First chapter of 2024!


"I am Ibiki Morino, the proctor of this exam. This is a written exam. If anyone is caught cheating more than twice, you are automatically disqualified. Your scores are a collective so if you fail, your whole team fails. You will have one hour to complete the test, the tenth and final question will only be presented in the last 10 minutes," Ibiki explained while the other proctors handed out the papers. "The exam will begin, Now!"

Naruto looked at the paper in front of him and raised an eyebrow in disbelief. 'What the hell are these questions?! Most genin won't know any of this.' He looked around to see where his teammates were and frowned when he saw that they were separated far from each other. He was sitting in the middle row of the first column, Shikamaru was at the front of the middle column while Sasuke was at the back of the third column. 'Ibiki said that we fail if we get caught cheating twice… Of course! This is to test our information gathering skills. Usually in a test, you won't even get a chance to cheat but here we have two. He wants us to cheat.'

He looked at his teammates and saw that Sasuke was copying answers with his sharingan while Shikamaru was smart enough to answer the questions himself. Hinata was using the byakugan, Shino was communicating with his bugs while Sakura was like Shikamaru and could answer everything herself. Akamaru sat on Kiba's head and barked answers to him. He could not see Ino and Choji who he assumed was behind him. He could not turn or he would be assumed to be cheating.

Naruto searched around and saw a person two rows in front of him scribbling down his answers confidently. Naruto smirked. Unbeknownst to anybody, Naruto had a clone henge into a chunin proctor while on their way to the room. He thought that it would be useful to have an inside man and it seemed to pay off. The other proctors won't detect the henge as Naruto's transformation was unique. As the Kyubi jinchuriki, he had the ability to not only heal quickly but also transform completely instead of just an illusion.

The cloned proctor stepped beside the boy and read all his answers. Discreetly, Naruto pulled out two smoke bombs under the pretence of scratching his back. He noted the walking patterns of the proctors and realised that there was a two second interval in which he would be out of view from any of them.

Counting down and timing it properly, he threw the smoke bombs to his left and right. Roars of panic and anger were heard throughout the room. Windows were opened to let the smoke out. When the smoke cleared, nothing seemed out of place. Nobody seemed to notice that one proctor was missing.

Ibiki raised his hand for silence and said, "anyone who lost their test paper might as well just leave." Surprisingly nobody stood up. 'Interesting…I want to know who did it though…' he thought as he scanned the room. He came across Naruto who was calmly writing down his answers or rather the answers that his clone had memorised.

Naruto could feel the eyes of Ibiki on him and was ignoring it. During his academy days, he had played many pranks and would always need to throw suspicion off of him. This was no different. After a while Ibiki looked somewhere else.


After 50 minutes, Ibiki stopped the clock and announced the last question. "Time's up! You are now presented with a choice, to either take the tenth question or not to take it," he stated, confusing the genins. "If you don't take it, you will fail. Your team as a whole will also fail completely."

This earned a bunch of protests from the genin. "Then, of course we'll take it!" Temari yelled from a few rows behind Naruto. Many supported her saying. Everyone was silenced when Ibiki gave a bout of his killing intent.

"However, if you do take the tenth question, and get it wrong, you will lose the right to take part in any future chunin exams!"

"What!" Kiba angrily yelled. "But others have failed and have taken the exams again, so why is this exam different?!"

Ibiki chuckled darkly, sending chills down everyone's spine. "The other genin didn't have me as their proctor. Maybe it's just your luck. Since it's my test, my rules. Choose, I don't have all day!"

Naruto observed as several teams moved out of the classroom. "How bout it blondie?" Asked Ibiki as he looked at Naruto right in the eyes. "You sure you wanna stay? This is your last chance."

Naruto slammed his hands on the table and stood up. He pointed to Ibiki and matched his gaze, "I don't care what happens to me! I don't care if I don't make it to chunin, jonin and stay a genin forever! I have a dream to be strong and protect those in this village and become Hokage. Nothing is stopping me from achieving that dream. Rank means nothing to me!"

