"Talking"
"Thoughts"
"SCREAMING/YELLING/SHOUTING"
"Jutsu"
"Tailed Beast talking"
"Tailed Beast Thinking"
Sound effects
Date & Time
|Location|
[Flashback]
[+]
Chapter 10: Chunin Candidates
[+]
2 Months later
August 19
|Hokage Tower|
"You've been assembled there for only one reason." the Third said. "As most of you have probably realized, it should be obvious by the people here."
"It's already that time." Kakashi said. "It's already been reported to the other villages. I have already seen them enter the village"
Genma, a ninja wearing a Leaf bandana with a senbon in his mouth said. "So when is it?"
"Well, I will announce it properly then," Hiruzen said, standing up, "Seven days from now, the Chunin selection exams will begin. First we will hear from those supervising the new Genin. Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma do you recommend any of your team for the Chunin selection exams?" Kakashi stepped forward.
"The Kakashi led Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuga, Sasuke Uchiha, and Atsushi Kishida, I Kakashi Hatake nominate them for the Chunin selection exams" Kakashi announced then withdrew, the remaining two glanced at each other then stepped forward.
"The Kurenai led Team 8: Sakura Haruno, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame, I Kurenai Yuhi nominate all three of them for the exam" the genjutsu mistress said.
"The Asuma led Team 10: Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Choji Akamichi, I Asuma Sarutobi nominate all of them for this exam" The Chain smoker followed.
'What?!' Iruka yelled mentally.
'All of them? This is quite a surprise?' the Hokage said to himself.
"Hold on!" Iruka shouted out, "Hokage-sama, please let me have a word." Receiving a nod in reply the Chunin continued, "These 10 individuals were just recently my students. I know their skills are exceptional, but it is still too early for them to take the exam. They need more experience."
Kakashi stepped forward to defend the nominations. "Iruka, I was a Chunin when I was seven years younger than Naruto."
"Naruto is different from you and that goes same for the others!" Iruka rebutted. "Are you trying to crush these kids?"
"Crushing them could be fun," Kakashi joked, "They are always complaining about missions. I highly doubt that they will even make chunin this time around, but this will still be a good experience for them."
"What?!" Iruka said, "You think this is some game for your entertainment?"
Kakashi laughed a little. "That was just a joke, but stay out of this. They are no longer your students. They are my subordinates."
Iruka remained quiet after that.
[+]
|Ichiraku's|
Ayame watched in amazement and slight disgust as Naruto, Hinata and Atsushi engaged a ramen eating contest, Naruto just like he did to Atsushi had introduced Hinata to the ways of the ramen which the Hyuga heiress gladly indulged in (as long as none of her clansmen was around), Atsushi had suggested that he and Hinata team up against Naruto in order to increase their chances of winning but as usual Naruto won with 22 bowls to his teammates combined 19 bowls.
"Ok Naruto, where does all that ramen go to?" Atsushi asked, the Kishida could only stomach 9 bowls which was his limit.
"You know the usual location." Naruto replied as he patted his tummy with Hinata nodding in amusement.
"I guess that why they call you the King of Ramen." She pointed over to his picture which was hung on a wall with the title 'King of Ramen' under it.
Naruto just smiled at her observation, but before he could say anything, he noticed something to his left. He looked over and sweat dropped at what he saw. It was a square box with two eyeholes on the front of it.
"He still hasn't gotten any better, has he?" Naruto asked his teammates.
Atsushi looked over and sighed as well, "No, he hasn't."
Naruto shook his head in embarrassment then yelled, "Get out here Konohamaru!"
The box exploded in smoke and loud coughing could be heard from within the smoke.
"Udon! You used too much smoke!" a female voice cried.
"S-sorry!" a congested boy's voice apologized.
When the smoke cleared, three children could be seen trying to wave what was left of it away. The first boy was wearing a green outfit with a large scarf and had spiky brown hair. The second boy was wearing glasses and looked like he was sick. The lone girl was standing tall with her orange hair in two pigtails that stood straight into the air.
They all wore goggles on their forehead.
"...He multiplied..." Naruto muttered.
"More like gained some followers." Atsushi added.
