Chapter 10: The First Exam! Yes or No!
"We'll begin the written exam once you're all seated." Ibiki stated.
Naru blinked a few times then her eyes widened as what she heard finally sank in. "A... a... wr…written test?" she said, Shikamaru glanced at her, she gulped hard and held Mamoru's collar tight in fear.
Within 15 minutes all the genin in the room had been seated, Naru ended up in seat number 51, she smiled slightly as she thought. 'Thanks old man.' Next to her on her right was Shikamaru and on her left was Hinata and Mamoru got permission and laid at her feet. She knew instantly that Sarutobi had something to do with this, but she wasn't upset, she was a little relieved that he kept her friends next to her, because right now she needed the comfort.
"You'll be okay." Hinata whispered, Naru gave her a small smile.
"Alright, you each have been given your test, do not turn them over until I say to." Ibiki said as he stood at the front of the room still but the others were seated on both sides of the room at each row of tables with a clipboard. "Now be quiet as I explain the rules." he said. "Rule number 1, contrary to what you all believe this exam will be judged on a point reduction scale, you each begin with 10 points." he said and wrote in on the board. "The test has 10 questions, so basically each question is worth 1 point, so if you answer all of them correct you will have 10 points, if you miss three, your final score will be 7." he said.
'And if I don't answer anything, it's 0.' Naru thought.
"Second rule, this is a team test, whether you pass or fail will be determined by how many points you have together as a team." he said. "So whether you pass or fail is how you score from your initial total of 30." he said.
"Wait a second!" Sakura snarled standing up. "I understand this initial point system and all but why have it as a team test?!" she said.
"Shut up! You don't have the right to question me, now sit down!" he barked, she blushed and slunk in her seat. "Now comes the most important point and rule of the test." he said with a smirk. "You see these proctors around the room? They are here to watch you all carefully, for every time they catch you cheating, you will have 2 points taken off of your total score every time they catch you." he said. "As chunin hopefuls you must prove you have what it takes to become chunin." he said. "Show us." they groaned a little. "Oh, one more rule." he said. "If any of you get a 0 on your test or don't answer any of them, you will be failed, along with their teammates." he said, they gasped, Naru gulped hard and stared forward in shock then looked down, Mamoru nuzzled her leg slightly. "You will have 1 hour to complete the test." he said. "And..." he said and looked at the clock, it ticked to 3:30. "Begin!" he said, everyone flipped their papers over, Naru grabbed her pencil and bit her lip.
'What do I do?! Damn!' She thought and bit her lip harder.
'Don't mess this up dope...' Sasuke thought looking at Naru's back from his seat, he saw her just sitting there.
Shikamaru started to read through the questions on his test and frowned a little. 'Line B, seen in the diagram is the greatest possible distance a shinobi can throw his shuriken form a tree of 7 meters high. For enemies who appear with in the circumference of the shuriken's range, explain the attack options using this distance and show your work.' He read and shook his head and continued on reading through all of them. 'Well, this is interesting. It's so complex, how does he expect anyone to answer these questions. There is probably only a few others that could answer these besides me.' He thought, he glanced at Naru and frowned. 'Why wasn't she given a heads up?' He thought then sighed. 'Okay, let's think about everything, there has to be something else here that I'm not getting.' He thought and began to review over everything Ibiki had said.
Sasuke closed his eyes shaking his head with a smirk. 'Well this is interesting, I can't understand a single one of these questions.' He thought. 'It's like they want us to cheat...' he thought and glanced at the sentinels all around and sighed.
Shikamaru perked up and smirked. 'That's it... we're supposed to cheat and not get caught, that's what this test is about'. He thought. 'Well then...'
Mamoru looked at Naru and bit his lip, he used his claw to give a light scratch at her leg causing her to flinch a little. He gently began to use Morse code to ask her questions.
"What do you want to do?"
"Unsure." She responded by using her toes on his leg.
''Do you wish to switch? Henge and switch instantly? I can take it for you.''
