Because I Met You

Chapter 29: Written Exam

"Alright you useless bastards, listen well since I won't repeat myself."

Ibiki's powerful voice brings everyone's attention to the front. I need to concentrate and listen to everything he has to say.

"First, there are a few rules that you need to follow if you want to have a chance at passing this exam. The first rule is that you have one hour to complete the ten questions. On your sheet, there are nine questions. The final question will be given to you fifteen minutes before the end of the exam. Now, if any of you are caught cheating five times, both you and your team will be immediately disqualified. Your score will be tallied up as a team. However, you will fail if you score zero on the test. Do I make myself clear?"

Five strikes... Why five? Oh well, I'll just make sure not to cheat. I hope Maru and Koji can handle themselves. Ibiki then gives us the signal to start and everyone flips their paper around.

I look over the question quickly. What is this? This is way beyond Genin level. We've never learned this in the Academy. I mean, I know the answers to everything, but that's because I got my knowledge from the dead. I glance at where Koji and Maru are sitting and see them looking at their sheets. There's no way they'll be able to answer any of these questions. The only way is for me to help them. Let's see... I can use Yashamru's jutsu! I mean, if I can control weapons with it, then I can probably control a pen too. All I have to do is control their pens and make them write the answers. Let's hope I don't get caught.

I should first start with Maru. He's prone to be the first one to panic and do something stupid. I look at the pen in Maru's hand and start trying to connect my chakra to it. When I do, I start slowly moving the pen, as to not startle him. To my relief, he doesn't resist too much. I fill in his exam sheet while looking at mine. I complete it as fast as I can and I then release my grip on the pen. Switching my attention to Koji, I do the same thing. As expected, he acts as if he's the one writing the exam to avoid suspicion. Alright, now it's time to complete my own exam.

Done! This is easy. A few people got caught and were forced to leave with their teams. I look around and notice that everyone's cheating in some way. Why aren't they being stopped? I'm sure the Konoha shinobi that are keeping watch noticed them. It is quite strange that it takes five strikes before you're out... Usually, in the Academy, it's one strike and you're out. Are they trying to push us to cheat? I look at Naruto, who's sitting next to me. He's panicking a lot. I bet he can't answer any of the questions. He's not attempting to cheat either. I want to help him, but... I'd be a total hypocrite, since I'll be betraying them. Even if not directly, Sunagakure will, and I'm a part of Suna.

"Drop your pens! I don't want to see any of you writing even one more single letter. There're fifteen minutes left, which means it's time for your tenth and final question."

I gulp, preparing myself for the worst.

"Before I give it to you, there are rules that apply only to the tenth question."

Rules only for the tenth question? What's that all about?

"Rule number one: you are free to choose whether or not to be given the tenth question."

Wait what?! Why would anyone choose not to take it?

"So what's the catch? There has to be a reason why you mentioned such a rule."

Temari's voice comes from behind me. She's got a point. There has to be a catch.

"Well, I'll tell you. If you choose not to take the tenth question, you'll get a zero, meaning that you'll automatically fail. If you choose to take it and answer wrongly, you will automatically fail the exam. Not only that, but you'll be banned from the Chunin exams, forever."