Of Written Exams, Brothers, and Sentinels
-Of Written Exams, Brothers, and Sentinels-
"It's time to begin. I'm Ibiki Moreno, your proctor. And from this moment, your worst enemy." He said, making the many Chunin behind him smirk. The scarred faced proctor then pointed a finger. "First. You candidates from the Village Hidden in the Sound! Knock it off! Who told you, you could fight?! Do you wanna be failed before we've even begun?!"
The Sound nin that had cracked Kabuto's glasses turned his head slightly. "Sorry, it's our first time. Guess we're a little jumpy, sir." He replied, leering at the older male who only smirked in response.
"I'll say this once, so listen up. There will be no combat between candidates. No attacking each other without the permission of your proctor. And even then, the use of fatal force is strictly prohibited. Anyone who even thinks of messing with me will be disqualified immediately. Got it?" He informed, earning intimidated looks from many around the room.
"No fatal force? That's no fun." The second Sound nin spoke up cockily. Looking from Ibiki to the ten rookies and Kabuto, his eyes locking with Amaya's as he gave a crude smirk, to which she returned with a fierce glare.
Once the Chunin behind him stopped chuckling, Ibiki spoke up once more. "Now if we're all ready, we'll proceed to the first stage of the Chunin Exam. Hand over your paperwork, in return you'll each be given a number." He informed, holding up a small card with the number one printed on it, as an example. "This number determines where you will sit. We'll start the written test, once you're all seated."
Amaya looked over to Naruto as he began to fidget nervously. "The what?... Did he say.. written?" He asked, making eye contact with one of the Chunin, who Amaya recognized as Kotesu, as he shuffled the test papers tauntingly.
"NO!" Naruto exclaims, earning everyone in the rooms attention as he fell onto his hands and knees despairingly. "NOT A WRITTEN TEST! NO WAY!"
"Ahaa... I'm sure it won't be that bad, Naruto..." Amaya trailed off with a nervous laugh, sweatdropping at the boy's theatrics.
***
Not long after, everyone fell into line in an orderly fashion. Amaya sighed as she stood in line with her team, making eye contact with other Genin as they passed to find their seats.
Looking around, Amaya's blue orbs locked with bright ruby red ones belonging to a tan skinned girl with dull blonde hair. 'No way!... That couldn't be...' The brunette's thoughts trailed off as the girl shot a small smirk her way, one which Amaya couldn't resist in returning. 'Heh, it is... Sasuke's right, things are starting to get interesting.' The sudden sound of a throat being cleared snapped the girl out of her thoughts. Turning her head, the smirk dropped from her face. "You've gotta be kidding me..." Amaya muttered blankly as two sets of brown orbs stared back at her mischievously.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here, Kurai. ~" Kou mused smugly, invading the girl's personal space as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders before turning to face his companion. "Looks like our precious Imouto is in the Chunin Exams after all. ~" He added, earning a smirk in response.
"I wonder if Toshiaki knows...?" Kurai replied, following his twins' actions in embracing the youngest.
"Oh well, there's nothing we can do about that. He doesn't have permission to be here after all. ~" Kou said with a cheshire like grin crossing his face before he turned to the three before them. "Yo, Naruto!" He greeted with a small wave, to which the boy returned wholeheartedly.
'Are these two of Amaya's brothers? What is with this family and good genes?!' Sakura thought to herself as she made eye contact with Kurai, her face flushing a light pink.
"Oi, are these you're other teammates?" Kurai asked, looking from Sasuke and Sakura to the younger brunette beside him.
"Yup." Amaya replied dully, turning to look at the the two in question.
"And you haven't introduced us?! Mah, mah, Amaya-chan. What would our mother say?" Kou interjected dramatically, putting most of his weight onto the girl.
"Of course, nii-chan. How could I be so foolish." Amaya responded blankly, sarcasm lacing her voice. She then let out a sigh before motioning towards her teammates. "The scowling one with the duckbutt hair is Sasuke Uchiha. And pinkie over there is Sakura Haruno, you two already know Naruto."
"It's nice to finally meet you." Kurai said politely, sending the two a small nod as Kou gave a cheesy smile and a thumbs up.
