Chapter 8- Chūnin Selection Exam: Ibiki's Written Test!

(Chūnin Exam) (Yugi's POV)

The day had come; it was finally time for the exam. Our team was already in the classroom waiting for the test to begin. We have gotten here the same time as Gaara and his siblings. I had actually thought he was going to kill Genma when the man said there was no Genjutsu in play. I shivered at the memory and looked over to where Gaara and the others were sitting at a table.

"Heba! Yugi!" I blinked and looked over to Naruto and the others just as Akamaru ran over to me and jumped into my arms. I caught the pup before pushing off of the wall and walking over to Kiba and the others with my team behind me.

"Kiba, Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura it's great to see you guys again." I greeted handing the small pup back to its owner.

Kiba smiled and wrapped an arm around my neck, pulling me to him in a hug. "Guys these are the new kids I was telling you about, Heba, Yugi, these are the rest of the guys. Ino, Shikamaru, Chōji and Shino."

I nodded to them and offered a smile. "Hey I am Yugi and this is my twin brother Heba."

"Hey you guys, you may want to try keeping it down a little."

We all blinked and looked over to none other than Kabuto. A scowl formed on my face at him. I never liked the guy he was a creep and worked for an even bigger creep, Orochimaru. Heba elbowed me and gave me a look that clearly told me not to give anything away. I sighed but nodded my head the last thing I wanted was for Orochimaru to know I knew about him and to become one of his experiments.

"You don't want to go making a scene of yourselves."

"Well who asked you!? Who are you?!" Ino shouted and I rolled my eyes. Kabuto was right they should have been laying low but then again, it was them. I calmly made myself fade into the back of the group as I watched the scene unfold in front of me, wondering when it was Naruto was going to make an even bigger idiot of himself by challenging the whole room.

"I am Kabuto Yakushi. But really look around you; you have made quite an impression." He responded and we all did in fact look around to see the whole room staring at us.

I shivered again and tried to make myself small and invisible as Atem simply rolled his eyes and looked back to Kabuto. That man's over confidence was going to be his downfall. Yami had stiffened slightly but kept an emotionless face. Heba didn't even look like he was paying attention and Joey was sitting on the ground with Dragon in his lap, watching everyone and everything.

"You see those guys, there from the rain village." Kabuto said and the group looked to the ninja with what looked like straight lines on their Hitai-ate. "Very touchy, they all are. This exam makes everyone touchy and you don't want to rub them the wrong way, especially right now."

"Yugi."

I blinked out of their conversation and looked over to Heba who was giving me a pointed look. "Look over to the corner near where Gaara and them are. There is a boy with long somewhat pointed hair, a boy with shoulder length dirty blond hair that is also somewhat pointed and a brunette haired boy with ice blue eyes. There glaring at us, specifically Yami and Atem."

I followed his gaze to look at them out of the corner of my eyes and shivered. Heba was right; they were looking not at us but at our team. I had a feeling they were going to be causing us some trouble. "I wonder who they are I don't recognize them."

"We need to be careful, specifically on the second exam. They look like they want a piece of us, not really us but our team and Yami and Atem specifically."

I nodded in agreement to that and looked back to Kabuto just as Shikamaru groaned. "So I guess those rumors about this test being tough was true, oh man I knew this was going to be a drag."

"Hold on don't give up hope yet, maybe I can help you kids out a little, with my Ninja info cards." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out those cards I remembered had information on everything Kabuto knew about the exams.

"What the heck are those?" Sakura asked.

"It's hard to explain. These cards had been Chakra encoded with everything I have learned over the past four years, I've got over two hundred of them so you see I haven't been completely wasting my time." He knelt on the ground on his knees and placed the deck on the ground in front of him. "They may not look like much to the naked eye; in fact they appear completely blank. Don't want just anyone seeing this stuff."

He placed his pointer finger on the card and placed his other hand in front of his face with his pointer and middle finger extended. We watched him feed his Chakra into the card, making in spin.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked and Kabuto smiled.

"You see I'm using my Chakra to reveal their secrets. Like this for example." The card revealed a map with the list of how many shinobi were from specific places. 30 were from the Sand, 21 were from the Rain, 15 were from the Grass, 12 were from the Wave, 72 were from the Leaf, and three were from the Sound.

