(A/N): Hi guys! Enjoy, sorry for the wait! Also. 103K!!!!!! 103k! I can't believe it! It's such an honor that so many people like my writing and have read it, it makes me so happy! Thank you all for the love and support!

"You, from the Sound Village! No doing as you please before the Exam!" The jounin proctor yelled, pointing at the Sound Village ninja that had attacked Kabuto. "You wanna be disqualified at the get go?!"

(Y/N) whistled. Hoho, this guy really called them out.

The Sound shinobi looked at the proctor, seemingly unfazed. "Sorry, it's our first time taking the exams so we flipped out... despite ourselves.

The jounin smirked and huffed, obviously not impressed with the excuse. "Hmph, this is a good opportunity, so I'll say this. There will be no battles, competitions and the like without the permission of the proctors!" Ibiki declared loudly. "And even with permission, actions that could lead to the death of an opponent will not be allowed!"

See I knew it! There is a no fighting rule! Good thing nobody saw Lee and Sasuke fight.. (Y/N) shivered a bit. Better not get myself disqualified.

"Any pig who screws with me will be disqualified immeaditely. Got it?!"

All the examinees stilled their movements and listened, suddenly hesitant to do anything. One of the Sound shinobi smirked, readjusting his cow print scarf. "This exam seems easy!"

Ibiki ignored them and got serious. "Now then; we will start the first test of the Chuunin Exam." He announced.

Excitement came of off (Y/N) in jitters, as she squirmed where she stood, moving her arms around. Yay!

"Turn in your applications, take one of these number cards in exchange and sit in the seat matching that number." Ibiki explained, taking out a number card as an example. "After that, we will hand out the paper for the written test!"

Naruto stilled, squinting at the proctor . "Written.. paper? Paper..." He mumbled. He looked at the jounin and spotted one of them with a stack of papers.

Naruto gasped and fell on his knees, wide eyed in shock and the feeling of knowing your certain doom.

"A PAPER TEST?!"

(Y/N) flinched, closing her eyes in a wince. Oh no.

