Disclaimer:I wish I owned Naruto, but sadly... I don't...

I'm just mentioning this now, but because I found the Chunnin exams so boring, I am going to add the chapter every other day, simply because I am expecting it to last at least 20 chapters... O.o I'm so sorry about that, recruits, but I'll do my best to finish it quickly. I will start uploading like normal again after the Chunnin exams. So here you go! If any of you noticed, I started calling you recruits, even though most of you aren't part of Sacred Army, but I think it will be easier for me to remember! Sasuke's father may be a bit out of character later on, and I'm sorry for that. You've all asked for more, sooner, so here you go! Enjoy! ENJOY I TELL YOU!

Edit: I know it's been a while again. It will take me a while to get used to updating constantly, and with my higher level classes I will be taking longer to write each chapter. Additionally, since I lost everything, I don't know where I left off. Rewriting all of this started because i was rereading it and went all OCD on it xD I'm working on it, though, I promise! You can't rush perfection, and anything close to it needs time!

Minato woke up slowly, mumbling angrily as sunlight pierced through the window and burning into his sky blue eyes. He rolled from the bed, rubbing his eyes as he pulled his sheets back into place out of habit. He moved to the curtains, tugging them shut with a sigh of relief as his roof was plunged into semi-darkness. Stretching, he glanced over towards his calender. Today was circled in bright red ink. His eyes widened in shock, darting over to look at the clock. It was the Chunnin exams day! How could he have slept in?! He never sleeps in!

Minato lightly slapped his cheeks to wake himself up and calm down. Though he wasn't late, he knew he might be if he didn't hurry. He grabbed the clothes he had laid out from atop the oak desk beside his bed and raced for the bathroom connected to his room. He traded out his pants and shirt quickly as he ran, stumbling slightly as he hopped on one foot. He snatched up the toothbrush, brushing his teeth as he pulled on his socks. He rinsed his mouth, grabbing a comb and combing his hair thoroughly as he slipped his shoes onto his feet. He threw the brush into the drawer, thankful for his aim as he grabbed his jacket.

He pulled his jacket on as he raced down the stairs, bounding into the kitchen. His mother raised an eyebrow at his frantic struggle before returning to what she was doing, a smirk resting on her lips. She held out a few slices of buttered toast as he ran past without glancing up from her cooking, and Minato grabbed them gratefully, stuffing one into his mouth as he pelted out the door, his jacket successfully on. "Good luck, sweetie!,"She called as he left the building. He waved back as he ran, acknowledging her words without pausing to turn around.

Minato had quickly regained his composition, speeding up until he was almost just a yellow blur, darting between people and ducking under arms on his way to the examination building. As he rounded a corner, it finally came into sight, and he could make out his teammates waiting outside, their eyes darting around worriedly. One pair fell on him, joined soon after by an excited grin.

"Minato!" It was Hikaru who noticed him first. Sari's eyes darted to him almost immediately after. Jiriaya stood behind them, smirking at the blond ninja. "You made it! I thought you chickened out!,"Hikaru teased lightheartedly, though his eyes gave away the truth behind the words. Sari looked slightly ashamed, her eyes darting away from him.

"Never!,"Minato reassured him happily. Sari finally looked at him for a heartbeat, before all three turned their attention to their sensei, their expressions hard and serious. "You know what room the test is in. Just go and do your best. I wish you all the best of luck, even if I know you don't need it,"Jiraiya added the praise quietly - though they all heard him - as he left them alone. After a moment of pause to collect themselves, they headed toward the building as a unit. "Let's go,"Hikaru cheered, opening the doors and leading them through the halls. Despite his grinning face, Minato could see he was terrified, the tension growing in him by the second as they walked. They stopped in front of the last door at the end of the hall. Hikaru gulped, but Minato just shrugged, placing a hand on his friend's back. Sari did the same on the other side. He had to have confidence in his own abilities; sadly, Hikaru didn't always seem to have that.

They entered the room, giving Hikaru a small, reassuring shove from behind as they did so. Their seats were across the room from one another, more than likely to avoid allowing them to cheat off one another. The first stage of the exam was a test, and after the rules were explained by their rather bored proctor, the test was passed out to each of them in turn. Minato looked over the nine questions. They were extremely difficult, and Minato knew they were too hard for any ordinary Shinobi of their level to answer, but he remembered the rules given to them. 'No cheating, or you will be disqualified!'

