A Hatred That Will Never Bloom Into Friendship
A Hatred That Will Never Bloom Into Friendship
“Alright, listen up! The time for the tenth question has come.”
Anticipation and fear swells up in the place.
‘This is it. The moment everyone’s been waiting for,’ I think nonverbally, with an unsure smile.
“But before I give you the last question, there are some more rules in which you need to be aware of.”
Groans of impatient students sound off.
“These rules are important, so shut-up and pay attention!” Ibiki sensei crosses his arms behind his back. “Rule number 1, each of you will have a choose not to be given the final question.”
“What?” I exclaim.
“Whoa! Hold on now!” Temari, this time, made the outburst. “Are you really saying that we that we can choose not to be given the tenth question? I don’t believe it. There has to be some sort of catch!”
Ibiki sensei smirks. “If you choose not to be given the tenth question, then you will receive a zero and fail, which incidentally means that your teammates fail as well.”
An unnerving silence falls over the room.
Ibiki sensei continues. “And if you do choose to answer the final question but get it wrong, then you will not only fail…you will be banned from ever banned taking the Chunin Exam ever again!”
“What the hell..!” someone shouts from behind me.
Lloyd jumps up in his seat. “Hey, that’s complete b.s! That’s bogus!”
Kiba joins in. “Yeah, there is a lot of people who have already took this exam! That’s not fair!”
Ibiki sensei only laughs. “Yes, that is true, but this year I am the one who is making the rules now. Of course, if you feel uneasy about the question, then skip it. You can always come back again next year then. Just raise your hand and the centennials will take down you and your teammates number and then you will be free to leave.”
‘Of course Lloyd is not backing down,’ I contemplate surely. ‘Rakuyo and I aren’t going to either…which means were gonna’ try our luck with the question. Oh boy, this is so heart racing.’
A boy next to Naruto shakily raises his hand. “I just can’t do this.”
“Number 15, fail!”
“Numbers 56 and 30, that means you fail also.”
The other two teammates get up, with angry and belittling expressions on their faces. The three walk out of the room, and silence befalls everyone again.
I wish I hadn’t looked over at him, but I did. Naruto was trembling, even more at this point, and it made me feel even worse. What was he going to do?
Sakura’s P.O.V
‘Come on, Naruto, raise your hand. Sasuke and I will be all right. Just think about yourself now. Come on. Just raise your hand.’
She looks more closely at him, and sees his body shaking more and more with each passing second.
“Naruto…” she says aloud. ‘I’m sorry, Naruto. But I can’t let you do this. I guess it’s just your nature. Your just stubborn is all. So I’m going to…’
End of Sakura’s P.O.V
From the corner of my eye I notice Sakura raise her had just a bit, but she stops when…
I gasp. No, this wasn’t true. Naruto had raised his hand.
“Naruto,” I whisper under my breath, completely baffled. This couldn’t be true. The Naruto I knew wouldn’t quit like this. The Naruto…I looked up to wouldn’t dare even let it cross his mind. He always talked about his dream of becoming Hokage, and about never giving up so that it would become a reality. But I guess not…
Naruto slams his hand down on the desk then. “You really think I’m gonna’ quit, then think again! I don’t quit and I don’t back down! I don’t care if I stay a genin forever…I’m still going to be Hokage!”
I feel a twinge of guilt in thinking that Naruto really was going to give up, and that I had doubted him. But a new surge of confidence replaces the feeling quickly.
“That kid sure has a lot of guts,” Sasuke mutters lowly. I look sideways at him.
‘Extraordinary. It seems the outburst from this kid has given everyone else some backbone. 78 of them are left, but I think this is it.’ Ibiki sensei clears his throat. “Alright, there is just one more thing, and that is to tell you all…that you passed the first exam!”
Everyone’s mouths seemed to drop open at the same time.
I shake my head back and forth. “What? What do you mean we pass? What happened to the last question?” This just didn’t make any sense.
He laughs. “There never was one, not a written one at least. Your decision to stay was the right answer to the tenth question.”
