Having left the encounter with the Suna genin and the Konoha genin behind, Naruto, Omoi, Karui, and Samui all continued their walk around Konoha for a bit since Naruto hadn't finished the tour. It was still midday in the village so it was generally crowded wherever they went.
It took a bit of time, but Naruto had pretty much finished the entire tour of the places he remembered, but he had one more stop that he wanted to show them. Karui, Omoi, and Samui were confused as to what Naruto wanted to show them, but when he brought them to a small little stand they could only fathom a guess as to what he wanted to show them.
Naruto came through the curtains blocking the view of a woman and an elderly man working. Naruto smiled as he remembered the nostalgia of the two in front of him. It almost brought the blond to tears, but he resisted so as not to get the unwanted sympathy from his two surrogate sisters and his best friend. Naruto guided Samui, Karui, and Omoi to the stool and Naruto decided to bid the two a hello.
"Ayame-chan how are you doing?" Naruto asked and immediately he was met with a frying pan to the face. Karui, Omoi and Samui tensed when they saw that and immediately narrowed their eyes at the woman in front of them, but seeing her eyes, there was sadness and anger.
"Don't call me that! You people kidnapped Naruto-kun and Kami only knows where he is. Say what you want and get the hell out!" Ayame yelled and soon the three Kumo shinobi sweatdropped. So it wasn't entirely her fault that she threw the pan at Naruto. Speaking of the blond, Naruto rubbed his face where there was a mark from the pan on the side of his face. Naruto sighed and looked over his features.
"Let's see blonde hair, blue eyes, whisker marks and a ramen lover. That sounds like me Ayame-chan," Naruto said to her. Ayame raised an eyebrow and looked Naruto over. There was the undeniable whisker marks, the blue eyes, and the blond hair. Ayame wasn't sure about the ramen part, but something about him made her believe that. Suddenly she saw the Kumo headband and narrowed her eyes.
"Well your not from Konoha so how do I know your really Naruto?" Ayame asked with a small smile. Naruto raised an eyebrow, before grinning and slamming his hands on the table surprising everyone.
"Get me you largest bowl of miso ramen and I'll eat it all in under ten minutes," Naruto said making Ayame widen her eyes and Teuchi to stare at Naruto with his mouth hanging. Samui, Omoi, and Karui were confused as to the scene in front of them, but it was very amusing so they watched it play out. Ayame turned to her father and smiled.
"One Naruto special Tou-san," Ayame told him. Teuchi, reluctantly nodded and got to cooking. It took about 20 minutes of waiting, but soon a big bowl was placed in front of Naruto along with a timer. Naruto grabbed a pair of chopsticks and his mouth watered at the sight of the ramen in front of him.
"If he eats that whole thing he'll have surpassed Yugito-sensei's level of hunger," Samui said watching the blond about to eat. Samui knew about Yugito's appetite and she knew about Naruto's appetite. Both trained too much and with their rivalry, they managed to stay remarkably thin.
"Go Otouto! Kumo nin never back down from a challenge," Karui silently cheered.
"Oh man, what happens if he can't finish the bowl? How much will we have to pay? Will we all go bankrupt from having to pay for this meal?" Omoi thought and shivered at the same time. He always had the habit of over exaggerating, but this was probably his latest one to date.
Ayame hit the timer and Naruto dove into the bowl of noodles. The blonde wasted no time and immediately started to slurp up the noodles like his very life depended on it. Karui cheered Naruto on and the blonde only went faster surprising Teuchi and Ayame. They were both convinced now. Only Naruto could eat ramen like that and the sight brought Ayame to tears and Teuchi to a full grown smile.
Samui, Omoi and Karui all saw their expressions and they smiled also. They finally realized that it was Naruto and no one else. Naruto placed the chopsticks down and drank the thick broth as he reminisced about the ramen he loved so much. Naruto placed the bowl down and was immediately brought into a hug by Ayame who was crying her heart out. Naruto chuckled and wrapped Ayame into a hug while Teuchi stopped the timer and smiled at the result. Naruto had finished the entire bowl in six minutes. He really was their old Naruto.
