Chapter 14

(Kakashi)

Iruka landed softly behind him still disguised as an enemy ninja. So the tests were down. He wondered if they had passed the test. He was confident Sasuke had but the other two worried him slightly. Would they be discouraged by whatever Iruka had done? He sincerely hoped not. So many thoughts ran through his head about how it might have turned out. Outwardly he remained as calm as possible. If any of them had failed he would have known by now, right? Iruka wouldn't allow them all to go if one of them failed to meet his expectations, after all they had to complete the exams as a team in order to pass. The other teams as well.

"So, how did it go?" Kakashi asked.

"They all made it. All nine genin proved themselves ready for the exam." He released the disguise. "You were right, Kakashi, they're good. They've all developed impressive skills."

"But the Chunin exams can break anyone. We'll see if they can tough it out." Kakashi said, relieved they had passed but worried that they would still fail.

(With Team Guy)

"Did you hear we are going to have rookies at the exam this year, first year genin?" Lee said as he began to remove kunai from the target. "That has not happened in five years."

"No way," Tenten said playing with the kunai in her hand. "I bet it's just some jonin trying to boost their egos."

"No, there is more to the story than that." Lee said leaning against the tree. "Three of them are from Kakashi's squad."

"Huh, interesting." Neji said.

"But not very," Tenten said throwing the kunai at the target.

"Either way it's too bad for them." Neji said with a smile. The three laughed.

(Team 7)

The four of them met up outside of the Academy and walked in together. In the hall outside of the exam room there was a large group of genin. Something was wrong. As they got closer Kagome realized what the problem was. Two Chunin were blocking the door to the room and physically attacking those who tried to force their way in. She leaned against the wall as a punch sent a boy flying into the group. His team attempted to help him but the three of them were failing. The girl pleaded with the Chunin to let them through and the two only laughed. There was something off about the room. It didn't feel right. Then it hit her.

"Drop the act. This isn't the exam room." Kagome said.

"What?" The other boy on his team asked.

"She's right." Sasuke said. "It's obvious. Come on, Sakura, tell me you noticed, too."

The petal haired girl thought about it for a moment. "It's a genjutsu. The test room is on the third floor, we're still on the second. Kagome's right, this isn't the exam room." She smiled.

The room number changed. "Well aren't you the smart ones." One of them said. "You noticed an illusion. Let's see how you deal with this."

Both moved to attack. One went for Kagome who immediately grabbed his arm and danced out f the way. The other went for Sasuke but his attack was interrupted by the boy who had been punched earlier. He held both of them apart with ease. Kagome held her Chunin in pace and watched as he moved with speed that made her seem slow. It appeared that she and everyone else had under estimated the guy's abilities. His teammates were more disappointed than shocked. As soon as he let go of the two guys' legs his teammate came over to him.

"What happened to the plan?" his teammate asked. "Thought you were the one who said to keep a low profile and not let any see our skill level?"

"I know but…." The boy blushed.

"Never mind," the girl said shaking her head. "It's over, forget it."

He walked toward Sakura with a serious face. "Hello, my name is Rock Lee. You are Sakura, right?"

"Huh?"

The guy winked at her. "Please be my girlfriend. I vow to protect you with my life."

Sakura's face dropped. "Definitely not."

"Why?" he asked his confidence fading away.

"Because you're a weirdo."

Kagome almost felt bad for the guy. She let go of the Chunin who moved away from her as fast as possible. Rolling her eyes she went back to watching the drama between Lee and Sakura unfold. The poor guy looked completely deflated. He must have had a rather large crush on Sakura to look like that. Naruto was laughing like an idiot at his pain. She really felt bad for the guy, she knew how that felt.

"Hey you over here," The other boy on his team called. "What's your name?"

Kagome stepped up, ignoring a jealous Naruto. "Isn't it common courtesy to give your name before asking for someone else's?"

The boy's pale eyes turned to her. "You're both rookies, right? How old are you?"

"We're not obliged to answer," Sasuke intervened.

"What's that?" he asked and the girl laughed.

"Come on, guys, let's go." Sakura said.

She grabbed them and pulled them along. Kagome followed behind at a slower pace. She looked back at the older genin team. They had regained their composure but the brown haired boy was still watching after them. She had a feeling he knew exactly who they were and had only wanted to confirm it. Gods, the ego. How could he stand to concentrate on anything else? She rolled her eyes at him and followed her teammates up the stairs.

