My guardian wolf, Chpt V
To my reviewers:
Riaeth: Yes. Shino definitely showed those annoying fangirls who the boss is. :3 I will keep up the good work! Arigatou!
Crain: I feel bad for Shino too...quiet guys need love too! I'm kinda thinking of doing a Shino/Hinata one shot once this story is over. Time will tell
Neji's Fangirl: I agree, its never gonna happen...but that why there's fanfic! thanks for the review! .
Lady Mononoke 756: Hey there! Thanks for sticking with me this whole time! I very happy you think it's cool to read!
Lavender Streak: I glad you love it so far! And i appreciate your review!
DbKit: Ah ha, your right. The encouragement WILL have to blend with the warning. It's a good thing you pointed that out, otherwise i would zipped through it without a second thought. Your best guess is a good guess. Thank you very much. And I thought about what you said, and you're probably right. The voice Shino has now won't suit him until later...eeeh...I guess i didn't think about that either. And yes, Kurenai is very mean. (snickers) Thank you as always for your long, helpful reviews. I really do appreciate them a lot. .
Generator X: I agree:3 NaruHina is a wonderful pairing! But I personally don't think it's going to happen, and i wanted to do a realistic fic. thank you for the review.
CrimsonMint: I shall most certainly keep updating! Thank you for your support. And as for the chuunin fight with neji, you shall see eventually. (smiles)
Disclaimer: I have a dream! And that dream is to own the anime series Naruto! And in that series, Hinata would be paired up with Kiba, Shino would get noticed more, and we'd get to see what was under Kakashi's mask! But that dream will never be realized, for Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. And not me. I only own this story! Steal it, (though I don't know why you'd want to) and I'm going to force feed you the curry of life! (insert crazed laughter here) and for those of you who don't know what that is, you'll find out later!
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Kurenai sighed happily, and rolled over in her warm, comfortable bed. She had woken up on her own, without an alarm clock, at around 7:30 that morning. She felt peaceful, alert, and completely refreshed. There was no sunlight yet. But by the looks of it, it was going to be a clear, warm day. And what was the best part of it all? No missions and no training. Yes, that's right. Today she was going to watch her group of young genins take the chuunin exams. And while they were doing parts of the exam she couldn't watch, she would be relaxing. Yes, peacefully relaxing at home. Maybe catching up on some much needed reading time. Or perhaps she'd spend some time with her friend Asuma. That sounded nice about now. Asuma had been rather friendly with her lately. He had even offered to take her out on a picnic sometime during the chuunin exams. The idea made her heart flutter a little. When was the last time she had anytime for male company? Ah, but that would come later. Because now she had to get up and prepare for a lazy day. Yawning and stretching, she got herself out of bed and slipped on a bathrobe. After a nice hot shower, she took the time to make herself a good breakfast for a change. No frantically trying to cram half buttered toast into her mouth while getting dressed today! She didn't even bother to do the dishes. There's always time later you know. She would have liked to get in a little more relaxing time, but alas. It was already time to leave.
She decided to take the walk slow. Why rush? It was going to be such a nice day. All she had to do was supervise her genins on certain parts of the exams...that is, if they even decided to take the exams. She didn't mention to them that you have to compete in groups of three; just like all the other jounin had. This was so there was no pressure for reluctant genin to participate. Hey...wait a minute. What if Hinata really decided to not take the exams after all? Then her day of peace and relaxation would come to an untimely end! After breaking the news to a disappointed Shino and Kiba, they would go out and find Hinata. Then once they told her the news, Hinata would feel horrible and guilty. Then there would be a terribly awkward and miserable training session. Not to mention her team would be down in the dumps for a few days. These thoughts made Kurenai quicken her pace. What if things really did turn out to be a disaster! No! That couldn't be! Not after how much she had been looking forward to all this!
A ruined day of relaxation wasn't the only thing bothering her of course. She didn't want her team feeling miserable. Not that quickening her pace was going to change any of this, but she had to do something. Kurenai began to feel anxious. Her feet were begging her to run the rest of the way. No way was that happening though, she'd feel silly. How strange would it look to see the great Kurenai sensei running through the town for no apparent reason?
"Apparently very ridiculous." Kurenai grumbled to herself, dodging around people and animals. She almost crashed straight into a guy carrying a cart of fruit. He gave her a dirty look as she continued to speed away to the chuunin selection exam building. Almost there. Any normal person would have been completely out of breath by now. She awkwardly jumped to the left to avoid trampling a cat beneath her feet. The building was in sight now. She slowed her pace to a regular, casual walk. Trying to regain her composure, she took in a few deep breaths. In, out. In, out. But when she had finally reached the doorway, she almost began panicking again.
"H...Hinata...?" Kurenai asked tentatively, watching the small girl. Hinata smiled in response, and bowed graciously.
"Ohaiyo gozaimasu (1) Kurenai sensei!" Hinata chirped with an unusually bright aura. Kurenai blinked. What had gotten into Hinata today? She looked...different somehow. She wasn't stuttering, wasn't fidgeting, and the strangest part was she seemed eager. But Kurenai had no time to ponder this.
"Hinata, where...is Shino and Kiba?" Kurenai questioned uncertainly. Had they decided to back out after all? WHY? What, was the world going mad or something! Hinata decided to enter the exams most gracefully. And yet Shino and the arrogant Kiba were nowhere to be found? No, that can't be right. Something's definitely wrong with this picture.
"Ano saa..." Hinata began, unsure of what she was going to say. "I...I really don't know Kurenai sensei. I talked to both Shino kun and Kiba yesterday, and they both seemed e-eager to participate..." Hinata trailed off, looking around. No site of them whatsoever. Kurenai blinked. And since when did Hinata drop the kun suffix with Kiba? Yes, something must have been dreadfully wrong. Maybe Shino and Kiba had been kidnapped by some ninja from an enemy village. Enemies that didn't want them participating in the exams. And this...this Hinata was some kinda bunshin.
"No, that's ridiculous. Calm down and think Kurenai..." Kurenai told herself firmly. Hinata didn't seem bothered at all by Kurenai's strange behavior, or the absence of her teammates.
"Ano...Kurenai sensei? I...I think they just might be late..." Hinata offered, not completely convinced that this was the case. While it's true Kiba could be late on a rare occasion, Shino was never, never, late. Kurenai sighed and ran a hand through her messed up hair. Having them both be late on the same day would be like...a bad omen or something.
"Well...I don't know Hinata." Kurenai confessed, throwing her hands up in the air. "They could be late. You're right. I suppose we'll give them another 15 minutes or so. But if they're any later than that...then I will just be forced to assume they don't want to participate." Hinata's eyes grew large. She opened her mouth to protest, but Kurenai cut her off. "Part of being a responsible shinobi is being on time. If they don't have the responsibility to even show up, they shouldn't be allowed to participate. Those are the rules." Kurenai shrugged, giving Hinata a sympathetic glance. "I'd be disappointed of course, I want all of you to try...but I guess for now all we can do is wait and see."