Naruto and Atsushi first met Konohamaru when they went to get their pictures taken for their Ninja Cards. He had attempted to 'assassinate' the Third Hokage, and tripped on own his scarf. After a heated argument with Naruto, he had taken to calling the older blond 'Boss' and making him his rival to becoming Hokage.
"Who are your friends Konohamaru?" Atsushi asked and the three promptly began their introduction.
"I'm Udon, and I like math!" the other boy said.
"I'm Moegi, the sassiest kunoichi in the Academy!" the girl said.
"I'm Konohamaru, the strongest ninja in the Academy!" the young Sarutobi proclaimed. "And together we make..."
"The Konohamaru Corps!" All three children finished as they made ridiculous poses. Naruto just face palmed, Atsushi chuckled while Hinata giggled at their antics.
'So that's the boy Hanabi has a crush on,' Hinata thought as she stared at Konohamaru, 'In a way he does look like Naruto.'
"Boss?"
"Yes."
"Who is the girl?" Konohamaru asked, pointing at Hinata.
"That's Hinata Hyuga my…"
"Girlfriend?" He suggested, both Naruto and Hinata blushed at that.
"…Actually she's my teammate…" Naruto explained, on hearing that Hinata's expression dropped a bit which Atsushi noticed.
"They are still getting there." Atsushi immediately added and their blushes returned tenfold.
"Oh!" Konohamaru said as he somehow understood the situation. "So you're Hanabi's bigger sister right?" He asked the Hyuga.
"Hai."
"That's great because-"
Naruto coughed loudly gaining back the boy's attention, "So what do you want Konohamaru?"
"Oh yes, will you play Ninja with us?" Konohamaru asked eagerly.
"If only Atsushi and Hinata can join." Naruto suggested.
Konohamaru glanced back at Udon and Moegi who both nodded at the idea, "Sure but you guys have to be the shinobi."
"Alright when does the game start?"
"Right now Boss."
The three academy students suddenly took off, leaving the Genin in their dust.
"I'm going after Udon." Atsushi said before going after said boy.
"Hinata go after Moegi, I will take care of Konohamaru." Hinata nodded and went after the pigtailed girl while Naruto went after the Sarutobi.
[+]
Some minutes later
|Konoha Central Park|
The Konohamaru corps was carefully hidden within a bush, with Konohamaru acting as their leader while Moegi and Udon kept an eye out for their captors.
"Any sign of them?" Konohamaru asked the two.
"No."
"Negative."
"That's a relief."
"Wait, Naruto-sama is heading this way." Moegi pointed out, the rest also took a look and indeed Naruto was heading towards their direction.
"What do we do?" She asked.
"Keep quiet and maybe he won't notice us." Konohamaru ordered with his friends obeying.
The three watched as Naruto walked passed by their hiding spot heading towards a junction then made a right turn and left.
"What a minute, something isn't right." Konohamaru said just before he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.
The Hokage grandson turned around to identity the owner of the hand and then…
"BOO!" Naruto said as the three screamed in terror.
The Konohamaru corps immediately abandoned their hideaway and ran into an alleyway with Naruto in pursue. That happened to be a bad idea as Hinata and Atsushi were already here waiting; the two quickly captured Moegi and Udon while Konohamaru was lucky enough to have escaped capture by taking a left turn down a corner but was unfortunate enough to have collided into someone.
Naruto, Moegi, Udon, Atsushi and Hinata turned the corner to see Konohamaru being held off of the ground by a teenager wearing a full body suit that had a cat-like appearance. He had purple paint on his face, and had a large bandaged bundle on his back.
"That hurt you brat," the teen growled as he tightened his grip on Konohamaru's shirt.
"Enough Kankuro, stop playing with the little kid," the female behind him said, she was wearing a violet outfit, appeared to be in her mid-teens if her generous figure was anything to go by, dirty blond hair tied into four pigtails and on her back was a giant metal bar of some kind. Both of them had Sunagakure forehead protectors on their head and necks respectively.
"Relax Temari, just let me teach this kid how to respect his betters," Kankuro told her with a smirk. Temari just rolled her eyes and watched out of boredom.
"Put me down you makeup wearing freak!" Konohamaru cried.