As the continued on their way she felt Rock Lee's presence behind them. What could he want? Considering his actions he had probably figured out who Sasuke was and now wanted to test his skills against a member of the Uchiha clan. Pride is such a dangerous thing. He challenged Sasuke to a fight. Nailed it. He then declared his love for Sakura who proceeded to freak out. Kagome just leaned against a pillar and waited for it to be over. Before the two could begin to fight Naruto jumped in trying to prove himself to Lee who flicked him out of the way. Good try Naruto but you were distracted. This guy was holding back earlier. Lee declared himself the best. The first blow Sasuke took from the guy was so fast Kagome almost missed it. She leaned forward. What was this guy? Before she could count him out Sasuke activated his Sharigan. This just got better. And then Lee managed to hit Sasuke again. He was no match for Lee's speed.

"It is just, taijutsu, no tricks." Lee said.

That made the situation interesting. From where she stood she had believed that he had been using some kind of ninjutsu. If that was his natural speed he would have to have trained for years just get half that speed. After revealing his amazing speed he revealed his vast knowledge of the Uchiha kekkai genkai. The things that Lee could do were amazing. He claimed to have no natural talent but it couldn't be true. He was amazing.

Before he could deliver his next blow Lee was interrupted by a giant talking…...turtle. Kagome blinked. This day could not get any weirder could it? Then Naruto claimed the turtle was Lee's sensei. Listening to the conversation between the two she almost believed it and the Lee's older carbon copy appeared. Gods, this was just too much. Tough love then crying and….what the hell was going on? Was the turtle crying?

"Tell me, how is Kakashi?" Guy asked.

"Do you know him?" Sasuke asked.

"Do I know Kakashi?" Guy laughed. "Well people say he are arch rivals for all eternity." He reappeared behind their group. "My record is 50 wins and 49 loses which is one better than his by the way."

Guy was good and extremely fast but Kagome had trouble believing that he was better than Kakashi. He ordered Lee to take them to the classroom. Lee admitted that he was not the best and that Sasuke was not the one he wanted to fight. The boy from his team was better and his own rival. After Lee left an argument broke out between Sasuke and Naruto. The blond made a good point about how hard Lee trained. She had noticed it to. There were so many bruises on his hands.

"Guys, we should get going. We don't have much time left." Kagome said.

When they arrived at the entrance to the exam room the found Kakashi waiting for them. He wore a solemn expression that worried Kagome slightly. "Glad you made it, Sakura, for your sake and the others." They were all shocked but Kagome. "Now you can all formally register for the Chunin Exams."

"Why what do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Only a group of three, or in your cause four, are allowed to apply for and take the exam. That's the way it's always been."

"But sensei, you said it was our decision whether or not to take the exam."

"I did." He stated.

"Was that a lie?"

"Sort of," he looked away. "It is an individual's decision but it affects all of you. I didn't tell you before because I didn't want there to be any pressure for you to participate. At the same time I didn't want you to feel obliged to participate because of any feelings you might have for the others. I wanted the decision to be of your own free will."

"Wait a minute." Sakura interrupted. "Do you mean if the others had shown up but I had decided to stay home….?"

"It would have been the end of the line." Kakashi stated firmly. "Without you I couldn't have let the others through. But it doesn't matter now, you're all here and for the right reasons. I'm proud of you." They all nodded. "I couldn't have asked for a better team. Good luck."

He stepped away from the doors. Soon after they swung open revealing an eclectic mixture of ninjas from many different lands. There were plenty of dangerous genin present and Kagome worked hard not to watch them openly. The doors closed bringing attention to them. Naruto almost yelled out but Kagome covered his mouth quickly. Ino came over and jumped onto Sasuke's back beginning an argument between the two former friends. More of the rookie ten were drawn to them. Hinata Hyuga came over and tried to talk to Naruto but only ended up blushing and stuttering. It was so obvious she had a crush on Naruto.

"Hey, you guys," a silver haired genin from the leaf said walking over. "You might want to try to keep it down a little. I mean, no offense, but you're the ten rookies right? Fresh out of the Academy? I wouldn't go making a spectacle of yourselves, just cool it. This isn't a class field trip."