''May-'' Suddenly Naru stopped responding to him, he looked up at her and saw her body shaking a little, he looked carefully and smirked as he saw Shikamaru's shadow attached to Naru. He watched as Shikamaru got Naru's pencil and began to write on his test while at the same time controlling Naru's body and helping her to write and fill out her own.
Naru smiled a little as Shikamaru helped her do her test, she blushed slightly thinking about it. 'Thanks Shika...' she thought.
One by one they began to cheat, from Kiba using Akamaru who sat on his head to look an answers and bark, to Shino using his bugs, Sasuke with his sharingan, Neji with his Byakugan, Ino with her mind transfer jutsu, Gaara using a special sand jutsu, Tenten using mirrors on the ceiling helping herself and Lee.
Ibiki smirked as he looked around how everyone was cheating in their own unique way. And finally a kunai went flying past some and landed on a paper, the boy jumped with a cry.
"What the?!" he said.
"You've been caught 5 times, you fail."
"No way!" he said.
"The others on your team go now." he said.
As 5 minutes passed they began to call numbers out saying they were caught and they dragged the kids out one by one, they screamed and fought against the chunin but in the end lost and were literally thrown out of the room.
'Wow...' Naru thought as she listened to them call out the numbers.
-*o*-
"Man, this boring without the brats." Kakashi said leaning back in his seat in the jounin building, Asuma and Kurenai sat across from him.
"Don't worry, you'll be busy again soon." Asuma said.
"Hm?" he said.
"I heard that Ibiki is the first examiner."
"Not that sadist." Kakashi said with a chuckle.
"Sadist?" Kurenai asked.
"You're new Kurenai, but Ibiki..." Kakashi said and shook his head.
"Who is he?"
"A pro." Asuma said.
"A pro of what?" she asked, Asuma took a drag of his cigarette.
"Of torture and interrogation." he said, she looked at him shocked.
-*o*-
"Okay! We will now start the 10th question!" Ibiki said, Naru looked at Shikamaru.
"It's blank, it says he'll start it 45 minutes after." he whispered, Naru nodded a little.
"There are some added rules to this question as well." he said, they groaned a little. "Rule number 1, you must decide whether to take it or not."
"What do you mean!? What happens if we choose not to!?" Temari yelled standing.
"If you choose not to, your points will be dropped down to 0 and you and your team will fail." he said. "And there is one more rule." he said.
'Another one?! Come on!' Sakura thought.
"If you choose to take it and answer incorrectly, that person will lose the right to take the chunin exams ever again." he said, they gasped.
"But wait! There are guys here who have taken it before!" Kiba said standing up.
Ibiki chuckled making everyone shiver and gulp. "Well, that's because you guys are the unlucky ones, see this year, it's my rules." he said. "But I am giving you a way out." he said. "Those who aren't confident can choose not to take it and try again next year." he said with a shrug.
Naru shook a little and gulped. 'If I choose to take it and fail, I'll be stuck as a Genin, or if choose to give up now, my team fails...what do I do?' She thought and bit her lip.
'I won't raise my hand! I have the confidence I can answer it!' Sakura thought.
Suddenly a genin raised his hand and stood up. "I... I won't take it! I can't! I'm sorry Gennai, Inoho." he said shaking.
"Number 49, 130 and 111 you also fail." one said, they stood up and walked out and slowly others began to give up and leave.
Sakura looked at Naru then sighed. 'Maybe I should, if Naru can't even do some D-ranks right still, how can she hope to do this test...' she thought and bit her lip, she moved to raise her hand but gasped.
-*o*-
"Interrogation and torture?" Kurenai asked.
"Ibiki knows the human mind completely and that's what makes him intimidating." he said. "By attacking and getting in their mind, he can gain control of their spirit, making their weaknesses and fear rise to the surface so they sabotage themselves, he doesn't even need to touch them." Asuma said.
"Wow." she gulped.
"I just can't believe he's doing it." Kakashi said. 'I wonder if they will make it...' he thought and glanced out the window towards the academy.
