Heyyy... god its been a long time "
Sorry, but I've been busy... and then theres the writers block... and lack of motivation etc... but heres the next chapter!
It's been sitting there for a while, actually... but I fine tuned it a little... and hopefully you will enjoy!
And thanks to all those people who have held on... really means alot :D
Dedication: this chapter is specially dedicated to, who reminded me to get on with it... otherwise it might have taken another year... thanks!
Disclaimer: quite a bit has changed since my last post... but this remains the same: I Do Not Own Naruto. Naruto Belongs To Kishi.
drum roll please...
Chapter 5:
The examination hall was thick with anticipation and dread. In the corner stood a small group of nervous looking rookies, while the older genins sat cockily in their chairs waiting for it to begin. A few others looked as if the were ready to be sick.
The tension was overwhelming, and a fight threatened to break out any minute as they itched to begin. Little could be heard over the buzz of chatter and the jounins waited patiently for their turn. The chatter slowly began to subside as they watched the clock tick closer to 8.
A loud boom erupted at the front of the room. Several genins jumped, and seats clattered to the floor. A few of them immediately assumed a stance ready to fight, armed with kunais, others cowered behind each other as the rest froze.
'Put your weapons down.' Ibiki chuckled menacingly.
As the smoke dissipated, the large figure of Morino Ibiki emerged, and behind him a small army of test officers. The effect was quite effective; already majority of the examinees began to sweat.
'I am Morino Ibiki, your proctor examiner for the first phase.' He scanned the room, smirking. 'You will be given a number. Sit down and your examination test papers will be handed out.' He motioned for Kotetsu and Izumo to step forward. As they watched the genins sit down, the test officers moved around the perimeter, taking a seat on one of the many chairs assembled along the walls. Sakura rolled her eyes, suppressing a laugh as she scanned the room herself. Most of them sat cockily on their chairs. And obviously seemed very intimidating to the genins. Kiba grinned at one of them, baring his canines. Her eyes widened as she averted her gaze elsewhere, she dry swallowed visibly. Sakura giggled to herself silently.
Ibiki had slipped into character straight away, becoming the interrogation giant he played so well. She caught Sasuke's eye and gave a small smile, rolling her eyes slightly, he smirked. Ibiki's voice began to boom across the hall once again.
He ran through the rules, warning them about his supervisors' very keen eyes, stopping every now and then to answer their questions. Or not answer them.
'… You have been warned…' His eyes narrowed and looked the genins in the eye.
'Begin!' There was a great sound of swishing as they flipped over their papers.
Sakura began to scan through the room as many of the genins' eyes widened in surprise at the first question. She smirked slightly, having been possibly the only one who had answered all questions correctly- without having to cheat.
Sasuke watched with amusement as an increase amount of sweat began to prickle the examinees' foreheads. His eyes flickered around the room. Fifteen minutes into the exam, he spotted his first cheater.
Tick…
Naruto spun his pencil idly into the air, waiting to notice something. This had been more boring than he thought, and he wanted to move quickly into the second and third phase, where the real excitement would begin. He sighed again before movement caught his eyes.
Tock…
Sakura watched intently through her large green eyes, feeling a little sorry for the genins, and swiftly scribbled something on her clipboard.
Tick…
Thirty-two minutes into the exam, and Neji stood up. 'Number 86, you have failed. Could you and your team please make their way out?' He phrased it as a question, but said it as a statement. Genin Number 86's eyes widened, beginning to tremble. He walked out of the room, followed by his team mates, silently.
Tock…
'Number 23, you and your team have been disqualified.' Sasuke said flatly, looking directly at the boy sitting in front of him. If he was put off by the fact Hyuuga had called the first cheater, he didn't show it.' The genin opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Naruto.
Tick…
'Number 37, out!'
'Hey! How the hell do you know I cheated?! Do you expect me to believe that you can keep an eye on all o-' His outburst was quickly cut off by Lee, who swiftly appeared in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
'It is okay, you have failed this time… but you can try again! May your flame of youth never die out!' He cried passionately, his wide eyes brimming with tears. Sakura could almost feel Tenten cringe from the other side of the room, and Neji let out a small groan.