"Oi, you two." A voice called out, and the group turned to find Ibiki sending them a hard stare. "We're starting." He informed, sending a glance to the four Genin before turning away.
"Eheh.. you guys might wanna take your seats." Kou advised as he finally released his hold on Amaya. "You really don't want to get on his bad side." He added nervously with a slight shiver.
Kurai leaned forward conspiratorially. "He's head of the intelligence division here in the village, they'll do everything and anything to get information. Not the kind of guy you want as an enemy."
"Okay..." Amaya drawled, her expression morphing into one of ultimate boredom.
Sakura's head snapped over to the brunette. "What kind of response is that?!" She exclaimed, earning Naruto and Sasuke's attention.
"Mah, mah, Sakura-chan." Naruto appeased, making the two look at him. "She's used to it, they tell her stuff like that all the time. Anything to rile her up." He informed, prompting the two to look at the siblings as they gave their teammate their best wishes.
"Good luck." Kurai said, giving the girl a small high five.
"Thanks."
"Remember, just because we're here, doesn't mean we'll go easy on you!" Kou added, ruffling the girl's hair.
"I know, I know..."
Kou sighed. "Seriously, Amaya. We even told the others to keep a close eye on you during the exam!"
"That's comforting." Amaya replied sarcastically before giving the two a two fingered salute and a closed eyed smile. "I'll do my best!"
-Meanwhile-
Toshiaki froze mid step as he entered the Hokage's office.
Kenji looked up, along with Lord Third, both in turn staring at the man-child curiously. "What is it, son?" The elder Minamoto asked with a sigh.
"I-Imouto..." Toshiaki murmured, his eyes narrowing as they looked out the large bay window in the office, in the direction of the academy.
"What about her?" His father asked again, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment or two, making Hiruzen smile to himself as he puffed on his pipe.
"She done something cute..." Toshiaki murmured, his brown eyes going wide before filling up with tears. "AND I MISSED IT!" He exclaimed suddenly before turning around, running out of the room, making the two jump in surprise as the door slammed behind him.
The two stared at the spot where the younger male was once standing, with blank expressions on their faces. "Kenji-san..." Hiruzen called, exhaling smoke as he spoke.
"I know, Hokage-sama... I know."
"I'll have someone detain him until the first exam is over."
"Thank you... Hokage-sama."
Amaya felt a chill as she walked towards her seat. Stopping mid step, she rubbed her bare arms for a moment. 'Strange... It's not even cold in here.' She thought before narrowing her eyes. 'Toshiaki... he's up to something... I can feel it.'
Glancing towards the classroom windows, she decided to shrug it off, opting to glance down at the small card in her hand instead. "Number fifty-four, huh?... Let's see here..." She murmured, trailing off as she reached the chair beside a certain red-haired Sand nin. 'Greeeaaat... Just peachy.'
Gaara, as if feeling her stare, looked up at her, prompting the brunette to give him a small awkward smile as she sat down. "Looks like we're seat mates for today, eh, Gaara-san!" She greeted politely. However, he didn't say anything in return, opting to stare at her emotionlessly.
Amaya sweatdropped, looking away as she began to fidget nervously. While doing so, she made eye contact with Sasuke, who sat across the room. Surprisingly, he shot her a pitying look, one which then quickly morphed into a smug expression as he sat down. 'Ass...' She thought with a huff before turning back to Gaara. "Ah... Good luck today!" She said, before looking up to the front as Ibiki made his way towards the chalkboard.
She could, however, feel his stare burning holes through the side of her head. "You, too." He replied quietly, his already grave voice so low she barely caught what he said.
Amaya looked at him wide eyed for a moment before sending him a soft smile. "Mm!" She hummed with a small nod.
Gaara felt his own eyes widen at the action, he quickly turned his head, not bothering to look at her anymore as Ibiki began to speak.
"Everyone, eyes up front. There are a few rules you need to be aware of, and I won't answer any questions." He began, tapping a piece of chalk on the board a few times before continuing. "So you better pay attention the first time around!"
'Well, isn't he a gem...' Amaya thought to herself with a deadpan.
