Chapter Fourteen

"Naruto," the voice called to him, Sasuke's voice, and a hand was on his shoulder. "Naruto, wake up."

He took a deep breath through his nose, struggled to open his eyes, but everything felt so heavy, a clearly sluggish feeling, and he was actually...comfortable? His lids obeyed his command, finally opening, and the familiar gloom of the room greeted him. Sasuke was kneeling beside him, looking impatient, another familiar thing, as he knew that Sasuke spent most of his time being impatient. He blinked at the Uchiha while he gained his bearings. He had been asleep...Never before had he felt so utterly relaxed, content- never had he slept so...uninterrupted. He got his arms under him and pushed himself into a sitting position, questions running through his head. How long had he slept? Did the sleeping pills really do that? And where could he get more?

"Come on, get up," Sasuke grabbed his upper arms and pulled him to his feet. "The Exam starts in three hours."

Naruto stood on wobbly feet as his brain processed Sasuke's words. Today was the Exam? But that had been a full day away! As if reading his thoughts, Sasuke shook his head in chagrin. "You slept through all of the evening before yesterday, all the way to now. I think I might have given you too much." He had the grace to look a bit apologetic.

Naruto rubbed his face and stumbled toward the door. Drowsy, he thought suddenly. He felt drowsy- and yet, at the same time, satisfied. He had never felt that way before, even They were a gentle murmur in the back of his mind, as if They too had gotten some rest as well. Perhaps the sleep had tempered Their rage?

After taking a much needed shower, he made two clones for the morning cleaning while Sasuke made a meal, making quick but thorough work of the house. It was while he was washing their clothes that he stopped to examine his hands. Usually there was a fine tremor that constantly ran through them, but there was none today- they were bony, but steady. He felt...well.

When he returned to the kitchen Sasuke had a bowl of soup waiting for him and he slowly slurped it down in silence.

"Is Nabeshin here?" Sasuke asked after fifteen minutes of quiet. Naruto glanced around, but he did not see the ghost in the immediate area and shook his head, feeling the soup settle down comfortably in his stomach, another startling occurrence. It was amazing what good sleep did to him. Soon after they were stashing bombs, strapping kunai in their holsters, and tightening the straps on their katana; Sasuke moved with barely pent up energy, jerky and eager.

"I have to talk to my father before we leave," Sasuke said when they were all finished, causing Naruto to freeze. He looked at the Uchiha and shook his head. Sasuke stiffened. "Why? Are you frightened of a ghost?" he moved toward the blond. "What can he do to you?"

Naruto pursed his lips. "I don't like him," he stated flatly, moving toward the bedroom door as Sasuke sneered.

"You don't like anyone, Naruto. What makes my father any different?"

Naruto opened the door and headed down the stairs. "He sees me," he muttered.

"I want to talk to him Naruto," Sasuke called with more force, all but demanding his obedience. He hated that tone, that tone meant pain, but he paused and looked back up at him, standing at the top of the stairs, lips pursed and dark eyes glowing.

"He's dead Sasuke," he replied, and instantly regretted his words.

Sasuke was in his face before he could see him move. "Don't tell me what I already know!" he hissed, backing Naruto up against the door, pointing a finger in his face. "You know, suddenly I get the feeling that you're keeping something from me." His black eyes became wild, unknown emotions flashing about them. "You are, aren't you?" He grabbed the front of Naruto sweater as the blond tried to shy away from him, soup now rumbling in his stomach. He shook his head, pressing against the door, heart pounding in his ears, waiting for Sasuke's other fist to descend upon him at any moment. Sasuke remained there, imposing, threatening, but the crazed look in his eyes faded a bit.

"I hope you aren't," he said in the heavy quiet of the house. "It's just you and me, Naruto. No one else means us any good." He released his sweater after a moment.

Naruto wrung his fingers and smoothed down his hood.

Perspective.

The word popped into his head, not his, not Theirs, but there nonetheless, like a flashing neon billboard. Perspective. He had grown up with the knowledge of the cruelty aimed at him, that others wanted to hurt him, kill him. The world was not his friend, the world was not safe. Sasuke hadn't known this- Sasuke had been living in an illusion, one so strong that the dead had to come and reveal it to him. It was distressing, reasonably so, and so he nodded at the Uchiha, smoothed down his hood, and headed reluctantly for the one room he didn't go in and opened the door.

