Chapter Twenty Five: The First Round

"First off, you, Sound! Knock it off! Who told you you could fight?! Do you want to get disqualified before we even begin?!" Ibiki reprimanded forcefully at the Three Musketeers.

"Sorry, it's our first time." the bandaged one replied good-naturedly, seemingly unruffled as he watched Ibiki with an unblinking eye, "Guess we're a little jumpy."

I coughed under my breath, "More than a little. You guys are bouncing around like balls." My comment caused the spiky haired one and the girl to give me a death glare each but I smiled at them. I'm not stupid enough to rile them up for no reason. My original intention was to get the metal arm guy to punch me instead, so I could understand what was that effect he did on Kabuto. But since this Ibiki guy popped up and stopped any fights, I just want to insult them now because it's funny.

Ibiki just smirked at this before turning to the other Genins, "I'll only say this once, so listen up! There will be no combat among candidates. No attacking one another without the permission of the proctor, even then fatal force is strictly prohibited! Anyone who even thinks they want to mess around will get disqualified immediately! Got it?!"

The room was silent up till the spiky haired idiot from the Sound spoke up, "No fatal force? That's no fun."

Only people with little intelligence resort to violence but I clamped my mouth shut because Kiba dug a fingernail into my hand. He probably knows I'm going to come up with a snarky comment and get myself placed on top of someone's hit list. Which I already am, judging by the looks on the Sound Ninjas faces. Probably number one on their death note.

The atmosphere in the air only became much thicker when Ibiki continued, "Now, if you're ready, pass up your application forms and get a number in return. This determines your seating. We'll start the written exam once you're all seated."

"Wh-what he say?! Written exam?! Oh man!" Naruto panicked, his hands squishing his brain. I grinned at the panic growing on Naruto's face. Guess writing isn't his strongest point. I squeezed Kiba's hand, speaking under my breath, "Good luck, dog breath." He smirked, squeezing back, "You too, mangy mutt."

Separating ways, we grouped with our respective teams.

"Come on, Naruto. It's not the end of the world.", I told him as I ruffled his blonde hair. Duckbutt snorted as he glared at the blonde, "Maybe for him." I smacked his chest as a scolding, "Watch your tongue, Uchiha. We're going to get through this stupid thing together."

XX

Of course I meant what I said about doing this.

I just never knew the difficulty of this exam. Reading through the question paper, I snorted loudly enough to make one of the examiners hush me. This type of questions are probably for Shika, genius that he is. I glanced around, looking for the said boy. Shika sat at the opposite side of the room, his pencil moving lazily on his paper with an annoyed look on his face. Guess writing's such a drag. I snickered.

Then, I began looking for my teammates to see how they're faring.

Sakura was scribbling her answers furiously. She's pretty smart anyway. Probably could wing it. I slid my eyes to Duckbutt. He's activated his Sharingan it seems. How do I know, you ask? His eyes aren't even on the paper. As for Naruto?

I looked to the front. Well, Naruto has his hands scratching frantically into his hair. Well, at least Hinata is beside him. I'm not sure if that comforts me in the least. Even if she did get the right answers, can Naruto copy them without notice? I sighed before looking back at my paper.

One hour. To do nine extremely difficult questions. Plus we get five chances if we got caught copying. I smirked as I twirled the pencil in my hand. Ibiki wants us to cheat. This part of the exam must be designed to test our ability to collect the right information. On top of that, I bet he placed some moles in here for us to copy the answers from. Well then, if the game's like that, I'll play by the rules. It's not because I'm little Goody-Two-Paws, but getting answers this way is more interesting.

Even though these questions are tough, I can more or less write something down. But if there is someone who has all the answers, I'm not going to waste my precious brain juice. Looking around, I noticed there aren't any familiar faces nearby. I could hear Akamaru softly barking the answers to Kiba though.

Wait a minute. Smiling, I spotted Gaara sitting one row in front of mine. And I spotted his kunoichi companion from before sitting two people away from me.

