Chunin Exams – Take Two!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; however I do own Akemi, Yukiko and Rukia. And the Shīringu is mine and mine alone!

Summary: "When I died and came into the Naruto universe, I didn't think that I would be able to change much. I also thought that if I told anyone that they wouldn't believe me and I definitely didn't think that I could get a Kekkei Genkai either. But I was wrong on all accounts and I could not be happier." SEQUEL!

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

Within the next few days our trip to Suna had been organised. We had been given travel passes and were sent on our way. I, Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi were now travelling to Suna, which we would soon reach. We had already been on the road two days and it's a three day journey. Haku wanted to come too, but he had other things to do making him a little sad. We had the support of the whole Rookie Ten (minis us of course), but I was pretty confident that we would definitely become Chunin this time around.

Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto knew about the Akatsuki and they also knew about us watching out for Gaara. Technically this was an S-rank mission, but no one seemed to mind. Kakashi was a bit apprehensive about the mission, but we quickly reassured him. Naruto and Sasuke were actually excited; I just hoped that nothing went wrong like it did the first time around.

I groan as we run. Naruto looks at me and asks, "Are you alright Akemi-chan?"

"I hate the heat!" I say with a pout. Konoha has a really nice climate, it didn't get too hot and it had normal winters. But no, Suna was freaking hot and the wind didn't help, it just got sand in my shoes and mouth.

Sasuke rolls his eyes at me, "Get over it."

I glare at him, I wanted to whack him over his head but I resisted. Of course the heat wasn't helping my temper either; it made me even more agitated. It took a few more hours before we saw the large sand walls of Suna. As we walked closer, we noticed a Suna Jonin standing outside looking around. The Jonin looked to be at least eighteen; he was wearing a black outfit consisting of a long top and trousers with a red sash around his waist. The Jonin had purple marking on his face and his head was covered by a black hat, it almost resembled a bat. It was Kankuro.

I nudge Naruto as we walk closer, "It's Kankuro."

Naruto immediately looks and sees Kankuro; he grins and waves at him. "Hey!"

Kankuro turns to look at us and smiled slightly. When we got closer, he spoke, "Yo, been a long time."

"Three years." Sasuke says nodding at Kankuro.

"Are you here to take us to the Kazekage?" Kakashi asks wanting to get down to business. As much as he wouldn't like to admit it, he didn't want to be in the heat any more than a certain female pupil of his did.

Kankuro nods his head, "Yes, I've been asked by Gaara to bring you to him."

"Why is that?" I ask looking confused. Why would Gaara want to see us as soon as we entered the village? That didn't sound right. Maybe he wanted to say hi but I doubt that.

Kankuro shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know, he just said he wanted you guys in his office when you got here."

I, Naruto and Sasuke shared a look of confusion. But we nodded anyway, "Let's go them!" Naruto shouts while throwing his arm in the air.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

When we make it to the Kazekage's building I was confused. Looking around I couldn't tell the difference between buildings, they all looked the bloody same. The only way I knew that this was the Kazekage's office was because it looked like Tenten's hairdo, two buns on top of the building. I pointed this out to Naruto and Sasuke on the way, Naruto agreed with me while Sasuke just rolled his eyes at us. Talk about rude.

Kankuro knocked on the door. There was a faint answer, "Enter." Gaara says from the other side. His voice had become deep over the years making me a little shocked when I heard it.

Once we were inside the office, I had a good look at Gaara. Gaara was never that tall and that hadn't changed now. He was about the same height as me, making him a little smaller than average. He has fair skin and short, spiky red hair making his sea green eyes stand out. He still didn't have eyebrows but I knew he wouldn't, but I had hoped. The black rings around his eyes were still there along with the kanji 'love' on the left side of his forehead. He was dressed in his Kazekage gear, hat and all. I don't know how he could stand to wear something like that in this heat.

When Gaara sees us, he nods his head. "Thank you Kankuro."

Kankuro shrugs, "It was nothing."

"What is it that you needed to speak to us about?" Kakashi asks in a business like tone.

Gaara sends Kankuro a look. Kankuro sighs and nods his head, he turns around to leave, but not before sending us a look full of suspicion. Only when the door was closed and Kankuro's chakra signature was not there did Gaara speak.

"I've been informed about the Akatsuki and how they may be after me." Gaara says also getting down to business.

Kakashi nods his head, "That is true."

"How do I know that this is accurate?" Gaara questions us with a blank look.

I step forward, "We have an ex-Akatsuki member come over to our side. With his intelligence we know what they are planning."

Gaara's gaze wonders over to me, "And how do you know he is not lying?"

"He's my brother." Sasuke says.

Gaara looks at Sasuke briefly before looking back to me, "Tsunade has informed me that you too are well informed,"

I nod my head, "I am."

"How?" Gaara persists.

I bit my lip and look to my team, Sasuke and Naruto nod their heads and Kakashi just sighed. It was obvious that Gaara was suspicious of us and our motives and I didn't blame him. Being told you are being hunted but not giving all the details to how we know will make you suspicious. I had asked the team before we came to Suna if we should tell Gaara the truth if it comes to it. Naruto had said yes, Sasuke just stayed silent while Kakashi said yes. I knew that Gaara could be trusted, and you never know, we may need his help again. If I told him, it would be easier to explain the truth than to make an elaborate lie.

