The Root of Darkness Chapter 20: Chunin Exams Part 1, a Naruto + Harry Potter Crossover fanfic

Author's Note: So since people seemed to be split down the middle about Mito being reincarnated I ended up flipping a coin and she will not be reincarnated at all. So we head off to Suna for the Exams now and I found out that Shiro is one lucky bastard. I rolled dice for his bonus skill (Like I do every 50 stat points which is why he sometimes doesn't get any bonus skill) and he got the one that had a 2% chance.

I also had my computer crash losing about half this chapter and the bit where Shiro kind of went full on Joker. Since I had to rewrite it he ended up a bit less insane which I actually feel is better than how I had him act originally.

Thanks for reading and enjoy.

Every moment that wasn't spent with my team I worked on my new skill. As a happy coincidence using it also leveled up my poison resistance because I had to actually have the poison I wanted to synthesize be used on me before I could make it. Then when I used the skill the poison hung around so I got poisoned leading to an increase in resistance. It was a beautiful cycle, plus the hat wearing llamas were nice, but Carl was a bit of an ass.

I do think that I freaked Saiko out a bit when she found me in my room sampling poisons like a person samples candy. A rushed trip to the hospital had shown me to be in perfectly good health except for the fact that I had just taken a heavy muscle relaxant beforehand so I had a mild case of paralysis before it wore off. A long lecture on safety was delivered to me as I laid on the bed paralyzed about how people shouldn't play around with poison because it was dangerous, yada, yada.

The worst part about it was that when I returned to my room I found out that she had taken all the poisons that I had collected. Now I would have to either steal from the hospital, almost impossible, make my own poisons, or just practice using what poisons I had already ingested. I went for number three as I already had lesser variants of the poisons I already wanted so I would go for quantity over quality in this case.

Other than that the days before we would have to leave decreased at an alarming rate and almost before I knew it the morning for the day we would leave arrived. I had everything I thought I would need or want packed and ready to go along with a new outfit. After a small squirrel had touched my outfit as I was meditating and promptly fell over dead I requisitioned a new one from the armory. I kept the old one of course. Never knew when you might need a deadly outfit. I did one last check on my skills before I set out to go perform Angel's Breath.

Poison Mist (Active D - B Rank (Varies)) LVL 10 MAX

Synthesizes poisons that you have been exposed to and releases them from your mouth in the form of a light mist that covers a 1x1 meter area.

Decreases casting time by 50%

No Hands (Passive) 10 MAX

Eliminates the need for hand signs for D Rank poisons

Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX

Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.

Invisible but Deadly (Passive) LVL 9 – 86%

Any poison you exhale no longer forms a visible mist. Decreases visibility by 90%

Poison Resistance (Passive) LVL 61 – 59%

Gain a 61% resistance to poisons.

It really helped that I gained a massive experience boost to Poison Mist whenever I ingested a new poison. Which also cost me a boat load of money to buy all those poisons. It also helped that I didn't train anything else in the past week and a half.

Finished with my observations I made to leave the base but one of the Root members stopped and brought me to a waiting ANBU near the entrance of the base. The ANBU motioned me to follow and I did so without saying anything. They brought me to a familiar base and I realized that they must be bringing me to Kushina before I left.

My theory was correct because as soon as the door opened I heard twin cries of "Shiro" before two small bodies slammed into me. I rocked back as they hit me so they wouldn't get hurt and listened to them babble at me. Mentally translating their speech into something more understandable I let Mito talk to me while Karin seemed content to just hug me for now.

"You were gone for so long. Why were you gone? Can you play with us? It's boring down here. Can you make us fly?" It would seem that she doesn't seem to be having any difficulties adjusting to the Kyuubi. Well, maybe an increased level of energy but that could just be because of her heritage.

"Your big brother has a very important mission that he had to prepare for." I tweaked her nose and she giggled. "I do think I could make some time for that though." She laughed as my chakra strings picked her up and started moving her around the room.

"Weeeeee, faster, faster." I increased the speed just as little bit and watched as Kushina started walking towards me with a smile on her face as she watched Mito fly around. I could see the beginnings of dark bags under her eyes but other than that she seemed okay.

