14. The Exams Begin

"th- there is a lot of people " Hinata mumbled to her team.

they were greated by the sight of hundreds of people ranged from different villages, ages, and appearances. Collectively, the group was intimidating to anyone who walked in. Nearly all eyes in this intimidating group were staring at the members of Team Three.

"I knew there would be lots of competition, but damn. This is going to be such a drag." Shikamaru groaned.

"…heh. Sure." Naruto laughed, his voice a contradictory mixture of confidence and uneasiness.

The three friends walked further into the room, ignoring all the eyes on them the best that they could. They were about to take some empty seats when they heard yelling.

"HANDS OFF INO-PIG! HE'S NOT YOURS!"

"SHUT UP FOREHEAD! STOP BEING JEALOUS OF OUR TRUE LOVE!"

"…I recognize that annoying shouting anywhere." Shikamaru grumbled.

Team Three walked in the direction of the yelling and found the sources: Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura. The blonde and the pink-haired girls were shouting at each other while clinging on to Uchiha Sasuke, who seemed more annoyed than usual.

"…that's really annoying." Naruto mumbled, rubbing his ears. He hadn't spent much time around the two girls recently, so their combined noise hurt his ears.

"And un-proper." Hinata frowned. She didn't act like that around Naruto, so why do they do that to Sasuke?

"I almost feel sorry for him." Shikamaru added, rubbing his own ears.

"Same here!"

Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru turned around and saw three guys approaching them: Akimichi Chōji holding a bag of chips, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba with Akamaru on his head.

"Chōji!" Naruto cheered, rushing up to his friend and gave him a high five. "Great to see you again dattebayo!" He then turned to the other two guys. "You too Shino, Kiba!"

"What's up Naruto? Been awhile." Kiba noted. Akamaru barked in agreement. "Good to see you too Hinata!"

Shikamaru noticed that Kiba didn't greet him. 'Probably still pissed at me. Eh, whatever.' The Nara shrugged before walking over to Chōji to talk to him.

"How long have they been fighting like this?" Hinata asked.

"Three minutes, twenty-seven seconds." Shino answered immediately.

"We've been counting!" Chōji stated while holding out his bag of chips to Shikamaru.

"Troublesome. Only those two would fight over him in a place like this." Shikamaru replied as he took a chip from his friend's bag. The Akimichi laughed in response.

While the group of six talked, Sasuke was watching and progressively getting more annoyed. It was starting to show on his face: not that the two screaming kunoichi attached to him noticed. He wasn't one for conversation, but if it meant getting away from the screaming girls, he would talk for hours! With that mindset, Sasuke pushed Sakura and Ino off his arms and walked up to other six rookie genin.

"Look who got away!" Kiba laughed. "You alright?"

"Hmph." Sasuke grumbled, which the Inuzuka translated to 'I'll live.'

"Long time no see teme." Naruto said, a smirk on his face.

The Uchiha returned the smirk. "Dobe."

"Will you guys keep it down?"

Everyone, even Sakura and Ino who had just walked over to the group, turned to face the new voice. It belonged to a Konoha shinobi wearing a purple shirt, a white undershirt, dark purple fingerless gloves, and dark purple pants. The shinobi was also wearing a pair of glasses.

"You're rookies aren't you? You're making a lot of noise and drawing a lot of attention. I'd try and be a little quiet if I were you." The glasses-wearing shinobi recommended. "Some of the other genin, like the ones from Ame, are a little bit antsy and are looking for a reason to get in a fight."

"And you are?" Sasuke asked the stranger harshly.

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto!" He greeted, a smile on his face.

"Kabuto-San, you seem to know a lot about the exams." Sakura noted, talking much quieter than before. "Is this your second time taking them?"

"Actually it's my seventh." Kabuto answered, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Seventh? That says a lot about your skill." Shikamaru mumbled under his breath.

The glasses-wearing shinobi was able to hear the Nara's comment, causing him to frown. "Don't say that. These exams are tough! Most people don't pass their first few times, and a few of them actually die! The exams, as well as the competition, are pretty overwhelming."

"S-Seriously?" Chōji gulped.

