--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Haku tried to keep his composure while at the same time, reigning in his curiosity. He still held absolutely no trust for Kabuto at all, but the simple tin pail sitting harmlessly on the balcony of the hotel room they were occupying was distracting him, pulling at the corner of his mind.
Why was it there?
What was it's purpose?
He had watched Kabuto purposefully put it there and dump half, if not most, of the liquid contained in those vials, into the simple bucket.
Then he just left it. He left it to sit in the rays of the afternoon sun and it was confusing the hell out of Haku. He was almost certain that that liquid was vital to their precious mission. It was one of the reasons they were here, wasn't it?
He didn't want to outright ask Kabuto what he was doing because he knew he probably wouldn't get the answer he was looking for. It would be something vague and infuriating.
He couldn't ask Yoroi, the other member of their team for two reasons. The first being that he probably didn't know, and the second being that the stupid guy didn't care about anything going on.
"Since the exam isn't until tomorrow, I'm going out to do a quick errand." Kabuto explained, his voice bringing Haku around.
Damn. He had been staring at the pail again.
"Won't that be suspicious since we're not from here?" Yoroi asked though there wasn't a hint of real concern in his voice. His words droned on really.
"We have our Konoha disguises. Everything's set." Kabuto affirmed as he gestured to the Konoha forehead protectors they all adorned. Haku grimaced as he remembered the brand now placed upon his head.
He had always been proud to wear the same symbol as Zabuza, but now he was forced to wear the treacherous symbol of another village. He didn't like it at all. Kabuto opened the door to leave and Haku's attention was perked as he glimpsed three vials tucked away into his belt.
The silver haired medic paused in the doorway, his parting words driving Haku insane with questions that burned for answers.
"Don't touch the pail."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kabuto pulled the stopper from the third vial he brought with him, his eyes flickering towards the mass of water that sat below him as he did so. To some, the layout of Konoha may seem strange and rather confusing, but that really wasn't the case. It was actually a very basic system and it didn't take Kabuto long to find the plant that fed fresh, clean drinking water through all the pipes that ran throughout the village.
He didn't bother to see if anyone to catch him, the security for the plant was lacking severely. It was obvious where Konoha's priorities were.
Turning the bottle upside down, he watched from the catwalk high above as the liquid fell into the water below, mixing unnoticed into the water.
"That should be enough for now." He mused to himself as he replaced the stopper to the now empty vial, pocketing it with the other two.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sasuke was brooding to himself as he tried to rub his side with as much subtly as he could muster, the Uchiha not wanting to let Naruto or Sakura know that it still hurt where Rock Lee had kicked him.
The stupid, thick eye browed man kicked a lot harder than he let on.
After entering the building where phase one of the exam was going to be held, and passing the two Jounins posing as participants, they had ran into Rock Lee, a green spandex, bowl cut wearing man with a weird infatuation with Sakura.
He had wanted to fight Sasuke since he was the last Uchiha, Sakura staying out of the fight because Lee scared her and Naruto staying out of the fight with a simple shrug and the excuse that Lee hadn't challenged him so he wouldn't butt in.
Not that Sasuke's pride would've allowed either of them to help out with a one on one fight. No, but both his body and his ego took a bit of a beating and he was in a foul mood because of it.
Naruto was grinning tauntingly at him and Sasuke just wanted to either pound him into the ground or yell at him. Both options were looking very tempting any moment as Sasuke caught Naruto grinning again as they walked through the halls.
He decided for yelling.
"Would you stop that!" He snapped.
"Stop what?" Naruto asked innocently, blinking at his teammate. Sasuke's anger bubbled. He did not want to have to deal with Naruto right now, couldn't he just disappear for a couple of days and reappear once Sasuke wasn't dealing with a bruised ego?
Since he couldn't, Sasuke just continued to seethe, eyes narrowing dangerously. "You know what I mean."
"C-Come on you two." Sakura tried nervously from where she stood behind them. Now really wasn't the time to be arguing with each other.
The two ignored her and continued until a full out argument was started as they turned the corner, neither of the three noticing the silver haired Jounin that stood before the door ahead of them. His shoulders sagged visibly at their antics.
"Alright…" He sighed, stepping forward and catching their attention. "What happened?"
"Sasuke's just upset because he got his ass handed to him." Naruto huffed, rolling his eyes as he continued walking, placing himself smartly, yet casually, behind Kakashi to avoid Sasuke as he lunged at him in his anger.
