The whole room was stunned, but, I was scared.
Flashback
"Ok, Ayame I need to tell you about some of the ninja I work with." Kakashi explained sitting down at the table. I nodded and sat down with him, my toes barely touching the ground. I played absentmindedly with a lock of my shoulder length white hair,
"Ayame. These are the ninja's I want you to look out for." Kakashi started naming ninja's and why I was to be cautious, "Ibiki Morino. An expert at torture." I cocked my head to the side,
"Torture. You mean like the bad guys on T.V do to the good guy?" I asked stupidly. Kakashi just laughed,
"No. He is much worse. He doesn't need to use physical pain Ayame. He can make you torture yourself, it's a philological thing." I frowned,
"Philo-what?" I asked. Kakashi laughed again.
Flashback end
I bit my lip. I was extremely young then, only a few weeks after Kakashi adopted me but those names stuck into my mind. I could tell that this ninja is tough, they all are. How I'm going to pass this is beyond me. I jumped when Ibiki pointed a finger in our direction,
"First! Candidates from the village hidden in the sound! Knock it off! Who told you you could fight? You wanna be failed before we've even begun?" He yelled,
"Sorry. It's our first time. Guess we're a little jumpy." The middle shinobi apologised, then added, "Sir." Ibiki just smirked,
"I'll say this once so listen up. There will be non combat within candidates; there will be no fighting without the permission of your proctor. Even then, the use of fatal force is strictly prohibited. Any pig that screws with me will be disqualified immediately. Got it?" I swallowed, he really was scary. One of the sound shinobi snorted,
"No fatal force? That's no fun." What scared me was that all the jonin's behind Ibiki started chuckling. What are they up to?
"Now if we're ready the first test of the Chunin exams can begin. Hand over your paperwork; in return you will get a number, that number is where you will sit for the written exam." My eyes widened, written exam? I know I could take it but Naruto? No offence but his I.Q is lower than a rock! Seems Naruto knew this too,
"NOOO! NOT A WRITTEN TEST NO WAY!!!!" I sighed, looks like Naruto's gonna fail. Better luck next time.
__________________________________________________________________________________
I looked around the room anxiously; shinobi lined the walls, not leaving an inch in the room unsupervised. They all held clip boards with sheets of paper on them. I looked around to see who I was close to. Sasuke was on the other side of the room, Sakura was in front of me, I could see her, then Naruto was in front of her. Even from where I sat I could see he was stressing. I bit my lip and looked around for anyone that I knew. Nope, I had no idea where anyone else was, just my luck. I looked to my right, there was a boy with brown hair, he looked like he came from the leaf village. I looked to my left, a girl with raven hair who came from the village hidden in the rain. Damn.
"Alright, everyone eyes front." I looked forward to see Ibiki with a piece of chalk in his hand, "There are a few rules you need to be aware of. And I won't answer any questions so you better pay attention the first time around." I frowned, here it comes. While Ibiki spoke he wrote on the board, "Alright rule number 1, the written exam is conducted on a point reduction system. Contrary to what some of you may be used to you all begin the test with a perfect score of ten points. One point will be deducted for each answer you get wrong, so if you miss three then your final score will be seven." I nodded, that sounds fair. I should at least get 5 of these questions right, "Rule number 2, teams will pass or fail based on the total scores of all three members." I froze, the girl next to be glanced at me,
"You ok?" She whispered, I jumped, "Y-Yea, thanks." She nodded and turned forward again,
"What! Wait a second!" Sakura shouted, "Your saying we all get scared, as a team?!"