"Naruto, your alive! When did you get back? How have you been? Where have you been?" all these questions Ayame asked and Naruto was more than happy to answer them all for her.
"In that order; today, I've been good, and I've been in Kumo for the past five years," Naruto replied to each question in order. Ayame and Teuchi chuckled and decided to close the store early for a special occasion. Teuchi served Karui, Omoi and Samui some of his best ramen and the trio looked it over. The aroma was intoxicating for all three and soon they heard Omoi's stomach rumble.
"Wow Omoi, you must really be hungry," Karui said to him and Omoi blushed in embarrassment, but soon all three were eating and Karui's eyes instantly gleamed.
"This isn't normal. Now I see why you love it so much otouto. The broth really sets the noodles in a world of goodness. It's quite good," Karui said taking in her fill of the warm noodles. Naruto, Ayame, and Teuchi smiled as they watched their new customers eat the ramen that was prepared for them. Samui seemed to still have an impassive look on her face, but Naruto saw her usually cold eyes brightened up ever so slightly as she continued eating. Omoi found the noodles to be good also, but he was going at a lower pace that Karui since he probably wanted to savor the taste of the noodles in his mouth.
When Samui, Karui and Omoi were finished with their noodles, Naruto gave them a grin which was basically asking each of them how it tasted.
"It was good otouto," Karui said with a smile and a thumbs up.
"It definitely not a terrible food to say the least," Omoi stated making Naruto glare at him slightly. Omoi chuckled at Naruto's reaction to his answer and simply rubbed the back of his head while smiling. Naruto then turned to Samui and everyone else turned to her too. Samui sweatdropped at their anticipation of her answer and she tried to keep her impassive face while replying.
"It was cool," Samui said as she walked out of the stand. Ayame and Teuchi raised an eyebrow at her, but Naruto simply told them that it was her own way of complimenting them. Samui told everyone that she would be going back to the hotel to get some rest for tomorrow. The others nodded and Samui walked off back to the hotel leaving Naruto, Karui, Omoi, Ayame and Teuchi to talk with each other.
It was relatively a long talk too. Naruto talked about his life in Kumo and his training with Yugito and Bee along with his sibling rivalry with Karui, who he mentioned was his surrogate older sister. Naruto introduced Omoi as his best friend making said genin give an embarrassed blush. Ayame and Teuchi were relieved that Naruto was able to find a good place where the people accepted him. Though even if Naruto didn't say it, they knew he wouldn't return to Konoha like they would have wanted, but Naruto told them he would be around since Kumo's treaty with Konoha was really good. That information made the two ramen makers smile as they would get to see Naruto when he would be around. It was then that Karui and Ayame started talking about Naruto when he was younger or as far as they knew him and the information being spread made Naruto sigh. No one really noticed the time, but it was getting dark and Naruto, Karui, and Omoi had to get back.
"Well Ayame-chan, we have to go. I'll see you later," Naruto told her. Ayame nodded and the two decided to bid Naruto a farewell as the three Kumo genin left the stand behind.
"Their good people. I guess Konoha isn't as lowdown as I thought," Karui said making Naruto and Omoi nod. It didn't take long for the three to reach their hotel and the three instantly went to their rooms. Naruto and Omoi went into their room while Karui went to hers.
When Naruto and Omoi entered, they saw Bee on the bed while writing in his little book before said man looked up and smiled at the two of them.
"Ey yeah fools, where ya been?" Bee asked while Naruto and Omoi slumped on their side of the beds. Naruto quickly took off his jacket and his mesh shirt showing a simple, white T-shirt. He unpacked all the things he was carrying and so did Omoi.
"We were just touring Konoha. It's been along time since I've been here so I showed everyone around. Is Yugi-hime back?" Naruto asked. Bee leaned his head on a pillow and looked up at the ceiling with his own grin while adjusting his shades.
"Yugi-chan went to sleep. She said she was feeling tired. I'm goin' out like a light too. Night ya fools," Bee said as he turned out the lamplight and went to sleep. Naruto and Omoi chuckled and went to sleep also. It was finally the day of the chunin exams and both would be ready for whatever it threw at them.