"Alright, rule number one is this... The written part of the exam is conducted on a point reduction system. Contrary to what some of you may be used to, you all begin the test with a perfect score of ten points. One point will be deducted for each answer you get wrong. So if you miss three? Your final score will be seven." He informed as he wrote on the board, earning a few nods of understanding from some Genin around the room.
'Seems simple enough... The real question is, is how hard is the test?' Amaya mused.
"Rule number two. Teams will pass or fail based on the total score of all three, in some cases four, members." Ibiki said, his eyes skimming the crowd.
A loud bang suddenly resonated throughout the room, and it doesn't take long for Amaya to realize that it was Sakura, faceplanting the desk. "What?! Wait a second! You're saying we all get scored as a team?!" The pinkette yelled in disbelief, earning herself a glower from Ibiki.
"Silence! I have my reasons. So shut up and listen!" He replied gruffly, confusing some of the Genin slightly.
'Reasons...? Well I guess it makes sense in a way. You have to have a team of three, in our case four, to enter the exams... So maybe there's another motive behind the test?' Amaya thought before shaking her head. '...Nah.'
"Rule number three. The sentinels you see positioned around the room... Are there to watch you carefully for any cheating. And for every incident they spot, they'll subtract two points from the culprits score." As he said this, Amaya glanced around the room at the many smug Chunin. Eventually making eye contact with her brothers, both of them smirking as Kou gave her the sign for 'I'm watching you.'
Ibiki smirked. "Be warned. Their eyes are extremely sharp. And if they catch you five times, you'll be dismissed before the tests are even scored."
'If I breathe, will I lose points as well?' Amaya thought to herself dully.
"Anyone fool enough to get caught cheating by the sentinels, doesn't deserve to be here."
"I've got my eye on you guys." Kotesu cut in smugly from his own seat, the statement earning him a few uneasy looks from nearby test takers.
"If you wanna be considered Shinobi, then show us what exceptional Shinobi you can be." Ibiki stated, sweeping his gaze across the room once more.
Amaya sighed and relaxed in her seat. 'Sakura is, and dare I say it, pretty smart... And I doubt that Sasuke and I will have any problems. Naruto is the one that we'd have to worry about, but hopefully our three scores will make up for anything he's lacking in.' She thought, looking ahead towards her pink haired teammate, noting to herself that Sakura must be thinking along the same lines.
"One more thing. If any candidate should get a zero and fail the test, then the entire team fails."
With that one statement alone, Amaya faceplanted the table in front of her. The small thump going unnoticed as the room filled with sounds of disbelief and Sakura's screeching of "WHAT'D HE SAY?!"
"The final question won't be given out until fifteen minutes before the end of the testing period. You'll have one hour total... BEGIN!" Ibiki yelled, prompting the examinees to flip their test over.
Amaya looked down at the paper, silently skimming the questions. 'Decoding, huh? That's not all that hard... Well as long as you have some idea on how to do it.' She thought, reading the code before slowly deciphering it.
'Okay... Number two... "Line b in the diagram indicates the trajectory of a shuriken thrown at enemy c by ninja a, seated atop a tree seven meters tall. Describe and formulate the trajectory required if c were positioned at points d, e, and f. Also predict the farthest possible range of the shuriken and explain how you arrived at your answer..."'Amaya's eyebrows furrowed as she read. 'What even... This is some pretty advanced stuff. There's not a snowballs chance in hell that Naruto's gonna understand this...' She thought, skimming further down the page. 'It only gets harder from here, too. It's almost as if they want us to cheat...'
Looking up, Amaya locks her eyes on her brothers, both writing on their respective clipboards furiously. 'It's strange... Some of these questions are way too difficult for a mere Genin to get correct, unless you're a brainiac like Sakura or Shikamaru... And the fact that they'd give you five chances and only a two-point deduction for each time you're caught... Usually you'd be dismissed immediately after being caught once!'
Amaya is suddenly brought out of her thoughts as Naruto lets out a cry of surprise, shortly followed by a boy sitting a few rows in front of her. Glancing up to see what was wrong, she spotted a kunai embedded deeply into the boy's desk.