"It's good to see you Shiro." She pulled me into a hug and held me there as Mito's excited squeals rebounded around the room. "The girls and I got up early just to see you off." If anything Karin's grip got tighter on me as Kushina said the last part. I glanced down at her as Kushina stepped away.

"Karin's had some nightmares after the attack." She whispered to me when she noticed my gaze. "We think she might be a Sensor because she avoided Mito for a good two weeks after it and cried about the scary, mean thing inside of her." Her eyes had a twinkle in them as she said the next part. "She also keeps on crying for her big brother Shiro to come and protect her."

Does she subconsciously remember me shielding her with my chakra during the attack? I let my chakra flow out of me to surround her. Initially, I felt her tense and then she absolutely melted against me. "It feels so warm." Her voice was muffled because she was pressing her face into my stomach but I could still hear her clearly. Kushina was grinning like a loon for some reason as she looked at the both of us.

"Mommy, mommy look I'm flying." She turned to look at Mito flying in a lazy figure eight formation.

"I can see that sweetie. Did you thank your big brother for that?" She giggled again as I made her do a loop de loop.

"No, thank you Shiro." Karin was making it a little awkward to walk the way she was hanging onto me like a limpet so I scooped her up and settled her onto my hip easily enough. She let out a little "eep" at the sudden movement but then settled for wrapping her arms and legs around me.

"Do you know when you'll be able to go home?" I asked Kushina as I made my way over to the bed to sit down.

She let out a huge sigh at that and sat down on a bed that was opposite from me. "We won't until I can find a way to block the man who did this from simply teleporting into our living room or,' she glanced at Karin and Mito, 'remove him from being a danger." I nod at that and move my chakra strings a little faster at Mito's urging.

"So you've just been working on that for the past month or so then?"

"That and taking care of Mito and Karin. I was able to use the ANBU to communicate with people outside." She gave me a huge grin and a thumbs up. "I heard from Mikoto about what you did for Teuchi. I couldn't be prouder of you." A brief feeling of warmth spread through my chest before it vanished.

"That being said,' she reached over and flicked my forehead, 'what were you thinking taking all those poisons? I heard you had to be hospitalized for it." I rubbed my forehead as I shrugged.

"It was necessary to prepare for the Exams and it didn't negatively affect my health." She still looked mad but it looked like the wind went out of her sails.

"Still… just try not to do it again, alright?"

"I'll try." She sagged briefly and then perked back up.

"So, tell me how your month went." Hmm, where to begin.

"Well the first thing you have to know is that my teammate Hina is a pervert…" I continued telling her everything that happened to me for the next hour or so. Karin had fallen back to sleep and was drooling slightly on my shoulder by the time I was finished but Mito was still bouncing around like a rabbit on caffeine. I could see why Kushina had bags under her eyes if this was how Mito was acting all the time.

Unfortunately it was coming up to the time to when I had to leave and I tried to gently pry Karin off of me but she tightened her hold whenever I tried to remove her. Maybe she doesn't want the feel of my chakra leaving her? Humming in thought I pulled out a coin from my inventory and punched a hole through it with an application of lightning chakra. That done I clasped it between my hands and ran my chakra back and forth through the coin leaving an echo of my chakra that would naturally fade in a few months. Finally, I pulled out a twine of thread and looped it through the newly made hole before tying it around Karin's neck.

With that done I was able to slowly pry her off me and I gently laid her down on the bed where she curled up around her new necklace. I pulled the covers over her before I felt Kushina's arms wrap around me from behind. "Has anyone ever told you that you're the best big brother every?" She whispered from behind me. I simply shrugged and she had a quiet chuckle before she stepped back and gave me a kiss on the back of my head. "Because from what I'm seeing you are. Let's go make sure Mito gets to say goodbye and then you can go meet up with your team."

We walked over to Mito who was playing with her toy rabbit. "Mito say goodbye to your brother." She jumped to her feet rather quickly for a two year old and looked at me.

"No, Shiro was gone for forever. He has to stay." She stomped her foot angrily as she said that. I knelt down so I could be face to face with her.

"I'm sorry Mito but I have to. Your big brother has an important mission that he has to go on." It looked like she was about to have a full on tantrum so I tried to defuse it. "I have to go and get your birthday present." As quickly as the storm was brewing it defused at the word present.

