"Wow, you must suck," stated Kiba, chortling at his own joke.
"The Chuunin Selection Exam is really difficult, people die here," replied Kabuto, showing a bit of displeasure at the disrespect Kiba was showing.
Naruto would have asked him more questions but the arrival of someone he knew distracted him.
"Hey, Tenten, over here," he waved her and her team over to them.
Naruto saw Neji snort in disgust, mumble a few words to his teammates and walk off.
"So, Neji is still an ass, huh?" asked Naruto as Tenten and Lee walked over to the genin.
"Do you have to antagonize everyone?" asked Sakura before Tenten could answer.
"What? He is an ass."
"You shouldn't talk about him like that," warned Tenten. "He's the most powerful genin here for good reason."
"Actually, Sabaku Gaara is the most powerful genin here," Naruto corrected her. "If you and your team run into him, run or he will kill you all."
"We're stronger than you think," protested Lee.
"You are strong, but he's a lot stronger. You don't have to believe me but I hope you'll put a little trust in me. If you cross paths with him at any time, you run," Naruto tried to make it as clear as he could. He didn't want any Konoha shinobi to die if he could help it.
"Ha, never thought you to be chicken, Naruto," Kiba cracked in.
"It's not chicken," said Sakura. "Gaara is extremely dangerous. He's right too that you should run if you ever face him."
"Like you're one to talk, little miss Fangirl," snapped Kiba, choosing to insult her rather than even consider the free advice.
Sakura narrowed her eyes but restrained herself from retaliating.
"Kiba-kun," stuttered Hinata, trying to calm the situation.
"Stay out of this," snarled Kiba, his eyes fixed on Sakura.
Hinata instantly shied away.
"Oi, what the hell is wrong with you?" demanded Naruto. "You don't need to talk to Hinata like that. She's only trying to stop you from making an ass of yourself, something you seem determined to do anyway."
Kiba flinched slightly but didn't back down. His pack instincts telling him to establish himself as the alpha. "I'll kick your ass too, Naruto."
"That's enough, you maggots," shouted a new voice in the room, this one older and laced with a killing intent.
Kiba spared one last glare at Naruto and Sakura both before giving his attention to the proctor.
"My name is Morino Ibiki, the proctor for the first stage of the Chuunin Selection Exams. Now, form a line. You'll each get a seat assignment," ordered the man, ushering the genin to move immediately.
Naruto moved just as the rest did, looking around at the various genin in the room when he noticed something. There were a handful of 'genin' in line that had levels in the upper thirties, way too high to be taking this test. He also noticed that the 'genin' had a title that read 'Chuunin' next to their names.
"Strange," whispered Naruto.
"What's that?" asked Shikamaru, he was standing in line behind Naruto.
"Some of the people in taking the test aren't genin, they're chuunin," he whispered back.
"Troublesome, they're plants for something then."
"Plants? Like spies?"
"Maybe," Shikamaru answered, he was trying to quickly work through various scenarios. "I would guess that these guys have the test answers and we have to steal them."
"Steal them how? And why steal them?"
"The test is probably stupid hard, so the real test isn't about answering the questions, it's about acquiring the answers," he explained.
"We should tell the other rookies," Naruto stated.
"Yeah, yeah, but be discreet about it."
Naruto and Shikamaru were able to inform the other rookie genin before they got to the front of the line and were assigned a seat.
As luck would have it, Naruto was seated next to Hinata, a friendly, if slightly red, face.
"In a minute, you will flip over the paper in front of you. You have one hour to answer the first nine questions. The tenth question will be given at the end of the hour. If you are caught cheating you will lose two points. If you lose six points you and your team automatically fail," explained Ibiki, setting an atmosphere in the room that was thick with tension and nervousness.
Admittedly, even Naruto felt the pressure from the man, even knowing that it was all a trick. He just had to figure out how to cheat without getting caught. He knew Sasuke's magic eyes would help him get the answers and Sakura was probably smart enough to answer the questions on her own.
"You may begin," called Ibiki.
Naruto wasn't ready for him to call a start to the exam, he hadn't figured out how to cheat yet. Naruto would have panicked more if his body hadn't begun moving on its own, filling in the answers. Naruto glanced down and saw a shadow stretched along the floor going to most of the rookie nine genin. Naruto couldn't resist grinning. He'd owe Shikamaru big time for this.
It took Shikamaru about twenty minutes to fill in all the answers and when he answered the last question he released his hold. Naruto watched Shikamaru breathe a sigh of relief before putting his head down and closing his eyes.
Naruto glanced to his right to see Hinata too had finished her test and was just waiting for the next phase.
Bonus Objective Completion Awarded: 25000 Exp
Chuunin Selection Exam Stage 1
Successfully complete the first stage of the Chuunin Selection Exam.
Objectives:
Pass the exam.
Bonus Objectives:
?
Successfully cheat without losing any points.
?
Completion Award: 50000 Exp
25000 Exp per Bonus Objective
Completion Failure: 10000 Exp
End of Chuunin Selection Exam
Naruto tried not to look surprised when he was notified of the Bonus Objective Completion. He was very surprised to discover that he missed a bonus objective. He'd never missed an objective before, bonus or otherwise, not counting the stupid kunai and shuriken quests in the academy.
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