"No duh Sakura." I murmured, the girl next to me chuckled. I smiled,
"What's your name?" I whispered to her, she turned to me smiling,
"Harume. You?" I smiled,
"I'm Ayame." She gasped,
"Your that girl that got adopted by the copy-cat ninja!" I sighed,
"Never liked that nickname but yea." She smiled,
"You two. Stop your talking and listen, you can gossip all you want later." The proctor closest to us ordered. I felt my face going red as I sunk into my seat. Harume giggled but didn't say anything,
"Silence! I have my reasons. So shut up and listen." I continued to listen to Ibiki, "Rule number 3, the sentinels you see positioned around the room are there to watch you carefully for any signs of cheating." I looked to my right and saw one of the jonin looking at me carefully, he mouthed I'm watching you to me. I swallowed and looked forward,
"And for any incident they spot," Ibiki continued, "They will subtract 2 points from your score. Be warned, their eyes are extremely sharp. If they catch you 5 times you will be sent out before the tests are even finished. Anyone fool enough to be caught cheating doesn't deserve to be here." Reverse physiology! He never said we can't he just said don't get caught! Very tricky Ibiki, very tricky. I smirked, now to find a way to actually cheat without getting caught, "If you wanna be shinobi, then show us, show what exceptional shinobi you can be." Will do Ibiki. Ok, Sakura's smart, she'll be right and Sasuke should be ok. But Naruto, hm. I'll have to make up for his score. "Oh, and by the way, if any of you get a zero on your test, your whole team will fail!" I gasped; Harume looked at me again but didn't say anything. I bit my lip and looked down at Naruto,
"Please Naruto. Get at least one right!" I breathed,
"The final question won't be given out until fifteen minutes before the end of the test." I nodded, "you will have one hour total." After a few seconds, "BEGIN!" I quickly flipped my sheet over. The first question was a code. I nodded and started trying to decipher it. I frowned, can't get that one so I skipped to the next. Line B in the diagram indicates the trajectory of a shurikan thrown at enemy C by ninja A seated on top of a tree 7 meters tall. Describe and formulate the trajectory required if C was positioned at point D, E and F, also predict the furthest possible range of the shurikan and explain how you arrived at your answer. What?! This chunin stuff if not Jonin! Genin's can't do this! I sighed, guess I really am gonna have to try and cheat. I bit my lip, but what can I use to cheat without getting caught? I quickly tried to think of something I could do. I growled, damn it, if only I summoned one of my ninja hounds! They could help me! I sighed, may as well give it a try. I put my hand under the desk in a casual way, Water style, mist jutsu. Instead of making the whole room full of mist I only made a small area around my hand turn to mist. I then looked around, who has the answers? I decided to choose Neji, he's got his byakugan and he is also a genius. I dispersed my mist and sent it Neji's way. I closed my eyes, if Neji had his byakugan going then he'd be able to see the mist, if not then it would be invisible. I opened my eyes and saw Neji staring at me; I gave him a pleading look. He closed his eyes and sighed, he put his hand down by his side, he gave a small thumbs up before scratching his leg. I smiled and closed my eyes; have to remember to thank him later. While I waited for him to start writing again I wondered how Naruto was doing. That thought got cut short when I felt the pencil start slicing through my mist signalling that Neji had started writing again. I copied his pens movement while keeping my eyes closed, concentrating hard. When I smiled at something that Neji wrote. He didn't actually write it, he just mirrored the movements of writing it. I wrote it on the paper so I could see what he wrote. When I opened my eyes I saw that I had wrote Your lucky you're my friend or I would have out the wrong answers. I fought back a laugh. I looked over at Neji with a smirk on my face. He smirked back at me. I looked forward again; time to wait for the tenth question,
"Alright! Listen up, here's the tenth question and final question. But, before I give you the question, I'm adding a few more rules." I sighed, more? Seriously? I looked behind me when Puppet boy walked through the doors. I narrowed my eyes, when did he leave?
"Huh?" He asked, Ibiki smirked,
"Ah, made it just in time. I hope you found your trip to the bathroom enlightening." He froze, "Well, take your seat." I waited for him to sit. When he did Ibiki continued,
"These rules are unique to question 10. Listen carefully, and try not to let then frighten you." My frown deepened, how hard is this going to be? Ibiki turned back to us, "Very well then rule number 1, each of you is given the choice of taking the final question, it's your decision." My eyes widened, what does he mean?
