A/N: IMPORTANT – if you read this story before August 6, 2020 please go back and reread chapter two (Growing Up). There is loads more content (ten pages or so) Thank you!

PART ONE

CHUNIN EXAMS: PART ONE

The dynamic of Team Seven changed after their experience in the Land of Waves. Before, training was about becoming stronger and improving to make family members and friends proud.

For Sakura it was about proving that she was as capable as Naruto and Sasuke, even without a famous family.

For Sasuke it was about honoring family traditions and vying for his father's approval.

For Naruto it was about showing that he could too become Hokage, just like his father.

Now, the trio trained with more purpose than for glory, pride and legacy. They were training to survive, because if they fell behind their next mission could be a failure. Their parents weren't going to be there to save them, even Kakashi could fall.

Beyond their former goals, they were now training to make sure they wouldn't lose one another, like they had almost lost Naruto. The Land of Waves made them realize they had never experienced a life and death situation before, and they did not want to be shocked again.

Instead of Sakura watching the boys spar, they entered three-way battles to strengthen their combat skills. They would have two-on-one battles to simulate being outnumbered, they asked others for help, and they never complained again about missions given to them.

Sakura began learning from Rin early in the morning. Beyond medical ninjutsu, Rin was also skilled in genjutsu, and taught Sakura both. The pink haired girl had fine chakra control, allowing her to break out of genjutsu easily, and mold her chakra to create illusions. They were beginner level, but she picked up the ideas quickly and could improve over time.

Medical ninjutsu is known to be extremely difficult, it takes precise chakra control. When chakra enters another's body, it has to be careful. Too much could do more harm than good, and too little could be outright rejected. While Sakura had knowledge on proper wound procedures, medical ninjutsu took more concentration than she could have imagined.

It was hard, and taxing, but that did not stop Sakura.

Sasuke began training with members of his clan more often, and more specifically for his Sharingan. Fine tuning the Uchiha doujutsu was critical, the ability to predict movements and react quick could mean the difference between life and death. When Shisui and Itachi were not away on Anbu missions, Sasuke asked for their help.

Other times, Obito would train Sasuke late into the night, keeping his Mangekyo eye a secret. Obito explained the different amounts of chakra needed to access either of the doujutsu abilities but urging Sasuke to not use Mangekyo unless absolutely necessary. Not only did it use a significant amount of chakra, but it was taxing on the user's eyesight.

Naruto trained with his parents, who were not happy when they found out he had learned the forbidden shadow clone jutsu. Not widely used because of the amount of chakra consumed, and the liability one could become on a battlefield. Kushina taught him how to control his chakra more precisely, making sure he didn't over extend himself. Even though Naruto was just a genin, Kushina told him it was common for descendants of the Uzumaki clan to have large chakra reserves. Thus, she permitted him to use his shadow clone jutsu as long as he promised to keep a handle on his chakra release.

Overall, the trio of genin were taking training more serious than ever.

Sakura had been working hard, so when Rin recommended, she take a break from training for a day, she agreed. Her body hurt, who would've thought medical ninjutsu would make her arms sore, or was that from her spar with Sasuke the day before? She could no longer pinpoint the cause of her aches and pains. But she was proud of herself.

The tired kunoichi happened to run into her best girlfriend, Yamanaka Ino. Ino was looking as pretty as she always did, wearing her standard purple outfit that accentuated her personality perfectly.

"Sakura!" Ino engulfed Sakura in a hug. "I haven't seen you in forever! What have you been doing?"

"I've been training a lot, honestly this is the first break I've had in a while."

Ino looped her arm with Sakura's. "That means it is the perfect time to catch up, c'mon with me I know the best place downtown for tea and snacks." And so, Sakura ended up going with Ino for some much-needed girl time.

Sitting down, the ladies sipped their fresh tea and had a plate to share of delicious snacks.

Ino popped one in her mouth. "Mhmm, yummy." She winked at Sakura. "Probably not as good as Mikoto-san's cooking, but still delicious."