Everyone was watching Naruto in disbelief who never once broke eye contact with Ibiki. Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief as he thought was going to quit for a second there. Ibiki was thrown off by the sheer determination and conviction displayed by the twelve year old. The room was silent. Those who remained had caught each and every word Naruto spoke.

Ibiki looked around and saw all the looks of uncertainty washed away. 'He's an interesting kid, he wiped out everyone's uncertainty and made them stay. 51 genin, 17 teams left, huh? There's more left than expected. There's no point waiting anymore I guess.'

"Congratulations on passing the first test!" Ibiki declared and couldn't help but smile at the faces of disbelief on the chunin hopefuls.

"But what about the tenth question?" Asked one of the Taki genin.

"That was the tenth question. The question was to test your will and determination. You'll be faced with tough decisions as a chunin and your villages have no need for weak-willed chunin leading squads of shinobi to their demise. By answering this question, you've all shown your willingness and determination," he explained to the group.

"So the test was for nothing?" Temari asked.

"No, the test was to test your information gathering skills and to see how much balls you all had. Now, this marks the end of this phase of the exam. I wish you luck for the next phase. The next phase will-" before Ibiki could say anything else a large ball of cloth crashed through the window to his right. Two kunai flew from the cloth and stuck to the ceiling. Attached to the kunai was two cloth that unfurled to present in large words, "The Proctor of the Second Phase: Anko Mitarashi!", in a large font.

In front of the words stood a purple-haired woman. She wore a trench coat over a mesh shirt that did not hide her curves. Naruto was somewhat familiar with the woman as she was one of Yugao's closest friends and naturally he had met her a few times. "I am your proctor, Anko Mitarashi! The real exam starts now!" She shouted as she punched the air.

Ibiki came from behind the cloth and spoke, "you're early, and grasp the atmosphere would you."

She just blushed at the situation. Anko shrugged it off and started counting the number of genin. "51? Ibiki, you let this many pass. You've gone soft!"

"Or maybe this year we have an interesting batch." Ibiki retorted.

Anko looked around to see many clan heirs from Konoha and a familiar mop of blonde hair. 'Well if it isn't Yugao-chan's little gaki. Haven't seen him in a while.' "Maybe you're right, Ibiki. This is an interesting batch." She smirked at the chunin hopefuls. "No matter, I will cut down the number in half. Details on the second phase will be given by your sensei. It will start tomorrow. Dismissed!"

As the genin flooded out of the room, Naruto approached the two proctors. "It's been awhile since I've seen you Anko-san."

"Ah ah, what did I say? Anko-chan or Anko-sama. None of this Anko-san nonsense. And yes, it's nice to see you again, gaki." She said as she ruffled his hair.

"You know this kid, Anko?" Ibiki asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yup. Yugao-chan seemed to take quite a liking to him and I've met him a few times."

Naruto turned to Ibiki and offered a handshake, "nice to meet you, Ibiki-san. You really did scare the genin to death just now."

Anko scoffed, "if he really did, then there wouldn't be 17 teams left!"

Ibiki pointed to Naruto and said, "blame the kid. He did a whole ass speech and wiped everyone's doubt away. Cheeky kid." Naruto just gave him an eye smile in return.

Naruto's cheerful face turned serious. "Great exam and all, but I have some concerns to raise, though," he said in a tone opposite to his usual which caught their attention. Ibiki motioned for him to continue. "One of the genin, Kabuto Yakushi. He had these info cards on the shinobi. I can believe it if he had info on Konoha-nin but he had some of Suna-nin too. Furthermore, he had info on the number of missions we did and everything, our strengths and weaknesses, our teammates and sensei. This is the type of information a genin shouldn't have."

Anko and Ibiki had frowns on their faces by the end of his explanation. "This is not good. He could be a spy," Anko said while Ibiki nodded in agreement.