Next Morning
Naruto, Karui, Omoi, and Samui could be seen walking towards the Konoha academy. It was finally the day of the Chunin exams and they were bright and early for it too. Naruto seemed more pumped up than usual, but for probably a good reason. Omoi seemed more tired than usual while Karui was just an energetic as Naruto. Samui was the usual calm person in the group so she didn't say much.
"Alright is everyone ready?" Naruto asked them. Samui, Karui, and Omoi nodded while Yugito and Bee patted their genin on their shoulders.
"Alright guys, it's time show everyone da' powa' of Kumo ya fools," Bee said and everyone nodded. Bee and Yugito then vanished out of sight while Naruto and his team came into the Academy building. Naruto looked over the halls of the old building and sighed. It was just the same as when he left. It was also crowded with genin of all ages. Soon Naruto, Karui, Omoi, and Samui went up the flight of stairs and instantly saw a group of genin crowded around one door. They observed a scuffle between a genin from Konoha with a buzz cut and green spandex fighting another genin who was blocking the door.
"Please let us through. We have to take the exams," A girl with two buns in her hair said to them. Both genin scoffed and stood back at the door.
"Please you'll just die. We're doing you a favor by stopping you," one of them said to the chunin examinees. Karui sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose and Naruto shook his head at all of them. Omoi had to lightly chuckle while Samui narrowed her eyes, but the four kept walking up the stairs as Naruto whispered to his team.
"Ugh, such a pathetic display of genjutsu. Though I have to thank Mabui-oneechan for those genjutsu lessons or I might be like those guys standing there with stupid looks on their faces," Naruto muttered and Karui chuckled with a nod. The four walked up one more flight of stairs, but stopped when they heard someone talk.
"Enough with this damn genjutsu. This is only the second floor. We still need to go to the third floor," Sasuke said making everyone widen their eyes. Naruto and the others saw Sakura had hearts in her eyes aimed at Sasuke while Sai had on his creepy smile as usual. It was then that one of the genin pointed to Naruto's team and smirked.
"Then maybe you should follow that team since they've got better directional sense than any of you," one of them said and suddenly everyone was staring at the Kumo genin. Naruto sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. This just became harder for them. That was the start of the test and people would have failed for not figuring it out if the damned Uchiha kept his mouth shut, but the damaged was done now. However on a closer inspection, Naruto saw another Konoha genin who seemed to be scowling at them and the Suna genin from yesterday who looked at him impassively like always.
Sasuke suddenly seethed, but huffed his annoyance until he heard Sai speak while taking out a small notepad with an ink pen and started drawing.
"See Sasuke, I told you that you should've kept you big mouth shut or is that big mouth in compensation for your tiny dick?" Sai asked making Sasuke stare daggers at his teammate before they saw the green spandex genin walk up to them.
"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke asked in a pissed off tone. The genin then gave a thumbs up and his teeth sparkled making everyone back away from him.
"I am Rock Lee and I presume that you are Sasuke Uchiha. Let us do battle!" The now known Lee said the Uchiha. Sasuke smirked as he locked eyes with Lee.
"You know I'm an Uchiha, yet you still want to fight me? You've got guts," Sasuke replied and Naruto had to admit that it seemed interesting to see, but there were other things more important so the blond walked off with his team leaving Sasuke's team to fight it out with the other Konoha genin.
Team Jinchuuriki walked a little longer until they came up to a door while seeing Yugito and Bee waiting for them.
"What are you guys doing here?" Naruto asked them. Yugito grinned and walked up to them.
"We just wanted to see you off. It gets real from here so give it all you've got guys," Yugito told them. Naruto nodded along with his sister, Karui. Samui gave a small smile and Omoi cracked his knuckles. Before they went in though, Naruto grabbed Yugito's arm and took her to the side of the room.