So I explained to Gaara how I knew about things. How I came from another world and had already seen the events happen and what will happen. Of course I never told him everything, I didn't tell him about what will happen in the future, but I'm sure I was convincing enough. By the end of my story, there was a clear shocked expression on Gaara's face.

"H-how is this possible?" Gaara asks stuttering slightly.

I shrug, "I've never questioned it. It has come in handy however."

Gaara took a few deep breathes to calm himself down. "That's how you knew that my seal was unstable." Gaara says as realisation makes its way onto his face.

I nod my head, "That's exactly how I knew; I probably wouldn't have known any other wise."

Gaara was silent for a moment, taking this information on. "So what you are saying is true?" Gaara says looking to me again.

"Unfortunately so, the Akatsuki are after the tailed beast inside you." I answer him.

"Then what are you doing here Naruto?" Gaara questions the other Jinchuuriki in the room.

Naruto's face turn serious, "I'm here to help protect you."

Gaara regarded Naruto for a few seconds before he nods, "Okay."

"Okay to what?" Sasuke asks looking slightly confused.

Gaara leaned back in his chair, "My counsel has been harassing me to ask you certain questions. They too are curious of why I had to have extra training and so forth."

"You can't tell them about me though." I say.

Gaara looks at me confused, "Why is that?" If he had eyebrows I think they would be raised at me.

"Not many people know," I answer him; "I think it's safer that not many people know. I only tell the people I trust."

Gaara was silent for a moment.

"By telling your counsel, you will be putting Akemi at risk," Kakashi says looking at Gaara with a critical look, "Do you want that?" Sasuke and Naruto both looked at Gaara with an expecting look.

Gaara shakes his head, "I do not. I am grateful that you trust me enough to tell me the truth. I will not tell my counsel."

I sigh in relief, "Thank you."

"No, thank you." Gaara says stand up. "How about I show you where you four will be staying?" Gaara walks away from his desk and to the door. We silently follow behind him to our new home for the duration of the stay.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

Three days had passed since we first came to Suna. Over the three days we had all kind of gotten used to the heat, but I still wasn't fully used to the heat. Sasuke was pissed the first couple of days because he couldn't train without nearly passing out from heat stroke. Naruto was just as bad; he tried to have a sparring match with Sasuke on the second day because he was so bored. Apparently they had already seen Suna in the first day and there wasn't anything interesting about. What was most heart-breaking for Naruto was that there wasn't a ramen stand anywhere. So you can guess what he has been asking me to make. But of course Kakashi was fine with the heat, and he still wore that bloody mask. He mainly stayed in the shade reading his perverted book.

As of right now, we were all sat down on the floor over a table. It looked like a meeting with how serious we all looked. But the situation we were going to be discussing was very serious.

"What is the plan then?" Naruto asks Kakashi with a serious expression.

Kakashi rubs his masked chin, "ANBU are stationed everywhere in the village and the security has been increased."

"What about the man that is meant to betray Suna?" Sasuke asks.

"He's already being watched." Kakashi answers with ease. Thanks to the anime I knew that there was a traitor in Suna, one of Gaara's council. He would leak information and get Sasori and Deidara in the village. But now he wouldn't get an opportunity because he was being watched constantly. He isn't able to blink without it being noted.

"Sasori will definitely be here to capture Gaara, but I don't know who he will be bringing with him." I say with a sigh.

Naruto looks to me, "Could he come alone?"

Sasuke is the one who answers, "Aniki says that they are always in pairs so that's unlikely."

"Could they bring someone new into the mix?" Sasuke asks looking to me.

In all fairness, I didn't know the answer. It was completely possible that the Akatsuki could bring in new members, it has been three years. They must have noticed that their numbers have decreased significantly. But if that was the case then I wouldn't know anything about them and we would lose our advantage.

"I don't know." I answer, "It's completely possible, but even when their members were dying there wasn't any new members." Well besides Kabuto, but he can't now because he's dead.

"I and a few select ANBU will be guarding Gaara for most of our time here." Kakashi informs us.

We nod our heads, "And then we'll be taking part in the Chunin Exams." Sasuke says with a small grin on his face. During the exams, Gaara would be present to look over them, so we will be advancing through the ranks while guarding him too. With Kakashi here though it would make it easier. The Chunin exams were due to start tomorrow and we were all excited. I just hoped that it doesn't turn out like it did last time.

"Are you all ready?" Kakashi asks us.

"Are you kidding sensei?" Naruto answers with a grin on his face, "We couldn't be more ready."

Sasuke nods his head, "It'll be a piece of cake."

Kakashi looks at the two males of his team, "Modest aren't you."

I grin at them and laugh slightly.

The happy mood disappeared when an ANBU appeared before us. We all sat up straight and turned to the ANBU. "The Kazekage requests to see you." The ANBU says.

We all stand up, "Then we best get going." Naruto says.

