Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

"Thank you," she said. Silently her uncles left – one blood related, the other her father's best friend. She glanced down at her brother, looking so innocent as he slept. Some colour had come back into his face, although he was still much paler than normal. She played with his hair, sitting by him all night.

Chapter 5 – The First Exam

A week later, Itachi was sitting, eating his breakfast with his family – or rather, his family was eating breakfast while he just picked at his food.

"You need to eat," Mikoto told him. He shrugged and continued to pick at his toast. His sister sighed, exasperated. She grabbed his toast. He looked at her quizzically.

"Open up," she commanded. He glared at her.

"No... mmfff!" he said as the jammed the slice of toast into his mouth. His family laughed at him as he glared at his older sister. Angrily, he chewed the food in his mouth and swallowed.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

"If you don't eat you'll run out of energy and fail," his sister told him.

"Okay, okay, I get it!" he said, biting some more off the slice. "I have to eat." Tani nodded patronisingly.

"That's right. We can't have you failing." The adults just hid smirks at the youngsters' behaviour.

"You're evil," Itachi muttered, munching on his second slice of toast. Once he had finished that, Mikoto pushed a yoghurt in front of him.

"Eat," she commanded. He sighed and did so, having no wish to be force-fed.

"The exam's just like the Chuunin exam, although it's a lot harder," his uncle said (he had moved in with them two days after returning to the village). Itachi glared at him.

"Thanks for the confidence boost," he muttered sulkily. His uncle laughed.

"You're welcome. But, seriously, these exams are no joke. Watch out for traps that the proctors set – let down your guard for a moment and you've failed, there's that many traps. Only the best pass, and by the best I mean about one or two," he lectured his nephew, who scowled.

"Anything that I should be aware of besides traps?" he asked.

"As far as combat or anything else goes, there's no rules. It's quite common for teams to try and bump off each other while the proctors' backs are turned." Itachi nodded. There was a knock on the front door. Mikoto answered it.

"The time's changed," Suigetsu said, stepping right past her. "It starts in fifteen minutes." Itachi stood up and grabbed his equipment.

"Basically, it's already started. Has the meeting point changed?" he asked. Suigetsu shook his head.

His teammates were waiting outside when Itachi left his house to a chorus of 'good luck – you'll need it'.

"Let's go carefully," Itachi said. "You don't know how many traps there are waiting for us." His teammates nodded as he activated his Sharingan. Suigetsu watched his squad go, proud that they'd worked out that the exam had already started.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Sasuke asked, standing beside him.

"Oh, I should think so, as long as they keep their guard up all the time. There are more traps than ever this year – I swear, these exams get tougher and tougher."

"Watch out!" Itachi said. "Hotaru – stay still!" She obeyed without question. Itachi surveyed the area around her with his Sharingan. "Two paces to the left – slowly." She did so. Hisuke had frozen as well, having no wish to be caught in a trap because Itachi was getting Hotaru away from the one that she had been about to trigger. "Two more," Itachi told her. "Now jump towards me." She leaped and he caught her.

"That was close, Ita-kun!" she said. "Thanks." Itachi merely nodded before surveying the ground in front of him. He frowned and looked at the trees.

"Jump up to that tree," he whispered, discreetly pointing towards a tall oak. Hotaru and Hisuke leaped simultaneously, with Itachi following a moment later. He ran up past them and they followed, until they were hidden in a thick canopy of leaves.

"Are there any candidates around?" a voice asked from below them. Peering down, Itachi could see Karin and a Jounin that he didn't recognise. Hotaru's eyes widened when she saw her mother and she quickly performed some Seals. They were familiar to both her teammates – she was hiding their Chakra signals. She was so good at it that even her mother couldn't sense her when she did it.

"No," Karin replied a moment later in response to her partner's question. Itachi watched with his Sharingan as they picked their way through the web of traps. He waited until Hotaru signalled that she couldn't sense their Chakras. Using his Sharingan, he tracked Karin and her partner's steps and successfully avoided all the traps. Once the trio had navigated all the traps, they emerged into a clearing – the meeting place. Itachi looked around for anyone that he knew.

"Itachi!" someone called. He turned in the direction of the voice and saw his best friend, Nara Hiroshi. He was with his squad, Hyuuga Hidé and Shirasei Genzō. He nodded in recognition and looked round to see if he recognised anyone else. A wolfish boy glared at him but he ignored him. He saw Ryu Isas, Mikoto's boyfriend, with his teammates Nara Kei and Uzumaki Kaname. Because there were so many kunoichi in their age group, the squads were generally two kunoichi to one shinobi instead of the usual two shinobi to one kunoichi. Kaname's younger sister, Uzumaki Aiko, was also there with her squad mates, Kai Jun and Tsukiko Yorusuke, Hisuke's twin.