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Well, perhaps Kurenai is right. Perhaps those two not showing up on time is a sign that they didn't want to participate. Or maybe they were late for a very good reason. Shino had woken up at 4:00 that morning, and was unable to fall back asleep. Trying to get his mind calmed and focused, he decided to practice some last minute jutsus in his backyard. In his exhaustion, he fell asleep on a log about 30 minutes later. A bit irresponsible perhaps, but not really his fault. Kiba on the other hand, had woken up at around 5:00. Too much time on his hands, he decided to talk a walk and clear his mind before going to the chuunin exams. He wanted to focus on one thing and one thing only: completely dominating this exam. He went out walking much longer than expected, and came home far too late. Upon noticing the time, he frantically gathered up his things and ran out the door.
While both Shino and Kiba were in a hurry to get to the chuunin exams, they had bumped into each other. Quite literally. Kiba apologized profusely, claiming he hadn't been watching where he was going. Shino merely nodded and took no offense to the situation. Since they had already met up with each other, they decided to go to the chuunin exams together. Kiba insisted on running the rest of the way. However, Shino pointed out that would only get them there a few minutes early. Not to mention waste some energy. It was best to just walk. Kiba had grudgingly agreed to this. So the two boys shuffled to the exams at a very casual pace. Of course, they were silent for a few minutes. But it was a different kind of silence. For some reason, Shino seemed miffed. Or perhaps concerned. It's very hard to read his emotions.
Kiba pondered this for a moment. Maybe he really was mad about being bumped into. But Shino isn't usually the one to be upset about these things, is he? It was probably something else. Not that Shino's personal life was any of Kiba's business. Still, he couldn't ignore his curiosity. Kiba was about to open his mouth and ask Shino what was bothering him. But Shino spoke up before Kiba had the chance to get even one word out.
"Kiba..." Shino began in his voice of usual calm. "Are you aware that you have some very...disagreeable fans?" he questioned, scanning over his friends face for a reaction. Kiba shrugged.
"Yeah. I know. Just a little while back, this irritating group of girls tried to take Hinata home so I could eat lunch with them..." Kiba said with disgust, remembering the incident.
"You obviously refused this offer I assume?" Shino asked.
"Of course!" Kiba replied, becoming more and more irritated with the thoughts of his annoying fans. "Why would I want to eat lunch with that selfish blonde brat anyway?" Shino almost stopped walking. So Kiba did know about Himeko and her little gang. So why wasn't he keeping a closer eye on them? That was...irrational of Kiba to say the least.
"And are you aware..." Shino continued slowly. "That this...selfish blonde brat and her gang of girls bothered Hinata yesterday?" Kiba stopped abruptly in his tracks and whirled around to face Shino. He was tempted to grab Shino by the shoulders and shake him; demanding answers. Maybe he would have done this with any other person, but not with Shino.
"WHAT!" Kiba yelped, a vein throbbing in his forehead. He could feel his anger swelling up. "What do you mean, they bothered Hinata?" Kiba demanded, giving his friend a suspicious glare. Shino remained calm and expressionless.
"Exactly the way it sounds. They bothered her." Shino replied simply. "Or should I say, harassed her." Kiba growled and gritted his teeth. He did not like what he was hearing. "They basically ganged up on her and yelled at her. For hanging out with you. And they told her that she can never speak to you again." Shino said flatly, shaking his head in disgust."Not only that, but they even tried to slap her." he added. Upon hearing this, Kiba growled loudly and cracked his knuckles.
"Those dirty little brats! I swear, the next time I see them I'll make them regret they ever even looked at her!" Kiba snarled, feeling the strong urge to hunt them down. Akamaru barked fiercely in obvious agreement. Oh yes. Kiba would find them. And he would make them pay. No one, especially not annoying prissy fangirls, mess with his friends. If Shino hadn't kept talking, Kiba would have been off in an instant; chuunin exams, or no chuunin exams.
"Don't be rash Kiba." Shino drawled, sounding somewhat bored. "I stepped in and took care of it already. And even if I didn't, Hinata already looked ready to fight. She was in a back stance with her hands raised." he said, sighing a little bit. "And if it makes you feel any better, she did stand up for herself. A little anyway. She told them she refused to stop being with you." Kiba heard this, and calmed down...just a little bit. Normally, Hinata would have broke down completely under any verbal assault; not even uttering a word. So he really did mean something to her. Even just a little. It was a nice thought. Kiba growled again and bit his bottom lip, trying to get his emotions in check. It helped. He calmed down some more. He then licked the blood off his lip. How attractive would it look to walk around with blood running down your chin?
"I still don't believe this..." Kiba growled, cracking his knuckles again. "I mean, I knew they had some jealously, but I didn't know they would actually try to hurt her. Dammit, that pisses me off!" Shino sighed, and shook his head again.
"You mean you knew they had a grudge, and yet you didn't do anything about it?" Shino asked in a voice of deadly calm. Kiba's eye twitched.
"Of course I did! Well...I tried..." Kiba argued. Shino's expression didn't change. "Well I did the best that I could! How was I supposed to know they'd pounce on her on her way home! I was sleeping! She had just left my house!" Kiba defended himself.
"Maybe they wouldn't have bothered her at all if you had previously made your point to them...ah...more clear."
Kiba growled again.
"Are you trying to tell me this whole mess is my fault...?" Kiba demanded, sounding borderline on dangerous. Shino shrugged in response.
"No, I'm merely suggesting you contributed." Shino replied. Kiba gnashed his teeth together. Wasn't Shino being just a little unfair? He already told those fangirls off once! Sure, maybe he could have been a bit more aggressive, but Hinata wouldn't have liked that!
"And I suppose you're just perfect about keeping your creepy fangirls in check." Kiba mumbled, glaring at his friend. Shino and Kiba rarely got into an argument. But when they did, it usually wasn't pretty. They usually fought, and then stayed angry and sullen for a few days before apologizing to each other. At least they were rational enough to never throw a punch.
"I do, as a matter of fact." Shino said coolly. Kiba snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Oh sure you do." came Kiba's weak response.
"I always send mushi bunshin (2) to lead them away from Hinata. And you too for that matter." Kiba blinked in surprise. He never expected Shino to do something like that for him. An awkward silence fell upon the two boys. Kiba's emotions waged war within him. Surely Shino was being irrational. Or maybe he was right. Maybe he should have kept a closer eye on his little groupies. But then again, how was he supposed to defend Hinata if he was at home sleeping? It's not like he should be keeping a constant eye on her or anything. Sure, she's timid and all...but she has to learn to defend herself eventually. So was Shino really sticking up for his friend, or sheltering her away from the more unpleasant sides of the world?
"Shino...she has to learn to stand on her own two feet sometime."
"..."
"We can't constantly watch over her."
"..."
"But thank you for taking care of her."
And with that, the conversation came to an end.
"Kiba! S-Shino kun! Ohaiyo!" Hinata greeted her two friends warmly. Kiba grinned in response, and Shino remained silent. Kurenai however, did not give them such a warm greeting.
"You two. Are late." Kurenai said sternly, emphasizing the word "late". "Do you realize that if you have delayed us five more minutes, none of you would have been allowed to participate in these exams?" Kiba yelped like a wounded puppy.
"W-WHAT! What do you MEAN none of us would have been allowed to participate!" Kiba demanded, waiting for an answer.