That means there's a possibility a mole is nearby. I just need to find them.

I stopped twirling the pencil, a plan in mind, and pressed it to my lips before blowing softly. Unless the examiners had activated their dojutsu or some sort, the little build up of frost is invisible to the naked eye. Besides, I don't think any of them are doing that so I went on ahead. Slowly, the frost curled and formed into a fish. It swam around me and I smiled before closing my eyes, letting my mind enter the fish's. I blinked and tried to get used to moving in the small elegant body by twirling around. I passed the arm of the man who was sitting beside me and felt him shiver at the sudden cold.

Once I was well adapted, I drifted across the other Genins. Looking over at Gaara, I noticed a little eyeball in his hand. Curious, I went over to look. Swimming around, I was surprised when the eyeball followed my trail. Then I felt him lightly tense and I blub cheerfully at the eyeball, 'Hi, Gaara! Pretty cool, huh?' Turning around to face the boy, I flicked my tail, I gotta go though. Good luck!

With the short greeting, I floated above towards the ceiling. Looking around the classroom, I spotted a mole. A guy was sitting smugly, with his arms crossed. He smirked at Ibiki, who blinked once before turning away to look at the Genins.

Bingo.

I drifted downward to hover over his paper. Looking through his answers, I was satisfied. Looks pretty solid to me. Grinning mischievously, I plopped my body on his paper and began to roll across his answers. I heard him make a sound of surprise as I copied the words using my little fish body like a scroll. To him, his words were probably fading in plain sight. When I was done, his question paper was like brand new. He cursed before writing his answers again. Funnily enough, it seems like he expected it.

Blubbing happily, I swam away. I passed the Hyuga boy and I heard him take a sharp intake of breath in surprise. I looked up at him and winked before swimming off. It's so fun to confuse people.

That's when I saw my comrade. Swimming over to Naruto, I sighed. His paper is still blank. I looked up at his comical face of panic. Well, I gotta help, he's my teammate. Lifting the invisibility veil slightly, I wagged my tail the moment I noticed the slight change in his eyes when he saw the little blue fish infront of him.

"G-ghost!", he exclaimed before I could speak.

'Shut it, Naruto! It's me, Mononoke! Now pipe down before somebody notices!', I scolded and he covered his mouth with his hands. I saw Hinata looking over him in confusion but she quickly turned away, blushing, when he smiled at her sheepishly. The blonde turns back to me, bewilderment and awe still shining in his eyes.

"But you're a fish!" he muffled and I blubbered at him, 'Just a little trick I made up. Besides', I looked witheringly at his paper, 'You haven't written anything! You do know the main point of this exam is to cheat, right?'

His blank look told me everything. I sighed. So much like Naruto to be so slow. Without another word, I landed on his paper and in the reverse way I had rolled on the guy before, the words got unstuck form my body and was permanently rubbed on Naruto's paper. He gasped in amazement, his voice muffled against his hands, "Wow, that's so cool!"

When I was done, his paper was filled with answers, neatly written, thanks to the mole. And now I'm fresh out. I drooped wearily and Naruto cupped me up. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly and I wiggled in reply, grateful for his concern over my wellbeing, 'I'm fine. This form is pretty tiring for my mind. I need to get another round of answers. See ya, kiddo.'

His wide grinned literally filled me up, "Thanks, Mononoke-chan! I owe you one, dattebayo!" I drifted up and nudged his nose with my own, 'You owe me lots of ones, ramen boy.'

Then I made myself invisible again before swimming away. Okay, I need to find another mole. I found him in almost in an instant because he sat behind Naruto. Flicking the swishy tail happily, I quickly did the same thing I did with the guy before, and got the same dirty reaction after I was done. Darting my way back to my seat, I quickly unrolled the answers on my paper.

With that done, I broke the spell and fell back into my own body. Opening my eyes, I tried to get used to my own vision after having the fish's eye view for so long. Curling my body, I stretched. Using that exchanging trick takes a toll on my soul. I buried my face into my arms, drifting off to sleep.