To his surprise, sitting in the room alongside Fugaku was Nabeshin, almost invisible in the deep gloom. He moved aside so Sasuke could stand in the doorway, and watched as the young Uchiha stared grimly at the wooden floor. Fugaku lifted his head, angry cold eyes falling on his living son. Nabeshin's eyes darted between the two of them, a frown growing on his face.

"Aren't you going to say something?" he asked.

The older man sent him a scathing look, turned to Naruto and sneered.

"Why did you bring him here? What lies will you put in my mouth now?" the ghost asked him, and Naruto glanced nervously at Sasuke, whose eyes were darting between him and the area where his father sat. Nabeshin sent him an intrigued look, like the idea of Naruto lying had never occurred to him. Naruto lowered his eyes and stared at the floor- it was best not to respond to anything. But this was giving him a headache, one blooming right behind his right eye.

"I told Sasuke about our clan, Fugaku-sama. What is it you want him to do?" Nabeshin's voice cut softly through the gloom.

"What can he do? He is weak."

Naruto looked up from under his bangs, spying the glare Nabeshin was sending Fugaku's way.

"I can teach him, I can show him the clan's secrets."

Fugaku turned angry eyes to the other ghost.

"You? You who did not achieve the Mangekyou?"

"Achieve?" Nabeshin spat. "Who told you that? I chose not to achieve it, because I loved more! Unlike you, and many others I can name!"

"What's going on?" Sasuke murmured in question. "Has he said anything?"

"How dare you speak to me this way," Fugaku was snarling, getting to his feet. Naruto shrank back a bit.

"I can speak however I want!" Nabeshin shouted, standing up as well. "What are you going to do about it? Kill me? You've already done that!"

Fugaku was looking downright murderous. "Itachi-"

Nabeshin cut him off, pointing a finger in his face. "If you had kept a more fatherly eye on your son, none of this would have happened! You've killed us all." The angry ghost charged toward the wall, paused and glared back at the man. "I'll make Sasuke more powerful than Itachi could ever imagine. I know the ways, and I know where and who to get help from." As he began to disappear into the wall, Fugaku's last words stopped him.

"I doubt you'll get very far. I know you've been getting power from this demon. Don't forget they devour souls." Nabeshin glared at him, but he looked at Naruto for a second, expression unreadable, before disappearing completely into the wall.

"Naruto," Sasuke's hand gripped his arm, making the blond jump. He turned and looked at his questioning eyes.

"Nabeshin was fighting with your father," he whispered, easing back from the doorway, but not getting far with Sasuke's grip on his arm.

"Nabeshin was in there? Why? What were they fighting about?"

Naruto hesitated. Should he lie? Which would cause him less pain? He didn't think it would matter much- he already couldn't feel his arm. But no answer would lead to more questions, as things seemed to go with Sasuke, so there wasn't much of a choice. Life is pain.

"Nabeshin wants to train you in this mangekyou sharingan, and your father feels he is...unqualified."

Sasuke released his arm abruptly; Naruto took that moments' reprieve to twiddle his fingers as circulation returned. Sasuke stared into the gloom of the room, eyes silent and concerned.

"He can try, but I doubt he'll succeed," Fugaku's voice broke the silence, and Naruto looked up at the resignation in his voice. The ghost was staring at Sasuke, and his words came out in browns and grays. "The glory of the Uchiha is dead." 'Dead' floated into the air, mottled brown and purple, drifting toward them. Naruto blanched and backed up so fast that he collided with the hallway wall.

Words. He was seeing words, something that only happened the week of his birthday. They murmured to life, having been gentle whispers in the back of his mind since he had awakened. But now... The words floated toward Sasuke's face as he gazed obliviously into the room, unaware of his terror, unaware of the words drifting toward his face. Would they hurt him? Naruto leaped forward, grabbing the Uchiha and yanking him backwards. Sasuke was so startled that he tripped over his foot, crashing into Naruto and making them both tumble into the hall.

"The hell?!" Sasuke exclaimed, but Naruto was already crawling through the living room and toward the stairs. A shadow shifted in his peripherals, and Naruto shied away from it, stumbling up the stairs and into their room. He grabbed their packs and pulled on his sweater- the black one that Kaori had given him, pulling the hood down over most of his face.

"What the hell was that?" Sasuke's voice boomed into his ears, Their murmuring became louder. Naruto covered his ears. "Naruto." hands grabbed his face and turned it. He opened his eyes to Sasuke's face. "What. Is. The. Matter?"

