~Tenshi's POV~
"Okay, and now, we will begin the tenth question. Now…before we get to it, I'd like to go over the added rules for this question," Uncle Ibiki told us. Everyone's eyes widened…must he scare these poor people, yes I know what the tenth question is, I know everything even if it's against my will, you can thank the Taiingan for that. Kankuro finally returned and took his seat. "I'll now explain, these are the rules of desperation. First, for the tenth question, you must decide whether you'll take it or not," he told us.
"Choose!? What happens if we choose not too!?" Temari questioned.
"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero, you fail, along with your two teammates," he told her.
"What does that mean?!" Some random ninja asked.
"Then of course we will decide to take the question!" Another exclaimed but Uncle Ibiki ignored them.
"And now, the other rule; if you choose to take and answer incorrectly, that person will lose the right to ever take the Chuunin Selection Exams again," Uncle Ibiki told them making everyone more nervous.
"What kind of stupid rule is that?! There are guys here who have taken the exam before!" Kiba exclaimed. That's when Uncle Ibiki started chuckling and then smirked.
"You guys were unlucky, this year, it's my rules. But I am giving you a way out, those who aren't confident can choose not to take it and try again next year," he told them. I could feel everyone's nerves as if they were my own, why must you do this to them Uncle Ibiki!? "Now let's begin the tenth question. Those who do not wish to take it, raise your hand, once your number is confirmed, leave," he said to everyone. One person raised is hand and said he couldn't take it and soon others followed. Naruto started raising his hand causing Sakura, Sasuke, and I to become nervous. Please, Naruto! Don't do it! He then slammed his hand on the table.
"Don't underestimate me! I will not run! I'll take it, even if I'm a Genin forever, I'll will myself to become Hokage anyway, so I don't care! I am not afraid!" He shouted. He wasn't thinking about us but…his courage and will to keep going is inspiring.
"I'll ask you again, your life is riding on this decision, this is your last chance to quit," Uncle told him.
"I follow my unbending words; that's my ninja way," Naruto smirked. Everyone smiled at his words just as I did alongside Tamotsu.
'He's one gutsy kid, I'll give him that,' Tamotsu thought to me. I nodded.
'It's what makes me proud to be his friend and teammate,' I thought back. With that Uncle Ibiki smiled.
"Good decisions, now to everyone remaining, I congratulate you on passing the first test!" Uncle Ibiki told them surprising everyone but me.
"Wait…what do you mean? We already passed? What about the tenth question?" Sakura asked.
"There never was such a thing," Uncle grinned. That's when I smirked.
"Or you could say that those two choices were the tenth question," I finished for him. He smiled at me and nodded. Everyone looked at me with shocked eyes. "It wasn't that hard to guess," I shrugged.
"Hey! Then what were the first nine questions for!? They were pointless then!" Temari yelled angrily. She sure hasn't changed.
"They were not pointless, Temari. They had already served their intending purpose," I told her. She looked at me confused and once again my Uncle nodded with a proud smile.
"She's right. It was to test your individual information gathering ability…that purpose," he told her. Tamotsu then walked to Uncle Ibiki and looked at the ninjas.
"First, as the rules explained, success is based on the whole team doing well. This puts pressure on each member not to mess things up for their teammates," Tamotsu told them shocking everyone but my team and Uncle Ibiki that a wolf could talk.
"Exactly, Tamotsu. But the questions on the test were not the types that mere Genin could answer, because of that, I'm sure that most of the people came to the same conclusion, to score points, I'll have to cheat," Uncle Ibiki told them. I looked at Sasuke and he gave me a look that said I was right. "Basically the premise of the test is to cheat as cheating targets, we had two or so Chuunins who knew all the answers mixed into the crowd," Uncle told everyone.
"Haha, I saw right through that, you'd have to a moron to not notice that!" Naruto laughed. I shook my head and sighed…this boy I tell you.