-*o*-
Sakura, Sasuke, Mamoru, Hinata and Shikamaru looked in shock as Naru had her hand up, she was shaking and had her eyes shut tight, Ibiki looked at her, she panted and shot up and slapped her hands on the desk.
"Don't underestimate me! I'm not going to run away from your little threat!" she said. "I'm a ninja, even after all I've been through, I'm not going to back down now, and your little question is the least of my worries! Even if I end up a genin forever, then so be it, I'll still be a great ninja no matter what!" she said glaring in the front, everyone looked at her in shock.
"I'll ask again, your future is rising on this decision, this is your last chance to quit!" he said glaring at her, her lip curled up in a snarl a little.
"I'm not quitting." she said and sat back down, they sighed, Sasuke smirked while still twitching a little.
'The dope wasn't even thinking about us.' He thought.
Everyone smirked and looked more determined than they had the whole time since Ibiki showed up in the room, Ibiki scanned their faces carefully.
'Interesting brat. First she cheats with help from that Nara without giving it away that she wasn't answering. Then she blasted everyone's worries away. 78 students left, way more then I expect... I guess there is no point in stretching this out any longer.' He thought and looked at his chunin, each nodded and he smirked.
"Well then, I admire your determination, for those of you remaining, there is only one thing left to say." he said, they gulped. "You've all passed the first exam." he said, they gasped and stared in shock.
"Wait! What do you mean?! What about the 10th question?!" Sakura asked standing again.
"There is no- well, you could say those two choices were the 10th question." he said and smiled.
"Hey! Then what were the first 9 questions for? They were useless!" Temari said standing waving her test.
"No, they served their purpose, they were to test your abilities of gathering information." he said with a smirk.
'He's suddenly changed personalities.' Temari thought.
"You see the questions on this exam, no genin could answer them unless either you knew the answers perfectly or you were a genius." he said, Shikamaru smirked slightly. "The only way for you to pass this test was for you to cheat if you wanted a chance." he said. "So that's why I slipped a few chunin in who knew the answers already." he said, they whispered and Sasuke smirked as they stood up, one was the one copied from.
'At least I picked right.' He thought.
"And those who were caught cheating failed. Better not to cheat then to cheat badly." he said and worked at his Hitai-ate and pulled it off, they gasped staring at him in shock. "Information can be the most valuable information in a battle, how well you gather information will decide whether a mission is a failure or a success." he said, they looked at him in shock. Scars, burn marks, and even holes decorated his bald head.
"Whoa..." Shikamaru whispered.
"What?" Naru asked.
"He's covered in scars, marks and even holes in his head." he said, Naru blinked in shock.
"There will be times when you have to risk your life to get information." he said. "Of course, you must always remember that information you've gather from an enemy is not always accurate." he said and fixed his Hitai-ate again. "Always keep this in mind. Bad information can be worse than none at all." he said. "It can lead to death or even annihilation of a village. That is why I put you in this position, in which you had to cheat to survive the test." he said. "And that's why those who weren't good enough at it were weeded out."
"I'm still not understanding about the 10th question." Temari said.
"Really? The 10th question is the main point of the whole exam." "I get it, but explain in anyway." Sakura said lying.
"It was to test you not only as individuals but as a team. The final question gave you two choices, to play it safe and skip or go ahead and risk never taking the test again." he said. "It was a no win situation." they still looked confused. "The kind of risk chunin face every day, for example, say you have to steal a document from an enemy stronghold, but you have no idea how many enemies are there nor what the place is like really and the chance that the enemy is expecting you and you could be walking blindly into a trap." he said. "Now do you have the option of taking a pass on this insane practically suicide mission, to save your comrades and your own hides? No!" he said. "There will be many missions that when you think about it are suicidal, but you do not think about it, you do it!" he said. "You think about the rewards and what will happen when you achieve that goal." he said. "These are the qualities that someone needs to become a chunin or a squad leader." he said. "Those whose determination falters in the face of danger have no right to become chunin, so long as I am here." he said. "For the rest of you, you all have successfully answered the 10 questions I gave you, you have earned the right to continue on to the next step, you have passed the first gate of these exams." he said. "I hereby call this test completed and there is nothing left to say but good luck!"