Sakura began eating too, silently nodding with Ino. They spent the afternoon telling each other about the missions they had been on recently. Sakura explained the fiasco of their escort mission, how it became higher ranked and how it was very dangerous.

"Wow, Sakura. I can't believe your team was able to go through with it." She shook her head. "If it was my team, we would've gone home right away. Shikamaru is too lazy, and Chouji would be intimidated."

"Well, I wanted to go home. I was worried, but Naruto ended up convincing me we could handle it." Sakura shrugged. "You know him, always oozing positivity."

Ino nodded, understanding completely. "And Sasuke-kun? How'd he do?" She phrased the question innocently, but her voice became higher pitched just slightly.

Sakura smiled. "He was amazing, you should've seen him Ino. Actually, they both were." She looked down, staring at a scratch in the table. "I wasn't. I barely did anything. I was so scared. That is why I've been training so hard."

She felt a slight pinch and looked up to see Ino waving dismissively. "Don't blame yourself. You just graduated, you are still learning." She grinned. "Those boys stood up and fought their best probably to protect you."

"That's the problem. I don't want to be protected."

Ino sighed dramatically. "You're so dense. They love you; they'll always protect you." She pouted and crossed her arms on the table, resting her head longingly in her arms. "I wish Sasuke-kun would protect me. Swoop me up in his arms, take me away an-"

"Ew, stop it Ino!" Sakura put her hands over her ears, afraid of hearing anything else. Ino laughed at her.

They continued eating and talking, catching up on everything. It had only been about six months since they graduated the academy, but it felt much longer than that. The conversation was once again steered into talking about Sasuke, Ino's doing of course not Sakura at all, when a boy they didn't recognize approached their table.

"Excuse me, I'm not from around here, what would you recommend I order?" The boy had purple markings on his face and wore a black outfit with a hood. He definitely looked from another village.

"Uhh…" Sakura was at a loss for words. Ino kicked her under the table, causing Sakura to blush in embarrassment. "We just ordered the assortment…you get a little bit of everything."

"Hmm sounds good." The boy smirked, why was he smirking?

Ino smiled at him in that feminine way she knew how, fluttering her eyelashes. "You can join us if you'd like."

"Wow the ladies in Konoha are so nice." He sat down in the booth next to Sakura, surprising her. "I'm Kankuro, by the way." He held his hand out to Sakura.

"Uh…Haruno Sakura." Sakura grasped his hand, nervously, and he held onto it for a moment before Ino spoke up.

"And I am Yamanaka Ino, nice to meet you." She stuck her hand out to meet his. Ino and Kankuro began chatting while eating the snacks they had on their plate.

A foreign, older boy, I wonder what he is doing here? He's actually kind of cute…even if he seems to know it. Sakura thought as she sat quietly. You see, Sakura knew many boys from the academy, but she had grown up with them. Someone she didn't know at all, was much more interesting to look at than the boys she knew when she was in diapers.

"Who's this?"

Sakura looked up to see one of said boys in front of their table. Arms crossed in annoyance and staring at Kankuro.

"Why hello, I am Sakura-chan's and Ino-chan's new friend." Kankuro grinned. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He wrapped an arm around Sakura's shoulder's in what seemed to be a friendly manner. "My name is Kank—hey! Get off!"

"Sasuke!" Ino and Sakura exclaimed in shock.

Sasuke grabbed hold of his collar and yanked him out of the booth, depositing him on the ground. "You're from Suna, why are you here?"

"What's the big idea?" Kankuro glared at Sasuke as he stood up and brushed himself off.

Sasuke ignored him. "Why are you here?"

Kankuro stepped closer to Sasuke, their faces just barely touching. Both of them tensed, balling their fists. "Listen here, pretty boy, I owe you nothing."

Sakura scrambled out of the booth and yanked Sasuke away from the foreign teenager, one hand on his shoulder, and the other on his arm. "Cut it out Sasuke, he's not our enemy."

