Obito refused to listen to the voice of doubt that played in the back of his head. Instead he chose to focus on the fact that he finally had an opportunity to become a chuunin. If he did become a chuunin, then he wouldn't have to suffer through Kakashi's claims of being higher ranking anymore. For the first time they would be equals.
"Obito! Come eat your breakfast before its cold!" His mother's voice sounded down the hall. Obito jumped off his bed, knowing that ignoring his mother was not the wisest choice. He felt dread settle into his stomach when he saw that his father had not yet left for work. In the mornings Obito tried to stay in bed until he knew his father had left for his work at the Konoha police force, but occasionally his father would still be there when he went down for breakfast. Settling into his chair across the table from his father, Obito waited to see who would break the silence first. It was his mother who spoke first. "What are your plans for the day, Obito? Do you have training with your team?"
Today was the start of the chuunin exams, his mother knew that. What his parents didn't know was that he had entered. He chose not to tell them because he knew they wouldn't care. His mom asked about things like that, but it was only because she couldn't stand the silence. She didn't care about what was going on in his life. And his reason for not telling his father was his own fear of failing. His father put so much pressure on him, saying that an Uchiha should succeed at everything they do. If Obito failed the exam, then his father would have many words for him, none of them being kind. He had gotten used to his father constantly belittling him, but he still tried to avoid it when he could. He didn't know what his father would say if he knew that his arm was damaged pretty badly. Probably something about how stupid he was to have his guard down during a mission.
His father cleared his throat. Obito realized that his mother was still waiting for a reply. "I have a mission today, a C-rank. We're going to be leaving the village, and I'll probably be gone for a few days." Obito shoveled his food in, hoping to be done with breakfast as quickly as possible. His mother walked into the hallway, heading for her bedroom. If things got to quiet or if she didn't have anything to say, she would go to her room, curl up, and read a book. He honestly didn't know what was wrong with his mother, but she truly despised silence.
With his mother gone, Obito's desire to eat faster intensified. His father rarely spoke to him when his mother was around. "A C-rank mission, huh? At your age not only was I a chuunin, but I had also completed several B-rank missions. They assign the missions based on skill level. If you're not at the skill to complete a B-rank, then they won't assign you one." It was true, he had never been on a B-rank. But he wasn't the only one on his team; he wasn't necessarily the one holding the team back. It wasn't his fault that his sharingan hadn't developed yet.
"I've been working on my jutsu's, though. I am now able to do six different fire justu's." And he had learned every single one of them without the help the sharingan gave its user.
"But you still don't have your sharingan? How can you expect to be a shinobi if you can't even awaken your own kekkei genkei?" His father wasn't sneering, he never did. His father would simply state everything as a fact.
Obito picked up his empty plate and put it in the sink. "There are many great shinobi without a kekkei genkei." He didn't say anything more as he rushed out the front door. While this morning hadn't been too bad, he had no desire to continue his conversation with his father. His father had only ever acted cold toward him. Even as a kid, Obito had been different. The other Uchiha kids put practicing and training first, even those too young for the academy. He had always been the one to sit down and play with a lonely kid or stand around and talk to an elderly merchant. Not only had his focus been different, but his personality as well. Most Uchiha's were quiet and stern, but he had always been loud and carefree.
When the bullying started was when his perspective on life changed. He saw people for who they really were, a bunch of lost souls trying to find their place in this world. And if ostracizing an outcast made them feel better about themselves, that's what they would do. But even when they were hitting him, Obito knew not to let them win. He didn't know how he knew; he just couldn't stand the idea of them feeling better about themselves by making him feel worse. He wasn't physically strong enough to fight them, so he did the only thing he could; he kept smiling. If they didn't know how much pain in he was in, then they wouldn't think they had won. So despite the bullying he still endured from his family and his clan, he kept his smile in place.
It's not like it was a fake smile. No, he did enjoy life more than most. He was loud because he knew that sometimes people needed someone to be obnoxious to make them smile. It was his goal to be a light to those who had suffered, to be someone who they looked to when they were upset. He smiled because he knew his place in his clan, something that the bully's didn't know. He was the black sheep of the Uchiha clan, and he was proud of it.
oOoOo
Despite his plans to meet his team before the exams started, Minato found himself in the doorway of the Hokage's office. Earlier that morning the Sandaime had requested a meeting with him. Minato didn't know what the meeting was about, but he suspected it would be about one of his students. What other reason was there to meet before the start of the exams? Minato rapped on the side of the doorframe. The Sandaime's voice called him in.
Upon entering the room, Minato saw that the Sandaime was not sitting at his desk like usual, but was standing by his office window. The Sandaime smiled at him before turning back to the window. "Do you believe your students are ready for the teamwork the exams will require?"
"Their teamwork is good. They listen to each other and there are no power struggles within the group. It's their skills that I am worried about." Both Naruto and Obito were wounded, leaving Rin to be the only one capable of performing a good jutsu.
