! My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I won't lose to you temee, dattebayou!" Naruto declared, pointing out into the crowd of shinobi. Kari all but tried to merge with Shino's side to try and avoid the attention being directed at them. She adored Naruto, but was it really necessary to rile up all your enemies? "You got that?"

Behind the door Kakashi chuckled, glad his team wasn't put off by the task at hand. Naruto would take care of Kari, after she'd calmed down from the extreme embarrassment she must be feeling right now.

"Hey! What is he doing?" Ino shrieked at Sakura who had an angry twitch in her bottom eyelid.

"Ah, that felt great, dattebayou!" Naruto said grinning in contentment.

"He's very spirited. I guess you didn't beat him down enough Lee," Neji commented. A small smirk appeared on his face. "Kari looks appalled at all the attention."

"Heh, Otogakure is a 'minor village'? Is that's so? Let's play with them a little bit."

"Good idea. Calling us leftovers... Let's help him add to his data, that Oto shinobi... can be quite vicious."

"You won't lose to those temee? Big words show-off. Ahou, he just turned everyone into his enemy," Shikamaru grumbled.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sakura shrieked as she pulled Naruto into a violent headlock as the boy squealed that he was just telling the truth. Kari's muscles contracted feeling the tension continue to rise, feeling the threat of attack. "M-minna it was just a joke, he's quite stupid and..." Sakura said sheepishly realising she was now attracting attention. The soft squeak of sandals on tile made Kari's heart jump, it was the signal of attack, but where... who was attacking from where?

By chance she glanced at Kabuto and saw his eyes directed at the movements. Her eyes narrowed. So he knew too... She made a note to be wary of him.

The familiar sound of clinking metal forced her out of her thoughts and into action. She caught the kunai as Kabuto jumped back having darted in front of him to intercept the attack. Her eyes gleamed with excitement at the prospect of a challenging fight but forced herself to resist the urge to do something rash. Stepping back and to the side she spun to see another Oto-nin aiming a punch at Kabuto in a metal-clad arm. He dodged and smirked but then the glass of his glasses cracked.

"What's going on? He dodged it so why did his glasses...?" Sasuke asked confused.

"It probably glanced his nose. That's what you get for acting like a big-shot," Shikamaru scoffed.

Kari felt uneasy as the air suddenly seemed somehow heavier. A sharp piercing ring entered her ears as Kabuto bent over and threw up.

"Kabuto-san!" Sakura cried as Kari grasped her hidden ears, clenching the material of her hitai-ate in pain. The sound seemed to echo around her head, bouncing sharply off the walls of her skull. She screwed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth as her vision doubled and then tripled. Her knees started to wobble but Sasuke, noticing her distress, had wrapped an arm around her middle to hold her steady.

"He definitely dodged it..." Sasuke mumbled. "Did you see anything?"

"No..." Kari murmured as her own nausea began to settle.

"Daijoubou?" Sasuke said sharply, pulling her straighter. She nodded shakily and the Uchiha retracted his support watching his other team-mates fuss over Kabuto. "Let me know if you're not. We can't afford weakness."

"Mm," she hummed in agreement, her eyes coming into focus again.

"How pathetic, aren't you a four year veteran?" one of the three Oto-nin sneered. They each donned a cow-print pattern, the hunchback with his face almost completely bandaged wrapped in a thick animal fur. "Write this down on your cards, the three Otogakure Shinobi are definite future Chuunins."

"Lee, how about that attack?" Neji asked. He'd seen Kari's odd reaction and decided to ask her about it later. She seemed to have recovered quickly enough, so it wasn't dire enough to check her condition.

"No problems seeing the speed. It must be some kind of trick. Kari-hime got a closer look and her eyes are sharper than mine," Lee whispered in reply.

"Quiet down you worthless bastards!" a deep voice boomed as an explosion went off by the doors. Kari immediately straightened, recognising the strong sense of authority in the speakers deep tone. As the smoke cleared, a group of shinobi appeared all in the same grey uniform with the exception of the speaker, who wore a large black trench coat. "Thanks for waiting. Ore wa Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the Chuunin Selection Exam first test." His face was lined with deep scars and his smile was anything but kind, it looked like he found them pathetic and was looking forward to obliterating them. "Otogakure guys, stop doing as you please before the exam, do you want to fail already?"

"Sumimasen, this is our first time," the hunchbacked Oto-nin said without any trace of genuine regret. "We got a bit, ah... carried away."

