Teach me to love ~Naruto~: Chapter 1

Chapter 48: Test

The room felt cold as I sat at the table with Hirari next to me. The proctor leaned against the wall and talked a little about the test he held in his hand for us to take. "It's a two page test that covers all feilds of japanese, math, science, and world history. These questions are all important and pretain to what you will need to know and think about when you are Hokage. So basically, if you don't know the answer, you aren't fit to be Hokage. We will place you both at opposite ends of the room and give you the test. The moment it is layed in front of you, set to work, becase you only have one hour to complete it. The candidate with the most right answers will be inducted as the new Hokage. Any questions?"

Hirari and I both were sillent as the full weight of the meaning of this test began to bore down on us. She was sitting tall and tense, taking deep calming breaths, while I... fidgited... But they put Hirari on one side of the room and moved me clear to the other end, setting the test down and ultimatly starting us down either the path to glory or the path of doom.

I looked at the paper, and I mean really looked at it. But my mind was just drawing a blank. I couldn't read it! Hirari on the other end was tapping her pencil on the desk and circling every so often. But yet I couldn't get past the first word of the first damn question. After a few deep breaths I looked back down and tried with all my might, putting down A for my first answer.

My mind was so blank! I tried like crazy to focus but nothing was working! But then... Charlies voice ran through my mind. It was a small memory of a day in the very beginning when I was so down and dead inside. But she brought me up.

"Naruto, please pay attention." Charlie said. I knew I needed to, but...

"Charlie, I need to move and do something! All of this is so boring, do I really need to know any of this?"

"Yes." And he was dead serious too. "Everything I teach you will be on a test given to you at the end of your evaluation to becoming Hokage. I wouldn't be giving you this information unless it was absolutly vital! Now stop being such a whiner and pay attention." I sighed audibly and sat back. "At the end of the era-"

It all went in one ear and out the other as I looked out the window and bounced my leg and wondered what kind of training Sakura and Sai were up to. I wondered if they were with Kakashi or Yamato. They're both good, but Kakashi is better at stelth. A pencil hit my head, snapping me back into reality.

"Wake up!" Charlie yelled.

"What the heck! You don't have to throw things at me!"

"Yes, apparently I do! I called your name five times!"

"Well why didn't you call it a sixth time?!"

Charlie looked like he was about ready to strangle me, but took a breath and stood. "It seems you need a little bit of motivation." He walked over to the cabnets and took every bowl of instant raman I had out and set them on the counter, taking two out of the pile, cooking one, and placing it on the table. Then he took the other and tied a string to it before hanging it from my light. I watched in horror as Charlie sat the other ten or so bowls on the ground in a neat line and proceeded to smash them.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!!!!!" I cried. I craddled the broken contaners to me, waching the smashed pieces of noodle fall from them. "They were so young... How could you?!"

Charlie pointed up at the one he hung from the light. "See this? Other than the one on the table, which is mine, this is the last bowl. If you can sit still for one hour and pay attention and answer some questions correctly, you can have it. If not, then you will go hungry until tomorrow morning." I was about to protest, when he stopped me. "I make the rules. When it comes to teaching, I pull out all the stops and will be as harsh as a prison guard. Understand? There is no getting around this."

Honestly, I was frightened. But the thought of food, kept me going the rest of the hour as he thaught me a history lesson. And at the end, after answering his questions correctly, I was rewarded with food, and then on, used food as my mental motivator, even if it wasn't my physical one.

I just have to think of something yummy. The special miso pork raman that Tenshi makes at Ichiraku raman... Charlies golden brown pancakes... Those little sugar candies Pervy Sage once gave me. It was almost instantanious, my mind was working again and I had a small burst of confidence that got me through ten more questions... before another line of fear broke in.

The test in front of me started to shake it seemed. But after looking at my pencil, I realized I was the one who was shaking. Why is it so cold in here? The eyes of the proctor bore into me as a smirk began to play across his face.

What ever made me think I could do this? How did I even think that in a million years I could be Hokage? I've never been that great of a ninja... hell I was flunkie in the academy. Not to mention the fact that, even after almost a year of Charlie tutoring me, I was still a below average student. Everything up to this point was for not... I had let everyone down, waisted everyones time. Charlie, Kakashi-sensei, Sai, Sakura... Everyone had worked so hard to help me get ready for this, but I can't even pass a stupid test.

"You know what you're doing. Have confidence in yourself. I do." Charlie... I'm so sorry. After everything we've been through, I'm going to end up letting you down... Yumi coming to find you, teaching you how to swim, Hinata, the cancer, Kobe, Neji, the competition, your friends trying to make you go home, all the way up to meeting your dad..... your dad... your dad!

His genjutsu! The intimidation he forced on me that day! It's just like the doubt I feel right now! I won't give up Charlie. This proctor and genjutsu can both suck a railroad spike!

I took a few deep calming breaths, breaking the hold and looking back down at the test. This stuff is easy! It's like Charlie had taken the test and taught me exactly what I needed to know! My pencil hit the paper and expertly went to work. And this time, when I looked up at the proctor, he was smiling.