A/N: Cry… I've got H.W. Waaahhh… If u like funny things you can try: Naruto Abridged by MasakoX and Vegeta 3896(I'm not sure abt this. Pls correct me.), Naruto Randomness by Fiori Party, Fun With Akatsuki by Omnistrife. On YouTube nyan! To clear the confusion, Iruka knows Naruto's secret but everyone else doesn't so, he can't just say, 'Oh I'm not doubting Naruto can enter because Naruto is actually Konoha no Kiiroi Senkou!' you know… And the Konohamaru corps don't know either so he can't just say 'Hey Minato! Sorry bout that. There's supposed to be a Preliminary before the actual exams. Good luck, not that you'll need it really.' Yeah… That would be breaking his promise… right in front of him! Can someone please tell me whether the two people in front of Room 201 are Chunin or Jounin because I'm really confused… Can someone also tell me the correct spelling for 'Medical Jutsu' in Japanese?
Chapter 16: Chunin Exam
The day of the Chunin Exams, Minato met up with Sasuke outside the school and noticed that Sakura was late again, not that they weren't always late for team meetings due to them having to accommodate to their sensei's quirks. He was about to go search for her when she arrived, greeting them as she got within an earshot. "Are you okay? You look rather pale." Minato cocked his head and touched her forehead for confirmation.
Sakura pulled away and shook her head, mumbling, "I'm okay," her eyes glazing over slightly. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, 'Sakura's acting weird.'
They made their way into the building and took the stairs, only to turn and see a large crowd of people standing around in the corridor, staring at something. The trio pushed towards the front for a better look and saw a boy in a neon green leotard getting punched by two boys blocking the entrance to Room 301. 'Genjutsu and henge. Must be the Chunin examiners. This must be our first test.' Minato thought, moving to tell his team mates, only to find that they had moved to the front of the group and were engaging the two Chunin in a conversation. "Undo this field you've created using a Genjutsu. I want to go to the third floor." Sasuke walked up to them.
Minato heard people whispering behind them, confusion saturating their tone that was mostly, "What's he talking about?"
The two Chunin in disguise glanced at each other and then back at Sasuke, "Oh? So you've noticed."
Sasuke turned to Sakura, "Sakura, how about you? You should have noticed first. Your analysation skills and Genjutsu know-how is the best in our team." Minato stared at him in shock, 'No, Sasuke! This was supposed to weed out the weaker Gennin. What you've done will only increase the competition,' before it hit him like a tsunami. 'He's trying to boost Sakura's confidence because she was looking so pale earlier!'
"Sasuke-kun." Sakura, too, stared at him in shock, before recovering and saying, "Thank you. Of course I've noticed it already, because this is the 2nd floor." Sakura revealed, her tone gaining strength and confidence. The plate above the door swirled and the number inscribed on it reverted back to 201.
"You're pretty good, but just being able to detect it isn't enough." The Chunin in disguise trailed off and flipped onto his hands, using momentum to inflict more damage on Sasuke through a kick. Sasuke reacted immediately and lashed out with his right leg. Minato looked to the leotard-clad Gennin and saw him move to intercept both attacks with his hands. Sasuke stared nervously at the boy's hand, thinking, 'He stopped my kick? Was there chakra in his arms?'
A boy with long brown hair and a girl with hair of the same colour tied into two buns walked over to the green clad boy. "You broke our promise, and you're the one who said that we shouldn't do anything that might draw attention." The brown haired boy sighed.
"But…" The leotard wearing boy protested before a blush spread across his cheeks and he turned to face Sakura with a determined look on his face. He walked over to Sakura and introduced himself, "My name is Rock Lee. You're Sakura-san, right? Let's go out together! I'll protect you until I die!" and confessed his love for her, giving the pink haired girl a thumbs-up and a smile so wide that his teeth pinged, otherwise known as the Good Guy pose.
Sakura stared in astonishment at the Lee, "No way. You're too 'unique' for my tastes," and promptly rejected him. Lee's head slumped onto his chest and depression hung in the air around him. "Hey, you there. Identify yourself." The brown haired boy swaggered up to the team. Minato looked up at the boy, 'He's a Hyuuga like Hinata...'