"Wish me luck Yugi-hime. By the end of these exams you'll be mine," Naruto told her. Yugito chuckled and poked Naruto in the forehead. She did have the decency to blush and she heard Nibi telling her that she would be in for one hell of a ride when they matured in their relationship making Yugito's blush deepen a bit more.
"Good luck Naruto-kun," Yugito said in a soft voice that made Naruto's legs tremble slightly making Yugito giggle. The two returned and then Yugito and Bee vanished out of sight. Naruto grinned and turned to Karui who was smiling also. He turned to Omoi who nodded for him to proceed and lastly he turned to Samui who merely nodded with a small grin.
"Alright then..let's go!" Naruto said and he pushed the doors open. The entire team walked through and were instantly graced with the weak KI of the hundreds of applicants around the exam room.
"You think that's a KI? Kyuubi-chan mind helping me out?" Naruto mentally thought and his vixen was more than happy to comply.
"Go on Naruto-kun. Show these weaklings what you can do," Kyuubi said and while channeling some of Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto forced his KI around the room making almost all the genin choke from the fierce amount. The KI wasn't directed at his team, but they knew what he was doing and it made them all mentally chuckle before Naruto toned it down and allowed everyone the pleasure of breathing again.
"Hehe nice job otouto, you scared everyone shitless with that one," Karui said patting Naruto on the back. Naruto grinned with a nod, but then the same person who scowled at him earlier decided to make an appearance in front of him along with Lee and the female member of their team.
"So Kumo, are you going to try and kidnap us again or is this treaty going to last this time?" A Hyuuga asked. The only reason Naruto knew he was a Hyuuga was because he knew about Raikage's fascination with the Hyuuga bloodline and Naruto was sure that with the way this Hyuuga was acting it was kind of obvious what he was.
"I don't know what the hell your problem is, but don't go disrespecting my village Teme," Naruto said with a glare and the Hyuuga's matched his own.
"Neji, that's enough! We can't fight just yet. Let it go," the female said and Lee nodded with her.
"Tenten's right Neji. It's unyouthful to attack our opponents when they haven't done anything wrong yet," Lee said and the now identified Tenten nodded also. Neji's scowl deepened and spoke to his teammates, but he never broke the glaring match he had with Naruto.
"Kumo's wrong in every sense of the word. You guys better pray to Kami that I don't find you or it'll be the last time you breathe," Neji said and walked away. Naruto narrowed his eyes and so did the Kumo genin. Just like Naruto, they knew about Kumo's odd fascination with the Hyuuga's byakugan, but after the treaty was signed, Kumo had pretty much stopped all attempts at taking the Hyuuga's dojutsu. Maybe they still didn't forgive Kumo for what they did, but their wasn't any fixing the past only the future.
"Well looks like you guys experienced Neji's hatred. Sorry about that. He's always troublesome with his pride," A pineapple hair shaped genin said and behind him was a fat genin and a blonde one. Almost following them where other Konoha genin. There was a kid with a dog on his head, one whose face was covered by glasses and a trench coat, and a girl who seemed to be looking at Naruto with an embarrassed blush. Naruto felt he remembered them all from somewhere, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember.
"Shikamaru, why are we talking to them? Their our opponents," the girl with blonde hair said making the known Shikamaru sigh and rub the back of his head.
"Dammit Ino, your so troublesome. Opponent or not, it's rude to not say something after what Neji did. Besides, Konoha and Kumo are allies due to the treaty," Shikamaru explained and Ino just huffed.
"Shikamaru's *munch* right Ino. Don't be so *munch* mean," The fat kid said before Ino smacked him upside the head.
"Shut up Choji, you need to go on a diet right now anyway," Ino said making Choji get depressed. Karui chuckled at his expense along with Naruto. Omoi raised an eyebrow while wondering if all Konoha genin were like this. Samui didn't really reply to anything since she didn't feel like talking.
"I hope you guys are ready cause we're gonna beat each and every last one of you," the dog boy said with a feral grin. Naruto raised an eyebrow while Karui chuckled.
"You? Yeah right dog boy. That'll be the day," Karui replied making the boy snarl.