"Like Mr. Rabbity?" She presented the toy rabbit to me. I nod solemnly as her mind tried to decide which was better. Me staying or getting a new present. "You'll hurry back?"

"I'll come back as fast as I'm able to."

"Mito, why don't you give your big brother a hug before he goes?" I saw an angry look settle on her face at Kushina's words.

"No, he doesn't get hugs because he's being mean and leaving." She ran off to one of the beds and dove under the covers. It would seem she entered the terrible twos stage a little early. I straightened from my kneeling position and turned towards Kushina.

She was looking over at Mito with a slight frown but it turned into a small smile as she began straightening my clothes and gear. "We'll be waiting here for any news while you're gone. Don't feel that you absolutely need to win the Chunin Exam. I'll be fine with it as long as you return safely." You might be but others won't.

"I have to win it. How else could I get the best birthday present for Mito?" She chuckled at the lame attempt at lightening the mood before she bent down and gave me a kiss on my brow.

"You need to get going or you'll be late." I nodded and gave a small wave to Mito who was poking her head out from under the covers before I turned to leave the room. As soon as I was outside the room an ANBU came and guided me out of the base where I flickered away to join my team at the South Gate. Both Hina and Shisui were there waiting for me along with another two genin teams.

"Good morning everyone." Both Hina and Shisui greeted me as well while the other teams merely acknowledged me. Shisui seemed to be looking intently at my shoulder for some reason.

"Why is your shoulder all wet?" He asked. I glanced down and saw that Karin must have drooled more than I thought. There was a big splotch of damp looking clothe on my right shoulder.

"Ah, a young lady was drooling all over me this morning." Curiously, Hina went red at that and I'm sure I heard something about shotacon from her. Jeez she actually is a pervert. Mentally patting myself on the back for such a spot on deduction of her character I continued on. "Yeah my little sister got up early to see me off but she just fell asleep on my shoulder." Before I could continue Jiraiya showed up in a puff of smoke and motioned for everyone to gather around.

As soon as everyone was gathered Jiraiya stepped up. "Alright, listen up everyone. It's going to be a two day journey to Suna. We'll make camp on the border between Kawa and Suna where a border patrol will escort us the rest of the way. You will be respectful or you will be going back to Konoha without taking the Chunin Exam. Am I clear?" A chorus of acknowledgement resounded out from all the genin and giving us a once over he nodded. "Keep up then."

We set a steady pace amongst the trees and the miles flew by. Several times during the trip we stopped and rested as necessary. We were also stopped at the border of Kawa by a random patrol but they let us pass without incident although they did shadow us for a while. Other than that it was an uneventful trip besides seeing the land turn more and more into a desert. On a side note I must say that I absolutely hate sand. It gets freaking everywhere even if you're using chakra to not actually touch it when you're running along.

The sun was beginning to set before Jiraiya called for a halt and we set up camp quickly in the dwindling light. We set up a guard rotation for the night and I simply sat down to start working on my poison mist skill. I was so close to being finished with the prestige skill that I wanted to finish it up. I received a few odd looks during the night but no one really commented on it all and in the morning a Suna patrol arrived to escort us to their village.

It was a boring run with sand and more sand everywhere before the village itself came into view. Well it would be more appropriate to say that the huge cliffs that surrounded the village came into view and as we drew closer we headed towards a cleft between the cliff faces. We were escorted to the gate by the patrol and then they left us to the gate guards as they raced back off to their duties. Following a boring hour filling out forms for the Chunin Exams we were escorted to a hotel for the night.

The Exams would actually start in two days so we had a day leeway where we would be able to move around approved areas within the village. I planned to head towards the market place the next morning to see if I could find anything for Mito. Everyone settled in for the night and I seriously considered just going to sleep because I wouldn't be able to practice any techniques during the night. It would be extremely foolish to do so around so many foreign ninja and it would also be considered impolite to do so as we were guests for the time being.

In the end I just stayed up and meditated for the duration of the night. Might as well get some experience out of it after all. Morning came quickly enough and I asked both Hina and Shisui if they wanted to come to the market with me. They both begged off so I went alone.