"Here's a good opportunity to say this. There will be no fighting without permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated," Ibiki stated. His eyes chilled to a glare promising pain. "Those pigs that disobey me will be failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

"Heh. This exam sounds easy," one of the Oto-nin scoffed.

"We will now begin the Chuunin Exam. Instead of your current seats, you will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you," Ibiki waved a hand towards a Chuunin holding a box beside him. "We will then hand out the exams."

"...NANI?" Naruto shrieked as realisation dawned on him. "A written test?"

Kari felt the blood drain out of her face as she felt a stare as hot as lasers on the back of her head. Turning around nervously she smiled weakly at Neji, who was giving her a look that just dared her to fail the exam and find out the consequences. He'd probably Jyuuken her so far into the sky she'd leave the planet.

They were all assigned seats and the teams were split. Luckily, Kari was diagonally behind Sasuke (who had given her a look similar to Neji's before he sat down) and she had two guys either side of her not too much older than herself. One was grinning at her in a way that made her feel queasy and the guy on the other side made her feel a bit nervous because he was extremely good looking (after all she was at that age).

"Gambatte, ne?" the good looking boy said with a small smile and Kari practically melted until she saw the hitai-ate around his neck.

Otogakure – god-damn it!

"Same to you," Kari said, unable to stop her blush. His golden eyes were a lovely warm honey, contrasting beautifully with his static violet hair that spiked and fell in his face elegantly, yet remained wild and untamed. His smile widened and despite his hitai-ate symbol, her cheeks tickled a darker pink and she smiled a small smile of her own as she felt butterflies tickle her tummy.

"Baka," Sasuke grumbled and Kari's melting quickly turned to ice which she threw into a glare at the back of Sasuke's head. Why did he have to interrupt her moment? She never got attention off boys and the one time she does Sasuke has to butt in and ruin it? What do girls see in him? Glancing around she saw Sakura and Naruto near the front with Hinata next to him. Kari smiled fondly and hoped that the two could bond.

"Do not turn your tests over. Listen carefully to what I'm about to say. There will be important rules to this test. I'll write it down on the board while I explain, but questions will not be allowed so listen carefully," Ibiki instructed. "First, you guys will all start off with ten points. The test is made up of ten questions each worth one point but this test uses a subtraction system. Basically, if you answer all ten questions correctly you will keep all ten points. If you answer three wrong, your total will be seven. The second rule, this is a team test. Whether you pass or fail will be decided on the combined score of you and your team-mates. So each time will see how many points they can hold onto from the total of thirty."

There was a distinct thud as Sakura slammed her head onto the desk. Sasuke turned his head slightly to glare sharply at Kari out the corner of his eye. She smiled nervously and shrank lower into her seat. She was pretty ignorant when it came to written theory. She was a fighter, not a strategist. Then again, so was Naruto... so if both of them did terribly...

Sakura would beat Naruto to within an inch of his life and Sasuke would torture her until she was scared of her own shadow.

"The most important rule, is that anyone caught cheating in the exam by the testing officers, will have two points subtracted for every offence. So there will be some who lose all their points and will be asked to leave. Realize that the pathetic ones caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As Shinobi trying to reach the level of Chuunin, be proud ninjas."

Kari had a pretty high morality. She frowned momentarily at the thought of cheating until countless angry faces popped into her vision and she paused wondering if she should consider it. After all, this was a desperate life-and-death situation. Maybe if she just did one long cheat? That would only cost two points.

"The final rule, all those that lose all their initial points in the test and fail to answer any correctly, will be failed along with their team-mates."

Kari sank down so low than she was almost horizontal with her chin on her chest. She was in so much trouble... A bead of sweat trickled past her temple. She was going to be brutally murdered if she failed this... hell even if it was Naruto who failed... Oh no, oh no, oh no...!

"Hey," the rather handsome boy beside her said glancing down at her with a puzzled expression. "Don't worry, ne? I'm sure you'll be able to get at least one right."

Kari's smile looked more like a pained grimace.

"If I don't survive this, you're very cute," she offered in a high voice strained with fear. Sasuke and Neji were going to Jyuuken her and burn the remains! Suddenly realising just what she had let slip out (she had meant to say it had been nice to meet him) Kari's face heated as fast as an erupting volcano and the apples of her cheeks were the colour of ripe tomatoes. Maybe it would be good if she was obliterated, she quite liked the idea of disappearing right now.