"C-calm down Kiba-kun. It wouldn't be good to entice our competition. Right Shino-kun?" The girl as the boy in the trench coat. Shino nodded and stepped forward.
"Hinata is right Kiba. We don't know how strong they are. It would be unwise to underestimate them," Shino said while looking closely at Naruto. Soon the door behind them opened showing a messed up Sasuke along with Sakura and Sai.
"Sasuke-kun!" Ino yelled while draping her arms over Sasuke's back. Sai rolled his eyes and went back to drawing while Sakura grew a tick mark. Said pink haired girl grabbed Ino and the two immediately started to duel with each other over the proud Uchiha.
"What the hell are they doing?" Karui asked pointing at Sakura and Ino. Everyone else sighed and looked at the scene and it brought a bit of embarrassment and shame to the group of Konoha genin.
"Umm this is normal or rather as close to it as can be. Sorry you have to see this," Shikamaru said before everyone heard shouting.
"Get away from Sasuke-kun Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted.
"Shut the hell up forehead! Sasuke-kun is mine!" Ino yelled making everyone sigh. Karui and Samui personally rolled their eyes. Fangirls were the worst type of kunoichi. They were also the type to die faster than anyone else. Sheesh, bringing shame upon proud kunoichi that train like hell everyday to prove themselves only to be considered weak because of girls like this.
"If I fight them, I'll teach them both what being a true kunoichi is about," Karui said mentally while tightening her fist.
"Pathetic," Samui thought before ignoring the two girls in front of everyone. That was before another genin showed up with who had silver hair and the Konoha head band. Jeez, it's like Naruto's team was a stupid magnet for them.
"You guys don't seem to understand the situation here. Please look at that," the guy said and everyone looked to see countless people glaring at them, but for an obvious reason they avoided Naruto's team and instead directed their KI at the Konoha shinobi. Nearly everyone cowered or felt the pressure before Omoi decided to help them out and switch the conversation.
"And who are you?" Omoi asked bringing everyone back to the man. Said man smirked and adjusted the glasses on his face.
"I'm Kabuto Yakushi. I'm also a genin like you. I've taken this exam seven times," Kabuto said making Naruto, Karui, Omoi and Samui narrow their eyes at him. No one sucks that much and having that much experience should be more than enough to pass the exams. Something was wrong with the guy, but they decided to not judge just yet.
"Wow you must really suck then," Kiba said with a laugh and Kabuto's eyebrow twitched before he sighed.
"Or rather it means that I have a lot of experience and intel on the other competitors. I thought I'd help my fellow genin out. Tell me what you want to know about a person. My info cards will help," Kabuto said and everyone smiled or grinned at him. Soon Sasuke stepped forward and decided to jump at the chance.
"Fine, I'd like information on Rock Lee, Sabaku no Gaara, and Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze," Sasuke said and he immediately heard the gasps from multiple people as did some of the members widen their eyes.
"Namikaze? Where have I heard that name before?" Shikamaru wonder as did Shino and Hinata. The other rookie nine had never heard of the Namikaze name, but with the way some of the competitors tensed, especially those from Iwagakure, they figured it was something important. Naruto, however, knew what that meant and so did his team. The blond had just become known to most as the Yondaime's son and now he would be a target.
"Aww you know their names. That ruins all the fun," Kabuto said before channeling chakra through the cards and taking three from the deck. Kabuto looked at the first on with Rock Lee on it.
"Rock Lee. His teammates are Neji Hyuuga and and Tenten Higurashi. He has completed 25 D-rank missions and 3 C-rank missions. He is currently the best taijutsu user in Konoha only being top by Kakashi Hatake and Maito Gai," Kabuto announced from the card. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and so did Naruto.
"So bushy-brows is better than I thought," Naruto thought while Kabuto took out the next card and read it aloud for everyone to hear.
