Disclaimer: HAH! I found the secret to synthetic waterme- I mean, I don't own Naruto!

Quick last minute A/N: I don't know how you guys keep finding this series. I mean seriously, it's been -checks profile- almost fucking two and a half years... I got bored of writing for a while, m'kay? Anyways, check out Engineer4ever's profile for some good stories. I've been mostly helping him out with beta's and shit. He writes good stuff.

A/N: Those of you who complained about Sarutobi being a bastard and hating that, well, I got good news and bad news. Bad news is, you lot jumped ship too soon. Good news is, he isn't a bastard, and I'm probably being too fucking subtle with what I'm doing, but ah, well.

A/N: Those of you who complained about a possible Hinata and Naruto Pairing. I got good news and bad news(again). Good news is, Hinata and Naruto aren't fucking each other, Because PLOT LINE DICTATED IT SO, YAY!(Although, I love this pairing, personally). Bad news is, Naruto won't be paired because PLOT LINE, BOO!... or is that good news? YAY! Eh, fuckitIdon'tgiveadamn. (Seriously, I told you guys this shit earlier.)

Seventh sense: Climate(Skin)

The sense of Temperature. Located in our skin. This sense has the second longest memory. A few seconds. This sense is used to tell us when we have changed atmospheres or when something hot or cold is nearby. This sense is also used to tell us when we have stood under the sun or when we have been out in the cold too long. This sense is useful in that we can use it to tell how the enemy is changing the area around you to their whim.

Things were getting hot in the classroom filled with the chunin hopefuls. The stress of the test coupled with the need to cheat and nearby examiners watching with a close eye.

Some students were sweating, others were weathering the heat just fine.

Fumei smirked. Some people just can't stand the heat.

–

Earlier:

The sun rose from over the horizon. Today was the day of the exam, Fumei thought as he slowly woke up. The tree felt just as good as always. He popped a few of his bones and stretched a bit to wake himself up faster.

He hopped down from the tree and walked back to his apartment.

He had a long five days ahead of him.

–

Shino stood outside of the academy. It has been six long months since they had last been here. It almost felt like a lifetime ago. Now here they were again, taking another exam to gain the next promotion.

Shino felt one of his teammates walking up, and he looked over to see Hinata. Her eyes no longer showed the shyness they once had back when she last left this building. She had matured since those days. Every now and then, he would catch a glimpse of who Hinata would be in a few years. She walked with a straighter back and her head held a little higher. Through the work of the three of them, they were slowly making Hinata come out of her shell, though she had yet to speak. Maybe she had completely forgotten how? Still, he was proud of his teammate. She was getting stronger, and he alongside her.

He nodded to her, and she nodded and smiled back. At this point Fumei walked into the front yard of the academy. He waved to them as he walked up. "Good morning you two. Are you ready?"

Shino nodded his affirmative and then looked to Hinata. Hinata looked back at the building, then to her two teammates, smiled and then walked right into the building. Shino smirked a bit behind his coat. She knew that they had her back.

As they walked up the stairs, they noticed a fight going on between Sasuke and a boy wearing green spandex. Fumei quickly signed. Uke ass kicked in 3, 2, 1. Sure enough, the boy was launched into the air by a solid kick to the face.

The spandex fighter appeared behind him and unwrapped his bandages.

A kunai came from the edge of the room and hit the bandage which then imbedded itself in the wall, making the boy in green hang there in mid air.

"LEE, YOU HAVE BROKEN YOUR SENSEIS RULES! ARE YOU PREPARED TO FACE HIM?" Where did that tortoise come from, Shino thought.

Lee ripped his bandage off to fall down and then kneeled to the ground, "YES!"

A puff of smoke cam from the top of the tortoise, and a man in green spandex appeared from it. "LEE, YOU HAVE DISAPPOINTED ME!"

"GAI-SENSEI, I'M SORRY!"

"Lee... you," Gai pulled his fist back, and then punched his apprentice in the cheek, "IDIOT!"

Suddenly, Fumei pulled on both of his teammates in a signal to run away. Shino didn't understand why, but followed anyways.

