26 Chapter 26: The First Test Begins!

The group walked into the room and looked around, seeing all the people they would be going up against. Sakura thought back to what happened just before the three of them had entered.

-Earlier-

The three of them walked up to the door and saw Kakashi standing there in front of them.

"Eh? Kakashi-sensei? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked.

"Looks like the three of you are all here." Kakashi said.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, what I mean is, that the chunin exams can only be taken by three-man squads." Kakashi explained.

"Eh? But I thought you said it was up to the individual. Were you lying when you said that?" Sakura asked confused.

"Well, if I had said it from the start, both Naruto and Sasuke would have most likely forced you to go. If Sasuke had asked you, you would have gone for him... and Naruto as well... But you would've done it with a half-hearted resolve." kakashi answered.

"Then, if I hadn't decided to go, what would've happened to Sasuke and Naruto?" She asked with some hesitation.

"Then I would've stopped the chunin exams for them right here." Kakashi said.

Sakura looked surprised at Kakashi and then she looked at Sasuke and Naruto.

"Well, I say that, but in the end, all three of you decided to come on your own." Kakashi smiled.

The three of them looked at Kakashi as he spoke.

"You three are a team that I am proud of, so go out there and do your best!" Kakashi grinned as he stepped to the side, allowing them to go in. The three nodded and walked through the doors.

-Present-

The trio looked at all the people inside the room, Sakura couldn't help but feel fear from seeing all the strong looking people. She unconsciously took a step back and gulped. Suddenly, Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Sakura, we're all here with you!" Naruto grinned.

Sasuke smirked as well when she saw him. She smiled as she steeled herself and took a step forward. Right, I've already decided, I'm no longer going to hold these two back, she thought.

"Sasuke!! You're here too!"

The three of them looked over to see Ino jumping onto Sasuke's back hugging him. Sakura got angry as she stared Ino down.

"Stop clinging to Sasuke! Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted.

"Geh, you still have a large ugly forehead, Sakura." Ino retorted.

"What'd you say?" Sakura said taking a step toward her.

Naruto sighed as he looked at the two others coming over.

"Man, this is a drag, you guys are taking this lame exam as well?" Shikamaru sighed as he yawned.

"Hey Shikamaru!" Naruto grinned.

Choji walked up beside Shikamaru as he ate from his bag of chips.

"Yahoo, look who's all here!"

The six of them looked over and saw Kiba walking toward them, followed by Shino and Hinata.

Shino on the other hand remained silent.

"Sup Kiba!" Naruto grinned.

"Looks live everyone is here!" Kiba said as he looked at everyone present.

Naruto turned his head to look at Hinata, who quickly looked away from him when he made eye contact with her.

Naruto smiled lightly as he scratched his cheek. "Hey Hinata!"

Her face got red when Naruto called out to her and she lightly waved back without making eye contact.

"Man, you guys are here too?" Shikamaru complained.

"Well, well, I guess this means all nine rookie genin are all taking the chunin exams! I wonder how far we'll go." Kiba smirked.

"Isn't that right, Sasuke?" Kiba turned to look at Sasuke.

"Hmph, looks like you've gotten pretty confident in yourself, eh, Kiba." Sasuke smirked.

"What can I say? We've done a lot of tough training, we might even be stronger than you now!" Kiba boasted.

Naruto stared at Kiba with a frown, was he always this annoying? He thought to himself.

"Well, only one way to find out, Kiba!" Naruto said as he took a step forward.

Kiba looked at Naruto with a surprised look before he grinned.

"I'm s-sorry Naruto..... Kiba d-didn't mean it..... L-like that..." Hinata said softly.

"Hm?" Naruto looked over at Hinata who had just spoken, causing her to turn red again and look away.

Kiba looked over at Hinata as well, and saw her red face, which caused him to wonder what was causing it.

Suddenly, Choji took a step forward toward Kiba, but was blocked by Shino.

"Hm?" Choji wondered.

"Don't step on it." Shino said.

"What?" Choji asked.

"The insect. Don't step on it." Shino answered.