XXX

I was pulled out of my sleep when a loud noise boomed. It sounded strangely like Naruto. I groaned before drifting back to hibernation but then I was rudely nudged awake.

"You have got to be kidding me. You slept through all that?"

Looking up, I noticed the empty seats around me. Except the one beside mine. The blonde Sand kunoichi was watching me, a baffled expression on her face. Still half awake, I yawned before stretching my neck and sat straighter, "What's up?"

"You missed the tenth question, no duh. We passed, by the way." the girl rolled her eyes at me when she said it. I grinned at her, "Thanks for waking me up." She smirked, "I gotta say, kid. You've got some guts, I'll give you that." I laughed sheepishly, flicking the emerald earring on my left ear, "Nah, I'm just another lousy ninja. I'm Mononoke."

She gave me a funny look before smirking at me, "Temari. I didn't know you were sleeping until those two between us chickened out. It's amazing really, how no one even noticed you were sleeping." I laughed with her at the observation.

Before we could continue talking, a ball of black cloth came blasting in like a wrecking ball. A woman stood confidently at the front of the class.

"Listen up, you maggots! I'm Mitarashi Anko, your second proctor! Believe me when I say, I won't be letting you guys go on easily!"

I leaned over to Temari, snickering, "She's looks like she's got a lot of spunk." The older girl snorted in disdain, "She looks like a pain in the ass." We watched as she complained at the amount of candidates this year, saying that Ibiki has gone soft, which the latter replied that maybe they had a more promising group this year.

"Oh well, after I'm done with them, only half will be left." she said dejectedly, looking at us smugly. Half? That's a big bet. She probably knows what she's doing. Either that, or she's a total snob.

Temari probably thinks it's the latter as she grumbled, "She's so full of herself, isn't she?" I shrugged, looking over at Temari, "But it'll be fun if she was right." The four-tailed blonde turned to me as she watched me for a moment.

"Gaara seems pretty interested in you. You'd better be careful." she said softly, her expression unreadable, and I titled my head, "Why?" Before she could speak, Anko began to speak again, "Right, I'll tell your respective Jonins where to meet up first thing tomorrow, so get ready and move out!"

So I guess we're pretty much dismissed now. I turned back to Temari but she already stood up. She smirked down at me, "Better get a good rest, little girl. You'll need it." I mirrored her expression, "You too, Temari-chan. I wouldn't want you to drop out halfway through the fun." She waved in parting with a friendly grunt as she walked out of the row.

I spotted Kitty Boy looking at us grumpily before speaking to his teammate in a hushed tone when she got closer to him. Although he seemed as if he was secretive, I heard Temari brushed him off, "She's not so bad. Come on." They walked over to join Gaara, who was in front. And he was watching me. I smiled at him and got up, wanting to talk to him.

But someone blocked my path.

"Sakura and Naruto wants to go look for Kakashi." Duckbutt said darkly. I realized he was glaring at Gaara from the corner of his eye when he told me this. I frowned lopsidedly, "Sure. You go on ahead. I'll catch up." What's his deal?

Duckbutt's onyx eyes turned to look at me as he held my elbow, nudging me along, "I'm not going with those two idiots. You're coming along." I tried to protest but he already flipped me around and moving out. I looked over his shoulder to see Gaara watching us with slightly narrowed eyes. Shooting him an apologetic smile, I didn't get to see his reaction as Duckbutt blocked my view.

Which reminds me.

I turned to look around the room to look for Shika. We were supposed to go home together. But when I saw him, he was talking to Kiba, both boys were standing up and seemed a little tense. I couldn't say anything to either friend though because Duckbutt was literally pushing me on my way.

What's up with everybody?

XXXXXX

When I got back from the short briefing with Kakashi and the others, I noticed Shika wasn't home yet.