It was interesting being in a foreign village. I knew they had fewer people in total than we did yet it didn't seem like it as all the building were close together so they were more concentrated. They also didn't have any wooden structures that I could see and the buildings consisted of mostly clay or stucco. The clothing was also different as most of the natives seemed to wear some kind of head wraps or neck covers to cover up from the relentless sun.

I found the market place easily enough. All I had to do was follow the smell and shouting really. I knew I had the right place when after turning down the street I was greeted to the sight of rows upon rows of tents and stalls lining the road. Walking through the mess of people I browsed the merchant's wares humming lightly under my breath. I found some interesting artwork and a plethora of interesting looking food but nothing really stood out as a good gift for a two year old.

"Hey there, are you here for the Chunin Exams as well?" I turned to see a blond haired shinobi of about 15 years of age standing there with a smile on his face. A quick glance at his headband announced him as a Kusa ninja. I gave him a smile in return. It's always nice to put a face to the people who are stalking you.

"My team and I will be entering. I can only hope I don't slow them down a lot. They're so much older than me and I just don't want to be a burden."

"Oh, so it's your first time taking the Exams then?" I nod enthusiastically. "I remember my first time taking it. My team failed in the first portion it was so hard." I think I'm being vastly underestimated by him. Good for me bad for him I suppose. I allow a moment of worry to show on my face before it became resolved.

"My team is awesome though and when we win my little sister will be so proud of her chunin older brother." He laughs at that and then looks around.

"Are you in the market to get something for your sister then?"

"Yeah, she was so sad to see me go I had to promise to get her a gift. Would you know any good gifts to get someone?"

"I think I can help with that." The next few hours were spent wandering around the market with my new best friend Sora. He regaled me with stories of the war and I responded with what I thought was the appropriate amount of disgust or fear. By the end of it we had found a highly stylized fan with a lotus pattern on it that I though Mito would enjoy.

"Hey mister how much is that fan?"

He barely even glanced at me before he let out a gruff, "5,000 ryo."

"5,000! I only made 3,000 on my first C rank. How can it be that expensive?" The man just shrugged made a motion for me to either buy it or leave. I turned to leave before Sora stopped me.

"How much do you have?" I made a show of counting out my money.

"I only have 2,400 ryo. Why?" He pulled out his wallet and counted out 3,000 ryo. Taking 2,000 from me he paid for the fan and then gave it to me. "Thank you so much my sister will love it." Chuckling he patted my shoulder and even if I didn't feel the prick of a needle the ding would have given him away.

Ding! Gained +1 LVL Poison Mist

Vomiting and Diarrhea inducing poison resisted.

'Thank you in more ways than one.'

"Don't mention it. I have a little sister as well and I never want to disappoint her." He glanced up at the sun before he started talking again. "Do you want to go get something to eat? I know a good place."

"Yeah, but I have to pay for you. It wouldn't be fair otherwise."

"Great but it might be too spicy for you though. Just tell me if it is and we'll go somewhere else." I could even hear the concern in his voice as he said it. He really should go into acting.

"I can take it." I put as much bravado into my voice as possible and he chuckled as he led me through the market to a small stall that seemed to be selling lava instead of curry. Just being near the stall made my eyes water slightly. "Is this the place?" He nodded and with no small amount of trepidation I ordered two plates of food.

Sora began eating it easily enough so I shoved the first bite into my mouth. A second passed and then another. 'Hey this isn't so- Holy mother of God! It feels like Satan just rammed his dick into my mouth and pissed napalm. Why isn't my poison resistance protecting me?' Gagging and almost blindly reaching for the nearest source of water I was still able to hear the laughter of the surrounding people.

"Are you okay Shiro? We can go somewhere else if you like?" I finished drinking all my water and shook my head. I have to keep up the act.

"No,' cough,' no I'm fine. This is great." I started shoveling more of it into my mouth. Maybe if I eat it fast enough it won't burn as badly. It didn't, but I did finish it all. At the end of it I clutched my stomach and groaned. "Um, Sora, thanks for everything, but I need to, um, meet up with my teammates. Yeah, meet up with them. Please excuse me."

I dashed away and one of the locals 'helpfully' called out that it would burn worse coming out the other end. Thanking every deity that I didn't have normal body functions I continued to run all the way back to the hotel and slammed open the door to the bathroom. Not that I needed to but I could feel Sora's chakra follow me all the way back so I kept up the show. I stayed in there until I felt his chakra leave before I ventured out into the bedroom again. Hopefully my teammates had less of an eventful day than I did.

