Asami POV

Iroko was in trouble. The proctor stood before him, peering over his desk like some hunter to a cornered prey.

"What are you looking at down there?" the proctor asked.

Iroko was quick. He immediately shot the notes into the sleeves of his jacket.

"Ah, nothing, sir!!" he replied, trying to maintain himself, I could tell.

"Really, now?" the proctor smiled. "Then you wouldn't mind if you rolled down sleeves, would you?"

"Haha, of course not!" Iroko rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He stood up from his chair and did as the proctor desired.

There was nothing there. He had slid the notes down his sleeve and into the inner parts of his sleeve. I heard Yuura behind me tense up then relax.

Ibiki-sensei looked almost disappointed but he did not push the matter further.

"I've got my eyes on you," he said to the brickhead and then returned to his desk.

As Iroko sat back down I breathed a sigh of relief. We still had a chance to pass this portion of the Exams.

But it made me wonder why I felt this way. Why did I care so much if we passed or we failed? Had I already... begun to care about the three of us? It's as Hisao-sensei had said; we've been a team for one whole month and have gotten stronger together. It was inevitable that I would start to feel this way...

But as to whether or not this was a good thing, I had yet to find out.

For the time the proctor was watching us I continued to answer the test. As I was on the tenth question, even I could tell it was getting harder and harder. I estimated, based on what the questions looked like, that I would have to start logically guessing by around the sixteenth or seventeenth. That wasn't good enough to pass, and I sincerely doubted Yuura or (to a much greater degree) Iroko were better off. Which meant the only other sound way was the plan I had in mind.

The moment Ibiki-sensei's gaze left us for at least 5 seconds I hurriedly wrote two more notes and slid it to Iroko and Yuura.

For this plan to work, the two

of you need to mind your own

business and continue to write the test.

Just before his gaze came back in our direction, I wrote one more for them.

I'll take care of it.

Going back to what I had said in the first note, I meant it when I had said it wasn't him that could tell they were cheating and that his words about being the only sentinel were only half-true.

In truth, there were actually hidden surveillance cameras all around the classroom, most likely at every corner of it, and he had some sort of device that gave him eyes through it.

I was able to discern this based on how every time he crossed his arms he would glance at his wrists. The last time he did that right afterwards he went to that genin and failed him. Realizing this, and testing my theory, I had taken to writing the notes in such a way that the surveillance cameras in the four corners of the classroom wouldn't notice me. So far, I hadn't been caught which meant I was right.

Now it was just a matter of staging my plan to get the Answer Key off of him. Thirty minutes had passed. If I was going to do this, it had to be soon. What I needed right now was a good enough distraction to get his eyes off of the Answer Key, his device and our general direction.

Some more time passed, and the opportunity still hadn't presented itself. I had reached the sixteenth question and was now forced to start guessing the answers. All around me, I had noticed a handful of other genin deploying other tactics to cheat and pass the test. Some were making use of their Hiden techniques and others the natural objects in their environment.

Over half of those genin failed. Ibiki-sensei had eyes on every single one of us. He was constantly vigilant and did not slack for even a minute. The classroom size that was once around thirty was now reduced to over ten. Anyone else that had wanted to cheat was discouraged. But at 30-minute mark, they had begun to turn in their tests. I was now on the last few written response questions but I still didn't feel satisfied. I was bound to have failed the last few. Glancing on my left, Iroko looked brain-dead and on my right was a profusely sweating Yuura.

Where are you...?

After more time had passed, a genin suddenly raised their hand. It was Kazue Katsumi.

"What is it?" said Ibiki-sensei.

"I wanna use the washroom," Kazue blatantly spoke.

Ibiki-sensei could hear the attitude in his voice. He made a scoffing noise. "Well, go on then."

Kazue gradually stood up from his chair and made his way to the door, earning looks of worry from his teammates Tensho Hyuga and Jin Mitarashi.

Just as he had approached the door and made a movement to open it, he stopped short. Ibiki-sensei saw this.

"Hey, there's something wrong with this door," he turned around and said.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I mean it ain't opening," Kazue reiterated.

Ibiki-sensei gave disgruntled sigh. "Listen here, you brat. Quit playing around--"

"Fine, guess I'll just blow it up then."

