Author's note: Soooo sorry it took me this long to update!! (≥-≤')
Previously:
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki!!!" he declared proudly at the top of his lungs. "I won't lose to you bastards!!!!"
"!!" the other genins said with scowls on their faces, surprised by his guts and stupidity for pulling such a stunt.
"You got that?!!!!" Naruto yelled.
"…" Kakashi sweat-dropped and smiled wryly as he leaned against the wall outside. Naruto… He should have known. He'd really done it now. No doubt he would be in for a scolding from Sakura and April.
"Naruto…" April said quietly, sweat-dropping, as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know how you feel, but we don't have to say everything we're thinking, okay?" She was excited and nervous too, but they didn't need to go out of their way to make enemies.
'He's too stupid to get down…' Sakura thought, chagrined. She couldn't believe she had actually begun to feel sorry for him.
"Hey!!! What is he doing?!!" Ino demanded incredulously as beads of nervous sweat slid down the sides of their faces. Was he crazy!?
"Ah… That felt great…!" Naruto said with a cheeky grin while he crossed his arms behind his head.
"Heh." Sasuke said with the hint of a smirk.
'Well, I guess at least we've managed to remove any doubts about who might come after us now that he's pissed off the whole room…' April thought with a wry smile. The corner of Kabuto's lips curved up slightly while the other examinees glared at the rookies from across the room. These kids were something else.
"…" Gaara stared at them from his place beside his siblings.
"Hey… it's that guy from before..." Kankurō said with a mean smirk.
"That dog's bark is worse than his bite." Temari remarked.
"Is he stupid…?" Tenten wondered aloud dubiously.
"He's very spirited. I guess you didn't beat him down enough, Lee." Neji remarked.
"…" Lee frowned.
"Hehe… Did you hear, the Hidden Sound is a minor village?" said one of the sound ninjas, pissed.
"Is that so?" said their bandaged leader. How offensive.
"Let's play with him a little bit…" the girl suggested wickedly.
"Hehe… Good idea." Snickered the boy in the muzzle-gasmask. He didn't care what happened to the others as long as that cute purple-haired girl remained intact. "Calling us left overs… He should know better."
"Let's help him add to his data… by showing him that Hidden Sound shinobi… can be quite vicious…" Their leader said with a devious smirk.
Chapter 40: The First Test!!
Naruto grinned, feeling very proud of himself for his confident declaration.
"… You won't lose to those bastards? Big words… Showoff…" Kiba said with a smirk, snickering into his hand.
"What a moron… he just turned everyone into his enemy…" Shikamaru said, sweating nervously as he thought of the ramifications of Naruto's actions. He was so glad they weren't on the same team. As annoying as Ino was, at least she knew better than to do that.
"What the hell are you doing!?!" Sakura demanded incredulously, wrapping her arms around her loudmouth teammate's neck in a chokehold.
"I was just speaking the truth!!" Naruto exclaimed defensively, throwing more fuel on the fire.
"I don't think you're squeezing hard enough, Sakura-chan… He's still talking," April said with a radiant shit-eating grin, wishing he would just leave well enough alone. She was glad he wasn't intimidated, but she'd rather not provoke the rest of these trigger-happy genins unless absolutely necessary. 'Well, at least we've probably managed to avoid attracting any offers of false friendship with the way they're all glaring at us…' she thought wryly, sweat-dropping at of all the silent death threats being sent their way. It was a lot easier to tell friend from foe when you knew ahead of time that everyone else in the room hated your guts.
"Hey—guh!" Naruto grunted in pain, feeling indignant, when Sakura followed April's suggestion and squeezed tighter to prevent any more stupidity from leaking out of his mouth.
"E… Everyone… It was just a joke…" Sakura nervously apologized to the rest of the room. "He's quite stupid, and…"
While she was making excuses, the sound ninjas were making trouble.
"Shall we do it…?" the bandaged leader asked his teammates.
