The Chunin Exam - 13

The blonde boy gave a small smirk to Hinata who only blushed in response. He let his eyes wander about the room, averting test sheets, and saw how the rest of the genin were doing.

To his left, Sato had woken from his depressed slumber. He wore a dark frown as he scratched answers down onto his paper, unknown to Naruto; he was guided by the movements of a tiny beetle. The blonde boy only raised his eyebrows, wondering what had him in such a funk.

A short distance off he spotted Sakura, who looked as if she too had finished with her exam as well. She had turned over her paper. Chouji was seated further ahead to the right and looked as if he were finishing his test as well, 'Wow. These people are either really smart or really good cheaters...'

And not a moment after Naruto had thought that to himself, a sentry on the side of the room hurled a pen at someone on the far left, startling the genin as the pen stuck up from the center of his paper. He looked up, horrified, as the sentry smirked at him, "You're done. I've been watching you: your five chances have been spent. You and your teammates fail."

"But I wasn't cheating! I swear! I don't know what you're talking about-"

"I said you're done," The sentry repeated, with no trace of sympathy, "You and your teammates are to leave immediately."

The genin's teammates stood, faces grim, and shuffled down their respective rows in utter humiliation. Still mortified, the guilty genin stood also, muttering in shame, "I...I'm sorry guys."

His teammates said nothing as they left and the door closed behind them with a click. All other cheaters in the room abruptly paused, fearing the same fate.

Naruto shuddered at the sight. He had to steel his nerves after the incident. The time that slowly ticked by afterwards was only a blueprint for disaster as numerous other teams were eliminated. Their numbers were shouted aloud and they made the terrible trek to the door, their heads hung in embarrassment.

Forty five anguishing minutes passed.

"Times up!" Ibiki's voice rang out over the thick silence, "Now, I will explain the rules of the final question..."

Groans of annoyance sounded as tired brains were reawakened.

Naruto faced front, eyes wide, 'This is it! Number ten!'

"Some things you should be aware of before we proceed are the following: if you answer this last question incorrectly your entire team will fail automatically," Ibiki's voice was mechanical, "Furthermore, neither you or your teammates may participate in any future Chunin Selection Exams if you miss this question!"

Groans of annoyance transformed into gasps of shock.

"What are you saying?" Sakura's shout was distinguishable, "Our entire performance so far is judged on a single question? That makes no sense!"

Naruto stood up, howling in outraged agreement, "Yeah! That's totally stupid! Just what kind of question is it anyway?"

"Silence!"

The two rowdy Leaf genin sat down and shut up.

"You have been given an option," The heartless proctor went on with no change in inflection, "If you feel that you are unable to answer the tenth question under these conditions you may choose to drop out now and be free to take next year's exam. Otherwise, this will be your only chance to pass the first portion of the test."

The room was eerily quiet as hands began to appear in the air, and numbers were called as nervous genin and their teammates stood and prepared to leave, believing in the phrase 'better safe than sorry.'

A few minutes passed as more and more genin abandoned their endeavors. Naruto sat, shaking in a fit of rage, unable to believe that an entire test could depend on one question. He glanced back at Gaara who sat unperturbed in his seat, staring ahead. Haku, who was at the front, also looked peculiarly calm.

'I just can't accept this. Not even if Haku-kun gives me the answer...if he knows it...this is complete bullshit.'

A quivering hand rose into the air and from the back of the room, Gaara narrowed his eyes, not expecting his stubborn friend to succumb to such pressures. Even without looking back Haku could tell Naruto had raised his hand.

And just as quickly as he had lifted it, Naruto slammed his fist down onto his desk, standing and glowering at the scarred proctor. All eyes were set on him, even those who were about to give up, as the blonde boy glared blue fire at Ibiki, "This whole test is complete bullshit and I couldn't care less if I flunk this question or not!"

Haku sighed to himself, smiling.

"I don't care if I'm stuck as a genin for the rest of my life! I'm going to be Hokage someday and that means I can never back down!" Naruto declared, wearing a sadistic grin, "So whatever this question is, bring it on!"

He sat back down with a thump and folded his arms. Inside his head, however, his resolve was shaken, 'Oh crap! I better get this right!'