"What? No!! Don't be an idiot!!" Ibiki-sensei left the desk to go deal with Kazue.

At that moment the hot-tempered boy had looked me right in the eyes and immediately I knew what he meant.

My opportunity.

There was no time to waste. Ibiki-sensei would be busy dealing with Kazue, too busy to even look at his device.

Ram --> Snake --> Tiger "Clone Jutsu." A perfect replica of myself then appeared beside me in a motion of taking the test. I slid the paper and pencils in its hands.

Now, move, Asami!!

As quietly as a mouse, I leapt out of my desk.

"A-Asami!" Iroko half-whispered. I immediately shushed him.

I spun around. The Answer Key was about five rows of desks ahead. Ibiki-sensei was another five rows behind. I had less than 10 seconds. This was it. Years of Anbu training were to be put to use once again. I dashed forth on the heels of my feet so as to make almost no contact with the floor.

"You have exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes to answer them. In that time you are not allowed to directly communicate with your teammates or anyone around you. You are also not to be caught cheating by me. If you do your whole team fails the Test."

Everything he said there was practically encouraging us to cheat in some way. The main purpose of this Written Test is to see how well we can gather information under harsh circumstances.

And the Answer Key is the ultimate prize.

I saw nothing else but the Answer Key before me. Blotting everything else out of my vision, I made a beeline straight for it.

"Here, now the door opens."

"Tch, that took up a minute of my time."

"Like I care. Just hurry up!"

Damn! I jumped off of the forefront desk just before the Answer Key and reached out to grab it in that same second.

That's when I saw another hand reach out for the Key. It was another genin who had probably seen this as the perfect opportunity as well.

If I were to crash into them we were screwed, but if I failed to grab the Answer Key here and now, we were screwed anyway.

I made my choice. I veered away from the direction of the Key and rolled smoothly off the desk, then hid right under it. The other genin crashed straight onto Ibiki-sensei's desk, grabbing the Answer Key.

This caught the proctor's attention as soon as Kazue had disappeared.

"Ha!!!" he exploded. "I applaud you for the attempt! It was cleverly planned and executed!"

The genin's teammates were wailing in defeat. They walked out of the door in defeat, Ibiki-sensei taking back the Answer Key from them. I was still under his desk, his feet right in front of me.

"I think for the remainder of this test I'll hold on to this," he smiled, tucking it into his left arm.

I've failed, I thought. There's no way for me to obtain it now. Once he either sees me down here or notices my clone it's over. And to think I was willing to go this far for them...

The next thing that happened had surprised me.

Not because it happened, but because it did happen.

A blue blur flashed right past Ibiki-sensei from behind him, for everyone else it was impossible to make out who or what that was but I knew perfectly who it was. The speed at which he came was so great that it roused the air from behind Ibiki-sensei enough to draw his attention.

He darted his body around suddenly, lowering the arm that held the Answer Key and leaving it dangling in a loose grip.

Iroko...

It was now or never. While he was dazed, I moved out. I took the Answer Key with such precise and delicate handwork that to him he would not have felt anything.

As soon as I had them in my hand I couldn't lose even a millisecond. I sprang out of there and propelled myself to my desk using the wall.

I then noticed that the exact path I was using was covered in water all the way up to my seat.

Yuura...

I landed effortlessly on the water and slid my way back to my seat in faster time than when I had run before.

Ibiki-sensei was turning around.

I dispelled my clone then regained my spot between the two of them.

He stared at the three of us. We went on with the test as though nothing had happened. Then he noticed that the Answer Key was no longer in his hand. He looked down at his device and then smiled as if knowingly.

There was only fifteen minutes left.

Surprisingly, the proctor walked over to our table. He looked down at us, still smiling. I could feel a bead of sweat run down my face.

Did he still catch us?

"Congratulations," he said, "you three pass with flying colours."

Disbelief surged through me for a moment.

"Wait? Really?!" Iroko exclaimed.

"B- Bu.. we haven't even finished taking the test!" Yuura indicated.

"You still managed to obtain the Answer Key, so you might as well use it to finish the test, right?" Ibiki-sensei said.

"So the main goal was to cheat, after all!" Iroko beamed.