"Yeah. The exams are tough. But hey, maybe I can help you guys out a little." Kabuto said as he pulled out a set of orange cards from a pocket. "With my ninja info cards."

"What the heck are those?" Sakura asked.

"Ninja info cards." Kabuto chuckled. "They're chakra encoded and hold all the data I've acquired from my past exams. They have everything, from information on the exams to the number of genin from each village to information on the other genin."

The eyes of the rookies widened as they gave Kabuto their full attention. Naruto was the first to speak up.

"So, can I ask you about someone? What do you got on Sabaku no Gaara from Suna?" He asked.

"…huh?" Shikamaru and Hinata both looked at their teammate with confusion. "Naruto/Naruto-Kun, who is that?"

"I'd also like to know about Rock Lee from Konoha." Sasuke added, interrupting Naruto before he could answer.

"…hell, if you're looking up people, do me a favor as well. What do you know about Kurotsuchi from Iwa?" Kiba asked.

Shikamaru had then turned his attention away from Naruto to Kiba. The Nara then sighed.

'Yup…still pissed off about that run-in. Kiba, you're troublesome.' He inwardly grumbled.

'What? Kurotsuchi's here?' Naruto's eyes widened at the information. 'Does that mean her team's here? Is Han-Nii here?'

"You all know the names already? That's boring." Kabuto sighed in mock disapproval. "But yeah, I can get the information! First up will be the Iwa shinobi first, because I'm curious myself about any genin that Iwa would send to Konoha."

Kabuto pulled out a card and then put his chakra into it. He then stared at it for a few seconds and whistled in approval. "Well then: this is interesting! Kurotsuchi is the granddaughter of the current Tsuchikage, Ōnoki." The rookies outside of Team Three all had wide eyes after hearing that. "Her teammates are Kurogane Risho and Yowamusi Roto and her sensei is the infamous Yuge no Han. They've completed eight D-Ranked missions, twelve C-Ranked missions, and one B-Ranked mission! She has above average skills across the board, with her main specialties being ninjutsu and tactics. She also possesses a kekkei genkai, the Lava Release."

"…damn." Kiba mumbled in shock. He didn't expect that Iwa kunoichi to be that tough.

Chōji, Sakura, and Ino agreed with Kiba's thoughts.

'She'll be competition. Definitely someone worth fighting to test myself.' Sasuke noted, a smirk on his face.

"…I didn't realize Kurotsuchi was that tough!" Naruto mumbled to his friends.

"I-It makes sense though." Hinata replied, equally as impressed.

Shikamaru only nodded in agreement. Something about the information bothered him, but it wasn't Kurotsuchi's skills. It had more to do with the information source and how he obtained said information…

"How the FUCK does that four-eyed Konoha guy know all that?" Kurotsuchi hissed under breath.

Han's genin team had been listening in on the conversation between the rookies and Kabuto. Nearly every shinobi in the room was! However, the second Kabuto mentioned her information, eyes were now directed on them. A couple of the various shinobi were glaring in their general direction. Some were sizing them up. The team had now received more attention: something they did not want.

"If he has all of that on you, then he probably has that much info on all of us." Roto replied, shaking a little from nerves. "That's…kinda creepy. And scary. How does he know all of this stuff? I've never even seen him before! Is he some stalker"

"Oh, I'm sure I'd enjoy cutting off his head." Risho growled, raising his hand to his sword on instinct.

"Risho!" Kurotsuchi hissed. She and Roto glared at their teammate. "Don't get us in trouble yet!"

"Hmph." The Kurogane grumbled. "Wasn't going to. But you all have to agree that there is something wrong with him. He's more than just some 'nice' veteran helping rookies. He knows things he shouldn't. There's more to him than it seems and I don't like it."

Roto and Kurotsuchi only nodded in agreement.

"…and there we have it." Kabuto noted, putting away another card.

The rookies were staring at the older Konoha shinobi with shocked eyes. He had just described the profiles of the other two ninja. While Rock Lee seemed to moderately impress them, Sabaku no Gaara had a completely opposite effect. The Suna genin had taken no injuries during his entire career so far, even during a B-Ranked mission. All nine rookies were stunned at that revelation.