"You're supposed to identify yourself before you ask." Sasuke deflected.
"You're a rookie aren't you? How old are you?" the brown haired boy ignored Sasuke.
"I'm not obligated to answer that." Sasuke shot back apathetically.
"What?" a frown creased the older boy's brow as the girl behind him giggled thinking, 'He's cute.' Sasuke turned away as Sakura called cheerfully,
"Sasuke-kun, Naruto, let's go!" failing to belie that she was hopelessly edgy as she grabbed them by their forearms and dragged them along.
The Hyuuga gazed at the symbol on Sasuke's shirt and turned the name over in his mind, 'Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke?' His brunette team mate turned to him and asked, "Does he interest you?" but only receiving a grunt for a response. The two brown haired teens walked off in the direction Team 7 had gone in but stopped when they realised that Lee was not following.
"You two go on ahead. There's something I need to check out." Lee stated with conviction.
As Team 7 walked up the last flight of stairs, Sasuke smirked dangerously, eliciting a curious glance from Minato as the blond tried to guess what was on the Uchiha's mind.
They reached a large hall when a voice rang out from above them, "You there with the sharp eyes. Wait." The three lifted their heads to the source in unison and saw the boy from earlier.
Their reactions varied, as Sakura reeled back in shock and looked horrified, Sasuke looked at Lee indifferently and Minato asked, "Who were you addressing?"
Lee looked them over and declared, "Would you fight me right here and now, Uchiha Sasuke?"
"Fight you right here and now?" Sasuke repeated, his eyes narrowing.
"Yes!" Lee confirmed, jumping over the railing and onto the floor Team 7 was on.
"Uchiha Sasuke-kun! I would like to fight you! I would like to see how my moves do against a descendant of the genius ninja clan. Also… Sakura-san… I love you." Lee said, getting into a fighting stance and blushing as he said the last three words, which caused the target of his gaze to go rigid in shock and break out in goose bumps.
"Do you really want to see what this name of Uchiha is capable of fuzzy eyebrows?" Sasuke drawled, coming up with a moniker for the leotard wearing Gennin.
"Please." Lee, or rather, fuzzy eyebrows, replied, getting into another stance.
"Don't. We have to submit our application forms. Fighting now is not worth it. Wait until the exams." Minato tried to reason with the two ebony haired boys.
"Don't worry. It'll only take five minutes." Sasuke declared.
"Do you want me to interfere if it becomes too much for you to handle?" Minato whispered to his team mate good-naturedly.
"No." Sasuke replied simply before charging at Lee, delivering a hook, only to be stunned when it hit nothing but thin air.
The Uchiha spun around and dodged as Lee called out, "Konoha Senpu!" and lashed out with his leg. Lee landed on his left hand and used his palm to pivot himself as he launched another kick at the Uchiha. Sasuke brought his arms up to his face to defend himself and braced for the attack, only for Lee's leg to strike upwards, hitting Sasuke in the face, missing his arms completely. The younger boy was sent flying.
"What was that? It went through my guard. What was that? A ninjutsu or genjutsu. Oh well, I'll use this time to get used to 'that'. I'll show you." Sasuke lifted his head and, in his eyes, was the Sharingan for all to see. Lee's expression only became more determined as he kept his eyes on his opponent. Sasuke charged Lee once again, only this time, with his Sharingan active. As he came within attacking range, however, Lee's foot connected with his chin, causing him to be flung upwards. As he was airborne, he twisted around to stare at Lee, his expression pained, "That's impossible. My Sharingan couldn't detect it. Don't tell me his move are-"
"That's right. My moves are neither ninjutsu nor genjutsu." Lee started, before dashing at Sasuke and lashing out at him, one of his kicks connecting with the Uchiha's side and sent him flying for the third time in those few minutes, before Lee appeared in front of him again and kicked him squarely in the face. Sasuke raised an arm to block a strike but was elbowed in the gut, causing him to stumble back, clutching his abused stomach. "My moves are purely taijutsu. Sasuke-kun," Lee disappeared and reappeared behind the Uchiha, "you may not be able to believe this right away but," Lee dodged a right hook from an irate Sasuke before appearing a few paces away from him, "I hear the Sharingan has the ability to see through nin, gen and taijutsu. You can definitely see through and deal with ninjutsu and genjutsu that require chakra but for taijutsu, it's a little different. Even if you can see my movement with your Sharingan, your body does not have the speed to keep up with mine. In other words, it's no point even if you can see with your eyes, if you cannot keep up with your body. Do you know that there are genius-types and hard-working-types among the strong? If your Sharingan is the genius-type that carries the blood of the Uchiha," Sasuke ran in to attack the older boy who did not seem to be cutting his lecture short in light of the Uchiha's attack, "I am the hard-working-type that continuously improved my taijutsu."