"We will bring it up with the Hokage. You shouldn't worry about it anymore, kid. Just focus on the exams. Go, join your team. Thanks for the information," Ibiki said. Naruto nodded and gave them a two fingered salute before using a shunshin. "That was a fast shunshin. Interesting kid…" Ibiki muttered.

"The kid's special, that's for sure," Anko agreed.


After getting the information about the second exam from Kakashi, Naruto decided to meet up with Yugao. It had been a few weeks since he saw Yugao. She was on a long mission and had only returned a few days ago.

Naruto stared at the number of plates stacked in front of him. He and Yugao were eating at a sushi restaurant that they usually went to after training. "You did WHAT?!" Yugao exclaimed, getting the attention of the entire restaurant. "Sorry, continue what you were doing." She said to those in the restaurant.

"Yeah, I faced off against Zabuza and his partners and may or may not have used Kyubi's chakra," Naruto said in a hushed voice.

"Are you okay?" Yugao asked as she checked Naruto for any injuries, much to his discomfort. She checked his arms and legs, she even pulled his eyelid and checked his eyeball, "did he try to take over or anything?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm okay nee-chan. Actually he did the opposite, he reminded me to stop taking his chakra. Thanks for worrying," Naruto said as he gave an eye smile.

She shook her head in a mixture of amazement, worry and relief. "You really have been busy ever since you've graduated haven't you."

"Eh," he shrugged. "Not unless you count those D-rank missions. I've only been on technically three C-ranks, although one did become A-rank. I'll pick a C-rank or training over any D-ranks, especially the one with Tora the Cat. The bastard cat… I'll become chunin if only just to escape that cat," he pushed away the not so happy memories he had with the cat.

"Do your best. I'm sure you can pass the exams. I've seen your potential and know that you have what it takes to be chunin. Good luck, do me, Kakashi, the Hokage and your parents proud. We'll always be there for you," she said as she ruffled his hair.

"Thank you nee-chan. I'll see you soon!" He said as he gave her a light hug before using a shunshin to go back home.

Yugao was about to pay when she saw money already placed on the table. She smiled. Usually she would pay for their meals but seeing as Naruto had started taking missions, he found no reason to not be a gentleman.


The Next Day

Naruto stood with his team in front of training ground 44 also known as "The Forest of Death". The name was very fitting for the training ground. From his place, Naruto could only see endless thick and evergreen trees. If not for channelling chakra into his eyes, the forest would've seemed as dark as if it was nighttime. Furthermore, in between the trees, he could see large animals such as spiders and tigers attacking one another and eating each other. It was not a pleasant sight.

"Welcome to my home, brats! This is training ground 44 or better known around these parts as the Forest of Death!" Anko announced while flaring her chakra and releasing her killing intent. Most of the genin were scared and shocked except for a few. One of the few being Naruto. Anko smirked, 'looks like the Gaki's trying to be tough.'

She threw a kunai so fast that many weren't able to see her even move her arm. Naruto managed to see the kunai due to his training with Kakashi and tilted his head to dodge. The kunai flew past his face but then, Anko appeared behind him and held the kunai to his cheek. "Looks like this big forest is not scary enough for you. So I'll do it myself." She was about to press the kunai harder but felt a kunai near her kidney.

"Is this really necessary Anko-san? Like come on, you couldn't pick on somebody else?" Naruto complained but on the inside he was smiling. 'Can't catch me off guard that easily Anko-san.'

Anko was about to use the kunai in her other hand when she felt another hand grab her wrist. 'The Gaki's good, real good… Just what I expect from the student of an anbu captain.' She smirked and released her hold on Naruto. "You win this time, gaki. Just because I have an exam to proctor," she whispered in his ear, while pressing her assets on his back. Naruto blushed and he shivered a little due to how close they were. Anko smirked, 'gotcha!'