I took out my shoes and arranged them neatly on the shoe rack before entering the house. Yoshino-san frowns upon messiness, I learnt that the hard way. As I entered the living room, Shikaku was reading the newspaper as usual. Yoshino wasn't in plain sight though.

The Nara leader noticed my presence and puts down the paper, smiling at me, "So how did it go?" I grinned, "We passed the first round." He nodded proudly, beckoning me over, "Tell me about it."

I obliged but I was still looking around, a little unsettled, "Where's Yoshino-san?" The man scratched his goatee as he smiled, "She's gone for a girl's day out. Probably be back tomorrow." We shared a knowing look. All that woman does is work. It's always good for everyone when she takes a few days off.

As we began to talk, I told Shikaku about the exam so far. He listened raptly and smirked at the name of the proctor, "Ibiki? He's a handful." I nodded before shrugging, "Well, he seems pretty cool, actually. Sure, he was an ass at first but when we were done, you kinda figure out that he's pretty darn sadistically smart." Shikaku chuckled at me as I wrinkled my nose when I said it. As he sobered, he leaned towards me, his arms resting on the table.

"So, I was meaning to ask you. Did you tell anyone about it yet?"

I took me a second to understand what he meant. I shook my head honestly, "I haven't got the chance to tell Kakashi. But I don't plan on telling anyone yet." He tilted his head at me, "Why not?"

Pursing my mouth, I replied slowly, trying to get the words together, "It's too much of a hassle. Everyone knows I was clanless. Besides," I grinned at Shikaku, "I already have a great life. Dad and Mom would be pleased that I'm well taken care of. I mean, I respect my parents and everything but no one needs to know anymore than that."

Shikaku nodded before standing up, "Wait here." Confused, I obeyed. Was it something I said? The man retreated from the living room but returned a little while later, holding the blue ocarina from before in his hands.

"I thought you might want to have it." Shikaku said as he placed it in front of me. I touched the porcelain instrument before looking up at him, "I can't take this. Dad gave it to you!" It felt weird to talk about Daiten that way, but I'm getting the hang of it. My godfather chuckled, "Well, how about we share it then? I could teach you to play it, if you want."

I smiled widely at him before taking the ocarina in my hands, turning it this way and that. It's a real pretty thing. "Your father made it out of clay when we were twelve. On the day we graduated from the Academy, he played a song for our friends. It was a catchy song and all of us were pretty much dancing around like idiots." Shikaku said before shaking his head, chuckling, "You should see how the girls swooned over him that time. He was always the charmer, even as a child."

I smiled at this, leaning forward as he began to continue. "Your mom was the only girl who didn't fall over him that time. He could have any girl in the village but the girl he fell in love with." Smirking, I teased him, "Did Yoshino-san have a crush on my dad too?" The Nara head snorted before rubbing his nose, "I did say he could have any girl in the village. Yoshino wasn't an exception." he continued quickly, "At least I got her in the end." I began giggling and the man relaxed before laughing himself.

"Your dad had a amazing talent for music. It was his specialty. He even mixed his musical talents into his fighting style." Shikaku continued, looking at the ocarina in my hands fondly, "You know, whenever he plays a tune, he could summon a creature depending on the music. Most of them were gifts from the Yorukami deities." I tilted my head in confusion, "Example?"

"Usually he summons Komainus* with loud music and Kirins** with a slow tune." Shikaku smiled at me mysteriously, almost as if he was expecting something, "It doesn't hurt to wonder is you could do the same."

I blinked in surprise and stared at the ocarina in my hands. The Yorukami had such powers? It almost seemed unbelievable. Shikaku chuckled at the look on my face, "Don't worry. He couldn't do it until he was a grown man. It might take you some time to have that kind of ability." I don't see how that's supposed to comfort me.

The opening of the front door commanded our attention. A weary looking Shika came in and I grinned at him, "You missed a fancy history lesson." He sighed as he settled beside me but he didn't reply. I raised an eyebrow at his indifference before leaning closer, sniffing. My eyes grew a little wide when he pushed my face away, noticing my habit, "Not now, Mononoke."

