When Rain Falls: Chapter 2 – The First Test is the Easy Test
Disclaimer: Everything, other than my own characters, belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Toko watched from the balcony of the hotel room as her young students headed to the first part of the Chunin Exams.
"As long as they keep their focus, they'll be fine," she mumbled to herself. She recalled hearing that this year had a number of rookie genin from the Leaf taking the exams which brought her small comfort about Kaori taking them. However, it also concerned her about the level of skill they'd be encountering. For Kotone and Takumi there'd be little issue, but Kaori was not as observant.
Toko continued to keep her eyes on them. Kaori's turquoise shirt and shorts with the black stripe down the center were easier to spot than Takumi's midnight blue Chinese-style top and grey pants. Kotone had the burgundy long and wide-sleeved jacked and the black dress to contrast it, but it was not her outfit that made her easy to see; her white hair that hung loose until just past her shoulders where it was braided until her lower back was her most obvious feature.
A sigh escaped the sensei's lips as she realized just how well her two female students stood out in this setting. "Please don't be idiots."
The sounds of the villagers as they carried out their day to day lives made for nice ambience as the Rain trio walked to the building that would decide their fate.
"Kotone-chan," Kaori's excited voice called out from the front.
"Hmmm?"
"How many people do you think are taking this exam?"
"Ahhh, Takumi might be a better individual to ask that question. I image a lot of genin want to move up in rank the only question is whether or not they meet the initial requirements."
Takumi nodded in agreement, "Once you meet the requirements, you can take the exam. Fortunately, you had been on our team long enough to exceed those requirements. There are likely to be older teams as well, but don't feel intimidated. Even if they have previous experience in the exams, they haven't passed any prior to this moment and should only be observed."
"You make everything seem less fun, Takumi-kun," Kaori pouted and folded her arms behind her back.
Kotone stifled a chuckle at Kaori's accurate accusation. Takumi came from a poor family and was eager to move up ranks in order to pull them out of poverty. His situation was understandable in relation to his personality, but even Kotone couldn't deny that there were times when he was a stick in the mud.
"I'm just answering your question as best I can."
"Fine, fine. Aren't we getting there a little early though?"
"Better to be early and be allowed to observe our competition than to be the last to arrive and be targeted," Kotone winked at Kaori.
"We're here," Takumi interrupted and nodded towards the building. Kaori took a deep breath before she released and smiled. She jogged up to the door before she spun and waved her teammates over.
Kotone smiled at Kaori's endless supply of happiness and gave Takumi a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "We've made it this far!"
Takumi smirked and followed his female teammates inside. He took the lead once they got through the door. He scoffed at the attempt at confusing the less experienced teams when they passed the door under genjutsu.
"Takumi-kun, aren't we supposed to go—" Takumi interrupted Kaori's question.
"That is a trap for genin who can't sense genjutsu well. If an entire time is fooled by that trick, then they shouldn't be taking the exam. It's a harmless and safe manner of elimination before the real test begins."
Kaori nodded, but concern was plastered on her face. She had fallen for the trick. Kotone patted her on the head in comfort, "Genjutsu was never your strong point. Don't feel bad. You have Takumi for things like that until you get trained up in the techniques."
Kaori smiled and nodded, her enthusiasm returning to her.
The next door was the last barrier between them and the exam. Takumi entered with no hesitation, allowing for his teammates to follow without reserve. Kotone took a breath when they entered the space before releasing it silently. There was no preparing them for the awaiting group of genin.
The teams in the room ranged from rookies to experienced shinobi. There wasn't an easily identifiable age range, but there were teams as young as Kaori and then there were teams much older than Takumi and Kotone. (AN: You might notice a shift in focus after this point. Kotone is the main character and will start being the main focus/perspective. When I returned to edit this chapter, I noticed that there was a shift)
Kotone scanned the room and recognized many teams from Amegakure. Their aquatic attire and parasols made them stand out amongst the other shinobi. It was clear to Kotone that they had drawn the attention of the Ame teams:
"Tsk, so Yamada's team ended up coming."