"I'm going to kill you." The Uchiha promised as Kakashi held a hand out and kept the snarling brunette at bay.
He momentarily wondered if his team would ever get along perfectly. It seemed like they were destined to be at each others throat over one thing or another.
"You can kill him later Sasuke. You guys have an exam to take." Kakashi placated calmly, watching with satisfaction as resolve formed on Sasuke's face as he withdrew himself from Kakashi's reach.
He growled his consent, eyes glaring past Kakashi and boring into Naruto. "Fine."
Turning, Kakashi found Naruto sticking his tongue out at Sasuke from behind the protection of his back. Sighing, Kakashi hit him lightly over the head, causing him to bite his tongue and wince in pain.
"Naruto, smarten up and don't die in there." He advised as Naruto rubbed his jaw. Sakura straightened as his gaze settled on her. "Sakura, please keep them from killing each other."
Her eyes flickered between her two male teammates and she inwardly sagged under the difficulty of the task.
"I'll try."
"It won't be easy." She thought wearily.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stepping into room 301 was like stepping into a sea of people. All of whom were older, bigger, and just plain stronger looking than the trio who were immediately taken aback by the number of participants.
"Just look at all these people." Sakura whispered in amazement, eyes wide. Nerves started to chew at her as she stared out at all of them, the different insignias staring back at her.
She looked to her side and saw that even Naruto and Sasuke looked a little startled.
Then Sasuke was attacked…
By Ino.
"Sasuke-kun! I knew you would come!" The blond cried as she launched herself at the brunette, arms winding around his neck from behind, Sasuke stiffening before glaring at the unwelcome contact.
"Get off." He growled, pushing her away.
"Aww, Sasuke-kun!" Ino whined as she tumbled away from him, blatantly ignoring the smug smirk that Sakura was giving her.
"Take that Ino." She thought. "Sasuke doesn't want you near him."
"You're too troublesome Ino."
"Can it Shikamaru!" She snapped as the other members of team 10 appeared, a bored look on the Shikamaru's face and a content look on Chouji's as he ate his chips without remorse.
"So you guys are in this thing too?" Naruto asked earning a sigh from Shikamaru.
"Unfortunatley." He muttered in distaste. "It's not really my thing though."
"Shikamaru, waking up really isn't your thing. You'd probably be happy in a coma." Ino quipped smartly, rolling her eyes. Chouji snorted in laughter but Shikamaru didn't try to defend himself.
His laziness was well known.
It was then that a loud shout made the Genin's look behind them to the still open doors.
"WATCH OUT!"
Naruto was just barely able to react in time to snag Kyoko's arm as she ploughed into his side in a failed attempt to stop herself, the male preventing the two from tumbling to the ground.
Itsuya would've tumbled to the ground in his attempt to stop so suddenly had he not snatched at Kyoko's other arm, his front jerking forward and getting dangerously close to the ground, though the two did not meet.
Sakura gave a grunt as Roku collided into her, the pinkette wheeling backwards but catching her balance as Ino caught her shoulders while Roku remained standing, though staggering where he stood.
"I told you we shouldn't have ran!" Itsuya snapped as he straightened up, releasing his death hold on Kyoko's arm. The slightly winded blond righted herself as well before bothering to answer him.
"We were late. What did you want us to do?" Kyoko replied with a scowl. "Fly? Teleport? Please Itsuya, tell me what you wanted!"
The two glared at each other, the tension for the day already high seeing how they had started the first day of the Chuunin exams on the wrong foot by being late. Roku butted in with a groan.
He was already irked enough at being dragged into this Chuunin Exam thing, he didn't want them making his life hell by being at each others throat.
"Enough you guys." He ordered sternly as he planted a hand on their shoulders and firmly pushed them even further apart from each other.
"Yes, please quiet down. Rookies, geez. This isn't a damn picnic so keep it down." A silver haired teen interrupted as he walked towards the group, his face twisted into one of displeasure.
Of course Itsuya had something to say to that.
But Ino beat him to it.
She did not like being talked down to, no matter who was the one doing it. Popping her hip out and placing her hand on it, she let her eyes scan over the person in front of her before her nose wrinkled, disgust coating her words.
"And who do you think you are?" talking to me like that?" She finished in her head, irritation buzzing at the outskirts of her voice. Kabuto met her stare and irritation flashed in his own gaze before vanishing.
His words were clipped and emotionless, as if he had suddenly masked himelf from them. "I'm Kabuto." Jerking his head to the mass of people behind them, he continued speaking. "But take a look behind you if you really want to continue your childish little antics."