Several hours later Hina and then Shisui wandered in. "Hey guys how was your day?" They looked at each other then Shisui went first.

"Alright I guess. I just wandered around and got the layout of the surrounding area." He shrugged. "Nothing eventful."

"I went and shopped for shampoo and conditioner." We both eyed her and she turned a bit red before she turned haughty again. "What do you think my hair just naturally retains its silkiness?" I think she realized she was talking to the wrong type of people for this what with my natural bed head and Shisui's spikes. "Hmph, uncultured swine." Ignoring her for now I spoke up.

"Well, I got an enemy shinobi to pay for most of this stupidly expensive fan." I took it out and snapped it open. I had already checked for any traps or additional poison but I found nothing. "He then proceeded to poison me but I cleared it out of my system before it did anything." They both eyed me with concern.

"Are you sure you got everything out of your system?" Shisui asked while Hina had activated her dojutsu. Even if it is a great tool she should get in the habit of not relying on it so much.

"Yeah, it was meant to induce vomiting and diarrhea, but seeing as none of that happened I'm good. Just keep an eye out for a blond haired genin from Kusa. His name is Sora and even if he underestimated me he uses poison so be cautious about that." The both nodded and the rest of the night was uneventful except at midnight I quietly celebrated my birthday by spending 4 of my horded points on WIS bringing it up to 100.

Ding!

Lesser Chakra Regeneration Chakra Regeneration (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants a 20% increase in Chakra regeneration

Rolling for Bonus Skill

Wisdom of Solomon (Passive) LVL MAX: Grants a 25% bonus to experience gain while learning skills

Ding! Gained +2 LCK

My eyes briefly widened and I felt like slamming my head against the wall. I could have learnt things so much faster if I had just spent the points earlier. No wait, it said it was rolling for it so I just got lucky. I might not have gotten this if I had done this with 100 WIS my chakra regeneration should be… I did some mental math 127 chakra/min without adding my meditation on top of that. I could have quite a few things active all the time now and never run out of chakra.

In the end I was quite happy with my impromptu point spending. Now I felt even more prepared for the Chunin Exams and that was a good thing. Humming lightly I spent the rest of the night just staring out the window of my team's room watching the moon traverse the night sky. I was pulled from my contemplation when the first hints of sunlight began to filter down into the village and my teammates began to stir. After eating a light breakfast Jiraiya led our group of genin to a large nondescript building before turning to face us.

"I would wish you luck but we make our own luck. Make Konoha proud." With that he and the two other Jonin senseis' left. I looked at the two other teams and gave them both nods as we stepped into the building. Almost immediately inside of the entrance there was a desk manned by 4 Suna chunin and a line for each of them. Our three teams separated and each took a line.

It didn't take long to reach the front of the desk and as we did the chunin snapped at us, "Team name and affiliation." As team leader I stepped forward and spoke for us.

"Team Jiraiya, representing Konohagakure." The chunin's eyes had briefly darted between us when I said Jiraiya's name. Letting out a grunt he tossed me a small stone tablet with the number 44 on it.

"This will be your team badge for the duration of the Exam. Do not lose it or you will be disqualified." I made it seem like I slipped the badge into my pocket while I really put it into my inventory. I had found that as long as I thought about opening my inventory I could put things into or out of it from my pockets. Of course the item in question had to be small enough to fit in my pocket but it was a handy feature. "Go to the room behind me and await further instructions."

We walked through the door to find a large open space where there seemed to be ninja from every single village except Iwa. Which made sense since Suna just finished a war with them. I even saw some people from Kiri and Kumo each in their own separate corners glaring at anyone that came close. We made our way over to a wall and I quietly whispered to Hina.

"I want you to find out the number for each team and tell us." She stepped behind Shisui as her dojutsu activated and I listened to her quietly telling us every team's number. Good. That will help in the second portion of the exam. I spotted Sora in the crowd and gave him a cheerful wave when he caught sight of me. His look of confusion was priceless.

