Chapter 14: Chunin Exams Begin

AN: Hey everyone hope you're all doing well! Today I'm actually uploading TWO chapters. So both Chapter 14 and Chapter 15 will be up today! Chapter 14 may feel a bit rushed towards the end but I couldn't help it, it's the Chunin Exam's paper test, we all know paper tests are boring :/ Well, Chapter 15 will be much more exciting :)

Chapter 14

Huff...Huff...Huff… I panted heavily as the three of us continued to run through the academy hallways and up the stairs. "Are you alright big brother?" Haku asked worriedly.

"Im...huff...fine. Let's focus on making it there first." I said out of breath. Kimimaro took one more glance at me before forcefully grabbing me and threw me over his shoulder. "Oi! Wha-" I exclaimed in surprise. Before I could finish my sentence Kimimaro said, "Just let me do this Izaya. Not only did you expend chakra during our spar with Lord Third, but you were also forced to use up a large portion of your chakra to activate the Flying Thunder God Jutsu and teleport all three of us by the Academy entrance from the training grounds. You're currently drained of chakra. Let Haku and I take care of the rest."

I took a deep breath and nodded in consent as I hung passively over Kimimaro's shoulder.

Outside the door of room 301 was Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura along with Kakashi and Yamato. Yamato was pacing nervously back and forth while Kakashi was giving a serious talk to Team 7 and praising them as well. "Where are they? Where are they? They didn't actually decide not to participate right?" Yamato nervously whispered to himself. He checked the time which showed that it was 2:59pm. Just as he looked up at the end of the hallway the three of us showed up which Yamato then let out a loud, "AH!"

His loud exclamation startled Kakashi and Team 7 who looked at him with a weird expression. The three of us finally stood in front of Yamato-sensei while Team 7 just looked at us like we were all performing a circus act. "Where HAVE YOU BEEN! Do you know how nervous I was!" Yamato shouted anxiously. At this moment Kimimaro put me down while I took one long deep breath to steady my breathing. Then I looked at Yamato-sensei with a mocking smile and said, "Oh. Lord Third wanted to meet with us for a bit. Ya-Ma-To-sensei." I said emphasizing the hidden intent when I said his name.

It was then that it struck him that the reason his three precious students were late might of been related to him. "Ha-Hahaha...Uh...Ahem. Well it doesn't matter. What matters is that you're here now. Ahem. Why don't you three go ahead inside. Hehe…" Yamato said nervously and apologetically.

Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura looked on dumbfoundedly at Yamato's sudden change of tone and expression. Team 7 collectively had the same thought at this moment. That those three were obviously late because of Yamato and he forget that he was the cause.

"Okay...Well go on in then. And do your best." Kakashi said.

"Mn." Team 7 and us three assented.

All six of us then walked through the doors. After the door shut behind us Kakashi just stared and Yamato and said, "What the heck did you do."

"Hahaha, nothing nothing. It's my fault. Let's not mention it any further Kakashi-senpai." Yamato said sheepishly as both he and Kakashi walked off.

As the six of us stood at the front of the entrance Ino immediately attacked Sasuke with a fanatic fangirl hug annoying him greatly. Shikamaru and Choji walked over as well starting up a conversation. As usual, Choji was eating some chips and Shikamaru was complaining about the whole ordeal. Eventually Kiba, Hinata, and Shino walked over to join us. Kiba made some snarky remark which prompted Sasuke to reply condescendingly. As they continued their banter Kimimaro, Haku, and I stood there watching with an amused expression.

It was at this moment I noticed someone walking over to our group causing me to furrow my brow when I realized who it was. "Yakushi Kabuto." I whispered nearly inaudible to everyone else, except for Kimimaro and Haku who heard me.

Eh? Haku raised his eyebrows while Kimimaro turned to me with curiosity. Haku walked closer to me and whispered, "You know him big brother?"

"Ah?" I said aloud realizing my mistake. "Did I say that out loud…" I replied sheepishly.