Sasuke's right fist shot out, only to be dodged again by Lee, who continued talking as he danced around the Uchiha's attacks. Lee launched Sasuke into the air again with another ferocious kick to the chin, before disappearing and reappearing beneath the battered Uchiha, "And I will prove to you with this move that hard work surpasses genius." The bandages around the boy's arm began to unravel, trailing behind the two. As the two floated in the air, a pinwheel appeared and continued on its trajectory until it embedded itself in the wall, pinning the stray bandage along with it. Lee was broken away from the formation and landed deftly on the ground, kneeling before a talking turtle, leaving Sasuke in freefall. Minato caught the falling boy and gently set him down on the floor, utilising whatever knowledge he had of Iryou ninjutsu to heal his beat up team mate.
"Lee, that move is forbidden." The turtle reprimanded.
"I'm sorry. I got carried away." Lee gazed in shame at the floor.
The turtle turned its eagle-like eyes to the leotard wearing boy and Lee started to babble, "But I wasn't going to use the Reverse version. Really! I'm telling the truth!"
"You fool!" Lee flinched at the turtle's words, "Did you think that excuse would work? You should know very well what it means for a ninja to expose his moves."
"Sir!" Lee acknowledged. Sasuke's face contorted in fury as he stared at Lee getting scolded by the turtle, most of his injuries healed.
"Are you ready to face the consequences?" the turtle rasped.
"Yes." Lee replied, still unwilling to look the red turtle in the eyes.
"Gai sensei. Please take care of the rest." The turtle called out, seemingly to no one. A large explosion of smoke went off on the turtle's back, and an older version of Lee appeared, striking a pose. Sakura and Sasuke stared at the man with equally horrified expressions. 'Is that the guy who proclaimed himself Kakashi's eternal rival or something? He hasn't changed much.' Minato thought, mirroring the looks of horror on his team mate's faces. "Hey Lee." The man greeted, striking the 'Good Guy' pose.
"Super unique and super bobbed hair." Sakura choked out.
"And super eyebrows. This is the first time I've seen something like that." Minato added, playing along.
A vein bulged on Lee's forehead as he whipped around and shouted defensively, "Hey! Don't make fun of Gai-sensei."
"Sorry. We just didn't know how to react to all those unique features." Minato tried to placate the Gai clone, but only succeeded in making it worse.
"What did you say?" Lee shouted back at him.
"Cut it out, Lee." Gai said, waving a hand as if dismissing the comments about his hair, eyebrows and dress sense.
"Sir!" Lee turned back to his sensei with a determined look on his face, before Gai retracted his arm and introduced his fist to Lee's cheek.
"Idiot!" Gai shouted as his student and clone was launched backwards, blood spurting out of his nose and mouth. Team 7 continued to look on in horror as Lee landed on the floor with a sickening thud.
Gai walked over to his downed student, "Lee, you… you…"
"Sensei…" Lee returned the call. Minato closed his eyes and turned away, knowing what was to come, but that didn't stop him from hearing the conversation.
"Lee…"
"Sensei…I…I…"
"It's okay Lee, don't say anymore."
"Sensei!"
"Lee!" This was followed by the sound of two bodies colliding and the sound of waves hitting a cliff as it broke away. The next sound, which was Sakura groaning, was actually a sound for sore ears. Minato turned back and found the two green clad ninja hugging, tears streaming from their eyes, as Gai said, "Yes, this is youth."
"Sensei!" Lee sobbed into Gai's arms.
