Of Pages and Proctors

Naruto seemed ever more conflicted as time stretched on, He was battling his thoughts of copying someone's answers. Even though I already knew what he would do, I still felt bad for him.

I essentially used the hidden mist jutsu, except I focused it on one singular point, Naruto's pen. I used the water in the ink to guide it across the page, assembling the words together onto the paper. The blonde boy looked up immediately with a confused look on his face, he snapped his head around before scratching it and slumping in his chair.

The extra message I set on the paper read: 'It's Kura, Don't look at anyone, just draw on the back of the paper'. Naruto was shaking as a genin behind him got caught, Kotetsu announced his team was disqualified. Soon after that many other genin were disqualified, One Suna-nin got pissed and called bullshit. However a bandaged proctor came forward with great speed and slammed him against the wall. Many others were disqualified, they left either with a fight or quietly.

"If you get the question wrong you will never be able to take the Chunin exams ever again."

Ibiki gave us the ultimatum of the tenth question and I couldn't help the smirk that made its way to my face. I tilted my head slightly and yawned, as Ibiki and the candidates spoke I set myself into a meditating pose and focused on expanding my chakra reserves, leaving them full to the top.

I used a chakra string to poke Naruto in the shoulder as he was about to jump up and talk about not giving up. He turned around with a confused look on his face. I shook my head, signalling him to calm down.

We watched as more and more people left the room. Once I counted the amount of teams necessary I nodded and spoke up.

"I do not think anyone else in this room is going to leave. I have concluded that the entire meaning of the first part of the exam was to gather intelligence under enemy watch, an Infiltration test you could say." I spoke confidently, After my explanation Izumo chuckled quietly. Ibiki nodded and continued with his speech/explanation that would conclude the test.

When Ibiki took off his bandana and the scars were shown I did the sign of the cross and prayed to Kami before jumping out of my seat.

"Micheal Jordan!" I exclaimed as I shot a fake basketball towards the wall, I was greeted with silence.

'They don't even have basketball here....' Inner reminded me with a face palm, I awkwardly sat back in my seat as Ibiki cleared his throat and continued.

"You must always consider the source of your information, Intelligence gathered from an enemy is not necessarily accurate."

'Blah, Blah, Blah, The executioner's blade is really quiet. Probably 'cuz we are gonna use it heheh.' I listened to Inner's rant quietly, hiding my embarrassment inside my mind.

I felt a chakra signature come speeding towards the building and stood up with my hand automatically moving towards my weapons pouch. Suddenly glass shattered and a woman came barreling through the window, in a flash a blanket with writing was spread across the front of the room.

"Listen up boys and girls, this is no time to be celebrating. I'll be your next proctor, Anko Mitarashi. Are you ready for the next test? Good, then follow me!" The woman barked out with a grin. Ibiki came out from behind the tarp with a sulking aura to him. He grumbled about Anko being late and the woman faltered slightly. The two proctors had a short conversation, most people picking up on bits and pieces of it.

'That's right, almost half will be eliminated, We gotta pass you know. Plan A will be moving into action!' Inner pumped her fist in the air with the 'will of fire' blazing brightly in her eyes.

(3rd person pov)

Ibiki gathered the papers off the desks with a sigh, he was incredulous to the fact that the writing on the blonde kid's paper was too neat and the extra note on the bottom was a dead giveaway that whoever helped him cheat was smooth.

When he finally got to the pinkette's paper his eyes widened involuntarily, Her writing matched the writing of the blonde kids. His surprise morphed into annoyance before he let out a belly laugh. The girl had made jokes about his bald head before and after he revealed it.

'Geez they're getting sharper'

(Back to Sakura)

Anko had led us to training ground 44, also known as the forest of death. I felt excited and couldn't help but get all jumpy. The tree's stretched far into the sky and seemed dark and gloomy. We had a while to wait for the second part of the exam to start, while we were waiting three kids appeared from a box. They crowded around Naruto asking for an interview, I smiled at how cheerful they were. I wandered around looking for someone to make conversation with as Anko announced the break. I made sure to check my weapon pouches and medical pouches.

'I can't wait to bring in all the loot from the other candidates!' Inner sang with a dreamy look on her face.

I was to say the least; surprised when the group of children approached me, Moegi came up to me first.

"So, tell us about yourself!" The ginger girl spoke with a large smile on her face, her natural chubby and red cheeks adding to the 'cute' look.

"My name is Haruno Sakura, I am 5'6, making me taller than my entire class and rivalling most Jonin surprisingly. I like sweets, training, loot and theory. I dislike spicy food, arrogant people and Sasuke. My hobbies include training and theory; and my dream is to be the strongest kunoichi this world will ever lay its eyes upon." I ruffled the ginger girl's hair and began observing the other teams.

The group of three eventually left after gathering the information they sought out for.

"You're scared? Humf you should be, They call it the forest of death. And soon enough you'll find out why." Anko spoke with a smirk on her face, I noticed how her hair colour was closer to eggplant than black and how her hair rustled in the slight breeze.

"Hmm, They call it the forest of death. And soon enough you'll find out why." Naruto mocked, placing his hands on his hips and wiggling like one of those inflatable people at a car dealership. I snickered into my hand silently as Anko's frustration with the blonde was enough to slice him with a kunai.

The woman appeared behind him and licked the blood off his cheek as she whispered, Movement in my peripheral vision drew my attention and before I realised it, A grass ninja was behind Anko.

I narrowed my eyes at the woMAN, her tongue was a tell-tale sign of Orochimaru. I scoffed in disbelief, were Konoha's ranks that blind, At least the Chakra signature was a giant giveaway. It was slippery, slimy and wretched, like seeing a sewer rat's remains after a crow got to it.

Anko claimed her Kunai in a flash and the wo- Orochimaru walked past me with a smirk on his face. I couldn't help the involuntary shiver as he walked past, my eyes caught on a scroll on his hip and felt a reckless impulse scream. With the smooth and sleek stealthiness of a thief I stole it and replaced it with a small chunk of wood which magically seemed to appear in my hand. I tucked the scroll into my pocket immediately, adrenaline rushing as my brain caught up to the fact that I had stolen a scroll from one of the 3 legendary sannin.

And he let me

.

.

.

"Now before we begin this test, I have something to hand out to you all, It's just a standard consent form. Before the test all of you are going to have to read over this form and then sign it." The woman delineated, catching the attention of the candidates in a flash.

The jumpsuit wearing blonde to my right scrunched his face up in confusion, the scratch on his face already healing.

"You may die during this test, and I have to get your consent for that risk, otherwise it would be my responsibility" Anko laughed breezily, her words sounding light and carefree. The woman handed the forms to Naruto to hand out, She then explained the survival test and how to pass. A wide grin spread across my face when she pulled out the heaven and earth scroll from her coat pocket.

"How do we pass the test?" The navy wearing ravenette questioned, his chakra spiking nervously every so often.

"Your team must bring both a heaven and earth scroll to the tower. The test ends in 5 days." The woman spoke with a smirk, Ino and Choji shouted in protest. My hands fiddled with the stolen scroll hidden in one of my pouches. I listened carefully to the list of ways you can be disqualified, This would be a cake walk (hopefully). At least I brought everything I needed with me in my scrolls. My sealing skills had improved over the years and while carrying most of your belongings with you in scrolls was a bad idea, I had tampered with enough scrolls to be able to bring everything with me. The scrolls were attached to me by little seals that looked like small cherry blossom tattoos. The scrolls would stick to my body through my clothing like magnets and if taken would be brought back in like a fish on a rod. I signed my form swiftly as I walked about, I was making my way towards one of the stations when a patronising voice called out.