She turned to come face to face with a Kusa genin who was quite creepy even by her standards. "Here is your kunai proctor-sssan," she said, placing extra emphasis on the s. She sounded similar to a snake. The genin returned the kunai that she had thrown previously by using her long tongue.

She walked back to the front of the group to address everyone. "For the second part of the exam, there are three parts to this exam. First of all, you are to sign these forms," she said as she waved a bunch of papers. The chunin proctors took the forms and handed it out to the genin.

On the form, the words "FORM OF CONSENT" were written in big bold letters on the top of the paper. "What are these forms for?" Shikamaru asked the question on everyone's minds.

"This form is an agreement that you accept all risks that come with the forest and your respective villages cannot hold Konoha responsible for your deaths," Anko explained with a smile that made some of the genin shiver.

"Alright, listen up! One member from each team will take your signed forms to one of the tents over there and exchange them for a scroll. You will receive either a heaven scroll or an earth scroll. The objective is to get both types of scrolls and get to a tower in the middle of the forest. I don't care how and from who you get the scrolls from as long as you get both to the middle within a five day period. Get it?" She explained.

"Five days?! What do we do about food?" Choji asked, clearly worried about his diet.

"Oh the forest has lots of delicious food," Anko said as she licked her top lip with her unusually long tongue. "There's giant bugs, snakes, spiders. All great sources of food!" Anko smirked as she saw the various faces of disgust.

Choji's face went pale before he stashed all his chips to ensure they lasted for the five days.

"Obviously, your whole team would need to be there to pass. You are also prohibited to open the scroll before reaching there," she continued as she glared at the genin to make sure everyone listened to her words.

Naruto handed his signed form to Sasuke who also took Shikamaru's and headed for one of the tents. Meanwhile, Naruto hid himself from the other genin and created a clone. The clone transformed into a fly which flew to the tent to observe the scrolls handed out to the various teams. 'Hey, who says we can't cheat? This is the world of shinobi, life's unfair.'

He joined back with Sasuke and Shikamaru who were already going over plans. The team got a heaven scroll which means they needed an earth scroll. After discussing and saying good luck to the other rookies, team 7 headed for gate 27, one out of 44 gates around the forest. On the way there, Naruto's clone dispelled.

Naruto pulled Sasuke and Shikamaru close and whispered, "my clone dispelled. Firstly, we got the Taki team which was about three gates down from us. They have an earth scroll and should be easy enough. Secondly," his voice got even softer but had a more serious tone. "Whenever we see the Kusa nin, we have to get out ASAP. I've never felt a chakra that was as evil and dark before from a shinobi. Remember what I told you about Gaara? Well, the Kusa nin has a chakra capacity that's as much as him. This is bad. Very bad. We cannot ever meet her," he said as his teammates nodded in agreement.


"Are all contestants ready?" Anko's voice blared from the multiple speakers around the forest. "3, 2, 1! The second test begins now!" The gates to the forest opened and all the genin rushed in.

Team 7 took a three point formation, Naruto at the front while Shikamaru and Sasuke flanked him. Naruto would sense any danger approaching them, hence, he was at the front. He also created a few clones to scout outside of his sensory range. They headed for the team from Takigakure that Naruto saw previously. Shikamaru suggested that they go to the tower as fast as possible to minimise energy usage and exposure to any danger.

As they closed down on the Taki team, Naruto sensed six chakra signatures. "Guys, it looks like the Taki team is already in a fight," he informed his team.

"We should use this opportunity to get both teams out of the exams." Sasuke suggested. He was itching to fight ever since he reluctantly declined Rock Lee's request, and now he would get his chance. Naruto and Shikamaru agreed and they took positions higher up for a bird's eye view.

They saw from their position, the Taki team fighting with a team from Konoha on a large branch. The team from Konoha was at least three to four years older than them and they didn't recognise any of them. The Taki team had two girls and one boy while the Konoha team had one girl and two boys. 'The game's the game,' Naruto thought as team 7 started to rain shuriken and kunai on them.