"Childish!" Sakura cried out in anger, Ino's eyes narrowing into slits. She didn't like this guy. Grudgingly, they all followed his advice and peered behind them.
Glares were drilling holes into them from all sides of the room, Sakura flinching before shrinking back, Ino glaring back challenging, while most of the others just frowned. Naruto's eyes scanned the crowd before familiar teal eyes locked with his and his mouth instantly snapped back into a faint snarl, Kyuubi's voice beginning to murmur unintelligible things in his head.
The crimson boy across the room was mirroring him, his teammates fluttering at his side because of his sudden change.
Naruto was lost for a second, the sound of Kyuubi's voice whispering to him filling his brain. A rumble started in his throat, a sign that he wanted to fight, but he pushed it down. Maybe it was because there was a room full of people between them, or maybe it was because it was the second time it was happening, but Naruto felt his impulse to attack more subdued, Kyuubi's voice sounding farther away.
How come he was affected like this? Was it truly because Kyuubi claimed this boy was the Ichibi? But what reason was that to attack him?
Surely it was a senseless, blood filled one that could only be rationalized by a demon.
Yet Naruto couldn't help a part of himself feel drawn to the prospect.
"-uto? Naruto?"
"What? Huh?" He snapped around suddenly as a hand tugged on his arm, the growl that he had unknowingly been emitting cutting off in an instant. Several eyes of his friends were looking at him, only a few listening as Kabuto continued to talk away. He was showing them something to do with cards and villages.
Kyoko was frowning from where she stood next to him, her hand still fisted in his shirt sleeve. Ever so slowly, an eyebrow quirked and her voice came out as casually as she could make it. "Are you alright? You're growling at the air."
"Yeah no, I'm fine." Naruto lied as he turned back around, big smile fixing itself onto his face. She looked at him suspiciously for a second before turning back to Kabuto, taking place at Ino's side since they hadn't seen each other since the Academy days.
Even if they had to listen to Kabuto talk away.
Glancing around Naruto caught Sasuke's eye, the Uchiha giving him a disbelieving look before letting his black eyes flick quickly into the crowd where Naruto had been so intensely staring.
They then flicked back to him and Naruto's eyes hardened, lips pressing together tightly.
'It's nothing.' He mouthed, glaring at the Uchiha who was quick to glare back, the response in his very nature, before he turned away.
But he didn't let it go. Ever since the festival night four years ago, he never let anything Naruto did go.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morino Ibiki's instructions were rolling through everyone's head as they looked over their exam papers, utter silence filling the room. The fact that the first phase of the exam was a written test had taken many people by surprise, minus those who had taken the test before and failed.
After a second, there was the faint noise of pencil scratching against paper emitting from a chosen few people.
"Hell…" Sakura whispered as she looked through all the questions. They were all extremely hard questions and took extreme book smarts and work to figure out. She doubted that very many people here could actually figure them out.
She glanced at Naruto briefly.
He was so dead.
Biting her lip, she returned her attention back to the questions before her. She slowly broke it down in her head and the sound of her pencil scratching against the paper soon joined the few others in the room. She would never get mad at her parents for making her do her homework ever again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naruto was panicking. What the hell should he do? He couldn't answer any of these questions! Damn, why hadn't he tried more during the Academy? What could he do?
He didn't want to risk getting caught cheating because then he would lose points and Sasuke and Sakura would suffer because of it.
And then they would kill him.
Sasuke for sure this time. He had already promised Naruto that he would kill him and if Naruto screwed this up, Sasuke might just actually follow through with his promise.
He was pulling at his hair, ready to rip it from his skull as the words on his test swirled in front of his eyes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kyoko was in a similar state. From where she was seated in front of Sasuke, Kyoko had one fist in her hair, the other clutching a lollipop like a life line while she glared at the paper in front of her.
She wasn't panicking, oh no. Instead she was getting angry. Who on Earth made tests this ridiculously hard? It was impossible! There was no way she could figure this out. How dare they give her a test this hard.
She glowered murderously at her desk while the seconds ticked by.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sasuke smirked as the point of the test dawned on him, his pencil resting loosely in his hand from lack of use.
This test was to show how well they could collect information. It was an interesting prospect and clearly, a well thought out one. But without cheating, only those with an insane amount of intellect could figure out these questions. Sasuke hated to admit it, but he couldn't answer them.