"W-what the--?! What was that all about?!" The nameless boy asked in shock, looking up from the weapon to the Chunin who threw it.
"Five strikes and you're out. You just failed the test." The sentinel replied smugly.
"What? It can't be!"
"You and your teammates will leave the room immediately." The Chunin replied, prompting the two addressed to stand. "Candidate number twenty-three, fail! Number twenty-seven and forty-three, fail!" He called with finality.
"No! No way! Who says I cheated five times?! Where's your proof?! How can you keep track of all of us?! You've got the wrong guy! How do you know I wasn't jus--" The boy who got caught began, but before he could finish, he was promptly slammed into a nearby wall.
"Sorry, pal... We were chosen for this duty because we don't make mistakes like that. You can't even blink without seeing it. We're the best of the best, and you my friend are history. Now get out and take your teammates with you." The sentinel all but growled, before allowing the boy to be dragged out of the room.
After that little fiasco, Amaya could only watch in slight amusement as people were getting caught left and right, the sentinels voices resonating throughout the room.
"Number fifty-nine, you fail... Numbers thirty-three and nine, fail."
'That's gotta be what...? The thirteenth team they've dismissed?' Amaya thought to herself, watching dully as they file out of the room one by one.
"Number forty-one! Fail!... Numbers thirty-five and sixty-two, fail!"
'Fourteenth...' The brunette thought with a sigh, glancing down at her test. After barely being able to answer six of the questions, her brain felt as if it were turning to mush. 'Saa~... Give me stuff about politics or national relations and I could pretty much blow it out of the water... But this? This is torture!'
Glancing up once more, Amaya began to focus on some of the other remaining examinees. 'Of course, Sakura's plowing through this... Maybe that's why her forehead is so big...? Needs room to hold all of that information.' She quipped, smirking to herself before her eyes locked on the girl from Lee's team. Who at the moment, was using wire and kunai to maneuver a light fixture, inevitably showing Lee a reflection of her answers. 'What the--? No way! How are they not getting caught?!'
Looking around to see if anyone else noticed, she spotted Sasuke using his Sharingan to mimic another examinees movements as well as Neji using his Byakugan. 'What the hell?!' She thought before realization struck her.
'"Rule number three. The sentinels you see positioned around the room... Are there to watch you carefully for any cheating. And for every incident they spot, they'll subtract two points from the culprits score. Be warned. Their eyes are extremely sharp. And if they catch you five times, you'll be dismissed before the tests are even scored."'
Amaya stared down at their test in disbelief. 'They're not deducting points for cheating.. they're deducting them for just being caught! Gah! I'm so stupid sometimes! They obviously want to see how well we'd gather and transfer information to our teammates! And if that's the case, they'll have someone planted in the room who knows all the answers...' She thought before deflating slightly. 'But the Yōso no Mage isn't useful in this type of scenario... Saa~ I'll just have to make it through this on my own.'
A hissing sound to her right caught her attention. Glancing over, Amaya saw sand swirling around in Gaara's palm. The redhead brought his free hand up to his eye, as if he were rubbing it, and Amaya could only watch in amazement as an eye formed in the boy's hand. Noticing her gaze, Gaara sent her an emotionless look as he crushed the eye in his hand, sending particles throughout the room.
'Ah.. even he has a way to get this done!' She thought disparagingly.
"Uh, excuse me!" A voice called out, and Amaya looked up to see Kankuro raising his hand.
"What is it?" A sentinel asked gruffly, sending the boy a hard look.
"Gotta use the can, sorry." Kankuro replied. The sentinel stared at him for a moment before standing up.
"We go with you, to make sure you're not up to anything." The Chunin informed, placing handcuffs on the boy's wrist before leading him out.
"That's perfectly understandable." Kankuro replied in a somewhat odd, cheerful voice.
As the sentinel led him past Amaya and Gaara's table, the boy sent her a nasty scowl to which she only smirked at. Irking him even more.
The next few minutes passed without a hitch, and before they knew it, Ibiki was standing in front of the classroom once more. "Alright! Listen up, here's the tenth and final question!"