"With that rookie on their team, they shouldn't be too difficult."
"Don't you know? They have a Ueno."
"Dammit. They weren't supposed to attend this year."
Takumi ignored the whispers that erupted from the Ame teams and instead found his team a desk to sit at. They gathered together with Kaori in the middle as to not leave her exposed too much.
Kotone continued to glance about the room in order to evaluate the other teams. Takumi was waiting for a more appropriate scenario in which to see their individual talents, but Kotone knew she could gain a lot from just watching their reactions to the entering teams. With each team that entered, the already present teams would respond as to whether or not they felt they could easily overtake them or if they were intimidated. She would alternate which team to focus on based on how much they influenced the room. It wasn't until a team from Sunagakure entered that Kotone and Takumi felt concern.
Kotone's eyes widened slightly when the young red haired boy entered the room. She moved her gaze to Takumi who was simply staring at him. Kaori was confused over the shared glances of her teammates, but the older two knew something was different about the red haired boy. His presence was completely different than the rest of the room.
"Kotone, I suggest we don't tangle with them if it comes down to it," Takumi mumbled to her.
She nodded to him before focusing her attention on her teammates. Kotone had thought there wouldn't be any more teams entering, but just before the deadline another team walked in.
"Is Konoha just throwing their rookies at the exam?" Takumi scoffed as the boy in the orange outfit made a scene.
Kotone grinned at the boy's antics, being reminded of Kaori in some ways when she was first put on their team. "Come on, Takumi, he's just excited I bet."
Kaori seemed to grow in excitement when the cluster of rookies from Konoha gathered at the door. "Kotone-chan, they're all my age!"
From her seat with her head resting in her palm, Kotone grinned, "Why don't you go introduce yourself?"
"Kotone!" Takumi's harsh whisper was paired with a swat to Kotone's arm.
Kotone narrowed her eyes when a boy from Konoha with glasses approached the group in order to pacify them. "Takumi, what do you think about him?"
"Not my type, but thanks."
"You know what I mean. I can't read him at all."
Takumi's brow creased as he too noticed this grey-haired young man was impossible to read. "Something's off about him, too."
"That's what I thought, but I'm never certain until I get you to confirm it," Kotone smiled at her teammate. He coughed to ignore the subtle compliment from his teammate.
Kotone's eyes flashed back to the Konoha genin as a genin from Otogakure charge forward and tried to attack the older boy. The Ame trio watched as his glasses shattered despite the hit missing.
"That's a nasty trick," Kaori mumbled.
"I imagine there will be many of those in this test," Takumi responded with a whisper before the proctor of the first exam entered the room.
"Now then, we will start the first test of the Chunin Exam! Turn in your aplliications, takes one of these number cards in exchange and sit in the seat matching that number!" Ibiki explained, holding up a card as an example.
Kotone ended up in the middle of the room while Takumi and Kaori were sent to the far edges.
"There are several important rules to this first test. I will take no questions, so listen well accordingly. First off is the first rule: You are given ten points each from the start! The written test has ten problems in all! Each problem is one point. This test is a point deduction system: You are deducted one point for each problem you get wrong! The second rule: Pass or failure will be determined by the total points of the three-person teams," Ibiki began listing off the rules, but it was the second rule that had an impact.
Kotone's brow furrowed as many others let out small exclamations. She couldn't help but agree with the pink haired girl's exclamation asking why this was the setup. While Kotone was positive Takumi would be fine on his own, she knew Kaori's grades in school were decent, but by no means fantastic.
"Here is the most important rule! Those who are deemed by the sentinels as having committed an act of cheating or something similar to that will have two points deducted for each act. In other words, there may be those who will be dismissed during this test without waiting for the grades. Know that those who commit awkward cheating will bring ruin upon yourselves. If you aspire to become a Chunin at all, know that shinobi should act like exemplary shinobi."
"So they want us to gather information," Kotone realized with the phrasing of the rules. "Why bother giving us five chances to cheat and even saying 'awkward cheating' would bring punishment as if proper cheating wouldn't? This is an information gathering test!"