The ANBU shakes his head, "Just her." He says pointing to me.

I look at the ANBU shocked, "Me?" I ask pointing to myself.

The ANBU nods his head.

"Why?!" Naruto shouts at the ANBU. But the ANBU never answered him, he poofed away before he could be questioned anymore.

"Why would he want to see you?" Sasuke asks looking at me.

I roll my eyes, "Maybe he just loves my company."

Sasuke glares at me.

"You best not keep him waiting then." Kakashi says shooing me off.

"Bye Akemi-chan!" Naruto shouts as I leave.

I make it to the Kazekage tower within a few minutes. I knock on the door and as soon as I get permission I opened the door. When I opened the door, Gaara was in sitting behind his desk and was signing papers.

"You called for me?" I say walking into the office, closing the door behind me.

Gaara stops signing and looks at me. He drops his pen and sighs, "I need you to do something for me."

I arch an eyebrow at him, "And it is?"

"Can you check my seal?" Gaara asks a little embarrassed. He looks away from me so we didn't lock eyes.

I smile a little amused, "Is that all?"

Gaara silently nods his head.

"I don't know Gaara," I say, "I don't want to accidently mess anything up. Jiraya spent hours on that seal."

Gaara slumped into his seat, "I've been feeling strange. It's like the demon inside me is restless."

"How so?" Gaara now had my full attention. From what Jiraya told me, this shouldn't happen. With this seal that he placed, the demon should be calm and shouldn't cause their container any distress. The seal was created to calm the tailed beast but that doesn't seem to be the case.

"I feel his chakra escape every now and again. I can also hear his voice sometimes." Gaara admits looking worried. He didn't want the beast inside him to get out, he was just starting to get accepted in his village. He didn't want all his hard work to be for nothing.

"How long has this been going on?" I ask him.

"Not long. Maybe a few days." Gaara says.

I sigh, "I'll have a look, but I don't know how much help I'll be."

Gaara bows his head, "Thank you." Gaara stands up and walks over to me. Once he was close enough he stops and lifts up his Kazekage gown, luckily he was wearing pants underneath so it wasn't awkward. However, even with the gown lifted up, I couldn't get a proper look at the seal.

"How about if you lie down?" I suggest.

Gaara nods, he turns around and moves thing from his desk. Once the desk was clear he laid down on it and moved his robe up. Now I could see the seal clearly and I was impressed. Jiraya had done an excellent job at the seal. Gaara's seal was on his stomach, much like Naruto's is.

Jiraya had told me that Gaara's original seal was messy and unfinished in some parts. He was disgusted with how botched up the seal actually was. It took him hours to finish the seal and make it more stable. The seal that Gaara used to have let Shukaku influence Gaara too much, giving the demon too much control for our liking. But now Gaara was in control.

I activated my Shīringu and looked at it in more detail. The complexity was amazing, the precision was amazing. Every little crack or loophole that once was there was no longer there. There was nothing in the seal to suggest that it was coming undone. In some cases there have been seals that come undone with time, however this was not the case. Inserting chakra into my hands, I placed my hands over Gaara's seal and looked further. Gaara's tensed, I looked over to him and saw his face was scrunched up, he looked to be in pain.

"Do you want me to stop?" I ask him taking my hands away from his seal.

Gaara shakes his head, "No, it's just he's fighting again."

I nod and go back to my work. That's where I found the problem. Normal people wouldn't be able to see it, but with my Shīringu I could. It seemed that Shukaku was fighting inside causing harm to the seal. I quickly heal the harm that Shukaku caused and placed a talisman on his stomach. This talisman I had made especially for Naruto, but it also worked on other tailed beasts. It was designed to calm them, which is what Shukaku needed before he caused any more harm.

I take my hands away and stop the chakra flowing to my hands. I deactivated my Shīringu and I look to Gaara. "I know what it is."

Gaara sits up, "What is it?"

"The demon inside you is acting up because it knows that it is in danger." I say to Gaara.

Gaara looks confused, "What do you mean?"

"A few days ago we informed you that the Akatsuki was after you, did it start around that time?" I ask Gaara to make sure that my theory was correct.

Gaara nods his head, "It did."

"Then that's the cause," I say, "The demon inside you is trying to get free to protect itself and get to safety."

Gaara groaned and glared down at his seal.

"The tailed beast's first instinct is to protect itself, that's why it's been acting up." I explain to Gaara.

Gaara nods his head, "That makes sense, thank you."

I place my hand on his shoulder, "Its fine, and you don't need to worry. We're here to protect you." I smile at him to reassure him.

Gaara blushes slightly before looking away from my gaze. However, I didn't see the blush. Gaara coughs, "That will be all then." He dismisses me.

I nod my head and walk out the office.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

The next day had come and it was time for the Chunin exams. Naruto was the one who woke us all up in excitement. However, it seemed that the only people that needed waking up was me and Kakashi. Sasuke was already awake because he was used to waking up early and Naruto was just to plain excited to sleep in. Before he left to guard Gaara, Kakashi wished us luck.