After a few seconds of going down the hall to the next star well they heard screaming, yelling and crying. Two types: One of sheer happiness, and another for the loss of their sanity. The sounds sent shivers down their spines. Hinata and Shino looked at Fumei with some gratitude for saving them from that.

Still, Shino wondered why the one in green spandex never used his chakra externally.

–

"I'm glad you three made it," Kurenai said as they approached the room for the first exam. "If you came alone, or there were only two of you, I would've had to turn you back."

Shino nodded, "We figured that to be the truth. And no, it did not change how we thought about it. All three of us know we are ready to attempt the next level, thanks to you and Fumei."

The other two gennin gave a nod in agreement to Shino's statement.

Kurenai eyed each of them, then smiled. "Good. Keep together. Numbers matter in this exam."

With their nods in understanding, Kurenai stepped to the side as the three gennin walked inside the room.

Kurenai knew they were ready. She just wanted to make sure they had the confidence to do so. She smiled when she saw that Hinata was the most determined of the group. She would be an unstoppable force in the future.

–

When the three entered the room, they were immediately blasted with killer intent. Though nowhere near as much as Fumei put Hinata and Shino under to train them.

The three looked around unhindered by the killer intent, and found a spot off to the side.

Shino noted that the ino-shika-cho team version two was already here. He also noted when Lee and his team walked in. He did not recognize the girl with them, but he noted that their third was a Hyuuga male. Judging by the way the Hyuuga walked, he was a skilled fighter. He signaled his two teammates to be wary of the Hyuuga. They both agreed, though Hinata signaled back that the Hyuuga was her cousin named Neji. She gave him the callsign flightless.

Flightless is older by one year. He is considered a prodigy in clan. Be wary of a ten meter radius around him. He knows more about gentle fist than he lets on.

Both young men nodded. Shino signed back.

I would also be wary of L-e-e, callsign Meadow. Meadow didn't use his chakra externally. Either he is hiding his true power or is unable to use it externally and trained hard to stay a ninja. Either way, Meadow is dangerous.

Fumei started signing. The female of their team has a lot of sealing scrolls on her. I can't see into the seals much, but I do sense metal. A lot of it. Assuming weapons expert. He paused for a moment. Also, be careful of the Sand team. The red head, Ga-a-ra, callsign Tanuki, is a jin-chuu-ri-ki, signaled jinchuuriki. Jinchuuriki hold a tail-e-d, signaled tailed, beast inside of them. Tanuki holds the one-tailed beast.

At this, both of them tensed. A tailed beast was a legend, right? Then again, the nine-tails did attack Konoha thirteen years ago.

Jinchuuriki gain some of their power and some form of regeneration. Most of the time it is chakra regeneration. Be wary of approaching him, he is unstable. He uses sand.

Shino. How do you know of Jinchuuriki?

There was a pause. Then Fumei signed. I'll tell you when we are alone.

They nodded.

Furthermore, the male in cat suit is a puppeteer. The female is an unknown, but the fan on her back suggests wind user.

At this moment the doors opened again and team 7 stepped through. Sasuke looked a bit beat up, but otherwise fine. Kiba was smug about something, and Sakura looked worried when the killer intent hit them.

Ino immediately ran up to the Uchiha and latched onto his back. "Sasuke!"

Sakura started to yell at Ino to get off, and Kiba chuckled a bit. Shikamaru walked up and looked around some before spotting their team. "Looks like the entire gang is here. Troublesome."

Kiba adopted a confused face until he looked in their direction as well. "Team Silent. I heard your team's nickname when the guards were talking about you. I didn't even notice you guys until Shika pointed you out."

Shino raised his eyebrow. "Is that not what a ninja should be?"

Kiba blinked, but then smiled. "Good point. How are you guys doing?"

"We are fine," Shino stated.

"Hehe, you wont be saying that after all the training we got from our sensei," Kiba boasted.

"Thank you for the warning, Kiba-san," was Shino's blatant response.

"You guys should really quiet down," a new voice stated from behind Kiba.