"OK, listen up!" a Jounin shouted from the front. A big, white dog barked, just to ensure total silence. His rider introduced himself to the Chunnin in front of him.

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba, and this is Akamaru. We are your examiners for the first test!" he shouted. There was some muttering as some people who didn't know the dog and his ninja partner debated about how a dog could be an examiner. Itachi's Sharingan picked up some movement as a small group of Jounin advanced towards the distracted ninja. It was brutal, but quick. The Jounin had surprise on their side so the distracted Chuunin didn't stand a chance – they were maimed and some even looked like they could be dead. Itachi signalled to his squad to be on full alert, anticipating an attack while that fight was distracting many other ninja. His teammates nodded and watched the fighting, while keeping their senses on full alert. One Jounin ventured towards them, but a glare from Itachi told him that he hadn't gone unnoticed so he went elsewhere. Five minutes later a third of the candidates had been eliminated.

"Now that we've weeded out the idiots," Kiba said cheerfully, "we can start the first test. I'm not going to bother with deception – you've all taken the Chuunin exam so you all know that the aim is to cheat and not get caught. Well, there are your desks -" he pointed towards some stumps "- everyone pick a number and that is where you'll sit."

The Chuunin did so and soon everyone was seated and ready for the exam.

"Begin!" Kiba shouted. "Oh, and if you're caught cheating three times the whole squad fails."

Itachi used his Sharingan to see who had all the answers. He found someone. He used his kekkei genkai to read the movement of the man's pen. He released a slight burst of Chakra – just enough to get Hotaru's attention – before starting to write, releasing a steady stream of Chakra so that Hotaru could copy him. Once he had finished, he sat back and put his pen down. He shut his eyes and soon felt the invading presence of Hisuke – whose ability was similar to that of the Yamanaka clan's mind transfer techniques – in his mind. His teammate read his answers and Itachi was aware of him writing them down. It didn't take long and soon Itachi was in control of his actions again. There was a scream behind him as a Cloud Chuunin was knocked out by the invisible Jounins surrounding them. The ninja's teammates were also knocked out in quick succession. Itachi tensed, the warning from his uncle ringing in his mind: "let down your guard for a second and you've failed". Of course, he thought. Now would be a perfect time to attack as we're all distracted by these hard questions – it probably won't be long before a few kunai or something are launched. And because the only Jounin we can see are Kiba and Akamaru, we won't know where the attacks are coming from. He looked at his arms, where Mikoto's gifts were concealed. I'm going to need these soon – there's no way we can dodge because we're so close together and we might also be accused of cheating if we knock someone. This is a lot tougher than the Chuunin exams – and this is only the written one. What are the others going to be like? Just as he came to that realisation, Karin, lurking in the trees nearby, looked at her watch. Halfway through the test – time to spice things up a bit. She looked at Itachi and grinned.

He looks rather laid back, she thought to herself smugly. I think I'll teach him not to let his guard down like that when surrounded by enemies. She threw numerous kunai at him. Looking around, she saw that various other Jounin had aimed for Sasuke's son. Poor kid, she thought. Never mind, he'll just have to learn the hard way.

Itachi turned his head slightly and saw that there were numerous kunai headed for him. So it's started, he thought grimly. He raised his arms and the kunai embedded themselves in the cloth. To a casual onlooker, it would have appeared that they were puncturing his flesh, but the long sleeves that he wore concealed the hand-sewn arm guards that Mikoto had once made for him. They saved him from taking the hits from the many kunai. He could almost sense the shock of the concealed Jounin as he stopped all the weapons. There were several screams, mainly from girls that had seen him hit.

"Silence!" Kiba shouted, looking at the Uchiha who had so calmly reacted to the attack. Like father, like son, he thought. Sasuke was just as good. Pretending to lower his guard, very clever. He watched as Itachi extracted the kunai. And now he knows where the Jounin are hiding. Wait a minute – what's he got under those sleeves of his? There wasn't a drop of blood. He really is an interesting kid, Itachi.

As Itachi removed the kunai he considered his options. He could either keep the kunai, or he could throw them back at the Jounin, now that he knew where they were. He decided to throw one kunai in the direction of each Jounin and keep the rest.

