Naruto: In Darkness Lies Power

The Test Of Knowledge And Survival

{Last Time}

After seeing Rei's older twin get his ass kicked by a Genin named Rock Lee, and stopping said Genin from hurting himself, and probably accidentally killing Sauske in the process, the temporary team walked on, after Naruto retrieved the kunai he used to stop Lee. The three continued on, until they arrived at the entrance to the first part of the Chunin Exams, and saw Orochimaru standing in front of it, "Good, it seems the three of you are present. I doubt you need to hear this, but you should all keep your guards up. There are those who have far more battle experience than any of you, so proceed with caution, like true ninja." the three nodded, before Orochimaru disappeared using the Shunshin, leaving the three at the entrance.

{Chapter Start}

Naruto, Sai and Rei looked over the sea of Genin ninja, all tense for Exams to begin. The three Genin looked over to see most of them staring and trying to intimidate them with their Killer Intent, which were met with different reactions. Sai continued to smile and read from his book, Rei scoffed at their pathetic attempts to scare her and Naruto, and Naruto himself didn't even acknowledge most of the people glaring at him, though he did seem to be focusing on one individual in particular, a short girl that had red hair, turquoise eyes and the kanji for "love" on the left side of her forehead. The two of them continued to glare at one another, which was indirectly scaring most of the Genin contestants into submission, while Sai made a mental note to tell his superior about what was happening, while Rei felt a white hot anger for the redhead glaring at Naruto, and how much Naruto was paying attention to said red head.

The tension around the newly made team was disperse when Naruto felt a pair of arms latch onto his back, "Hey there Naruto!" said black haired Uzumaki turned his head to see the heiress of the Yamanaka Clan and one of his more dedicated "fangirls", Ino Yamanaka. She was an oddity, she used to be obsessed with one Sauske Uchiha, and saw Naruto as many of their year saw him a freak with a blank face, then one day she just started singing Naruto praises left and right. Every time someone asked why she always said that she saw how warm Naruto could be, and that she saved her life from a fate worse than death.

The platinum blonde started rubbing Naruto's whiskered cheeks, which seemed to do nothing to him, "I missed you so much!! I wish you told me that you were gonna compete in the Exam, though I can't say I'm surprised or disappointed! Maybe after we pass this we can go on a date to celebrate!!" "Will you shut up?! Damn, I doubt he could hear you with all the squealing you're doing piglet!!" Ino stopped her gushing and glared at Rei with an evil smirk, "Well, if it isn't the little crow. And i thought you were still on the reserves, and I have to say I'm surprised that you even qualified for the Exams?" Rei scoffed at Ino's insults, "Great, so Naruto did show up, and with a team. Man, this is such a drag." Naruto and Sai saw two more Genin, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi walk towards where their teammate was. Believe it or not Shikamaru and Choji used to be friends with Naruto, even if it was before his change. The three used to skip class and just eat potato chips while watching the clouds, even sometimes seeing a prank Naruto somehow set up go off on an unfortunate and unsuspecting villager or ninja. After Naruto changed he started hanging out with the two less and less, until he stopped being around them period, though he still seem to hold some semblance of respect for the two.

"Well, looks like almost all of us are here." yet another trio of rookies appeared, these ones being Kiba Inuzuka, along with his partner Akamaru, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuuga. The three were known as Team 8. Kiba had a grin that shouted confidence, "Good to see you're here Naruto, cause now I can beat you down one on one!" Naruto did nothing but stare back at Kiba with a blank look. Kiba used to be one of Naruto's friends as well, though much less than Choji and Shikamaru. He only hung out with the three when he wanted to ditch and prank, worse was before the incident he used to make fun of Naruto's lack of skill with everyone else. After Naruto changed, Kiba started keeping his distance from the black haired Uzumaki, feeling an aura of rage beneath his blank stare, before he basically declared he and Naruto were rivals, not that the black haired Uzumaki cared. Shino didn't interact with Naruto directly at all in the Academy, but like Kiba kept his distance when he first saw Naruto's change in attitude, as he thought Naruto was holding back a deep seated anger that he was only barely holding it back, and he would snap at anyone who gave him an even half decent excuse, again not like Naruto cared what others did anymore, unless it involved him directly.