"Well who asked you?" Ino asked indignantly. "Who are you?"

"I am Kabuto Yakushi but really look around you. You've made quite an impression." The group turned in horror. Every dangerous genin in the room was watching them with hostility. Kagome shivered. This was bad. Kabuto began to point out where each group was from and their characteristics. He explained to them the weight of the exam and the way it made people act. "You can't help it, I mean you don't know how things work. You're just rookies. You remind me of myself a while back."

"Kabuto, this isn't the first time you've taken the exam is it?" Kagome asked.

"No, it's my…..seventh." he hesitated. "Well they're held twice a year so this will be my fourth year."

"Wow, a veteran. You must really be an expert by now." Sakura said.

"Yeah, sort of."

"Cool you can give us some inside tips." Naruto said.

"Yeah some expert he's never past." Shikamaru criticized.

"Well you see seventh times the charm, that's what they say, right?" Kabuto said scratching his head.

"So I guess all those rumors about the exam being tough are true."

"Hang on, don't give up hope yet. May be I can help you kids out a little." He pulled a deck of orange cards from his hip pouch. "With my ninja info cards."

"What?"

"These cards have been chakra in coded with everything I've learned over the past for years. I've got more than 200. So you see, I haven't been completely wasting my time. They may not look like much, in fact they appear blank. Don't want just anyone seeing this stuff." He said with a smirk and drawing a card.

The first card displayed information about the villages who a representatives in the Chunin exams. As was expected the Leaf had the most while smaller, weaker nations only had one team participating. That brought up a discussion about the setup of the exams. He dispelled the image. Sasuke came up and asked to see info on Lee and Gaara. Kabuto had very little on Gaara which didn't surprise Kagome considering he was a foreign ninja. Lee, on the other hand, was an open book. The interesting thing was a part of the info Kabuto had on Gaara. The red head had survived every mission without getting as much as a scratch. He had to be extremely good to do that.

"One more," Sasuke said glancing over at her. "Kagome Higurashi."

"Your own teammate?" Kabuto asked. "Whatever. Average D rank missions and one C rank that got bumped up to a B afterward. A slacker in the Academy but exceeds in all forms of jutsu, trained herself to use a sword. Interesting, she was found beat up by a squad of elite ninja, the brought her back to the village. The family that took her in was later killed. What happened to her during the first seven years of her life are a complete mystery."

He released the card and put the stack away. Some of the others began to express their doubts about the exam. Kabuto wasn't helping. Naruto began to over think things and stew. Kagome noticed his trembling and realized what he was about to do. Immediately she placed her hand on his shoulder to calm him down. He brushed her off so she grabbed him and covered his mouth again.

"We don't need any more attention drawn to us, Naruto. They're already planning our defeat, let's not encourage them." She whispered her hand clamped over his mouth.

They all nodded but everyone noticed the little exchange. Within the group of genin the Sound ninja began to plot against Kabuto for his description of their village. Like a flash one jumped out and threw knives at him. Another swiped at him as he tried to dodge. At first it looked like the guy had missed but not long after Kabuto's glasses shattered. It must have been a type of ninjutsu. Kabuto looked fine but as soon as he tried to move he fell to his knees. A sound based jutsu maybe? The three talked big but before Kagome could figure it out the proctor appeared.

"Alright you baby faced degenerates sit down." He said. "It's time to begin. I'm Ibiki Morino, your proctor and from this moment, your worst enemy."

Kagome took her assigned seat next to Kabuto. She didn't like the way his eyes lingered on her now that he'd revealed all he knew about her past. Right now she was hoping to be able to focus on the test but with him next to her she wasn't sure she'd be able to. Ibiki droned on about how cheating would not be tolerated and that there would be extra sentinels around the room to keep them from cheating. The more the man stated that cheating would be punished the more she understood that the point of this test as to cheat. They had to gather the information on the answer for the test without being caught. As soon as she flipped the test over she focused on the pencil of the genin behind her. Each tap and loop spelled words and made symbols that fored the answers.

She smiled when she finished. From where she sat she could see both Sakura and Sasuke filling out their test sheets with relative ease. Then she turned to look at Naruto. The blond boy was struggling. She leaned back. To use a jutsu would draw attention and disqualify their team which ruled out clones or summons. She tapped her paper. If only should could transfer her writing to his paper or switch them. That was it! She smirked. A simple substitution brought his paper to her desk and she began to cover her tracks. She pretended to go back and edit all her answers.