"What's that catch?" I yelled out. He chuckled,
"The catch is that regardless on how you did in your other questions, if you choose not to do the tenth question you fail, that means that your teammates fail as well." My jaw dropped slightly as the room exploded into whispers,
"Not so fast, you didn't let me finish. If you do accept the question but answer is incorrectly, you will not only fail, you will be banned from taking the Chunin exams ever again!" He yelled the last part. I flinched, this is getting more and more intense as time goes on.,
"Hey that's bull man! What kind of rule is that?! There are plenty of people here who have taken the test before!" Kiba yelled pointing at Ibiki accusingly. I frowned as Ibiki started laughing, I almost laughed at what I must look like, my facial features constantly changing,
"I guess you're just unlucky, I wasn't making the rules before but I am now. Of course if you don't wanna take it you don't have to." Ibiki informed darkly, "If you're not feeling confident then by all means skip it, you can take it next year. Now then if you're ready. The tenth and final question, those who don't want to take it raise your hand. Your number will be recorded then you are free to go." I put my head down as people for fitted around me, the pressures to much, screw up and you ruin your whole life, you forfeit you may as well jab a kunai threw your teammates back! The reason why I put my head down is because I didn't want to be unnerved by all the shinobi who weren't man enough to take the risk. I jumped when Harume stood up beside me; I looked up at her and gasped,
"W-What are you doing?!" I asked, she smiled at me but I could see the pain in her eyes,
"My teammate just quit. It was nice knowing you Ayame. I'll be sure to spread good word about you." I opened my mouth to talk but one of the jonin's interrupted me, "Number 31, fail, numbers 67 and 89, fail." She sighed and made her way to the door. I put my head down, my depressing thoughts entering my head, maybe I should quit, I mean I'll most likely get it wrong, but what my team? Harume looked so sad. I don't want to put everyone through that! I gasped when I saw Naruto raise his hand, time seemed to slow down for me, no Naruto! Don't do it! I yelled in my head, I jumped when Naruto slammed his hand down on the table,
"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME! I DON'T RUN AND I DON'T QUIT! YOU CAN ACT TOUGH ALL YOU WANT, YOU GUYS AREN'T GONNA SCARE ME OFF! NO WAY! I DON'T CARE IF I DO GET STUCK BEING A GENIN FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! I WILL BECOME HOKAGE!" He yelled,
"This decision is one that can change the rest of your life, if for any reason you would rather quit, do so now."
"No way, I never go back on my word, that's the way of the ninja." I smiled as nobody else raised their hand, Ibiki walked forward. I waited eagerly for the last question, Ibiki finally spoke,
"Well then, I admire your determination if nothing else. For those of you who are remaining there is only one thing left to do," I leaned forward in my seat, this could change the rest of my life, wait. Didn't Ibiki already say that? Oh well, it's true so I'm gonna say it,
"It is time for me to tell you," Ibiki looked down; I bit my lip, hurry up! Ibiki looked up with a smile on his face, "That you've all passed the first exam!" I froze in place,
"W-What?!" I yelled standing up, "What do you mean we passed?! What happened to the tenth question?!" I yelled angrily, honestly I'm only doing this for Harume. Ibiki grinned happily,
"There never was one, not a written one at least. Actually your decicion to stay was the answer to the tenth question." I sighed and sat down, you know what they say, you can never win,
"Wait a second." Yelled a familiar female voice, my head whipped to the sound of the voice. I frowned at the spiky haired sand girl,
"So you mean the other nine questions were just a waste of time?! Is that what your saying?" She yelled angrily, I looked back at Ibiki, waiting for his answer,
"Oh no not at all, quite the opposite, the other nine questions had quite the overriding purpose. To test you individual ability to gather information!" The girl looked at him doubtfully,
"Oh well that clears up everything." She answered sarcastically,
"Let me explain, you see my objective was to test you not only as individuals but as a team but how well you function as a part of that team. That's why the test was scored on a team basis, that way you knew that whatever you did or failed to do would directly affect your teammates, I wanted to see how you would handle the pressure." I almost laughed as Naruto nodded his head in a knowing matter,
"Mm hm, I figured as much, that's why I kept my cool." I sighed and shook my head, still smiling; he didn't have a clue,