"But those that cheat poorly fail, of course," Uncle said untying his bandana. When it was off, you could see that his whole head had been burned. I gave him a sympathetic look. "Because, in times, information is more important that life and on missions and the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it," Uncle told them looking at me. I looked down with a frown, Sasuke who was next to me, grabbed my hand and rubbed his thumb over the top of it, making me feel a little better. All the Jounins knew about me and what happened seven years ago. "If the enemy or third party notices you, there is no guarantee that the information will be accurate," he said putting his bandana back on. "I want you to remember this, important information in your hands can be a power weapon for your comrades and for the village. So we had you gather information through cheating, this clearly separated those that did not have the right abilities," Uncle Ibiki told them.
"But I don't understand the tenth question," Temari said. Uncle Ibiki smiled at her. Okay, he may look intimidating, but he's a huge softy when he's around kids!
"But question ten is the true purpose of the test," he told her.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. Uncle sighed and looked at me.
"A little help here, Tenshi, please?" He asked me. I nodded and went to the front of the class.
"Let me explain, the tenth question, the 'take it' or 'not take it' decision. Obviously, these were painful choices…trust me, I could feel it…those who choose the latter fail along with their teammates. Those who choose to take it could lose the chance to ever take the test again…in other words, a true leap of faith," I smiled. Uncle smiled at me placing a hand on my shoulder.
"How about these two choices, say you guys become Chuunins, your mission is to steal a secret document. The amount of ninja, their abilities, etc. is known to you and of course there could be traps set all around you. Now do you accept or not accept? Because you don't want to die, because you don't want your comrades hurt, can you avoid the dangerous mission? The answer is no! No matter the danger, there are missions you can't avoid! The ability to be courageous and survive and hardship is the ability to become a Chuunin Captain! Those who can't put their destinies on the line, who cling to the uncertain future of 'there's always next year' and then walk away from their chance, those pieces of trash who can only make such cowardly choices don't have the right to become Chuunin…that's how I feel!" Uncle Ibiki told them. I was truly inspired when he first told me this. It's what helped me keep going to become a better ninja. "Those who choose to take it answered the tough tenth question correctly. You will be able to survive any troubles you face in the future," Uncle Ibiki said looking at Naruto. Naruto looked at me and I grinned and gave him a thumbs up causing him to grin back. "You made it through the entrance, the first test of the Chuunin Selection Exam is now finished, I wish you good luck, guys," Uncle told them.
"Hell yeah! Wish us luck!" Naruto exclaimed happily. That's when a grand entrance was made by…Auntie Anko!
"You guys! This is no time to be celebrating! I am the examiner for the second test! Anko Mitarashi! Now let's go! Follow me!" She commanded. She then looked around and glared at Uncle Ibiki. "Seventy-eight?! Ibiki! You left twenty-six teams?!" She shouted.
"This time there were a lot of outstanding ones, one of them is your niece's team," he told her. She then looked at me and grinned.
"Little Tenshi! I'm proud of you, just as the other Jounin are! Keep up the good work, kid!" She encouraged. I nodded.
"Will do, Auntie Anko," I said to her with a grin. She nodded and looked at the others.
"Bah! That's fine, I'll at least cut them in half in the second test. Ahhhh, I'm getting excited, I'll explain everything once we've changed places, follow me," she said to the other ninjas. We all followed her to the next area for the second exam, I was fine with it, but everyone else was freak at the look of the forest. "Welcome to the stage for the second test, practice arena forty-four, also known as the 'Forest of Death'!" She told everyone. I was standing with my team and I saw Sakura a little shaken.
"This is creepy," she murmured. I grabbed on her hands and she looked at me shocked, I just grinned at her.
"Don't worry, Sakura, we'll keep you safe just as you'll keep us safe," I said to her. She smiled then nodded at me. Auntie Anko then started speaking up again.
"You'll soon find out why it's called the 'Forest of Death'," she said to us with a smirk.
"'You'll soon find out why it's called the 'Forest of Death'.' You think that scares me?! That's nothing! I'm not afraid!" Naruto exclaimed. Auntie Anko just smiled…not good.
"Yeah…you're spirited," she said and took out a Kunai. She then sped around Naruto and cut his left cheek. "Kids like you are quickly killed, hehehe," she giggled. She then licked his cheek. "Spraying that red blood I love," she said to him. I just shook my head sighing with Tamotsu. That's when a woman held out Auntie Anko's Kunai with her tongue…that's different.