Sasuke turned his glare onto Sakura, although it softened a bit. He was going to say something when the door to the shop slammed open.

"Hey guys I've been looking for you everywhere! I wanted to introduce you to some of my friends from Suna!" Naruto walked over with a teenage girl with blonde hair and a pale boy with red hair. He stopped and blinked at the people in front of him. "Whoa, what is with that tension?"

Ino was still in the booth, too shocked about Sasuke's reaction to meeting Kankuro. Kankuro crossed his arms and turned towards Naruto. "This jerk over here basically attacked me."

"Attacked you? You would know if I attacked you." Sasuke said, trying to step forward again but Sakura yanked him back again.

"Uhm, hi Naruto." Sakura chuckled nervously and patted Sasuke on the head. "Our dear friend Sasuke was just a little suspicious of Kankuro. Uh, do you know him?"

Naruto crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Uh yeah, his siblings are here too. Temari and Gaara." He pointed to the blonde girl who was rolling her eyes at Kankuro's attitude, and the red-haired boy who looked uninterested. "They're my friends from Suna!" Naruto was grinning again. "You know, when my parents would drag me along when they had those boring meetings?"

"Oh." Sakura nodded her head. Sasuke mumbled something under his breath and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Kankuro, starting trouble already? We just got here." Temari groaned, annoyed at her brother.

Kankuro was scowling now. "He started it."

"Whatever." Sasuke muttered. They shot glares at one another.

Naruto stood in between them and grabbed a cookie from the plate on the table before Ino could smack his hand away. "Anyways, they're here for the Chunin Exams! So cool right?"

"Oh right, Asuma-sensei had mentioned those." Ino spoke up. "He nominated our team, even though we just graduated. I guess we are pretty special?" Ino smiled at Sasuke, who was still annoyed. She frowned when he didn't look at her.

"Really Ino? You didn't mention that before." Sakura asked, Kakashi didn't mention anything to them.

"Must've forgot." Ino shrugged.

Naruto was staring wide eyed at Ino. "Forgot? How could you?!" He whined. "Sasuke, Sakura-chan! We have to go find Kakashi-sensei right now and find out what is going on!" He grabbed their hands and began tugging them out of the shop.

"Oh uhm, I'll see you later; Gaara, Temari and Kankuro!" Naruto shouted over his shoulder before the three disappeared outside.

"Well then." Temari sighed as she looked at Ino. "Is he always like this? I can't remember." Ino smiled and nodded.

Naruto dragged them around Konoha for hours, not once finding Kakashi. They asked villagers, Kakashi's companions, even their parents if they had seen him. But they had no luck.

"He isn't anywhere!" Naruto whined and plopped down on the ground. Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, Sasuke leaned against a tree.

"You know…we haven't checked his apartment." Sakura mentioned thoughtfully.

"He told us to not go there after that one time…" Naruto sighed.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "That's probably where he is, let's go." He walked off, somehow still in a bad mood from his encounter with Kankuro. They arrived at his apartment and knocked.

A couple minutes went by with no answer. Naruto knocked again.

"He's in there." Sasuke narrowed his eyes in annoyance. He shoved Naruto out of the way and place a well-balanced kick on the door, causing it to swing open.

"Sasuke! We can't just break into Kakashi-sensei's apartment." Sakura's mouth was hanging wide open in horror, Kakashi was going to be mad.

Naruto was grinning and practically skipped into the apartment. "Nice one, Sasuke." Sasuke grunted and followed after him. Sakura dragged her feet as she entered.

"Unbelievable."

The trio turned at the same time, to see Kakashi sitting in a cozy looking armchair, his favorite novel in hand. He was wearing lounge wear, not even his headband. He sighed dramatically, shut the book and stood up.

"Why am I not surprised?" He mumbled and looked at the ceiling, searching for life's answers.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted and jumped over to him. "We have been looking everywhere for you!"

Kakashi blinked at him. "Is this about the Chunin Exams?"