The Sandaime nodded. "That's why I asked you here, to discuss Naruto-kun." He turned away from the window, choosing instead to lean against it. "Your report says that Naruto-kun has an old injury that is most likely from a powerful jutsu. I saw Rin-chan yesterday and she said the damage was most likely self-inflicted." Minato had been trying to think of reasons Naruto had been hurt. The only one that he could think of that wouldn't make Naruto appear dishonest would be if he had been trying a new jutsu and ended up damaging his arm. The Sandaime continued. "I know you like the boy, Minato-san, but it is my belief that he is hiding something. I would like you to talk with him after the chuunin exams."
He didn't want to suspect Naruto of anything, but he would have to do as the Hokage asked. And the Sandaime was right. Naruto was a newcomer to the village and everything he did would be under close scrutiny for a while. The fact was he should've already questioned Naruto. He should've asked how Naruto hurt himself immediately after Rin told him about the injury, but he hadn't wanted to think that Naruto was lying to them. There was just something about the boy that made Minato want to believe the best of him.
oOoOo
Rin stood by the entrance to the academy waiting for her team. They had agreed to meet a few minutes before the exams were scheduled to start. It had been a good call to meet prior, because she needed her teammate's assurance right now. She couldn't help feeling that the burden of passing the exams was on her. While she was confident in her medical skills, her battle skills worried her. As a medical shinobi she had been trained to defend herself and help her teammates. It had been a long time since she fought offense, and she wasn't sure she could fight well enough without Obito or Naruto to back her up. At least both would be able to use taijutsu.
"Rin, is Sensei meeting with you before the exams?" Surprised, she looked over at the source of the question. She hadn't expected Kakashi to come.
"He said he would, but he's not here yet." She debated letting his presence go unquestioned, but her curiosity won out. "Why are you here, Kakashi? Since you aren't taking the exams I didn't expect you to show up."
"Sensei has been telling me repeatedly that teamwork is important. I don't see what the big deal is, but I thought that if I showed up to support you guys, then he might stop bringing up teamwork as much." Kakashi's sounded condescending. Rin suspected he was there to support them, but didn't want it to be known. If he was just there to get Minato to stop bothering him, then he would've been more frustrated that Minato wasn't here and he also wouldn't have bothered coming up with an excuse. Kakashi only explained himself when he felt he had to defend himself.
A loud shout of, "GOOD MORNING" alerted Rin and Kakashi to Obito and Naruto's approach. Rin giggled as Kakashi complained about their loudness, saying it was 'too early in the day to be so disrespectful of nature's stillness.' Naruto and Obito joined in her laughter, frustrating Kakashi more. When it looked like Kakashi might leave, Rin changed the subject. "You're here on time, Obito. I'm surprised."
Naruto snickered. Obito shot a glare at him before speaking. "I had no choice. Naruto here saw me coming this direction and joined me to prevent there from being any 'distractions.'" Obito's voice dripped with sarcasm. "I told him I would make it in plenty of time without his assistance, but nooo, he said he very much doubted that." Obito grumbled under his breathe. Rin was sure she could make out the words 'stupid' and 'know-it-all.' Rin laughed at Obito's anger towards Naruto, only because she knew it wasn't real. Over the past few days Obito and Naruto had become good friends, and though she didn't know Naruto well, she knew enough about both of them to know that they were only trying to relieve some of the tension. She was relieved and thankful. Without any words directly to her or about the exams they had managed to change her mood completely.
Rin heard the pop of a transportation jutsu, and Minato was standing before them. "As nice as this meeting is, it's time for you three to start the first exam." Looking at the clock Rin saw that Minato was right; they only had ten minutes to get to the classroom. Minato had always taught them to be early whenever possible. Well, he taught most of them that. "I'm sorry I didn't get here earlier, but the Hokage requested me. We'll talk after the exams. Good luck." Minato looked at all three of them, his gaze lingering on Naruto the longest. "Let's go, Kakashi." Minato waved and walked toward another of the school buildings, Kakashi trailing behind him.
"We should get going ourselves. You never know what kind of encounters we'll face along the way." Naruto was already entering the building. Rin and Obito both followed. The hallways were littered with teams from different villages; she was surprised to see that Iwa had sent genin. With the ongoing war she had assumed Iwa would refuse to send genin to Konoha, but it appeared otherwise. She voiced her questions to her teammates. Naruto looked over at one of the Iwa teams, who were currently lounging on the floor. "The chuunin exams are a long standing tradition between the shinobi hidden villages. Every six months they take place without fail, and if a team of genin ever wants to be promoted they have to participate in the exams. It is even more important in wartime. The genin need to become chuunin so they can be given higher ranking missions and help out with the war effort."
"So if the exams took place in Iwa, we would be sent?" Obito asked. Rin hadn't thought of what their own village would've done if the exams were in Iwa. She didn't know how she would feel about being sent into the enemy's hidden village.
Naruto nodded. "Konoha needs shinobi to become chuunin just as much as Iwa does. The villages are relying on the tradition of the chuunin exams to prevent any traps from taking place."
Up until then Rin had only been feeling the pressure of passing the exams for her team, but now she worried about her village. They were in a war and needed higher ranking shinobi. As genin they were only assigned D-rank or C-rank missions, and most of the war effort was at least a B-rank. Her village needed them to pass the exams.