Choji looked down and saw the tiny insect that was crawling on the floor.

"Are you going to eat it?" Choji asked.

The whole group was silent as they stared at Choji. Naruto wanted to laugh at the whole situation but managed to keep himself under control.

"Oi! You guys, you need to be quieter."

The group turned to look at who had spoken to see a kid with glasses and silver hair tied in a ponytail. Naruto tensed up briefly as he saw who it was and grit his teeth together. Stay calm, he thought to himself, can't go getting out of control right now, otherwise, I'll definitely have to deal with the World's rejection and face another construct. I'm still not ready to face off against another one of those without Hateshi's help. He clenched his fist silently as he glared at the man who appeared. Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata had all noticed Naruto's sudden change in demeanor however. Which caused them all to be confused as to why Naruto would react like that toward the newcomer. But even then, Sasuke and Sakura trusted Naruto's instincts and kept their guard up against the man.

"You guys must be the nine rookie genin fresh out of the academy. Acting all friendly and carefree with each other, jeez. This isn't some fun field trip!" The man scolded.

"Who the hell are you? Acting all haughty for?" Ino exclaimed in displeasure.

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto, and why don't you take a good look around you?" Kabuto smirked.

The group looked around themselves and to everyone's surprise, except Naruto's, the whole room was glaring at them.

"See? You making all this noise is annoying everyone here, and they're all tense because the exams will be starting soon. I'd thought I'd warn you before anything happened." Kabuto explained.

"So why don't you quiet down before embarrassing yourselves further."

Naruto took one sweep around the room and identified several people, he saw Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, Neji, Tenten, Lee, the three sound ninja under Orochimaru's control. Then he glanced back at everyone's faces from his group. They all looked a little guilty to some degree after being scolded.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped, you're all rookies who don't know anything at all. You remind me of myself when I first started." Kabuto smiled.

Sakura stared at Kabuto before speaking. "You said.... that we reminded you of when you first started right?"

"That's right." Kabuto answered.

"Then.... is this your second time?" Sakura asked.

"No.... it's actually my seventh try at the chunin exams." Kabuto said.

The entire group stared at Kabuto in shock. This was his seventh try? They all thought. Naruto stared at Kabuto with narrowed eyes. Seventh try, that's just because he's not trying to pass the chunin exams, he thought to himself. While he knew he shouldn't do anything right at this moment in time, he desperately wanted to tear Kabuto apart. If it wasn't for Kabuto, then so many things could have been avoided. But even then, Naruto held himself together.

"The exams are held twice a year, so this is my fourth year." Kabuto continued.

"Then... you must know a lot about the chunin exams!" Sakura concluded.

"You could say that..." Kabuto laughed.

"Seventh try? You still haven't passed yet?" Shikamaru said.

"Ahahahah, unfortunately, that is the case.." Kabuto scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Tch.. Man, are these exams really that high of a hurdle, that's such a drag.." Shikamaru complained.

"Haha.... Well, why don't I help out my cute juniors who are taking this exam for the first time? With these ninja info cards!" Kabuto suggested as he pulled out some cards.

"Ninja info cards?" Sakura asked.

"They are cards I've filled with information over the four years I've spent trying to pass the chunin exams. They contain detailed information on several individuals who are participating as well, including you guys." Kabuto explained.

By this point Naruto had heard enough and stepped forward, anymore listening to this guy was going to piss him off.

"Oi, what's the point of listening to someone who's failed six times already despite all this information you've gathered." Naruto scowled at Kabuto.

Everyone present stared in shock at Naruto, this was something they wouldn't expect to hear from him. But yet, here it was right before their eyes. Sakura and Sasuke already knew that Naruto had his guard up against the newcomer, but they had suspected it had more to do with him being a stranger than how Naruto acted toward him. Naruto's actions however made it clear to them that he really disliked Kabuto for some reason.

Kabuto stared at Naruto who was glaring at him.

"Hoh, that's a pretty intense glare you've got there." Kabuto commented.

Naruto scowled even more upon hearing Kabuto's words. He grit his teeth and stepped closer to him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and brought him face to face.

