Me: I do not own Naruto!

Last time:

And Kabuto sealed his fate. Kasumi glanced up, met Shikamaru and Shino's gaze. Although Shikamaru's eyes were heavy-lidded and Shino's were hidden by his glasses, the same sentiment passed between the three of them.

Kabuto... is the one we need to avoid.

#1

'Morino Ibiki...' Kasumi identified to herself, tapping a finger absently on the back of her paper. 'Head of the Torture and Interrogation Unit, a Division of the Konohagakure Intelligence Division.' The scarred man had - regrettably - interrupted a fight between Kabuto and a group of Sound nins and promptly separated the teams.

And then he had proceeded to hand out the paper tests.

She sighed, an almost amused smile curving her lips. Even from here, she could practically see Naruto's panic. For all of Kasumi and Sasuke's semi-patient teachings, theories and written exams were not the blonde's forte. This would be a trial indeed.

"The third rule is that during the Exam anyone caught by the testing officers doing sneaky activities, namely cheating, will have two points subtracted for every offence." Ibiki grinned a wolfish smile, dark eyes glittering.

'Ah...' Kasumi's eyes widened marginally, 'That's all but asking us to cheat. So this is that kind of test then... I guess I should have expected that from a member of the Intelligence Division. It's a good thing that information gathering is a specialty of mine...'

"So there will be some who will lose all their points during the Exam and be asked to leave." Ibiki continued.

"We'll be watching you guys..." A lazy proctor, one that looked like a suspiciously grown-up version of one of the ninja that had been guarding the door downstairs, smirked.

"Realize that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As shinobi trying to achieve the level of Chunin, be proud ninjas." Ibiki lectured sternly.

Get caught cheating, huh? Why, it was almost as if he was encouraging cheating, Kasumi thought to herself, hiding her smile.

"And the final rule. Those that lose all their initial points during the test and those that don't answer any questions correctly will be failed along with their two teammates."

Kasumi paused. That... might be a problem. Sasuke was smart - even if he couldn't answer any of the questions by himself, he would figure out the cheating rule. Naruto, on the other hand...

She snuck a glance behind him, finding her desolate teammate easily. Her gaze flickered around him and focused on blue hair. Hyuga Hinata. Mild smile returning to her lips, Kasumi faced forward once more, finger taping away. Hinata liked Naruto too much to let him fail here.

He would be just fine.

"This Exam will last one hour." Ibiki ordained. "Ok... Begin!"

Brown

Kasumi flipped her test over along with every other genin in the room and scanned over her test leisurely. All of the questions were very, very complicated.

She sweatdropped. There was no doubt Naruto wouldn't be able to complete a single one. In fact, she had doubts Sasuke would be able to complete a single one. Kasumi could conjure some answers - not all of them, but she would be okay.

Her teammates, though...

Pressing her lips together, Kasumi effortlessly solved the first problem, a cryptogram. Encrypted text was a skill that she had made a point of picking up; it was a large part of being in the Intelligence Division.

She proceeded to skip over questions two and three - far too much math for her - before continuing on question four, a problem that involved piercing together a case on several facts. Kasumi spared a moment to glance at her teammates.

Naruto, on the far left of the room, looked like he was going through a crisis, face pale as chalk and sweating buckets. Sasuke, on the far right, looked perfectly calm and composed... but to her Uchiha-experienced eyes, he was panicking almost as much as Naruto.

Kasumi sighed again. 'Guys... hurry up and figure it out! I didn't spend hours pounding underhanded tactics and slippery plans into your thick skulls for you to blank out on me now!'

Black

Sasuke peered at Naruto and frowned. This wasn't good. Even from this distance, Naruto was going off the deep end. It was understandable really, but in their current situation, not in the least helpful.

The Uchiha glanced down at his test paper and snapped his attention back to himself. While Kasumi looked like she was having no problems, Sasuke himself couldn't answer any of the problems on the paper. Honestly, when were they taught this stuff anyways?

Sasuke was pretty sure they hadn't been taught it. Ever

A scuffle to his right had him flicking a look at the examiner who was now scribbling something on his paper. Someone had just gotten caught, he assumed.