"You're all required to participate in teams of three. I didn't tell you this so you guys wouldn't pressure each other into participating if you didn't desire to." Kurenai elaborated, her stern expression softening to a smile. "But you all still did. And that, I must admit, was unexpected. I'm proud of all of you." Hinata smiled happily at the praise. Kiba sheepishly scratched the back of his head. And Shino did nothing out of the ordinary. Cell #8 turned to face each other, and nodded firmly. Taking the honor, Hinata slowly reached up and grabbed the handle of the door. With a dramatic sort of affect, she pulled the door open to reveal an enormous room. It was time for the chuunin exams to begin.
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"Hah! Well would you look at that? This place is crowded!"
"T-they all look so...strong..."
"..."
What Kiba said was definitely an understatement. It was not crowded. It was crammed to the absolute gills and about to burst from the sheer amount of ninja packed into the room. There was hardly even any room to walk around. Thankfully, no one in cell #8 is claustrophobic. They all froze for a moment; unsure on what to do or where to go. Becoming one with the wall and vanishing sounded appealing to escape some of the death glares they were receiving. Some ninja had headbands with 4 horizontal lines etched in them. Strange. Kiba hadn't seen them before. But they seemed especially vicious; glaring at them with murderous eyes. Kiba scoffed at them. They weren't so tough. He was going to blow them all out of the water. Looking around, Kiba noticed the other first year genin had grouped together somewhere off to the right.
"Strength in numbers, right guys?" Kiba asked with a shrug. Hinata and Shino nodded in agreement, and went off to join the group without another word. It looked like the other two rookie cells hadn't been talking very long. And there was already trouble brewing. That annoying Ino chick was clinging onto a very annoyed looking Uchiha. Sakura was glaring dangerously at the blonde, looking ready to explode any minute. Naruto seemed to be a bit miffed himself, and in a small argument with Nara Shikamaru. And Chouji just sat there looking bored, munching on a bag of his favorite potato chips. Can't blame him for not being excited.
"Well well. Looks like you've all decided to participate in the exams!" Kiba said somewhat arrogantly, with a small sneer playing upon his face.
"A-ano...h-hello..." Hinata stuttered in a meek voice. If anyone had heard her quiet greeting, no one responded.
"Of course we did. Even if it's a huge pain in the butt." Shikamaru scowled in response. He was never really fond of Kiba and his arrogant attitude. Kiba smirked again.
"Quite frankly, I'm surprised all three of this years rookie trios decided to join in. I wonder how far we'll all get." Kiba said, folding his arms across his chest. Akamaru barked in agreement. "What do you think...Sasuke?" Kiba asked with a smirk. The raven haired boy was silent for a moment.
"Trying to psyche us out by acting cool isn't going to get you any farther in the exams." Sasuke responded with a sneer of his own.
"Ha! Not like we need to!" Kiba shot back, putting a hand on his hip. "You may think your pretty tough, but we haven't been sitting around you know. We've trained so much, there's no way you're gonna beat us!" Kiba jeered, enjoying the argument he was having. Hinata and Shino remained silent. Personally, Shino couldn't understand why Kiba always had to act so tough and arrogant around other teams. Maybe that was just his was of boosting his confidence. Hinata had no idea what to say at all. She was hoping to maybe talk to Sakura a bit. They had been acquaintances back in the academy, and she was hoping to maybe kindle some kind of friendship with her. Its kinda tough for a shy girl to having nothing but guy friends. But at this rate, she really wasn't going to get the chance...
"Gah! Will you just shut up Kiba! You guys aren't even going to defeat me, let alone Sasuke!" Naruto said loudly, pointing a dramatic and accusing finger at Kiba. Hinata felt herself become uncomfortable on Kiba's behalf.
"A…ano...K-Kiba didn't mean the way that sounded N-Naruto kun...gomen ne..." Hinata mumbled, doing her classic forefinger fidget. Naruto merely looked at her for a moment. She was so quiet. He didn't even realize she had been standing there the whole time.
"What...? Yes I did Hinata..." Kiba said with a confused look, cocking his head to the side. What was Hinata talking about...?
"Would you guys do us all a favor and just shut up?" came a cool, yet somewhat annoyed sounding voice. The group whirled around to come face to face with...well...truthfully; they had no idea who this guy was. He was definitely older than the rest of them though; and stronger looking too. His hair was a light gray, somewhat like Kakashi's, and pulled back into a messy ponytail. He had a hand on his hip. Dark eyes glared at them through a pair of rounded glasses.
"Do you mean to tell me that it's a bunch of first year rookies over here making all the noise?" the stranger demanded, looking over the group with distaste. "Psh. You're all still so green you could be planted into the ground. You shouldn't even be here. Go home before you get hurt." He scoffed.
"Hmph! You can't just go around and decide things like that about people you don't know! And just who do you think you are you bastard! Ino demanded, glaring angrily at the stranger.
"Name's Kabuto. Why do you care? You should open your eyes and take a look around." He suggested, not appearing insulted at all by Ino's remark.
"Why...?" Sakura questioned, looking genuinely curious. Kabuto merely sighed, and pointed behind them. Kiba whirled around, and noticed all eyes in the room were on them. Sakura swallowed nervously. Every ninja in the room seemed intent on pouncing upon the rookies and beating them senseless. Normally this wouldn't faze Kiba, but damn. When there's so many people glaring at you like that, how can you not help but feel a little uncomfortable? Even Shino, who was acting perfectly normal, had a single drop of perspiration running down his face. Hinata under normal circumstances would have shrunk back and hid behind Kiba. Kind of like a small child who hides behind their mothers from things that scared them. But she decided she wasn't going to do that anymore. It would make her look like easy prey.
"Oh. Might wanna watch out for them. They're from amegakure (3), and they have the patience of a grenade." Kabuto smirked, adjusting his glasses a bit. "Incase you didn't notice, everyone's under some stress right now. Thought it might be nice of me if I warned you to shut up. You know, before they go berserk and attack you to relieve some of that stress." he said casually, as if talking about the weather. Cell #s 7, 8, and 10 merely stared at Kabuto with blank expressions. Kabuto sighed.
"But I guess it's bound to happen sooner or later. Rookies always seem to think they know everything. Ah, I can remember what that was like..." he trailed off, appearing to lose interest in the group. Sakura tilted her head to the side.
"Kabuto san...?"
"What?"
"Do you mean this is the second time you've taken the chuunin exams?"
"Second? That's an amusing thought." Kabuto said. "This is my seventh. Twice a year for...four years now if I'm not mistaken."
"Oh! Then...you probably have a ton of experience! And...Could tell us what to expect!"
"Yep."
"Ya! All right! You rock Kabuto!" Naruto grinned, folding his arms across his chest with satisfaction.
"Well isn't that just precious." Kabuto smirked, reaching in a beige pouch at his side. "Okay then. I guess at the very least I can help my cute underclassmen a little bit. Want to take a look at some shinobi skill cards?" Kabuto asked, holding up a deck of orange cards as if he was offering them quite a treat.
"Shinobi...skill cards?" Sakura asked blankly. Kabuto sighed, and placed the deck on the ground.
"To keep things simple, it's basically a deck of cards containing information about the skills other ninjas use. Each card is transformed into symbols and put into the cards using chakra." Kabuto elaborated, putting his forefinger on the deck. Hinata blinked and looked over his shoulder curiously. They didn't seem...particularly special to be honest. They were completely blank.