We were inside a building that we didn't know of until recently. We were only told about the location of the first Chunin exams just yesterday after I came back from my meeting with Gaara. It reminded us of our first time doing the Chunin exams. It looked the same, the room looked like a classroom so I expect that we were in a school.

"Let's just hope we don't have the same run-in as last year." I say with a grin trying to lighten the mood. We were standing away from the others in a corner near the door. We didn't know when danger would strike so this was just a precaution.

Naruto grinned at me and laughed, "I think we'd be able to kick his ass this time around." He was referring to Orochimaru, which I understood. However, Sasuke didn't find it funny, a dark look formed onto his face at the reference to Orochimaru. Even if the snake was dead, any reminder sent Sasuke into an angry faze.

Out of the corner of my eye I felt someone glaring at me. I turn my head and see a Leaf Genin, the girl was glaring at me with hatred in her brown eyes. I return her glare with a glare, I didn't know why the girl was glaring at me, but I wasn't standing for it. I send a glare back that could rival the Uchiha's glare. This seemed to work as the girl's eyes widen and she turns the other way. The girl's teammate seemed to laughing at her.

"Why was she glaring at you?" Naruto asks looking confused.

I look back to my team and shrug my shoulders, "I don't know, but I'm not putting up with it."

Sasuke glances at the girl briefly, "She looks weak."

I wasn't able to comment because the proctor of the Chunin of the exam came in along with a load of Suna Chunin. The proctor stood tall, just as tall as Ibiki. Just like everyone else, he was wearing head gear on his head. He had scars on his face and it seemed one eye was missing with the eyepatch he was wearing. He wore the typical Suna Jonin outfit, but his presence didn't make him seem like a Jonin, he was higher up. Naruto and Sasuke also noticed with the way they stiffened and looked at the proctor with masked expressions.

"Listen here maggots!" The proctor shouted getting everyone's attention. Once all eyes were on him, he began speaking again. "My name is Iwao Satoshi and I will be your proctor for the first round."

Satoshi looked around the room before he spoke again, "Any maggots who think they will pass this exam raise your hands."

Nearly half the contestants raised their hands. Naruto went to raise his hand but Sasuke and I stopped him from doing up. Exams don't usually start like this.

"Then GET OUT!" Satoshi roared while glaring at the people who raised their hands.

Silence rang in the room. No one said anything, but one poor soul said, "Why should we leave?!" It was a Rain Ninja, he was glaring at Satoshi. Satoshi didn't even look the Rain Ninja who spoke out. Before any of us could even blink, a kunai appeared at the Rain Ninja's throat, and a Satoshi Clone was the one holding the kunai knife.

"I do not want arrogant people in my round, got it maggot?!" Satoshi shouted looking in the Rain Ninja's direction. He watched as he was escorted out of the room along with his teammates, who had to be forcefully removed.

"Any other maggots think they'll pass?" Satoshi turns to the rest of us. And this time, no one dared raised their hand. Even Naruto didn't even attempt.

When no one raised their hands, he nodded his head in approval. "Some of you will be happy to know that this round will not contain a written examination."

Naruto sighed in relief.

Satoshi grinned sadistically, "It will include torture."

Naruto gulped loudly. Sasuke's eye widen and I wanted to bang my head on the wall. What the hell was going on?! There is no way that Shikamaru agreed to this, I can agree that Temari did, but not Shika-kun.

"All of you will be split into two team, I will call your name and tell you what team you will be joining. Now listen closely maggots because I will not be repeating myself!" Satoshi informed with a hard stare. Satoshi began to read names of a sheet of paper. You could either be in team one or team two.

"Nakahara Akemi, team two." I perk up at the sound of my name and go to where team two were standing. I got no welcoming glances, all glares.

"Uzumaki Naruto, team one." Naruto walks over to the team one with a dejected look.

A few more names were said before Sasuke's came up. "Uchiha Sasuke, team one." Satoshi says. I bow my head, I was separated from my team. I hoped that I would be okay, I hoped they would be okay actually.

"Now follow your team leader maggots!" Satoshi motioned for two Chunin to take us away. Before team one left, I sent one encouraging look to Sasuke and Naruto before I lost sight of them. When I couldn't see them anymore, I sighed and look to the ground. Soon enough, our team leader took us away and took us down dark hallways.

"Akemi-chan?"

I turn my head to side where I heard the voice come from. It was Konohamaru Sarutobi. This Konohamaru was older, at least twelve years old now. He now came up to about my shoulder. He was wearing long pants and a pale green jacket with a dark green stripe down the middle along with his signature blue long scarf. On his head instead of the green goggles he used to wear, he now sported a blue Hitaiate.

"Konohamaru?" I look at him confused, I didn't remember his name being called out. Over the past three years he had also been sending me letters. He had dubbed me as Akemi-chan just like Naruto had.

Konohamaru grinned at me, "I didn't know you were in this group."

"I didn't hear your name being called out either." I say to him as we continued to walk down the dark hallway.

"We were in a different room. We were told to go somewhere else." Konohamaru explains to me with a grin on his face, much like Naruto. I nod my head, it explained why there weren't that many people in the room we were in. It just made me wonder how many people have actually applied this year.

