I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 5: Chuunin Exams Part 1
Team Seven was waiting for Kakashi on a bridge. Shikamaru was sitting and leaning against the railing for a nap. Ino was playing by throwing weapons at the bridge around Shikamaru, making interesting designs. The brunette boy opened one eye and closed it again. Naruto was tapping his foot impatiently. Finally Kakashi appeared.
"Where have you been?" Naruto demanded. Kakashi held up his hands as if to say 'wait a moment'. He pulled out three cards and handed them out.
"Those are for the upcoming Chuunin Exams," he said. The team grinned and Kakashi suppressed a shiver. He felt sorry for whoever they fought in the exams.
"Well, I'll leave you to get ready. The exams are in three days. You have to go to room 301 at the academy at three," he explained. He shunshined away. The Genin talked excitedly amongst themselves.
"We should go to the weapons store to celebrate!" Ino proposed. The boys smiled at the blonde girl and followed her to their regular weapons store.
On the way there, they saw a couple Suna Genin getting into it with Team Ten. A Suna boy was holding the 'Honorable Grandson' by his neck. Shikamaru noticed a third Suna Genin standing upside down in the tree next to them. They silently jumped to the branch above him. Naruto saw Sasuke sitting on a branch across and lower down.
"No way! He bumped into me!" the boy from Suna said loudly. A rock collided with his wrist, causing him to drop the 'Honorable Grandson'. The boy scrambled away and hid behind Choji. The Suna boy looked up to Sasuke. The Uchiha heir was tossing another rock up and down. The three didn't listen while the Suna boy insulted Sasuke. Sasuke crushed the rock he'd been tossing.
"Stop, Kankuro," the boy in the tree said, "You're an embarrassment to our village." Kankuro started stammering about how they started it.
"Shut up or I'll kill you," the boy in the tree, Gaara, threatened. Kankuro paled and the girl next to him took a step back. Ino clapped happily.
"I give that an eight out of ten!" Shikamaru scoffed.
"Please, it was barely a six." This drew the attention to Team Seven. Gaara looked up and was surprised. Shikamaru was leaning against the tree trunk. Ino was sitting, swinging her legs like a little girl. Naruto stood in the middle, watching the interaction.
"What? They snuck up on Gaara!" the Suna girl thought.
"If you want to make a death threat, you gotta smile while you do it," Naruto said casually, as if he did it all the time. Gaara was uneasy at how easily they spoke of death threats.
"They rate death threats? Who the hell are they?" Kankuro wondered. They leapt out of the tree.
"Well, we have to be off. Ta!" Ino said as they walked towards the weapons store.
Once they were at the weapons store, Shikamaru grabbed a few packs of senbon. Naruto browsed the sword section. Ino went through assorted weapons. She grinned as she pulled a chain whip.
"Oh how darling! I simply must get it!" she declared. Naruto didn't like any of the swords better than Satsujin. Shikamaru shrugged, there was nothing of interest. They purchased Ino's whip and Shikamaru's senbon. They walked out.
And came face to face with Sasuke.
"What makes you so tough, huh? You're nothing but a bunch of dead lasts. You'll never be able to beat a real ninja," the Uchiha sneered. Naruto smirked and replied,
"Then what does that make you? Certainly not a real ninja." Ino giggled and Shikamaru chuckled. Sasuke glared, but Team Seven didn't even bat an eye. The Uchiha stalked off. Team Seven rolled their eyes and walked away.
It was the day of the Chuunin Exams. Team Seven headed over to the academy. They paused on the second floor, where a bunch of Genin were gathered around a doorway.
"Idiots," Shikamaru mumbled, "They can't even tell what floor they're on." They continued up to the third floor. Kakashi greeted them at the door.
"All three of you had to show up, since you're all here, there's no problem," he said, stepping aside. They entered, gaining the attention of all the Genin already inside the testing room. Everyone stared at them, until Naruto glared at them. They stood around, waiting for the exams to start. The doors opened again to reveal Team Ten and Team Eight. The stares turned to the newbies. Sasuke glared back. The stares seemed to intimidate Hinata and Sakura. Kiba grinned brashly and Shino was impossible to read. Choji looked determined. Team Seven made their way back to the doors.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't a Rookie reunion," Kiba chuckled. A silver haired shinobi approached them.
"You shouldn't be so loud. You already stand out since your rookies," he said, "I'm Kabuto, by the way." Shikamaru rolled his eyes. This guy was obviously planning something. You don't draw attention to yourself by helping a bunch of rookies unless you want something. However, unless it involved them, he could care less.
"I have information on the Chuunin Exams in this deck," he explained, flipping a card over to reveal that it's blank.