Pulling a beautiful smile at the girls mortified expression, the handsome stranger nodded.

"Same to you."

If they weren't in an exam Kari had the feeling Sasuke would have grabbed his desk and smashed it over her head by now. He wouldn't willingly stand for her being all floaty after a compliment off a gorgeous stranger.

"The test lasts one hour, begin!" Ibiki declared and Kari hesitantly turned the paper over as though fearing she would find a bomb underneath. What she found instead, was even worse.

First question said it was a cryptogram.

Kari didn't know what a cryptogram was.

Second question: "Line B, seen in the equation is the greatest possible distance that a shinobi can throw his shuriken from a tree of seven metres. For enemies who appear within the circumference of the shuriken's range, explain the attack options using this distance. Show your working.

Not knowing what on earth to put and wondering if a circumference was a circle or a sphere, Kari just wrote anything, hoping the examiner might have mercy.

'Throw the shuriken at the enemy when he's inside the circle/range.'

That sounded perfectly rational to her. She drew a circle, a little tree, a stick-man and an enemy stick-man with a shuriken being thrown at him. Pleased, she skimmed the rest of the questions frowning when she couldn't make head nor tail of them. Kita snoozed next to her, the occasional soft snuffle breaking the silence. Discreetly glancing down, she caught sight of Sasuke's completely empty paper in her peripheral vision. At least she attempted one! With a small scoff at the thought of his earlier warning glares she turned her attention to the last question.

Question 10: "The final question will be given forty-five minutes after the test begins. Listen closely to the examiner before answering."

Kari bit her lip as she tried to fathom what on earth the examiner-man had planned. Sneaking a peak at Naruto he seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. She smiled sympathetically, though a little composed, inside, she wasn't far off him (though she had faith in her little stick-figure drawing). Looking at Sakura she felt queasy at the sight of the pinkette writing furiously. Why couldn't Kari hear thoughts with her weird ears? That would be indescribably useful right about now.

Sasuke suddenly tensed slightly. Kari saw the muscles in his back contract under his shirt and his shoulders become rigid. He then relaxed and seemed more sure of himself and shot a glance at Naruto. Putting his pen down for a moment Sasuke put his hands behind his back and discreetly wrote the kanji for 'cheat' onto his palm for Kari to see.

Cheat? Kari's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The exam specifically stated you weren't allowed to cheat, why else would they have a load of Chuunin watching their every move. Besides, cheating meant losing marks, did Sasuke really have such little faith in her? There was too much risk and too much pressure and Ibiki had made a specific point that you were not allowed to be caught cheating. Then again, if cheating was so bad, why were you allowed five attempts before being thrown out?

Kari frowned, finding the last part particularly strange.

Surely if cheating warranted eagle-eyed cheat detectors, you'd be thrown out when you were first caught.

Unless...

A sudden thought dawned on Kari and she scanned the crowd discreetly, eyes moving to those she knew. Neji had his Byakugan on, she could see one of Shino's kikaichuu fly past, she could hear the soft yips of Akamaru.

Did... the examiner want them to cheat?

There was more emphasis on getting caught than the cheating itself, so if she cheated and didn't get caught she could gather the necessary information and have (hopefully) at least one correct answer and pass the exam.

Deciding she'd give it a go and stop if she was caught, Kari directed her eyes down to her paper and looked carefully out the corner of her eyes. Working with a Byakugan user had sharpened her keen eyes. Looking down two rows she spotted one of the answers being the number eight. She looked down at the area it was on her own paper and quickly found the correct box.

She noticed Sasuke had started to write and smirked. He had shifted a little to the side and had hunched over slightly, giving her a clear view of his paper over his shoulder. Kari looked down at her own paper, watching his neat kanji form the answer. As he moved on to the next question, she began to copy.

Kari stiffened when a kunai shot past Naruto's ear and onto the desk behind him.

"W-what was that for?" the boy cried standing from his seat.

"You messed up five times, you fail," the Chuunin declared. "The two on his team, get out of here. Now."

As the boy protested and made words of disbelief, Kari's eyes narrowed on the Chuunin. He looked awfully familiar to the guys that had blocked their way with Genjutsu and then miraculously disappeared when they'd reached the classroom. Kari smirked slightly, so it was like a preparation test. The Chuunin glanced up and caught her look, his own eyes narrowing suspiciously. Kari looked back down at her paper, trying not to draw attention to herself.

