key:
"talking"
'jutsu'
thinking
"flashback"
nonhuman
The First Exam
It's always fun to walk into a room filled with scary ninja, who are armed, covered in scars, and want nothing more than to splatter your innards and bathe in your blood. Any proper reaction wound be surprise or more likely fear, not Sakura. All she saw when she entered the room were a bunch of genin brats who had never had a true taste of war or death, minus a couple sand and sound ninja here and there. They weren't a threat, well most of them…
"Wow…" Naruto was experiencing the more surprised side of the spectrum than the scared side, as he looked at his newest deadly adventure with his head held high.
"Sasuke-kun! You're late!" The long haired platinum blonde girl pounced on the Uchiha and hugged his neck affectionately. "I was waiting for you." She purred flirtatiously near his ear. Sakura just ignored her, and scanned the room for familiar faces, and danger.
"What's up with your reaction, Forehead? Don't tell me that you are finally over Sasuke?" Ino questioned her rival's strange behavior.
"You're right." Sakura shrugged and agreed nonchalantly. Ino just stared a her shocked and speechless.
"You guys taking this stupid test too? Try not to die…" Shikamaru spoke drearily while walking up to them, with Choji at his side.
"Oh! The idiot trio!" Naruto greet them with an insult, and Shikamaru just mumbled something like, "Don't call us that."
"Hey Shikamaru, did you hear? Sakura gave up on Sasuke!" Ino quickly informed her teammate, sounding more stunned than happy by the news.
"Are you serious?" The boy with his medium lengthened black hair pulled into a high ponytail directed his question towards Sakura, his tone was that of disbelief with a subtle, undetectable hint of elation.
"I don't see what the big deal is…" The pink haired girl grumbled and crossed her arms.
"Get off of me." Sasuke shoved the dumb blonde girl off, annoyed. Ino's blatant display of affection irritated him, but the fact that his own female teammate revealed that she no longer had feelings for him just made him pissed. The Uchiha glanced at his pink haired teammate for a long moment, She has to be lying… He concluded just before a loud voice drew their attention.
"Yahoo! Found you!" A familiar face in a winter coat with a small white dog perched on his head called to them. He was followed closely by a antisocial boy with dark tinted glasses and black, spiked-up hair, and a very nervous, pale girl with short dark blue hair.
"Well well, looks like everyone's assembled." Kiba smirked at his rookie classmates from ninja academy.
"Geez, you guys too?" Shikamaru grumbled not liking the thought of more opponents, How troublesome…
"I see… all nine of this year's rookie genin are taking the exam. I wonder how far we'll get… eh Sasuke?" Kiba grinned and questioned the only genin he deemed worthy enough his rival.
"Pft… You seem confident, Kiba." Sasuke smirked, he never saw the dog boy as competition, in fact he never saw any of his classmates as a threat. Once again, he spared a quick glance for his pink haired teammate, But I have been surprised… His thoughts about how his female teammate had consistently surprised him with her knowledge and skills were cut short when Kiba spoke again.
"We did a lot of training we won't lose to you!" The tan boy with red face markings spoke confidently.
"Shut up! Sasuke might lose, but I won't be defeated to the likes of you!" Naruto shouted back with even more confidence.
"You guys should be more quiet." A boy with light gray hair tied in a ponytail and circular glasses walked up to the nine rookies. "Screaming like school girls… This isn't a picnic you know?" He reprimanded them like they were children.
"Who do you think you are?" Ino spat back at the boy.
"I'm Kabuto. But instead of that, you should look behind you." Kabuto advised with a smirk.
It was pretty good advise considering the ninja seated behind them where glaring at them with clear killing intent.
"Everyone is on edge because of the exam, so quiet down before you cause a scene." Kabuto smiled.
"So… Kabuto-san, how many times have you taken the exam?" Sakura asked, already knowing the answer.
"This is my seventh time, and my fourth year." He smiled at the pink haired girl and moved his hand to pull something out of the pack strapped to his waist.
"Shall I share some info with you cute rookies? With these ninja info cards…" He pulled the blank cards from his pack and held them out before him. It only took him a minute to explain how they worked. Instant information, just add chakra.
"Do you have cards with information on individuals?" Sasuke asked wanting to know more about two ninja in particular.
"Some guys you're worried about?" Kabuto chuckled and then continued,"The info on exam participants isn't perfect, but I do have it. Just tell me something about the guys and I'll look."
"Gaara of the Sand and Rock Lee from Leaf." Sasuke spoke emotionlessly, not wanting to give away his excitement about finding out information about his new enemies.