"Words," he gasped. "Bad words." He pulled his head from Sasuke's hands and pulled the pack onto his back. "Words hurt..." he whispered. Standing in the room, staring at Sasuke's bare feet. "Words hurt."

He moved down the stairs and toward the door- Sasuke followed him out.

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Sakura waited patiently at the bridge, leaning silently against the railing, watching villagers go by. Sasuke and Naruto were late, which was to no surprise. Her pink hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, her legs strapped with kunai,hands wrapped in fingerless leather gloves, her hitai-ate strapped across her forehead. She rubbed the back of her neck, kneading her muscles and twisting her head from side to side. Though her demeanor was calm outwardly, inside she was quaking with excitement and apprehension. For the last month she had been training her sorry ass off, tired of being the weak, shallow, spectator in her Team, tired of feeling like she didn't belong. She'd had nice long talks with Kakashi-sensei over the state of her position in the Team, and he had been very supportive of bettering her as a kunoichi, though he had often cautioned her not to 'lose herself' in her quest for acceptance

The scuff of sandals on the cobbled pavement caused her to turn her head, spying both boys approaching. Naruto's head was down, only blond strands visible beyond his dark hood, and he was walking so close to Sasuke that their shoulders were almost touching. Sasuke's face was worrisome; he was pale, lips drawn in a flat white line- he didn't look as happy or eager as Sakura had imagined he would today. Something must have happened between them- she was aware that both boys existed in a world of their own creation, a world she wanted to be a part of.

The Uchiha's dark eyes fell on her, and paused, surprise passing over his pale features.

"You look different," he commented, and she resisted the urge to blush. No more of that, those actions tended to alienate her from them.

She nodded. "Hey," she greeted shortly and stepped away from the rail. Sasuke was still staring at her, and for once he didn't look annoyed. This was good. "You got your paperwork?"

Sasuke lifted a hand, holding both boy's registration papers. She glanced at the blond- he hadn't moved or looked up. Not surprising. "Cool," she replied, looking back at the Uchiha. "We should head to the Academy- that's where we're supposed to meet." She turned and headed for the building, feeling Sasuke's eyes on her. She smirked. Check and Mate.

--------------

"Hey Naruto?"

Naruto turned his head, staring down at Nabeshin's feet, not bothering to look up at the ghost as they stopped in front of the Academy. He dared not look up right now. They were moving about his mind like an agitated hive, random words and expressions coming and going too quickly for him to process- it was like the never ending shattering of glass, always falling but never landing- never settling. He didn't know what had set Them off, perhaps it was the words, or Fugaku's anger- or Nabeshin's.

"I just thought you and Sasuke would like to know about the Exams. Can you give me a body so I can speak to you both?" Naruto looked up at the ghost quickly, taking in his unhappy face. Why couldn't he borrow a clone from Sasuke? Sasuke knew how to do the Kage Bunshin too. He looked over at the Uchiha, who was taking in the few other ninja heading into the building. He nudged him with his elbow, causing the boy to look at him.

"Nabeshin wants to talk...privately."

Sasuke nodded and they both moved from the area and walked around a corner, away from general view. Making a bunshin, he glared sullenly as the clone shuddered and twitched as Nabeshin stepped into it. This time he had made sure to gather more chakra than usual for this clone,so it could stick around longer. He watched as its face broke into a small smile as it turned to them.

"I've been checking out the Exam, and I thought you both should know what they have in store for you." he glanced around then knelt in the dirt. Sasuke followed suit, but Naruto chose to remain standing- he had a feeling someone was watching him- his eyes darted around, expecting to find the prying hateful eyes of a villager. It wouldn't be long now, soon they would be announcing his name, villagers would be after him more. "The first part of the exam will be a written test, and from what I saw, the questions are a bitch. Seriously, I doubt many of the genin will even know the answers. I'm sure there's something they expect you to do, but everyone's being very tight-lipped about it, so I couldn't find anything out. My suggestion is -you cheat." He waved his hand at Sasuke's expression, though Naruto couldn't see it from where he was standing. "Don't give me that look, there's no shame in cheating. After all, you're a ninja, not a samurai." He gave a small chuckle, red puffs coming from his mouth. "But the second part of the test will be-"

"Sasuke? Naruto?" Sakura appeared around the corner, eyes curious as she stopped before them. "You guys should see..." Her voice drifted off as the Nabeshin clone straightened up and grinned at her. She leaned away, her eyes darting from him to Sasuke. "Naruto, what's wrong with your clone? It's really-uh- creepy."