I guess I should start preparing myself for the shame of not passing.

~~~><><><~~~

"There are several important rules to this first test. I will take no questions so listen well!"

(Y/N) stared at her sheet of paper and fumbled with the pencils that had been handed out to everyone. She was a bit nervous, to be honest It wasn't that she was bad at written tests, but usually, there wasn't so much depending on one! She fidgeted in her seat,glancing at Naruto, who sat all the way to her right, at least four seats away. It was clear that Naruto was panicking more than her as he pulled at his hair.
Oh hell. How is he going to pass?! We can't go on if one of us loses!

Sakura sat two rows behind them, furrowing her brows at Ibiki. Rules? No questions will be taken....?

Ibiki took out a piece of white chalk and started writing on the board, chalk tapping against it. "First rule: you are given ten points each from the start! The written test has ten problems in all, each problem is one point! And this test is a point deduction system; you are deducted one point for each problem you get wrong."

(Y/N) bit her pencil absently, furrowing her brows in thought. Ten problems?? Of what kind? This seems strange. We were given no topic, it could be about anything, and it is a point deduction system. If it's multiple answer it could be simple but still...hm.

"If you get threee points wrong, you get seven points!" Ibiki gave an example, as he finished writing on the board. "Second rule: pass or fail will be determined by the total points of the teams!"

Lightning struck her spine and (Y/N) cringed, tight smile on her face as she looked at Naruto wide eyed. Oh yea. We might be screwed.

Sakura bonked her head against the table, forehead turning red and fists clenched. "W-wait a minute! What do you mean total points of the teams?!"

"Shut up!" Ibiki replied in a shout, unbothered by the question. "There's a good reason for this. Shut up and listen!"

Sakura pursed her lips and shrunk back in her seat a bit, brows furrowed at the proctor. Reason...?

"If you've got it, here is the next rule; those who are deemed by the sentinels as having commited an act of cheating or something similar to that will have two points deducted for each act." Ibiki explained with a smirk, as the examinees gasped and glanced at the line of sentinels seated against the wall, observing all rows.

(Y/N) bit at her pencil, brows furrowed. It's almost like he's telling us we should cheat.

"In other words, there may be those who will be dismissed during this test without waiting for test grading." Ibiki said smirking, somewhat satisfied as all the youngsters suddenly panicked and bit their lips. "Know that those who commit awkward cheating will bring ruin upon themselves. If you aspire to become a Chuunin at all, know that Shinobi should act like exemplary Shinobi."

(Y/N) raised her eyebrows in realization, accidentally chipping off the end of her pencil. O-oooooooh! I get it! They are literally telling us to cheat!

"And in the case of even one person on the team getting zero points,
Everyone on that team will fail!"

Sasuke and Sakura gasped while (Y/N) just sunk in her seat.
W-what did he say?!?!
Ye. We're screwed.

Naruto shivered and hugged himself, flinching. I feel two menacing stares.

"By the way, the last problem will be given forty five minutes after the start of the test. The time for the test is one hour!" Ibiki finished his explanation, as examinees' gazes flew to the clock.
"Begin!"

(Y/N) immediately flipped the exam and studied the questions, biting her lip. As I thought. I can barely answer some of these, two or three give or take. The second one is so mathematical there's a huge chance I'll get it wrong. She chuckled a bit, eyes glinting. Just as I thought.
They really are telling us to cheat. There is no way that even half of the people here can answer these questions, even Sakura will have trouble with some despite her academic prowess.

So it must mean that among the students, there must be some that are actually chuunin and have the answers. The question is: how do I do it without getting caught?
Damn stealth is not exactly my forte.

She glanced at Naruto discreetly with her right eye, avoiding the gaze of the sentinels. Naruto was scrutinizing the questions, and seemed to panic more with each question, as he realized he had no friking idea. Damn, would have been easier if we were seated side by side. I at least could have explained that it really is about cheating. She could not look back at Sakura and Sasuke, but she assumed they were in better conditions. Sakura will be able to handle herself even without cheating, probanly. Sasuke is not good with theory, but I'm sure he'll be able to figure out the real purpose of the exam.

(Y/N) shrunk back a bit in her seat and gulped. Still though, how the hell am I supposed to do this?! Let's be smart about this; I can smell, see, and hear better than anybody else here, maybe I can use all my senses to the max and try to discern something.  Don't panic me myself and I, we can figure something out.

She gulped and closed her eyes, trying to concentrate and zone in on to something. First we gotta figure out who has the answers and who is closest to me. If I can pinpoint the few who are actually writing something down, and the ones closest to me, ideally in a row below mine, I can probably use my eyesight to focus onto their exam and see the answers, after all, my eyesight stretches much much further than a normal person's.
It's okay. There may be no techniques I know that can help me here, but I can use my own skills.
Grandpa taught me how to do this, I just have to slip into a high concentration state.

Focus.

(Y/N)'s eyes closed, she slipped into a meditative state slowly, focusing on the sounds of the pencils and starting to discard certain sources. Hinata and Naruto were talking quietly about the test; she tuned that out. A person at the very right end of her row was writing on the test incessantly, but was too far away. She discarded that one.