I sighed and blocked out some of Kabuto's speech since what he said wasn't very important, at least not to me since I already knew it. I let my mind wander to the first exam and what happened, I knew Yami and Atem would be fine they were geniuses after all, but I was slightly worried about Joey. He was a great Ninja but easily frightened and our first proctor was Ibiki. All I could really do was hope Joey stuck with it and didn't give up.

I turned back into the conversation with Kabuto when Sasuke spoke. "Do those cards of yours have any info on the other candidates, individually?"

"They might, do you have someone in mind?" Kabuto responded picking up his cards and shuffling them.

"I might." Sasuke responded narrowing his eyes.

"Well I can't promise my information is complete or perfect. But I've got something on just about everyone, including you guys of course. So which one is it? Tell me anything you know about them, a description, where there from, whatever." He picked up one of his cards and held it in front of his face as he watched Sasuke eagerly. "Anything at all."

"He's Gaara of the Desert, Rock Lee of the Leaf Village, Heba Moto of the Leaf Village and Yugi Moto of the Leaf Village while you're at it." At the mention of our names Heba and I snapped our head to Sasuke in confusion.

I looked over to Heba and he simply shrugged his shoulders not knowing or caring why Sasuke would be interested in them.

"Aw man that's no fun you even know their names, that makes it easy." He picked up his cards and held them in his hand before waving his free arm over them. He placed them back on the ground and held four cards in front of his face.

"Here they are."

"Show them to me." Sasuke ordered and Kabuto placed the cards down on the ground before applying Chakra to them.

"First up is Rock Lee. Looks like he's about a year older then you. Mission experience, 11 C rank and 20 D. His squad leader is Guy. In the last twelve months his Taijutsu has radically improved, but his other skills are pretty shaky. Last year he got a lot of attention as a Genin but for some reason he chose not to participate in the Chūnin exam, this will be his first year as a candidate same as you guys. His team mates are Ten-Ten and Neji Hyuga."

"Huh? Hyuga?" Naruto questioned and I looked to Hinata, watching her visually tense. I felt bad for her she was one of my favorite people and she didn't deserve the way Neji treats her in this exam. I looked back to Kabuto as he got out Gaara's card.

"Now for Gaara of the Desert." The card showed him on it and Kabuto read off the information. "Mission experience 8 C and get this 1 B Rank as a Genin. There's not a lot more information on this guy. He was a rookie from another land originally. But there is this, he survived every mission without getting a scratch on him."

'It's because of his Jinchūriki, the ability to control sand and use it as a shield.' I noted in my head as I looked over to him out of the corner of my eyes. I knew they all could hear what was being said but Gaara didn't even seem to care one bit. His eyes met mine and I felt my heart stop as we stared at each other. I swallowed thickly and tired to push my fear down as I turned my head away and back to Kabuto.

A hand landed on my shoulder and I flinched before looking up and my eyes connected with gentle crimson. Yami smiled soothingly and I couldn't help but smile back. "Hey it's all right, were a team right? We will look out for you Yugi."

I smiled even more at his words and felt myself relax completely. Yami and Atem had certainly changed since we first met them and I couldn't be happier about that. "Thank you Yami, that means the world to me."

Yami nodded and removed his hand making me make me almost instantly miss the calming effect it provided.

"Now for Yugi Moto of the Leaf." I looked back to Kabuto at my name and he fed Chakra into another card. Once he was done I saw myself on it and Kabuto looked it over reading off the information on it. "He is three years older then you. He has completed 5 C and 10 D ranked missions. He had become a ninja only a month and a half ago and has shown incredible growth as one in only that short amount of time. His squad leader is Mahad and his teammates are Yami Sennen, Atem Sennen, Heba Moto and Joey Wheeler." He looked up to me and I knew my face was beat red from the compliment he had given me at my growth of a shinobi.

"Your name is Moto?" I blinked and nodded my head to him. This was the third time someone has seemed shocked at my last name.

"Yes."

"Can you tell us why on earth every older shinobi we meet seems so shocked about our last name?" Heba questioned giving Kabuto an odd look. I knew he hated the man just as much as I did but if he could give us answers so be it.