Soon enough the doors closed and a kunoichi appeared on the raised stage. She had green hair and a tanned face along with long baggy clothing that hid most of her body from sight. Everyone quieted down and looked towards her as she lazily raised her hand. "Yo. Suna welcomes you to the first Chunin Exams of the year and stuff." She yawned and cracked her neck before she continued. "I'm Aiko and unfortunately I'll be your senior proctor for the Exam. I always seem to get stuck with all the shit jobs around here so I'm a tad angry at the moment. In light of that anyone that questions me will be dismissed immediately. Are there any questions?"

I wanted to laugh. Did she really think someone would ask a question after what she just said? "Um, I have a-"

"Team 67 fails." I could detect a certain amount of glee in her voice as the team was dragged off protesting the decision. What an utter moron.

"Anyone else? No, good. Now as genin I consider you to be about as smart as a rock. You fumble around not really knowing anything and you seem to die in droves. For this portion of the Exam I want to impart a lesson of what could happen to you all. One of your teammates will be given a message. That person will then be given to two people of an enemy squad and they are allowed to do anything to retrieve that message as long as they don't leave a mark on your body. You will have two hours to complete this test."

There were mutters springing up before Aiko silenced them. "Am I hearing questions?" That sure killed the conversation. She looked around and then spoke again. "As I call your team number come up to the front and you will be escorted to your destination."

She started calling out teams in pairs and I quietly started whispering to my team along with most of the room. "I'll be the person taken. No, stop no arguments on this." Shisui closed his mouth. "Hina I want you to seal off the chakra of whoever you get and make sure they can't move after you have them." She nodded. "Shisui don't use any genjutsu before the 10 minute mark." He looked at me oddly then nodded. "Whatever happens don't lose your cool."

"Team 22 and Team 44." We exited our huddle and approached the front where a team of Kumo ninja was waiting for us. They seemed about 13 or 14 years old with two males and one female in their team. Our teams both observed each other as two chunin came and guided us to our rooms. The room our chunin guide led us to was bare except for one chair and she asked us which of us would be the hostage.

"I will be."

"Your message will be 'The river runs dry in the summer.' Now follow me." I left behind Hina and Shisui and passed by the opposing team's hostage on the way across the hall.

As I entered the room the male Kumo shinobi spoke up. "What the hell is going on with Konoha nowadays? Are they really so weak that they have to send kids into the field." I ignored him in favor of looking around the room. It was just as small and enclosed as the one I just came from with a single chair in the center. Perfect.

Small amounts of poison began to flow from my mouth as I talked. "We make due." He sighed and then walked over to pick me up by my shirt to hold me nearly to his face.

"Look, kid, the proctor told us we can't leave a mark on you. That doesn't mean we can't break your bones if you don't tell us the message." I let out a deep sigh and shook my head. His nose wrinkled but before he could say anything the kunoichi spoke up.

"J, put him down." Ah yes, Kumo's habit of naming their ninja letters. He frowned at her.

"N, how else are we supposed to do this?" A good cop bad cop routine I suppose. She motioned for him to let me go and he grumbled but did it.

"Listen, my name is N." She crouched down near me. "The Chunin Exams can be deadly and I saw your team on the way here. During the second stage it's usually fights to the death but you can avoid that if you just tell us the message." I seemed to hesitate and then shook my head.

"I can't my teammates are counting on me."

"Let's just- woah," there was a crash as J fell to the ground after trying to take a step. N looked towards him with concern.

"N are you-" she also tried to move and collapsed to the ground. "Whas goin on?" N's voice became slurred as all she lost control of her muscles. I stepped forward and chakra scalpels formed on my hands.

"That would be the poison you breathed in," I said conversationally as I cut the major muscles of both their arms and legs leaving them helpless even if the poison wore off. "You know how the proctor said that we couldn't leave a mark on the hostage?" I smiled at them as I dragged them from the room. "You're not protected at all."

I made it halfway across the corridor before Aiko showed up. Her eyes were half lidded as she gazed between me and the two people I was dragging. "What are you doing?"

I glanced back at J and N to see hope blossom in their eyes at the appearance of the main proctor. "Oh, well I was going to take them to our hostage to torture them until he breaks. Might have to kill one or two of them before that though. Feel free to tell me I can't and I'll do something else." She tilted her head to the side as she pondered my words.

