The room was dead silent. The only sound in the room was Ibiki's voice. Who spoke, "It's time to begin. I am Ibiki Morino, you proctor, And from this moment, your worst enemy."

The rest of the room filled with gasps and quiet mumbling. Sothis couldn't help but rolled her eyes at Ibiki. She figured he is trying to scare the Genin. It was very clear.

"First" Ibiki pointed at the Sound ninja who attacked Kabuto, speaking sternly, "you candidates from the Village Hidden in the Sound, knock it off. Who told you, you could fight? You want to be failed before we've even begun?"

The Sound Ninja seemed unfazed. Dosu spoke up, almost speaking a bit cocky, "Sorry. It's our first time. Guess we're a little jumpy...sir"

Ibiki scoffed at Dosu's excuse before speaking the whole room, "I'll say this once, so listen up. There will be no combat between candidates. No attacking each other without the permission of your proctor. And even then, the use of fatal forces is strictly prohibited. Anyone who even thinks of messing with me will be disqualified immediately. Got it?"

The Sound Ninja male chuckled, "No fatal force? That's no fun"

That made the Leaf Ninja with Ibiki chuckle softly. Ibiki spoke up again, "Now, if we're ready, we'll proceed to the first stage of the Chunin exam. Hand over your paperwork. In return, you'll each be given a number. This number determines where you will sit. We'll start the written test once you're all seated"

"The what?" Naruto asked, "Did he say...'written'?" He saw one of the staff hold a stack of paper. Making him scream, "No! Not a written test! No way!!"

Sothis bonked Naruto on the head, "calm down"

~

After turning in their papers. All the ninja had sat down. Sothis sat between a Leaf Ninja and a Mist Ninja. Pneuma sat next to Gaara and another ninja. Edmund had sad at the end next too two ninja.

Naruto sat in the front with Hinata and another ninja. Sasuke and Sakura sat somewhere in the back. Sothis didn't notice where bur she knows there are in different tables. Sothis knows Sakura is sulking since she isn't near Sasuke.

Sothis felt a bit bad for Naruto since she noticed him panicking in the corner of her eye. She did find is a little amusing but felt also bad for him. Maybe she can use her time stop power to help him.

Ibiki got everyone's attention, "Everyone, eyes front. There are a few rules you need to be aware of. And I won't answer any questions. So, you better pay attention the first time around." he grab a piece of chock and began writing the rules, "All right. Rule number one is this. The written part of the exam is conducted on a point reduction system. Contrary to what some of you may be used to, you all begin the test with a perfect score of 10 points. One point will be deducted for each answer you got wrong. So, if you miss three, your final score will be 7."

That seems pretty simple to Sothis. She gave a small nod. She recalled professors at the academy did the same thing sometimes when students want to change classes.

"Rule number two. Team will pass or fail based on the total scores of all three or more members" Ibiki said. Which made Sothis flinch softly. This isn't good for her and her team. She loved Naruto but he will surely get the team to fail.

Sakura growls as she slammed her hands on the table, yelling, "What? Wait a second! You're saying we all get scored as a team?"

"silence!" Ibiki shushed Sakura with a harsh tone. Making her shut up, even though it was clear she had more to say. "I have my reasons, so shut up and listen"

Sothis groans as she rubbed her hand in her hair. She could sense Edmund and Pneuma were also a bit stressed. But less so than her. She was tempted to pull out a chunk pf her hair here and now, but it won't do her any good.

"Rule number three" Ibiki spoke up again, "The sentinels you see positioned around the room are there to watch you carefully for any sighs of cheating. And for every incident they spot they will subtract two points from the culprit's score. Be warned. Their eyes are extremely sharp. And if they catch you five times, you'll be dismissed before the tests are even scored"

The room grew so silent. It felt heavier. Almost suffocating. Sothis took a mental note on the cheating rule. Why don't they just take the cheater out of the test immediately?

"Anyone foolish enough to be caught cheating by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here" Ibiki said, glancing at all the genin.

"I've got my eye on you, guys" said the bandage guy. Sothis recognized him as the guard she met when she first arrived at the Leaf Village. She seriously needs to get the guy's name.