Every one of the group turned to see a silver haired teen standing there with a small know-it-all smile. Shino instantly cataloged this person as dangerous as he managed to sneak up on most of the people here in plain sight, though Shino had noticed him earlier and his two teammates weren't surprised by the appearance either.

Kiba frowned a bit as his nose picked something up, but it was Sasuke who spoke, "Who are you?"

"My name is Kabuto Yakushi. I'm a fellow gennin, but I'm more experienced than you rookies. You nine caused quite a stir when newly minted gennin were allowed to join the competition," the silver haired man, now Kabuto, said as he walked a bit closer.

"So, this isn't your first time in the exams," Sakura asked.

"No, it is my seventh."

"Hah, you must suck," Kiba mocked.

"No," Kabuto stated with some fierceness in his voice. "The Chunin exams are just that hard."

The sheer truth that rolled off that statement left some of the gennin weary.

Sasuke stepped forward. "Since you've been in so many exams, you must have some info, correct?"

Kabuto nodded. "Yes, I have quite a bit of info." Kabuto pulled out some cards. "These are my ninja info cards." He placed them down and turned over the top one. "From these graphs, it shows the number of teams from each village. As you can see, there are a number of them from each village: 7 teams from Suna, 16 teams form Konoha, 3 teams from Kiri, 6 teams from Kumo, and 13 teams from various minor villages. Sound is a new village, so there isn't much threat from them. Huh, that's odd. There is a team from Iwa."

The group pondered on this information for a moment before Sasuke spoke up, "Do you have information on specific individuals?"

"Yes, I do. Normally, I wouldn't share much information, but since you're rookies, I'll help you lot out. Now, do you have names, descriptions, village association?"

"Rock Lee of Konoha, Sabaku no Gaara, and," he paused and looked over at team 10. "Team Silent."

"Aw, you have their names, that makes it no fun. Oh well." He shuffled through the cards and picked out one. "First up, Rock Lee; Age: 13, Affiliation: Konoha, Rank: gennin for 1 year, Attempts in Chuunin exams: first try this time, D-ranks mission completed: 20, C-ranked missions completed: 12, B-ranked missions completed: 2. His team is: Sensei: Might Gai, peers: Hyuuga Neji, Tenten. He is known for his high taijutsu prowess, but has low stats in everything else."

Kabuto pulled out another card. "Next up, Gaara. He's relatively new, so I don't have much on him. Sabaku no Gaara, Age: unknown, Affiliation: Suna, Rank: Gennin for less than one year, Attempts in chuunin exams: first try this year, c-ranked missions completed: 8, B-ranked mission completed: 3... Wow, it seems he's returned from all of his mission without so much as a scratch. His teammates are Sabaku no Kankuro and Sabaku no Temari, his older siblings."

Kabuto pulled out another card. "Next up, first member of team silent. Hyuuga Hinata. Age: 12, Affiliation: Konoha, Rank: Gennin for less than one year, first try in chuunin exams, D-ranked missions completed: 14, C-ranked completed: 3. She has the standard Byakugan eyes, but not much else is known about her except that she is a mute and carries a whip. Her teammates are Ishiki Fumei and Aburame Shino. Her sensei is Yuuhi Kurenai."

Kabuto pulled out the second to last card. "Next in line is Aburame Shino. Age: 12, Rank gennin for less than one year, First try in exams, I don't need to note missions again. So far all data on him points that he is a standard Aburame. He is observant and uses bugs."

Kabuto pulled the last card. "Last is Ishiki Fumei. Formerly known as the Kuro no Heishi, the wandering A-ranked mercenary." The room sat in dead silence for a few moments.

"Bullshit," someone yelled in the back. "Ain't no way that fucker is the Kuro no Heishi."

Kabuto coughed a little and continued on, "Anyways, age: unknown: description: wears black, Bingo book entry: A-ranked "do not engage unless threatened", Wanted by Kumogakure for the murder of several of their shinobi, wanted by Kirigakure for stealing two of the 7 swords. There is more in the bingo book for what he has done, but those two were the major ones. Known abilities: high affinity for taijutsu, some genjutsu, and some ninjutsu. The metal plates on his body suggest that he is highly advantageous in CQC." He stopped for a moment, "Did you really steal two swords from Kirigakure?"