"It's just…" He mumbled and looked down to his card in surprise. "There hasn't been a member of the Moto Clan in these parts since the war-torn era. Most thought they all had died out."

"Moto Clan?" Heba asked in confusion and Kabuto nodded before pulling out another card and feeding Chakra into it. The card this time revealed a family house card. There was a Clan Symbol that had a amethyst colored ten pointed star in the middle of a black circle. "Not a lot is known about them. What we do know is the Moto clan was a family of shinobi that were one of the strongest, feared and respected clan in the ninja world during the war-torn era before the founding of the hidden villages. Together with their rivals, the Uchiha clan, they are responsible for helping to find the first hidden village Konohagakure and making it into what it is today. After a while though, the clan just disappeared. Many believe that they were all massacred in a power struggle." He responded and I just openly gapped at him.

"I have never heard of such a village." Sasuke responded and looked over to us. I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders.

"Nor have I."

"Like I said the clan had appeared to have died out years ago, so that is why everyone is shocked to hear you are a Moto. Your parents never told you?" He asked looking over to us.

"Our parents are dead and our grandfather never motioned such a thing." Heba commented and I mentally screamed that it was because we lived in a different dimension.

Kabuto shrugged though seemed to get a distant and thoughtful look in his eyes. "Well you get it the point is that the competition is going to be fierce this year."

I looked over to Heba and tilted my head to the side and as others started to talk amongst us. "Heba do you think it's weird that… we ended up here and learn that there used to be a clan that had the same last name as us that just up and vanished?" I whispered to him and he seemed to have an inner debate with himself before he answered me.

"Honestly, yes. I just can't seem to piece everything together. We would need more information on the clan in order to really do anything. Let's just focus on the exam for now and talk about this when were alone."

I nodded in agreement and was about to say something back when I was interrupted.

"MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI AND I AM GOING TO BEAT EVERY ONE OF YOU!"

I couldn't help but start laughing at that. Naruto was so full of confidence and everyone else was so uptight. Not that I could blame them I felt a little stiff and nerves to. Heba grabbed my arm making me snap out of my laughter as he pulled me over to the side where Joey was. I was about to ask why when I saw it to, the sound were making their move against Kabuto.

At that moment the sound shinobi jumped in the air and threw two kunai at Kabuto. He jumped out of the way as they embedded in the ground where he was standing a moment ago. Kabuto slid across the ground and stood up as the sound shinobi took a swing at him. He moved back out of the way just in time and smirked at the guy, appearing as if nothing was wrong.

A moment of silence passed before Kabuto's glasses cracked and fell to pieces. "Oh I get it, so it was that kind of attack." He said as he removed them from his face and tucked them into his pouch at his waist.

"Hang on I saw it all he dodged the attack." Sasuke intervened stepping forward. "How did that happen?"

"It must have come closer then it looked. Look at him acting like it was nothing, real tough guy." Shikamaru answered and I mentally shook my head. For someone so smart he really did miss the obvious.

Just then Kabuto fell to his knees and started coughing up blood.

"Wha- did he just-" Naruto stuttered.

"Kabuto what's wrong? What is it?" Sakura asked and I looked around, knowing Ibiki was going to be here in a second.

As if on cue to answer my thought there was an explosion in the front of the room causing everyone to look to it. "Alright you baby faced degenerates, pipe down and listen up! It's time to begin. My name is Ibiki Morino and from now on, your worst enemy."

I shivered and scooted closer to Heba. Ibiki was always the scariest person ever but only because he was head of Konoha's interrogation forces. I don't even want to imagine what he could do to me.

"First off, you candidates from the Sound, knock it off! Who told you, you could fight! Do you want to fail before we have even begun!?" He yelled extending his arm and pointing at the three sound shinobi who had cornered Kabuto.

"He knew they attacked first, he must have been watching us from somewhere." Heba observed and I nodded my head in agreement. We had to remember we were never alone here and someone was always watching our every move. If Heba and I slipped up, letting them know we knew more then we should, it could be bad.

"Sorry it's our first time, guess were a little jumpy." The sound ninja that attacked Kabuto responded. I rolled my eyes at the half baked lie of an excuse.