"I don't need your useless information, we'll pass just fine on our own without your help!" Naruto said through clenched teeth.

"My, my, you're pretty scary, I may have to revise my information on you.. Uzumaki Naruto!" Kabuto said as he smiled at Naruto.

Naruto released his grip on Kabuto and walked away, followed by Sasuke and Sakura, who looked at him with concern and confusion. The others also stared at Naruto as if he was a different person, especially Hinata who was even more concerned about Naruto than all of the others. Kabuto adjusted his glasses as he watched Naruto leave. He smiled underneath his hand that covered his lower face. Uzumaki Naruto huh..... he's pretty interesting... Kabuto thought to himself.

Sakura felt concern over how Naruto hadn't acted like his usual self, she thought maybe it was because of the tense atmosphere of the room. She reached out to try and console him but before she could, a large cloud of smoke filled the room, revealing several individuals standing there. A man in a large black trench coat was standing in the center.

"Sorry to keep everyone waiting.... I'm Morino Ibiki, proctor for the first test of The Chunin Exams." Ibiki said.

Everyone stared at the man who had just appeared within the smoke in surprise.

"Let me say this to get it out of the way... There will be no battles or fighting without the permission of the proctors! But even if you did get permission, actions that lead to death will not be tolerated! Anyone that tries to mess with me will be immediately disqualified from the exams! Understood?!" Ibiki declared.

The room was silent until someone finally spoke.

"What's this? Looks like the exams will be pretty easy!"

All the proctors that appeared with Ibiki all laughed among themselves, causing the man who spoke to frown slightly.

"Now then, we shall begin the first test, turn in your applications and take one of these numbers, then sit at the corresponding seat that matches the number you pick up. After that, we will hand out the written paper for the test!" Ibiki instructed as he held out a small piece of paper with a number on it.

The room followed his instructions as each person walked up and turned in their applications followed by them picking up a number and finding their matching seat. When Naruto finally sat down at his seat he found that Hinata was also sitting next to him. Looks like things really are following how it happened last time, Naruto thought as he remembered what Hateshi told him about the world always trying to follow the correct history. Which meant as long as he didn't do anything too different, he would know exactly what to expect.

Once everyone was seated, the papers were handed out one by one until everyone had a copy. Once that was done, the room looked at Ibiki and waited for him to give further instructions while all the other proctors sat on the side of the room with clip boards.

"N-Naruto...." Hinata called out.

Naruto looked over at Hinata who spoke to him. "Oh hey, what's up?"

"Ummm, a-are you okay?" She asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

"E-earlier, w-with Kabuto." Hinata tried to explain.

"Oh! I understand now.... yeah, I'm fine!" Naruto grinned.

"That's great..... b-but, why did y-you act like that?" Hinata asked.

"Hmmm, well,I just don't like him, he rubs me the wrong way!" Naruto said after thinking about how he would explain it.

"I-I see..." Hinata replied.

"Yeah, if I were you, I wouldn't trust that guy at all. Okay?" Naruto said as he looked Hinata in the eyes.

Hinata turned red and looked down, avoiding eye contact from Naruto.

Naruto grinned at Hinata's reactions. "You know, I never really noticed it before, but you're pretty cute! Let's do our best together, Hinata!"

Hinata's face went beat red as soon as she heard Naruto's words, she then hid her face within her arms as steam rose from her head.

"Oi! Hinata, are you alright?" Naruto asked in concern.

Hinata shook her head up and down without revealing her face.

"Y-yeah, let's d-do our best...." She whispered weakly.

"If you say so.." Naruto replied hesitantly.

Naruto leaned back into his chair after she said that, but he glanced over at her in concern, he decided to focus on the test in the end however. As long as she said she was okay, he would leave the issue alone. Naruto looked over at Ibiki and waited for him to continue his explanation. Though he already knew what was going to happen.

"There are several important rules to this test, I won't be taking questions so listen carefully!" Ibiki announced, causing everyone to sit up straighter to pay attention.