I heard Shikaku snort at his son, "That's not the way to treat someone who cares, Shikamaru." I shook my head and smiled at Shikaku, "It's okay. He's probably tired." But I glanced worriedly at Shikamaru.

Kiba's scent still lingered on him.

XXXX

After dinner, I let myself into Shika's room when Shikaku went out for a drink. The boy was lying on his bed, his back facing the door. I sighed and planted my hands on my hips, "Okay, your dad's out. Tell me what's going on."

He continued to pretend that he's asleep. I blew out a breath and closed his room door. Walking across the room, I sat at the foot of his bed and waited for him to speak.

A few minutes passed before Shika finally spoke.

"Just go away."

I didn't move.

He groaned before sitting up and glared at me. I continued watching him with a level gaze. Neither of us moved as we got caught in a staring contest. His scent changed and I made a move before he could.

I slid my arms around his waist and pulled Shika into a hug.

The boy stiffened at first but as I stayed there, holding him gently, he slowly relaxed but I could feel his rapid heartbeat thumping against me. I took in a breath and sighed, burying my cheek into his collarbone, "Forget what I said. Don't tell me if you don't want to. But I'll be here if you need me."

Slowly, I felt his arms going around me and he returned the hug. "Yeah." he said softly. But his heartbeat was still going fast. I made sure to stay that way until it slowed down to an acceptable rhythm. Gently, Shika pushed me away. I obliged and pulled away. It was nice while that lasted. I smiled at him, "Let's sleep. Tomorrow's a big day." He nodded and I felt his eyes watched me as I got up.

When I got to the door, I turned back, smirking at him, "Which reminds me, have you brushed your teeth yet, Shika?"

"...Troublesome woman. Go to bed."

XXXXXXXX

*Komainu: From old Asian folklores. This creature has different names in different languages. In Chinese, it's called shishi which means stone lion. (there's actually a pronunciation for that. And it's not said as she-she. More like shuh in shirt. But both words have different tones.) In Japanese, it's translated as stone dog. (There's a name in Korean but I forgot.) They are guardians found at the entrance of Asian temples to ward off evil spirits. usually in pairs, one on the right side, the other on the left. Really fierce guys. There is always one with an open mouth to say 'Ah' and the other closed to say 'Uhm'. Which in Buddhism, its a peaceful term 'Aum'.

**Kirin: Another creature from Asian folklore. Has a dragon head and horse's body. Depending on the country, it's body varies, exampled, Chinese folklore, it has a goat body. Korean, it's more like cow. (I might've got it mixed up idk. But it's around that road.) In Chinese, it's called QiLing. in Korean, it's called Girin. No specific direct translation.

X

AND I CUT THIS CHAPTER DOWN A LITTLE SHORT. AHAHAHA And would'ya look at that. Lot's of competition, lmao. It's funnier this way. Such harem, much charm. (Author is such a meme. Apologies) And I don't know if Mononoke's way of getting her answers is a bit OP. If it is, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO TELL ME. I DO NOT WANT A GODAMN MARY SUE BUILD UP ACROSS THE OCEAN OF MY FIC. And also.

150 FOLLOWERS? 95 FAVOURITES? I love you guys, omg. Honestly, I never thought anyone would like Momo, because she's not the average OC. Okay maybe, more so, I dont know she's unique. We all are. What am I saying. Author talks too much. BUT I MEAN THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT. *virtual confetti to everybody*

Fact#20: I'd like to explain a little about the switcheroo trick Mononoke did in the Chunin Exam. It's actually a rip off of the Yamanaka clan's Shintenshin no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Justu.) But instead of being able to do it on other ninjas, Mononoke can go into the minds of her own creations, like a fish or a wolf, maybe even a Komainu, if she creates it with ice. THE ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES. [Did you know? Kakashi can copy this technique using his Sharingan]