Fumei chuckled, "'Steal' is such a heavy word. More like 'I took them from the cold dead bodies of their owners'," his cold and dead voice sounded through the room.

Those words scared the lot of the gennin in the room. Most noted to stay far away from the silent team.

Most.

"Who cares!" a blur said as it rushed Kabuto. Kabuto dodged a punched by them, but suddenly crumpled to the ground and puked a bit as his glasses cracked. "Put this down in your cards! We're team sound, and we're gonna make chunin, bitch!"

A large cloud broke out at the front of the room as a large voice bellowed, "Welcome to the Chunin exams, Maggots! Oh, and team sound, if you pull that type of shit again, you're disqualified!"

"Sorry, sir. Wont happen again." The leader that was wrapped in bandages said.

"It better not, maggot. Alright, listen up everyone, you must turn in these forms and in turn we give you a number. You must sit at the seat you were assigned with that number."

Everyone quickly went through the process. Shino noted that he was nowhere near his two teammates. He looked around and noted the seating order was set up in a way that none of the teammates were close to one another.

"Now, clean out those ears, maggots. I am Morino Ibiki. Jounin proctor for this part of the exam. This exam is a written one. There are 10 questions. The first 9 will be on a sheet you will write out to. The last question will determine if you pass or not..." Ibiki continued to explain the rules as the room grew warm.

–

Ishiki Fumei chuckled a bit and smiled under his mask. He noticed the cheat rule, as did his teammates. He noted that the room was getting a bit hotter. They raised the temperature of the room to make the hopefuls sweat a bit. Smart move on their part.

Fumei quickly wrote down the answers he copied from someone that seemed to be pretty confident in them. It helped that Sakura was sitting right in front of him so he could hear the stroke mark quite clearly.

He sat around for a bit to get the feel for everyone in the exam and cataloged them for further study when in confrontations with them.

After that, he flopped forward and took a bit of a nap.

–

Ibiki saw the ex-merc had fallen asleep. Honestly, he knew that there was nothing he could do to unnerve the guy without being one-on-one, but did he really have to fall asleep? He looked over the other chunin hopefuls. Most of them were sweating or figuring out the test now. At least the smart ones.

He noted the time on a pass.

20 minutes left.

–

Hinata worked quickly to copy with her Byakugan from Fumei's paper. He had written it down pretty quickly, so she hoped that they were the right answers as well. When she was finally done, and hoping to have concealed her byakugan well enough, she put her pencil down and looked for Shino. She saw that he was tracing the answers on the paper from his bugs. He must've gathered info as well. She turned her paper over and sat backwards a little to wait the final few minutes out. She pulled at her jacket a little. Did they have to really turn up the heat?

–

"ALRIGHT LISTEN UP, MAGGOTS!" Ibiki yelled out.

Shino lifted his eyes to the man. He had just finished the last question when the proctor had called out. He knew, through his bugs, that his teammates had answers well enough. He saw Fumei lift his head a bit.

"Clean out those holes in your head you call ears and pay attention! I will not repeat anything I say." When the entire room was watching him, he continued. "Now then there is an additional rule to this final question. Those who take this question and answer it correctly will continue the test." He paused. "However, if you fail to answer this question accurately, you will be dismissed from the exam, and will be barred from ever taking the chuunin exams ever again. You will be stuck as a genin for the rest of your life!"

"WHAT! You can't do that!" The fan wielding Suna yelled out.

"WELL TOUGH SHIT, MAGGOT! You and everyone else lost all your luck when I was chosen to proctor this exam. I make the rules now! So.. SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" when everyone that could be cowed backed down, he continued once again.

"Now then, you can chose to take this question or not. Those of you who raise their hands will be allowed to leave and try again next year. Those of you who stay will take your chances." With that he stood there and threw out some killer intent to make the weak ones cave in.

After a few seconds, a genin raised his hand. "I'm out. Sorry guys."

This started a chain reaction. More and more genin rose their hands and left, taking their teams with them.