"Yes." Sasuke stood next to Naruto. "Why didn't you nominate us? We are better than Team Ten."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "So impatient."

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei! We are the best team, believe it!" Naruto put his hands on his hips.

"Anything to say, Sakura?" Kakashi asked Sakura, who stood off to the side, blushing in embarrassment.

"I mean…we have improved a lot since graduating." She shrugged, as if that explained why they broke into his apartment.

"Well." Kakashi tsked. "I was going to tell you tomorrow since today was a day of rest. But since none of you have any ability to wait, I'll tell you now." He folded his arms. "I nominated you for the Chunin Exams next week. Actually, all of the rookie teams were nominated. All you have to do is fill out and hand in these applications." Kakashi pulled out three papers from his pocket.

"Oh yeah! I knew it!" Naruto was fist pumping the air. "You're the best!"

"Now get out, it's my day off too." Kakashi ordered, fixing the three with his famous no-nonsense glare, effectively making them scramble out of his apartment.

"You can't be serious."

"I'm sorry, Obito, I have no other choice."

Obito closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. "What about what I said, about the risk? Minato-sensei please."

Minato blinked. "I'm sorry Obito. There is no real evidence confirming what you have said." He crossed his arms over his chest and learned back in his chair. "It would look bad if we refused a village's entry into the exams, suspicions or not."

"You're making a mistake." Obito stood up. "You're endangering the village, your son and his teammates included."

"One day you will be in my position." Minato tapped his fingers on the desk. "You will make decisions that not everybody agrees with. But it is for the best." He stood up and walked over to Obito. "Feigning an alliance and luring out our enemies is a better idea than causing unnecessary panic."

"Hokage-sama, you need to trust me." Obito felt himself losing this battle. "Just trust that I know what I am talking about, please."

"No, Obito. Your intel is incomplete. I'm sorry." Minato placed a hang on Obito's shoulder to calm him down. "I know you have these intuitive feelings, but you have to learn how to control yourself."

Obito brushed Minato off and began walking away. "I'll take care of this myself, like I always do." He muttered under his breath, not even sure if Minato could hear him.

"Why does it have to be so early." Naruto complained as he walked with Sakura and Sasuke to the beginning of the Chunin Exams, they were starting at the academy.

"Naruto, shh, you're giving me a headache." Sakura groaned, rubbing her eyes. She didn't like waking up early, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't a little nervous. Recently she had been training harder, in genjutsu, taijutsu, and a bit of medical ninjutsu. But would it be enough to prove herself worthy of promotion? And what if she just brought down her squad with her weaknesses?

A few days ago, all their parents got together with them at Naruto's house for dinner, to celebrate their nominations for the exam. They discussed how villages took turns hosting the exam to foster peace. Shinobi from all over would be in attendance, and they were most likely more experienced too. It was unusual for all of the rookie to be nominated; it had never happened before.

Kushina told them to be careful and to watch out for one another. Mikoto and Fugaku (but really just Mikoto) told Sasuke they were proud that he was taking the exam. Mebuki and Kizashi were hesitant of Sakura being put in dangerous situations, wasn't being a Genin good enough?

Regardless, the discussion made Sakura worry more. But she didn't want to disappoint Sasuke and Naruto, so she convinced herself she could enter the exam.

"Alright idiots, we are here. Don't embarrass me okay?" Sasuke walked into the academy building with his friends following, grumbling about his comment.

The hallway they entered was full of other genin from various villages. They were all muttering to themselves about what was going on. Sakura stood on her tippy toes to try and see the commotion up ahead.

"Ahh!" A boy in a green jumpsuit and a funny haircut was thrown back a couple of feet, a girl with two buns on her head caught him and glared at the guys that attacked. Another boy with long hair and strange white eyes stood nonchalantly next to the two.

"You're taking the Chunin Exams, but you can't even get past us?" A smug boy with spiky hair and weapons on his back was standing in front of a set of doors sneered. "Why don't you just give up now before you get hurt?" Another boy standing with hair in his face and a headband like a hat next to him said.