"Next is Sabaku no Gaara. His teammates are Sabaku no Temari and Sabaku no Kankuro. He's completed 3 C-rank missions, 4 B-rank missions and...damn 1 A-rank mission. It says that he hasn't gotten hurt one time in any of these missions," Kabuto said making everyone gulp, but Naruto, Karui, Omoi, and Samui all smirked from that little bit of information interesting to hear. To fight someone who never got hurt once even in an A-rank mission? It was downright exciting to fight someone like that. Kabuto went on and took out the last card. Naruto could have taken that card and torn it to shreds, but for some reason he wanted to know his stats also. It might be fun to know he figured. Plus, maybe he could find out about who this guy really was if him and his team played along.
"Let's see, ahh here we go, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. His teammates are Karui, Omoi and Samui from Kumo. He's completed 15 D-rank missions, 6 C-rank missions and 2 B-rank missions. Huh? It says he used to come from Konoha, but now he's in Kumo," Kabuto said shocking the entire group of Konoha genin. Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head while the Rookie Nine narrowed their eyes at him to see if they even remembered him.
"Don't strain yourselves. You won't remember me. You never gave me the time of day during my early life either," Naruto said letting out a little bit of venom in his voice, though not intentionally. Karui lowered her eyes in sadness at Naruto's words and so did Omoi. Samui placed a hand on his shoulder and Naruto sighed.
"Well whatever. It's in the past anyway," Naruto said and suddenly a puff of smoke appeared making everyone cough and get back. Soon a man with a bandana on his head appeared and slammed his hands on the table.
"Alright you maggots. Sit down and shut the hell up. I'm Ibiki, your proctor for this portion of the exams and I welcome you to the Gates of Hell," Ibiki said to them. Everyone raised their eyebrows at him before Ibiki slammed his hand to the blackboard behind them.
"Alright, listen up cause I won't repeat this. You will all have a written exam. There are nine questions each. Each question earns you a point. There will be NO CHEATING! If your caught cheating five times you will be removed from the exams. Now then, come and take a number and go to your assigned seats. When the time is finished, there will be a tenth question. I suggest you try to stay alive till then," Ibiki said to them. Everyone walked up to the front and took a number and before long they all went to their assigned seats. They were all handed a test and Naruto raised an eyebrow and before long he panicked.
"Dammit I hate written exams!" Naruto mentally yelled out and he heard Kyuubi chuckling at the back of his head.
"Alright the test begins...NOW!" Ibiki yelled and everyone immediately got to writing. Naruto looked over the questions and he quickly placed it down. There was no way in hell he could answer these. Hell, he doubt even Samui could answer these and she was the smartest out of the four of them, so what was the point to this? Naruto slowly turned his eyes to see Sasuke mimicking the strokes of the person in front of him and Gaara was using his sand to look for answers. Naruto sighed and looked at his test paper.
"What the hell? This is too damn hard. I doubt even a chunin could answer this and what's with these half given questions? It's like he wants me to che-," Naruto suddenly slammed his head on his table and looked back up at his paper.
"Of course. It's so damn obvious. He wants us to cheat. He daring us all to acquire information and not get caught doing it," Naruto thought and suddenly smirked. It was all a mind game to this guy. Well he'd be damned if he lost like this.
"Kyuubi-chan, mind helping me cheat?" Naruto asked her. Kyuubi chuckled at Naruto's slyness. He really was just like a fox.
"Sure Naruto-kun. I'm glad you figured it out. Now then, let me see that paper," Kyuubi said and Naruto did just that. Over the course of ten minutes, Kyuubi told Naruto the answers to each problem with accurate detail and the blonde was finished in no time. Naruto set his paper aside and with a quick flash of his eyes he saw Omoi and Karui having some trouble. Samui was mostly alright as she used on of the mirrors in the room to her advantage and looked over someone's answers. Naruto smirked and decided to help his best friend and his surrogate older sister. The blond knew that he would get caught at least once with this, but it was worth it for them to pass. Naruto took out a single kunai from underneath his jacket's sleeves and flung it Omoi's desk. As he expected, Naruto got caught and it was jotted down. When the kunai hit the front of Omoi's desk, the white haired boy looked up and saw Naruto with a hidden smirk across his face. Moving his hand slightly, the blonde went through several handsigns for a morse code and Omoi grinned with a nod.