"It was one of the goals," the proctor corrected him. "The other was teamwork. While it's true I vastly encouraged you to cheat, the aim of it was to do it as a team. That's why if I failed you, it would be along with your team. If you tried to act alone and you failed, it would have cost you both the test and the trust your comrades had in you and each other; if you acted alone and you succeeded you would have passed but you would have sacrificed the faith you had in your comrades.

He looked at me. "You were dangerously close to that. If it wasn't for the fact that you had teammates that wouldn't let you fall alone, you would never have even passed."

"So you knew then?" I asked.

The proctor nodded. "One thing you didn't realize was that I could play back the footage of the cameras."

Ah, I see...

"But, sir, how come you're allowing us to use the Answer Key even if you knew?" Yuura questioned.

"Firstly, I didn't know until after you had pulled your little stunt," he answered, "and second, because you deserve it: It's been a while since I saw a team that was as willing to sacrifice everything for the other as you three. That kind of thing is unfortunately rare nowadays."

Ibiki-sensei walked away. "Well, what are you waiting for? You've got ten minutes, get those answers in!"

"Yes, sir!" Iroko and Yuura declared.

In the time we spent using the Answer Key to fill out the answers, I discovered that Yuura had gotten as far as the eighteenth question and had about half of the answers correct while Iroko had gotten as far as the twelfth question and only got five of them right.

"Don't judge me..." he whimpered.

Kazue had also returned from the washroom at some point, most likely when I was still under the Ibiki-sensei's desk. He and his team had turned in their tests some five minutes before us. I suspect that even before that they had already figured the test out in someway and Kazue heading to the washroom was for another reason.

At last, the time came, and the clock ran out.

"And that's time!!" the proctor announced. "Whoever's still writing, stop, and turn in your papers!! This concludes the Written Test! The next phase of the Chunin Exams will be held at the forest west of the Academy! Make your way there now!!"

The only other genins to pass in this classroom apart from Team 12 and Team 4 was a three-man squad from the Cloud Village. They looked about our age: one was dark of skin like Iroko but with blond hair that covered an eye and his teammates looked like identical twins with only their hair and eyes to distinguish them.

There would be other genins from the other classrooms that would have passed and were making their way to the back of the Academy as well. But Team 12 would be one of them.

What will happen now? I wondered.

Iroko POV

"Whew!!" I wiped the brow of my forehead. "I am so glad to be out of there!!"

"Me, too!" said Yuura. "I didn't know if we would make it or not!"

"Speak for yourself, man," I said. "There was no way I could've passed," I turned around to look at Asami, "if it wasn't for you at least."

She shook her head, ignoring my compliment. "It was Kazue that had created the opening for me."

We exited the gates of the Academy and stepped out into the light of Leaf Village, walking down the street to the forest just as Ibiki-sensei said.

"Huh? Kaz? What do you mean he created an opening for you?" I asked.

"I don't think he ever meant to use the washroom as a means to cheat if that were the case he would have done so long before already. The scenario with the door was meant to distract the proctor long enough for me to reach the Answer Key," she explained. "If it weren't for him, we would have failed, but what's unclear now is what he would've stood to gain from helping us."

I turned away from her and looked up at the cloudy but still blue sky. "Yeah, Kaz can be like that I guess. It's tough to get inside his head, know what he's thinking ... and just when you thought you knew him, he pulls out a completely different card."

"Experience?" Asami asked.

I smiled. "I guess you could say that."

"We've all known each other for about four years now," Yuura added. "It'd be strange if we weren't at least acquainted with each other."

"And yet, I've only known you two for a month," Asami continued. "But you were still willing to help me even against my wishes."

"Uh, duh!" I retorted. "We're a team now, and we're friends!"

"Hisao-sensei said it himself: We have to have faith in each other!" said Yuura.

Asami said nothing more.

"Still, one can't help but wonder what this next test is," Yuura went on. "We're heading to the forest just west of the Academy, right? Isn't that where the Forest of Death is?"

I gulped. "Yuura, I think you may be onto something."

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

And sure enough, Yuura was right.

It was the Forest of Death we were staring at right now. Before the massive sized trees were fenced walls that encased them all around, wired with barbed wires at the top. There were also five small booths posted at different areas before the fence.