"If you want to be considered shinobi, then show us what exceptional shinobi you can be" Ibiki smirked at everyone, "one more thing. If any candidate should get a 0 and fail the test, then the entire team fails"

Sothis let out a gasp. Edmund flinched. Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widen in horror. Naruto began to sulk since he knows he will mess up; Sasuke and Sakura will kill him.

"The final question won't be given out until 15 minutes before the end of the testing period" Ibiki said, "you'll have one hour total"

Sothis looked at the clock. It was 3:30 pm. So, it will end close to 4:30 pm. She can do this. Once she gets all the answers she could stop time and do Naruto's test for him.

"Begin!" Ibiki said, loudly.

Sothis looked at her test. She read through the questions. 'What kind of questions are these?!' She thought, annoyed. This was way above what she knows.

She then paused. Silently looking around. She realized none of the Genin didn't know any of the questions based on their face expressions. Besides like a small handful, Like Edmund, who seemed to be breezing through this. Thanks to Byleth's teachings. This confirmed her thoughts this was way above any normal Genin's knowledge.

She then recalled what Ibiki said before. How they won't get disqualified when they get caught cheating the first few times. It is like they want them to cheat. It then clicked. They want them to cheat. Get entail with their skills they have. It made way too much sense.

Sothis used her time powers to pause time. When everything stops, she stood up and began walking around the room. She first went to Sasuke. She took his paper and pencil from him and wrote on the back from what she figured out. She then went to Naruto next, writing on the back of his paper the same on what she wrote on Sasuke's. Just a bit more smaller since he was closer to the front and didn't want to risk Ibiki seeing.

She began walking back to her seat. She eyes Sakura's paper, it seemed she was breezing through it already. She got an idea and grabbed her own paper and began writing the same stuff Sakura had written on her paper. When she was finished, she heads back to her seat and sat down. Placing her paper upside down as she resumes time.

~

Sasuke let out a small gasp when his paper was suddenly upside down and saw Sothis writing. His eyes narrowed. He had came to the same conclusion.

He glance at Sothis, who glance back at him with a nod. He smirked. He then activates his sharingan. Coping a student's movements to write down the same answers as the person.

~

Naruto grew confused as the paper was suddenly upside down, "the heck?" he hissed. He then saw Sothis's writing on his paper. How he is supposed to cheat but shouldn't worry since she will check later and write the answers for him if he is unable to do so in time.

He signed in relief. Sothis had his back. Of course, he didn't like the idea of cheating. He would decline if he could, but he can't tell her right now since it might get the team in trouble. He leaves his fate in Sothis's hands.

~

Pneuma didn't bother writing. She knew what the test is about and knew the 10th one was the only one that matters. She told Sothis ahead of time to not bother writing her test since she can to it herself.

She took note of the other people's cheating methods. Neji using his byakugan, Kiba using Akamaru. She wonders how none of sentinels didn't write Kiba down just for that. It makes her want to facepalm.

Her eyes wonder over to one of the sentinel's throwing a kunai at a Leaf ninja. Hitting his paper, scaring most of the class, "Five strikes, and you're out. You just failed the test"

"What? It can't be" The Leaf Ninja looked in horror and shock.

The sentinel pointed at Leaf Ninja, "You and your teammates will leave the room immediately"

Him and his team left. It didn't take long for other teams to be send back. One was even dragged out by his teammates. Pneuma left a little bad since the sentinels are sometimes being a bit to harsh. But not her problem.

She looked at Naruto, he declined to copy Hinata's test. She assumed Sothis will do it for him, likely partly the reason he turned down Hinata.

She turned her gaze to Gaara. He seemed so calm and collective. She assumed he is using his sand to cheat. She admired him for his unique jutsu. He was also cute as well, but another thing she sensed was a darkness laying under his eyes. Something similar to Dimitri. Something murderous and dangerous. Unstable even.

But there is also a hint of hurt in those eyes. Pneuma should keep a close eye on him. He is one of the more dangerous ninja in this room.

~

It was already at the 15-minute mark. Sothis already did Naruto's test for him. Luckily it wasn't too hard since she just wrote the answer she got from coping Sakura's. One thing she can praise about the girl is her brain. She serious wonder why she downgrades herself for Sasuke?

