After Anko's flashy entrance, the students broke into small groups and slowly made their way out of the classroom.
Anko, meanwhile, pulled her kunai out of the ceiling, sending a cloud of dust straight into her face.
She stood there spitting and coughing the dust out over and over again.
Suigetsu, Kimimaro, and Haku got stuck helping Hatake Satoru clean up—collecting test papers and removing the tags from the desks.
While doing all this, they watched Anko below the ceiling, still waving her kunai and flag around while spitting out dust nonstop.
He was starting to realize that there probably weren't any normal teachers in this place.
No wonder they waited until most of the students were gone before packing up all that gear.
"How long are you guys gonna stand there watching? At least leave Anko some dignity—she's the one giving you your exam tomorrow."
Hatake Satoru stood by the door with his hands in his pockets.
"Hey!!"
Mitarashi Anko shouted at him with an annoyed look on her face.
Even when they were kids, this guy wasn't exactly likable. Though compared to the quiet and a bit standoffish Kakashi, Hatake Satoru was at least easier to talk to.
He was good-looking, but the moment he opened his mouth, about 80% of girls would back off right away.
He was the kind of guy who looked great from a distance but was impossible to deal with up close.
Their teacher really was good at messing with people—not just the students, but even his coworkers weren't safe.
Kimimaro glanced at Mitarashi Anko and sighed to himself before picking up the exam papers and following the other two.
"Who's the jonin in charge of you guys this time?"
Hatake Satoru wasn't too familiar with how Kirigakure was set up these days, so he casually asked the three of them.
The idea of a "lead jonin" felt like something unique to Konoha—a teacher who usually stayed with the students as they went on missions.
In Kirigakure, except for special cases like Haku, who was directly under Zabuza, most jonin didn't stick with their students that long.
Once the genin had the basic skills down, the jonin usually let them work on their own.
Sometimes they worked in teams, sometimes solo—it depended on how good they were.
"We don't have a lead jonin. We just got teamed up recently~"
"All the info and stuff came from Mr. Mochizuki!"
Suigetsu tilted his head back and replied to Hatake Satoru.
Mochizuki… oh right, that was Shisui's alias here.
Hatake Satoru paused for a moment before he realized what was going on.
"Mochizuki" was the name Shisui used to stay hidden in Kirigakure. Now that they were back in Konoha, of course he couldn't show up as Shisui.
Still, having Shisui handle the Chunin Exams made sense. After all, he used to be a Konoha native.
"If he's handling it, then that's fine. Tell him to come hang out sometime~"
"Even Mangetsu snuck out once—what's he still hiding for?"
Hatake Satoru joked as he opened the office door and let the three of them drop off the documents.
"…If he really showed up, it might count as slacking off. This is Konoha, after all."
Haku couldn't help but speak up, even though he had heard all sorts of stories about Hatake Satoru back in Kirigakure.
He'd imagined him as some scary, short-tempered, tough guy with a mean face and muscles everywhere.
But after seeing his tall and slim figure when they got to Konoha, Haku started to doubt those stories.
And now that they'd spent some time with him, he seemed really easygoing and gentle.
Aside from the occasional harmless teasing, he was basically the perfect older guy to be around.
Just like his teammates, Haku found himself naturally warming up to him.
"What does it matter~ You guys are the ones taking the exam, not them."
Hatake Satoru stuck out his tongue and made a silly face at Haku.
Haku nodded slightly, deep in thought. For some reason, he felt like Hatake Satoru seemed really familiar.
But no matter how hard he thought, he was sure he'd never met him before. It was weird.
"Alright! That's it then—thanks, you three."
"Better hurry and get ready for the second part of the exam~"
Hatake Satoru locked the office door, ruffled their hair, and gave them a relaxed smile.
The soft golden sunlight from outside the hallway lit up their faces with a gentle warmth.
Kimimaro paused for a moment, then looked up at Hatake Satoru's face.
"Will you be watching tomorrow's real combat too, teacher?"
"Hmm? Uh—probably."
Why did that sound like a parent being forced to attend a school performance?
Hatake Satoru scratched his cheek, silently complaining to himself. But it was still something he was considering.
After all, the students were going to be in the Forest of Death for quite a while. If he just hung around outside slacking off with Kakashi and the other teachers, it would probably get boring fast.
So he figured he might go check in on them from time to time. It was their first real battle together, after all.
Kimimaro looked at Satoru for a second longer, then followed Suigetsu and Haku out of the room.
"Is it because he's always been with me? I get the feeling he might not be great at teamwork..."
Satoru frowned slightly as he watched the three of them walk away.
"Well, whatever! Even if they don't work well together, maybe they'll learn something from it."
He didn't stay bothered for long. After a few seconds, he shook it off and turned to walk in the opposite direction.
...
The next morning at 8 a.m., the students gathered near the training field as instructed by their teachers.
Outside the wire fence were a bunch of warning signs and sealing tags.
Some of the signs were already covered with dark red rust, clearly old and giving off a creepy feeling.
Behind the wire fence was a huge forest, full of thick trees that looked like perfect hiding spots.
It definitely didn't look like a safe place.
Mitarashi Anko stood in front of the fence, smiling slightly at the confused faces of the students in front of her.
"This is the site of the second exam—Training Field 44!"
"Also known as the Forest of Death. You'll get to experience it yourselves soon enough..."
Before Anko could finish, Naruto shouted out proudly.
"No matter how scary it is, I'll be fine! I'm not afraid at all!"
Suigetsu leaned one arm on Kimimaro's shoulder, frowning as he looked at Naruto.
By now, they had a pretty good idea of what kind of person Naruto was. But man, this guy really never learns.
He had already made a scene during the written test, and now he was provoking the teacher again.
You had to wonder—was he actually strong, or just good at talking big?
Just as Suigetsu was silently complaining, a sharp wind whooshed by—
A kunai suddenly flew past him, heading straight for Naruto's face!
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