After the Rain

Chapter 15: Treasure Chest

Chapter Fifteen – Treasure Chest

"My motto is to be stronger than yesterday, if I have to I'll be stronger than half a day ago, even a minute ago!" - Rock Lee

Naruto was sweating, biting her nails frantically and tugging at her hair while she attempted to figure out what the hell she was supposed to do now.

These questions made no sense.

Naruto had no idea what the difference between external and internal chakra was, and definitely couldn't give examples on how it could be utilized. And the other questions were just as bad.

Looking nervously around for the umpteenth time she noted the time. Forty minutes had passed already, which meant she had only fifty minutes left before she needed to leave. It was good that Anko had insisted Naruto changed before the exam started, seeing as she didn't have a second to spare between the exam and the funeral.

Ebisu's funeral was at three; an hour before the time was up and everyone who hadn't finished the exam would have to hand in their papers. But Naruto had to go to the funeral. A lot of the people in the room were attending too, but unlike her they all looked well on their way to finishing.

Her head hit the table top. There was no way Naruto could remember so many boring facts. She was doomed. It seemed she would never become Chūnin.

Why was this even part of the exam? They were even more blunt with the exam now than in her own time. Back with Sakura and Sasuke the trick had been to cheat - not that Naruto had. She'd handed in an empty paper at the end, but she doubted that would be enough this time around. Anko said her exam had been a written exam where the people with the highest scores got through. It looked like it was the same this time.

In front of her Shisui was shifting in his chair. His pencil hadn't left the paper since the proctor allowed them to turn over their papers and begin. He had already filled out several pages and looked nowhere near done. Naruto didn't dare turn all the way around to look at Rin, but she was a medic student, they were always the brainy type. Which Naruto wasn't.

Shisui seemed to feel her gaze, and his head tilted slightly in her direction. He didn't turn all the way, but Naruto had the distinct impression he was looking at her. His free hand fell down from the table top, and his fingers twirled in an odd but familiar way. She'd seen that before. She'd seen Uchiha Itachi do that wrist movement and next second she'd been inside his illusion.

Suddenly the room became quiet. As if she had dots in her ears which muffled the sounds of everyone scribbling away. But what got her attention was the second Shisui abruptly standing in front of her desk.

Naruto gaped.

"Don't say anything and look busy. Don't look directly at me either. I've cast a genjutsu on you, and only you are seeing and hearing this. But if you start babbling everyone will hear you. This is really difficult for me since my control on this genjutsu is still really bad. Please don't try to dispel it. I don't think I'll be as successful with this a second time." The Shisui in front of her said urgently.

Naruto peeked quickly at the Shisui sitting by his desk. He was still scribbling along, but Naruto noticed that his shoulders had stiffened. Turning back to the speaking Shisui Naruto noticed the small mistakes with him. He wasn't as defined around the edges, and when he talked it sounded like he was closer to her than he looked.

Naruto couldn't believe it. Was Shisui seriously doing this? He didn't even want her to take the exam!

"Okay, write exactly what I say. Question one; Formation Dive is when a group of six or less ninja uses a water source in their formation. One has to be adapt and the member placement is diagonally one, three two. When..." Shisui continued, and Naruto scribbled as quickly as she could. Sending the fake Shisui a glare every time he was going too fast.