𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐤𝐢 | ɴᴀʀᴜᴛᴏ

First Test

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✧˖*°࿐

Kazumi glared down at the back of Naruto's head, sitting multiple rows behind him. Minutes ago, Ibiki issued for examinees to take their assigned seats based on the number they randomly chose.

To Team Seven's concerns, they knew Naruto would struggle the moment Ibiki announced a paper test. And his prior shout of dismay confirmed it for them.

Don't mess this up for me, Naruto!

She wasn't the only one who had the same thought: as her pink teammate who sat two rows ahead from Kazumi, was anxiously rolling her head.

Sasuke sat diagonally down a few rows from Kazumi, also looking at the distressed Uzumaki. His narrow eyes snapped over his hunched shoulder, meeting Kazumi's gazing scrunch. She watched him look further, landing on a specific individual seated next to her.

Naruto's pea-sized brain was hardly her main worries for now.

Because seated right next to her was non other than Gaara of the Desert. She slowly looked at him, suppressing a visual flinch. He had already been looking at her, which made her stiffly snap her gaze back to the front where Ibiki remained standing.

Are the shinobi Gods laughing at me? It's too much of a coincidence to be placed right beside him!

Her heart dropped whilst she thought, her brows furrowed as a single bead of sweat didn't go unnoticed when falling from her temple. The assigned seats were determined purely by raffle numbers; it was the most unwanted luck Kazumi had.

Luck because of the sheer mutual curiosity that gravitated their attentions to one another.

Sensing her internal discomfort, Gaara tore his eyes off of her side profile, without a care. His stoicism only seemed to irk the Kumo more. "Looks like your teammate's at a disadvantage." He quietly spoke.

"I wouldn't say that. Naruto's smarter than he loo—acts." She muttered, noticing his gaze fall to the back of Naruto's vibrant blond hair.

He was still shaking from mortification.

"Then, he fidgets too much." Gaara dulled.

Kazumi's upper lip twitched, more annoyed. Just as she parted her lips, Ibiki's commanding voice pulled her thoughts away.

"Do not turn your test's over. Listen closely to what I'm about to say."

Her hand flinched away from the paper beneath her palm, balling her fist.

Ibiki continued, now writing on the chalkboard behind him with his body still faced to the examinees, "There are many important rules to this first test. I'll write it on the board while I explain, but questions will not be allowed, so listen carefully." The scar-faced man was expressionless, and visually intimidating.

Kazumi wasn't fazed unlike many irrelevant examinees who'd nervously quiver to themselves in their spots. And it was clear to the Kumo that Ibiki was a man who wouldn't tolerate hesitance in a ninja. A shinobi in their prime. Sanjiro always told her power didn't make a shinobi, but their actions and choices instead.

That was Ibiki. 

"The first rule: you guys will all start off with nine points. The test is made up of ten questions... and each one is worth one point. But, this test uses a subtraction system."