"Whew, I thought Naruto was gonna let the pressure get to him. Then it would have been up to me to pass and then Naruto would have felt bad which would've caused him to hate me in the end," Omoi thought, but he moved it from his thoughts and took out a kunai also. He was jotted down also when he threw it precisely at Karui's paper. The redhead was about to retort, but she saw Omoi going through the handsigns that Naruto had taught them a few years ago. It was meant for exact situations like this.
"Man, am I glad that my otouto came up with that. Now I can move like I want," Karui thought and like clockwork, the two genin began to spy on others paper. Omoi adjusted his headband slightly and due to a small reflection on a mirror to the side, he allowed Karui to see the next couple of answers and in turn, Karui adjusted her own headband down and Omoi looked at the mirror in front of him just a few feet above Ibiki. He saw thanks to that reflection, he saw the answers to a paper in front of Karui and he began to write. In no time, Karui and Omoi finished and covered their papers. Samui finished also and saw that Naruto, Karui and Omoi had all finished also. Then, they just had to wait.
"Number 35 fail, number 23 and 78 fail," Ibiki called out making the three genin leave. Soon another team was called out after that also.
"Number 26 fail. Number 45 and 83 fail," he called out again thus eliminating the ones who got caught. This continued for another 10 minutes and in that time six other groups were called out and suddenly time was finished.
"Alright maggots, stop writing. I'm surprised that the lot of you made it. Now then, before we begin the tenth question, I want to know something. Do you want to attempt this question?" Ibiki asked and everyone was utterly confused. Sakura suddenly raised her hand to get Ibiki's attention.
"Umm what happens if we don't take the question?" Sakura asked and somewhere deep inside, she was regretting asking that question. Ibiki turned to her and glared making Sakura shiver.
"Well obviously you fail, but if you take this question and fail, you will be branded a genin forever so I'm giving you a way out," Ibiki said and immediately people began to get upset.
"What the hell! That's not fair!" Temari yelled, but everyone was silenced by Ibiki's KI.
"Shut up! My exam, my rules. Your all just too damn unlucky to have me for a proctor, but lucky for you I'm giving you mercy so will you take this question or not?" Ibiki asked. Naruto, Samui, Omoi and Karui already knew that was bullshit. This guy couldn't control that, especially not for other people's villages. He's no Kage and his rule sure as hell doesn't apply to Konoha, much less Kumo or another of the other villages.
However, most people weren't that smart and easily gave up. At least four groups left the room and with each one leaving, Naruto's tick mark grew wider on his head before the blonde slammed his hands on the table startling everyone.
"Come on people, grow some damn balls! What shinobi doesn't take risks for their village! We put our lives on the line everyday and you are all scared of a stupid question? So what if your a genin for the rest of your life. It's just a damn rank, in the shinobi world rank means nothing. Now sit down and wait for the damn question!" Naruto said and sat down with a huff of annoyance. Samui closed her eyes and grinned while Karui chuckled and Omoi sighed. It was just more work for them, but hey, it wouldn't be interesting if everyone left would it?
"He's convinced everyone to stay. Hokage-sama did say he would be an interesting one. Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze eh? I guess that's it," Ibiki mentally said and huffed, but then smirked.
"Congratulations on passing the first part of the exam. That's it," Ibiki said to them. Everyone was instantly confused and Ibiki chuckled at their reactions.
"What do you mean we passed? What about the tenth question?" Sakura asked and Ibiki sighed.
"That was the tenth question. It was whether or not you would accept the question despite the consequences if you failed. It was to test your resolve of becoming chunin. In the shinobi world, one doesn't have the luxury of choosing their missions," Ibiki paused to remove his bandana and everyone stared at the numerous cuts, burns, and lacerations that came across his scalp and Ibiki continued on.
"You will be required to send your men into duty knowing full well that they might die. Those who wish to abandon a mission and let their men live to fight another day aren't shinobi, at least not in my book, but you all made it and you can go with you heads held high," Ibiki said tying his bandana back on. Everyone suddenly cheered that they made it and were all happy with their accomplishments.