"It's okay Lee. It's normal to make mistakes when you're young."
"You're too kind sensei!"
"Now, run 100 laps around the training ground into the sunset!"
"Hai sensei!" The sunset appeared once more as Gai struck a Good Guy pose. Lee wiped the tears from his eyes and struck one of his own.
The two of them were about to walk off when Sakura shouted, "What about the Chunin exams? We still have to hand in the application forms." Gai turned around, surprise written all over his face, as if he'd forgotten that the Chunin exams were about to take place.
He coughed and stated, "Lee, I'm going to punish you for fighting and breaking a promise after the exams, okay?"
"Hai!" Lee responded, raising a hand to salute his sensei.
"Do 500 laps!" Gai struck another pose.
"Sir!" Lee voiced, his hand still in a salute.
"You three. Is Kakashi doing well?" Gai looked over to them.
"You know Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.
"I don't just know him. People call us eternal rivals." Gai struck yet another pose.
"That sounds fake!" Sakura shouted.
"How rude! Gai-sensei is really-" Lee was cut off by Gai.
"Don't say it, show it." Gai put a hand on his hip. Sasuke's eyes widened when the man suddenly disappeared and materialised behind them. "The record stands at 50 wins and 49 losses." Gai's voice rang out from behind them. The trio turned to face Gai and were treated to the sight of the man in green standing smugly behind them.
"He…" Sasuke trailed off.
"How did he…?" Sakura stared at the man with a shocked expression plastered on her face.
"When did he?" Minato joined in.
"Let me just tell you that I'm stronger than Kakashi." Gai boasted, striking the Good Guy pose for the umpteenth time that day. Sasuke grimaced at the man, many different thoughts tumbling through his head.
"How's that? Gai-sensei's amazing isn't he?" Lee shouted to the group, his eyes alight with awe for his sensei.
"Please forgive Lee." Gai voiced, striking another Good Guy pose.
"You four should be getting to the classroom soon." Gai knocked the pinwheel out of the wall with a kunai. When the bandage was released, it revealed more of his hand, on which was proof of how hard he trained himself. Minato stared at the scars, gaining newfound respect for the boy. "Do your best, Lee!" Gai cheered as his student re-bandaged his arm. The man then disappeared along with the turtle.
"Sasuke-kun. Let me say this before I go. To be honest, I came here to test my skills. I lied a while ago. The strongest of the Konoha Gennin is in my team. I entered this exam to defeat him, and you're one of my targets as well. Prepare yourself for the exam!" Lee finished, and left, leaving Sasuke to grimace from his standing point, his fists clenching.
"Sasuke-kun." Sakura said, noticing his chagrin.
"This is getting interesting. The Chunin Exams, that is." Sasuke smirked. The three turned towards the entrance, "Let's go Naruto, Sakura!" Sasuke shouted, his passion relit. The three strode down the aisle, towards Room 301.
When they arrived, they came face to face with Kakashi. "I see. So Sakura came as well. You can now officially register for the Chunin Exam." The silver haired Jounin said, scanning them.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, confusion playing in her tone.
"To tell you the truth, this exam can only be taken in teams of three."
"But you said that we could choose whether or not to take it." Sakura contradicted, her confusion only worsening.
"I lied. If I said that, Sasuke and Naruto would have forced you to take it. Even if you don't want to take the exam, if Sasuke asked you, you'd try to take the exam anyway, for Sasuke and Naruto." Kakashi concluded.
"But what would have happened if only Sasuke-kun and Naruto came here?" Sakura asked, her confusion lightening a little.
"I would have prohibited them from taking the exam and not allowed them through these doors." Kakashi said, his tone harsh. "But the three of you came here of your own free will. Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke… Well done." The silver-haired Jounin gave them an eye-smile. "I'm proud of you. You're my team. Now, go. " He said, stepping aside, and bowing his head in silent pride as they stepped through the double doors.