"Of course, I wouldn't leave this information for anyone to find," he continued, twirling the card with his finger. It revealed a map showing which villages had sent shinobi to take the Exams. Sasuke requested information on Gaara of the Desert and Rock Lee. Team Seven tuned out Kabuto's information spiel. They caught three blurs coming towards Kabuto from the crowd. They didn't bother warning the older Genin. The approaching blurs revealed themselves to be Genin from Oto. The leader went to punch Kabuto, but the silver haired Genin moved. However, his glasses broke and he fell to the ground retching.
"Hmm, sound waves coming from the metal gauntlet on that guy's arm. They get into the ear and mix up the fluids, making the body get off balance," Shikamaru thought. He whispered his analysis to Ino and Naruto. The two nodded that they heard and turned back to the unfolding events.
"Don't underestimate Oto," the lead Genin threatened.
"That was at least a five," Ino whispered.
"No way," Shikamaru whispered back, "It was barely a three. It wasn't even a death threat." The Oto Genin turned to Team Seven.
"What are you whispering about?" the girl asked threateningly.
"What we rate your threat," Ino replied casually before continuing her debate with Shikamaru about said rating. Her response threw off the Oto Genin.
"You rate threats?" the second boy asked. Team Seven didn't pay attention to him. Naruto turned to his teammates.
"Shikamaru is right Ino. It was barely a three," he said. Ino considered it.
"Hmm, I guess you're right. It does have to be a death threat to get a five rating," she said to herself. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. That's when the testing staff shunshined into the room.
"That's enough," Ibiki commanded, "There'll be time for fighting later." He ignored the grins on Team Seven's faces.
"This portion is the written exam. You will take a number and that is where you will sit." Once everyone had a number and was in their seats, Ibiki continued.
"This test will be an hour long and have ten questions. The first nine will be given to you at the beginning and the tenth question will be given when there are fifteen minutes left. Rules for the exam are as follows. This is a team test, meaning that your score is grouped with your teammates. We will be working a point deduction system. You will start with a full score and we will deduct a point for every incorrect answer. We will have sentries posted around the room. They will be watching you. If they catch you cheating, two points will be deducted. If you get caught cheating five times, you and your team will be expelled from the exam. If any member of your team has zero points, you will be expelled from the exam. If there are no questions, begin!" The room filled with the sound of pencil on paper. Some Genin were panicking. Shikamaru just filled in the answers. Ino filled in a few, but got bored and stopped. Naruto didn't even try. The blonde just laid his head down on the desk for a nap. Soon Shikamaru followed and Ino stared out the window.
"Alright, it's time for the tenth question. Now listen up, there are some rules specifically for the tenth question.
"More rules?" Sakura groaned. Ibiki ignored her.
"You can choose whether or not you take the tenth question." The room roared with sounds of protest. The Suna girl spoke above the noise.
"Say we don't want to take the tenth question. What then?" she challenged.
"If you don't accept the tenth question, then regardless of how you answered the other questions, you will fail. However, if you accept the tenth question and get it wrong, you will not only fail, but you will never be able to take the Chuunin Exams again." The participants protested loudly.
"You can't do that!" Kiba shouted, "What about the people who took it last year!" Ibiki smirked.
"I wasn't in charge of the exam last year," he replied smugly. He waited for a time. Finally someone raised their hand. After the first one went, a flood of others gave up. Naruto scoffed at them. Shikamaru woke from his nap. And Ino's attention returned from the window. None of them raised their hands. There were approximately twenty teams left when teams stopped giving up. Ibiki was about to speak when a bundle of cloth shot through the window. A woman with plum hair in a spiky bun unfurled herself from the cloth, lodging kunai in the ceiling. The cloth served as a backdrop reading "Mitarashi Anko, Proctor for the Second Exam!" Shikamaru chuckled and Ino let out a giggle.
"You're early as always, Anko," Ibiki said, as if this was a common occurrence. Anko sweat-dropped and asked,
"How many teams passed?" Ibiki looked around the cloth and answered,
"Twenty teams passed." Anko frowned.
"That many? You've gotten soft." Ibiki side glanced at the woman.
"Maybe there's just a stronger crop of Genin this year," he commented.
"Don't look that strong to me," she said to herself, before speaking so that everyone could hear her.
"Well, meet at Training Field 44 tomorrow morning. See you there!" With that, the Genin were let out of the first exam. Team Seven made their way out, smirking victoriously. Shikamaru yawned.
"I'm going to head home," he said. Ino and Naruto grinned.
"Sleep over at Shika's!" Naruto declared. The Genin made their way to the shadow-nin's house for a good night's rest.
No real signs of insanity this chapter, but then again, I haven't written the Forest of Death yet.
Anyways, please review!