"Oh, you know their names, should be easy then." Kabuto flipped through his deck of cards and pulled out two.
"Show me." The young Uchiha demanded with hidden expectancy.
Kabuto performed a quick set of hand signs and images appeared on the cards. Rock Lee's card was first and the rookies were able to learn about his strength in Taijutsu and weakness in just about everything else. Gaara's card did have much information, but they did learn that he had completed a B ranked mission and returned from all of his duties without a scratch.
The thought of Gaara's power made the ninja rookies nervous.
"You have to remember all of the people here are elite genin in their respected villages…" The glasses guy explained.
"Would you show us your profile?" Sakura wondered out loud and then blushed instantly at her mistake. She looked up to find Kabuto staring at her, Does he think I'm suspicious?
"Interested?" He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at her. She scoffed at his attempt at flirting, I guess not...
She's pretty cute. The sliver haired boy with glasses mused and then glanced at her dark haired teammate out of the corner of his eye, Too bad I have a mission to accomplish.
"Here." He smiled and showed her his profile card.
She was surprised to see a B ranked mission marked on his card, but she noticed it didn't say anything about his extensive knowledge of medical jutsu.
"A B ranked mission, huh? You're pretty strong then." She handed him the card back.
He blushed and scratched the back of his head shyly at her compliment, "I'm not really strong… I've just been a genin for a while that all." She smiled at his modesty, but she knew his shy, friendly boy routine was just an act, like her own weak girl charade.
By now, Naruto was shaking with excitement, and Sakura knew what was coming next.
"My name is Uzimaki Naruto! I won't lose to you bastards!" Naruto shouted loudly, and pointed at the deadly ninja before him without fear, "You got that?"
"Hey is your teammate an idiot or what?" Ino growled and question the pink haired kunoichi.
"He's an idiot alright, but he's my idiot." She spoke automatically and smiled at her female friend, leaving Ino wondering if her rival had developed feeling for her blonde teammate. Sasuke scowled at the words he overheard, She likes the dope? The Uchiha shook his head, he didn't want to believe it.
"Those are some big words, show off…" Kiba chuckled at Naruto's stupidity.
"What a moron… He just turned everyone into his enemy…" Shikamaru shook his head at the boy's lack of strategy.
Sakura immediately noticed the sound trio move inconspicuously through the crowd, and she already knew their target, Kabuto. The pink haired shinobi was slightly interested in seeing the medical ninja get caught of guard once again, it didn't happen often. She waited patiently for the upcoming attack.
Kabuto noticed the first sound ninja leap to attack with projectile weapons and he dodged automatically, but he was slightly thrown off when a second appeared in front of him ready to strike. He dodged the blow with little effort, but was mildly surprised when his glasses shattered. A sudden rush of queasiness filled him, and that's when he lost his lunch. He felt a warm hand on his back and he turned to face it's owner after wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He was mildly surprised to see the pink haired girl soothing him.
"You okay?" Sakura asked with a concerned and slightly confused look in her eyes, deep don't however she knew the bastard deserved it.
Kabuto could feel a sudden heat rise to his cheeks, "I'm okay." He stuttered. Sakura smiled warmly at him, his face instantly changed back to an emotionless mask.
"How pathetic, this is the level of a fourth year veteran." The sound ninja that resembled a mummy with a large blanket of fur on his back spoke condescendingly.
"Quiet down you worthless bastards!" A deep booming voice and a large explosion of smoke bursted from the door on the other side of the room.
The smoke cleared to reveal the great Ibiki Morino and a whole lot of jounin examiners, including Kotetsu and Izumo.
"Thanks for waiting. I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner of the chunin selection exam's first test." The large man introduced himself.
"You three, sound ninja, stop doing as you like. Do you want to fail?" Ibiki shifted his attention to the three troublemakers.
"I apologize… we got a bit carried away…" The leader of the sound trio spoke unapologetically.
"There will be no fighting without permission, and even with permission there will be no killing. Those pigs who disobey me will fail immediately. Do I make myself clear?" The proctor threatened the genin with a dangerous look in his eye and in a very intimidating voice that made the young ninjas shudder.
"We will now start the first chunin exam. Instead of your current seating arrangements, we will assign your seats. We will then hand out the exams." He instructed.
"What! A paper test!" Naruto screamed in horror at the thought, knowledge was not his forte. Sakura placed her hand on the panicking boy's shoulder to get his attention. He turned towards her with tears of frustration peeking out of the corners of his eyes. His expression gave her the strong urge to giggle, but she kept her calm composure.