Minato finished the first three with relative ease, but the fourth was extremely difficult, many times harder than the one before. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration, his gaze wandering away from the page as his mind grew lost in thought over the given question.

It was odd; any other time, these questions would come as easily to him as the lower level questions would. He felt distracted, like his brain was overflowing with thoughts, pushing out all others. Yet, at the same time, it felt blank and empty, as though everything had blurred together and he could no longer distinguish one from another. His eyes drifted over Kushina, who sat just ahead of him, for moment in his distracted state. Her head, which had been clutched between her hands desperately against the desk, lifted up slightly, her hands relaxing as she glanced behind her.

Indigo met azule, blending together. Minato could feel his heart skip a beat at her cute, innocent expression, his eyes widening a fraction, her's doing the same. Their gazes darted away from each other, and Minato could feel his face heat up slightly, a light pink blush dusting his cheeks, as he forced his thoughts back to his work. He shook his head slightly, clearing his mind as best he could once again. His eyesight grew unfocused as he struggled to sort through his thoughts, the world fading around him.

His eyes slide to the window, hoping to catch an idea as he zoned back out. Then he realized - the Gennin beside the window was writing many times faster than the others were. He looked closer at the window, struggling to keep his eyes unfocused and blank. He could see the reflection of the Gennin's answers on the window, and quickly made note of each one before writing them down; it would be too obvious if he kept looking back at the same thing over and over again.

"Five minutes left!,"The proctor called. Minato let a small smirk rest on his lips as he set his pencil down, looking over his answers with confidence. The blond scanned the other Gennin. Hikaru looked like he had caught on to the goal, and though he still having slight trouble, he was almost done as well. Sari seemed to be doing well too, Minato noticed, most likely using her amazing observation skills to guess the people around her's hand movements. Kushina's teammates were not that bad off either; Mikuto had her Sharingan activated, not even glancing down as she wrote, and Kris, Kushina's other teammate, was speeding through them, pausing every question or so and waiting until a pair of ninja a little bit away exchanged answers with a swiftly-made tapping code. He let his azure blue eyes shift forward again, spotting Kushina's shaking form. She looked simply terrified, the blond couldn't help noticing how blank her paper was. Minato felt concern well up inside him. Kushina's going to fail!

Something overcame him - an urge to help her no matter what. Thinking quickly, he stealthily reached forward, taking some strands of her hair and tying the ends around his pencil. He prayed she'd understand what he was doing. He was risking getting caught here, but he couldn't just let her just fail out, right? She deserved to be a Chunnin. She was one of the strongest Gennin he knew! He started tracing his answers, making slightly larger motions with the pencil then he needed to.

She seemed to jerk slightly, like she had started turning her head but changed her mind. She straightened up slowly, picking up her pencil and copying his movements on her sheet. She paused every once and a while after each question, obviously making it look like she was thinking, and Minato just repeated his movements until she continued writing.

"Two minutes!"

Minato sped up his movements, and Kushina did as well.

"Pencils down!"

Minato paused, and Kushina wrote one last thing, before lowering her pencil. Minato let the red strands fall from the pencil before placing it down beside his paper. He let out a sigh of relief - they had gotten through the majority of the questions, and Kushina had managed to copy his movements pretty well. Now at least she would pass with them.

"I will give you the final question!,"The proctor called. "But before that, this is your last chance to back out. If you back out now, your team goes with you, but you can always retake the test. If you fail this last question, you won't just be sent back to the Academy. You will never be allowed to be shinobi again! Even if you have all these questions on your paper wrong, if you get this last one right, you will pass this stage of the exam!"

I'm not backing out now! But I worry for Kushina... I won't be able to help her cheat on this one... One by one, people raised their hands to quit, until there were few remaining. Half worried and half relieved, Minato realized Kushina's team still stayed strong, and though Mikuto and Kris were still looking worried, they looked much more calm than Kushina, who was holding her head to the desk once again.

Keep calm, Kushina! You can do this! Minato prayed quietly, then flashed his gaze to Hikaru, who looked almost equally worried, though not letting it show as much. You too, Hikaru. You can do this! The proctor looked the group of kids over once more. Almost all sat at their desks, skin pale and sweat dripping down their skin, their eyes wide with anticipation and anxiety.