Standing the area itself were about fifty or so genin, including us. It seemed like the Written Test must have been held in other classrooms and these were the passers from those classes. I could hear strange things lurking behind those trees. Dangerous things...

"Um, um, is it t-too late to turn back?" Yuura stuttered.

Before I could answer him, to my surprise, I caught sight of Itsuki a ways away.

"Hold that thought!" I said to Yuura and ran towards the green-haired kid.

"Itsuki!!" I called out to him. When he heard me, he turned around in my direction and seemed surprised.

"Iroko?" he said. "So it seems you're taking the Chunin Exams, too."

"Oh, yeah, I didn't tell you, did I?" I laughed. "But it looks like your team passed the Written Test alright."

He nodded and pointed to one of his teammates who wore a hat. "This one had to be carried, though."

"Hey, you shut your damn mouth, Miura!!" the guy retorted. His gaze turned to me with a strange kind of determination in them. "You're that guy Itsuki was talking to earlier, right? Make no mistake, I won't lose to you either! I'm coming out on top of this whole thing!!"

"Will you quiet down?" the girl with sandy brown hair said to him.

"Ah, whatever you say," I replied. Sheesh, what's his deal?

"Sorry about him," Itsuki spoke. "His name's Genzo Murakami, his grandfather was the Third Kazekage of our village so he grew an ego because of it."

"What's there not to be proud of, hm?" Genzo flaunted.

Itsuki ignored him. "And that's Ena Kishida."

The sandy-brown haired girl held her hand out to me. "Nice to meet you!"

"Same here!" I replied and shook her hand. Upon closer look, I could just make out her wide and innocent-looking eyes behind her bangs to be a bright and startling orange-red colour. She was actually really cute.

"Iroko, who are they?" I heard Yuura come up and say, with Asami behind him.

"Oh, perfect timing guys!" I said. "This is Itsuki; I sorta met him while stopping a perpetrator once, and these are his teammates Genzo Murakami and Ena Kishida. And this is my team: he's Yuura Kairi and her at the back over there is Asami Senju!"

Yuura warmly replied. "Nice to meet yo--"

"WOAH, HOLD ON A SECOND, IROKO!!!" Genzo just out of the blue shouted. Somehow he was suddenly beside Asami. "I didn't know there was a cutie like her on your team!! We'd have been friends long ago!! Asami, was it? How's about once these Exams are over we hang out sometime, yeah?"

Everything Asami would possibly have been thinking at that moment was, for once, made plain as day on her face: Disgust.

I would've intervened so as to prevent Asami from killing Genzo but Itsuki was five steps ahead of me.

"Drop that for once, will you?" He said as he grabbed him by the nose and pulled him away from Asami.

"AH-AH, LET GO OF MY NOSE, ITSUKI!!!" Genzo cried.

"As soon as you behave yourself."

Ena sweatdropped and said: "Yeah, we're a pretty bizarre team, but whose isn't?"

"You said it," I agreed.

Soon after, our conversation was brought to an end when a swarm of insects came down from the sky, and I mean a swarm of them, like a locust or something. They descended down on the genins and flew in between, around and through all fo us, creating commotion and turmoil.

What the hell? Has the next phase already begun?! I thought, trying to swat them out of my face.

Suddenly, they ceased to exist, drastically dropping in number as if they were never there to begin with.

But a tall man was now standing before us at the front of the fence. His head was hooded but we could see him wearing shades over his eyes and a sombre expression. All eyes and ears were on him now.

"Good day," he began. "My name is Shino Aburame, and I'm here to usher you all into the next phase of the Chunin Exams."

Shino Aburame? That rings a bell.

"First of all, allow me to congratulate you on having passed the Written Test. I was well aware of how difficult it might have been for some of you. But let me warn you not to get a big head just because you passed that. Going into his this next test, you'll have to set aside your self-respect. You'll have no use for that here. This next phase you're going into is the Forest of Death."

"I knew it...!" Yuura sobbed.

"I'll tell you now, if you go in there feeling all high and mighty, you will die," he pointed at the trees and what lay beyond. "Inside that forest are animals and high-level traps that will pose a risk to your life if you overestimate yourself and underestimate your environment. To ensure your survival you must learn to place trust not in yourselves, but your teammates. Here are the rules."