"Eh? So you don't know him then?" Haku replied confused.

"Errrr...Hmm...How do I put this." I said while thinking how to explain. Oh, I know of an excuse. Haku and Kimimaro know that I was once an experiment of Orochimaru's, and Kabuto happens to be Orochimaru's right hand man. I'll just use an excuse like I heard Orochimaru say something or saw a younger picture of him once before. I then turned my attention back to Haku and Kimimaro and said in a soft voice, "He's related to my...complicated upbringing. That's all I can say for now since there's too many people here."

Kimimaro and Haku were completely startled and immediately put their guard up inside.

Kabuto finally stopped in front of our group and started giving us a lecture about being too loud and keeping the status quo in the room. As he talked with the others he finally pulled out some ninja cards and read some info off of them. He then showed a card displaying how many ninja were participating in the exam and where they are from. He said, "Do you know why the Chunin exams are jointly held in the first place?"

As no one answered he proceeded to answer his own question, "First, it's because it's said to deepen the friendship among the other nations and secondly, to boost the skill levels of shinobi."

"It's said?" Sasuke commented.

I then walked over seeing how Kabuto was trying to act all friendly and worm his way into everyone else's good graces. Once I got close enough I stopped and said, "It's said, because on the surface that is what the village's want others to believe. The hidden motives are to have the shinobi that are sent to the exams of other village's to examine and observe the current strength of that village."

Kabuto looked up surprised. He took a careful look at me inquisitively and nodded his head saying, "That's right. They do this to try and keep the level balance of each village about the same. This way they can better prepare themselves for the worse. A sort of checks and balance of power. "

"Heh. Of those cards, do any have detailed information on individuals?" Sasuke asked.

Kabuto looked over to Sasuke and said, "There are. Anyone in particular you concerned with?"

Sasuke had a serious expression and said, "There are."

"I see. The information is not perfect this time around, but I do have the information I've collected burned on these cards. Including information on all of you. Just tell me who they are and I can pull up the information for you." Kabuto replied. I narrowed my eyes wondering how much information he was able to collect on Kimimaro, Haku, and I.

I'm certain he doesn't know that I was an experiment of Orochimaru's since he wasn't with Orochimaru at the time of my creation. I've also never sensed his presence when we've trained or anything of the sorts like that so all the information he has on us is by a third party and rumors. With how much Yamato-sensei has bragged about us though I'm sure he does have a general sense of our strength. It's a good thing the three of us have kept our true strength hidden and that we've kept Kimimaro's sickness a secret known to only a few people who promised not to reveal that information.

Sasuke proceeded to say, "Gaara of the Sand Village, and Rock Lee of the Hidden Leaf."

"Okay." Kabuto said. He then swiped two cards from the deck and showed Lee's information. "He's a year older than you guys. Completed twenty D-rank and eleven C-rank missions. Team leader is Might Guy. He's extremely skilled in Taijutsu, but his other skills are not good at all." Kabuto proceeded to give information about Lee and then on Gaara. "Gaara of the Hidden Sand. He completed seven C-rank and one B-rank mission. Not much is known about him as he's from another village. However, he has returned from all of his missions unharmed." Kabuto said. He then gave a quick glance at Haku, Kimimaro, and I before turning his attention back to the others.

Oh? I mentally thought. He glanced at us like he also knew of our missions. I guess he might know a bit about us then I mused. While they talked some more and made a mention of the Hidden Sound being a small and new upstart village I knew the same scene from my past life was going to happen. Kabuto will be attacked by the sound village ninja and later during the Chunin exam sometime, he'll forfeit, and this was probably a ploy he played for Orochimaru I thought.

Lone behold the scene played out exactly as I had remembered. "Kabuto dodged the punch from that sound village ninja, so why did he vomit blood?" Sasuke stared bewilderedly.

"Lee, did you see that attack just now?" Neji asked.