Tock…
'Aaah!' Came a shrilly yell from the other side of the room. Sakura winced as his entire page was flooded by insects.
'Number 40, you have been disqualified.' Shino told him, from behind his shades.
Tick…
'Number 15, leave the hall!' Kiba called out. The boy adamantly refused to leave, and had to be escorted out by the collar, courtesy of Akamaru.
Tock…
'Could number 62 and your team please exit out on the door on your right.' Ino said to the young girl sweetly.
Tick…
Sakura watched as the blur of steel landed on the paper of the genin sitting close to Tenten. Tenten, spun the kunai in her hand as she read out, '37, you have failed. You and your team may now leave the hall.'
Tock...
'Number 69, you have also failed.'
Tick…
'Number 77!'
Tock…
'91!'
Tick…
'4!'
Tock…
The last of the struggling genin were taken out as Ibiki scanned the room once more, sweeping the walls of the room, they all gave a small nod for confirmation.
'It is time for the 10th question.'
Naruto grinned at them. He hadn't ever told Sasuke or Sakura about how he had managed to pass the first phase.
'But before that… only one member may answer this question… and only one member may get through.'
'The tenth question… requires more intelligence than all the questions you have encountered so far… Put together.'
More sweating.
'So… You'll first have to decide who takes the tenth question. Only one member from each group might be passing the first phase.'
'Wait, what! That's just- Only one of us can get through!'
'Only one of you might get through.' Ibiki grinned. It seemed to make them tremble more.
'And if you get it wrong… your entire team is banned from taking the exam for another four years…'
'…'
'Woah! But that's not fair!'
'It's life. Or you have another option. Don't take it at all. Take it next time, when you might get luckier.' He smirked. 'So… do you choose the person that is most likely to pass? Who deserves to pass?'
'…'
'I'm giving you one minute to decide. Think it over well.'
In the silence the second hand of the clock could be heard.
Tick… Tock…
'M-Me! No way! I think you should do it!'
Tick… Tock…
'No way! I'm stronger! Even if you get past this stage, you'll flunk the rest!'
Tick… Tock…
One by one, teams stood up, ready to go.
Tick… Tock…
'5…'
'4…'
'3…'
'2…'
'1…'
'Time's up. The teams who are going to attempt it, stay. The rest of you may leave."
The sound of shuffling and muttering as genins left the room.
'…'
'Heh heh…' The remainder of them stared in surprise at Ibiki's massive shaking shoulders. 'Heh…' Ibiki stopped laughing, his eyes grew serious and hard.
'You… have all failed.'
Their eyes widened.
'What!' A genin's fist slammed down onto his table. 'but you said-'
'No ninja should go alone without their comrades.' Ibiki glared at them. 'Do you honestly think that we would let you through?' He laughed with no humour. 'If it were my way, I wouldn't even allow you to remain as shinobis…'
'Congratulations! You have passed the first phase!'
'…'
'But you can't relax yet! I, Anko, am your examiner for the second phase! Follow me, you punks!'
'…' They didn't move.
'Wait! You just… We passed?'
'Yep!' She continued to walk at a high pace. They jogged to keep up with her.
'How?!'
She stopped and turned around, looking them steely in the eye. 'You guys are in teams of three. You were assigned in teams of three. You will stick to teams of three. Not matter what!' Then she paused dramatically. After a moment of thought, she added, 'Unless you die of course!' She laughed to herself.
'…'
'Do you hear me! Those idiots who left their team behind to continue the exam or were left behind by their team were too cowardly.' She turned around again, resuming her trek. They followed.
'And besides…' She slowed her pace down. 'I don't think any of you can survive it out alone in this!'
She smiled wildly, a mischievous glint in her eye. 'Area 44: The Forest of Death…'
... shocker!
A bit of a cliffy i guess... so that was Phase 1 of the exams...
I'll have the next part up as soon as i can... i pinky promise! (the most serious kind of promise)
haha... just leave the reviews by the door ;D
and just one last thing! I'm going to fix up some of my previous chapters.. mainly grammatical errors... but if there's any major changes, i'll let u guys know... thnks!