"Let's do it," the guy with spikey hair said with a smirk. The four sound ninjas immediately began snaking their way through the crowd at top speed. Though they were suppressing their auras, and none of the other examinees that they passed reacted, April caught a flicker or movement out the corner of her eye. She stopped listening to Sakura's yelling and focused on catching it again.
'There!' she thought, narrowing her eyes slightly once she had them in her sights, keeping her eyes trained on them while they continued to weave through the crowd. 'They're coming…' She noticed in her peripheral vision that Kabuto also had his eyes on them. April wasn't sure who they were aiming for, but she would have put her money on Naruto, so she tensed slightly in anticipation of their attack when guy with the bandaged face began to pull one of his sleeves up, and the guy with spiky hair launched himself into the air above Kabuto and swiftly threw two kunais at him without hesitation. "!" April said, surprised, as her eyes widened with concern, but Kabuto dodged the kunai expertly. Unfortunately, this put Kabuto right where the sound ninjas wanted him. As he slid back out of the path of the kunais, the bandaged leader suddenly appeared before him.
"!!!" Kabuto gasped in alarm. They were now only inches apart when the other ninja began swinging his fist at his face.
"!!" Sasuke gasped when he saw the attack, and his eyes widened as he furrowed his brow.
'These guys are Hidden Sound…' Kabuto thought, gritting his teeth while a bead of sweat slid down the side of his face.
'What's that thing on his arm…?' April wondered, furrowing her brow and frowning, bending her knees a little in preparation to move.
"!!" Naruto and Sakura flinched in alarm when they realized what was happening behind them.
They all watched as Kabuto managed to cleanly avoid the incoming attack, jumping back just in the nick of time with a triumphant smirk on his face.
'He dodged it!!' Naruto and Sakura thought, shocked.
'Good speed…' Sasuke and April thought. She was glad she didn't have to intervene.
CRACK…!
"!" Kabuto was startled when the lenses in his glasses suddenly shattered.
'What the…?' April frowned and the crease in her brow deepened. 'He definitely dodged the physical blow… was that caused by the pressure around the punch?'
"!" the sand siblings said, furrowing their brows slightly while they watched.
'I see… So it was this kind of attack…' Kabuto thought, removing his broken glasses. It was thanks to incidents like this that he had learned to pack spares.
"What's going on?" Sasuke asked, confused. "He dodged it… So why did his glasses…"
"It probably glanced his nose," Shikamaru reasoned. "That's what you get for acting like a big shot."
"!?" Kabuto gasped when his vision suddenly blurred, and his entire body began to shake while a loud ringing noise filled his ears.
"!!" April cringed when he suddenly crumpled to his knees with a look of agony on his face and emptied all the contents of his stomach out right on the floor in front of him.
"Ah!! He threw up!" Naruto yelled, shocked.
"K… Kabuto-san?" Sakura cried in alarm.
"!!" Sasuke and the other rookies gasped in shock.
April furrowed her brow. The damage was obviously a lot more serious than a pair of broken glasses. Normal air pressure couldn't do that. 'It had to be that…!' she thought, narrowing her eyes slightly at the arm the bandaged sound ninja had attacked with. 'The design of those holes in that thing he's wearing… Could it be they're actually…?'
Lee and Neji frowned, while the creases in the sand siblings' brows deepened, and the rest of the examinees observed the scene with wary expressions on their faces.
"Heh," the spikey-haired sound ninja, who had thrown the kunais, laughed smugly as all four of members of his team came together to stand before the injured Kabuto, exuding fierce and hostile auras while they glared down at him.
"Kabuto-onii-chan!!!" Naruto cried as he and Sakura rushed over to his side.
"Are you all right!?!" Sakura asked.
"Yeah… I'm fine," Kabuto replied, coughing, while he straightened up.
"Do you have a headache?" April asked, kneeling down beside them to check his vitals.
"… Yes," Kabuto replied, wiping his mouth. He wondered how she knew. Did she have medical training? All he knew about 'April Starr' was that she was an outsider skilled in an eclectic form of taijutsu, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere a year ago, and had since then somehow managed to become a genin in that short time.
