Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it.
Chapter 3: High-Stakes Question
Noriki voiced the question that everyone in the room was thinking: "What are we going to do?"
Yamamoto looked down. "I...I don't think I did very well on the test. I should probably be the one to drop out, since I'm the least likely to have passed this part of the Exam anyway."
Noriki shook his head vigorously. "I want to advance as much as you two do, but, to be honest, I think my combat skills are the weakest of us three. I'm the least likely to succeed in the Third Exam, since that one's based on individual fights."
While his teammates continued to discuss, Tatemichi sat silently, looking pensive. He had a hunch, but if he was wrong about it, his whole team would suffer. He recalled what his mother had told him about the First Exam: "Being a ninja is all about seeing underneath the underneath. You shouldn't expect a shinobi test to be exactly what it appears to be." Finally, he spoke up.
"Guys, I think this last question might be a trick."
"What? How do you figure that?" Noriki asked.
"Think about who our Hokage is. Would Naruto-sama really ask us to leave behind one of our comrades for the sake of our own advancement? Does that sound like the kind of lesson he'd want to teach young ninja?"
"But sometimes you might have to," Yamamoto pointed out. "I mean, if you have a choice between leaving someone behind and failing your mission..."
"No," Noriki said firmly, "I think Tatemichi-san might be right. My dad says that when he used to run the First Exam, he did similar trick questions. They were all ways of testing the applicants' character. And one of the things that Hokage-sama's always emphasized is the importance of standing together with your teammates. I bet he'd be more angry at a team that came back from a mission and said, 'Oh, by the way, we left our comrade behind to die so that the mission would succeed' than with one that said, 'We failed our mission because it was the only way to save our teammate'."
"But what if you're wrong?" Yamamoto asked worriedly. "Sasuke-sensei said that if we can't make a decision, we'll all fail."
"Maybe so," Tatemichi answered. "But at least then we'll fail together. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't feel right getting promoted because I abandoned one of you guys."
Noriki took a deep breath. "Okay. I think you're right. Yamamoto-chan, do you agree? Should we refuse to pick someone?"
Yamamoto hesitated, but finally nodded, fists clenched with apprehension. "I...I don't know if Tatemichi-san's hunch is right. But I wouldn't feel right winning because I'd tossed one of you aside either. So either we all pass or we all fail." Matsu wagged his tail in agreement.
Tatemichi looked around, and saw that many of the other teams were huddled with their heads together, whispering to each other urgently. I wonder how many of them will make the same choice? The Cloud Team seemed to have come to a decision, with Otsuka looking resigned. The two remaining members of the Sand team seemed very nervous, while Asagi of the Rain appeared to be strongly disagreeing with her teammates, shaking her head so vigorously that her blond braid swung back and forth.
"All right," Sasuke said languidly, "time's up." Although he wasn't making any particular effort to make himself heard over the chatter, his voice cut through everything else going on in the room nevertheless. "Each team, tell me your decision."
He turned first to the diminished Sand team. The two genin glanced at each other, and Saito stepped forward. "Sir, I resign from the Exam. Let Yagi-chan go forward."
"I see," Sasuke replied blandly. "You are dismissed, Saito-san." As Saito departed from the room, Sasuke redirected his attention to Killer Bee's students. Otsuka squared his shoulders and declared, "For the good of my teammates, I, Tatsuzaki Otsuka, hereby resign from the Chuunin Exam."
Sasuke nodded. "Very well. You are dismissed. And next is...Konohagakure Team Seven."
Tatemichi felt as though his heart was suddenly pounding much faster than normal. His mouth was dry, and he had to clench his fists to keep his hands from trembling. Noriki and Yamamoto were both looking straight at him. Even Matsu's dark eyes were fixed on his face.
"Team Seven?" Sasuke prompted.
Tatemichi took a deep breath, looked down, and closed his eyes. I know I'm right about this. I just have to have faith in myself! He raised his head, opened his eyes, and slammed one fist down on the desk in front of him. "Konohagakure Team Seven refuses to leave one of our members behind! Either we all advance together, or we all fail together! We'd rather be genin forever than abandon one of our own-that's our ninja way!"
