I Got Caught In A Storm... And Now I'm Stuck In Naruto!?!?

Part 1 of The Chunin Exams: Concluded

I grinned. "That's my boy..." Gaara sent me a look, but I was too happy and proud to do anything about it.

"One last chance. Quit now, while you still can. This is your life's decision, here," Ibiki said, deadly serious.

"I never go back on my word... It's my shinobi way!" Naruto said, staring him down. His outburst seemed to have given the others in the room the confidence they needed, since no one made a move to raise their hands.

"Heh... Good call... Everyone still here... You've all just passed the first exam!" Ibiki bellowed.

Funny. It sounded like he said we had passed the first exam...

SAY WHAT!?

"All 78 of you still here... You've all passed the first exam," Ibiki said.

"What!? What about the tenth question!?" Sakura asked. Of course she'd ask something like that. Couldn't she just stick with the simple side of things and be happy that we passed?

"The tenth question... Is the whole accept or reject thing. There was no original tenth question," He explained. 

"Then why did we go through the other 9 questions if they were pointless!?" Temari asked.

"They weren't pointless. The other questions were designed to test your skills... At spying! We wanted you to cheat like ninja and not get caught!" He grinned. Ew... He's smiling now!? That's just... Wrong. "Remember the beginning rules?" No, I really don't... But I played along anyway. "Passing or failing as a team? Due to that rule, you were afraid of doing anything rash, for fear of taking down your comrades with you."

"Oh... You know, that's what I kinda figured out it was," Naruto said. I rolled my eyes. Uh-huh. Sure.

"However... The questions were beyond the skill level of any of you here, so... Most of you figured out that in order to pass, you need to cheat without getting caught. We even provided you with two chunin who had already taken the exam and knew all the answers," Ibiki continued, gesturing to two boys. One of them had been the one I had cheated off of, which was pretty awesome for me.

"Of course, anyone who cheated obviously failed right away..." He said, pulling off his headband to reveal various holes and slashes in his head. "When on an infiltration mission to gather information, nothing you say can be trusted if you can't keep your presence a secret from the enemy. The test was designed to utilize your spying skills... And to decide who was hopeless from the start." He pulled on his headband once more.

Good. Because after seeing livers and scars of toture, I was becoming rather squeamish.

"Okay... But what's the deal with the tenth question?" Temari inquired. What was the deal with EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHER in this exam room asking questions?

"Ah... The tenth question... It was the first real test on the exam. You were given two options, both dangerous and having different consequences. However, if you all successfully become Chunin, you'll face decisions even more difficult than that! No Chunin can get away with only taking the safe jobs. There will be instances when you are forced to endager the lives of not only yourself, but of your comrades. 

"However... There are some missions that you simply cannot decline. A ninja ready to become a Chunin must have a certain charisma that inspires those around him or her and helps erase all fear and doubt. They must be able to gamble with their own fate... Without knowing what might happen tomorrow. However, those who never take risk out of fear of an uncertain tomorrow... Are just weaklings who don't belong in the rank of Chunin.

"By accepting the question... You've all proved to me that you do have that cerain charismatic trait. Keep it up, and you'll be able to get through any challenges you might face. The first part of the Chunin Exams are now concluded. I hope you all fight the good fight! Good luck!' Ibiki finished, grinning at us.