"Well that wasn't so hard," Naruto said to himself and though he didn't know it, Kyuubi rolled her eyes and chuckled softly wanting to refute his words when she remembered how he acted when he didn't know the answers.
The celebration didn't last long before a cloth bursted into the room, scaring the hell out of some people and then it stuck to the ceiling and the floor making a banner with a woman who had purple hair in a pineapple shape. Seriously, what was with all the pineapple shaped hairstyles? Did everyone in Konoha suddenly grow a fetish for pineapples while Naruto was away or was this a new sense of fashion that he didn't know about?
"Don't get comfortable gaki. I'm Anko Mitarashi and I'm the proctor for the second part of the exam. Now follow me to the next stage. Let's go!" Anko yelled with her fist pumped in the air. For Naruto, who slammed his head on the table again, it was official. Konoha had become a breeding place for weirdos while he was gone. Ibiki appeared from behind the banner and narrowed his eyes.
"Your early...again," Ibiki said and Anko sweatdropped before looking over the room to see a significant number of genin still in the room.
"What the hell Ibiki! 48 people passed? Your losing your touch," Anko said and Ibiki chuckled.
"Or we've got a stronger crop this year," Ibiki said to her. Anko grinned and twirled a kunai in her hand while looking all the genin over.
"Yeah well it doesn't matter. When I'm done with everyone, more than half these people will be dead," Anko said in a slightly menacing tone making the genin gulp at what she had planned. Anko then walked towards the hole she made and turned to everyone.
"Alright people get a move on. You should know where to meet so get going. If your late by five minutes then your disqualified," Anko said jumping out of the hole and running off. Naruto grinned and his team reassembled together.
"Well let's go, we read the map and based on where she's going we can get there too," Naruto told them. Samui, Karui and Omoi nodded and touched Naruto clothes. Naruto then vanished in a lightning shunshin shocking all the genin present and some of the chunin who wondered how a genin knew such a technique.
With Yugito and Bee
Bee was currently in a room looking over his rapping book, but he couldn't focus. He was more set on Yugito who had been pacing the floor for at least half an hour.
"Yugi-chan calm down. Dey is gonna be alright, they all really know how to fight," Bee told her. Yugito sweatdropped, but sighed and eventually stopped walking.
"I know Bee, but I can't help but be nervous," Yugito said while she continued walking. It was then that she heard Nibi sigh and she wondered what her bijuu wanted.
"Man Kitten calm down. Have some faith in Naruto-kun and his team. Seeing you pace for that half an hour made even me tired. Just calm down and it will all be fine," Nibi said reassuring Yugito. The blonde woman sighed and walked over to a couch and suck into it. She then rummaged through her backpack and took out a book on jutsu creation. Naruto inspired her to make more of her own techniques like he did over the years and she told herself that she wouldn't lose to Naruto so she had the idea for a katon jutsu and now she just needed to read the book to understand the mechanics behind it. Yugito read for a bit and in little to no time, her legs started to moved slightly and then a bit more, by then it was too much and the Nibi jinchuuriki jumped to her feet and started to pace the floor again.
"Damn, I can't stay still!" Yugito yelled and decided to pace the floor and read at the same time. Bee, Nibi, and Hachibi sweatdropped at her actions, but found them to be kinda cute in some ways.
Back with Naruto and his team
Team Jinchuuriki had just made it to the training area that Anko talked about and they saw said woman leaning on the fence while sipping some tea and apparently eating some dango which made them sweatdrop at her actions.
"We tried to get here and she's eating dango? Who the hell is this woman?" Karui wondered and along with her was Naruto, Omoi, and Samui who were wondering the same thing. After another 3 minutes, multiple people arrived and Anko opened her eyes to see everyone near the fences. She then leaned off the fence and smirked.
"Well you all made it. I'm proud of you guys, but now is not the time to get excited," Anko said and turned to the area with overgrown trees and other things.
"This is Konoha's number 44 training ground. Or as we like to call it...The Forest of Death," Anko said and every genin gulped when they heard the sudden screech of an unknown animal inside.