"And if one person on a team gets zero points, the entire team will fail."
Kotone felt her eye twitch again and she saw Kaori stiffen at the remark.
"The last problem will be given 45 minutes after the start of the test! The time for the test is one hour. Begin!"
With that, the test began. Kotone read through the questions and glanced about the room like many other genin to grasp the situation in its entirety.
She took a breath before closing her eyes. "Kakudaikyou!" (AN: This was the closest translation I could get for Kotone's Kekke Genkai, it means Magnifying Glass. It will be explained in another chapter where Takumi or Toko explain to others what the jutsu does.)
The ring around Kotone's right pupil gained four straight tick marks, one at the top and three along the bottom. She picked up her pencil and started to write answers she knew, but when faced with a question she was uncertain of, she would glance up to the front of the room and catch the answers off participant in the front row. It looked like nothing more than a pause in her thoughts, as if she had been stumped and was simply thinking her way through the problem. Once she finished, Kotone turned over her sheet before trying to spot Kaori's progress.
Teams were being called upon to leave due to a teammate getting caught too many times. Kotone watched Kaori flinch with each team that was asked to leave. She knew Kaori felt sympathy for them, especially since it seemed like Kaori was struggling as well.
Takumi had finished without too much struggle, but he had been at an awkward spot for Kotone to look with her right eye. Kaori, on the other hand, wasn't as intelligent as Takumi nor did she have a bloodline limit to help her out.
Kotone caught Takumi glancing toward Kaori. Their thoughts were similar. These questions would be difficult for most people regardless of their practice s shinobi. There was nothing Kotone could do from her spot, and she doubted Takumi was in a safe position to help as well, but at the very least Kaori had put her pencil to the paper a few times. If anything, she might've figured out some answers.
"Come on Kaori, you can figure out something," Kotone pleaded mentally. It was then that Kotone noticed the blonde in the orange outfit who had made a big scene earlier was only a few seats to the left of her. "Naruto, was it?"
She took a glance at his test and immediately her left eye was twitching. "He hasn't written anything and it's time for the final question. Just who is this kid?"
"Here is the tenth question! But before that, I'm going to add some rules for the last question," Ibiki was interrupted by the boy in black from the village of Sand. However, Kotone could tell from his smirk that he was onto the boy, "Aren't you lucky? It looks like playing with dolls wasn't a waste after all. Sit down."
Kotone examined the boy thoroughly after the doll comment, quickly realizing the boy was likely a form of puppet user. Her mother would often call her own puppets dolls and even made Kotone special puppets to play with as a kid. With that information, Kotone had a small upper hand against that particular sand genin.
"Let me explain. These are the hopeless rules! First, you guys will have to choose whether or not you will take this tenth question!"
"What?" Kotone's eyes dashed about the room as the confusion and concern that cause. A girl from Sand questioned the repercussions to avoiding the tenth question.
"If you choose not to take the exam, then your score will be zero. In other words, you fail! And of course, the same goes for the two others in the same group!"
"Something's not right here. No one would pass on the tenth question then. He's playing at something," Kotone's brow furrowed as she listened to the remarks around the room.
"Of course, everybody is going to choose to take the exam!"
"No way!"
"This is ridiculous! As if we have a choice!"
"He's causing tension to run high. For what purpose?!"
"And there is one more rule: If you choose to take it and are unable to answer it correctly, then you will have to relinquish your right of taking the Chunin Exam forever!"
Kotone felt the room change when that was revealed. The scoffing and remarks over not having a choice were gone immediately. Other than an immediate comment from one of the Leaf rookies about how the rule was stupid, it was silent.
"He wants people to give up on hope and quit," Kotone's realization didn't bring her any relief.
"Those who will not be taking the tenth question, raise your hands! Once I confirm your number, I'll ask you to leave."
Kotone kept calm, confident there was something else to Ibiki's tactic. Whatever the tenth question was, it wasn't as important as choosing whether or not to take it. She glanced at Kaori who was turning her head to look at the first to raise their hand and give in. Kaori flashed worried eyes at Kotone who just smiled back to ease her.