Slowly the cacophony of sounds she was hearing diminished, as she imagined herself turning down their volume, one by one, like different channels being turned off.

Deep in her concentration, she didn't allow herself to hear or be bothered as examinees started getting disqualified one after another as they got caught, their numbers being yelled out and the people dragged out of the classroom.
Soon, she had quieted all the channels but two; a boy with the answers two rows down, and another two rows up. The tapping of the two pencils was the only thing she could hear and she smirked a bit, as she tuned out the one two rows up; the sound became crystal clear.

The boy two rows down, was still writing the answer for the third question, having not finished the others. Sitting a bit to her right, it was the perfect angle.

(Y/N) opened her eyes and smirked. Perfect. I'll copy the rest as he answers them.

Without another second wasted, she set herself to work, all senses maxed out to see and hear every little thing the boy did. Her pupils became slitted for a second, as she pushed her eyesight beyond the normal human's and smirked like a cat who got the cream.
With quick strokes (Y/N) copied the answers, gaze perfectly angled so it just seemed like she was looking down at her desk in stress. She even furrowed her brows for show.

She had been stressed about it at first, but it was obvious by the point she was copying the fifth answer that the sentinels clearly were not noticing. Breezing through it, (Y/N) cheated like a damn master, copying each answer quickly and making sure to listen to the tapping of the pencil closely to catch any mistakes, ears and eyes trained on the boy like a hawk's. Soon, she put down her pencil and breathed heavily, a long sigh coming out of her lips.

(Y/N) breathed deeply and followed the same procedure as before to reopen her senses to the rest of the world; turning all the "channels" on and up, until she could hear everything once again and her eyes defocused. She blinked a bit tiredly, yawning and stretching.
Oh man, can't remember the last time I did that! Takes a lot of mental energy... She yawned and looked down at her test, verifying what she had written. She smirked proudly, and patted herself mentally.
You did well (Y/N), you did well.

She glanced around and her jaw dropped at the sudden decrease in people. I zoned out for a while and suddenly there is less than half the number of people left! Man, so many were caught! (Y/N) shivered a bit. Good thing I didn't get caught.

Ibiki Morino smirked and huffed a bit as he scanned the almost emptied out rows of examinees. I think we almost finished shaking off the losers. Then I guess I'll move on to the main issue. It has been 45 minutes, so I'll start.
"All right, here is the tenth question!"

The examinees snapped to Ibiki, pursing their lips, gasping in stress some, and smirking others. (Y/N) smiled confidently, sighing quietly. I got the first nine correct, so it's ok if I don't get this one right.

"But before that, I'm going to add some rules for the last question."

Huh?! (Y/N) exclaimed mentally, slamming a hand on her desk. Well what gives?!

The door creaked open and everyone turned around to see who had suddenly come in. Kitty Ears from Sand Village stood there with a suspicious looking proctor, blinking surprised to see that the atmosphere in the room had changed.
Ibiki smirked at the teen, "Lucky you. Looks like playing with the dolls wasn't a waste, after all?"

Clearly that meant something because the boy immeaditely tensed and scowled. But Ibiki didn't accuse him, only said, "Anyway, sit down."

(Y/N) whistled mentally at the exchange, brows raised. Ho damn that boy just saw his whole life flash past him. To be fair, I remember he is a puppeteer. His cheating technique is obvious. Even I can easily tell that that 'sentinel' isn't really a sentinel.

Once the boy was back in his seat Ibiki nodded minutely and hummed. "Let me explain then. These are the hopeless rules!"

Oh hell nah. I thought we were done with the tricks! (Y/N) resisted the urge to just slam her head on the desk, as she tensed and glanced at Naruto who seemed as tense as ever.

"First, you guys will have to choose whether or not you will take this 10th question!"

The examinees gasped and tensed in their seats. The blonde girl from Sand immeaditely clenched her fists and exclaimed, "Choose?! What happens if you choose not to take 10th question?!"

"If you choose not to take the exam, then your score will be zero. In other words, you fail! And of course, the same goes for the others in the same group!" Ibiki said, a sadistic smirk stretching out on his face.

Well what the heck?! That is a no-brainer! (Y/N)'s eyebrows twitched as she grit her teeth in frustration.

Exclamations and protests broke out in the classroom.

"What does that mean!"

"Of course everybody is going to take it!"

"This is ridiculous, as if we have a choice!"

Ibiki closed his eyes, ignoring them all. "And... one more rule."

The examinees quieted and stilled in their seats.

"If you choose to take it and are unable to answer correctly, then you will have to.." Ibiki paused for effect and then exclaimed, "Relinquish your right of taking the Chuunin Exam forever!"

(Y/N) felt her soul leave her body as she sunk in her seat and looked at the ceiling, smile twitchy. Oh yeah. Now we're seriously screwed. There is no way we'll be able to get it right. Unless it's another trick, like usual.

Clearly that was it for some, as Kiba stood up in anger and pointed at Ibiki, yelling, "What kind of ridiculous rule is that?! Besides, there are plenty of people here who have taken the Chuunin Exam many times!"

Ibiki started to cackle lowly, smirking at him. "You're just unlucky. I make the rules this year. But I did give you the option to go back. For those of you who aren't confident, you can choose not to take it and take the exam next year, or the year after that."