His eyes roamed over the rest of the room. He nodded slightly to himself as he saw Sakura scribbled away onto her paper. She may not have much worth in fighting matches, but he couldn't deny her knowledge.
If her taijutsu was as high as her smarts, she would probably be a very formidable opponent.
When his eyes fell on Naruto, he mentally cringed. The blond was digging himself a mental grave, looking ready to commit suicide as he freaked out over the test. Sasuke prayed with all that he had that Naruto figured out that he had to cheat, and could actually cheat without getting caught before time ran out.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kankuro looked over at Gaara, watching to see if his brother was already on the move. The puppet master knew that he himself should be moving soon, but he wanted to check with Gaara to make sure the red head understood what exactly was happening.
Gaara had two fingers pressed to left eye, a jutsu buzzing to life, though if Kankuro hadn't of grown up with Gaara, he wouldn't of known. Blinking, he looked around the room, trying to pick up on Gaara's target.
Surely he could see who that was before leaving the room to get the answers for this stupid test.
"Agh, there's dust in my eye."
He should've known.
Rows ahead, the orange clad blond was rubbing at his eye in agitation, sand particles forming in the air to create a tiny eye, practically invisible to those not looking for it. Ever since coming to Konoha, Gaara had had a weird fascination with that boy.
It looked at the blonde's page for only a second before Gaara stiffened, the eye dissolving into nothing a mere second later. Kankuro decided then and there that he should really start on his own cheating ways. Why? Because he recognized the look of agitation that flashed in Gaara's eyes.
He guessed that this Naruto person had nothing on his paper as well.
Maybe he wasn't such a threat after all.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This test should've been years ahead of him, Itsuya knew that. But he wasn't considered a prodigy just because of his fighting abilities. When he had been confined to the hospital for mental trauma and instability after the death of his biological family, a day he begged to forget with his very being, the nurses provided him with books as a means to pass the time and take his mind off things.
This was before his foster family took him in.
They were all text books covering various subjects. Some meaningless and others helping him with these very questions he was answering right now.
His free hand drummed his fingers on his thigh as he wrote on the paper, pausing now and then to consider the question or his answer.
The blond male beside him, Naruto, looked like he was going to have an ulcer any second, Itsuya letting a fleeting moment of smugness wash over him as he finished answering question six.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time was passing, nearing the end before the tenth question would be released. Those who had figured out the meaning of the test were finishing up their tests while those smart enough to actually do the test were sitting quietly, awaiting the tenth question, or were oblivious to the fact that the were being cheated off of.
Neji's Byakugan had seen right through Itsuya's back and copied all his answers, the child's defence of hunching himself over his finished test a useless effort. Sasuke's Sharingan was copying the movement of various hands as they moved about writing, his hand mimicking their motions and copying down their answers onto his own sheet of paper without even looking down.
Now he was watching his friends with boredom. Sakura had finished way before him, though he was oblivious to the fact that she was currently suffering from Ino's jutsu, the Yamanaka currently invading her mind and looking over her answers.
Naruto looked to have done nothing the whole time, his head resting defeated on top of his desk. Sasuke shook his head mildly when small movements in front of him caught his attention.
Kyoko's pencil was moving.
Curiosity poked at him. How was she cheating? She was looking straight down, and didn't appear to be cheating at all, though then again, neither did most people taking this stupid test. But she hadn't been doing anything this whole time, just like her brother.
He was beginning to believe that stupidity might just run in the family.
Moving his pencil to the margins of his paper, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and copied her pencil with ease, his brain not really registering what he was writing. It was when it stilled that he chanced a glance down and felt like smacking himself…and her.
She was making up answers.
"Moron." He growled to himself.
It was then that Ibiki's voice rang out through the room, his ever watchful eyes drinking in the sight of the people before him. "It is now time for the tenth question. But there are some Before I begin, I'd like to go over the added rules for this question." He started.
A few people groaned at the fact that there were more rules to abide by, but Ibiki continued, ignoring them and their protests.
"The first rules is that you Have to decided whether you wish to take it or not. If you wish not to, your points will be reduced to zero and your teammates will be disqualified along with you."
"The hell man!" Someone shouted out in rage from the back of the room.
"But if you choose to take it and answer incorrectly…that person will lose the right to ever take the Chuunin Exams ever again."
There was a loud thud in the room, Kyoko fallen from her chair and now seated on the floor, face pale.
But her lack of balance was barely caught as the room exploded in an uproar, people standing from their seats and yelling at the scarred man who stood calmly at the front of the room.
