DISCLAIMER: NO, I DO NOT OWN NARUTO NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I WATCH OR READ IT

Let Them In by Pvris

Chapter 17: Deceiving Situations
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THIRD POV
URSA MOVED TO sit in silence, watching as the Genins of her rookie class made a commotion. She shook her head as she witnessed Naruto, Sakura, and Ino - the usual loudmouths, shout. Especially Naruto.

Ursa shakes her head, deciding to ignore her peers and instead chooses to observe the other genins in the room. She obviously already paid attention to the Sand Siblings, so she's not risking the chance of letting them see her check them out. Scanning the room, the Konishi girl lets her purple eyes fall on Kabuto and his 'Leaf' team. From the scattered mess that is her memory, she knows not to trust him. It's really a pain knowing all she knows because she can't just shout out that Kabuto isn't who he's portraying. It would bring questions her way that she can't exactly answer.

Like, 'how do you know that', and she can't just say 'because I watched it'.

However, she can raise suspicion against him. She can definitely make others doubt him. Smirking at her plan -whether it be smart or not- she stands up from her seat.

"I'll be back, I'm just going to rendezvous with my classmates," she tells the boys of her chunin team.

Tadashi gives her a nod, but before the loud Yamanaka can give his own reply, Ursa's already weaving herself through the crowd. Like a snake, she slithers forward, silent and calculating as to not disturb anyone. Narrowing her eyes, Ursa finally comes to a stop as she stands next to Hinata. She says nothing, not wanting to startle the soft spoken girl, so instead she watches the situation - observing. 

"Pft, you seem confident, Kiba," Sasuke states, smirking.

Ursa says nothing about when she hears her somewhat friend speak. It's been weeks since they talked to one another, and why? Because he held a grudge against her for almost dying, for saving his life. She shakes her head. Ursa won't waste time on petty arguments, not when she has other priorities. 

Maybe their friendship was just meant to be a simple comradity.

"We did a lot of training! We won't lose to you," Kiba bites back.

The ravenette rolls her purple eyes. The reason she never liked Kiba was because of his arrogance, he was somehow worse than Sasuke and louder than Naruto - not a good combination. Plus, she never really liked dogs.

"Shut up! Sasuke might! But I won't lose to the likes of you," the Uzumaki yells.

"S-sorry, Naruto. Kiba didn't mean it that way," Hinata voices softly, fidgeting with her index fingers.

Ursa stays hidden, turning her back on them as they all look towards the Hyuga, wanting to stay out of the attention. This is the chunin exams after all, to survive one must stay hidden and stay away from gaining a target. It's her tactic, to observe but not get involved. By means, one notices more when they simply observe, when they only watch and listen.

"Hey, you guys, you should be more quiet," a sudden voice cuts in.

Ursa glares calmly when she sees Kabuto walking towards them from her spot. Though, she still keeps her back to them. She doesn't need to watch when she practically has every detail in her memories.

"You guys are rookies, just out of the academy, right? Screaming like a bunch of school girls, geez. This isn't a field trip," Kabuto scoffs.

"Who do you think you are," Ino retorts with a sneer.

"I'm Kabuto," he answers easily.

The ravenette then listens as he points out the team from Amegakure, and how they have short tempers. He then tries to relate to them saying how they remind him of when he was younger. The girl can't believe how her comrades easily got reassured with his words, it's like they threw common sense out the window. Who trusts a total stranger? Why, because he has information? That's even more reason to be suspicious. Even more so when he says that this is his seventh try. Sure, there's a few genin who are older than him, but none of them put themselves at the center of attention.

"Hehe, then I'll share some info with you cute rookies. With these ninja-info cards," the silver haired nin states, pulling out a deck of orange cards.

"Ninja info cards," Sakura repeats.

"They're basically cards which have information burned into them with chakra. I have four years worth of information here. Over two-hundred cards. They look blank, but to open them..." he informs before using his chakra to reveal the information, making the card spin on the ground under his finger. "For example..."

"Whoa, a really easy to read graph. What kind of info is this?"

"This is the number of those taking the exam and the breakdown of what country they're from," Kabuto explains.

"Do you have cards with info on individuals," Sasuke asks.

