Beginning Of The Chunin Exams

"What is it, Ino?"

I tried to ak in the most polite manner possible, hoping that not even a minuscule hint of my annoyance showed through my words or face. She fumbled with her own hand while standing in her place, probably trying to gather the courage to speak out loud. When she finally did, she received an instant answer.

"Would you go out with me?!"

"Sorry, not interested"

Ino looked shocked at first and then started tearing up. Facing instant rejection on your first confession was hard, and even more so for a girl like Ino. But I wasn't done yet. I knew her feelings weren't either or love. They weren't even of liking. It was nothing but attraction. Thus, I decided to give a piece of advice.

"Ino, before you confess to someone, make sure you really like them. Don't go around confessing to people just because they are strong and handsome"

She stopped tearing up as soon as she heard me, apparently realizing what my words meant. She muttered a short thanks and a sorry to me and went back to her seat between Shikamaru and Choji. All I could do was to hope that she had learned something from the rejection.

"You were quite cold there, you know?"

"I never told you, did I, Tenten?"

"Tell me what?"

"That I can feel emotions"

When she realized what I said, she opened her eyes wide in urgency and then in fear and worry. I couldn't help but chuckle, which made her mad at me for laughing at her. I only flicked her forehead one agains, making her pout. For a girl who wanted to reach Tsunade's level and didn't like depending on others, she was extremely comfortable with me teasing her like that. I didn't say anything about her feelings though. It was too early to pull any moves.

In that relaxed manner, we all continued talking until the afternoon. Then we went back to our houses.

*

"Ok! Mom, I'm leaving. I'll be back as a full-fledged Chunin!"

"Take care, Ryo! And take care of your teammates too! And Tenten!"

"Yeah, yeah! Bye!"

Leaving my house was the most nerve racking moment. Not because I was nervous about the Exams, that was the last of my worries. It was because of who I knew to be lurking around during the exams. And even if I didn't really care about what Orochimaru did to Sasuke, I did want to stop him from harming others.

"I'll think about it when the time comes"

And that was the right choice. When I met with my teammates and everyone else on the venue for the first part of the Exam, my worries disappeare. All that was left was the sheer determination to keep them safe.

We didn't have to wait long before moving on to the venue for the First Stage of the Exam. On the door to the first stage there were two Konoha Chunin trying to discourage people from participating. A lot of Genin were falling for their threats, but I wasn't falling for that. So I just ignored them and walked by, with the gang following suit and ignoring them. I could feel the pride oozing out of them, seeing their own Genin being fearless in the face of baseless threats.

Soon enough, we found the room were the First Stage would take place and went inside. A few Genin from other villages were already there, like Gaara's group from Suna and the group of the Sound. I felt two malicious intents and looking around found them soon enough. They were Orochimaru and Kabuto, one disguised and the other playing dumb. While I was thinking of how to tell someone about them, things hapenned.

"Hey there, I guess you're new to the Exam, right?"

"And who are you?"

Kabuto got close to us and did his card tricks. Sasuke, surprisingly, asked for info about me besides Lee and Gaara. What I felt the most threatened about, though, was the kind of information he had about me.

"There isn't much information on Gaara of the Sand and there isn't that much info either on Ryota Inuzuka, but it is widely known that he is extremely good at Suiton and his clan's techniques. There is also a rumour about him having had a run-in with an S-Class Missing Nin and forcing him to escape"

I couldn't help but snort when he finished his little talk. I wasn't worried about him knowing that much, but about losing the surprise factor at my strength being known so easily by others.

"*snort* More like he just didn't want to fight anymore"

There was a moment that felt just as tense as it felt awkward, but luckily, it was cut short by the little skirmish between Kabuto and the Sound Nin. Though it didn't go the same way it happened in Canon.

"I'd be grateful if you didn't come to our village and treated it like your backyard. That is, of course, if you still want to be able to hear the sound you are so prided on"

I had been on the edge for some time, and he just happened to be the perfect dummie to release a bit of stress. Before he could even get close to Kabuto, I had him on the floor with an arm behind his back and a kunai pointing straight inside his ear. Everyone looked surprised at how quickly and easily I had subdued the guy, who was in turn sweating cold and almost shaking.

"Just behave, I won't do anything if you don't either"

After that we spent a bit of time talking to each other about random things, until a sudden smokescreen appeared out of nowhere and a voice was heard from within it. When it cleared out, Ibiki Morino was present and ready to "torture" the participants.

"Ok, listen well children and degenerates! I'm going to be you nightmare during the First Stage of the Exams. As you can see, there are exam sheets in front of you. That is the First Stage a simple, written test. Those of you who fail to answer will be eliminated from the Exam. That's it, begin"

While everyone began burning their pencils, I was leisurely thinking of how to tell Ibiki of the possible danger.