"Oh, so he's not so special. Even though he's a veteran who's been taking the exams for four whole years," the bandaged sound ninja leader sneered.
"Write this down on your cards," the spikey-haired one said cockily, earning himself a glare from Naruto. April kept her cool, listening quietly, while she continued to examine Kabuto. "The four ninjas from the Oto village: definite future chūnin."
'He completely dodged it… So why…?' Sasuke wondered, furrowing his brow and frowning in confusion. Why did he just vomit?
"Lee, how about that attack?" asked Neji.
"No problems in seeing the speed," he replied with a frown, "there must be some trick."
"Hmph…" said Gaara. Weaklings, all of them…
'As I thought…' April mused with a frown when she saw that there was swelling in one of Kabuto's ears, and the other was leaking fluid. He was showing all the signs of having received an extreme acoustic shock, just like how she did after having a gun fired right next to her ear. 'It was vibrations, not pressure that broke his glasses… Those holes in the device that guy has on his arm must have been designed to produce a very strong frequency when swung through the air…' One that was outside of an ordinary human's hearing range. "I guess they're not called 'sound' ninjas for nothing…" she muttered, just loud enough for Kabuto, Sakura, and Naruto to hear.
"Huh…?" Naruto said, confused, while Kabuto's eyes widened with realization.
The attack had temporarily thrown the older genin's senses off, but as soon as he heard her say that, he knew immediately what was wrong with him. 'This girl…!' Kabuto thought, surprised and impressed. With only one look, she had already managed to figure out the secret behind the attack without having to experience it for herself. Her chakra levels might be low, but her intelligence was far above average. She was definitely one to watch.
But they weren't the only ones who heard. The muzzled sound ninja smirked when his extra sensitive ears caught that poignant assessment. "So, you figured it out, huh? Beauty and brains!" he said, licking his lips with excitement behind his mask. 'With women like that, it's best to kill them quick…'
April resisted the urge to shudder. There was something about his predatory stare that gave her a huge case of the creeps.
"What are you…" Sakura started to ask, when there was a sudden explosion of smoke at the front of the classroom.
"Quiet down, you worthless bastards!!!" a loud voice boomed sternly.
"What's this!!?" several examinees exclaimed, startled. The sound ninja with the gasmask scowled, annoyed that they had been interrupted before he could play more with the purple-haired girl.
'That voice… It can't be…' April thought, eyes widening slightly with recognition. A bead of sweat slid down the side of her face as the smoke began to clear, revealing a squad of older ninjas clad in grey uniforms led by a man with a scarred face, who was wearing a black overcoat, gloves, and his forehead protector wrapped around to cover his bald head.
"Thanks for waiting… I'm Ibiki Morino, the proctor for the Chūnin Selection Exam's first test," the imposing man introduced himself with a dangerous smirk.
'Shit,' April thought, immediately sliding her pokerface on, while the majority of the other examinees gulped and started sweating bullets. This was not good. He was just as intimidating as ever; with that one sentence he had taken complete control of the room. She watched him raise his hand and point it in their direction.
"You, from the Hidden Sound Village!" Ibiki said, calling out the troublemakers. "Stop doing as you please before the exam. Do you want to fail already?"
"I apologize…" said their leader, even though he looked anything but sorry. "This is our first time… We got a bit carried away…"
"Hmph..." said Ibiki. He bet they did. "Here's a good opportunity to say this… There will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated. Those pigs who disobey me will be failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?" he finished gravely with his face cast partially in shadow and merciless eyes that promised swift and terrible retribution.
"…" Naruto gulped as beads of nervous sweat formed on his brow.
"Heh, this exam is sounding easy," the spikey-haired sound ninja said with a smirk.
Ibiki's subordinates smirked, too. These noobs had no idea who they were dealing with.