"Realize that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As shinobi trying to achieve the level of Chunin, be proud ninjas." Was what Ibiki had said, and unbidden, his female crewmate's voice echoed in his head as well.

"Being a ninja isn't about showing off or being heroic. That's not what our profession is about. Being a shinobi is sometimes sneaking in the dark, or assassinating a man before he knows he's been targeted, or stealing a precious artifact, or cheating in a race. Don't limit yourself with such rules."

Kasumi hadn't been talking to him at that time - she had been trying to get Naruto to let go of the shame the dobe felt at stealing from others, getting him to understand that in their world, being able to steal was an asset, not a liability.

But, nonetheless, Sasuke realized that those words applied in this situation, too. This wasn't a test to measure their intelligence. It was far more than just that.

'Hurry up and notice Naruto!' Sasuke counseled mentally, because this was a test to see how well they could gather information with their skills. The Uchiha didn't know if Kasumi knew - knowing her, she probably did - but he wasn't worried about her.

No, the one most likely to fail their entire team was Naruto.

Blue

Naruto was freaking out. 'Nope!' he corrected himself as soon as the thought crossed his mind, 'I am not freaking out. Kasumi-chan said freaking out is bad. No freaking out.'

But... but... but... his eyes landed on his utterly blank test paper and he had to resist the urge to leap to his feet and run around the room screaming. He didn't know how to do a single one of these problems! He was so screwed! Kasumi-chan and teme were never going to forgive him for this!

Naruto took another look at the accursed paper and gripped his head. 'This is bad! Seriously...! Seriously! SERIOUSLY!" Beads of sweat ran down his face as he quietly flipped out. 'What should I do... What should I do... What should I do... !"

Damn it, his team was counting on him! Naruto set his jaw, wiping his sweaty palms on his black pants. He couldn't give up now! But, what to do, what to do...?

Well, there was cheating, Naruto supposed. Or, he could, he didn't know, steal a test from one of the other guys. Except they would probably kick up a big racket, and Naruto didn't want that. Nah, stealing was off the list.

Which left cheating. What had the scary proctor said? Every time one of them was caught cheating, that was two points off. But that meant he could cheat four times without being disqualified, Naruto reasoned. So... cheating was the way to go!

But who to cheat off of...?

"Naruto-kun." A soft voice whispered from his right and, startled, Naruto looked up to see Hinata smiling shyly at him. "You can look at my test..."

Huh? Naruto froze, eyes widening. Was she serious?! A glance at her face told him she was dead serious.

Okay. He took a deep breath. Okay.

Naruto furrowed his brow, trying to think this through like Kasumi-chan had taught him. It could be a trap... except he didn't think Hinata would do that to him. She didn't seem like that kind of girl... and wasn't she friends with Kasumi-chan at any rate?

Yeah, Hinata wouldn't spring a trap on him. Naruto nodded decisively to himself. But still... "Hey Hinata, why are you willing to do that?" He asked, keeping his voice low.

"Because... I..." She hesitated, poking her fingers together and cheeks going even redder. Naruto found himself a bit worried; she wasn't developing a fever, was she? "I... don't want you to disappear here."

... Naruto didn't get that. At all.

"See, the 9 of us are the only rookies. We need to work together." Hinata whispered, a little hurriedly. She looked really flustered for some reason, but Naruto got this.

"Hehe... Oh, I see. I was kind of confused." Naruto grinned cheerfully at her, cerulean blue eyes brightening. "In that case, thanks a lot, Hinata!" He started to scribble down some answers, though he was careful to only write down two of them, so they wouldn't get in trouble.

Kasumi and Sasuke would get all of them, no doubt about it. All Naruto had to do was get a few of the answers, and he trusted his teammates to get the rest of the work done. He really was lucky, to be sitting next to Hinata.

"Y-You're welcome, Naruto-kun." Hinata glanced down at her desk for some reason, her face really red. Naruto frowned in confusion, but let it go. He made a mental note to talk to Kasumi later about it, though.

If Hinata was sick or something, he was sure his pretty, smart teammate would be able to help her.

Iron

Ibiki stared imposingly at the fresh batch of genin he was testing this year. It wasn't a terrible group, he admitted grudgingly, especially the ones from his own village. For all that there were 9 rookie genin, most of them weren't doing half-bad.