"Ah. I did. There was no problem following his speed but I don't know why he vomited blood. Some sort of trick I guess." Lee replied.

While everyone was bewildered I stood there indifferently and faced the three sound ninja commenting, "Nice arm you've got there. The design of your metallic arm allows your punch to take in the air when you strike and fuse it with your chakra creating sound, disrupting the other person's senses."

At that moment everyone let out a surprised reaction and discussed among themselves while the ones who were shocked the most were the three from the Sound Village. They glared at me ferociously and said, "Oh? A blind Genin from the leaf eh?"

Before anything else could happen a puff of smoke appeared in the room with a loud shout, "Silence you degenerates!" After the smoke cleared a bunch ninja protectors and instructors appeared with Morino Ibuki at the head. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm the Chunin proctor for the first exam, Morino Ibuki." He said with a bemused expression. He then proceeded to reprimand the ninja from the Hidden Sound while they proceeded to apologize.

Ibuki simply smirked and said, "I'll say this now. There will be no battles or fights without the permission of the proctors or examiners. And even if you get permission, any actions that lead to the death of your opponent will not be permitted. Any idiot who dares to screw with me will be immediately disqualified. Got it? Then let's begin the exam. Come turn in your registration cards and take a number. Then sit at the seat corresponding to your number. Then we will hand out the paper test."

Naruto of course made a fuss, but not long after everyone got to their assigned seats with a paper test in front of them. I sat at seat number 72, Haku at seat 100, and Kimimaro at seat 131. Ibuki then proceeded to tell us the rules. The first rule being that everyone received 10 points at the start as the exam has 10 questions. Each question is worth 1 point. Get one answer wrong and you lose a point. Second rule, pass or fail is determined by the accumulated points of the three man team. Third rule, those who are caught cheating will have 2 points deducted for each act, therefore, it is possible to be dismissed even before the examination is over and anyone who is caught awkwardly cheating will bring ruin to themselves. The last rule was that if anyone on your team gets 0 points, then that entire team will fail.

Ibuki then said, "By the way, we'll give 45 minutes for the last problem after the start of the test. The test will be 1 hour long. Start!"

Heh. I smirked. I looked down at the test. I wonder if they'll think it's weird that a blind person is able to fill out the test questions I mentally thought to myself. Well, it doesn't matter since in the end, after Naruto speaks up no else fails. I'll just do what I want. It wasn't long after when the proctors started calling out numbers failing them. "Number 23 fails."

"Number 46 fails."

"Number 30 fails."

"Number 121 fails."

After about an hour into the test, Ibuki looked at everyone and said, "Alright. It's about time for me to give you the final question. You have 45 minutes, but before I tell you the question I have some additional rules to add. First, you guys have to decide whether you'll take the 10th question. If you don't take the 10th question, your score will be 0, then you'll fail alongside your teammates. And finally, the last rule. If you take the 10th question and can't answer it correctly, you'll have to relinquish your rights to take the Chunin exams forever!"

Whilst many others in the room were panicking I simply sat back and enjoyed the show. Some people elected to leave but not long after Naruto of course made a fuss. "Don't give me that crap! Even if I'm stuck being a Genin forever I'll still become Hokage! I'll take that darn 10th exam question!"

Ibuki simply smirked after noticing no one else decided to leave and said, "Heh. Then for those of you who are still here. The first Chunin exam. You pass!"

As the people in the room were confused and excited Ibuki continued to explain about the first exam. A few moments later and just as I remembered in my past life, Mitarashi Anko flew in through the window to begin the second exam. "Oh? Ibuki you left 27 teams still? Looks like the first exam was too easy." Anko said.

"Well, it's just that there are quite a few excellent candidates this time." Ibuki remarked.

"Heh. Oh well, I'll drop that number to less than half." She smirked. She then turned to the candidates. "Listen up. We'll be changing locations for the second examination. Get the information from your Jonin instructor and meet me tomorrow at that location. Dismissed."