'How…how is that possible? That's not right!' Naruto questioned in his head. Gaara had unnerved him earlier with his attitude and killing intent, but now, the boy was downright terrifying. '…if I run into him, I'll probably have to actually use the fox's power. Wish I could use more of its chakra though…'

Naruto barely listened into the conversation going on. He heard Kabuto discuss more exam protocol and talk about village. He also caught a slight comment about the size of Otogakure, a newly formed hidden village that had sent only one genin team to the exam. It was then that Naruto stopped paying attention completely: he saw something that distracted him.

The Oto genin were approaching them from in the crowd of the genin, and they looked ready to attack.

"Hey Kabuto, watch out!" He called out.

Kabuto turned to Naruto for a second before noticing the Oto genin approaching. He dodged a kunai that was tossed at him from the spiky haired Oto ninja and barely avoided a punch from a genin that was wrapped in bandages.

"You seem pretty anxious!" Kabuto noted as he adjusted his glasses to study the genin more. At that moment, his glasses shattered. "Hrk!" The elder Konoha shinobi then fell to the ground and clutched his stomach.

"Add this to your cards: the team from Otogakure will become chūnin at the end of the exams!" The bandaged-wearing guy stated.

Naruto's earlier fears were dispelled. He was now simply angry: angry at a group who would attack a fellow Konoha shinobi for no true reason than to show off. He may have just met Kabuto, but he didn't deserve that!

"What kind of jackasses do you think you are?" He shouted.

"Brats like you should stay quiet." The spiky haired boy taunted. He wore a beige shirt that had the kanji for death written on it. "Shut up or I can make you shut up!"

"And how-"

Naruto's sentence was interrupted by a loud explosion in the center of the room. A man appeared from the explosion in a poof of smoke. He was a tall, burly man in a black trench jacket with a grey shirt underneath. He wore a Konoha forehead protector over the top of his head and had two scars running down his face.

"Alright you maggots: shut up!" The man shouted. All eyes were on him. "I am Morino Ibiki and your first exam starts now."

'Shit, Shit, SHIT!' Naruto continued to curse inwardly.

It had only been fifteen minutes since Ibiki arrived in the room. In that time, he had all the students take seats while he explained that the first exam was a written test!

Naruto had started to panic when he heard this. His worries increased when he heard about the penalties for being caught cheating and they nearly tripled when he learned that a whole team would fail if one member failed. His fear reached in all-time high, however, when we started to actually look at the paper at the start of the exam.

'I don't know ANY of this. Like at all!' He hissed.

The blonde Uzumaki was sweating. There was no way he was going to let a written test of all things stop him and his friends from continuing in the exam. There was no way!

'I'm going to have to cheat. There's no other way. I just have to be very, very careful…' Naruto thought. 'None of my clones can help me here. Maybe the Great Breakthrough?'

Naruto set for a few seconds trying to figure out how to use his wind style jutsu to help him cheat when he felt his body stiffen. He tried to move, but he couldn't. His eyes widened. He then felt himself pick up his pencil and he started to write answers down quickly: answers that he did not comprehend.

'What the hell is going on? What am I writing? It's like someone has…control…of my body…oh!' Naruto realized what was going and gasped inwardly. A smirk then appeared on his face. 'Heh! Good thinking Shikamaru!'

After Naruto wrote the answer for the ninth question, he felt control return to his body. He then turned around and looked at the genin taking the exam. Two tables behind him, he saw Shikamaru. The Nara gave Naruto a thumbs up before he laid his head down on his table.

Naruto mentally thanked the boy before he faced forward. In his peripheral vision, he could see Hinata a few tables to his left. She was currently filling down answers rapidly. Naruto noticed her Byakugan eyes activated, showing him how she was getting the answers.

'Heh, what was I worried about?' The Uzumaki questioned himself. 'We're good!'

Now relaxed and no longer worried, he mimicked his Nara friend and laid his head down before drifting off to sleep.

"Alright, it is now time for the tenth question!" Ibiki shouted.

Naruto grumbled as he lifted his head from the table. It took him a second to readjust himself before he focused his attention on the exam proctor.

"Before we begin, though, I must explain a few more rules about this question. The first rule is that you have the option not to answer the tenth question." He informed them.