Ibiki gave a humorless laugh and I could tell he didn't believe the nut job either. "Listen up! I'll say this once. There will be no combat between candidates. No attacking each other without the permission of your proctor. And even then the use of fatal force is strictly prohibited. Anyone who even thinks of messing with me will be disqualified immediately, got it?" His voice dropped down low at the end and I shivered again.

Why he was the leader of the interrogation forces now made complete sense. The man could make a statue cry in fear.

"Now if were ready we will proceed to the first part of the Chūnin Exam. Hand over your paper work; in return you each will be given a number. This number determines where you will sit, will start the written test once you're all seated."

I pushed off from the wall and followed behind Heba as Naruto shouted about it being a written test. I pulled out my entrance papers and waited my turn as everyone else scattered to get there number. Once it was my turn I handed my papers to Ibiki who gave me the number 85. I soon found my seat and almost cried in fear when I noticed it was next to Gaara, of all people I had to sit next it, it was the person I had been trying my hardest to avoid.

I tried to ignore him as best I could and not shake in fright. He simply sat there, arms crossed over his chest and that same emotionless stare on his face. Ibiki tapped his chalk on the board and I looked to the front of the room as he spoke. "Everyone eyes forward. There are a few rules you need to be aware of, and I won't answer any question so you better pay attention the first time around! Alright rule number one is this; the written part of the exam is conducted on a point reduction system. Contrary to what some of you may be used to, you all begin the exam with a perfect score of ten points. One point will be deducted for each question you get wrong, so if you miss three your final score will be seven."

He paused to let us all collect our thought before he continued. "Rule number 2; Teams will pass or fail based on the scores of all the members." A gasp was heard throughout the room and I calmly sat there, knowing the real reason behind all of this.

I could take a nap and just ignore this, but I had a feeling that if I made it look like I didn't care about his test, Ibiki would throw me out, so I figured I should at least make it look like I am making an effort to try. The last thing I wanted to do after all was let my team down.

"WAIT A SECOND! YOU'RE SAYING… WE ALL GET SCORED AS A TEAM!?" Sakura shouted.

I looked down to the paper and shook my head. He was trying to rattle us up since the whole point of this test was to cheat, see how good we are at gathering information without getting caught.

"Silence! I have my reasons. So shut up and listen! Rule number 3; the sentinels you see positioned around the room are there to watch you carefully for any signs of cheating. And for every sign they see they will subtract two points from the culprits score. Be warned their eyes are extremely sharp and if they catch you five times you will be dismissed before the tests are even scored. Anyone foolish enough to be caught by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here."

One of the sentinels from across the room smirked and shifted the clipboard that was resting on his knee. "I got my eyes on you guys."

"If you want to be considered shinobi, then show us what exceptional shinobi you can be."

'There was a double meaning to that.' I noted in my head as I narrowed my eyes at Ibiki. To the average person that could have meant show us what exceptional shinobi you can be by taking the test and answering the questions honestly. The hidden message however was, show us what exceptional shinobi you can be by collecting the answers without getting caught cheating.

"One more thing! If any candidate should get a zero and fail the test, then the entire team fails. The final question won't be given out until fifteen minutes before the end of the testing period. You'll have one hour total."

I sighed and looked to the clock on the wall above Ibiki. Three, two, One…

"BEGIN!"

The sounds of tests being flipped over were heard and I slowly turned my own over. I had two options, I could stare blankly at the paper till the hour was up, or I could at least try to come up with some way to cheat. Glancing down at it giving the questions I gave them a once over before my eyes widened in shock. I knew the answers. The questions were advanced alright, they were integrated problems based on principles of uncertainty, and required complex chemical energy analysis that only someone who had taken then AP classes like I did in school, or a more advanced knowledge person, would be able to know the answers.

Picking up my pencil I started to scribble down the answers to the questions, feeling a little better about not having to make it seem like I was doing nothing and not having to risk getting caught. Heba however, would have to cheat, unless he decided to just not answer the questions.

(Heba)

Bored, I was incredibly and unbelievably bored. I wasn't even going to bother trying to answer the questions, what was the point when the only question that actually mattered was number ten. I sighed and looked down to the paper before looking around the room in front of me, looking behind me could get me in trouble after all.