Shino looked over to his teammates. Fumei relaxed his muscles to show he was confident to them. Hinata, seeing this relaxed, too. Fumei looked to both of them and nodded. Shino and Hinata nodded back. They were in this together.

–

After 10 minutes of watching genin after genin leave, the room felt much emptier, Ibiki decided.

When he saw that no one else was going he spoke, "Well, is that it? You lot are gonna take your chances? This is the last chance to back out."

No one moved.

After two minutes of staring them down he opened his mouth. "Then, as the first proctor of the Konoha Chunin State Exam, everyone here..." He paused and saw that almost everyone tensed. He smiled. "Passed."

The dumbfounded look on their faces would feed him for weeks.

"What do you mean we passed? Where's the tenth question?!" An Inuzuka yelled out.

Most of the genin were asking the same quesiton, though most of them in their heads.

"Quiet down, I'll explain. In a sense, the will to stay here and face down your adversity is the tenth question."

The smart ones got it almost right away, the rest, did not it seemed. Well, time to explain a little. "You see, the real tenth question was whether or not you would face down bad odds. There was a bad chance that all of your dreams would've been dashed just now. And so you asked yourself the tenth question. "Will I stay here and fail? Or will I retreat to fight another day?"" He paused. "Being a Chunin means you are a leader. An individual that can and will fight situations that get bad who has people following him. A good leader will assess the situation, and then make his decision."

"But then, what about all the questions?" The Suna girl from earlier asked.

He stared them down again, to get this next point across. "Information. Information is key, in any battle. From "How many ninjas do they have" to "What is this man's weakness." Information can make or break a mission. And gathering the wrong information can destroy you and the people around you." He reached up and pulled his bandana off. Some of them gasped. Pussies. "When you gather the wrong information, it puts everything in danger. The test here was hard. Harder than any chunin hopeful would ever be able to answer. So you had to cheat. But you had to cheat smart. It's the same in the field. If you don't gather the right information, enemies can put false knowledge into what you're gathering. Thus setting yourself up for a bad ambush, or the merchandise would be at the wrong location, or the assassination would be at a different place. The same with this test. If you were caught cheating too many times, then you were outed. But, you couldn't cheat without having some answers, so I put in two people to act as information points." At this two of the genin hopefuls stood up and dropped their henge and waved back with smiles. He noticed that many people recognized them as who they cheated from.

At this moment, something, or rather someone he knew, crashed through the window, blocking his view of the room. He sighed internally. The shit he puts up with these days.

–

Hinata's eyebrow went up ever so slowly as she saw a woman who was dressed provocatively practically appear in the class. She didn't think that her sensei's friend would be a proctor in the exams, however that didn't make her feel any better. She knew how insane this proctor would be. She'd have to warn her teammates.

–

Anko looked out over the teams after her introductions.

"You're early, Anko," Ibiki stated coming around the big banner at the front of the class that proclaimed Anko's name to the world.

Anko waved him off, "Psh, I'm not early, you were just taking your damn time. Still, 78 gennin, 26 teams. You're getting soft on me, old man."

Ibiki scoffed, "I'm not getting soft or old, we just happen to have a good bunch this year."

Anko looked over her shoulder at him, "Really?" She turned back to the students, "Well, then, it doesn't matter how good they are, I'm cutting out half of them with my next exam."

A few of the chuunin-to-be tensed at those words. What made this proctor so sure that only half of them would make it?

"Listen up!" Anko yelled out unexpectedly, bringing everyone's attention back to her. "If you want to take the next exam, follow me. We're going on a Field Trip."

The way she articulated the last two words made a few weary of the exam to come.

–

Along the frantic chase of the proctor to the next exam, the three team silent members met up.

You know this woman, Flower? Ishiki signed.

Hinata nodded. She is our sensei's closest friend. The two are as from apart in personality as light and dark. A-N-K-O, callsigned Dango, is semi-insane. Dango knows some mo-ral, signaled moral limits; She does not use them often. Based on direction, we will be using her so called "favorite" playground, Training ground 44. Also known as, The Forest of Death.

Shino signed. How dangerous is this location.

Hinata narrowed her eyes. It's the ANBU testing grounds.