"That,' she spoke slowly, 'is entirely within the rules. Congratulations on finding a loop hole, you'll make a good shinobi someday. Now, don't do it again or I'll kick you from the Exam." The hope that blossomed died a fiery death as Aiko spoke. I turned back to her and gave her a salute.

"You got it boss lady." I could feel her eyes on me as I finished dragging them across the hall and into the room Hina and Shisui were in. "Hey guys I'm back."

"Shiro? What are you doing and why are you dragging our hostage teammates with you?"

"Incentive." I said simply as I walked over to the bound shinobi sitting in the chair. My hands glowed blue again and I cut his muscles as well. No reason not to be extra cautious and as an added bonus it didn't leave a mark on him.

"Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way." I gestured to his teammates who were slumped on the floor where I had dropped them. "You can tell us the message or not, it's entirely your choice, but there will be consequences if you do not." As I spoke more poison left my mouth to settle on him.

I could see him swallow heavily as he looked between me and his teammates before he licked his lips. "You can't do anything to them. The proctors won't allow it." He tried to look over towards the chunin that was standing in the corner but I caught his face and made him look in my eyes.

"It's interesting that you should say that. On my way back here I ran into the head proctor and she gave me the go ahead." I gave him a wide smile. "I could cut open your friends and dance in their blood and the proctors wouldn't stop me. All I'm not allowed to do is leave a mark on you."

My piece said I stepped back as my chakra strings brought N floating over to me and then turned him so his head was facing the ground. Casually I brought a kunai to N's throat and looked back over at the still nameless Kumo ninja. "Well?" All he did was shake his head so I ran the kunai across N's throat. Blood began to gush from the cut and I stepped away.

"You might want to hurry up and come to a decision. I've nicked his jugular just then and if you don't decide within 2 minutes he'll bleed out." I began to slowly circle him as he jerked in the chair. It would seem that the poison is beginning to affect him.

"Stop it. Stop it you monster." I paused in my pacing and then continued.

"Monster? The only monster I see here is you. Are you so desperate for a meaningless promotion that you would let your teammate die right in front of you?" My pacing had brought me behind him and I ran my fingers down the back of his neck. "If I was a monster I would have disfigured them forever. If I was a monster I wouldn't allow you the chance to save them."

I leaned in and whispered right in his ear. "You can always wait 6 months and try again. Where's the harm in that?" My hand ran along his shoulder. "No one gets hurt, no one dies." I glanced back up to the now bloodied face of N turn paler. "Your teammate has about a minute left there."

He started panting and leaned away from me. "T-The night is darkest before the dawn." I glanced over at the proctor who nodded.

"Team 44 pass and Team 22 fails." I walked over to N and sealed off the wound before my teammates and I began to follow the chunin proctor.

"W-Wait what about us? Aren't you going to heal us as well?" I glanced back at him and shrugged.

"Not my problem." You'll probably be dead within the day anyways. My mission was to kill as many enemy ninja as possible as well as win the Exam. The walk back to the starting area was silent and we found ourselves being the first ones back. I leaned up against the wall and watched as Hina seemed to be debating with herself over something. She seemed to make up her mind about it and spoke up.

"What did you do to them?" I tilted my head at her.

"Are you sure you want to know?" She nodded.

"I hit both J and N with an intense amount of muscle relaxant so they would collapse without a fight. Then I cut all their arm and leg muscles. I also cut the hostage's muscles as well as giving him an aphrodisiac."

"A what?"

"A drug that induces pleasure. People can train to handle pain but having pleasurable thoughts as your teammate is killed in front of you broke him down mentally." I didn't mention the other poisons I had also given them. She seemed content if slightly off put with my explanation and I turned to see if Shisui had anything to say about it.

He just shrugged at me. "I would have liked to have been in on the plan but it worked so I can't complain." I hummed at that and we settled in to wait for the next portion of the Exam.

Age: 6 years - 0 months

Title: Rookie Root Shinobi

LVL: 19 - 14% to next LVL

HP: 1,230/1,230

Chakra: 34,648/34,648

Elemental Affinity: Water

STR: 130(156)

VIT: 123

END: 111

DEX: 141(155)

INT: 115(121.9)

WIS: 100(106)

LCK: 20

Points: 29

Money: 221,546

Skills upgrades and learned