"Hey Konohamaru, who is that?" I ask the young boy. I sneakily point to the girl that had been glaring at me. She was up a head near the front of the group.

Konohamaru scowled, "That's Masa Rika."

"I take it you don't like her?" I ask with an arched eyebrow.

Konohamaru nods his head, "She's a fangirl, she's absolutely terrible and she despises you."

I look at him confused, "What did I do?"

Konohamaru looks at me, "Didn't you know? She was in Haku's first Genin team."

My eyes widen.

"She kept going on about how you stole her future husband away from her." Konohamaru rolls his eyes.

"How do you know?" I ask him.

"Their team had to join ours until they found a new sensei for them," Konohamaru explains, "all day she would complain about you and how much she hated you. Apparently you are her rival."

I look at Rika who wasn't looking in my direction, "Well this is the first I've heard about this."

"Kakashi was going to become their new sensei, but then she went on about how she hated you and he refused to have that team." Konohamaru says with a grin.

I definitely needed to hug Kakashi next time I saw him. "Really?" I say.

Konohamaru nods his head.

I was about to talk to Konohamaru more, but I didn't get the opportunity because we stopped. I look forward and see Satoshi in front of us all. While speaking to Konohamaru I hadn't realised that we had made it into another room which was much similar to the previous one we were in. The only difference was that there were a load of doors, nearly eight doors.

"Listen here maggots, I'm going to be explaining what it is you're doing and I will not repeat myself." Satoshi glares at us all.

Konohamaru shivers beside me.

Once he sees that no one is going to interrupt him he continues. "You all will be given a piece of information and you must tell no one this information."

"What do you mean?" Someone asks. Satoshi glares at the person who asked. Satoshi nodded at the Chunin, who then dragged the person who asked a question out.

"Any more questions?" Satoshi asks threateningly.

No one said anything.

Satoshi clears his throat. "With this information, you will be facing an interrogation, the aim of this test is to see if you can survive an interrogation."

A scoff echoed in the room.

Satoshi arched a scared eyebrow at the scoff, "I see some of you think it is going to be easy then. But you'll find that it won't be."

"It's not like you can actually cause harm to us." I hear someone say at the back. I tensed at the demonic grin that made its way onto Satoshi's face. The way his eyes lit up at the question made me unnerved, and poor Konohamaru was shaking.

"Oh is that what you think?" Satoshi says in a bone chilling voice. "But I think its best you know that our interrogators can kill participants."

Gasps echoed throughout the room.

"But you're free to leave any time." Satoshi says grinning. "But don't worry, if you leave it won't affect your teammates, they'll still be in the exam. They'll just have to make do."

Quite a few people left. There was about seventy of us in this room alone, by the time people stopped moving, the number had been reduced to at least forty people.

This wasn't right, that couldn't be true. I knew that it couldn't be true because we hadn't signed a consent form like we did in the events of the Forest of Death. He was bluffing, he had to be. There was no way that Shikamaru or even Temari would allow this. Gaara definitely wouldn't allow this. It was a bluff, just like Ibiki's was that if we failed the questions that we'd never be able to take the test again.

It had to be a bluff.

Satoshi was trying to intimidate us, make us scared. He was trying to see who was the strongest to wheedle the numbers down, just like Ibiki did. However, if we had entered the exams when we were twelve, even we would have been scared. I recon Sakura would have walked out.

But Konohamaru didn't think it was a bluff. He was shaking, he was staring at Satoshi with terror in his eyes. I kneel down in front of him and grab his shoulders, "It'll be fine Konohamaru." I whisper to him so others wouldn't hear.

"H-how d-do you know?" He asks me shakily. He was looking at me now, but the terror still shone in his eyes.

"He's lying. There hasn't been a consent form given and I know people who wouldn't allow this." I whisper over to him. I was looking around the room. Everyone else seemed to be in shock as well, all staring at Satoshi in horror.

Satoshi was looking proud of himself, he wore a grin. He was looking around the room until he came to me. Satoshi looks at me but I raise an eyebrow at him. I knew he was bluffing, I was willing to bet he was.

Satoshi arches an eyebrow in interest at me. He knew that I knew.

Konohamaru seemed to have calmed down, but he was still shaking slightly. I look back to him "How do you think Naruto-kun would be dealing with this?" I ask him quietly.

His shaking stops completely and determination shines in his brown eyes, "He wouldn't be scared." Konohamaru says.

I nod my head in approval. In actual fact, I knew Naruto would have been shit scared, but eventually he would have picked up the courage. This would have been the Naruto before we went off for three years, but I don't think the Naruto now would be scared at all. I recon he was grinning and telling the examiner to bring it on and Sasuke would be smirking.

Thinking of my teammates brought me comfort and made me fully relax, they'd probably be laughing at me for being so tense.

"Now line up at the doors labelled one to four!" Satoshi shouted bringing me out of my daze.

I walked over to door '1' and stood in line. There was hardly any people in this line compared to the other doors. Konohamaru followed me to this door and looked around nervously. The reason hardly anyone picked this door was because it was closest to Satoshi, hence why Konohamaru was so nervous.