"Uh...Kabuto? They're completely blank." Naruto pointed out the obvious.
"Of course they're blank. What if I lost one? Then anyone could read it." Kabuto said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Naruto still didn't seem to follow. "Look, the only way you can read them is by using my own chakra. Each card has been linked to its possessor. Like this one for instance..." Kabuto trailed off, using his chakra on one of the cards. They were instantly greeted by a new image. It was a picture of the world map, with most of the countries at the bottom. (4) Each country had a little number next to it.
"Oh! I get it!" Sakura exclaimed, looking at the card with fascination. "It shows how many people are competing from the different villages, doesn't it Kabuto-san?" she asked, noting that there were 87 leafs in the competition. Kabuto nodded in response.
"Do you have a card on each individual in the chuunin exams?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes. Yes I do as a matter of fact. Why? Someone you want to know about?" Kabuto questioned. Sasuke nodded. "Well lucky you then. I think I have just about everyone here...including you guys. Why don't you describe the ninjas you're looking for to me? I'll see if I can't fish em out." Kabuto offered, putting the card back into the pile. Not before wiping it blank of course.
"Gaara from Sunagakure, and Rock lee from Konoha." Sasuke replied, looking at Kabuto expectantly.
"Oh, you know their names? Well that's no fun. Too easy." Kabuto said smugly, putting his chakra into the deck and pulling out two cards. Naruto stared at the group blankly. He still had no idea what was going on. Kiba pondered to himself for a moment. Did he have any requests? The only one that came to immediate mind was Hyuuga Neji. But then again, he supposed he could always just ask Hinata later. Maybe he could request to see his own. Then again, he seriously doubted Kabuto would show Kiba his own card.
"Show me." Sasuke demanded, opening his hand to receive the cards.
"The first one there is Rock Lee. About a year older than the rest of you. Looks like he's been on 20 D-ranked missions, and 11 C ranked. His sensei is Maito Gai..." Kiba shuddered. He remembered when Kurenai had offered to let them train with Gai sensei. His training was brutal, and Kiba wanted nothing to do with it. "He has exceptional taijutsu skills, probably the best among the rookies. Other than that, he doesn't seem to have anything particularly special about him. He could have competed last year, but for some reason he didn't. His teammates are Hyuuga Neji and Tenten." Kabuto finished. He knew almost all of his cards by heart. Satisfied, Sasuke handed him the Rock Lee card back.
"And...ah. Gaara. Yes. Well, since he's out in Sunagakure, I don't know as much about him." Kabuto admitted with a shrug. "He's been on eight C rank missions...an unknown amount of D rank...oh. Look at that. A B rank mission! Not many rookies get B-ranked missions." Kabuto exclaimed. "I'm almost impressed. And here's another interesting bit of information...he has come back from every single mission he's ever been on without a scratch." Kabuto finished, taking his card back from Sasuke. The group fell into a brief silence.
"A...Ano...am I the only one feeling a bit...outclassed...?" Hinata asked with a frown and a worried expression. Sakura shook her head.
"No...I am too Hinata. So Kabuto san...what you're saying is...everyone here..." Sakura trailed off.
"Is all like Lee and Gaara. Exactly. Elite, powerful, and hand picked. The best of the rookies. They have to be if they hope to survive the test! It's brutal! It's not too late to go home..." Kabuto offered, though none of them seemed keen on backing down. Not even the shy looking little girl. Naruto however, began to quiver a little bit. Hinata was probably the first to notice, though Sakura got to him first.
"Naruto, it's okay. We got nothing to worry about! These guys got nothing on us!" Sakura tried to encourage Naruto, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO!" Naruto declared loudly, pointing a finger at everyone in the crowd. "AND NONE OF YOU ARE GONNA COME CLOSE TO BEATING ME!" he yelled to the audience. Heads immediately whipped around to face the young blonde. That's it. Some of them had finally snapped. Though Naruto paid no attention. He merely stretched his hands over his head and smiled. "That. Felt GREAT!" he declared, grinning broadly.
"W-What's your friend's problem!" Ino asked Sakura, pointing an accusing finger at Naruto. Sakura said nothing. She was too baffled by Naruto's stupidity to say anything.
"Oh come on." Sasuke sneered, rolling his eyes in disgust. Kabuto said nothing. He only watched Naruto for a moment with wise, calculating eyes. Kiba on the other hand, doubled over in laughter.
"And none of you are gonna come close to defeating me! For crying out loud! What a show off!" Kiba chortled, gasping for breath between his laughs.
"...I can't believe him. Naruto's the only person I know that can turn a room of strangers into a room full of enemies with just one, stupid sentence." Shikamaru groaned.
"What are you babbling about Naruto!" Sakura screamed, finally regaining her composure. She grabbed Naruto from behind around his neck. She seemed intent on choking him.
"WHAT! I'm telling the TRUTH!" Naruto insisted, squirming to get away from Sakura. Sakura sighed, and looked up to see that everyone was staring her and Naruto. She swallowed nervously.
"Uh...Don't mind Naruto! He...He doesn't know what he's talking about!" Sakura laughed nervously, clamping a hand over Naruto's mouth before he could protest. She released him after a moment and turned around to face him. "What were you thinking!" she hissed at him, jabbing her finger into his chest. "Now everybody hates you! How could you do that! You've made us all look bad!" Sakura's speech continued on like this for quite a few awhile. No one was paying attention to Naruto anymore. Rather, three pairs of eyes leered at Kabuto through the crowd. Instantly, with great speed, they pounced at him. A sound ninja with black, spiky hair leaped into the air and threw a couple of kunai at him. Kabuto was no rookie though. He easily dodged them. The kunai landed harmlessly into the floor. Before he could do anything else, another sound ninja came directly into his face. This sound nin had bandages covering most of his face. He was pretty creepy looking too. He cocked back his fist, ready to throw a punch.
"They're from the sound..." Kabuto mused, quickly jumping backwards. They had moved so fast, not everyone could follow their actions.
"Wow. That was fast. I couldn't even see him dodge." Shino thought quietly to himself. Or maybe this wasn't the case. A few seconds later, the lenses in Kabuto's glasses cracked and fell to the floor. Kabuto was unfazed. He merely removed what was left of his glasses with a smirk.
"I understand now. This kind of attack is...hmm..." Kabuto thought to himself. Before he could finish this thought though, he collapsed to his hands and knees. A sickening feeling had welled up in his stomach.
"What! Ew, he's throwing up!" Naruto exclaimed, wrinkling his nose at the site.
"What...on earth happened?" Kiba thought to himself with a frown. "He dodged the punch! Why did his glasses break? And why is he hurling? Sick!"
"Kabuto-san, are you okay!" Sakura asked, running over to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. Naruto was right at Sakura's heels. Pausing for a moment to wipe his mouth, Kabuto looked up to see the two young genin.
"Yeah...I'm okay..." he grumbled, shaking his head side to side.
"You don't look fine." Naruto pointed out. True, he hadn't quite recovered from the attack. Though he had already pushed himself up to one knee.
"Wow. How sad. This is your seventh go, and you seem quite weak to me." the sound ninja with spiky black hair sneered. "I'd expect more. Better add this to your cards: All three of us are going to become chuunins this year!" Kabuto didn't seem to be listening. Oh, how naive this black haired boy was...