Takumi watched this from a distance and understood that Kotone had a plan or knew something that he had missed.
After the first, many groups quit instead of risk their futures. Kotone maintained her focus on Ibiki who had taken a moment to focus on her. She had caught him glancing her way during the test and knew that a shinobi of his level probably knew of her clan and recognized her physical attributes.
Kotone's attention was grabbed when Naruto raised his hand. Surely the overconfident rookie from just an hour ago wasn't quitting.
His hand came slamming down onto the desk and he stood up, "Don't underestimate me! I won't run! I'll take it! But even if I'm stuck being a genin forever, I will become a Hokage no matter what it takes! I'm not scared!"
Kotone couldn't hold back the smile from Naruto's energy, "What a strange kid, but something about him makes me root for him. Even Kaori seems better after his speech!"
Kaori was smiling and facing Naruto due to his outburst. She nodded in agreement. Takumi turned his head with a scoff, but Kotone was sure that he felt more confident as well.
"I will ask again. If you want to quit, now is your chance!"
"I'm not going to take back my words! That is my ninja way!" Naruto responded.
Kotone glanced around the room and grinned at the resounding response from the others. Naruto had affected them with his words and given them the confidence to continue.
"I don't think you'll be seeing anymore groups drop out," Kotone's smile was clear in her voice.
"I like your determination! Then, for those who are still here, the first exam… You have passed it!"
The pink haired girl stood up in confusion, "What does that mean?! All of a sudden you're telling us that we've passed?! What about the tenth question?!"
Ibiki grinned and let out a chuckle and explained how the question didn't exist. When prompted to explain the test, Ibiki went into detail about how he expected people to cheat for answers, the trick was in could you cheat discretely. When the two chunin identified themselves, Kotone let out a sigh of relief that she had copied one of them instead of a random genin taking guesses. Even if the actual answers didn't matter, it did merit some pride that she had copied the right one.
Her joy was quickly subdued when Ibiki uncovered his head while explaining the value of information.
"Torture marks?" Kotone mumbled.
He proceeded to explain the value of the tenth question and how there were mission that would be unavoidable and would push the safety of the shinobi, but they would be necessary and having confidence in the team would improve the chances.
"The first exam for the Chunin Exam has been completed. I wish you well!" Ibiki finished with a smile.
Naruto was quick to jump out of his seat in excitement only to be interrupted by the proctor of the second part, Anko.
"I'll drop more than half of them in the second half," Anko stated with a dark confidence.
Kotone didn't like the vibe Anko gave off. There was something cruel in her eyes and the way she felt about the amount of teams left. There were 26 teams still in the running, but to believe there'd only be 13 or less after the second part was to know something the genin didn't. (AN: There were like, 21 participants [so 7 teams?] from Ame alone at the Chunin Exams, I didn't want to add an extra team and mess with the numbers so my team just replaces one that is never shown to keep the scroll count and etc the same. The only issue will be the dueling after part 2).
"I'll give you the details tomorrow! We'll be changing locations, so get the information from you Jonin about the location and time! That's it, you're dismissed!" Anko finished off.
The teams slowly left the room. Once outside Kotone, Kaori, and Takumi found each other. Kotone, however, was also looking for a rather loud and obnoxious genin.
"Oh, Naruto!" Kotone called out. The blonde boy and his teammates turned to watch the white haired girl run up to them. Her own team was eying her in confusion when she gestured them over.
"Y-yes?" Naruto asked with a gulp.
"I wanted to thank you," Kotone said as she tugged Kaori next to her and pushed her head down into a bow, "It's due to your outburst that this one was able to keep her head up during the tenth question. Thank him properly, Kaori."
"Kotone!" Takumi scolded.
"Quiet, Takumi!" The white hair girl stuck out her tongue at her male teammate.
Naruto laughed and rubbed the back of his head, "It was nothing! I knew it was a test the whole time!"
"Still, thank you, Naruto-san!" Kaori bowed properly and smiled when she straightened, "I was worried because my teammates are older than I am that I wouldn't be able to keep up. But thanks to you, I think I do have a right to be here."