"I see that you have come to test your youthfulness." Rin looked behind her and saw the only person who had a smile more obnoxious than Obito's: Maito Gai. As was usual, he was wearing green tights, which made him stand out in any crowd. "My overflowing youth will surpass yours." Rin couldn't help rolling her eyes. Gai was a good fighter, especially in taijutsi, but he was annoying. Rin knew even Kakashi would prefer to spend the entire day with Obito rather than spend one hour with Gai.
"Where's your team, Gai?" Obito asked.
Gai looked behind him and his shoulders drooped. "It appears they have left me to reach my destination alone."
"You can walk the rest of the way with us." Rin said before she could stop herself. Why did she have to be so nice to people? Gai's face lit up like someone had just told him he would stay young forever. Thanking her, he fell into step beside them. The walk to the third floor wasn't all that bad. Obito and Gai talked to each other and were loud, but Naruto made sure to keep them reigned in. Though sometimes he would still be loud, Rin was glad Naruto was at least more mature than Obito. While still being loud, Naruto had begun keeping Obito from crossing the line into being obnoxious.
The door leading into the exam room was open. Entering the room, Rin realized there were more teams taking the exam than she thought. There were twice as many people in the room than there had been in the hallway. The room was bigger than any she remembered visiting during her time in the academy. The room would hold around 120 students. There were three groups of chairs, each one 20 chairs deep and 6 chairs wide.
Standing next to the door was a chuunin who was directing each genin on where to sit. It looked like they were going to be split up. The chuunin gave them their seat numbers. Sure enough, Rin was sitting in 1D6 and Naruto and Obito in 3C4 and 3J2 respectively. Gai was sitting in 2G5. "Remember not to stress out." Naruto touched her shoulder before heading over to his seat. Obito gave her a thumbs up, grinning. He followed Naruto to the third section. Gai hung around until he spotted his own team and made his way over to them.
Taking her own seat, Rin felt anxiety creep up at her. Fighting it she tried to reason. They were in a classroom so it was probably a written test, not a battle, so she shouldn't have to worry. The remaining two minutes ticked by slowly. Finally, when Rin thought she might burst, the doors shut and the instructor appeared with a pop. "I am Yamanaka Isamu. I am the examiner of the first test in the chuunin exams. The first test will be a written test with ten questions. You will start the test with ten points and each wrong answer will take away one of the points. An unanswered question counts as a wrong question. If you get two wrong your score will be an eight. You will be graded as teams. If one team member fails, then the entire team fails. And lastly, anyone caught cheating will have two points subtracted for every offense. Do not look at the test until I say to start."
The chuunin's passed out the exams and then sat down in chairs on either side of the room. They would be watching for any cheating. "You have one hour. Begin." Rustling paper was the only sound in the room. Rin read through the questions first. It was no wonder they gave an hour for ten questions! All of the questions had at least four steps to them. Starting on the first, Rin hoped Naruto and Obito would be able to answer at least half of them. She knew Obito would probably get two or three wrong, but she had no clue how Naruto did on written tests. Rin worked quickly, hoping to be done before the allotted time was up. If a question gave her some difficulty, she skipped it, hoping to have time to return later.
It was halfway into the exams when she looked up from her papers to check the time. She was shocked to see how many teams were gone, she had blocked out any noises that might be distracting. Also, it appeared that several of the genin were still cheating. If they could do it well and not get caught, then why not? She only hoped Obito didn't attempt to cheat, because she was sure he would be caught and lose more points for them. Turning back to her own paper, she went back to the questions she had skipped. Doing the problems at a slower pace now, she finished the three questions in the next twenty minutes. What was she supposed to do with the remaining ten minutes?
Another team was dismissed, then another. When the bell rang signaling the end of the test, only a third of the genin remained. The proctor stood up again. "It looks like the number of suitable genin this year is fewer than in previous years. The twenty teams remaining have passed the first exam and will have a two hour break before meeting up at the forty-fourth training ground." Isamu disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The doors behind them opened. Rin got up to join her teammates. As she walked over to Obito, she was relieved when she saw that Gai's team and Asuma's team had both passed the first exam.
"How do you think you did on the test?" Rin asked the boys.
Naruto shrugged. "I got more right than I did wrong, and Obito said the same a few seconds ago. I don't think anything else matters."
Rin was going to ask if they had to cheat, but decided not to. It didn't matter anyway; they had passed the first test. "What do you think the second test will be?"
Obito thought for a second. "It'll probably be another team thing. We're might have to battle as teams or something. Eventually they're going to split us up into individuals, though."
What? She knew the exams would become individual competitions, but she hadn't thought of it. What would happen to Obito and Naruto when they were left to fight for themselves? Rin pushed the fear down. Both were good shinobi and knew how to fight beyond just using ninjutsu. They would both be okay.
"Wait! I've heard of the forty-fourth training ground. I heard a few chuunin referring to it as the Forest of Death." Obito shouted. Rin shuddered. Obito must have noticed for he tried to make it seem less daunting. "It's probably just a name they use to scare people. The training ground is in the middle of Konoha! It can't be that dangerous."
Two hours later when they were standing in front of a heavily locked forest Obito had a different opinion.
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