This outburst caused a stir among the other participants. There was a rapid flurry of conversation, which Sasuke made no attempt to stop. Then Asagi stood up so fast that she knocked her chair over backwards. "Amegakure's Team Nine also refuses to leave a teammate behind!" A dramatic thunderclap from outside-Funny, I didn't notice it raining before, thought Tatemichi-punctuated her statement.
"Konohagakure's Team Ten refuses as well! It would be unyouthful to abandon a comrade!"
"Kirigakure Team One refuses too!"
Silence followed this final declaration, and Sasuke let it build for a few moments. Finally, when the tension in the room was so thick that none of the genin could bear it anymore, he said, "Those of you who chose a teammate to leave behind...you all fail."
There was an immediate hubbub. Those who had just failed shouted angrily, while everyone else looked around in confusion. If the others had failed, did that mean they passed? Or had everyone just failed? And why?
"A shinobi," Sasuke continued sternly, "must never abandon a comrade. That's the worst thing you can do as a ninja. It's even worse than failing a mission, and certainly far worse than dying."
"But you told us to do it!" Yagi of the Sand protested.
"So? Are you a mindless puppet that has no choice but to always do what it's told?"
"You're our superior; are you saying you wanted us to disobey your instructions?"
"Yes," Sasuke replied bluntly. "A ninja who can't obey the rules may be ridiculed and called trash, but those who won't take care of their friends are even worse than trash." His gaze swept the room, and those who had chosen to give up a teammate looked away, ashamed. "These people beside you have been with you through thick and thin. Some of you have already been through life-threatening situations together. These are your best friends. Over time, they'll become as close to you as family. You must never, ever, do anything to harm them-even if you're directly ordered to. Even if the only alternative is to die. Those of you who understand that...are worthy to advance. Konohagakure Team Seven, Konohagakure Team Ten, Amegakure Team Nine, and Kirigakure Team One: you all pass!"
"We did it! We really did it!" Yamamoto let out a whoop of delight, and jumped up high enough to brush the ceiling with an outstretched hand.
"And it's all thanks to you, Tatemichi-san!" Noriki exclaimed, throwing an arm across his teammate's shoulders.
"It wasn't anything special," Tatemichi said, brushing off their praise. "Some of the other teams figured it out too."
Noriki shook his head. "I don't think they did. Well, maybe those Rain guys, it looked like the chick on their team was convincing the other two to refuse. But Lee-sensei's team and the guys from Mist, I don't think they intended to refuse until we did."
After announcing that they had passed, Sasuke had sent their teams out of the room and down the hall to another classroom where, he said, the proctor of the Second Exam would be meeting them. Everyone was talking excitedly as they walked-and, of course, everyone was loudly proclaiming that they had known the final question was a trick all along.
Having reached their destination, the genin entered to find a bare room without any desks or chairs. Standing at the opposite end was a young man that the Leaf teams recognized as Hyuuga Neji. Everyone grew quiet as they faced him, waiting to see what obstacles they would have to overcome next.
"I'm impressed," Neji said without preamble. "For more than half of you to have passed the First Exam is unusual. But the next portion of your testing will be far more difficult. You may have heard of the special training area where the Second Exam will take place: the Forest of Death."
Those who were from Konoha-and even some of the foreign ninja whose friends or family had taken their Chuunin Exams in the Leaf Village-nodded. The others fidgeted apprehensively; no place called "the Forest of Death" could possibly be somewhere you wanted to be.
"I must warn you," Neji went on, "that you will be putting your lives on the line in this part of the Exam. It is entirely possible that some of you won't come back alive."
A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short-but the last one was pretty long, so it all balances out.
I wanted this Chuunin Exam to have a "secret tenth question" that was actually a test of character, like the one in the manga, but obviously it couldn't be the same trick question, since people would have heard about it from others who took the exam before them, thus making it useless. I hope you guys like the idea that I came up with instead-it seemed like an appropriate one for Sasuke.
Also, for anyone who's curious, Inuzuka Yamamoto is meant to be the daughter of Kiba's older sister Hana, and Shiranui Kajiya (on Lee's team) is the daughter of Shiranui Genma (the proctor for the canon Third Exam, who always had a senbon in his mouth).