"...What did that look like to you Lee?" Hyuuga Neji asked his teammate, watching the incident from a far.
"He definitely dodged the attack. That much is obvious." Lee replied, trying to come up with a reason for Kabuto's glasses breaking. "They used some other kind of trick to make him sick. I wonder what it was. I suppose we should be careful around them. " Lee decided with a shrug.
Kiba tilted his head to the side and scratched his nose. He was finding no particular entertainment in the event that had just happened. He wished they could just hurry up and start taking the exams. The waiting really is worse than the actual fighting. It tends to put people on edge. Speaking of starting the exams, there was suddenly a huge explosion in the middle of the room. People cried out in shock and took a step backwards. Smoke billowed through out the room, blinding everyone's vision. Kiba tried to smell how many had just teleported into the room; though it was no good. There were just too many bodies in the room.
"All of you, shut your mouths, now!" A loud voice boomed over the confusion. When the smoke finally cleared, about 15 jounins stood in the middle of the room. And damn, some of them were scary. Especially the one that had just shouted out his order. He had a grim face covered with long, red scars. His eyes were cold. They sent waves of fear up the spines of some of the more timid ninjas. Hinata was one of them, though she tried to not show it.
"I am Morino Ibiki, the proctor and chief examiner. And the chuunin exams are officially about to begin!" Ibiki declared to the crowd. Many people shuddered. Kiba scowled. He didn't look too bad. Before anyone could pipe up with a question, Ibiki pointed a finger at the three sound ninjas.
"You! You three from Otogakure! You can't just do anything you want when the exams are about to start!" He barked at them, a grim frown plastered on his mouth. "Or maybe you'd rather be disqualified?" he asked dangerously, still pointing a large finger at them. "'Cause that's perfectly fine with me." The oto nin with the bandages covering most of his face spoke up first,
"Uh...Sorry sir. This is our first exam and all. We got a bit...excited." He said lamely, not sounding sorry at all. Ibiki wasn't pleased.
"Really now. Then i suppose it's time you all learned the rules around here. From now on, there will be absolutely no fighting without permission!" Ibiki said gruffly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "And even if you do get permission, endangering someone else life is strictly prohibited." he added, his eyes glaring down at the crowd. "And if any of you little brats choose to break that rule, that's IT. You're DONE. No second chances! Do I make myself perfectly clear?" He demanded, daring anyone to talk back. No one did.
"Good. Now if you'll all be so kind as to turn in your written applications, then we'll give you one of these seating cards." Ibiki said, his glare not softening. "Then report directly to your seat. Once everyone's seated, we'll give you the written part of the test." he finished, waiting for them all to do just that. Reluctantly, the crowd moved forward to comply. Naruto however, stayed frozen on the spot. A look of deep terror was set in his azure eyes.
"A...A PAPER TEST! WHY! WHHHY!" He screamed dramatically, dropping to his knees. No one paid any attention however.
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Kiba smirked, and brushed away some eraser shavings from his paper. This was the third time now he had tried to answer question one before he realized what he had to do.
"I can't believe it took me this long to understand..." Kiba thought to himself, scratching Akamaru on the head in what he hoped was a casual way. He only hoped Hinata and Shino realized what needed to be done too. Kiba dared to take a peek at the examiners out of the corner of his eyes. None of them had noticed what he had done. While it may have looked casual, it was really a signal for Akamaru to begin gathering information. Shifting a little bit, Akamaru's puppy brown eyes shifted to the ninja in front of Kiba. He seemed like a good target. He was feverishly writing down answers, and definitely older than Kiba. That probably meant he had taken the exams before, and knew what he was doing. Kiba took his finger, and drew an invisible line straight down his paper. It was no careless gesture. He was drawing out the number 1 to indicate to Akamaru he was ready.
"Arf! Arf arf! Arf! Arf!" Akamaru wriggled and told his master. The act was set. Kiba frowned, and pretended to be upset with Akamaru.
"Akamaru, shhhh! People are testing!" Kiba whispered to his dog, tracing out a two with his finger on the paper.
"BARK! Arf arf! ARF!" Akamaru barked loudly, squirming around on Kiba's head, pretending to be anxious.
"Akamaru!" Kiba growled more firmly, putting a hand on his head. "I said people are testing. Quiet!" he whispered to his dog again, slightly more irritated than before. A proctor glanced up to look at Akamaru. He shook his head, as if disgusted with Kiba's inability to control Akamaru's barking. He didn't scribble anything down. Rather, he focused his attention to another ninja, who was cheating in a rather sloppy way. If he was going to pass a note, the very least he could do is try to be less obvious about it.
"I think they fell for it..." Kiba thought to himself, writing down answer number two. Kiba's idea of cheating was a bit simple perhaps, but effective. By sitting on Kiba's head, Akamaru was able to scan the tests around him. He could then bark out loud, and tell Kiba what he had seen. Kiba, in response, would "scold" Akamaru as if he was being a whiny, disobedient dog. It was a perfect act. Kiba decided to wait a few more minutes before signaling to Akamaru to get the next answer. If he did it too much, he was asking for trouble.
"Sounds like Kiba has begun." Shino thought silently, still scribbling down answer three. "But if he does that too much, it's going to become obvious what he's doing." Shino decided, calling out another bug from under his sleeve. The little bug immediately flew away and started scanning other tests. Once he had gathered the information he needed, he flew over to Kiba and landed in the center of his paper. Kiba paused for a moment to watch the winged insect. He was about to shoo it away, but upon a closer look he realized it was one of Shino's. Kiba grinned with satisfaction. So Shino did know what to do. But how was he supposed to understand this little bug...? As if to answer his question for him, the insect skittered over to question three on Kiba's test. He rubbed his feelers together for a moment before continuing with his task. In quick and deliberate swipes, the bug began to trace out kanji over Kiba's test. Kiba blinked. Wherever the little bug swiped, tiny light blue lines were left in the paper.
"...The bug can use Shino's chakra to spell out kanji...? Wow. That's...useful and creepy." Kiba decided as the bug flew off. The bug had answered questions 3, 4, 5, and 6 for him. Kiba quickly realized that the chakra was not going to sit there forever, and decided to trace over the kanji with his pencil before it vanished.
Hinata on the other hand, was doing just fine all on her own. She required none of Shino's bugs, and Shino probably knew it. That's why he didn't send any over. Rather, Hinata had her Byakugan activated and was copying the person directly in front of her. She kept her head bent low, as if thinking, so her hair covered her eyes. If they saw the veins running across her face, it would be a dead giveaway. Of course, the hair covering her eyes didn't obscure her vision. The only thing that was really distracting her at the moment was Naruto. He was sitting next to her without a single question answered. Every now and then, he made an annoyed grunting sound. He obviously had no idea that he was supposed to be cheating. His power really was on the battlefield as opposed to textbooks. His whining was becoming more frequent as time slowly ticked away.
Hinata sighed, and set her pencil down. She had finished her test at last. Naruto's fussing was finally starting to get the better of her anyway. Why didn't he realize he had to cheat! He had to do something or he was going to fail the exams. But it looked like he wasn't going to do anything at all. Hinata sighed. She could always be a nice kunoichi and help him...but that would include talking to him. How embarrassing. Hinata took a deep breath...
