(A/N) And we are back. I liked the newest manga chapter, even though it had a disappointing lack of Hinata time in it. There is no way that the ten tails is down for good though. That would have been too easy if it was, even if that combo jutsu was badass. I'm curious to see Orochimaru's intentions with Tsunade, so I will anxiously wait for the next chapter.

Not much else to say, so on with the story!

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Chapter 27: The First Exam

"Alright, now that everyone is seated, I will explain the rules of the first exam. Listen closely, as I will not repeat myself or answer any questions." Said Ibiki. Several of the chunin then began handing out papers to everybody, and Ibiki continued "This exam is a written exam. There are ten questions on this exam. The first rule of this exam is that you will all start with ten points, and be deducted a point for every question you get wrong or leave blank."

"The second rule is that you will pass or fail on a team total basis. If your team does not get a total of 70% correct, then your team fails."

Several genin started muttering uneasily at that, but Ibiki shouted "QUIET! The third rule is that if any of the examiners catch you cheating, then you will be automatically deducted two points. If any examiner deducts from you three times, you and your team fail!"

"And the final rule. If any of you do so badly as to end with zero points, then your entire team fails! The entire exam will take place within one hour. On your papers are nine of the ten questions. We will give the tenth question when there are fifteen minutes left in the exam. That is all. BEGIN!"

Ibiki watched with a smirk as everybody scrambled to flip over their tests and start.

Meanwhile, Naruto was having a mental conversation with Hinata. He had just read the first question, so he said to her "These questions are too difficult for a normal genin to answer. Granted, we are not normal genin, but there is clearly a different reason for this test than straight book smarts. If I know Ibiki, which I do, than I would say that he is trying to a) Get in our heads so that we think too much, and b) Test us on our espionage skills."

"I agree with you, Naru-kun." Replied Hinata "Let's chat with our siblings and see if they have come to the same conclusion."

"Okay, do you want to do a shared mindscape or an extended mental link?"

"Let's go with the shared mindscape. That gives us time to chat while not using any time in the real world."

Ibiki had been watching the genin closely to see if they got the real reason of the test. He noticed that some of them got it pretty fast, as he saw a few of them subtly cheating. However, it was not his place to deduct points, as that was the job of the chunin. This was observation training for them. He narrowed his eyes when his sight fell upon Naruto. Ibiki knew that he would try something to get on his nerves, and it was only a matter of when. They had been going after each other ever since he broke someone that Ibiki himself couldn't crack. Ibiki watched as Naruto subtly clapped his hands together. He noticed that the eyes of Naruto, his wife, the transfer students from Taki and Kumo, the ice girl, and the creepy red haired Suna nin glazed over for the briefest of moments, before they all blinked. He swore the Aburame kid's muscles twitched in the same way as the others, but with his clothes and glasses, it was hard to tell. Ibiki wondered what that meant. He had expected to see something happen between the brat and his wife, but the others were a mystery to him.

Meanwhile, Naruto had an unsettling grin on his face. The talk with the others went better than expected.

(Shared Mindscape)

Everyone who Naruto had brought down to the mindscape blinked their eyes as they adjusted to their new surroundings. They stood in a circle with Kurama behind Naruto and Hinata, Chomei behind Fu and Shino, Matatabi behind Yugito and Haku, and Shukaku behind Gaara. Yugito spoke first and said "Why did you bring us here Naruto?"

Naruto grinned and said "Just thought I would check on my siblings to see if they got the real reason for the test. Also I would like to introduce everyone to Gaara, the container of Shukaku."

Gaara stepped forwards and said "It is a pleasure to meet with all of you. I guess I should consider you my brothers and sisters."

Naruto continued "Gaara has agreed to merge after the exams, after we defend Konoha from Oto and Suna. Anyways, have you all figured out what the point of this exam is?"

Shino stepped forwards and said "It is logical to assume that they are trying to get us to cheat. The questions are far harder than what a normal genin would be able to comprehend, so they are obviously trying to test our espionage skills. My Kikai have located two chunin in disguise. They are who we are supposed to get the correct answers from."

Hinata stepped forward and said "You are correct, Shino. That is precisely what they are trying to get us to do. However, these first nine questions are just a setup to weed out more of the weak. Naru-kun has told me a lot about his rivalry with Ibiki-san, and from what he has told me I can only assume that he will try to throw us a curve ball with the last question. Ibiki-san is the head of T & I, so the last question will probably be some sort of mind game. Be on guard for it."

Everybody nodded at Hinata's warning, and Naruto continued "Hina-chan will share the test answers with you guys by extending our mind link to you. As Hina-chan told you, I have a little rivalry with Ibiki, so I'm going to do something to mess with him a little."

Gaara stepped forwards and said "Would you mind if I helped brother? I have never gotten to really have any fun before in my life."

Naruto grinned and said "The more the merrier! Here's what we will do…"

(Real World)

Naruto stared straight at Ibiki while he grinned. The plan was perfect thanks to Gaara's abilities. He signaled to Gaara by flaring his Yokai the tiniest of amounts, a level where only Jinchuriki and Hanyou would be able to detect it.