"All right, listen up" Ibiki shouted, getting everyone who remains in the room's attention, "Here's the 10th and final question. But before I give you the question, there are some more rules that you need to be aware of"

Just then, Kankuro came back into the room. Sothis didn't even know he left the room.

"Ah, made it just in time" Ibiki gave a sly smile, "I hope you found your trip to the bathroom enlightening"

Kankuro seemed to be taken aback. A bit shaken when Ibiki told him to take his seat, which he did. Walking a bit slowly and awkwardly.

When he was sat, Ibiki continue to speak "These rules ate unique to question 10. Listen carefully and try not to let them frighten you."

~

Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma sat in the teacher lounge. Talking to each other as they drank tea.

"It is quiet without the rookies around" Kakashi noted, leaning back into his chair, "I almost miss 'em"

"Don't worry" Asume waved one of his hands at Kakashi, "Chances are they'll be back again sooner than you think"

"Why's that?' Kakashi raised a eyebrow.

Asume relight his cigarette, "I heard their first examiner this year is Ibiki" That seemed to get Kakashi's attention, slightly tensing up.

"Great, sticking them with that sadist right off the bat" Kakashi leaned back into his seat. Sighing softly.

"Huh? What sadist?" Kurenai raised a eyebrow, confused.

Asume let out a small laugh, "I forgot you're a new Jonin, Kurenai" he said, "Otherwise, you wouldn't have to ask that"

"So, I'm ignorant" Kurenai huffed, "Who he is?"

"He's what you might call a specialist" Kakashi said to Kurenai.

Kurenai blinked a few times, "Oh, yeah? In what?"

Asuma puff out some smoke, "Interrogation. Torture." Kurenai seemed worried before Asuma shot it down, "oh, of course, he won't be using physical torture during the test. He won't need to. That's not really his thing, anyways. He works on people's minds, not their bodies. He's famous for it. Everyone knows about the Anbu Torture and Interrogation Corps for the Hidden Leaf Village. Ibiki Morino"

Kurenai nodded before turning to Kakashi, "You must be worried for your team, then. Especially Edmund"

"hm? What makes you say that?" Kakashi asked, raising a eyebrow.

"I mean, their your kids, no?' Kurenai asked, "Sothis and Pneuma seem strong and smart, but Edmund seemed a bit naive or even like you as a kid. I am sure you are the most worried about him and Naruto"

Kakashi didn't answer right away. It is true, he is worried. Also felt weird having them being called his kids. Almost making him sound like a dad. It made him cringe slightly; it made him sound older than he is. but he wasn't completely against the idea.

He spoke, "They will be fine. Sothis and Pneuma will help them if needed"

He hoped those words are true. He does worry for those kids.

~

Sothis grew tired of Ibiki not saying the rules right away. It killed her for waiting so long. She luckily didn't have to wait to long.

"Very well, then. Rule number one" Ibiki spoke up, "each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question. Its's your decision."

This surprised the whole room. Sothis paused her lips. There has to be a catch to that.

"So, what's the catch?" Temari asked the question Sothis thought, "Let's say we decide we don't want to do it. What happens then?"

"If you choose not to take the 10th question, regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero" Ibiki explained, "in other words, you fail. And that means, of course, both your teammates fail as well"

The room filled with panic whispers. Questions and nonsense of saying they clearly won't skip it. But Sothis knew better. There is more to it and a much more stressful choice.

"Not so fast. You didn't let me finish" Ibiki raise a hand to hush everyone, "If you do accept the question but answer incorrectly, you will not only fail, you will be barred from taking the Chunin exam ever again!"

Kiba stood and pointed at Ibiki, "Hey, that's bull, man! That's ridiculous. What kind of bogus rule is that? There's lots of people here who've taken the test before" Akamaru barked in agreement.

Ibiki laughed at Kiba. It creeped Sothis out a little. He spoke up, "I guess you're just unlucky. I wasn't making the rules before, but I am now. Of course, if you don't want to take it, you don't have to. If you're not feeling confident, then by all means, skip it. You can come back and try again next year"

Sothis frowned. Is any one of her team choses to not take it, their all out. She is sure Pneuma and Sasuke will want to take it. It is just Sakura, Edmund and Naruto she worried about. She isn't worried about herself; she can always rewind time to get the right answer.