Nabeshin scowled at her and simply walked away. Sakura stared after him before looking at them.

"What did you make a clone for Naruto?"

"Reconnaissance," Sasuke replied. "What did you want us to see?"

"There's a fight going on over a door we're supposed to find. Come see."

They followed her into the building where several genin stood about, a few from different villages, all looking at least a year older than the three of them. They lingered nervously around a door as a boy in a vibrant green spandex-like suit beseeched the chuunin by the door to let him in. "Please? My team and I really need to take this test." He moved toward the chuunin but was shoved back roughly by the older ninja.

"Go home kid," the chuunin drawled condescendingly. "This is for you own good. You're not ready."

A girl with buns on the top of her head moved forward and helped the green clad boy up, a scowl on her face.

"Aren't we supposed to go to 301?" Sakura murmured to Sasuke. "301 is one floor up, I think. That one is 205."

"Genjutsu," Sasuke replied. Naruto rubbed his aching eyes and watched behind his hair as another unknown Team wandered in, took a look at the door, and sneered.

"That's the wrong door, dick-face."

The green boy turned to them and grinned widely, as if he hadn't been pushed around. "I knew that," he gave a thumbs up. As the other lingerers began to head for the stairs, a rather plain boy with dark brown hair, heavy lidded eyes, and regular ninja attire approached Team Seven. Naruto recognized him immediately, even though his appearance had changed.

"Where was I? Oh yes, the second task after the written test will be a survival test. It'll take place in the Forest of Death, a nasty place," as he spoke more rusted puffs came from his mouth. Nabeshin with a henge.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked, eyes narrowed.

"He's with us," Sasuke told her and moved toward the stairs.

Naruto glanced back, eyes darting about the area, feeling eyes on him again. His mind was a cacophony, They were no help at all.

"Coming Naruto?" Nabeshin smiled at him and gestured for him to follow them up the stairs. Sasuke, having just noticed that Naruto was not at his side, looked down at him and gestured for him to follow, waiting on the stairs until Naruto was at his side.

---------

As they approached the hallway leading to 301, Nabeshin stopped them. "I'll be around when I can," he assured, patting Sasuke's shoulder. "Stay safe in the meantime, eh?"

Sasuke stared at him a moment. This person, this clone, this ghost, was family. He was an Uchiha, another Uchiha in which he had thought never to see again. He was here, talking to Sasuke, giving him advice and his concern... Could he trust Nabeshin? He had told Naruto that it was just them two of them- but what about the ghost? Where did he fit into the scheme of things? Could he be trusted? Sasuke nodded, glancing at Naruto, who seemed to be staring at the ground, but Sasuke could see the pale blue gleam of an eye focused on the ghost. He was relieved to see that the crazy had left his eyes, but there was another emotion that had taken its place, what looked like muted anger towards the ghost. It made him wonder, made him worry. "Okay," Sasuke assured, nodding at Nabeshin and gesturing for the others to follow. Naruto moved immediately, but Sakura hesitated, frowning back at Nabeshin as he left the stairs and rounded the corner, disappearing from view.

"Hey Sasuke," she called after him, and he resisted the urge to scowl. Sakura had been less annoying since they had returned from Wave Country, less talkative, which had been good. He didn't care for her to be observant now.

Before she could say more, they spotted Kakashi-sensei, standing beside the door of 301, looking pleased.

'You're all here. I trust you all thought carefully about this," his eye focused on Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke nodded, gaze moving toward the door. "Sakura?" his eye moved to the kunoichi-Sasuke saw a look of pride in his eye, and saw her smile back at the jounin confidently. Yes, something was distinctly different about her.

Kakashi-sensei moved from the doorway, opening it for them. As he and Naruto passed through, Kakashi-sensei dropped a hand on the blond's shoulder, making the hooded boy jump and flinch, looking up at the man as he tried to shy away, but the jounin's grip was too strong.

"Watch over them, will you Naruto?"