Hinata stared at him with pearly, awe-struck eyes. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess of inspiration, 'Naruto-kun is so brave...'

From the right the blonde boy was surprised to hear the first peep to come from Sato, who was muffling his laughter. Somewhere in the back, although he couldn't tell from where, Lee was congratulating Naruto's 'Youthful Spirit!'

Ibiki himself was impressed that after the speech no more genin had decided to quit, 'Well, looks like that kid did it! No one else appears to be backing down,' He frowned to himself, 'Hm...there's a lot more left than I had anticipated. This is going to be very interesting.'

The proctor spoke up a moment later, "Very well, we will then move on," He smirked inwardly, "Pay close attention."

The room was quiet again, with the exception of Sato's stifled chuckles.

"You all...pass."

Somewhere in the back of the room a person had collapsed from their seat. The sound of thudding jaws impacting desks was also predictably audible. Ibiki only sighed as the volume of the room grew in hysterical confusion.

Gaara's eyes were set on Naruto as the blonde boy struggled to grasp what had happened.

"Wait a minute!" Sakura still wasn't buying it, "What's the tenth question?"

"There isn't one," Ibiki said simply, "It was merely a ploy to determine which ninja would stand up to the challenge, no matter how hopeless it appeared."

"Just what are you trying to say exactly?" Naruto inquired, eyes squinted.

"In the world of a shinobi there will be missions that seem hopeless," Ibiki explained, "Many ninja would abandon their duty if they were given the choice to do so, as seen here. But a ninja must be able to fight against the odds, regardless of how difficult the mission is." He looked directly at Naruto, "Anyone left here now has proven they are willing to face such adversity, a characteristic necessary in order to become a chunin. That is why you've passed."

Naruto's bafflement melted away in seconds and a huge grin covered his entire face, "Ha ha! I knew it all along! There's no way we could fail a test like this!" He turned to the shy girl beside him, "Isn't that right Hinata-chan?"

"R-Right." He was delighted by her squeak of agreement.

Other genin added to the cheering, though none as loudly as Lee or Naruto.

The rejoicing had barely lasted five minutes or so before an explosion of smoke filled the front left corner of the classroom, and a ninja tumbled inside, hurling kunai into the walls in order to secure a drape that obscured Ibiki from sight.

The kunoichi righted herself and glared at the surprised genin, "Alright, listen up maggots! We will now move on to the second part of the Chunin Exam!"

Haku stared wide-eyed, "Anko-sensei?"

The dark haired woman looked over to him, "Oh, hey Haku. I knew you'd be here. How about the weird ones?"

"Um...they're here too."

She grinned, "Perfect."

"You're early again, Anko," Ibiki walked out from behind the drape, "We were just finishing up."

"Ah, I can see that," She frowned, "Ibiki...there are way too many left over. What were you thinking? You better not be getting soft with your tests..."

"I can assure you, I'm not. We have a large number of strong candidates this year, it seems." He answered, looking very pleased.

Haku blinked, never guessing that Anko would be involved in the upkeep of the Chunin Exam.

Anko nodded and then returned her attention back to the genin, "Listen good maggots! I'm Mitarashi Anko, your proctor for the second part of the Chunin Selection Exam! You are all to report to training area 44 within a half hour! Any questions?"

There was a stunned silence as her response.

She didn't bother waiting for any enquiries, "Good! I'll see you there!"

Anko was gone a moment later, leaving Haku to share a long-sided glance with his teammates. Naruto stood after a moment, stretching his arms over his head, "Whew! That wasn't so bad!" Other genin also began to stand, murmuring to each other.

"Leave your test papers at your desks. They are to be collected." Ibiki gave his final announcement, "You better move along. You will not be registered for the second part of the exam if you're late."

Naruto had appeared beside Gaara and they waited as Haku left his seat, his head still reeling from the puzzling written test.

The blonde boy gave his friend a nudge in the ribs, "See? I told you we'd pass no problem!"

Gaara was not so easily fooled, "Haku-kun put a mirror on your desk too, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did..."

"Let's go." Was Gaara's reply once a fatigued-looking Haku had joined them, and they proceeded to join the exiting crowd, already pondering what the next portion of the exam held in store.