Sakura scowled, furrowing her brows. How awful! If one out of the three, chooses not to take it, then all three will fail. If you choose to take it but get it wrong...then that person will be a Genin for the rest of their life! No matter what, the odds are against us! It's an impossible choice for anyone with normal nerves!

Naruto panicked, wide eyed and clenched his fists. This was his one chance, everything was riding on this question.

(Y/N) scowled and glared at Ibiki, biting her lips. Dammit that makes no sense! She bit her knuckle in thought. Something's off. Again. Remember, all shinobi tests are usually tricky in one way or another, not because of the difficulty, but because they are not what they seem.

"Then, let's begin." Ibiki declared, giving them all a short pause. "The 10th question; those who will not be taking it, raise your hands! Once I confirm your number, I'll ask you to leave!"

Naruto was sweating bullets, gritting his teeth and shaking a bit. What kind of question will it be..? If I get it wrong, I'll be a Genin for the rest of my life! I don't want that! But if I don't take it, then I'll fail, Sasuke, Sakura-chan and (Y/N)-chan too! I don't want that either!

Sakura tensed in her seat, eyebrows furrowed and determined. I won't raise my hand. I'm confident I can get it right! But.. but Naruto, you're different! You should retreat this time even if it means to ignore us and think of your next chance to take the exam!

Quickly, people started to raise their hands, and one team after another left the classroom in shame and embarrassment, heads bowed. (Y/N) trembled in her seat, her foot tapping the floor incessantly, as she glanced at Naruto. If he raises his hand, we'll all fail, but if he doesn't and we get it wrong, we'll never be Hokage!

Naruto's team members started to sweat bullets themselves, as Naruto didn't raise his hand, even as teams left one after another. Just when Sakura was going to do it herself, Naruto raised his hand.

The three others gasped, and (Y/N) scrambled beside him in a moment, now that their row was practically empty. "W-wait Naruto-!" She exclaimed. She wasn't even sure what she should say, but she couldn't just give up for all of them like this!

And then Naruto did something that surprised everyone, as usual, and instead of keeping his shaky hand raised, he slammed it down on his desk. "Don't underestimate me! I won't run! I'll take it! Even if I'm stuck being a genin forever, I will become a Hokage no matter what it takes!"

(Y/N) gaped in awe at her friend, as he stood up and yelled, "I'm not afraid!"

Naruto sat back down, crossing his arms as if he was holding himself together. (Y/N) patted his back and released a sigh. He scared me for a hot minute there, thought we were toast.

Sasuke sighed in his seat, leaning back and crossing his arms. That guy wasn't even thinking of us at all! Such audacity!
Sakura smiled, eyebrows raised a bit, endeared by her teammate. That's right. That's the kind of fool you are!

"I'll ask again. It's a choice that will alter your life. If you want to quit, now is your chance!" Ibiki said, unfazed by the display.

"I'm not going to take back my words, that's my Ninja Way!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning. He was as nervous as possible, that was clear, but he was right. (Y/N) grinned in relief and patted his shoulder, saying quietly "Well said."

Ibiki huffed, amused. Huh, what a funny kid. He brushed away those kids' anxieties. Ibiki stepped forth, looking at the examinees. 78 huh? Lot more than I expected. It's going to be the same, no matter how much more I push it. He shared a look with the sentinels, and they all nodded in agreement.

"I like your determination! Then... for those that are still here.."

(Y/N) held her breath and grabbed Naruto's hand tightly, looking at him and nodding. We're doing it together or not at all. Naruto's tan cheeks tinted slightly pink and he squeezed her hand back, nodding too.
Always.

"The first exam...

You have passed it!"

Everyone froze in confusion and Naruto gasped. "Huh?"

(Y/N) had to resist the urge to jump and cheer and yell in victory, she only grinned widely and laughed, to everyone's confusion. Haha! I knew it! These kinds of things are always about some kind of quality you must have, personality or otherwise, they are always tricky, just like the bell test!
Sakura jumped up, and exclaimed, "H-hey, what does that mean?! All of a sudden you're telling us we passed! Wha about the 10th question!" Sakura said what everyone was thinking.

Ibiki smiled and laughed. "There wasn't such a thing to begin with! Well, you can look at the choice you just made as the 10th question!"

Sakura gasped, and the blonde girl from Sand furrowed her brows, yelling, "Wait! Then what were all those nine questions for?! It was just a waste of time!"

Ibiki looked away with a smirk, hands in the pockets of his coat. "Not waste. The objective of those nine questions was already accomplished; to test your individual ability to gather information!"
"Ability to gather information?" The blonde asked in slight confusion.

(Y/N) cut off her happy humming in favor of rolling her eyes and cutting in. How come nobody else ever gets this?!
"Of course, it was obvious from the start. In short, the rules and the system were made that way to incite us to cheat; they were literally telling us what the test was about and putting pressure on us from the start, evaluating our ability to stay calm under stress and calmly gather enemy information without getting caught." (Y/N) explained briefly, crossing her arms.
Naruto nodded repeatedly, crossing his arms too. "I see. I see. I kind of felt that was the point of the test. You're so smart (Y/N)-chan!" He said confidently, nodding and smiling, nervousness gone.

No, you didn't! Sakura's eyebrows twitched at the blonde boy.