“So, the other nine questions were just a waste of time, huh?” Ino asks loudly, well more like shrieks loudly.
“No, those nine questions were developed to test your ability on how to gather strategic information under the most complicated circumstances. My objective was to test and observe you as a team. That’s why the test was scored on a team basis, and how you functioned with that team. These questions were hard, so hard in fact that they demanded cheating.”
He goes on to talk about the importance of a team and teamwork. I smile in reverence at his speech, taking it all in word for word.
Ibiki sensei smiles at us all. “There’s nothing more to say then to wish you all good luck.”
“Woo-hoo!” Naruto exclaims happily. “Huh?”
The window to Ibiki sensei’s right shatters and a woman comes crashing in. “Alright, everyone! This is not time to be celebrating. I am Anko Mitarashi, your next proctor! Are you guys ready? Good!” She pumps her fist into the air.
My eyebrows pull together. ‘Oh boy. Anko sensei is just as hyper as ever. This is not going to be enjoyable.’
Ibiki sensei stands next to her. Anko sensei glances at him. “You’re losing your touch, Ibiki. There are so many of them left. You’re getting soft.”
“Or it could be that we have a stronger crop of candidates this year.”
“Pfft. Yeah, I doubt it.” I notice her eyes land on me. “When I’m done with them, more than half will be eliminated.”
“More than half?” Sakura repeats in a frightened tone.
“Listen up! Things are going to get a lot tougher starting tomorrow morning! I’ll let your squad leaders know where you are to meet me. Dismissed!”
~~*~~
The next morning comes quickly, and everyone was gathered at the location of out second part of the Chunin Exams. We were standing in front of a metal fence that stretched endlessly left and right, and behind it were monstrously big and high trees that hid nothing but menacing darkness further in.
Anko sensei smiles wickedly. “Welcome to the second location for the Chunin Exam. This here is the 44th battlefield training zone, but better known as…the Forest of Death…”
A creepy chill goes up my spine that had nothing to do with the wind blowing. The Forest of…Death...?
Anticipation and fear swells up in the place.
‘This is it. The moment everyone’s been waiting for,’ I think nonverbally, with an unsure smile.
“But before I give you the last question, there are some more rules in which you need to be aware of.”
Groans of impatient students sound off.
“These rules are important, so shut-up and pay attention!” Ibiki sensei crosses his arms behind his back. “Rule number 1, each of you will have a choose not to be given the final question.”
“What?” I exclaim.
“Whoa! Hold on now!” Temari, this time, made the outburst. “Are you really saying that we that we can choose not to be given the tenth question? I don’t believe it. There has to be some sort of catch!”
Ibiki sensei smirks. “If you choose not to be given the tenth question, then you will receive a zero and fail, which incidentally means that your teammates fail as well.”
An unnerving silence falls over the room.
Ibiki sensei continues. “And if you do choose to answer the final question but get it wrong, then you will not only fail…you will be banned from ever banned taking the Chunin Exam ever again!”
“What the hell..!” someone shouts from behind me.
Lloyd jumps up in his seat. “Hey, that’s complete b.s! That’s bogus!”
Kiba joins in. “Yeah, there is a lot of people who have already took this exam! That’s not fair!”
Ibiki sensei only laughs. “Yes, that is true, but this year I am the one who is making the rules now. Of course, if you feel uneasy about the question, then skip it. You can always come back again next year then. Just raise your hand and the centennials will take down you and your teammates number and then you will be free to leave.”
‘Of course Lloyd is not backing down,’ I contemplate surely. ‘Rakuyo and I aren’t going to either…which means were gonna’ try our luck with the question. Oh boy, this is so heart racing.’
A boy next to Naruto shakily raises his hand. “I just can’t do this.”
“Number 15, fail!”
“Numbers 56 and 30, that means you fail also.”
The other two teammates get up, with angry and belittling expressions on their faces. The three walk out of the room, and silence befalls everyone again.
I wish I hadn’t looked over at him, but I did. Naruto was trembling, even more at this point, and it made me feel even worse. What was he going to do?