Both Ishiki's and Shino's body language showed weariness.

Ishiki nodded. Thank you for telling us, Flower. White, will we be able to use the local insect pop-u-la-tion, signaled population to our advantage?

Shino signed. Hypothetically, yes. Reality, we shall see, Senseless.

Ishiki thought for a moment. Let us see what this test shall be then.

Just as the three exited a tree line, they heard a voice in front of the entire crowd. "Alright, brats of all ages and genders, this here is my very favorite playground, the Forest of Deathhhhhh." Anko drew out the word, and just as she ended, the thick forest behind her seemed to come to life. Luckily for most people, it seemed a special metal fence had been built around it to hold in the dangers.

"For the second exam, you will be participating in a five day scroll battle, for which this lovely little landscape behind me shall serve as your battlefield," At this point she held up a map. "The forest has a radius of approximately ten kilometers(roughly 6 miles), the center of which holds a tower. This tower is your destination."

She held up two scrolls, one with the symbol for earth, the other heaven. "Each team will be getting one of these two types of scrolls, handed out in even numbers. In order to pass this exam, you will need both scrolls and be at the tower by the fifth day."

Everyone smart gained a look of realization.

Hinata mentally frowned. So that's how Anko was going to cut their numbers in half. Only thirteen teams would pass, as there were only thirteen complete sets. Counting in that if any scroll was damaged or lost, then the total number of sets would be cut down by one. Reality would dictate that only ten or even nine sets would have a chance.

Anko made the scrolls and map disappear. "Also, I should note that you shouldn't open these scrolls before you make it to the tower, as you will be automatically disqualified. This exam is to show that you can safely get secured and delicate info from point A to point B, while not peeking at the information inside."

Several chuunin came out holding paper forms. "The forms that my lovely little chuunins here are passing out are essential in order to get inside this forest. These are release forms, stating that Konoha, in no way shape or form, is responsible for your well-being while inside this fence. You'll get your scroll when one of you carries all three of your teammates' forms to that tent over there."

"And you're making us sign this form, why?" asked a hopeful.

Anko's smile bordered on creepy and insane. "Because, munchkin, you will be in a forest that harbors only the most deadly of creatures and will be fighting your fellow chuunin-hopefuls for the CHANCE at being promoted. We don't want the backlash of your Blood-drained Body showing up at a Kage's desk and causing an international incident. This way, the form that will go with your Carved Cadaver will explain that you died because you were a dumbass. The Kage will then just throw your Cold Carcass into a nearby mass grave and forget all about you."

The teen started shivering at the thought.

Anko looked at everyone else, "Any other questions?"

"What will we do about food," Asked Chouji with his arm raised.

Anko frowned. "You'll be in a forest, I'm sure you'll find something, hopefully not poisonous, to eat. Any other stupid questions," She asked. Silence was her response. After a moment she smiled. "Well then, I have one last piece of advice for ya: JUST DON'T DIE!"

–

Ishiki stared at the fence in front of him. He could sense that the gate was chakra controlled. The field surrounding it made the air uncomfortably cold, meaning most wildlife would avoid it's affect. This would allow humans to safely bypass it's defenses, but keep wildlife in.

He turned to see Shino approach him and Hinata at their gate. Symbol.

Shino signed back. Earth.

Hinata frowned. Then heaven, we need.

Ishiki signed. How much control over that caterpillar we saw earlier could you make?

Shino frowned. Too big for my current control. I would need something smaller that lives in colonies for best control.

Ishiki nodded. Flower, will the density of the forest lower your range?

Hinata nodded. I will lose a quarter of my range, by both density and chakra saturation.

Shino added. My range will be increased, insects will have a longer range. Air is saturated by chakra.

Ishiki then faced towards their gate. Then the plan will be simple, we'll rush to the tower and setup a trap along the way. White will spread his range as far as he can and look for a suitable location to place the trap. Flower will use her shortened range for incoming attackers only. White, if you can, find something that will hunt our prey and use that.

They both acknowledged the order.

Anko's voice the was blasted over the com system. "Let the second exam, BEGIN!"

–

End Seventh sense: Heatless