"Please let us through, we are supposed to go in there." The girl with the buns pleaded next to her green jumpsuit clad teammate. She approached the two boys, but they smacked her away.

"Hey! That's harsh!" Naruto pushed his way through the crowd, Sasuke and Sakura following.

"Harsh? Don't kid yourself. We're being nice by comparison; the exams are going to make this look like a picnic." Spiky haired guy said.

"Some of you won't survive the exams, some of you will be wrecked, and some of you may go crazy. For chunin it's life and death, you think it's a joke?" His capped companion spoke up.

"Chunin lead missions, the lives of your squad are in your hands. You have to be tough. Delicate little girls don't belong here. You won't pass anyway."

"Real nice speech." Sasuke walked up to the two boys with his hands in his pockets. Sakura stood behind him, glaring for treating other people so rudely. Naruto looked ready to fight. "Now both of you step aside and let us through." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "And while you're at it, reverse the genjutsu. We can see through your illusion anyway. We are going to the third floor."

"Well, well; so, you noticed huh?"

"Sakura," Sasuke turned towards his pink haired teammate. "Go ahead, tell them. I'm sure you saw it before anyone else did." He smirked. "You have the best observation and analytical skills on the squad after all."

Sakura nodded her head. "I noticed as soon as I saw you hit that girl." She glared again. "This is only the second floor, but you changed the door to say it was the third."

"Hmph, so you saw through an illusion." Spiky haired kid smirked. "Now what about this!" He moved fast to throw a punch at Sasuke, and Sasuke got into position to block and overpower him with a powerful kick. They didn't collide. The guy in the green jumpsuit jumped in between them before anyone could blink, stopping both attacks.

"I thought you said to keep a low profile?" The boy who was as aloof as Sasuke walked over, the girl with buns following close behind.

"Yeah so dramatic." The girl with buns complained.

"I know, I'm sorry Neji and Tenten, but!" The boy blushed and walked over to Sakura. "My name is Rock Lee, you are Sakura, right?"

"Huh?"

"Please be my girlfriend!" Rock Lee stood confidently with one hand in a thumbs up, and a big smile and wink on this face. "I vow to protect you with my life."

"Uhm….." Sakura blinked in confusion. "No."

Rock lee began crying dramatically. "Why not?!"

Sasuke moved to stand in front of Sakura. "She doesn't like weirdos."

Naruto laughed and stood next to Sasuke. "Yeah beat it! Bushy brows!" Rock Lee fell on the floor in complete despair, his teammates walked closer.

"I know you are Uchiha Sasuke and Namikaze Naruto. My name is Hyuga Neji." The boy with long hair drawled. "You're rookies, but just because of your parents doesn't mean I will take it easy on you."

Sakura stared at this Neji guy, clearly attacking Sasuke and Naruto because of their lineage and age. But he ignored her, assuming she was no threat; not that she was confident enough to say otherwise.

"Whatever." Sasuke turned around. "Come on guys lets go hand in our applications." Naruto looked ready to protest, so Sakura grabbed his arm and tugged him along.

They continued walking towards the third floor. "Hey you! I want to fight you here and now!" The trio spun around to see Rock Lee had ran after them. "I know of the Uchiha clan and I want to test my ability against you, here and now."

"Right now? You've got to be kidding me." Naruto groaned, getting impatient.

"And, I will fight for the honor of Sakura-chan! I love you!"

Sakura's and Naruto's draw dropped, Sasuke raised a surprised eyebrow.

"You're an angel sent from heaven!" Rock Lee blew a kiss at her and Naruto looked on in disgust, he shoved the shocked Sakura out of the way of the invisible kiss, just in case ya know?

"No, this is stupid."

Naruto sighed. "Come on Sasuke, you are going to let this guy challenge you like that?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's a waste of time."

Sakura nodded in agreement. "We have to go check in." She looked at Rock Lee and shrugged. "Sorry Lee, maybe later okay?"

Naruto laughed. "Fine let's go."