"Now, then, if you're ready" Ibiki said, "The 10th and final question. Those who don't want to take it, raise your hand. Your number will be recorded and then you will be free to go.

A good number of Genin raised their hands and left with their teams. The nerve getting them and feeling overwhelmed. Sothis noticed Sakura was about to raise her hand. She is about to stop time just to stop Sakura from doing it until Naruto raised his hand first.

Sothis was about to go off on him before rewinding time but Naruto then slammed his hand down on the desk in front of him, "Don't underestimate me! I don't quit and I don't run. You can act tough all you want. Your guys aren't going to scare me off. No way! I don't care if I do get stuck as a Genin for the rest if my life" He stood up, "I'll still be Hokage someday!"

Sothis gave a small smirk as Naruto sat back down. His speech seemed to give the confidence to stay as well. She switches from anger to pride for Naruto. He is crazy but he is a brave one.

"This decision is one that could change your life" Ibiki said, "If for any reason you would rather quit, now's your last chance"

"No way. I never go back on my word" Naruto smirked, "That's the way of the ninja"

The room went from worried silence to a more confident silence. It impressed Ibiki and the other staff members who where there. There was at least 78 left in the room. Ibiki looked at the staff, who nodded at him.

Ibiki looked back at the group and spoke, "Well, then, I admire your determination, If nothing else. For those of you remining there's only one thing left to do. And that's for me to tell you that you've all passed the first exam"

Sothis's jaw almost dropped, slamming her hands on the table, "What do you mean we pass?"

Ibiki laughed at the question, "There never was a 10th question. Not a written one, at least. Actually, your decision to stay was the answer to the 10th question"

"Wait a second" Temari yelled out, "So the other nine questions you gave us were just a waste of time. Is that what you're saying?"

Ibiki shock his head, "No, no, not at all. Quite the opposite. The first nine questions had an important overriding purpose--to test your ability to surreptitiously gather strategic intelligence under the most adverse circumstances."

Temari shrugged her shoulders, "Oh, well that clears up everything"

"You see, my objective was to test you not only as individuals, but as a team, and on how well you function as a part of that team" Ibiki explained, "That's why the test was scored on a team basis, so you'd know that everything you did, or failed to do, would directly affect your teammates. I wanted to see how you'd handle the pressure"

Naruto crossed his arms and nodded, "Mmm-hmm. Yeah, I figured it was something like that. That's why I kept my cool"

"Liar" Sothis scoffed at Naruto.

"The first nine questions on the test were difficult. In fact, as you may have realized, too difficult for any Genin to be expected to solve" Ibiki said, which Sothis already guessed, "I imagine that most of you quickly came to that conclusion, that you'd have to cheat if you had any chance of passing. The fact is the test was designed to encourage cheating. It almost demanded it. Of course, it would have done you little good unless you had someone to cheat from so i disguised two Chunin who already knew the answers and had them sit in with you"

Sothis nodded. It made a lot of sense. She bet Naruto was beating himself up a little that he couldn't cheat himself. But then again, he has no jutsu or any tool that he could have used to cheat. She was somewhat glad she did it for him, but she shouldn't make it a habit of doing it for him. Or he would get used to it.

"Those who were caught at it failed. Better not to cheat then to cheat clumsily" Ibiki spoke as he removed his headband that covered his head. It showed a really beat up and bruised looked scalp, "Information. It can be the most valuable weapon in battle. How well you gather intelligence can determine whether a mission's a failure or a success. They'll be times you'll have to risk your life to get it"

Sothis cringe when she saw his head. It looked so disgusting, she almost gaged. "point made.."

"Of course, you must always consider the source of your information," Ibiki said as he put his headband back on. Much to Sothis and other's relief. "Intelligence gathered from an enemy is not necessarily accurate. Always bear this in mind. Disinformation can be worse than no information at all. It can lead to the death of comrades or the loss of a village. That's why I put you in the position where you had to gather accurate intelligence. Cheat in other to survive. And that's why those who weren't good enough at it were weeded out by leaving the rest of you."

"Okay, but i"m still not getting the 10th question" Edmund raised his hand, "what is it all about?"