Shino-sensei pulled out two types of scrolls, on one was the kanji for 'Heaven' written on it and on the other 'Earth'.

"Here we have two scrolls. One is an Earth scroll and the other is a Heaven scroll. Roughly half of you will receive an Earth scroll per team, and the other half will receive the Heaven scroll. Your objective is to cross through the Forest of Death to a tower in the centre of it and deliver the scroll there. But you must deliver both a Heaven and an Earth scroll."

"So if someone gets an Earth scroll we have to steal a Heaven scroll from another team?" Itsuki pointed out.

"Precisely," said Shino-sensei. "Furthermore, you are NOT, under any circumstance, to open the scroll and reveal its contents until you have reached the tower."

"What happens if we do?" a genin asked.

"You fail this portion of the Exams. A chunin ninja must learn to transport information classified to even them without succumbing to the temptation of opening it. That's how international wars are started."

"Okay, let me see if I've got everything right," I started. "We have either a Heaven or Earth scroll, and we have to steal another team's scroll that would be the opposite of ours and transport them to a tower in the centre of the forest, while avoiding or defeating other teams, traps and vicious, potentially man-eating animals in said Forest."

"Correct," said Shino-sensei.

Genzo dropped to the ground. "We're gonna die."

"Hey, no we're not!!" Ena responded.

"Now to explain some key information that may benefit you: You have the whole day to reach the tower with both a Heaven and Earth scroll. If you should lose your scrolls you have not failed; you can still steal another teams' and get it to the tower within the allotted time.

"The only way to get yourself disqualified are either fatally hurting or killing a teammate, your opponent or a non-participant. Those are the rules. Any questions?"

From the back I saw Daito Odachi raise his hand.

"When you reach the tower and you've handed in the scrolls what happens then?"

"You'll know when you get there," said Shino-sensei. "Alright, if everyone is satisfied then head over to one of the five standing booths, one team at a time, to receive a scroll. Once you have received a scroll, head over to an assigned gate and wait for the signal to enter the Forest. Good luck to you all."

"Well, I guess I'll see you either in the Forest or after," I said to Itsuki.

Itsuki nodded. "Don't lose (or die, for that matter)."

"Same to ya!"

"I'll see you later, okay, Asami? Bye!!" Genzo waved at her as they left.

"Your first admirer, huh?" I chuckled.

"Not another word."

As we walked into a booth, a jonin ninja welcomed us and presented us with three document forms.

"Uh, what's this?" I asked.

"Oh, just need your signature or initials as consent to some risks you'll face."

As I picked up the form and began reading over it, I began to realize that this was most definitely no ordinary test. We really could die doing this. Neither Shikamaru-sensei or that guy Shino-sensei were playing around.

But I still signed it anyway. I've already had my fair share of life-threatening situations so I know the risks of being a ninja, I have for ages now, so if I was gonna pack it up and call it day I would've done so already but I've declared that there isn't anything or anyone that can stop me and I'm keeping to it!

Beside me, Asami was signing the paper as well. It was Yuura that took the longest. He was incredibly hesitant but he managed to put down his fear and sign it. We gave the forms to the jonin who seemed quite surprised.

"Wow, you guys didn't take that long, huh? Most other teams would think three times before accepting."

I grinned. "Let's just say we've conquered our fears."

"I hope so," they said. "Here's your scroll and map. You guys are waiting at gate number 7. Good luck!"

While Asami took the map, I was the one to receive the scroll and we saw that it was an Earth scroll. That meant we would have to steal a Heaven scroll from someone.

Just as we were exiting the booth, Kaz and his team walked in.

"Hah? To think I'd even walk into the same booth as you!" he boasted.

"What the hell? How do you guys even do that?" came Tensho.

In that moment, I saw Kaz's eyes look down to what was in my hand. Realizing, I hid the scroll behind me as fast as I could.

Crap!! Did he see it?!

"Hey, don't hold others from coming in!" the jonin called out to us.

"Ah, right, sorry!!" I voiced. "Come on guys, let's go!"

Crap, crap, crap!!! Did he see our scroll? If he did there's a chance he could come after us!! But that all depends on if he gets a Heaven scroll. I mean, what are the chances that he actually gets a Heaven scroll? But if he does--

"Iroko!!" Yuura shouted

"H-huh?"