The two teams were shocked and displeased at the interference. Sasuke shunshin in between the two teams, earning snarls from both teams. "Get out of our way, Uchiha! Go fight someone else," said one of the male genin from Konoha.

Sasuke merely smirked and rushed towards them. Meanwhile, Naruto appeared behind the Taki team. The Taki genin were all startled when they heard him speak from behind them. None of them had sensed him. "Good morning everyone. Before anything happens, I think it would be polite if I tried some diplomacy first, unlike my friend over there. Give us your scroll and there will be no bloodshed," Naruto said with an eye smile.

"Screw that!" One of the genin shouted before rushing in with his teammates flanking him. Naruto created two clones who each started a separate battle of their own.


With Sasuke

As soon as Sasuke rushed towards Konoha-nin, his sharingan flared to life. He engaged the taller boy that rushed him. He parried a punch that was aimed for his face before returning with a kick to his stomach. His feet only kicked wood as the genin had used a Kawarimi. Sasuke didn't have time to think as the other boy engaged him with a kunai.

Sasuke took out his own kunai and met with the opposing kunai. Sparks flew as they hit each other. After a few more clashes, Sasuke decided on a different approach and threw some shuriken. His opponent smirked as he dodged them. However, he did not see the string in Sasuke's mouth as he pulled the shuriken back and ended up getting hit in the back by three shuriken. He fell unconscious from the blood loss.

Sasuke now rushed towards the girl who was healing injuries she had apparently suffered from their battle with the Taki-nin. She tried to place a genjutsu on Sasuke but he easily broke it due to his sharingan. Sasuke smirked and used his Sharingan to place a genjutsu on her. She broke it but was too late as Sasuke appeared behind her and knocked her out with the back of a kunai. That was his first time using a sharingan genjutsu in battle so it was easy to break but it was enough to swiftly win the battle.

With Shikamaru

As Naruto and Sasuke engaged the enemies, he was underneath the branch they were fighting on. After a few moments, he saw his purpose of hiding, he saw a Konoha genin Kawarimi away from the fight. Shikamaru sighed and muttered "troublesome" underneath his breath. Shikamaru immediately shunshin towards the genin. His purpose was to stop any returning attacks from those who escaped. The Kawarimi was one of the most used jutsu in the world and mostly it was used to escape and attack enemies by surprise.

He appeared near the genin, "surprised to see me?" Shikamaru said with a smirk as he saw the genin widen his eyes in shock. Shikamaru took out a few shuriken and threw it at the genin and started a vertical battle as they stuck to large trees with chakra. The genin dodged but Shikamaru kept on the pressure and threw more shuriken.

The genin kept on dodging but Shikamaru's sharp eyes caught something during his dodges, the genin was favouring his left leg. Kakashi had trained him to be more attentive during fights. Due to his intelligence, he would tend to pick things up quicker than his teammates. Kakashi had trained him to use that to his advantage. Shikamaru stopped his shuriken rain and went in close. They engaged in a bout of taijutsu.

Shikamaru aimed a punch to the gut but his opponent's arm blocked it. He used his other hand and tried to punch his opponent's face but it was caught. "Is that all you got?" His opponent had a smug face but Shikamaru kept an impassive face.

Seeing his opponent's hands occupied, Shikamaru kicked his right knee which caused the genin to stagger back a bit while holding back the urge to shout in pain. He held his opponent's arms to make sure they didn't move and kicked his opponent's right leg again, this time aiming for his calf muscles. He then swiped his leg, making sure to hit his ankles, causing him to fall with a scream of pain. His opponent had an injury from their battle with the Taki team and Shikamaru took advantage of it.

