~A Flower Amongst Thorns~
Chapter Eleven: The First Exam Begins
The first exam was set to begin at three o' clock in the afternoon on the first day of July.
The three Otogakure genin began making their way to the Academy at about two-thirty that afternoon, wanting to arrive early. Hana showed her teammates the quickest route to the Academy; she knew the streets very well, since she had lived on them for a while when she lived here.
The building itself wasn't difficult to find, and it only took them about ten minutes to get there from the inn. They made their way up the stairs and to room 301, where the exam would be held. All three of them stood at the door for a moment, just staring at them. They were all tense. Nervous.
Hana turned to both of her teammates and they nodded in silent agreement. She grabbed the handles of both doors, took a deep breath, and then opened the doors.
"Wh-whoa…!"
"That's a lot of people."
The room was packed full of genin from different lands; Konoha, Suna, Ame, Taki, Kusa…almost every ninja village out there, save for one or two. They were very intimidating, and many of them were staring at them intensely. That didn't help relieve any tension.
The three genin stood at the door and stared back at the crowd. They all exuded a kind of strength that none of the three possessed. Out of all of them, Hana felt it the most. She was quickly becoming overwhelmed by the intense chakra. Her heart began to race and her palms started sweating.
'Orochimaru didn't say anything about this.' she thought.
She started looking around the room for a place to sit; somewhere off to the side where they could blend in. She found a place by the nearest window where very few people sat. For the next twenty minutes or so, they all sat quietly as they waited for the exam to begin. Hana noticed a group of genin gathering by the door. She didn't pay much attention to them at first. That is, until, suddenly, one of them shouted:
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna beat all of you!"
While everyone else glared daggers at the loud-mouthed kid, Hana bust out laughing and she jabbed Asuka in the arm with her elbow.
"Gahahaha! Hey, Asuka, this kid's just like you! He's got a big mouth and a big head just like you do!" she laughed.
Asuka puffed out her cheeks and turned away as Hana continued to cackle like a madwoman. Mamoru, who had noticed something off, sidled up to Hana and whispered in her ear.
"Hey, Hana? Why's Kabuto here?" he whispered.
"Eh?"
Hana took another look at the group that had gathered near the door, and, lo and behold, saw a very familiar silver-haired teenager standing among them.
What was Kabuto doing here? Was he taking the exams too? Or did Orochimaru send him on a mission of some kind?
She felt the need to investigate further.
Without responding to Mamoru's question, Hana began walking towards the other genin. But before she could get any closer, one of the other candidates leapt out of the crowd and attacked. Kabuto managed to dodge his attack and the attack of a second candidate that lunged at him.
After the attacks, Hana took a few more steps towards them. But then, Kabuto fell to his knees and then vomited. Everyone around him was shocked, even Hana. He had dodged that attack. So, what happened?
Hana had an idea.
'That was a sound based attack!'
Hana broke out into a run and she forced herself in between Kabuto and the group of Otonin.
"What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to get us all kicked out? This guy isn't even from our village!" she shouted.
The boy with spiky black hair and the symbol for death written three times on his shirt scoffed at Hana.
"This punk here was mocking our village, saying that we're small. He said that we were insignificant." he stated.
Hana smacked herself in the forehead and groaned. This guy wasn't very bright, was he?
"Our village is small, you bloody idiot. Didn't you realize that there are only two teams from Otogakure taking this exam?" she replied, clearly annoyed with this kid's stupidity.
Another boy who was wearing a straw raincoat on his back and had most of his face wrapped in bandages stepped forward and spoke next.
"Why are you concerning yourself with him? Like you said, he isn't from our village." he stated.
Hana crossed her arms over her chest and she huffed.
"I don't want my team getting disqualified because of your shenanigans. Now knock it off!" she shouted.
Suddenly, a large puff of smoke enveloped the room and a loud, booming voice commanded everyone's attention.
"Alright you baby-faced degenerates! Pipe down and listen up!"
As the smoke cleared, a large man in a black coat and a few other shinobi wearing grey uniforms, stood in full view of the candidates. The man turned to the four Otonin at the back of the room and unleashed his anger.
"You four from Otogakure! You were given no permission to fight!" he shouted.
The boy with the spiky hair gave a rather cocky response.
"Sorry about that. We were just a bit jumpy." he said.
"Well, in that case, let me make something clear to the lot of you. There is to be no fighting during this exam, unless you are given express permission by the proctor. Even if you are allowed to fight, you are not to use deadly force. Are we clear?" he stated.
"Crystal…" Hana muttered.
She sighed and slumped forward.
'Why am I getting yelled at? I was trying to stop these guys…'
She had gotten involved in something that she shouldn't have and ended up being implicated in what happened. So much for trying to help.
"Alright, all of you line up. Each of you will receive a number that corresponds with where you will be seated during the exam. Once you have your number, find your seat so we can get started with the written exam." the proctor ordered.
"A-A written test?! No way!" the blond boy shouted. Apparently, he had been unaware of what this exam would entail.
Hana turned around and gave him a quizzical look.
"What's wrong with a written exam?" she asked.
"He's a moron. You should have seen him when we were in the Academy." a pink-haired girl answered. She must have been one of his teammates.
This kid was more like Asuka than Hana had originally thought; maybe even worse. She honestly felt sorry for his teammates and the sensei in charge of them. They must have a difficult time with him.
Hana and her teammates lined up to receive their seating numbers. Their seats were in completely different areas of the room, which they had assumed would make it more difficult to cheat. Hana found herself seated next to the pink-haired girl from earlier. They exchanged pleasantries for a moment before the proctor began speaking again.
"Now before we start the exam, there are a few rules that need to be addressed. Listen carefully, because I won't be answering any questions." he stated.
No questions, huh? That was bad news for anyone who might be confused by the rules for the exam. This was going to be rough on them.
"In contrast to what you might be used to, you will all start this exam with a full score of ten points."
'Ok, that's weird. But it doesn't sound too out there.'
"For every question you get wrong, two points will be deducted from your total score. You will also lose two points for every time your caught cheating by the sentinels."
One of the sentinels spoke up next.
"I'll be watching you like a hawk, so don't you even think about cheating." he said.
Ok, Hana was a little nervous now. Hopefully Asuka was smart enough to not get caught. Or maybe it would be better if she didn't try to cheat at all. Besides, even if she got all of her questions wrong, they would still be able to pass, right?
"One more thing…"
Hana had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something wasn't right here.
"If one member of your team loses all ten of their points, the entire squad fails!"
Wait…WHAT?! Was this guy serious? If one person failed, then the entire team would fail? That was insane!
Many of the other candidates began to protest, including the girl sitting beside Hana, but the proctor shot them all down quickly.
Hana could feel the blood drain from her face and all the way down to her feet. Good lord, she must have been as pale as a ghost. She was absolutely terrified of the idea of Asuka causing them all to fail. Hana could only pray that she would get at least one or two questions right.
"You have one hour to complete this exam. Fifteen minutes before the hour is up, you will be given the tenth question. Understood?"
There was absolute silence throughout the room, but there seemed to be a mutual understanding amongst everyone in the room.
The proctor, Ibiki, smirked devilishly.
"Now…BEGIN!"