The trio found themselves in a room filled with ninja from across the Elemental Nations, all Gennin eager to be promoted to Chunin. "There are so many people! Are all these people taking the exams?" Sakura breathed, trying to take in the sheer number of the Gennin gathered there in that room. The masses all stared menacingly at them as Sakura gulped. "Sasuke-kun you're late!" came a lilting female voice followed by its owner pouncing onto a certain Uchiha. Ino glomped Sasuke and wrapped her arms around his neck. Sakura's nervousness evaporated immediately only to be replaced by irritation and anger as she screamed at Ino to get away from her raven-haired team mate.
"What, are you three taking this troublesome exam too?" a voice drawled lazily from behind them. They turned to the source, revealing Shikamaru and Chouji, the other two from Ino's team.
"Yeah! Found you all. So I see everyone's here." Kiba noted, a smile playing on his lips.
"Hello." Hinata whispered from behind her team mates. Minato caught her eyes and she looked away, a light blush tinting her cheeks.
Chouji stepped forward when he was stopped by Shino, "Don't step on it."
"Huh?" the Akimichi turned his attention to the ground as a beetle scuttled past.
"Oh, you mean the bug." Chouji said, stepping away from the insect.
"Hey, you guys. You should quiet down a little. So you're the nine rookies that just graduated from the academy correct? You're all fooling around with those cute faces. Geez, this isn't a field trip." A silver haired Gennin wearing a Konoha headband appraised them.
"Who are you to tell us that?" Ino demanded, not liking the look in the person's eyes.
"I am Yakushi Kabuto. Speaking of which, look around you. The ones behind you are from Amegakure. They have a short temper. Everyone's tense since it's right before the exam. I warned you so you won't get picked on." Kabuto whispered just loud enough for them to hear. They turned to see the Ame-nin again, all of whom were glaring threateningly at them as if sizing them up. "I guess it can't be helped though, since you're just rookies. It makes me remember the old me." Kabuto reminisced.
"Kabuto-san was it? Is this your second time here?" Sakura chanced.
"No, my seventh time. This exam takes place twice every year. This is my fourth year." Kabuto informed them.
"That must mean you know a lot about this exam, right?" Sakura hoped that he did.
"Yeah." Kabuto replied modestly. 'His level is somewhere around Jounin level. Keeping a close eye on him would be best.' Minato thought as Kabuto withdrew a stack of orange backed cards and fanned them expertly before his face. "In simple terms, it's a card that has information burned into it using my chakra. I've collected information on this exam for the past four years," he lay the deck carefully on the floor, "There's about 200 cards total," he took one out of the stack and placed it orange side down on the floor and placed a finger on it. He channelled his chakra into it and a map with the number of Gennin participating from each village appeared.
"Are there any cards that have detailed personal information?" Sasuke came forth to ask.
"Yes. Is there someone that interests you?" Kabuto, smiled up at the Uchiha.
"Do you have anything on Sunagakure no Gaara?" Minato asked benignly.
"Konohagakure no Rock Lee." Sasuke asked one of his own.
"Let's start with Rock Lee. He's one year older than you. Mission experience: 20 D-rank ones, 11 C-rank ones. Squad leader is Gai. His taijutsu skills have improved drastically this past year but his other skills are terrible. He got everyone's attention last year as a skilled rookie Gennin but he didn't take the Chunin exam. This is the first time he's taking it, just like you guys. His team is composed of Tenten and Hyuuga Neji." Kabuto let the card go blank.
"Next, Sabaku no Gaara. Mission experience: 8 C-rank ones and… This is amazing! He did a B-rank as a Gennin! He's a foreign ninja and it's his first time taking the exam so I don't have anymore information on him. But, it seems like he returned from all his missions unharmed." Kabuto pushed his spectacles up.
"He did a B-rank mission as a Gennin and was unharmed?" Shikamaru parroted fearfully.
"Did you hear that? They said that Otogakure is a new and weak village."
"Let's play with them a little then." The Oto-nin conversed among themselves.
They dashed towards the back of the room, causing Kankuro to loosen the bandages on the figure on his back, only to be stopped by Gaara. They finally reached the front, the spiky haired one launching two kunai at Kabuto. The latter dodged and slid away from the kunai embedded in the ground. The bandaged one swung a right hook, only for Kabuto to dodge again. Kabuto smirked as he stared his opponent down, before it was wiped off his face when his glasses shattered. "What's going on? You definitely dodged it so why did your glasses…?" Sasuke trailed off when Kabuto went rigid and fell to his knees, throwing up.
