While i was still contempleting which pizza toppings I would have loved the most in my past life, the familiar sound of a ninja poofing into the vicinity made me slowly turn my head towards the front of the classroom. Almost instantly, I raised a delicate eyebrow, expression shining with amusement and cockiness.

Well, finally Ibiki! Maybe Kakashi-sensei is starting a trend...

He already got me onboard anyways...

When the smoke cleared, all the occupants of the room were staring with wide eyes at the new arrivals. It was a bunch of older ninja, most likely chuunin, with a tall, dark and scarred man leading the group. His sharp glares and gruesome scars got some pansies to go white in the face. I noted all of this with an amused eyebrow still lifted.

Ibiki lowered his head slowly, casting his eyes into the shadow as a wide, patronizing grin slowly spread on his face. The whole room seemed to be holding its breath, waiting for any action by the obviously most important man here. I nodded my head with approval. His intimidation technique wasn't bad... but come on.

My last life was in a world where movies like the Saw movies and Town of Salem and the like could be casually watched, and one could also play games like call of duty, which seriously killed a lot of compassion and reverence for the importance of life in a lot of youths. So sorry ibiki... you're gonna have to do better than that. The children of my generation in my last world... well, we were some real crazies for gore and jumpscares. Its like, my domain. Right after my religion, multitasking, of course...

The thought made me frown.

Speaking of multitasking, I seem to have been slacking off lately...

Though in all fairness, in a few years, most of the kids in this room are going to become seasoned killers. So except for the fact that I've already committed murder multiple times and that I am literally a body of volatile and hateful chakra (and lets not forget the ultimate cheat ability, my all-encompassing black mist), I have nothing on them. Cuz let's face it, being actual ninjas (*cough* murderers *cough*) makes them much more badass than people that watch Game of Thrones and play call of duty. Sorry, but that's just how it is...

A sudden violent snap made my eyes focus back into reality. Ibiki had lifted his head again, eyes flashing dangerously from the shadows cast across his face from the lamps, his patronizing grin widening to seem almost inappropriate...

Okay Mr. proctor, I take it back. That grin is scary... DON'T MOLEST THE WHOLE CLASS NOW, HAVE SOME GODFORSAKEN DIGNITY MAN!

"LISTEN UP!"

At Ibiki's shout, everyone quieted down, their eyes now wary, some shocked, as they looked at the intimidating man standing up front. I widened my eyes, sparkles shining as I did my chibi mode. If I had a tail, it would be wagging.

No, my mood swings are not hard to follow. Don't speak of matters you don't know of, child.

"It's time to begin. I am Ibiki Morino, your proctor for this exam. And from this moment your worst enemy."

Gasps filled the room, and I saw people giving each other confused glances. I slowly shifted my eyes over all of them. My brows furrowed ever so slightly.

I can't see the grass nin that Orochimaru was supposed to take over... am I blind or is my memory just dead? Maybe he looks different...?

"Now listen up! I'll only say this once. There will be no combat between candidates without the permission of your proctor. Doing so is prohibited. Anyone who even thinks of messing with me, will be disqualified!"

He gave a particular glare at the sound-shinobi, who had been eyeing the rookie ten for a while now. I just gave the sound shinobi a dirty look and stuck out my tongue at them.

Those snake minions... bastards... well what can you do, tehehe~ I have the proctor on my side~

My eyes snapped back to the front when Ibiki spoke again.

"Now we'll proceed to the first stage of the chuunin exam. When you submitted your papers you all got a number; that's where you'll sit..."

I yawned. So boring... unless...

My eyes lit up when they landed on a certain murderous redhead. In a flash I was hanging from his neck, burying my face into his chest, a satisfied smile on my face.

"...and we'll start the written test once you're all seated."

I faintly heard Naruto falling to his knees and crying out in agony, but I was busy cuddling my darling panda. Gaara did nothing to push me away, in fact, he brought his hands to grab my waist to keep me from falling when I'll eventually tire (which, granted, I never will). Shukaku's sand wrapped around me in thin threads, Gaara probably not wanting to flaunt his power right at the start. His dead, black rimmed eyes looked at me coldly for only a moment before becoming gentle, his hand reaching to softly stroke my hair. I smiled up at him, basking in my parent's affection when a loud voice made me jump.

"CEI-CHAN! It's starting, get in your seat!"

I looked around briefly, and sure enough, almost everyone was already seated. The only exceptions being me, Gaara and Naruto who had stood up to shout at me. I patted Gaara's head softly before reluctantly releasing him and walking to my seat.

Once seated I turned to face the front. Ibiki cleared his throat once he saw we were all in our places.

"Alright, everyone, eyes front! There are a few rules you need to be made aware of, and I'm only gonna say this once, so you better pay attention!"

He hit the blackboard with a piece of white chalk, the sound grating at my ears.

"Rule number one; the written exam will be conducted on a point reduction system. Meaning, you all begin the test with a perfect score of ten points. For each answer you get wrong, one point will be deducted. Rule number two; Teams will pass or fail based on the total scores of all three members."

When he said that, I could clearly hear Sakura's head hitting her table. I'm sure, both her and Sasuke are currently drowning in utter despair... how sweet. My lips quirked into a slight smirk as I looked at Ibiki with more appreciation than before.

"Rule number three; the sentinels you see positioned around the room are there to watch you carefully, for any sign of cheating. And for every incident they spot, they will subtract two points from the culprits score."

More than one person let out sounds of confusion and surprise. I just closed my eyes and rested my chin on my hands, like Sasuke usually does.