Sakura’s P.O.V
‘Come on, Naruto, raise your hand. Sasuke and I will be all right. Just think about yourself now. Come on. Just raise your hand.’
She looks more closely at him, and sees his body shaking more and more with each passing second.
“Naruto…” she says aloud. ‘I’m sorry, Naruto. But I can’t let you do this. I guess it’s just your nature. Your just stubborn is all. So I’m going to…’
End of Sakura’s P.O.V
From the corner of my eye I notice Sakura raise her had just a bit, but she stops when…
I gasp. No, this wasn’t true. Naruto had raised his hand.
“Naruto,” I whisper under my breath, completely baffled. This couldn’t be true. The Naruto I knew wouldn’t quit like this. The Naruto…I looked up to wouldn’t dare even let it cross his mind. He always talked about his dream of becoming Hokage, and about never giving up so that it would become a reality. But I guess not…
Naruto slams his hand down on the desk then. “You really think I’m gonna’ quit, then think again! I don’t quit and I don’t back down! I don’t care if I stay a genin forever…I’m still going to be Hokage!”
I feel a twinge of guilt in thinking that Naruto really was going to give up, and that I had doubted him. But a new surge of confidence replaces the feeling quickly.
“That kid sure has a lot of guts,” Sasuke mutters lowly. I look sideways at him.
‘Extraordinary. It seems the outburst from this kid has given everyone else some backbone. 78 of them are left, but I think this is it.’ Ibiki sensei clears his throat. “Alright, there is just one more thing, and that is to tell you all…that you passed the first exam!”
Everyone’s mouths seemed to drop open at the same time.
I shake my head back and forth. “What? What do you mean we pass? What happened to the last question?” This just didn’t make any sense.
He laughs. “There never was one, not a written one at least. Your decision to stay was the right answer to the tenth question.”
“So, the other nine questions were just a waste of time, huh?” Ino asks loudly, well more like shrieks loudly.
“No, those nine questions were developed to test your ability on how to gather strategic information under the most complicated circumstances. My objective was to test and observe you as a team. That’s why the test was scored on a team basis, and how you functioned with that team. These questions were hard, so hard in fact that they demanded cheating.”
He goes on to talk about the importance of a team and teamwork. I smile in reverence at his speech, taking it all in word for word.
Ibiki sensei smiles at us all. “There’s nothing more to say then to wish you all good luck.”
“Woo-hoo!” Naruto exclaims happily. “Huh?”
The window to Ibiki sensei’s right shatters and a woman comes crashing in. “Alright, everyone! This is not time to be celebrating. I am Anko Mitarashi, your next proctor! Are you guys ready? Good!” She pumps her fist into the air.
My eyebrows pull together. ‘Oh boy. Anko sensei is just as hyper as ever. This is not going to be enjoyable.’
Ibiki sensei stands next to her. Anko sensei glances at him. “You’re losing your touch, Ibiki. There are so many of them left. You’re getting soft.”
“Or it could be that we have a stronger crop of candidates this year.”
“Pfft. Yeah, I doubt it.” I notice her eyes land on me. “When I’m done with them, more than half will be eliminated.”
“More than half?” Sakura repeats in a frightened tone.
“Listen up! Things are going to get a lot tougher starting tomorrow morning! I’ll let your squad leaders know where you are to meet me. Dismissed!”
~~*~~
The next morning comes quickly, and everyone was gathered at the location of out second part of the Chunin Exams. We were standing in front of a metal fence that stretched endlessly left and right, and behind it were monstrously big and high trees that hid nothing but menacing darkness further in.
Anko sensei smiles wickedly. “Welcome to the second location for the Chunin Exam. This here is the 44th battlefield training zone, but better known as…the Forest of Death…”
A creepy chill goes up my spine that had nothing to do with the wind blowing. The Forest of…Death...?
♠ ♠ ♠
^_^ The second part of the exam is finally here!! I've been waiting for this part to come! A lot of stuff is going to go down now :P Thanks for reading, and please leave comments! And if you hadn't already then please subscribe too! Thank you.