"Is everything alright? You spaced out for a minute there."

"Yeah, I'm fine, just wondering what are strategy should be. So this is Gate 7?"

On top of a series of giant metal bars was a board with the Number 7 posted on it and two lights beneath the number. One was a red light and the other a green light. The red light was currently on and was glowing while the green light remained dim. I guessed once the green light glowed instead, the gate would open and we could go in.

"Yeah, this is it," Yuura replied. "Going back to what you said, we do need a strategy to take a Heaven scroll from someone. Any ideas?"

Asami spoke. "Since we don't know who might have a Heaven scroll, our only option is to make the best bet and just target someone."

"But who do we know might have a Heaven scroll?" asked Yuura. "Maybe we could after Itsuki's team. It's a bit of a long shot but we don't really have much to go on here..."

"If that's your answer, then I'll just have to find out for myself."

"This isn't over."

"Yuura, I'm gonna give the scroll to you," I stated.

His eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, what?" I didn't wait for his approval, I pulled out his hand and placed the scroll in it.

"Wait, wait!!" he exclaimed. "Wh-why? Why would you give it to me?"

"Because Kaz is gonna come after me," I answered.

"What reason would he have to?" Asami questioned. "He doesn't know what scroll we ha--"

"Yes, he does." I gritted my teeth. "When we left the booth just then and ran into him, he looked down at the scroll. I tried to hide it from him, but I don't know if I was fast enough. If he knows what scroll we have and his team gets a Heaven scroll then he's definitely coming after me, moreso since I was the one holding it.

"He's been looking for a reason to fight me and he just got it. If I know him, he's not gonna pass it up, which is why I'm giving it to you, Yuura. If his team has a Heaven scroll then that's also our chance to take theirs. Giving it to Asami would be too obvious, so I'm believing in your strength to protect it when they least expect it.

"Kaz is gonna be hellbent on just fighting me, so I doubt he'll have the Heaven scroll with him. It'll be with either Tensho or Jin. So while I'm busy with Kaz, you guys can confront his teammates as they confront you. It's one heck of a risk, but it's best possible chance right now to get a Heaven scroll this early in the test. What do you say?"

"But if either Tensho or Jin have the Heaven scroll and they go after me and Asami isn't it better if you have it?" Yuura countered.

I shook my head. "I... I don't want anyone to get in our way. This is the one opportunity we have to settle things between us. He's thinking the same thing, I just know it. I want to know where things got stale between us--"

"And the real reason why?" Asami interrupted.

Yuura was confused. "What? What do you mean, Asami?"

"You're willing to sacrifice everything on this fight, aren't you? If Yuura and I do manage to get the Heaven scroll, you want us to go on ahead to the tower without you, don't you? Since there was no rule that says losing a teammate results in disqualification you're prepared to drop everything to see this fight through to the end."

Damn. She read me like a book. There's no way you could know my innermost thoughts like that without actually knowing me. Who are you, Asami?

I couldn't think of an answer since she was directly on the mark. I was being selfish, I knew, but I just needed so badly to know where things went wrong between me and Kaz.

"Iroko..." I heard Yuura breathe. Suddenly he viciously grabbed me by the shirt with both hands. "DON'T YOU DARE! YOU ARE COMING BACK TO US, YOU HEAR ME? IF YOU DON'T, THEN I'LL COME AND GET YOU MYSELF! 'HAVE FAITH IN EACH OTHER', THAT'S WHAT HISAO-SENSEI SAID! 'WE'RE A TEAM AND WE'RE FRIENDS' THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID!

He calmed down and loosened his grip on my shirt. "I know this is important to you, but aren't we also important to you?"

I inwardly gasped. "Of course...!"

"Then promise me and Asami that you'll try to come back! Promise us you won't let Team 12 meet its end here!"

"I-- I promise!! On my Ninja Way!!" I proclaimed.

Yuura nodded and let go of my shirt. He gripped the scroll he had tightly. "Then let's do this!"

The green light glowed and a sound like an alarm went off. The bars of the gate began to lift. We dashed through, beginning the Forest of Death test.

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