Sasuke fought to keep the surprise off of his face. Naruto, watch over them? He was barely sane ninety percent of the time! But Naruto nodded, if only to get the jounin to release him. Kakashi-sensei removed his hand, and they entered the room, pausing briefly as they took in all the genin that crowded the room. Grass-nin, sand-nin, ninja from stone, mist, lightening, and several others they couldn't identify on the spot. Sasuke's eyes zeroed in on the sand-nin with the red hair, who was standing beside his Teammates. The red-head turned toward them from where he stood, green eyes zeroing on Naruto, who was staring at the ground.

"Sakura!" Sasuke turned to see Team Ten approaching, Yamanaka Ino at the head. She came over to Sakura and gave her a once over, a slight frown on her face. "You look different. Hiding your forehead again?" she asked, and the pink girl gave a shrug and said nothing, which caused a few eyebrows to raise. Usually at this point, they would be tossing insults at one another, but Sakura's facial expression was leaning heavily on the side of disinterest.

Ino turned and smiled at the boys. "Hey Sasuke-kun...Naruto." Sasuke nodded at her, his eyes moving to Nara Shikamaru, whose dark eyes were focused on Naruto. He remembered that Shikamaru had always been a bit too interested in Naruto ever since that day in the bathroom. Several times he had turned in his seat at the Academy to spy the shadow user watching Naruto from the back of the room.

"Hey Uzumaki," he greeted in his lazy voice, and the hooded blond lifted his head, blue eyes peering beyond his bangs at the other boy.

Someone gave a shout, and Team Eight approached, Inuzuka Kiba at the fore, his dark eyes dancing with excitement, mouth wide open in a grin.

"Alright! Everyone's here. Awesome!" he stopped in front of them. "Look at all these bastards- they aren't so tough looking."

"Don't be ridiculous," Sakura snapped. "Everyone here is as good as us or better. We have to be very careful about this."

Hyuuga Hinata nodded nervously from her place beside Aburame Shino. For some reason she reminded Sasuke of Naruto, with her worried eyes and nervous gestures. He never had much to do with the Hyuuga's- the Uchiha clan had looked down upon their distant relations and he hadn't been allowed to play with them.

"You're quite right," an unfamiliar voice agreed, and a taller boy with gray hair and round glasses walked over to them He wore standard ninja attire, and was a leaf-nin, so his presence did not alarm the group, except for Naruto, who smoothed down his hood and did not look up. "You guys better watch what you say from now on. Look," he jerked his head towards all the other ninja in the room, and many of them were glaring at the Leaf group. "Everyone here are representing their village, so they're the top rookies of their villages."

Kiba snorted. "This Exam is going to be easy." Akamaru yipped happily in his arms.

The leaf-nin grinned. "Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that. This is my seventh time taking this test, and I have yet to pass."

Seventh time? Either the Exams were very difficult or this gray haired genin was a poor ninja.

"Who are you?" he addressed, since no one else had bothered to ask his name and he hadn't volunteered it.

"Oh, sorry about that. I'm Yakushi Kabuto," he grinned. "If you need to know anything about the other contestants, I'm your man." He pulled a pack of cards out of his pants leg pocket. "These cards have information about everyone here, via my chakra. Anyone want to know anything?"

"Aw, who cares," Kiba grinned. "We're going to kick their asses anyway."

Yakushi looked amused. "You think so?" He shuffled the deck and pulled out a card. "Chew on this then. The genin from Sunagakura have completed eight C-rank missions and one B-rank. It is said that the youngest, Gaara, has come from every mission without a scratch. He's deadly, and won't hesitate to kill you in battle." Kiba scowled, but shut up. "The young miss is right, everyone here is the best that their villages have to offer. You should never underestimate your opponents." His eyes were serious behind the glasses.

"Sound advice," Shino agreed with a small nod, his face expressionless behind the dark shades.

Sasuke felt eyes on him, and he turned his head to see the sand siblings watching him and Naruto. The sandy-haired girl looked hostile but puzzled, as if she didn't understand what about them seemed to capture her red-headed brothers attention. Sasuke glanced down at his side, and was startled to see that Naruto's hand was slightly behind his back, stroking the hilt of his katana methodically. His usually bowed head was up, staring at Gaara.

Sasuke nudged him with his elbow, and for a moment there was no reaction, then Naruto's head turned toward him. His pale blue eyes were wide, but not with fear, but with an awareness Sasuke clearly remembered. That day on the bedroom floor. The pupils in his eyes were small and thin, and he felt that more than just Naruto was looking at him. His lips turned up, and a smile appeared, hollow- yet cruel. That smile turned back to the sand-nins, and Gaara unfolded his arms, straightening, his shadowed eyes narrowing.