"And why would I do that?"
"Because he's is the Hokage grandson." Naruto answered, walking over to the two.
"This midget is the Hokage grandson?" Kankuro stared at his captive with disbelief before scoffing, "I knew Konoha was weak but this is just pathetic."
"Care to repeat that." Atsushi requested as he appeared beside Naruto, leaving Moegi and Udon with Hinata.
'Konoha got some cute boys,' Temari thought, staring at the two.
Kankuro ignored the Kishida as he pulled back his fist. But before he could punch the young boy, he was hit in the face with a rock causing him to drop Konohamaru who scrambled behind Naruto for safety.
"Nice aim Sasuke." Naruto acknowledged, glancing at the Uchiha who was on top of a tree branch continuously chucking another small rock before catching it.
Temari flushed a bit upon seeing the Uchiha, 'Ah the local heartthrob.'
Sasuke replied with his usual 'Hn' before focusing on the Suna-nins, "What are you bastards doing in our village?"
Kankuro glared back at the Uchiha then reached towards the bundle on his back when…
"Kankuro, stop it." A voice called out. Everyone's attention was drawn to the owner of the voice which is a boy with red hair and a large gourd on his back.
"Ga-Gaara," Kankuro gasped out when he saw the younger boy. Temari was also shaking at the sight of the redhead as he glared at them.
"Kankuro, you're a disgrace to the village," Gaara said as he glared at the older boy.
"B-but Gaara they start-" Kankuro was cut off when Gaara vanished in a sand shunshin and reappeared between him and Naruto.
"Shut up before I kill you," Gaara told him.
"He is kidding right?" Naruto whispered to the Kishida by his side.
"I can't tell." Atsushi whispered back, "His facial expression is unreadable!"
Sasuke looked over at their 'leader' and tried to analyze the newcomer. Before he could, Gaara had disappeared in a cloud of sand and reappeared next to Kankuro.
"Sorry about the actions of my brother." Gaara said, apologizing for Kankuro. "I guess we arrived here too early."
"You guys are for the Chunin exams right?" Atsushi asked.
"Yes we are." The blonde kunoichi said as she showed them her pass.
"Well good luck."
"Same to you."
Sasuke jumped down from his perch. "Hey, what's your name?"
"Who me?" the blonde kunoichi asked with a pink tint on her cheeks.
"No, you with the gourd." Sasuke said, directing his gaze to their 'Leader'.
"Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand), I am also interested in yours." The red haired replied.
"Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke answered.
Gaara nodded and turned to the black clad ninja, "And you?"
"Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto replied slightly surprised that someone wanted to know his name; he was actually expecting to be ignored like usual.
Gaara nodded once more and departed with his siblings' right behind him.
'Something is strange about that kid,' Naruto said to himself/tenant.
"Let's see, *sniff* *sniff* insomnia, sand, gore, and a hint of insanity," Kyubi mused. "Yep that's the Jinchuriki of the Ichibi."
'You mean that he's just like me?' Naruto asked.
"Yes, but keep away from him for the time being." Kurama advised.
'What! Why?'
"Because he won't be able to control himself once the Ichibi asks for your blood."
Naruto gulped at that, "I hear your point."
[+]
Next day
|Training Ground 7|
"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto yelled at Kakashi, who just appeared on the bridge that he had asked his team to meet on.
"Sorry, but I got caught up registering you guys for the Chunin exams." Kakashi responded, displaying his usual eye-smile to them.
Remembering the Suna-nin they encountered the day before made the Genin to believed him.
"Here are your applications, if you are going to take the exams, then come to room 301 at the academy six days from now." Kakashi explained. Naruto jumped upon of their sensei, thanking him for nominating them for the exams. "You're welcome." Kakashi replied, freeing himself from the hyper-active blonde, "These forms need to be turned in by 4 PM tomorrow to the Hokage's tower if you are going to take them. I will give you the rest of today and tomorrow to decide. Based on your response we'll go from there."
With that, Kakashi left the four Genin to their thoughts.
'I will be able to fight against a lot of strong competitors like that Gaara kid.' Sasuke said.
'If I win, then I will one step closer to being a Hokage."Naruto thought to himself, imagining himself on a winner's pedestal.