Ursa smirks, shaking her head in a minute motion. Typical. Of course he wants information on his potential rivals. On his competition. 

"Heh, are there some guys you're worried about? Of course all the info on this exams participants isn't perfect, but I do have it. Even of you guys. Say something, their country, their appearance, anything about them, and I'll take a look," Kabuto informs.

"Gaara of the Hidden Sand, Rock Lee of the Leaf, and Ursa Konishi of the Leaf," Sasuke replies, making the aforementioned kunoichi raise her brows in shock.

Ursa then narrows her eyes, since when does Sasuke see me as competition? Does he just want information on me, my weaknesses?

"Oh, you know their names. Should be easy then." Kabuto answers just before he swipes out the cards.

Ursa keeps her back to them, just wanting to listen. If they want information on her, so be it. She kind of also wants to hear what Kabuto has on her. Better to be informed than ignorant, right?

"Show them to me," Sasuke urges.

"Okay, first is Rock Lee. He's a year older than you guys. Mission history; 20 D Rank and 12 C Rank. His sensei is Might Gai. His taijutsu have improved greatly this year. The rest is nothing impressive. Last year he gained attention as a talented genin, but he didn't participate in the exam. Like you, this is his first time. On his team are Neji Hyuga and Tenten."

"Next is Gaara of the Desert.  Mission history; 8 C Rank, 1 B Rank, wow. A B Rank as a genin. Since he's a newcomer from a foreign country I don't have much info... but it seems he returned from all his missions without even a scratch."

"Finally, Ursa Konishi. She's your age. Originally, she's from the Land of Rivers, wow. But before that, it says that her clan was from the Land of Rain before they got massacred and then hunted down in their refuge in the Land of Water. It's very rare to come across someone from the Konishi clan since they've been hunted down since the Second Shinobi War. Her mission history; 8 D Rank, 1 C Rank - well it turned to an A Rankn impressive. Her sensei is Kakashi Hatake. On her team are Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha. The majority of her skills are in ninjutsu and in wind chakra, her taijutsu is average, but that's about it."

Ursa narrows her eyes, hunted down? Great, just casually state that in a room full of foreign shinobi, why don't you.

Though, the tense silence of the room is suddenly broken.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I won't lose to you bastards!!! Believe it!" The blond knucklehead exclaims with a proud grin.

The Konishi girl shakes her head. With the information given and done, she gets up from her spot and stealthily makes it back to her impromptu teammates.

Hisato has arms crossed, but he raises a brow in acknowledgement. "So, how did it go?"

"Nothing interesting. Though, they are pretty stupid to trust in a complete stranger. Information or not, that guy is sketchy," she tells them. 

Tadashi nods. "We heard. This is his seventh try, but from what I noticed is that he spent the last four years gathering information. That alone raises suspicion," the blond states in a quiet tone.

Hisato narrows his teal eyes. "That's why with the exception of this team, we trust no one. No matter how friendly they sound or how weak they seem. This is the chunin exams, everyone's our enemy," he says, reminding them of their earlier rules.

Ursa nods.

"For example," she says, using her chin to gesture at the Sound ninja running through the crowd.

Tadashi scoffs.

The Yamanaka laughs with contempt. "Typical. Ninja from a small country wanting to prove themselves as a threat."

They watch as the first sound ninja attacks by jumping in the air and throwing two kunai with fast precision. Unfortunately, Kabuto evades the sudden attack by jumping back to create distance. However, the second sound ninja uses that opening to charge in, closing the distance as he swings his right fist towards Kabuto.  Though, the fist doesn't connect, it just passes in front of the leaf ninja's face.

Ursa smirks knowingly. To anyone with common sense they would be able to connect the dots of the attack.

So when Kabuto's optical lenses shatter, she crosses her arms with a silent smugness. Her fellow rookies gasp in shock, confused to why he got affect by a 'missed' attack.

"Heh, it seems that the sound ninja are more than they meet the eye. That attack..." Tadashi voices, narrowing his dark green eyes.

"It was vibrations. Ones that came from that guy's arm gauntlet," Hisato finishes.