'That's what you think…' April thought, keeping her expression neutral. If Ibiki was in charge, there was no telling what kind of fresh hell he was about to put them through. His interrogations were an ordeal, even when you cooperated. He had spared her any physical torture, but she had experienced enough mental poking and prodding under him to know that he had a terrifying grasp on psychology.
"We will now start the first test in the Chūnin Exam," Ibiki announced, continuing to scan the room. At a glance it was obvious that many of the teams had chosen to sit together. He smirked when his eyes landed on April. 'So, she's mixed in there this year, huh?' he thought. He had heard she managed to graduate. "Instead of your current seating arrangements… You will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you," he instructed the genins, holding up a numbered tile for them to see. "We will then hand out the exams." The chūnin standing next to him held up a stack of papers.
'So, it's that kind of test… This can't be good,' April thought, glancing at Naruto.
"?" Naruto said with a 'does not compute' expression written all over his face.
"Huh?" said Sakura, wondering why he had just frozen up like that.
"What!?!!" Naruto yelled incredulously, breaking out in a nervous sweat once it finally sunk in. "A paper test!?!!?!!!"
"…" For a moment, April considered warning the others that this probably wouldn't be an ordinary test... but seeing how nervous Naruto already was, she decided against it. If he got too scared, he might freeze up and completely blank out, and she trusted Sakura and Sasuke would be smart enough to figure out whatever Ibiki's game was on their own as long as they kept their cool.
All of the genin formed a line to pick their new seats. April ended up with a number that placed her in a position where she was behind Naruto and Sakura, but in front of Sasuke. Even though the drawing was supposed to be random, all of the different teams appeared to be equally scattered. No one was next to anyone they had come in with. April looked at the blank paper on the desk in front of her, wondering what she would find when she turned it over. 'I hope Naruto will be all right…' she thought, glancing at his back several rows ahead, past Sakura. To be honest, she wasn't looking forward to this either. She didn't always test well in this format, and she was sure the fact that the commanding officer of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force was the proctor would only make it that much more difficult.
'Man, everyone is separated now… What should I do?' Naruto wondered anxiously, holding his head.
'This is the worst possible test for Naruto…' Sakura thought with a superior smile, leaning on her desk to rest her head on one of her hands, watching him squirm. 'Hehe… He's depressed…'
'Well, Hinata's next to him… so maybe that will work in his favor…' April hoped, sweat-dropping when she saw how much he was already freaking out. Hinata really liked Naruto, so she might try to help him calm down. 'It looks like she's at least making an effort to talk to him…' April couldn't hear what the shy girl was saying, but she could see her lips moving.
"Um… Naruto-kun…" Hinata said quietly, blushing as she plucked up the courage to talk to him.
Naruto stopped holding his head and looked up at her. "Oh! Hinata!" he said, surprised to see her sitting in the seat right next to his. 'I didn't even notice her…' he thought, wondering how long she had been there.
"L-Let's both do our best…" she said softly, her blush deepening.
"Y-Yeah," Naruto agreed, still a little taken aback.
"Do not turn your tests over. Listen closely to what I'm about to say," Ibiki instructed the whole room sternly, picking up a piece of chalk. He tapped it against the board. "There are many important rules to this first test. I'll write them on the board while I explain, but no questions are allowed, so listen carefully."
'Here we go…' April thought, clenching her firsts, giving him her complete and undivided attention.
'Rules? No questions allowed…?' Sakura thought, furrowing her brow. A bead of sweat slid down the side of her face. She didn't like the idea of not being able to ask questions. She probably wouldn't need to, but she didn't appreciate having the option taken away.
"The first rule," Ibiki began, writing it out on the chalkboard. "You will all start off with 10 points. The test is made up of ten questions, and each one is worth one point, but… this test uses a deduction system. Basically, if you answer all the questions correctly, you keep your ten points. But say you miss three questions… You will lose three points and have seven left."
'Ahh… so all wrong means zero points…' Naruto thought. At least the system for scoring points was easy to understand.
