~A Flower Amongst Thorns~

Chapter Twelve: What's the Tenth Question?

"Now…BEGIN!"

As soon as the signal was given, every genin in the room began writing. Hana flipped over her own test paper and started looking over the questions. The questions looked incredibly difficult, even for her. She was intelligent, but this would definitely provide a decent challenge for her.

She got to work on the first question, which was deciphering a code. They were instructed to decipher the code and interpret its meaning. Hana couldn't help but smirk as her ego swelled. She could decipher coded like this in a short amount of time; she was very good at it.

The next few questions were decently challenging, but not outright impossible. These were things that she had been taught years ago. However, the last question completely threw her for a loop. With this one, they had to calculate the trajectory and arc of a shuriken being thrown from the top of a tree that was ten meters tall. She swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat; she didn't have a problem with complicated math equations, but this was way too difficult for genin.

'How do they expect us to answer this? Even if someone cheats really well, they probably won't get the right answer. This is just stupid.' she thought.

Well, she couldn't leave the question blank; that would lower her score and put her team at risk of failing. So, she went about attempting to solve this problem using the information that they had been given and the information she already knew. She remained hyper-focused on her work, using the scratch paper that had been provided. Once she had finally finished, she had used up two pieces of scratch paper and most of the provided space on the test itself.

'Finally done…'

Hana slumped forward onto the desk, mentally exhausted. Thankfully, that had been the last question on the test, and she had about…twenty minutes to rest before the tenth question was given.

But then she heard someone yelping in surprise, and Hana sat bolt upright, startled. Someone had been caught cheating more than five times and was disqualified along with the rest of his team. He protested and began to cause a scene, and he was promptly dragged out of the room by two of the sentinels. His teammates followed after.

More and more genin were sent away because they had failed. They continued to filter out until a third of the candidates remained. Hana waited nervously for her team's numbers to be called, but, thankfully, they weren't.

After that, Hana watched the clock as she waited for the proctor to give the tenth question. She was curious about what the tenth question might be; although, that was probably the main thought on everyone's mind at that moment. It must be important; after all, they were saving it until the very end. Whether they passed or failed must be riding on how they answered it.

Hana began to doze off, mostly out of boredom, but the proctor's booming voice snapped her out of it.

It was time.

"Now, it's time for the tenth question." he stated.

'Finally…'

"But first, I will explain the rules that are specific to the tenth question."

Hana slumped forward and smacked her head on the desk.

'Fuck…'

More rules? What the hell was so important about this question that it required special rules?

"Before we continue, I'd like to remind you all that whether you pass or fail this exam rides on how you answer this question."

'That completely contradicts what you said earlier. What kind of stunt are you trying to pull here?'

"You all have an opportunity to forfeit the question. You and your team will fail, but you can come back and try again next time. However…"

That pause…it was just as ominous and intimidating as the man standing before them. It sent a chill up Hana's spine.

"If you choose to stay and take the tenth question and get it wrong…you will be barred from taking the chunin exams ever again and will remain a genin for the rest of your days!" he exclaimed.

The room erupted in a clamor of outrage and confusion. It seemed like many of the genin were not too happy about the possibility of remaining genin for the rest of their lives. Hana wasn't thrilled about it either, but she was going to stick it out with her team.

The first one to forfeit stood up, saying that they couldn't take the stress. Then he left with his team, apologizing to them. Then another team, and then another, and another. Multiple teams failed and were then sent away. Hana felt kind of bad for them. They must have been looking forward to becoming chunin, only to fail and be sent away. It must have been a tough decision for them to make.

Hana looked up and she saw the blond boy from earlier raising his hand. Poor kid; his confidence must have taken a huge hit. All of that bravado from earlier seemed to be gone now. It was almost non-existent. Maybe he wasn't ready. At least he could try again next time.

But then, the boy slammed his hand down on the desk and he looked the proctor dead in the eye.

"Don't underestimate me! I don't quit and I don't run!"

Hana was, unsurprisingly, shocked by this odd turn of events. This kid wasn't giving up, and he wanted everyone to know it. The proctor pushed him further to make sure that he wasn't bluffing and actually meant what he said.

He did. He meant every word.

The kid's resolve seemed to affect everyone in the room. No one else stood up and all of the tension from before had dissipated entirely.

Ibiki looked to the sentinels, who nodded in agreement.

The exam was over.

"Well then, on that note, I would like to announce…that you've all passed the first exam!" he stated.

The teams of genin all sat in stunned silence until the girl sitting beside Hana asked the question that was on everyone's minds.

"Wait, what do you mean we passed?" she questioned.

Ibiki went on to explain that the written test was merely a front for what they were really testing them on; gathering information without getting caught. Those who were caught ended up failing and dragging their team down with them. On an actual mission, a decision like that could prove to be fatal.

To emphasize his point, Ibiki removed his bandana and revealed the mass of scars that riddled his scalp.

Hana went visibly pale and was forced to look away. She didn't like looking at a person's scars.

Hell, she got queasy just looking at her own.

But she did understand what was going on though. The tenth question was basically a ruse to weed out those who weren't qualified to become chunin.

Heh, real clever.

Suddenly, a loud crash rang out throughout the room, startling many. Hana yelped and nearly fell back in her seat. A large black mass entered the room through the now broken window.

The mass turned out to be a woman who had wrapped herself up in a black tarp before launching herself through the window.

'This village is full of crazies!' Hana thought.

"Alright maggots, listen up!"

The woman was loud and brash, a person with a take-no-shit attitude. Her outfit choice was pretty bold too; a chain-mesh bodysuit with a short skirt, beige trench coat, and standard issue sandals with shin guards. No one in Oto wore clothes like that. No one that Hana knew, anyway.

"My name's Mitarashi Anko, and I'm the proctor for the second exam! Let's not waste any more time here; follow me!" she declared.

All of the genin just stared at her in stunned silence, which seemed to embarrass the woman. Ibiki peered out from behind the tarp and spoke to her.

"You're a little early." he said.

The woman made an attempt at regaining some form of composure and then turned her attention back to the genin. She wasn't too pleased at the number of people who had passed the exam, and it showed on her face; she was scowling.

"You let this many of them pass? Looks like you were too soft on them, Ibiki." she stated.

"We had a rather exceptional batch of candidates this time. They all had the necessary skills to pass." he replied.

The woman scoffed.

"Hmph. Whatever. The next exam won't be so forgiving. We'll really thin the heard then." she said, a dark smile stretching across her face.

That was…very unsettling. Hana felt a shiver crawl up her spine upon seeing the woman's rather sinister grin.

"Alright, listen up! All of you will meet up at Training Ground #44 at eight a.m. sharp! Then we can get started with the second exam! Are we clear?" she shouted.

On instinct, Hana replied, "Crystal."

The woman smirked again, pleased with the response she had received.

"Alright then; dismissed!"

As the remaining candidates filed out of the room, Hana met up with the rest of her team and they all walked out together. As soon as they had gotten something to eat, they would have another team meeting to discuss the next exam and how they should prepare for it.

They had to be ready. None of them knew what could happen out there.