Gaara felt the Yokai and made his move. Crumbling off a little of his sand armor, he sent his sand along the floor towards Ibiki. He spread it out in a very thin layer so that no one would notice. He started gathering the sand together under Ibiki's pant leg, until he had enough so that he could make a sharp needle of sand. He then jabbed the needle into Ibiki's leg, causing him to close his eyes in pain for a moment and grab his leg.

That brief moment was all that Naruto needed. He almost instantaneously made the hand sign for a Kage Bunshin, but he controlled the jutsu so that the clone appeared without smoke and under a kitsune illusion. The invisible clone snuck behind Ibiki carefully, and tapped him on the shoulder. Ibiki instinctively whirled around to see who tapped him, but saw no one there. He turned around and narrowed his eyes on Naruto, who was filling in the last question of the test. Ibiki muttered to himself "I'm onto you, brat. There may be no proof, but I know that was you."

Naruto's shadow clone waited a while before going into action again, this time ripping off Ibiki's bandana and tossing it to the ground. There was a collective horrified gasp from the genin as they saw the scars that adorned Ibiki's head.

Ibiki bent down and picked up his bandana before retying it back onto his head, and decided to turn the prank back onto the genin. He said to the genin "What you just saw was a prime example of the real ninja world. Those of you who think that they wouldn't be able to withstand the pain that gave me those scars should just quit now. You are not fit to be a real ninja if you can't take a little pain!"

To Ibiki's satisfaction, a few ninja got up and said that they were quitting. Ibiki was quite satisfied that he had turned tables, but he knew that he had to stay on guard. It was nearing the time for the tenth question, and he knew that Naruto would pull his biggest stunt yet.

So Naruto pulled his stunt. His shadow clone stealthily snuck behind Ibiki, and pulled his pants down, revealing his boxers. Unfortunately for Ibiki, today was the day that he had decided to wear his lucky panda boxers.

The entire room burst into laughter at the sight. Ibiki quickly pulled his pants back up before shouting "QUIET! ANYONE WHO LETS OUT SO MUCH AS ONE GIGGLE WILL IMMEDIATELY FAIL THEIR WHOLE TEAM!"

This effectively shut almost everyone up. There were a few who couldn't contain their laughter, and they were forcibly ejected (picked up by the neck and thrown) from the room by Ibiki himself.

Ibiki looked at the time and saw that there were fifteen minutes remaining, so he said "Alright you maggots! It's time for the tenth question. There are a few special rules for this question. The first is that you have a choice whether or not to take the question."

An Ame nin shouted "Why the hell wouldn't we take the question?"

"I was getting to that you maggot!" yelled Ibiki. "If you choose not to take the question, then you automatically fail. The second rule is that if you choose to take the question, and get it wrong, then you and your teammates lose the right to ever take the chunin exams again!"

There was a huge uproar again, and Kiba's voice was heard yelling "WHAT THE HELL! THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO HAVE TAKEN THE EXAM LOADS OF TIMES BEFORE!"

Ibiki just smirked evilly and said "Well I wasn't the procter of those exams, was I? My exam, my rules. So those of you who are confident enough in themselves to take the final question, stay here. The rest of you maggots get out of my sight."

Gradually, a few genin started to leave, followed by their teammates. Ibiki watched as a few genin slowly tricked out, before the trickle slowed down.

Ibiki counted the number of genin remaining. There were 78 genin left. That meant 26 teams. Either this group was really good or really lucky.

Ibiki cleared his throat and said "Anybody else? No? Very well then. In that case, all of you…"

He let the tension build for a moment before…

"YOU ALL PASS!"

Ibiki smirked as the genin's minds started to process what he just said.

Cue outrage in:

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

"WHAAAAAAAAT?!" screamed a large majority of the genin.

"WHAT ABOUT THE LAST QUESTION?" cried a random nin.

Ibiki grinned and said "There never was a tenth question."

"THAN WHAT THE HELL WAS THE POINT OF THE OTHER NINE?" asked another.

"They were there to test you information gathering abilities, as well as to root out the weakest of the maggots." Answered Ibiki. "The test was set up with questions that normal genin wouldn't have been able to answer, so we planted two chunin to act as genin. They knew the correct answers, and you were supposed to use your skills to gather the information off of them. If you used your skills poorly, then you and your team failed. If you were actually spying, you would be dead, if you're lucky." Ibiki unwrapped his bandana again and continued "If you are unlucky, then the horrors that await you as the enemy tries to extract information from you will make you wish that you are dead."

Hinata then piped up and said "And the tenth question was meant to act as a leap of faith, a make it or break it. Only the strongest of heart would make it, and the weak would have to try again the next time."

Ibiki grinned again and said "The little ex-Hyuuga is right. If you don't have the heart to take the chance, then you will never make it as a ninja. Those of you who are still here, I offer my congratulations for passing the first part of the chunin exams!"