They walked away from a protesting Lee. When they finally reached the door, on the third floor, Kakashi was waiting for them.

"I'm glad you all came. You wouldn't be able to register otherwise."

"Huh?" The trio were confused.

"The Chunin Exams can only be taken in squads of three. If one of you decided not to enter, you all would be disqualified." He smiled at them and ruffled each of their hair. "I'm actually…proud of you." Hu chuckled. "I couldn't ask for a better team."

"We won't let you down sensei!" Naruto grinned and walked into the exam room with Sakura and Sasuke.

The exam room was full of shinobi, of all ages and sizes. Sakura gulped as she looked around, some of the shinobi looked very dangerous. Her scan of the room was cut short when Ino jumped over to her with her teammates following.

"Finally! I've been waiting for you this whole time." Ino smiled, she turned and smiled wider at Sasuke.

"Ugh of course you guys are here." Shikamaru, the boy with pineapple hair lazily drawled. "How troublesome. Chouji stood next to him eating.

"This is like a reunion!" Kiba, the boy with a puppy named Akamaru on his head strode over with his teammates.

"He-ll-o Naruto-kun." Hinata stuttered and blushed. Shino, the mysterious boy with glasses didn't say anything.

"Man, everyone is here huh, for this stupid test." Shikamaru sighed dramatically. "What a drag."

"Haha! All of rookie nine, this is going to fun. Well at least for those of us good enough to make the cut, right Sasuke?" Kiba smirked.

"Kiba, careful you don't get overconfident." Sasuke responded.

"Yeah wait till you see what Team Seven is made of! No one here compares!" Naruto pumped his fists in the air, his teammates face palmed as everyone in the room stared at them, annoyed.

"Hey, you guys, you might want to try keeping it down a little bit." A guy a couple years older with glasses and silver hair in a pony tail walked over. He adjusted his glasses on his nose. "You're rookie, aren't you? If you don't stop, you'll make some real enemies."

Ino glared and pointed a finger. "No one asked you! Who are you anyway?"

"My name is Yakushi Kabuto, and this isn't a field trip. Look around you, you've made quite an impression." He gestured to the room full of shinobi. "This exam makes everyone tense. You don't want to rub anyone the wrong way." He chuckled. "I can't blame you; you remind me of myself when I was your age."

"Uh, Kabuto, you seem experienced with the exam, is this your first time?" Sakura questioned the newcomer, he seemed friendly enough and he was from Konoha after all. He wore his headband proudly on his forehead.

"This is my seventh time." Everyone gasped in surprise. "You see, they hold the exam twice a year, so I've been trying for three years now."

"So, you're kind of an expert now?" Naruto asked, hoping to get some information about the exam.

"Not a good expert, he's failed seven times." Shikamaru commented.

"Well, let me try and help you by showing you what I've been doing." Kabuto pulled out what looked to be a deck of cards. He flipped one card over, and it was blank. "Through the years I have compiled data on the villages that participate in the exam, and also the shinobi. I have information on just about everyone." He formed a hand sign and a face and words appeared on the card.

"You have information on people participating this year?" Sasuke asked, eyes narrowing, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Is there someone specific you want to know about? Tell me anything about them and I will show you."

Sasuke paused. "Kankuro from Suna."

Kabuto adjusted his glasses again. "Hmm, okay." He went through his cards really quick and pulled out a card. "Let's see, 14 years old, two siblings, son of the Kazekage." Kabuto whistled. "Pretty important guy. He is a puppet master."

"Sasuke, why do you care about Kankuro? I could've told you that, I know him!" Naruto questioned Sasuke.

"Forget it, whatever."

Kabuto looked at his cards again. "Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Sound; all the villages participating this year. Of course, the Sound Village is small, they sprang up recently and no one really knowns much about it." He pushed up his glasses. "Those guys are a real mystery."

Sakura looked down in worry. So, we are just rookies, and we are surrounded by people older and much experienced than us.