"That's if you can beat the Ichibi's Jinchuriki." Kurama said to his host.
'I'm sure we will find a way around.'
"We?"
'Of course you can't expect me to defeat another Jinchuriki without your help.'
"… I guess you're right about that."
"So what do you think Naruto, Hinata and Atsushi?" Sasuke asked his team.
"I'm definitely in!" Naruto exclaimed, giving Sasuke a slight grin.
"I… I guess I'm in as well." Hinata said a bit unsure of how she will perform.
"I'm also in, can't wait to see the competition." Atsushi said.
[+]
6 days later
August 25
|Academy|
"So where do we have to go again?" Naruto asked as he and his team walked into the Academy.
"To room 301, that's where Kakashi-sensei said that's where first part of the exams is being held," Atsushi told him as he opened the door of the building.
Team 7 arrived to a mass of people standing in front of a door with the room number 301 above it. Two ninja were guarding the door, preventing anyone from getting through. They then looked at another Genin who was wearing a green spandex suit with orange leg warmers, trying to force his way through, only to get shoved back by the guards.
"Please let us pass!" The boy said as his teammate who Naruto recognized as Tenten, helped him up.
"We're helping you Genin. These exams are tougher than you think," one of the guards said.
"Yeah, if you can't beat us, then you have no chance passing the first stage," his partner said.
"This is second floor, right?" Naruto whispered.
"Yes, there's a Genjutsu over the door," Hinata whispered back.
"Then someone has to dispel it." Sasuke said as he began to walk towards the guards but Atsushi quickly reached and stopped him.
"Don't do it."
"Why?"
"It's the first test; they are trying to remove unnecessary competition." The Kishida explained then gestured towards the staircase, "Let's quietly headed over to next floor without anyone seeing us." Atsushi whispered back so that he wouldn't be overheard.
As Team 7 proceeded to the stairs, they were followed by the Genin who was shoved back by the guards.
"Hey wait up." The Genin called gaining their attention.
"What do you want?" Sasuke demanded.
"You are Sasuke Uchiha correct?"
"That's right," the Uchiha confirmed.
"The name's Rock Lee and I challenge you to a youthful battle right here and right now," The now identified Rock Lee declared.
"I accept." His teammates stared at him as if he was mad.
"But Sasuke-san, we have to get to the examination room before it's too late!" Hinata tried to tell him but was ignored.
'Finally, I will get to test my skills against the #1 rookie and Gai-sensei will be proud of me.' Lee thought to himself. "So are you ready Sasuke-kun?"
The Uchiha nodded and with that, he attacked Lee. Lee quickly dodged and kicked back at Sasuke. He could not evade the attack and had to resort to blocking the attack. As Lee made a quick hand seal, Sasuke braced himself for some sort of Ninjutsu, only to be hit in the stomach by a second kick.
'What sort of Ninjutsu or Genjutsu was that?' Sasuke thought before activating his dojutsu.
"That's…" Lee said, looking into Sasuke's eyes. "The Sharingan."
Sasuke charged at Lee, thinking that he would use his eyes to reveal what type of Ninjutsu or Genjutsu Lee was using, unfortunately he couldn't and got kicked in chin by his opponent.
"What?! The Sharingan couldn't read that?" Sasuke said with a bit of pain.
"Yes, my techniques are neither Ninjutsu nor Genjutsu" Lee stated. "Shadow Leaf Dance!" Lee appeared behind Sasuke, who was still mid-air. "Yes Sasuke, my techniques are simply Taijutsu. They say the Sharingan can read all sorts of Nin, Gen, and Taijutsu. It is true that you get the advantage in a Nin and Genjutsu battle by reading and copying your opponent's hand seals, but a taijutsu battle is different."
"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.
"Even if you can read my movements, if your body can't move, then it's useless." Lee stated, unwrapping the bandages on his arm. "Do you know that amongst strong ninjas, there are two types; the genius and the hard working type? You are the genius and I am the hardworking type, having mastered only Taijutsu. And with this technique, I'll prove that hard work surpasses genius."
Out of the corner of his eyes, Lee saw a kunai fly past him with a green cloth attached to it. He stopped his technique, knowing that the fight was now over.