"WHAT?"
"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS?"
"WHAT BULLSHIT! THERE ARE PEOPLE HERE WHO HAVE TAKEN THE EXAM MORE THAN ONCE!"
Ibiki's laughter cut through the noise like a knife, his shoulders shaking before he threw his head back and actually laughed. It was a rather disturbing sound when it came from someone like him. "You guys were just unlucky. This year it's my rules." Eyes gleaming with mirth, he continued before the uproar could rise once again. "If you simply wish to back out and try again next year, please raise your hand. When you're numbers been confirmed, you and your teammates may exit the room."
There was a silence over the room before slowly, hands rose into the air, numbers being called out as people rose from their desks, exiting the room in defeated silence.
Sakura bit her lip so hard she thought she could taste blood in her mouth. Her hands were curled into fists on her lap, unwavering as she stomped on her doubt. She could answer his question…she was sure that she could. She was probably one of the few people in this room who had actually done that test.
She could handle any question he dared to dish out.
Her eyes flickered a few rows behind her to find Sasuke, his face set into a determined scowl, but his hands unmoving where they were placed on his desk. His eyes locked with her for a moment and his head dipped in the faintest notion of a nod, his shoulders tensing.
He wasn't backing down.
She gave a slight nod back. She wasn't going to either.
As if in unison, their gazes turned to Naruto. Even from where they sat, they could see the tension humming through his body as he sat rigid in his seat. His head was dipped down and his hands were gripping the edge of the desk with such ferocity, his knuckles were white.
He looked like he was going to explode.
Sakura didn't know how he would answer the question if it turned out to be a complex problem, and she didn't want him to remain a Genin forever, it almost seemed easier if he tried again next year and just raised his hand for now, but deep in her heart, a part of her didn't want him to raise his hand.
Was she selfish?
But he kept silent as team after team, people left the room.
Roku was frowning as he watched people around him leave. He would've followed after them in a heartbeat, but he was cursed with a good heart. Itsuya's eyes were practically burning with such a fierce determination that Roku, although he never truly got along with the younger male, hesitated in standing in his way.
But it was seeing Kyoko, hunched over her desk and scowling defiantly at it's surface, that made up his mind, and kept his hand from rising into the air. He couldn't take this opportunity from his teammates, not when both Kyoko and Itsuya were determined to do something. It had to be a team effort or else everything would go to shambles.
And he couldn't consciously let everything go to shambles.
It was the same reason he had come to this darn thing in the first place.
Ibiki's eyes swept over the room as the absence of raised hands became apparent, the shuffling of people trying to get out of the room now gone. There were gaping holes in the seating plan as only a few teams remained. There had to be about twenty in total.
Good, the numbers had dwindled drastically.
"This is your last chance to back out." He called out, inwardly smirking as multiple defiant, and determined, eyes burned holes into him. They weren't backing down.
His eyes gleamed, the corners of his mouth turning upright. His next words shocked and confused all those who were sitting there, listening intently to everything that fell from his lips.
"Congratulations for passing phase one of the Chuunin Exams."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anko watched boredly from the window as Ibiki continued to talk on and on. It was unbelievable how much that guy could talk, considering who it was. You never would've guessed. He needed to just hurry up and shut up so she could make her entrance, she had made sure to make it spectacular.
Frustration began to grow inside of her, her eyes narrowing into slits. Her limbs began to ache from being crouched on the windowsill placed on the opposite building before she let her frustration take hold of her.
"Screw it, I don't care anymore."
She pushed off, curling into a ball as she barrelled through the window of the other building, the glass shattering noisily Kunais embedded into the walls and the ceiling as she unfurled herself, the banner she had made stretching out across the front of the classroom.
No, banner didn't seem to be the right word. It was more like a sheet, big enough to hide Ibiki from view, which it did. Anko's name was scrawled across the banner in big letters, letting all those in the room read it carefully.
Anko straightened up with a snap and team 1 paled visibly, Kyoko shrinking in her seat.
"There's no time for celebrating! I'm Mitarashi Anko, your examiner for phase two of the exams!" She cried out as she raised a fist into the air. "Everyone, follow me!"
Kyoko tried to slide even lower in her seat, shoulders hunched up by her ears.
"We're doomed. We're so doomed."
[Reviews - 35]Chapter or Story
Table of Contents
- Text Size +
Chapter notes: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonds of Blood
By: Animeroxsmyworld
Chapter 30: Phase One