"'Besides the Sand-nins, what of the other villages. Anyone else we should know about?" Sakura was asking.

Kabuto seemed to think for a moment. "Well, I can't say much for the Village of Hidden Sound, because it was created last year, but be careful of Stone, because of the war we had with them, and Mist, because they've always been sneaky, despite their size."

Sasuke pinched Naruto's arm, making the blond jump, turning wounded eyes on him. That was better- that was Naruto. Suddenly the blond stiffened, eyes darting toward the group. Sasuke turned to see one of the foreign genin rush Yakushi, throwing a punch but missing. Yakushi jerked his head back, eyes startled just as the lenses in his glasses frames cracked. Sasuke unsheathed his katana but left it dangling in one hand, eyes darting from the genin who had attacked Yakushi, to his two teammates, who stood nearby, leering at them. The sound of vomiting caught his attention, and he saw that Yakushi was making a mess on the floor, Ino and Kiba at his side. Sasuke frowned. He was sure that the guy had dodged that attack, so why had his glasses broken? Why was he sick?

"Put this on your cards: Hidden Sound Ninja's, definitely going to be chuunin." The sound- nin that spoke had spiky black hair, and guards on the sides of his face. The one that had attacked Yakushi had half of his face and his right eye covered by a bandage, and what looked like a mound of straw on his back- most likely hiding a weapon. The last member of the team was a girl, similarly dressed like the others, with thick long dark hair and hostile eyes. They chuckled at Yakushi, then seemed to spot him with his katana unsheathed.

"Oh this one thinks he's tough," the bandaged one sneered, but before he could go any farther there was a boom, and dust filled the room, along with a new, older voice.

"Quiet down, you worthless brats. This is not a playground."

Once the smoke cleared, it revealed a group of about eleven people, with a man wearing a bandanna at the fore, his face littered with scars. "Anyone caught fighting will be disqualified," he informed, intense eyes roaming about the room and falling on them. Sasuke quietly sheathed his blade, while the sound-nin scowled and moved away from them. "Alright, everyone follow me, shut up, and listen to me closely because I do not like to repeat myself."

The large group of genin followed the man and his cohorts into a classroom. At the front stood two chuunin, one merely standing there, eyes surveying the group, another holding a white box.

"Everyone go up and pick a number, then sit in the seat with that number. No trading, or you're out of here," the scarred man ordered. "Get to it."

There was brief jostling to get to the box first, but order restored itself quite quickly in a line. Sasuke glanced back and saw that the front of the desks were numbered, his mouth turning down as he glanced back at Naruto, whose face was turning slightly gray, which was to no surprise- Naruto tended to figure things out long before he did.

"Don't freak out," he cautioned, not wanting a replay of what had happened at the Academy earlier that year. "This is only temporary, and we'll still be in the same room. This test isn't a big deal unless you make it, understand?"

Sakura, who was standing next to the hunched blond, turned curious eyes on him, a slight frown as she turned her eyes to the back of Naruto's head. Naruto smoothed down his hood with shaking fingers nodding, and Sasuke suppressed a sigh of relief. No break-downs today.

He pulled out a slip with the number seventeen on it, while Naruto picked one with a number eight, Sakura a number ten. It put him two rows behind Naruto, and Sakura in the row between them to his right. Sitting next to Naruto was Hyuuga Hinata, who looked almost as nervous as Naruto, so both of them had their heads bowed. It would have been so funny if wasn't so pathetic. A chuunin passed a pile of papers at the end of the row and the genin moved them down the line. Sasuke took a paper and passed it on, glancing at Naruto, who seemed even more hunched than before.

The man introduced himself as Morino Ibiki, Head of the Torture and Interrogation Squad (he actually saw Naruto drop his head in his hands at this).and began to recite the rules of the Exam, which turned out pretty grim. "Listen carefully, as I don't like to repeat myself. There are ten questions, one point is taken away for each one you get incorrect. This is a Team event, so your scores will be combined. Those who are caught cheating, will lose two points for each offense. Lose all your points, and your whole Team fails." His dark eyes roamed over their faces in malicious delight. "Alright, you have an hour, get to it."

Sasuke turned the sheet of paper over and stared down at the questions. The first one was a complicated cryptogram, something that Sasuke was barely familiar with, while the others were advanced scenarios of battle plans and techniques he was having a hard time wrapping his mind around. He glanced up to survey the genin around them, and saw many faces staring down in consternation at the paper. Nabeshin had been right, some of these questions were all but impossible for a mere genin to know.