Shikamaru caught the genin in his shadow so that he wouldn't fall and placed a kunai to his neck. "Sorry man, everyone wants to win the exam. Better luck next time," he said as he took the heaven scroll from his pocket and knocked him out. 'Heaven scroll…We can use this in case we meet anything…troublesome'

With Naruto

The real Naruto was fighting the only male of the Taki team. He rushed Naruto with a tanto and Naruto took out his katana. It was only fair to fight a blade with another blade. The metal of the two blades met each other with a loud clang. They locked their blades against each other and were having a test of strength. They pushed each other with all their strength and were at a standstill for a few moments before Naruto started pushing him back.

Realising that Naruto was stronger, the Taki-nin jumped back to create some distance. The Taki-nin then rushed Naruto once again but this time, he channelled chakra to his tanto. The chakra caused his tanto to be stronger and sturdier. Naruto smiled when he saw the attempt. Naruto also channelled chakra into his sword but it was wind chakra which was more refined and sharper than regular chakra.

He rushed towards the Taki-nin and met him head on. ' Uzumaki Style: Waterfall Slice ' Naruto thought as he lifted his sword and brought it down on his opponent diagonally. His sword sliced cleanly through the tanto, earning a shocked look from the Taki-nin before he felt the pain from the wind chakra slicing him across the chest. The wound was not deep but it drew blood and hurt like hell.

"You won't die, calm down." He whispered to the genin sprawled on the ground in front of him.

With Naruto Clones

At one point during their fights, the two girls decided to team up. At this point the clones realised that the girls looked extremely similar except for their hair colour and deduced that they were probably twins or at least sisters. The sisters were both rushing through hand seals and the Naruto clones recognised the jutsu they were using. " Katon: Endan (Fire Style: Flame Bullet) !" Two large flame bullets shot towards the clones.

The clones looked at each other and nodded. One made the dragon hand seal while the other made the tiger hand seal. " Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough)! " " Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Style: Raging Waves)! " A large jet of water shot out of the mouth of one of the clones while a giant ball of air shot from the other. The two jutsu combined to create a large water tornado which clashed with the two flame bullets. Due to the amount of chakra Naruto used and the elemental advantage, the water combination jutsu stopped the fire bullets and made its way to the Taki-nin.

Seeing this, the girls scattered away but one was not fast enough and was caught by the tornado. "Aina! No!" Shouted the girl who managed to escape. The girl now known as Aina was violently thrown about in the tornado before she was thrown out and was caught by one of the clones while the other ended the jutsu. The clone gently placed Aina who was unconscious and had multiple cuts and bruises on the ground.

The other girl rushed immediately to her side and pushed the clone away. "What did you do?! I will kill you!" She exclaimed as she pointed a kunai to the two clones who placed their hands in the surrender position.

"Woah, calm down miss. We just did what we had to do. She's just unconscious." Said one of the clones. "We don't mean to kill anyone, this is just an exam after all. If you give us your scroll, we will leave you alone to care for your teammates," the other clone continued.

She looked towards the clones and back towards the unconscious body in her arms and sighed. She took out the scroll from her pouch and handed it to the clones. The clones gave her an eye smile and grabbed her and Aina before using a shunshin.


With Team 7

Sasuke and Shikamaru were tying up the Konoha genin they defeated while Naruto waited with his now unconscious opponent for his clones. They appeared beside him a few moments after with both of their opponents, although one was more hurt than the other. Shikamaru, Sasuke and Naruto's eyebrows were all raised as they saw the crying girl with her unconscious and badly hurt teammate. The clones shrugged and threw the scroll to Naruto before dispelling.

Naruto gained their memories and shook his head. 'Did they really have to go so far?' Naruto walked up to the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry about your teammates but they will be fine. I already have a clone getting some of the proctors here so they can take you all to the hospital," he said with an eye smile. They may be shinobi but they still have morals. Nothing wrong with helping a few people, of course, despite the fact that they were the ones to injure them in the first place.

Team 7 left her there as they made their way to the tower in the middle of the forest. They had their scrolls and everything should be smooth sailing from here on but there was a bad feeling in Naruto's guts and he didn't know why…