The curly haired girl nods, "glad I'm not the only one that noticed. They are from the Sound Village after all, and sound itself are vibrations in the air. So what looked like a missed attack was actually him hitting Kabuto with vibrations." She explains in a low tone, only for them to hear.

Hisato scoffs out a laugh, crossing his arms. "People really are stupid if they miss the obvious," he chastises with a smirk.

Tadashi and Ursa smirk, copying his actions as they all stand side by side.

"Quiet down you worthless bastards!" A booming voice yells as the room explodes with a summoning cloud.

Ursa grits her teeth at the familiar voice, narrowing her eyes as her gaze meets the stature of Ibiki Morino. Sure, the man was doing his job as interrogator, but she didn't like being forced into having her memory searched. Though, if she chooses to grasp at the details, it's actually the Third Hokage's fault, he was the one who gave the go. Though, with Ibiki here, she can only expect mental anguish for this test. Her scrambled memory confirms her theory.

"Thanks for waiting. I am Ibiki Morino. The proctor for the chunin selection exam's first test." The man introduces sternly before he raises his gloved hand, pointing to the sound trio. "Hidden Sound guys, stop doing as you please before the exam. Do you want to fail already?"

The one with the fur lining - Dosu - turns. "I apologize. This is our first time...we got a bit carried away," he excuses.

"Bah," Ibiki scoffs. "Here's a good opportunity to say this. There will be no fighting without the permission of the proctor. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated! Those pigs who disobey will be failed immediately!  Do I make myself clear?"

Ursa rolls her eyes. "Well, there goes all the fun," she mutters with a smirk.

"We will now start the first test of the chunin exams. Instead of your current seating arrangements, you will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you. We will then hand out the written exams."

Ursa winces, three, two, one.

"What?! A paper test!!!" Naruto yells in disbelief.

Let's see how much I remember, Ursa bites her lip, actually worried.

- _ - _ - _ - _ - _ -

WITH THE SEATS taken and the rules being explained, Ursa taps the end of her pencil on the desk, nerves filling her body. Out of all the tests in the chunin exams, this one had her the most worried. Sure, she's innovative and creative when it comes to jutsus, and yes she has some above average common sense, but actual book smarts? Hah, that's a joke! She always sucked at mathematics and arithmetics. She knew the basics of anatomy and biology, enough to seem like an expert. Her plant knowledge was iffy, but she's learning. Her most impressive skill was strategy, battle tactics were her know-how.

So yes, she was nervous.

Besides, sitting on the left of Gaara just made her more nervous. Does she find him attractive, obviously. Though, there is the known fact that he can actually kill her if he simply feels like it. Despite having some slight feelings for him, she's not going to act like bumbling idiot just because he looks at her - that's stupid. If she feels butterflies, she'll suffocate them. If she feels her heart racing, she'll force her stupid blush down. If she feels a swirl of rising emotions, she'll bury them.

She's a kunoichi, not a lovesick idiot.

"The test will last one hour! Okay.... Begin!"

Ursa flips her paper and her purple eyes scan the questions. She huffs, irritated at the difficulty. Writing her name at the upper right corner, she bites her lip.

With the rules explained, and from her jumbled memory, she knows that this written exam is to test them on their information gathering skills. Staring ahead with a blank face, Ursa composes herself to focus. She can't let the pressure of failing get to her, even if it is suffocating. So, as she stares, her mind completely blanks as if in a daze.

Though unbeknownst to her, Ursa's purple eyes turn electric as a gold rim surrounds her iris. The Henzuru. 

D

ropping her gaze to the man in front of her, her eyes see through his memories - most of them being of right now. Though, with this, she can see the answers he's written, and is writing down. She smirks.

Not questioning the sudden know-how or why she can see, she lifts her pencil and copies everything with quick motions. And in time, she's writing in perfect synch with the guy in front of her - eyes not even on her paper.

She's not even aware that Gaara is using her as a source to cheat off of. She's not aware that Ibiki is staring at her with interest, never witnessing the Henzuru in person. The doujutsu was a rare sight, seeing as her clan was practically extinct. And she's especially not aware that Orochimaru - disguised as a Grass ninja - is also staring at her in interest.

One weakness of the Henzuru, is that the users are left vulnerable during use, unaware of their surroundings.