"The first nine questions on the test were difficult," Ibiki continued, "in fact, as you may have realised, to difficult for any genin to be able to solve. I imagine most of you came to that conclusion that you had to cheat in order of having any chance of passing. The fact is, is that the test was designed to encourage cheating, it almost demanded it. Oh course it would have done you little good unless you had someone to cheat from, so I had two chunin sit in who already knew the answers." My eyes widened, Ibiki is a... he's a genius! I would've never thought of a plan this great. I smiled; I think I just gained some respect for this guy. I laughed when I saw Naruto have a little spazz attack, and I giggled when I heard everyone talking about him, I knew he could hear them. Naruto just laughed and sat back with his hands behind his head,
"Oh come on I wasn't fooled for a second! You had to be a complete idiot not to see it." I sighed and shook my head when he turned to Hinata to try and confirm him obvious lie,
"Those who were caught at it failed," Ibiki continued, "Better not to cheat then to cheat clumsily." I gasped when Ibiki took off his head band. His heads a mess! It was lined with horrid scratches and scares from left right and centre. And so my respect grows for this man,
"Information, it can be the most powerful weapon in battle. How you gather information can be determined whether your mission is a failure or a success. There will be times when you have to risk your life just to get it." Ibiki started tying his headband back on, "Of course it all depends on where you get your intelligence from, a source gathered from an enemy is not necessarily accurate. Always bear this in mind. This information can be better than no information at all, it can lead to the death of comrades or the loss of a village. That's why I put you in the position where you had to accurately gather information, cheat, in order to survive. That is why we weeded out the weaker ones who were clearly lacking in that area, leaving the rest of you."
"Ok, but I'm still not getting what the tenth question this is all about." Sand girl stated,
"You're not? The tenth question was the main point of the whole exam. Surly you see that." I scratched my head, nope, sorry, I'm afraid not Ibiki. I laughed in my head,
"Uh, sure but explain it anyway." Sakura answered, Ibiki closed his eyes and put his hands in his pockets. He sure does have a lot of patience,
"As I said before, the goal was not only to test you as individuals but as a team. The final question was a painful one to make. You could choose to play it safe and skip the question, also meaning that you and your teammates would fail," a selfish decision but go on, "Or you could try and answer it, knowing that if you got it wrong you would lose your chance of ever being chunin. It was a no win situation. But just the sort chunin have to face every day. For example let me give you a hypothetical mission." I listened as Ibiki started to state a random mission and started to praise the selfless. I smiled, he really was a true shinobi,
"As for the rest of you, you have successfully answered the tenth question. You have earned the right to continue on to the next step. You have passed through the first gate. I hereby declare this part of the exam completed. There is nothing left but to wish you all good luck-"
"ALL RIGHT! YEA! WE DID IT! THAT'S ONE DOWN!" Naruto interrupted, I laughed but didn't say anything, let him have his moment. I gasped as something came flying through the window, sending glass flying in every direction. To my surprise Ibiki didn't even flinch. I stared as a woman pinned a banner using kunai right in front of Ibiki,
"W-Who...?" I breathed,
"Is this part of the test?!" Naruto exclaimed,
"Heads up boys and girls, there's no time to be celebrating." My eyes widened when a woman with dark purple hair emerged, might I add that in my personal opinion she needed to cover up just a little better,
"I'm your next proctor, Anko Mitarashi!" Anko's her name then... "Ready for the second test? Good! Lets go!" She threw her fist in the air in excitement. I couldn't help but sweat drop, she seems nice but a little hyper.... I thought awkwardly. I giggled when Ibiki peeked out from behind the banner and stated,
"You're early.... Again." Anko's cheeks turned a light shad of pink as she realised this. I played with my pencil as I waited for their conversation to be over. I couldn't help but hear Anko state one thing that kinda freaked me out,
"Trust me, when I'm done with them, more than half will be illuminated." I froze and swallowed nervously,
"M-More than half?" I whimpered,
"Alright, you maggots have had it easy so far but, things are gonna be different starting first thing in the morning. I'll let your squad leaders know where to meet me." And then she added and a sickly sweet tone, "Dissmissed."