Sakura was frowning deeply, but her pencil began to move on the page slowly, with a lot of thoughtful pauses. He looked at Naruto, who had finally stopped fidgeting, and was now staring down at the paper, motionless. Was he stumped too? Then he lifted his pencil, and his hand began to move about the paper quickly. Naruto knew the answers.

Glancing at the chuunin on the sidelines watching, Sasuke make a quick decision, activating his sharingan and focusing on Naruto's hand, his own moving about the page as quickly as the hooded blond's. Around him he could hear the proctors calling out numbers one hundred and two, twenty-three, twenty-seven, forty-three, and the movement of bodies exiting the room.

Naruto's pencil stopped flowing about the paper after some time; Sasuke deactivated the sharingan and blinked down at his paper. The cryptogram had been ciphered, as a few of the other more precise questions, but he noticed that the rest of the questions on the battle tactics and scenarios had been answered by hypothesis' and theories. It made sense that Naruto would answer this way, one couldn't really know how a battle would go unless they had been in one, and of course, assuming that it would go exactly as that. They hadn't been in many of these situations that were written, so how would Naruto really know? How would many of the genin?

"Time's up," Ibiki informed, and Sasuke looked around to see many empty spaces where genin had sat, but Team Ten and Eight remained, along with Yakushi's team, the Sand Team, and many others he didn't know. "As I hope you have noticed, the tenth question is blank with instructions to wait for my instructions. First, you must all decide whether to take the question or not."

"What happens if we don't?" Kiba asked in the stiff silence. Many of the genin were on edge.

"If you decline, you'll lose all your points and fail the test, and so will you teammates along with you. Now, if you choose to take it and answer it wrong, then you'll never be able to take this exam again." There were several swift intakes of breath, Sasuke was sure one of them was his own, and calmed himself as Inuzuka shouted that many other ninja have taken the test many times over- most likely thinking of Yakushi Kabuto.

"Well, you guys just got unlucky to have me this year. But look, I'm giving you a way out. Those who choose not to take it, are free to try again next year.."

Sasuke leaned back his seat and mulled the options over. Both of them were bad, accept and get it wrong and one'll stay a genin forever. Not take it, and your Team is liable to kick your ass. Not that he had that to worry about, he was going to take the question, as would Naruto, he glanced up to see that the hooded blond was staring down at his paper still. No, Naruto was unlikely to ever forfeit, mainly because he wouldn't want to take the test next year. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. But would he purposefully get the answer wrong?

"Now, for the tenth question...Those who don't want to take it, say so now."

There was a moment of silence, then tension rising, then a leaf genin raised his hand, apologizing to his Teammates as they were forced to leave. Many others began to raise their hands, and Sasuke watched in disgust as they left the room. He glanced over at Sakura, who was also watching them go, her face pale and grim, but her eyes connected with him and she sent a confident smile his way. He nodded back reassuringly. He didn't know who this Sakura was, but he could definitely get used to her new, non-annoying personality.

Inuzuka jumped up suddenly, eyes bright with defiance, face twisted in a daring grin. "Come on, let's do this! I'm not scared, even if I get it wrong. A ninja's gotta take risks!" Several other genin grinned back at him, Ibiki looked both surprised and amused at the same. He glanced over at the chuunin sitting near him, both nodded, then he looked back at the room.

"Alright, good decisions. The seventy-eight still in this room, pass."

"The hell..?" The girl from Sand exclaimed "What about the tenth question?"

"There wasn't one," he grinned toothily at them. "Or more like, that was the tenth question. The first nine were to test your information gathering skills. It was based on the whole Team doing well, putting pressure on each member not to screw things up. And of course, since the questions were very hard for even the most exceptional genin to know, it was obvious that you all had to cheat. We even put two chuunin in that knew the answers."

Sasuke's eyes rose in surprise. He hadn't known there were others- he had just copied off of Naruto...

Ibiki lifted his gloved hands and removed the bandanna and hitai-ate from his head, revealing a bald, damaged skull, with burns, scars, and screw holes littered about it. Sasuke fought to keep his face blank as he surveyed the damage, and happened to see Naruto's head lift from staring at the table, but he didn't moved after that.