Kurenai's group, the Inuzuka, Aburame, and Hyuga were cheating with some subtlety. Well, the males were cheating. The Hyuga, the Heiress, if he remembered correctly, wasn't cheating at all. Apparently, she was one of the few intelligent enough to answer most, if not all, of the questions without having to cheat.

The Inuzuka was getting his dog to peep on the shinobi around him and then writing the answers the dog relayed back to him. Effective, even if it was spotted far too easily. The Aburame was more indirect, sending out tiny bugs to cheat for him, but it was noticeable with a bit of work from someone familiar with the clan.

Asuma's group, the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka were doing okay. Ibiki was fairly certain that the Nara himself would be able to answer all of the questions if he would just overcome his natural laziness and pick up the pen and move it. The Akimichi wasn't trying at all.

It seemed that both of them were waiting for the Yamanaka to perform her jutsu and get answers for them. He had no problems with the Yamanaka Clan's jutsu - his predecessor was Yamanaka Inoichi, and he remained a legend in T&I - and it looked like the little blonde girl had already picked out one of the planted chunin.

And then, there was Kakashi's group.

The Uzumaki, the Kyubi holder - Ibiki had no issues with the Jinchuriki; he judged based on what he saw with his own two eyes - had been completely alarmed in the beginning. He had managed to calm himself down in an impressive turnabout and engaged with the Hyuga Heiress.

Through some odd turn of fate, the Uzumaki had ended up next to the infatuated girl and she had offered him an opportunity to cheat. He had taken it, displaying a nice eye for opportunity, and copied down some of the answers, but not enough that it would have ever gotten either of them in trouble.

A kind heart, probably. It could get him in trouble later, but that was Kakashi's problem.

Predictably, the Uchiha had used his dojutsu to cheat. Ibiki had no true bias against the Sharingan, so long as it was used for his village, not against it. Upon figuring out the meaning behind the test, it had been smooth sailing for the Uchiha, who had straight out copied all of the answers.

Last of all was the Fumei, the straggler girl that had come to Konoha with her two older brothers for sanctuary. She had finished most of the questions of her own volition and turned her test over. Unremarkable, really, but that wasn't what caught Ibiki's attention.

Said little girl had her elbow propped up on the desk, her cheek cushioned against her hand. The smile on her face was soft and faint, her eyes at half-mast. But beneath those heavy eyelids, brown eyes skimmed the room, dissecting in a familiar manner.

Interesting. Most shinobi didn't obtain that level of perception until they were an experienced Chunin, with more than a few missions under their belt.

Shaking his thoughts off, Ibiki glanced at the clock. Forty-five minutes had passed. Time to start the real show. "Ok. We will start the 10th question."

Ten

"Now, before we get to it, I'd like to go over the added rules for this question."

Kasumi blinked. Added rules? The door creaked open, naturally drawing the eye of everyone in the room, and she saw that the Sand genin, Kankuro, was entering with a proctor.

"Heh. Nice timing." Ibiki scoffed. "Was your doll playing beneficial? Just sit down."

Doll? Sunagakure... they were the village with the puppet masters, right? So, this one was a puppet user, Kasumi deduced, glancing at the rest of his teammates. The girl... she had had a large metal fan strapped to her back. Most likely a wind user.

And the red-head, Gaara... her eyes landed on his gourd. It looked suspiciously like it was made out of sand. The Hidden Village of Sand... could it be that Gaara of the Desert could control sand? Was there such a thing? A bloodline?

"I'll now explain. These are the rules of desperation..." Ibiki said, black clock flapping. "First, for the 10th question, you must decide whether you will take it or not."

Humph. So, now, they had a choice, did they?

"Choose?!" The blonde girl with her hair in pigtails yelled out, "What happens if we chose not to?!"

Ibiki closed his eyes briefly. "If you chose not to, your points will be reduced to zero. You fail! Along with your two teammates."

"What does that mean?!" A genin screamed.

"Then of course we will decide to take the question!" Another added.

"And now... the other rule." Ibiki continued relentlessly. "If you chose to take it and answer incorrectly, that person will lose the right to take the Chunin Selection Exams again."