"That's enough Lee" a turtle said, appearing in the room. As Sasuke was falling to the ground, Atsushi caught him, saving him from a dangerous position that Sasuke had not even bothered recovering from. Looking at him, he saw that Sasuke was shaken from the battle. 'Well at least he now knows that the Sharingan can be beaten.'
The turtle spoke again as everyone watched. "Lee, that technique is forbidden."
"Yes but..."
"No buts, It's time for your punishment!" the turtle shouted as a cloud of smoke erupted from its back. When it cleared, an older version of Lee stood there, except this one was wearing a Jonin vest. Team 7 nearly passed out, disgusted at the resemblance between the two.
"Lee, you fool!" the man yelled. Lee cringed and bowed before the man.
"Please forgive me Gai-sensei!" Lee pleaded.
"Silence!" Gai thundered. "Prepare to take your punishment like a man!" he then punched Lee and sent him flying into a wall much to everyone's shock.
"Which kind of punishment is this?" Atsushi thought aloud.
"One I wouldn't want to receive." Naruto answered.
The members of Team 7 weren't prepared for what happened next.
"LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
With that, the two hugged, creating an ocean sunset in the background. No one was spared by the genjutsu even Atsushi who was supposed to be immune to genjutsu experienced it full force… well Kurama was spared since he was lucky to have been asleep at the moment if not he would has mentally scarred for all eternity.
"I am sorry sensei. For that, I will do 1000 laps around the village after the exam" Lee said.
"That's the spirit Lee."
"These guys are training-maniacs." Naruto whispered to his team. Gai then turned around to the four of them.
"Hey guys, how is Kakashi doing?" Gai asked, winking and giving them his youthful smile.
"You know Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata asked.
"People refer to us as, eternal rivals!" Gai revealed with pride.
'He is Kakashi's rival?' Sasuke said to himself before realizing that Atsushi was still carrying him. "Atsushi, let me down!"
"Sure." Atsushi replied, immediately removing his hands prompting the Uchiha to land on his butt. "You say I should let go so I did."
Sasuke glared but didn't say anything.
[+]
After Gai and Lee had left, Team 7 continued their journey up the stairs towards the third floor then room 301. Immediately they stepped into room 301 they were greeted with sharp glares, KI and the sight of a blonde-haired girl who rammed into their raven-haired teammate while wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Oh Sasuke-kun, you're late" Ino said with a blush.
"Get away from Sasuke, Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted as Naruto and Atsushi got out of the way of the incoming cat fight.
"I knew these exams were troublesome." Came the voice of Shikamaru Nara entered, followed by his friend Choji Akimichi who was munching some potato chips.
"Hey Shika, Choji was up?" Naruto greeted.
"The ceiling and where is your green friend?" Shikamaru asked in a seemingly bored tone.
"Atsushi? He's right…" The Uzumaki trailed off as he noticed that Atsushi wasn't by his side anymore.
[+]
Atsushi was scoping out the competition in the room, he noticed the absence of representatives from Iwa, Kumo and Kiri but other villages like Kusa, Ame, Suna, Taki and a strange one he couldn't identify were present.
A tap on his shoulder snapped out of his thoughts, Atsushi turned around to identify who stood behind him and was surprised by what he saw. It was a boy around his age with red rusty hair, green pupil eyes, wore a dark red shirt with matching gloves and yellow pants, but what surprised the green-haired Genin the most was his forehead protector: it bore the insignia of his village (A triangle with its vertex pointing downwards). The boy motioned for the Kishida to follow him and Atsushi did just that.
The boy led him over to his teammates and introduced himself, "Eito Kishida." The boy said pointing to himself, "That's Banri." He pointed to his male counterpart, "and that's Himari our female teammate."
Banri greeted him with a nod and Himari with a simple wave. Banri has brown hair, green pupil eyes and wore a brown coat which extended to his knees revealing a portion of his blue pants. Himari had blond hair with whites stripes by the sides, green eyes, wore a red kimono with a black obi, fishnet stockings and long shinobi sandals.
"I didn't know that Arashigakure was sending a Genin team to Konoha?" Atsushi asked starting off the conversation.