"Because," Ibiki was saying, "Sometimes the information is more important than life, and people will risks their lives to get it. And yours as well." He put the bandanna and hitai-ate back on, his dark expression clearing to the friendly one again. "Now as for the tenth question, the main reason for this test. There will come a time, and it will come, that you will receive a mission where your opponent is a complete unknown. There is no way to avoid it. The ability to be courageous and survive any hardship is what it takes to be a chuunin. Those who make cowardly choices are nothing but trash, and don't deserve to advance to chuunin. Those who have chosen to take the question will go far- you will be able to survive any troubles you face in the future." Kiba was looking downright pleased with himself. "You all have passed the first exam, I wish you all luck."

"Yeah!" Kiba shouted, lifting a fist in the air. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

A body burst through a window, making him and about every genin jump- Naruto actually crouched down behind his table with his hand on his katana as the body flipped in front of Ibiki and revealed itself to be a dark-haired woman in fishnet and a trench coat.

"I'm the Examiner for the second test, Mitarashi Anko," she all but shouted. "Let's go!" They all stared at her in stunned silence, while Naruto slid back into his seat. "Follow me everyone."

"That wasn't necessary..." Ibiki muttered behind her, and she turned to him with a scowl.

"Seventy-eight? Are you getting soft? Twenty-six Teams! This test was way too easy."

Ibiki shrugged. "We got a lot of good potentials this year."

"Whatever," Mitarashi said with a shrug. "I'll cut them down by half," her lips turned up in a cruel grin, eyes filling with blood lust. "Alright children, follow me." she turned and went through a door, and they got up quickly to follow her.

Naruto was back at his side, but his eyes were on the Head of the Torture and Interrogation Squad as they passed, and the man turned and looked down at him. Sasuke didn't have to nudge the blond along- he never stopped moving, but his head was turning so he could continue to stare at the man as they exited the room. It was only when they were out of view that he looked forward, and his haunted eyes were full of too many unknown emotions, flickering between something or another, too fast for Sasuke to compute, and the blond shook his head and smoothed down his hood, eyelids fluttering rapidly, and Sasuke knew that his mind was in one of those messes again and it was unlikely that he would get much out of him until it passes.

Which he hoped was real soon.

--------------------

As the chuunin hopefuls exited the room, one in particular caught Morino Ibiki's eye, a small hooded kid walking next to who he believed was the last Uchiha. The child had a pale, hollow expression, an even fragile demeanor, as if he would break, but the red-rimmed blue eyes held a startling array of emotions, all of them flashing within a second of each other, completely chaotic, and all focused on his head- or the skin under it. Pain, fear, understanding, anticipation, expectation, apprehension, and several others coming and going within the moment it took the boy to reach the door. And it seemed that the Uchiha herded him out, almost like an agreeable mental patient, not having to touch him, but letting him know that if he didn't move there would be assistance. And then he was out the door, and Ibiki was left collecting papers and wondering who that kid was.

He couldn't see much beyond the hood, beyond pale skin, a few strands of blond hair, and pale blue eyes. He picked up a paper and noticed that there wasn't a name on it. He rolled his eyes at the stupid forgetfulness of adolescence, but paused when he noticed that every one of the questions had been neatly answered- so neatly in fact, that it was as if someone had typed out the answers, not handwritten them. The answers, for the most part, were correct, detailed, and precise, even if most of it was speculation. He picked up several papers and examined them, noticing that many of them said the exact same thing, but chopped up here and there. As a matter of fact, Uchiha Sasuke's paper mimicked this one down to the penmanship- though it wasn't as perfect. It seemed that many of the genin had copied off of this one person, who had deliberately left his or her name out.

Who..?

He looked up as someone approached, Hatake Kakashi and gave a nod.

"Which Team was yours?"

Hatake's eye crinkled. "Team Seven. Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto." His eye drifted to the papers in his hands. "Ah, I see you have Sasuke, and Naruto's papers. They pass?"

The name Uzumaki Naruto had been ringing around his head the moment it had left Hatake's mouth, a ring of utter familiarity, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Which child was Naruto?" he asked as Hatake leaned against a table lazily, eye roving over the broken window Anko had created.

"The hooded one." There were several children with hoods on, but somehow Ibiki knew exactly which one Hatake was referring to

Ibiki's eyes narrowed as he looked down at the boy's paper. "He forgot to put his name down..."

"No," Hatake replied. "He didn't. He never puts his name down."