'…huh?' Naruto seemed confused.

"What happens if we don't take it?" An Ame genin asked.

"If you do not, then you lose all your points and you and your team will fail the exam." The proctor answered.

Multiple genin snorted in near unison. As they saw it, there was no reason to forfeit the question at all. Shikamaru, however, was not like most. He groaned, realizing something.

'So…what happens if we take it?' The Nara questioned himself.

Ibiki answered his mental question. "If you do choose to take the question and you get it wrong, you will be unable to enter the Chūnin Exams ever again in any village!"

"WHAT!?" Naruto shouted.

The genin all screamed simultaneously: some in fright and others in anger.

"That's bullshit!" Kiba's scream was louder than the others. "I know plenty of people who've taken the exams multiple times before! Some are here right now! You can't do that to any of us!"

"Well tough luck. You picked a bad year to apply. I made the rules this year and my rules stand!" Ibiki said with finality. "Now, will you all shut up!" The genin quieted down a little, causing a sadistic grin to appear on Ibiki's face. "I've given you all your options. If you wish to quit, then raise your hand. We will confirm your team number and you and your team will leave the room and the exam. Now…who wishes to quit?"

A hand is raised quickly by a Konoha genin. He and his team are then removed from the exam room. More genin follow behind. Team after team started to walk away from the exam room.

Naruto watched the scene with annoyance. He had to bite his tongue and prevent himself from snapping at the proctor for his rules. He might have started yelling a few months ago, but now, with a little more maturity beat into him from his friends and his sensei, he sat in silence and fumed in his head.

A minute passed and the room had lost multiple teams. Ibiki noticed that the genin in the room seemed to be focused on the exam. Still, there were a little too many for his liking…

"Is that all? If you fail this question, you will lose the opportunity to advance past genin." Ibiki reminded everyone.

No one moved. They all stared at the proctor with anticipation. Naruto was also staring with annoyance.

Ibiki did the math in his head. 'Twenty-four teams huh? Higher than I expected. But they all have guts. This year actually looks promosing…' A smirk then appeared on his face with that thought.

"You've all decided to stay? Very well then…then I must congratulate you all on passing the first exam!" Ibiki said to the group.

The room was silent. Then…

"Huh?" Roto asked, confused. "What about the tenth question?

"There was no tenth question. The 'question' was whether you decided to risk your career and answer it." Ibiki answered.

"So you passed us just because we all decided to risk it?" Temari asked, confused herself.

"Correct. The ninja world is full of risks. In the future, as chūnin, you will be assigned missions with little information about the situation. Would you take the mission, risking yourself, or would you play it safe and take safer, easier missions while letting your comrades risk their lives? Anyone who would not take the risk, and anyone who would not answer the tenth question, has no right to call themselves chūnin!" He answered bluntly.

"So that was the point of the exam? Then why did you waste our time with the first nine questions?" Kiba asked with annoyance.

"I did not waste your time." Ibiki glared, causing Kiba and his dog to shiver. "Those questions had two purposes: weed out weak-minded shinobi as well as test your skills as information-gatherers. The questions were designed to a level that no ordinary genin could answer them on their own. You would need to cheat to stand a chance! That was a test as well: we put in a few chūnin plants to be sources of information and were trying to see if you all could gather the information needed for the test."

'Ah…I see. That explains a lot!' Naruto realized. He then frowned, remembering how he got his answers. 'Hmm…I'm going to have to work on some more techniques. I can't rely on my teammates too much…'

"I'm impressed Ibiki-San. You're pretty good at explaining those lessons! Hopefully these genin take your words to heart!" A new voice spoke up.

The genin gasped and started to look around for the source of the voice, trying to figure out who was speaking.

'That voice…is that…' Hinata's eyes widened, recognizing the speaker.

"You can come out, you know. No point to hide under your genjutsu any longer." Ibiki noted.

As if on cue with his words, the corner of the room started to change. Originally, there was nothing. Now, there was a large banner with the words "Yūhi Kurenai: Second Exam Proctor" on it. Standing in front of the banner Kurenai herself.

'I was right! Kurenai-San…' Hinata recognized her immediately.