Ibaiki gave a hum, "You still don't get it? The 10th question was the point of the whole exam. Surely, you see that"

"Explain it anyways" Pneuma spoke up, leaning back into her seat.

"As i said before, the goal was to test you not only as individuals but as part of a squad. The final question gave you two choices, both difficult" Ibiki said, "you could choose to play it safe and skip the question, though it meant that both you and your teammates would be failed or you could try and answer it, knowing if you got it wrong, you would lose your chance of ever being Chunin. It was a no-win situation. But just the sort Chunin have to face almost every day. For example, let me give you a hypothetical mission."

Sothis first thought was 'oh no, what will you do?'. She rolled her eyes a bit but listened anyways since this could be a real situation.

"To steal a document from an enemy stronghold" Ibiki said, "you have no idea how many ninja the enemy has or how heavily armed they are. Furthermore, you have reason to believe that the enemy exacts you, that you might very well be walking blindly into a trap. Now do you have the option of taking a pass on this insane mission or say my comrades and I would rather live to fight another day? Can you choose to avoid danger? No. There will be many missions that will seem almost suicidal if you think about it. But you do not think about it. You think only of the goal, and of achieving it through courage and discipline. There are the qualities required of a Chunin squad leader. Those whose determination falters in the face of adversity, those who would put their comrades lives in jeopardy by worrying about their own, those who would save their own necks at the price of scared honor will never be able to call themselves Chunin at least as long time as I'm here"

Sothis paused. Her mind suddenly went to Byleth. How much pressure he must be under to save his students. Or former students now. How much it pains him to lead his army to death. It hurts. He may not show much feeling, but she knows he feels a lot of pain.

Ibiki broke her thoughts. Congratulating everyone for passing and getting ready for the next stage of the exam, Wishing them good luck.

Naruto cheered loudly, "All right! We did it! That's one down!" He yelled as he ran over to Sothis and pulling her into a hug, "Yeah! Yeah! Woohoo! Yeah!!"

Sothis hissed at Naruto, "Put me down, loudmouth! You're yelling into my ear!" Naruto didn't listen as he spun her around in joy. Still happily cheering.

Suddenly, some woman broke through the window. Making Naruto drop Sothis. The woman throwing Kunai at different corners of the room that read 'stage two'

"Listen up, boys and girls" The woman aid, "This is no time be celebrating. I'll be your next proctor, Anko Mitarashi. You ready for the second test? Good! Then, let's go. Follow me!"

Sothis stared at her. Dumbfounded. This woman seems like a lot and loud. She shook her head softly. She also got the feeling she is early.

"You're early again" Ibiki said, peaking from behind the large cloth. Confirming Sothis's thoughts.

The woman, Anko, laughed awkwardly and blushed in embarrassment before looking at the group, "How many are there? Ibiki, you just let all these guys pass? Your test was too easy. You must be getting soft"

Sothis deadpanned again. She should say that to all the kids kicking and screaming as they were forces out and the stress the majority of this group had. But sure, call it going easy.

"Or it could be a stronger crop of candidates this year" Ibiki shot back at Anko.

Anko eyes the group again. Her eyes did wonder to Sothis, Pneuma and Edmun in particular before looked away quickly, "They sure don't look it. Trust me, before I'm done with them, more of half of them will be eliminated"

"More than half? Really?" Sakura gulped as her face palmed.

Anko chuckled darkly, "This is going to be fun. All right, you maggots have it easy so far, but things are going to be different starting first thing in the morning. I'll let your squad leaders know where you're to meet me. Dismissed"

~

The Genin left and Ibiki was collecting the tests. He noticed Sothis's handwriting on the back of Sasuke and Naruto's papers. Telling them about the exam. He also looked at Pneuma's test, it was blank. He chuckled softly.

"These are Kakashi's kids, eh?" He asked out loud, "Their funny ones, all right"

Me: And we are done!

Ayla: I hope you guys like the chapter. We will work on the next one as soon as possible

Cherry: more like stall it a bit

Me: Oh, shut up

Cherry: joking. Joking

Me: *sighs* Anyways, thanks for reading. I will update this and my Veyle book as soon as I can

All: BYE!!