Kasumi stiffened, eyes widening. The hell? Was that even allowed?

"What kind of stupid rule is that?" Kiba shouted boldly. "There are guys here who have taken the Exam before!"

Kabuto. He was talking about Kabuto. Kasumi bit her bottom lip, struggling to keep her face impassive. Oh, she did not like that slimy snake.

Ibiki began to laugh darkly, smirk sinister. "You guys were unlucky. This year it's my rules. But I am giving you a way out."

Uh-oh. Kasumi burrowed her brow. She knew this tactic. A potential for pain, a pleasurable bait... a good tactic for getting weak-willed individuals to break.

"Those that aren't confident can choose not to take it and try again next year." Aaand, there it was. There was second of taunt silence. "Now let's begin the 10th question. Those that do not wish to take it, raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave."

'One of the planted shinobi will be the first ones,' Kasumi thought to herself, breathing in and out rhythmically. Now wasn't the time to lose her composure. 'The mob mentality will follow... but the true question is whether Team 7 will stay or leave.'

A hand rose in the air, trembling slightly. In an instant, every eye in the room was focused on the 'genin' with a goatee. "I... won't take it!" He called out. "I'm sorry... Genhai, Inoho..."

"Number 50, fail!" An examiner called out, making a mark on his paper. "130, 111, also fail!"

The quitter's teammates rose to their feet, faces a mix of anger and resignation. "Damn it!" Number 50 bent over his desk, heedless of Naruto's wide eyes.

"Me, too!" And, as expected, now that one of the genin had quit, others followed.

"And me!"

"Sorry guys..."

"I quit."

"Me too."

Kasumi tilted back her chair, ignoring the glances of the people next to her, and searched out her teammates in the crowd. If one of them wanted to quit, she would quit. Her eyes found Sasuke's first.

His coal black eyes were calm. When she cocked her head in question, he smirked confidently, shooting her a look that said don't-be-ridiculous-of-course-we're-not-leaving. Kasumi smiled faintly, not surprised. Sasuke would be Sasuke.

Turning her head, she skimmed the room until she found eyes of cerulean blue. Naruto was shaking somewhat, but when Kasumi raised an eyebrow, he grinned back at her that sunny grin and gave her a thumbs-up. Naruto would be Naruto.

Fine. Smile widening, Kasumi let the legs of her chair fall back to the floor and turned to meet the harsh gaze of Ibiki. Team 7 was staying, no matter what he was saying.

And, oh, he was saying quite a lot.

"I'll ask you all again. Your life is riding this decision. This is your last chance to quit." He pushed. "Does anyone else want to quit?"

"..."

"No one?"

"..."

"Last chance."

"..."

"Are you positive?"

At this, Kasumi arched a fair eyebrow, chocolate eyes flashing. 'Bring it,' She challenged mentally, utterly fearless at this moment, because... because...

She had Team 7 backing her up. She had Naruto and Sasuke. They were in this together, and she wasn't... she wasn't afraid. Not of this choice, no matter the consequences.

Ibiki cleared the room with his gaze and appeared to like what he saw. "Good decisions. Now to everyone still remaining... I congratulate you on passing the first Exam!"

Kasumi froze. What...?!

Ino vocalized what was running through her mind. "Wait, what do you mean? What about the 10th question?!"

"There never was such a thing." He grinned suddenly, a wide, almost honest grin. "Or you could say that these two choices were the 10th question."

Oh. Kasumi sighed slowly in relief, placing her hands over her heart. It was like an invisible weight had been taken off her shoulders. Their gamble had paid off. It was okay... everything was okay. She said nothing as Ibiki went ahead and explained the whole point of the test to the rest of the group, focusing on stabilizing her equilibrium.

At least until...

"Basically the premise of this test is to cheat." Ibiki said bluntly. "But those that cheat poorly fail, of course." He reached up, untying his bandanna and letting it fall to the floor.

Kasumi paled, restraining a gasp. Oh, God...

"Because... at times, information is more important than life... and on missions and the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it." Various burns, screw holes, and scars littered Ibiki's skull, an aftermath of terrible torture.