"Here's your kunai," she said to her.
"Why, thank you," Auntie Anko smiled. "But you know, don't sneak up behind me unless you want to die," she threatened.
"No…I just get excited when I see red blood, plus, you cut my precious hair, I couldn't help it," the Sound Nin woman said. I looked at skeptically. There is something off about her, I better stay on my toes around her. Auntie Anko apologized to her.
"Sorry about that. Looks like we have a lot of blood thirsty ones in this test. Hehehe, this should be fun. Now, before we start the second test, there's something I have to pass out," she said taking out agreement forms. "You must sign these agreement forms. There will be deaths in this one and if I don't have you sign these, it will all be my responsibility, hehe. I'm going to explain the second test, then you can sign it afterwards, and then each team will check in at the booth behind me. I'll now explain the second test. Simply put, you will attempt the ultimate survival. First I'll explain the area in which it will be taken place. Around practice arena number forty-four are forty-four locked gates. Forest, river, and a tower in the center, from the gates to the tower is about ten kilometers. During the survival in here, you will be asked to complete a certain task. Using your many weapons and Jutsu, you will compete in a no rules scroll battle. You will fight over these two scrolls, the 'Heaven' and 'Earth'," She said bringing out two scrolls with the kanji for Heaven and Earth. "There are seventy-eight people here meaning twenty-six teams. Half, thirteen, will get the 'Heaven' scroll, and the other thirteen teams will each get the 'Earth' scroll. To pass this test, your team must make it to the tower with both scrolls," she informed us.
"So, thirteen teams will lose their scrolls, half the teams will definitely fail," Sakura mumbled. I nodded. I could see that everyone was becoming anxious, and honestly, I don't blame them.
"But there's a time limit, this test will last one hundred and twenty hours, exactly five days," Auntie Anko told us.
"Five days?!" Ino screeched.
"What about dinner!?" Choji yelled. Of course, he's worried about food…
"You're on your own, the forest is full of food. Just watch out for man-eating beasts, poisonous insects, poisonous plants…" she trailed off. "And thirteen teams passing is not likely. As the days go on, the distance to the goal will become farther, and the time to rest will become shorter. And the area is crawling with enemies, you won't get much sleep. So, not only will some fail by losing the scroll, but some will die from the harshness of the course. Now I'll talk about what will disqualify you; first, those that don't make it to the tower, with both scrolls, within the time limit. Second, those who lose a teammate or those who have a teammate killed," she said. I suddenly become nervous at the thought of losing my friends and teammates. Sasuke must have noticed because he grabbed my hand in a comforting way. I looked at him and gave him a small smile which he returned. "As a rule, there is no quitting in the middle, you will be in the forest for five days. And one more rule, you must not look inside the scrolls until you make it to the tower," she said. Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"What happens if you do?" He asked suspiciously.
"That will be a surprise for anyone who does," she smirked. "A Chuunin will be asked to handle classified information, this is to test your trustworthiness. That is it for the explanations. Exchange the three forms for your scroll, then choose a gate to get ready for the start. A final word of advice…don't die," she said to everyone. Everyone but I and Naruto were nervous. We just smiled, I have confidence that well make it, and I have no doubt. A guy called out saying it was time for the exchange. I looked at the map seeing the surroundings.
"We could use gate twelve, what do you say?" I asked. Naruto nodded, Sakura smiled, and Sasuke and Tamotsu smirked. It was settled.
"Everyone, follow an instructor and go to your gates. We will start in thirty minutes!" Auntie Anko called out. She looked at me and walked up with a smile after we got to our gate. "You're going to do great, Tenshi, I don't doubt it, just be careful, I'm not ready to lose my only niece," she smirked. I smiled back and hugged her and she hugged me before leaving. "The second test of the Chuunin Exams begins now!" She shouted.
"Okay! Let's go!" Naruto shouted, we all either smirked or nodded and began our second test.
~Anko's POV~
I watched as Tenshi's team began their test with a proud smile. That girl…she is so much like you, Yuki. I hope your just as proud as we all are, she is the light to everyone's darkness.
"Please watch over your daughter, Yuki. She's going to need you more than ever," I said looking at the sky.