"Are you okay?" Minato and Sakura ran to his side to help him. The three Oto-nin smirked down at the three but before they could say or do anything, a plume of smoke erupted at the front of the room.
"Quiet down you punks!" came a rough voice from inside the smoke. The Gennin waited with bated breath as they stared in anticipation, but the only thing that ran through Minato's mind was 'Ibiki? A man wearing a bandana over his head and had scars adorning his face emerged, along with a host of Chunin. Among them were Haku and the two Chunin that had stopped them on the second floor. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm the examiner of the first test, Morino Ibiki." The scarred man smirked at the roomful of Gennin. "You three from Oto! Don't think you can do anything you want before the exams. Do you want us to fail you?" Ibiki shouted across the room.
"I'm sorry. I was excited since this is my first exam." The bandaged Oto-nin said, his voice oily.
"This is a good time to say this. During the exam you are not allowed to fight with each other unless permission is given to you to do so. Even then, you are not to kill. Pigs who defy me will fail immediately. Understand?" Ibiki glared around intimidating the Gennin gathered there. 'Definitely Ibiki.' Minato shuddered, not liking the idea of being the one subjugated to the man's twisted mind games. "Turn in your applications and take one of these number tags and sit where the number tells you to. Then, we'll hand out the papers for the written exam." Ibiki announced. Minato was separated from his team mates and sitting next to Hinata.
"Let's do our best." Hinata smiled, blushing again.
"This first exam has a few important rules. I will not accept any questions so listen carefully. First rule is that you're all given ten points at the start. The written exam consists of ten questions, and each one is worth one point. The test is a deduction based test. If you get one problem wrong, you will get one point deducted. Second rule, the pass-fail decision will be decided by your team's total points. Third rule, if an examiner determines that you cheated or did something similar during the test, each action will cause you to lose two points. In other words, it's possible that people will leave this exam without their tests being graded. You're all aspiring to be Chunin. If you're a ninja, act like a first-rate one. Also, if anyone on the team gets a zero, everyone on that team will fail. The last question will be given 45 minutes after the test has started. You have one hour for the exam. Begin!" Ibiki gave the signal.
'This is way beyond a normal Gennin's scope of knowledge…' Minato was lost in thought as he stared at the test paper. 'Maybe he wants us to cheat, but cheat well enough that the Chunin won't notice. Information gathering, basically.' Minato concluded.
Kiba used Akamaru as a means to get answers seeing as he could understand the little white dog. Shino used his bugs as spies before they went back to him and conveyed him the answer. Tenten used a complex contraption comprised of kunai, mirrors and ninja wire to copy answers as well as show them to Lee. Minato decided that it was a good time to test drive a prototype he'd been working on. He'd dreamt it up and thought it impossible for the seal to work, but if it didn't, he could always fall back on his usual seals or just solve the questions using his own knowledge. He picked the pencil up and scribbled the seal onto the desk, careful to make it light so that he could erase it later on. It supposedly released near invisible sensory threads that allowed him to see and hear whatever was going on in an area as long as a sensory thread was there.
After completing the seal, he added chakra to it to activate it and nearly had a sensory overload, seeing and hearing nearly everything in the room at the same time. He let his head fall to the table as he tried to adjust, finding it rather difficult as images and sounds clamoured for attention, throwing his normal senses off balance. Eventually, he figured out how to make it work in the way he wanted it to and managed to copy off of the Chunin sitting a few seats away.
Hinata saw her love interest lay his head on the table and glanced over at his test, realising that his test paper was still blank. She steeled herself and came to the decision to show him her answers so that he could pass, regardless of whether she herself got caught in the process. A kunai whistled over his head and yet he still didn't show any signs of rousing. When her crush finally lifted his head from the table and had a blank expression on his visage, his eyes a little glazed.
"Um, Naruto-kun...? Hurry, look." She discreetly revealed her answers to her crush.
"You might get in trouble for helping me cheat" Minato whispered back at her.
"I'm sorry. I did something unnecessary." Hinata apologised, a blush creeping up her cheeks.