"Yes!" Naru said, Shikamaru chuckled with Hinata.
'This girl...' Ibiki thought, he looked towards the window as a black ball shot in shattering the window, it opened up with two kunai holding a banner open and a woman stood in front of them, she had purple hair tied up in a spiky bun, she wore a fishnet shirt and shorts with an orange skirt over it and a tan trench coat, Ibiki who was behind the banner now sighed and held his head shaking it. 'Not this one, as usual, she jumped in too soon...' he thought.
"Head's up boys and girls! This is no time to be celebrating! I, the beautiful and sexy Mitarashi Anko, am your next proctor!" she said. "You ready for the second test!? Good! Let's go! Follow me!" she said holding her fist in the air, everyone stared at her like she was nuts, Mamoru perked up peering at the woman from behind the desk, Ibiki leaned over.
"You're early ... again." he said, she blushed a little.
"What the-?" Naru whispered.
Great a screaming nutcase.
"How many are there? Ibiki you wimp! You left 78!" she said glaring at the smirking man.
"No, it just seems they are stronger this year." he said looking at Naru pointedly.
"They don't look it..." Anko said. "Trust me, by time I'm done with 'em, I'll have them down to half." she said.
'What?!' Naru thought in shock, they whispered in shock.
"This is gonna be fun, alright you maggots have had it easy so far." she said, Ibiki gave a small grumble at Anko. "Things are gonna be different starting first thing tomorrow!" she said. "I'll tell your squad leaders where you're to meet Me." she said. "Dismissed." she said in a sweet tone. They all filed out slowly, Shikamaru walked next to Naru and sighed.
"Hey, Shika..." Naru said, he looked at her. "Thanks..." she said. "For ya know, helping me out..." she said, he smiled.
"No problem." he said.
Sasuke and Sakura walked next to Naru and they were silent, there was a pop in front of them making them jump as Kakashi stood in front of them with a smile.
"Kaka-sensei!" Sakura said with a smile.
"Congratulations! I heard you passed." he said.
"Hai!" they all said, he smiled.
"I'm proud of you guys." he said and ruffled their heads, Sasuke grumbled while Sakura blushed and Naru smiled. "You are to meet at the 44th training ground at 1:00pm tomorrow." he said, they nodded.
Suddenly footsteps ran towards them and they looked to see Iruka running towards them, he stopped and gasped with a smile.
"I heard you passed!" he said with a large grin, he lifted Naru from Mamoru making her squeal then laugh as he spun her a little.
"Thanks Iruka-sensei!" she said, he sighed set her down and cupped her face.
"I'm so proud!" he said, she smiled. "Come on! I'll buy you some supper!" he said tugging her along, she stuttered and followed him and Mamoru followed her, Kakashi smirked and jerked his thumb.
"How about we have a celebratory dinner too huh?" he said jerking his thumb towards them, both nodded and followed them, Kakashi sighed and smiled a little.
Iruka paid for Naru's dinner and walked her home, she smiled up at him as they walked into the apartment.
"Thanks sensei." she smiled at him, he sighed and hugged her.
"I'm so proud of you! And I know you'll do well on the next part too!"
"So long as it's not a written test again." she deadpanned, he chuckled.
"How did you do on that?"
"Shikamaru helped me." she said and smiled with a blush, he smiled softly and sighed.
"Well, I don't want to keep you up, make sure you get plenty of rest, and eat a big breakfast in the morning. Make sure you have plenty of supplies just to be safe." he said, Naru chuckled.
"Yes sensei."
"I'm proud of you."
"Thanks." she smiled, he chuckled and kissed her head and walked out, Naru sighed and smiled, she went to bed and curled up, Mamoru curled up around her and both fell asleep, Naru's mind kept spinning at the thought of tomorrow's test.
'I wonder what will go on tomorrow.' She thought before she fell into a deep sleep.