"N-Naruto kun...you can look at my answers..." Hinata whispered in a voice hardly more audible than a whisper. She kept her eyes glued forward, and barely moved her lips at all. Naruto blinked in surprise and looked at her through the corner of his eye.
"Why would Hinata want to help me? She's got nothing to gain from it..." Naruto mused to himself, unsure of what to make from her offer. Maybe if he was a little brighter, he would have realized she was trying to be kind. But then again, maybe if he was a little brighter, he wouldn't even be in this predicament. "Oh, I get it! She's trying to trick me!" Naruto thought, narrowing his eyes at the shy girl a little. Hinata saw his look and immediately became uncomfortable. She turned away, with a single drop of sweat running down her face.
"Wait a minute. That's a dirty trick. Hinata wouldn't do anything like that..or maybe Shino or Kiba are forcing her to! That's not fair of them! How dare they!" Naruto thought with irritation.
"Okay Hinata...But one thing. Why offer help? What's in it for you?" Naruto whispered as quietly as he was able to. Hinata twitched. Naruto didn't trust her. That was kind of a downer on her part. But maybe she should have expected it...
"B-because...I...you...ano..." Hinata stuttered in her little whisper. She certainly couldn't say it was because she liked him, like she claimed to. She had to think of an excuse. "I-It's just...there aren't a lot of newbies...w-we should stick together..." she mumbled lamely. But apparently that was enough for Naruto. He brightened up right away.
"Oh...okay. That makes sense. Thanks Hinata. Sorry for being suspicious." he whispered back, trying to contain his joy with some difficulty. Grinning like an idiot would attract attention to him. Without another word, Hinata slipped a part of her sheet under her arm in what she hoped was an inconspicuous way.
Kiba scowled. Even from a distance, it was obvious to him what she was doing. She was helping Naruto cheat. He forcefully tried to finish writing out the next answer on his test, but pressed too hard and put a hole in the paper. Cursing under his breath, Kiba wrote around the hole and tried to concentrate. Still, it bothered him. If Hinata got caught helping Naruto cheat, wouldn't she lose points? She was putting the well being of the team at stake. For a loudmouthed idiot none the less. Already several teams had been flunked out. One of them had even been stupid enough to stand up and demand the proctor prove that he had been cheating. The proctor of course, was not pleased. He had forced the defiant student against the wall with a single attack and began yelling at him. Kiba inwardly flinched. He would not want to be on the receiving end of that attack. Or the lecture for that matter. Sighing a bit, Kiba drew out the number nine on his paper with his finger. Akamaru let out a series of whines that indicated he was going to bark again. Kiba pretended to become upset again.
"That's it. C'mere boy." He mumbled to his dog, taking him off his head and putting him in his lap. Kiba reached into his pocket and pulled out a white cloth. Gently, he put it around Akamaru's mouth and tied it firmly shut. Akamaru pretended to put up a fit. "Sorry boy, but you gotta keep quiet." he whispered in a voice barely loud enough for a proctor to hear. His plan worked. The proctor didn't notice. Or so Kiba thought. But Akamaru had done his part. He now knew all 9 answers. There was nothing left to do but wait for the 10th question. Kiba scratched Akamaru behind the ears while writing the 9th answer. It was his unspoken way of thanking his dog.
Upon finishing, Kiba flipped his paper over so no one could copy off him. Not that he'd let them anyway, but it paid to be safe. Earlier, a genin sitting right next to Kiba had tried to glance over his paper. Kiba simply glared at them and snarled. Thats all it took. A few ninja's sitting around him looked up at the noise. Upon seeing what Kiba did, they all copied him and flipped their tests over too. They apparently thought Kiba had a good idea. He scoffed. Damned copy cats. Looking up, Kiba noticed that Hinata and Naruto we're now whispering to each other again. He wondered what they were talking about. Hinata was blushing and looking flustered, while Naruto was looking proud and honorable. How strange. Naruto whispered one last thing before completely ignoring Hinata afterwards. She seemed a little disappointed somehow. Well, whatever. As long as she wasn't helping him anymore. She must have not been caught, otherwise they would have been thrown out by now. Kiba sighed in relief. He rested his chin in his hand and closed his eye. There was still a bit of time before the 10th question, and he was already bored. And at this point, sleepy too. He did get up far too early you know.
"Alright! Pencils down! The tenth question is about to begin!" Ibiki boomed to the room of genin. Everyone froze, then put down their pencils.
"Here we go..." Kiba mumbled to himself, bored already.
"And before that, I'd like to mention a new rule." Ibiki continued, his eyes becoming shifty and menacing. Almost everyone in the room visibly stiffened. Kiba yawned. "First of all, you must choose whether or not you accept or reject this tenth question."
"Ooh, I'm so scared. Someone please end it now." Kiba thought to himself sarcastically with a snort.
"WHAT! Choose! Why do we have to do that!" A blonde sand ninja with four ponytails exclaimed. "And what happens if we reject it!"
Ibiki's face remained cold and calculating.
"If you don't even try to answer it..." he began slowly, pausing for dramatic affect. "Then you will lose all your points. And fail! Dragging your teammates down with you!" he sneered, perhaps secretly pleased with the reactions he was receiving.
"What did you say! Then why would anyone even consider rejecting it!" a waterfall nin with thick goggles yelped, looking pale and uneasy.
"Because of the other rule." Ibiki said simply, waiting to see if anyone else would as what the other rule was. No one did. He took a deep breath. "If you try to answer it, and you answer it wrong...you will never be allowed to take the chuunin exams again. Not ever." he said coldly, watching the shocked reactions of the crowd. Kiba immediately snapped out of his sleepy stupor. A chill ran down his spine. Akamaru whined, and began to bark loudly.
"That's a LIE!" Kiba spat, pointing at Ibiki with a shaking finger. "There's plenty of chuunin here who are applying for a second, third, or even seventh time!" he shouted angrily, Akamaru woofed with agreement. Rather than snap at him like Kiba expected, Ibiki closed his eyes. A gruff chuckle came from his throat. Softly at first, then gradually getting loudly. Hinata swallowed nervously. She didn't like the sound of this...
"Well that's just too bad for you. I wasn't making the rules last year. I am this year though." He chuckled, becoming more ominous. If that was even possible. Everyone waited in a tense silence for his dark chuckling to subside. "Those who want to reject the question, raise your hands now. Once you're confirmed, you'll leave the exams. And you can safely try again next year." Ibiki continued, regaining his composure.
Kiba gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, painfully hard. Akamaru whined and shifted on Kiba's head. He could clearly sense his master's discomfort. "I don't want to quit...But what if I can't answer the question?" Kiba thought to himself, shifting uncomfortably. His overconfident and arrogant attitude had subsided. He was now feeling exposed and opened to danger. What kind of question could it have possibly been...? It couldn't be that bad, could it? If they seriously expected some of them to become chuunin, it couldn't have been impossibly hard. Looking back on his older days, Kiba recalled that he wasn't always the best student. Average grades, average report cards. Nothing to go crazy over. But at least he had been a better student then some people he could think of. Besides, what about Shino and Hinata? Kiba looked up to catch a quick glance at his friends. Shino seemed to be unfazed by anything Ibiki had said. Hinata, as if sensing his gaze, turned around to meet with his eyes. She blinked, then gave a tentative smile and turned around again. She seemed to be...somewhat okay. Kiba sighed.