"…" April quickly reviewed the words written on the chalkboard before Ibiki moved on to the next part of his explanation.
Initial points: 10
Exp. #1: All correct = Keep all 10 initial points
Exp. #2: Three questions incorrect = Initial points reduced to 7
"The second rule… This is a team test," the expert interrogator continued. "Whether or not you pass will be determined by the combined score of each team."
THUD! Sakura's head hit the desk.
'Looks like she wasn't expecting that…' April thought. Personally, she wasn't all that shocked. Why would they have bothered making people enter in teams with a minimum of three members, if the first round only eliminated them as individuals?
"W-Wait a second!!" Sakura yelled, raising her head and her hand. "I don't understand this initial points system either, but why is it a team test?"
'Seriously?' April thought dubiously, raising an eyebrow at her. Ninjas worked in teams, and those teams were usually small squads of three. This whole exam was probably designed to test how well they could work together in a squad without a teacher to lead them. Plus, if they wanted to thin the heard, eliminating them by their teams would be the fastest method…
"Shut up, you don't have the right to question me," Ibiki told her bluntly. "There is a reason for this, so be quiet and listen."
'Reason?' Sakura thought with a bead of sweat sliding down her face. It better be a damn good one.
"B-But what about the teams of four!?" another genin asked, nearly jumping out of his chair. "Won't they have an unfair advantage?"
"You shut up, too! In case it's escaped your notice, life isn't fair," Ibiki retorted harshly. What part of 'no questions' didn't these fools understand? "There are always unforeseeable variables. Having an extra team member isn't necessarily an advantage either. You'll see what I mean by the time I've finished. The next pig that interrupts me will be disqualified!" He narrowed his eyes and scanned the room, daring them to question him one more time. Naturally, there were no takers. "Okay, and now the most important rule. The third rule is that during the exam… anyone caught by the testing officers doing sneaky activities, namely cheating… will have two points subtracted for every offense," he explained with a smirk.
"Oh!!" Sakura gasped.
April furrowed her brow.
"So, there may be some who will lose all of their points during the exam and be asked to leave," Ibiki added.
'I see… so there are other ways to lose points beside answering incorrectly…' Sakura thought grimly.
"We'll have our eyes on you guys," One of the proctors, who had a bandage wrapped around his face over the bridge of his nose, told the nervous genin with a smirk.
'But… we'll only lose two points if we get caught…' April thought, finding the arrangement suspicious. 'Ordinarily, with a test as important as this… you would be failed and dismissed on the first offense.'
"Realize that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves," Ibiki ordered sternly. "As shinobi trying to achieve the level of chūnin, be proud ninjas."
"!" April frowned and then smiled wryly when she realized what he was telling them. She had to hold back a laugh. 'With that point system, it's obvious they expect there to be cheating… In other words, the only real rule is not to get caught.'
'Calm down…!' Sakura told herself, clenching her hands together anxiously. 'Yeah, of course we have Naruto, but as long as Sasuke-kun, April-chan, and I do well… even if he gets zero points… if we can cover that…'
"And the final rule…" Ibiki said. "Those that lose all their initial points during the test, and those that don't answer any questions correctly… will be failed, along with the rest of their teammates."
"!!" Sasuke gasped in alarm. 'Wha?!!' he thought incredulously.
'What did he say?!!!' Sakura screamed internally.
Sasuke glanced at April, who was only a couple of rows away, and saw that her shoulders were shaking. Of course they were. Anyone would freak out after hearing that rule when they had that loser, Naruto, on their team!
'Of course… Of course he would make a rule like that!!' April thought, shaking with suppressed laughter despite the crappy situation. Ibiki was clearly aiming to wipe out as many of them as possible in this first round. Maybe it was nerves, but she couldn't help but find their terrible luck funny. She was sure there was some kind of irony in there somewhere.
"…" Naruto shuddered and hugged himself, breaking out in a nervous sweat when Sasuke and Sakura's glares pierced his back. "I sense at least two people who want to kill me…"