"Does anyone else want to quit? This is your last chance!,"He called out. The kids all looked worriedly at each other, but no one said a thing. Kushina, Minato noticed looked as though she was placing all her bets into this last question. Minato crossed his fingers under his desk, praying she would get it. His heart was racing in his chest for his friends and crush.

"Three!,"The proctor called, cutting into his thoughts. "Two!" Minato cast one last anxious glance at Kushina. "One!,"He called,"Time's up!"

"So you all are determined to listen and answer this last question, even if it costs your dreams?,"He questioned. Everyone glanced at each other, a new determination lighting their eyes. "Then you all pass!,"He called with a grin much different from his bored expression when he entered the classroom. Everyone looked up in surprise.

"What!?,"A kid gasped. "Your determination not to give up and look back, no matter what the costs, shows how much you want to be shinobi. It is also a test to see how you will react to situations during missions. You all have shone that, and proven that you are ready to be Chunnin!,"The man explained.

Minato looked sideways. Sari was sitting in her chair, a look of shock and delight plastered on her face. A smile almost split Hikaru's face in half. Kushina, who was sitting behind her teammate, jumped up at the same time she did. Mikuto spun around and entwined her fingers with Kushina and they both jumped up and down happily, grinning like all their dreams had come true. For Kushina, one of her's has. And she's one step closer to another. Minato thought, grinning as he watched the girls celebrate together.

"You will now move on to the next stage! Tomorrow, you will meet your next proctor for the exam in front of the Forest of Death,"The proctor announced, leaving the room, followed by the Chunnin that had been watching them to make sure they didn't cheat. After the door closed behind them, the whole room exploded into cheering, everyone who hadn't already leaping out of their chairs. Gennin split back into their teams to discuss the next stage and congratulate each other.

Minato sighed heavily, joining Sari and Hikaru, who had grouped fairly close to Kushina's team. He cast a glance at Kushina, who looked back at him, opening her mouth as though to say something. He smiled, and she spun around, her mouth shutting tight. Minato swore he saw a small line of blush on her cheek, but he shrugged it off.

Minato sighed, knowing he had imaged all of it, including what she had said at the hot springs. She seemed to be avoiding him, and wouldn't even make eye contact with him anymore. Had he had made her angry somehow? No, that wasn't it. She just didn't think of him in the same way as he thought of her... Why else would she not even mention him helping her cheat?

Minato dropped his gaze, looking back to Sari and Hikaru. "We should leave now. We need to get ready. Make sure to bring as many weapons as you can. Don't worry about medical supplies. I had them prepacked!,"Sari added, counting on her fingers as she figured out what they needed and had. "And remember not to forget the water containers, Minato!"

Minato didn't respond to her question. "Minato?" He jumped, staring at her concerned expression in surprise. "What? I-I wasn't listening." Sari shook her head, closing her dark eyes for a moment. "Honestly, Minato. You're never like this!"

"Really?,"Minato murmured without listening to himself, snatching a glance at Kushina once again. "Minato! Listen! This is the Chunnin Exams we're talking about! We need to make a plan!" Minato stared at Hikaru once again, focusing all his attention on the two, trying his best to block out Kushina from his mind so he could concentrate.

"Got it."

Yep... Pretty much just the first exam. I felt so guilty after I wrote this, cause as soon as I was done, I realized Sakura got all the questions right without cheating, and Minato could only get three! But I'm to lazy to rewrite it, and I needed something to write without just saying 'Minato got all the quesions right, waiting for the final one to be told.' Sometimes it's boring to write from the point of view of a genius... . -_-*

If you liked my story, please favorite or follow it! Also, check out my profile if you get a chance and follow/favorite it to become a recruit! I hope you all wait excitedly(I now proclaim this a word) for the next chapter! See you then!

Edit:I'm a little too lazy to completely rewrite the entire thing, so it's not my best writing, since it's just me editing the fanfiction. I've gotten a lot better - I haven't spent the last few years doing nothing! It'll (hopefully) get a lot better when I start a new chapter :D Oh, and this is another difference between Hikaru and Naruto! Hikaru doesn't believe in himself all the time! And I decided to sorta explain why Minato could only get three, when Sakura could get them all on her own ;) And of course a little MinaKushi fluff with helping her cheat NEEDED to be added!