"I can't reject it. I refuse to drag them down." Kiba thought stubbornly, folding his arms across his chest. He scowled at Ibiki, as if to say he wasn't afraid. Thankfully, Ibiki wasn't paying any attention to them.
"I...I CAN'T" someone screamed, standing up and looking shaken. "I...I...I'm r-rejecting the question!" he exclaimed, sweating and shaking from head to foot. Two other ninja's in the room stood up in shock and glared at the one who made the statement. The young ninja refused to meet with their accusing gazes. "Gennai...Inaho...p-please forgive me..." he moaned miserably, hiding his face in his hands.
"Number 50! FAILED!" A proctor sitting by the window shouted. "Numbers 130 and 111! You fail right along with him! Leave!" he snarled, trying to be intimidating like Ibiki. The three ninja's slowly sauntered out of the room, looking crestfallen and miserable.
"One team down. I wonder who's next." Shino thought, watching them leave. "I certainly don't plan on backing out. Not just for me. For them too. Besides, who said it would be any easier next year? I refuse to reject the question." Shino decided, drumming his pencil against the desk. Despite his cool exterior, he actually had been quite disturbed by what Ibiki had said. He was trying his hardest to not let anyone see it. He didn't want anyone to see the anxiety in his heart. Especially not Kiba and Hinata. He was the strong one. If he showed weakness, his friends would be discouraged. He already saw Hinata out of the corner of his eye, her pale eyes trying to catch his. He didn't acknowledge it. He had to be calm. He had to be.
"I-I want out too!" another ninja announced, a leaf this time. His face was glistening with sweat. He finally cracked under the pressure.
"Me too..." came another meek voice. Probably a female. She sounded despaired. "I'm sorry I let you down..." she cried.
"I quit! I don't want to risk it!" another ninja declared sounded stricken.
"Numbers 121! 134! 104! FAILED! Numbers 127, 123, 103..." the proctors kept knocking people off the list, declaring them all failures. One by one, a long line of ninja scuffled their way out the door. Some were angry, glaring at their cowardly teammates with hatred. Others looked disappointed, but somehow calm. They probably knew that if their teammate hadn't been the one to reject the question, they would have. At least they had someone to blame now. Some of them were even at the brink of tears. The tiny female from early clung to her teammate's arm, profusely apologizing over and over and over. He patted her softly on the head as if to say, "I understand."
"I don't blame them..." Hinata mumbled softly to herself, feeling bad for most of them. "This is...just plain cruel isn't it? How can they put us against such odds...? I feel so bad...I want to run away with every fiber of my being but...but I won't." she thought firmly, trying hard to not fidget. "I promised them I'd do my best. This...this is for you guys..." she thought silently, refusing to back down from the challenge. Looking around, she noticed not very many people were left. Hinata tentatively tried to count. It appeared as if at least 78 remained, if not a little more. Sighing, she rested her hands in her lap. There was nothing left to do now but wait for people the reject the question so she could get on with the exams.
And then something that she didn't expect to happen, happened. Naruto, the overconfident loud mouth ninja, slowly raised a shaking hand over his head. Hinata gasped. He eyes widened in shock. She certainly hadn't expected something like this to happen. Naruto, of all people, giving up and running away? It didn't seem possible. Hinata almost wanted to open her mouth and say something. But what could she say? It really was his decision. Naruto took a deep breath, and...
"NEVER UNDERESTIMATE ME!" Naruto yelled loudly, slamming his hand down on the table. Ibiki blinked, somewhat surprised, and looked up to see Naruto. Naruto narrowed his eyes furiously. Ibiki returned the gaze with equal danger and intensity.
"I don't quit! I don't run away! I'll accept your stupid question! I'm so not afraid of you!" Naruto spat, looking heated and irritated. "Why should I be! I'll still become a great Hokage, even if I screw up and stay a genin forever! I don't care! I'll do it through pure stubbornness if I have to!" he yelled, shaking with fear and determination. "And I don't take back my word! Because that is my nindo! Bring it on! I dare you!" Naruto challenged.
Ibiki, though he didn't show it, was quite amazed. In all the years that people applied for the chuunin exams, nothing like this had ever happened. Hinata released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Kiba grinned at Naruto's bravery...or was it stupidity? It didn't matter now. No one was scared. If anything, they seemed ready. All eyes we're on Ibiki. Fear had been replaced with determination.
"I'll ask you one more time. This decision could affect the rest of you life." Ibiki growled. "Quit now while you still have a chance."
"Never." Naruto hissed back, a determined sneer playing upon his face. Ibiki gave another low, sadistic chuckle.
"Interesting kid. Seventy eight of them are still here..." Ibiki thought looking around the room for any signs of weakness. "And it looks like none of them are going to back out. Pity. Oh well. No point in holding out anymore. Thanks to that boy, none of them will quit." Ibiki looked up at the proctors sitting on the other side of the room. They smiled ever so slightly, and gave him an affirmative nod. Ibiki turned back to face the crowd.
"Then all of you..."
Kiba bit his lip and braced himself.
"That are foolish enough..."
Hinata shifted uneasily.
"To actually stay here..."
Shino blinked, unwilling to show any emotion.
"..."
An uneasy silence fell over the room of genin.
"You have just passed the first exam!" Ibiki boomed, a huge smile creeping across his face.
The silence immediately ended.
"WHAAAT!" everyone in the room screamed out in unison. Everyone looked around to exchange confused expressions with each other. No one seemed willing to believe what Ibiki had just said. Maybe it was a trick. He was smiling after all, a sure sign that something was wrong. Ibiki does not smile.
"W-what do MEAN we passed! What about the tenth question!" Sakura's shrill voice asked, her eyes wide with confusion
"There was no 10th question...beyond the whole "accept or reject" thing." Ibiki grinned at Sakura. Sakura only became more confused.
"Then why did we have to do the other 9 questions!" the blonde sand ninja demanded. "Why did you just waste our time like that!" Ibiki merely smiled again, opening his mouth to elaborate.
"We weren't wasting your time, I assure you that much. We were testing your abilities to spy and gather information." Ibiki said in a voice much warmer than before.
"Our abilities...at spying?" she questioned, looking completely blank. This was all too weird. Ibiki seemed like a completely different person now.
"If you recall the rules in the beginning, you pass or fail along with your teammates. Knowing that, you were all pressured with the fear of dragging down your teammates." Ibiki began, his warm grin fading a little bit. "But the questions...they were obviously far too difficult for any of you genin ninjas to answer.
"Psh. No way! Not me!" Inner Sakura cackled gleefully, punching at the air.
"So most of you, realizing this, should have realized the only way to succeed would be by cheating." Ibiki continued. "In other words, we set it up based off the assumption that you would cheat. And to make sure you had good targets, we snuck in two chuunin who already knew all the answers." he said simply, making a gesture at them. They smiled cheerfully and waved. Naruto felt like bashing his head into the table. He could have cheated all this time. He would have just had to have been careful.
"Ha ha! Yeah! It was completely obvious!" Naruto declared, trying to hide his confusion. "Even a dunce like me could tell! Right Hinata?