Speaking of drawing attention, was Gaara holding an eyeball?

Quickly discarding the thought, Kari glanced at Naruto seeing he seemed to be interacting with Hinata. She smiled fondly and forced herself to turn her attention back to her paper.

"Number 102, stand up, you fail."

"Number 23, you fail."

"43 and 27, you fail."

Kari blinked as the last failed person had to be dragged by his shirt out the room, denying and cursing the entire way. That was a dozen or so teams if she was correct. The boy on her other side had left about five minutes ago with his team (Kari was glad, she didn't like being stared at like Naruto did at his ramen while waiting for it to cook) and it looked like the fourteenth team had just been failed.

"Do you have proof I cheated five times? Have you been watching all-"

The boy was quickly thrown against a wall and pinned there as he got on one of the Chuunin's last nerves.

"Listen, among Chuunin's we were the elite that were chosen to watch over this exam. We haven't missed anything you've done. You could say that this strength is our proof," the Chuunin sneered. As Kari noticed others become uneasy, she herself decided to find a Chuunin she could have a good spar with. As much as she adored the rookies and team Gai, a Chuunin fight looked quite exciting.

Gaara's team-mate, Kankurou then decided he needed the bathroom and was escorted out in handcuffs. When he returned, Ibiki began to speak.

"Okay. It's about time for the tenth question..." Ibiki stated and everyone turned their attention to him. "Before we begin, I'd like to go over some rules for this question. I'll now explain the rules of desperation..."

-x-

"Maa... it sure is boring without my team..." Kakashi drawled lazily as he slumped more into the old sofa.

"Don't worry, you'll be busy again soon," Asuma said, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"Why's that?" Kakashi asked leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

"I heard that the examiner for the first test is Morino Ibiki," Asuma revealed, taking a drag and exhaled, smoke swirling out his nostrils as though he were a dragon.

"Not that sadist..." Kakashi sighed. If there was one person Kari's puppy-eyes might not work on, it could be him. Then again, that would be an interesting experiment, Kari's cuteness versus Ibiki. Kakashi sighed again, he was thinking too much about his favourite student. He was like a worried mother hen with withdrawal symptoms.

"Sadist?" Kurenai echoed in confusion.

"Kurenai, you're a new Jounin so you probably don't know," Asuma explained.

"Who is he?"

"A pro," Asuma replied.

"A pro? Of what?" Kurenai questioned. Asuma took a deep drag of his cancer stick and smirked, blowing smoke through his lips.

"Of torture and interrogation." Kurenai's ruby eyes widened significantly. "Leaf assassination squad and torture and interrogation captain, Special Jounin Morino Ibiki. Well, there may not be physical torture while taking a test but they must be experiencing mental suffering brought on by his interrogation skills."

Kakashi resisted the urge to go rescue Kari from Ibiki's evil clutches.

"Aren't you worried about Kari-chan, Kakashi?" Kurenai asked and the Jounin looked up, his lazy posture and blank expression betraying nothing of his inner over-protective turmoil.

"No?" Yes.

"But isn't she your favourite?" Kurenai asked.

"What gave you that idea?" Kakashi asked simply and Kurenai and Asuma shared a glance. Really, was it that obvious?

"She's a very likeable kid. Plus, she calls you Kashi, she doesn't even refer to you as sensei," Kurenai replied. Kakashi shrugged and Kurenai seemed to bristle slightly. "Well, if you don't want her she can join my team, they all get along very well and -"

"No," Kakashi said bluntly and the other two rookie sensei seemed surprised. Realising what he had carelessly blurted out Kakashi coughed awkwardly. "You couldn't handle her."

"I couldn't handle Kari-chan?"

"No. Absolutely not," Kakashi nodded.

"Gai's been spouting youthful phrases about your newest member too," Asuma added as he blew a puff of smoke into the air before him. "I might see what all the fuss is about."

Ignoring the sneaky dig, Kakashi turned his attention to a more pressing matter.

"Gai?"

"He's teaching her with his team, she's their 'youthful blossoming apprentice' or something," Asuma replied simply his smirk slightly teasing as Kakashi's composure was broken by a twitch of irritation in his visible bottom eyelid.

"Gai... is teaching Kari?"

Oh hell no.

Kari was not to be tainted by that spandex wearing freak.

The rivalry just got personal.

-x-

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