"First, you are all given ten points each at the start of the test. The written test has ten questions in all. Each problem is one point, and this is a point deduction test, so if you get a question wrong, you will lose that one point!"

"Second, the pass or fail condition for each team is decided by the total amount of points of the three individuals in each team!" Ibiki explained.

Sakura suddenly felt a huge headache come on as she glanced at Naruto unconsciously. She knew Naruto had changed a lot since they graduated, but she didn't know how well he'd do during a written test since he'd always been bad at it back in the academy.

"The third and most important rule! Anyone the proctors determine to have committed an act of cheating, or something similar, will have two points deducted for each act."

Several people suddenly exclaimed unconsciously as Ibiki continued speaking.

"Which means, there may be individuals who will be dismissed during this test, without waiting for test grading."

The room stared at him in silent as he silently let his words sink in with them.

"Know that those who are caught cheating, will bring ruin upon themselves." Ibiki said.

"I'll be checking you at any time!" One of the other proctors suddenly announced as he stared at the ones taking the test.

"If you aspire to become chunin, know that shinobi should act like exemplary shinobi!" Ibiki announced.

Sakura breathed out as she calmed herself. Don't worry, even if Naruto were to get zero points, both Sasuke and I will be able to cover for him. So there's no need to panic right now, she thought.

"Also, in the event of anyone on a team getting zero points... Everyone on that team will fail!" Ibiki said.

Wha-? What did he say!? Sakura and Sasuke thought to themselves. Naruto suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine, hmm, I wonder what that was? He thought before focusing back on Ibiki's instructions.

"Finally, the last problem will be given forty-five minutes after the test starts, the time for the test is one hour!" Ibiki finished.

Everyone gulped after hearing everything that Ibiki had to say. Soon, time had begun ticking as the test papers were handed out and everyone began trying to solve the problems one by one. Naruto looked over the questions and couldn't help but feel sweat drop from his forehead. Man, these questions are just as hard as I remember, Naruto thought to himself. Then he tried thinking back to his experience taking the test the first time around. He realized that even if he didn't answer a single one, as long as he stayed and convinced everyone else to stay, there'd be no problems. Because last time, he hadn't been able to answer a single question, but was still passed in the end.

Naruto couldn't help but grin to himself as he thought up to this point. Hehe, knowing what happens sure is useful, Naruto thought. He then placed his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. But is this really how I want to do things this time? He wondered. As time passed, more and more people began getting disqualified and escorted out of the room. Naruto then thought back to when Ibiki had explained the point of the test. It wasn't about knowing the answers, it was about cheating without getting caught in the first place. So he began thinking about how he would get the answers. Suddenly, his eyes brightened when he came up with an idea.

He raised his hand into the air, and said he needed to use the bathroom. One of the proctors sighed and got up and lead Naruto to where the bathroom was. Once they arrived, Naruto created a clone and quickly knocked the proctor out. Then he created another clone and had it transformed into the proctor. After that he hid the original proctor in one of the stalls and left a clone to watch over him, while he and his transformed clone returned to the classroom. After entering, Naruto sat back down in his seat and waited for his clone to memorize the test information. After more time passed, Naruto glanced at his clone who gave him a signal with his eyes. He raised his hand again indicating he needed to go again. His clone took him back to the restroom and there, Naruto caused his clones to disappear and woke the proctor up.

"Wha- what the? What's going on?!" The proctor said as he got up.

He looked at Naruto who stared back at him in confusion.

"Why are you getting all riled up? You just passed out while I was in the bathroom." Naruto explained.

The proctor tried thinking back, but could only remember losing consciousness, so he figured he must have been waiting for a really long time and passed out. He cleared his throat and lead Naruto back into the classroom. Once Naruto sat back down he began working on the test and filling out the questions one by one. Man, why didn't I do this last time? Naruto wondered. After filling out the questions, he sat back into his chair and waited for the forty-five minute mark to hit. When he glanced at the clock on the wall, only thirty minutes had passed. Looks like I got time to spare while I wait, Naruto thought to himself as he yawned.