It didn't take long, the doors opened and people started to go in. Only once that person had come out did another person enters. This continued until everyone was done. When it was my turn, I grinned at Konohamaru before entering.

The room was dark, but there was a light I walked towards. My hand went to my Sais immediately in case there was any danger. I didn't see anything, but I could hear something. I closed my eyes and concentrated.

"….Sou…"

…thern…."

….Border…"

I open my eyes, I was slightly confused when I first heard the whisper but it soon made sense. This was trying to recreate spying. A ninja may intercept a conversation and they must listen out for the key information. The voice said it in bits, we just had to work it out. I knew that it was a location, but a location to where? I grin when I think of Shikamaru, I knew he'd leave his mark somewhere.

Once I was satisfied that I had all the information I left the dark room. My eyes hurt a little when they were hit with light, but they soon adjusted. I sent a reassuring smile to Konohamaru as I went to join all the other people who had received the information.

Konohamaru was next in, it took at least seven minutes before he walked out. He looked a little confused but came to join me any otherwise. I could tell that he didn't fully understand the information, maybe I could get a chance to speak to him later.

Once we were all done Satoshi spoke, "Now that you have the information, you will now be taken into the rooms and be interrogated. Have a nice time." Satoshi grins at us as we all line up.

I walk over to the door six and waited. I noted that Konohamaru was also behind me looking a little confused. I was going to try and speak to him, but I didn't get the chance. The doors opened and we all started to walk in. The first person in my line was a guy, he was from Suna. He walked in confidently with a smug look on his face. Obviously he hadn't listened to Satoshi or taken any notice of the 'threat'.

I look back to Konohamaru, "You alright kid?" I ask him.

Konohamaru opens his mouth to answer but a high pitched scream cut him off. My head whips to the door I was standing at, that guy was the one who had screamed. He sounded like he was in so much pain. I gulp slightly, that scream had put me on edge. Maybe it wasn't a bluff. If I wasn't so unnerved I would have said that he screamed like a girl, but I couldn't say anything, my mouth had gone dry.

I look to Satoshi, who shrugged when everyone else looked at him. "I did warn you." He says with a grin in his face.

Minutes passed and still there was no sign of the first person. This made Konohamaru twitchy, "Do you think he's okay?" He asks me.

I bit my lip, I didn't think he was okay. I think that he was either dead or passed out. But I didn't say that "Yeah, I think he's alive."

However, I was quickly proven wrong. The next person in our line entered the room when Satoshi told them to do so. I inhaled roughly, the guy wasn't alright. If he wasn't dead then he was kicked out the exams. Konohamaru started to shake again in terror. This round didn't seem to be going well for the others either. Hardly anyone seem to come out, maybe about four so far have come out. From the looks of it, this was a very hard challenge.

I don't know how long I was standing there for, but before I knew it, it was my turn. I sent a reassuring look to Konohamaru before I walked into the dark room. As I was walking, I took three calming breathes to calm myself down.

Another door opened in front of me, leading to a different room. There were two people standing in the room. There was a chair in the middle of the room along with a small table. It looked like the typical interrogation room that Konoha had.

The man- Rory, saw me and grunted, "Sit in the chair."

I follow his orders wordlessly, there was no need to antagonise him, yet. Once I had sat down, Rory came and tied my hands together. But they were chakra draining cuffs, like the ones Kimimaro had on him. I sent them a look.

"This is to simulate what a real interrogation would be like." Rory reassures me with a cold look.

I nod my head and say nothing.

"Name?" The woman- Madoka asks.

"Nakahara Akemi." I answer.

Madoka takes this down on a pad of paper she had with her.

"Village?" Madoka asks not looking at me.

I sent her a look, she could tell what village I was from if she just freaking looked at my Hitaiate. But I answered her anyway "Konoha."

She nodded also taking this information down. Rory steps in, "You've received some information, true or false?"

I arch an eyebrow at him, "It depends on what kind of information,"

Rory sends an annoyed glance my way, "You know what I mean."

I shake my head, "No I don't. I've received a lot of information today, you're going to have to be more specific." Okay now I was antagonising them, but I can't help it, it's in my nature.

Rory growls, but Madoka places a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. Rory takes some deep breathes before talking. "You went into another room before coming in here, true or false?" Rory asks.

"True." I answer.

"And what was the information?" Madoka asks me this time.

I shrug my shoulders, "Don't know."

Rory's eye starts to twitch, "What do you mean you don't know?"

"It was all jumbled up, I couldn't tell what the information was." I answer with a straight face. On the inside I was laughing my ass off, Rory was getting pissed off very quickly, which I was finding very amusing. Of course I was lying, I knew exactly what it was. It was locations to somewhere. I just needed to figure out what for though.

Madoka looks at me, "Well can you tell us what the jumbled up words were?"

"No." I say.

Both Rory and Madoka share a look. Madoka walks forward and performs hand seals. I try and struggle, but I couldn't go anywhere, not with Rory holding me down in the chair. Madoka's hand touched my forehead and my vision went dark. It wasn't even a second later that I opened my eyes and instantly knew that I was in a Genjutsu. There was a buzz in my head. I look around, the place I was in looked like clouds, I don't think I've ever seen this Genjutsu before. My gaze falls on Madoka, who stood in front of me.