'This is what could happen to me.' The thought came to her without warning, a reminder of her goal. Almost instinctively, her eyes found Sasuke's and then Naruto's. Her male teammates looked equal parts horrified and worried, confirming her prediction that they had guessed as well.

Ibiki Morino. He could have been her idol, if she was the type of girl to have such things: head of the Torture and Interrogation Division, valuable member of the Konohagakure Intelligence Department, accomplished jounin.

If she had been the type to dream of someone she wanted to emulate, he would have fit every one of her standards. Cunning, brilliant, frightening, powerful.

And yet...

Kasumi closed her eyes momentarily. It was a bittersweet encounter.

Next time:

"Kasumi-chan? Are you okay? You look kind of pale." Naruto fussed the second they were out of earshot. Sasuke didn't say anything but fixed her with a burning onyx stare that said he knew she was hiding something.

Me: And the first exam is over! The second one's coming up next... Mwahahaha. Okay. Reviews!~

Anime hotty lover. 18: Yup! It's a guarantee that anyone who puts down Naruto's dream is very bad guy. Thanks for the lovely review, darling!

Rosy Fire: Mm-hm, wrath fits pretty well. XD, thank you so much!

rinievermilion: Yup, Chunin Exams! We'll see how they do. As for Kabuto, hmm, who knows? ;D. King of the Deadly Sins? Lolz, mmkay. Thanks for the review, hun!

Shiki Uploadz: Well, you seem to like bringing up the subject. XP, pride? Makes sense... thanks for the review!

starrat: Yup, yup! Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy this one!

Fireboy19795: Lolz, lovely analysis. Pride fits our Kasumi-chan pretty well! Thanks for the review, hun!

wookiee. cookie: And the tension continues to rise! Also, thank you very much. :3

Arianna Le Fey: Hmm... maybe? Lolz, we'll have to wait and see! Thanks for the review, darling!

ShadowPhoenix34: Wrath, I think I can see. Envy...I'm not quite sure who Kasumi envies. The people who had a good childhood, maybe? Thanks for the review!

BurnedSpy: No worries! I go by the manga, so that never existed anyway. Thanks for the review, hun!

ewaa: Soon... Soon. Patience. XD, thanks for the review!

sebastianm101: Why, thank you! I'm so happy you like my story. As for Kabuto... hmm, we'll see. Thanks for the review!

MylaUchiha: Well, lolz, she does have a bit of teenage vanity, doesn't she? Yup, the Forest of Death is coming up! Thanks for the review, darling!

lifethroughanotherseyes: Makes sense. XD

lostfeather1: Yup, Kasumi's the one who senses the threats. Pride does seem to suit her, doesn't it? Thanks for the lovely review, hun! Hope you enjoy this chapter~

hey: Mm-hm. Pride suits her. Second Exam is coming up! Thanks for the review!

LateNightOwl: Yes, yes, she will do her best to stay away from him. Wrath, hmm? Well, she does have a temper, as Sasuke and Naruto learn constantly... thanks for the lovely review!~

FleurSuoh: Thank you very much! Here's the next chapter, please enjoy!

TheQueenofGoodbyes: Greed, hmm? That's a new one, though I can absolutely see where you're coming from. I'm not quite sure who she envies at the current moment, but wrath certainly does suit her. Thanks for the wonderful review, hun!

purplesmurf712: Yes, both wrath and pride could fit with Kasumi's character. I'll do my best and thank you for the review, sweetie!

midnight. demonchild: Lolz, I think you're not the only one. Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy!~

Guest: Oh, you're not the first one to suggest the idea. Maybe after the Chunin Exams, they'll be a bit busy for a while now. But, sometimes, it's nice to see things from another POV, hmm? Kasumi's no mind reader, she certainly doesn't know what's going on all the time. Thanks for the lovely review, darling!

Guest: Mostly. Mostly. XD, Kakashi...well, that guy's going through some trouble of his own, but he'll adapt. Hiroshi'll show up later, but if you'd like, there's a short chapter on him in Facets of Color, another story of mine. Thanks for the review, hun!

Me: Okay! My blog's still not working, so ignore that. Thanks to my fantastic betas and review!

Question: If Kasumi existed in this world - computers, phones, chakraless and all - what career would she end up in?