"Neither did us until a week ago when our sensei informed us that we were selected to represent our village." Banri answered, "So what is like living in Konoha?"
[+]
After managing to get Ino off of Sasuke, Sakura apologized from any discomfort that she/they may have caused before returning to her team leaving a surprised and slightly shocked Sasuke behind.
'Did she just apologize for making me uncomfortable?' the Uchiha asked himself.
Kiba revealed to everyone (excluding Atsushi since he is still with the Storm triad) that everyone were addressing them as the Rookie 10.
"Why?" Choji asked.
"It's because we're the only people in these exams who have been out of the Academy the shortest," Kiba replied.
"Makes sense," Shikamaru muttered. 'We have been shinobi only for 5 months now.' After he thought that, an older Konoha ninja wearing a purple outfit approached them. He had silver hair, was wearing glasses and introduced himself as Kabuto.
"Hey you guys, quiet down. The last thing you want is to cause a scene" Kabuto told the rookies. "But I can't blame you. I remember how I was when I was a rookie."
"So you've taken this test before?" Sakura asked the newcomer.
"Actually, this is my seventh time, since the exam is held twice a year" Kabuto bragged.
"Wow, so you must know a lot about these exams" Sakura said.
"Yep. I'll even share some of my info with you, using the nin-cards" Kabuto said, whipping out a deck of cards. "Is there anyone you want information on?"
"How about, Gaara of the Sand and Rock Lee of the Hidden Leaf" Sasuke said, getting in on the action.
"Hmm, let's see. Rock Lee. He's a year older than you and has completed 48 D-ranks and 12 C-ranks. His specialty is in taijutsu with his nin and genjutsu being weak, if not non-existent. This is his first time taking the exams. He's on a team with Tenten Higurashi and Neji Hyuga, under the tutelage of Maito Gai." Kabuto read off.
"Now Gaara. No D-ranks, 27 C-ranks and wow 10 B-rank missions. Since he's a new comer, I don't have much information on him, but it looks like he has returned from all his missions without receiving a single scratch."
The rookies couldn't believe the last bit, how could someone return from a mission without being injured or bruised.
'Seems like I found the perfect guy to test my skills against.' Sasuke said to himself.
"This year we have some outstanding Genin competing! Konoha, Suna, Ame, Kusa, Arashi, Taki and Oto have all sent their best. Though to be honest I don't know much about the ones from Otogakure, their village is rather a new and small one." Kabuto told them.
After he said that, three blurs flew through the crowd and aimed towards Kabuto, revealing them to be three Oto ninja. The first one had spikey black hair and a forehead protector styled after the Second Hokage's own headband. The second one was female and had long black hair. But the last one was wrapped in bandages, save for his left eye, and was wearing a large furry coat. Each one had some form of snakeskin on their clothing.
The mummy threw a punch at Kabuto, and he dodged it with a smirk on his face. Until his glasses broke and he vomited on the floor.
"Write this down in your cards, the Oto ninja are going to become Chunin!" the one with spiky hair declared.
A large puff of smoke appeared in the middle of the room catching everyone's attention,
"Quiet down you worthless bastards!" the new ninja said as the smoke dissipated. Behind him stood a few dozen Chunin. The man wore a long black trench coat with a Leaf bandanna. There were two scars on his face, one going from right next to his left eye down to his chin, and another going from under the right eye to his neck.
"You Oto ninja in the back! Do you want to get kicked out of these exams before they even begin?!"
"Hehe, sorry, we're just a little jumpy," the mummy dressed ninja said.
The Jonin glared at him before he turned to the rest of the examinees and said, "There will be no fighting in this portion of the exams. I am Ibiki Morino, the proctor for the first exam. Now everyone hand in your forms and the proctors will show you where you will be sitting for the written portion of the Chunin Exams."
Everyone handed in their forms and was shown to their seats. Naruto looked to his right and smiled as he saw Hinata sitting next to him. She smiled back and they wished each other good luck.