Madoka comes forward and raises a kunai. I looked directly into her eyes and watched as she 'stabbed' me in the stomach. Madoka's eyes widen when I don't scream. Unlike all the other people she can interrogated, I was immune to Genjutsu, something Yukiko found very frustrating because she specialised in Genjutsu. It was because of that that I felt nothing, not even the slightest bit of pain.

"Nice try." I smirk looking at the woman.

Madoka eyes widen even more and she dispels the Genjutsu. Once we were out of the Genjutsu she turns to Rory, "She was unaffected."

Rory glares at me, "Well if we can't get it out of her mentally, then we'll try physical torture."

I did feel a bit apprehensive now, of course my chakra shield was still active, as it always is, but how long would it last with them? I didn't want to be cocky assume that they won't be able to get through it, because they might.

"We're giving you one last chance," Madoka says to me, "tell us or else."

"Then we're just going to have to find out what 'or else' is." I reply with a small smirk.

Rory wordlessly goes to the side of the room were a tray was laid out, the tray was full of weapons. Rory picks up a kunai and walks back to me, he looks at Madoka and nods his head.

"Once last chance," Rory says.

I held my head high and said nothing.

Rory lowers the kunai and slices down my arm. To my surprise I felt a burning pain, I wince slightly and look down to my right arm. That kunai had actually sliced through my chakra shield. I look at Madoka with a shock look. The burning sensation got worse, to the point where I shut my eyes and tried to distract myself from the pain, but it wasn't working.

It felt like hours later when the pain finally stopped. I open my eyes and saw the blood pouring down my arm. Rory had cut deep into my arm and then downwards. The gash was a foot long, no wonder it took ages.

"Are you ready to tell us?" Madoka asks again.

I glare at her through the searing pain, "No." I spat at them.

Rory and Madoka share another look. Rory takes the same kunai, which was dyed with my blood and cut the other arm. I sucked in a breath when the familiar burning sensation made its appearance, this time on my left arm.

I exhaled roughly, my nails digging into the soft flesh of my hands. I could feel the pain in my hands as I cut into them. The pain from my hands gave me a small distraction, but it didn't work for long. I had to stop myself from shouting out in pain when the kunai went deeper into my arm. I tried to struggle, but the more I did, the more pain I inflicted on myself.

"Rory, stop." Madoka whispers.

Immediately, the kunai was gone from my arm, but the burning pain from my arms were still there. I look up and see that Rory and Madoka were discussing something. If I didn't have the chakra draining cuffs on I would have healed myself, but it stopped me, it also stopped me using my Shīringu.

They seemed to be arguing, I couldn't really make out much because of the pain I was in. When they were done arguing, they came back over to me.

"Nakahara Akemi, if you don't tell us what we need to know, we will kill you." Madoka warms me.

I glare at her, "Bull,"

Madoka looks affronted, "Excuse me?"

"You're not allowed to kill, if you were you would have done so already. If you were allowed to kill me then why were you looking so apprehensive that when I wasn't affected by Genjutsu? You two seemed to be arguing about how much torture you can actually give. There has been no consent form given out to say you are not liable for the deaths. And another thing, the aim of this test was to see if we could endure an interrogation without giving away any information." I say to them with a stoic look. Even though underneath I was burning with the pain in both my arms.

Both Madoka and Rory were silent. Both their eyes were wide and Madoka's mouth was hanging open.

"So, do I pass?" I ask.

Rory sighs deeply "You pass."

Madoka reels back her jaw and unties my arms. As soon as my arms were free, I healed the long gashes on my arms. The right one healed right away, but the left one was more stubborn. But that was because Rory went deeper with the kunai for this one. This one would scar, not that I cared. I stood up once I didn't feel any more pain.

I walked back the way I came in, once I was back, I saw that there weren't many people in the slightest. I counted how many people were left, and it was fifteen. Twenty people out of seventy had passed so far. Then again it was tough, I could feel a slight burn on my arms. I would need to look at my arms properly later.

Konohamaru wasn't here which made me worried. I walk to the wall on the other side and look to Satoshi, he looked bored. The other contestants who had passed all looked bad. They either had bandages on or looked ready to puke. I was probably the only one who looked fine. Satoshi looked in my direction and arched an eyebrow at me when he saw that I was completely fine. I send a smirk his way. Satoshi glared at me and looked away.

I hear footsteps from the doors and see Konohamaru walk out holding himself and shaking. When he sees me he runs over and hugs me. Luckily I had been standing and leaning against a wall so I didn't get knocked over.

I hug Konohamaru and rub his back, "What's the matter kid?" I whisper to him. "Did they hurt you?"

Konohamaru shakes his head.

I sigh in relief, they didn't hurt him physically, but from his shaking I could see that they had got him mentally. If I hadn't been immune to Genjutsu I wonder if I would be in the same state, or would I be worse.