From where I was next to Lee I could see Yami and Atem, they were scribbling on the paper probably already knowing the answers being they were geniuses. Yugi was probably the same after taking those advance placement classes in school. Joey was down a few seats from me, using Dragon to get the answers from the guy next to him, being able to speak down was a good little skill for him.

Next to Joey, the kid he was copying off of was the brunette guy from before, the cold one who was teammates with the white haired and brown haired freaks. Speaking of them I couldn't see them anywhere they were probably behind me as we Yugi.

Thump!

'Oh good some entertainment!' I cheered looking over to the boy who had a kunai lodged in his desk.

"Wh-What was that for!" The kid screamed.

"Five strikes and you're out. You just failed the test." The sentinel that threw the kunai responded and I glanced over at the clock. Not even half way into this damn test.

"What! It can't be."

"You and your teammates will leave the room immediately." The sentinel commanded.

The boy and two other people scurried out of the room as another sentinel continued to shout numbers. "Candidate number 23 fail!"

"Number 27 and 43 fail!" Another said.

Number 27 was dragged out kicking and screaming, literally. "That's not fair I didn't do anything!" He shouted as the doors closed and I rolled my eyes before looking over to number 43 who was currently throwing a fit.

"No way! Who said I cheated five times! Where's your proof!? How can you keep track of all of us!? You got the wrong guy! Who do you know I wasn't just-" He was cut off mid rant by the sentinel ramming into him and pushing him up against a wall, his arm pressed against the boys throat.

"Sorry pal, we were chosen for this duty because we don't make mistakes like that. You can't even blink without us seeing it. Were the best of the best and you my friend are history." He let him go and looked down to him as he slid to the ground. "Now get out and take your teammates with you."

With that the last of my entertainment came to an end and I sighed, glancing down at the paper in front of me. I couldn't even begin to understand the questions to start answering them. Not that I would, who would take a test if they didn't have to… wait… Yugi would. I silently laughed at that thought before shaking my head and glancing at the clock, willing it to move faster so we could get to the tenth question already.

(The Tenth Question)

"Alright! Listen up!"

'Finally!'I cheered in my head as Ibiki was about to start the final question.

"Here's the tenth and final question. But, before I give you the question, there are some more rules you need to be aware of."

I groaned and almost dripped my head on the desk. The more this guy talked the more I felt the urge to just run out of this room for freedom.

At that moment Kankurō returned from his fake trip to the bathroom, he took at least fifteen minutes ago, and froze. Ibiki grinned at him and I knew he had seen through the puppet masters trick. "Ah good you made it. Well, what are you waiting for, take your seat."

Kankurō moved through the room and sat back down as Ibiki continued to speak. "These rules are unique to question ten. Listen carefully and try not to let them frighten you."

Several people squirmed in their seats and swallowed thickly and even though I didn't know much about Naruto's world or paid a lot of attention when I was watching it with Yugi, I instantly knew what he was doing. He was playing with us, trying to mess with our minds. Make us scared to the point where we wanted to give up.

"Very well then, rule number 1; each of you are free to choose not to be given the final question. It's your decision."

"Whoa! What's the catch, what happens if we chose not to take the question, what then?" Temari asked and I looked to her briefly before back to Ibiki.

"If you chose not to take the question regardless of your answers to the other questions, you get a zero." He answered simply before smirking at us again. "In other words, you fail. And that of course means your teammates fail as well."

I swear this man, enjoys his job, way too much. The room broke into whispers many people saying that of course they would take the question then. Ibiki sighed and closed his eyes, his voice mellowing out as he spoke again.

"Not so fast, you didn't let me finish. If you do accept the question but answer it incorrectly, you will not only fail," He opened his eyes and looked to us, raising his voice to a yell. "You will also be banned from taking the Chūnin Exams ever again!"

"Hey that's bull man! That's ridicules!"

My eyes drifted over to Kiba as he stood up, pointing a accusing finger at Ibiki as he shouted. "What kind of bogus rule is that!? There's lots of people here who have taken the test before!" Akamaru barked in agreement with his owner and Ibiki simply chuckled at him.