"Now, I will explain the rules. Questions will not be allowed." Ibiki said as he began to write on the board. "The first rule is that you will start off with 10 points. The test is made up of 10 questions and each question is worth a point. For every question you get wrong, you lose a point. The second rule is that this is a team test. Your entire team will pass or fail based on a combined score of your team." Everyone on Team 7 knew what this meant. They would be pulling Naruto's dead weight. "Now, the third rule is that every time you are caught cheating, you will lose two points. If you are caught 5 times, your entire team fails. The last rule is that those who lose all their points and those who don't answer any questions correctly, will automatically fail their entire team."
Atsushi raised a brow, Hinata gulped, Sasuke glared while Naruto suddenly felt a wave of killing intent directed towards him.
'Come on I'm not as dumb as I was back at the academy.'
"At least you admitted that you were dumb."
'That was before not now.'
[+]
Later
All around the room, the people who were realizing the objective of this test began to make their move. Shino had released his insects to gather information while Akamaru was being a look out on Kiba's head and giving him the correct answers. Neji had activated his Byakugan, giving him the ability to see through anyone and look at any test in the room. Hinata was doing the same as her cousin. Sasuke had activated his Sharingan and began copying the movements of someone who looked like they knew what they were doing. Gaara had closed one eye and created a ball of sand that turned into an eyeball that was observing the papers from above. Tenten was manipulating a set of mirrors above her to reveal the answers to her. Lee adjusted his headband to allow him to see the mirrors as well.
Shikamaru was using his Shadow Possession Jutsu to connect him and Choji while he wrote down the answers for both of them. Sakura was using her own knowledge to answer the questions, and Ino used her Mind Transfer Jutsu to take over the pinkette and steal her answers. But before she went back to her own body, she messed up Sakura's test. She erased all of her answers and wrote down ridiculous ones, and changed the name on the top to Forehead. When she left and Sakura came back, she looked down and looked like she was about to explode, but a glare from Ibiki silenced her.
Naruto had only answered two questions leaving out seven that he needed to fill in; glancing at the person at his left who was writing incredibly fast the Uzumaki came up with an idea.
'But I need a distraction first.' Naruto thought wondering how he will create a distraction big enough to distract everyone.
The answer came in form of a kunai sailing through the air and passing over his head making him freeze then impacting against a desk that was 2 rows behind him.
"Number 47, you've been caught 5 times, you and your teammates 65 and 18 are disqualified," a proctor stated as he stared at the Suna ninja.
"And what proof do you have that I was cheating?" the Genin demanded. A nearby proctor dashed forward and slammed the ninja onto the table while twisting his arm backwards.
"Don't question us! You were making it so obvious, an Academy student could figure it out!" the proctor growled as he forced the Genin to his feet. Seeing that everyone's attention was on the two, Naruto quickly pulled out a smoke bomb and dropped it.
The effect was instantaneous and the entire room was covered in smoke, the proctors immediately scrambled to disperse the smoke screen, windows were opened and the smoke blown out thanks to a wind jutsu. After that was done, a certain Genin glanced down at his answer sheet and found out that only two questions were answered.
'What the hell?'
Meanwhile Naruto were grinning like a mad man as he erased the person's name and wrote down his own on the completely answered test.
Naruto wasn't the only one who made use of the distraction; Atsushi who was seated alongside the Storm trio used the distraction to switch papers with them. Clan members must always help support each other.
"Alright, time's up" Ibiki announced. "Now for the tenth question." By the time Ibiki stopped the clock, only about 121 of 202 Chunin candidates remained.
Everyone who remained looked at Ibiki in anticipation. "Now, for the tenth question, there are a few special rules. First, you must decide whether or not you will take it."
"What do you mean choose?" Temari asked. "What happens if we chose not to?"
"If you chose not to take it, your points will be reduced to zero and your team will fail" Ibiki explained.
"What does that mean? Of course we will take it then!" another test taker stated.
"If you choose to take the tenth question and answer incorrectly, then you will be banned from ever taking the chunin selection exams ever again" Ibiki said, silencing everyone in the room.
"That is a most un-youthful rule!" Lee cried out.
"Yeah, there are people in here who have taken this exam before!" Kiba said as Akamaru barked along with him.
"You guys are unlucky this year," Ibiki coldly said. "This year, I'M in charge of the first exam, so I make the rules. If you don't have the guts to take this question, then I'll be a nice guy and allow you to leave. But remember this, the choice is yours to make, if you want to leave, just raise your hand."