"What happened?" I ask quietly. I look around briefly, no one seemed to be looking. They all seemed to be in too much shock to even look in my direction. They had really done a number on them.

He raises his face, "I-I saw grandpa, a-and he said h-he was d-disappointed in m-me." Konohamaru says as the tear run down his face.

I hug Konohamaru tightly, "Don't listen to it, it was just a Genjutsu. You're grandpa would be so proud of you." Konohamaru just nods his head and continues to cry. I felt a gaze on me, I look and see Satoshi who was looking at me. I glared at him before turning back attention back to Konohamaru.

I stayed like this with Konohamaru for another ten minutes before Satoshi spoke. "And that concludes the first part of the Chunin exam." Satoshi announces to us. I look around and see that altogether there was twenty-five people in this group that survived, I wonder what the next exam will hold.

"Make sure you're on time for the next test." Satoshi grins at us.

No one said anything, not even me. I just wanted to find Naruto and Sasuke and see if they were alright.

NARUTO SHIPPDEN

After dropping Konohamaru off to meet his teammates, I made my way to back the apartment that I, Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi shared. Luckily, I had been given my own room, so the boys had to share. I even had my own bathroom.

I open the door and was welcomed to the sight of Sasuke and Naruto pacing around in the living room. They look up when they hear the door close behind me.

"Yo." I greet them.

"Akemi-chan!" Naruto exclaims jumping at me and pulling me to a hug. I laugh and return the hug, this was what I needed after the day I had today. Naruto eventually lets go of me and drags to be the living room. He forces me to sit down next to him and sits down himself.

"So what happened with you two then?" I ask the two boys. I wonder if they also went through an interrogation.

Sasuke shrugs, "We had to integrate people."

"That's it?" I ask.

Naruto nods his head, "Yeah,"

I scoff, "You guys are so lucky."

"What did you have to do?" Sasuke asks with an arched eyebrow.

"I got interrogated." I answer with a sigh.

Naruto looks at me with a slightly concerned look. "What was it like?"

Sasuke's eye twitches, "And by interrogated you mean?"

"Torture," I answer simply as if I was talking about the weather. I was hoping that if I didn't make a big deal out of it then they wouldn't. However, I didn't seem to be that lucky. It seemed Naruto was going to explode, the anger in his eyes was so unreal. But what surprised me most was Sasuke, even he looked mad.

"Explain, now." Sasuke demands.

I sigh, "I was given some information and I had to through an interrogation to see if I would give the information up. When Genjutsu didn't work on me, they resorted to physical measures. But don't worry, I healed myself so I'm fine." I try to reassure them, but it seemed to do the opposite.

"You had to heal yourself?" Naruto asks surprisingly calm.

Chills were sent down my spine.

"Yes." I answer quietly.

"I'll kill them." Sasuke mutters darkly.

"You won't be killing anyone yet." Kakashi says appearing through the window.

Sasuke sent him a dark look, "And why not?"

"Because now you need to figure out the location of the next round." Kakashi answers simply.

I look to him, "What do you mean?"

Kakashi grins under his mask, "Figure it out." And with that, he was gone.

"What does he mean?" Naruto asks looking confused.

"I got told to go to the Southern Border of Suna, did you get the same?" I ask my teammates.

They shakes their heads, "I got noon." Sasuke says.

Naruto scratches his head confused, "And I was told about water, food and other things."

I rub my chin, "The instructor didn't tell you anything before the dismissed you?"

Sasuke shakes his head, "No."

"What about you?" Naruto asks.

I shake my head, "No, people were too much in shock to actually ask a question."

We sat in silence for a while, all thinking about the next part of the exam. Suddenly, a sparkle appears in Naruto's blue eyes, "It was telling us about the next exam!"

I and Sasuke share a look, "What do you mean?" I ask.

"You were given a location," Naruto points to me.

He points to Sasuke next, "You were given a time!"

Naruto points at himself, "And I was given what to bring. It all makes sense now!"

My eyes widen, "You're right!"

Sasuke looks to me, "He is?"

I nod my head, "When it's all put together it makes sense! We needed to figure it out with clues. I knew Shika-kun would leave his mark somewhere." I grin in excitement.

Sasuke nods his head, "It makes sense."

"But what about the other people?" Naruto asks.

"How many people where left in your team?" I ask the two boys.

Sasuke thinks for a moment, "About twenty-five."

I nod my head, "Same with mine. Satoshi said it didn't matter if one your teammates were kicked out and that you would just have to make do."

"So there's people out there that don't have all the information." Naruto says thoughtfully.

I nod my head, "Yes, which means we'll have to be careful that no one is following us tomorrow."

"Did you see Konohamaru?" Naruto asks suddenly as if he had just remembered.

"I did," I answer him.

Naruto didn't look too happy. It wasn't because Konohamaru was with me, but because he had to go through the same as me. "Was he… alright?" Naruto asks hesitantly. He had seen Udon and Moegi in his group but he hadn't seen Konohamaru.

I sigh, "He was a bit shaken, but he should be fine."

Naruto nods his head.

"We should get ready for tomorrow then." Sasuke says.

We all nod our heads in agreement.