To say that Ibiki was impressed would be cutting it short, as his eyebrows raised so high they almost disappeared under his headband. I see we've got a very smart analytic here. She'd be a brilliant spy. Ibiki studied the young girl for a second, skimming over her appearance and spotting the peak of a fang peeking out of her lips. Ah, makes sense. He nodded along and hummed in approval. "Precisely. This exam was created under the premise that you all would cheat!" He affirmed, glancing at (Y/N) and gesturing with his head. "I assume you know the exact number of people who actually had the answers then?"

(Y/N) grinned, shrugging. "There were two Chuunin who knew the answers; one closer to the board, one towards the back. We were meant to get the answers from them, and of off each other if possible."

Naruto jumped in his seat, jaw dropping and grabbing his head. WHAT! That's what it was!?

He chuckled nervously, as others bragged about their cheating and leaned back, sweating. "It was so obvious! There's something wrong with you if you didn't notice! Right, (Y/N)-chan, Hinata?"

(Y/N) and Hinata shared a look and pursed their lips, trying not laugh or giggle at him. 'Just play along with it' (Y/N) mouthed at Hinata behind Naruto. Sweet Hinata nodded with a small sweet smile.

Sasuke looked at Naruto with a deadpan, sweatdropping. He didn't... realize. At all.

"However, those who just foolishly cheated, naturally were disqualified." Ibiki explained, taking off his headband and revealing his bald head. "That's because information, depending on the time and situation, it will be more valuable than life. In a mission, or on a battlefield, you will always have to risk your life to fight for it!"

(Y/N) winced as she studied Ibiki's head, which was terribly scarred. Oh my dragon. That looks terribly painful. It looks like burn scars! Ands nail punctures...
Sasuke thought the same thing, wincing back. Horrible burn marks, nail punctures and scratches. Those are signs of physical torture!

Having made his point, Ibiki covered his head with his headband-which was similar to a shawl-once again. "When information is gathered and the enemy or a third party finds out about it, that information is no longer guaranteed to be correct. Just remember this."

"To be given the wrong information can bring a catastrophic blow to your friends and town. So that is why, out of necessity, we forced you guys to cheat in order to test your ability to collect information. And we filtered out those who were clearly lacking in those abilities." Ibiki explained.

(Y/N) closed her eyes solemnly, nodding. Of course. Getting wrong info and giving it to your allies without knowing it's wrong, could be disastrous in any situation. It's always wiser to verify.
The blonde girl from Sand had shrunk a bit, scowl turning into a frown. "But... The last question doesn't make any sense."

"However, the last question was the main issue of this first exam." Ibiki said, shrugging openly.

Naruto raised his brows in confusion and leaned into (Y/N), whispering, "Hey (Y/N)-chan, what does that mean?"
(Y/N) smiled slightly and chuckled fondly. She replied in a quiet whisper, "Well, if you were on a real mission, you must decide whether to take it or not. You might want your life spared, your partners may be put in danger. But you cannot actually get away from risky or dangerous missions, it is just not possible. Same with the last question; you failed either way and there was really no real choice to it. Showing courage, getting through the hardships and supporting your teammates in those situations is what's important."

Naruto hummed in understanding, nodding along as Ibiki explained the same thing loudly. "I get it I get it." Kind of.

"In a pinch, there are those who cannot risk their own fate, and those who waver and give up their chances because they think they will have another chance. I believe that such fools who don't have strong determination have no right to become a Chuunin!" Ibiki explained his reasons, and the reality of it. The tests were always made to not only test actual combat skills and jutsu, but also the mind and the qualities of the test takers.
"For those of you who chose to take the question, you can say that you have successfully answered the 10th question! You shall be able to take on the adversity that may lie in your way; you're passed through the gates!" Ibiki concluded with a smile.

"The First Phase of the Chuunin Exam has been completed!" Ibiki declared, smiling at the examinees. "I wish you well."

Naruto jumped and cheered loudly, jumping up and down and punching the air, "All right! Wish us well! I did it! I did it! Yeah!"
(Y/N) jumped up with him and laughed loudly, throwing her arms up. "Hell yeah we did it! Haha, take that you stupid piece of paper!"

Ibiki chuckled in amusement at the two as they jumped and cheered loudly, much to the chagrin of their former classmates. What a funny kid that one. And that Ryudo girl will grow to be brilliant, I am sure. It is not often an analytical brain like that comes along. He smiled, and then snapped towards the window, as a shadow came closer.

The glass shattered and in came rolling a woman, throwing kunais at the ceiling. A brown cloth stretched out from them and fell, revealing a sign.

Naruto gaped. "W-what's going on?!" What now?!
(Y/N) blinked in surprise at the display. So soon?

"You guys! This isn't the time to be celebrating!" The woman exclaimed as she landed, hands on her hips. She wore a fishnet dress and a somewhat skirt with a beige trenchcoat that almost covered her leg armor. Spiky hair in a ponytail, she slammed her hand on her sign.

"I'm the proctor of the second exam; Anko Mitarashi!" The woman yelled at them. "Let's go to the next phase, the next! Follow me!" She yelled loudly, raising her first high.

(Y/N) sighed and pouted. Oh dang it. I guess that means we're not getting any rest. My mind is still pretty tired from the state I had to slip into.
Hope my senses recover soon from the exhaustion of being focused on one thing too long.

Wouldn't be good if I got caught off guard in a battle.