Naruto asked, trying to get some support. Sakura and Sasuke scoffed.
"That idiot had no idea..." Sasuke thought with a smirk.
"Of course, if you cheated in a clumsy way...or an obvious way... you failed." Ibiki said, his voice becoming solemn. Slowly, he reached up to untie his hitai-ate. All the genin watched him anxiously.
When he removed it, people visibly stiffened, gasped, or became shocked. He was completely bald. But this is not what repulsed them. Large, ugly scars marred the skin on his head. Old burn marks stretched across a decent portion of the skin. Somewhere near the back of the head were old punctures from screws. To top it all of, the wounds healed quite poorly. Hinata felt her stomach rebel and she held back a gag. It was truly a horrifying thing to behold. Of course, this was only a small sample of things they would see in the ninja world.
"He's been tortured...!" Hinata thought silently with a horrified look on her face. She tried to mask her expression with one filled with sympathy as opposed to horror. But it wasn't really working.
"Because there are times when being caught in an act of espionage can cost you more...so much more...than your life." Ibiki said gravelly. "You can pay in ways that can be taken away from you, little by little, over and over again. While many things, hang in the balance. The information you obtain can't be trusted if you cannot keep them secret from the enemy" he said, putting his Hitai-ate back on with a smile. His intention was not to scare; only to make a point. "And that is exactly why we forced you to cheat. It was the easiest way to pick out the worst of the slackers." a brief silence followed Ibiki's grave speech.
"And also...It was your first real test. Allow me to explain. " he continued his speech, clearing his throat. "lets assume for a moment that you all indeed, obtain the rank of chuunin. And you get a difficult assignment. You must steal a vital enemy scroll, knowing nothing of the enemy skill, deployment, military preparedness of your foe, nothing. " he said flatly, emphasizing the word "nothing". "You many even have to cross into a territory filled with traps and bombs. Now do you choose to accept or reject your mission?" he questioned, giving them a moment to think.
"Accept it of course..." Kiba mumbled under his breath. What's the point of being a chuunin if you weren't going to take a few challenges here and there?
"Do remember...that your life, and the life of your companions could be on the line." Ibiki reminded. "But do you really think that any chuunin can get away with only taking easy and safe jobs? Of course not!" He answered the question for them. "Those who don't know how to gamble with their own fate...those who would rather trade today's security for tomorrows unsure risk...are pathetic weaklings!" Ibiki declared. "In my opinion, they don't deserve to be chuunin! But you all chose to accept. And because of this, you pass." he said as warmly as he could mange, with a smile returning to his face. "And I'll pray for a good fight."
"YES!" Naruto exclaimed happily, standing up and pumping his fist in the air. "You do that! Go pray for us!" Before anyone could agree or say anything else, the sound of shattering glass filled the air. A blur came flying into the room.
"What the heck...?" Kiba shouted out loud, aware that he was probably about to get his answer.
Kunai flew through the air pinning a large black banner in place. Wait...a banner? Why was there a banner? No one dared to ask. Someone slide across the floor. They stopped directly in front of the banner with their hands on their hips. Shino briefly wondered if he should be getting ready to fight. He didn't though, and that point soon became clear.
"None of you have the right to celebrate right now!" the short woman with a spiky ponytail exclaimed. "My name is Mitarashi Anko, second chief examination officer of the chuunin exams! Come on brats! Chop chop! Time's a-wastin'!" she shouted to the crowd, looking fierce and arrogant.
"Oh gods...not her...spare me..." Ibiki mumbled to himself, putting a hand to his temple. It was going to be a long day...
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A/N: (clears throat) Now I'm sure you're all wondering why I took so long to update. To make a long story short, my spell checker DIED. One would think that it's quite easy to find a new one...but it's not. It's just...not. I thought a quick little google search would give me a good one for sure, but no way! It took forever to find a good one. Especially when I've got a nineteen page chapter for them to correct. But I have a new one now, so no worries. I shall not be hindered in my updates because of a lack of a spell checker in the future. Thank you for your patience. I hope the wait was worth it. And if it wasn't...erm...sorry? (sweatdrop)
Personally, I had no motivation to write this chapter; except for the beginning. The beginning was fun! But this chapter was basically written for me. I tried to spice it up a little bit and add stuff here and there. I even had to pull out some of my old, dusty shounen jumps to help me along a little. I tried really, really hard to not copy the lines exactly, and I left some lines out completely. Or added some of my own. You know what? I already hate the chuunin exams...I worked so hard on this chapter too. So hard in fact that when I went to proof-read it, the text looked blurred...and I had to take a break. Is this what Kiba felt like when he was trying to read his chuunin exam application? But do not fear! For the forest of death shall be so much more interesting! Because other than the little run in with Gaara, we really don't know what happened to Shino's team! Thus, they can do whatever I want! Yosh! And definitely expect some fluff next chapter! (insert nice guy pose here)
...You probably can't tell from this story, my personality, or my writing style...but...Kabuto is my favorite character! Yep! that's right! The traitor is my favorite ninja! Surprise surprise! . While I was writing this chapter, I was like, "SQUEE! I get to give him DIALOUGE! Yay!" And you probably also can't tell from my writing style, but I actually don't hate Ino. Yes, she's annoying...and she bothers me...but I don't hate her. She did ONE thing right after all. She be-friended Sakura, and gave her hope for her future. Someone did that for me once. And because of that, i respect Ino...A little. Of course, they threw that out the window for a boy that doesn't care about them... I hate Sasuke. I could rant about it all day, but I won't. And while I'm babbling about my character likes and dislikes, I might as well mention that I like Naruto a lot too. I know I'm kinda making him look like an idiot...but I really do like him a lot.
Earlier, I was concerned that I was making Shino seem like a bad guy. He didn't right? He's still on good terms with everyone, right! Originally he and Kiba were going to get into a full blown argument, then I decided against it. Why would I want them to be on bad terms right before the chuunin exams? Not a good idea. Mmmhmm. If you decide to drop me a review, which I certainly hope you do, will you please give me some feedback on the length of this chapter? Did you like it? Hated it? Too long? Too short? Sometimes when I read stories with longer-than-usual chapters, people comment that it was too long and troublesome to read. (shrugs) So do let me know. Thanks again to all of you for reading this! This, as always, was for all of you reviewers! I'm going to start working on chapter VI now! And it will be much more exciting than this chapter. And we'll get focused back on the true stars of this fanfic: Shino, Kiba, and Hinata! (coughandtehfluffbetweenhinataandkibacough) Thank yews:3
(1)- If you don't remember from chapter one, it's the polite form of, "good morning!"
(2)- Here I almost said "Kage Bunshin." But then I remembered that Shino makes his clones out of bugs. And i know that the Japanese word for bug is mushi...(I take Japanese classes! Fear me!) But I'm still not completely sure if that's what they're called.
(3) The shounen jumps said that village hiding in the rain was Amagakure. But the Japanese word for rain is "ame". I couldn't figure out if Amagakure was a typo, or if theres just something I missed...so I went with instincts and made it Amegakure. Sorry if it's wrong!
(4) Did anyone notice that there were no Kumogakure (hiding in cloud) ninjas participating in these exams? How depressing...