Hinata, now standing next to her spoke up. "Oh wow…"

Ino flung her arm around Sakura. "We can't doubt ourselves now ladies! We will show them, for sure."

Up in the front of the room a cloud of smoke appeared. "Shut up and listen you snot-nosed brats!" The smoke began clearing, showing older shinobi. "My name is Morino Ibiki, and I will be the first proctor of these exams, and from this moment on your worst enemy!" The man in the middle, Ibiki, barked out. He commanded attention immediately and everyone in the room scrambled to the front to hand in paperwork. The shinobi upfront ordered them around to split up the teams, handing them numbers to determine their seats.

"It's time to begin, the written exam!"

Sakura glanced at Naruto to see him slam his head on the table, obviously he was upset about the exam being written. Naruto was strong, but he was not book smart. Whether his parents spoiled him too much, or it just wasn't for him, he never did well on written exams in the academy. Sakura sighed; this was going to be rough.

"Now listen up! I'll only explain this once, and no questions!" Ibiki stood up front, the other shinobi dispersed around the room to monitor the test takers. Ibiki explained that the written exam was conducted on a point deduction system, saying they all started with ten points, and points would be deducted based on how many questions they get wrong. He explained that individuals would pass based on the total scores of their entire team. "And, the proctors you see around you are there just to make sure you don't cheat. Every time you get caught; two points are deducted. If you get caught five times, you are out; and so is the rest of your squad."

"If you can get caught, you don't deserve to be here. If you want to be shinobi, then show us what exceptional shinobi you can be." Ibiki panned the room with his stare. "Anyone with zero fails, and his team fails. The final question won't be given out until the final fifteen minutes, you have an hour, begin!"

Sakura and Sasuke groaned, they were going to fail if Naruto didn't get an answer right.

I just have to trust him to get at least one right…at least Sasuke and I will be okay, right? Sakura sighed and looked down at her paper. These questions are very involved though, I doubt many people understand them at all. Sakura bit her lip and started writing frantically on the paper. She knew how to solve them, might as well solve them all and hope for the best.

Sasuke read over the paper. I have no idea how to solve any of these. Unbelievable. He tapped his pencil. They make such a big fuss about cheating, then why just a two-point deduction? Why give them a chance to continue cheating? Unless…they want you to cheat without getting caught. Hmmph. Sasuke smirked, now determined and feeling confident. Hopefully Naruto figures it out and doesn't get caught.

Naruto was sweating, he read over each and every question, hoping that he could understand just one. Oh man, Sakura-chan and Sasuke are going to killllll me. I can't answer any of these! My only option is to wait for the last question, maybe it'll be something I know.

Sasuke used his Sharingan to copy someone he guessed knew the answers. Ino mind-transferred into Sakura to copy her answer. Kiba had Akamaru find answers for him. Shino used his creepy bugs. Many shinobi figured out you actually had to cheat to pass.

Naruto waited, staring at the clock. Sakura put down her pencil, she was done. She saw Naruto several rows in front of her, it didn't look like he answered any questions. He was just sitting there, slightly leaned towards Hinata. That idiot better not be so obvious! Sakura narrowed her eyes.

A kunai whizzed past Naruto and landed on a desk a row back. "Number 35, we caught you five times. You're disqualified, and so is your squad." After that, more people kept getting kicked out.

The clock ticked by; Naruto was getting really nervous. Sakura was feeling worried. Sasuke was also done, from cheating.

"Alright, its been 45 minutes, I will now give the final question." A dramatic pause. "But there are more rules unique to question ten, listen carefully and try not to be frightened." Ibiki smirked.

"Rule number one, each of you can choose not to be given the question; it is your decision. If you choose not to take the question, regardless of the other nine, you will get a zero. You will fail and your whole team will fail."

The room exploded in mutterings of how does that make sense? And if that's the case who would refuse the question?

"Not so fast, let me finish." Ibiki barked out again. "If you accept the question, and answer incorrectly, you will not only fail…but you will be barred from taking the Chunin Exam ever again!"