"It's okay. It's the thought that counts. Besides, I've found a way, so you shouldn't worry about me." Minato smiled placidly at her, causing heat to rise to her cheeks, and the look on her face indicated that she was obviously fighting off a faint attack.
Minato began scribbling answers down, his hand flying over the paper. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and Neji did the same with his Byakugan. Ino executed the Shintenshin no Jutsu on Sakura, seeing as she had completed her test, remarkably, by knowledge alone. Ino then possessed her other two team mates and copied her answers down on their papers.
Just as Minato penned down the last part to Question 9, Ibiki announced, "Okay, I will now give the tenth question. But before that, there will be one special rule for this last question. I will explain. This is a hopeless rule. First, you are all going to choose if you wish to take this tenth question or not." "Choose? So what happens if we don't take the tenth question?" Temari asked, her words strained. "If you choose not to take it, your points will be reduced to zero. In other words, you'll fail. Your two other team mates will fail along with you. And here's the other rule. If you choose to take it and you get it wrong, you will lose the privilege to take the Chunin exams forever." Ibiki said, a smirk playing on his lips the entire time.
"What kind of dumb rule is that? There should be those here who have taken the Chunin Exam in the past!" Kiba shouted, Akamaru barking in agreement.
Ibiki chuckled darkly, "You were unlucky. This year, I am the rule. That is why I gave you the option of quitting. Those who are not confident can choose not to take it and take the exam next year or the year after that. Then, let's begin. Those who will not be taking the tenth question, raise your hands. After we confirm your numbers, you leave."
The man sitting beside Minato raised his hand and started a chain reaction. "I'm sorry. Gennai, Inaho." The man trembled.
Many hands started going up into the air and Minato watched as they all left through the double doors. Not one of them wasn't down cast. "I will ask one more time. This is a choice that will impact your life. If you want to quit, now's the chance." Ibiki announced. No one raised their hand.
"Nice determination. For the first exam, everyone here passes." Ibiki declared.
"Wait, what's the meaning of this. We pass already? What about the tenth question?" Sakura slammed her hands on the table.
Ibiki's face broke out in a grin, "There was no such thing to begin with. Or you can call the two-choice question the tenth question."
"So what were those previous nine problems? It was all a waste." Temari vociferated.
"No, it wasn't. The nine problems accomplished their purpose-The purpose to test each individual's information gathering skills." Ibiki took down his head band to reveal the many scars on his head. Many of the Gennin in the room recoiled in horror.
"The First test of the Chunin Exam ends now. I wish you all luck." Ibiki turned his attention to the window and Minato followed suit, sensing something approaching at high speed.
Suddenly, a large ball of cloth crashed through the window and two kunai were released. The projectiles dragged at the ends of the cloth and embedded in the ceiling, unravelling the cloth to reveal a purple haired lady, "I am the second examiner, Mitarashi Anko. Let's go to the next exam. Follow me!"
Everyone just stared.
"Grasp the atmosphere." Ibiki appeared from behind the banner.
Anko flushed in embarrassment before regaining her composure. "78? Ibiki, you let 26 teams pass? You're getting soft." Anko chided.
"It looks like there are a lot of excellent Gennin this time." Ibiki returned.
"Oh well. I'm going to make more than half fail in the next exam. I'm getting excited. I will explain the rules tomorrow. We'll go somewhere else, so ask your Jounin-sensei about the rally point and time. That is all. Dismissed." Anko barked.
Before they filed out of the room, Minato deactivated the seal and hastily erased the pencil markings with the eraser on the end of the pencil before joining his team mates and walking out of the room with them.
A/N: I couldn't think of a way Minato could cheat, and he doesn't really need to anyway so instead, he's testing a seal. I'm sorry, but I honestly don't know what Minato can do besides his seals and the techniques he does know are very destructive. My rationale is that if you can seal a giant demon fox thing with a seal, then I suppose you can use seals for stuff like… that. He also didn't interfere in the SasukeXLee match because he respected Sasuke's decision to not have any help. I imagine that he'd be really angry if Minato helped him. Anyway, please review and correct my mistakes. I will also rewrite the chapter if you find some really major flaws in it. Thank you.