'I want to become a Chunin and make my family proud, but if I fail then I'll stay a Genin,'Hinata thought.'But if I quit now, I'll be ruining the exams for Sasuke-san, Atsushi-san and Naruto-kun! I... I... I don't know what to do!' She looked around for her teammates, Sasuke had his emo face on so she couldn't tell how he was feeling, Atsushi and Naruto were slightly nervous judging by body language which she became used to over the past months.
"I... can't do it. I'm sorry guys," a Genin said as he slowly stood up.
"Number 54 fails, Numbers 62 and 103 fail as well," a proctor stated as the Genin left the room. Soon after, other Genin began to give up as well, slowly clearing out the room. Naruto looked over and saw Hinata struggling with herself. Even though Hinata had gained a boost in confidence, situations like these would always make her conflict with her old nervous personality.
Seeing her situation, Naruto decided to do something. He raised his hand, much to the other rookies' shock. Then he proceeded to slam it down on his desk as he stood up, a look of determination in his face.
"I don't care if I'll be banned from taking these exams anymore!" Naruto began, "If I give up here and now then it goes against everything I live for! Even if I fail here, I'll just work harder so that the Hokage had no choice but to give me a field promotion! So go ahead, fail me, but know this, I'll never give up on accomplishing my goals!"
Naruto's speech seemed to install confidence into everyone as they seemed to lose their nervousness that they all had.
"I'll ask one last time. This is a decision that could affect the rest of your life. Quit now while you still have the chance."
No one budged, though a few Genin shifted uncomfortably under Ibiki's harsh stares. A few of the proctors nodded at Ibiki as he exchanged glances with them.
"Alright then, good decision. You all pass the first exam!" Ibiki announced to the room, shocking most of them. "I congratulate the 91 of you, the 30 teams that pass."
"WHAT?!" erupted from all over the room.
"What do you mean we pass? What about the 10th question?" Sakura asked, now confused.
Ibiki let out a rare smile. "You could say that your choice was the 10th question."
"Then what was the point of this entire test?" Temari asked, being the second hot-headed kunoichi to lash out.
"They were not pointless. The first 9 questions already served their purpose to test your information gathering skills." Ibiki explained. "This test was designed to put pressure on the entire team as each member would have to not mess it up for their team. However, the questions on this test were much too difficult for most genin to answer alone, so everyone came up to the same conclusion…. you would have to cheat to score. This test was designed to make you cheat, but in order to pass, you could not get caught."
A few of the candidates got the purpose right away. "Now, mixed into the group were a few chunin who had already taken this exam and knew the answers." Some of those sited stood up and waved to the Genin, "This was to help you guys out and to give you accurate information. This is because…" Ibiki said, removing his bandana, only revealing a bunch of scars covering his entire head. "Sometimes, information is more important that life, and on the battlefield people give their lives to acquire such information."
Everyone saw the scars and screw holes on Ibiki's head and cringed a little at the image.
"If the enemy notices you, there is no guarantee the information you obtain will be accurate" Ibiki stated. "Remember this as accurate information can be a powerful weapon for you and your comrades. This is why we had you gather information through cheating. This clearly separated those who did and did not have the right abilities."
"Wait, then what about the 10th question?" Atsushi asked.
"Ah, but the tenth question is the true purpose of this test. The 'take it' or 'not take it' decision" Ibiki paused momentarily. "Let's say you become chunin and your mission is to steal an important enemy document. You don't know the number or skill of the enemy. Do you accept the mission? Because you don't want to die… Because you don't want your comrades hurt? Can you avoid this dangerous mission? The answer is NO!"
Ibiki let out a slight grin. "Those who aren't willing to put their lives on the line, those who cling on to the uncertain future of 'there is always next year', and then walk away from their chance. Those pieces of trash who can only make cowardly choices, don't deserve the right to become chunin. That's how I feel!" Ibiki said. "You have made it through the entrance of the first test, I wish you guys luck."
[+]
A/N: That's that. Forest of Death here we come.
Total number of words: 6438 words.
Jamesco1292002