"I guess you're just, unlucky."

The dark sound in his voice made even me shiver in fright. This man definitely enjoyed his job to much. Now I know why Yugi called him sadistic. I almost wondered if he got some sick enjoyment out of messing with people's minds. Then again someone in his line of work would have to like their job in order to do it.

"I wasn't making the rules before, but I am now. Of course if you don't want to take it, you don't have to. If you're not feeling confident then by all means, skip it. You can come back and try again next year."

He once again started to laugh and I shivered in my seat, shrinking down into it and trying to make myself shorter then I already was. Damn this man had some effect on me, he was just so… creepy. I looked over to Joey and saw him shaking like a leaf. Biting my bottom lip I knew I had to help him before he fell victim to Ibiki's mind torture. I ripped off a corner of my test quietly and wrote down on the paper. Joey he is trying to mess with your mind! Relax and don't let him get to you!

"Dragon, come here boy." I whispered to the ninken and he immediately came to my side. "Take this to Joey."

Dragon took a corner of the paper in his mouth and immediately returned to Joey's side. Joey took the paper from him and I immediately saw the tension leave his body. He looked over to me and smiled before we both looked back to the front of the room where Ibiki was once again speaking.

"Now then if you're ready. The tenth and final question those who don't want to take it raise your hand, your number will be recorded and then your free to go.

Half the room mumbled that they were leaving and by the time the room was cleared, almost everyone was gone.

I looked over to Naruto as he raised his hand in the air and arched a brow. I knew he moved onto the next part of the exam so what was going on?

I blinked as he slammed his hand onto the table and moved into one of his rants. "Don't underestimate me! I don't quite and I don't run! You can act tough all you want you guys aren't going to scare me off! No way! I don't care if I do get stuck as a Genin for the rest of my life! I'll still be Hokage someday!" Naruto slumped down into his chair, folding his arms over his chest as he finished his speech.

I smiled at him and looked to Ibiki hoping for some reaction but his face remained emotionless. Naruto had just owned him at his own game and the man didn't even so much as flinch. I wondered if anything shocked this man.

"This decision is one that could change your life. If for any reason you would rather quit, now's your last chance." He lectured and Naruto just smiled at him.

"No way I never go back on my word, that's the way of the ninja."

I looked around the room and watched as everyone seemed to visibly relax and grow confident. Without even meaning to Naruto had seemed to up every ones spirits, inspired them and give them back the strength that Ibiki had knocked out of them with his mind tricks.

"Well then I admire your determination if nothing else. Well for those of you remaining there's only one thing left to do, and that's for me to tell you… That you've all passed the first exam!"

The room fell into shocked silence and I couldn't help but laugh slightly but covered it up with a cough. Sakura stood up and stared at Ibiki in shock before stuttering out her question. "Wh-what a minute what just happened!? What do you mean we passed!? Where's the tenth question!?"

Ibiki laughed and an actual smile, that I didn't think he was possible of doing, lit up his face. "There never was one, not a written one at least. Actually your decision to stay was the answer to the tenth question."

"Wait a minute so the other nine questions you gave us were just a waste of time!? Is that what you are telling me!?" Joey shouted and I wasn't sure what he was more angry about, that he was played or that he wasted his time in taking a test he didn't have to take.

"No, no quite the opposite. The first nine questions had quite an important overriding purpose; to test your ability to surreptitiously gather strategic intelligence under the most obverse circumstances."

Joey blinked before a look of realization dawned on him and he slumped into his seat. "Oh well then… that make a lot of sense." He mumbled and I couldn't help but smirk at him. He had known to cheat, but he didn't notice the reason behind it.

"Now let me explain, you see my objective was to not only test you as individuals but as a team, and how well you function as a part of that team. That's why the test was scored on a team basis. So that you knew that everything you did and everything you failed to do would directly affect your teammates. I wanted to see how you would handle the pressure."

"Mhm I knew it was something like that that's why I kept my cool." Naruto responded and I slapped myself in the forehead, dragging my palm down my face as I glared at the teen. Oh how much I really wanted to smack that idiot.