"Don't worry Naruto, and don't give up. Got it?" She winked and spoke reassuringly.
Naruto surprised everyone at that moment by immediately folding Sakura into a tight hug. Sakura blushed, she was more surprised then anyone at the boy's action.
"Thank you." Naruto mumbled near her ear. He quickly released her after their short embrace. "Let's do this thing!" Naruto shouted and fist pumped the air with a rekindled determination. Sasuke just wished the blonde would spontaneously combust. Shikamaru and Kabuto also had similar ideas running through their heads, but they would never admit it to themselves.
With everyone finally in their seats, the first exam quickly began.
Sakura stared down at her test glumly, she knew all the answers, but even answering one question would be a waste of time. I guess now would be a good time to practice… She glanced around the room slyly and then closed her eyes to concentrate. It had become a lot easier for her to manipulate and move her chakra outside her body with a few months of practice. First, she folded the exam paper in front of her into a neat, origami crane without the use of her hands, just chakra. It was easy and took little effort, but the action surprised and impressed an ever-so-vigilant Kotetsu who was watching the girl like a hawk. Sakura then went about moving little things here and there not only in the test room, but through out the whole building, and even in the street.
Ino had also been watching her, not because she suspected Sakura of having hidden skills that surpassed those of an ordinary genin like Kotetsu, but because she was waiting for the girl to finish writing. To her dismay, the pink haired kunoichi never picked up her pencil. What is she doing? Does she want to fail? And when did she fold that paper crane? The platinum blonde glared at her previous rival-in-love with sheer aggravation. It wasn't long before she gave up on the girl and decided to possess another genin, who was actually taking the test seriously.
Sakura smiled inwardly at how much distance she could stretch her chakra, when her focus was interrupted by a loud voice. Sakura felt a little woozy when her chakra evaporated, but she new it would be back before she really needed it. Plus, she had taken special precautions just in case of a dire emergency. She thought about the small purple diamond on her chest. She had gathered and stored chakra at her third most important chakra point instead of on her forehead because she didn't want anyone, especially a certain snake sanin to find out about it. Because of it's location and the amount of time she had to prepare it was a lot weaker than her future sensei's diamond, but this way the spot was cover by the bandages she kept warped around her chest and by her shirt over that.
"Ok and now we will begin the 10th question!" Ibiki interjected. "First for this question, you must decide whether you take it or not."
"Choose? What happens if we choose not to?" Temari questioned the man.
"If you choose not to, you fail along with your two teammates." Morino explained harshly.
"And now the other rule…" He began smirking inwardly as he sensed the genin's growing panic and fear, "If you choose to take it and answer incorrectly, that person will lose the right to ever take the chunin exam again." He finished.
"What kind of stupid rule is that? There are guys here who have taken the exam before!" Kiba piped up, while Akamaru reflected his aggravation by barking loudly.
"He he he he he he he…" The sound of the interrogators menacing laughter froze the young genin in their seats.
"You guys were unlucky. This year it's my rules." Ibiki smirked darkly at then before continuing, "But I'm giving you a way out. Those who aren't confident can choose not to take it and try again next year."
"Now let's begin… the 10th question." He spoke emotionlessly, "Those who do not wish to take it, raise your hand."
There was a long silence and then soon enough the people taking the exam started dropping out like flies. One team, another team, another, then another, then another. It wasn't long before the number of occupants in the classroom were cut in half. Sakura kept her gaze fixed on Naruto's back.
After a while, the blonde boy finally lifted a shaky hand into the air, Sakura and even Sasuke held their breaths at the sight of the raised hand. With a resounding bang Naruto slammed his hand down onto the desk before anyone could call him out to disqualify him.
"Don't underestimate me! I will not run!" Naruto spoke loudly, with a strong look of determination. "I'll take it! Even if I'm a genin forever! I'll become the Hokage anyway, so I don't care! I am not afraid." The boy outburst certainly caught Ibiki's attention, and Sakura couldn't fight the large smile that had found it's way on to her face.
"I'll ask you again. Your life is riding on this decision. This is your last chance to quit." Morino tried his best to intimidate the blonde, but Naruto's mind was made up.
"I follow my unbending words… That is my ninja way." His words blew away everyone's worries and they were now all in it to win it.
"Good. Now everyone still remaining…." He paused for dramatic effect as the young ninjas in the room found their fear again. "I congratulate you on passing the first test!"
