C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - T H R E E
(A/N: THREE updates?! I'm on a roll! Someone take my phone away from me, NOW!)
Enjoy :)
'Uh.. Hey, Gaara right? ...Can you hear me right now?' Maniko thought, not looking over to the redhead to prevent seeming suspicious.
Maniko sweatdropped after hearing no response.
'...Gaara..?' He repeated, nervously twirling his pencil with his fingers.
'...I could hear you the entire time.' Gaara finally responded.
'Wait, wut-'
Maniko: ( •́_•̀') ...
Gaara: (•~•) ...
Maniko just wanted to die from embarrassment right then and there. How was that possible?! Hashirama trained him on sharing his thoughts..
Maybe it was because he was stressed, and he wasn't thinking straight? Or because he was under pressure..?
Yeah. That had to be it.
This made Maniko wonder if he was accidentally sharing his thoughts with anyone else.. That would be embarrassing for him, to say the least.
Well, this definitely explains all the stares Gaara was giving him.. Right..?
And to think for half the time, Maniko just thought he had something on his face-
'You mean.. Y-You heard everything..?' Maniko asked again, this time looking over to the redhead, who subtly nodded.
It's now or never, Maniko. 'Then, uh.. Could you, like... Please help me? I really don't want to fail and drag my teammates down with me..'
'...'
Maniko's eye twitched after hearing no response.
'...Gaara..? Y-You can still hear me right..?'
'...'
'Okay, it's fine! Forget I asked..' Maniko thought.
The tealette sighed quietly, slumping back into his chair. He guessed that Gaara did not want to help him after all.
Why would he?
Helping a Genin from another village..?
A competitor..?
Tch.
The more Maniko thought of it, the more stupid he felt for thinking it would actually work.
'Sorry guys. I guess I let you down..' Maniko thought, closing his eyes to take a nap. There wasn't much he could do now.
...Until he felt something soft slowly wrap its way around his hand. Maniko bit back a gasp when he opened his eyes, to see a thin layer of sand around his hand.
And as if that wasn't enough surprises for Maniko today, the sand started moving his hand, making him write on the paper. Gaara was helping him!
The tealette had to force himself not to smile, or look at Gaara to give themselves away.
More sand flowed onto the paper, spelling out four words.
Don't make it obvious.
And just from this gesture alone, Maniko knew he owed Gaara big time.
Once 'Maniko' finished his test, the sand that wrapped around his hand slowly slithered back into Gaara's gourd. And as if on cue, it was time for the main event.
"Alright! Listen up. This is the tenth and final question." Ibiki stated.
"But before I give you this question, there are some more rules that you need to be aware of.." He started.
"These rules are unique. Listen carefully, and try not to let them frighten you." He ordered, the dark tone of his voice making Maniko gulp.
"Rule number one: Each of you is free to chose not to be given the final question. It's your decision." Ibiki stated.
Maniko furrowed his eyebrows at this. 'We're.. Free to choose..?'
"So, what's the catch?" Gaara's blond teammate, Temari asked. "If we decide we don't what to do it, what happens then?!"
"If you choose not to take the tenth question, regardless of your answers to the other nine.. You fail. Along with your teammates." Ibiki answered.
"If you do answer the tenth question, and end up answering it incorrectly.. You will not only fail, but you will never take the Chunin exams ever again!" He finished, earning gasps from everyone in the room.
Maniko's eye twitched. He could've saved himself the stress and embarrassment for a whole fourty five minutes if he had just known the tenth question was all that mattered to begin with...
But now he had to stress for yet another fifteen, knowing that it all came down to this moment.
"Now then, if you're ready.." The scarred man started. "If you do not wish to take the tenth and final question, raise your hand."
After a couple moments of hesitation and silence, hands slowly started to arise. And Genin started to give up and flee like flies.
Maniko looked at Sasuke, then to Sakura, and then to Naruto. The latter, of course, the most stressed out of the group.
The tealette bit the insides of his cheeks when he watched Naruto's hand slowly begin to rise.
'Don't do it Naruto. We've got this. We either try the question and all pass together, or we try the question and all fail together. But we're not giving up like this.' Maniko encouraged.
'Maniko..?' Naruto thought, slowly lowering his hand, now somewhat more determined. There was no way he was willing to give up now.
"Don't underestimate me! I don't quit, and I don't run! You can act tough all you want, but you guys aren't gonna scare me off!" Naruto yelled to Ibiki, slamming his hand on the desk.
"I don't care if I'm stuck as a Genin for the rest of my life! I'll still be Hokage some day!" The blond declared, earning a small smile from Maniko who sat in the corner watching his teammates determination in awe.
The little speech seemed to motivate the other Genin into staying too, as no one else raised their hands to quit.
"Well then, for those of you remaining.. You've all passed the first exam." Ibiki finalised.
"Wait what..? But, what about the tenth question?!" Sakura asked, standing from her seat.
"Well, the tenth question was seeing if you were willing to take the tenth question!" Ibiki grinned.
"Then.. W-What was the point in the other nine, if it ultimately summed down to this?!" Maniko asked, irritated.
"So, you mean to say the other nine questions were a waste of time?!" Temari asked, equally as annoyed.
"No, the other nine questions served a purpose of strategically gathering information during the most advanced circumstances." Ibiki explained.
"So.. The first nine questions were basically impossible for us to answer, meaning cheating was inevitable either way..?" Maniko summed up.
"Exactly." The scarred faced Jonin agreed.
"Then.. Who were we expected to cheat from if no one here knew the answers to begin with..?" Maniko asked.
"Ah! Well you see, of course it would've done you little good if you had no one to cheat from." Ibiki began. "So, I disguised two Chunin who already knew the answers, and had them sit in with you."
As if on cue, two undercover ninja held their hands up. One directly in front of Naruto, and the other in front of Maniko, making the tealette deadpan.
If only he had decided to cheat sooner..
"But always bare this in mind. Disinformation can be worse than no information at all. As ninja, there will be times where you have to risk your life to get information. In this case, those who couldn't do it discreetly were failed." The Jonin spoke.
"You we're given the choice to stay safe, and leave the exams, failing your teammates along side with you.. Or to finish what you came here for. In the field, you'll be given missions that could be considered suicidal. And running away to protect yourself, could lead to the death of your comrades. You are to push forward and follow through. That's what being a Chunin is all about." He explained.
Maniko raised his eyebrows. There was more lessons to these exams than he so thought.
"So as for the rest of you, you have earned the right to continue on to the next stage of the Chunin Exams! I wish you all good luck." He finished.
"YEAH! NARUTO, I TOLD YOU WE WOULD DO IT!" Maniko yelled. The duo cheered loudly, as the other Genin sighed in relief, content smiles on their faces.
All smiles faded when a loud shatter broke through the window at 100mph.
Maniko sweatdropped.
"I think I spoke too soon.."
A/N: Ayee! Gaara actually helped Maniko! 😱
We still don't know what Minato had to say about him though, hm.. Got any ideas? :P
Thanks for reading this chapter! <3