The Flower That Will Someday Wilt |Naruto Fanfic|

Chapter 37

Ai/Itami POV

The proctor, once everyone was seated, began explaining the test to us. I smiled nervously as Naruto panicked, clutching at his head and pulling his hair. He made me feel doubtful. Apparently, we cannot cheat, and we lose a set of points if caught doing so. Questions popped out of the heap, and I mentally slammed my head on the table. Not because I was annoyed or frustrated, but because I finally understood the point of this exam! I had thought about it for a long time, 10 minutes, and now I understand. We cannot, absolutely cannot, cheat! I get it! I tore through my hair, "That's wrong and you know it!" I mentally screamed, showing an indifferent mask on in reality.

I'll probably understand the test after we are handed the worksheets, or after he explains further.

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"You may now begin!"

Flipping over the test paper, I nodded to myself and glanced around the room. As you may notice, I have a pinch on what we're supposed to do. Interrogation. Basically, as Ibiki is an intimidating guy, not to mention part of the interrogation and torture division, he would do an exam based on experience. Waiting for a couple of minutes, I began to make my move.

With a deep heave of a sigh, a slip of paper slid onto the floor from my leg and slivered over to find a perfect test sheet. As I waited, I looked at my teammates. Sakura had this down in a notch, Naruto was freaking out while Hinata tried to help him, and Sasuke was figuring out the purpose of this exam. Once my slip of paper collected the answers, I pretended I dropped my pencil and let the paper slip onto my arm(real smooth -..-). I picked up my pencil and looked at my wrist. The answers were embedded onto my arm and I wrote away.

The Sand Ninja besides me narrowed her eyes inconspicuously, and then began gazing around the room. Fruitlessly, she rewinded and continued to not give a care. With nothing to do, and a long while to spare, I laid my head on the table and concentrated myself for further situations.

If an enemy appears, a group of three, you let your team handle most until you're truly needed.
If a comrade is injured, you block them with a kunai in hand, and protect yourself and your teammate with that weapon.
If you are ambushed, begin to distance yourselves and think of a plan. When a plan is announced, start working your way to surprise them. Let them lower their guard. And that is when you strike.
However, if all your comrades are injured, including yourself, find a well hidden area and heal. Being reckless with wounds can cause a stop in movement, and you will surely be killed.

Well, that's what I learned. And it's now my directory of survival.

My eyes glowed in gratefulness, pressing my hands together. "Thank you, Danzo-sama!" I inwardly thanked, praising his being along the jumbles of words. Of course, I looked as if I was praying to the gods for a chance at this, or hoping that I'd pass while disregarding my team. Certainly, others took the latter as they stared quizzically and awkwardly.

"Can I go to the restroom?" A voice snapped me out of my daze, and I squinted at the boy. Clad in black, with perfectly sculptured paint adorning his face; he smirked triumphantly. Ibiki narrowed his eyes, observing him intimidatingly. He flicked his fingers silently, making others oblivious to it but the Chunin and Jounin. A glint of triumph all gleamed, and Ibiki held the devious smirk from absorbing.

"Hurry it up, we don't have time for this." He looked at a Chuunin, nodding. "Watch him." The man nodded and walked towards the, clear as day, noticeable boy who grinned in mischief. He handcuffed him, and began walking out the door and left us into sweating silence. We were all holding our breaths, unbelieving that someone was so stupid to ask such a silly question. But we were shocked more to see that they paid him only an ounce of care. What confused me was the fact that the Chuunin had only the amount of a baby's chakra; not even connecting the chakra points inside, and only held by mere chakra strings. I was impressed, tempted to whistle and approve of his puppet. Of course, I did no such thing. We all wanted to pass this, and we can't conceal it. We simply had to trust in our teammates and plead for secrecy. That was the nervousness building in others, having them make sloppy fidgeting and horrible attempts at cheating.