And she was as genin were getting called out for their obvious cheating. To anyone else, to the chunins watching them, Ursa just looked like a person cruising through the exam as she wrote down the answers. Sure, her eyes could be an obvious tell tale of cheating, but her eyes were already a shade of purple and the gold wasn't that obvious unless you were standing face to face.

Though as the man in front of her finally puts down his pencil, Ursa blinks and leaves the dazed state she entered - her Henzuru disactivating. Once reality settles back in, she feels drowsy, as if she just woke up from a deep slumber. Blinking to fully wake up, she releases an unexpected yawn. Looking down, she's surprised to find her whole exam answered and completed.

Strange, I don't remember filling it out, she muses with narrowed eyes. Her gaze then settles on the clock on the wall. That's thirty minutes of missing time. I seriously need to find out what happened, but for now, I'll focus on the chunin exams.

Flipping her paper over to show that she finished, she crosses her arms. There's fifteen minutes left.

Now, she can just sit and patiently wait for time to pass, or she can take a quick nap. By means, sleep will be hard to come by in the incoming days. Better to get as much as she can now than to be tired and reckless.

So, closing her eyes, Ursa relaxes into a sleeping state.

- _ - _ - _ - _ - _ -

GAARA GLANCES TO the girl besides him and narrows his eyes. Since their meeting a few days ago when he arrived to the Leaf Village, she's intrigued him. The way she didn't flinch away from him or look at him with fear, it confused him. It wouldn't be a big deal if she didn't know of him, but the way she knew him and his older siblings and talked about them, says otherwise. She was aware of who he was which meant she knew what he was capable of, yet she still didn't flinch away.

Then there was the fact that she let Kankuro hold her hostage, but she continued to threaten them with a quiet calm. Her eyes weren't full of fear, nor were they arrogant with power, and they didn't have a dull emptiness to them. No, they were knowing and gentle, warm. She was a whirlwind of contradictions. How could she be gentle yet deadly? Warm yet so cold?

Then, right now, she was nervous but she soon became so calm. He watched as she raced through the exam as if it was nothing, was she really that knowing?

Even so, how could she be sleeping when he's next to her? Does she not know how easy it could be to kill her right now? Is she even aware of how vulnerable she is at the moment? It's almost like she's not afraid of him.

Why?

Is it because of who she is?

Gaara's aware of who she is, or rather what the reputation her name holds. Konishi. That name is like taboo. Because not only is the name known for being the clan that got massacred and hunted down after the Second Shinobi War, but it is also the name that belongs to the leaders of the Inyo Ketsueki, a criminal group known for their nefarious actions such as assassinations and bombings.

Like him, she's also dangerous.

However, unlike him, she didn't seem to risk the lives of others, instead she seemed to protect them.

She welcomed them.

Like she did with him, she accepted them.

Which put him in a rage, made him frustrated. He's supposed to exist solely for killing, nothing else. He was a weapon made to kill. He couldn't let his guard down because of this girl. He had a mission to fulfill, chunin exams or not, he had a role to play.

This girl was nothing to him.

Just another person he would most likely kill.

"Okay, we will now start the tenth question," Ibiki informs, his voice booming.

Ursa opens her eyes, which immediately dart to the clock, and reading the time. She huffs, popping her locked neck from the stiff position. Scanning the room, she takes note of Hisato's bright ginger hair and quickly finds Tadashi's red shirt in the front row. From her place she could tell that they look calm, not at all bothered from the written exam. 

"Now, before we get to it. I'd like to go over the added rules for this question," he informs, making several jolt at the mention of more rules.

Though before they can ask, the tense silence is broken when the back door suddenly opens. The cause is Kankuro when he walks in, returning from the restroom. Ursa scoffs out a quiet laugh, rolling her eyes.

"Heh, nice timing. Was your time playing with dolls beneficial? Just sit down," Ibiki shrugs him off. "I'll now explain. These are the rules of desperation."

The curly haired ravenette tilts her head to the side, nodding to his words. If people suffered enough through the first nine questions and couldn't figure out the reason of this test then this question is an all or nothing kind of desperation for them. Hmm, kinda like Naruto, if I remember correctly.