'She's pretty hot…' Most of the male genin thought. Kiba and Kankurō were nearly drooling.

"You have a banner? I thought you were above things like that. Then again, considering who your best friend is, I'm not surprised." Ibiki sighed.

"I just wanted to stand out a little." Kurenai answered, a polite smile on her face. "Ibiki-San, I must ask a question though. Did you go easy on them? Because I was honestly expecting less genin."

"Nope. You saw me at work." The first exam proctor had a smirk on his face. "We've got a good crop of candidates this year."

"Hmm…" The second exam proctor studied them hard. "…we'll see. I'll take your word for it. But after my exam the number will be down by half."

A shiver went down the backs of the genin.

'H-Half?' Hinata repeated the word.

'This exam gets better and better each second.' Shikamaru groaned.

"Well, allow me to introduce myself to you all. I'm Yūhi Kurenai, proctor of the second exam." Kurenai introduced herself, pointing to her banner. "Now, the second exam will begin in approximately two hours. Meet me at Training Ground Forty-Four then. Anyone late will be disqualified."

With those words, Kurenai and her banner disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving the genin to themselves.

They had passed the first exam…but they were far from over.

"Welcome to Training Ground Forty-Four: The Forest of Death!" Kurenai stated.

The genin all stared in awe (and a few in fright) at the forest in front of them. Tall, overgrown trees covered the area entirely. It was impossible to see past the trees in the front of the forest. A wire fence surrounded the entire fence and blocked it off. There were gates scattered throughout the fence with locks covering it. The sight of the fence was intimidating to the genin.

"The second exam will begin shortly. It will take place inside this forest and is essentially a survival mission." Kurenai explained. She reached into a pack on her back and pulled out two scrolls. One scroll had the kanji for earth on it while the other possessed the kanji for heaven. "Before you enter the forest, each team will be handed either a heaven or earth scroll. Your goal is to reach a tower in the center of the forest after collecting a pair of the scrolls. You must obtain the opposite scroll through finding another team with the scroll and taking it from them."

"There are twenty-four teams here. Therefore, there will be twenty-four scrolls distributed: twelve pairs of scrolls." The proctor added.

"Wait, so that means that at best, only half the teams will make it past the exam?" Sakura gasped at the revelation.

The red-eyed jōnin nodded. "Correct, but that's a best-case scenario for you guys. That will most likely not happen. It will most likely be less than half and potentially even less than a fourth."

A couple of genin gulped at the information.

"Also just saying: you can try and take the scroll through any means necessary. That means that you are allowed to kill in this exam if you feel the need to." Kurenai added.

Even more genin were getting scared. Gaara, however, heard the news and grinned.

"This exam also has a time limit of five days. You must have obtained a pair of scrolls and reached the center of the tower before then to pass." The proctor continued. "There are two ways you can fail this exam other than just failing to complete it. The first is if you open the scrolls before you reach the tower. Doing so in the middle of the forest will…not be very fun for you all. The second is if a member of team dies in the forest."

"So that's the exam. What's the deal with the forest?" A voice asked.

Kurenai and the genin all focused on the source of the voice. She was a blue-eyed kunoichi with short red hair wearing a brown skin-tight shirt that showed off her curves and black pants and sandals. On her back was a long scythe that reached just below her hair. She also had a Taki forehead protector on over her forehead.

"'The deal with the forest?'" Kurenai repeated her question.

"Yeah. Honestly, it doesn't seem that bad. Just big trees and stuff. I've seen worse on a few missions." She shrugged.

Kurenai noticed that the other genin seemed to lighten up at her words. She knew she had to do something about her and her confidence.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Mine?" The Taki kunoichi asked. "Asuna. Kariudo Asuna."

"You are not that nervous about the forest Asuna-San?" Kurenai asked, a disturbingly sweet smile appearing on her face. She gestured her finger ever-so-slightly in the direction of the Taki kunoichi and casting a genjutsu on her. "Can you tell us what you think is in the forest?"

Asuna opened her mouth to answer that question when all of a sudden her eyes widened in shock. She then fell to the ground on her knees and looked like she was going to throw up.