Shouts of protest erupted around the room. Kiba spoke up, loudest. "That's unfair! There are loads of people who haven't taken the exam before, but they're here taking it again!"

Ibiki laughed cruelly. "I guess you are just unlucky, I wasn't proctoring the other tests." He smirked. "If you're not confident, then skip it, you can come back next year."

Sakura stared at her paper, her hand in fists. This is so unfair. If we skip it, we all fail. If just one of us gets the question wrong, we can never take the test again. What should I do?

Sasuke glared at his pencil. I can't fail. Itachi never failed. We have to try, but what if, especially Naruto, someone gets the last question wrong? We can never be chunin. I will be the joke of the Uchiha, a genin for life.

Naruto put his head down on the desk. Oh man, this is crazy. Why would they do this?

"Those who don't want you're the question raise your hand; you and your team will be free to leave."

Sakura sighed. I know I'll be okay, but poor Naruto doesn't stand a chance. C'mon put you hand up we can try again next year.

People around the room started raising their hands and more people left, scared to be disqualified from being a chunin for life. Naruto looked around shocked, not believing so many people were giving up.

Naruto began slowly raising his hand, it was shaking slightly. Sakura and Sasuke's jaws dropped, not expecting Naruto to give up. Then they saw him slam his hand on the table.

"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 going to scare me off! No way! I don't care if I get stuck as a genin for the rest of my life!" He stood up. "I'll still become Hokage someday!"

Everyone in the room stared at him. Sasuke smirked, Sakura smiled at his craziness.

"Now is your last chance." Ibiki gave one final warning.

"No way!" Naruto was staring at Ibiki determinedly. "I never go back on my word, that is my shinobi way." This seemed to inspire everyone else in the room, because no one else raised their hands to leave.

Ibiki smirked and nodded at the proctors around the room. "I admire your determination if nothing else. For those of you remaining there is only one thing left to do." A dramatic pause. "And that is for me to tell you, that you all pass the first exam!"

Sakura and Sasuke gasped, Naruto dropped his pencil.

Temari stood up now. "So, you're saying this whole test was for nothing? There is no question ten?"

Ibiki laughed. "We tested your abilities to not get caught, and how you function as a team and handle the pressure. The test actually encouraged cheating, it demanded it. I disguised two chunin who knew the answers to be in the room, for you to cheat from. The last question was the main point of the exam."

"The final question gives you a difficult choice with a no-win situation. This is what chunin face every day, often you don't have all the information on missions. You can't pass off the mission to avoid danger, no you have to face it, you have to achieve a goal through courage and discipline. These are qualities required for a chunin squad leader."

"You all have earned the right to continue onto the next step. I hereby confirm this part of the exam is complete, and I wish you all good luck." Ibiki looked on approvingly.

Suddenly the glass window on the side shattered and a woman with purple hair and wearing an outfit that was very inappropriate (it was basically all fishnet) burst into the room. "Heads up boys and girls this is no time to be celebrating. I'll be your next proctor, Mitarashi Anko!"

A/N: IMPORTANT – if you read this story before August 6, 2020 please go back and reread chapter two (Growing Up). There is loads more content (ten pages or so). I have also edited chapters 1-7.

You'll notice some obvious changes in the OG Naruto storyline, but also some similarities. I was watching the exams arc while writing, and it was so silly (I tried to keep it a little silly but also serious).

Also, my apologies for the long wait. See what happened was, Avatar the Last Airbender was released on Netflix. Naturally, I had to binge watch it. Then I binge watched Legend of Korra, and THEN I binged every Zutara novel on fanfiction I could! When I turned back to my Naruto fic, I was feeling uninspired. I had to take some time to do some concrete outlining (I had general plot in my mind but now I have it organized).

You'll expect more frequent updates; but probably not weekly. I just started a new job and I am doing renovations on my house, so I am keeping pretty busy.

I hope everyone is staying safe and enjoying their summers as best as they can!

Please please review; I love them so much. Thank you~