Naruto was surprised by Kaori's earnest consideration.
"You too, Takumi," Kotone smiled wide, her eyes were mischievous.
"What?!"
"You were shaken a well, weren't you?"
"As if I would be shaken by that."
"Uh-huh," Kotone sighed, "Looks like you'll have to impress Takumi in other ways, Naruto. However, I hope we don't cross paths in this exam again. I wouldn't want to determine our passing with your failure, or vice versa."
"Wait a minute," the pink haired girl interrupted, "shouldn't you at least introduce yourselves properly?"
"Ah, I guess that was rude! I am Kotone Ueno, of Amegakure. This is Kaori Yuzuki and Takumi Hamada, and you are?"
"I'm Sakura Haruno," the girl responded with a sudden shyness. She wasn't expecting such a simply reply.
"And you?" Takumi nodded his head at the dark haired boy.
"Sasuke Uchiha," he responded with little consideration to his company.
"Takumi, I think you made a friend," Kotone patted him on the head even if it required her to reach up a bit.
"Kotone, the one making this situation strange is you, you know?"
"No way, Takumi! You three don't agree with him do you?"
Naruto shook his head though Sakura and Sasuke seemed more in line with Takumi's view on the matter.
Kaori chuckled a bit which drew Sakura's attention to her, "That's right, you're our age! How are you on a team with these two?"
"Ahhh," Kaori glanced to Kotone and Takumi for help on the explanation.
"We needed a third teammate and Kaori's graduating class had two kids drop out right at the end so she had nowhere else to go," Takumi tactfully covered the story though it was obvious the topic was sensitive.
Kotone put on a smile and bowed to Naruto quickly, "We should be getting back to our sensei to let her know we passed, but I wish you three luck tomorrow!"
"You as well," Sakura responded even though she a little lost for words. Kotone was upfront about her appreciation for Naruto's antics during the exam whereas Sakura had doubted him the entire time. The rosette haired girl felt a little inferior to Kotone due to her ability to express herself honestly.
"That team is strange," Sasuke smirked. They were similar to Team 7, he had realized, in their personalities. However, even Sasuke could tell they meant what they said.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head and bragged about how he had helped the rest of the walk home.
Kotone and the others made it back to their hotel where Toko was waiting with a smile on her face.
"Toko-sensei! We passed!" Kaori announced hastily.
"I figured as much otherwise you would've been back much sooner. Congratulations," her happy behavior made Kotone and Takumi cringe with skepticism as they were used to their stoic teacher, not this pleasant woman.
"Did something happen while we were there?" Takumi asked, his eyes squinted in suspicion.
Toko shook her head in denial. "Nothing happened, I'm just proud you made it. When I heard who the first proctor was, I was a little concerned."
"Ibiki run interrogation, doesn't he?" Kotone asked, her playful side gone.
Takumi and Kaori were both surprised by this question, and even more so when Toko confirmed it, "He is the leader of the interrogation unit here in Konoha. He is a master of mental torture."
"I only wondered because he was able to manipulate the feelings and tensions in the room. The already nervous teams were quick to withdraw at anything new he added. He had control over the room entirely, except for Naruto," Kotone chuckled at the end.
"Naruto?" Toko questioned.
Takumi sighed and sat down, "He's a loud-mouth rookie from here. It seems there are three rookie teams in the exams and all of them passed the first test. Naruto is on one of them. He did destroy the tension in the room at the end though, allowing for 26 teams to pass including us."
"A loud-mouth? That's almost a compliment from you Takumi," Toko teased.
"But he did give me the confidence to not give up," Kaori admitted, "He's more sure of himself than I have ever been, but he made me feel like I could pass this test."
"I see. A loud mouth with the ability to comfort people. I'm excited to see how these exams go now," Toko's eyes narrowed in wonder. Her joyous mood dissipated quickly and she gave the instructions for the following day to her students. Her stoic behavior was quick to return due to the nature of the second part. She had been happy for her students, but her joy was her awkward effort to hide her concern.
The second exam would test them in new ways and Toko wasn't sure they were ready.