"T-There are gigantic venomous spiders and tigers and o-other deadly animals. And p-poisonous plants. N-Nearly everything in the forest is deadly." She mumbled in fright.

Kurenai actually smirked a tad, especially as she noticed that the other genin were becoming paranoid again. 'Anko was right! Messing with these genin is kinda fun!'

The snake mistress was rubbing off on her a little too much.

Scattered chatter spread across the other genin as they discussed all the information they had received on the forest and the exam. A few seconds passed before Kurenai spoke up again.

"Alright, I'm going to call all the teams up at once. You all will come up here and will sign a release form stating that Konoha is not at fault for any deaths or injuries that could occur. Once you sign the form, you will receive your scroll and be escorted to your gate. The exam will begin in less than an hour." She stated. "Now, for the first team…"

One by one each team went up, signed the forms, received their scrolls, and went off to their gate. They all stood there and waited. The exam was about to begin…

"Five days without food…" Chōji mumbled in fright.

"Will you shut up already!" Ino hissed. "Is food all you can really think about?"

"Chōji-San, you don't have to be worried about the food. Why you ask? Because there will be plenty of animals and plants that we can eat in the forest. We will not starve." Shino noted.

"Mph…" The Akimichi frowned. "I know, I know."

"So stop moping and help us think about how we are getting another scroll!" Ino stated.

"It would be wise of us to lay a trap. I believe I can set up one in the forest, since I am familiar will and can work with many of the insect species that reside in this forest." Shino offered his two-cents.

"Hmm…if you say so." Ino shivered. Even after months of working, she was still bothered by her insect-using teammate.

"Alright guys, let me lead! This is my specialty." Kiba informed his teammates. Akamaru barked in agreement.

"I'm fine with that. You use your nose and lead us to another team. Then we ambush them and take their scroll." Sasuke smirked. "It's a simple plan, but it should work."

"Right." Sakura agreed. She saw the logic and agreed with it. She also knew that Kiba was not weak.

"After the mission in Wave, we can handle anything! This exam will be cake!" The Inuzuka proclaimed confidently with a grin.

"Stay out of my way. I'll handle this exam." Gaara ordered his teammates.

"R-Right. Of course Gaara." Kankurō replied nervously.

Temari said nothing. She only sighed in annoyance and boredom. There was no reason for her to do anything. Gaara could take on every genin in this forest. This was too easy and boring for her.

"Thanks to that stupid four-eyes guy, I think we have enough of a target on us already." Risho grumbled. "Honestly, there's no need to try and hunt someone down. They'll find us first."

"Yeah, I know. Sucks too, cause I was looking forward to testing out my stealth." Roto sighed. "Oh well. Not that it matters much in the long run. We can take anyone on!"

"Of course!" Kurotsuchi nodded in agreement. A grin on her face. "I'm excited. Let's bring it! Let the action begin already!"

"We're going to have to be careful. We'll have to watch each other's backs at every second." Hinata noted with a frown.

"Hmm…" Naruto nodded. "I'll make a couple of clones when we get in and scout the area around us. They'll keep us alert about the other teams and deadly animals and stuff."

"Not too bad of an idea Naruto." Shikamaru agreed. "They'll give us a better idea of what's going on around us and help prevent us from being ambushed. Hell, they'll probably help us ambush someone else!"

"I'll also have Byakugan active!" Hinata added.

"Right. No one will sneak up on us dattebayo!" Naruto grinned.

"I'll also see if I can make some false scrolls." The Nara said as he stared at their earth scroll. "Maybe some rigged with exploding tags?"

"Whatever you can do would be great!" The blonde agreed.

Team Three continued their discussion, working out their plans for the exam.

The remaining teams continued to discuss with their teammates about their plans on how they would obtain the opposing scroll. Only one team was an exception: a team from Kusagakure. The kunoichi on the team was staring into the forest with anticipation in her eyes. No thoughts about the exam crossed her mind.

'First thing's first: find Sasuke and his team and give him my seal. Bring him and his eyes one step closer to my grasp!' She laughed to herself. 'After that, I may go stop by and see what kind of team Anko-Chan has trained. I'm sure they will be…entertaining at least.'

'Heh heh heh…such a busy day.' She continued to laugh in her head.