"First, for this tenth question, you must decide whether you will take it or not."

"Choose?!" Temari exclaims. "What happens if we choose not to?"

"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero, you fail! Along with your two teammates," the torture specialist explains.

Even though she knows what to do, Ursa still feels chills race down her spine. There's a reason why he's the best in interrogation and psychological warfare, he knows what to say and do to make them question their confidence. If she didn't expirience his methods first hand, she would be like the others in this room, scared and full of doubt as they scream their confusion.

"And now, the other rule. If you choose to take it and answer incorrectly... that person will lose the right to ever take the chunin  selection exam again."

"What kind of stupid rule is that?! There are guys here who have taken the exams before," the voice of Kiba rings loudly, Akamaru barking along him.

Ursa narrows her purple gaze, cringing at the sound. Dogs barking are like nails on a chalkboard to her. Irritating.

"Heh," Ibiki chuckles menacingly,  drawing chills for most of them. "You guys were unlucky. This year it's my rules," he proclaims with a threatening smirk. "But I am giving you a way out. Those that aren't confident can choose not to take it and try again next year."

Taking a glance to her right, her eyes skip past Gaara and look towards Hisato. The Yamanka and Konishi make eye contact and they both shake their heads, refusing to back down.

'Keep going?' She silently asks, and he nods.

She nods in finality.

"Now, let's begin the tenth question."

The silence that follows is long. It's suffocating. The tension is the room is so thick that could be sliced with a literal knife. Unsure glances are shared amongst the participants, doubt so obvious in their eyes.

And finally, a single hand rises. A catalyst for others to give up as well. One turns to three, turning to six, turning to twelve. Numbers being called out fills the room, along with the sound of several defeated apologies. The ones who couldn't take the pressure, the ones who didn't have the guts to risk it all.

The ones who can't deal with life and death.

Ursa's calm gaze catches a flash of orange. Following it, the kunoichi finds Naruto raising his hand to the air. She smirks.

"Don't underestimate me! I don't quit and I don't run! I'll take it! Even if it means being a genin for the rest of my life! I will become Hokage! Believe it!"

She nods, feeling pride in her actual teammate. They may not be close at the moment, but Naruto is epitome of determination. She can't help but feel inspired by his words.

"I'll ask you again. Your life is riding on this decision. This is your last chance to quit," Ibiki stares him down.

Unaffected, Naruto shakes his head and smirks, determined. "I never go back on my word. That's my nindo,  my ninja way," he declares.

The Konishi girl smiles, a sense of determination filling her heart.

No backing out now, she muses, clenching her hands into fists.

"Good decisions. Now to everyone still remaining..." Ibiki voices before giving them a gruff smile. "I congratulate you on passing the first test!"

Ursa finally relaxes, leaning back in her seat as she lets out a relieved laugh.

"Finally," she exhales.

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Well, that was Chapter 17! I know I took foreveeeeer to update, and for that I am really and deeply sorry.

The chunin exams are hard to write, ugh! I need to plan where to insert Ursa and yadda yadda. I already have some ideas, so there's that.

Anyways, Kabuto spilling all her information - oop. And let's not forget that Orochimaru is also interested in her 👀😬 Also Sasuke and Ursa's friendship is on the rocks, uh oh.

Ooooh! She used her Henzuru! Sure she was unaware! But still! It'll happen a few more times like that before she realizes what's happening and tries to control it - though I'll tell you now its not gonna happen in the chunin exams(forest or preliminary) but maybe for the final one. Maybe!

Ooh! More interactions between Gaara and Ursa! Right now they're just beginning to feel something, but don't realize that it's a crush. I like slow burns, so this Gaarsa ship will take A WHILE to sail - okay?

A drawing of how the Henzuru looks like:

Her eyes gain like a Rinnegan effect, but only in the iris, just to create a hypnotic image. Also the gold pupil and gold border around the whole iris. I couldn't really create the color but the purple is like a neon/electric purple.

Anyways, that's all I have for today, so don't forget to

COMMENT

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FAN!!!

JA NE, My awesome and equally amazing readers!

(Don't forget to be safe and to take care of yourselves ♡)

Word Count: 4,255