Suddenly, there was a loud crash as a kunai shot through the window and went right past Ibiki's head, sticking into the far wall. The kunai had a rope attached to it, and a large banner slid down the rope, reading "Anko Mitarashi is the second exam procter!"

There was an explosion of smoke in front of the banner, and it died to reveal Anko, who said "All right you brats! It's time for the second exam!

"…"

"…"

"…"

Anko sweat dropped and said "What, have none of you ever made a flashy entrance before?"

That caused everyone else to sweat drop.

Ibiki than came from around the corner of the banner, and said "Anko, your early."

Anko grinned and said "I know, I just wanted to mess with the atmosphere that you created." She then counted up the genin, and said "There are 26 teams left?! You've gone soft Ibiki."

"Maybe they're just better this time around, you never know." Responded the scarred man.

Anko gave a devilish grin and said "Whatever, by time I'm done with them, there will be less than half remaining."

Most of the genin audibly gulped upon hearing this.

"Alright you brats, listen up! You are all to report to training grounds 44 for the next portion of the exams. Be there within ten minutes or be immediately disqualified with your team!" announced Anko, before she disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

There was a rush of motion as the genin scrambled to get to the training grounds. It wasn't long before there were only two genin left in the room.

Ibiki looked at Naruto and Hinata and asked "What do you two want?"

Naruto and Hinata handed Ibiki the ninja info cards that they had gotten from Kabuto, and Naruto said "Keep a close eye on Kabuto. There is information on these cards that isn't public knowledge. I would like to know how he got it. Also, I had a fun time playing your mind game, Ibiki. Try to do better next time though."

With that, Hinata grabbed Naruto's hand and they vanished in a flash of lavender. Ibiki then read the cards he had gotten, and muttered "There is information on those two on these that even I wasn't aware of. I need to put a watch on Kabuto."

(Training grounds 44 a.k.a The Forest of Death)

Naruto and Hinata appeared in front of the forest in a flash of lavender, and moments later, Anko appeared in a swirl of leaves. She looked at the two and said "Dammit you two! I was supposed to get here first."

Hinata rolled her eyes and said "What does it matter? Besides, we have the advantage since I can warp."

Anko sighed and said "I know, but if anyone asks, I got here first. I have a reputation to uphold."

Hinata sighed, and they continued waiting in silence. Gradually, all of the genin arrived, although team 10 got there at the last possible second (something about stopping for snacks and it being too troublesome to run).

Anko cleared her throat to get everybody's attention, and then said "Alright brats! Welcome to training grounds 44, which is lovingly known by leaf nin as "The Forest of Death". This place is filled with dangerous animals, poisonous plants, and untriggered traps, and for the next five days, it's the place you brats get to call home!" Anko smiled evilly at the look of horror that was gradually filling the genin's faces, before she said cheerily "But first you have to sign a release form!" as she pulled a stack of papers out of seemingly nowhere.

The majority of the genin face faulted at her sudden change up.

Anko then began explaining the rules of the exam as she passed out the forms (Standard FoD exam rules apply) and was interrupted midway by Choji suddenly yelling to the heavens "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO FOR FOOD?"

Anko smirked and said "There are plenty of animals in the forest that are edible. You just have to be sure that they don't eat you first!"

Anko then finished explaining the rules, and directed the genin teams to take their forms to some chunin in exchange for a scroll and a gate number. After everybody got their scroll, they headed to the gate that matched the number that they had been given. Naruto and Hinata were assigned to gate 7, and they noticed that to their left there were three Kumo teams, and to their right there were three Iwa teams.

Naruto said to Hinata over their mindlink "That's really suspicious. Both Kumo and Iwa entered three teams, and all of them just happen to be in the gates next to us. Coincidence? I think not."

"I agree Ruto-kun. If I had to guess, I would say that they have teamed up on us, and they somehow rigged the gates in their favor so that they could be close to us." Answered Hinata.

"So what should we do, Hime?"

"I say that we go a ways into the woods and set up camp. We then wait until they ambush us. We then show our true selves and beat them down. If none of them have the heaven scroll that we need, I would be seriously surprised. After we beat them, we should tie them up and put chakra seals on them. Depending on if they declare their intentions after a little bit of persuasion, we should take them with us using that special storage seal that you made. We can then either warp to the tower using Sorime, and finish in record time or take the long way."

"That's a good plan, Hime. We'll follow it and decide whether to warp or not after we beat down the teams."

There was suddenly the sound of a large air horn, and the gate in front of them flew open. Naruto and Hinata immediately dashed inside.

The second exam had officially begun!

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And that's a wrap. This chapter is a little short, but I didn't want to combine the first and second exams. I'm not sure how I'm going to do the FoD after the part with Kumo and Iwa. But I am sure that I will not be having Naruto and Hinata interfere with Orochimaru's appearance to team 7. I really just want to get to the prelims and the finals, as those are where most of the action will occur. I already have a general idea for who is going to fight who, and I can't wait to type those fights.

Until next time,

Slice N Dicer