Karin cursed as she saw Itachi pocket most of the kunai that she and the others had thrown. The few that he kept in his hands, he held strategically, perfect for throwing in multiple directions. It didn't take a genius to work out what he was about to do. Sure enough, he threw the kunai, one towards each Jounin that had targeted him. That included her. Quickly, she cancelled it out with a spare kunai, just like her fellow Jounin. You're good, Itachi, she thought, just like your father. You'll go far – no doubt about that!

Hotaru had seen the kunai targeting her teammate. He caught them in his arms but no blood seeped out. The she remembered the armguards that she'd seen him wearing sometimes. Of course, he must be wearing them. She already knew where all the Jounin were – she'd sensed all their Chakras at the beginning of the exam. She could see that Itachi knew where they were as well as he had very kindly returned their kunai... she smirked. That's just like him, she thought. Return some of their weapons but keep most of them for himself. She knew that her mother had been one of those Jounins.

Hiroshi grinned as his best friend acted as though the attack was nothing. He knew that Itachi had finished, and was unperturbed by the attack that had shocked everyone else. Of course, you were expecting it, weren't you, Itachi? he realised. He looked round at Itachi's teammates; they weren't surprised either, but then again, they were a well oiled team.

Mikoto watched from her vantage point. Nice to see he's putting my gifts to good use, she thought. After what Uncle said, I'm not surprised that he acted like he did. After all, he is a genius.

Hisuke grinned. Like Hotaru and Hiroshi, he knew that Itachi had some arm guards, though he didn't know how he had got them – they looked unique, handmade even. Probably from Mikoto, he realised. After all, there's no way that Itachi can sew that well. He chuckled inwardly, and then twisted to avoid a hail of kunai that was aimed at him. They thudded into his desk. I don't let down my guard that easily, he thought scornfully before throwing them back.

Itachi was looking round suspiciously. So far, only one team had been disqualified. There must be more to this test, he thought, Sharingan searching for the next threat. After all, we did this in the Chuunin exam. This is just a cover for the real test – but what is it? We're tightly packed... a bad position for an all out attack... all out attack! That's it! Just when we think that we've finished, and letting our guard down, these Jounin hidden in the trees are perfectly positioned to attack us.

"Five minutes!" Kiba called out, although just about everyone was finished. Itachi drew a kunai.

Hotaru watched him and saw the movement. Unquestioning, she copied him.

Hisuke too was watching his teammates. When he saw first Itachi, then Hotaru, draw kunai, he followed suit. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he trusted his teammates' instincts. Hotaru glanced at him. Instantly he merged his mind with hers.

"What is it?" he asked her.

"The Jounin are completely surrounding us – there's no escape," she replied. He was confused.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Something's about to happen – Ita-kun can sense it..."

Hisuke cut her off. "Wait a minute..." He stretched his mind so that it connected Itachi as well. The three of them were then telepathically connected. "What's going on, Itachi?" he asked his squad mate.

"Once the written exam is over, the Jounin around us are perfectly positioned for an all out attack."

"How did you figure that out?" Hisuke asked.

"This test... it's too easy. They know we can cheat without getting caught – what they're really after is to find out how many of us can react well to an attack in these unexpected conditions," their teammate explained.

"I get it," the other two said before Hisuke severed the connection. If Itachi was right, he wanted to conserve Chakra.

Karin watched the team carefully. They've figured it out, she thought. And they all know because Hisuke connected their minds as only he and Yorusuke can do.

There seems to be a little bit of confusion concerning the OCs, so here is a list:

Mikoto is, as you have probably worked out but I'm making this very clear, is not Sasuke's mum, but his eldest daughter that was named after her. (Uchiha Mikoto)

Itachi... well, they're both in here so I'm afraid you'll have to figure out which one's which but I do try to make it easy to distinguish. (Uchiha Itachi)

Here's some background info on some other OCs that I created that are related to existing Naruto characters:

Tani is Sasuke and Sakura's youngest daughter (12). (Uchiha Tani)

Hotaru is Suigetsu and Karin's daughter (16). (Hōzuki Hotaru)

Kei is Shikamaru and Ino's daughter (18). (Nara Kei)

Hiroshi is Shikamaru and Ino's son (16). (Nara Hiroshi)

Hidé is Neji and Tenten's daughter (16). (Hyuuga Hidé)

Kaname is Naruto and Hinata's eldest daughter (18). (Uzumaki Kaname)

Aiko is Naruto and Hinata's youngest daughter (16). (Uzumaki Aiko)

If you have any other questions, I'll be happy to answer so don't keep them to yourself... chances are, someone else thinks the same as you!

Thanks for reading!

Tsari