"The first nine questions on the test were difficult. In fact as you may have realized to difficult for any Genin to even be expected to solve. I imagine most of you quickly came to that conclusion and that you would have to cheat if you had any chance at passing. The fact is that the test was designed to encourage cheating, it almost demanded it. Of course it would have done you little good unless you had someone to cheat from. So I disguised two Chūnin who already had the answers to sit in with you."

Ibiki looked around at all of us before he continued. "Those who were caught at it, failed. Better not to cheat, then to cheat clumsily."

He moved his hands to his Hitai-Ate and removed it as he continued to speak, making many people in the room gasp at the sight of his head, it looked as if there were burn marks, puncture wounds, and long slash mark. "Information; it can be the most valuable weapon in battle. How well you gather information can determine whether a mission is a failure or a success. Many times you will have to risk your lives to get it."

The room fell silent again as he placed his hitai-ate back on his head. "Of course you must always conceder your source of information. Intelligence gather from an enemy is not necessarily always accurate. Always bear this in mind; disinformation can be worse than no information at all. It can lead to the death of comrades, or the loss of a village, that's why I put you in the position where you had to gather accurate intelligence, cheat in order to survive. And those who weren't good enough were weeded out, leaving the rest of you."

"Okay but I am still not getting what the tenth question thing was all about." Joey said and I mentally groaned.

"You're not? The tenth question was the whole main point of the exam, surely you see that." Ibiki stated and Joey gave him a bewildered look.

"The goal was to test us not only as individuals but as a squad. The final question gave us two choices both difficult. We could choose to play it safe and skip the question though it meant both us and our teammates would be failed. Or we could take the question knowing if we failed we would lose our chance at ever being Chūnin. It was a no win situation." I started and looked over my shoulder to my brother.

Yugi smiled to me before looking to Ibiki and picking up where I left off. "But those are just the sort of situations Chūnin have to face every day. They can never avoid danger, there are many missions Chūnin have to go on that can be suicidal, but they don't think about it, they think only of the goal. Achieving it through courage and discipline, and those are the qualities required of a Chūnin squad leader."

Ibiki actually seemed shocked at us for a moment before he covered it up with that same serious expression and looked over to everyone again. "They are completely correct. And those who chose the safer of the two paths, those whose determination falters in the face of adversity, those who would put there comrades lives in danger by worrying about their own, those who would save their own necks at the price of sacred honor will never be able to call themselves Chūnin, at least while I am here. Now for the rest of you, you have successfully answered the ten questions I put to you. You have earned the right to continue on to the next step. You have passed through the first gate. I hereby call this part of the Chūnin Selection Exam complemented. There is nothing left but to wish you all good luck."

"ALRIGHT YA THAT'S ONE DOWN!" Naruto cheered jumping up in his seat.

I laughed at his hyper and childlike behavior before looking to the wall where Anko would be coming in any second now. Her part of the exam is the one I actually worried about, considering it was one where he could all be killed after all.

As if on cue said woman came shattering through the window, frightening many people in the room as she pined a giant piece of fabric to the ceiling and floor behind her using Kunai.

"Heads up boys and girls, this is no time to be celebrating. I'll be your next proctor, Anko Mitarashi. You ready for the second test? Good lets go follow me!"

The room fell into silence as everyone openly gapped at her. This woman is something else, that's for sure. In a way her overly hyperons reminded me of Naruto.

Ibiki stepped around the fabric and looked over to Anko. "You're early, again."

Anko blushed in embarrassment and I tried to stifle a laugh at her. It was definitely refreshing to have someone like her here at the moment considering how stressful all of this was.

"How many are there, Ibiki, you let all of these guys pass?" She asked looking annoyed at the fact that there were so many of us remaining. "Your test was too easy, you must be getting soft."

"Or it could be," He started looking over to her. "A stronger crop of candidates this year."

She looked over to us and smirked. "Sure don't look it, don't worry buy the time I am done, more than half will be eliminated."

"More than half? Really?" Sakura asked and Anko smirked.

I shivered and swallowed thickly. This woman, she was almost as scary as Ibiki and he was the king of interrogation for crying out loud!

"Heh, this is going to be fun. Alright you maggots have had it easy so far but things are going to be different starting first thing in the morning! I'll let your squad leaders know where to meet me, dismissed."