Really, what's so hard to understand about this...?

"But be warned, their eyes are extremely sharp. And, if they catch you five times, you will be dismissed before the test is even scored. Anyone fool enough to be caught cheating by the sentinels, doesn't deserve to be here. If you want to be considered shinobi, then show us, what exceptional shinobi you can be."

Ibiki was smiling, but his smile seemed rather on the dark, dangerous side.

Well, he is with the torture and interrogation unit if I remember correctly... which means...

"One more thing! If any candidate should get a zero on the test, the entire team fails!"

I mentally high-fived myself.

I knew it! He would definitely torture people! I'm sure Sakura and Sasuke's hearts are crying tears of blood! And Naruto must be feeling ill enough to puke... Ibiki, you're good!

I started sending Ibiki smug looks, nodding my head along while repeating like a mantra in my head;

Oh, you're good. Really good.

"Also, the final question won't be given out before 15 before the end of the testing period. You'll have one hour total. Begin!"

The instant Ibiki gave the order, violent sounds of papers being turned ripped through the room. I casually flipped mine, my eyes scanning over the questions. And I frowned.

What joke is this?

If I remember correctly, in the anime, the questions given had been way too hard for genin to answer without cheating (excluding Sakura). But this...

What "Decode this code-message"? It just looks like English to me! What "calculate the angle you need to throw a kunai to hit the assigned target when you're at the top of an 8 meter tall tree"??? This is just a ninja take on basic trigonometry! F*ck, this is just pythagoras theorem! With some sine, cosine and tangent! Like come on. I learned this in what, the sixth grade?

Rolling my eyes, I let out a huff before grabbing the pen and getting down to it.

I take it back, Morino. You. Are. Not. Good. At. All. How is this sort of thing going to promote cheating?! Make it freakin' harder you amateur!!!

By the time I was done with the test, I was huffing and puffing with annoyance. Looking at the clock, the whole thing seemed to have taken me less than a full 15 minutes.

Since I had nothing better to do I leaned back on my chair and looked at the other participants, completely disregarding the sentinels questioning and somewhat flustered gazes. Running my eyes over the other participants, my gaze landed on a blond head, spiky hair even more messy than usual as he desperately tugged at his hair with his fingers.

Oh. I forgot about my teammates.

I looked at Naruto, who seemed to be really, really stressed out, his knees shaking and everything. My brows furrowed slightly in worry, and I looked over at Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura was earnestly concentrating on her test, the pencil flying. Looking at Sasuke, I was confused to see him sitting with his eyes closed. I tilted my head to the side, wondering what he was up to, when his eyes flew open. Crimson swirling in his eyes, he looked them onto an unsuspecting youth and his hand suddenly started moving in sync with the youth's, even though Sasuke's eyes never even looked at his paper, completely fixated on the youth in front.

A few realizations hit me at once.

First, Sasuke figured out the point of this test. And oh how smart he is about his cheating.

Second, he is really lucky. The person he is copying is a plant, and has all the right answers.

Third, neither he nor Sakura need my help, but Naruto could really use a miracle right now.

I looked back at the blond. He was still tugging at his hair, and I could see him shaking. He was in front of me, so I couldn't see his expression but I doubt it was good.

I mean, I know he'll still pass, plus, he'll make quite the impression on Ibiki when he leaves his paper empty...

....but on the other hand, I'm bored.

So, I let my mist slowly pool like shadows at my feet. The mist then slowly, unnoticeably, like a string of breath, made it's way over to Naruto. My lips tugged into a smirk.

This probably isn't the kind of cheating Ibiki had in mind...

I was sitting on the edge of my seat, my face pale and eyes swimming with tears.

This is bad. This is bad. This is bad. This is...

I clenched my fists and closed my eyes with frustration. This test was way to hard, and the only way out was to cheat. But, if I was caught, I could blow out and bring my whole team down with me! Sakura, that teme... and Cei...

I shook my head, refusing to think about it. The clock on the wall was ticking, the pressure almost making me choke.

But if I don't cheat, then I'll still get zero points... I'm out either way...

I was starting to feel depressed.

There's no way out of this...

I closed my eyes tightly, not knowing what to do, but refusing to face reality. Trying hard to come up with a strategy, I racked my brain only to be interrupted by the strangest sensation.

I've felt something similar before. A feeling welling up deep within me... this usually happens when I'm with Cei. But for some reason, I feel as if it's doing something else this time.

Urging me to look.

Opening my eyes, I was shocked. My test. It seemed to be covered in a slight layer of grey air? Maybe mist? Black lines were appearing on the paper, one after the other, the lines forming letters, which formed words and then sentences. I watched in awe and utter bliss as my test wrote itself.

I watched in fascination as my test started filling out, the writing skilled and elegant, the answers detailed and well formulated. Even if I couldn't produce it, I could still see quality when I see it. Especially when the quality is this obvious.

When the test was done, I watched with intense eyes as small lettering appeared at the corner of my paper. I squinted to read it.

There you go. Friends help each other out, ne~

Ceiren<3

My eyes widened in pleasant surprise as I turned in my seat, met the gaze of my gorgeous teammate and gave her a blinding grin, the happiness bubbling over in me. She smiled back with a little wave. Turning back to the front so as to not be accused of cheating, I looked at my paper with happiness.

Even when the teams busted for cheating were being called out and dragged out of the room, it did nothing to dampen my mood. I don't even care if we passed the exams so much anymore. I was happy.

After all, I had already received something much more valuable than the meaningless title of chuunin.