"Time," Ibiki yelled.

She sighed. Just barely finished. Naruto finally noticed the paper and looked to Hinata next to him and then to their teammates before looking at her. She waved at him with a small wave. He blinked at her. Kagome had to force herself not to laugh at the shock on his face.

"Now it is time for the tenth and final question. This question will decide whether or not you go on to the next stage of the exam. If you fail this question you will never be allowed to take the exam again." Kagome's heart stopped. "If any of you want to quit now, raise your hand and take your team with you."

Several individuals raised their hands and stalked out followed by their disappointed teammates. Kagome looked down and watched as Naruto struggled with the idea of giving up now. Among their group he was the weakest academically. She could see him fighting the urge to raise his hand and be done with it. He didn't want to be the one to cause the entire team to fail. Just when she was sure he was about to give up and call it quits he slammed his fist on his desk. Everyone turned to look at him.

"I won't be intimidated. I don't back down. I will be Hokage one day, just you wait and see," Naruto yelled.

Kagome leaned back and observed Ibiki's expression with a smirk. The entire room had gone silent. I'm sorry I ever doubted you, Naruto. You may just be the strongest out of all of us.

The outburst steeled all the teams from withdrawing. "So, none of you are going to leave now, huh?" Ibiki asked. "Good job, you all pass." The room was deathly silent. "The first nine questions were a test of your ability to gather information without getting caught. This will be part of your duties if you should pass the exams and become a Chunin. The tenth question was to test your determination. Could you keep going even if your mission appeared to be destined for failure?

Before he could explain any more there was a loud crash as a woman came bursting through the window. Kagome tensed but relaxed as the woman introduced herself as the proctor for the next stage of the exam. She told them they were to meet at the Forty Fourth Training Ground the next morning. The woman, Anko, had a dangerous aura about her, reminiscent of the aura from the sound ninja that had attacked Kabuto. Anko didn't look dangerous or evil and the closer Kagome looked into her aura the clearer it became that the danger was not from her. Something on her neck emitted the aura.

"Come on, Gome." Naruto said pulling her from her chair.

She smiled and joined the others on their ay outside. "So, Naruto how did you do on the first nine questions?" Sakura asked as they walked out together.

"Oh, yeah! Kagome, how did you do that?" Naruto asked.

"Do what?" Sasuke asked.

"One minute my paper was blank and the next it was completely filled out."

The three looked at her. "Substitution," she explained. "I replaced your test with mine."

"You cheated!" Sakura accused.

"That was the point of the test. I used the guy behind me as my source then passed the information to my teammate. It's what Chunin do."

"So cool!" Naruto yelled. "Come on. Let's go get some ramen. I'm starving."

"You're always hungry, Naruto" Sakura complained.

(Kabuto)

He watched the rookie group from afar. The dark haired girl was as mysterious as Gaara but at least he knew Gaara's place in his master's plan. Orochimaru had neglected to mention the girl's presence at the exam. She could pose a threat for all her knew. He took her card from her pocket, the one he'd shown Sasuke. Mysterious past, no family, no extraordinary details about her except her skills in almost every field. Either his master had sent her or she was the single greatest threat to his master's plans.

He found his master playing his part as the jonin instructor for the sound village's squad. The three eyed him warily as he approached. As Kabuto passed the man he gave the signal that they needed to meet and went on his merry way. Later in the woods, away from the prying eyes of the Leaf village, the two met up to talk.

"What is it, Kabuto?" Orochimaru ask dropping all pretense.

"Kagome Higurashi, is she a threat?" Kabuto asked seriously.

"There is no need to worry about her, Kabuto. You will see her place in the grand scheme of things soon. How is our dear Sasuke doing?"

"Progressing. He is still new to the use of his Sharigan but he used it to pass the test. As you said he desires to gain power in order to kill Itachi."

"Very good." Orochimaru smiled. "We will speak again, Kabuto."

Very good. The pieces are falling into place. Now they just need a little push.

A/N: OMG this was so long. Over 3000 words. Do not expect anything this long ever again, I love you all but this was hard. I had homework and I ignored it for your love and reviews. So please, please review. I am currently pouting. Please?